The Cheap Ass Show featuring Hollyweerd, Social Studies, Mach 5, Niko Villamor. $5. 9 p.m. Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018. www.starbar.net.
Download Hollyweerd’s latest mixtape Candy for Kleptos if you haven’t yet.
Last night at 9 p.m., Atlanta’s garage rock mascot and the subject of this week’s CL cover story, Benjamin Jay Womack aka Bobby Ubangi, lost his year-long battle with cancer.
A previously scheduled benefit show to cover B Jay’s funeral expenses takes place on Sat., July 4.
Anyone interested in donating to the Bobby Ubangi Funeral Fund can do so via a Paypal account set up by friend and CL music writer Chad Radford.
Funeral benefit for B Jay Womack with Carbonas, Predator, Customers and Barreracudas. $7. 4 p.m. Sat., July 4. 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769. www.529atl.com.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
A preview of 2009-10 season:
Special 2009-10 five-show ticket packages – at a 20 percent discount off individual tickets – are now on sale and may be ordered from the Ferst Center Box Office at 404-894-9600. Individual tickets for the new season will go on sale August 4, with prices ranging from $15 to $54. Details for all shows are available at www.FerstCenter.org.
The event series include:
Music: An icon of contemporary jazz, Keiko Matsui, on Sept. 25, premiere architect of urban smooth jazz, Kim Waters, on Oct. 24, a unique brand of bluegrass from Rhonda Vincent on Nov. 6, the contemporary jazz and melodic ballads from Ferst Center favorite Earl Klugh on Dec. 5, an evening of Russian music from Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra on Jan. 17, two of the world’s most celebrated fiddlers, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, on Jan. 31, Iran’s musical culture with Masters of Persian Music on Feb. 26, Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour featuring The Kenny Barron Trio, Regina Carter, Kurt Elling and Russell Malone on Feb. 27, folk music icon Arlo Guthrie on March 5, a slice of Irish-American musical history with fiddler Eileen Ivers “Beyond the Bog Road” on March 12, GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist/composer Pat Metheny on April 8 and the ancient art of Japanese drumming with Tao – The Martial Art of Drumming on April 9.
In an era in which blogs have become the breaking — though not altogether credible — source for hip-hop related news, gossip and interviews, Vibe magazine announced today that it’s shutting its doors after 16 years in the business.
Gawker posted the following note from editor-in-chief Danyel Smith:
On behalf the VIBE CONTENT staff (the best in this business), it is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today. We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news. It’s a tragic week in overall, but as the doors of VIBE Media Group close, on the eve of the magazine’s sixteenth anniversary, it’s a sad day for music, for hip hop in particular, and for the millions of readers and users who have loved and who continue to love the VIBE brand. We thank you, we have served you with joy, pride and excellence, and we will miss you.
Danyel Smith
the former Chief Content Officer VIBE Media Group
& Editor in Chief, VIBE
Ironically, I just interviewed Smith two weeks ago, following the announcement that Vibe’s new quarterly urban lifestyle pub The Most was due to hit newsstands with divorced couple Nas and Kelis covering the first issue.
When we talked by phone, Smith was excited because she’d just finished editing Vibe’s upcoming story on the Dungeon Family which was scheduled to run as the August cover story. The photo shoot — which took place in Atlanta about a month ago and brought together the core members of OutKast, Goodie Mob and Organized Noize — had already stirred up blog buzz and anticipation. Even Smith seemed excited, suggesting at the time that the story, written by Linda Hobbs, might need to be stretched out over two consecutive issues. Hopefully, it will still see the light of day in some form or fashion.
In 1993, Quincy Jones and Time Warner gave birth to the general interest music magazine with a focus on hip-hop and R&B. The first issue featured an edgy, emerging artist then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg on the cover.
Stay tuned for my interview with Danyel Smith in which we discuss her two-term tenure as head editor at Vibe, the magazine’s credibility within hip-hop, and some of her favorite interviews over the years.
