Culture

It’s been a while, but I’m glad to be back at the helm here at B&B to present to you the gems around these internets. Long story short, my absence was due to a solo concert I had recently performed and thus had to focus alot on practising for the last month. Besides hip-hop, I also love classical music, and playing the piano for a good ten years now, I wanted to play a full show in which I got to take complete ownership. It was something I’ll never forget and I am forever grateful to the people who had helped me make this vision come to life.

Speaking of live shows, Black Thought tore it down at this year’s Manifesto. With J. Period on the 1′s and 2′s, he not only ran through the standards, but went in on every style of beat imaginable, laying his own rhymes and impersonating the original artists, from Slick Rick to Drake. Few rappers can match Thought as a freestylist, making it a very memorable show. This is a sick original concept and I hope to hear more of it in the future. Check the tracklist and download The Live Mixtape after the jump.

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The BET 2010 Hip Hop Awards are back tonight, and of course that means more cyphers. Above are the two exclusive online cyphers. Cypher one consists of Vado, Raychester, and Fonzworth Bentley, while cypher two consists of Reema Major, Nick Javas, and Laws (DJ Premier is at the tables like last year). Fonz, aka “The Penguin” (*dead*) seems to be the only one going off the dome, which might not have been the smartest move, but at least it was funny in its awkwardness. In the second cypher, special notice goes to Reema Major (who has a co-sign from Gene Simmons, of all people), who not only is the only one repping Canada at the cyphers, but the only one holding it down for the ladies as well. On top of that, Reema, who is only 15, has arguably the strongest verse out of that cypher. Check back later for the rest of the cyphers, featuring the likes of Yelawolf, Raekwon, Rev Run, and the G.O.O.D. Music fam.

Also, after the jump, you can check out Reema Major’s latest mixtape, 15 Going On 25.

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This is likely the Manifesto related post for this year but it is the one everyone’s been waiting for. The September 26 Yonge-Dundas Square closing performance for this year’s festival will be headlined by Jay Electronica and Black Thought (with J. Period holding him down on the 1′s and 2′s). Expect a good time from Jay as he’s been going so far as to invite rows of people onto stage with him. Black Thought and J. Period will be performing “The Live Mixtape” (Illadelph Edition). As obvious as this will seem, make an effort to go downtown Toronto for at least that Sunday of the festival, because honestly how many times will you get to see either of these acts, never mind both, for free? Spotted at themanifesto.ca.

This deserves some special recognition because Amsterdam-based Neenah has become the first female to ever win the Battle Of The Beat Makers. This Canadian competition featured some of the best home grown talent, from C4 to REL!G!ON, and had Boi-1da on the judges’ panel. Above is footage of the final round going down and below is a link to Neenah’s mixtape, The Quality Selection. The dilemma of the lack of female rappers has been in discussion for as long as I can remember, but hopefully this will open up some conversation on the absence of female presences behind the boards. If the misconception is that a woman could not go hard on a beat and make a certified head-banger, then look no further than to the video above to disprove that assumption. My hats off to Neenah and here’s to hopefully a prosperous career for the girl.

Download: Neenah – The Quality Selection

It’s almost that time of the year again! From September 20th to the 26th, Toronto will play host once more to the ever-growing hip-hop festival known as Manifesto, celebrating all aspects of the culture. There will be speakers, films, art galleries, breakers, graffiti, plenty of music, and of course parties. Many acts from the dot will be out to perform and show their love, including D-Sisive, Slakah The Beatchild and Shaun Boothe. The headlining acts are yet to be announced, so for the moment the only states-aside artists that are set to hit the stage are Bilal and Jean Grae. But with dudes like Talib, Hi-Tek and 9th Wonder all lending a hand with last year’s festival, expect some major names to be dropped in the coming weeks. Check out the poster for Manifesto after the jump.

UPDATE: Jay Electronica has been announced as one of the headliners! More to follow.

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“These are the stories humanity is made of.” – K’Naan

Nabil Elderkin chronicles the struggle of a Ugandan man and how he is using hip-hop to save some of the children in his country. Read below and learn more about the trouble and Uganda and this incredible story.

Uganda has been called one of the worst places on earth to be a child. In the South, children face the threat of poverty and disease. In the North, these threats are enflamed by a brutal, mindless war inflicted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (L.R.A.) that has divided families, displaced millions, and led to the abduction and mutilation of tens of thousands of children resulting in the deterioration of identity and culture.

Read more after the break…

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Graffiti is one aspect of hip-hop that is under appreciated so I thought I would shine some light on a new documentary of one it’s most famous stencil artists. Banksy has been heavy on the graffiti scene for the past decade and always has a clever stencil to throw up wherever he ends up visiting (and ultimately tagging). His upcoming documentary called Exit Through The Gift Shop which you can catch the preview for below the break sort of documents him (and other popular artists) although he maintains his anonymity during the whole movie. I would fully expect to see a couple more of these works popping up over the next couple days throughout LA so if you are in the area keep your eyes peeled. Also catch another one of his works called “Guard On Duty” below the break too.

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This one is for our Canadian readers, and I feel that this post is well-deserved since there has been some crazy hip-hop and R&B to come from Canada in the last year (for all our other readers, in a nutshell, the Juno’s are to Canada like what the Grammy’s are to the US). As you’d guess, Drake leads the nominations for the hip-hop acts, followed by K’naan and Classified. Both “Best I Ever Had” and Class’ “Anybody Listening” got nods for best single, with the latter also getting a nod for best video (which it definitely deserves). Check after the jump for a list of categories in which our finest in hip-hop and R&B got nominations in and for a link to the full list.

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Aziz Ansari is one of my favorite new comics specifically because of how up to date and in depth he makes his hip-hop references. For this clip RAAAAAAAANDY, his alter-ego in his stand up routine, calls out a bunch of rappers to be on his mixtape and nails it. There are too many references to even quote he calls out Dre, Eminem, Kanye, Drake and lots more. I don’t even know if this mixtape is real or not but judging by his references I would think it has to be a possibility at some point. EDIT: I was about to post this yesterday but it looks like the blogs prematurely pulled the trigger on a rough version so here is the finished product with slight tweaks.

Download:

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I can’t end off the day without mentioning the anniversaries it marks: the 10th anniverary of Big Pun’s passing and the 26th birthday of an idol of mine, J Dilla. I’m going to keep it honest and say that although I’m a fan of Big Pun and some of his songs, I don’t know nearly enough about him to write a commemorative post for the punisher, so I’ll stick to what I know and focus on Mr. Yancey.

J Dilla was truly an iconic figure in hip-hop, and as tragic as it seems, that became the clearest when he passed in 2006. I remember turning on MuchMusic (the Canadian equivalent of MTV) and seeing all day long reports and montages about J Dilla. The fact that a major television network was devoting so much time to someone that the vast majority of mainstream music listeners probably never heard of before was testament to his impact on hip-hop’s history. As his beats continue to slowly come out of hiding (one of the latest ones being on Mickey Factz’s “Big Trouble In Lil’ China”), their value nears closer to priceless since there will never be no one like James Yancey again. From the swarm of kazoos on “Geek Down” to the head-banger that is “E=MC2″ (which you can listen to above), those gems will continue to live on for years to come. As cliché as it may sound, J Dilla truly did change our lives.