When it comes to Skateboard P’s portfolio, the Neptunes producer is definitely a “jack of all trades,” making his mark in music, design and fashion. In his most recent venture, Pharrell has partnered up with the United Entertainment Group to launch the “i am OTHER” Media Group. It’s described as “a content-driven property that spotlights new musicians, filmmakers, designers, artists and innovators through online, mobile and retail channels, TV shows and films.”

Stay tuned for future sightings.

Source: GLOBALGRIND

Sony Pictures has tapped its Oscar-winning “Social Network” scribe Aaron Sorkin to adapt “Steve Jobs,” Walter Isaacson’s bestselling biography of the late Apple co-founder. Scott Rudin will produce with Mark Gordon and Guymon Casady. Published late last year, “Steve Jobs” was Amazon’s best-selling book of 2011, selling more than 2.2 million hardcover copies.

“Steve Jobs’ story is unique: He was one of the most revolutionary and influential men not just of our time, but of all time,” said Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment. “There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself was: captivating, entertaining, and polarizing.”

This will be an epic movie. Stay tuned for more info.

What better way to start your “May 24″ LONG weekend than download the NEW Mixtape “Decompression” from our good hommie and Toronto RedBull Mix Champion – DJ Mensa.

In Mensa’s words this is a mix in exploration for gearing down and intended for the remains of the day.
Made of instrumentals, quirky re-edits and balladeering rappers.

DJ Mensa presents DECOMPRESSION
Please ENJOY responsibly.

To DOWNLOAD ‘DECOMPRESSION’ click HERE.

Visit http://www.djmensa.com

When she’s not Twitter beefing with T.I. and Lil Kim or getting crowned a fashion icon by high-end designers like Alexander Wang, upstart artist Azealia Banks is still making some provocative music. This morning (May 11), Banks, as promised, dropped a new track entitled “Jumanji” with production from weirdo-electronic composer Hudson Mohawke and Nick Hook from the group Cubic Zirconia.

The track is a bouncy, tropical exploration with Banks’ rapidfire, high-attitude rapping at the forefront. The Harlem native shouts out her hometown over production that’s basically a fanfare for the beginning of summer with steel drums, gigantic timpani hits and some large, explosive bass.

“Jumanji” is the first preview from her upcoming Fantastic mixtape, which is set for release this summer. Banks has her long-awaited 1991 EP coming out within the month and is also working towards her much-anticipated major label debut, entitled Broke With Expensive Taste, which has been scheduled for a release this fall.

Listen below. ENJOY.

Source: MTV

Here’s a preview of our next release by Toofless, “Perspective” Feat. Capone of Capone-N-Noreaga produced by the Dub Poets Collective.

28-year-old Feras Ibrahim is a UAE-based rapper of Sudanese origins. His hip-hop expression started to materialize at age of 17 after being inspired by acts such as Mos Def, Nas, Lost Boys, Wu Tang, Jehst, 9th Wonder and Talib Kweli. Formerly part of the renowned, forward-thinking and socially conscious hip hop collective ‘Diligent Thought’. Feras Ibrahim is now working on an experimental EP with DPC, Feras also performs regularly and is a vital member of Employees of the Month.

Dub Poets Collective (DPC) employ scores of international, musical and social influences fused into their heartfelt productions. Their music has been featured on many albums, mixtapes, television, documentary films, and major radio stations across the world. ENJOY.

To check out more music by the Dub Poets Collective click HERE.

Atlanta-by-way-of-San Diego spitter Ev4n Holt caught our attention back in February with “Streets Keep Callin’,” a fiery display of technical skill. And since then, he’s been wrapping up his latest project, the newly released x. Evan Holt EP.

It features the 20-year-old rapper flexing a laid-back, albeit attention-demanding, flow over production from buzzing producers Thelonious Martin and WhoAreI. The latter especially shines on standout track “Strangs,” a lovelorn storytelling joint with a cool, NYC vibe. Holt’s also jacked some beats on here, including Mobb Deep’s “The Releast” for “Streets Keep Callin’.”

If you have been looking new, honest, and raw to listen to these days, x.Evan Holt is most certainly for you.

(DOWNLOAD Link)

Source: COMPLEX

Filmmaker Ruth Hogben collaborates with award-winning musician Kanye West to create a film for his single Lost in the World. The song, which features Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, is taken from West’s fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Hogben’s piece breaks the mould of popular rap aesthetics while still celebrating the extraordinary talent that has made West a modern icon.

Maurice Sendak, widely considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century, who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche, died today in Danbury, Conn. He was 83.

Sendak was known in particular for more than a dozen picture books he wrote and illustrated himself, most famously “Where the Wild Things Are,” which was published by Harper & Row in 1963, and later was turned into a live action film in 2009 by critically-acclaimed filmmaker Spike Jonze. A must read for children.

