Lauryn Hill with Julian Marley live

So this is happening across the street from where I am right now. FML.

Mariah Carey feat Nicki Minaj - Up Out My Face (video)

About to watch this - Nicki is fine as fuck, Mariah is hot albeit loopy, so either way this should be a sweet perve.

B Please: Race, Class & Linguistics

OK, I'm a bit late on this given that I actually read this article last weekend, but I just had to post about it. Anyway, Mina Jasarevic wrote a great article on HipHopDX.com about the use of the word "bitch" in hip hop and I think its a great read. The article features quotes from Talib Kweli, KRS-One, Eternia, Joell Ortiz, Ras Kass and B-Real.

Anybody who knows my girlfriend knows that she's a pretty staunch feminist. We've had some pretty extensive discussions/debates/arguments over the portrayal of women in mainstream culture generally, but perhaps the most challenging are those about the portrayal of women in hip hop culture.

I love hip hop to death and have bumped any number of misogynistic anthems in my life, but I've got to say its something that's pretty difficult to justify on a rational level. After all, if the point of hip hop is so often drummed up as an outlet for the marginalised, how can you then justify the subjectification of women?

I've got to say the conclusion to the article (or lack thereof) is a bit of a cop out, as are Joell Ortiz's quotes which seem more like attempted diversions rather than facing the issue being discussed.

I really think the dicsussion of misogyny in hip hop too often comes from outside the culture. It's about time the discussion came more regularly from within.

Smoke DZA – Marley & Me Remix ft. Devin The Dude, Curren$y & Asher Roth (Video)

Spotted @ The Audacity of Dope

The Smokers Anthem, it seems. Notion, what up?

CYMARSHALL LAW - HARDER THAN THOU feat DJ JS-1 OFFICIAL VIDEO

Shouts to the homie Cy, who's just released his first EP on HiPNOTT Records. Dope video.

Cop the Creator's Kid EP!

Gingers apparently have souls...

I have no words...

Wu-Tang Clan Video Mixtape

Eclectic Method - Wu Tang Clan Mixtape from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

Heat.

Movin' Up From Down Under Loud.com Blog #5

Week #5: The Decision

Aight, first post of the new year (although by the time y’all read this, it’s most likely well into 2009). Happy New Year, folks, hope everyone had a safe and wild entry into the next 365. Now that the niceties are out of the way, let’s get down to biz. So the past few posts, we’ve sorta given y’all some background as to where we came from and who we are, and now you might start to get what we’re doing here.

The main reason you’re even reading this right now is the big ass trip we undertook in September and October, 2008, to the USA and Canada (and New Zealand on the way home) to explore opportunities to extend our music to the other side of the globe (well, for us). So over the next bunch of posts, we’re gonna break down exactly what we had to go through – as Australian artists, particularly – to make this trip happen, and then what we went through on the trip itself.

The decision to actually undertake this trip wasn’t something that was taken lightly. We all work full time, so getting time off work would be an issue. It would cost anywhere between AUD$5000 and $10,000 per person (including all the shopping we planned to do), so getting the scrilla together would be a problem. Plus, Bekah and I have a mortgage, so we had to make sure that was covered. Shit was hectic.

But at the end of the day, the point of taking this trip was much more important than the details. Most of the interest in our music was coming from North America, so much so that we had built up enough contacts to warrant a quick visit to the homies in the northern hemisphere. We had grown fairly discontent with the Australian Hip Hop scene; I’ve mentioned this in earlier posts, but the politics, small-mindedness, tall poppy syndrome (cutting folks down who stand out from the crowd) and minimal market out here made us search elsewhere for an audience. And the interest from bloggers, producers, artists, managers, etc, from the US and Canada essentially made the decision for us.

The one thing that did it for me was my boss telling me around May that I had to take some leave before the end of September (bureaucracy, eh? lol I actually typed ‘bureaucrazy’, which seems even more appropriate) in 2008. So I was like, ‘I’m not gonna waste a couple weeks sitting around Melbourne’ and suggested this trip to Bekah and Notion, which I’d been thinking about for a while. They were initially apprehensive, mainly due to the finances and work pressures, but I persisted (see blog entry #4) and boom, it all came together.

Aside from the reasons listed above that could make taking this trip pretty damn difficult, we had people questioning what we were doing. Our parents (Notion and I are brothers) never really understood what we actually do with our music until they heard Notion mixing all the tracks for the latest mixtapes, so their initial reaction was of concern around money. Others felt we would be wasting our time in such a large, competitive market. Others were probably just jealous that we actually do something we love and are getting off our asses to make things happen for ourselves. But we definitely faced a lot of opposition.

So the decision was made, we were doing this. We were scared as fuck; Bekah and I lived in Toronto back in 2004 and hadn’t been overseas since. Plus we planned to hopefully do radio and live shows, as well as record with folks and network our asses off. This wasn’t gonna be no holiday (vacation, in American terms); it was just fun work. Well, most of the time, anyway.

Plug of the week: Along with a dope interview, Kevin Nottingham did lil spotlights on each of our mixtapes recently – check em out:

Notion – World Domi-NoTiOn (http://kevinnottingham.com/myblog/2008/09/15/notion-world-domi-notion/)
Cee & Bekah – The Soul Movement Volume 2 (http://kevinnottingham.com/myblog/2008/09/15/cee-bekah-the-soul-movement-vol-2/)

So until next time, stick with it, stick to it, stick at it.

And for those in Melbourne, the dude David Icke will be running one of his famous lectures on Saturday April 11th (the day after my birthday, son). If you wanna get educated on how the world really works, hit up www.davidicke.com.

Blessings,
Cee.
The Movement Fam.

Movin' Up From Down Under Loud.com Blog #4

Week #4: Persistence

Any given self help guru, successful musician or smug actor will tell you that persistence is the key to everything. That shit used to drive me crazy; like it was the answer for everything. As a teenager with a generally negative worldview, I saw most things as pointless; and persistence was the last thing on my mind with pretty much anything.

So as I got older and (arguably) wiser, I slowly and accidentally realised that what these folks have been spouting for years was actually not so far fetched. Personally, I’ve been into Hip Hop for around a decade and a half, and started spitting when I was maybe 15 years old. Nothing but a love for the music kept the passion burning, and as it got more serious and as I learned more, I never realised that I was actually ‘persisting’ with anything.

The various crews came and went; yet I never gave up. As one door closed, another one opened, as the saying goes. Every time. And I never quit. Yeah, there were times when I felt like ‘what’s the point?’, when I thought that everyone was against me and there was no way anything would ever come from all the heartache, when I momentarily lost the passion to do it as a result of the bullshit surrounding me. But every time, without exception, I got past it and something always appeared to show me that yes, young Jedi, it’s all worthwhile.

This was never as true as with The Movement Fam. All of us have been through similar experiences over the years, so we understood each other. And I guess there is a shared knowledge – nay, belief – that we will, whatever the odds, succeed with our music. This belief has resulted in an unwavering persistence that is uniform throughout the Fam, and we just know that it will be the one key aspect that will take us to where we wanna be.

