The Where: The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis, MO. The When: Tonite, 6-8PM for the workshop, 9-11PM for the performances. The What: Red Bull Music Academy Workshop & Performance - MPC Demo, discussion, short film and moderated workshop with Exile - All ages are welcome to attend - Must RSVP to wesallmond@mac.com Afterwards, from 9 to 11PM... - Free/21+ - Opening set by Trackstar The [...]
The soundtrack to our daily grind, all in a nice & neat format. You know what it is © Cliff Harris. It's Crew Love . Corey Bloom C-Rayz Walz & Swave Sev - "The Family Crest" This has to be one of the iller tribute songs I've heard, done by one of favorite MC's for one my favorite duos. C-Rayz and Swave Sev pay homage to Gangstarr with cleverly worded web of the albums, songs, productions and musical significance that built the legacy. More than [...]
The minor sh*tstorm that came about regarding Black Spade, Charles Hamilton & "Shinin'" made me go back & pull out To Serve, With Love . Man listen...just play it. Over Spades' melodic beat, 'Feek & Rocky dumb out. Feek's straightforward attack compliments Rock's bob & weave tactics as he goes over & under the beat for his verse. And one who knows how to put music together like no other, Stoney Rock doesn't rap, he sings for his vocal contribution to the song. At first, his feigned warble may be hard to catch on [...]
Understandably, DJ Trackstar's a busy guy, but he's been holding out on us y'all. We've been properly introduced to Wafeek , Vandalyzm, Black Spade , Karim , & Rockwell Knuckles but Nato Caliph has been kept in the shadows. I had to go all the way to Austin to find out about him and I won't make you guys suffer from not going. The thing that stuck out to me during his set was that he was rocking the crowd and his lyrics [...]
Preface this whole thing by saying that my memory is not the best. That's why I went ahead & posted the The Temporary, Abbreviated Version before. Impaired by heavy intake of substances over the years along with the mass amount of info I process on a daily, my mental hard drive isn't what it used to be so I have to frequently discard quite a bit. Therefore, I'm going to type up as much as I can remember from this past weekend's Austin foray. [...]
Going into SXSW this year, I was curious to see how the economic meltdown was going to affect the festival. I had heard that fewer labels were having showcases, and fewer journalists and label employe... Continue reading "St. Louis at SXSW: The Pragmatic, Black Spade, Theodore and more" >
On Friday, St. Louis rapper Rockwell Knuckles opened up a day party called the Grand Ole Party of Bootleggers and Tastemakers, a show sponsored by the Smoking Section/Nah Right. Despite the early (1:3... Continue reading "SXSW Video: Rockwell Knuckles, "See 'N' Say" " >
Two things about this should strike you immediately. 1. Trackstar simply does not rest. Relentless fam. Pure relentlessness. 2. For Hip-Hop, there's more to St. Louis than Nelly, J-Kwon and the like. First we brought you Wafeek's project. Now we present to you Rockwell Knuckles . The name will be new to some; not to others who've managed to keep up with the Midwest. Rock's made appearances here, hosting a Boogie Bang , had a nice feature on Black Spade's album (you slept) and was actually a [...]
So, this year's model of SXSW snuck up on me: Two weeks from now, I'll be in Austin running around in eighty different directions, music surrounding me from the second I step off the plane. Accordingl... Continue reading "SXSW: Local St. Louis Bands Going? " >
Pics By Peace.Images Track managed to send over some pics from the Pangea (comprised of Wafeek & Rockwell Knuckles) show that went down a week or so ago. I missed the opportunity to trek to The Lou but fortunately, the homie Keegan @ the Riverfront Times has a bird's eye synopsis. Eventually the show turned into a sort of Best of 2008 St. Louis hip-hop revue. Family Affair took the stage to perform "Bang 2 Slang" with Rockwell. Black Spade picked up [...]
If you love St. Louis hip-hop and weren't at Pangea's house party reunion show in south city last night, then I am truly sorry for you. The past, present and future of St. Louis hip-hop were all gathe... Continue reading "Show Review: The Pangea Reunion Show (aka The House Party of the Year)" >
In this week's paper, I interviewed St. Louis native Wafeek about his latest project, The Aristocrats Mixtape, that is slated for an exclusive, digital-only release next week on the popular hip-hop bl... Continue reading "St. Louis Hip-Hop Duo Pangea Reunites" >
Yesterday marked the first day of fall, and the Gramophone offered up a great show to bring in the new season. There wasn't a barstool to be found as some of the best names in Midwest hip-hop performed to a standing-room-only crowd. Trackstar the DJ handled the turntables, while Vandalyzm hosted a local lineup that is becoming very familiar at the south city venue. First up was the "Northside Phenomenon" Rockwell Knuckles , who broke in some new material on the crowd. It's always a pleasure to watch Rocky [...]
In honor of my preview of Monday's Royce Da 5'9" show at the Gramophone , I caught up with Rockwell Knuckles , one of several local acts (along with Gotta Be Karim, Family Affair, Gangsta Gritz and Kenny Knox ) opening up for the Detroit underground legend. After praising Royce as "a beast monster when it comes to expression," Mr. Knuckles was happy to provide an update on the status of the Black Spade-produced follow up to his debut, Northside Phenomenon. "It's gonna be my [...]
Also on the bill -- which is the John Hill 3:16 release party -- will be Gotta Be Karim, Kenny Knox, Family Affair, Rockwell Knuckles and Gangsta Grits.
(Vandalyzm) It was like déjà vu all over again last night at the Gramophone . For the second time in as many months the best and brightest hip-hoppers in the Lou invaded the chic club on Manchester and threw down some stellar beats, rhymes and energy. Though it seems like it's only been a minute since the same show went down, last night's event was notable for the fact that several acts had polished their performances, taking the stage with a much more commanding presence. Family Affair were particularly [...]
Local hip-hop artist Gotta Be Karim will be at the Gramophone tonight, hosting a hip-hop showcase that will also feature Black Spade, Vandalyzm, Family Affair, Rockwell Knuckles and others. ( Info here .) Kristy Wendt chatted with Karim after a show a few weeks ago, where he provided us with some profound insights into his background. Kristy Wendt: While many local hip-hop artists, even the ones that gravitated to superstardom, come from broken families and violent neighborhoods, you describe your musical influences to [...]
This week's cover story , "Fist City," was written by Keegan Hamilton, and it focuses on St. Louis hip-hop artist Rockwell Knuckles , who released the album Northside Phenomenon late last year. Below, please find three MP3s from the album to download and some photo outtakes from the piece. The rest of the shots can be found at the slideshow here ; all were taken by Jennifer Silverberg. MP3: Rockwell Knuckles, "Hello Morning (ft. Phillippe and Seymour Liberty)" [...]
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