Friday, June 27, 2008

Flix: All Eyes On Me Awards (06.21.08)

The full recap with text and more photos is coming soon. Until then, enjoy this little taste of the All Eyes On Me Awards weekend.

All photos shown below were taken by me - Sketch the Journalist. So if you swipe 'em, please give credit where it's due.

Friday Night Kick-Off Party Fellowship
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San Diego's RedCloud rips it with a "pull-out-your-pockets" freestyle
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NY's Whuteva (formerly of G-Unit) & Changdwumn in the house

Saturday Workshops & Panel Discussions
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Panel A: How real do we have to keep it?

At the table: Sparky D (Roxanne, Roxanne Wars), Mrs. Rocc, Sean Slaughter, Pettidee, Whuteva, Chile Baby & Solo (Gospel Gangstaz), and E-Rock (5th Ward Boys)

Red Carpet
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Secta7 founders: Black Seed, Rehab, Last Testament, Optix

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Jacksonville, Florida's Pettidee gets an interview

Main Ceremony
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Bless'T, Ganksta Loc, and 007 (5th Ward Boys) set it off

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Honoring the Classic Era MCs: Ras, Pettidee, Corey Red, & Elle Roc

After Party
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Bushwick Bill (Geto Boys) on the ultimate open-mic: Two turntables and a microphone in a crowded hallway before the After Party

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Watch DJ Promote work on the Interwebs

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Promote's hallway open mic party at the AEOM Awards - Photo by Sketch the Journalist

Well, he's not actually working ON this thing called the Internet (although it could use some improvements), but you can watch him recording and scratching stuff for the new Kaboose record.

Peep it live via the Syntax Records community site (http://www.cafesyntax.com/) and Justin.tv each day this week roughly after lunchtime Texas time.

Here's the linkage.

While you're there, do yourself a favor and download his killer "Stick This In Your Ear" mixtape for FREE from Datpiff.com.

BTW, my All Eyes On Me Awards recap (with lots of photos) is coming soon. I'm still resizing, renaming, and uploading photos in addition to catching up on a lot of lost sleep.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Vidz: KJ, Poems, RedCloud

New (or at least new to me) videos from KJ-52, Poems, and RedCloud. I love the variety of style that is shown here. I think I just need a good Dirty South and NY/East Coast cut to hit to for the cycle.

KJ-52: "Do Yo Thang"
Blinged-out muppet mascots and soccer moms with bottles of Cheer! What more could you ask for?

UPDATE: I think just pegged the reference. Looks like KJ's been getting in some "Yo! Gabba Gabba" with his little boy lately.

do yo thang


Poems: "Love"
Smoothed out cut about the greatest power known to man. Look for cameos by Pigeon John, Stro, and Propaganda(?)


RedCloud: "Boulevard Knights"
Hard rock goes soft and shares his heart.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Awards: Workshops Location Change # 2


Heads up that the AEOM Awards workshops and panel discussions have been moved back to the original location of the Hilton Garden Inn Houston Northwest.

Please tell everyone you know about this change. Workshops will start at 10am, a catered lunch will be provided, and tickets are only $8 (sold at the door.)

Here's the old/new/current location:

View Larger Map
And the lineup:

Session A (10am - 11:30am): Panel discussion 1
Topic:
How real do you have to keep it?
Participants: Lil Keke, E-Rock (5th Ward Boys), Gospel Gangstaz, Whuteva, Sean Slaughter, Pettidee, Sparky D (Roxanne, Roxanne Wars)

Session B (11:30am – 12:30pm): Workshop Class
Independent label marketing – A Q&A session with Tim Trudeau of Syntax Records (Braille, RedCloud, LA Symphony, Night Owls, etc) hosted by Sketch the Journalist

Lunch break
- Grab food and return to seat for next session.

Session C (12:30pm – 2pm): Panel discussion 2
Topic:
Social issues: Worthy topic for Christian MCs or something we've ceded to the mainstream market?
Participants: Corey Red, k-Drama, Danny Wilson (Holy Hip Hop, Inc.), Fros'T, LG Wise, Stephen Wiley, Lil Keke, E-Rock (5th Ward Boys), Big Toe (Soulfruit), DJ Ovadose

Once the workshops are done, head down FM 1960 about 20 minutes to Copperfield Church for the rest of the day's events (red carpet, main ceremony, after party.)


