The ILLest Blog In The World

All Posts (1283)

Sort by

9th Wonder to teach class at Duke

Posted by SESH on January 10, 2010 at 10:25pm

(The Boombox) Producer 9th Wonder will broaden his academic horizons this year when he takes up a new teaching post at Duke University in North Carolina. The Raleigh, North Carolina native will join Professor Mark Anthony Neal to teach an African-American studies class this Spring semester. Neal explained via his blog that 9th would be lending his knowledge and talents to teach a "Sampling Soul" course that would identify and study songs from the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements. 9th, who already has a Grammy under his belt and has produced numerous albums for heavyweights like Nas and newcomers like Wale, told the web-show 'Maestro Knows' that he's looking forward to teaching the course. "The class is studying soul music from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, the neighborhoods it came out of and where was the influence for this song to come out of," he said in a video interview. "I'm excited man, it's a new frontier for me. I'm always excited for new frontiers." In addition to educati
Read more…
Comments: 0
Tags:

DJ Premier is gonna have his own shoe!

Posted by SESH on January 2, 2010 at 6:00pm

DJ+Premier.jpg

(Sohh) - Acclaimed Hip Hop producer DJ Premier is diversifying his portfolio to include his very own shoe. The DJ Premier Nike Air Force 1 Low comes in a black, dark green, dark blue colorway. The words "DJ Premier" will be inscribed on across the back heel of the shoes, in addition to being written on the laces and lacelocks. The shoe also features a graphic of a Technique 1200 turntable. The shoe comes as part of the same series as the DJ AM Dunk Hi, a shoe that the late turntablist had been working on with Nike before his untimely death. The shoe is red, black and light grey, and says "DJ AM" on the tongue of the sneaker. According to reports, the DJ Premier's shoe hits stores in limited runs on January 9th.
Read more…
Comments: 0
Tags:

Kid Cudi Strikes Back

Posted by SESH on January 2, 2010 at 12:00am

kid-cudi-1.jpg

(HipHopDX) Kid Cudi has had an interesting year. After dropping one of the most highly acclaimed albums of the year, he has recently been in the headlines for a few reasons not related to music. First, he punched a fan for throwing something at the stage and then he was arrested for what has been reported as a case of mistaken identity. Now, a video has surfaced of Cudi speaking to fans about his frustration with the industry. "They trying to make me look like the poster boy for violence and ignorance," he says in the video. "I tell motherfuckers I'm the poster boy for honesty, realness, anarchy, I don't give a fuck about this business." He also added that he is fed up with others who take shots at him. "I never talk shit, right? You never hear me talking shit on skits, never hear me talking shit before on my songs. I just rap, right? Because of my silence, niggas trying to take jabs at me. Well, guess what, nigga? I'm jabbing back." He continued with angst towards the business by
Read more…
Comments: 0
Tags:

Shyne's Back... and working on a new album

Posted by SESH on December 29, 2009 at 11:41pm

Former Bad Boy/Arista Records recording artist, rapper Shyne, now a free man, is returning back to the hip hop scene just two months after walking out of prison in October ‘09 after serving eight years on a 10 year bid (sentence) for his role in a 1999 shooting at a Manhattan club in New York. The rapper is expected to be working with music producer Scott Storch who unveiled the news. Storch, who is getting back on track himself after battling with drugs and bankruptcy as covered on HipHopRx.com throughout early 2009, revealed to AllHipHop.com his plans to work with Shyne saying “Shyne’s my man.” “I’ve been talking to him and I was talking to him all through his prison sentence. He’s always remained a loyal person to me,” stated Storch. Storch continued to reveal that it would not be just one song but he’ll be “doing a chunk on his album.” “I found out he was a fan and he’s just a hell of a cool guy,” Storch added. Shyne was sentenced to prison in 2001 after he along with then busin
Read more…
Comments: 0
Tags:

DJ Booth Album Review: Young Money's Debut

Posted by SESH on December 29, 2009 at 8:40pm

Review by Nathan S. for DJBooth.net Built on the back of Lil Wayne’s stellar success, the Young Money movement is Weezy’s attempt to follow Jay-Z’s blueprint (pun intended) and become not just a rapper, but an industry powerhouse. To that end he’s put together a mostly Southern-focused roster of artists who, with one notable exception, have yet to experience anything even remotely approaching their head honcho’s level of fame. Enter the compilation album We Are Young Money, a project that’s half commercial, half musical enterprise. With 11 different primary artists, plus at least five guest appearances, coming up with a definitive statement about this album is sketchy, but that doesn’t mean there’s not enough substance here to bite into. But first, we need to quickly run through the Young Money roster. Here’s the super-abbreviated version: Drake: Needs no introduction. Nicki Minaj: A female rapper with a schizophrenic style and a deeply controversial fashion sense. Her highly-antic
Read more…
Comments: 0
Tags:

BEEF STEW: Raekwon, Benzino, and Royce da 5'9"

Posted by SESH on December 29, 2009 at 3:15pm

Raekwon has enjoyed the success of his Only Built For Cuban Linx Pt. 2 album, and his workload has increased because of it. He recently sent Benzino a verse for his new song "Break to Build." Raekwon claims to have had no idea that the verse would be used for a diss track. He wrote via Twitter, "For the record, I wanna say I take no part in nobody's diss song. I just sent them a verse that's it. That's between them brothers. Keep me outta it." For those of you who don’t remember Benzino, he is probably best known for his past beef Eminem. Benzino was once the co-owner of The Source hip-hop magazine, a founding member of The Almighty RSO and the Made Men. Reportedly Benzino recorded his song in response to Royce's "No Coming Back from That," scheduled to be on his next release Bar Exam 3. "I got a percentage of the team, you're a bench warmer," Benzino rhymes in his song. "How you in the hood without showing your face / These motherf***ers run the town, I'm controlling the state."
Read more…
Comments: 0
Tags:

AZ Reveals Plans for Doe or Die 2

Posted by SESH on December 24, 2009 at 8:14pm

az450.jpg

AZ wants the world to know that the back-to-back releases this past June of Legendary and G.O.D. (Gold Oil And Diamonds) were not intended to be viewed as part of the formal Visualiza discography. “Them wasn’t albums; them was mixtapes,” AZ clarified to HipHopDX last Friday (December 18th). “I do wanna state that too, ‘cause everybody thought that [Legendary] was a album. I wouldn’t do no album without promoting – radio or something. No, no way.” Both efforts emerged seemingly out-of-nowhere via two California-based labels, Real Talk and Siccness, the products of one-off deals that AZ himself admits lacked his full and complete commitment to their construction. “If you listen to it, it’s freestyles,” said Sosa of the rhymes heard on the at best adequate releases. “They’re not even songs; they’re not complete songs… I just picked a few beats and [did] a 16 to [‘em].” Unfortunately, efforts like these tend to clutter an artist’s catalog and confuse fans as to which releases are i
Read more…
Comments: 0
Tags:

SESH TV