BEAT MAKING LAB---TRUE BEATS, RHYMES AND LIFE

Beat Making Lab is a project very near and dear to my B-more to NC heart.  Entrenched in this thing we call Hip Hop from its earliest beginnings, I've witnessed the negative connotations associated with the culture.  It is a rare moment when Hip Hop is shown in a positive, uplifting light.  I have always felt that this artistic movement can be useful as a teaching tool, not only on a local level, but from a global standpoint.  Beat Making Lab is just that, the creative brainchild of Pierce Freelon and The Apple Juice Kid.  Starting as a course at UNC Chapel Hill (go Tar Heels), it has now taken on a new life through PBS (go Sesame Street).  Through this partnership, Beat Making Lab is reaching the masses, exposing the creative and artistic powers of Hip Hop.  It's a simple concept that is reaping benefits:  supply the tools for youth to express and create through beats and rhymes. 

I can go on and on, but I think the proper thing to do is to show the first two episodes of a five-episode where Freelon and The Apple Juice Kid travel to the Fiji archipelago in Melanesia.  PBS and Okayplayer are just some of the viewing venues that are sharing this with the world.  Add WISDOM SEEKER to that list.  Peace to my NC brethren Pierce Freelon and The Apple Juice Kid for sharing their efforts and time to expand Hip Hop on a global level.

Heartbeats In Fiji (Episode 1)

 

Trapped In Paradise (Episode 2)

 

 

 



SOURCES:

http://www.beatmakinglab.com/
http://www.okayplayer.com
http://piercefreelon.com/

PETE ROCK AND CAMP LO----80 BLOCKS FROM TIFFANY'S PART 2

Pete Rock and Camp Lo have teamed up again to bring us 80 Blocks From Tiffany's Part 2, the follow-up to the dope first installment.  Twenty-six prime cuts that read more full-length album than mixtape, Geechi Suede and Sonny Cheeba bring that vintage Lo flow to the ears of avid listeners.  With one of the very best to ever touch a MPC bringing sonic heat for the '13 summer, you have the makings of a dope collabo.

 

Since the debut of the critically-acclaimed Uptown Saturday Night, Camp Lo has been releasing dope, not of the norm hip hop, while Pete Rock has his place cemented in the hallowed, graffiti-sprayed walls of our culture.  So it came as no surprise that these titans linked for 80 Blocks From Tiffany's, and this current joint is a continuation on a common theme with the releases.  Follow along, as Suede, Cheeba, Rock, and cast of diverse characters (Mac Miller, M.O.P., Ab-Soul, Talib Kweli, Uncle Murda, Tyler Woods) take you on a neo-blackploitation journey.  Make certain to download and enjoy this next installment in the evolution of Camp Lo and Pete Rock:  http://www.datpiff.com/Pete-Rock-80-Blocks-From-Tiffanys-Pt-2-mixtape.512846.html

Follow Camp Lo and Pete Rock via Twitter:
@PeteRock
@OfficialCampLo
@Camplo

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NEW VIDEO: "GET AWAY (FEATURING THE SPIRIT OF THE WU)"----DE LA SOUL

Like the Rubik's Cube represented in the new video for "Get Away (Featuring The Spirit Of The Wu)", De La Soul continues to amaze and confound on so many levels.  You may want to cheat and take the stickers off in order to align the colors, but what fun is that?  Listening to De La Soul is like attempting to solve the cubic puzzle, it takes multiple tries before grasping the concept at hand.  I've loved De La since the beginning, mainly because they represented the avante garde side of Hip Hop.  Complex.  Different.  Etheral.  Dope.  Most would consider what De La has brought to the table as over most people's heads.  I would certainly agree.  With this new joint, you get Pos and Dave trading cryptic lyrics over the Wu-Tang Clan intro for Disc 2 from Wu-Tang Forever (which in turn was sampled from the 1982 flick Duel To The with music by Michael Lai).  Their new album should be available for dissection and consumption later this fall.



OFFICIAL VIDEO: "HEARTLESS"-------P.O.E.T.

OVER 100K VIEWS AND COUNTING ON VEVO IS A GOOD SIGN FOR P.O.E.T., THE B-MORE EMCEE THAT IS MAKING MOVES ON THE HIP HOP SCENE.  HIS PERPETUAL GRIND IS REAPING BENEFITS, AS SEEN WITH HIS NEWEST VIDEO "HEARTLESS".  FILMED BY DOPE VIDEOGRAPHER ABENI NAZEER, YOU GET A GLIMPSE INTO THE TALENT AND MIND OF P.O.E.T.  "HEARTLESS" IS AN AGELESS TALE TOLD FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A 20-SOMETHING HIP HOP HEAD THAT MANY OF US CAN RELATE TO, SO PEEP THE VISUALS BELOW.  YOU CAN FOLLOW THE ARTIST ON TWITTER:  @IAMPOET87.



