Common Sense. New Album Coming December!

I. Can't. Wait.

White Girls Rapping.

It's 12:15am and I should be taking going to bed so I am fresh and ready to work my 9-to-5 tomorrow morning, but I can't. I'm trapped watching an endless stream of YouTube videos of new age, white girls rapping. Say what?!?!

It's cool hip-hop continues to bring more people into the culture and all. I'm not going to lie, this is still kind of weird and new to me. However, I can't lie, these ladies are pretty talented. Listening to their flow they would give some of the reigning female hip-hop/pop stars a run for their one million (+) iTunes sales. For real! Look past the crazy schtick or what ever they're saying they represent and listen their flow. SOLID!

Check out the following videos...

IGGY AZALEA

 

KREAYSHAWN

 

GIRL RAPPER

 

Justin Bieber Rapping (NOT Freestylin')

New video of Bieber rapping over Kanye West and Jay-Z's "OTIS" from Watch the Throne. He actually sounds pretty good and he flow is on point. I hate saying that.

Oh, he's not freestyling. Check it.

ERUPT - Art Of Beat Making

DJ Self Marketing Tips from DJ Techtools

It doesn't matter how good you are if nobody knows about you. DJ Techtools has recently post a short article on making a name for yourself.

It's a good read - check it out here.

RE:GENERATION THE DOCUMENTARY

Re:Generation is a documentary that follows five of the world's biggest DJs - Skrillex, Mark Ronson, Pretty Lights, DJ Premier, and The Crystal Method - as they set out to put a different spin on the history of music.

Visit www.regenerationmusicproject.com and the YouTube channel to learn more.

Classic/rare Mary J Blige Tune

Round and Round (Remix) - Mary J Blige Feat. Big Pun by sound_bwoy

Kanye West Samples

I'm Back...

Alright, I'm back and ready to start posting more music, art, etc.

I haven't made a beat in a long time... here's something that I posted on my soundcloud a while ago. Still need a lot of work before I can say I'm proud of what I'm creating. You have to start somewhere and work your way up, right?

Anyone stumbling across this let me know what you think. 

Strange on Shore by sound_bwoy

The vacation is almost over...

It has been a while since I have made any posts to the blog. The blazin' summer weather and busy schedule has kept me away from this blog.

Expect to see new posts soon.

Thanks for reading.

Peace!

Beat Boxing by Eklips

Mix Tape Shirt

Simple shirt design. I used to sit in my room every day with my Casio cassette stereo, wait for my favourite tunes to come on and record them. That's how I made my mix tapes. Simple, just like this T.

Second Beat - "ViCTiMS"

Available on www.soundcloud.com




Victims by sound_bwoy

DJ Mitsu the Beats "Promise In Love feat. José James"

Who taught you how to sample? Yeezy taught me how to sample.

Original: Curtis Mayfield - The Makings of You (1970)








Kanye West took Curtis Mayfield's classic, chopped it, threw Charlie Wilson and Hova on the track and made a bomb.

A lot of musicians don't agree with the practice of sampling music to make music. I would argue the music you made (or make) gets additional exposure when your music is sampled. Tell me, how would a 15 year old kid living in suburbia stumble across this 1970's piece of soulful brilliance?  Multiply that kid by millions. I know everyone isn't going to look-up the song was sampled to create a track; however a lot of people will.

It's a big debate and the anti-sample movement does have some valid arguments (which I'll share in later posts). At the end of the day, how can you listen to this track by Kanye and say it's not a solid track?

Ladies and gentlemen - Kanye West featuring Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Charlie Wilson and production by Pete Rock (2010).

Osama bin Laden is Dead.

(CNN) -- The mastermind of the worst terrorist attack on American soil is dead, U.S. President Barack Obama announced late Sunday night, almost 10 years after the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.
Osama bin Laden -- the longtime leader of al Qaeda -- was killed by U.S. forces in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad along with other family members, a senior U.S. official told CNN.
In an address to the nation late Sunday night, Obama called bin Laden's death "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda."

