by Brian Gabriel

Taking the the stage at HTC’s One launch over the weekend, Pharrell surprised fans by performing his brand new Daft Punk collaborative track, “Get Lucky,” for the first time, live. Hosted at the House of Vans in Brooklyn, Pharrell also treated fans to a new reggae-inspired single that he produced for Busta Rhymes, called “Twerk It.” P performed “Get Lucky” three times in a row for those in attendance.

by Brian Gabriel

Yasiin Bey fka Mos Def brought out Kanye West during his epic live show with Robert Glasper Experiment at La Bataclan in Paris last Thursday, apparently just to watch people’s heads explode, Clayton Bigsby-style. Yasiin is a beast. Glasper is a monster. And the full RGE ensemble is a whole Monster Island full of bad-ass creators. So throwing Kanzilla into that already explosive mix was bound to cause a musical meltdown of historic proportions. As with just about anything worth mentioning that goes on France-side, MC*5 made it happen and our guy with the eye Mr. Mass was there to document everything for the history books (not to mention the coffee table books and the rhyme textbooks). We’ll save the dissertations for future rap scholars, though–right now just relive the moment via Massoud’s highlights reel (below) of the performance.

via Okayplayer

by Ben Brock Wilkes

In 2001, Yeah Yeah Yeahs released a 13-minute self-titled EP with a punk song on it called “Art Star.” In between choruses of guttural howls and cutesy doo doo doo’s, a 22-year-old Karen Orzolek talk-sang in a voice that is now as recognizable as her outfits, “I’ve been working on a piece that speaks of sex and desperation… I got a dealer in Tokyo, I got a rep in Paris, I got an agent in Rome; Shit, I got a gallery in New York!” Though at the time this was in all likelihood a facetious mockery of her peers at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Yeah Yeah Yeahs now have business connections across the globe and it’d be hard to find two nouns to better describe Orzolek’s singing voice. Hell, she’s been asked to be the cover model for Playboy—not that she took it. The band has released three critically, and publically, acclaimed albums in the past decade and have recorded songs like “Maps,” that most sentient fans of 21^st century rock would at the very least recognize at its opening guitar tremolo. Despite what adds up to be enormous pressure to ‘sell-out,’ for lack of a better word, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have chosen to maintain the freedom of expression that they owe themselves. Mosquito, the band’s fourth full-length is no exception. The last track on the turn-of-the-century EP is a delightfully messy garage interpolation of “Crimson and Clover,” which features Karen crooning, “It’s the year to be hated.” For the trio that remains in tact twelve years later, 2013 is the year to be loved.

Continue reading “Album Review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito” »

by Mark J. Miller

When it comes to headphones, it’s all about whose head they’re sitting on. Last summer at the Olympic Games in London, plenty of companies shelled out millions to be official sponsors, but one that didn’t bother was likely the biggest winner. Beats by Dre headphones kept getting airtime on international TV as athlete after athlete seemed to be sporting them.

These days, the business started by one of the world’s most influential—and richest—rappers, Dr. Dre. is commanding top billing among audio equipment providers. Dre is sitting extra pretty after HTC bought a 51 percent stake in the company in 2011 to the tune of a reported $100 million. (HTC later sold back 25 percent to Dre and co-founder Jimmy Iovine for $125 million.)

And while other headphone brands employ sub-par spokesmen and pseudo-celebrity ambassadors, Beats by Dre is busy outfitting hip-hop celebrities like will.i.am and Nicki Minaj with its over the ear equipment. It doesn’t hurt that Dre is a huge celebrity himself, and that Iovine is often seen wearing the headphones during his mentoring stints on American Idol.

As for Minaj, who is finishing up a stint as a judge on American Idol and recently announced a new line of clothing and gear with Sears, she recently debuted her Beats by Dre “Pink Pill” speakers, adding another lucrative layer to the endorsement pie.

Beats also formed a partnership with will.i.am and Coca-Cola on Ekocycle, which used recycled materials to make products, including a special-edition pair of Beats.

Continue reading “Beats by Dre’s Latest Ambassador: ‘Small but Loud’ Nicki Minaj” »

by Brian Gabriel

Just as the weather here in NYC begins to get in the 80′s, Brooklyn-native Theophilus London hits us with his newest single “Rio” backed by Brooklyn’s own Menahan Street Band. Produced by London & Menahan’s Thomas Brennek. ”Rio” is a soulful tune, showing more Theophilus’ continual growth and evolution.

“I went to Rio in 2010 to play a festival alongside Erykah Badu and Femi Kuti and it was incredible. The trip gave me so much energy and I met so many amazing people that it inspired me to make a song in Rio’s honor,”  - Theophilus London

Theophilus will be performing “Rio” on the main stage at Coachella Saturday April 13th and April 20th.

by Drew Malmuth

If you are trying to understand youth culture in a given region over the last three decades, the local rap groups are an informative place to start.  Hip-hop groups, particularly the iconic ones, become uniquely defined by the locales that they hail from.  Whether intentionally or not, these rappers soak up their cultural surroundings like a sponge and then splatter them back out, offering a glimpse into the “scene” of a certain time and place.  Souls of Mischief, N.W.A.,Wu-Tang Clan – these groups were emblematic not only for their music but because they distilled the disparate cultural elements around them into something cohesive.  While they may not belong in the category of icons, Odd Future is a no less potent representation of the area that they spring from.  To put it simply, they are a rap manifestation of a generation of skaters from Southern California that are obnoxious but also magnetic because they are funny, sometimes witty, and always doing stupid shit.  I grew up around this.  I saw it almost everyday.  And so listening to Wolf, the third album from Tyler, The Creator, feels a lot like going back to my high school.  It’s exciting, interesting, a little annoying, and it elicits a strong desire to get baked.

Continue reading “Album Review & Stream: Tyler The Creator – Wolf” »

Henry Rollins and Pharrell Williams sat down to hash out the major issues of our day from education reform and politics to dealing with personal challenges.

by Brian Gabriel

While many of New York was having lunch, those in the SoHo area got treated to a lunchtime improvised musical performance today by ?uestlove and fellow music maker Rahzel. The duo performed while atop a parking structure and against a backdrop of a 50-foot-tall by 52-foot-wide wall mural of ?uestlove in the background.

The event was held to show the spirit and importance of collaboration in music and to kickoff the Red Bull Music Academy– 34 nights of music, workshops and lectures to be held in New York City this spring. With ?uestlove on drums and Rahzel on the mic, the duo performed a 20-minute impromptu and unrehearsed set to more than 300 enthusiastic attendees. In the spirit of inspiration, collaboration and making new music — core themes of the Red Bull Music Academy — both artists played off each other by creating beats, throwing lyrics — all in celebration of things to come.

by Brian Gabriel

The Jessie Ware has been flying left and right in front of our eyes for quite some time now and over the last few month’s, her voice has been easing its way into our playlist from her debut album, Devotion. Even still, with the record not being released in North America but Interscope is set to drop it on April 16th in addition to two new tracks with this being one of them, featuring A$AP Rocky. Listen Up!

by Brian Gabriel

Here’s the official release for Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience  2nd single, where he’s taken the opportunity to share the surprisingly morose, two-part clip for “Mirrors,” directed by Floria Sigismondi. The video’s rife with mirrors, both literal and metaphorical, as it follows a series of love stories through good times and bad, then moves into a carnival fun house of mirrors where Justin himself gets personal. Check it out below.