“Sometimes you gotta go away to make a comeback…” – Diz Gibran

Although it almost seems counterintuitive in today’s musical landscape, taking a step back from the spotlight can be beneficial. Whether it’s taking time out to regroup, plan the next move or find something to spark the artistic flame, time away can be well used in the right hands. Read the rest of this entry »

Been a while since we shared Crew Love hasn’t it? Don’t worry, we’ll start convening more frequently in an effort to do them more often. Read the rest of this entry »

“Dizzy well know…Back up the slick talk.”

After making their recent “Return,” Diz and Moon keep the momentum going with “Slick,” which is everything the song title implies. In a playful way, the two seem to be battling for attention, Diz’s relentless verbal jabs flourish over Moon’s feathery melody. Read the rest of this entry »

“Took some time off, had to get some life sh*t situated…”

After taking a rap sabbatical, today marks the return of Diz on the mic and co’d Moonshine on the boards. Read the rest of this entry »

After weeks of buildup, A3C is set to kick off tonight & we’ll be hosting our West Stage with performances by TiRon, Diz Gibran, El Prez, Rocky Rivera, Ayomari, Pac Div, DaVinci, Surf Club and a whole bunch of other folks. So if you’re in Atlanta right now, take your ass down to The Masquerade and come holla!

Special shout out to Fadia Kader & the whole Perfect Attendance crew.

First Fashawn tackled an Illmatic tribute, and now CurT@!n$ is paying homage to the greatest thing to ever come out of Staten Island: the Wu-Tang Clan. An easy choice as far celebrating legends goes because as you know, the Wu-Tang is FOREVER. Son. Read the rest of this entry »

Gilbere Forte’ doesn’t have to proclaim himself the future. His music sounds like it. From the futuristic vibes from “Hot” to the ode-to-aerospace “30,000,” even his name sounds like an exquisite cuisine that you can’t afford yet. “Black Chukkas” may be then but 87 Dreams is the now.  Read the rest of this entry »

The world needs more producers like Cook Classics. Possessing the ability to right or left, gully or polished, you don’t need to know his face more than you know the sounds of his beatwork. Although he may moonlight as an alternative producer from time to time, Hip-Hop is his forte and with that expertise, he’s bringing the akaline tenfold with his debut album Recharged. Read the rest of this entry »

Through no fault of his own, Joe Scudda’s Not Your Average Joe EP probably won’t rank as #1 on his 2010 “Best Memories” list when it’s all said and done. However, coming out virtually unscathed from a frightening car crash will be. With that in mind, it was almost a no brainer to approach Joe and revisit the project where he would go on to reveal the step-by-step process behind each entry in his debut confessional. Read the rest of this entry »

Sean Falyon is like Hip-Hop’s version of the Visa card®. Not only is always everywhere you want to be, he never has a problem charging his skills to the game and if you’re not looking, he could be all in your pocket. But as proven with his new fat tape Be Everywhere, he’s more than just a party animal with access to every video shoot, album release, guest list in town. Read the rest of this entry »

SXSW should be fun.

If not, I’ll be glad it’s over either way. Or, I think I’m just glad the actual event is starting rather.

What you see is a bevy of flyers and announcements being posted daily, telling you go here, make sure you RSVP, etc. etc. Choices, choices, choices make this all seem a music lover’s dream & it is. I can’t remember who it was, but someone sent me a message telling me how much they were anticipating the festival and planned on using my unabridged recap from last year as their survival guide. Let me forewarn that it’s going to take more than that, but it’s still fun unmatched, even for an old fogey like myself.

Behind the scenes though, it’s complete and utter fuckin’ Chaos (capital C).

Emails, phone calls, schedules and itineraries. Accommodations & thank you’s. And inevitably, there will still be mistakes. Midweek, I got an early reminder that we completely left Diz’s name off our original flyer (ouch) and his manager sent over a reminder (and we still love him for doing his job and keeping us on our toes). There’s been plenty of fuckups behind the scenes. But since this one was technically done publicly, there was a small serving of freshly served crow for us all. Yeah, cool says that you don’t tell when you make mistakes or say “boy, we sure did work hard.” Yet, today, it feels appropriate.

So this post is for Diz. Sorry fam. Sad too because, honestly, he was one of the performers I was looking forward to seeing after he tore down our A3C stages a while back. For such a diminutive dude, the guy controls the mic with the voice and stage presence of a giant. Usually, he’s broadcasting live via satellite from Planet Dizzy. But on Thursday, he’ll be in the building with us. Whamp whamp!

Also, if anyone knows Twitter user @TwoHundredBars, tell him/her to holler. They won two VIP wristbands in our Twitter giveaway.

Annddd, the homies @ One Neck, Two Chains have a nice lineup going for Wednesday if you’re in town and around. RMF-approved.

FINALLY, let’s run a headcount (||) to see who’s going to be in attendance. Drop a comment yo! Let’s see who’s leaving their keyboard and computer chair for a few days. Leave your name and address so we can send someone to rob your house while you’re away (hey, gotta recoup somehow).

And if you’re not going, we don’t fret. We still may have a few spades up our sleeve for your benefit too.

If everyone can raise your cans of PBR, I’d like to make a toast. Today is a momentous occasion as we at The Smoking Section and the good folks of the Hall of Justus present to you Joe Scudda’s Not Your Average Joe EP. Hold your applause until the end, please. Read the rest of this entry »

New mixtape from Athletic Mic League’s Buff1 as he gathers his friends – both on the boards and the mic – for the release of It’s A 1nderful Life, mixed by fellow Crown Royale member DJ Rhettmatic. Watch for the duo to release an album in early 2010 on the MYX Music Label. Read the rest of this entry »

“Diz has to be one of the most polished “new” guys on the sound, including his flow, Moon’s beats & all that.” — Gotty™

The co-signature holds a little more weight than a personal opinion, as evidenced from his studio quality live performance during A3C and official “street” album in Soon You’ll Understand. Read the rest of this entry »

Diz Gibran and Buff 1 in studio with Cook Classics from gregthedude on Vimeo.

If you feel like Buff1 was fairly absent this year, he shares your sentiments. That’s why he’s planning on closing out the decade in style for all you Hip-Hoppers. Just in the time for Christmas, he’s releasing the slyly-titled It’s A 1derful Life, which is a compilation of some of his guest appearances as well as a few new and unreleased cuts. Read the rest of this entry »