Neil Young, Nas, Bombino, Pokey LaFarge to play Ottawa BluesFest, July 4-14

As usual, there ain't much blues at the Ottawa BluesFest but Pokey LaFarge, Nas, Killer Mike & Bombino are welcome surprises.

   

Nas reflects on his career in hip hop, Large Professor discusses Illmatic

Nas gets the Billboard spotlight and producer Large Professor talks about Illmatic with Talib Kweli for the People's Party. 

Happy Birthday Ahmad Jamal

Remembering pianist/composer Ahmad Jamal on his birthday with two interviews and a few of his well-sampled gems. 

R.I.P. Reuben Wilson, 1935-2023

Sadly, it has been reported that Hammond hammering soul jazz great Reuben Wilson has passed away. He'll be greatly missed.

R.I.P. pianist/composer Ahmad Jamal, 1930-2023

Sadly, well-sampled pianist/composer Ahmad Jamal has passed away. He'll be greatly missed. Listen to a couple of interviews.

Drake producer Noah "40" Shebib tells his story in Toronto Rising doc

Check out the 14-minute short film on Toronto producer and OVO Sound co-founder Noah "40" Shebib directed by Alim Sabir.

Happy Birthday Ahmad Jamal

Celebrating the birthday of pianist Ahmad Jamal with recordings which may sound familiar to fans of Nas, De La Soul & Common. 

LINKS
Udiscovermusic Pianist Ahmad Jamal recalls 'At The Pershing'

Happy 80th Birthday Olu Dara!

Celebrating Olu Dara's 80th birthday with "Bridging The Gap" feat. his son Nas and a couple of other memorable recordings. 

Midweek Mixdown: Chris Read spins Mr. Bongo hip hop 45 reissues

Check out Chris Read's mix assembled from Mr. Bongo's hip hop 45 reissues right here.

Here's the scoop from Mr. Bongo...

During our 30+ year history we have become well-known for championing a wide-range of musical genres, but for many people we will forever be associated with the golden age of hip hop and our Soho stores. The memories of the music and culture from that time are intertwined with the experience of being in that store (for customers and staff alike). Mr Bongo founder and MD, Dave Buttle, recalls that heady period in Mr Bongo history…

"It was a really exciting time. Soho was booming - full of media companies, record, stores, labels, and the place to go in London for your vinyl shopping needs. If you had an exclusive new hip hop release in store the word would spread and it would be a roadblock. We are talking the early Rawkus releases, Mos Def, Company Flow, then we had Dr Octagon, exclusive Lord Finesse bits from Japan."

Hip hop will always be in the DNA of Mr Bongo and a couple of years back we decided to channel that into a Mr Bongo Hip Hop 45 reissue series. Our ambition was to release the best and most in demand cuts from the 80’s and 90’s on 7" in original picture sleeves. It’s a collection of our personal favourites, Bongo store anthems and undeniable classics. We kicked the series off with A Tribe Called Quest ‘Scenario’ and we are about to hit release number 20 with the Egyptian Lover ‘Computer Love'. The series has featured artists such as Nas, Souls of Mischief, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Cypress Hill, Gang Starr, Black Sheep - to name a few. The response to these releases has been fantastic - the demand for these cuts is coming in from all around the world and we are very thankful for the support and love they are getting!

To celebrate reaching release number 20 in the series we thought now would be a good time to showcase the catalogue in full. We called in DJ Chris Read to put together an exclusive Mr Bongo Hip Hop 45’s mix. Chris is a long-time collaborator with Bongo, has a deep knowledge of hip hop, and is an incredible DJ. Perfect for this mix.

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"Every track featured in the Bongos Hip Hop 45s reissues series is a certified classic and a high proportion of these records featured heavily in my DJ sets during the 90s and beyond. It was a lot of fun not only to see these records again on 45, but also to revisit them in this mix.

In the years after I moved back to London in the early 2000s, a record shopping trip to Soho was a regular part of my Saturday routine and a visit to Mr Bongo's Berwick Street store was an essential stop on a circuit that took in stores including Record and Tape Exchange, Major Flavas, Scenario, Deal Real and many others. The space was small, the queue for the counter usually deep and the vibe was often hectic, but the atmosphere was electric. I have no idea how many hours I must have spent flicking through the racks or stood at the counter trying to get a glimpse of the latest arrivals up on the wall, but they were hours well spent, made all the better by the presence of some top class DJs serving from behind the counter.” – Chris Read

 

DJ Shadow's Our Pathetic Age double album out today!

 Check out the clips for "Rocket Fuel" feat. De La Soul, "Kings & Queens" feat. Run The Jewels and "Drone Warfare" feat. Nas & Pharoahe Monch.

Get DJ Shadow's Our Pathetic Age album on your favourite music service right here.

D'Angelo sneaks Western-themed "Unshaken" onto Red Dead Redemption 2 OST

Along with D'Angelo, Red Dead Redemption 2 includes songs from Willie Nelson, Nas and Josh Homme with production from Daniel Lanois!  

Watch DJ Khaled's "Nas Album Done" video feat. Nas & Louie Rankin

DJ Khaled enlists Nas and Louie "Ox" Rankin for the most iconic and timeless hip hop video of the year.

Nas tears up Bestival @ Hanlan's Point, Saturday

QB's finest hits the Bestival main stage at 9:45pm tonight. Here are a couple of stellar Nas performance clips.

AGO's Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit oddly overlooks groundbreaking 1983 "Beat Bop" project

You'd think Rammellzee vs. K-Rob's "Beat Bop" would be a key part of the AGO's Basquiat retrospective. Nope.

LINKS
SPIN: Jean-Michel Basquiat's Beat Bop – An Oral History
NY Times: Jean-Michel Basquiat – Hip-hop finds an artist to believe in
CBC: The Rapper's Painter – Why Jean-Michel Basquiat is your favourite rapper's favourite artist
AGO: Jean-Michel Basquiat – Now's The Time (February 7 – May 10)

A$AP Ferg w/ YG @ Sound Academy, Wednesday

Check the Basquiat-inspired clip for A$AP Ferg's "Old English" collabo w/Freddie Gibbs & Young Thug. 

Hear the dope new Nas single "The Don"

Common Vs. Nas

Life's A Bitch by Common



Life's A Bitch by Nas