Videos of the Week May 16th

Between Eminem's Headlights, JT's MJ tribute, and Jason Derulo's ridiculous dancing in #WiggleWiggleWiggle, there was a clear top three this week. To be honest, I had a really tough decision on what the cover art would be for this week, but when Spike Lee steps up to direct for you, you'll get the nod. Pretty cool how they went about telling the story of the song through the visuals. I'll maintain, it's going to go down as one of my top 10 favorite Eminem tracks when all is said and done.

I really appreciated the tasteful tribute that Justin Timberlake helped put together to honor Michael Jackson and promote his recently released album Xscape. Aside from the top three, the North Coast Music Festival would be circled on my calendar if I was still going to be in the Midwest this summer. Lots of great talent included, but not limited to Kid Cudi, Bassnectar, Nicky Romero, Keys N Krates, Wolfgang Gartner, etc. To cap off the week, it was not a big surprise to see Usher performing on the show he helped build, The Voice. I've said it once and I'll say it again, I can't wait to hear how his new EDM flavored album is going to sound...#GoodKisser
Eminem feat Nate Ruess - Headlights (Video) (Directed by Spike Lee)

Justin Timberlake & Michael Jackson - Love Never Felt So Good (Video)

Jason Derulo - #WiggleWiggleWiggle (Video)

North Coast Music Festival (Trailer)

Usher Performs Good Kisser on The Voice

Videos of the Week May 24th

Decent mix of funny, entertaining and inspirational this week with The Lonely Island setting the humor bar high this week with Diaper Money. On the flip side, I got goosebumps watching third grader Asean Johnson of Chicago blast Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for threatening to close his school. The little dude might just be the rose that grew from concrete in a city that has become synonymous with Irag.

Sandwiched in between are some entertaining videos from a few usual suspects like Fat Joe, T.I. and Maroon 5. Although it was tempting to post all clips of Kanye's new videos being projected onto walls, I'm going to refrain from that business. Enjoy your long weekend y'all, see some of you at the Indy 500...#MemorialDay

The Lonely Island - Diaper Money (Video)

Fat Joe feat Wiz Khalifa & Teyana Taylor - Ballin' (Video)

T.I. feat Cee-lo - Hello (Video)

Maroon 5 - Love Somebody (Video)

Third Grader Asean Johnson Argues for Chicago Mayor to Not Close His School

"I Killed Off Heaven Now I Live in Hell"

"You ain’t saving them from danger,

you’re keeping danger safe"

Coming from someone who isn't from the streets and doesn't see murder and crime on a daily basis, I feel like I'd be a fool not to talk about all the events surrounding Hip Hop in the Chicago area the past month. The realization and connection to the problem began for me when I saw @RealSway interview @lupefiasco and reminisce over a video filmed back in 2006 that ended up bringing Lupe to tears. It's a powerful video and I'd recommend you watch it if you care about a large scale problem that needs to be brought to light and talked about...

My first reaction after disbelief was "I can't even imagine what that feels like." The that I'm referring to is the ghosts Lupe alludes to that are friends or neighbors in the video who are no longer alive or currently in prison. It's alarming how many teenagers have turned into ghosts in the Chicago area with the murder rate up 38% in the first half of 2012.

Which makes the video above ironic and even more powerful is that less than a month later, a couple rival teenage rappers in Chicago decided to take the guns and violence to the extreme. After weeks of diss tracks and YouTube posts created by two rival Hip Hop gangs, rapper Lil Jo Jo was gunned down. Long story short, new Interscope signee @ChiefKeef (who recently became relevant in Hip Hop solely because Kanye decided to remix his song I Don't Like) decided to take to Twitter to express pure glee in the rival Lil Jo Jo's death. You could imagine how publicly laughing at another teenager getting shot to death in a rival group would ruffle some feathers, but instead of apologizing for his ill time tweets, he decided to continue to fight back by threatening to fight Lupe Fiasco who condemned Keef's celebratory tweets.

So what happens when you have a teenager committing career suicide on Twitter? Well...management steps in, by first saying his twitter account had been hacked...um...at various times the past few days when the tweets came out about Jo Jo..oh..and Lupe too. In other news there's some oceanfront property Chief Keef would like to sell you in Montana (#SMMFH). Now it seems that Keef is being investigated in the murder and management went a step further and made him apologize and send prayers out to Jo Jo's family. Evidently the "he's just a teenager" excuse works well in this kind of situation too.

