been listening to Jazz Liberatorz on my day off. DJ Damage, Dusty, and Madhi make up the trio of beatmakers from Meaux, France. revisited the Clin d’oeil album from 2007... just had to share.



"Vacation" featuring J-Live


"Indonesia" featuring Tableek (Maspyke)


"Speak The Language"

buttonpusha posted the first and now here's the 2nd promo video for Damu The Fudgemunk's 2 volume release "How It Should Sound"... dig the short video below which features Damu kickin a rhyme over his beat. Yeah, he rhymes too.
off wonkabeats.com "How It Should Sound, Volume 1 & 2: Available April 13th 2010
The digital version may arrive a lil sooner..."

Keep Company makes the fresh shoes. Inspired by Korean house shoes, they come with the nice material and color selection. Not only are these fly but they are really easy on the pockets too. Swing by THE DEUCE and check the new drop...

Marco Polo and Ruste Juxx drop their album "the eXXecution" today. Here's a video of Marco Polo putting together a beat off the album. Watch as he digs for breaks and talks a little about some new methods while still sticking to the formula. dig it...

This is THE DEUCE. Located in the heart of Little India, it's in the middle of some of the best eat spots in the 562. In the same building that Gwen Stefani used to get her eyebrows threaded; its not uncommon to run into celebs walking up and down the street. The focus here is top brands like Stussy, Fresh Jive, 10 Deep, Bloodbath, Acrylick, Hellz Bellz, Dime Peice and more. Plus customer service that makes you feel like your kickin' it with the homies. Say Peace to Shaan, Richie, T.J. and Mark when you step in.

Check out what people are coming up with. Record packaging that doubles as a record player! Could this be a new step in marketing music? You decide...

Im not gonna say what you think imma say. This is a dope beat period. Not just because a girl is getting busy here but because it sounds dope. We need to see more of this! Plus she is rockin' some hardware!

Just got word that Hip Hop producer/DJ Nujabes (Seba Jun) passed away at the end of last month after a car accident in Tokyo. Nujabes was a dope producer with a jazzy, soulful style and known for his projects Hydeout Productions Collections 1 and 2 with guest MCs such as Apani, Shing02, Pase Rock, and CL Smooth to name a few. Here's what Shing02 wrote about Nujabes. Dig the sounds and may his music live on...

Nujabes featuring CL Smooth "Sky Is Falling"

Damu is raisin' his catalog bars. With a handful of solid projects, here comes another one. I thought that he came with an appropriate title for this joint. Keep an eye out for it and peep him here.

"the most beautifullest vocabulist..." KEITH MURRAY will be at Zanzibar in Santa Monica this Sunday. also performing will be Fashawn & Exile and BP & ODDS. click here for the flier, info, and to purchase presale tix. now dig Dilla's remix of The Rhyme. he keeps it jiggy jiggy jiggy jiggy!

Black Star video off Mos Def's The Ecstatic. Dig how directors Coodie & Chike brought that vintage feel for the Dilla-produced joint entitled "History"

came across these cats when their album dropped a year ago. JR&PH7 out of Germany got that sound... with a strong team of Emcee features such as Oddisee, Edo.G, Kev Brown, Planet Asia, Skyzoo to name a few... The Standard got me saying "Germany's doin it right."



check the joint with Edo.G entitled "Hip Hop Lives"... maybe the song title's a little corny, but the song is no-question, some dope shit. check how they catered the beat for Edo.:

JR&PH7 featuring Edo.G "Hip-Hop Lives"


JR&PH7 featuring Oddisee "Fast Lane Speedin'"


now, peep the video for the joint with Guilty Simpson and Black Milk.

as we all know, DJ Babu has been keeping his followers laced up with herb-induced stop-motion shorts he's been putting together to promote his Beat Tape Vol. 2 which is in stores now. rollin cones of quality herb (shout out to the Bloom Doctors).
so peep #11: "On My New York Shit"

glad I found this video today. Pete Rock and Sadat X off Sadat's forthcoming album Wild Cowboys 2 set to drop March 23rd. hype beat and both Sadat and Pete Rock gettin open on the rhymes. peep the cameos too.

Peep 45 King doing what he does. Live on Scion Radio...

the SP-1200 is a classic drum machine and sampler released in August 1987 by E-mu Systems, Inc. as an update of the SP-12, which was originally created for dance music producers. It became famed for its gritty texture and ability to simulate the "warmth" of vinyl recordings. It is the weapon of choice for producers like Pete Rock and Large Professor to name a few. With only 10 seconds of sample time, it "forced" producers to develop creative techniques. One of these techniques is to sample at a high pitch (45 rpm) in order to grab whole loops. I actually had one of these at one time when my boy Overflow put me on to it. It's very primitive but I can see why producers would gravitate towards such a machine. Not only does the sound knock but the simplicity of its workflow can work to a producer's advantage.

