Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Brother Ali: SXSW Performance (Video)

And it don't stop. He performs "Good Lord" and a couple a cappellas. All thanks due to RubyHornet.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Atmosphere & Brother Ali: Live at the Hultsfred Festival, Sweden (6/13/08)


This past summer, Atmosphere and Brother Ali toured across Europe doing a unique, combined set for their 3 The Hard Way tour. I caught their performance in London, and it was honestly one of the better shows I've attended. Slug and Ali complement each other wonderfully on stage, each taking turns being the other's hype man. Not to mention Ant, who does a great job orchestrating the show, as Atmosphere's usual back-up band did not cross the pond to Europe.

The tour also had a stop in Sweden for the Hultsfred Festival, and All The Way Live managed to get a high quality recording of the show. Their post, however, was a one-track, 30 minute recording of the set. I did a little editing with Garageband, and separated each track individually. Featured are Ali and Slug doing a handful of their solo tracks and a few collaborations ("Cats Van Bags," "Blah Blah Blah"). It should, at the very least, provide those that weren't fortunate enough to be in Europe at the time — so probably most of you — a taste of the amazing tour that the Rhymesayers all-stars put on.

Atmosphere & Brother Ali: Live at the Hultsfred Festival, Sweden (6/13/08)

Prince: "Play That Funky Music ft. Common" (Live)

Two summers ago, Prince had a massive residency at the O2 arena in London, where he played about 20 shows or something. All The Way Live just released a recording of Prince playing "Play That Funky Music," but with Common jumping on for a surprise freestyle session. I couldn't find a picture of the both of them, so naturally I chose the next best thing.

"You know how I do it, it's your man Common Sense / On stage rockin', with my man Prince / Yo, I gotta just rap this / My man from Minneapolis"

Chea!

Prince: "Play That Funky Music ft. Common" (Live)

Friday, March 27, 2009

Freeway & Jake One: "Never Gonna Change" (Video)

I saw this at NahRight and skipped over it the first time because I'm so used to not being able to post Freeway stuff at MWB. Luckily I caught it a second time around; it looks like Free and Jake One are cooking up something nice for The Stimulus Package, out via Rhymesayers in fall 2009.

El Guante: Pioneer Press Feature + Video

The Pioneer Press recently published a nice article about El Guante and posted a video profile as well. Check the article here.

Concert Announcement: Doomtree Party

To celebrate the release of Sims' False Hopes 14.

In other news, it appears that Cecil Otter and Dessa teamed up for some sort of collaboration project, until the name Otter Darling. Lastly, F Stokes, the event's opening performer, is someone who you may not have heard of. He's a rapper from Chicago, and has an upcoming album produced entirely by Lazerbeak. He will also be contributing a song to the upcoming Midwest Broadcast mixtape.

GLC: "Big Screen ft. Kanye West" (Video)

Chicago is in the house.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

M.anifest: "Who ft. Guiguipop"

M.anifest was just featured on French producer Sebmaestria's Legendary Remixes and Beats mixtape. Here's the internationally-flavored track he guested on, complete with French rhyming from Guiguipop. Yup!

M.anifest: "Who ft. Guiguipop"

Franz Diego: "Sunrise"

Franz Diego just hit me with the first single from his upcoming solo LP titled .Com, which is schedule for a release sometime in 2009. DJ Noam the Drummer handled the production on this track, which I must say might be one of my favorite Franz joints yet. His wordplay and flow are on point.

Oh, and did I mention Franz will be dropping a track on the upcoming Midwest Broadcast mixtape?

Franz Diego: "Sunrise"

DJ Class: "I'm The Shit (Remix) ft. Kanye West"

Pretty self-explanatory. Apparently NMC let loose this CDQ version.

DJ Class: "I'm The Shit (Remix) ft. Kanye West"

Concert Announcement: Big Quarters Album Realase Party

You already know what it is. From The Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers will be out on May 5.

This show will be Saturday, May 23 at the Triple Rock. Soundset 2009 will conveniently be Sunday, May 24. No doubt I'm coming back home that weekend.