To sum it all up, the quote below summarizes the outcome in a very succinct, eloquent way:

"Chief Keef is a bomb. A bomb has no responsibility or blame, it does what it was created to do; DESTROY. - @rhymefest"

Taking it one step further,@gouldmovements of the Independent Blog put it best when he opined and further questioned the state of Hip Hop by saying:

"There are a thousand debates to be had here. Questions about authenticity in hip hop and the essential tragedy of this rich, fascinating counter-culture. The gap between the mainstream and the underground, between the poor inner city and the wealthy establishment, about how Chicago’s music has suddenly become ‘interesting’ for all the wrong reasons, and about how, in roughly five minutes, we’ll all forget about its problems and go listen to the next 2Chainz track about cars and hoes, because it’s all harmless fun, isn’t it? Forget Snoop Dogg’s early 90s criminal persona (and actions) and focus on his current incarnation as a Rastafarian. Deep down, we, the white media, will fetishize the violence hip hop sometimes endorses or reflects, because it’s something we’ll never witness at first hand, and then we’ll all go back to our safe happy homes. Well I’ll say one thing is certain. We can’t just put our headphones in. We have to keep asking questions." - source

So what's the fall out, end game or better yet music in this post you ask? For starters, it seems like any and every Chicago Hip Hop name has pitched in their 2 cents on the issue including producer No I.D., Rhymefest and even 50 cent. The range of reactions go from disgust all the way to support for Chief Keef. I know, I know, it's insane someone would try to rationalize the way Keef reacted. Shoot, after taking all this in I can see why Lupe is wanting to distance himself from the Hip Hop culture as a whole and retire to solve bigger world problems because, in part, rappers like Chief Keef will continue giving Hip Hop and his home city of Chicago a bad name.

If it is true that Lupe is going to walk away from Hip Hop to pursue more meaningful endeavors, I don't blame him and he will be missed. Missed because his last album Food and Liquor II: The Great American Album Part 1 is shaping into a classic because of inspiring and meaningful tracks like his most recent one below. His knack for storytelling in an evocative way is unmatched and even though I've been critical for his at times overly political messages, his expression is about as close to lyrical art as you'll get in Hip Hop. For every 1000 typical rappers, there is 1 Lupe Fiasco who actually fights for and believes in meaningful things that need to be talked about in the world.

If you don't want to listen to the whole track, at least fast forward to the 2:15 mark of American Terrorists (Superheros Part 2) and follow word for word. There's some depth in his message and I'm betting everyone who reads it will find different meaning in his message. Not only is the delivery beautiful with the soft piano lead in, but the infusion of dubstep at the verse's apex is brilliant.

"Last remarks, they did it to themselves
I killed off heaven, now I live in hell
So complicit and they all non-survival
Told them that they biggest rival is inside you
I do possess the power to revive you
But if I did that, I’d just have to fight you
Cause you truly are the hero and the villain
The world stood froze, hearing a truth so chilling
Reporters start filming, somebody shouted, “Kill him!”
He looked back in disgust and flew up to the ceiling
Busted through the roof and kicked over the building
Before it hit the ground, a younger hero flew around
And put it on his shoulders, said you’re naive now
But believe, you’ll believe me when you’re older
Every asteroid you stop and bomb you fly up into space
You ain’t saving them from danger, you’re keeping danger safe"

If this is a part of the last chapter of his Hip Hop career, he truly did leave the best for last...#Sept25

Lupe Fiasco - American Terrorist (Superheroes)(Part 2)
|iTunes
S/O to B*tches and Art for the cover art

"If It Ain't About a Dolla Why You Talkin' To Me?"

Nothin' like a cool summer breeze outta Windy Chi-town. First and foremost, god bless Sony/Boardwalk/ATV for signing the @blendedbabies. The duo has been quietly emerging as one of the most underrated beatsmiths in the game, so signing them will ultimately end up being a good decision.

