Video: Hezekiah X Thomas Clay - "Poppin' Fly"

Produced by JR and PH7, and featured on their newest album The Good Life, "Poppin Fly" is a feel good joint for the end of Summer and is a nice soulful introduction to the laid back concept behind the entire album. Jr and PH& are a production duo via Germany that have been putting out consistent records with underground giants like Little Brother, Sean Price, Skyzoo, Strange Fruit Project and many others over the last few years, and this album continues that trend with features and guest spots from fellow Soulspazm Records artists and other underground stand-outs.

Grab it on 2LP/CD or on itunes here: http://bit.ly/JRandPH7GoodLife‬ Support quality music!

Fine Art Friday: Hugo Gellert

I had a chance to see a retrospective of Hugo Gellert at the Mary Ryan Gallery in New York a few weeks ago and though I had never seen his work before, I was impressed at how colorful and oddly relevant the subject matter was despite being done in the 40's, 50's and 60's.

Video: J. Bizness - "Giraffes" ft. The Black Opera

Since dropping his instrumental album Flight Plan back in August, J. Bizness has built a buzz around his spacey, mellow tracks and inspired label mates The Black Opera to write some rhymes over one of his beats. The results of that collaboration was the video and song called "Giraffes," a dark dedication to life with addiction. Check it out here and see if you know anyone in your life with the same issues...I know I do.

Video: Sabzi - "Phở Life"

Sabzi, of Blue Scholars fame, introduces a fun Phở anthem on behalf of the many good Phở spots in the Northwest (Seattle). For those who don;t know, Phở is a famed Vietnamese beef broth dish with noodles and meat and other Southeast Asian spices, veggies and flavors. The bulk of the Phở I have had has been in Laos, but most of the spots in the U.S. are Vietnamese. Grab a bowl or try a Bahn Mi sandwich and try some cultural food for once in your life!

This is more of a fun-loving ode to good food, but not the auto-tune thugs or techno rap poison on the radio and I'm always glad to see someone being honest in their music.

You can contribute to the cause of a well meaning MC (mostly producer) from the Northwest.


SUPPORT THE KICKSTARTER HERE
‪http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/townfolk/pho-life‬

Listen: Mr. Dibbs - "Deadworld Reborn"

Help Mr. Dibbs help his friend's family and pay tribute to all good friends everywhere by supporting his newest project (click this link) Deadworld Reborn. If you are not familiar with Dibbs, he is the hardcore turntablist extraordinaire for the Rhymesayers crew and a big supporter of midwest, homegrown hip hop. He suffered some health scares in recent years but even in the face of that agony, he still found inspiration from the folks around him to press on. Help him give his friend a proper send off and do the right thing. To quote the man himself, check the supporting text below:

"Holed up in the hospital for a few weeks, I was an inadvertent resident of an impromptu hip hop retirement home. Battling leukemia on the floor above me was my longtime friend Marcus “Skandal da Ruckus Man” Mitchell. An epic MC and producer, of equally epic bodily proportions, Skandal’s heart was big, but his production skills and lyrical largesse were even bigger. I dragged my sometimes half-incoherent ass, IV and all, down the hallways and into the elevator to visit my homie. The nurses always thought I was lost. Fuck that. 

I was FOUND…in the strong lifeline we’ve all come to know and love as Skandal. He was my pusher man…keep on pushin’, Dibbs, until you get to the other side of you. 

Skandal lost his life in October this year. I have memories for days of him, but there will be no more new ones. I don’t get to have that again. I don’t get to have those phone conversations with him or watch stupid-ass movies or videos on YouTube and laugh about it. You don’t miss that shit, until that shit’s not there. I got lucky. I would trade my life for his any day. I wish I could be like that dude. He made me feel important enough for me to be reborn. I am doing it. I am doing it now. 

And so I’m giving you Deadworld Reborn…because this man gave me back my fucking life. 

And with that, I want to give his family back their lives…and a return to normalcy. All proceeds from this album are going directly to Skandal’s family and young daughter Chloe. Pay what you can…Skandal sure did." 

Listen: Karriem Riggins - "Alone Together"

Karriem Riggins, the secret drumming ingredient behind many of the late J. Dilla's beat projects, has emerged from the shadows of the music industry to introduce his music to the masses. Riggins has been a background player (drums and drum programming) on many of the the Neo-soul artists staple albums from the late 90's and some varied projects in the 2000's like features with Madlib, Erykah Badu, Common, and Slum Village (among others) that involved some of the more creative and experimental hip hop of the decade with his drum programming and involvement.

His debut official album is called "Alone Together" and is being released by underground powerhouse Stones Throw. It features 34 tracks of Riggins mixing his influences and paying tribute to the artists that supported him all these years. Sampel the tracks on the ST website and learn what one of the unspoken heroes of the ast decade of hip hop has been up to.