I was going to pen something about the new Wale mixtape that has the internets going nuts right now, but then I spotted this piece by my colleague and homey Sarah Godfrey. Its one thing to be a blogger writing about a free mixtape download after the fact, but to get a piece in The [...]

A lot of artists, promoters, publicists etc have been hitting me up lately for coverage here or at the City Paper. Let me give yall a lil game…

If you got a graphic, make sure that it scales down to 500 pixels wide. Thats a good rule of thumb for posting it to blogs, it makes [...]

Any readers get a chance to check that show out last weekend at the Black Cat?
Word on the block is he was supposed to go on at 11 and showed up at 12:30. And what’s the low on KRS’ no air conditioning while he is the building policy…? Anyone?
(photo from Flickr by by K. Lamont [...]

Via the hillarious FailBlog

I’ve haven’t had a post on The Washington City Paper’s music blog Black Plastic Bag in a while. Even my mom was like “why don’t you post to your blog anymore?”
Here’s a piece I wrote on the upcoming Fresh Fest Old School Reunion
Double bonus: A piece on Sam The Man Burn’s birthday party tonite!

NYTimes article from Thursday about Graffiti Artists and Fulbright Scholar Steve ‘Espo’ Powers. Check it out. More of Espo’s work here at WhatYouWrite.com
A love of graffiti has gained Steve Powers notoriety on the streets, fame in the art world and a long arrest sheet. It has also earned him a Fulbright scholarship.
see mom, [...]

LOL the vote. Ummm, yeah. I’m just gonna stop blogging before I start something…

About our government’s torture practices. Via ACLU

Its bigger than the government…HIP HOP
UPSET THE SETUP. NO MORE CIA. WE WANT CHANGE IN AMERICA!

DJ Shadow
930 Club -  815 V ST NW WDC
8pm Doors | WED. JUL. 16 | $35.00
Just Announced

I’ve never seen Shadow before - definitely making a move to check this.

The super hyped Wale mixtape drops tomarrow. It’s a Mixtape about Nothing. There’s a release party on Saturday at Commonwealth on Florida Ave in Adams Morgan/U Street. Wear fly kicks.
The internets would go straight nuts if I uploaded those Wale exclusives (which are NOT from this mixtape BTW) I got my digimitts on the other [...]

Los Angeles Hip Hop Artist and media maven Xzibit posted on his MySpace blog on Monday that his infant newborn Xavier Kingston Joiner passed after a complicated premature birth. Story here from E! Online.
Our condolences to Xzibit and his family.  I have always been a big fan of his music and wish strength for him [...]

Look, I’m not a celebrity blossip fan, but this is kinda Upset The Setup worthy. From TMZ, via Washington City Paper
R&B boy toy Ray J was tossed out on his behind early Saturday morning from the Hyatt Regency in D.C., because Brandy’s bro allegedly had a stash of marijuana and a drug called “Boat” (a [...]

From the Washington City Paper City Desk:
About a hour ago, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty showed up at Fort Reno park, along with a gaggle of District and federal officials, to sound the all clear for arsenic.
…
Before the press conference, a beret-wearing Fenty picked up one Deal student’s cell phone and sent the good news to [...]

From TampaBay.com:
It’s sad but true: Tampa Bay is a brutal market for major R&B and hip-hop concerts. West, Beyonce and Keys are multiplatinum superstars that have fans of all ages, genders and races. I want them to come back. But do you?
Interesting bit of news. Is the slump directed towards mainstream out of town acts, [...]

This is dope. spread the word. I’m glad somebody is putting 100K beats and 5 grand up. that’s a good look, but what else would you expect from the people involved?
ANNOUNCING THE 100K BATTLE
BROUGHT TO YOU BY URSESSION.COM & THE WAKE UP SHOW
PARTICIPATING PRODUCERS:
PETE ROCK * DJ MUGGS * J DILLA (R.I.P.) * 9TH WONDER [...]

TELLaLIEvision has some pretty heavy words for Nas who in a recent interview with URB, admitted to “never once donating to a charity or special cause.”
A guy who has had platinum records for the past 12 years says he hasn’t donated to charity…YET.
And the Mcdonald’s quote? Well, yeah, we can safely say Steve Stoute is [...]

Look, we don’t get to vote for much around here in DC, so I wanted to pass this along to all my district residents. UPSET THE SETUP - they SHOULD say Taxation Without Representation.
Would you rather have Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Banneker, or Duke Ellington represent the District of Columbia on the Quarter?  Visit the voting site [...]

Just got word of this dope show tonight at the Rock and Roll Hotel featuring Rhymesayers artists Eyedea and Abilities as well as local favorites Educated Consumers.
May, 27 2008
EYEDEA & ABILITIES “APPETITE FOR DISTRACTION” TOUR
Featuring special guest Educated Consumers
ROCK AND ROLL HOTEL
1353 H STREET, NW, Washington DC 20002
$10 ONLINE/$12 DOOR ALL AGES SHOW, BRING YOUR [...]

Double Bonus: Fox News runs with the talking point…

(Thanks to stylus for the IM link)

The heads at Inner Loop Records are back doing big things for the DC DMV (my bad) hip hop producer scene. They’ve got a great line-up of events this weekend - check em out for a full line up.
Chop It Up Weekend May 29th-31st
The Past, Present and Future of Hip Hop Production
Events and Locations:

Illmatic Remix [...]