A lot of truth being told in this interview. I will probably never be a fan of buying MP3 albums, no matter how many PDF files of artwork it comes with. There’s just something special and fulfilling about owning a piece of vinyl compared to a random file on your computer. I know all the arguments for going digital such as saving physical space and no skipping if you’re a DJ but I’ve always felt like MP3s are soulless and absolutely worthless, just like CDs. But that’s just me. Link

What inspired you to go the In Rainbows route with this album?

Saul: From the start, I remember Trent saying, “Let’s give it away for free.” At first, I was like, “This dude is out of his mind!” But then it really started making sense, and, of course, with Radiohead doing it, we were like, “What the fuck? The idea that we had was great, and we should really follow it through.”

Trent: I think it’s just an awkward time right now to be a musician. The reality is that people think it’s okay to steal music. There’s a whole generation of people, that’s all they’ve known. I used to buy vinyl. Today, if you do put out a record on a label, traditionally, most people are going to hear it via a leak that happens two weeks — if not two months — before it comes out. There’s no real way around that. I’m truly saddened because I think music has been devalued, so that it’s just a file on your computer, and it’s usually free. But we can’t change that. What we can do is try to offer people the best experience that we can provide them. Will it work? I don’t know. But I think it’s a great way to get music out to people who are interested. At the end of the day, all I care about is the integrity of the music, and that the feeling of those who experience it is as untainted as possible. I’d rather it not be on an iPod commercial. I’d rather it not be a ringtone that you have to get with a free cell phone or any of that bullshit.

What do you think about OiNK being shut down?

Trent: I’ll admit I had an account there and frequented it quite often. At the end of the day, what made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world’s greatest record store. Pretty much anything you could ever imagine, it was there, and it was there in the format you wanted. If OiNK cost anything, I would certainly have paid, but there isn’t the equivalent of that in the retail space right now. iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don’t feel cool when I go there. I’m tired of seeing John Mayer’s face pop up. I feel like I’m being hustled when I visit there, and I don’t think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc. Amazon has potential, but none of them get around the issue of pre-release leaks. And that’s what’s such a difficult puzzle at the moment. If your favorite band in the world has a leaked record out, do you listen to it or do you not listen to it? People on those boards, they’re grateful for the person that uploaded it — they’re the hero. They’re not stealing it because they’re going to make money off of it; they’re stealing it because they love the band. I’m not saying that I think OiNK is morally correct, but I do know that it existed because it filled a void of what people want.

see also:
Niggy Tardust Presented By Saul Williams For Online Release Only, Free If You Want It To Be

Another good Chang article. Lots of good insight on the potential for change and reform that hip-hop creates. Link

Paul Porter, cofounder of the media-justice think tank Industry Ears, saw these changes firsthand as bet’s hip-hop video program director. “We used to see the same storyboard of sex, drugs, rims, and attitude,” he says. “We used to vote out some of these videos all the time, and up to 2000, there was a point when we used to blur out champagne bottles. And then it came down to the line where—I’ll never forget when [then-bet owner] Bob Johnson called me—this is 1999—I was having some issues with Def Jam executives, and he said, ‘Play the video. Def Jam spent $3 million. Just play the video.’ And that’s when I knew it had gone haywire.”As Jay-Z, who is now Def Jam’s ceo, famously rapped, “I dumb down for my audience and double my dollars. They criticize me for it, yet they all yell ‘Holla.’”

In Beyond Beats & Rhymes, documentary filmmaker Byron Hurt’s “loving critique” of hip-hop’s misogyny and homophobia (which aired on pbs), Hurt asks unsigned rappers gathered outside an industry event to audition for him. Their clichéd battle rhymes are predictably bloody, sexist, and homophobic. When Hurt challenges them, they lament that this is the only rap that gets record deals. “The expectations are so well known that the artists conform to them,” says Hurt.

As Hurt notes, by embracing the image of black men as oversexed thugs, corporate rap perpetuates age-old stereotypes. There is, Simmons acknowledges, “a streak of negativity on the part of some executives. There are some opportunities for short-term success on stereotypical ideas. But that shakes itself out. Artificial artists lose their footing.”

Porter is less optimistic. “If this is the only thing the public hears, that’s what they’re gonna want,” he says. “It’s common sense. If McDonald’s is on every corner, eventually you go into a McDonald’s. Don’t tell me that because it sells, it’s good. Crack sells.”