And just like everyone, we’ve experienced a lot of people telling us to quit. I dare say we’d almost experience more of this than the average North American, due to the fact that we’re Australian and folks down here just don’t understand what we’re trying to achieve. Most of the scene here doesn’t aspire to succeed outside their own city, let alone make an impact on the other side of the world, so the fact that we’re unashamedly doing so doesn’t go down too well with a lotta people.

There’s also hella ups and downs (as with anything in life). Some days, it feels like everyone is on our side and we can do no wrong; other days, it’s like noone cares and what we’re trying to do is hopeless. Either way, we find the guts to just keep at it. And I think the main thing is that every day, without fail, we always manage to do something, no matter how small, towards our music that helps us move in the direction of our goals. All that shit adds up, you know. And before you know it, boom, you look back and are amazed at how much you’ve achieved. It’s a crazy thing.

Plug of the week: My man Kevin Nottingham did a great interview with us just prior to our US/Canada trip:

http://kevinnottingham.com/myblog/2008/09/12/artist-spotlight-the-movement-fam/

So until next time, keep at it, keep movin’ and keep educated.

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com Do yourself a favour and check it out.

Blessings,
Cee.
The Movement Fam.

Movin' Up From Down Under Loud.com Blog #3

Week #3: Get Your Hate On

More Loud blog...

So last week we were in love with the internet. Now it’s time to get our hate on a lil bit. It’s healthy, really. And I wouldn’t call it ‘hate’ per se. ‘Hate’ is a strong word. I’ll call it ‘the truth’.

Aight, we have a gang of reasons that we’re aiming to crack the North American market, as a priority over our homeland. The population is one. Australia has 22 odd million folks; the USA and Canada has pushing 400 million heads. You do the math. Also, the US is the home of Hip Hop; it’s ingrained in your culture. In 2008, folks of most age groups, genders, cultures, backgrounds, professions, sexual persuasions, whatever, feel Hip Hop, listen to it, and better yet, understand it. That’s the key; the average Aussie still views Hip Hop as a violent, foreign, and unrelatable culture from the other side of the world. So essentially, y’all have a market for it. And yes, we realise that with so many people and music being so easily produced and released these days, the competition is greater than ever. I still reckon there’s a better chance of making some noise over there than Down Under.

Now, seeing as the US created Hip Hop, why on earth would Americans (and Canadians for that matter) be interested in Australian Hip Hop artists? Well, that’s what we thought; until we started getting more interest from that side of the planet than at home. And as this continued, we started to pursue it as oppose to just take it as it comes (no homo).

The Australian scene is mad young in comparison. Our good friend, Canadian MC Eternia, told us once that she felt that Australia (Melbourne in particular) reminds her of Toronto or New York twenty years ago, in the sense that we still have the ‘purist’ attitude out here; artists generally haven’t been warped by the corporate machines. In Melbourne, there’s a strong graffiti community, regular b-boy, DJ and MC battles, and most folks do it for the love as opposed to legitimately making a career out of rap; they don’t think it’s possible. And for the most part, they’re right. Whenever a Hip Hop act does a show in Melbourne, it’s almost a guarantee that the majority of the crowd will be staunch, screwfaced MC’s. Well, that’s our experience, anyway, and that of a lot of our mates in the scene. It’s not the best atmosphere to rock a show in. We found the same thing in Toronto, actually, hence the name coined by Theo 3, ‘The Screwface Capital’.

One striking difference we found from dealing with cats in the US and Canada is the overwhelming willingness that people had to help us out. It blew our minds, both before we left and moreso when we got there. Not one meeting went by without that person putting us in touch with someone else that they felt could be beneficial to our trip. It was amazing. The thing is that you would rarely find that sort of attitude in Australia – most folks here are out for themselves. And maybe we only were looked after as we were foreigners and not so much of a threat. But at home, nobody does shit for nobody, particularly within Hip Hop. I believe it’s due to a belief that the ‘pie’, so to speak, isn’t big enough to go around, so people protect what they have.

Whatever the reasons, our experiences with North Americans have been incredibly positive, and we are inspired more than ever to keep at it.

Plug of the week: Wake Your Daughter Up! Blog did a lil write up on us for our trip, so have a bit of a read:

Cee & Bekah interview (link to: http://www.wydublog.com/2008/09/new-artist-spotlight-cee-bekah.html)
Notion interview (link to: http://www.wydublog.com/2008/09/new-artist-spotlight-notion.html)

So until next time, stay real, stay raw, stay rugged, stay grimey. It’s the only way.

Blessings,
Cee.
The Movement Fam.

P.R - Pre-Heated Mixtape Hosted by Statik Selektah

It's here! The big homie P.R's latest project, the Pre-Heated Mixtape, hosted by none other than Statik Selektah, dropped last night. And the shit is a banger! Check out the press release and track listing after the jump, and make sure you cop your FREE DOWNLOAD of 100% original material! Oh, and check for the joints from The Movement Fam's Cee & Bekah (track 6, 'In Time') and Notion & Tommy Gunnz (track 12, 'All Day Long').

FREE DOWNLOAD @ http://pdotrmusic.bandcamp.com/album/pre-heated

After 7 months in the making, the very hard working Sydney producer P.R has completed the much anticipated master piece Pre-Heated hosted by the world famous New York based DJ/Producer extraordinaire ‘Statik Selektah’.


Pre-Heated is a sample based Hip-Hop project, which brings forth a clash between a range of different genre/styles, fusing Soul and Jazz into production that would make the gods smile. What makes this project so unique is that each track has its own vibe and sound, for example one track gives listeners a gritty raw underground feel, while another track gives the listeners a relaxed soulful feel to just kick and nod there head to.


Pre-Heated boasts 13 solid tracks including the lead single “Better Off” with Sydney’s own 13th Son & Carlos “C-Major” Velasquez, “This The” featuring Staten Islands, NY, Jojo Pellegrino, Jon Conor & Sound Kamp’s The Iron Ghost, as well as appearances from Naledge from Kidz in the Hall (US), Chaundon from Hall of Justus (US), Mystro(UK), ViceVersah (US), Adelaide’s very own R&B superstar Carla Waye, Melbourne’s Hip-Hop/Soul duo Cee & Bekah And Many Many More.



“The title speaks for itself, this project will warm my listeners up and prepare them for my major album”, as quoted by P.R.


This first installment from P.R will give all listeners a taste of what’s to come, making way for the debut album The Chopping Board. So keep the wax out of your hears and watch out for P.R as he is about to take over 2010.



PRE-HEATED TRACKLIST


01 - Intro (Feat. Statik Selektah)
02 - Curtains Up (Feat. Real Life)
03 - The OZ Connect (Feat. Vice Versah)
04 - Give It To You (Feat. Chaundon, Naledge & Carla Waye)
05 - Aight Den (Feat. Mystro, Jargon & DJ Thor)
06 - In Time (Feat. Cee & Bekah)
07 - This The (Feat. JoJo Pellegrino, Jon Conner & T.I.G)
08 - Ugly (Feat. Jacob Quest & Insyte)
09 - Nothin' Nice (Feat. Stiks)
10 - This Ones For You (Feat. Starr Nyce)
11 - Better Off (Feat. 13th Son & C-Major)
12 - All Day Long (Feat. Notion & Tommy Gunnz)
13 - Not Like Me (Feat. Illnigma)

Augmented Reality: Rochambeau Tshirt

Seriously, just watch.

