The concept of artists performing a classic album from start to finish, popularized by All Tomorrow’s Parties’ Don’t Look Back events, has spread like wildfire over the last few years. There have been some genuine highlights — Sonic Youth doing Daydream Nation, The Stooges doing Funhouse before Ron Asheton died, Spiritualized doing Ladies and Gentlemen… –- but it’s largely been a rock-centric business, with hip-hop artists far outnumbered by dudes with guitars. Now, some rappers are adopting the idea the idea themselves: Snoop Dogg recently announced that he’ll be doing Doggystyle again later this year, and various others like Cypress Hill, De La Soul, and Public Enemy have done similar tours in the past. Still, there are a whole lot of classic hip-hop records we’d love to see live. Here’s a wishlist.
1. Production has been shut down on the current season of Two And A Half Men, prompting Charlie Sheen to write an open letter to TMZ about the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre. Among the highlights: “I wish him nothing but pain in his silly travels especially if they wind up in my octagon. Clearly I have defeated this earthworm with my words — imagine what I would have done with my fire breathing fists.” [via Vulture]
2. Perhaps inspired by the financial success of Avenue Q, producers have announced a new off-Broadway production of Rent that will open August 11 at New World Stages. Previews begin July 14. [via EW]
3. Mark your calendars: The Beastie Boys have finally set April 19th as the US release date for their long-delayed album Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2. The record will feature Nas and Santigold among other acts. [via NME]
4. Zachary Chesser, the man who threatened violence against South Park’s creators for depicting Mohammad, has been sentenced to 25 years in jail for “inciting violence and providing material support to terrorists.” [via Gawker]
5. Last night 30 Rock parodied Jezebel when Jenna was featured on a blog called JoanOfSnark.com. (As Liz Lemon explained, “It’s this really cool feminist website where women talk about how far we’ve come and which celebrities have the worst beach bodies.”) Watch a clip here.
New York-based, self-taught photographer Mike Schreiber’s unique vision of hip-hop celebrities, from Nas and Biz Markie to Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Jay-Z, is collected for the first time in True Hip-Hop.
Schreiber captures his subjects with a real-life grit that becomes seemingly tangible. Most jaw-dropping is the strikingly candid proof sheet presenting a vulnerable young artist then known as Maya Arulpragasam, who would use Schreiber’s photos as she rose to fame as M.I.A.
The hip-hop world and the culinary realm have always been closer than you might think. Maybe it’s just that food is a handy metaphorical tool for romantic conquest and desirability, or that the jump from eating sardines for dinner to sippin’ champagne when you’re thirsty (like Biggie proclaimed) is a universally understood shorthand for getting really, really rich, but good food and hip-hop lyrics have often gone hand in hand. Consider that the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” often thought to be the first cohesive hip-hop song, has a whole section devoted to a bad meal at a friend’s house (“The macaroni’s soggy, the peas are mushed/ And the chicken tastes like wood.”)
Perhaps because the new Kanye West and Jay-Z single is titled “H.A.M.” and there’s now an entire Tumblr dedicated to changing Yeezy lyrics into food-related rhymes, we got to thinking about what culinary tips we can pick up from rap songs. So, without further ado, a compendium of recipes and and cooking instructions culled from hip-hop lyrics.
1. George Lucas plans to release all of the Star Wars movies in 3D, beginning with The Phantom Menace in 2012, with one per year to follow. [via Deadline]
2. Kanye West’s fifth album might not have a name yet, but it does have a release date: the Monday before Thanksgiving. [via Vulture]
3. President Obama talks about what’s on his iPod in the new issue of Rolling Stone: “Jay-Z used to be sort of what predominated, but now I’ve got a little Nas and a little Lil Wayne and some other stuff, but I would not claim to be an expert.” [via Just Jared]
4. Behold, the first casualty of the fall TV season: FOX’s Lonestar, which originally sounded like it had potential, has been canceled after only two episodes. [via The Live Feed]
5. Just in time for the holidays, Justin Bieber is releasing a line of singing dolls that will all presumably have great hair. [via Digital Spy]
For its 2010 Revival Recordings project, Levi’s Pioneer Sessions roped in artists ranging from Dirty Projectors and Passion Pit to Bomba Estereo and the Roots to cover timeless tracks that influenced them.
It all kicked off with Nas’ take on Slick Rick’s “Hey Young World,” and has since seen She & Him, the Swell Season, the Shins, and others take on everyone from Rick Nelson to Smashing Pumpkins in a celebration of the lasting power of classic songs. There are still two more tracks to come, and all 13 covers are available to download for free.
We’re already on the record asNneka fans (she caught our collective eye as one of the top ten acts from this year’s SXSW festival), and now the Nigerian-born singer is taking her continent-crossing, genre-bending act to the road with an opening slot on Nas and Damian Marley’s Distant Relatives tour. In this exclusive video feature, we see snippets of Nneka’s past road diaries both funny and sweet, from goofing off with her bandmates to suffering the slings and arrows of a boyfriend-less Valentine’s Day. After the jump, view Nneka’s exclusive tour diaries and check out the upcoming tour dates to see when she brings her multi-culti musical melange to your town.
Most people improve at something the older that they get, but with emcees this is rarely the case. (There’s one exception to our sweeping generalization: LL Cool J’s Radio. We prefer Mama Said Knock You Out.) A number of factors might be at work here: loss of motivation, lack of material, the detested “selling out,” personal troubles (jail, death, etc.), loss of originality… and sometimes they just want to become a preacher. Whatever the reason, most rappers create their finest albums their first time in the studio. Don’t believe us? Ten albums that prove it’s true after the jump.
Editor’s note: When we read Sasha Frere-Jones‘ recent piece on the death of hip-hop, we didn’t have a witty comeback. What we did have was one name on the brain: Das Racist. A favorite here at Flavorpill HQ thanks to their single “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” the Brooklyn-based rap duo is one of the more exciting new acts on the scene. And as the New York Times recently said, “Das Racist’s lack of piety has become an aesthetic of its own, with songs that are as much commentary on hip-hop as rigorous practice of it.” OK. We’ll turn it over to them now.
1. Nas was out partying while Kelis gave birth to their baby son, Knight. [via NYDN]
2. James Cameron announced at Com-Con that he’ll be screening 15 minutes of Avatar in theaters next month. [via THR]
3. British arthouse movies are back for the first time in decades. Could it be a new new wave? [via Guardian]
4. Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski says Daft Punk may take their upcoming film score on tour. [via Pitchfork]
5. It’s official: There’s going to be a Saw VII. [via Variety]
