The Maqusi Towers in Gaza City look a bit like US housing projects. The neighborhood consists of several tall apartment buildings grouped together in the northern part of town. It is also ground zero for Gaza’s growing Hip-Hop community. On a recent evening in one small but well-decorated apartment, a dozen rappers and their friends and families relaxed, danced, smoked flavored tobacco, and rapped the lyrics to some of their songs. (more…)

This article was titled “Mos Def is most thoughtful as he focuses on myriad projects” by USA Today – Mos Def can’t suppress sheer delight over the exotic strains, heady beats and slurry flow of politically charged poetry on his new album, in stores Tuesday. That joy does not explain its title, “The Ecstatic.” Such logic would be too tidy for hip-hop’s cerebral agitator. “The Ecstatic” borrows its name from Victor LaValle’s 2002 darkly comic novel about an obese college dropout sinking into mental illness as his colorful Queens, N.Y., family copes. (more…)

Dallas, TX – Healthcare remains a critical national issue yet first it is a personal one that requires an individual to be proactive. This July that issue of being proactive takes center stage as Rickey Smiley, Mayor Pro-Tem Dwaine Caraway, KBFB 97.9 The Beat, The City of Dallas and The MLK, Jr. Family Clinic launch their awareness initiative throughout the Metroplex with an annual event to educate the community on the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. The Second Annual Hip Hop for HIV concert will take place on July 12 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Palladium Ballroom. (more…)

Big ups to Chelsea at Karmaloop TV for sending this over. Brother Ali discusses music, life, and his upcoming album “Street Preacher.” Part two of the interview is after the break. (more…)

Interview by Prop Anon – Immortal Technique is an artist in the lineage of Zach De LaRocha and Chuck D, and he needs to be listened to. His story is a testament to the power of the pen. Born in Peru and raised in Harlem as a child, he found himself in trouble with the law as a teenager and young man. After serving time in prison for a couple years and becoming free, in more ways than one, Immortal Technique worked his way up through New York City underground Hip-Hop in the early 2000′s battle-rap scene. During this period, Tech got a name for himself for delivering vitriolic rhyme schemes deconstructing a system that has repeatedly lied to many in order to benefit a few. He also ran with the well-known underground NYC Hip-Hop crew, Stronghold, and frequented thenow longest running open mic in the city, End of the Weak. (more…)

The United Nations has launched a trust fund to build a permanent memorial for victims of slavery, and appointed entrepreneur and hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons as a Goodwill Ambassador to promote the project.

A 2007 General Assembly resolution designated 25 March as an annual day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and called for a permanent memorial to be erected at UN Headquarters to acknowledge the tragedy and consider the legacy of slavery. (more…)

At least a couple of times a week, U.S. Army Capt. Alfonso Johnson opens his laptop at his base in Afghanistan and plays a rap video _ a clip with his young son singing of his fears his father will die in combat.  “I’m 11 years old, already grown up, ’cause my dad’s been gone so much,” Xavier chants into a microphone, his head bobbing to a hip hop beat. Then the boy gets more blunt: “I’m feeling real sad now, I can’t lie, ’cause there’s a chance that my dad might die.”

Rather than depressing him, Johnson says the song, called “Keep ‘em Safe,” makes him feel closer to his son. That is partly because of the memory of working with Xavier to make the song and video in the U.S. But the lyrics also have a harsh honesty that lets 37-year-old Johnson feel the torrent of emotions his son, now 13, is experiencing back in Fort Drum, N.Y. (more…)

Musically, you might say Geoff “Double G” Gallegos fits somewhere between rapper Chuck D and jazzman Charles Mingus. As leader/conductor/composer of the daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra – a makeshift crew of 70-plus musicians that blends elements of classical, jazz and hip-hop – Gallegos, 39, has a little bit of both men in him.

“I would listen to (Chuck D’s) Public Enemy on the T on the way to class everyday, then go to school and learn about counterpoint or harmony or ear training while getting really into Charles Mingus and, afterward, Duke Ellington,” Gallegos said while recalling his days at Berklee College of Music. Gallegos, who now calls Los Angeles home, returns to Boston Sunday to lead a condensed chamber version of his orchestra at the Middle East in Cambridge. (more…)

This is a trailer for what appears to be a very interesting hip-hop documentary called “New Muslim Cool.” The documentary follows three years in the life of Puerto Rican American Muslim hip-hop artist Hamza Pérez, his family, and community – following his spiritual journey through America’s hip-hop scenes.

“New Muslim Cool” premiers on PBS Tuesday, June 23rd at 10 p.m.

Dope interview with Pos and Dave of De La Soul by Upside of Down News, in which the crew talks about the Nike project, life on the road, and the 20 year anniversary of “3 Feet High and Rising” – which will be celebrated with a re-release of the album and anniversary tour.