In case any of you have been following my foray into college radio, then you might conclude I didn't start at it alone. It all began with the Wale interview and The Great White Mark...but Mark graduated early in December of 07. He handed the show over to myself and the homie Nyadenya, and for nearly five months, we held it down to the fullest. (Nyadenya has since transferred; no, there was no beef. What up Boston?!) This interview with Muhsinah (DC producer/singer/touring machine) marked the beginning of the new era and happened to be a huge success. Stream or download for unreleased Muhsinah beats and more.
PODCAST: Zo! on FF 12.4.07
I'm finally moved in and have a reliable internet connection (sort of), so I uploaded the Zo! episode a short time ago. This was The Great White Mark's last show, and the final show of the 07-08 first semester. Mark handles most of the interview, but because I was a slightly bigger fan, I had to chime in on some questions. This continues our FF Rewind, and there's officially 10 days until the new season begins! Download link is below.
VIDEO: The Death Of Adam News Coverage Pt. 3
VIDEO: Murs Trailer x Reks - Money On The Ave
I just got into DC but they won't let me in my dorm unless I pay $105 for an early move-in (the fuck?) And to top it off, I'm in a hotel with a very low internet connection which means I won't be able to upload the Zo! podcast from last December. Instead, today's only post can be nicknamed the "copy-and-paste" post for its simplicity and easiness. It doesn't mean, however, that it's not dope.
First we've got the trailer for the "political" DVD that will come packaged with Murs' major-label debut, Murs For President. That's a no-brainer purchase, btw. Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Murs if you haven't already.
And after that we've got another new video from the homie Reks. (I left New England this morning, but Massachusetts stand up!) Whoever said low-budget videos don't count for shit hasn't seen the Showoff crew at work. And the Doc x MJ shirt Skyzoo is rocking? I've got that joint in black.
PODCAST: Phonte of Little Brother on FF 11.29.07
Part 2 of our throwback podcast series features Phonte of Little Brother, phoning into Funkadelic Freestyles a few days before an LB show in DC last December. Tay speaks on BET, their record Get Back, and their fan base. And no, I did not ask the 9th Wonder question, because you should already know the answer.
VIDEO: Statik Selektah - Take It To The Top (feat. Cassidy, Saigon, & Termanology)
Shout out to Legend, who I always forgot to thank over at OnSmash. This joint is one of my favorite songs right now, and shout out to the homie Rik Cordero for making it look exactly the way I envisioned.
VIDEO: The Death Of Adam News Coverage Pt. 2
Consequence and Kid Cudi weigh in on with their memories of Adam. I mean, damn, still no progress on this murder?!
(88-Keys' The Death of Adam in stores October 28th feat. Kanye West, Phonte, J*Davey, Redman, Kid Cudi, & Bilal.)
PODCAST: Wale on FF 9.28.07
I mentioned on Sunday that in anticipation of the new season of Funkadelic Freestyles, we're going back in time and reposting a few of the interviews we did in 07-08. A year ago, it seemed like sucha big deal that I was meeting a semi-famous rapper and interviewing him on the radio. So you might pick up on a few nervous slips, but remember that this was my first interview alongside The Great White Mark, who passed down the FF name to me when he graduated early last December. And for all you Wale fans out there...wow, you're gonna really enjoy this. This is before the Interscope deal, before the Rock The Bells tour, and before the State Prop. alliance. Plus there's an exclusive freestyle at the end. We'll be back with some more throwback podcasts tomorrow; be sure to check back for The Great White Mark's last show featuring DC producer Zo!
VIDEO: Common - Announcement (feat. Pharrell)
I like it, but why do I feel like it's going to turn into a commercial?
VIDEO: Termanology - Politics As Usual EPK
Here's the EPK for Termanology's new album fresh outta my inbox for your viewing pleasure. Politics As Usual will be in stores September 30th on Nature Sounds/ST Records. Featuring appearances from DJ Premier, Statik Selektah, Bun B, Pete Rock, Lil' Fame, and Hi-Tek. Two tracks off the album, including the single "How We Rock," are included below.
VIDEO: Kanye West - Good Morning
It's funny that we finally get to see this video a year after the album came out. I say this because it was a year ago today that Graduation leaked, and this song in particular happened to become a major part of my life as I transitioned into my first year of college. I must have played "Good Morning" about 150 times on the 12-hour ride to DC...
