Roots On Letterman, Previously Estelle, The Phoenix Rising?, Vote KITH + Drivin’ Remix, Glow Vids, Cons On Rap City, OkayArtists Speak On Sean Bell.
• Tomorrow, you know the deal. It’s The Roots, it’s their 10th major release, it’s called Rising Down. Go to the store and support real music. The Roots have put together another ALBUM. No disposable songs included.
• Watch Estelle’s network television debut on Letterman to promote her new album Shine. Her live perf of “American Boy” is fresh, even without Kanye there, as is her gold get-up. Incidentally The Roots will perform live on Letterman tonight, with special guest Chrisette Michele, as they ramp up for the release of Rising Down tomorrow! Also, later tonight on Conan O’Brien catch Santogold do her thing.
• While we’ve heard Jean Grae talk about hanging up her mic numerous times over the years, the most public announcement we’ve seen came over the weekend in the form of a blog on her myspace page. Naturally, we here at Okayplayer are huge supporters of Jean, the artist and the person, and wish her the best of luck. Of course, as fans, we want to add to all the “say it ain’t so’s” while also wondering what may come of the three albums worth of material she is sitting on. Watching that VH1 Ms. Rap Supreme show really makes you appreciate artists like Miss Grae a whole lot more.
• Kidz In The Hall’s “Drivin Down The Block” is being played on MTV’s TRL today. Tune in and click here to vote to get real hip-hop on the Countdown. Meanwhile, peep the “Drivin Down The Block” remix featuring Bun B, Pusha T of The Clipse and The Cool Kids.
• Are you one of the 7 people at your school who missed the Glow In The Dark Tour when it came to town? Well your in luck, here’s a series of videos with performances from N.E.R.D., Rihanna, and Kanye. Watch now, front like you were there later.
• Last week in between stops of the Glow In The Dark Tour, Consequence hosted Rap City. Here’s a vid of Cons spittin in the booth with Nelly and Murphy Lee, yeah I know it seems weird posting about Nelly but listen to them verses he spits and tell me it ain’t hot. Our man Skillz also ripped the booth on Rap City last week fresh off that European tour with Dj Jazzy Jeff. We should probably let you know about Skillz’ secret blog on here.
• We spoke on our sentiments on the Sean Bell verdict last Friday, and feel it is important that injustices of this nature are not protested one day and forgot the next. Many artists have mentioned releasing songs and doing different things within the community to protest this. For now here is a video of Nas, Talib Kweli and Mos Def speaking on how they feel about the verdict.
-shamz, gingerlynn & dantana