View Larger Map

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Where are all the Christian Rap Critics? (Part 2 of 2)

Ratatouille's food critic Anton Ego

Rapzilla's got my second installment of this essay up now:


Where are all the Christian Rap Critics? (Part 2 of 2)

Let me know what you think.


Read Part 1 here.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Vidz: Sho Baraka & theBREAX

Two dope new videos dropped today. You can watch 'em here but will do yourself a favor if you go to YouTube and click on the "Watch In High Quality" link right under the Views counter.

Sho Baraka - "Higher Love"



theBREAX - "Two Miles an Hour"


Read my review of this album at Illspot.net.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Recap: 116 Clique tour recap (06/06/08)

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A week ago this eve Reach Records’ 116 Clique’s “Unashamed Tour” rolled through H-town to Living Word Fellowship Church and delivered a fantastic night of Southern styled g-rap and worship.

The crew consisted of Lecrae, Tedashii, Trip Lee, Sho Baraka, hip hop R&B slanger Cam, DJ Official, and band (drummer, guitar, and bass).

I’ve only seen Crae and Trip once (separately), but have to say they’ve upped their game. Before, I felt there was an imbalance of song time to message time. Earlier in their careers, both guys seemed to do one three minute song then deliver five to ten minutes of speaking and then another song or two and another speaking point. I never felt they “earned my ear” – until now.

This show is definitely more polished. The guys hit the stage with fierceness, switch in and out of acts and songs smoothly, and maintain a very high energy level throughout the show.

As such, when it came time for T-Dot to bring the Word at the end, I was more apt to listen because they delivered on their promise of entertainment (after all, it IS a concert tour) and built a level of respect with their audience.

Seriously, these boys seem to really be hitting their sweet spot as far as hip hop music ministry is concerned. Be sure to check ‘em out if you get the chance.

On with the recap photos and rundown:

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Pre-show info said the doors were to open at 6pm and that the event would start at 6:30pm. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and people weren’t let into the venue until about 6:45pm. I believe a sound check ran late so the doors remained closed and many of us had to wait outside in the great summer heat. Oh well, it was a good time to pub the All Eyes On Me Awards by passing out flyers to a captive target audience.

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116 affiliate Cam opened the show and set the tone for a nice evening. I had been wanting to pick up his latest album, “The Platform”, for a while and snagged a copy for $10 at the show.

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After Cam, the whole team hit the stage to perform “Unshamed” – natch!

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DJ Primo, who chopped and screwed 116’s first compilation album, was in the building with his wife and baby girl. The following day he caught up with the crew and presented them with a U.S. flag he got when he was serving in the Army in Afghanistan.

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DJ Official and the bass player. Rap crews take note: A live band takes your set to a whole nutha level.

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NuLife and friend. This was dude’s home church so he was grinning ear to ear knowing how his community repped and supported solid Christian hip hop.

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Rob Phat and Testimony

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dogfight! sporting his fresh new gear. Others in the crowd were: DJ Ovadose, Sypreme, Corey da Child of Christ, the Paul family, apokalum, and Dante’ the filmmaker.

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Sho Baraka made some new fans that night.

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Tedashii said it was good to be back home (Houston) and asked for a hearty “Already” from the crowd.

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Tre9 and Pastor Cannings

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Lecrae brought out a new song called “Hands High” and asked for dancers in the crowd to show a little restraint when he got to the “get low” chorus.

Later in the night he mentioned something from the stage that I don’t know if many people caught. In explaining the importance of the message and the group’s desire for humility, Lecrae said that none of the guys really needed the spotlight of the stage. “I don’t need to be up here,” he said, making himself a particular example. Then he said his wife had been driving down to the show from Dallas when she got into an accident and her car had flipped over several times. She’s also 3 months pregnant.

No other details were given from the stage and when I asked the group’s tour manager about it the next day he said Crae wasn’t ready to make a public comment but did ask for our prayers. I also spoke to Crae on Monday and he seemed fine so I assume his wife is okay. However, it’s a sobering reminder to keep these artists and their families in prayer – particularly when they are on the road.

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Trip Lee hit “Superstar” from “20/20” and really got the crowd going.

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As you can see, the youth groups were feelin’ it.

