Album Review: Young Zee x Mr. Green - One Crazy Weekend

Mr. Green has been steadily building his legacy by working with underground heroes and members of the Outsidaz crew, of 90's Golden Era fame. Gaining attention from his work with Pace Won (2 albums, one of which is yet to be released) and most recently with Young Zee. Calling the project One Crazy Weekend, Green hooks the beats up with some old school chops and Young Zee drops his mixture of grown man talk and goofball/tough guy talk for a modern take of a throwback sound.

Stand out tracks for me are: Chillin with my kids, I love it, Weird, Home Town and Those Dayz.

Check out the promo video for "I Love It" below and stay tuned for more from both Green and Zee!

 

Fine Art Friday: July 6, 2012

STUDIO CROMIE: FASHION x NATURE



I Don't typically talk about fashion or textiles on the site, but the idea of taking the city around me (us, everyone) and putting the things that inspire us directly onto a t-shirt is intriguing. I have always been a fan and amateur photographer of interesting textures of rusty metal, mold stains, faded paint and other time lapsed elements that are present in nature and cities everyday. This video from Studio Cromie, of Italy's FAME fest, gives me a bunch of cool ideas about doing exactly that. They took city walls and textures from the city of Grottaglie (Italy) and turned them into some better-than-your-average shirt patterns. Click the studio link to see more.



IGOR MORSKI


Polish artist and illustrator Igor Morski keeps churning out surreal images that are both crystal clear and ambiguous in subject. If you like Dali or Magritte, you should like these modern abstractions of the concepts of both those artists. These seem like good album covers for some spacey, instrumental music, but are fun to look at for a while to figure it out, if at all possible.

LUSH: GRAFFITI ARTIST AND ANGRY GUY


LUSH, a graf artist from Melbourne, Australia, seems to go to great lengths to offend and "piss off" people with attitude and offensive statements and images. He likes to be clever and come off as the anti-artist, but some of his work I find pretty interesting. I always support dissent against everything and when it is done in creative ways, I appreciate it that much more. Not all of his work is stuff that I like (who's really is) but here are some samples of his work that hints at the inner-skeptic mentality of his work. Click the tumblr link here to see more.

Video: Planet Earth

All the special effects in the world and Hype Williams slow-motion in the world could not top the awesome shots of Earth captured from the International Space Station. Best use of the xx track "intro" that I have seen or heard so far. I hope I can see the planet from this perspective myself one day.

Hip Hop Education

Words, Beats & Life, Inc. is a great Hip Hop non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. They provide after-school programs in break dancing, graffiti and mural arts, theatre, journalism, and strategy games (checkers and chess) among other things. I worked with them years ago and continue to contribute to the mission with donations and volunteering when possible. If you care about the upcoming generation of kids who are growing up in a world with less exposure to the "roots of hip hop" and positive role models in their lives, you should check out WBL and lend a hand if possible.

They are hosting a Teach-In this weekend called REMIXING THE ART OF SOCIAL CHANGE at Howard university in DC with guests like Kool Herc and David Banner hosting guest lectures about community involvement and awareness of social justice themes that impact the daily lives of youth in America and worldwide.

Thirstin Howl the 3rd: Jail Recipes

 I can't figure out why this man doesn't have his own cooking show after watching this, as I would stay glued to any food-related show with this much "flavor" (pun intended). It seems like a Chappelle Show skit gone wild, but Thirstin Howl, a legend of the hip hop underground Rawkus era, holds it down with in-depth and comical instructions on how to cook food on a budget, or in your Riker's Island jail cell....something for everybody.

Many more recipes and music videos available on the Thirstin Howl - Youtube Channel.

To see what Thirstin and his crew have been up to lately, check out this latest music video below with the 33rd and the 3rd crew. Not his strongest work, but I appreciate the bi-lingual flow that he brings to the table and his support of Spanish hip hop big or small:

Nas ft. Large Professor - Loco-Motive

Nas finishes up his recent leak-fest with another "Life Is Good" feature with LArge professor that has hints of "NY State of Mind" soundscapes and ultimately dedicated to all of the "trapped in the '90s niggas." Please let the rest of the album sound like this "classic" Nas we all know is hidden in the background.

Pusha T & Kanye West - New God Flow

Pusha T x Kanye West bringing some 2012 boom bap drums for his new single "NEW GOD FLOW". This is the type of track that I'm sure will be blasting out of cars all summer for anyone trying to avoid the Young Money pollution clogging up the airways. I am not the biggest fan of everything G.O.O.D. Music releases but this is more listenable then the euro-pop dance-a-thon currently all over "rap" radio. Check it to wreck it! Click the link on the title to download

SABZI - Yesler: Townfolk Series

Sabzi, of Common Market and Blue Scholars face, continues to bless the world with instrumental projects with steady regularity. He always supplies chill, downtempo, often grimey beats that play like background music at a hip hop and jazz night club. Sabzi has tons of music floating around the web (Bandcamp, etc.) so check out the most recent project above and check for more if you like it.

Album Review: Oddisee - People Hear What They See

Following Oddisee's career as a background player for Jazzy Jeff's The Magnificent to underground Berry Gordy of the beats, he has never seemed to lose his ability to impress with each new venture. From his Odd season mixes of instrumental and international collabos to rocking as 1/3 of the D.C. boom bap squad Diamond District to his now official solo debut, Oddisee always brings a true artistic vision to his projects. His latest release People Hear What They See looks like (the cover art) the flyer for a museum retrospective of an artist in his prime and the sound seems to fit that bill well. 


The standout tracks for me are "Ready to Rock"and "That Real" among others. Oddisee always combines the unpolished sounds of gritty music over boom bap drums so well that sometimes I forget to listen to the lyrics as anything other than another sound playing in the background. His southern drawl and more conscious lyrics combine to show a mature B-Boy on his global grind and I seem to make it through the entire album without needing to skip any songs or interludes. This is always a good thing, as it reminds me of the days when people cared about the whole album as a piece of art and not the compilation of producers and guest feature-fest that is the norm of todays rapper.


You can check out the Onion AV club review below and follow links to his Bandcamp and blogspot pages for more info.


Onion AV Club review 


Check out more Oddisee at his blog

Purchase new music by Oddisee and other Mello Music Group members on Bandcamp