MP3: 88-Keys - Stay Up (feat. Kanye West)
There is no reason not to be excited about 88-Keys', who was signed by Kanye West to the G.O.O.D. Music imprint, solo debut, The Death of Adam. You gotta know that he made this beat, and remains one of the G.O.A.T. producers...even though there aren't a lot of hip-hop fans who know his name. Enjoy, and enjoy the joint he did with Bilal, which will also be on the album.
8.25.08: Upcoming Concerts in the DC Area
9.1.08 An Evening with Raphael Saadiq @ The Black Cat
9.7.08 Reggae Summer Fest @ RFK Stadium
9.13.08 Cheech & Chong @ Warner Theatre
9.13.08 Zo!’s 30th Birthday Show @ Club Liv
9.17.08 Heineken Red Star Soul Presents Chrisette Michele & Raheem DeVaughn @ Ibiza
9.21.08 The Black Luv Festival @ 4th & Penn. Ave
9.22.08 The ELs w/Phonte of Little Brother @ Busboys & Poets
9.24.08 Red Bull Producers Showcase feat. Wale @ 930 Club
9.25.08 Clipse, Wale, Consequence, & Southeast Slim @ University of Maryland College Park
10.3.08 Nelly @ Love
VIDEO: Wale & State Property - The Cyphr Prequel
I'm still smiling when it comes to these guys. Before the recording of "Cyphr" actually happened, the fellas have some fun in the studio. Freeway calls Wale "Wall-e" and Beanie Sigel is just happy to be home. Haven't heard the song? The link is below.
PICTURES: Little Brother @ APW Fest 8.8.08
It's Sunday night and I'm counting down the days until I'm back in DC (5 days). I logged onto Facebook and all of a sudden I remembered that I had forgotten about this ill pictures my homie Geoff took at the All Points West Festival in New Jersey. Little Brother was the only hip-hop act on this particular day, but according to Geoff, they killed it. Starting tomorrow, we'll be doing a countdown to the new season of Funkadelic Freestyles Radio with podcasts featuring the artists who stopped by the studio in 2007-08. Y'all are gonna have fun running down memory lane, and even more if it's your first time tuning in.
MP3: Young Jeezy - Put On (Remix feat. Jay-Z, Kanye West, Ludacris, Chamillionaire, David Banner, Wale, & Z-Ro)
When I first opened this email, I was pretty geeked. But then I remembered Wale and Ludacris had already done "Put On" freestyles, and of course the Kanye and Jay verses are the same so.... Nah, but it's cool to have them all in one and shout out to smokeYYY who I'm gonna guess made this happen. Speaking of smokeYYY, y'all know that the new funkadelicfreestyles.com is coming real soon, right?
VIDEO: Cassie - Official Girl (feat. Lil Wayne)
Cassie is every guy's hip-hop dream girl. I posted this video not just for the eye candy, but for the song as well. (It's a "banger.") I've been keeping a close look at Bad Boy Ent. ever since Diddy signed Janelle Monae, so hopefully Cassie's new album, Connecticut Fever, does some numbers. The question remains, however: can she actually sing? I added a visual bonus courtesy of Shake and Meka.
VIDEO: Young Chris, Wale, Freeway, & Beanie Sigel
This, in my mind, is like a hip-hop turning point. Clown me all you want but to see State Property back together and Wale alongside them, it's like watching a stacked all-star team. Exclusive footage from the new quartet recording their joint "Cyphr," which we posted yesterday. Philly to DC!
MP3: Illa J - We Here x Better Respect It x The Life
John "Illa J" Yancey is the brother of the late-great, your music god, James "J Dilla" Yancey. Almost a year ago, Illa J released two songs produced by his brother, "Better Respect It" and "The Life," that were absolutely bananas. The good news about his future? Record label Delicious Vinyl's founder Michael Ross has a ton of Jay Dee beats in a vault, and now Illa J gets to rock over them. Delicious Vinyl just released Illa J's debut 12" with the cool "We Here" and the movin' "R U Listenin?" featuring Guilty Simpson. Buy the clean, dirty, and instros over at iTunes, but pick up a free download of "We Here" right here.
VIDEO/MP3: Wale x Travis Barker x State Property
DJ Alizay brings us an exclusive look inside Travis Barker's (Blink was my favorite band in middle school!) studio right before the X-Games Pre-Party as Wale records a verse for Travis' solo album. Then Travis' hip-hop drums find themselves all over Wale's new album (January!) song "G Told Me," produced by Sean C & LV (Roc Boys). I tried not to COPY AND PASTE that from elitaste.
