After last year’s awesome selection of Brother Ali, Ghostface and Rakim, Hip Hop Live did it again with one of the strongest shows I’ve seen in a long time. Maybe looking at a lineup that included Little Brother, David Banner and Talib Kweli should have made that obvious, but I was not prepared for such a consistent night of exciting music. Even the opener, Atlanta’s B.o.B, held his own with the house band, The Rhythm Roots All-Stars, as he bounced his way through some highly literate Dirty South party tunes reminiscent of vintage OutKast. Not many knew the words to his songs, but by the end of each one, people were singing along. He performed with such reckless abandon that it was only appropriate for him to close out his set sitting on a stool with his acoustic guitar, plucking out the beautiful love song, “Lovelier Than You.” To go from such convincing bluster to raw, vulnerability was a bold move that many hip-hoppers are too image-conscious or ill equipped to do, but B.o.B ran the gamut with ease. As David Banner later showed, going from impromptu PSAs about achieving your dreams to the next song of gunplay and club life, such diversity doesn’t work when the sentiment is insincere.

If you were unsure how you felt about the Mark Ronson-ization of hip-hop, the showcase organized for his Allido Records for CMJ last night at S.O.B.’s would have been a polarizing moment. With a part-Brit, part-American lineup that overwhelmingly leaned toward hip-hop and soul, you had the perfect opportunity to see several facets of the Winehouse tastemaker’s musical preferences and what will undoubtedly be mimicked throughout the rest of urban music for the next year or so. Rhymefest, The Rumble Strips and Daniel Merriweather hit the stage before making way for the headliner of the evening, Washington D.C.’s boy wonder, Wale.

So my dope record radar has been kind stagnant these few months. I had been bumping stale mainstream albums and nostalgic classics and hella content with that, until I came across this Delicious Vinyl RMXXOLOGY project. I ain’t even gonna front like I went snooping through the nooks and crannies of cyberspace to find this exclusive compilation. Shit just kinda fell in my lap. I’m clicking in my inbox and boom, there it is: fifteen remix Delicious Vinyl classics from Pharcyde, Fatlip, Tone Loc, Young MC, Masta Ace, the whole nine. On top of that, the legendary Eminem got on board and produced a cut.

He was well worth the wait. Four score and seven years ago, well actually just 7 years ago, a bright eyed and bushy-headed young man strolled onto the R&B scene with his pitch perfect falsetto and free-flying ‘fro, blazing the trail for new millennium romance. Four albums later, just as quietly as he appeared, Maxwell was gone. In the time since, fans scoured the Internet for any tidbit they could on the long-rumored new album, Black Summer’s Night, song titles, leaks, new photos, anything. Now, there’s still no album release date, but something even better to satisfy the starving: a tour.

Last week Okayplayer was in the house for the taping of this years VH1 Hip Hop Honors, which featured The Roots performing a tribute to Isaac Hayes along with Mos Def, Public Enemy, Estelle, Cee-Lo, and Scarface.  Additionally, we saw performances by honorees Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Too $hort and Naughty By Nature.  Check out our exclusive photos below (shout out to Lil Burt), as well as some videos from the night.  You can also see the full show in re-runs on VH1. Also, big up to… us! Okayplayer won BEST HIP-HOP SITE.

Inspired by the LA Weekly’s revelatory interview with Ms. Maureen Yancey, mother of deceased producer and hip-hop luminary James Yancy aka J Dilla, Anti-/Epitaph recording artists Solillaquists of Sound have decided to put the power of change into the hands of the people.

Pick up a globe, spin it as fast as possible, and put a finger on any spot. It could be Tokyo. It could be Zurich. It could even be San Francisco. Either way, if your magnifying is strong enough to zoom into one of the city’s vinyl hot spots, chances are it’ll catch a glimpse of a seasoned crate digger. Taking advantage of his international gigs, the Santa Monica based wax spinner DJ Revolution browses record shops around the world, amassing a diverse collection of quality twelve-inches. “I found ‘The Pipeline,’ one of the most sampled classics of all time, for like 4 dollars somewhere,” says the scratch wizard. “That was a gem.”

When the Gza performs Liquid Swords you can rest assured its not going to be an “85 affair.” Taken at face value you have one of Wu’s most persistent standard bearers performing one of the top ten albums of all time. On stage the Genius’s precise flow and artfully detached story telling combined with some of the RZA’s best work illustrated why we all love Liquid Swords. Not that too many people in the full house at NYC’s Fillmore Theater (formerly Irving Plaza) this past Friday night needed to be reminded that the GZA is the Wu’s best storyteller, and arguably their best lyricist.

Back in June, the OkayplayerTV crew that is Greg The
Dude and Tunji linked up with Erykah Badu for an exclusive interview following her performance at the legendary Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California.  Here she introduces us to her studio bus, speaks on her show, hints at the formula she used for the still-to-come New Amerykah Pt. 2, all inter-spliced with some live clips.  In the second clip she speaks specifically on her thoughts RE the OKP message boards.  Check out Episode 6 of okayplayerTV.

This shrine is like no other. The vivid stage lights worthy of an Elvis Presley Las Vegas act replace the dull lights of a candlelit sanctuary. Tight jumpsuits, contrasting colors and prints, vibrant makeup and fedoras adorn the faithful rather than long robes and anything resembling uniformity. No Virgins here, just the Queens, a chorus line of warrior women/wives and girlfriends/singers/dancers. The scene may not lead to any religious purification, but it is holy nonetheless as Nigeria’s answer to Bob Marley and James Brown comes forth to his pulpit where he preaches independence from government oppression and freedom through the African drum.