Oddisee is one of the most prolific producers in the game. Peep this informative interview of him breaking down his production style, influences and the meaning behind the name. Not only is he a beast on the beats but he is also a thoughtful MC. With a passion for beat and rhymes following in the same vein of Diamond D, Large Pro, Pete Rock and Jay Dee; Oddisee is a promising artist for hip hop.

Saw these on the Mash website. For all you riders out there, check these joints out. Got these on the list on things to cop:

Is a Dublab project that includes 4 of L.A.'s most talented producers. J-Rocc, Nobody, Daedalus and Ras G are given some loot to dig up some second hand sounds from various Out the Closet thrift shops around Los Angeles. This DVD documents the process of reinventing music through sound recycling. Then what happens is they press up the beats onto vinyl along with original artwork and then its put back into those same thrift shops. The DVD is available now but you can watch it for free this week. Its being streamed on DUBLAB.





Here are the pics of the limited pressings:

Going green is the new cool.  Everyday, you can see more and more people hopping on bikes.  One problem with riding bikes is the lack of ability to carry things.  This is when INCASE steps in with innovative "carrying solutions."

Peep the courier collection.

One of the most functional pieces is the MESSENGER HIP PACK.  

It features:

1680D nylon construction

Easy-access waterproof zipper

Interior zippered pocket

Custom Topo print lining

Plush faux-fur lined iPhone slip pocket

Belt loops and tuck-away waist belt

U-lock holder

Everybody knows this font. You see it everywhere. It is coined as "one of the most pervasive fonts of the modern era." Everything from road signs to your government tax documents is typed out with this font. Why? The answer is simple. Helvetica strips away the unnecessary and acts solely on the function of legibility. 

Gary Hustwit released a film that pays homage to the history of this font. Make sure you check out HELVETICA to learn more about its creation.

We all know K-Def from his production on Lords of The Underground, The Artifacts, and Positive K to name a few. I've been bumpin his 2008 instrumental release "Beats From the 90's vol. 1" and I'm still impressed by his production. Dig the following video of his remix of Nonchalant's "5'O Clock". DOPENESS!


check the website: http://www.kdef.biz

I remember being a teenager in 1996, just starting to freestyle over albums (totally new to me and my west coast ears which included a few of the following). I didn't see these videos back then, I just heard the joints from friends and older cats who knew the deal. So dig a few albums and videos from one of the greatest years in Hip Hop: 1994...


We'll start it like this... Nasty Nas in your area... I was about to post a dope-yet-obvious video like "Halftime" until I stumbled onto this. it's a promo video promoting Illmatic before it was released. It got Q-Tip, Large Pro, Pete Rock, and Premiere, all talking about their respective songs on the joint... '94 was like this





CRUSH-KILL-DESTROY-STRESS... one of my personal favorite groups.









Just a short disclaimer cause I know the following joint wasn't on the album, but it's part 1 was. either way, dig the video







...and the list goes on and on... 1994: a great year in Hip Hop

My man Norm Rocwell has been holding it down at Access Hip Hop for years. A real good dude with an infectious laugh. He also has an ear for good music. Peep the ecclectic vibes of his mixtape; Escape(ism.) Download it here.

The folks at BLOODBATH have done it again...More serious then ever this time. The theme is "Eternal Gatekeepers." Thas right, they got the keys to the Eternal Gates and right now it looks like they got it locked down! This also marks their debut of their new cut & sew program: Black Label.

Fuck You Frank

Versatile Recordings & Urban Promotions | MySpace Music Videos
When I lived in Anchorage Alaska, I ran into this kid named Frank Scissorhands at the Diry Mics open mic battle. This was prolly around 2000. I got a chance to chop it up with him and quickly learned that he was the textbook definition of a purist. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Frank really knew his hip hop. Not only is he an avid mc; he holds it down on the boards and the tables. Peep this video he put out back in 05.

Dude is nice on the mic. Didn't know he was also nice enough on his skateboard to do this here. Found the clip on Fashawn's youtube channel.

We've heard this phrase as a disclaimer a lot for years now when talking about Hip Hop: such and such "album made me fall in love with hiphop again". I recently listened back to an album by producer/MC duo (Damu The Fudgemunk and Insight) Y Society.
Damu's gritty-jazzy timbre and Insight's undeniable MC certification, reminded me of dope duos like Gang Starr and Pete Rock & CL Smooth.
On Wonkabeats.com, I stumbled on these two older clips (part 1 and 2) of Damu The Fudgemunk talking about the making of Y Society's "Travel At Your Own Pace". He touches on record selection, his method of saving beats, his favorite beats off the joint, etc.

"we all must meet our moment of truth" - these words were echoing in my head last night as I watched twitterland erupt in a frenzy trying to find confirmation of some unfounded rumor. turns out (as read on DJ Premier's blog today):

His surgery last night was a success but he is still in critical condition and in med induced coma. He needs you, we need him. Guru will get better, spread his vibe around!

Let's pray for Guru and a full recovery.