Your Strongest Ally

Adam “MCA’ Yauch Covers Rolling Stone [Music]

Matty — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:59:14 +0000

Rolling Stone pays tribute to Beastie Boy, Adam Yauch, with this month’s cover of Rolling Stone. The unexpected passing of Adam shocked the world and more importantly his close friends and family. Rolling Stone caught up with the other Beastie Boy members to get a real feeling of where they go from here.

Brian Hiatt examines the many lives of late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch in the new issue of Rolling Stone, on sale May 25th. The story looks back on Yauch’s extraordinary career and remarkable personal growth as he moved on from his band’s loutish, hard-partying Licensed to Ill phase on to spiritual enlightenment in the latter half of his all-too-brief life.

• The cover story includes the first interviews given by surviving Beasties Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond, who address their grief and the question of what they will do now that their band is effectively over. “I’m totally confused,” says Horovitz. “I’m walking my dog and I’ll start crying on the street.”

• Yauch’s friends, collaborators and acquaintances, including Spike Jonze, Rick Rubin, Billy Corgan, Mario Caldato, Jill Cuniff and Sheryl Crow share fond recollections of him at different stages of his life. Crow, a cancer survivor who befriended Yauch after he was diagnosed, says he looked “radiant” in his final days. “He was just hopeful to the very end,” she says. “Here he was, one of the Beastie Boys, and he was one of the wisest people I’ve ever known.” -Rolling Stone

2 Chainz – Undastatement [Video]

Matty — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:24:13 +0000

Official video for 2 Chainz’s “Undastatement” off of the ‘T.R.U. REALigion‘ mixtape. Tuesday really was 2 Chainz Tuesday, even with 2 Chainz going to jail and getting out all in the same day. Anywho, shoutout to Decatur Dan on the video direction.

D’Angelo Gives GQ First Interview in 12 Years [Fashion]

drineee — Wed, 23 May 2012 02:58:25 +0000

Photo credit: Gregory Harris/GQ

R&B SENSATION D’ANGELO GIVES GQ HIS FIRST INTERVIEW IN 12 YEARS

D’Angelo was once hailed as the next Marvin Gaye. Then, after his chiseled body threatened to overshadow his music, he vanished into addiction. So what is he doing singing his heart out in a Pentecostal church in Stockholm? And how are his abs? In his first interview in twelve years, GQ’s Amy Wallace witnesses D’Angelo’s ecstatic return to the stage and learns about the trials and tribulations he’s faced—from addiction, and feeling pressure about his image, to ballooning up to 300 pounds to spite those who admired him.

D’Angelo on battling his substance abuse during his hiatus: “I didn’t really think I had a problem like that,” he says, taking a hit off a Newport. “I felt like, you know, all I got to do is clean up and I’ll be fine. Just get in the studio and I’ll be fucking fine.”

…on his arrest for soliciting sex from an undercover officer: “It was just me making a stupid decision, a wrong turn, on the wrong night. I’m not the role-model motherfucker. Look at all the shit that I’ve been in.”

…on an instance with a female fan: “One time I got mad when a female threw money at me onstage, and that made me feel fucked-up, and I threw the money back at her,” he says. “ I was like, ‘I’m not a stripper.’

…on Madonna: When Madonna turned 39, she asked him to sing “Happy Birthday” at her party. One press report had her sitting on his lap and French-kissing him. In fact, two sources say that ultimately D rebuffed her advances at another gathering not long after. At that event, the sources say, Madonna walked over and told a woman sitting next to D, “I think you’re in my seat.” The woman got up. Madonna sat down and told him, “I’d like to know what you’re thinking.” To which D replied, “I’m thinking you’re rude.”

Chris Rock on black celebrities: “Black stardom is rough, dude,” Chris Rock tells me when I reach him to talk about D. “I always say Tom Hanks is an amazing actor and Denzel Washington is a god to his people. If you’re a black ballerina, you represent the race, and you have responsibilities that go beyond your art. How dare you just be excellent?”

Questlove, D’Angelo’s former bandleader, on calling him after Amy Winehouse’s death: “’D’s the first person I called,’ Questlove recalls. And I was just honest, like, ‘Look, man, I’m sorry. I know you’re thinking I’m avoiding you like the plague.’ I just said plain and simple, ‘Man, there was a period in which it seemed like you were hell-bent on following the footsteps of our idols, and the one thing you have yet to follow them in was death.’”