Finale: "Jungle Music"

Finale's A Pipe Dream and A Promise will be released on April 7; I've been sitting on my press copy of that album for about 2-3 months now, and trust me, it's good. It's full of bangin' production (Black Milk, Dilla, etc.) and honest lyrics – can't really ask for much more. But before that drops, Finale will be releasing a free mixtape, T.I.M.E., filled with tons of exclusive material that didn't make the album. It should be coming out in the next few days, and I'll be sure to post when it does.

Finale: "Jungle Music"

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Rhymesayers Artists Discuss Upcoming Projects At SXSW (Video)

As you surely know, many artists from the Rhymesayers crew rocked the SXSW festival to promote their recently released and/or upcoming projects. Below is a video with some brief interviews of the artists involved, such as P.O.S., Brother Ali, Jake One, Freeway (I still can't believe I get to call Freeway a member of the RSE crew) and Abstract Rude.

Skye Rossi, who presumably shot this video, also documented the event with some excellent photos of the events and performances of the RSE crew in Austin, which can be found here at his Flickr.


P.O.S.: "Why Go (Pearl Jam Cover)" (Video + MP3)

I posted the link to this about 4 days ago when I got back from my blogging hiatus, but only recently has it been getting more widespread recognition on the blog circuit. I noticed there has been a lot of demand for the mp3, as well, so I figured I might as well throw that up too. Know that Culture Bully supplied it first, though! I'm just a middle man here. Download link at the bottom of the post.



P.O.S.: "Why Go (Pearl Jam Cover)"

Kid Cudi: Karmaloop TV Feature, Pt. 2 (Video)

Previously: Kid Cudi on Karmaloop TV, Part 1
Shouts to Shake and Meka, who I snatched this from.

Naledge: "I'm In Chicago Bitch (Ink Remix)"

Chicago producer Ink comes through with the last remix to Naledge's track. Send this one over to Prague and London! I can picture people tripping out to this joint in a techno club right now...

And if you didn't check out Ink's mixtape, which I posted a while back, then you're sleeping!

Naledge: "I'm In Chicago Bitch (Ink Remix)"

Q-Tip: "We Fight We Love (Remix) ft. Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq, & Consequence" (CDQ)

What a pleasant surprise to an otherwise drab morning. Kanye West and Consequence get down to a remix from the Q-Tip song "We Fight We Love," off the best album of 2008 (in my opinion). No Raphael Saadiq on this one, which is a little sad, but this is a great remix nonetheless. Either Tip or 'Ye tweaked the beat a little bit, too; I always like it when the remix is over a fresh new beat. Sorry for the low-res picture above, that was the best I could do with a quick Google image search. Shout out to Shake for the link!

Update: CD-quality version, now featuring Raphael Siddiq (they must have listened to me!), released via NahRight. I brought it back up to the top because it's better quality.

Q-Tip: "We Fight We Love (Remix) ft. Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq, & Consequence"

Greenhouse (Illogic and Blueprint): New Album Preview (Video)

How about another Illogic update? Him and Blueprint are collaborating for a new Greenhouse album. No release date, no MP3 leak, but exciting still.

Illogic: Diabolical Fun

A day late on this, but I just wanted to remind you about the collaboration album between Illogic and Ill Poetic, Diabolical Fun. It dropped yesterday, and although I haven't heard it in its entirety, the odds are good that this is an incredibly dope album. Order it at the Weightless Recordings online store.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

P.O.S.: "Optimist" + Interview (At SXSW)

Minneapolis Fucking Rocks, who put me up on this post, said it right. To paraphrase, P.O.S. is everywhere, for better or worse (but mainly for better). A while back he hit us with the official video for "Optimist" (the second of six videos he shot for Never Better), now here is an interesting a cappella performance he did at SXSW for SPIN Magazine. I can't knock P.O.S. for getting the SPIN girls in the background playing the cups; but the biggest shout out is to Plain Ole Bill just chilling there with the girls in the background.



Next is an interview he conducted with John Norris, formerly of MTV (way back in the way - who remembers?). P.O.S. is being his typical/likable down-to-earth, humble self here. Great to hear him shout out Freeway at the Rhymesayers SXSW Showcase!