Going to talk to students and this is what you say? He had to have been kidding right? Link (via)

Another asked who Fiasco was going to vote for in the 2008 presidential election.

Fiasco said he doesn’t believe in voting, but he wants Hillary Clinton to win.

“I’m tired of men, ya’ll,” he said to cheers, “I think that a woman in charge of the most powerful nation in the world is going to empower so many women.”

I wish I was there for this. Listening to Krs-One and Immortal Technique, two of the most sincere and thoughtful mcs I can think of, comment on the idea of hipsters might have been interesting. Although whoever wrote this summary was obviously very disappointed. But even if I were disappointed, I’d be careful suggesting that these two artists are homophobes. Could it be that someone in the audience who considers him/herself a hipster was offended? Link

Summary: The CMJ “State of Hip-Hop Address” Panel.

From left to right, you see here Chuck Creekmur (AllHipHop.com), DJ Chela, KRS-One, our own Tommy Abu (Flight808.com), Immortal Technique, and Alaska (Hangar 18).

Things got off to a slow start - both KRS and Tech were running late. This didn’t really help things since the panel was only scheduled for an hour. The topic of the discussion was “Is hipster the new hip-hop?” An interesting topic to be sure: what impact does hipsters’ current love affair with hip-hop have on hip-hop culture?

Unfortunately, despite the efforts of some of the panelists, the ensuing discussion was tangential at best. KRS and Tech dominated the conversation without touching on the topic at hand. When the topic of hipsters was finally posed, all KRS One & Immortal Technique could muster were snickering comments about Kanye West wearing tight red jeans and guys in tight-fitting shirts. The veiled homophobia was less than compelling.

So what was accomplished? Not much other than hackneyed calls for the hip-hop community to “unite and organize” and a continuation of an “us vs. them” mentality. Granted, panels of any sort can easily digress into meaningless blather, but given the caliber of the panelists, we would have hoped for more.

Perhaps the reason that so-called “hipsters” are increasingly drawn to the genre is because of modern hip-hop’s breadth; be it political, gangster, abstract, pop, street, or grimey, the genre has something that can appeal to everyone. And that’s a good thing.

Download live set by Thavius Beck

Live Thavius Beck set coutesy of Percussion Lab. Link

Dystopian electro hop beats straight from Percussion Lab’s Mush Records Fall Tour Event

Despite the fact that everyone was lip-syncing all night (instrumentals?), this was probably the best Kool Keith show I’ve ever been to. Too bad it was billed as an Ultramagnetic MC’s show. At the end of the night, Keith brought out the rest of the group (Ced Gee, TR Love and DJ Moe Love) and wanted to send a message to all the people out there who complained about some of them missing scheduled shows. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think chillin’ on stage the whole night actually counts as “being there” to fans. Aside from all of this, the show was great. Keith performed material from his large solo catalogue as well as from the early Ultramagnetic albums. He ended the night with a hyped up performance of Poppa Large. Check out our yout*be channel for more live show footage! Oh and one more thing. The turnout was absolutely horrible. I estimated the crowd to number only around 60-70. And there were actually people leaving DURING Keith’s set! show info, yout*be channel

see also:
Ultramagnetic MC’s in NYC (10/26 @ 11:30pm)

(via)

More images over at Rolling Stones taken from book - Born in the Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip-Hop. Link

Freestyle 101 gives love to legendary West Coast hip-hopper and renown freestyler Myka Nyne (aka Mikah 9) of the equally legendary Freestyle Fellowship. Watch him do his thing! Link

Myka 9 (yes, he changed the spelling) stopped by Freestyle 101 at The Engine Room to drop science, chat about the art of the rhyme, and promote his most recent album, Citrus Sessions. This was a true freestyle in every sense of the word, as he hit on some topical subjects from news headlines (keep in mind this was taped a few months ago), name-checked some videogame consoles, and addressed some concerns with the current state of hip hop (which we had just been discussing in the lounge before rolling tape). The guy is a true artist and master of his craft. We were honored to have him.

see also:
Busdriver Gamer Freestyle (video)

E-Swift talks optimistically about the group’s future and possibly recording an album with the Xzibit, Defari, Madlib, Lootpack and others as the Likwit Crew. That would be dope. Link

Audio of Rza commenting on the samples he used from classic Kung-Fu flicks. The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter might have been the most inspiring. Link

Wired has some recent information on vinyl’s comeback and it’s impact on the compact disc’s demise. Link

Portability is no longer any reason to stick with CDs, and neither is audio quality. Although vinyl purists are ripe for parody, they’re right about one thing: Records can sound better than CDs.

