Getting your attention by remixing some of the hottest Hip-Hoppers was a great way to initiate themselves into your ear drums. But make no mistake, Keys N Krates are fully capable of rocking the crowd solely off their own recognizance. Let their latest funked-out, electro, whirling dervish of a Housetape in Almost 39 Minutes serve as concrete proof. The moment you push play, there’s a party in your stereo accompanied with a clear cut example of supreme musicianship. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently read that Drake is a socially awkward, lip-puckering roody-poo whose best moments happen when he’s off camera. The fact that his videos—from So Far Gone to Thank Me Later—have been met with heavily mixed reviews may validate that person’s opinion just a smidget. But as for the music, several remix projects dedicated to his debut alone give Drizzy immunity from the occasional ribbing. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s face it: Hip-Hop perverted and killed the remix. By definition, a remix means to recombine (audio tracks or channels from a recording) to produce a new or modified audio recording. While there’s plenty of modifications, there’s not much new (or fresh) about commonplace rappers emailing off-topic verses to each other for the hot song of the week. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Jesse H.

There’s something about Brooklyn.

After you’ve lived in New York City long enough to understand the subtle nuances of the subway system (knowing the color of the train you need and the actual letter of the train you need is a very pivotal difference), you begin to have a certain respect for the intrinsic cultural differences of each borough-especially as a Hip-Hop fan.

Staten heads don’t even refer to the island by it’s formal name, thanks to you know what crew. Harlem heads champion Cam’s street stubbornness. Queens residents rock hoodies and Timberlands in mid-summer and fiend for grimey ghetto-narratives. Bronx folk are the old heads who glower at the mention of Solja Boy and the latest dance trend. But there’s something interesting about Brooklyn. Brooklynites like their lyricists pure, their drum snaps crisp and their looped samples mid-tempo. And while Brooklyn fans arguably are the snobbiest (ask any Brooklyn resident, and they’ll tell you ad nauseum about how they “refined” the craft), the list of top-20 caliber emcees that call Brooklyn home is indisputably impressive. So what better place for an independent New York Hip-Hop festival to call home? All the requisite pure-Hip Hop characteristics were on display in excess at Brooklyn Bodega’s 5th Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival.

The event got a righteous initiation on Friday with the kick-off party (salute to Noah from BB for organizing). Brooklyn Brewery supplied the booze, DJ’s spun throwback Read the rest of this entry »