Check out the visuals for the single Jr. Gong released on Valentine’s Day. This new song has elements of some of his old songs, but with a new “electro lovers rock” sound added to the mix. Throughout the video he’s rocking crowds and clubs all the while pining for one girl in particular. She seems to be traveling a fair bit herself. aia
You can download the track here.
As we posted last month, “N**gas in Poorest“–Yasiin Bey‘s epic-ly raw-dogs take on “N**gas In Paris”–gets an equally grimy and impactful visual treatment. Video clips underlining key interjections and samples (“Myers, Myers, Myers”) turn the tension up even higher–but it’s what he says that makes this song so scary good. This is the first track off Bey’s Top 40 Underdogs project of re-mashes.
Nneka’s new video premiering on RollingStone.com:
Nigerian neo-soul singer Nneka’s video for “Shining Star,” from her 2012 album Soul Is Heavy, takes her on a simultaneously tranquil and exuberant excursion through the forests of La Gomera, one of Spain’s Canary Islands. There is an undeniable spiritual essence to the video, as Nneka emerges from the sea, capers about the woods, waves her arms toward the sky and observes and creates intricate astronomical patterns of colorful vegetation. “I was like, ‘Wow! It looks like Avatar was shot here,’” she tells Rolling Stone of her first impression of the video’s lush location.
Happy Valentine’s Day. He’s a new EP and video from Panama’s (by way of Oakland) Los Rakas. Download and stream the EP below. Enjoy.
Ok, so I’m probably a few minutes late on this cat, but if you haven’t heard him yet, check out Gary Clark, Jr. If you like the Black Keys (who doesn’t?), you’ll dig his sound. Dig on Lenny Kravitz? Take a listen. Like the blues? Check. I was just sent his Bright Lights EP and felt like I’d been missing out for years. He’s polished and ready for the mainstage. Don’t believe me? Ask Alicia Keys.
Above is his first-ever official video for “Bright Lights,” one of the dirtiest of the lowdown dirtybirds on his EP. This looks pretty official too, the musical squall and the ‘just blew into town’ narrative montage conspiring to put you in kind of a Rico Tubbs frame of mind. But whether you got lights and effects or just a shaky cameraphone, the essence of a Gary Clark, Jr.video is pressing ‘play’ because this dude is a higher truth. Maybe a lower truth.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Brother Ali drops his new EP, The Bite Marked Heart. The 7 track release has features from Nikki Jean, Phonte, Stokley Williams, and Aby Wolf, with Jake One and Ant (Atmosphere) handling the production. You can stream/download the EP below. Above, check out the video for the love themed “Shine on” featuring Nikki Jean.
Here is a new vid from Ghanian emcee M.anifest, bringing “Makaa Maka.” The track’s title translates to “I said it, because I said it,” a saying first popularized by hiplife godfather Reggie Rockstone (who makes a cameo in the video). In the song, M.anifest takes on all of haters in his combination English/Twi/Pidgen rhymes while “big uppin” those that spit it right. Keep an ear out for this guy. Easily one of the top African emcees about to make it big on the world stage. Read the rest of this entry »
So as mentioned earlier, D’Angelo, has come out of retirement/sabbatical and is currently on tour through Europe. Because we all couldn’t wait for a new album, the guys over at OkayPlayer recruited DJ/producer Sam Champ to cut together a D’Angelo Live mix from the recordings of the tour. Most of the songs are D’Angelo classic, but there are a few new ones spliced in for good measure. I’m just happy he’s back.
Check out this new video from Seattle/Zimbabwe experimental rap duo Shabazz Palaces, “Are You… Can You… Were You? (Felt),” off the highly-praised 2011 Black Up LP. The visuals span dreamlike states, bicycle near-accidents, and a mother’s disapproval of her daughter’s threads. Pick up Black Up on iTunes
In anticipation of the Superbowl this weekend, Mick Boogie has put together illadelph/matic, a unique mix of rarities and remixes featuring Nas and The Roots. The mixtape is an advance for the Madden Bowl 2012–part of this year’s Superbowl events–which takes place Thursday in Indianapolis. Madden Bowl 2012 features live performances from Mick Boogie, Nas and The (Legendary) Roots. As Mick explains:
The Roots and Nas are two of my favorite performers ever… and have such an amazing catalog of gems the average fan never heard. This was a great opportunity to put something together for the people to enjoy!
Nuff said, really. Let’s be honest he had most of us at Nas X The Roots but if you’re still not sold on the concept or are having trouble keeping both Nas and The Roots in your mindframe at the same time, just watch the beautifully designed teaser video (above) and all will be made clear.
