Benz and a Backpack

“You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far,” and I imagine nobody in the first thirty years of hip-hop did. Radio play? Yup. Magazines? Okay. Grammys? Probably. But fellowships at Harvard?

If anyone deserves a fellowship at an elite institution it’s 9th Wonder, who is one of the premier educators and practitioners of hip-hop. 9th has been teaching a soul sampling course at Duke University, and over the course of his career he has approached his music with an unparalleled level of intelligence and devotion. That devotion will be on display in The Harvard Fellowship, a film directed by Kenneth Price (who collaborated with 9th on The Wonder Years) that will document 9th’s year at Harvard, and hopefully dispel with the idea that “hip-hop” and “entertainment” are synonymous.

“The Harvard Fellow follows one of hip-hop’s most dynamic artists, 9th Wonder through a year of lecturing and research at Harvard University. While at Harvard, 9th will have an office on campus, teach a class on the history of hip-hop, complete a research project and further explore hip-hop’s history and culture in an academic setting.”

The research component to the project is especially interesting. 9th will spend the year unearthing and cataloguing the samples that make up his 10 favorite albums. For more information on The Harvard Fellow, visit the project’s website, and be sure to make even a nominal donation to The Harvard Fellow’s Kickstarter, because after all, money only grows on trees after you get a degree from Harvard.

Tweet This Post

Cole world is back, er’body! J.Cole is coming off his first Grammy nomination for, “Cole World: The Sideline Story”, in the, “Best New Artist”, category. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that, that nomination will be the first of many more coming in J.Coles scintillating future in music. And what better way to keep the good vibes rolling, than to release new music for your hungry, and rapidly expanding, fan base.

I’ve noticed a new trend (no pun intended) on twitter with many rappers: It’s the idea that once an artist has reached a certain amount of followers they will release a new project or something exciting for their fans to get behind and support, as a token of the artists appreciation of their followers adoration. J.Cole recently hit 2 millions followers on his twitter account and decided, as a way to say “thanks”, that he would release his newest song, “Grew Up Fast”, produced by, Canei Finch. Canei Finch digs through the crates for this one and chops up a classic from the late 60′s for J.Cole to flex on. Sip on the silky smooth, David Ruffin, sampled track, “The Double Cross”, below, and hit the skip to stream, “Grew Up Fast”, and find the link to download after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry →

Tweet This Post

Not knowing the news that Jay-Z and Beyonce officially had their baby delivered on January 7th, can only be excused if you suddenly succumb to one of those rare three day comas. This was the news EVERYONE was waiting for! And it happened. Blue Ivy Carter (girl), is now a part of the world. And in true capitalizing, entrepreneurial form, Jay-Z got his new baby in the studio to start working on her debut album: “I’ll Never Be Poor”. Well…not actually. An audio recording of Blue, crying moments after her birth, was used at the end of Jay-Z’s most recent celebratory, “I’m a daddy now!”, track produced by Pharrell featuring, Blue Ivy Carter (B.I.C.). Click the skip to listen and download the song! 
Read the rest of this entry →

Tweet This Post

Smoke DZA released the visuals for “Pow Pow” off his album Rolling Stoned. The video essentially re-creates the end of Jay-Z’s “Dead Presidents” video, an audacious statement by the Kushed God. It shows him, Dom Kenendy, Big K.R.I.T., Big Sant and a few others drinking Rosé and playing a game of Monopoly with real cash. While DZA is a major league weed-rapper, the scene is more suitable for Hov’s video; Notorious B.I.G., Jigga, and AZ are Hip-Hop icons and the board game epitomized there roles in the rap game. Smoke’s blunt-touting mellow rhymes are enjoyable, but Rolling Stoned is not moving units like the platinum selling Reasonable Doubt. It might also be interesting to note that Smoke’s and Jay-Z’s albums are the the only two that didn’t leak this year; the latter a result of rigorous security measures, the former presumably a consequence of sparse demand.

Hit the skip to watch the original Dead Presidents’ video. Read the rest of this entry →

Tweet This Post

It seems like everyone is either looking for or getting into some kind of trouble lately (but let’s be honest– the people causing the most trouble right now are the Pats’ two tight ends). Here Bei Maejor and J. Cole unleash the video for “Trouble,” a radio-friendly song in the vein of Cole’s smooth collaboration with Miguel last year. “Trouble” won’t have nearly the same staying power as “All I Want Is You,” but it’s sure to do at least moderately well for a little while. Is Cole heating up, or cooling down?

