The Audacity of Dope

Big L is my favorite MC of all time, but in his absence, I’m not sure there’s a rapper out there that I appreciate on a technical level more than Elzhi.  The way he constructs each verse and flips these words together is insane, plus his flow is about as sharp as it gets.  All this is on display in his new video for “Deep” off his Leftovers Mixtape.  Shout to the homey Gerard on the direction as well.

Black Milk and Royce just dropped the visuals for one of the best songs of the past year, “Losing Out,” of Black’s Tronic project.  Just as you’d expect from a Detroit video in the dead of winter, the D is looking real grimy here.  My only complaint is that I would have loved to see the video ride out for the extra minute of the album version where Black absolutely murders the sample.  Perhaps that would have been hard to match with images, but that might be my favorite part of the song itself.  Either way, dopeness.

Shout to the whole D, particular Hex…the most entertaining person to follow on all of Twitter.

Conversely, bet on me, I’m a sureshot.  Black Milk on production, Joell Ortiz on the guest verse…Off Colin’s Unsung Hero mixtape.

Swiped from NahRight.

As I showed y’all yesterday, we’re snowed in here in Seattle and as a matter of fact, it’s even worse than it was during that video.  I think we’re up to about half a foot of packed snow on the ground, with no signs of it letting up for the next few days.  It’s really cool looking outside and fun to walk around in, but the downside is that I’ve been stuck around my house for 4 days straight now.  Wait…that’s probably not such a bad thing…I have good food, a warm place, football (and futbol!) on TV, and I’ve been able to finish up a ton of work.  I take it back, this snow thing is kinda dope.

Well, aside from the fact that I haven’t done any Christmas shopping yet and I’m suppose to be moving in 10 days.  If I have to move my couch on ice skates, I’ma be very, very upset.

Anyway, in the meantime, I’ve been getting some old projects finished.  Here’s some simple Flip Cam footage I grabbed of the homies Black Milk and Elzhi performing at the Red Bull Big Tune stop here in Seattle on 9/12/08.  If you recall, we recorded a dope interview with them the day before, which you can still check out right here.

At the show, they ran through some of their illest songs, including “Sound The Alarm,” “Motown 25,” “Hiding Place,” “1, 2,” and more.  If you’ve never seen Milk and El rock live, you’re missing out.

“Detroit in the muhf****n’ buildin’”

A few months back, J. Moore and the rest of the Red Bull Big Tune fam brought Elzhi (of Slum Village) and Black Milk to the town for the Seattle edition of the beat battle.  Before tearing it down at Neumo’s that night (I’ll toss some of that footage up if I get time), they came through Sound Session to record an interview with us.  Unfortunately, since we’ve had so many guests coming through lately, it’s taken a minute to get the audio up for y’all.  Better late than never though, especially when you’re dealing with two of the dopest artists in the industry right now.  I don’t think anyone is seeing Elzhi bar for bar, and with the release of Tronic, Black has staked his claim for the top MC/producer out there.  Seriously…do you hear how he’s spittin’ on that album?

Anyway, the interview was recorded in between the releases of Elzhi’s The Preface and Black’s Tronic, so there are a few occasions where it sounds dated.  Even still, I highly recommend checking out the full discussion to hear them break down both projects in detail.  They also talked about their inspirations both past and present, their creative processes, all things Detroit, what changes they hope Barack can bring to the people, their upcoming work, and much more.  Enjoy!

Elzhi & Black Milk on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?4nl20wo3wjy
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/52144263069bf0be/ )

Do yourself a favor and go cop The Preface and Tronic if you haven’t already.  Your “Best of 2008″ list isn’t complete without both of ‘em, trust me.

Apparently it wasn’t ready for the public last time, so here’s the repost.  Cop Tronic with the quickness if you haven’t already.

New visuals for the lead single off Black’s Tronic album, one of the best projects of the year and the CD currently holding my deck hostage.  Go buy it.  In the meantime, make sure you at least have this jawn:

Black Milk – “Give The Drummer Sum”

Interview with Milk & Elzhi coming as soon as I get some free time to toss beats behind it.  Soon though…I swear!

Video courtesy of Legend.

The homey Tor just dropped a dope video for one of my favorite songs of the past year, “Switch,” off his Daily Conversation album.  Shout to Black Milk on the beat.  There are also a ton of cameos from great artists (check Marco Polo’s appearance in that Godzilla suit) and LOL @ Tor-Pac, Lil’ Tor, and Torminator X.  Where was the Cam costume ’switch’ though?

Swiped from the Dopehouse.

Yes, yes y’all.  It’s finally time for the Seattle stop of the Red Bull Big Tune (an event that originated here with my people J. Moore, Vitamin D, Jake One, DV-One, and Marcus Lalario) and here’s the itinerary for the week:

Monday, Sept. 8th: Red Bull Big Tune Kick-Off (flyer)
The War Room
722 E. Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122
Featuring DJ Maseo of De La Soul and special guests
9pm, 21+, $5 cover

Tuesday, Sept. 9th:  Educational Outreach – Producer workshop with Jake One & Vitamin D
Vera Project
305 Harris Street, Seattle, WA 98109
4pm – 6pm
Free and All Ages

Red Bull Big Tune Film Premiere (flyer)
Screening and Live performance by Brainstorm of Dyme Def with special guest DJ DV-One
Nectar
412 N. 36th Street, Seattle WA 98103
9pm, 21+, $5 cover

Wednesday, Sept. 10th:  Youth Workshop with “Aim for Peace” program
Buttermilk Studios
1108 13th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
4pm – 5:30pm
Free and All Ages

Thursday, Sept. 11th: Red Bull Big Tune In-Store featuring Black Milk & Elzhi
GOODS
1112 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101
4pm – 5:30pm
Free and All Ages

Friday, Sept. 12th: Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle (flyer)
Beat Battle and special performances from Elzhi & Black Milk
Neumos
925 E. Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122
8pm, All Ages, $5 cover

See y’all there…

These Hip-Hop Official dudes have good taste.  They keep making great selections for their “artist of the week” spotlight and here’s their newest pick, the one and only Black Milk.  Milk speaks on the Detroit sound and how his music fits into that vibe.  Seattle people: remember that he’ll be coming to Neumos on Sept. 12th with Elzhi at the Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle…

Swiped from Nah Right.