Emilio Rojas - Piano Bounce (video)

The big homie Emilio is back with a video exclusive for ThisIs50.com for 'Piano Bounce' off his 'The Natural' mixtape with DJ Green Lantern. Check the visuals.

The Movement Fam Best of 2009 List

Yeah, yeah. We're 22 days late. My bad. So last year's Best of 2008 post was our biggest post yet as far as length and hits, so we delivered the Best of 2009 as soon as we could...anyway, there's enough info here with me crapping on, so read on my people...and comment!

Cee

Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Skyzoo - The Salvation
Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
Asher Roth - Asleep In The Bread Aisle
Brother Ali - US



Special Mentions:
David Dallas - Something Awesome
Ghostface Killah - Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
Inverse - So True EP
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse

Top 5 R&B/Soul Albums
Daniel Merriweather - Love & War
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy: The Experience
Alicia Keys - The Element of Freedom
Melanie Fiona - The Bridge
India.Arie - Testimony Volume 2: Love & Politics

Special Mentions:
Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement
Joss Stone - Colour Me Free!
Lloyd - Like Me: The Young Goldie EP
Maxwell - BLACKsummer's Night



Top Any Genre Albums
John Mayer - Battle Studies
Ben Harper & The Relentless 7 - White Lies for Dark Times
Colbie Caillat - Breakthrough
Lisa Mitchell - Wonder

Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
Inverse - Rise and Shine
Drake - Forever feat Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Eminem (Travis Barker Remix)
Royce Da 5'9" - Part Of Me
Asher Roth - I Love College
J.Cole - Lights Please

Special Mentions:
Sandpeople - Hate Aside
Skyzoo - The Necessary Evils

Top 5 R&B/Soul Songs
Melanie Fiona - Give It To Me Right
Jess Harlen - Watch The Water
Joss Stone - Governmentalist
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy
Sade - Soldier Of Love

Special Mentions:
Daniel Merriweather - Red
Daniel Merriweather - Cigarettes

Top Any Genre Songs
John Mayer - Who Says
Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
Lisa Mitchell - Coin Laundry
Sean Declase - Throw Me Down

Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Eternia - Get Caught Up
Emilio Rojas - Recession Proof
Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Volume 3: The Final Chapter
Emilio Rojas - The Natural
Lil' Wayne - No Ceilings

Special Mentions:
Joell Ortiz - Road Kill
Idle Warship - Party Robot
J. Cole - The Warm Up

Best Video(s) of the Year
Skyzoo - Popularity
Daniel Merriweather - Change
Jay-Z feat Kanye West & Rihanna - Run This Town (although we recently discovered the freemasonry symbolism in said video, it's still dope)

Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Kid Cudi. Dude was thrown off Lady Gaga's tour for punching a fan. His album was weird as hell; like it or not, dude is doing his own thing. Very fun to watch.



Most Overrated Artist of the Year
It's hard to say it but...Eminem. Relapse was very average (even in a year littered with average albums), and every guest appearance from the man left me less than satisfied (see Drake's 'Forever' and Wayne's amazing 'Drop The World'). Hopefully the second volume of Relapse will bring back the Em we've been fiending for.

Worst Album of the Year
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3: It's not the worst album of the year as such, but definitely the most disappointing. A new Jay album is an event - but this one fizzled. Jay didn't sound on top of his game, there was barely a handful of decent songs, and sonically it was too far removed from his previous work. Let's hope the next one is a heater...

Best Show of the Year
2009 was hands down the ILLEST year of shows I've ever seen in Australia. By far, Daniel Merriweather was the dopest show; it was his first major gig in his hometown since blowing up in the UK and the most fun I've had in ages.

Special Mentions:
Lupe Fiasco
Nas
Jimmy Barnes
John Farnham
Marilyn Manson
Wu-Tang Clan
Blu & Exile

Worst Song of the Year
Well, this ain't really the worst song of the year, but most definitely the funniest (or possibly the worst song to get a chick into bed). R. Kelly's 'Pregnant' was fucking HILARIOUS. And the remix with Robin Thicke, The-Dream and Tyrese made it even funnier. 'Girl you make me wanna get you preeggggnaannnt....'

Hottest Broad of the Year
Freida Pinto AND Jessica Mas





Stupidest Thing that happened this year
Well maybe not the stupidest but possibly the saddest was the loss of Michael Jackson. Even among all the controversy, dude is still the greatest of all time and very few people disagree.

The Kanye/Taylor Swift moment was amazingly hilarious and was the butt of many a spectacular internet meme.

And I can't forget Bangs. Dude was talked about on Twitter by like 5 people on Sunday; by Friday he had over 200K hits on YouTube for 'Take U To Da Movies'. I even got the exclusive first performance footage at the Phrase gig, which has over 100K views.

Best blog/website of the Year
On my bias shit - KevinNottingham.com, of course. Nobody else caters for the up and comers like Kev.

On my non-bias shit, both DJBooth.com and HipHopUpdate.com were on their shit.

Artist to look out for in 2010
Drake - what can I say? Nobody killed it like dude in 2009. Very interested to see what he will do in 2010.
Also, here's a few names to keep an eye on: K'Naan, Wale, Emilio Rojas, Skyzoo, Kina Grannis, Theology3, Daniel Merriweather, Justin Bieber, The Glitch Mob...

Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
Here's a few who continued to murk it: Nottz, Mark Ronson, Remot, EOM, Illmind, Shuko, M-Phazes, edIT...

Illest Artist Discovered in 2009
I'd have to say the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I need a SERIOUS late pass for this one; I've always loved 'Under The Bridge' and been bumpin' 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' but in 2009, I got into their entire back catalogue. 2009 was the year I listened to more old music than ever before. Special mentions go to Cold Chisel and Marilyn Manson. I was also gonna say 'glitch music' but I think I discovered that in 2008. Shouts to Zach at Dr Follicles for that one.

Top 5 Movies of the Year
Fuck a movie - the 'Been Had' videos on YouTube were the illest shit all year!
Oh and The Carter Documentary was sick.

Predictions for 2010...
Drake will continue his industry domination and his long awaited debut Thank Me Later will break his mentor Lil' Wayne's recent sales records.
Glitch music will start to take off, and some of the first artists you'll hear over glitch beats will include The Movement Fam in early 2010.
Hip Hop will actually improve and not be as shit as it was in 2009. It can only go up from here...