Tweet This Post

Blessed with the lucky burden of being the home to Jay-Z and Kanye’s video premiere of “Otis,” MTV is capitalizing on the latest buzz in luxury rap with Watch the Throne Week, a collection of insights and reactions from insiders and fans alike. In the top-most video, MTV News catches fans outside the appropriately placed Watch the Throne pop-up in store in Soho, who overall seem most excited to have just witnessed the stripped down Maybach used in the “Otis” video in person. Below, super bloggers and internet personalities just barely get into a deeper discussion regarding Spike Jonze’s work, but what can six people hash out in a few minutes anyway?
Read the rest of this entry →

Tweet This Post

Since Cole has been getting seemingly infinite love from the blogosphere (and some very well-tempered criticism too), I’ve been somewhat opposed to giving Cole shine on this site. To be perfectly honest, it’s been difficult to watch Cole’s progression from little-known emcee to on-the-cusp-but-not-quite-ready-but-maybe-soon-if-HOV-lets-me star. He began his career with two surprisingly impressive mixtapes that at times showcased lyrical brilliance and the elusive ability to convey complex raw emotions through a track. Though I’ve listened to almost everything he’s dropped since The Warm Up, I’ve been disappointed by a lot of it because I had my expectations set so high.

I can only hope Cole really brings it on Cole World, because at this point I’m not very confident in his ability to crossover or Jay’s ability to manage one of Roc Nation’s most talented artists. Thoughts on Cole, and the “Work Out” video?

Tweet This Post

WTT available in physical form tomorrow. No matter what you say, they must have had fun making this video (also, I spy a comedian @ 1:29).
Update: Toure’s line-by-line breakdown of the song.

Tweet This Post

If you’ve been under a rock (or if you were sleeping and had work today), grab Jay-Z and KanYe’s Watch The Throne as soon as physically possible. Not only is it an engaging album musically (I cosign this), it’ll be the thee topic of conversation among music lovers for a long time (or more accurately, for about two weeks). Rumor has it that the album went platinum on pre-orders alone, which would be absolutely wild if it’s true. What I know for a fact is that Ye and Jay gave all the producers and engineers who worked on the album an engraved Rolex (see the picture above) as incentive not to leak any tracks. Genius.

In an era that’s seen so many artists’ albums compromised due to leaks, Jay and Ye figured out how to run an extremely tight ship (albeit at a high price). Musically, the album is as eclectic as Alexander McQueen’s collection. There is a healthy balance (peep all the samples on WTT here) of soul, afro-rock, glam-rock and a little dubstep as well as a group of musically diverse producers, all unified behind the pointed vision of Mr. West. Lyrically KanYe experiments both in terms of rhyme schemes and lyricism, while HOV lines his proverbial ducks up and knocks them down in one swift movement. Start with these tracks, then go grab the album and prepare yourself for an enjoyable listen.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tweet This Post

Though this mini-documentary about Watch The Throne is mostly promotional fluff, there is some very cool footage of young KanYe, as well as footage of HOV and KanYe working on the album in Australia. The benefits of making this album are certainly mutual, but Watch The Throne is the pinnacle for Ye; a dream come true. Watch The Throne is expected to drop digitally on August 1st. [Via]

Buy: Jay-Z & Kanye West – Otis (Single)
Pre-Order: Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne (Album)

Tweet This Post

Cali rap pioneer Murs recently spent a few weeks on the East Coast recording with Ski Beatz, the producer behind legendary tracks forJay-Z, Mos Def, Curren$y, Jay Electronica and many more. He’s now back on the West Coast, without his trademark dreadlocks, but with a new album: Love & Rockets, Volume 1: The Transformation, set to drop this fall on Dame Dash‘s DD172/BLUROC labels in conjunction with a sixty-day tour alongside Tabi Bonney, McKenzie Eddy, Sean O Connell and Dash. In this video clip (after the jump), Murs walks into Frank’s Chop Shop in NYC and emerges a few pounds lighter…
Read the rest of this entry →

Tweet This Post

I’m sure most of you are familiar with Jaydiohead, the project from Max Tannone that skillfully mixed Jay-Z and Radiohead. Max is a blend specialist, though I know for a fact there is no end to his ambition. Today, Max released his newest project, an artful combination of Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah and “the sounds of vintage African funk, high-life, and psychedelic rock.” The product is an unquestionable success. Stream the album below, and hit the skip for a full tracklist and D/L. Keep tabs on Max via his website.

Ghostfunk by Max Tannone
Read the rest of this entry →

Tweet This Post