Check out footage of the masked supervillain performing “Vomitspit” from his album “Mm.. Food” for further evidence. Look for Expektoration Live Featuring Big Benn Klingon September 14th on Gold Dust.
Volume 4 of Superior Belly‘s Spill Out Series, Progress Report, a 7″ vinyl release has dropped. Progress Report is a collaboration by Detroit-based hip-hop artists D. Allie (U.S.M) and Eddie Logix (Midcoast Most). A 3-song single is available on I-Tunes.
Roughly 2.5 million people call the El Paso/ Ciudad Juárez border their home. Every day people from Juárez come across the border to go to school and work. People who live state-side may have family back in Juárez. Some-how, everything seems to be connected. There is a lot of history and culture… a lot of life. Statistically El Paso is one of the safest cities in the United States. Ciudad Juárez has been publicly recognized as the most dangerous city in North America. The level of corruption and violence surrounding the drug war, politics and social issues are almost indescribable. Over 28,000 people have died in drug related violence. This year alone there has already been over 1,700. If you turn on the TV or search the web, all you see is tragedy.
A few months ago I had a conversation with a new friend about creating something reflecting the people and the social issues surrounding the El Paso and Ciudad Juárez borderland. We wanted to bring people together to raise awareness of the other side of things. We wanted people to see the beauty and inspiration within the people here and how they could affect the world around them by simply realizing that there is another side to things. Or at least kinda of remind them. People seemed to relate to the idea.
The images and video featured in this article document a series of events involving many people from both sides of the border that spawned from the conversation over a period of several months; including a photo-journalist journey into Juárez and community protest walk, as well as a short documentary creative film project featuring a collaboration of local artists.
This past Saturday, we invited the community to come out to join us to celebrate life, reflect on the idea that creativity and expression can change the way we see the world that surrounds us and to bring peace. The event, “Semilla De La Paz” featured the artwork of Cimi and Victor Casas, as well as a collaborative piece created by local artists, and raise money for Hands of Love and Hope, a charity in Juárez dedicated to providing food and shelter to area orphans. There was some amazing art, music, and people.
*Featured artists:
Arturo Arce
Fernie “GFX” Fernandez Werc Gera Lozano
Frank Rosales
Luis House
Shedrick Allen
A lot of people have been involved with “Semillas De La Paz” in some way or another. This wouldn’t have been possible without them. I’d like to give a special thanks to everybody at the San Carlos Building (especially Koi Studio Productions and The Root Yoga Studio), Arturo and Ellisa Arce (Hellpaso), Celisse Villagrana, EP Culture Beat, everybody involved in The Green Beans Project, Sons of Villa, Rafa Pistola and The Immigrant Noise, Christina Velia Gurrola. Not to mention, Sonic Ranch Studios, L&P Scientific Consulting, Klothes Lime Fashion who sponsored the movement. Thank you to anyone that I’ve missed. If you do not have an understanding of the issues surrounding the violence in Juarez and the rest of Mexico, please take a moment to search Google. There is a good amount of information out there.
The video for El-P’s “Time Won’t Tell” is inspired by a childhood memory of director Shan Nicholson, who grew up in the “Old New York” during a time when necessity often bred creativity. This video depicts a young boy innocently finding a way to embrace his imagination amid an urban wasteland. El-P’s all instrumental album Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 is out now.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a Washington DC-based marijuana advocacy group, has partnered with jam-based dub rock heavyweights Slightly Stoopid and hip-hop juggernauts Cypress Hill on the Legalize It 2010 tour for a YouTube based video contest to raise awareness for California’s Prop 19, the initiative to regulate and tax marijuana. The initiative will be on the California ballot November 2nd, 2010 and its passage would be a historic step forward in the fight to end marijuana prohibition and legalize marijuana nationwide..