Big Sean: SXSW Freestyle (Video)

It's been a while since we've gotten new material from the G.O.O.D. Music rapper. Here he freestyles on the tour bus before taking the stage in Austin, TX. Pretty impressive audience — Common, 'Ye, etc. — luckily he brings spits some fire.

Kanye West: "Gone" + "Drive Slow" + "Spaceship" (Video)

More footage keeps surfacing from the G.O.O.D. Music showcase at SXSW. This time it comes from RapRadar. First up, Kanye gets some assistance from Consequence and GLC for a medley of "Gone" and "Drive Slow." The second video is the performance of my favorite Kanye song of all-time, "Spaceship ft. GLC & Consequence." All video to surface thus far indicates it was a pretty special evening at SXSW, although Pitchfork said otherwise about 'Ye's showing:
West's own questionable engagement spoke volumes. He flubbed lyrics on "We Major" and "Diamonds From Sierra Leone", and on "Crack Music" he quit two lines into the first verse, admitting, "That's all I remember." He was unapologetic about these mistakes. That was then, before Kanye made stadium rap and wounded robot laments.
Whatever, still wish I could have been there. Maybe a trip to Austin is in the works for 2010.



St. Paul Slim & Toki Wright: Artist Meets Artist Performance (Video)

Word is that Slug was getting frustrated with fan-made videos during the Artist Meets Artist show at the Fine Line a while back. But this footage looks pretty legit, so I'm assuming someone had to approve it. The set is presented in four videos below, in chronological order. Toki Wright does his usual thing in gving an extremely energetic, vibrant performance; and Slim is always on point with his live show as well. Good stuff — thanks to MFR.







Mac Lethal Releases The Original 11:11 Sessions + More

Mac Lethal's Rhymesayers debut LP, as many of you should know, was 11:11. However, the album that was released was actually the second version, as Mac went through some personal business and decided his first version became dark and outdated. Only now has Mac Lethal released The Original 11:11 Sessions, which can be picked up at Fifth Element or Lethalville.net. And if you want to see him speak on some other projects, as well as shamelessly promote his own personal mechandise, check the video below.

M.anifest & Chester French Conversation (Video)

Chester French and Lady Gaga recently came through Minneapolis for a concert, and M.anifest was lucky to kick it post-concert on the tour bus. Chester French has some nice words for M.anifest in the video, and M.anifest returns the favor via his website.

But the real important news is that M.anifest just confirmed to me via email that he's going to be submitting a track to the upcoming inaugural Midwest Broadcast mixtape. Yes, I'm putting out a mixtape — all Midwest artists, sure to be straight fire. I'll gradually leak more information about when it's coming, who else is on it, etc. Get ready.

Kid Cudi: Interview + "Day N Nite ft. Kanye West" (SXSW Performance)

DJ Semtex got some video of Kid Cudi speaking to his G.O.O.D. Music label mates about his proposed retirement — which, I'll give him credit, I can legitimately understand — and his performance of "Day N Nite," during which Kanye takes the stage. Via NahRight.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Naledge: "Naledge In The House (Freestyle)"

Naledge went in on the Nipsey Hustle instrumental. Shouts to Andrew, as usual.

Naledge: "Naledge In The House (Freestyle)"

Black Milk: Live in Manchester (Video)

Black drops a plethora of songs at the Manchester stop in his European tour. Got it at 2DB.

D/Will: "Break Time"

Kansas City rapper/producer D/Will will be dropping his album The Battery Effect sometime in 2009. Here's a track from him, although it has yet to be confirmed if it's on the album or not.

D/Will: "Break Time"

Common: "The Light ft. Erykah Badu & Kanye West" + Freestyle (Video)

The FADER, in conjunction with Levi's, hosted a G.O.O.D. Music Showcase at Austin, Texas' SXSW Festival last week. Judging by the setlist and the guests (GLC, Cudi, Consequence, etc.), it seemed like a hell of a show. Kanye was there supporting all his artists and even did some older cuts from The College Dropout. But in this video clip, special guests Common and Erykah Badu joined forces to perform "The Light," and then do a little impromptu freestyle session.

