Yo! It's an indie-hop emergency down at the Showbox Monday, July 25, in the form of the "Live and Direct" tour. The show features the mighty Hieroglyphics—not to mention NYC shitstarters NonPhixion, DITC's legendary OC, and Boom Bap Project. All great acts that throw down... but mufuckin' OC?!? "You lack the vitamins and minerals/the irons and the niacin..."
It would also be nutritionally sound to visit www.oseao.com regularly for some great streaming radio broadcasts, including heavy local artist rotation. Peep DJ B-Girl throwin' down Monday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and set off your weekend right with Tasty Sessions on Friday nights, also from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Hosts Gabe Teodros and JuJu Bean throw down with loads of NW shit, freestyles, and a dope mix of hiphop from all over the spectrum. On Saturday from noon to 6:00 p.m., also check out Frequency Latte—a rotating-genre local show. The first Saturday of the month showcases a mix of jazz, hiphop, and whatnot brought to you by Sho Nuph, Specs One, and ya boy Lurn.
I just learned the Notorious B.I.G.'s wrongful-death lawsuit ended recently with the declaration of a mistrial. This follows the rather startling discovery that the usually-above-reproach LAPD may have withheld evidence (shocking!), according to the Los Angeles Times... The paper reports that an anonymous source tipped off Deputy City Attorney Don Vincent—who then found a previously undisclosed report and an informant's videotaped interview in a detective's locked desk drawer. What's interesting in all this is that one of the main names getting tossed around in the interview is Rafael Perez, the main cop convicted in the infamous Rampart scandal that shook L.A. up a few years ago. The plot thickens... Expect a retrial, and hopefully some department ass meeting flames. Smell that pork cookin'?
Breathe a sigh of relief, y'all, cuz word on the street (or rather, internet) is that the unfuckwittable Goodie MoB is fully back together! While the Good do indeed Die Mostly Over Bullshit, you can't count them SWATS boys out no' mo'. Who knows when this blessed reconciliation between T-Mo, Khujo, Big Gipp, and the estranged Cee-Lo will actually result in an album, but godammit, their first two were classics, it's worth waiting for. In the meantime, Gipp has a new group called Kinfolk with Ali of the St. Lunatics... uh, what?
Hey, it's been out for a lil' minute—but I wanna recommend to you Edan's new CD Beauty and the Beat. You might recall Boston-baked Edan's 2001 debut Primitive Plus, where we were first introduced to E's I-am-the-ultimate-rap-nerd steez. This time around, E has refined his attack, really coming off like a lost MC from Reagan-era NYC, aided by great guest spots from Mr. Lif and the one and only Percee P. The self-produced LP is off the wall, with psychedelic samples and crazy Golden Era references that you might not get if you were born past '82... the effect is something like smoking salvia in a crowded club while the DJ spins nothing but British Invasion and Ultramagnetic MCs. Now that is my kinda party. â–