Gawker also posted a note addressed to staff from Vibe Media CEO Steve Aaron outlining the challenges that took the magazine under: (more…)
Spotted at Lavish Life Social Club.
Looks like the rapper formerly known as B.o.B. is serious about taking his music to the next level.
Last Wednesday, Bobby Ray performed an acoustic set in celebration of his newly released mixtape B.o.B. vs. Bobby Ray. Zach Wolfe shot footage at Striver’s Row, the new men’s fashion boutique co-owned by Jason Geter of Grand Hustle (T.I.’s record label).
Whether you dig where Bobby Ray’s headed or not, it’s cool to see an MC signed to a major label (Rebel Rock/Grand Hustle/Atlantic) put his artistic evolution out on front street for all to critique. If anything, it proves the state of the industry is in total flux right now. Usually this is the kind of experimentation that goes on behind closed doors, and the end result is either shipped (yay) or shelved (nay) by the record label. Guess they’re taking a wait-and-see approach, too.
Either that, or they’re already sold on the end result and want to make sure the public is, so they’re spoon-feeding us. Experiment away I say, as long as there are no instructional dance songs in the works.
BET premiered the Anthony Mandler-directed video for Jay-Z’s new song “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” after the airing of the BET Awards last night (where he also performed it live). That’s Warner Music Group CEO Lyor Cohen chauffeuring Hov in the beginning of the video. The two were long time business associates during the Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam days. Now that Jay-Z’s upcoming album Blueprint 3 will be released by WMG subsidiary Atlantic, the cameo is fitting.
Harvey Keitel and Lebron James are also featured.
The highlight comes four and a half minutes in when Jay finally gets his overgrown sheepskin fro shorn in the barber’s chair. He’s been catching hell about that unkempt ’do for months. Some things, not even multi-millions can excuse.
Upon checking out Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones from the library three weeks ago, the first page I flipped to was chapter 28: “Thriller.”
Maybe it was Michael Jackson’s recent announcement that he planned to perform 50 concerts at the O2 arena in London, but for some reason his collaborations with Quincy Jones [Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987)] had been heavy on my mind. If ever he was desperate to make a comeback — as critics were suggesting the scheduled string of concerts proved — all MJ really needed to do was head back to the studio with Q one last time and do it again.
Not to take anything from the other producers he worked with post-Thriller — such as Teddy Riley who oversaw production on Dangerous (1991), or Rodney Jerkins who contributed significant production to Invincible (2001) — but when you look at MJ’s solo discography nothing stacks up to the Quincy Jones years. They made magic together.
In the following excerpt from his 2001 autobiography published by Doubleday, Jones talks about some of the collaborators who made Thriller the greatest selling album of all-time and reveals how Michael Jackson earned the well-deserved nickname “Smelly.”
The making of Thriller in a little more than two months was like riding a rocket. Everything about it was done at hyperspeed. Rod Temperton, who also co-wrote several of the album’s songs, and I listened to nearly 600 songs before picking out a dozen we liked. Rod would then submit to me about thirty-three of his own songs on totally complete demos with bass lines, counter lines, and all, recorded on the Temperton high-tech system of bouncing the sound of two cassette recordings between ghetto blasters, and ten to twenty-five alternate titles for each song, with the beginnings of lyric schemes. He was absolutely the best to work with—always totally prepared, not one drop of b.s. We have always kept it very real with each other, exchanging strong opinions and comments without ever “throwing a wobbly”—British slang for “losing it.” He’s the kind of warrior you want at your side on the battlefield.
Michael was also writing music like a machine. He could really crank it up. In the time I worked with him he wrote three of the songs on Off the Wall, four on Thriller, and six on Bad. At this point on Thriller I’d been bugging him for months to write a Michael Jackson version of “My Sharona.” One day I went to his house and said, “Smelly, give it up. The train is leaving the station.” He said, “Quincy, I got this thing I want you to hear, but it’s not finished yet. I don’t have any vocals on it.”