Kid Cudi: Karmaloop TV Feature

Cudi provides a relatively in-depth description of, well, himself, and supplies his thoughts on topics such as his upcoming album and making music in today's era. Spotted at NahRight.

The Tribe and Big Cats!: Supply and Demand EP

I'm gonna hand in my late pass for the last time on this post. I received this EP before I left for Spring Break but didn't want to drop it on MWB until the official release date, which was a few days ago now. The Tribe are a two-man duo (emcee Truth Be Told and DJ Pete) hailing from Menomonie, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, while Minneapolis producer Big Cats! is one of the illest artists doing it in Minnesota right now. They recently teamed up to create a free-download Supply and Demand EP, which can be downloaded below. Don't sleep on these guys.

The Tribe and Big Cats!: Supply and Demand EP

Hydey Ali: "Dark Room" (Video)

I'm a little late on this, but Culture Bully and Above The Fold dropped some nice footage of Hyder Ali rehearsing "Dark Room" for his recent Careless Talk EP release party. The EP can be found on iTunes, and you'd be a fool not to pick it up.

Kanye West and Mr. Hudson: "Anyone But Him"

DJ Semtex just dropped this footage from his Twitter. Kanye and fellow G.O.O.D. Music artist Mr. Hudson performed a new track, "Anyone But Him," in Austin at SXSW. I need to go to that festival next year, it looks pretty amazing.

St. Paul Slim: Song Medley (Performance Footage)

St. Paul Slim rocked the Dinkeytowner lately, here's some footage of him puttin' it down. Anyone got song titles?

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself

I'm baackk!! Sorry for the extended absence. I must say, although I don't regret taking about 12 full days off of MWB — my Spring Break trip was spectacular — I am sorry to those of you who regularly follow this site for your hip-hop updates. I would have loved to be able to contribute while I was away, but that wasn't really a possibility. Upon my return, I compiled a big list of links of things that I missed out on while I was gone. I basically perused through my email/various other blogs and provided links to everything below. I realize this is probably a grossly incomplete compilation, but it's a good start to getting back on track. I'll be back on full blog mode starting tomorrow morning. In the meantime, feel free to hit the following links, provided in no particular order.

Hokay! I'm reloaded!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Midwest Broadcast Update

I will be away a Spring Break trip from Friday, March 13 until Sunday, March 22. In case you're curious, I'm road tripping to Southwest Arkansas with some friends, where we will be backpacking/camping in the mountains for a few days. Then, we're heading to New Orleans for two nights before driving back to Minnesota. Should be a fun trip, I'm very excited.

However, I won't be bringing my computer with me (they don't have wireless in the mountains yet, do they?); thus, there will be no Midwest Broadcast updates until I return. For a mixed bag of music updates (hip-hop and other genres), I encourage you to visit the following sites, or check out my links section to browse around more. When I return, I'll try to hit you with a massive post of all that I missed out on while being gone.

Naledge: "I'm In Chicago Bitch (Million Dollar Mano Remix)"

First was the original. Then Andrew at FSD hosted a remix contest. Now Mano provided a late submission, complete with an additional verse from Naledge.

Naledge: "I'm In Chicago Bitch (Million Dollar Mano Remix)"

Freez: For Real, It's 2 EZ (Mixtape)

Illuminous 3 emcee Freez recently dropped his latest solo mixtape, For Real, It's 2 EZ. Unabashedly blunt, the Minneapolis emcee put together an admittedly nice collection of tracks, featuring guest appearances from the likes of Brother Ali and Toki Wright. Check it out, and if you still haven't gotten fellow I3 group member Franz Diego's Franz Diego EP, then do that as well.

Sorry the above artwork is so small. The email I received with the mixtape had the album artwork in a pdf file, which Blogger doesn't support. This is the best I could do in the limited time I spent searching for the cover art.

Freez: For Real, It's 2 EZ (Mixtape)

The Cool Kids: Inside Blender Studio (Video)

This video is really pretty worthless, but I'm really posting because Andrew of FakeShoreDrive just received the exciting opportunity to preview The Cool Kids' debut studio LP, When Fish Ride Bicycles. Check out his thoughts here. Sounds like they're cooking up something special.

