What I'm Watching ... A Day in... L.A. feat @UCanCallMeLA

A Day in... L.A. from slick jackson on Vimeo.

It was this track off of The Phone Tap(e) mixtape that had me reaching out to ScienZe to find out who it was featured on the track. I later found out her name was L.A.. This was my first encounter with her sound and I've been checking for her ever since. She's dope. She's got a project on the way, The Presentation, but in the meantime enjoy A Day in... L.A, shot by Slick Jackson.

twitter.com/​ucancallmela

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Why I’m Running For City Council By @Rhymefest

All politics is local and if we are to improve our social and economic ills, we have to return to the “village” concept.

Rhymefest seems deeply committed to running for Alderman in Chicago and being a part of creating change, opportunity and solutions. I salute him and his efforts. Check out his words on why he's running, after the jump.

INTERVIEW: @VelvSomersault x @TheRealEternia at Southpaw

Interview w/ Eternia @ Southpaw from Velv Somersault on Vimeo.

If you've been following the blog long enough, you already know I think Eternia is dope. I've also been a long time follower of Velv Somersault on twitter. The two got together at Southpaw for a fresh interview. Enjoy.

Check out this interview with Eternia as we talked about her influences, recent album, writing & what she’ll be working on next. This was the first night of Joell Ortiz's YAOWA Mixtape Tour and also my first time seeing her perform and she ripped the mic and the stage apart. Eternia is an amazing live performer, something like L. Boogie, seriously. She has a LIVE set, a lot of energy and the woman is hip hop as hell. She performed some tracks from her new album, At Last with MoSS, released on Fat Beats Records over the summer. Her sister, Jessica Kaya which is featured on the project performed with Eternia and also did an awesome cover for J. Cole & Miguel’s “All I Want Is You”. Eternia performed “Foul Child” and the crowd went crazy, she was definitely a crowd favorite for the night. Make sure you check out her album!!!

twitter.com/VelvSomersault
twitter.com/TheRealEternia

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What I'm Watching ... Rob Roy “Carmencita”

Rob Roy is dope as shit. His King Warrior Magician Lover project is one of my favorite albums in the last year. The dude is incredibly talented and his sound is fresh. Check out the visuals for "Carmencita" which much like his "Fur In My Cap" vid, are outside the box. If you haven't heard of Rob Roy before, it's time you get familiar. Enjoy.



www.facebook.com/iamrobroy
soundcloud.com/iamrobroy

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Check It ... Kitchen Khemistry "Starving Artist" x "Off Limits"

It's definitely a new sound from the good folks over at Uncommon records. Dope nonetheless. Check two fresh cuts from the upcoming Kitchen Khemistry release on Uncommon records, due to drop November 2. You're welcome.

Kitchen Khemistry is a voluntary, rogue, outer body experience.  What KK does is find hidden lights in the universe and translates these light waves into sound. Therefore, Kitchen Khemistry is a translator of light waves. What you hear is what you don't see!

What does that sound like? It sounds like a 2010 underground rap version of "Planet Rock". It sounds like nothing else that Uncommon Records has ever released. You may actually end up dancing to "Transit" as well as head nodding to it.

This is the shuttle, the subway, the life. This is space, this is street, this is real.

  Off Limits - Kitchen Khemistry by UncommonRecords


  Starving Artist - Kitchen Khemistry by UncommonRecords

www.uncommonmusic.net

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Friday's Five Random Questions with @TiyePhoenix

Tiye Phoenix is a dope emcee, who just happens to be a woman. A strong woman. I won't front and say that I've been following Tiye throughout the span of her career but since discovering her sound last year, I've been a fan of what she does. She's been featured on the blog a gang of times, with the likes of Eternia, Little Brother and on a few episodes of both The Mad Bloggers Show and Hip-Hop Breakfast. Her music, it's dope.

Until September, Tiye flew under the radar of a lot of folks, until her comments on Nicki Minaj on the the BET Documentary, My Mic Sounds Nice. I agreed with her words. Every word. Tiye doesn't hold her tongue. You'll see that below in the answers to her questions. With that said, Tiye decided to take the challenge this week. Check out how she answered five random questions, after the jump.

What I'm Watching ... RoQ'y / TyRaiD "Woosah"

I chopped it up with this dude on Skyy Hook Radio last night. Good peoples. He didn't know I was a blogger and I didn't know he was an artist until we were off air. Funny how things work out sometimes. Anyway, I caught this video from him earlier. Fresh. Calm your nerves and woosah. Check it out and enjoy.

twitter.com/RoQyTyRaiD
roqytyraid.bandcamp.com

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Download ... MED "Bang Ya Head III" (Mixtape)

With a gang of fresh production and features, this joint from Cali's own MED is dope. Yes, it's just one long mp3 but it's kinda dope because it reminds me of the days of mixtapes, on tape. Enjoy.