Clint

Top 5 Tracks
Drake - Forever feat Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Eminem
Eminem - 3am
Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys - Empire State Of Mind
Jay-Z - D.O.A.
Kid Cudi feat Kanye West and Common- I Poke Her Face
Eminem feat 50 Cent and Dr Dre - Crack A Bottle



Top 5 Albums
Eminem - Relapse
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Brother Ali - US
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy (Can't believe the dudes dad is the dad from Growing Pains...I can hearing him yelling at Kirk Cameron now)

Top 5 Hip Hop Artists of 2009
Lil' Wayne
Jay-Z
Drake
Ludacris
Eminem


Infinite Archetype

Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Skyzoo - The Salvation
Wale - Attention Deficit (without a DOUBT)
Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop
Ghettosocks - Treat of the day
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse



Top 5 R&B/Soul Albums
I don't think I even copped 5 soul albums in 2009 that were actually FROM 2009. But here's the two I did get:

Eric Roberson - Music Fan First
Daniel Merriweather - Love & War

Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
Wale - Ice and Rain
Ghettosocks - Don't Turn Around
Skyzoo - Beautiful Decay
Wale - Beautiful Bliss (ft. J-Cole)
Young Chris - Kickdrums (ft. Wale and Rhymefest)



Top 5 R&B/Soul Songs
Daniel Merriweather - Change
Eric Roberson - How Could She Do It
Raphael Saadiq - Staying in Love

Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Volume 3
Young Chris - The Network
J.Cole - The Warmup
Wale & 9th Wonder - Back to the Feature (a BEAST of a mixtape)



Best Video(s) of the Year
Skyzoo - The Beautiful Decay (prejudiced cos I love that song too much to hate it, regardless of how generic the video actually is)

Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Don't have one. This year I've done less reading about Artists, more listening to them. :)

Most Overrated Artist of the Year
A lot of artists are constantly overrated every year. I don't think any more-so than a previous year. But I have to agree with Cee and say Eminem.

Worst Album of the Year
I don't actually think it's out yet but I was unfortunate enough to hear Rebirth by Lil' Wayne. And that's 15 minutes of my life I will never get back. (I must have played about a minute of each track. They only got progressively worse). That's the last time I give that boy a chance.

Best Show of the Year
Low-Fi. While I didn't get to see Qbert and Supernat (thank you bad organisers closing "The Shed" mid event and reorganising sets without telling us, and thank you Commix playing over your set time), I throughly enjoyed Chali 2na (always a crowd pleaser) and Nas.

Worst Song of the Year
To be honest I tend to be succesful at steering clear of anything on the TV and Radio. So really my worst experience this year was the Lil' Wayne Rebirth Album. All of it. Every Second. Pick a track off that. Any track...that's the worst song of the year.

Hottest Broad of the Year
What are we in the 60's? Ha. Hottest "Broad" this year...I dunno. After watching Jennifer's Body I have a thing for Megan Fox now. I guess that's my choice.



Stupidest Thing that happened this year
I don't know if it counts as stupid, but that news article I read about the marshal arts trained monkey turning on his trainer was hilarious. I think the news article I saw read "Ninja Monkey turns on Master". I don't know, I just find that funny.

Best blog/website of the Year
I don't really spend too much time cruising blogs. Actually the only one I visit regularly isn't even music related. But I'll say it. www.toucharcade.com. If you have an iPhone, you know whats up.

Artist to look out for in 2010
After hearing "So Far Gone" I WOULD have said Drake. However after hearing subsequent features and mix-tapes, I'm really, really not. However while I will not be looking out for him, I'm pretty damn sure he will be on to bigger things. So yes. I guess I am saying Drake.

Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
Tough. Emile killed it on everything I heard this year, 9th has been trying some different stuff with his beats, and even one of the Primo tracks on the Royce album didn't even sound like Primo! It's definitely been an interesting year as far as production goes. I can't choose one.

Predictions for 2010...
People will start writing "10" instead of "09" at the end of dates. We will have a lineup of mediocre summer festivals (compared to previous years anyway) and Drake will maybe come out with an album...maybe.


Marc

Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Cormega - Born & Raised
Wu-Tang - Chamber Music
Cyne - Water for Mars
Mos Def - The Estatic
Fashawn - Boy Meets World

Special Mentions:
Royce Da 5'9 - Street Hop
Finale - A Dream & a Promise
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
Diamond District - In The Ruff
Souls Of Mischief - Montezumas Revenge
Jazz Liberators - Fruit of The Past
Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati
Brother Ali - Us



Top 4 R&B/Soul Albums
Melanie Fiona - The Bridge
Chrisette Michele – Epiphany
Joss Stone – Colour Me Free!
Platinum Pied Pipers - Abundance



Top Any Genre Albums
Blueprint - Sign Language
Exile - Radio
Prefuse 73 - Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian

Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Statik Selectah & Saigon - All In A Days Work

Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Exile

Most Overrated Artist of the Year
Lil' Wayne

Worst Album of the Year
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

Best Show of the Year
Pharoah Monche live @ Prince of Wales

Hottest Broad of the Year
'Uhura' character in the new Star Trek film



Stupidest Thing that happened this year
Tiger Woods Ho' Marathon.

Best blog/website of the Year
Rappamelo.com

Artist to look out for in 2010
Finale

Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
14KT, Fat Jon, Fizzy Womack, Ayatollah, Havoc, Exile

Illest Artist Discovered in 2009
Fashawn



Top 5 Movies of the Year
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Public Enemies
Moon

Predictions for 2010...
The death of Hip Hop continues as Pop and Hip Hop become one entity.


Micnificent

Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 (Hate if you want but the more you listen, the better it gets)
Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop (Fire front to back)
Rick Ross - Deeper Than Rap (Quality album)
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 (Dope!)
Wale - Attention Deficit (Def one of my fav's)

Special Mentions:
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Snoop Dog - Malice In Wonderland
Eminem - Relapse: Refill



Top 5 R&B/Soul Albums
I really haven't heard enough in '09.
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy (Entertaining, quality album)



Top Any Genre Albums
It's disgusting but nothing comes to mind.

Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
This is a hard category...here goes:

Raekwon - Catalina
Wale - Mama Told Me
Snoop Dogg - I Wanna Rock
Royce - Part Of Me
Slaughterhouse - The One

Top Any Genre Songs
Kid Cudi - Day N Night
Robin Thicke - It's In The Morning (Makes you wanna smash a bitch in the mornin' fmc)
Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys - Empire State Of Mind
Jay-Z - Run This Town

Top 5 Mixtapes
Joell Ortiz - Road Kill
Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Volume 3: The Final Chapter
Lil' Wayne - No Ceilings

Top Music Videos
Slaughterhouse - The One
Eminem - 3am
Royce Da 5'9" - Part Of Me
Joell Ortiz - Food For Thought
Kid Cudi - Soundtrack To My Life

Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Drake - came from under a rock; doesn't have an album and manages to stay relevant (if not at the top).



Most Overrated Artist
Lady Gaga because I just don't feel the buzz.

Best Show of the Year
Blu & Exile tickles my puss
Nas also killed it

Worst Song of the Year
Pitbull - I Know You Want Me

Hottest Broad of the Year
Blue bitch in Avatar (I'm in love)



Stupidest thing that happened
Lil' Mama's bboy stance with Jay and Alicia after their 'Empire' performance.
Kanye/Taylor Swift incident.

Best blog/website of the Year
The Movement Fam blog of course

Artist to look out for in 2010
Drake
Mike Lee (lmao)

Illest Artist Discovered in 2009
Lil' Wayne (knew him before, but now I understand what he's doing)

Top 5 Movies of the Year
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds

Predictions for 2010...
Mike will stay spending money on CDs supporting the industry that does not support him. Nas and Damian Marley's album will have the substance I am looking for, Drake's album will drop, sell more than Nas but won't be as good as expected....and Kanye will drop a new album that will be on point. Le Fin ...oh I would say detox is gonna drop but Dre's waiting till I drop dead before he releases it....cunt fmc.


