via bol

leave it to DP to try and disassociate that beat from clubs and shitty mixtape freestyles, not easy.

Link

Luke Fox loves rap music. And when Fox writes about rap, he’s not musing about poetry. He’s also not adoringly worshipping idols. He simply loves the music, and he asks the questions someone who loves the music would ask. Talking to and about Ice-T, Nas, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Gang Starr, Kanye West, El-P, MF Doom, Kool G Rap, Common, and dead prez, Fox takes on the egos and the attitudes, connecting the past with the present, the pop with the peculiar. In these eleven candid interviews, Fox not only presents a small chunk of his extensive freelance career, he paints a coherent portrait of hip-hop at a crossroads, before and after the millennium.

via

According to director Daniel Hastings, this is Mos Def’s first video appearance. How many of y’all would have guessed Body Rock?

Black Star – Definition

Somewhere on Flatbush Ave Circa 1998 . . .

Dead Prez – The Root Of All Evil

Anyone have a copy of the Loud ’97 “Set Up Tape” this song is from?

Raekwon – New Wu (Dirty Version) ft. Wu-Tang Clan

Back from the slums, 12 years after shooting the pics for the Purple Tape’s cover art.

Peace to Ben from Splash!-Magazin.

their new record “Information Age” is in the making and set to release in February 2009. At the splash!-festival this summer they already performed some new songs and right after their energetic show we sat backstage with M-1 plus stic.man of DEAD PREZ and their homie Umi for an in-depth talk.

After they showed love for german-fans and the european hiphop-culture they discussed the controversy of making money by selling records on one hand and on the other hand speaking against the system. They described how Ice Cube – who was performing later that night at splash! – and N.W.A. influenced them and amongst other topics did stic.man speak about his work for Nas’ recent album and – what a surprise – Obama.

Part two after the jump

In Pt. 1, DP get grilled on their new album, their new magazine Ammo, Tupac, and the meaning of Revolutionary, But Gangster.

In Pt. 2, M1 and Stic Man talk more about the theory of RBG and how they are redefining the scene as a whole, and taking the initative to make a change.

buy tickets

Wednesday October 22, 2008

Presented By: Ghetto Metal & CMJ

Artists: WITH IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE DEAD PREZ BAZAAR ROYALE RUFF RYDER DRAG ON, M16 AND MORE…

Doors: 8pm

Age: 18+

Studio B
259 Banker St. (Btwn Meserole Ave. & Calyer St.)
Brooklyn, NY 11222

Just got an email from Ticketmaster informing me the much anticipated (at least by me) Jay Electronica show was cancelled and that I would receive a complete refund (except for the $5.10 order processing fee). Weak. Link

Peace to Tunji for the look. Link

Here’s the trailer for “Let’s Get Free: The Black August Hip Hop Project,” featuring performance and interview footage from Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, dead prez and more.

The Black August Hip Hop Project strives to promote human rights though supporting and influencing the global development of Hip Hop culture. By facilitating exchanges between international communities where Hip Hop is a vital part of youth culture, they promote awareness about the social and political issues that affect our global communities. Their vision is to bring culture and politics together and to allow them to naturally evolve into a unique Hip Hop consciousness that informs our collective struggle for a more just, equitable and human world. This film documents the movement through a series of interviews and performances with hip hop artists and key members of the black activist movement.

Another flyer for the show. link, show info

Count me in. If you didn’t know, Jay is a Dead Prez fan. Peace to LiveNdirect and OnSmash. Check the alternative Hip Hop, Not Hipster flyer after the jump.

Jay Electronica
Dead Prez
Ced Hughes

October 1st
Le Poisson Rouge
158 Bleeker St NYC
10pm

Always appreciate nice camera work. Visit Rachel Crick’s site for a taste of her work including coverage of Rock The Bells Denver (Nas, Method Man, Redman, Tha Pharcyde and more), the Iraqi Veterans Against War protest concert (featuring Flobots, The Coup, and Rage Against The Machine) and new portraits of M1 from Dead Prez, Opio of Hieroglyphics and Rosa Clemente – Vice Presidential candidate for The Green Party. Thank you Rachel.

