There’s a new project coming out on March 23 from Marco Polo and Ruste Juxx. To promote the album they’re going to be putting out 13 videos in 13 days featuring freestyles from Ruste. Check out more at Duckdown’s YouTube page.

Alright y’all… your favorite dopeboyz on the internets is teaming up with Cinematic Music Group, Creative Control, GFCNewYork, Play Cloths and UpNorthTrips to bring you one of the “dopest” shows at SXSW. Next Friday, March 19th, be sure to step into the smoke filled Firehouse Lounge as Devin the Dude will be headlining. With special guests, Pac Div, Curren$y, Jay Rock, Smoke DZA, Big K.R.I.T. and more. Smoke one!

I was reading about the North Coast Music Festival today and I wanted to send a little music festival love. The event will take place on Labor Day (September 3-5) weekend at Union Park in Chicago. Their website seems to still be under construction, but the event will apparently feature Hip Hop and Electronic acts.

For those of you who caught the Duck Down Records Showcase Friday night of the 2009 A3C Festival you got a taste of what the guys in NYC are really about. For SXSW this year they are bringing out all the guns to celebrate their 15th Anniversary in style.
For 15 years the fellas over at Duck Down Records have been grinding away and bringing the world some of the best Independent Hip-Hop and to celebrate their 15th Anniversary they are bringing nearly the whole damn roster to Austin with …

I was a bit taken back by the name at first but, Land of Make Believe, the new album from the Kidz in the Hall is dope. It dropped yesterday on Duck Down Records. I’ve included some of my favorite tracks below.

Big Bio kills it as he usually does, but I have to give credit for George Clinton at the end. Thanks to the Smoking Section for posting.

As of yesterday, Danger Mouse and James Mercer have officially released their self titled project “Broken Bells.” I am extremely excited about this album and I think it represents a new trend in alternative music: the hip hop indie rock hybrid. Unlike the hip hop rock hybrid that gained popularity in the late 90’s with groups like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, the indie rock hip hop actually sounds good and has artistic value.

Just for the record, I’m feeling the new HipHopDX website. The new colors are a huge improvement over the green / grey / orange that it used to be and, overall, it seems to be much easier to navigate. I am left with one question: what exactly does it mean that it’s in “Beta?”

A lot has changed since 1997, but one thing has remained the same, on March 9, you can expect to see hip hop heads worldwide pay tribute the one of the greatest MCs of all time. Here’s a list of some of the best salutes I’ve seen today:
1) Prefix Mag - Sights & Sounds: Notorious B.I.G., “Juicy”
Prefix mag is kicking off a new section today called “Sights & Sounds” and their featuring an interpretation of “Juicy” by an artist named Pellet. This is a really incredible  piece of artwork that show’s …

I found this on XXL, it’s an ill new video / track from Blu, who performed at the A3C in 2008. I hadn’t hear much from Blu in a while and it was refreshing to see this up on a major outlet like XXL.