7 Years Later: RIP Jam Master Jay

Still hard to believe...

Check out this piece I wrote on the man just days after he passed.

We miss you JAY!

Reality Rap Is Not Dead: New Video!Southbound feat. Mr. Greezo of Da C.O.D."That Ain't Right"

Seriously. Directed by my man OG at Luxury Mindz. These dudes is serious and I love this song.



I say click it twice so you can see it in full form, not all squished up on this here blog.

Special Post: 1 Week Till Fun Fun Fun Fest!SPOTLIGHT ON MELT BANANA!

I'm working on this whole Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview Post and plan to have it up by tomorrow, in addition to a ticket giveaway and such, but I just decided that Melt Banana deserve their own post.


This is a photo, or series of photos I took at Walter's On Washington a few years back in Houston.

Melt Banana are a band from Japan, they were championed by John Peel who once declared them his favorite band. Whether or not that has anything to do with me declaring them my favorite band of all time is irrelevant, cuz they are and it's very real. If I am in love with a band in this world, it is Melt Banana, and I will forever stay faithful.

No one does it the way they do it. It's Super Rock way past 11, and cannot be stopped. Peep the videos below, some live, one official, and some made by fans. And then do some Googling or whatever, and watch more videos, and listen to more songs and maybe go out and buy some albums and pray that one day they make a 2XL t-shirt so that I can wear it and let everybody know, just what the fuck I am talking about.

Melt Banana plays Fun Fun Fun Fest at Waterloo Park Saturday Nov. 7th at 5:15 p.m. on the Black Stage. Then on Monday Nov. 9th at Walter's on Washington in Houston. And yeah, I plan to make that trek to Houston. I feel as though, I have to. I must. They are in my state. Also probably be the last time I get to go to Walter's before they close and Washington Ave is renamed Douche Bag Lane.

This is and has been their official website for ages. http://www1.parkcity.ne.jp/mltbanan - yes I agree, they need to step their net game up just a tad.

Anyhoo, this first video is the greatest song ever written.

Melt Banana - Shield for your eyes, A Beast in the Well On Your Hand



Follow along with the lyrics:

A shield for your eyes,
a beast in the well on your hand

Catch the man beast
In the well in the hell on the back
Watch out! You've got no shield
Break up! He's got no peace
Breath deep
in the shade in the fade of the luck
Watch out! You've got no light!
No pure cell can live

Shoot the first head
Shoot the first hand
Press the "Greed".
Get the pale shield for your eyes
Shoot the third eye
Shoot the third line
Press the "Blood".
Watch out for the beam
Shoot the first head
Shoot the last tail
Press the "Risk".
Get the hale shield for your eyes
I just need to hit to kick the dead eye
Press the next eye

I can get so...
Liquid eye, Sticky eye, Tricky eye
How to fake to steal?
Your heart's got cracked!

Get the new toy, it's falling in 50 parts
Break Up! You've got no paste
Throw out! It's biting your fate like a bait like a sweet dust
You've got no hand
and no pure cell can cross

Shoot the first head
Shoot the first hand
Press the "Greed".
Get the pale shield for your eyes
Shoot the third eye
Shoot the third line
Press the "Blood".
Watch out for the beam
Shoot the first head
Shoot the last tail
Press the "Risk".
Get the hale shield for your eyes
I just hate to say to pay the dead eye
Press the next light

I can get so...
Liquid eye, Sticky eye
Tricky eye, Flashy eye
How to fake?
How to make 50 times
more eyes to get cracked?
Your hearts got plastic

Catch the man beast
in the well on your hand on your left
Wake up! You've got no fist
Look up! No peace will be seen
in your hand in the shade of your mind
Watch out! You've got no right
Your pure cell can't spark

I can get so...
Liquid eye. Sticky eye.
Tricky eye
Where to fake?
Where to make?
One step more to get my shot

Melt Banana - Lost Parts Stinging Me So Cold



Melt Banana - Cat Brain Land


Melt Banana - Sick Zip Everywhere - OFFICIAL VIDEO!



This one tight too...