In celebration of the signing, the duo let loose with an epic Chicago based collabo from the rock n' sould group @theomyslive featuring the likes of @chancetherapper, @chuckisdope, @chip216, and @TWISTAgmg. You better believe the track is about as soulful as a southern baptist congregation and the message of the track is as clear as a freshly Windexed glass table. Between the back and forth twang of the guitar and the swaggerich money talks message throughout the hook and verses, it's apropos given the newly inked Blended Babies record deal.

Feel free to cool the f word out to this and whatever you do, don't fast forward and miss that 9th inning closer verse from Twista...#LightsOut

The O’My’s feat Twista, Chuck Inglish, Chip Tha Ripper & Chance The Rapper – Bout A Dolla (prod by The Blended Babies)

"Man, If Life Was a Bicycle I'd Say That I'm Tryin' To Get My Pedal On"

This whole meshing of Indie and Hip Hop is a great thing. To me, Indie music is basically like saying an artist's style is original and different than all the other music that gets keyholed into genres. To be Indie, you almost have to have at least a mix of two different types of music or be nothing like anything you'd hear on the radio. Confusing enough of an explanation? Hopefully you get where I'm going with this as I try to set up a track originally done by @coldwarkids of their newest single Mine is Yours (obligatory iTunes link). I'd characterize it as a soft rock track where Cold War Kids lead singer Nathan Willett manages to croon you into a trance vocally over a soft piano laden backdrop. Real easy listening...

Cold War Kids - Mine is Yours (original version)

Seems like a whole lotta people seemed to feel the same way as other notable Indie acts like @PASSIONPIT and @OddBlood both took swings at the mellow out track. Not sure which I like better, but I'm leaning toward Yeasayer's synthesizers over Passion Pit's 80's sounding mix. You be the judge, both are 180s from the original and I don't think either fully did the original justice...

Cold War Kids - Mine is Yours (Passion Pit Remix)

Cold War Kids - Mine is Yours (Yeasayer Remix)

If you were wondering, I am saving the best for last because the Blended Babies mix of the original (without question) pulled off the best mix. Adding in some deep bass, a few well executed verses by @sirmichaelrocks, but still keeping the original hook was a great decision. When it comes to alternative Hip Hop, it's hard to do much better than the final product below, it's fresh on so many levels.

Cold War Kids feat Mikey Rocks - Mine is Yours (Blended Babies Remix)

|Download

A.O.N. Freestyle on Chicago's Power 92 With Frankie Robinson

The voice of the youth, @aonmusik stopped by Power 92 in Chicago to drop a hot 16 and chat it up with Frankie Robinson...give it a look...

"I've Been Loving You Too Long, To Stop Now"

Real cool use of a sample as Twista uses Otis Redding's sped up sample of I've Been Loving You Too Long from 1965. You'd think based on the lyrics that the subject of a track would be a woman, but instead it's about the city that he will forever represent, Chi-town. The chopped up stutter of the beat fits Twista's flow like Jeter in pinstripes, blending with the lullabye-esque high pitched Otis Redding. For all you curious mofo's the original track by Otis below...

If you haven't already given @TWISTAGMG's new album Perfect Storm a listen, you need to check out Hands Up, Lay Down with @WAKAFLOCKABSM, Up To Speed and 3 Minute Murder. His new album definitely caters to those who can appreciate his fast forward flow and slow jams. Not sure why this one below was cut though...#SometimesTheBestStuffDoesntMakeItOut

Twista - Too Long

|Download

AON Mixtape/Video Release Party Chicago Sat, Oct 09

New AON Mixtape Young World Vol. 1 dropping 10/10/10 (hosted by DJ Green Lantern)

Below is an absolutely bangin' new single from ya boy AON who hooks up with DC's finest, Wale on Hater Watch Me. The track below is set to debut on AON's new Mixtape Young World Vol. 1 Hosted by @dj_greenlantern due out this Sunday. In case you've been sleepin' and not paying attention to all the tracks I've posted by this 16 year old phenom, he is a hip-hop artist who was born Hence Opoku in Ghana, but now resides in Chicago. His name is an acronym for ‘Ambitious or Nothing.’ His song My Girl with singer Iyaz now has 25,000 hits on YouTube, you remember way back in April when I was hyping that track? I maintain that track is still meant for mainstream consumption and hasn't reached it's full potential as a serious top 100 radio hit.

