The 2007 BET Award show, recently held at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, had some great performances, the usual list of celebrities and a exciting evening for the lucky few who got a seat in the upper balcony. Of course you can watch the telecast on BET as it will be replayed several times. Good thing, as a few of this year’s performers were rewind worthy. Performances by Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, 50 Cent, and a tribute to Gerald Levert, were just a few of the highlights of the night.

I had a chance to attend the Media Day event, on Monday June 25th and managed to talk to a few of the presenters, deejays, and various media reps there. T.I., Robin Thicke, Bun B, Swizz Beats, and Monique were a few of the celebs, who mingled with the press crowd, interviewing with radio personalities that were set up with live remotes in a separate room.

The security was tight and loose at the same time, as I was able to walk freely in the radio press room and literally bump elbows with Slimm Thugg and Mike Jones, in the packed spot. The staff seemed to catch on to the security breech pretty quickly, and soon all press was required to be escorted anywhere we went. It was a small inconvenience, as all the media had to do was sit and wait for the stars to come to them.

The cast of BET show, “College Hill Virgin Island” spoke on how the show has helped them all in their college careers, as well as help bring exposure to their the Virgin Island to viewers. Brian McKnight spoke on his upcoming movie projects, his new job at The Wave as a morning talk show host, and doing more work in film.

Shop Boyz, the group behind the new joint, “Party Like A Rock Star” spoke on their rise to fame, telling the crowd how they came up from the projects of Atlanta, curb serving and trappin’, before finally putting their talents together and making music. Now they are certified rock stars. One of the journalists started to pull their card, stressing the whole rock star gimmick thing. At first the Shop Boyz didn’t seem to even hear what was being said to them, but the reporter mentioned it again, asking them who were their rock influences, and pressing them on the fact that the song is basically a gimmick. They handled the question…well..like a rock star, with a safe answer and exit sage left. In fact many of the artists seemed to do that when the hard questions came out. Many were asked their thoughts on the whole Imus/Hip-Hop thing and misogyny in rap music, most of them returned by basically giving the safe answers without getting into the whole thing and getting the hell outta dodge.

Comments like “I never say that word in MY house for real”, or “We use that word as a show of love and respect” or “We flipped it and use it how we want to use it” also were repeated. I don’t know if I blamed some of the artist, especially when they have the N or B words, in the middle of the hooks of their song of the moment. That and the fact that every one is so ultra sensitive about lyrics in hip-hop. Imagine that.

Nevertheless the interviews were cool, with some of our favorite artists talking to us all for a second. T.I. came on stage and spoke about everything but his altercation with Chaka Zulu the day before. He did mention the “fine line between genius and insanity, ” something he repeated in his onstage apology, at the following award show. The press was told he would speak about the current project only, but he went to speak on the Chevy deal, “Top Down” and hip-hop in general. The self proclaimed king of the south was all smiles as he spoke to press room, clearly in T.I. mode, keeping TIP under lock and chain for the moment.

Kymani Marley spoke on his new music and the release of “Shottas 2”, coming out soon. The cast of BET’s new show “Baldwin Hills” spoke on their upcoming show, their thoughts on technology (Now you don’t have to call a girl anymore, you can hit her up on the sidekick so that’s cool), famous parents and life in their neighborhood that is being called by some The Black Beverly Hills. Check for the show soon.

Press was also granted a peek into the rehearsal stage for about five minutes, and I got to listen to Robin Thicke warm up with “Lost Without You”, complete with dancers and a rising front stage. The performance was amazing, topped off by the whole stop and start flow of the live rehearsal. Make sure you set your Tivo for the next rebroadcast of the show!

story/photos by Laron Cue

LA Film Festival: Conversations with Pharrell Williams & Elvis Mitchell
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Hammer Museum 8pm

The Hammer Museum will host several programs in support of this years Los Angeles Film Festival Conversation series. In addition to acting as a screening venue for many of the movies, the museum will host free discussions with film makers, actors, and musicians. The week will see events featuring Mickey Rooney, Eli Roth, director Craig Brewer, and other notables. The series was kicked off with music producer extraordinaire Pharrell Williams sitting with writer and radio show host, Elvis Mitchell.