Melt Banana - Shoot The Moon



Green Eyed Devil - Melt Banana



Melt Banana - Blank Page of the Blind



Melt Banana - Phantasmagoria



Ok, that's enough. I am really not even trippinG.

CMJ Panel Reviews

Couple folks done wrote about the panel I was on at CMJ last week. Check it on down:

http://performermag.blogspot.com/2009/10/cmj-report-beats-and-rhymes-panel.h
tml

http://www.cmj.com/relay/?p=8392

And thanks to Fiona Bloom for sending and Amanda Macchia and Marisa Aveling for writing.

VIDEO: League of Extraordinary G'z live at Flamingo Cantina!

Via sonnyfromda02



D tha Sandman, Lowkey, SB the Bully, Reggie Coby, Lil J, S. Dot, Tuk, #FREEGREEZO

Like that? Tomorrow, Wednesday Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. Central Time, Check out the new video from Southbound, featuring Mr. Greezo of Da C.O.D. "That Ain't Right."

Visit www.ThatAintRightVideo.com

Tweet this all night and all day tomorrow:

@Lowkey512 Wrote:
BREAKING NEWS: Brand new SOUTHBOUND video directed by @LuxuryMindz will debut @ www.ThatAintRightVideo.com this Wed - 10/28 - 2pm

Please? Thank You.

CMJ Last Week! WOW!

Forgive me for being so slack on the blog as of late. My home computer has some sort of a virus that killed my Malwarebytes program and won't even let me open any websites that have to do with removing spyware and malware. I have my AVG running all the time and it still got me. No idea where it came from but yeah I am about to have to wipe the whole thing. And I am not the organized type that keeps Program discs around. UGH, yeah anyway that's not what you came here to read.

Last week I went up ta New York City for the 29th Annual CMJ Music Marathon and what a whirlwind week it was! SXSW hosted a party, I was on a panel, Invincible did 2 1/2 shows, I saw a lot of bands, drank a decent number of these:



And stayed with our good friends Josh and Liz

in Crown Heights. And yeah they took me to a Beer Garden in Brooklyn to start things off.

Anyway here's some pics and a slight run down.

Senor Kaos from Atlanta was the first artist I saw upon arrival in NY. This is my homey and I didn't even know he was on this show. Was real nice to see the man!


Homeboy Sandman joined him on stage.


As did Von Pea of Tanya Morgan


Homeboy Sandman, Senor Kaos, Von Pea




Cool thing about this show, was it was at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, which is a double venue. So while Invincible, Senor Kaos, DJ Spinna and more rocked in one room, a whole cadre of dope female MC's and DJ's were in the other room. I don't know everyone's names but what I saw was pretty dope.


Zarinah, from Philly, done killed it for real!


But I mean my highlight of course was seeing Invincible on stage with Waajeed of Platinum Pied Pipers, MAYNE HOLD UP! I couldn't ask for much more.


And they rocked the hell out of this show, as evidenced by this piece in the Village Voice Online.








Anyway yeah it was dope.


This woman - Kalae Guevara - and her band were off the chain.



Live painting and such...

So yeah it really went down.


Saw this en route to the next spot on a garage door!

Anyway, I shoulda taken more pics I know, I know. But this is a good one.

DJ CROP DIGGIE ON A ROOF!


And Puja



Wednesday night SXSW hosted a mixer of sorts for our industry friends and it was really nice. Great folks all around. We are also hosting mixers in Los Angeles on Tuesday Nov. 3rd and in Chicago on Tuesday Nov. 10th. I'd love to see you there. Holler at me if you wanna come thru!


Crystal Lee with my man Patrick and the band Francis from Sweden!






Hugh Forrest Director of SXSW Interactive!


Brent Grulke, Jill Bostur (right) and friends


Joshua Asen, director of I Love Hip-Hop In Morrocco, Luann Willams


My boy Leroy, Crystal Lee and friend.