Important to note that tomorrow night Oct 9th it's on and poppin at CRC studios in Chicago, IL (see location via Google Maps), where AON is hosting an open party to celebrate the release of his mixtape Young World Vol. 1, hosted by @dj_greenlantern. He'll also be  premiering his much anticipated music video for his single Doin' it Big that I dropped on y'all back in June. This is an event for all ages and festivities are from 8pm-1am with food and beverages. Come out, enjoy the show and check out the message from AON about the show...

Some call him the "Voice of the Youth" because he's got tracks that range from Soul to D.C GoGo (hence the Wale track) to even Glam Rock. I'm reluctant to keyhole him into a genre or style of Hip Hop since he incorporates so many different sounds, but Indie Hip Hop based on an upbeat sound that banks on his solid lyrical delivery is the best I got as far as describing his style. According to @Wale when he heard @aonmusik for the first time he thought “the kid was at least 21”, which is true, he's got a mature swag about him that makes him sound older. All things considered, his sound is more polished than you'd expect from a dude that's only 16. With all this Indie music I've been posting of late, it's refreshing to see an artist fully embrace the description of his work as an "Indie twist to mainstream Hip Hop".

Tomorrow night A.O.N will be on stage with special guest @biggarankin00 of CTE and he will be performing the track below, Hater Watch Me along with his hit single My Girl which features Iyaz. This is AON’s biggest event in Chicago thus far and will be a catalyst as far as creating buzz momentum in his hometown. I'm serious go out and support him tomorrow night it's his damn birthday and you'll be glad you witnessed him perform for $10 up close and personal before he made it.

Luckily for all of you following out there, below is an exclusive straight for his manager at Steeze Records who was nice enough to drop this on you a month early before it hits radio stations November 6th. Consider yourself lucky to be ahead of the curve and definitely bang this heat rock out, lettin' everybody know @aonmusik has arrived and is about to start tearin' up the scene...

AON. feat Wale - Hater Watch Me (exclusive!)
|Download

"Yea Boy I Do, And You Should Do You, Why You Worried Bout Me, You Need To Worry Bout You"

You can't go wrong with Twista and The Legendary Traxster getting together on a track. From tracks like Yo Body with Do or Die and older tracks from his album Adrenaline Rush, Adrenaline Rush, Get it Wet and Emotions, Twista's unique flow has always had Traxster's well laid out canvas to work on. There's a good reason why I Twista's best album was Adrenaline Rush and that reason was Traxster producing every single track on the album.Sidebar: You also may not have associated Ludacris's new track, My Chick Bad with The Legendary Traxster, but he also produced that.

The sometimes haunting, but always simple and melodic beats from @traxster would be too simple for a lot of artists, but when combined with an artist like Twista whose talent is in your face, intense and uniquely fast, it just works. For Twista to sound like he's in his element and at his best, he's got to be the one that leads the way and set the tone for the track. Traxster's beats always allow him the ability to do that and that's why over the years they have been such a successful duo.

Fast forward now to 2010, where Twista is expecting a new album titled The Perfect Storm to drop on September 28. I've been reading some rave reviews from Fakeshore Drive regarding the album and based on The Legendary Traxster producing many of the tracks reviewed, I can see why. The song below which will probably be a single at some point off his new album, has the same sort of in your face, slower down sample that My Chick Bad has. It's every bit as intense and in your face as past Twista/Traxster collaborations with both beat and flow taking on an unapologetically uptempo feel. It seems like the Traxster has evolved a bit with his beat making though, opting for more attention grabbing beats like on I Do, which implore Twista to step his game up and evolve too.

...and step up he has, give the track a listen, you aren't going to find much better of a Hip Hop artist/producer match than with these two...

Twista - I Do (prod by The Legendary Traxster)
| Download

"If I Could Write You a Song To Make You...Fall In Love"

Truth be told, I've been jammin' out to this new Mikey Posner joint for a couple months now, only to find out it's spreading like a wildfire on radio stations everywhere. When I have people who I don't usually provide music for coming up to me saying, "hey do you have that new Cooler Than Me song by I dunno who, but do you know what I'm talking about?", you know it's officially permeated the pop culture barrier.

