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In 1994, Mos Def along with his younger brother DCQ and his younger sister Ces, formed the group Urban Thermo Dynamics. UTD first graced the scene with the underground classic track "My Kung Fu". They soon thereafter followed up with the now classic "Manifest Destiny" single, which gave them notoriety among the wider hip-hop masses. Both singles where to lead up to the release of the group's debut album, Manifest Destiny. Though the group was signed to Payday Records, the album never saw an official release. Soon after the group was released from Payday, Mos Def and DCQ formed Medina Green and released the Rawkus Records underground mega-hit Crosstown Beef. Later, Mos Def recorded with Talib Kweli as Black Star, which took his underground notoriety to soaring heights. Mos Def's commercial popularity spawned with his hit gold debut solo album, Black on Both Sides. Now commercially available for the first time is the UTD Manifest Destiny album via Illson Media (imprint founded by DCQ). This hip-hop classic is filled with dark and melodic bass heavy production from Diamond D. and Showbiz. The album features the timeless songs: 'My Kung Fu', 'Manifest Destiny', 'Moon In Cancer', and 'Like That'. This album is a must have for all fans of classic and quality Hip-Hop. In conjunction with the release of the UTD album, Illson Media is re-releasing Medina Green U Know The Flex Mixtape Vol. 1. The CD features the new Medina Green tracks: 'Cats Copy', 'Pump Da Pump', and 'Slow and Tender'. As well, the project features the hard to find Mos Def tracks 'Beef' and 'Excellence'. U Know The Flex features production from Hi-Tek, Minnesota, Supa Dave West, Geology, and new comer Mike B. The Mixtape also features appearances from Illson Media artists Ali Shine, Magnetic, and Young Kash.
Directed by Mazik Saevitz Featuring...John Yancey Common Will.I.AM Black Thought Talib Kweli Karriem Riggins Frank N Dank Styling by Las Vegas based Fruition (www.fruitionlv.com). James "Jay Dee aka J Dilla" Yancey was born and raised on the mean streets of Detroit?s east side. Little is known of his musical upbringing, but he has most definitely become one of the most talented, innovative producers of our time. Gaining inspiration from listening to Whodini?s ?Big Mouth? back in the day, Jay tried his hand at making beats by using the ?pause? and ?record? buttons on his tape deck. After learning to work an MPC-60 back in 92? from Amp Fiddler, J Dilla was on his way to becoming one of hip-hop?s illest beat makers. After hooking up with two high school friends, T3 and Baatin, they formed the crew called, Slum Village (circa 1988), and Jay started to polish his rhyming skills to match his dope production. As Slum Village began to show themselves in Detroit and around the east coast Jay was also busy getting his production noticed by other artists in the music industry. One thing led to another and by the end of 1996, Jay Dee had produced joints for the likes of The Pharcyde, Keith Murray, Busta Rhymes and De La Soul. After hearing Jay?s ill productions Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest) brought him in to lend his expertise to their 1996 release ?Beats, Rhymes and Life?. Jay Dee became one-third of the ghost production team now known as the Ummah, which included Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed. That year also saw the first release from Slum Village with ?Fantastic Vol. I?, a classic hard to find item. A chance meeting with Janet Jackson led to his 1997 remix of the chart topping ?Got Til? Its Gone? single that paired Janet?s smooth vocals with Jay Dee?s intoxicating drum kicks. Now dabbling in other music genres, Jay went on to lace beats for artists like Macy Gray, D?angelo, N?Dea Davenport and Erykah Badu. 2000 was a stellar year for Jay Dee, with his group Slum Village finally releasing their critically acclaimed ?Fantastic Vol. II? through Goodvibe Recordings, he also received notoriety with many other acts. With the now defunct Ummah production team non-existent (breakup of Tribe Called Quest in 99?), J Dilla became a member of The Soulquarians, which includes Ahmir ??uestlove? Thompson (The Roots), James Poyser and D?angelo. Jay produced a substantial amount of Common?s 2000 release ?Like Water For Chocolate? and contributed to D?angelo's Voodoo album. In 2001 Jay Dee released his first solo effort entitled ?Welcome 2 Detroit? (BBE Records). The ?W2D? album showcased a few emcee?s from the Detroit area, but also showed the versatility of Jay Dee and his craftiness. This 16 track ensemble of lyrical tracks, classic ?instrumental? covers and bouncy grooves solidified Jay Dee as one of the illest producers of his era and beyond. Other albums that followed included Jaylib (Jay Dee & Madlib) as well as an instrumental series at Bling47.com and production of 2 songs (Love is... and It's Your World (Part 1 & 2)) on Common's recent 'Be' album. J Dilla leaves behind a body of work which will be loved and rediscovered for years to come. His most recent album "Donuts" was released on February 7th, the day of his 32nd birthday. Two other projects, "The Shining" (BBE Records) and "Jay Love Japan" (Operation Unknown) are completed and will be released in 2006. Other production work has been completed for artists Madlib, Busta Rhymes, Ghostface Killah, A.G., Visionaries, Truth Hurts, Phat Kat, MF DOOM, Skillz, and Frank N Dank.
