Along with their Dungeon Family siblings Outkast, Goodie Mob represented a high point for socially aware, soulful and street savvy 90s rap. At least until a “ghetto laser tag” related mishap caused member Cee-Lo to exit the group and pursue a lucrative career in recording buzzworthy car commercial music and hanging out with Carlos Santana.

Almost ten years later, the Atlanta quartet is back together and the reunion tour hits Langdon venue The Scene this Saturday. Plus, if the grown man Southern rap quotient wasn’t high enough already, Houston legend and DC’s favorite rapper Scarface is also on the bill as a “very special guest.” Get up, get out and get tickets.

Wale’s Attention Deficit is in stores today. For those not paying attention to rap buzz or this blog the DC/MD MC has emerged in recent years as the great hope of the area’s rap community. And, by my count, his debut marks the first major label release from a local rapper in nearly a decade.

I considered penning a post about how DC should unify and support Wale’s effort. I wouldn’t be the only person on the internet to do so. Even more than usual, the local rap bloggers and twitterers have been abuzz with well meaning but mostly empty words like support and movement.

But I decided against such a gesture. Instead let us step back and ask ourselves what a major label album release means in 2009. Not just to Wale or the greater DC area but to the world at large: nothing. As Dwayne Johnson once eloquently told Clef, it doesn’t matter. Read More “Wale Watch: The “Support The Movement” Movement” »

UCB’s “Pat Your Weave” (formerly “Sweatin’ Out Weaves”) is one of the more ambitious studio/go-go integrations of recent years, the energy of the go-go folded neatly into a three minute single. Polished, certainly, but not stripped of its charater. Superficially it feels like one of many post-”Crazy In Love” Beyonce records (which, of course, feel like go-go records, word to Rich Harrison and the biters that followed) but it has better drums and slowly builds into something distinct as the heavy synth stabs come into play. Wale’s involvement is close to negligible on a musical level, but his few bars are the reason UCB is getting burn on otherwise homogeneous rap blogs.

Other recent Wale sightings in the rap blogosphere: an awkward freestyle at the BET, a remix of Kanye’s “Grammy Family,” a Chrisette Michelle cameo, a radio rip of an unreleased Travis Barker, and a new push on his pre-buzz video “Uptown Roamers.” If getting your artist on aggregation blogs still qualifies as doing something right, then it is safe to say that his team is doing something right. Attention Deficit drops tomorrow. None of the aforementioned songs appear on it.

This week has seen two blindingly colorful DMV rap videos drop. Commonwealth colorways aside, seeing the city so artfully shot in a Vimeo frame is always a good look. Above is the J-Scrilla laced posse cut “No Love,” from his Culture of Honor compilation. Raps provided by K Beta, X.O., Oddisee, Ra The Mc, Judah, T.E.F.L.O.N. & Wordsmith. After the jump is the Tabi Bonney directed clip for Phil Ade’s “Hollywood” off Phil’s Starting On JV mixtape. Read More “DMV Rap Attack: Video Edition” »

After a very promising (and very free) test release of the clean version several months ago, Diamond District’s In Da Ruff is officially available in stores today, with cuss words restored and bonus tracks. Though it isn’t getting the national acclaim that Wale is, the trio of emcees XO, yU and rapper/producer Oddisee have cut what is certainly the most complete D.C. rap album of the year. And it might just be the best in many years.

In The Ruff was also released on nice double vinyl, a huge look for a contemporary rap album. Whether that vinyl can actually be purchased within the city limits is yet to be seen—not one of the remaining boutique-y record stores in this city actively stocks new hip hop vinyl. (Shame on you, Smash, Som, Red Onion & Crooked Beat. Oh yes, we’re naming names.)

Another Random Joint – Kev Brown from Humble Monarch on Vimeo.

Word to Rakim, Adams Morgan weekend nightlife is a bit like a walk through hell, having your dome frozen and your eyeballs swelled. Double-Polo’d fratboys do battle over jumbo slices, too far gone girls puke in alleys and drunk dudes holler sloppily at your girlfriend with both hands. But hey, some people dig that scene.

