Saber Fights For the Arts

This past weekend, Saber took the skies of NYC to launch his "Defend The Arts" campaign through a series of sky writing messages like the one above. His aim was to confront Mitt Romney's desire to cut funding from the arts and apparently turn us all into business men. Though the impact of Saber's action may be hard to measure, it is certainly more interesting to see than a cheesy TV commercial.

 Follow SABER and his campaign here. Video footage below:

Fine Art Friday: Chris Mars

Though this post seems more fitting for the upcoming Halloween holiday next month, the work of Chris Mars is always fascinating to me. His work seems to be a more illustrative approach to the style of Ivan Albright (hyper-realistic textures of bumpy flesh) but the Fall weather always makes me think of his work. He is also a musician, most recently creating a fundraiser piano piece for a friends medical costs. Maybe because we both are from the middle of the country and into music and art, but there is a kindrid spirit in his work and I am always checking for more.

Listen: Bumpy Knuckles and Statik Selektah - Ambition

Perennial Hip Hop tough guy and legendary emcee Bumpy Knuckles continues his flurry of activity with a new "one artist, one producer" project, this time with underground tastemaker Statik Selektah. The project, called "Ambition" showcases the quality mix of throwback, soul chops on the beats and Bumpy's "slap you to death" rhymes and ushers in another classic nod to the "pure underground hip-hop magic" of rap's Golden Era, and helping hold ground for the "real hip-hop" that seems to be less and less on the radar these days. I haven't heard it yet, but off the strength of their combined catalogs, I will check it out.

VIDEO PREVIEW BELOW (after the jump)

Video: Beneficence ft. Masta Ace and Total Eclipse - "Rock On"

I just came across this video and had to click on it because of features from Masta Ace and Total Eclipse (a guest you never see) for this track "Rock On" from Beneficence. A new project from the longtime Artifacts affiliate, Ill Adrenaline Records and Fat Beats teams, entitled "Concrete Soul", out on Oct. 30 and features additional guest appearances from Billy Danze (of M.O.P.), Roc Marciano, A.G. (of D.I.T.C.), Grap Luva, Rob-O, Rampage The Last Boy Scout, El Da Sensei and production from Buckwild (of D.I.T.C.), K-Def, Confidence (of Rashad and Confidence), Da Beatminerz, Gensu Dean, 12 Finger Dan, Presto and the Molemen (Chicago). The who's who mix of Golden Era greats and modern underground stars should make for a solid album to support the more mellow style of Beneficence.

Interview: Young Guru - MPC University

Thanks to the crew over at ProducersIKnow, I came across this demo and tutorial by Young Guru of Roc-a-Fella fame. I am not usually in the mode to present tutorials, but with Akai's recent relaunch of the MPC called the Renaissance (finally competing with Maschine) and Young Guru's simple steps to beat making as part of MPC University, I figured all of the production nerds out there (me included) might jump at the chance to watch Young Guru share some knowledge. Check it out above and see if you too can build some original beats and beat up a newer version of the MPC.

PART 2 after the jump

Read: Boom Bap Can't Die - Amir Sa'id

Just peeped a good article from Amir Sa'id of BeatTips.com called "Boom Bap Can't Die, It's In The DNA". He makes a lot of great points about the use of sampling and crate digging and how it impacts the modern Hip Hop landscape. Check it out and do your research on the "so-called" gatekeepers of success and how you can help keep the culture alive.

"My name is LuvJonez and I am a Boop Bap-aholic."