May 16, 2012
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Myspace
  • RSS

Stories

Win An Apple iPad Tablet From MyTunes Pro & Murs

SRS Labs–maker of the MyTunes music player app that Murs was telling us about the other day–are giving you a chance to win one of three new Apple iPad tablets, plus a full version of MyTunes Pro HD. There are two ways to enter:

Tags:


Photo: Dwayne Rodgers Stands His Ground With The Million Hoodie March


Words and pictures by Dwayne Rodgers

Tags:,


Paint Where It Ain’t: Illustrator Justin BUA’s Legends of Hip-Hop

What becomes a musical legend most? Is it inimitable swagger? Is it formidable ring tone sales and a perpetually omnipresent social media presence? Though contemporary music industry standards would lead many to believe the hype of those transient criteria, NYC-based artist Justin BUA knows what’s really good. Conceived in the crucible of New York City’s rich melting-pot ethos, buttressed by his Jewish and Puerto Rican heritage, BUA understands the value of a good mash-up. That being said, it’s without question that the colorful experience of coming of age at a time when hip-hop culture was in the process of stitching together its vast and manifold patchwork quilt of influences is reflected in his vibrant palette.

Tags:


First Look: Willis Earl Beal

Here in Roots-ville, we are blessed to be exposed to a lot of new music and new artists. It can become kind of a deluge, in fact, and information overload sometimes makes it hard to hear talent over the constant murmur of blogs and twitter even when it is legitimately present. Every once in a while a though, talent catches you with a backflip-kick to the jaw. First Look is the space where we share that moment with OKP readers, the moment where you are still seeing stars from the initial jawbone contact–and at this moment, Willis Earl Beal is the backflip/kicker in question.

Tags:


Roots Up: GrassROOTS Community Foundation Helps Girls Inside and Out

Everybody, it seems, wants to help the youth. 10 middle schools in Greensboro, North Carolina will receive $1,500 each to buy pulse meters and other equipment to boost fitness among their students (North Carolina as a whole has seen its obesity rise 15% since 1995, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s annual health report). The Philadelphia Inquirer reported 5 pregnant ninth grade girls participating in ELECT—Education Leading to Employment and Career Training–a program that allows pregnant students to remain in school and graduate as they prepare for motherhood. In New York, former first lady Michele Paige Paterson’s ‘Healthy Steps to Albany’ Challenge rewarded middle school children for exercising and eating more produce with a pair of sneakers and a trip to a farm to learn about agriculture. Nationally, first lady Michelle Obama launched the ‘Let’s Move’ initiative in February 2010 with the goal of eliminating childhood obesity, receiving a pledge from 16 of the country’s largest food corporations to cut 1 trillion calories from their products by 2012.

Tags:, , ,


Win A Free Michael Jackson or Ol’ Dirty Bastard CD From OKP

Speaking of random freshness generators, Okayplayer is offering you the chance to put your name in the slot and win a collector’s item album from one of two immortal artists: Michael Jackson or the Ol’ Dirty Bastard. What do these artists and their music have in common, you might ask? Nothing really, except that both are, in their own way, OKP icons–and both have been foremost on our minds lately. Michael Jackon’s Immortal soundtrack/remix project debuted yesterday (buy on iTunes) to rave reviews and of course,  we recognized ODB’s birth/death celebration just  this past week, an especially appropriate moment for the release of the super-deluxe box set edition of his seminal first LP Return to the 36 Chambers, which just dropped today (purchase it here and see details in our previous post on it–comes with lots of goodies).

Tags:,


Heavy D, As Remembered by Questlove

“wait….you “produce produce??”- me

Tags:,


Fundamental: Ket Rallies Support for Homeless Graf Legend Riff 170

In the early 1970’s, a teenager from Plimpton Street in the South Bronx was burning down the IRT, pushing writing styles forward and adapting themes from comic books and commercials to take letters and train pieces to another level. Using numerous aliases, the elusive Riff 170 eschewed fame in favor of style, and left the competitive street art scene in 1976, just as the commercial opportunities for artists began to materialize. Reemerging in New York in recent years, Riff 170 connected with graffiti artist, author and editor Alain “Ket” Mariduena of Stress magazine fame. When Ket received the disturbing news last month that a series of events had left the veteran painter without a home, he began to put together an online campaign to allow Riff to get off the streets.

Tags:,


?uestlove’s Top 10 Life-Shaping Musical Moments (OG Version)

We got an email this morning from the Afrolord, subject heading: figured this would be a good idea, which is how you know when you are about to embark on something that is probably a bad idea. But when ?uesto says we might have to hurt people, we say “which car do you want to take?”

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,


NYC: Live at the Loft 10/21 + Remix Chico Mann and Win Free Gear

This coming Friday, October 21st, Live At The Loft welcomes Chico Mann back to the Loft for a very special Novation remix show for his new song, “I Feel It.” In the DIY spirit of the series, Chico is putting the stems from the song online and asking you (and you and you and you) to remix it and submit your re-creation to Novation.  The winner gets a signed Novation Launchpad, A Novation Zero SL MKii Midi Controller and a copy of Ableton Live 8 to further your beat-making career. Plus, one guest at Friday’s show will ALSO get a free Novation Launchpad and a copy of Ableton Live 8. Check the flyer, and see details after the jump, but here is the essence: FREE SH+T, GOOD MUSIC, COME TRUE. Stay tuned for more info on how to download the stems and get cracking.

Tags:


Win A Sony Muteki Hi-Fi Music System worth $500

The much-talked about A Tribe Called Quest documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life is coming out on DVD next Tuesday October 18th (available now on iTunes) from Sony Pictures Classics. Therefore–to help you get a hold over ill drum rolls and just generally get your attention–Sony is giving away 1 Muteki Hi-Fi music system worth $500.00 (as well as five RDH-GTK1i to contest runners-up) between now and October 25th.

Tags:


Everyday Sunshine: Fishbone Documentary Review

It’s a story of optimistic youth, addiction and implosion that VH-1 has patented for the rockudrama generation, yet somehow when filmmakers Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson turn the camera on California punk/ska legends Fishbone, the plot points are surprisingly fresh. Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (playing at the ReRun Theater in Dumbo, Brooklyn for a limited run that ends tomorrow Thursday, October 13) forges a thorough, honest picture of one of the most outrageous bands to ever hit the music scene. Through use of animation and frank interviews from the original band members, as well as commentary from No Doubt, Ice T, George Clinton, Dallas Austin, Perry Farrell and others, the film offers a glimpse of what it takes to survive the music industry–and why such an influential band stands in the shadow of its chart-topping followers.

Tags:


Page 1 of 1012345...Last »