NORML, Slightly Stoopid, and Cypress Hill invite US residents to create 30-60 second videos of themselves answering the question, “What could California do with the revenue generated from taxing marijuana?” Participants are to upload their entries to YouTube with the tag “YesOnProp19.” Members of both bands and representatives from NORML will personally pick one grand prize winner and two runner-ups from a selection of the most viewed, rated, and commented upon videos. Prizes include a personal phone call from B-Real, a limited edition Slightly Stoopid vaporizer, a framed autographed tour poster, a free one-year membership to NORML, plus more. Winners’ videos will be shared on all the partners’ social network profiles. For official contest rules visit: http://bit.ly/aGYsJx
Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 (www.taxcannabis.org), will give local governments the ability to tax the sale of up to one ounce of marijuana for recreational purposes to adults age 21 and older. According to the Board of Equalization (BOE), California’s tax regulator, controlling and taxing marijuana in California could generate $1.4 billion in much needed revenue each year.
Here’s something brand new. Magestik Legend just dropped the official video for “All Eye Know,” of his current project “To Be Continued Vol. 1 (hosted by T3 of Slum Village). The concept for the video was created by Magestik Legend and Gerard Victor. The video features Buff1, T3, T Calmese (iLLite), Fes Roc & more.
A stop motion movie with no digital effects at all, everything is handmade. About 5000 pictures are processed with an average by 15 pictures per second. The music is by Pretty Lights from Denver, Colorado.
Official video for “Delilah” from Rakaa’s IDilated Peoples) upcoming solo debut album, Crown Of Thorns available everywhere on 7/20 via Decon. “Delilah” was produced by Evidence, video directed by Yoram Benz.
Faith 47, South Africa-based female graffiti artist, just recently completed a body of works inspired by The Freedom Charter. Check out this short video produced by Rowan Pybus featuring the body of artwork. The images below were recently shown as part of the South African group show at The Mu Space in Eindhoven, Holland as well as the Focus10 Contemporary African Art Event in Basel, Switzerland.
As most heads have already heard, Rammellzee has passed away. According to his wife, Carmela Zagari Rammellzee, he passed away from a long illness. Today we received a email from Uncommon Records, a small non-related independent label including a podcast of an old interview with Rammellzee from a few years ago. Even though many blogs and sites around the world have already posted information about this tragic loss we thought that this interview was worth sharing. This interview touched base on the beginnings of hip-hop, the evolution of his career and played a bunch of his music including some stuff that was not released at the time. He also dropped a super abstract freestyle at the end of the show.
The tracks featured are:
1. Beat Bop (Original Version) feat. K-Rob {End portion}
2. New Meaning (Japanese Import)
3. Jamming Zabar (Bi-Connicals of The Rammellzee)
4. Quack (Bi Connicals of The Rammellzee)
5. Caution (Unreleased, from Bill Laswell project features Buckethead on Gtr)
6. This Was My School Bag (Unreleased from forthcoming “Gothic Futurism” LP)
Rammellzee, pronounced “Ram: Ell: Zee” was a visual artist, graffiti writer, performance artist, rap/hip-hop musician, art theoretician and sculptor from New York. Rammellzee’s graffiti and art work are based on his theory of Gothic Futurism, which describes the battle between letters and their symbolic warfare against any standardizations enforced by the rules of the alphabet. Rammellzee first became known in graffiti circles in the late 1970s for hitting the A train and other lines around Queens with his signature spiky lettering.
Rammellzee was also instrumental as one of the original hip hop artists from the New York area who introduced specific vocal styles which date back to the early 1980s. His influence can still be heard in contemporary artists such as The Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill. Over the years he worked with a wide range of artists outside of the hip-hop industry such as Buckethead, NIN, Iggy Pop, and Bootsy Collins.
Please take a listen to the interview. Do some research if you’re not familiar with what he is talking about. R.I.P.
Before all the hype about “DOOM-posters,” MF DOOM was regarded as one of hip-hop’s finest live performers, delivering flawless versions of his tongue twisting rhymes while ratcheting up the energy behind his deadpan delivery. Expektoration returns the focus to DOOM’s live abilities, showcasing the artist at his best.
“It’s always good to be home,” announces rapper MF DOOM to a New York crowd on the new live album Expektoration feat. Big Benn Klingon, Gold Dust, September 14 2009. “It’s like a big-ass family reunion in here.”
For over 20 years, MF DOOM has existed on his own planet in the hip-hop universe, entertaining and confounding listeners with his unique mix of playful samples, outrageous showmanship, and esoteric lyrical references.
