Hip Hop Mix 11

"Audrey, I swear every time I come over here it's all Raekwon, all day...I knew there was a reason I liked you.

Audrey and I have been testing out the new hip hop mix.  I try and tell her there is more to hip hop than just crack rap, but if they aren't talking about moving o's she just rolls her eyes and does that dismissive wanking motion.  Reaaaal classy Audrey, maybe you could do with some more culture!!!

Well despite Audrey's protestation there is a mixture of both crack rap and conscience rap on the mix.  I know some of it is too preachy and kumbaya for some people. *whispers Audrey*  But how can we appreciate the sweet without the sour?  How can we appreciate spandex without lunges.  Grab the download here or hit the jump for a preview.  Lots of videos and pictures so enter at your own risk.

Hieroglyphics , the Wu, the Beatles and a little bit of Funk

Over 15 years ago, the Wu Tang Clan exploded onto the the rap scene like Mandingo in some white girls mouth. It's nice to see that the Wu, and Wu related projects are still in full effect. One of my favorite Wu related projects was released a year or two ago. Entitled "Enter the 37th Chamber," the E Michels Affair, a soul/funk instrumental group, devoted an entire album to covering Wu Tang beats. If you're a sample-junkie, fan of raw dirty soul, or just a Wu Tang fan, you will cream your pants listening to their rendition of C.R.E.A.M. Is it better than the sample by the Charmels? That's up for you to decide, but there is no doubt that C.R.E.A.M. by the El Michels Affair is fire. Just when I though things couldn't get any better, I somehow stumbled across the project "Enter the 38th Chamber." A joint venture between URB magazine, the now closed Fat Beats and the El Michels affair, this album took the instrumentals found on "Enter the 37th Chamber" and laid over some vocals by underground rappers. The project never got released, but that did not stop a few leaks from coming onto the blog scene.

Here is my favorite:

A-Plus, Knobody & the El Michels Affair - C.R.E.A.M.

Download it here: A-Plus, Knobody and the El Michels Affair - C.R.E.A.M.

Another Wu related project that this blog has been bumping a lot of lately is the Wu Tang vs. the Beatles: Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers mix released (

for free!) on Tea Sea Records. Here is one of my favorite songs off of this mix that DJ Grey Bush also included in his Hip Hop Mix: 7:

Wu Tang Clan vs. the Beatles: Baby I Got Your Money

Download it here: Wu Tang vs. the Beatles - Baby I Got Your Money

Since I am on this hip-hop journey right now and its my first post in months, I thought I'd add an extra song (not Wu related) just for good measure:

Chris Young the Rapper feat. Del tha Funky Homosapien - Stoned

Download: Chris Young the Rapper feat. Del tha Funky Homosapien - Stoned

If you like what you hear, please help me out with the following:

1) Download this shit; it's free!

2) Leave us a comment; even if it is just to tell us how handsome our profile picture is.

Jeffro

Upcoming Shows

Some of the shows from this post are still valid.  A small amount of new ones are listed below.

December

Sunday December 5th, the entire Hiero crew will be at the Oakland Metro Opera House. Tickets are $20 presale, and doors open at 8. I have never heard of the Oakland Metro Opera House, but I have heard of Hiero, might be worth checking out if you are in the East Bay.

January

The Budos Band is playing the Independent on Saturday, January 15th.  Tickets are $20, grab them here.  Doors open at 8:30.  This should be a great show.  These guys are solid and if you are a fan of the Dap Kings, that throwback, soul, retro awesomeness and horns, then I recommend that you go to this.

February

The Decemberists and Mountain Man will be at the Fox theater on Valentine's day.  That date would be Monday, February 14th.  Tickets are $37.50 and can be found here.  I have yammered on about Mountain Man before, so I feel comfortable saying this will be a good show.

Beach House will be at the Fillmore on Friday, February 18th.  Tickets are $32.25 including service charges and can be purchased here.  The show starts at 9:00.  Maybe this time I won't be as freaked out when I see that the singer is a female, I seriously thought it was an indie dude with a beard on lead vocals until I saw them the last time they came to town.  I still don't really believe it.
 
March

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and Tapes N' Tapes are coming to the Bottom of The Hill on Friday March 11th.  Tickets are $16 and available here.  It's a later show with doors opening at 10:00 pm.  I am really into these guys at the moment.  Their Horsepower EP is four songs of greatness that I keep talking about, and I was actually just looking to see if they were coming to town the other day.  My search came up with only a couple of stops in NY and DC, so it was a nice surprise to find this posting in my general venue search.

The Goods

It's that time again where I play hypebeast.  *Pushes button to seal the air lock on closet*  Sorry about that, can't let those uv rays fuck up my kicks, nah mean?  *Adjusts thick rimmed glasses, lays on bed to wiggle and writhe into skinny jeans*  Sorry about that, I don't know why I was talking to you without any pants on.  Let's get our consumption on!!!

First up is some music infused art, which is like bacon encapsulated by fried chicken, or Mike and Ike's smothered in Vegemite, two of my favorite things in the world colliding into a brilliant wreck of awesome.  Is the Mike and Ike's thing just me?  Thought so.  Ian Johnson just had the opening for his new show, “Of The Living Sky, at Park Life in San Francisco.  Here is Ian's bio from his site, "Born in Syracuse, NY 1979 Lives and Works in San Francisco."  I guess that's all you need to know about him.  Not really, Ian does excellent intricate, realistic, renderings, of jazz luminaries and musical icons.  He infuses these with geometric designs, rays of rainbow colors, and abstract visuals to create awesome graphic depictions of legendary talents.  Check out this piece he did from his last solo show of one of the loves of my life, the Reverend.  That is a dope ass piece. 

 My only problem with Ian's work is that I don't know everyone he paints.  The pieces all look amazing, but I feel like I have to be a huge fan of someone before I display a prominent picture of them on my wall.  Ian knows his jazz, and his works are mostly focused on people I am not that familiar with.  I have the same issue with concert posters, and it's weird placing this guideline of synchronicity between liking the image and also supporting the person being depicted in the piece.  Usually I just go off image but portraiture is a different ball game that adds that other dimension....I want that Al though.

Either way if you are in the Bay Area you should go check the show out, it closes on May 1st, so you still have time.  Go see the Billie Holliday piece, it was stunning in it's simplicity and cleanliness.

Park Life
220 Clement St
SF CA 94118
415.386.7275

Two more things you should buy and a free Roots x Dilla mixtape after the jump.