Hip Hop Is...

Hip Hop is Flavor Flav's clock. Kanye's shades. LL Cool J's bald head. Questlove's afro. Hip Hop is blasting M.O.P. after a fight with your girl because the beautiful music will calm the savage beast in you. Hip Hop is staying up all night, refreshing your internet browser and waiting for that next Lil' Wayne leak. Rolling up to St. Kilda Sea Baths in baggy jeans, stunna shades and baseball caps, because you and your crew also deserve a Corona at sunset.

Hip Hop is all about image. The popularity of clothing lines rising and falling throughout the years. My Adidas. Kangol. Dickies, Chuck Taylors, Raiders caps and Starter jackets. Cross Colours. FUBU, Ecko Unlimited and Enyce. Hip Hop is having your own personal style, as long as it fits in with current trends. Not wearing dress shoes to clubs. A white tee for every occasion.

Hip Hop is underground, mainstream and everything in-between. Old and new school. Old school rappers reinventing themselves - but don't call it a comeback. Brand Nubian. Melle Mel. Even Ultramagnetic MC's (but at least Jay-Z is aging gracefully). Hip Hop is older fans hating on younger fans, as if it's their fault that it's not like it used to be. Skilled emcees making more money ghostwriting for mainstream stars, or dumbing their lyrics down to appeal to a wider fanbase. Hop Hop is MC Ren training Eazy-E to spit the rhymes others wrote for him - and nobody caring.

Hip Hop is metaphores, similes, alliteration and adlibs. Somewhere along the way, Hip Hop became whispering your delivery and using auto-tune on your voice. Hip Hop is war. Beef and diss tracks. BDP vs. Juice Crew. Common vs. Ice Cube. LL Cool J vs. everybody - and Canibus studying his background, reading the book that he wrote, researching the footnotes about how he used to sniff coke.

Hip Hop is rappers and their own record labels, with a ratio that must be damn near 1:1 by now. MARKETING. Youtube. Myspace. Facebook. Blogs. Hip Hop is the internet.

Hip Hop is DJ's and break loops. Grand Wizard Theodore scratching. Doug E. Fresh beatboxing. Graffiti and breakdancing. Freestyling. Producing, mixing and mastering. Ebonics and slang. Classic cuts on vinyl. MP3 promos and iTunes bonus tracks. Hip Hop is sped-up (and slowed-down) soul samples. Jacking Impeach The President, Nautilus or More Bounce To The Ounce for the millionth time. Hip Hop is mixtapes, mix CD's and iPod playlists.

Hip Hop is remixes and posse cuts. The legend of the lost versions of Scenario. Masta Ace making it onto The Symphony by being in the right place at the right time. Busta Rhymes outshining everyone. Da Graveyard - Big L featuring Eazy-E, Big Punisher, Scott La Rock, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Jam Master Jay, Proof, Pimp C, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G. and many others.

Wild Style. Style Wars. Breakin. Beat Street. Boyz N The Hood.

Hip Hop is conscious. Alternative. Gangsta. Hyphy. Grime. Hardcore, horrorcore and nerdcore. Hip Hop is pushing back release dates. Sample clearance, with original versions of tracks leaking years later. Hip Hop is parental advisory stickers. Explicit lyrics. 40's and blunts. Sex, violence and drugs. Hip Hop is artists allowing their dignity to fly out the window. Hip Hop is the fans that buy it.

Hip Hop is politics. Reciting N.W.A. lyrics in the face of the law. Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo. Hip Hop is hate. Love. Knowledge. Hip Hop is power. Hip Hop is wanting to be somebody. Diamond rings and things. Hip Hop is not just music, it's the soundtrack to an uncertain future. Hip Hop is not just words, it's poetry. Freedom of speech. Hip Hop is change. Hip Hop is opportunity. Hip Hop runs the free world.

Hip Hop is... Obama.

DJ Grain Ear to the Streets Weekly Hip Hop News Wrap Up - January 17th 2009

This week was another wild and crazy week in the world of Hip Hop. 2009 has been great thus far - I just hope it continues to be great. Here are some of the happenings this past week:

The auction of Death Row Records has now concluded. It was auctioned off for $18 million, $7 million lower than the previously highest bid. The Canadian based company called Wide Awake Holdings now owns the master recordings from Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and other Death Row members, as well as various memorabilia from the label.