Did I see that one coming? Not one bit, I mean I really like the song and Mike Posner is a really talented artist, who has been under the radar for a while and has received beaming endorsements from my Chi-town friends who are quick to point out how good of a performer he is. In fact, I remember hyping an artist named Na Palm who was opening for Mike Posner about a month ago. For all of you in the Chicago area who missed that concert you're probably kicking yourself because similarly, 2AM Club's Worry About You has blown up all over radio stations and Posner, Napalm and 2AM Club were all on the ticket.

This whole Hip Hop/Electro movement that mainstream radio has deemed "in" right now is a trend I hope continues for quite a while. Between this, the influence of David Guetta, Crookers, LCD Soundsystem (see newest Kid Cudi sample), MGMT, Ratatat, even DJ Class who is injecting techno/dance into Hip Hop...it's coming from all angles geared toward upbeat dance music.

For all of you who aren't very familiar with Mike Posner, go ahead and check out both of his mixtapes he released, One Foot Out the Door and A Matter of Time. In the video below Mike speaks about his upcoming album 35 Minutes to Takeoff due out second week of August, which coincidentally is 35 minutes long and "at the end of the 35 minutes he's going to be at a different spot (career wise)".

Real soft spoken, animated dude who has that subtle confidence in the video above that makes me believe he's going to make a splash with this new album. Guess we'll see once August comes around, enjoy the remix...

Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me (Gigamesh Remix)
| Download

BONUS: Already done a New Artist Spotlight on Napalm, so I'd be remiss if I didn't include the official remix that he donated a verse on. Give it a listen...

Mike Posner feat Napalm - Cooler Than Me (Remix)
| Download

Buzz Track: A.O.N. - Doin' It Big

Another shot fired across the bow from up and coming artist A.O.N., this time on more of a bouncy, head nodding tip on Doin' It Big. He's already shown he's got the ability to light up radio stations with his catchy collabo with IYAZ on My Girl. On the real though, blogs catch up, that track is fire and I haven't seen it on more than one or two of the Hip Hop blogs I frequent...

Little different style from A.O.N. on Doin' It Big, taking more of a big beat, Hip Hop angle that blends well with the keys on the hook. Whole lotta love for the Windy City love on this one as the artist who is Nothing short of Ambitious does his best to carry the town on his back, yelling "Chi-Town where you at?!". A great exhibit of his limitless confidence and swagger on his verses, he's got a powerfully youthful vibe to his tracks that comes off a upbeat and surprisingly easy to nod your head to.

A big reason why I think he's got what it takes to make a splash with his music has to do with his versatility. No doubt he's got the flow to sound at home on any style of beat, but it's his appeal to to all sorts of audiences from Pop to R&B to Hip Hop that will end up getting his music heard. On the tracks I've listened to so far by him, he's sounded at times like Wale, other times like Lupe Fiasco with his delivery. He's showing flashes of catchy bars like

"And I stay strapped like bras on a woman"

"Cold like Chilli sick and soundin' like T-Boz and with the Left Eye peep chica"

...that blend well with Hip Hop pop culture references like G-Shock watches. It's about being accessible and Hip Hop nowadays caters to creativity because artist like Lil Wayne and Drake are setting the bar higher when it comes to intelligent creative verses. Whole lotta potential with in that respect with A.O.N. because some of his rhymes take a few listens for the average listener to get...which is a good thing and will gain him respect among peers when people start knowing his name.

Shout out to his manager Bigman at Bigsteeze Records for the exclusive tracks. Check it out y'all...

A.O.N. - Doin' It Big (prod by Bucknasty)
| Download

Buzz Track: Ben One feat Twista - Beat it Like a Drum

Another Chicago native creepin' on a come up, Ben One enlisted Chi-town native Twista to bless his single with his pyroclastic flow. For those of you who pay reaaal close attention, Ben One was featured on Na Palm's new track Go Go Girl. He played the backseat on the hook, giving the track a touch of R&B to go with the Go-Go Hip Hop vibe.

In contrast, his track below, Beat it Like a Drum is more of a bouncy, repeatable, radio friendly effort. Favorite line on the track by far is at the 50 sec mark when Ben harmonizes, "Travis Barker on that ass, yea we beat it like a drum". That's good stuff, but not quite as good as Twista on this track. Love it when he takes a slow beat and manages to double time the beat by weaving in and out of each beat hit. That's a good look and a reminder of why his style has yet to be matched by anyone else in Hip Hop history. Think about it, what other rapper can do what Twista does on beats? You can make the Krayzie Bone comparisons or even Tech N9ne...they just don't measure up when you add the talent with the originality.