Notion

Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Skyzoo - The Salvation
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Method Man & Redman - Blackout 2
Ghostface Killah - Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City

Special Mentions:
David Dallas - Something Awesome
Brother Ali - US
Mos Def - Estatic
Inverse - So True EP
Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop



Top 5 R&B/Soul Albums
Daniel Merriweather - Love & War
Alicia Keys - The Element of Freedom
Robin Thicke - S3x Therapy: The Experience
Joss Stone - Colour Me Free!
Maxwell - BLACKsummer's Night



Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
Slaughterhouse - Microphone
Inverse - Rise and Shine
Drake - Forever feat Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Eminem (Travis Barker Remix)
Ghostface - Do Over ft. Raheem DeVaughn
Skyzoo - The Necessary Evils

Special Mentions:
Ghostface - Stapleton Sex
Lil' Wayne - Drop The World ft. Eminem

Top 5 R&B/Soul Songs
Daniel Merriweather - Could You
Jess Harlen - Watch The Water
Joss Stone - Governmentalist
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy

Special Mentions:
Daniel Merriweather - Red
Daniel Merriweather - Cigarettes

Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Volume 3: The Final Chapter (No Bias)
Eternia - Get Caught Up
Emilio Rojas - Recession Proof
Emilio Rojas - The Natural
Lil' Wayne - No Ceilings

Special Mentions:
Joell Ortiz - Road Kill
Idle Warship - Party Robot
J. Cole - The Warm Up



Best Video(s) of the Year
Drake - Forever ft. Kanye, Lil' Wayne & Eminem (Travis Barker Remix)
Skyzoo - Popularity
Daniel Merriweather - Change
Jay-Z feat Kanye West & Rihanna - Run This Town

Best Show of the Year
Word on the street is that Daniel Merriweather's show was off the chain and possibly the dopest show of the year, but I missed it like the shit person I am. :O(
From shows that I've seen, it would have to go to Lupe Fiasco! MY LORD, dude is a gymnast on stage! Backflips to end it, reppin' Gaza strip, energy plus man, insane band, it had the works! Crazy show!

Special Mentions to:
Nas
Blu &a Exile

Worst Song of the Year
Take U To Da Movies - Bangs.
My god. This is TOO retarded to comment on. Nuff said.

Hottest Broad of the Year
Yo mumma.



Stupidest Thing that happened this year
The Kanye & Taylor Swift moment at the MTV Video Awards was amazingly hilarious and was the butt of many a spectacular internet meme and late night talk shows for months to come.

Best blog/website of the Year
On my bias sh* - KevinNottingham.com, of course. Nobody else caters for the up and comers like Kev. Also, www.themovementfam.com because its also just as raw.

Not much of a blogger myself, so that’s all I got.

Artist to look out for in 2010
Drake for sure, wait for the takeover. Album should be ridic.
Also, here's a few names to keep an eye on: Wale, Emilio Rojas, Skyzoo, Daniel Merriweather, The Movement Fam. Gyeh!

Dopest Producer(s) of the Year

Nottz, Mark Ronson, Remot, EOM, Illmind, Shuko, M-Phazes, edIT, Fire & Ice...

Top 5 Movies of the Year
Refer to YouTube. Lol!


Theory

Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Royce Da 5'9'' - Street Hop
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
DOOM - Born Like This
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II
Eminem - Relapse: Refill

Honourable Mentions:
R.A. The Rugged Man - Legendary Classics Vol. 1
Sandpeople - Long Story... Short EP
M.O.P. - Foundation



Top R&B/Soul Albums
The-Dream - Love Vs. Money
Laura Izibor - Let The Truth Be Told

Not sure why I can't think of more than two that I liked for the year. I guess there's a bunch that I haven't heard yet (Alicia Keys comes to mind) and a bunch that didn't live up to my expectations (Keri Hilson's debut). Maybe I'm not as big a fan of R&B and soul as I thought. Or maybe I'm just pissed that Erykah Badu keeps pushing her album back.



Top Any Genre Albums
These are all electronic/glitch hop albums and EP's. Pretty much the genre I most listened to outside of Hip Hop in 2009.

Nosaj Thing - Drift
PANTyRAID - The Sauce (Note: PANTyRAID are made up of Ooah of The Glitch Mob (who are discussed further down) and another gentleman)
Freddy Todd - Hallowz Eve EP
Samples - Intercontinental Ballistic Lazer
Samples - Inappropriate

Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
Jay Electronica - Exhibit C
Sandpeople - Hate Aside
Slaughterhouse - Move On (Remix)
J. Cole - Lights Please
Canibus - Dead By Design

Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Joell Ortiz - Covers The Classics
Joell Ortiz - Road Kill
AC - Attack Of The Blogs Part 2
Emilio Rojas - Recession Proof
Emilio Rojas - The Natural

Best Video(s) of the Year
Slaughterhouse - The One
DJ Quik & Kurupt - 9x's Outta 10
Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)
KRS-One & Buckshot - Robot
Method Man & Redman - Mrs. International

Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Royce Da 5'9" would probably take this. From being involved in two of my favourite albums of the year, to his countless freestyles, to his Twitter account and live video streams while drunk as hell. The dude entertained me all year.

Most Overrated Artist of the Year
Lil' Wayne, but he's the most overrated artist for me every single year since he has been "rapping" - if you can call it that.

Worst Album of the Year
Did Wayne drop an album this year? Hmm I guess not. I gotta say both Jadakiss and Keri Hilson's albums were very disappointing.

Best Show of the Year
I didn't go to many shows in 2009 (that I can remember) so I guess that makes Nas the victor. After the show, people were talking about how he didn't put on much of a show, or something. I was right up the front watching his facial expression as he kicked rhymes from most of the tracks on Illmatic. What else do you need?

Worst Song of the Year
Did Wayne put out any songs this year? He probably did. If you're a Wayne fan, pick your favourite Wayne track of 2009 - that's my worst song of the year.



MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN of the Year
My grandma.

Stupidest Thing that happened this year
Lil' Wayne didn't die.

Best blog/website of the Year
The Smoking Section - http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/

Artist to look out for in 2010
The Glitch Mob - http://www.theglitchmob.com/

Glitch Hop is the future, kids. After various successes with solo projects, The Glitch Mob (edIT, Ooah, Kraddy, Boreta) are putting the finishing touches on their group debut album. This is sure to feature heavily in my Top Music 2010 list. If you're unfamiliar, hit the link above and check out the free audio on their page. Or head to wherever you can buy good music and cop both edIT albums - they are definitely some of the best Glitch Hop albums out there.



Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
Apart from the members of The Glitch Mob and their various forays into electronic music, I've looked at who produced my top five Hip Hop albums and came across a few names that were involved in more than one of them. I guess that makes them my favourite producers of 2009.

Dr. Dre
J Dilla
Emile
Doom
Jake One

Illest Artist Discovered in 2009
The Glitch Mob, hands down.