A few hours later, elitaste leaked pure madness. Wale, Young Chris, Freeway, and Beanie Sigel cramming into 2 1/2 minutes of a Dre & Vidal banger. New State Property member?
INTERVIEW: Southeast Slim
And another one! You can find my newest interview over at elitaste, featuring DC rapper and Wale cohort Southeast Slim. Not many people outside of the DMV know about Slim, so now is your opportunity to get familiar. Just a side note before we begin: Slim produced two of Wale's biggest hits; "Dig Dug" and "Breakdown."
For those who don’t know much about DC, describe the city’s Southeast section as best as you can.
The Southeast is funny. Most people that live in the Southeast don’t even know about…like when I went to school, it tripped me out when I realized that people from New York talk just like people from New York Undercover. I didn’t even now about the other world outside. I didn’t even start traveling until I was 18; I was real close-minded about everything and I thought Southeast was it. Even going uptown [in D.C.] was too far. I grew up on 1300th block Morris Road. The Southeast keeps you on your toes, you run into just about everything around there.
MP3: Parker Brothaz - Text Me (Tha Bizness All Star Remix feat. Big Pooh, Talib Kweli, & Naledge)
As I pass the time on this rainy Tuesday afternoon, (by listening to MGMT's 13-minute extravangza Metanoia), I suddenly become aware of these guys named the Parker Brothaz. It obviously didn't hurt to add Big Pooh, Talib Kweli, and Naledge to your remix, but the beat is insanely smooth, too. For more info on the Fresh Coast duo, check out their MySpace and perhaps you may feel inclined to buy one of their many mixtapes. For now, I'm gonna stick with this laid-back joint featuring production from Tha Bizness.
DOWNLOAD: Random - Mega Ran Instrumentals
Producer/emcee Random shot this over a couple of days ago, and I completely forgot that it was sitting in my inbox. Ran put together this project last year and sampled all his songs from the Mega Man video game series. Before he knew it, video game giant Capcom was cosigning him and now he's blogging over at their site. Why release the instrumentals? I'll let Random speak for himself...
I encourage all emcees and video game lovers to check em out, and please, feel free to express your own art over them... I had a lot of fun making the album so it should be just as fun letting the instros out.
DOWNLOAD: Random - Mega Ran Instrumentals
PREVIOUSLY: Random - The 8th Day (MP3s + more)
MP3: Evidence - Calmly Smoke (feat. The Alchemist)
The Cali rapper Evidence has been putting together some quality mixtape tracks lately, and tonight he threw us a new one starring Ev and The Alchemist over the beat ALC had originally made for Styles P. Look for Evidence's new mixtape, The Layover, and enjoy those extra joints that he's been putting out.
VIDEO: Jay Electronica - My World (Live At The Mezzanine)
Now this is cool. Jay Electronica, whom many thought was in danger of losing his career (?!) after his first show with Mos Def in NYC a few months ago, tears down the house in San Francisco. As I said in my initial Rock The Bells post, this guy is talented beyond belief. For my full Jay Elec interview, stay tuned for the text version right around the first of September. For all you GWU students, check out the first issue of The Ace, our campus' first multicultural monthly periodical. The interview will be printed in the music section.
VIDEO: 88 Keys & Q-Tip - The Death of Adam Promo
When I first watched this, I had no idea what it really was. Sorry to spoil the ending, but this shit is hilarious regardless. I'm guessing the homie 88 Keys came up with this on his own.
MP3: Lupe Fiasco, Wale, & Kardinal Offishall - Dope Boy (Remix)
Hmm...why must people compare me to Lupe so much?
When I was told about this track, my mind hit rewind as I remembered the Lupe Fiasco concert in DC back in January. Standing up in the balcony, I had a dope view of the entire crowd. Suddenly, I looked back toward the soundboard where Nikki Jean was rocking along with the music, and then there was Wale. Low key chilling, most likely gathering insight as to why his fans first compared him as a cross between Lu and Lil' Wayne. Well, now Lu and Wale are on a track together and the stans can cry tears of joy. (Okay, but it's a good track nonetheless) Off Greg Street's new album, Certified Worldwide, and produced by Don Cannon, it's a flip of T.R.O.Y.
