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 biggie with a mic outside of bodega in Brooklyn. Definitely worth a look.

2) J.Period – March 9th Video Remix Collection

J.Period and Ralph McDaniels are paying tribute to Biggie with the March 9th Video Remix Collection, which will feature Notorious BIG remixes over classic videos. The first video in the series is remix of “Flava in Ya Ear.”

3) DJ Clark Kent Remembers Biggie as “Brooklyn’s Finest” (XXL)

XXL sits down with DJ Clark Kent, the producer of “Brooklyn’s Finest” to talk about the making of that track as well as the life and times of Biggie Smalls.

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

I did a bit of research to see what Blu was currently up to but I couldn’t find much. The last entry on his MySpace blog was back in Sept 2009. I’m hoping this video means that the gears are still grinding and we’ll be seeing more from Blu in 2010. Maybe another visit to ATL?

Wale/K'naan Show 4.8.10

If you are an A3C head you remember when he opened up the MySpace stage for us back in 2008 at Center Stage for Del, Jeru, and Little Brother. It was one of the most classic nights in A3C history. Little did any of us know then that he would end up in every major magazine and come back to Center Stage as a Co-Headliner only 2 years later. Check him out at Center Stage in the CW Midtown Music Complex on April 8th.

We have a couple pairs of tickets for this show which promises to be a banger. To enter add a comment below and include your favorite artist that you “discovered” at A3C past. We’ll pick at random from all entries.

For those that don’t know Kool Keith is coming back to Atlanta (The Loft @ CW Midtown Music Complex to be exact) on March 18th. 5 time (yes that means they rocked every year of A3C) vets of A3C Binkis Recs is opening up the show.

We have our hands on a couple of pairs of tickets to giveaway to the show. Binkis holding down the opening role we will selected randomly for the tickets from anyone who comments below and can successfully name another artist that has performed all 5 previous years of A3C (there are only a handful). Get crackin.

Stones Throw has announced that the collaborative project from Madlib and Guilty Simpson will be released on May 18 of this year. The album will be called OJ Simpson. This will be Guilty’s second full length album after Ode to the Ghetto in 2008.

A track called “Corner’s Music” was released by the pair last July.

Guilty_Simpson – Coroners_Music

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UGHH Interview with Guilty Simpson at the A3C in 2008:

Soilla Home Town Heros

One of my favorite Hip Hop crews is taking the idea of “going to Austin” to a whole different level. Not only are they rocking SXSW 2010 but the Orlando superheros are actually taking up residence in Austin for the entire month of March. If there are two words that one could use to describe Solillaquists of Sound one would be dope, and the second would be unorthodox. I have been a hip hop fan for over 25 years and seen thousands of shows and I say with no hyperboyle whatsoever that S.O.S has THE BEST LIVE SHOW going. Talk about a nice deal for the people of Austin.

“In the time that we spend in Austin, we hope to develop a relationship with the community that the normal, ‘one-day-in-and-out’ national tour schedule doesn’t allow,” says DiViNCi, producer/MPCist for Solillaquists of Sound. “Not just a ‘Hi, do the show, Bye’ routine, but a deeper connection with the fans and the scene that they have created/belong to.”

If nothing else it should make for an absolutely bananas show in their new hometown for SXSW.

Here’s a new track by Killer Mike called “Didn’t I tell Ya.” I found this one via XXL, where you can download the song for free.

Download “Didn’t I Tell Ya” at XXL

For those who don’t remember, or didn’t catch Killer Mike in 2009:

And then of course there was Killer Mike and Bone Crusher at the A3C in 2008 (warning, this is not for the faint of heart):

As you might know by now, the A3C is going to Austin for SXSW. Since we’re taking some time to talk about the event, I thought I mention that SXSW has made it possible for anyone and everyone to download several hundred tracks from participating artists.

All of the music has been made available by the artists, so there’s no stealing or shadiness involved, just 3 gigs of free music.

Obviously, Hip Hop only makes up a small percentage of music that’s available to download, but I figure most A3C fans are interested in branching out and exploring any type of new artists and genres as long as it’s good. Thanks to Greg Hewgill and Ben Stolt for making this possible for the past few years.

I’d like to make something like this possible for the A3C this year anyone interested in help out with this project?

For everyone else who’s been waiting since October 18, 2000 for the next Reflection Eternal album to come out, our time has finally come. Revolutions Per Minute is due out on April 6… just one month from today.

You can download a copy of the single from 2dopeboyz.

Nah Right posted this audio clip a few hours ago of Premier commenting Guru’s health issues. The comments came during Premier’s Sirius radio show “Live From HeadQuaterz” last night. Listen at Nah Right.

I’ve been trying to follow this story for a few days now and it sounds too crazy to be true. I’ll I’ve really been able to gather is this: Guru is in the hospital, possibly in a coma, possibly not. Solar apparently is the only one who has any real information and he’s not even sharing it with Guru’s family. Check the video below posted on Premier’s blog on March 3.