Top EIGHT Movies of the Year
Inglourious Basterds
The Hangover
District 9
I Love You, Man
Avatar (3D)
Black Dynamite
Where The Wild Things Are
Thirst

Predictions for 2010...
Hip Hop will continue to be 90% bullshit, spearheaded by your man Lil' Wayne. Eminem will try to reclaim the throne, but unless Relapse 2 has some substance to it, that's not going to happen. Beyonce will give birth to Satan's seed, while Jay-Z watches powerlessly from the sidelines. 3D movies will be all the rage. Nintendo will continue to release video games that belong in the early 90's... and continue to break sales records. Personally, I'll waste way too much money on alcohol and spend way too much time updating my iPod.

Movin' Up From Down Under Loud.com Blog #2

Week #2: Connecting The Dots

Alright, so Australian rappers. Weird, hey? I’m assuming it’s mainly North Americans reading this, as the concept isn’t that far fetched for locals. And besides, this is only the second instalment in this blog so I can’t expect everyone to be on board just yet. But we’re working on it.

So like I was saying in the last post, we (The Movement Fam) recently hit up the USA and Canada on a networking and radio trip, but I wanna start a bit before that. We’ve all been making music together for years, at least the best part of a decade, but we only really came together strong as a crew in 2008. So the real hustling took place this year. We’d dropped a couple mixtapes in the past and rocked a bunch of shows and what not, but we all had a feeling about The Movement Fam and these new releases (The Soul Movement Volume 2 and World Domi-NoTiOn). That’s why we took the plunge and made the trip across hemispheres. And by the way, we’re totally independent, we all work full time to support our music, so this wasn’t a decision we took lightly. Financially it was a struggle, and we’ll all be paying it off for a minute, but to us, we believe in our music so much that it really wasn’t much of a gamble as an investment in our future.

Of course, we wouldn’t just leave our shores on an expensive ass trip without laying down the groundwork and hooking up a gang of activities beforehand. So how does a group of Aussie Hip Hop/Soul artists connect with folks across seas? How we’ve been doing it for years – we were pen pals. And what happened to the old-fashioned pen pal system? That shit was raw. The excitement of receiving a letter written in a foreign hand, on foreign paper with foreign scents just doesn’t compare with a message in your inbox. But I digress.

Clearly, the internet is the only way to efficiently and effectively communicate with like-minded folks all around our fair planet, and to be honest, we wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the net. As the manager of The Fam, I spend the vast majority of my spare time split between the net and the studio. It’s the main tool in our arsenal, besides the music, of course. And the beautiful thing about it is how things just randomly fall into place. For example, how are you reading this blog from relatively unknown Australian artists on www.Loud.com, a premier Hip Hop website in North America? Well, long story short, I hit up a producer on MySpace for beats; he put me in touch with his manager; we hit it off as he lives in Toronto and Bekah and myself lived there a few years back; he put me in touch with a respected blogger who jumped on board and has supported us unquestionably since; said blogger put us in touch with an industry friend; we met up with him in the US on the trip and clicked, and boom…here we are. All thanks to the internet. Oh, and our unwavering persistence. But that’s for another week.

Plug of the week: So y’all can even feel what we’re saying, you’re best to check our tunes.

Go cop yaself a free download:
Cee & Bekah – The Soul Movement Volume 2 (link to: http://www.planeturban.com.au/download_mixtapes/cee_and_bekah_soul_movement_vol_2)
Notion – World Domi-NoTiOn (link to: http://www.planeturban.com.au/download_mixtapes/notion_world_dominotion)

‘Til next time, love yourself, love your mother, love the internet. And the porn. It’s heaps good.

Blessings,
Cee.
The Movement Fam.

United Nations of Sound - Are You Ready? (video)

So this is gonna be some shit. Richard Ashcroft of The Verve fame has come with a new group project entitled United Nations of Sound. He's worked with some huge musicians from all over the world and here's the video for the teaser song, 'Are You Ready?', produced by No I.D. This shit is gonna be interesting...

By the way, if the video won't work, check it out in the following links:

Richard Ashcroft's website

YouTube

Movin' Up From Down Under Loud.com Blog #1

Aight, so like a year ago we were doing a blog on Loud.com called 'Movin' Up From Down Under' via the homie J Master. They ended up posting like three of our pieces but it kinda fell by the wayside, however I wrote like 8 blogs so I thought I might as well share them here.

Here's the first instalment:

Week #1: An Introduction…

So, I’m guessin’ that most of y’all didn’t know Australians even knew much about Hip Hop, let alone be able to make it – and with soul. See, that’s the beauty of coming from Down Under; well, it’s pretty much the only major benefit of being Hip Hop/Soul artists from Australia. We are unassuming to the rest of the world. Most heads couldn’t name an Aussie Hip Hop act off the top, with the exception of a certain producer who’s killin’ it right now. And that, my friends, is what we’re here to change.

‘We’ are The Movement Fam, an independent Soul/Hip Hop collective currently based in Melbourne, Australia. The name might not be familiar just yet, but goddamnit, we’re gonna blog our asses off ‘til it is! The crew comprises of Bekah, the lady of the Fam, who also happens to possess one of the most soulful voices that I done heard in a minute; my little brother Notion, who can flow like a muhfucka, plus he’s putting in work on the engineering and production tip; my dude Tommy Gunnz, a licensed solicitor who kills mics with his uniquely Australian wit; and myself, Cee, who also can spit a lil something, while I handle the biz side of things.

Y’all will get to know all of us each week as we detail our little adventures in the music business. We’ve been through a lotta shit to get to where we are, and we’ve barely started. We recently returned from a self-funded networking trip to the USA and Canada, which was an interesting and amazing experience, and we’ll be telling y’all all about it in the coming weeks, from all our perspectives. And we’ll be letting y’all in on all the struggles, successes, frustrations and politricks that we deal with on a day-to-day basis as Australian artists trying to break into the American market.

I’ma keep the intro short, coz we’re gonna have a lot to speak on later on haha. So you can get a better idea of who we are and what we sound like, head over to www.kevinnottingham.com, where you can download our latest projects – Notion’s ‘World Domi-NoTiOn’ mixtape and Cee & Bekah’s ‘The Soul Movement Volume 2’ mixtape. That’d be a good start. And producers, if you like what you hear, make sure you download the acapella’s and submit a lil something for the remix contest.

Stay up, stay tuned and stay shittin’ on ‘em.

Blessings,
The Movement Fam.

Artist Feature: Carlitta Durand

So to kick off 2010's The Movement Fam Artist Features, we thought we'd do it BIG! Normally, we like to spotlight up and coming artists that we believe in and who are about to do big things; however, this time we decided to step that up a bit. Fans of the Hall of Justus (Little Brother, etc) may be well familiar with Miss Carlitta Durand; and although she's worked with some of the most talented MC's in the game, she's on her way to make her mark on the world solo.

Carlitta recently released her debut EP, 'The Doug & Patty EP' (based on the 90's cartoon characters). With eleven songs (does that technically make it an album?), it's a free gem that really shows off Miss Durand's vocal and songwriting abilities. Check the interview below for more info, but every song is really dope; that's rare as hell these days, let alone on a free EP. She reminds me of a young, more upbeat Jill Scott (mainly in her vocal tones and inflections), and has some serious potential to make a solid mark on the Hip Hop, R&B and Neo Soul worlds.

Carlitta was kind enough to take some time out to chat with me about the EP, her upcoming projects and how she got down with Little Brother...