Check out these two videos from Nigerian emcee 2face Idibia. In “Raindrops” (above), he heads to Ghana for the fourth single off 2010′s The Unstoppable. In “Raindrops” Idibia serves up some dub-influenced guitar upstrokes of the beat.
Below in “Kasakasa,” he teams up with Muri Thunder aka Mr. Music, who provides the the beat and direction (he calls it Cosmopolitan Fuji), and dancehall dude Habeyano.
The Unstoppable International Edition is available now
I can’t tell you how excited I am that D’Angelo has ended his retirement/sabbatical, and is back making music. Need proof? Here are various proof-of-life clips of D’Angelo emanating from his concert in Stockholm, Sweden. Above, get a serving of “Chicken Grease” with a side of “Devil’s Pie.” For the youths, if you don’t remember D’Angelo from back in the day, take a peak HERE.
This is his first time performing in more than a decade. The R&B Jesus also blessed the assembled congregation at Filadelfiakyrken (trans: the Church of Brotherly Love) with the debut of a brand new track called “Sugar Daddy.” Dedicated D-watchers have already pointed the marked Prince influence but the good-timey piano rolls and extended bass solo on this live workout put me more in mind of Sly Stone in his glory days. Anyway suffice it to say, it’s a damn good song and one more sign that D, after being off-map for lo, these many years, has apparently managed to fall right back in step.
“Sugar Daddy”
“Shit, Damn, Motherf#cka”
Last summer while on a stop on his Little Ones tour, Bilal and his band of brothers visited the Tom Joyner Morning Show Red Velvet Studio and recorded live acoustic versions of four of his favorite joints off Airtight’s Revenge (below). Now he’s putting out studio recorded versions of the acoustic tracks. These rare one-take masterpieces are the purest kind of goose-bump material. The first rarity in the goodie bag is this sublime rendition of “Think It Over”. Check out both the recorded and live versions of this great song. AIA
London/Ghanaian rapper Donae’o, of “Party Hard” fame, is giving away his Move To Da Gyal DemEP. The collection includes the original percussion-tinged title track, instrumental cuts, plus remixes from Mensah, David Heartbreak, Eddie K and — best of all — Ghana’s Azonto prince Sarkodie‘s reworking.
The countdown to the release of Black Radio has begun with tracks featuring the Robert Glasper Experiment in collaboration with KING, Erykah Badu, Musiq Soulchild, and Chrisette Michelle having been released thus far. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until February for the full release is the constant stream of not only music, but artwork coming out of their creation process. Check out the latest gem, a lyric video to accompany “Ah Yeah” which features RCDC in collaboration with Musiq Soulchild and Chrisette Michelle. The Robert Glasper Experiment’s Black Radio due out February 28th, 2012. Read the rest of this entry »
K’naan is readying the digital More Beautiful Than Silence EP, a follow-up release to his 2010 World Cup anthem “Wavin’ Flag.” K’naan called on some good company for the new batch of tunes, with both Nas and Nelly Furtado making appearances on separate songs on the EP. Watch a clip for the Nasir-featuring cut “Nothing To Lose,” where K’naan raps rocks, chucks and Fugees while Nas spits Somali war lines. And lookout for More Beautiful Than Silence out 1/31.
More Beautiful Than Silence EP
1. “Is Anybody Out There” feat. Nelly Furtado
2. “Nothing to Lose” feat. Nas
3. “More Beautiful Than Silence”
4. “Better”
5. “Coming to America”
Check out this emcee Jay Rox out of Zambia. Things of note in this Lusaka-streets clip: choreographed dancing from a masked trio, one-lens sunglass-rockin’, hoes (not that kind) and an absolute banger of a beat. His album “Vesesani Niza Musekesani” is coming soon.
This cut is a little rough, but I love that beat – a flip of the classic Sweet Charity song. “Big $pender” is slated to be on Theophilus’ upcoming new project, Lovers Holiday II: Rose Island. Below Last Name London and Dat PMF link up in the studio for a cut.
Yasiin Bey (the MC formerly known as Mos Def) is using 2012 for more than just a name change. Just in time for Martin Luther King Day, Bey has announced his Top 40 Underdog series, which will seem him reimagine various Top 40 tracks with all-new, socially conscious freestyles. The first track on the operating table is Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “N!ggas In Paris”, which Bey has transformed into “N!ggas In Poorest”.
One of 2011′s most boastful, bangin’ tracks is now a truly frightening look at modern American culture, from the vanity and depravity of youth to our perpetual sense of economic dread. Bey also demonstrates a new-found level of dementedness, aided in part by some menacing vocal effects, to spin a tale that is the mirror opposite of the original, with loads of dread, a sprinkle of poetic hyperbole, and a heapin’ helping of truth.