The program saw a large crowd, converting the museum court yard air into a club lounge like atmosphere, complete with a line of attendees waiting and finally rushing the red rope line to get the best seats in the house. Small surprise as the speaker of the event was mega producer Jay-Z calls Pha-real.

The Carl Sagan fan, Pharrell, came on stage dressed to the nines, with his blazer and black bow tie ensemble setting the tone for his conversation with Mitchell. The two talked about Pharrell’s love of all things relating to sci-fi, and movies.

The series hosts are asked to submit a list of their favorite movies to screen, and Pharrell’s pick of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation”, had people laughing at his explanation and reasoning behind them. “Close Encounters” was the first to “pull him in” to a movie. He gave a further nod to the film by using the famous notes from the sci-fi classic, in one of his many productions. Pharrell went into detail, explaining how he identifies with Roy Neary, the main character of CE, as he goes about sculpting Devil’s Tower, out of a vision he has in his mind, drawn and compelled to finish it. He does the same with his music, making beats out of ideas in his mind until the track sits as a monument to his “colorful” thoughts.

The beat king spoke to the enthralled festival attendees about misconceptions on him being a computer wizard, stating that he has 4 new fully blown Mac computers that he hasn’t even touched yet, waiting for him to learn how to use them. Skateboard P makes music the old school way, keyboards, modules, and midi, no computer. Williams gave us several film festivals quotable, all backed in cinematography.

Speaking on music scores, he said “Last Temptation of Christ” was “super trippy” and a great score. Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” and Willie Hutch’s work in “The Mack” and “Foxy Brown”, Peter from “The Family Guy”, Homer Simpson, and Al Bundy are other screen favorites of his. Mitchell noted James Brown’s “Black Caesar” and “The Big Payback”, an album that was supposed to be the film soundtrack. The record label rejected it over a small amount of money, and Brown released it. It later became one of his best albums.

Pharrell capped the night off with a few more of his must sees, including YouTube favorite search string of Mr. Turner, a clip featuring a man being arrested for DUI. The old school look of the pre “Cops” video along with Mr. Turner’s refusal to go along with the bs makes for a amateur clip classic, referred to the film festival crowd by Pharrell.

Bomb The System-Walls of Graphein

When I was younger, you would be hard pressed to find any public walls that were covered with graffiti. While I had visited New York and other huge cities of the northeast, the small town that I was from offered no tolerance for unauthorized use of spray paint. My humble little burb fought the growing graffiti culture off for as long as it could. Sure you might see a little scribbling here and there, but the simple “Kilroy was here” left much to be desired. Millions of walls across the world were about to become an official scroll, as b-boys and girls of all ages would take their first steps into the hip-hop family. Graphein would lose its’ basic Latin definition, and explode into today’s dynamic graffiti, whether anyone liked it or not.

While the roads to Hip-Hop culture are many; few can escape the basic first steps of throwing your name up. If you were really nice, you had to catch an ill burner here or there. You had to get your skills and your nerves prepared for your first full car, top to bottom, billboard piece or wall. Instant fame is what it was all about. Graffiti started to spread like a virus. Like Trake with the tags and stickers on everything, from NY to CT. Like all the Vaughn Bode knock offs, all over NY in the 90s’. Like the wild style of west coast writers and crews, doing it real big from Venice to Inglewood, back up to Boyle Heights, and all up and down from The Bay to Long Beach. Like graffiti writers hitting up the Berlin Wall with messages of hope, long before the wall ever came down.Once it got overseas, it broke out severely, giving everyone enamel fever.

The pay off for writers hitting cars from the Bemont Tunnels in LA to the 7 train lines in Queens, is immeasurable. The creativity expressed in such a simple and public format like a moving train car, cannot be taken lightly. Names like Futura 2000, Toomer, Zephyr, Crunch, Taki 183, Cope 2, Seen, Obey, IZ, REVOK, Sabre, Dondi, Mr. Cartoon, Seek, COST and REVS are household names. At least in households that stock spray cans and fat caps. Regardless, the names are legendary, as these writers have achieved fame like they never imagined.

