This animated gif, which depicts rapper Charles Hamilton getting punched in the face during a impromptu battle, was taken from an equally funny video. Watch it here

posted by: Harold Johns III

“Hip-Hop” is from Dead Prez‘s first album Lets Get Free. The instrumental version of “Hip Hop” was used as Dave Chappelle’s entrance music for his show on Comedy Central. Look for Dead Prez’s latest album Information Age sometime this year.

posted by: Harold Johns III

This is the official music video for “All You Hipsters”, the first single off Spence‘s latest album Planet Pluto, out May 13. The video was directed by Ben Kimball and shot in Lawrence, KS at various hot spots like the 8th Street Taproom, Wild Man Vintage, KJHK, and Yokohama. We very much enjoyed the running “Dickfork” jokes and their not-so-subtle references to the editors of Pitchfork Media.

Best line: “Drink so much coffee the chick from True Blood could probably catch a buzz off of drinking my blood”

Find out more about Spence via his MySpace

posted by: Harold Johns III

“The first video from the legendary Gil Scott-Heron’s XL debut, a strange and wonderful collision. Scott-Heron’s voice is aggressive here, maybe more so than we remember. It’s a different kind of anger than present on his long career’s worth of social protest songs (and social protest jokes). The video, of Day of the Dead face painted skaters, continues the grim vibe. Scott-Heron only appears in poster form and then briefly through garbled static, a real myth. We posted the MP3 of this track a few weeks back, be sure to grab it to hold you over until the album’s February release.” (source: fader)

Download an mp3 of “Me and the Devil” here

For further listening we also highly suggest these albums by Gil-Scott Heron:
Pieces of a Man – 1971 – RCA Records
It’s Your World – 1976 – TVT Records
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (compilation) -  1988 (orignal) Bluebird , 2009 (reissue) Hi Horse Records

posted by: Harold Johns III

If you didn’t get a chance to watch Colbert Report last night, you missed a good one. Snoop Dogg dropped by to talk about…you guessed it, weed. And to also preform “I Wanna Rock” from his new record Malice in Wonderland which is out now.

www.colbertnation.com

www.colbertnation.com

posted by: Harold Johns III

“Same Song” is a 1991 single from Oakland, CA alternative hip hop group Digital Underground. The song comes from Digital Underground’s second certified Gold record This is an EP Release and was also featured on the decent soundtrack for the terrible film Nothing But Trouble starring Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, and John Candy – which explains why the actors repeatedly appear in the video.

Besides being a classic of West Coast hip hop, “Same Song” is highly innovative in its approach. Never before had a hip hop single been so successful at integrating the use of live instrumentation (like the organ solo at the end) with elements from sampled music.  A technique future hip hop groups like The Roots and Outkast would also embrace.

This is also a landmark for soon-to-be rap legend Tupac Shakur, who made his debut on “Same Song,” and who you’ll see portrayed as an African king in the video.

posted by: Harold Johns III