The Future in African Urban Music...WAWESH is a hip-hop artist and producer heavily exhaling a breath of freshness into international hip-hop whilst truly representing his country of birth, Kenya. The Sweden based MC has been creating a swirling buzz in Swahili speaking communities in Africa and the Diaspora via his debut hit single, video and his website. Despite being an unfamiliar name to some, his production credits go way back and he is already a renowned name in production circles throughout Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. Under his alter-alias, Kiboy, he also co-owns BlaO Entertainment, a production company that has been involved in many projects including work for the likes of international names like CNN, Samantha Mumba, Talib Kweli, Floetry, NAS and many more. Having had experience in developing artists and creating hits for others, Kiboy decided to step forward to deliver something he believed the Swahili speaking community and fans of quality international hip-hop worldwide wanted. Thus, WAWESH was born.
The first single from Swedish electronic act "missing sound". Taken from their debut album.
Pop Levi has led what one might describe as a melodic life. From childhood his life has been steeped in music. He took up piano at age 3, joined a gospel choir at 7, and started record collecting at 9 just prior to writing his first song. It was a precocious start for an artist who has proved to be a prodigious talent. This English born, LA based multi-instrumentalist was a founder member of avant-garde rock collective Super Numeri before embarking on a global roller coaster ride as bassist with electro pioneers Ladytron. All the while he?s been perfecting his modern spin on rock and soul, releasing two singles on the ?Trons Invicta Hi-Fi label', and carefully crafting his debut solo album. August 2006 sees the release of his first EP on Counter Records. Drawing inspiration from such luminaries as Van Dyke Parks, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye and Syd Barrett, Levi creates his own brand of gloriously funky alt-rock, meticulously piecing together his kaleidoscopic sound from recordings he?s compiled over a ten-year period. The roar of a motorcycle and the Bolan-esque swagger of title track Blue Honey, kicks off this five track EP. Track 2 (A Style Called) Crying Chic sees Levi pay tribute to the sun drenched sounds of 60's west coast America before he struts his stuff on the Zeppelin-heavy guitar riffs of Mournin Light. Penultimate song Baby Again (Midnight Version) has a looser, more experimental feel, prior to more close-vocal harmonising and finger clicking beats from Levi on an alternate recording of album track Skip Ghetto (Echo Park version). The album, The Return To Form Black Magick Party, described by Levi as a truly bizarre whirlwind of classic sounds has been mixed by Thom Monahan, Devendra Banhart's producer, and produced by Pop Levi himself. It is due for release in the New Year. Meanwhile Levi and his band have been astounding audiences with their soulful vocals and guitar pyrotechnics both at home and here in the UK and plan a return trip to the UK in August for a clutch of dates to be announced shortly.
!!! (Chk Chk Chk): "Heart of Hearts"
Music video for !!!'s Heart Of Hearts. It's the first single taken from the upcoming album Myth Takes out 5th March 2007.
Antony and the Johnsons: "Hope There's Someone"
On this video, for the second single from the 2005 Mercury Prize winning album "I Am A Bird Now", Antony presents a haunting and minimal visual accompaniment to one of the strongest solo pieces in his staggeringly rich repertoire.
The world we live in is marked by disorder and chaos. Few things, if any, are certain. But then there is Type O Negative, the Brooklyn band whose been making a glorious, doom-caked racket for over a decade. With a sense of humor blacker than the clothing that the individual band members wear and a profound distaste and disgust for both humanity and political correctness, Type O Negative never changes with the times the times change with them. Marked by sharp wit and bouts of gloom 'n depression, Type O Negative continues to reward its listeners with what they have come to love and what they have to expect from the Brooklyn doom squad: a nihilistic world view, anthems of sex and death, and a blinding torch of well-placed hate. + LIFE IS KILLING ME It is Type O Negative's gothically tinged metal, reared on a steady diet of Bauhaus and Sisters Of Mercy, which never takes itself too seriously, that has garnered them critical and commercial success. 1993's Bloody Kisses was the first album to achieve Gold and Platinum status in the Roadrunner Records catalog. It's successor, 1996's October Rust, also went Gold, thus solidifying Type O's roots in the sediment of metal. Through it all, bassist/frontman Peter Steele still reminisces about his days as an employee of the NYC Parks Department, still lives in the same basement apartment in Brooklyn, still drives the same car, and still wolfs down TV dinners. And he and his cohorts still make bittersweet, head down hard rock.
The very first music video from When Time is Falling, solo artist Patrick Burke is from the U.K. in Scarbourough. This is one of his projects.
Ambassador Junior Lion: "Starliner (Repatriation)"
Ambassador Junior Lion presents his single "Starliner," taken from the upcoming album "The Journey No Matter What."