You know a culture is emerging when mass media starts to recycle and clone it, and the same is true of graf culture. In the late eighties, movies like “Wild Style” and “Beat Street” took the spray paint off the wall and put it on the silver screen. Soon there would be more movies and books to help propagate the form.

Music Video Distributors has released a series entitled “Graffiti TV”, which contains live footage of writers telling their stories and catching wreck! Most of the clips are from the late eighties, filmed mostly in New York. The series has a low budget feel, with grainy, dim-lit scenes and audio ranging from good to oh my goodness! It doesn’t matter with this collection, as some of the footage is invaluable to graffiti heads. Wall legend Cope 2 is seen here, retelling some of his memories of bombin’ trains, running from cops and more. One scene where is strolls into a subway car depot, right past a sleeping security guards is priceless. You get the feel adrenaline as you live vicariously, if for a moment, thru Cope.

Other artists are filmed here as well, as they bomb the city at night while the rest of the world sleeps. If you’re a graffiti fiend or just curious about the scene and want to get a real dose of what it’s to bomb the system, you need to check this video out!

The culture is being marketed like never before. MTV’s recent smash show, “Art Battles”, has captured the rush that empty aerosol cans bring, and packaged it into a reality show contest. Eight finalists have their paintings on display and the winner will be announced on the network soon. Pepsi has jumped on the fat cap bandwagon as well, with their wall murals in Chicago promoting their latest “Design Our Pepsi Can” campaign. While company reps may not want to say the word graffiti, they have no problem using the art form to hawk their wares.

Graffiti has jumped off the walls of the city onto clothes via street smart fashion designers like Marc Echo. For those to afraid to paint outside, you can paint on your television, as graffiti based video games like “Graffiti Kingdom” and “Getting Up” are invading game consoles. “Getting Up, Contents Under Pressure”, Marc Echo’s latest venture, has already made history, as it is the first video game ever to be banned! Australian authorities have long battled against graf, while offering some provisions to the up and coming street artist, like the “Graffiti Tunnel” in Syndey University. The move the ban the video game was a first and it sent a strong message to everyone.

This is art for the masses, provided mainly for free. The rebellion has begun! But like most rebellions, the powers that be are standing at the ready, set to crush the uprising.
Often the cost is steep, as fines and jail time are all a part of the game. The reality of being a graffiti artist often comes crashing down in bold, red and blue colors. Police departments worldwide have entire divisions in place, whose sole purpose is to stamp out the aerosol menace. Many legends have been corralled into squad cars and holding cells, forever altering their lives. Graffiti is the only art form that may grant you a felony record for participating.

Some graffiti artists have become outlaws, with police ready to arrest them and piling up charge after charge, for each illegal piece that they know about. Being arrested has become a rite of passage for some artists, as any and all writers with any significant “fame” have been in the system at least once. Technology has also caught up with the graffiti game. There are reports of artists, who posted their favorite pieces on their blogs or MySpace pages. The writers were later surprised with visits from police officers. The very pictures they posted have been used as evidence in their cases, sealing their fate. Some departments offer rewards for information leading to arrest. Other artist not only recognizes their lawless art form, they embrace it by becoming local heroes and speaking out on issues many people ignore.

One case in point is Ivan Martinez, a Miami artist, who started running projections on the beautiful towers of South Beach, in protest to the corrupt hosing policies recently exposed in the vacation hot spot. He helped bring attention to a growing problem of gentrification, but was ultimately shut down by gun wielding officers.

Often graffiti writers, who are caught, receive the hardest penalties as law makers attempt to make an example of them. The numbers of artist that evade capture far eclipses the number of those arrested. Francisco Garcia, an artist from Montreal, was arrested after three years of graffiti and initially faced a fine of 250,000, with 53 counts. The charges were later reduced, due in part to a campaign headed by local gallery owner. Most artists don’t have such luxury.