Slim Thug has now signed with Koch Records, officially ending his deal with Geffen/Star Trak.

Lil Wayne was on ESPN earlier this week with Skip Bayless. Suprisingly, he did very well and he had a thorough knowledge of college football. I'll admit I was impressed. Shouts to Wayne.

Barack Obama, the first African American President of the USA, will be officially taking office on Jan. 20th. Over 2 million folks are going to be in DC for the inauguration and conformation of his election as the 44th President of the United States of America.

T.I. is coming out with a new docu-series called the Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go. The show will focus on T.I. showing teenagers across the country the mistakes he has made and the lessons he learned from making those mistakes.

Next week I have some sad news about J-Dilla's estate and rumors about DJ Drama having some problems at the premiere of Notorious in the ATL.

Y'all be safe and take care.

Grain.

Tunage on YouTube for You...

Apologies for the retarded photo. Photoshop is out of action currently, couldn't whip up a Movement Fam YouTube themed goodie.

Anyway, after a week or so of grinding to work out iMovie's intricacies, I finally managed to upload every song from all four Movement Fam mixtape releases onto The Movement Fam YouTube channel.

So for those who always wanted to just hear the tunes and couldn't be fucked downloading the mixtapes (though you really should, it'll change your life), or you're trying to show one of your homies the dope music coming out of The Fam, then we've just made life a lot easier. For you. Coz we love you all.

Deathrow Records gets auctioned off???!!

Ayo, I found this interesting.....
The powerhouse label has been auctioned off today for a total of $18 million to the reported winner, Wide Awake Holdings. The Canadian based music group will now be in ownership of unreleased and master recordings of records by Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and the rest of the Death Row roster. The winning bid of $18 million (whoa!) was a large step down from reported $25 million bid from Warner Music Group back in late February of 2008.

Wide Awake Holdings has yet to make a statement about the newly inquired Death Row estate. Stay tuned for more on this matter ladies & gents.
It shouldn't take them long to recoup don't ya reckon!

The Movement Fam @ Blue Tile Lounge - Sat 10th Jan 2009

So on Saturday just gone, The Movement Fam finally had our first official gig as a crew, and the first gig of 2009. Boom. Although it was billed as a Cee & Bekah gig, the whole crew was in effect for the whole show, which was dope for the stage dynamics.

Big shouts to Cam at Blue Tile Lounge for reaching out and putting us on. We took the early time slot as we haven't rocked a gig since The Evelyn gig back in May 2008 (peep The Movement Fam YouTube page for the video).

The gig went real well though. Shouts to everyone who rolled through, we had a decent little crowd for the 9pm slot. The whole thing was filmed so we'll work out a way to get the highlights on YouTube shortly. Stay tuned for more shows in 2009...

50 Cent - Play This On The Radio

50 Cent is coming back, I have heard a few cuts off the new album and man he is rappin' with the same energy he had on the first cd. This track is crazy he lets some folks know what really is on his mind....look out for more ish after the jump.

DJ Grain Ear to the Streets Weekly Hip Hop News Wrap Up - January 10th 2009

Man I am truly glad to be back on it again....it's a new year and time to improve from the year before.

Wrap up of this weeks news:

Lil' Wayne is in the process of making an album that is going to be completely rock. He is doing this project to throw folks off like Kanye did with the '808's and Heartbreak' album.

Rumors have been flying that Jermaine Dupri has been relived of his duties as President of Island Records Urban Music, a division of Def Jam. All of the projects he was in charge of flopped, including Janet Jackson's latest album.

Comedian Katt Williams just signed a deal with Warner Brother to distribute the audio from the super funny DVD 'It's Pimpin' Pimpin''.

Travis of the Gym Class Heroes just got signed by T-Pain's label Nappy Boy.

Albums looking forward to in 2009:
Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati
Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot
Mickey Factz
Outkast

Peace,
DJ Grain.