OFFICIAL VIDEO: "GUN FEVER"------HIEROGLYPHICS

ONE OF THE MOST SLEPT-ON ENTITIES IN THE HIP HOP REALM HAS DROPPED A VERY RELEVANT AND POIGNANT VIDEO FOR THEIR SINGLE "GUN FEVER".  WITH ALL THIS TALK ABOUT GUN CONTROL AND SAFETY, THE OAKLAND-BASED HIEROGLYPHICS CREW (CONSISTING OF CASUAL, SOULS OF MISCHIEF, DEL, PEP LOVE, DOMINO, DJ TOURE) ARE BRINGING THEIR VINTAGE FLOWS TO A 2013 AUDIENCE.

DON'T BE FOOLED INTO THINKING THAT THIS IS A HIERO COMEBACK.  IF ANYTHING, IT IS MORE LIKE THE NON-LISTENERS ARE GETTING A GLIMPSE INTO WHAT THIS DYNAMIC CREW HAS BEEN DOING FOR MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS.  SUPPORT THE REAL, AND SUPPORT HIERO IMPERIUM.  A FULL-LENGTH ARTICLE/INTERVIEW IS IN THE WORKS, SO STAY TUNED WISDOM SEEKERS!  UNTIL THEN, PEEP THE DOPE VIDEO BELOW.

VIDEO: CRATE DIGGERS---J DILLA RECORD COLLECTION EDITION

CRATE DIGGERS HAS BEEN A DOPE SPOTLIGHT ON THE ART OF DIGGIN' FOR JOINTS AND HIGHLIGHTING VINYL COLLECTIONS FOR HIP HOP AFICIONADOS AS VARIED AS DJ JAZZY JEFF, RHETTMATIC, PETE ROCK, ADRIAN YOUNGE AND OTHERS.  THIS EDITION IS VERY SPECIAL---JAMES DEWITT YANCEY.  IT HAS BEEN SEVEN YEARS SINCE THE PASSING OF THE MOST REVERED PRODUCER WITHIN THE HIP HOP PANTHEON.  WATCHING THIS DOPE, YET EMOTIONAL, EPISODE BRINGS UP IMAGES OF J DILLA LIVING, BREATHING, EMBODYING HIP HOP TO THE FULLEST.  EVEN IN DEATH, HIS INFLUENCE HAS LIVED ON, AS SEEN WITH J ROCC, DJ SPINNA, HOUSE SHOES, AMP FIDDLER, FRANK NITT, TALIB KWELI, HIS BROTHER ILLA J, AND HIS VERY STRONG MOTHER MAUREEN "MA DUKES" YANCEY DISCUSSING HIS LOVE AND PASSION FOR MUSIC. 

WTF: AN OKAYMENTARY

I AM A PROUD CHARTER MEMBER OF OKAYPLAYER, A SOCIETY OF SOUL/HIP-HOP INTELLECTUALS THAT SHARE A COMMON BOND FOR ALL THINGS CENTERED AROUND THE LEGENDARY ROOTS CREW.  FOUNDED BY ANGELA NISSEL AND AHMIR "QUESTLOVE" THOMPSON AS A MEET-AND -GREET FAN SITE (OF SORTS), IT HAS EXPANDED AND GROWN INTO A MOVEMENT AND DE FACTO WAY OF LIFE, SO TO SPEAK, FOR OKAYPLAYERS AROUND THE GLOBE.  RELATIONSHIPS HAVE BEEN FORMED, MUSIC HAS BEEN CREATED, AND LIFELONG KINSHIP HAS BEEN DEVELOPED ALONG THE WAY FOR AN ECLECTIC GROUP OF CHARACTERS TO SAY THE LEAST.  NO ONE IS SAFE FROM SNARK WHEN DEALING WITH OKP (ASK LUPE OR TALIB KWELI), BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY WE ARE FAMILY, SISTER SLEDGE STYLE.  FOR A PEEK INTO WHAT OKAYPLAYER MEANS, CHECK OUT THIS DOCUMENTARY TRAILER FOR WTF:  AN OKAYMENTARY.

PURCHASE THE DOCUMENTARY AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:  https://chill.com/numerouscats/wtf-an-okaymentary