Meanwhile, the world famous Venice Beach Graffiti Pit walls are being threatened. The long standing, graffiti friendly spot has become taken over by taggers, aerosol bandits who are more concerned with momentary fame than they are concerned with contributing to the art. The crude tags are at an all time high and Venice Beach residents and officials have had about enough. Gone are the days of painting freely on the wall, as new laws have been drawn up prohibiting unauthorized painting on the sacred walls. If you want to paint at Venice Beach, you better have a permit in hand or it’s business as usual. And since the police precinct is right next door, I wouldn’t push my luck, if I were you.

The area is being renamed “The Venice Public Art Walls” and in an effort to continue to support Venice Beach’s true graf artists, painting permits are being issued by ICU Art. ICU hosted the “Venice Art Walls Paintout 2007”, on Sunday June 3, 2007. The event began at 10am, with writers from around the city gathering for an all day spray can showcase. Cali party promoter and favorite reggae deejay Shakespeare held center court with his sound crew, playing underground hip-hop, and passing the mic around to hungry emcees, ready to give a verse of inspiration to the artists.

The event was an incredible reminder of what the graffiti game is all about. Fun, music, good times and self-expression are all cornerstones of the Hip-Hop element. Like most of the street born culture, it has many detractors and enemies who would like nothing more than to see it’s destruction. Thank God that new artists, b-boys and writers are born everyday, to carry the touch and pass it along to the next generation.

While the artform still has its share of red tape, slowly choking it, the message behind the wildstyle cannot be ignored or denied. From the local corner wall to the metropolitan art gallery, from the crude school bathroom walls to Play Stations and Walt Disney movies (Check for the graffiti pieces in the new “Shrek the Third”, done by Cope 2), graffiti continues to leave it’s message. Long live Hip-Hop and the mighty pen that she carries along, leaving her name on everything in her way!

Here some assorted links to new releases for ya! Lots of new rock music, some clips, and stories that you should check out.

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Senses Fail-”Can’t Be Saved” video from AOL Music. The page also has a photo gallery from the band’s current tour.
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Yoko Ono is back! Her latest single is moving up the Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart, with remixes by Bimbo Jones, Claude LeGache, Friscia & Lamboy and Morel. At last check, the song was at the number 3 spot. The song is from Ono’s latest collection of remixes, “Open Your Box” on Mindtrain/Astralwerks. Make sure you check for this series and listen to the remixes below.

Yoko Ono-”You’re The One”
Bimbo Jones Vocal Mix -WMP Real
Claude Le Gache Vocal Mix-WMP Real
Morel’s Pink Noise Vocal Mix-WMP Real
Fricia & Lamboy Tribal Dub-WMP Real
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Canadian indie-rockers The Ghost Is Dancing, have finished their first album. The Darkest Spot is set to drop on the world and introduce the crew to all of us. You can get a peek at their music below.
The Ghost Is Dancing-”Shuttles & Planes”

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Orchestra rockers from Iceland, Benni Hemm Hemm, are about to embark on their first American tour. The international super group has also released their second full length project entitled Kajak. Check their MySpace page for tour dates and take a listen to the single below.
Benni Hemm Hemm - “Snjorjljossnjor”

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The Berg Sans Nipple is a two man group with booming beat, trippy instrumentation and solid grooves. They are on tour to support the new CD, Along The Quai and the new single is a prime example of their sound. Check their site for tour info.
The Berg Sans Nipple-Along The Quai

Keith Murray, the most beautifulest emcee in the world, is back with more heat! The new album Rap Murr Phobia is on the way this July, and Mr. Murray is in Cali shooting a video with Tyrese for the new track “Nobody Do It Better”. You can take a listen to his mp3, Weeble Wobble, here at Canhead.
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Keith Murray Weeble Wobble

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Readers

Battle of the Bandwidths

Updated: Blackwater Suing Families of Fallujah Victims

China forcibly evicts 1.5 million people for Olympics

RIAA lies and disinformation: II

Hip Hop and the RIAA from Thug Life Army.com

Bono and Geldof: The G8 Summit Is A Farce!
The front man of U2 and the great humanitarian Bob Geldof say that the G8 summit is pure garbage.

