My experience with last weekend’s Rock The Bells concert at Randall’s Island was a little disappointing.

First, Ticketmaster never mailed my tickets, and I was told to pick them up at will call. Second, I overslept, traveled like two hours via subway, foot and $30 ferry ride, and arrived at Randall’s Island right as the rain started to pour. And finally, the will call line was two hours long in the rain. So by the time I even got in the show, it was half over and I had missed many of the acts I wanted to see. (more…)

The Death Dance Tour featuring Sage Francis, Buck 65, Alias and Buddy Wakefield has begun, and man did it have an impressive NYC debut. I had a chance to see them perform this weekend at Bowery Ballroom, and it was unlike any hip-hop show I’ve ever been to.

Buddy Wakefield was OFF THE HOOK as opener, and just might have earned himself performance of the night with a series of humorous and conscious poems that really got the crowd going. Alias did an excellent job temporarily converting himself to MC before taking his turntablist duties for Sage and crew. Buck 65 is one funny cat, rapping and dancing on stage to his country-inspired trucker beats. And as always, Sage ripped the show with an entertaining combination of hot lyrics, crowd interaction and, of course, his patented dance-off, where he showcased his hip-hop dance moves for the audience to see. (more…)

The Undisputed Truth tour featuring Brother Ali, Psalm One, OneBeLo and Toki Wright is now in full effect. I had the chance to see them perform last night at the Knitting Factory in NYC, and the show was off the hook!

Toki Wright did a great job as host, keeping the crowd in the show with his between-act performances and later as hype man for Brother Ali. OneBeLo got the crow started with a combination of new tracks from his highly-anticipated upcoming album and old tracks from the highly-respected “Sonogram” album. Psalm One set the stage perfectly for the head act with a bunch of hard-banging, crowd bumping tunes. And Brother Ali ripped it y’all, featuring songs from “The Undisputed Truth” and “Shadows On the Sun.” (more…)

Mos Def is my man. Easily one of my top five MCs ever. So you can imagine how amped I was when I found out weeks ago that he was coming to Denver last Saturday, August 26.

Last time I had the opportunity to see Mos, it was last year when he was on tour with Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and Jean Grae. Unfortunately, Mos came down with the flu and had to cancel his portion of the show. Therefore, I was excited to see what we had all missed the year before. (more…)

For those of you who live in New York City, I recently stumbled upon a super dope weekly hip-hop show that I highly recommend checking out. It takes place Monday nights at Sin Sin (The Leopard Lounge), located at 248 E. 5th Street in East Village. This show was recommended by two lovely ladies, Miss Sara and Miss Susan.

Although I was told the show consisted of spoken word performances, which in my mind means poetry, it is actually a weekly freestyle session put on by NYC’s own Spokinn Movement. Around 11 p.m. every Monday night, a live band takes the stage with impressive frontman and lyricist iLLsPoKinN. (more…)

I know this post is a little earlier in the day than normal, but I had to give a shout out and tell you about the amazing weekend I had. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend New York’s Hip-Hop Theater Festival this weekend, and was taken aback by the amount of raw, untapped talent I saw.

The poets, actors, playwrites and other participants possessed an admirable ability to surpass the humble venues and low capacity crowds they were faced with and give stellar performances nonetheless. Although I could talk at length about each performance on the weekend ticket, there were two that continue to stand out in my mind. (more…)