Either way, the mellow boom bap of DC’s own rapper/producer favorite Kev Brown (De La Soul, Low Budget) seems like an unlikely soundtrack for this madness. Yet this short clip from Kev’s Random Joints LP was shot squarely in the heart of that chaos and some how manages make sense. The crowds look absolutely jolly in this video and even the for-no-reason firemen that sometimes clog traffic in front of Tom Toms are happy to see Kev. Adams Morgan should consider hiring directors HumbleMonarch to produce a fluff piece to promote the neighborhood.

Yesterday the Washington Post ran a large feature on DC hip hop.* Chris Richards’ piece offers a cursory “why hasn’t DC rap blown up?” history and intro as well as short profiles of Wale, XO, Kingpen Slim, Tabi Bonney, Phil Ade and producers Best Kept Secret. It’s a well meaning and pretty efficient overview, but it’s also predictably been causing some debate within the DC hip hop community as well as some concern about the orientation of Wale’s hat amongst WaPo readers.

And perhaps some concern is warranted (err… within the hip hop community, not about Wale’s hat). The easiest way to critique an article like this is to point out artist omissions. I understand the need for space in a newspaper column so I’ll mostly try to avoid such trivial complaints here.** But there are some larger holes in the story that deserve to be addressed. Read More “DMV Rap Attack: Washington Post Weigh In” »

It’s been a minute, but I’m back with another round up of recent local rapps. (I’ve also officially christened the column, partially in tribute to the great Mr. Magic.)

Likeblood f/ Bobby Valentino – “Money Over Here“
As of late it seems like there are too many rappers and not enough rap groups. Mbea, Young E & Dre Strong, collectively Likeblood, are wise to pool their resources and create a strong hip hop trio. For their most recent single the trio has linked with A-Town crooner Bobby Valentino (whose name I cannot mentioned without a nod to Mista) to cut “Money Over Here,” which notably sounds like popular hip hop. It could comfortably be programmed into a PGC playlist without sounding like an obvious local concession.

Bear Witnez! – Bear Season Mixtape
Bear Wit lives up to his name by rapping like a bear does. He’s hungry and growling. Also he spits lots of metaphors about hibernation and such. Dude sounds best on post-MOP/Freeway style bombastic soul production and the tape does start to lose some steam when he steps out of that comfort zone. Still I’m really looking forward to some sort of cage match battle between him and Big Bear. Standout cut: “DC United” f/ Wale & Kingpen Slim Read More “DMV Rap Attack: New Likeblood, Bear Witnez & More” »

As part of their Latin American Film Festival, AFI Theatre in Silver Spring is screening the documentary Beyond Ipanema: Brazilian Waves in Global Music. The film takes a look at the continuing international fascination with music from Brazil.

“For decades Brazilian music has captivated audiences worldwide. What makes Brazilian music such a powerful force? Why does bossa nova still lure DJs and producers 50 years after it was created? Why does the Tropicália movement resonate so deeply with the alternative-rock crowd?”

Hopefully they will answer answer some harder questions about Brazilian music as well, like “why does Devandra ‘Sandra’ Bernhard think he’s Caetano Veloso?” and “was the anus-marble from the cover of Todos Os Olhos ever fully retrieved?”

The film features Veloso, David Byrne, Creed Taylor, Os Mutantes, Bebel Gilberto, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Thievery Corporation, M.I.A. and more. We already missed the centerpiece screening this past Saturday, but they’ve thankfully added two more: 7:45 on Wed. and 7 on Thurs. Director Béco Dranoff will be appearing at the second showing.

A minor Wale-related scandal hit the web this week, surrounding a 93.9 ad campaign. On the radio commercial, someone claiming to be Wale’s cousin makes a sound-alike parody of Wale’s seemingly aborted lead single “Chillin,” and tries to push it to the station. He is swiftly rejected in favor of Birdman and Alicia Keys records.

Wale fans didn’t take to kindly to this, blowing up message boards and station managers inboxes about their unwillingness to support local music. Read More “Wale Watch: WKYS of Death” »