Music from the streets: Homeless hip hop artist hits the record stores

Rock the Bells Concert Changes Locations, Will Take Place at Hyundai Pavilion

Musiq Soulchild
Luvandmusiq
Atlantic Records

Philly R&B singer Musiq Soulchild has returned with his newest album on Atlantic Records. Luvanmusiq is a collection of future favorites from the neo-soul stylist, with certified hits already under it’s belt. Musiq’s latest album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, as well charting high on the ‘Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums’ chart, selling close to 150,000 copies it’s first week. Lead by the “Heartbeat”/De La Soul inspired single “B.U.D.D.Y.”, Musiq raced up the Billboard charts and he is still getting play on your favorite urban station. That accompanied with his recent guest spots on tracks with Talib Kewli, Lloyd Banks and more, Musiq returns to the scene with full force. His last name has returned with him.

Musiq’s first album, Aijuswanaseing, caught the ears of the street, with its bouncy b-boy feel and heavy soul vibe. The strength of Musiq’s music was further seen in his second CD, Juslisen, and the hit single “halfcrazy’. Musiq continued to make moves in the music circles with performances, recording and tours with some of the most notable acts in R&B and Hip-Hop.

Now signed with Atlantic, Musiq Soulchid has delivered another excellent example of his vision of music. The CD opens with the smash single and follows up with “Ms. Philadelphia”, a shout out to East Coast women, co-written by Ne-Yo. He slows the tempo to deliver the amazing “Teachme”. The CD continues to please with songs like “Greatest Love”, the amazing horn vibes of “Ridiculous” and the Raphael Saadiq produced “Betterman” are just a few reasons you should have this one in your collection. Atlantic Records has another classic soul album on their hands with Musiq Soulchild’s Luvanmusiq.

Big shouts to Mz. Compton and the Kulture Clash Int. crew. Make sure you visit their website at Kulture Clash.com, for a ton of media. The global reaching web portal focuses on “dispelling misinformation between cultures, creating dialogue through photos, and bridging the gap within media in the U.S.A and abroad”.

You can find information on everything from global events, news, photos, and videos. Her YouTube page alon has several live performances and interviews with celebrities like Chris Webber, Bobby Valetino, Chingy, Heather Headley and more. The site also features A Salute to South Africa, Business and Financial Advice, Heritage an Culture, detailed web directories and tons of valuable info. The site is updated montly so check back often!

Here are some of the videos found at Kulture Clash.com
Kulture Clash International Presents:Chingy-Balla Baby photostream

Kulture Clash International Presents:Musiq SoulChild

Rock The Bells marks a historic milestone for Hip-Hop music and film. The movie is a brief glimpse at the hard work, love and dedication behind one of the most popular festivals catering to rap music and its fans. With coverage of rap personalities on and off stage, Rock The Bells, shows us what it takes to make it in Hip-Hop.

The story of Rock The Bells has several main characters, with concert promoter Chang Weisberg leading the way. Chang and his Guerilla Union crew put together the first, all day event. Hip-Hop fans in Southern California owe these guys a great deal. RTB has grown into a staple for summer music festivals, with plans on taking the show national in 2007 with New York and San Fransico dates added. Over the last 2 years, lucky concert goers were able to see some of the most memorable on stage sets live under the lazy, California summer sun.

The event might not have even happened if it weren’t for a canceled show in New York, back in the mid-nineties. Chang was inspired years later to put his own idea for a show together, and thought about adding some of his favorite rap acts to the bill. Rock The Bells goes to show the headaches, fumbles, unexpected delays, and incredible fun that comes with putting on the greatest Hip-Hop show on earth! We get to follow the crew as they deal with gate jumpers, security problems and trying to sneak thousands of dollars past a crowd of concert goers.

The DVD is filled with great performances, with Supernatural and his son Haj ripping the stage, the antics of Redman, who goes from Funk Doc mode to caring dad, as he has a heartwarming scene with his son who doesn’t want to see his favorite rapper leave the house. The story behind RTB is that underneath all the hoopla, we are all average, everyday B-Boys and Girls. That is until we are on the stage rocking the mic.

