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Remembering GURU & Trane on July 17

Wow... All alone here in the crib, living the hip hop lifestyle, up at 4 PM for breakfast after a long night of writing hits to future-bangers produced by the homie Alexander the Great (ATG)...

And with the Yankees losing in the background (RIP George Steinbrenner & Bob Sheppard), all I want to do is pay tribute to two music legends, because I think that's what today is all about. Not the heat in the city. Not Lindsay Lohan. Right now, not even the oil in the Gulf. Because some days are meant for celebration, for remembrance. Put aside the complaints about sweaty pits and stinky hippies, the fascination with celebrity trash and (just for a moment) the fear of a dying planet...

And pour a little out for these great artists (I got my Corona Light x Patron Silver x lemon & lime). We could all learn something.

Keith "GURU" Elam



Now that we're gettin somewhere, you know we got to give back /
For the youth is the future, no doubt that's right and exact /
Squeeze the juice out, of all the suckers with power /
And pour some back out, so as to water the flowers /
This world is ours, that's why the demons are leary /
It's our inheritance; this is my Robbin Hood Theory...

** Play "Robbin Hood Theory" (Gang Starr) **

GURU was my favorite emcee growing up. He is most famous for his work with DJ Premier in the rap group Gang Starr. He also made a number of Jazzmatazz albums, collaborating with jazz legends to produce some of the greatest jazz-hip hop blends we've ever heard. (I think Coltrane would have been proud.) GURU would have been 49 today.

Click here to read the GYMR GURU Obituary/Remembrance following his untimely death.

John William "Trane" Coltrane



John Coltrane died 43 years ago to this day. He wasn't even 41. But his music and his legacy live on. Since I make "angry rap music", when I want to kick back or get inspired, that's usually not what I listen to. I dig the stuff hip hop got its roots in, like the instrumentals of the iconic saxophonist and composer they called Trane. (I think GURU would have been proud to be mentioned 'alongside' Coltrane on this date.)

Cop A Love Supreme, Giant Steps and Coltrane's other albums here.










This post written by AWKWORD.

'The Great Divide: Who's getting paid (and how much) in the music industry'

If you thought the life of most musicians was comparable to the blissful and blinged-out existences of Kanye and Rihanna, you've clearly not heard much about our ever-desiccating music industry...

(Excerpted from "The Music Industry's Funny Money", July 6, 2010, the Root.)

Celebrating 15-Years with Duck Down Records

Last night, my guy Whatzisface and I joined artist Jamelah and a friend at the Duck Down 15-Year Anniversary Party at BB Kings in Midtown Manhattan. Kicked it with Statik Selaktah (see below), Poison Pen, Swave Sevah, Donnis, Ruste Juxx, DJ Eclipse, Cold Heat, Skyzoo and Kosha Dillz (passing out flyers in his tank top!).


[AWKWORD x Statik Selektah; Photo by Jamelah.]

"Evil Dee is on the mix, come on kick it!"... I saw Kidz in the Hall rock for the first time -- and they killed it. The guest appearances from Styles P, Talib Kweli, Immortal Technique, Jean Grae and Large Professor were all even better than they sound. Sean P is, well, P! And then there's Pharoahe Monch, spokesman for Guns 4 Cameras (a.k.a Aim to Live), who indisputably stole the show.

Duck Down, if you've been sleeping for the last decade and a half, is the rock of East Coast independent hip hop. The label, run by Dru Ha and Buckshot, has maintained its core (e.g., Heltah Skeltah & Smif-N-Wessun), while bolstering its roster with fresh new talent such as Kidz in the Hall and the homie Ruste Juxx, as well as adding cult-hero veterans like Pharoahe.

It felt good to be hip hop on July 13, 2010.

See below for videos of most of the show, thanks to E2 Productions.
































Written by AWKWORD.

AWKWORD (@AWKWORDrap) x Statik Selektah (@StatikSelekt) at BB Kings

AWKWORD x Statik Selektah, Duck Down Records 15-Year Anniversary Party, BB Kings, July 13, 2010. Photo by Jamelah.

Too Dope To Notice: Brown Bag AllStars (FREE AUDIO/VIDEO)

Brown Bag AllStars (BBAS) live up to their name, providing that too-dope-to-notice New York City street sound, with a twist of nerd cool. This is that modern-day boom bap that tips its cap to the past but keeps it moving. We had a chance to see Brown Bag AllStars live at SOBs the night of the Cold Heat album release party, and the hometown heroes didn't disappoint, despite the formidable lineup consisting of Sadat X, Rahzel, Large Professor, Craig G, Torae, Poison Pen, PackFM, etc. These BBAS guys are talented, period.



If you ain't heard of our homies Audible Doctor, J57, KONCEPT, Soul Khan, E Holla, Deejay Element and DJ Goo, then go Get Your Mind Right!

NEW BBAS



Brown Bag AllStars - The Agenda (prod. J57)

One of two Brown Bag AllStars tracks featured on 2DopeBoyz.com's upcoming mixtape "A (2)dope Mixtape: Empire State Edition", produced by Brown Bag's own J57.

*DOWNLOAD*



Audible Doctor - "Free"

The first single off The Audible Doctor's "Some Stuff" freEP dropping later in 2010 in promotion of his full-length solo debut "Trust Me, I'm A Doctor" (No Money Records).

*DOWNLOAD*

More BBAS





Soul Khan - Soulstice <-- click to download

Soul Khan - Kids Today (prod. J57) <-- click to download

Audible Doctor - A Chance to Say (ft. Sene) <-- click to download

Bang Your Head To This: Shabaam Sahdeeq 'Off Parole' (FREE AUDIO/VIDEO)

BRAND-NEW VIDEO FOR THE TRACK "FREAKY FLOW" OFF SHABAAM SAHDEEQ'S OFF PAROLE ALBUM.