Cee: Hey Carlitta, thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

Alright, so let's get a little background on you. How did you get into the biz? And how did you link up with Little Brother/Justus League?

Carlitta: Hey, well..a friend of mine had a friend, he eventually became my manager, he worked with HOJ and JL, and Little Brother needed a singer one night, they called me and the rest is history. The song was "Life of the Party".

Cee: Most of our readers will know you best from your work with LB. How has it been working with such esteemed MCs? Has it helped you shape your craft?

Carlitta: It's been great, I've learned a lot, met a lot of people. It feels good to work with artists who take their craft seriously, and I consider LB to be one of the best rap groups of all time. It's truly a blessing and has opened doors I never would of thought I'd see. I've definitely grown as an artist and a singer since the first night I met LB.



Cee: So after a gang of guest appearances, we finally have a Carlitta solo project in the 'Doug & Patty EP'. Was this your first solo outing?

Carlitta: There was one before this, a mixtape "Carlitta's Way" that available on iTunes.

Cee: Tell us about the EP. Who did you get on production? There's some amazing beats on the project.

Carlitta: The whole project was produced by Vaughn Garcia of M1 Platoon. It features Oklahoma rapper Jabee and he recently released a mixtape as well with Mick Boogie, "Must Be Nice", be on the look out for him as well. It also features Big Chopps of the M1 Platoon, I believe him and his group got next, they are out of DC and they are very dope. I took a trip to DC to work on the EP for a weekend, we worked all day and night to finish it. I'm proud of it, it's fun and the music is good. I'm just happy i can share it with the world.



Cee: Feature-wise, there's no big name appearances. Was this intentional? And notably, there's no Justus League feature. Any reason behind this?

Carlitta: I wasn't really gonna feature anyone but Vaughn Garcia, I wanna give everyone a chance. There are rappers out there that we tend to over look and not give credit to but they are very dope. Jabee and Chopps are some of them, I believe in their talent and I think they have something worth listening to.

Cee: What was the inspiration behind using the Doug & Patty characters from the 90's? That was a throwback!!

Carlitta: Lol ha, there wasn't really any inspiration, me and Vaughn were just brainstorming names. We get silly when we're together, I threw out Doug and Patty and he said 'OK'. That's it.

Cee: What was the motivation behind making it a free download? There's a lot of talk about this these days as listeners tend to expect everything free or they'll download it illegally anyway. What are your thoughts on this?

Carlitta: It was a Christmas gift to everyone...I know there is a problem with downloading but I believe people will pay if they believe in you. When people appreciate what you do and believe in you AND enjoy they will buy you music.

Cee: What's the plans from here, as far as your next project? Do you have a full length album in the works? What can the fans expect from you going forward?

Carlitta: A full album is coming, touring, more projects and collaborations, shows, videos...anything I can do to share my music.

Cee: Is there any artist(s) who are your main inspirations? And who are the main folks you're keen to work with on the next project(s)?



Carlitta: Sade, I love her voice and she's beautiful and I LOVE Prince, he's a musical genius. I would love to work with Madlib or Stevie Wonder lol, but I'm really open to work with anyone.

Cee: Hit us with your contact details so the fans can check out your music!

Carlitta: Of course:

twitter.com/carlittadurand (The best place to find me lol)
myspace.com/missdurand
youtube.com/carlittad
carlittamusic@gmail.com
and Facebook: search "Carlitta Durand"

Cee: Thanks for your time, much love and good luck with everything!

Carlitta: THAAAANK YOU!!!! LOVE, PEACE AND BLESSINGS!


Download Carlitta Durand - Doug & Patty EP

Ill Doctrine - 10 OTHER Things Martin Luther King Said

And to take a break from the music from a second, check this...

Wyclef's personal statement against Yele Haiti accusations

So apparently Clef was accused of defrauding the public via his Haiti charity, which has gone into overdrive since the earthquake and raised over $2 million in the last week or so via a text message campaign. Here is his statement against the accusations.

Hunt Chris Brown (video parody)

Hilarious. Big ups Thrizz for going in on this one...

Clipse live at Playboy Mansion for NYE

Clipse-New Years Eve @ Playboy Mansion 2010-Til The Casket Drops Album in stores now!!!!!!! from ReUpGangRecords.net on Vimeo.

Some muhfuckas have all the luck. The Clipse boys saw in the New Year performing a couple joints on a stage full of Playboy bunnies. Word to their lives.

Questlove proves Park and Recreation is the Wu-Tang of Comedy

Parks and Recreation is the Wu-Tang of Comedy - watch more funny videos

Fucking hilarious. RZA is the shit.

"Bring the muthafuckin' ruckus, baby."

Sean P - Duck Down feat Skyzoo and Torae (video)

Latest heater from Sean P, visuals by Court Dunn (dude behind the One Shot series). Sky fucking MURKS it.

"I Came From My Momma... Peace Bitch"

Peace to Tek for the link.

Cymarshall Law interview and performance

Check out our labelmate Cy's recent interview with Y2KDaily...

"Last week I caught up with New Jersey’s own Cymarshall Law. We chopped it up for a little covering subjects from his musical background, his recent signing with HiPNOTT Records, and tips on how to be successful as an independent artist. Included is some live footage of his single “Harder Than Thou.” Make sure to support his first official release on HiPNOTT, Creator’s Kid EP dropping January 26th all over the internet. I apologize in advance for the poor lighting, I’m working on that!"

HiPNOTT Records 2010 Takeover Mixtape Vol 1‏

It's here! Volume 1, HiPNOTT Records, Hip Hop DX, DJBooth, 2010 Takeover...it's a wrap! Watch for the Movement Fam joint on Volume 2 coming in February!





Download HiPNOTT Records 2010 Takeover Mixtape Vol 1

HIPNOTT RECORDS 2010 TAKEOVER VOL 1 MIXTAPE, PRESENTED BY HIPHOPDX.COM + DJBOOTH.NET + KEVINNOTTINGHAM.COM AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD TODAY

Kevin Nottingham, of KevinNottingham.com’s notoriety, introduces his record label HiPNOTT Records’ latest musical endeavor. Through a partnership with HipHopDX, HiPNOTT releases the first volume of a two-part series mixtape entitled HiPNOTT Records 2010 Takeover where Nottingham hones the label’s direction and sound. The mixtape, presented by HipHopDX, KevinNottingham.com and DJBooth.net, is available for free download starting today. A video promo trailer is available for download and share now at http://hipnottrecords.com/hipnott -records-2010-takeover-promo.html.

HiPNOTT Record’s 2010 Takeover is a feel-good head-bobber reminiscent of the Golden Era of hip-hop that we all miss. Expect a skillful blend of exclusive tracks from both unsigned and established hip hop talent including Chaundon (Justus League), Guilty Simpson, Kyle Lucas, Joe Scudda, Verbs featuring MURS, El Prez, Truck North (The Roots), Tiye Phoenix, Wax, and Ilyas (Tanya Morgan). HiPNOTT’s signed artists, Cymarshall Law, K. Sparks, Nobody Famous, Trav Williams, JC Poppe and Preach, more than hold their own.