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And you had to know the audience would go nuts for “Jesus Muzik.”

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Everybody’s “big wheelin’” it during that track.

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Tre9 interviewed kids in the crowd for his “All Eyes On Houston” segment for Global Force TV.

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At the end of the night T-Dot took the mic and asked for the house lights to be raised and for the audience to sit down on the floor. His message and altar call were short and sweet (maybe 15 minutes) but very on point.

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Following the message, Cam came out to lead us in vertical praise with “I Worship You.”

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On the way out, everyone wanted to grab a tee, an album, or a John Piper book as well as meet the 116 Team.

To find out when the Unashamed Tour will hit your town, click here and GO!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Thursday, June 12, 2008

DJ Primo presents war-flown flag to 116

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Primo, Sho Baraka, Lecrae, Tedashii, and Trip Lee @ 4930 Studios

I've got tons of photos and notes I still need to post up from Sunday night's 116 Clique show, but I just gotta share this special flick from Monday.

DJ Primo, who chopped and screwed the 116's first collective project, not too long ago returned to Houston from his second tour of duty with the U.S. Army and was able to present the crew with an American flag that flew overseas in Afghanistan.

How dope is that?

Next time you see the King of Christian Chop-N-Screw be sure to tell him how much you appreciate his service and sacrifice in our armed forces.

UPDATE (06/13/08): Here's an image of the certificate.
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Click here for larger image.

DJ Ovadose (formerly of Choppaholix) live mixing Friday night - Vertical 713

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Wanna hear some live HHH mixing by one of the coldest DJs on the third coast?

Tune in to Vertical 713 tomorrow (Friday) night at 8pm for a special session with DJ Ovadose. You can get the audio and video online at http://www.vertical713.com/.

For those that don't know, Dose used to run with the world famous Choppaholix crew and has years of experience in Houston and XM mainstream radio. Now he's screwing it down for the Kingdom so support your boy.

Also visit: www.myspace.com/wtwministries

Godchaserz: Brinson pre-order with FREE ReadyWriter mixtape hosted by DJ Wade-O


Brinson's on his grind and got a special deal for pre-orders of his solo album: A 19-track "Poetic Freedom" mixtape hosted by DJ Wade-O.

Peep the commercial below.



Get your pre-order on here.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Extra! Extra! Read all about it (AEOM Awards)


The All Eyes On Me Awards are gettin' some press. Check out the links below. One of them is even an interview with me. I gotta admit that was kinda strange to be on the other side of the pen for once.

Enjoy.

You can also listen to the radio interview Tre9 and I did with Trig from CoreLink Radio.

DJ I-Rock Jesus
also got it in with Tre and the Awards here.

And finally (for now) Tre's also doing a show with DJ D-Lite this eve. Prayfully this all helps people get a better understanding of the event and the hearts behind it.

See you on June 21.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Free DL: Applejaxx "Apple Dapple"


The lead single from the recently released Databass mixtape (a prelude to the Born Identity trailer EP coming in October) has just been leaked.

Grab your copy of "Apple Dapple" here (free downlaod) and bump the always unique Nureau Ink.

You can also get the long-awaited Nueau family project T.R.O.N. (The Ryders of Nureaumerica) here.

Excelsius offers $100 in gas with new album


Brother Excelsius wants to fuel your tank in more ways than one.

Pre-orders of his new album, Liberation, will be entered into a drawing for $100 worth of gasoline. I ain't gotta tell ya how smart this is.

Click here for more info and to get your name in the fishbowl.

He's also offering a free download of the song "Draw Nigh" on this page. and other tracks from the project can be previewed via this link.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Promo: 116 Clique Unashamed Tour / H-town this weekend


Sunday night - June 8
UPDATE (06/07) - Doors open at 6, show starts at 6:30
Admission is FREE
Living Word Fellowship Church
7350 TC Jester Blvd
Houston, TX 77088

Contact Pierre Cannings 713-530-7427

Monday, June 2, 2008

Bakesale

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This settles it. deepspace5 is one of my all time favorite hip hop groups and "Bakesale" is another stellar effort.

Get it if you ain't got it already. All proceeds from the album will be used to record the DS5 Three project.

Buy "Bakesale"
$12 (physical with the cool cover art) / $10 (download)

It's cookies!

Related: My review of their last album.