Kid Cudi: "Switchin' Lanes"

Kid Cudi collaborated with Statik Selektah for the producer's Midnight Club video game soundtrack. Props to 2DB. The track has a quick DJ drop at the beginning and end but otherwise it sounds pretty legit.

Kid Cudi: "Switchin' Lanes"

Kidz In The Hall: SXSW Takeover (Video)

As I prepare to go on a huge spring break road trip, why not drop a couple final posts before I leave you guys for a week? Here's a Kidz In The Hall interview from SXSW in Austin.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Kanye West: "Heartless" (On American Idol)

Was I supposed to know this was happening? Kanye West has to be one of the worst singers ever to guest on American Idol. Not that he's bad, per se, but I mean, the guy has to use autotune to sing. Can't they go get Burt Bacharach or someone again?

The running tally is presently at three Kanye West posts in a row. Will someone else do something please?!

Kanye West & 88-Keys: "Stay Up! (Viagra)" Video Shoot (Behind The Scenes)

'Ye and 88 dressed like old men — hillarity ensures.

Kanye West: "Drug Dealin' (We Don't Care" ft. GLC & Keyshia Cole" (Unreleased Demo)

Props to GLC for letting this beast loose. The College Dropout = classic. I don't care. This is the original version of "We Don't Care," recorded back in 2003, and featuring GLC and Keyshia Cole.

Kanye West: "Drug Dealin' (We Don't Care) ft. GLC & Keyshia Cole" (Unreleased Demo)

Royce Da 5'9": Culture VI Interview

I'm taking a midterm in under two hours – no time to talk. But it's always good to hear from Nickel Nine once again.

P.O.S.: "Goodbye" + "Savion Glover" (Video)

Culture Bully just posted this cool, high-quality video of P.O.S. performing "Goodbye," off of the spectacular Never Better. Plain Ole Bill one the tables in back.

Update: "Savion Glover" added.



Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Kid Cudi: "Superboo" (Video)

From eskay.

Update: According to Kid Cudi, this is not authentic. This time, though, he's not asking us to take it down, like he did with the "Day 'N Nite" remix.

M.anifest: Artist Meets Artist Concert Recap/Footage (Video)

The big homie M.anifest just dropped a little homemade footage of the sold out Artist Meets Artist concert in Minneapolis last night. By his account, it seemed to be a pretty spectacular night. Wish I could have been there. Here's to hoping some footage of all the acts surfaces soon. Word is that Slim and Toki Wright killed it. I'm sure everyone else did, too.

Medium Zach In The Lab (Video)

The next installment of Last of The Record Buyers takes place on March 19 at the Dinkeytowner. Stop by and say hi to Medium Zach.

Eligh & Jo Wilkenson: "Safe ft. Slug & Pigeon John"

I'm going to be honest: I know nothing about this track. 2DB can tell you a little bit more, as I schwacked it from their blog. Eligh and Jo Wilkinson are apparently a mother/son duo who just put out an album together, titled On Sacred Ground. Slug guest spots, so it gets a post here.

Eligh & Jo Wilkenson: "Safe ft. Slug & Pigeon John"

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Behind The Beats, Vol. 6: Atmosphere's "The Arrival"

Once again, I took a little hiatus from Behind The Beats, but it's time to come back for more. These posts are fun to do, because not only do they allow me to diverge from the usual pattern of posting I get sucked into at MWB, but I also often discover new music in the process. This track is no different, as Ant of Atmosphere always gets into some serious crate digging for his samples. For "The Arrival," he utilized part of the track "Excursion With Complications," by Swedish musician Bo Hansson. The sample is brief — a quick guitar riff looped for basically the entire track — but powerful. This track always contains so much energy, making it an ideal intro track for You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having; that can be credited to Ant's production. Check the original sample below, and be sure to catch the next installment of Behind The Beats.

