Archive for the ‘interview’ Category
Thanks to the new homie Zuzuka Poderosa, I’ve been reminded how much I love Carioca bass. I’d been a fan of baile funk for awhile, but stopped listening. Zukuka is making me rethink that. She brings it full steam when she touches the microphone and more folks need to check her out, either online or in person if she’s swinging through your city. Check out her full in-studio set on KEXP with the other new homie , DJ Chilly.
Also worth watching. Ayyayyay candy galore
And a recent interview from the folks at KnocksteadyTV
When I saw this new video on UGSMAG, purveyors of new hiphop media for those seeking refuge from the swag and trap stylings of the day, I rushed to the record shop and copped the album Dialogue. After listening through and blabbing to the homies about how dope the whole album is, I was surprised to find out that the album actually came out in 2009. I’m more than a little embarrassed for managing to sleep on Thavius Beck, cause the album is more creative and cutting edge than most of the hip hop I’ve heard for a minute.
“Go” and the rest of Dialogue speak to my love for lyricism. Beck’s rapid fire delivery kinda reminds of me of Living Legends Eligh, however unlike many dense rhymers he shares space with his epic, degenerate beats in a sonic dialogue that shatters the standard verse/bar formula. If I had to go into battle against an army of soulless terminators – this is what I would bump before facing my fate. A Mush records signee and certified Ableton guru, Beck boasts collaborations ranging from Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta, Saul Williams’, and 2MEX. I will be watching/hoping for some new face-mashing music from dude soon.
For anyone who was a fan of the early 2000 contemporary soul movement, the name Bilal is hard to escape. He’s collaborated with a slew of popular artist that are commercially and artistically respected (Dr. Dre, Common, Erykah Badu, J-Dilla, and Shafiq Husayn immediately come to mind) in the midst of a career that’s seen its share of peaks and valleys. Bilal, who also happens to be a classically trained jazz singer, recently released his much anticipated second studio album, Airtight’s Revenge, four weeks ago and fans instantly recognized that it had been a resounding nine years since his first proper release. How could such a prolific singer who’s guest appeared on damned near every meaningful urban release of merit over the past decade only be on his second album? The answer is actually a harrowing story and during a recent hour-long interview, Bilal checked in with lastnightsmixtape to chat about new music, what he’s been up to during his assumed “layoff,” his latest inspirations, raising a son with autism, and lot’s more.
And if you didn’t already know, Bilal performs in Seattle this Saturday at Nectar with Xperience, DJ Topsin, and Choklate also supporting the show. Check out the full interview with video and mp3′s spliced in if you’re still trying to figure out if you should go.
You went quite awhile in between studio releases, but I’m sure that doesn’t mean you were unproductive during that stretch. What do most people not know about how you spent that time?
Bilal. A lot of people that haven’t really heard from me in awhile probably didn’t know that I was doing a lot of shows during this lay off. I’ve been with the same band for the past eight years now. We’ve been doing shows off the last major record that got bootlegged a couple of years ago, Love For Sale. So we been gigging in certain markets, but everyone doesn’t know that.
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It’s a great day whenever I get to chat it up with longtime Detroit stalwart DJ House Shoes. Although most folks know that Shoes is now located in Los Angeles, he’s still got the D on his back as the ambassador and general of Detroit hip-hop at all times. He’ll be performing in Seattle on Thursday, Sept. 30th at Soul Repair as part of the kick off night for the new hip-hop monthly called Enjoy, so I caught up with him via phone earlier this week. As always, Shoes was ready to talk much shit but also update everyone on his growth since moving to the West Coast, comment on his online popularity, and hit us with some Dilla stories as well.
Let’s talk about the Do-Over. For those that don’t know, what is it? And how did you become a part of it?
House Shoes: I went to the Do-Over the day after I got to Los Angeles, it was the first Sunday in July. I’d never seen anything like that in my life. It’s a day party, and it goes on every Sunday from Memorial Day to Halloween and goes from like 2pm to 10 pm. Sangria all day. Mad good people, and there’s a little bit of water on it now, I’m not going to front. But that’s what happens when you allow regular people into a scene like that. Anyway, they’ll book the best of anybody that’s in town. If Rich [Medina] is in town or Spinna is in town or any of the Djs Djs basically. They come through and rock. They want the best music from the best DJs. Benji B, DJ Scratch, whoever. It’s a great great event. Jamie Strong, Aloe Blacc, and Chris Haycock do a good job of putting it on. They did one in Portland, they did one in Puerto Rico. They’re really just scratching the surface.
I’ve been saying for awhile now on this blog that Miz Korona is the truth. Novice Detroit hip-hop fans might recognize her as the woman that battled Xzibit in the movie 8 Mile but she’s done a heck of a lot more with her music since that cameo. Her lyrical style is all strong-arm Detroit shit verse after verse but she’s sweet as pie in person. Get to know her if you’re unfamiliar. And support her most recent release, The Injection, which dropped over the summer.
Check out a quick interviewwith Miz Korona talking about The Injection with yours truly below the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Last Night’s Mixtape covers all types of good music, and in all locations around the world. Luckily, it just so happens that one of my personal favorite musicians happens to live right here in my home base of Seattle. His name is Ahamefule Oluo, and he and vocalist Okanomode are collaborators on a project called Reverie. The concept? A ten-piece pop opera, based on the theme of making choices that you know you will regret, but that feel right at the time.
I was able to catch up with Aham and Okanomode, and get a quick interview with them. It’s a little window into two of the most fertile creative minds in the Northwest. And for Seattle folks, their show is coming up this Saturday, at Lo-Fi, and tickets are going fast – get them at Now I’m Fine, the official site for the project (and yes, I don’t like calling things “projects” either, but there may be no better way to describe this undertaking).
It’s LxNxM’s first time doing an interview, so bear with our technical awesomeness!