With the passing of Adam Yauch (MCA) this morning, we also say goodbye to the original Beastie Boys, and lose a cornerstone of hip-hop. Not just of music, but of culture, of broken barriers, of human rights awareness, and of mind blowing music videos.

Here are some of my personal favorite Beastie Boys vids, mostly from their earlier days – back when they were reckless and spirited

RIP.

It’s great to see when things progress in life, non other can be said by LOOP Clothing faithful – MC J Shiltz.
J Shiltz is a Sauga City/Toronto MC who for years has been gaining notoriety on the underground circuit. A long time in the making, his first solo offering is certainly worth the wait. The new album “What I Stand For ” boasts production from Kev Brown, Rich Kidd, Lancecape, Smash Brovaz, and Philly’s own Lancecape, and features appearances from Illa J, Frank Nitt, Monolith, SonReal, and more. This album is a manifestation of, and testament to, the past, present, and future of Canadian hip-hop. This is the video for the second single “Chop It Up” produced by Rich Kidd and was directed by Evan Ciniello. Enjoy.

Download “What I Stand For” the debut album from J Shiltz for FREE at http://jshiltz.bandcamp.com

With New Jersey already in the rear view mirror after finishing outside of the playoff sphere, the Nets have unveiled the logo that will follow them to BK. Simplistic in both design and color – utilizing a black and white scheme paired with drawn basketball and team name – the logo has an old-school ABA vibe to it. Designed by minority owner Jay-Z and inspired by the New York City subway signs from 1957, only time will tell if a change of scenery and a uniform upgrade will take the Nets from Eastern Conference dwellers to Larry O’Brien trophy raisers.

SOURCE: Hypebeast

For sure to be another summer hit, new video “Where Have You Been” is here to remind you: Rihanna is hot in water. Rihanna is hot in MC Hammer pants. Rihanna is so hot that her hands are literally on (CGI) fire at one point.

Directed by Dave Meyers (Missy Elliott, Janet Jackson), “Where Have You Been” opens with Rihanna showcasing her best crocodile moves as she wades through a sexy swamp (those exist!) and slowly emerges from the water practically naked. She meets up with some male background dancers, proving that all that dance practice paid off — “Where Have You Been” is one of Rihanna most choreographed videos. (Someone needs to get started on the YouTube tutorial ASAP.) Then it’s time for Ri to dance in sync with a few GFs in some kind of shack and/or club where she sports a perm and a lace bodysuit that I’m currently looking for on the internet despite my friends’ suggestions to abort my “Operation: Dress Like Rihanna 2012.”

SOURCE: MTV

Rugged dancehall, shameless pop, hipster electro bangers, rude dubstep— South Rakkas does it all. A duo comprised of Alex Greggs and Dennis “D-Rakkas” Shaw, South Rakkas took an unusual path to become the dons of today’s digital funk. South Rakkas first gained fame for their blazing dancehall riddims (“Clappas,” “Red Alert,” “Bionic Ras,” “Chinkuzi” anyone?), which brought production work for stars like Mr. Vegas and Elephant Man. But it’s not for nothing that XLR8R recently praised South Rakkas for their “boundary-pushing” powers; indeed, these futuristic rhythm killers can’t be held down to any one sound or style. SRC can flex from Beenie Man and Bounty Killer one moment, T-Pain the next, and then on to the likes of M.I.A., Lily Allen, Beck, Duran Duran, Justin Timberlake, The Bug, Warrior Queen, Britney Spears, Shakira and Yo Majesty—all of whom have been touched by South Rakkas’ edgy studio savvy. Those skills came about when Greggs and Shaw met up working at the same recording studio.

Both had roots in the local hip-hop/reggae scene: Greggs created beats for local rap groups and, erm, Barenaked Ladies, while Shaw spent a misspent youth as charismatic, party-starting DJ (“Rakkas” is in fact a local West Indian slang term for “rockers” reggae music that Shaw used to put on his DJ flyers to indicate his parties’ music policy). The concept for SRC first hatched, though, when Greggs and Shaw moved to Orlando, Florida to become a crucial part of ‘N Sync’s production team. There, the pair decided South Rakkas Crew, would combine both their strengths.

The plan was simple: Greggs would hold down the pop/dance production side in Florida (his work with the archetypal boy band on smash albums like Pop would catapult him into the pantheon of platinum-plated star producer/mixer/remixers); Shaw, meanwhile, would travel to ruffneck Kingston, Jamaica, where an introduction from his brother-in-law Mr. Vegas gave him access to dancehall’s top talent. Rakkas’ first riddim, “Clappas,” quickly proved a major island smash, paving the way for many more; Jamaican and non-Jamaican audiences alike also appreciated SRC’s talent for fusing hook-laden song structure with sound-system destroying beats.

