Skyzoo and Illmind

Though many of us often have conversations about Hip hop’s current course, this is a great example of the wheels staying ON the wagon.

We mentioned this song earlier in the month and now Skyzoo and !llmind along with the Duck Down crew bring us the video to the aforementioned song, Frisbees.

C’mon the kid with the portable cassette player? That’s GOLD!

Behind-the-scenes footage after the jump:

Their last show drew over 400 people, and I’m interested to see if Vonnegut, who are featured on Big Boi’s Sir Lucious Leftfoot, can draw an even bigger crowd. The Stargazing tour does face some stiff competition though, with a free B.o.B show at Center Stage & the ONEMusicfest (with headliners Common & De La Soul) at the King Plow Arts Center. But if you don’t feel like dealing with the Myspace crowd at B.o.B and the $40 ticket to the ONEMusicfest is out of your price range, the Atlanta Stargazing Tour at Star Bar in Little 5 is without a doubt the place to be on Saturday night.

What: The Atlanta Stargazing Tour ft. Vonnegut, Aleon Craft, & Grip Plyaz
When: Saturday, July 31st @ 9 p.m.
Where: Star Bar- Little 5
Cost: $5 before 11 p.m.

E Reece - Concrete Steppin

To celebrate the official album release of Concrete Steppin, E Reece shares a third leak with the track “Don’t Front” featuring fellow L.A. emcees El Prez and Tunji. This track, as well as the singles “Fly Hi” and “The Game” (produced by Oddisee), are just a sliver of great music that can be heard on Concrete Steppin, which is available now on iTunes and Amazon.

Download Don’t Front here

Also, Tune into Cypher Lounge Radio tomorrow night at 7pm PT / 10pm ET on Blog Talk Radio to hear E Reece talk about the album in more detail.

I checked out a DJ Dmadness mixtape today called The Cee-Lo Green Mix at The Smoking Section. As you might imagine it’s pretty dope. It’s a pretty extensive mix of everything from Goodie Mob / Dungeon Family, to his solo work, to Gnarls Barkley with some rare tracks and b-sides, some of which I’ve never heard before. Most certainly worth a listen, see below for the link.

Download: DJ Dmadness Presents The Cee-Lo Green Mix

DJ Premier and Big Shug

The latest from Gang Starr Foundation member Big Shug, Spit Six showcases DJ Premier’s 6 booms and 6 baps while Shug rhymes on like, 6 different mics. Listen.

Big Shug – Spit Six (Prod. by DJ Premier)

Black Spade (a.k.a. Stoney Rock) along with Union LA and Trackstar brings you the refreshing new mixtape entitled “Build & Destroy.” He handles most of the production duties and features friends and frequent collaborators like Coultrain, Simeon (The Primeridian), Vic Spencer (Brainiac Society), ADaD, Rockwell Knuckles, Corey Black, Vic Mensah, Rita J, J Davey, Wafeek and others… Enjoy the download!

See.Francis

Riding hard (no pun) over the beat du jour, See.Francis puts his stamp on Waka Flocka’s Hard In da Paint.

Hard In Da Paint (Freestyle) by See.Francis

See.Francis Twitter

See.Francis Fanpage

Tomorrow, Yesterday

Straight from HiPNOTT Records Southern Cali Hip-Hop duo Tomorrow, Yesterday bring us their J. Bizness-produced EP as a warm-up to the album, To…, From… set to drop August 24, 2010.

Download the EP here

This one is free until 10:00pm, but we’re giving away two pairs of tickets anyways, so you can feel free to get there late. To win, leave a comment with the name of and a link to your favorite Floyd the Locsmif beat.

Stay Productive 2: a non competetive hip hop producer showcase

featuring composition, collaboration, and showcases.
Starring Clan Destined, Illastrate, Floyd the Locsmif, DJ Pocket,
Baka, Conspiracy, Que Rico, Ethereal, Introspective Minds, and Silo
9pm July 30 at 529

Big K.R.I.T. celebrated his Def Jam signing with Atlanta’s Hollyweerd and New Orleans Nesby Phips. Watch Maurice Garland’s after show interview with the king remembered in time. Hopefully he’ll be back in October to kill it again: A3C style.

As mentioned here before, A3C alumni !llmind and Skyzoo are in the lab putting together a collab called Live from The Tape Deck. Frisbees is the first taste off of said project.

Skyzoo & ILLMIND “Frisbees” by duckdown

Spotted at NahRight

This is pretty much an A3C alumni show: Diamond D, Collective Efforts, Dillon, Stanza, Senor Kaos. We’re going to give away two pairs of tickets. To win, leave a comment naming at least one song by every artist playing this show (Artist Name – Song).

