The Movement Fam's Best of 2008

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Tunes for the ages

Once in a while, certain songs come along that you can't help obsessing over. I don't mean obsessing in the 'crazy ex partner won't accept the fact that you're not together anymore' sense - it's the good kind where you hear a track and something in that song resonates within you. I mean, you play it, then start nodding your head and you feel it - I mean really feel it.




After the track finishes, you go about your day doing your thing, but then that track comes back on through your playlist and the whole world stops again for the next 3-4 mins while you're in that trance. It's happened to me a few times in my life...okay, maybe more than a few but it never really stopped to think about it. Is there something deeper about these songs? Is it just the beat, the melody or the culmination of it all that makes us go, for lack of a better word, crazy?

So here's a bunch of songs that has, for some reason, jumped out and grabbed me (in no particular order):

A Milli - Lil' Wayne
Whoop That Trick - Deejay (Terrence Howard from the Hustle & Flow soundtrack)
Juicy - The Notorious B.I.G.
Dead Wrong - The Notorious B.I.G.
Party Up - DMX

Drake- Smile ft. Voyce

More of that smooth ish from Young Money signee, Canadian artist Drake. This guy is quickly moving up my list of top MC's in the game. Look for his new mixtape coming in Jan.

New ish from The Understudies

Yes yes, our good folks The Understudies Crew, outta the East Bay, California, recently got a New Artist Spotlight on Wake Your Daughter Up! blog (shouts to Trav). These cats are some of the illest underground Hip Hop I've heard in a minute, check out the story:

The Understudies on WYDU

And while you're at it, the fellas also just started a YouTube Channel and their own UTV. Classic.

The Understudies YouTube Channel

Movement Fam Thrownback ish-Melbourne City

This is the first track that I heard from Cee & Bekah and after hearing it I was like man I need to hit these guys up. The sound was very soulful and the rappin was smooth and steady. Fast forward to the present and you have the Movement Fam, that is gearing up to do big things and show that world that when you have a young southern gentleman and an Aussie gentleman combine their minds you have something serious!!!

360, Pez and Seth Sentry live on RRR

Check this vid out. The homies 360 and Pez, along with Seth Sentry, spat a few new verses live on the Top Billin' radio show on RRR here in Melbourne recently. Stumbled on 6 Dog's blog and found the link to the vid. Nice shit, boys.

Gno Shit?

Twitter is so dope. So I stumbled across this fresh, up and coming street wear brand, Gno today. Checked out the website and just had to blog about it.

So far, Gno is producing three tees that all contain strong themes and often political message - which is unbelievably refreshing. Check out the images below (click on the pics to be taken to the website), and rather than me writing about it, check the product descriptions, which sum each tee up perfect.



An illustration based on the classic "I Used to Love H.E.R." by Common. In the song, Common makes an analogy comparing the degradation of a woman with the deterioration of hip hop music after its commercial success forced it into the mainstream.



This is an illustration of a young girl yet to be negatively-influenced by the images we see through certain forms of media everyday. The young girl is seen reading a book while media heads hover over her shoulder desperately trying to gain her attention with flashy images of video vixens and the likes.



This design was influenced by Deltron 3030's "A Brymar College Course". Deltron 3030 is a favorite here at Gno and a tribute had to be paid to such a classic. The message is to "get creative" by means of upgrading the most powerful computer known to man - the brain. On the back, the text reads "Cause One Day It May Matter".


Check 'em out, and we'll be sure to keep y'all posted on future developments from Gno.

Gno on MySpace
Gno website

It's so soulful...Marsha Ambrosius

Floetry fans, y'all should get excited. The unmistakable voice of Marsha Ambrosius has been heard on some of the dopest albums of the last few years, and finally we have a solo mixtape from the woman herself, entitled Yours Truly, and mixed by Don Canon (you know the dude).

Shouts to the homie Kenn Starr for the info, and big ups to my dude Kevin Nottingham for posting the info on his blog.

Download Marsha Ambrosius - Yours Truly

DJ Grain Ear to the Streets Weekly Hip Hop News Wrap Up - Dec 20th 2008

Well I have been doing this lil segment for The Edutainment Hip Hop Show based out of Knoxville, TN hosted my cousin Rapper BT and Drop Knowledge for almost a year. It has been great and I now want to bring the show to the internet for the good people in Cyberspace. Every week I will be posting a summary of the major events that happened during the week in hip hop. Audio will be available......well most of the time!!!

Hip Hop News for the Week of Dec 14th 2008

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has decided to stop suing folks that pirate music from the internet via Napster, Limewire, and other P2P networks. Years ago I am sure everyone remembers when the record industry starting going after people that were downloading and sharing vast amounts of music. Despite their efforts to scare people into stopping their pirating, it got worse. Now in order to curve these pirates, the RIAA has decided to team up with Internet Service Providers to cut off or slow down offenders internet connection. Smart idea....no net means no music. Finally, they got something right.



Slum Village is talking about reuniting to do another album. After J-Dilla's untimely death, the group seemed to dissolve with everyone going their seperate ways to concentrate on solo projects. In '09 we will see what happens....I will keep you posted on that!!!!

Top Albums of 08

Kanye West - 808 and Heartbreaks
Young Jeezy - The Recession
T.I. - Paper Trail
Ludacris - Theater to the Mind
Common - Universal Mind Control
Drake - The Comeback Season
Jean Grae - Jeanius
Lil Wayne - The Carter 3
Elzhi - The Preface

Take a listen to the show on the player below.

Until next week...
DJ Grain.

Aeon Got Beats Vol.1

Dope beat tape from producer Aeon that has worked with the likes of Tanya Morgan, Che Grand, Jermiside and many other dope MC's. Watch for him in '09'


Download link:
Aeon Got Beats Vol.1

Corey Gunz- A Milli Freestyle or the Lost Verses???