This unique combo of hit-making production and arrangement with hard-hitting dancehall sonics set the stage for SRC’s inevitable global takeover. While South Rakkas keeps a foot in the pop game—Greggs was working with Michael Jackson on new material before the King of Pop died, and recently remixed the likes of BeyoncÈ, Kelis and LMFAO—they’ve also been acclaimed by the underground and critics alike. When beat king Diplo put out South Rakkas’ Mad Again and The Mix Up eps on his Mad Decent label, the blogosphere proved unanimous in its praise: Prefix raved about Mix Up’s “production perfection,” while Thom Yorke recently dropped the Boy 8-Bit mix of “Mad Again” while guest DJing on Gilles Peterson’s BBC radio show.

You can catch this amazing duo LIVE on tour this coming Friday @ Jane Bond in Waterloo. This is ONE not to be missed.

here is a video of them LIVE in Latvia:

Friday, March 30th
SOUTH RAKKAS CREW
with DJ Dow Jones and DJ Charless
$5 at the door
Doors at 9 PM
19+
Starlight, 47 King St N. , Waterloo | 519 885-4970 |

Jeremy Rose says he helped create the project’s aesthetic, produced tracks including “What You Need” and “The Morning”, didn’t get money or credit

When the Weeknd appeared out of nowhere almost exactly a year ago, the music on versions of some of the earliest and biggest tracks– “What You Need”, “Loft Music” and “The Morning”– were credited to Canadian producer Jeremy Rose. But his name was soon scrubbed from the Weeknd’s material. Rose recently spoke to VICE about his work with Abel Tesfaye and co., implying that he was not only essential to the Weeknd’s early production, but helped envision the entire project’s aesthetic:

“I asked him if he wanted to work on something– I had this idea for a dark R&B project… Abel seemed to suit the project.

When I met him I heard some of the stuff that he was doing. It was called the Noise… They were a straight kind of R&B, just really light… And I was just like, ‘Aw, fuck that shit. No man, let’s talk about, fuckin’ and getting too high and trying to fuck bitches and it not working out. Let’s get really grimy about it.’”

After they got close, Rose alleges Tesfaye “wouldn’t respect his opinion,” or pay him and “things went sour” when he asked Tesfaye for credit on the songs. “I’ve never heard from him since I told him I didn’t want to work with him anymore,” he said. No legal action has been taken, but Rose says, “We’ll work on it [getting money].”

When Pitchfork reviewed the Weeknd’s House of Balloons last year, we originally credited Rose (who now operates under the production name Zodiac) in our review. When the review went up, we received this e-mail from Weeknd crew member La Mar Taylor:

“to whom ever this may concern, i am a rep for The Weeknd and it has been brought to my attention that there is an error in the article you guys wrote up for best new music. Jeremy Rose was NOT a producer on the album. Doc McKinney and Illangelo helped compose the songs on the album with The Weeknd. Look on the weeknds tweets and friendslist for proof. Jeremy Rose is not mentioned atleast once”

Carlo Montagnese– the producer who goes by the name Illangelo– also emailed us, saying: “Joe Colly’s album review credits Jermey Rose on production, this is incorrect. Production on House Of Balloons headed by Doc McKinney & Illangelo.”

No one from the Weeknd’s XO crew responded to our requests for comment on the VICE article.

Listen to the version of “The Morning” Rose claims he produced:

Article by: Carrie Battan via Pitchfork.com

While on the set of a Terry Richardson photoshoot, Odd Future performed/recorded an impromptu music video for “Oldie.” Each taking a turn at the spotlight reminiscent of Yo! MTV Raps, the LA-based collective was in top form as each member’s unique individual style shined through.

Always animated radio personality and music culture “psychic” Nardwuar kept busy at the recent SXSW. In this candid interview, he catches up with rapper A$AP Rocky and A$AP Mob to learn about their connections to the Black Ink Gallery, find out their favorite soul food eaters in Harlem and — true to form, hand out a few musical gifts as well.

Storied lifestyle clothing company LRG sends its skate team to Tokyo for its new Skate The Void edit. In the short video, team riders Rodrigo TX, Chico Brenes, Kelly Hart, Felipe Gustavo, Karl Watson, and Masataka Yamashiro join up for a rousing jam session in an indoor skatepark before hitting up some of the unique street topography that only Tokyo could offer.

Based on Jay Z and Kanye West’s “N*ggas in Paris”, La Shea Delaney & Annabelle Quezada spoof the acclaimed hip hop track.