Urban Update

Mayer Hawthorne is a 29-year-old white kid from Ann Arbor signed to Stones Throw.  His sound is soulful and extremely refreshing.  Dude can write a song. Check it.

Scraps interviews Rick Ross and is officialy invited into the Yacht Club.

Check out Scraps interviewing Asher Roth…

You can see what inspired 8 Miles battle scenes. Eminem definitely was a pioneer in the battle/freestyle realm. Now battles are mad diverse, but he was coming out swinging as a white emcee before it was acceptable.

ODB being interviewed by John Norris. He was out of his mind. I kind of want to try whatever he was on,,,it looks pretty fun.

Iron Solomon is the craziest battle rhymer I’ve ever heard. Dude is nasty in every battle I’ve seen and he wrecks Shirt n’ Tie in this video. Check it out.

Check out this remix of Tribe’s “Stressed Out”.

Arsenio Hall Cypher
A Tribe Called Quest, Guru, KRS One, Mad Lion, Das EFX, MC Lyte, Wu-Tang,etc.

To me, this is the pinnacle of Hip-Hop.  The game was still pure, expect for labels ripping off the artists, but it was a raw artform.  These MC’s paved the way and really each had their own distinct style.

Rick Ross on Big Boy’s neighborhood

There were pictures released some time ago, but he has denied that he was a C.O..  He’s finally coming clean about his past.

Common Market

Common Market is a Hip Hop duo based in Seattle, Washington with members RA Scion and DJ/Producer Sabzi.  They produce soulful, quality Hip Hop laced with potent messages.  I got the chance to hang out and interview them at SXSW.  Cool people.  I’ll post the interview in the next couple days, but for now, dig on a couple of their videos.

“Trouble Is”

“Tobacco Snow Covered Roads”