Questlove on D’Angelo’s plans to escape stardom: “On the last day of the eight-month [Voodoo] tour, Questlove says D’Angelo told him, ‘Yo man, I cannot wait until this fucking tour is over. I’m going to go in the woods, drink some hooch, grow a beard, and get fat.’ Questlove thought he was joking. ‘I was like, ‘You’re a funny guy.’ And then it started to happen. That’s how much he wanted to distance himself.”

Questlove on self-defeating black artists: “Questlove has a theory about what happens to black genius—what he calls a ‘crazy psychological kind of stoppage that prevents them from following through. A sort of self-saboteur disorder.’

View the full article courtesy of GQ here: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/201206/dangelo-gq-june-2012-interview?currentPage=1

Elzhi Live At SOBs [Events]

drineee — Wed, 23 May 2012 02:35:09 +0000

THURSDAY JULY 19TH

ELZHI
With Sene, Joe Cool, and 4th Pyramid

@SOBs
204 Varick Street, NYC
Doors 8:00pm
18+ | GET TICKETS

Elzhi, the Detroit rap heavyweight, has announced plans for a Summer World Tour, stopping in NYC at the legendary SOB’s on July 19th. The tour will touch down in 4 continents and in over a dozen countries, including Canada, the United States, Germany, Czech Republic, New Zealand and Japan.

Elzhi shocked the hip-hop world last year with the release of his conceptual mixtape, Elmatic, which took its title and inspiration from Nas‘ 1994 classic, Illmatic, and consisted of Elzhi putting his own lyrics over those time-honored beats, re-imagined with live instrumentation. catapulted him back to the forefront of hip-hop’s consciousness, and now Elzhi hits the road as he prepares the release of his next studio album.

Future and Pusha T @IrvingPlaza [Events]

drineee — Wed, 23 May 2012 02:08:38 +0000

SUNDAY JUNE 24TH

FUTURE
With Special Guest:
Pusha T

@IrvingPlaza
17 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003
Doors 9:00pm
16+ | GET TICKETS

Future and Pusha T at the Same. Damn. Time! Two generations of trap stars come together on June 24th for a rare hustler’s classic, a highly energetic live show presented by Hot 97 and World Star Hip Hop. It’s Magic!

Ziggy Marley Live At Irving Plaza [Events]

drineee — Wed, 23 May 2012 02:00:50 +0000

Ziggy Marley, the eldest son in the first family of Jamaican music, will stop in New York on his “Wild and Free” tour on Sunday June 17th for an intimate concert at Irving Plaza. Come experience good vibes, and let yourself be Wild and Free!

@IrvingPlaza
17 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003
Doors 9:00pm
16+ | GET TICKETS

Bad Lucc – S.L.U.T (Prod. by DJ Official) [Music]

Matty — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:18:06 +0000

Diamond Lane representer, Bad Lucc, drops what will definitely be a summer club banger, S.L.U.T. The beat is produced by DJ Official and Bad Lucc kills this one. Even the hook is crazy!

“said she f*cked a ranger, now she know how a jerk taste…”

Chip Gnarly – No Mercy Freestyle [Music]

Matty — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Los Angeles rapper, Chip Gnarly, jumps on Kanye’s, Mercy, and spits some heavy bars. The young rapper is building up a crazy buzz and we are on the lookout for more from him. G.O.D (Guilty Of Dedication) drops 6/12/12.

On Cue Talks About New Project With Just Blaze & More With KarmaloopTV [Video]

Matty — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:59:41 +0000

“New up incoming artist OnCue stops by the KarmaloopTV offices to talk about his new project with Just Blaze & Party Supplies, his musical influences, and drops a dope performance for us, exclusively here on KarmaloopTV.com” -Thanks Greg over at Karmaloop.

Camp LO & Ski Beatz – Fort Apache (EP) [Music]

Matty — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:28:55 +0000

Camp LO & Ski Beatz link to drop a new EP, Fort Apache. The 6 track EP is entirely produced by Ski Beatz! Dope flows and dope production make for an A+ plus project. Check it down low.