Although CDs have a wider dynamic range, mastering houses are often encouraged to compress the audio on CDs to make it as loud as possible: It’s the so-called loudness war. Since the audio on vinyl can’t be compressed to such extremes, records generally offer a more nuanced sound.

Download Peddlers Of Doom by Mood ft. Talib Kweli

Lauren from Asita Recordings points us to a conversation on the la2thebay forum, in which two acclaimed yet struggling artists discuss some of the reasons why trying to stay independent with bills and no steady paper is a bitch. 2mex and Subtitle sound off a bit on their point of view. As some additional background, 2mex stirred a slight controversy earlier this year when he decided to auction verses on ebay (unverified). But he’s definitely not the only example of a hustling mc. I think we all know how Sean Price gets down. Not to mention recent mysp*ce moves by legends such as Kool G Rap and Craig G.

Should musicians be able to live off of their creations? Is it a moral necessity? Is it unethical to sell verses? Sell beats? Nah. But, if artists do not disclose what they do or talk sh*t about selling out and then fall back to selling verses or pushing Pepsi, then there’s an issue with insincerity and integrity. But I guess not everyone is looking for sincerity in their music anyway, so whatever. Oh yeah, the quote I used for the title is from a song from one of my favorite albums, Doom by Mood. Link (via Asita)

Jyeah! Not sure where this K-Def mix comes from, supposedly put together by the man himself. But who cares, over one hour of K-Def classics. Link (via)

Wax Poetics’ take on the importance of the record cover. Book set to be released for xmas. I like the artwork-to-pages ratio.

Cover Story: Album Cover Art vividly explores an element of music culture that has withered with the advent of MP3s and digital downloading. Records possess a visual as well an aural capacity for storytelling. The record cover–eye candy for the music lover–speaks a language rooted in the environment and era of the music itself. And, more intimately, a record can create a profound sense of analogy with its owner, and it’s this relationship that we share. 288 pages, with 254 album covers handpicked by 12 Wax Poetics contributors. Introduction by Dave Tompkins. On sale in December in time for Christmas.

Grandmaster Flash talks about his new album The Bridge, how his cocaine habit messed up his love life (you’ll have to cop his upcoming book for details), his love of technology and why he disagrees with Raheim of The Furious Five about not being recognized. Link

I was reading an interview with group member, Raheim, and he basically said that despite the group being inducted he feels that the group has yet to be fully recognized within the hip-hop community. Is that a point of view that you share?

No, I don’t share that [opinion]. I’m a strong believer that if you don’t continue to keep yourself public then there’s a possibility that people won’t remember you. You can’t blame the newer artists or the newer fans for not knowing where you are if you’re not around. I’m a strong believer in going to events, doing concerts, talking to people and asking them what they think.

I’m on a constant search for new music, I like to learn what the new school thinks, and I’m constantly being a servant. My gift is that I serve people musically, and for me I don’t want to be a myth or folklore.

When I read Raheim’s statement it made me think of how many artists from the first generation of hip-hoppers were often financially exploited by record labels. Do you feel as if the industry still owes you something for that exploitation?

Life is lessons and blessings. Right now, financially, I’m doing pretty well. I don’t think it’s repayment that I’m looking for; I’m looking to just be a part of this culture that we call hip-hop since I’m one of the creators. I’m not going to go around screaming for repayment, or this person owes me this, [because] that happened and it was a lesson and a blessing. I’m still here today and right now you don’t need a huge conglomerate to have a record label that can make some noise. So that’s how I’m looking at it: the possibilities and the window of opportunity are huge right now.

Press Release

Immortal Technique Benefit show for the Jena 6 in NYC - NOV.1st in the BRONX - The birthplace of Hip Hop.

Thursday, November 1, 2007 Immortal Technique will return to NYC for a Benefit Concert for the Jena 6 at Lehman College in the Bronx, the birthplace of Hip Hop. Other hip hop benefit shows to be announced.

The Benefit for Jena
6 at Lehman College will be from 6PM - 9PM at
Lovinger Theater.

Many hip hop and rap artists have spoke out in defense of the Jena 6. Immortal Technique says ‘This is a benefit show with ALL proceeds going towards the legal defense fund for the Jena 6. It is important to rally and March but it is equally, if not more important, to speak by enforcing the necessary channels for legal action.

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