1) Intro - prod by JRocc
2) Advice - LMD prod by Madlib
3)Misunderstood - MED prod by Madlib
4) Candlelight - MED feat/prod by Georgia Anne Muldrow
4) 50,000 Watts - MED prod by Soul Professa
5) Salute - J Rocc/MED feat WildChild & Baby Boogalu
6) Fall Back - Fred feat Med/Pok prod by FRED
7) R.E.M - Epsilon Project Feat MED prod by Oddisee
8 ) West Iz Back - MED prod by Khalil
9) Saga Cont. - Babu feat MED prod by Babu
10) O.U.T - Matt feat MED prod by Matt
11) Listen - Descry feat MED prod by Descry
12) Outro Prod by JRocc feat Daru Jones on the drums

Mixed By Dj Romes, Artwork by Plann B

Bang Ya Head III by MED

www.stonesthrow.com/med

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What I'm Watching ... e.d.g.e. "New Decade"

Edge - New Decade from Birch Concepts on Vimeo.

Fresh vid from the homie e.d.g.e.

twitter.com/​edge1981
edge.bandcamp.com

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Check It ... Homeboy Sandman (Prod. by Jinesis) "MAESTRO-MADNESS" (Artwork)

Homeboy Sandman is on the track. Fresh Daily does the artwork. Jinesis sends the email. But no one is gonna send me the track? Oh, it's not out yet. I see what they did here. Haha. Track dropping soon. Wait for it.

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EVENT: Beats & Lumpia, Tonight (Sacramento)

If you're looking for something fresh tonight in Sacramento, Beats & Lumpia has you covered. Kicking off at 5pm, it looks like an exciting night full of Hip-Hop and culture.

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Take Three: Nas "It Was Written"

"There's one life, one love, so there could only be one king."

There are some things I find hilarious day by day. Take into account this fact: people were actually disappointed with this album. Granted, most of us hip-hop heads were spoiled by mad releases the year Nas came out with his sophomore album, It Was Written (Reasonable Doubt, ATLiens, Stakes Is High, Hell on Earth, Illadelph Halflife, I could go on and on...). But long gone was the raw and brash production on Illmatic, and its lyrical focus traded in well written street tales for more mafioso styled themes. Whether or not that was a good or bad thing depended upon how Biggie and Junior M.A.F.I.A. affected your listening habits. For those who listened closely though, the detail was never lost, nor was its knack for storytelling. Sure, we all hate the fact that Trackmasters and Dr. Dre (many people I know were still confused about Dr. Dre and Nas together, and were expecting WAAAAAYYY too much) gave a little bit more polished efforts on the production side, and many questioned Steve Stoute's involvement with Nas, which would later rear its ugly head shortly after Puff had issues with some controversial footage in "Hate Me Now" off the I Am... album. But regardless, this was still a stellar sophomore effort by all accounts, and a hell of a lot better than sophomore releases after it.

So after all that spiel, another installment of Take Three is taking place. Take Three is an attempt to choose 3 cuts to give to a listener who may not either be familiar with the work of an artist, or the specific releases of an artists. Without further dudes (Peter Griffin, can you dig it?) let's get this thing underway.

1. I Gave You Power

Seems like everytime I hear about Nas, or about the best Nas cuts ever recorded, there's always a few that seem to grab my attention (I heard someone once include "You Owe Me" in their top 10 Nas cuts ever, weird). I continue to be surprised by the omission of "I Gave You Power," because it was everything that rested in Illmatic brought back for one tune. One of the lone DJ Premier productions that made the album, Premier draws in stark piano notes, and hard-hitting drums, while Nas personifies himself as a gun and his travails as this weapon. It's rich in its depictions and detail, has a stellar yet fucked up ending (jamming in his owner's hand, and being elated about having control, until another owner picks him up), and all the while, Nas weaves this tale intricately about his owner's rise to fame, and the macabre mentions of his own melodramatic treatment recieved as the gun. If there's some reason this tune isn't in your "Best Nas Cuts Ever" list, well then, that needs to change.

2. The Message

You might remember hearing a piece of this tune in the video for "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)" and being like "where the hell can I hear all of this?" Granted, upon first listen, its a trickster of a tune; a lot of people upon release of the record didn't think it was the strongest introduction to It Was Written, but once they saw the video for "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)," folks that hearlded Nas in the Illmatic days thought he was going off. Hilarious how this song works, and the trick that was played. We were listening to the introduction to It Was Written that whole time and didn't even notice the correlation. Regardless though, this is still a strong introduction, not only for the shot it took at Notorious B.I.G., but once again, Nas's battle stance is unfazed, and every word is delivered as clearly and bravely as it could be.

3. If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)

This song probably got the most mixed reaction in the world when it was chosen as the single for It Was Written. Sure, Lauryn's on the hook, how come not a verse? What's with Nas and this positivity shit? In the grand scheme it was a smart choice, and very well written song, still is much better than "I Can", right? Digressions aside, using Whodini's "Friends" as a backdrop to think about the ways of the world and what would change if Nas ruled it makes for a great song. And damn it, if Lauryn's voice on the hook and breakdown isn't heavenly, there's something wrong with your ears.

twitter.com/EgyptoKnuckles

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