Show Details:

Diamond D and Collective Efforts
w/ The5ive, Senor Kaos, Dillon, and Stanza
Hosted by Fort Knox w/ DJ Gee Supreme
9pm July 23 at Apache Cafe

Art Beats & Lyrics is an exhibition that showcases art, multimedia and design from a variety of upcoming visual artists. The next event in ATL is coming up on Friday, July 30th @ the Compound. The event will feature photography, paintings, graffiti, live music and b-boys. The event is being put on by Gentleman Jack.

We would normally give away tickets to this sort of thing, but the event is free, just register at gentlemanjackabl.com

Shine by Pharoahe Monch Feat. Mela Machinko (prod. by Diamond D)

From his upcoming album W.A.R. (We Are Renegades), Pharoahe Monch gives us a taste with the Diamond D produced cut, Shine.

W.A.R. willl be available this fall.

Pharoahe Monch “Shine” feat. Mela Machinko (prod. by Diamond D) by duckdown

“i Heart” Black Spade from Drew Jordan on Vimeo.

MC, singer, and producer Black Spade aka Stoney Rock prefaces his upcoming Build & Destroy mixtape with a video for the song “I Heart” (shot by Flying Fish and Ryan).  Alongside fellow MC’s Simeon of The Primeridian & Vic Spencer of the Brainiac Society, the song, which samples the Beatles’ “All My Love” song, and video are CLASSIC!

Any producer who has been to the A3C in the past two years should be familiar with iStandard. They’ve put on outstanding showcases for us in both 2008 and 2009. Next week, they will be doing another, 2-day, ATL performance at Vinyl. Details are below:

The iStandard 2 Day ‘ATLANTA STYLE’ Producer Showcase
Wednesday July 14th and Thursday July 15th
@ Vinyl ( 1374 West Peachtree Street Atlanta, GA 30309 )
Both Nights the Doors open @ 800pm, Show @ 830pm, Networking After
21 and Over w/ ID is a Must, Dress is Casual and Neat
$20 for Both Night, $15 for one (Purchase at door)

The iStandard Producer Showcase is the longest running, most successful producer event in the world. Starting in NYC 5 years ago,iStandard is now in 8 major markets such as Miami, Philly, San Francisco, LA, ATL, Chicago and several NEW cities on the schedule for 2010.

During the show, producers play 5 beats each and get critiqued by a panel of industry execs, platinum producers and tastemakers in efforts to educate them on their presentational skills and overall approach to making music. The producers are then given verbal feedback from our judges and at the end of the show a winner is announced and a prize package consisting of production software, interviews and additional exposure oriented perks is awarded.

Producers, through iStandard showcase, have placed records with 50 Cent, The Clipse, KRS One and Buckshot as well as Jill Scott and The Viacom Network (MTV).

The Judges for this 2 Day ‘Atlanta Style’ event are:

Don Cannon- Multi Platinum Producer for Lil Wayne, TI, Young Jeezy and more
Needlz- Multi Platinum Producer for Young Buck, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Lloyd Banks and more
Kevin Shine- A&R Consultant for JIVE Records
Nick Fury- Multi Platinum Producer for Lil KIm , Lil Flip and many more
Drumma Boy- Multi Platinum Producer for Jeezy, TI, Kanye West and many more
Nate Walka- Platinum Songwriter for Trey Songz ‘Say Aah’ and more
Dallas Martin- A&R Consultant for Juelz Santana, Mariah Carey and more
Royal Flush – Multi platinum producer for Big Boi, Outkast and many more
and The Legendary Stevie J- Multi Platinum Producer for BIG, Mase, Faith Evans

iStandard will also have a special Hip Hop beatmaking workshop w/ Ableton on July 14th F/ Huston Singletary and will be doing a candid, live ‘Behind The Rhymes’ Interview w/ Drumma Boy before our show at 930pm on July 15th so get there early both nights.

Featured Artists Include- Tez, Al Gator, Embassy, Nev G, Double D and Archie Eversole

To submit to be considered for this PRODUCER showcase, click link and choose ‘ATLANTA”
http://www.istandardproducers.com/index.php?t=show_submit

For more information log onto www.iStandardProducers.com

This is going to be an incredible show and I’m happy to say that we’re giving away two free tickets.

Here’s the deal: In order to win, please leave a comment with your favorite video from any or all of the artists performing. Extra points for creativity: Remixes, videos featuring multiple artists, etc.

More Details on the Event:

Saturday July 31st, 2010 – Atlanta – King Plow Arts Center – 887 W.Marietta St.