Young Money signee Cory Gunz ripping the A Milli beat....rumors say this was the lost verse that was cut out of the original song. The world may never know...dope regardless.

The Game feat Lil' Wayne - My Life

Seriously, this has gotta be in my top 5 songs of 2008. Illest hook of the year, hands down. Just stumbled upon the video today. Peep.

Adele in 1988?

1988 was the realest year in history. So where were you?

We all know where Mick Boogie was. Conceptualizing this remix album, that's where.

UK soulstress Adele, whose album '19' was definitely one of my favourite albums this year hands down, has been gratuitously remixed by Mick Boogie and friends, utilising Hip Hop classics from 1988 - and it works.

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton even enjoyed it.

As opposed to just a mashup, it's a full remix LP that even includes dope guest spots from cats like Nalege (of Kidz In The Hall) and Big Pooh (Little Brother). Here's the tracklisting:

1) Chasing 1988: The Intro (f/ 6th Sense)
2) Day Dreams (nVMe Remix)
3) Tired (6th Sense Remix)
4) First Love (Remot Remix f/ Naledge)
5) My Same (Garbs Infinite Remix)
6) Melt My Heart To Stone (Kickdrums Remix f/ Big Pooh)
7) Cold Shoulder (Garbs Infinite Remix)
8) Right As Rain (nVMe Remix)
9) Make You Feel My Love (Remot Remix)

Download Mick Boogie and Friends' remix LP Adele - 1988

Shouts to my man Remot for landing two remixes on here, and of course, much love to his manager Sean Deez, the homie for real. Look out for Remot's work on upcoming The Movement Fam projects.

Exile is a genius...

Exile "Milli" Video from Jonathan Kim on Vimeo.

Watch producer extraordinaire, Exile, tap out his own version of 'A Milli' on the MPC (2000, nonetheless). Dude is incredible. Courtesy of Jonathan Kim, Blu's manager, and shouts to Mick Boogie's blog (Press Play Fashion Forward), where I stumbled upon it.

We getting Arab money!

This has gotta be the most retarded song out right now - but the dance is so stupid that it's awesome. Notion and I have been going hard at it for the last couple days. Shouts to Ash for the hook up.



Also, peep the funny ass outtake video clip. Gold.

World Famous Twerk Team

YouTube has some serious videos on it, but the females in this video take dancing to a new level. This is how it goes down in the Dirty.....South that is.

The Movement Fam Online Store!

What it do peoples? Its ya boy Notion gettin his first post on!!

Just wanted yall to peep the new Cee & Bekah Mens & Womens Tee's available to cop online!!
We got all sizes, colours and styles, take a look!













Dope huh? We've also got available ALL four mixtapes available for purchase. For the entire back catalogue of The Movement Fam, hit up the following MySpaces to get ya shop on:

The Movement Fam MySpace
Cee & Bekah MySpace
Notion MySpace

Peace,
Notion.

**Ill be posting more dopeness shortly, keep on bloggin yaaaalllll!

Cee & Bekah on iTunes and Amazon

That's right peoples, y'all can officially purchase The Fam tunes on the interweb. It doesn't get any better than that.

The Soul Movement Volume 1 and The Soul Movement Volume 2 Originals, with full length original songs produced by folks like Styalz Fuego, Whisper, Revelino, KrisblaiR (Canada), Da-Phai, Infinite Archetype and Beat Chemist (Canada), and featuring guest spots from The Movement Fam (Notion and Tommy Gunnz), and Canada's KrisblaiR and Jessica Kaya (sister of ultra dope MC Eternia).



They can be purchased individually or as an 'EP' (6 songs on Vol 1 and 5 songs on Vol 2). And with songs being a lazy $0.89 each and the EP sitting around $5 (on Amazon), how can you go wrong? Either click on the pics above or the links below. Easy.

Cee & Bekah on iTunes

Cee & Bekah on Amazon.com

The Movement Fam on The Understudies 'CC3'

Big ups to the homies The Understudies out in the East Bay, California.



Not only are they top blokes, but they have just released the third installment in their mixtape series, 'CC3'. And what makes this one super awesome is that it features our inter-crew collab, 'Never Going Away', which we recorded in Oakland, California on our recent trip there.



The song will also be released in the very near future on vinyl in both Australia and the USA as a double sided 12", which will be very exciting. So click on the cover to be taken to the 'Name Your Price' site where you can pay what you like for it (minimum is 50cents) - and remember, is not a mixtape full of jacked beats; this is all original, quality Hip Hop from the Bay.

Click on the back cover to be taken to The Understudies MySpace page.

Oh yeah, and while you're at it, go get your free download of the G.O.D.Cast Vol 2 podcast from the crew, which features an interview with Cee, Bekah and Notion by Citizen and Fly Cobb live in Oakland.

Attention artists - new networking tool! Trackhustle.com

For all the artists out there, I stumbled across a new networking tool that could be quite beneficial. Trackhustle.com is dope - it's a little different to the average music social networking site. This joint not only has the usual ish (pics, music, bio, etc), but it also gives you access to submitting music to A&R's, popular contests from around the web and various other networking tools that I'm yet to discover.

Check out The Movement Fam Trackhustle.com page (or click the image), this is yet another dope tool that the net provides for artists. Love it.

Heartbreak Drake

Toronto native Drake, now signed to Young Money (Lil' Wayne's label for y'all who ain't know), has gotta be one of The Movement Fam's favourite MC's, hands down.

So we all had his debut mixtape, 'Comeback Season', but all of a sudden there was like three more mixtapes available. What the fuck? You know we had to share it with y'all.

Peep:









There's prolly a fair bit of repetition here but it's worth it. Holla.