Side Note: Every time I hear the beat for the Evidence track, "To Be Determined ft. Elzhi and Aloe Blacc," off his recent Layover EP, I swear it uses this same sample. But something about the track makes me think it's just a coincidence. Take a listen to it and let me know what you think in the c-section.

Bo Hansson: "Excursion With Complications"


Add-2: Coast 2 Coast Exclusive Series, Vol. 5 (Mixtape)

So some person (or group of people?) has been releasing Coast 2 Coast mixtapes and weekly freestyles from various artists for a little while now. I haven't posted any of that until now, but Chicago emcee Add-2 just dropped a mixtape in that series. Check it out — tracklist is below and the download link is below the image.

Download - Add-2: Coast To Coast Exclusive Series, Vol. 5 (Mixtape)

Franz Diego: "Oh Geez" (Video)

Says Franz Diego:
This is a video I put together after my brief trip in December to Puerto Rico. I went on the Trip with a friend and we had no plans. We ended up stumblin upon the biggest festival of the year for st. sebastian, its like a 3-4 day and night festival in the streets and they got it crackin. I wanted to do a video to show how fresh it was, the video however, does not do it justice, you have to go. Anyway, I figured Id put some of my music over it, if you like it hit up.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Brother Ali: Truth Is Here DVD Trailer

Wow. First Ave is packed. Cop Ali's Truth Is Here EP/DVD combo on Tuesday! I swear I'll start getting back on my blog grind — I took a little two-day hiatus. My sincerest apologies.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Nametag:"Stylin' On Em" (Prod. Black Milk) (Video)

Detroit's Nametag just dropped this no frills video for his track "Stylin' On Em," off his Courtesy Of Ambition EP, which can be purchased on iTunes. Black Milk does the production on this track, but you already no that — nobody sounds like Black Milk. Shouts to Michigan Hip-Hop.

Kanye West on The Wake Up Show, Pt. 3 (Video)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Big Quarters Announce Release of Sophomore Album (Video)

To be honest, I was gonna let Midwest Broadcast sit on the previous P.O.S. post for a little while, but this is too good to let sit around. Just got an email from Brandon Allday announcing From the Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers, the sophomore release from Minneapolis group Big Quarters. And not to be lazy, but I think Brandon Allday himself can better describe what BQ has in store for you than I can:
Big Quarters' sophomore album From the Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers will drop May 5th, 2009 on Lake City Browns. On their second full-length, Mexican-American hip-hop duo Medium Zach and Brandon Allday embrace Midwest-styled storytelling with the crate digging ethics of beat nuts. From the Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers is Big Quarters' first print release since the instrumental project Zip Disks Break in 2007. The album features appearances by Mux Mool, P.O.S, Mankwe Ndosi, Alissa Paris and Crescent Moon. The release of From the Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers coincides with the 5 year anniversary of Big Quarters - as well as the annual celebration of Mexican heritage and pride, Cinco de Mayo. Join Big Quarters to celebrate the release of From the Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers: Saturday, May 9th @ Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis MN 18+ / $7 / 10pm


P.O.S.: "Optimist" (Video)

Last time, P.O.S. hit us to the video for "Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)." Today, MTV2 premiered his video for "Optimist." This is the second of six overall videos he filmed for Never Better.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Mike Posner & The Brain Trust: A Matter Of Time (Mixtape)

Duke University student and Michigan native Mike Poser drops his debut mixtape with his Brain Trust affiliates. Catch guest spots from Big Sean, among others, on this mixtape. Posner brings to the table an interesting hip-hop infused R&B sound, and continues the string of young college students emerging to the foreground in the urban music scene. If you missed my previous post of the video to his "Halo (Remix)," be sure to check that out. The tracklist is provided in the image below, and you can hit this link to download the mixtape, or follow the link at the bottom of the post.

Click to Download - Mike Posner & The Brain Trust: A Matter Of Time

Kanye West: VH1 Storytellers Live (Mixtape)

Here's the entire audio compiled in a mixtape. I snatched the link via FSD via Perajok.

Kanye West: VH1 Storytellers Live (Mixtape)

Black Milk: The Carter Cartel Interview (Video)

You know Tronic is still getting heavy rotation on my iPod.