MP3: Che Grand - ElectricYachtBrain In The Lab With A Stero
Che Grand is a Stereolab fan and who couldn't resist rocking over one of their tracks? (Okay, I'm lying, I only vaguely remember Stereolab). Anyway, I listened to this in the ride today and decided I really like it. By the way Che, where are you homie?
MP3: Busta Rhymes - Packin' Them Things
I was browsing peoples' away messages on iChat and then...bam! The homie Kenn Starr had this: Busta Rhymes - Packin' Them Things (prod. by Kev Brown) !! Deliver me my late pass but I had no idea the collaboration mentioned in the video above ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Shout out to Kev and the whole Low Budget Crew (Oddisee, XO, yU album on the way?!).
8.8.08: The 8th Day x The Return of the Dirty Cymbals x Yoga At Home Vol. 1
OKP family members Random and tREBLEFREE have a little something in common: they've both officially dropped their new LPs today. In addition, OKP Haji Haj and producer for Dumhi dropped his Yoga At Home EP on the 1st of the month. Random's The 8th Day: A Story of New Beginnings features Naledge from Kidz in the Hall, LMNO, and Chicago's Rashid Hadee. tREBLEFREE's The Return of the Dirty Cymbals features Donwill & Ilyas from Tanya Morgan, the spectacular DVS, and Mercury Waters. Haj's Yoga At Home EP features Sadat X (!), Von Pea of Tanya Morgan, and Reef The Lost Cauze among others. I suggest you buy ALL THREE, because today is payday for most folks.
VIDEO: DJ Semtex w/ Lil' Wayne
BBC's DJ Semtex is that dude, and here's another one of his interviews with Lil' Wayne. I had the pleasure of meeting Semtex at Rock The Bells Boston, and the first thing I said to him was: "holy shit, you're the guy with the Lil' Wayne interview!" Of course, I wasn't speaking about the one above. For your viewing pleasure, our next video presents Semtex and Wayne in a crazy-drugged out universe (sorta).
Part 2 can be viewed here.
MP3: Taybot - We Stay Fly (feat. Scribes)
Adam over at Grilled Steeze hit me up last week with a freestyle from a rapper out of Seattle named Taybot. Because I've been so busy (have you noticed how sparse it's getting around here?!) and because I just wasn't really down with dude's name, I ignored it. Second time around, I had to give it a listen...and I liked it. Now it's your turn to judge by sampling one of the tracks off his new mixtape featuring producers Phil + Numberman that you can buy here. And if you didn't get enough just based off one track, go to Adam's post at GS for more samples. Wait...I gotta BUY a mixtape in 2008?
VIDEO: Wale, DJ Green Lantern, Just Blaze, Skyzoo, & Supernatural - RTB Freestyle
Watch for Wale's hilarious Smack DVD reference at the end.
INTERVIEW: Tabi Bonney
Over at elitaste, DW posted another one of my interviews, this time featuring Tabi Bonney. One of DC's other famous guys, (what, you don't remember this video all over MTV?), took a few minutes out of his schedule to discuss his new album, his buddy Wale, and his move to L.A. Check out the full piece at the bottom!
We heard that incredible snippet of “Bonified” on Wale’s “100 Miles and Runnin” mixtape. Are we ever going to hear a full version, and have you two found the time to work on any other collaborations?
Yeah, he’s actually going to be on my new album, which is coming out this fall. I should hopefully be on his major label release. And y’all might see a joint album together, almost like a Blackstar album between the two of us, like a Mos Def and Talib [Kweli]. I’ve never been one for the mixtapes, but I might do one and put “Bonified” on that.
DOWNLOAD: DJ Alizay - Rock The Bells/The Real American Idols Mixtape
Washington, DC's own DJ Alizay drops his Rock The Bells Mixtape (he is Wale's RTB DJ) courtesy of elitaste. I'm a big fan of dude and I hope he gets some more exposure. He's got drops and mixes from everyone: Q-Tip, Nas, Wu-Tang, and more. Peace Alizay!
INTERVIEW: Theo
"Wow, J! Three interviews in a row?! You're really big-time now!" Nah, shout out to my new UK partner-in-crime, smokeYYY. While I'm gonna link you to this dope interview he did with Providence rapper Theo, I do have to mention that smokeYYY will also be responsible for the new FUNKADELICFREESTYLES.COM. And speaking of interviews; B.o.B., Jay Electronica, Tabi Bonney, and Southeast Slim are on their way. We're not actually playing around, I hope you know.
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