Solid lead single for the Chicago native though, what do you guys think? Any chance of him makin' some waves in R&B?

Ben One feat Twista - Beat It Like A Drum

New Artist Spotlight: Na Palm

As I alluded to earlier in the week, Chi-town is becoming more and more of a hotbed of talented Hip Hop artists. Sure we all know The Cool Kids, Kanye, Lupe, Common, Rhymefest, even further back to the 90s when The Legendary Traxster was layin' down consistently under-appreciated beats for the likes of Do or Die and Twista. For the record, Do or Die's Headz or Tailz album was hands down one of my favorite Hip Hop albums of the 1990s. Yea everybody loved Still Po Pimpin', but Just Ballin' and All in the Club were my two favorite tracks on that disk I still rock to this day.

But this post isn't meant to pay homage to those who have made themselves a name in the Windy City, it's more to shine the light on an up and coming artist, Craig Steven Palm aka Na Palm, who is quietly making a name for himself. I say quietly because dude has over 17,000 fans on his Facebook page and you haven't even heard his music yet. Shit I'd be happy if 17,000 people recognized my name, let alone followed me on Facebook (hah!). I'm not even tryin' to take full credit for stumbling on him either, a couple of buddies I went to High School with schooled me on his stuff recently (good look Herring!) and since that, I've taken a liking to some of his material, most notably his new single Go Go Girl.

Not lacking on charisma once he grabs the mic, with high energy flow and engaging stage presence, Nay epitomizes the hype the you'd expect from someone heavily influenced by the movement that was Chicago House. Unafraid to call out Asher Roth on a diss record, describing his personality as off the chain may not do him justice. Matter of fact, if you've been around Chicago of late, you might have seen your boy out at any and all clubs in the area (Crescendo, Enclave, Alhambra Palace, V Live - THIS SUNDAY!) goin' AbraHAM Lincoln, doin' his best to live up to his unapologetic "Party Rapper" image.

(art by Na Palm)

As far as his music is concerned, I'll be honest, I've heard just as many freestyles as actual tracks, but the non-freestyles are every bit techno/house/go go as they are Hip Hop. In fact, you should probably go check out a lot more of Na Palm's stuff on FakeShoreDrive, the home of all that is Chicago Hip Hop on the internet. I've got a lot of respect for the quality the folks over at FakeShore have been putting out for over three years, you'd probably be better off and more in the know Hip Hop wise by subscribing to their feed or becoming a fan on Facebook or Twitter. Needless to say they probably don't need a shout out in comparison to the small but steady grind I've got goin' on with this site, but my buddy is good friends with the creator, so I'm sure he'd appreciate the support.

Back to the track at hand, his new single Go Go Girl, which sounds more like it came from DC, than Chi-town. Starts out with a lil' piano & melody delivered by Ben One, giving way to a syncopated, upbeat rhythm, shadowed by a measured bass, snare, hi-hat. All elements characteristic of the Go-Go flavored Hip Hop that artists like Wale have recently started bringing to the limelight with tracks like this.The rhythmic, but soothing vibe of this track is a 180 compared to a lot of the party tracks that Na Palm has done, but it's a safe bet to get him more than a few listens on radio stations. Big fan of the unique sound of the track, more artists in the game should have the same fearlessness to develop their own Hip Hop sound rather than rely on the tired old cookie cutter, vanilla formula.

Check out the track and go show him some love this Sunday when he and another favorite new act of mine, 2 AM Club are opening for Mike Posner at V Live....

Na Palm - Go Go Girl Hot New Single


As a bonus, here are two more sides to Na Palm's game, the first being a hard hitting party/techno track called Two Days Straight, which sounds like a shot of Goldschlager. The second is a recent freestyle I managed to find on a stroll down FakeShoreDrive. First one will get you dancin' in the club, the second will give you an appreciation for some quality lyricism...

Na Palm - Two Days Straight House Rap


Na Palm - The Coolest (Freestyle Remix) Dope


...and in case you haven't been schooled on the main act for Sunday night's concert, check out a crazy remix of Mike Posner's new track Cooler Than Me...

Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me (Gigamesh Remix) Great Remix!