Andy Flynn and Friend


Lynda Pyle with MC Frontalot and Euclides Pereyra


Tierney Stout




Puja, Friend, Melanie Turner



Then we hit up Peter Rosenberg's Noisemakers event with Talib Kweli and J. Period. Could we possibly see a special Noisemakers event at SXSW 2010?

Peter Rosenberg, Talib Kweli


This band played during the intermission, was killer.


And my man Daru Jones rocking the fresh N. Brown Clothing T-Shirt. (That I just so happened to be wearing as well that night!)

Then we headed over to another spot to see Bilal and Shafiq Husein. Shafiq's En Af Reka is my favorite album of the moment, I can't stop jamming it, butthis particular show, I don't know. Sound was really bad. Like I saw backing vocalists singing and did not hear a word they sang! Was way off, but I mean, whatever, the album is killer and I know they will get it together.


The women responsible for my favorite song and video of this year - Invincible and Tiombe Lockhart!

So nice to finally meet Tiombe! WHAT A VOICE!

THEN I was on a panel pertaining to International Hip-Hop thanks to Fiona Bloom! I hope to get the audio from this soon. Was really dope, lots of insights and such. Thanks Fiona and nice to meet you MC Melodee, Dalton Higgins and Magee McIlvaine!


I took this one so no I am not in it, yeah but it went down.

THEN! Hit up the Spectre/Foundation DJ Mixer at Von and man, yeah, saw all my good folks!


From all over the place.




DJ 11, Jessica Weber, Kunal Merchant. If you haven't heard Kunal's remix of Jay Z's American Gangster - HINDUSTANI GANGSTER - click here to DL now cuz it is amazing. Rattles the trunk and such. So dope!


Our panel manager Angela came with us to the party, seen here with my girl Quinn from Montreal/Brazil!


Me and DJ Crop Diggie used to live in Brooklyn together, this was in 1994. Spent more time with him this past week than we have in the past year. Real cool man!


Edan played mostly psych rock, which I didn't mind.


Me and JERN EYE!


Jessica, Me and my wife Melissa


Protege and friend




Then after that we went by the crib of the legendary DANTE ROSS. Y'all need to be familiar with this man. he had his hands on a lot of the best hip-hop from the 90's and beyond. Dude has worked with everyone and is a big man on the scene for real. He laced me with the new Bobitto Pro Keds even. And we had dinner at Lil Frankies, work to J Dirrt thats my SPOT!

Saturday was the DJ Hero event. Rain couldn't stop it man, shit was throwed.

J. Period killed it but I missed Z-Trip






Fab 5 Freddy in the spot!


As well as DJ Vlad


My man Paul Stewart with DJ Smiles Davis and Tamir Brown.


Then walked in the rain to see this band from Sweden, Francis, who were pretty killer. Look out for the m in 2010 for sure.




Then later that evening we went to my friend Astra's apartment and were joined by DJ ayres and his lovely wife Veronika and the wonderful baby NINA! So glad to finally meet you Nina.

Camera battery died at this point. Phone died way before that. So we sat in Astra's apt and listened to Funkmaster Flex on Hot 97. I have to say that it was the most disappointing radio show I have ever heard in my life. Here it was Saturday night in the Big Apple and the ONLY New York rapper, in fact only east coast rapper I heard on the radio was Jay Z. The rest was ALL Gucci Man, OJ da Juiceman, Lil Jon, Lil Wayne, I mean seriously, it was ALL Atlanta/SE raps. I don't mind any of those artists, but man, I was in New York, it was Saturday night, I was listening to Funkmaster Flex on Hot 97 and I heard nothing but this shit? Are you fuckin' kidding me? People kept telling me that NY fell off musically, and I never believed them...

And I still don't. New York is still a dynamic city, but like every other city in the world, they have allowed their radio waves to be destroyed by corporate fools who are only out to destroy us.

O.K. I'll stop before I spazz out and write something that I regret or that could put my career in jeopardy. Seriously, tho, I am extremely mad about this shit. I thought AT LEAST New York could hold itself down, but alas, no.

Rappers, think about that shit next time you complain about your local radio station not playing any local/independent artists. They don't even do that shit in New York and its a fucking travesty.