"The Beginning" - First complete beat ever

My first completed beat called "The Beginning." This song was sampled from the Isley Bros song called "For the love in you."

I'm not satisfied with the final product, but the only way to go is up from here.

Open to feedback that I can use to improve my skills (or lack of).










The Beginning by sound_bwoy

SOUL MUSIC - Willie Hutch

If you were born in the 70's, there's a good chance this was rockin' when your parents...

Some more MPC goodness - Abstrakt Ideas

Thought I would share another great beat tape that I found on Bandcamp. Nodding my head on beat  as I work until the early morning hours on projects.

Looking for chill beats and samples. Ladies and gentlemen check out Abstrakt Idea - Beats, Blunts & Burgers Vol. 1.

Abstrakt Idea - Beats, Blunts & Burgers Vol. 1

Where is this bar? Crazy Video.

Tell me where this is.

Jay-Z & Gwyneth - Blog Collabo

Life + Times - J interviews G - http://lifeandtimes.com/straight-outta-compton

GOOP - G interviews J - http://goop.com/newsletter/125/en/

Tuskegee Airmen

Tuskegee Airmen: 'Rock Stars' Of American History

by KAREN GRIGSBY BATES

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/11/135177510/tuskegee-airmen-rock-stars-of-american-history?sc=fb&cc=fp

New Lifestyle Website by Jay-Z

Jay-Z has created a new lifestyle website called LIFE+TIMES.

In search of GOOD music? Check out www.bandcamp.com

I'm always in search of good music. What is good music you ask? Not sure what it means to you. To me, there's no formula that makes a song or artist grab my attention. I just know what I like when it hits my ear.

I can tell what I don't like and that is about 90 percent of the music that is played over and over until I sometimes think about ejecting myself from my car into oncoming traffic.

Enter Bandcamp

This site is packed with independent, unsigned geniuses hiding safely away from the wack, soul-draining Pop radio stations. I don't hate Pop, I just can't stand how stations play songs over and over again. If Rihanna's "S&M" song were a human it would be a beaten, cracked-out, violated, shell-of-a-man laying on an abandon street.

Type in whatever you are thinking... Go ahead -> "hip-hop", "Reggae", "Rock", "DubStep", etc. Whatever you type results in an endless list of shit-you've-never-heard-before wicked music. HEAVEN!

I typed in "MPC beats"... I randomly picked an artist by the name Admin PaYne. Next thing I know I was banging my head to his beat tape titled "20 Beats in 20 Days!"

Check out www.bandcamp.com - it's beautiful.

BIG TUNE! Petty P - I Luv My City

DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock: Round 1

DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock: Round 1 (FULL) from AlohaServedDaily on Vimeo.

Traktor Kontrol S4 Case Review

You should check out this video if you own a Traktor Kontrol S4 and don't have a case or bag to help transport it safely (like me).

Turn your speakers up for this one! Hudson Mohawke - Over Night

Yes! I got this on repeat.

Breakfast of Champions - Qbert, Shiftee and Rafik

Check out a few of the world's best scratch DJs play on some fresh Native Instruments gear.

Description from the Native Instruments
See the world's scratch elite devour the new generation of Traktor DJ gear in this spectacular performance.

Traktor was on the menu at a Breakfast of Champions recently, hosted at Qbert's crib in San Francisco. Witness a three-way jam session with DMC Champs Qbert, Shiftee and Rafik performing on 4 turntables with just one Traktor Scratch Pro 2 system in this video, making full use of the 10 inputs and outputs of the included Traktor Audio 10 interface.

Native Instruments Maschine is used as a MIDI controller for Traktor. All Traktor generation 2 products like Traktor Scratch Pro 2 or its included Traktor Audio 10 interface (also available separately) will hit stores worldwide on April 1st.

You can see the full Traktor range and preorder products at http://www.native-instruments.com/traktor

The Limited Edition Thud Rumble Skratchy Seal vinyl used in this video can be pre-ordered here: http://www.djqbert.com/product/skratchy-seal-traktor-scratch.html

Nobody but you - Big Brother

Feelin' this.

