I know I’m late, but Little Joy is Binki Shapiro, Rodrigo Amarante and Fabrizio Moretti (Strokes Drummer), three friends who dropped their routine at their respective hometowns to make a record in Los Angeles, California. The album was produced by Noah Georgeson (Devendra Banhart). Fab named the band, Little Joy, after a popular local watering hole in L.A.’s Echo Park.
Legendary label Delicious Vinyl is rolling high with some serious talent on their roster. Golden boys Illa J and Aaron LaCrate recently stopped in @ the Boombox Music Blog studio for an interview and a little taste of goods to come.
When Jay Dee passed away from complications relating to lupus in February 2006, he left behind an extraordinary legacy of production work, including hits for Common, Janet Jackson, and Busta Rhymes. One mother load of previously untouched beats dates from his time working on the Pharcyde’s sophomore album, Labcabincalifornia (Delicious Vinyl, 1995). As Delicious Vinyl owner and founder Michael “Mike Floss” Ross explains: “From ‘95 through ‘98 Jay Dee was my go-to guy for hot beats and remixes. He was always making beats, always. So there was a select amount of tracks that he composed for me during that time, tracks as good as anything he’d done, only they never got used. When I finally met Illa J last year, I gave him a CD containing those unreleased beats.”
In a case of pure serendipity, 21 year-old Illa J had just relocated from Detroit to Los Angeles and constructed a studio built using Jay Dee’s recording equipment. He dubbed it Yancey Boys Studios in tribute to their fraternal bond. “Dilla was 12 years older than me,” Illa J says. “So back in the day in Detroit I was just a little kid, sitting on the stairs in our house, watching him make those first beats for Slum Village. I always felt my brother’s tracks and had an instinct for what I wanted to do over them.” When Illa J set to work in early ‘08 recording the album, the project flowed quickly as he entered the proverbial can’t miss zone. The name of the studio rightly became the title of the finished album, Yancey Boys, which will be released on November 4th, 2008 via Delicious Vinyl.
Illa J & Aaron LaCrate Freestyle
Shout out to Michelle @ Audible Treats for the info.
Pacific Division was in NYC a few weeks ago to meet the Universal Motown family and they threw a show at LOVE to celebrate. John Public of Loud caught up with them outside the spot and they spit a few of their favorite verses.
Has any other emerging artist in hip-hop had a rookie year as chockfull of material and schizophrenic artistic direction as Blu? While the LA-based rapper seemingly scored the most points with the underground hip-hop head demographic with his collaborative debut with producer Exile,Below the Heavens, he’s since been cranking out albums at an alarmingly rapid pace – his release with Ta’Raach as C.R.A.C., The Piece Talks hit stores months later, and now his latest project with producer Mainframe, known as Johnson&Jonson collectively, is set to be released. The self-titledJohnson&Jonson record drops on September 23, just a year and one month after the whole album cycle began.
We heard Ma Duke’s would be doing an interview to follow up the recent article from the LA Weekly which we covered in our entry J Dilla Estate Suffers From Bootleggers. It was published and in it Ms. Yancey reveals her current estrangement with the executors of the Dilla estate. Hit up the LA Weekly site for Jeff Weiss’ An Interview with J Dilla’s Mother, Ms. Maureen Yancey.
Source: OkayPlayer
“One Day As A Lion is both a warning delivered and a promise kept.”
“A defiant affirmation of the possibilities that exist in the space between kick and snare. It’s a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask. One Day As A Lion is a recorded interaction between Zack de la Rocha and Jon Theodore from Los Angeles, California.”
“The name taken from the infamous 1970 black and white, captured by legendary Chicano photographer George Rodriguez featuring a center framed tag on a white wall in an unspecified section of Boyle Heights. It reads: ‘It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.’ This record is a stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound.”
Listen to latest single, “Wild International” right HERE.
Mr. Brainwash or MBW is the moniker of an eccentric French filmmaker.
MBW has spent the last 9 years attempting to make the ultimate documentary about graffiti art. But whilst filming many of the world’s renowned street artists at work, MBW began putting his camera aside and making art his own. He has graduated from a few hand drawn stickers to giant billboard sized paste-ups, eventually becoming one of the most prolific street artists in California.
MBW does not fit the stereotype of your average street vandal. His artistic process chiefly consists of throwing random cultural icons into a blender and turning it up to 11. The results are by turns profound, provocative and inspirational.
“The Life is Beautiful” was the first exhibition ever mounted by MBW. It took place in a former Hollywood studio complex and featured over 100 paintings, sculptures and prints alongside an intallation made from 100,000 shoes and a life-size re-creation of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.” See more images from “The Life is Beautiful” after the jump.
In honor of the widely successful Glow in the Dark Tour featuring Kanye West, N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco and Rihanna, watch brand Nooka re-worked their Zub watch in a special glow in the dark finish. The watches were given as a gift to Kanye and company after the completion of the tour last Saturday in Los Angeles. The Zub watch is among the latest in popular watch styles which utilize more abstract time-telling methods with the use of changing LED bars to denote the time. With only 15 watches produced, a larger release is more then unlikely. To read more, click HERE.
Subhead Grip was founded by Jesse Milden. Growing up in LA, his products are inspired by many years of skating and making custom griptape and sticker designs for boards.
Subhead Grip specializes in custom grip and stickers for just about any board. They are based out of Seattle, WA. For more skate apparel click BELOW.
Source: High Snobiety
Blu is definitely a leader in the new school of Los Angeles emcees. His presence is undeniable, while his music captivates audiences regardless of race, class, and gender. Although many are still unaware of Blu’s work, Below The Heavens guarantees to take LA hip hop back to the place where Freestyle Fellowship, Jurassic 5, and The Pharcyde left off. Blu’s first full length LP, Below The Heavens pairs Blu with producer Exile on the Sound In Color imprint. His first single, “The Narrow Path” has rocked stages across the world, and fans are beginning to realize the impact of Blu’s music. His delivery flows flawlessly, while his content reflects the joy and pain of working class youth everywhere.
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