FULL, CDQ, Track off upcoming album, First Love*Tibs Fav.™
Large update, starting with another nice track from up and comer R&B singer Karina Pasian! It’s a slow jam that should be on her upcoming album of the same name, in stores August 19th! More trax below feature a pretty sick beat by The Underdogs, a nice Chris Brown feature, & Mikkey Halsted ripping thru one of my all-time favorite beats (Mobb Deep - “Shook Ones Pt. 2″). Finally, a ton of videos for u 2 look at, including behind the scenes looks at music videos from CRS, Lupe Fiasco, & T.I., and a bunch of Rock The Bells interviews with all the various artists on the bill. Enjoy!
***Added some Nas performance videos from the event below!***
From Left 2 Right: Sgt. Tibs, stic.man of Dead Prez, & Max G.
Jay Electronica & Max G.
S-Preme & Max G.
Immortal Technique
Rakim
Method Man & Redman
Redman
Mos Def
Nas
A Tribe Called Quest
The 2008 Rock The Bells tour kicked off in Chicago this past Saturday on July 19th with a bevy of artists taking stage at the First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre. Artists and legends like Kidz In The Hall, Jay Electronica, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, Rakim, De La Soul, Method Man & Redman, and Mos Def, The Pharcyde, Nas, and A Tribe Called Quest provided a concert of live, raw hip hop lasting nearly half a day! All the artists brought their own style and entertainment to the stage so there was never really a time to drift off and take a break. Some notable highlights and characteristics from the performances were the passion and clarity of the messages from Immortal Technique, the high-octane energy Method Man & Redman came with to ignite the crowd to another level (even stage-diving), Mos Def’s incredibly slick acapellas, Nas’ entire set, especially his “One Mic” finale, & finally the best moment for me - The Pharcyde performing one of my all-time favorite jams “Runnin’”, enhanced by the live energy by all four MCs and the live drums and instruments. One critique of ours was that Nas should have closed the concert because his buzz is at the highest with his recent release of Untitled and the hip hop legend had the crowd in the biggest frenzy of the night. No disrespect to A Tribe Called Quest, who were great in their own right as well, but we noticed the crowd was not as into them as they were with Nas. Again, “One Mic” was an excellent closing song to Nas’ set and would have been a perfect cap off for the entire day of real hip hop performances. We would have also liked to see artists like Dead Prez and Kidz In The Hall later on in the bill as the crowd was still filing in well into the early evening. We had a great time chillin’ with our friends, GWHH ‘Return Of The MC’ Contest winner S-Preme, and even some of the artists who were in and out of the SanDisk VIP lounge! Much love to Ronda & SanDisk for the hookups!
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Nas LIVE @ Rock The Bells Chicago (Pt. 1)
(Check for Tibs in the gray Cubs hat snappin’ some pics around 3:45!)
Nas LIVE @ Rock The Bells Chicago (Pt. 2)
(Check for Max G. & Jay Electronica with his cane around 4:30!)
Check the video PREMIERE 2 one of my early favorites of 2008 - “Got Me Going” by Day26! Their NEW, self-titled debut album will be in stores on Tuesday! I’m pretty excited for that, especially on the strength of the above 1st single! Peep the NEW trax below that are available for download, u knooooowwww! That Rakim track has got that raw sound, def a MUST-DL! Enjoy! Rakim “I’m Back” f/ Lil’ Fame
Above is a supposedly NEW Eminem track, and while I think it is definitely unreleased, based on the lyrics and the Slim Shady persona that is definitely on display here, I think that the track was recorded years ago. The J. Dupri diss also supports my speculation. Regardless, it’s Slim Shady and he’s got his usual funny/light-hearted rhymes in the track above. Down below, I’m really feelin’ the NEW Rakim track again “Hip Hop” that discusses the state of the genre. There’s also some NEW Kweli and Fabolous on the “I Can’t Win RMX” so DL and enjoy!
Producer: 9th Wonder - FULL, CDQ, Track off upcoming album Absolute Value*Tibs Fav.
Here’s a couple more real hip hop trax for ya ears before I catch some zzzz’s for the nite! Wow, that Rakim track is ridiculous. He’s always been an old-school MC that I’ve liked and his creativity can still be seen in 2day’s artists. The other track by Akrobatik (a Boston MC who is a favorite of Guru’s) is another real hip hop track that I’m feelin’ as well. DL them both above and enjoy!
Karina Pasian “First Love” - MORE