Another fallen beat master. Nujabes.

I discovered Nujabes about six months ago surfing around soundcloud.  You need to educate yourself if you haven't heard any of his beats. I have included some of my favourite tunes below.

Unfortunately, Nujabes is no longer with us. However, I know I will be playing his tunes until I'm old and grey. I love hip hop.

Please visit the following links to learn more about him.
http://e22.com/nujabes/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nujabes
http://steelcloset.com/2010/03/18/legendary-hip-hop-producer-nujabes-dies-death-is-announced-a-month-later/


Some of my favourites...

Radiohead vs Dave Brubeck - Five Step (mashup by Overdub)

Forget Saturday - Cee Lo Chicago Mash Up!!!

My Weapon

I'll be posting some pics as time rolls on. Just thought I would show you what I'm using to shoot. I also have to mention that Adobe Lightroom is my sidekick. I'm not a pro but this program saves me from deleting a lot of pics.

More to come soon. As for Lenses, I'm rockin' a 18mm-200mm Canon EFS and a 50mm Canon prime.

Canon T2i - one of the best purchases I have ever made in my life.

More to come.

Get to know this beast.
Visit http://www.canon.ca/inetCA/products?m=gp&pid=3529 for more info. 

Ronald Jankees... Look this guy up!

I've been watching this guy's videos for a couple years now and this man has crazy keyboard skills and imagination. If you like keyboard tracks, you won't be disappointed.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Another Callbo! Maker/Music

The site mentioned in the previous post connects you to another site called Maker/Music.

Music/Maker

Collabo! Bb 2.0

Stumbled across this cool site that displays 20 YouTube videos on one page. Click on a few or all in any order at any time and the videos will create solid musical compositions.

Click here to visit the site.

Say it ain't so! Jay-Z and Beyoncé on the ROCs?!?!?! Word?

According to Sohh.com (my ultimate resource for hip-hop news), Jay and B might be in some trouble.

WHAT? (Click here) 

Need some colour?

Ya I said "colour" not "color."

Anyways, if you're looking for some inspiration in your designs, paintings, etc. Check out Kuler by Adobe Inc. This site is a really good resource for developing a colour scheme. You can search using key words and an endless amount of suggestions are presented. What's more, you can export your colour scheme and import the file into various Adobe software programs, such as Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, etc.

A lil' flavour for yo' design!

Sometimes... They sample.

Original. "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman.

Sampled Beat. "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow" by Nice N Smooth.

Both dope songs.

Freestylin' Em and Proof

Sick...

Random YouTube Find... KayKay - Talented Producer

So I'm all about beats right now and I'm always searching the web for basement beatheads and producers for inspiration and just to see what kind of gear / setup everyone else is rockin'. I stumbled across this beautiful but killah beat-makin' goddess named KayKay.

I don't know much about her but I'm feelin' the tunes that she's bumpin'.

Here's KayKay's channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/KayKayONTHEBEATZ

Check her out... and she's fiiiiiiiiiine!

Graffiti Photography - Tracy Smith

You can find her work at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-tracy-smith.html

"Simba" - J Cole

J Cole goes hard in this track. It's been out for a minute but I had to post this...

Around the way girl...

Remember Stacey Dash from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air days? On my top five...

Tribute: Dilla

I found this wicked indie producer on soundcloud.com by the name of Ta-Ku...


Had to post this tribute album. It is pure fire!

TRIBUTE: DILLA 
By: Ta-Ku

Remembering J Dilla

"Still Shining Project" - J Dilla Tribute

A video featuring family and friends during and after J Dilla's funeral. As the anniversary of his passing approaches, take a moment to enjoy and feel one of his many many classics. 


Bilal said something in this video that stood out to me... "If you want to be the best. You gotto be the best all of the time. Never let a moment pass when you're not doing your best."


Believe that!