This DVD is a very tight package, with interviews from many of the movers and shakers behind the huge event, all giving their perspective and flavor to the disc. Chuck D, Davey D, DJ Choc, Sway & Tech, and all the members of The Wu Tang Clan are here, talking to the camera and re-telling the story of RTB. Other notable performances on the DVD are Sage Francis and his food throwing set. Francis is so odd at times that his performances prompted Supernat to warn his son about watching Francis perform, stating that he was “A little different”. Dilated People, Eyedea + Abilities, and Charlie 2NA are also here, but the highlight of the movie has to be the crowd favorites, The Wu-Tang Clan.

Chang helped make history by bringing all the members of The Wu-Tang Clan together on stage, which was not an easy task. The nine man, dream team crew had something of a reputation for not showing up at concerts, causing all kinds of hell to break out in venues across America. The love for The Clan is so strong in Hip-Hop circles that a no-show by just one of the members might cause a full on riot. This was the case at RTB ’04, as last minute delays threatened to send the crowd into a frenzy. The scene of Sway trying to entertain the crowd, after an hour of stalls, is enough to make you truly worry about his safety. When he asked the crowd what they thought of President Bush, it was hard to tell if they were booing GW or Sway for delaying the show.

The real reason for the wait was due totally to the late, great ODB. After agreeing to do the show, Dirt McGirt refused to leave his hotel room. While paying concert goers chanted WU, ODB had changed his mind yet again and decided he wasn’t going to Shimmy Shimmy on stage for anyone. While the camera missed this particular piece of footage, it is rumored that “security” actually went to the hotel and kidnapped ODB and brought him to the concert. While RZA and Chang stress over the problem and make the last minute calls, ODB finally arrives, ready for his close up and ultimately his last show.

The show would soon be the most talked about rap performance of the year. Chang would go on to watch his festival and DVD further write itself into the Hip-Hop History, as the show was the last time the original nine members of The Wu-Tang Clan would perform together. ODB passed away a few months after the show and the DVD is the last Clan show ever filmed. You should buy the DVD for that alone. Thank God the entire movie is equally entertaining and worthwhile.

Rock The Bells simply rocks! Make sure you mark your calendar for the 2007 show which should be even bigger than before, with a line-up that includes The Roots, EPMD, Cypress Hill, MF Doom, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, The Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, headliners Rage Against The Machine and many more!

Check below for my own Rock The Bells clips, on YouTube, and photos from Rock The Bells 2005 and 2006!

Wu Walk (2005 show, somehow I found myself walking backstage while members of The Wu Tang Clan walked along. You can hear the DJ warming it up and fans from behind the gate calling for Raekwon. A nice little clip of real Hip-Hop going down live!)

Ghost takes the stage (Another nice short clip of Ghost about to hit the stage to Criminology)


Concert Review: Rock The Bells IV - Hip Hop History Live On Stage from Blogcritics

Backstage at Rock The Bells concert, Pt 1

The contest continues at Our Stage and it seems the home team is off to a bang as yours truly has captured the number one spot!  June has just started so it will be a long month of defending the crown, but I will do my best!  I was pleasantly surprised to see my song sitting in the top spot tonight and hope it’s still there tomorrow!  That’s where you come in, please GO VOTE!!!

Make sure you vote for JhaVoice as well, as she is in the World and R&B/Soul category.Visit www.ourstage.com for more info!

Really Really Good:

Kicking like two left feet on a newborn, it’s the best of the best is what’s next! Goodness abounds for another fun-packed edition of the really really good show! This post is full of oddities on the net, music links for the internet geeks, and other naughty delights, fresh for the laptops! Dedicated to the cosmic wonder twins celebrating birthdays for the next 20 days or so. Gemini’s rule! (as long as we can keep our minds on ruling and off of how you are annoying the f*ck outta us!)
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Putin warns Europe in missile row
One of the topics to be discussed at the upcoming G8 meeting in Germany, will be the possible showdown between the old Cold War heavies, Russia and The US. Hopefully we can get some behind the scenes footage, like the ones from last year of Bush and PM Tony Blair having a little chat about The Middle East, among other things. If you missed it or just want to hear the President curse again, here it is!