If you like that gritty, heart-felt New York City street hip hop music, then bang your head to this...

BUY THE ALBUM: CLICK HERE, OR CLICK THE FRONT OR BACK COVER BELOW.





And because we're nice guys here, enjoy this banger for free...

Song: Connect 4 pt. 2
Artists: Shabaam Sahdeeq, Skyzoo, Sha Stimuli & Chaundon
Producer: Thorotracks
Album: Off Parole
Download: CICK HERE

(For more from Shabaam Sahdeeq, click here. And look out for new work from SDub with the GYMR resident emcee AWKWORD, coming soon.)

GURU Memorial Date Set by Elan Family

R.I.P.
[July 17, 1961 - April 20, 2010]

On July 18, 2010, Family and friends will celebrate the life of GURU of Gang Starr, hip hop icon. The memorial will be held at the University of Massachusetts Boston campus.

The Elan family launched GuruTribute.com for fans to view video from the ceremony, as well as share their own memories of GURU and how his music impacted their lives.

For more on GURU, his life and death, his music, and all the tributes to him from other artists, click here.

Follow us here or here to get the latest news.

Revolutionary Rap: The Anti-Injustice Movement Presents: Lyrical Warfare (ft. AWKWORD, Block McCloud, Capital X, Monte Smith and more)

01: Street Poet Monte Smith - Talk The Talk
02: AWKWORD - Can't Stop Won't Stop (feat. Block McCloud & Riles)
03: Beast 1333 - The Global Resistance (feat. Lyrical Agent & Plato)
04: SAI - Taking AIM
05: Stream Of Consciousness - Disorder
06: Street Poet Monte Smith, Perseverance and DJ Vadim - Pull'n Your Card
07: Gabe 'V-Non' Rosales - Still Stays
08: Lyrical Agent - Open Your Eyes
09: Stream of Consciousness - Legend Begun
10: Greydon Square - Counter Argument
11: Perseverance & Capital-'X' - Business
12: The Welfare Poets - Warn Them
13: Eastborn - Blair Witch Project
14: Capital-'X' - We All In The Same Gang

Buy it on iTunes HERE.

The Anti-Injustice Movement (AIM) is a global movement of activists, political emcees and protest poets who are fighting together to achieve the slow but steady destruction of global injustice.

Joell Ortiz v. Gentrification

SLAUGHTERHOUSE!



Joell Ortiz saw gentrification engulf Greenpoint from the vantage of the Cooper Park housing projects. As the new millennium began, the 31-year-old rapper noticed the first changes sprouting up with "a little condominium here, a loft setup there." Before the influx of high-income housing, his section of Brooklyn suffered from a domino-effect blight: "My area was really drug-infested 'cause across from us was a shelter with a lot of drug addicts—the drugs bring the money, and the money leads to violence." But not these days. "Now, it's ridiculous. They brought in the hipsters, brought in the yuppies, and built up the big condos that no one in my 'hood can afford."

To read the rest of this important HIP HOP story, click above or here.

We Love Body Art -- Naked Women + Graffiti

We swear, this IS art!







For access to the best body-painting parties, follow our friends The Human Canvas (THC) here or here.

M.I.A. is Back

Full disclosure: We have a serious crush on M.I.A. So, we didn't waste too much time getting this Complex interview up on the site.

Side note: We did notice Complex's jab at the Sri Lankan superstar singer; I guess even Complex has trouble sometimes getting artists to respond. *sigh*

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam doesn't trust Google. Sure, the company's motto is "Don't be evil," but she's not fooled. He who controls information controls power, and she's never been one to relinquish control easily. After a childhood spent missing an activist father who was on the lam from the Sri Lankan government, she came to music after touring with a band as a videographer—and then created a global fanbase before she'd ever done a live show. This isn't some doe-eyed ingenue who caught a producer's eye; this is the first true success story of Internet DIY music (sorry, Drake).

Even now, on the verge of her third album, the globe-trotting MC/producer/Oscar nominee/tastemaker is as restless as ever. She spoke to us from the U.K., nestled in her mum's home with her 1-year-old son, Ikhyd. Ikhyd's grandpa may be a billionaire (Maya's man Ben Bronfman is the son of Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr.), but M.I.A. is determined for her child to grow up outside a life of easy comfort. He might not be lacking, but he damn sure won't be slacking.

Click the above, or here, to read the interview.

A Woman's Side: Aubrey O'Day, D. Woods Respond To Slim Thug

So... maybe this is an excuse to post a bunch of pics of Aubrey O'Day; or, maybe Aubrey O'Day (perhaps despite the pics) has a point...









Please. Drop the delusions of grandeur, gents. We see right through you! This paper-thin layer of unjustifiable ‘swagger’ and pseudo-confidence is simply masquerading the vulnerability and self-doubt of the modern day man. The subtext is clear… spineless men of all creeds are waving the proverbial white flag of defeat. Unable to cope with the demands of a new class of empowered, strong-willed and fiercely independent women, they’ve resorted to projecting their insecurities on those that, god forbid, expect them to live up to their potential....

FIRE: Sha Stimuli - "123" x "Believe" (FREE AUDIO)

The homie Sha Stimuli stay killing it on the regular, dropping off heaters to tide us over until the next full-length. We stay playing these two newest joints:

1) "123"

2) "Believe"

For more from the emcee they call The Present, click here, here or here. See below for his contributions to AWKWORD's World View.

• Sha Stimuli World View Promo by Awkword

More Awkword music on iLike