I called Michael “Smelly” because when he liked a piece of music or a certain beat, instead of calling it funky, he’d call it “smelly jelly.” When it was really good, he’d say, “That’s some smelly jelly.” I said, “Smelly, it’s getting late. Let’s do it.”
I took him to the studio inside his house. He called his engineer and we stacked the vocals on then and there. Michael sang his heart out. The song was “Beat It.” (more…)
UPDATED at 6: 28 p.m.: L.A. Times confirms his death:
[Updated at 3:15 p.m.: Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.]
UPDATED at 6:06 p.m.: No reliable news source has yet to confirm. Here’s CNN’s latest:
Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told CNN a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m. and the patient was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center.
Asked specifics of the patient’s condition, the spokesman said he could not discuss them because of federal privacy laws.
According to gossip site TMZ.com, Michael Jackson, 50, died this afternoon after being rushed to the hospital in L.A. following cardiac arrest.
More details to come.
Released yesterday, the mixtape B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray follows a format similar to T.I.’s T.I. vs. T.I.P. Pure coincidence? Not hardly. Atlanta’s own Bobby Ray (also known as B.o.B) happens to be signed to T.I.’s Grand Hustle label.
Rather than T.I.’s face-off between his inner thug and industry personas, Bob struggles with his rapper (B.o.B) vs. inner rocker of sorts (Bobby Ray).
Here’s what Complex had to say about B.o.B’s contribution to the mixtape:
The project is evenly divided between B.o.B and Bobby Ray songs with coinciding interludes to explain each side of the rapper’s personality. Things start off strongly with “One”, the mixtape’s first full song. We’re immediately thrust into the middle of B.o.B’s firmly positive agenda and remain there for the tape’s duration. Often times, rappers with the same focus make the mistake of coming across as preachy, but B.o.B puts his personal flaws on display as well. The young emcee arguably bests his mentor, T.I., on the standout “I’m That Nigga.”
And on Bobby Ray:
The Bobby Ray portion of the mixtape is a bit harder to warm up to because of its experimental nature, but still impressive. It seems like Bobby Ray has a stronger personal connection to these songs too, self-producing all but one. We definitely dig the left-field approach, but as much as he hates the comparisons, Bobby does occasionally come across like a The Love Below-era Andre 3000. It’s cool though. It’s easy to hear the kid honing his own unique sound and we like what we’ve heard so far.
B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray mixtape listening party. Free. 8-10 p.m. Wed., June 24. Strivers Row, 744 N. Highland Ave. 678-973-0045. See flier.
Spotted at the Kaos Effect, this footage of Binkis Recs was shot by Goldi Gold (Jungle45 TV) in 2008 as the group prepared for an upcoming performance at the A3C festival.
Classic moment: Near the six and a half minute mark, Killa Kalm mugs his ill grill for the camera (”We don’t take ourselves serious … ’cause life is hard … the grill tells it all”), and Jax and Flux bust out in laughter.
UPDATE: George Clinton, Dionne Farris, Rhymefest and more to speak out on Performance Rights Act H.R. 848 today (1-3 p.m. Mon, June 22) in Atlanta.
Tony MF Rock (Anthony Durham) and contemporary MC Shy D pioneered Atlanta hip-hop in the ’80s via releases on Luther Campbell’s Luke Skyyywalker Records. Durham went on to play bass for the Atlanta rap-rock group El Pus and collaborate with Anthony David.
In this “open letter,” Tony Rock discusses the response of black-owned radio stations to the pay to play Performance Rights Act:
Lately black radio has been on a jihad, so to speak against bill HR 848. They’re distorting it as a bill to “get rid of black radio”, and sadly, most of their audience will not take to time to research it and find out what it actually is. Black radio, knowing that they have done the black community a disservice for the most part, has decided to fall back on the “brotherhood” crutch. Unfortunately, and predictably, black radio has made HR 848 an “us (black) vs. them (white)” issue, even going as far as to tell their listeners to call Senators and Congressmen and threaten their seats. I promise you, those that make those calls, will make damned fools out of themselves, but I digress. In a nutshell, HR 848 is simply a bill that will allow artists that perform on the records that are being played, to receive a royalty payment.
