REBEL8 Sample Sale Feb 8th in L.A.!  I’m not going to lie, I wish we could go…

@rebel8

Prince Po & Pharoahe Monch back together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Stress: The Extinction Agenda along with special guests OC and Large Professor and other hip hop luminaries (if we could teleport to NY for this show, we would).  Tickets available here.

Phife from A Tribe Called Quest pens a musical letter to Dilla:

“Before J Dilla passed, he and I were playing phone tag, I didn’t even know he was that sick until it was too late,” Phife said. “We didn’t realize we were both going through a lot with our health and never got to sit and talk about it together.”

I felt like this song is that conversation. “I’ve been wanting to record a dedication to J Dilla for the longest, it just seemed to finally be the right time to do it,” said Phife from his home in Oakland, CA. “It was very therapeutic for me to do this. There are a lot of people dealing with renal failure and I wanted to make this a conduit, a way for people to put their health issues out there.”

#dearDilla combines the drum loop that Dilla used for Slum Village’s “Hold Tight” layered with Dilla’s distinct ad-libs sprinkled through out the track. Rasta Root enlisted the help of the DMV’s own V.Rich for the beautiful keys that make up the song’s hypnotic melody and a warm bassline by Atl’s own “DETOXXX”.

“The song organically came together piece by piece. Originally I looped it up to just have a new way of mixing in that song. Then it snowballed in to what you hear today. I wanted fans of Dilla and Phife to feel right at home with this track. I am very proud of Phife for opening up like this and giving the world this musical gem.” said Rasta Root from his Atlanta home studio.

#dearDilla also has an amazing visual directed by Chicago’s own Konee Rok. They shot the video over three days in Chicago and Detroit. ‘This is the most heartfelt project I’ve ever been blessed to be a part of.’ said Konee. ‘and represents the return of honest Hip Hop.’ Of the song, Konee also adds, ‘This is not just another rap song, but meaningful music. Art. If this was my last video, I would die happy.’

The visual for #deardilla will have a premier in Atlanta on Feb. 6th at the Midtown Art Cinema (7:30-9:30pm) with a Q & A. Then also premiere at Dilla Day in Detroit on Feb. 7th.

via Okayplayer

@iamthephifer @djrastaroot @smokinshells

HVW8 Gallery, Myspace and Sinecure Books present:

HOUSTON RAP
Photographs by Peter Beste

Event Date: January 24th 2014
Time : 7-10pm
The exhibition will run through: February 16^th 2014
RSVP@hvw8.com

HVW8 GALLERY
661 N Spaulding Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

The book with a DJ Screw/Fat Pat bonus 7″ is available here.

The pre-0rder for DJ QBert’s new album, Extraterrestria,  is coming in the form of a Kickstarter campaign, and it’s off to a roaring start.  Check his KS page for deluxe versions of the new album as well as crazy rare special packages.

@djqbert

Some heat for your morning… Step Brothers (Alchemist & Evidence) featuring Action Bronson on “Mums in the Garage” .  The album, Lord Steppington, is out next week.

@rhymesayers @evidence @alchemist

via Zion I :

The Masters of Ceremony is the first EP in a series created to fortify the cultural aspects of Hip Hop.  The sole purpose of the MC is to energize, invigorate, and guide the listener to a higher state of mind, whether that be reflection, relaxation or enlightenment. This is the culture and not the business of Hip Hop, to serve as a tuning fork to the emotions, that we may contemplate our current state collectively and forge our collective destiny with heightened perspective. A lot of people MC, but many have no idea what it really means.

LISTEN & DOWNLOAD: SOUNDCLOUD | BANDCAMP | ITUNES

“Danger Zone” feat 1-O.A.K.

@zioni

New single from Nick Waterhouse’s second album,  Holly, which will be out on March 4th.  He’ll be hitting the road to support the album starting in Feb.  Tour dates and ticket info here.

We’ve been NPR First Listen-ing to the new Sharon Jones album for the past day, and we’re just so glad she’s back (and healthy!)  Vinyl arriving here next week.