Fitzroy, Victoria - 10/01/09 - Blue Tile Lounge

Producer Spotlight - Danny Diggs (Ireland)

It is truly amazing that Hip Hop has hit every continent and folks are producing good music. The Irishman Danny Diggs: producer, beatmaker, and maestro of sound has taken some time out of his busy schedule working for a brief insight into his world. I hope you all enjoy.

DJ Grain: Being from Ireland, what was the first Hip Hop music you heard?

Danny Diggs: It was an NWA - Straight Outta Compton casstete tape that I got as a present, back when NWA were no longer a group and cassettes were the last thing a young teenager wanted. It took me a long time before I found out there were actually Irish Hip Hop acts, but the first time I heard the Irish stuff, it blew my mind.

DJ Grain: When did you start making beats?

Danny Diggs: I started messing about rapping, then quickly moved onto making beats at about age 14 or 15.

DJ Grain: What artists have you worked with?

Danny Diggs: A bunch of different artists. I did my first album work on Canadian rapper Mello Black's debut album "At the Speed of Motion", I did 3 tracks on that. I just did a track ('Reflections') on the Killah Priest & Cheif Kamachi - Beatiful Minds LP.

Right now I'm working with an ATL based emcee named Jermiside on what will be my first album, I'm really looking forward to people hearing this. I think its going to be a solid record. On this side of the ocean, I'm doing a lot of work with rapper/singer/producer Maverick Sabre, he probably DJ's too. I'm doing a few tracks for his first official mixtape coming in the new year, and I've done random tracks with Shad K, Akrobatik, Nucentz, DJ Mayhem and others.

DJ Grain: What was the first song your produced?

Danny Diggs: Ah I don't know, probably some shite i was rapping over myself, but the first song that people are actually going to hear, I would be the Mello Black stuff.

DJ Grain: Thus far in your career, who has been your favorite artist to work with?

Danny Diggs: Bit early for this kind of talk. So far its a toss up between Jermiside and Maverick Sabre, I think both of them are great, both have crazy focus!

DJ Grain: What instruments or equipment do you use to make beats?

Danny Diggs: My set up is PC based. I run Ableton and Acid Pro (I've tried 'em all and these are the ones that suit me) controlled by a bunch of MIDI controllers (Korg pad Kontrol, Novation Le keyboard, Mackie controller), Krk monitors,bass guitar, some old Gemini turntables and lots of records.

DJ Grain: What project(s) are you currently working on?

Danny Diggs: Jermside/Danny Diggs album, and the Maverick Sabre Mixtape. I think I'm gonna put out a little MySpace EP type download with various rappers over my beats.

DJ Grain: Could you describe the Hip Hop scene in Ireland?

Danny Diggs: I would say it's good. Living on the West Coast, I'm a ways away from the Irish Hip Hop "scene" that centers around Dublin, but we have got some really good acts like Rob Kelly, Maverick Sabre, MJEX, Nucentz and Rawsoul, Scary Eire, Flithy Rich, DJ Flip, Scooby...there's too many to name. We have talent out the ying yang, hit MySpace, do a search and see we are about to invade.

DJ Grain: Who are some of your favorite producers?

Danny Diggs: Pete Rock is the man, Primo, J-Dilla, Black Milk, Ohmega watts, RJD2, and 9th Wonder just to name a few that I really like.

DJ Grain: Do you have any words of wisdom for young producers?

Danny Diggs: Ha, I'm too young to give words of wisdom, but for anybody starting out, do your own thing - don't go onto a fucking website forum and listen to a bunch of talentless cunts talk about how to make good Hip Hop. If you enjoy what you're making then it's good Hip Hop. Such and such software or a particular piece of gear isn't going to make you better, make do with what you have and learn.

Check out Danny Diggs at the following sites:
Danny Diggs on MySpace
Danny Diggs on YouTube

Classic Bun B - You're Everything ft. David Banner, Rick Ross, 8 Ball & MJG (R.I.P. Pimp C)

More free music: Ill Poetic - Souled Out (feat Reef & Eternia)

Feeling giving today...so here's some more free music for y'all, once again, courtesy of the good folks in blog world who love to share this sorta shit. Props.