So, since people like Warren Ballentine, Michael Baisden, and others in black radio have decided to go with this “bill to get rid of black radio” nonsense, let’s play along, shall we? Black radio is “reaching out” to the same community that they have done a disservice to over the past 2 decades for help. They want us to save them. Why should we? Black radio, in its essence, was a medium to truly serve the community. Nowadays, not so much. You want us to save something that constantly bombards our children with music that denigrates women and living lawfully? Black radio was a place where talented local artists could be heard. The only local artists that get played in Atlanta are the ones who are making crap. It’s like the artists are trying to outdumb each other. Atlanta was the VERY last market to play India.Arie, and she’s from here, but unfortunately for her, her music was positive. There’s no room for that on black radio here in Atlanta!! Black radio in Atlanta doesn’t support local artists, unless they’re making music that makes the community look bad, or if they’ve gone elsewhere to achieve notoriety first. (more…)
Just found out about an open discussion scheduled to take place today in Decatur from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the proposed Performance Rights Act (H.R. 848). Featured round table panelists will include artists George Clinton, Dionne Farris, Rhymefest and Peter Stroud.
The act, which would require radio stations to pay performance royalties to recording artists, has sparked quite a bit of controversy.
Last week we posted An open letter to black radio from Tony MF Rock in which the Atlanta hip-hop pioneer voiced his concern over how certain black radio commentators have been framing the proposed legislation as an attack on black-owned radio stations. And today, EbonyJet.com has posted a similar critique from Paul Porter:
Unfortunately, Black radio is swiftly becoming part of the problem, not the solution. It began, of course, with black-owned stations losing their independent voices and turning into sterile corporate jukeboxes limiting both information and community access, while feeding us music that reinforced the same stereotypes that for decades radio helped to defeat.
Now the few surviving Black-owned radio stations are abusing their unique influence in the community to misinform listeners about the impact of a new Congressional bill designed to support the kind of independent, creative and positive musical artists we all have demanding.
Cathy Hughes, Founder of Radio One, as one example, has been leading the charge against HR 848, an act of legislation that Hughes charges will “end black radio.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Today’s town hall meeting, hosted by the Atlanta chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, will feature “updates” from congressmen Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and John Conyers (D-Mich.). According to the flier, the RSVP deadline was Friday. I attempted to contact the Atlanta NARAS office this morning, but got no response.
I’m not sure if it’s open to the general public, but I suggest people interested in voicing their opinion (or in listening) should show up anyway. Worst-case scenario, you’ll get turned away at the door. But an influx of people could speak volumes, too.
I plan to attend and report back via Twitter updates and an eventual blog post. Tony MF Rock says, via email, that he plans to attend too.
musicFIRST® Town Hall Atlanta — an open discussion about the Performance Rights Act, H.R. 848. Featuring George Clinton, Dionne Farris, Rhymefest, Peter Stroud. 1-3 p.m. TODAY. Porter Sanford III Performing Arts & Community Center, 3181 Rainbow Dr. Decatur, Ga. 30034. NARAS Atlanta phone # 404-816-1380.
Spotted at MauriceGarland.com.
I’ve become infatuated with still photographer Zach Wolfe’s videography. Basically, the dude is ill. Like a hybrid of documentary photographer Gordon Parks and hip-hop video director Hype Williams, he combines a sense of realism and intimacy with some slick ass imagery and editing. I imagine it’s partly due to his technical know-how, his cutting-edge camera and his familiarity with his subjects. Because he’s established a rapport with such celebrities as Big Boi from past photo shoots, there’s no display of pretense — definitely no mugging for the camera, with just a minimal amount of shooter-subject interaction.