Following the Takeover mixtape series, the label will usher in its impressive roster of talent that includes Cee & Bekah, Cymarshall Law, Dasha, G.C., Has-Lo, JC Poppe, Jermiside & Danny Diggs, K.Sparks, Nobody Famous, Notion, Preach Jacobs and Trav Williams, with the release of projects beginning the first quarter of 2010.

HiPNOTT Records 2010 Takeover Vol. 2 will be available February 2010, bolstering a list of talent that includes Epsilon Project, Has-Lo, Hawdwerk & Jansport J, Jermiside & Danny Diggs, L.E.G.A.C.Y., MaG, N’Telligence, Plex Long, Preach Jacobs, Random, Self-One, Siya and The Movement Fam (Cee & Bekah, Notion, Tommy Gunnz).

Justin Timberlake live w/ Brother Ali @ the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

In a HUGE look for Brother Ali, JT shows up to beatbox for dude. Amazing. Real recognise real.

Sade - Soldier of Love (official music video)

Album is gonna be KILLER. Love the video.

Lil Wayne and Young Money live (video)

Here's a couple of high quality videos with live footage of Wayne and Young Money live in Texas. Boom.

LIL WAYNE SHOW 1-7-2010 from Blair Caldwell on Vimeo.

Beatbox awesomeness

Wow. Dude is a genius.

Mos Def - History feat Talib Kweli (video)

Mos Def Feat. Talib Kweli-History (Creative Control Color Edit) from Creative Control on Vimeo.

Nice visuals. Heaters.

FREE Glitch downloads @ Skanky Panky Records

As y'all were prolly aware by now, the crew here at The Movement Fam are heavy into the glitch tunes. We're currently preparing our 'Glitchtape' project, where we go IN over various glitch tunes, predominantly by LA's The Glitch Mob.

So in our travels we linked up with dope new glitch label, Skanky Panky Records, based out of the UK. Producer William Breakspear hit us with an original glitch joint that we're going to lace for the project; and we thought y'all might want a taste.

Head over to Skanky Panky's site for a bunch of FREE original glitch downloads (left side of the page, Media section). Hit us or the guys at Skanky with your comments and feedback!

Dropping Knowledge: Move Your Money

This message applies to every country in the world, not just the USA. Watch, learn and DO.

Lil Wayne - On Fire (video)

I dig this joint; I actually really like most of the leaked album too. Dope video.

Malicious - Under The Vultures (video)

The big homie outta Montreal, Malicious aka Mr Malish, hits us with his latest video for his banger 'Under The Vultures'. Love the simple steez here; mad effective.

Hip Hop and Freemasonry

Aight, back on our Icke shit. Me and Thrizz have been really into this stuff lately. Here's some VERY interesting videos about how freemasonry is infecting Hip Hop; they even point the finger at some of my favourite artists, which is quite a shock. Personally, I'm not sure what to believe just yet as I'm only just getting into it, but check out the videos and judge for yourselves...

DJ Chong Wizard's Eclectic Relaxation: A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest‏

Finally, it's here!!! The homie DJ Chong Wizard drops his A Tribe Called Quest tribute mixtape 'Eclectic Relaxation'. Myself, Notion and Tommy Gunnz hit 'em with our take of 'Oh My God' to wrap the tape up, so check the info after the jump for the free download...

DJ Chong Wizard hooks up with Thick Magazine & KevinNottingham.com to present Eclectic Relaxation: A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest. This mixtape has been a work in progress since last summer when a beat contest was hosted on KevinNottingham.com for producers to recreate their favorite ATCQ tracks. Hundreds of entries were submitted and the best made the cut.

Featuring emcees such as Del The Funky Homosapien, El Da Sensei, The Lessondary (Jermiside, Tanya Morgan, etc), Frank Nitti (of Frank N Dank), Moka Only, Bootie Brown and many more, Eclectic Relaxation is sure to give Tribe fans exactly what they've been waiting for... a proper tribute!

Download DJ Chong Wizard's Eclectic Relaxation: A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest‏



01. DJ Chong Wizard - Check The Classic (prod. by Complexxx)

02. El Da Sensei - Can I Kick It (prod. by LoKeyNote)

03. Del The Funky Homosapien - Lyrics To Go (prod. by Bidimridim)

04. The Lessondary [Jermiside, A.B.N.G, Tanya Morgan & Elucid] - Check The Rhime (prod. by Bidimridim)

05. Muneshine, Roshin & DJ Sonik - Steve Biko (Stir It Up) (prod. by Muneshine)

06. M.I.C. [MeccaGodZilla, Junclassic & Monsta X] - Award Tour (prod. by Zup)

07. Frank Nitti [Frank n Dank] - Eclectic Relaxation (prod. by G.C.)

08. Jovi Rockwell - Gotta Get Out {Bonita Applebum} (prod. by Ro-Data)

09. Dre Biggity - Find A Way (prod. by Damar Davis & Fonkee1)

10. Moka Only - Push It Along (prod. by Moka Only)

11. Jeff Spec & Moka Only - Butter (prod. by K-Murdock)

12. Phoenix Jones & Big Norf Da God - Verses From The Black E.T.z (prod. by DJ Chong Wizard)

13. Phoenix Jones & Jis The Future - Jazz (prod. by Has-Lo)

14. The Googlenaires [Moka Only & Bootie Brown] - Skypager (prod. by Moka Only)

15. Donny Arcade - Scenario (prod. by Don Joe)

16. Dutchmassive - The Love (prod. by Remot)

17. St. Mic & Tomorrow's Yesterday - Pad and Pen (prod. by St. Mic)

18. Wax & EOM - A Date Called Quest (prod. by EOM)

19. The Movement Fam - Oh My God (prod. by Bidimridim)

HiPNOTT Records 2010 Takeover Mixtape

Aight, so y'all been knew that The Movement Fam have been down with HiPNOTT Records since (long before) the jump. And in 2010, it's fucking ON.

Kev teamed up with DJBooth.net and HipHopDX.com to deliver not one but TWO free volumes of original, fresh Hip Hop to distinguish the label's direction in 2010.

Peep the video above for the features on the first volume.

If you wanna sneak peek at The Movement Fam's track 'Seasons Change' (produced by G.C.), head over to The Movement Fam's YouTube channel...

I'm On A Mac (video spoof)

Huge shouts to Thrizz for the look on this one. Fucking hilarious. I stays on a Mac, son. Keep up.

Crooked I - Mr Pigface (video)

Crooked is a beast. Dope track, dope video.

Jay-Z - On To The Next One (video)

Latest video from Jay over another wack ass Swizz beat.

Blu - The GODlee Barnes LP

“Since’07,3YearYearsInTheMaking…” was the message Blu dropped via Twitter with theGODleeBarnes(lp).

It's currently only one long MP3, apparently the tracklisting is on the way soon...

Download Blu - The GODlee Barnes LP

Wristpect Presents Bridging The Gap V4 - Toronto to Virginia [Hosted By The Clipse]

Straight outta TO, check the latest installment of the 'Bridging The Gap' series from DJ Wrispect...

"Bridging The Gap V4 - TO - VA
Hosted by The Clipse
Feautring Appearances By: Pharrell, NERD, Rich Kidd, Skillz, Kardinal Offishall, Fam-Lay, JD Era & more!"

Download Wristpect Presents Bridging The Gap V4