Lost amid all the talk of imposters and substitutes is the rapper’s own innate ability to rock a crowd. Broken up into two acts, complete with intermission, Act 1 draws mainly from 2004′s MM..FOOD and Madvillainy, the latter of which Pitchfork called “one of the most anticipated releases in underground rap history” and “inexhaustibly brilliant.” DOOM breathes new life into tracks like Food’s “Kon Karne” and Madvillainy’s “Accordion,” constantly working the crowd while never letting his intricate, tongue-tying rhymes get the best of him live.
After a “Star Trek”-themed intermission (Don’t ask. Just listen.), the man behind Vaudeville Villain, Born Like This and Unexpected Guests revisits his 1999 debut solo album Operation: Doomsday on Act II. “Hey!”, which deftly flips the theme song from “Scooby Doo” and has become one of the rapper’s best-known tracks, dovetails right into the smooth “Rhymes Like Dimes” for a balance of the absurd and soulful. Listen closely at times and you’ll hear the audience recite every lyric along with the emcee. Also included on Act II are the 2003 single “Change the Beat” and an appearance by DOOM’s alter ego King Geedorah on “The Fine Print.”
While nothing can replace the live experience, Expektoration offers the best mix of DOOM’s intense and sustained energy with joyful absurdity (the opening shots are a man stating, “Expectoration, or spitting, is a common side effect of speaking Klingon. Until you are used to it, keep a napkin or handkerchief nearby.”)
Dres of Black Sheep also celebrates with a video for the song, “For The Record” from the new album. Shot on a rooftop at sunset in New York City, it brings a sense of peacefulness over the song. Especially with a clear and pleasant piano melody on top of the beat, one would believe that it is just a quiet song with little to say. However, says Dres, “‘For The Record’ is a quiet song that speaks loudly and also is me giving a little backhand to the powers that be,” continuing, “I don’t see them moving in the best interest of the people. I’m just shining a little light on the situation.”
The song “Top Kill” and the accompanying protest video against British Petroleum is a project by New York City musicians and film-makers (www.bpyourheartisblack.com). It is dedicated to humanity’s endless struggle to overcome mass insanity, and to the global community victimized by the greatest act of theft in recorded history.
Planned as a performance art piece by New York’s blues-rock band Electric Black, the Flash Protest at the BP station on Houston and Lafayette on May 28th turned out to be the largest of its kind. Earlier that week the band, joining forces with activist group CodePink, took the streets with 7000 flyers. With no time to procure a protest permit, a few mobilized many.
“We organized this protest with the intention of creating a multimedia performance piece aimed to fan the fires of outrage against BP, TransOcean, and Halliburton, and so spread consciousness about this abomination,” says organizer and lead singer of Electric Black Johnny B. With the support of accomplished film-makers and artists such as Shoja Azari, Nariman Hamid, and Tommy Mokas, a powerful protest video was turned around in 48 hours.
The works vent our frustration and encourages others to do so as well. Though the feeling amongst most people seems to be of a helpless paralysis, such attitudes are counterproductive in the effort to punish the companies responsible, and attempt to prevent future acts of catastrophic negligence.
Volume 4 of Superior Belly‘s Spill Out Series, Progress Report, a 7″ vinyl release has dropped. Progress Report is a collaboration by Detroit-based hip-hop artists D. Allie (U.S.M) and Eddie Logix (Midcoast Most). A 3-song single is available on I-Tunes. 
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a Washington DC-based marijuana advocacy group, has partnered with jam-based dub rock heavyweights Slightly Stoopid and hip-hop juggernauts Cypress Hill on the Legalize It 2010 tour for a YouTube based video contest to raise awareness for California’s Prop 19, the initiative to regulate and tax marijuana. The initiative will be on the California ballot November 2nd, 2010 and its passage would be a historic step forward in the fight to end marijuana prohibition and legalize marijuana nationwide..
Before all the hype about “DOOM-posters,” MF DOOM was regarded as one of hip-hop’s finest live performers, delivering flawless versions of his tongue twisting rhymes while ratcheting up the energy behind his deadpan delivery. Expektoration returns the focus to DOOM’s live abilities, showcasing the artist at his best.
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