You may have already seen these one floating around the net, if not it’s worth a look. These video gems found their way onto Business 2.0’s list of 101 Dumbest Moments in Business for 2006. Some other notables include in the list are Bank Of America , the US Mint for announcing that a penny is actually worth more than a penny, and a nickel is just a few cents shy of being worth ten cents, and the hilarious incident at BBC where they interviewed a guy looking for job, instead of the expert they were supposed to talk to. The job searcher handles is well, even if he didn’t get the gig.

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Speaking of job searchers….

The Adventures of Just Another Pretty Farce
One of the most detailed accounts of job recruiters and how low they can go. If you have been out of work and searching for a job for a long period of time, you can relate to this story. Nashville resident, job seeker, and blog writer details a meeting with a less than scrupulous job placement company. Her meeting with the company was just the beginning, as the company in question went very public in their defense of their actions, even going as far as threatening legal actions. This story originally broke in April but it’s still a very interesting read.

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So you had a fight with your lady last night? I bet it wasn’t anything like this one! If it was, you must be taking the red pill like Neo! Japanese Human Art with a twist, found at Fazed.com
Why is my girlfriend mad? Probably because she has a house full of strangers in all black outfits making a mess of things.
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June Black Music Month 2007, “Let This Music Move You”

From the field hollers and Ole Negro Spirituals during slavery, the Ragtime & Blues to formulate “Jass”, From Rock n Roll to Soul; and today Hip Hop. Black Music is the only American Music.
In the early 20’s it was Ma Rainey, often spoken of as the mother of the Blues, Big Mama Thornton who was the first to record the song “Hound Dog”, a big hit for her then and much later a major hit for Elvis Presley. Charles “Buddy” Bolden whose playing inspired Joe King Oliver and Louis Armstrong.
Scott Joplin was the first musician to sell 1 million copies of any type of music. The song was, “Maple Leaf Rag” published in 1899 and in its first six months sold 75,000 copies, becoming “the first great instrumental sheet music hit in America”. These are a few of the Pioneers of this music that would spawn great many genres to come.

African American musicians are major contributors to the rich culture of this country. This Music has enhanced our lives with its power to lift the human spirit, change our hearts and shape our conscience. Billie Holiday’s performance of “Strange Fruit”, still brings tears to my eyes just to hear it. This Music gives us hope during trying times and inspires us to Greatness in creativity. James Brown’s “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud”, when I heard this song as a child it gave me a sense of pride and hope for a better future.
The World of today’s musician is changing dramatically. Technology is ushering in new developments daily. The Internet has given us a world wide potential audience. How do we effectively position ourselves on this plateau? The Ipod has totally changed the way we manage our music. With its capability of storing massive amounts of data it’s quite easy to get lost in the shuffle. As an artist how do we present our work? These are a few of many questions being asked by musicians today.

Come join us in this Junes Black Music Month as we celebrate, we remember, we analyze to become wiser, we dialog to reflect the beauty and creativity of this incredible Art Form.

Peace & Love,
Amin EL
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In celebration of Black Music Month, here’s a short video list of some classic videos for ya!
Black Music Month has begun…educate yourself!
WATTS UP!

FREEDOM IS A ROAD SELDOM TRAVELED BY THE MULTITUDE!

THE BAR-KAYS-LIVE AT WATTSTAX

George Clinton - Dr. Funkenstein w/ Mothership

Gil Scott-Heron - In The Bottle

Big Mama Thornton ft. Buddy Guy - Hound Dog

This is one of my personal favorites! There is no voice on earth like Howlin’ Wolf’s, now or ever!

Howlin’ Wolf - Evil (is going on)

Stand By Me Ben E King 1961

Sly & The Family Stone - Loose Booty & Higher (Live - 1975)

Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On 1974

Uncle Rufus! Clean as a mug!

Original sampled by Dr. Dre for “Eazier Said Than Dunn”

Jimi Hendrix - All along the watchtower

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GEMINI
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