The Chicharones – When Pigs Fly (2005)
Mixing astute, introspective rhymes with irony and self-deprecating humour, the Chicharones (aka Vancouver’s Josh Martinez and the Oldominion crew’s Sleep) are a talented, yet underrated duo. On When Pigs Fly, their first full-length album, the Chicharones combine dope beats and dope rhymes (what more do y’all want?) into “a tuneful and catchy piece of mature hip-hop.” Martinez and Sleep’s verbal back-and-forth on tracks like “Surf Rock” will remind you of Golden Age mc duos like Tribe and EPMD, while more serious fare such as …

In exciting news, Pitchfork Media is reporting that the long-awaited new Gnarls Barkley album is out already!
Obviously this follow-up to St. Elsewhere has some big shoes to fill, because I’m pretty sure “Crazy” was played somewhere in the world at least once a minute for an entire year.
Apparently they rushed to get the album out, partially in an attempt to defeat music pirates. The album was out for download at least a couple of weeks before the release date, so Gnarls did their best to get the album out …

Uncut.co.uk – News
This is not a typo. Scarlett Johannson, the actress and commonly voted one of the world’s most beautiful women, has just released an album.
Her upcoming album, Anywhere I lay my head, is a cover album of Tom Waits songs. That in itself deserves a little bit of respect. All too often we’ve seen celebrities try to release albums and quite often, they’re terrible. But this may be the exception to the rule because, believe it or not, the reviews of her album have actually …

Oldominion – One (2001)
Self-proclaimed pioneers of the “Northwest Sound,” Oldominion is a collective of mcs, artists and producers based in Seattle and Portland. One, released in 2001, is their first album and features appearances from 16 of their members. Although such efforts often lack thematic clarity, One’s beats are similar enough to ensure it remains musically consistent throughout. Indeed, most of the album’s beats are mid-tempo and based on dark, moody orchestral samples (think minor key string and piano loops) backed by competently programmed drums. Fortunately, this allows One to …

Hells Angels plotted to kill Mick Jagger – Telegraph
That’s right. It’s true. Now of course this isn’t a recent plot or anything, so don’t be scared for the life of your favourite Rolling Stone. In fact, Jagger didn’t even know about this attempt until recently, when the BBC broke the story.
Apparently way back in 1969, the Hells Angels were quite upset with Jagger over what they saw as mistreatment. The story alleges that the Hells Angels were hired to provide security for a Stones concert …

I bet nearly all of you are aware of the death-match that the two Democratic presidential contenders are caught up in.

It’s amazing how bad things have gotten over the last little while. As the race picked up and more and more of the rest of the field began dropping out, things really came to a head in South Carolina. That seems to be the point where the racial baggage caught up to the campaigns and things really started to go sour.
From then on, voters were faced with …

Maestro Fresh-Wes – Symphony In Effect (1989)
Awww yeah, this joint is a straight up classic! Released in 1989, Maestro Fresh-Wes’ first LP remains the biggest selling Canadian hip-hop album of all time. The album’s first single, “Let Your Backbone Slide,” was the first Top 40 single by a Canadian mc and remains the only Canadian hip-hop single to be certified gold. These figures are amazing, especially considering Symphony In Effect was released nearly 20 years ago!
Produced when it was still kosher to sample from obvious sources (and before other sources …

Improv Everywhere is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It’s sort of like those flash mobs that were all the rage a few years ago, except they occur with a little bit of planning.
Basically, this group is a worldwide association of regional Improv groups that conduct these random missions they dream up. Here’s their own bio:
Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 70 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The …

L.A. Times Apologizes for Rapper Story – washingtonpost.com
Consider this a follow-up to our post only a couple of days ago. It’s amazing how fast things can change. In our previous post, we had covered the LA Times’ article about Puffy’s denial of his involvement with the first 2Pac shooting.
Turns out his denial was the truth, much as we had suspected.
The LA Times, in reaction to a report on the Smoking Gun, has admitted that its report was wrong. Apparently, the “FBI Documents” they relied on were forged …

Luniz – Operation Stackola (1995)
Operation Stackola remains Luniz’ most successful album to date, having sold more than one million records since it was released on July 4, 1995. Propelled by the wildly popular hit single “I Got 5 On It,” Operation Stackola knocked Michael Jackson’s HIStory off the top of the R&B charts and earned Luniz a permanent spot in the West Coast hip-hop pantheon.
Released when g-funk’s dominance over the hip-hop airwaves was waning, Operation Stackola typifies the mid-’90s West Coast sound, with lazy, sub woofer-rattling bass lines layered over …