ONE Musicfest “Unity Through Music”

Featuring Common with full band — De La Soul — Goapele — Mick Boogie and over 20 additional acts and djs

Expect to see and hear: music on 2 stages (Rock, Hip-Hop, Funk & Alternative), over 20 djs, over 10 live music acts (more are being added everyday), festival games, food, fun, libations, give aways and over 5,000 of Atlanta’s progressive music lovers.

On Saturday, July 31st, 2010…. We will all celebrate life and good music as ONE.

Music Starts at 2pm!!!

LIMITED TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION ARE AVAILABLE HERE:

http://www.onemusicfest.com/

Cee-Lo Green

That boy Cee-lo gives up his first video off of his upcoming album, Cee-Lo Green is the Lady Killer. The song is a cover from Band Of Horses called ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’.

Video spoiler: does contain some nudity.

Also, if you want to stay up on the latest offerings and get a free Cee-Lo download, click here.

E Reece

Here is the lead single from E Reece’s upcoming album on HiPNOTT Records, Concrete Steppin — “Fly Hi”. Concrete Steppin will be available via all online retailers July 27th. To get up to speed with E Reece, download The RE: Introduction Mixtape which dropped last week. Look for the video for “Fly Hi”  to drop soon!

To download Fly Hi, click here.

The musical talent is Atlanta, Ga supersedes what the majority think and super duo SMKA have been known to boast that. Because Atlanta is a transplant city, meaning folk transfer here and plant their asses in the A, the music scene whether major or minor includes elements from DC’s gogo to Lousiana jazz. With that said, the kickoff to the Atlanta Stargazing Tour on Saturday at Eastside Lounge is right now what mall tours were in the early 90’s for popstars like Tiffany and boybands like Menudo. This music series is showcasing and introducing the city to the known and unknown of our music scene with artists hailing from all three coasts, essentially representing everything A3C.

Check below for pictures of the first show featuring Niko Villamor, Richelle L. Brown, FKI, and headliner Aleon Craft.

Niko Villamor

Niko, Grip, 080

The jumpsuit was the show!

Sing Richelle sing!

The brothers of FKI

The sounds of Alien Warr

Mr. Stargazing himself, Aleon Craft

Alexandria Lushington

Aleon closes the show

Next stop on the Summer Music Series in the city: July 17th, at Midtown Tavern

According to the people at SMKA, “The Atlanta Stargazing Tour is a summer event series that will showcase some of Atlanta’s brightest, most promising talent in an array of genres.” The series consists of a show roughly every 2 weeks at different venues around Atlanta for a total of 6 shows. The first event will go down at The East Side Lounge, followed by shows at Midtown Tavern, Star Bar, The Glenn Hotel, Park Tavern, and finally the historic Clermont Lounge.

Specific artists for each show aren’t announced until closer to the night of, but the list of artist that are currently scheduled to perform include Nappy Roots, Grip Plyaz, Spree Wilson, Vonnegutt, Playboy Tre, Sean Falyon and Stanza.

The Re: Introduction Mixtape

In preparation for the July 27th release of Concrete Steppin, Hip Nott Records’ E Reece would like to reintroduce you to his previous work in the form of, The Re: Introduction Mixtape.

Concrete Steppin is the upcoming album from L.A.-based, Maryland-raised emcee E Reece. At a time where when there seems to be a lot of glitz, glamour, and negativity in hip hop, Concrete Steppin reaches out to us with a positive, organic vibe to feed your mind, body and soul.

“Once they’ve heard my music or seen my live show, I want people to believe in the power of positive music and to know that real hip hop isn’t dead.” — E Reece

The Re: Introduction Mixtape Credits

Click here for the mixtape.

I want to take a moment to show love to the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, which is coming up next week in (where else) Brooklyn, NY. As a former BK resident and a multiple year festival attendee, I can honestly say that this is one of the greatest music events that I’ve ever attended.

A must for any music fans within a 100 mile radius of New York and a strong maybe for anyone else regardless of where you’re at.

The lineup this year is outstanding: De La Soul, Smif-N-Wessun, Black Moon, Bobbito, Spinna, Rakaa Iriscience, Babu and lots of A3C alumni, including: Buckshot, Evil D, Curren$y, Skyzoo, Black Milk, Diamond District and Those Chosen.

Tickets this year range from $5 – $60 depending on what package you get. Even at $60, the BK Hip Hop Fest is well worth it seeing as you get a full week’s worth of shows. Find out more at their official website, or buy tickets directly here.

If you’re able to make it out the

Spectac & Amiri's album - Almost Famous

For the third official single from Spectac & Amiri’s album Almost Famous, the duo releases the Rick Foy-directed video for “Mass Effect”. Paying homage to hip-hop’s past, this video is sure to take you back to that golden age when hip-hop was pure and absolute. The album, Almost Famous (which also includes the singles “As If” and “My God”) is available now on iTunes.