Peep his fly-on-the-wall footage of the recent Atlanta stop on the Sneaker Pimps tour featuring Big Boi’s sons Bamboo and Cross backstage with dad and his musical cohorts, including Khujo (Goodie Mob) and C-Bone.
Near the middle of the video, you get a vivid sense of what must be going through Big Boi’s mind in the moments before he steps on stage.
I thought I’d missed an old show when I heard Janelle Monaé on Fresh Air yesterday — especially since Terri Gross kept referring to her “new CD” Metropolis: The Chase Suite. You know, the one that was originally released in ’07, and later nominated for a Grammy after being re-released with added songs via Bad Boy in ’08.
Just goes to show how many people are still being exposed to the homegirl’s cyber-sound. Here’s a snippet:
Gross: As we can hear, you have a voice that really could’ve made it on Broadway — like, you have a beautiful, legit-sounding voice. But what you’re singing now, in a beautiful voice, is like your own breed of hip-hop. Did you feel like you had to change your voice in any way when you changed your aspirations from Broadway to hip-hop?
Monaé: (small laughter) Well, you know, no. I actually didn’t. I don’t really categorize anything that I do or say, you know, ‘this is the genre that I’m trying to go into.’ Still to this day I don’t have a name for necessarily what I call my sound or what it is that we’re doing. It’s one of those things where I don’t force anything, and by nature I think that I’ve always been drawn to women like Judy Garland, who always kept a classic and timeless voice. Even Anita Baker at times; I love her voice as well. So, you know, taking those out would just be taking a part of me away.
Listen to the full interview, Janelle Monaé’s Funky Otherworldly Sounds.
Tupac’s been known to incite a lot of things — in life and death. But laughter?
Tonight at Stone Mountain’s Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (5616 Memorial Dr.), comedian Mike Epps presents a birthday celebration and benefit concert in honor of the fallen rapper. Featured guests include Big Boi, Bun B, members of Dungeon Family, Eightball & MJG, Lil Scrappy, Playaz Circle and more.
As for the comic relief, Mike Epps says his streetwise brand of comedy was inspired by Pac, per the press release below:
“I’m a long-time fan of Pac’s music. It’s always been the soundtrack for overcoming struggle and when my life was in a desolate place it was his messages that helped bring me through,” says Epps. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for his inspiration. It’s an honor for me to stand alongside his mother, Afeni Shakur in celebrating such a personal moment in her son’s history.”
On a side note, I interviewed Mike Epps via phone a few years ago. It was memorable. I think I sorta pissed him off after inquiring about whether he’d used drugs in the past. He responded by unloading his gangsta dossier. I kept listening for the punchline. It never came. The fact that he was serious made it that much funnier. Trying to keep a straight face while Mike Epps snaps on you is like watching Eddie Murphy sing without busting a gut. Whether its “Party All the Time” or his Jimmy Early solo in Dreamgirls, it just ain’t happenin’.
Funds raised at tonight’s event will support the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts.
Tupac Shakur Birthday Celebration and Celebrity Fundraiser. $35. 7 p.m. Tonight. Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, 5616 Memorial Dr. 404-298-0790. www.tasf.org.
Atlanta’s deep house sound providers, Ramon Rawsoul and Kai Alce, are moving their long-running event, the Gathering, to the Foreign Exchange Cafe for twice-a-month gigs. I still haven’t checked Foreign Exchange out, but from what I’ve heard it’s a cool venue. And it seems to be the new sweet spot for soul/urban events in town. Promoter Rick Cook, responsible for bringing J*DaVeY and Bilal to Sugarhill before it closed, has had a couple of events there for sure.
The Gathering featuring Ramon Rawsoul and Kai Alce. $7 before 12 midnight. $10 after midnight. 10 p.m. Foreign Exchange Cafe, 685 Whitehall St. 404-438-8407. www.foreignexchangecafe.com.