Stic Man and M1 of Dead Prez are performing at rallies in Denver during the Democratic National Convention this week. They were interviewed on Democracy Now! this morning and commented on Obama’s team embracing hip hop. They come in at about 18min into the show, transcript below. via Democracy Now!, mp3 / video

Rush Transcript
The Brooklyn-based political hip-hop group dead prez was not among those artists invited inside to perform at the DNC, like Kanye West, Wyclef Jean and Black Eyed Peas. But the duo of M1 and stic.man is here in Denver performing at rallies and evening political gatherings. And they seemed right at home among the crowds in the Denver streets.

M1: Their political objectives are limited, and we know that they are surface, surface. We’re looking at a government who’s a paper tiger and someone who wants to participate in a paper democracy.

JEREMY SCAHILL: What do you make of this major embrace, as it seems, not just of hip-hop, but the whole entertainment industry, of the Obama camp?

STIC.MAN: It’s lack of understanding, the lack of political clarity, you know what I mean? And it’s marketing, you know what I mean? It’s like Barack is hot. He’s, you know—he’s the [blank] right now, so throw him on your jacket, you know what I mean? And, you know, it ain’t really deep. It’s just people riding the wave, you know what I mean? And that’s what hip-hop is being used for, is, you know, to sell products, to sell [blank] to us, stuff [blank] down our throat that might not necessarily be good for us. So some of the hip-hop people, you know, who do hip-hop, and this is our culture, we have to speak from the vantage point of people who want real power. And hip-hop is part of that. Barack wouldn’t even be in the position he’s in without the support of hip-hop. You know, and we—

JEREMY SCAHILL: So are you guys going to vote?

M1: Hell no.

STIC.MAN: Yeah, yeah, I’m going to vote.

M1: OK, cool.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Who are you going to vote for?

STIC.MAN: I mean, I’m voting with my art.

M1: Yeah.

STIC.MAN: I’m voting with my participation in rallies like this. I’m voting—you know what I mean?—in raising my son, you know what I mean, to recognize the truth about this system. I’m voting in so many ways, I don’t even got time to go to the booth in November.

M1: I’m voting for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Free ’em all. Feel me.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Dead prez joined with the protesters as they defied orders not to march directly on the Pepsi Center. The procession was led by Vietnam vet Ron Kovic, whose life story was made into the movie Born on the Fourth of July. Kovic, who led the march in his wheelchair, and the others refused to go into the so-called free speech zone, a caged-in area that has become a common feature of these political conventions.

Side A by CV

Shabazz The Disciple f/ Dead Prez – Scattered People
Shyheim – Bottom Up
Bishop Lamont – Donkey Kong Savage
Emily Rugburn – Girl Scout Cookie Puss
Kool Keith – Stephen King
Lodeck + Omega One – No Rims
Coherent Motion – Fairytales Beneath The Ice
LMNO feat. Killa Sha & Grand Daddy IU – Payback
Matt Gamin – Dirty Water Lounge
Dextah – Unreleased Instrumental
Hi Fidel and Dj Crucial – the deer hunter
Dj D-Styles Live in SF
Anonymous Inc. (Ceshi Ramos, David Ramos, Max Heath, and others) – Frank Propose (live in nyc)

Side B by Ming-Tzu

Nas – Queens Get The Money (Prod. By Jay Electronica)
Rza as Bobby Digital – Drama
Immortal Technique – The 3rd World Live
Cormega Performing New Material Live Part One
Craig G + Marley Marl – The Day The Music Died
Cappadonna – You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down Live
Qwel & Kip Killagain – Agape Rain
Rza as Bobby Digital – Untitled Track
Cormega Performing New Material Live Part Two
The Beatnuts Performing New Material Live
Immortal Technique Acapella Live

You can catch Boots of The Coup this Sunday at the Bronx Museum with Immortal Technique, M1 of Dead Prez, Hassan Salaam and others. Info, via

This event should be dope. Please check it out and spread the word!