Last week, while Sasha Frere-Jones and the rap duo Das Racist debated whether Jay-Z’s new album is evidence that hip-hop is dead, and if so, whether it’s OK for a white guy like Frere-Jones to make that call, Minnesota’s Brother Ali was proving, one wildly heralded tour stop at a time, that such discussions are best answered in rhyme. Jay-Z may be tired, but Ali is proof that hip-hop ain’t nowhere near dead. —Mike Riggs

Read the full City Lights pick here; deets below the jump.

Read More “Tonight in Rap: Brother Ali at Otto Bar” »

We at Arts Desk have mentioned before that the DMV’s own Wale is maybe probably kind of dating Beyonce’s little sister Solange. Now, the gossip site Mediatakeout.com, (say what you want about ‘em, but they very often get these things right) is reporting that Solange and Wale are house-hunting in Brooklyn. Or at least that Solange is house-hunting and Wale is tagging along. Or he’s been spotted in the general area of her house hunt or something. Whatever—the couple has been seen together in Brooklyn and apparently some kind of real estate is involved, and it sounds like things between them are getting serious.

This is a very troubling turn of events.

Solange is a nice enough woman, and we’re sure Wale would feel at home in Brooklyn, a borough awash in tight jeans and nerd raps. But as he gets closer to Solange, it’s almost inevitable that he’ll become chummy with Jay-Z and, as many young rappers on the cusp of stardom know, that is not the move.

So, Wale, if you’re reading this, here are a few reasons why you should stay far, far away from one Shawn Carter. (Hanging out with Bun B is still perfectly acceptable, though).

Read More “Wale: Please Stay Away From Jay-Z” »

Just when you thought it was safe to mark your calenders…

“Major major major tour” dates forthcoming. (via TSS)

Ask anyone in the industry about go-go music and they’ll tell you the same thing: it plays exclusively to the the greater DC area. This new series is an attempt to refute that claim by presenting hard evidence of Go-Go’s influence throughout the music world. It’d be hypocritical to complain about biting since most of the great bands are essentially cover bands, but it’s still worth noting that there is sometimes a two way street of influence. Read More “Go-Go Bites #1: Overbite Scenario” »

Jay-Z: “Reminder”
Jay-Z has moved some 26 million units, so he’s allowed to spend a whole verse rapping about his record sales. “I crush Elvis in his blue suede shoes/ made the Rolling Stones seem sweet as Kool-Aid too,” he rhymes, sort of, on “Reminder,” a track from his upcoming record The Blueprint 3. But if Jay-Z’s hoping to overtake The Beatles on this go-round, he’s going to need a track with stronger sauce than this. Burdened with a leaden hook and some namby-pamby synth leads, “Reminder” drags hard. The production is credited to Timbaland, but there’s a chance this track was actually put together by the Flight of the Concords dudes, just for a laugh.

Professor Genius & Grackle Speculator: “Jive”
Beyond a few bleeps and bloops, the original arcade version of Galaga didn’t have much in the way of music. Could be that the programmers were just sitting around and waiting for producers Professor Genius and Grackle Speculator to write “Jive.” The song’s motorik rhythms, vintage synths, and laser-beam noises make the perfect soundtrack for lo-bit space warfare.

No Age: “You’re A Target”
My Bloody Valentine bankrupted its label while recording the ear-shattering shoegaze masterpiece Loveless. Sub Pop, on the other hand, probably isn’t too stressed about No Age’s woozy new EP, Losing Feeling breaking the bank. On “You’re A Target” the Los Angeles-based punk duo gets the same dreamy sounds–walls of fuzz, spaced-out drones, whale noises, the works–on a lo-fi budget.

King Khan & BBQ Show: “Invisible Girl”
King Khan & BBQ Show’s latest single finds the band feeling kind of blue. They love a girl, but she’s invisible. Also, she’s at the bottom of the ocean. Unless you grew up inside a ’50s sci-fi flick, the story’s specifics are probably pretty alien. But the sentiments–the loss, the hurt–are universal and so are the chugging vibrato guitar chords. Khan sells them both pretty well here.

Despite delayed release dates and his split from Def Jam, one upside to HOVA’s much-anticipated Blueprint 3 (follow-up to Blueprints 1 and 2) is that the album promises to be free of Auto-Tune–the software responsible for T-Pain and Paris Hilton’s musical careers. Kanye West, one of the album’s many producers, told MTV News, “We actually removed all the songs with Auto-Tune off of his album to make the point that this is an anti-Auto-Tune album, even though I released an album that has all Auto-Tune.”

Read More “Jay-Z’s War On Auto-Tune” »