All City Records releases the final installment of their impressive LA 10″ x 10 series, a bonus 10″ for LA #0 this time featuring two thirds of SA-RA, Shafiq Husayn and Om’Mas Keith. Read the rest of this entry »

Simply calling this a “video” may do it a disservice. A “hallucenogic cinematic short centered around the sounds of music” might be the better description. The clip captures the layered feel that composes the majority of Shafiq En A Free Ka‘s songs. And as disjointed as the video (equal parts rollerskating scenes split with shots of Shafiq & Bilal imitating a jazz club setting) and the album may seem, both are seductively appealing, enough to draw you back in for repeat listens to a aural trip you want to experience over & over. Read the rest of this entry »

Now covering news regarding another 1/3 of SRCP, the instrumental album to Shafiq Husayn’s Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka album is now out on iTunes. In support of the release, the label’s offering up the quiet riot version of “All Dead” as an appetizer. Aspiring emcees might want to make the purchase. Bar no genre, this was my album of the past year. Read the rest of this entry »

Off that Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka album, the officially official video for “Lil Girl” featuring the vocals of Fatima and cameos from the likes of Erykah Badu, Jay Electronica, Talib Kweli, Wood Harris and others. Read the rest of this entry »

J.Kim is very good @ saying these things.

“The 4th installment of the Shafiq Husayn EPK series, this time, sitting down with Om’Mas Keith (one third of SA-RA), talking about how him and Shafiq met at Ice T’s house in Los Angeles, Read the rest of this entry »

Let J.Kim tell it.

“Here is the 3rd installment of the Shafiq Husayn EPK series, this time around, Shafiq gives you a personal tour of his home studio, highlighting some of the various equipment used to make the recently released album, Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka. Read the rest of this entry »

Shot by Eric Coleman for mochilla.com, the minds @ Plug Research & Shafiq have embarked on an ongoing, seven part EPK series for his album Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka and the process of making the album. Above in Part One, the musical wizard also Read the rest of this entry »

As Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka album hits stores today, Shafiq Husayn drops off an elaborate remix of “Cheeba,” featuring Bilal on the vocals and production by Nottz. Read the rest of this entry »

If TSS was ever personified & able to project sound, the music found in this jam session would be the by-product. The voices in your head wouldn’t talk. Instead, they’d all play instruments & make harmonious music like this. Read the rest of this entry »

“It’s with great pleasure to be releasing another podcast from LA staple, Plug Research. A few weeks ago, we released the Exile Edition, and now, we are proud to present the Shafiq Husayn Edition, mixed by the one and only, Garth Trinidad, of KCRW’s “Chocolate City.” The mix/podcast offers a great overview of Shafiq Husayn’s past, current, and future works, from his work with SA-RA, Erykah Badu, John Legend, Jill Scott, Pharoahe Monch, and many others. There are also a few tracks from Shafiq Husayn’s upcoming “Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka” album, including “Cheeba,” featuring Bilal, which has yet to be officially released online. Read the rest of this entry »

On a weekly basis, the amount of coasters that make their way to my PO box is despicable. No offense to those who do send all those discs but I refuse to listen to all that shit because the majority of it usually is some offbrand, niche style of rap that doesn’t float my boat. Read the rest of this entry »

I expected to breeze through this with a quick listen…and found myself replaying this fifteen minute sampler three times. Read the rest of this entry »

As SRCP’s Nuclear Evolution was prepping to release, J.Kim gave the heads up that each individual member of the camp had intentions to release individual projects as well. Kenny @ Fresh Selects got the jump on the first sanctioned leak Read the rest of this entry »

Swiped from Fresh Selects, SA-RA member Shafiq Husayn breaks down two unreleased versions of Badu’s “Master Teacher,” originally from Nu Amerykah. Read the rest of this entry »