This joint is solid as hell. Straight up, quality underground Hip Hop from Ill Poetic, Reef The Lost Cauze and E, who all took time out from their recent tours to bang this cut out. Plus Eternia, who sets the track off right, is a close friend of Bekah and myself so anything with her name attached grabs our attention. Dope, dope shit.

Ill Poetic - Souled Out (feat Reef The Lost Cauze & Eternia)

New Eminem; New Fiddy

Aight, two of the most anticipated albums this year (as noted yesterday by Notion) are those by Eminem and 50 Cent. So, thanks to the good folks in blog world, we have links to a new track from each album, so y'all can decide for yourself whether it's finna be hot or a pile of shit.

Eminem feat. Dr. Dre and 50 Cent - Crack A Bottle

50 Cent - I Get It In (produced by Dr. Dre)

Personally, I think both tracks are pretty decent. The Em track grew on me after a number of listens...the 50 one is just straight up, classic 50. I've read that folks felt he is as hungry as he was in his debut here, but I dunno about that...hit a comment with your thoughts, folks...

Oh, and for those interested, here's the tracklisting for 50's new joint, Before I Self Destruct!:

Before I Self Destruct

01. Intro
02. Came To Win (Produced by Red Spyda)
03. Get Up (Produced by Scott Storch)
04. Need Your Hate (Produced by Dr. Dre)
05. Here For A Reason (feat. Nate Dogg) (Produced by Tha Bizness)
06. Good To Be A Gangsta (Produced by Ty Fyffe & Sha Money XL)
07. Don’t Mess With 50 (Produced by Don Cannon)
08. Trust In Me (Produced by J.R. Rotem)
09. Norman Bates Motel (feat. Eminem) (Produced by Dr. Dre)
10. Bitch I’m Sorry (Produced by Needlz)
11. All For You (Produced by Hi-Tek)
12. No Time To Lose (feat. Swizz Beatz) (Produced by The Individuals)
13. Lonely At The Top (Produced by Play-N-Skillz)
14. You Need Us (feat. Lloyd Banks & Tony Yayo) (Produced by DJ Khalil)
15. Different Path (feat. Dave Young) (Produced by Havoc)
16. I Get It In (Produced by Dr.Dre)
17. Somebody Forgive Me (Produced by Jake One)
18. My Reign (Produced by Eminem)
19. Ready For War (feat. Dr.Dre) (Produced by Dr. Dre)

Remot in K-Os Remix Competition

The homie Remot has entered yet another dope remix in the K-Os remix competition. Head to the page and vote for the dude!! He's definitely gonna be one to watch out for, folks...

Inverse - So True EP

The homies Inverse (Tunji and Toby), some of the dopest up and coming cats outta Cali, have finally dropped their debut EP, So True.

And the boys have even put the whole EP up for free download (click the front cover image to download, click the back cover image to head to 2DopeBoyz). Very generous, fellas.

Straight up, this EP is ridiculous. Quality, soulful, real Hip Hop. We were lucky enough to hang with Tunji in LA late last year, and dude was one of the nicest folks we'd met in the industry thus far. We'd never even heard their music before we met - the homie DJ Hyphen put us in touch, so we're really looking forward to getting Tunji on some Movement Fam projects in the very near future. Don't sleep.

Joints You're Gonna Look Forward To In '09......

Yo, I dont know about you guys... but this year I smell a 'lil sumn' sumn' in the air... don't you??? It has to be time for some crazy dope classic ish to come out right?? There's a certain musk, scent of dopeness in the air... a change perhaps... ya dig?

Well!! The Year 2009 has in stall a great feast of things to anticipate... After having a snoop around, I found a few things that are coming soon, and they go a 'lil somethin'..... like this!

Jay-Z offers new installment in series with Blueprint III, lookin like a double team with Kanye, pause! If Blueprint 2 is anything to go by.... saddle up yo! I cant wait! Hopefully there's no F'n auto tune in this!

