WhatUpThough

All you soft batch, jimmy hat in the wallet stingy in the name of not getting none mafuckahs out there, take a page from the homie Demitiri. Put your nuts on your chin and wave em a girls face until they talk to you and give you some…even if it’s a business card followed by the words, “call me.” Believe, be persistent, and let em know what the fuck is really going on.

*The link below is an acual voice message left to a co-worker of a good friend who met “Dimitri” in passing while waiting for cab. Seriously, listen. Have a good Friday.

Ladies, I bring to you, Dimitri.

**Alright, so I’m gullible and really thought Dimitri was a couple degrees away. Not the case.**

I will never forget seeing Black Violin for the first time on Showtime At The Apollo. If you watch the video above from the one minute mark you’ll see what I saw, and like the crowds reaction I was floored by their performance. They showed a side of Hip-Hop I’d never seen before, and did it with style and skill. Comprised of Wil-B and Kev Marcus, the duo went on to win the grand prize of the 2005 Apollo and have gone on to play alongside Alicia Keys and Lil Jon, just to name a few. I had interviewed the group back in October of 2005 with the thought that an album would be soon to follow, however three years later that idea is just coming to life as Black Violins’ self-titled debut has finally arrived. The album itself features some vocals, but the centerpiece is without question the violin. It might not be for everybody, but you gotta respect their craft. Follow the jump for a few cuts off the album, and excerpts from that 2005 interview.

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Broke up another fight today in class. Another girl attacks boy scenario. She came at him with E Honda hands; fuck being a shield I just grabbed dude by the collar and drug him out. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Another mainey day.

Good news though, Unkut posted the second part of the T La Rock interview.

This teacher got fired/quit with 8 days left in the school year and they called me to fill in. This class is out of control. If you know me, you know I don’t get mad easily. Basically I just yell all day. Yesterday I broke up a fight in class: a girl rushed this guy from across the room. I stood in the middle hoping to deter her, but I ended up being a shield for dude and taking punches and kicks from a girl who barley reaches my sternum. Needless to say I come home and don’t feel like doing shit. In the meantime here a couple of noteworthy items.

Robbie from Unkut came though once again with fresh T La Rock interview, with part one focusing on the classic song “It’s Yours.” I get stuck in my cycles, but this is truly the only site worth it’s weight.

Speaking of Unkut, I’m glad J* Davey has avoided being lumped in the hipster rap realm. They aren’t rap at all, but they do embody that new cool look that everyone is gagging on. Anyway, they have a dual EP coming out July 1st, but they released a new video for the single “Mr. Mister” this week. Not my favorite song of theirs, but if I watch the video enough I’m sure that will change over time. I don’t know what it is, but I love her voice, their beats knock on that slightly-off-but-right-on-time tip, and I think they make interesting music.

The blog 2DopeBoyz posted up a new Kid Cudi song “Embrace The Martian” that serves as a good follow up to “Day N’ Nite.” Very interested to see what this cat does in the coming months.

And lastly, and completely irrelevant but yet so necessary, the homie Eons hipped me to Christiansingstheblues which is a daily blog by some dude in the Porn industry who, well, you guessed it. Probably don’t want to click on it if you’re at work.

Hope you are having a more relaxed day than me. I’ll be back tomorrow with something original.

If you’re paying someone to do your press, you probably don’t want to read this… Based on a real press release.

“(Insert album name here) proves (artists name) is arguably one of the most gifted and critically received rappers of the past decade.”

WORD!?!?!

WhatUpThough PR coming not soon enough.

If you remember the group K-Otix, you may already be familiar with producer The Are. Or, if you are up on the Trackmasters you’ll know The Are is fucking with em. I met dude out in Seattle last year at the Red Bull Big Tune battle, and dude was mad cool…and nice on the beats. Doing some research for another story, I stumbled on his blog, and his post “Rap Is An Art, You Don’t Own No Loop” caught my attention. Go ahead and check that, and remember the name.

Start Here.

And then check here.

I could watch and listen to this dude all day, and then the next. Infinite props to Milk Crate Breaks for the music (check the second link) and the homie Big Max for introducing me to one coldest drummers to ever live.

More Vapors Love

This one is in the same issue as The Roots. If you haven’t checked Plantlife’s Time Traveler yet, DO THAT SHIT. I put the album on the other day and was bugging out how funky it is. You can read excerpts from the interview here, and if you want me to re upload the sampler make your voice heard.

Read it here

It all lead to this. If you read any other ?uestlove interviews for Rising Down you might recognize some of the quotes. The same thing occurred when I interviewed him for The Game Theory….hmmmmmmmmmmm

Title: A LETTER I WROTE TO A FEW OF MY RAPPER FRIENDS THAT NEED TO TAKE IT BACK TO THEIR 1ST ALBUMS

Body: YOUR 1ST ALBUM=WEED

You have to give you fans what they want. Let me give you an example. Rappers albums are like good weed. People go to a new weed gate & they love the weed they’re pumping. But when the weed spot switch the weed up.. the customers won’t cop from there anymore because they want that original shit the spot was pumping before. So now the custees are gonna go down the block to another weed spot. A few will stay loyal, but the majority will spend their money elsewhere.

Be consistent to the ones that love your weed instead of selling the weed that the niggas on the next corner are selling. The weed spot down the block is making mad paper right now. But they’re too flashy & it’s a matter of time before they get knocked or stuck up.

When the young hustlers down the block see you coming through, they look up to you. They wanna be just like you. But most of them won’t tell you that because the male ego prevents niggas from giving props these days. So all in all, go in the stash & pull out those little yellow envelopes & fill it up with that uncut classic reefer that we all love you for.

*Scratch has a new podcast up, 70’s Roller Disco Soul, which you can download for free here.

**He also produced the new LL single which you can listen to here. Dude has such a distinct sound and only makes bangers. One of my favorite DJ’s and producers. Period.