Download or listen to DJ Drama + Soulja Boy Gangsta Grillz: Follow Me at datpiff.com.
The DJ the industry hates to love meets the rapper hip-hop loves to hate. Released today, the DJ Drama and Soulja Boy mixtape Gangsta Grillz: Follow Me is already causing a stir. Mostly, people seem surprised that they can stomach it. To DJ Drama’s credit, he’s built a career off escalating otherwise unknown or unappreciated MCs to another stratosphere (see Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane).
As for Soulja Boy, he sounds more like Soulja Mane this time out. You’ll find no instructional dance tracks here. Far from the two profanity-free albums released via Collipark Music/Interscope, the 18-year-old attempts a more menacing flow. On track 9, “Love & Hate,” he raps: “Keep a pistol in my lap as I ride through my projects/ cuz a nigga might try to rob meh.”
Imagine that, apparently Soulja Boy is wary of Atlanta’s Perception of Crime®, too.
UPDATED 11:58 a.m. 6/12/09: If you’re bored out of your mind and trying to avoid work until quitting time, here’s a treat. Soulja Boy and Bow Wow are video streaming live from first class aboard a plane, destination unknown. They’re having crepes for lunch.
Look for CL’s feature on Soulja Boy, “Too legit to quit,” next week. Tracklist below the jump:
See photo via Twitpic
The ever-elusive Cat Power is scheduled to perform at the Earl’s tenth anniversary celebration on on Sun., July 12. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Fri., June 12 at ticketalternative.com.
Read Chad Radford’s recent interview with Elizabeth Goodman, whose unauthorized biography Cat Power A Good Woman was released in April. In the interview, Goodman talks about her own struggle to come to terms with Chan Marshall’s resistance to the biography and how writing the introduction after she’d completed the book allowed her to put things in perspective:
It goes without saying that it troubled me that she was as upset by this as she was, and one of the things that concerned me when I first wrote the introduction was that people were going to think that there was this really wild and scathing story being told here, and there isn’t. This is the story of what happened to me when I was writing this book, but I don’t want people to think it’s some sort of expose of the secret dark side of this artist. The book is the biography that I researched and reported with the interviews that I was able to get by going to Atlanta and South Carolina and being here in New York. That’s the story. If people are expecting a dark and aggressively exploitative telling of her tale, they’re going to be disappointed. The thing that I wonder about most is what it is that she really finds so threatening about what’s now in print and in book stores.
Read the entire interview.
Who are you?
Tom P: rap artist, ATLien, manager, promoter, event planner, booker and coordinator, producer, table waiter, show rockin’ hip-hop extraordinaire.
Describe yourself in three words.
Only three words???!
Who — dead or alive — would you most like to meet?
Dead: John Lennon. Alive: Scarface from the Geto Boys. If I could hang with the two of them at the same time that would be something.
Who would you most like to slap in the face?
Anne Coulter
What song do you wish you had written?
All of Andre 3000’s verses
Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
Fat Elvis
LP, CD or MP3?
CDs. I still buy them. I own about 2,000 of them. I am the one dude still carrying around a Sony Walkman and a giant case of albums. Everybody has an 80 gig iPod, I’ve got 80 pounds of CDs jammed in those little booklet sleeves. I almost wreck my car daily flipping through them while trying to drive. I just enjoy listening to full albums and knowing I supported the artist.
If you could start one trend, what would it be?
People taking the time to learn how to rap before they call themselves rappers. No one wants to see a band who can’t play well. Treat rap like any other instrument. It takes a lot of practice to be good at it.
If you could end one trend, what would it be?
Inviting me to millions of Facebook and MySpace pages and applications. Y’all are trying to make me a “fan” of happiness and teeth whitening at this point.
With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
Megan Fox, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, that Slumdog Millionaire chick, and my girl. Although, I imagine she wouldn’t be too pleased with the situation.
(Photo courtesy JunkParis.com)
