Artist Of The Week - Top $ Raz

Growing up in Far Rockaway, Queens, Top $ Raz knew how to rap before he even attended his first day of school. “My brother used to blast Hip-Hop music all day long,” he remembers, “and if I didn’t learn the words to Biggie I would be exiled out the room.” A pretty rough sentence for a kid who was only six at the time, but it was that influence that not only led him to Hip-Hop, but to some very specific types of Hip-Hop. Top $ Raz explains, “my brother made sure I valued and understood the essence of the music and never let me get into the cookie cutter stuff.” While in second grade, when he was just learning how to write, Top $ Raz penned his first rhyme and he hasn’t looked back since. This week I caught up with him to find out more about the depth and diversity of his work, where he gets his incredible stage presence, and the inspiration behind his video for “King.” Click Here...

Artist Of The Week - Farbeon

The NYC Hip-Hop trio 3rd Party has already produced two Adam’s World Artists of the Week (Hired Gun and Rabbi Darkside), and this week the third member of the trio, Farbeon, is ready for his close-up. Born in El Paso, Texas, Farbeon’s musical journey started at a very young age as a singer in his church’s choir. He jokes that “little old ladies” were his first groupies. Farbeon would go on to study poetry at Georgetown University during Allen Iverson’s reign there and in 2000 he linked up with the Blow Up Co-Op in Phoenix, Arizona. After moving to NYC in 2002, Farbeon quickly found Rabbi Darkside and Hired Gun and the trio formed 3rd Party. This week I caught up with Farbeon to discuss his many projects, from all things music related, to his work with Alzheimer’s patients, to his development of his own Master’s program at NYU. One thing is for sure, Farbeon is far from being your average artist. Click Here...

J Dilla Beat. Illa J Hook. Your Verse.

In 2008, Illa J teamed up with the historic Delicious Vinyl record label to release the highly acclaimed Yancey Boys, an album featuring beats by his brother the legendary producer J Dilla. Now, to celebrate the recent release of Yancey Boys Instrumentals, Illa J is giving aspiring rappers an opportunity to shine on two of the album tracks. Illa J, 2dopeboyz.com, Delicious Vinyl, and Audible Treats have joined forces and are proud to bring you the Illa J Remix Contest. After downloading the hook-included instrumentals of "R U Listening" and "Showtime" (found at the links below), contestants will have two weeks to rap their best verses based around the concept of Illa J’s hooks and submit their versions of the songs to be judged by Illa J and Delicious Vinyl.

Two winners, one for each song, will be chosen. Delicious Vinyl will officially release both winning submissions as digital singles for free download. Each winner will also each receive one unique 16 bar verse recorded personally by Illa J for inclusion on whichever personal project(s) they choose. So... Got the skills to hang with the Yancey Boys? To enter the contest, or for further information about the contest, including download links for the two hook-included instrumentals, rules, deadlines, and prizes:

Download Links:
R U Listening (Instrumental) 
Showtime (Instrumental)  

The Background:
When Jay Dee passed away from complications relating to lupus in February 2006, he left behind an extraordinary legacy of production work, including hits for Common, Janet Jackson, and Busta Rhymes. One mother lode of previously untouched beats dates from his time working on the Pharcyde's sophomore album, Labcabincalifornia (Delicious Vinyl, 1995). As Delicious Vinyl owner and founder Michael "Mike Floss" Ross explains: "From '95 through '98 Jay Dee was my go-to guy for hot beats and remixes. He was always making beats, always. So there was a select amount of tracks that he composed for me during that time, tracks as good as anything he'd done, only they never got used. When I finally met Illa J last year, I gave him a CD containing those unreleased beats."

In a case of pure serendipity, 21 year-old Illa J had just relocated from Detroit to Los Angeles and constructed a studio built using Jay Dee's recording equipment. He dubbed it Yancey Boys Studios in tribute to their fraternal bond. "Dilla was 12 years older than me," Illa J says. "So back in the day in Detroit I was just a little kid, sitting on the stairs in our house, watching him make those first beats for Slum Village. I always felt my brother's tracks and had an instinct for what I wanted to do over them." When Illa J set to work in early '08 recording the album, the project flowed quickly as he entered the proverbial can't miss zone. The name of the studio rightly became the title of the finished album, Yancey Boys, which is available online and in stores everywhere on Delicious Vinyl Records.

Bisc1 - "Strange Love" by Video Graf Productions

Here's the video for Bisc1's "Strange Love " from his recent Strange Love Project, produced by legendary Video Graf Productions. The video was shot, produced and directed by Carl Weston, famed producer of graffiti videos for the last 20 years.http://www.busybisc1.com/strangelove
http://www.myspace.com/bisc1

Part art installation, part remix, The Strange Love Project is free for fans to download at his website: http://www.busybisc1.com/strangelove

In early 2009, Bisc1, emcee, graphic designer, and graffiti artist, released The Strange Love Project, the reinterpretation of his 2008 album When Electric Night Falls by 10 producers and 20 visual artists. Taking it one step further, Bisc1 now brings you The Strange Love Project's first video, "Strange Love." To shoot the video, Bisc1 joined forces with Carl Weston, the legendary, original producer of graffiti videos since the late 1980's, and graffiti documentarian through his production company Video Graf Productions. Weston, whose cult-classic videos were an original inspiration on Bisc's own graffiti, does masterful work directing and producing this video for the "The Strange Love," bringing Bisc's words to life with stunning nighttime visuals and shots of Bisc1 getting busy. Protected by the darkness of abandoned streets and alleyways of lower Manhattan, Bisc and Carl bring to life the look and feel of a graffiti addiction.

Why - G (Zulu Nation) Freestyle & Interview @ VoxPop

Señor Kaos - Girls Rock Too REMIX

Atlanta Hip Hop mainstay Señor Kaos presents: Girls Rock Too REMIX Video to celebrate Woman's History Month (March 2009).

The song is produced by Illastrate. The video is directed by Jeaniusmedia.

senorkaos.com
thekaoseffect.com

Artist Of The Week - Via Tania

With breathy vocals, poetic lyrics and a slowed down, and oftentimes smoothed out, pace, the unique mix of downtempo and pop that is the music of Via Tania was an unexpected surprise for me. I honestly had no idea what I was in store for when I put on her latest album, Moon Sweet Moon, but by the time it was over I was in a totally different head space; chilled out, relaxed and at ease. Intrigued, I wanted to know more about Via Tania and her work. This week I caught up with her to make that happen and we discussed her background, what it was like touring with the likes of The Breeders and Bikini Kill in her teenage years, and where music ranks among her numerous artistic passions. Click Here...