The Pack are a little bit skate-punk-rap; like the Beastie Boys if they was from the Yay Area. And Based Music is a bit like hyphy if it took a chill pill…

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Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony all pay tribute to some of hip hop’s most controversial artists on a new collection. 2008 marks the 20 year anniversary of N.W.A.’s classic album Straight Outta Compton! There will be an expanded edition released on CD, vinyl and digital formats that includes all the original tracks plus four new covers. The collection also includes 16 tracks of Eazy-E collabs and solos! ([More →])

Many musicians will bring good cheer to the US on 9/11 this year, and Baby Elephant will be one of them with the release of Turn My Teeth Up! But you won’t have to wait to listen to this groovy, ultra-funktastic music - you can listen to it today on the band’s music$pace page. Baby Elephant is comprised of Prince Paul, Newkirk, and Bernie Worrell at its core and they will drop their debut album on Godforsaken Music. Bernie Worrell is a dreamy synthesizer mastermind who has played with the Talking Heads and P-Funk, as well as a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. But the delicious name-dropping doesn’t end there! Also featured on different tracks are George Clinton - the man who put the P in Phunk, David Byrne - the eccentric Talking Head himself, Yellowman - the whitest Jamaican to chat up a mic, Shock G - who put the Hump in Humpty, plus Gabby La La, Nona Hendryx, and Reggie Watts! ([More →])

Some artists survive on air and art alone. They do not require food or sleep, and if they do partake in such things it’s just for show. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for how they continue to produce quantities of high-calibre artwork. These are the people you wonder about every time they release something new, like “When did they have the time to do X, Y and Z while releasing A, B and C?!!” This is how I feel about 9th Wonder. The hip hop beat-meister is in the midst of releasing his first solo album because he’s usually too busy making the music tracks for the likes of Nas, Jean Grae, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, and Little Brother to name just a few. But just the other day I stumbled across another album that he is simultaneously producing beats for - an album with Buckshot of Duck Down Records, who also just signed KRS-One. ([More →])

Sean Paul has a couple of shows scheduled in the US and Canada this summer. Yes, I did denounce Sean Paul as Reggae Artist of the Year, but the rhythms that he raps over are pure FIRE! I bet he puts on a great live show. Just don’t show up expecting reggae and everything will be kosher… ([More →])

Free Concerts! 7 towns will get a free show by one of 7 different bands to help build exposure for Samsung musical mobile phones and AT&T’s recent partnership with eMusic. So, while you get a free show, you’ll probably be herded past their promotion kiosks everytime you go to the bathroom. But maybe it would be worth it for one of these bands. ([More →])

Now I know that ASCAP is a crooked business. This is just proof…

They say that music is a matter of taste and that not everyone will agree with who wins the awards or who sells the most albums and nonesuch. I agree. I don’t tend to like the music that gets a lot of mainstream attention, so I’m accustomed to being disappointed that the same watered down music gets more money and recognition each year while super-creative and conscious musicians continue the struggle to gain audience. ASCAP is one of those companies that creates these situations and enforces that they remain in place. Usually I dismiss ASCAP entirely, until they back a band that is both super-creative and unable to be watered down. Yeah Yeah Yeahs being a fantastic example. Other times, ASCAP enters my radar because of how horribly narrow-minded they are. This is one of those latter times. ([More →])