Dr. Dre and his forever coming Detox. HAH! Apparently, the legend himself has said that his album will be released after Eminem and Fiddy have released thier albums. Hmmm... aiight. Believe it when I see it lol. I like ya headphones tho' Dre... hah

In other legend news, Mos Def is looking to release "The Ecstatic" due approx. February, and personally, I cant wait for that! Rhymefest is dropping a joint named "El Che", Jadakiss "The Last Kiss", 50 Cent "Before I Self Destruct", hah! There's Chamillionaire's "Venom" album to peep, Evidence and Alchemist: "Step Brothers"! What can i say... Hangin!

Wale's Debut Album is on its way! Keep ya eye on this kid!

The latest edition to the Mathers collection, Eminem is finna drop, "Relapse" due American time Spring 2009. Should be interesting, word is, he's been back in the lab workin' hard on good solid tunes, so hopefully good ol' Slim Shady can rock our socks once again. Heaps keen.

Rapper Rakim is working on his new album with protégé Avion called 'The Seventh Seal'. One for the old-school heads. Respect.

And finally, the shock of the year so far, Bow Wow states he may leave the Hip Hop game in 2009.....OH MY GOD, I'm SO upset... ANYWAY. Apart from that, it seems a good forecast at the next quarter of the year's releases. Google that ish for more details on where to cop, and click the images to hit the artists MySpace pages and enjoy!

Stay real,
Notion.

Japanese Cartoon

Alright, so get this. Lupe Fiasco's new side project is called Japanese Cartoon, and it's an indie rock group where he sings in a British accent. Oooookay.

Surprisingly, it's dope as shit. Well, weird but funny as hell. Entertaining, perhaps.

Click the image or the link to check out an article on the band - where Lupe claims not to be part of the actual band, rather a financier - and downloads for two songs, Heirplanes and Army.

I hope he performs this stuff in his show in Melbourne later this month...

DJ Grain Ear to the Streets Weekly Hip Hop News Wrap Up - Dec 27th 2008

What up, folks?

Here is my last 'Ear To The Streets' report for 2008 on The Edutainment Hip Hop show.

2008 was a great year and there were many ups and downs. I was able to link up with folks around the world through this music stuff. In 2009, expect many projects from The Movement Fam and several mixtapes from DJ Grain. The artists to look out for in 2009 are Drake, Mickey Factz, Che Grand, Tanya Morgan, and many, many others. This should be an interesting year. I hope everyone had a great new year and are geared up for an even greater 2009.

Peace,

DJ Grain.

PS. I jacked the dope image from Aggregate Dope's blog. Check him out. Oh and I'm taking a break for the first show back on January 3rd, but I'll be in effect the following week, folks.

Check out the audio from my report on Dec 27th 2008:

Also, Cee dropped in for a quick chat with BT, so check the audio for that too:

MIDIMarc...dope beats and shit

If I haven't said it already, Happy New Year, blog world. I can't wait for this year to kick off...a lot of exciting shit is on the cards and I just wanna see how it pans out. Hope y'all have a great year planned, too.

Anyways, I thought I'd spread the word about our homie outta South Carolina, producer extraordinaire MIDIMarc.

When we were in New York with his manager, J. Master, dude played us some of Marc's beats and we were mad impressed. And now that Marc has submitted a gang of remixes for our remix contest on Kevin Nottingham's blog (which, by the way, is technically closed but we're still taking remixes - so producers, click the link and get submitting!), we're mad excited about working with Marc more for our upcoming projects this year.

Head over to his blog, Diary of a Mad Black Beatmaker, and check out some of his work.

Notion - Don't Rush Me leak!

That's right, folks, here is the first official leak from Notion's upcoming mixtape, 'On The Corner of Notion & 9th', a project centered on Notion's raps over 9th Wonder's beats.

The homeboy Kevin Nottingham has leaked the track on his blog already, so click on the image of Notion and go get your download on!

There will be a new leak from this mixtape on the 1st of every month until the project drops, so stay tuned...

Sports Fans! NBA Widgets on MovementFam.com!

Sup yall!!

This one's for all those NBA fans out there, now instead of waiting for all of that junk to load on nba.com you will be able to keep in touch with the scores here with this Widget much quicker! Its dope. Yes, i know you agree. :)

AND also this Video Highlights Widget! Because if you see the scores... dont you wanna see how they did it?? Yup. Exactly.

Enjoy!
Notion.