In any event, I’m keeping Guru in my thoughts.

I was reading earlier this week in Creative Loafing that Little Brother’s next album, Left Back is supposed to be the last album from the group. Rapper Big Pooh, who just played in ATL with fellow A3Cer Rock Most, has a few projects in the works that I’m looking forward to checking out.

Honestly, I’m rather disappointed to hear that LB is calling it quits. Over the last few years, they’ve been holding it down, making great music and putting on live shows. I’ve seen Little Brother live about a half dozen times, including at the A3C in 2008 and they are one of the livest acts around.

Here’s my big question: With 9th, Big Pooh and Phonte all being strong supporters of the A3C, is there any chance of getting the crew back together for one last show in 2010?

Side Note: Big Pooh and Black Milk currently have mixtape (mixed by Jaycee) out called the Purple Tape which you can listen to for free at Bandcamp.

It is with a massive amount of respect for the undertaking that these folks are taking on trying to take all these artists to Austin to do this show that I put this post up. Events like SXSW (and A3C for that matter) are more often than not put on with a tremendous amount of time, energy, effort, patience, and frankly as a financial loss to those who put in that effort. Having Atlanta represented in Austin this Spring is something that is vital to raising the visibility of our scene nationally and goes a long way to helping a lot of Atlanta’s best kept secrets become a little less “secret”. Break into your pockets and come out to this show. If you are an artist based in Atlanta these cats being successful in Austin is important to you in ways that you probably don’t immediately understand. This is huge opportunity for our community and I hope that we can all get behind it next week and show out. I know that I am a notorious hibernator this time of year and even I will peel myself out of my office and away from my normal Friday night chill to get out and support something that helps bring attention to the amazing talent that this city produces.

Brought to you by the same folks that brought “Perfect Attendance” to A3C, Fadia Kader and SMKA are doing things in a big way and representing ATL well in Austin.

Up until moving the A3C from the Spring to the Fall in 2009 each year we were so up to our eyeballs in work that SXSW was little more than a blip on our radar to worry about. With the success of our move to October last year A3C is now firmly planted in it’s new home (the EAV as well as the Fall) and we’re taking advantage of the quiet to break out for a few weeks and head on over to Austin so we can hang out with some old friends and hopefully make some new ones so we can continue to bring the best of what hip hop has to offer back to Atlanta. We’ll be highlighting A3C alum, friends and family that will be rocking in Texas later this month so keep an eye on the site for our take on SXSW.

Adult Swim does a great job using music to market themselves**. They’ve recently teamed up with Rockstar Games and put together a free mixtape featuring tracks from ATL artists remix by left-of-center producers.

On the ATL artist side, the project features tracks from Jeezy, Rich Kids, Goodie Mob, Lil Jon, Gucci Mane, Gorilla Zoe, Shawty Lo and A3C vet B.o.B.. Producers include El-P, DJA, Dabrye, Flying Lotus, Prefuse 73 and Drums of Death.

The whole mix is worth some repeat play. As far as I’m concerned the standout tracks are “Imma G” by Dem Getaway Boyz, remixed by Memory Tapes, “I Got This” by Jeezy, remixed by El-P, “Is That You God?” by Goodie Mob, remixed by Dabrye and “Hello Mixx” by Cee Lo, remixed by XXXChange.

If you’ve downloaded it, let us know what you think. If you haven’t, check out the link below.

http://www.adultswim.com/music/atl-rmx/index.html

**Ted Turner if you’re reading this, you should hit us up about A3C 2010.

Collective Efforts 12/18 @ Smiths Olde Bar

With special guests:

The Soulphonics w/ Ruby Velle & The Audubon Society

Today, Atlanta’s longest-running organic Hip-Hop show – The Beatz & Lyrics Show with Jayforce – will proudly commemorate its ten year anniversary with the release of a mixtape that captures the best of what the show has represented since its inception.

This Year, while we were all chilling at the A3C, Beatz & Lyrics founder DJ Jayforce and producer Amond “AJ” Jackson were locked in the studio for 72 hours straight taking advantage of the rare opportunity to harness some of the most talented independent Hip-Hop artists and producers from across the country.

The result is the The Ten Year Anniversary Beatz & Lyrics Mixtape.

“The plan was to let the artists fall through and listen to the tracks without bias as to who produced them to see if they could create some magic that would be good enough to make the cut on the
mixtape,” recounts Jayforce. “Fortunately many of the talented and respected emcees living in Atlanta and from other cities around the country answered the call. The primary piece of the puzzle was for everyone visiting for A3C to do produce their best work in the time allocated for the project. We ended up with artists from every region of the map involved in the mixtape.”

The Ten Year Anniversary Beatz & Lyrics Mixtape features contributions by 40 emcees, producers and musicians who came together in less than a week to record the 12-track project.

contributors to the Beatz & Lyrics Mixtape include established names in the underground, including J-Live, Punchlyne, El Da Sensei, Homeboy Sandman, and producers Tahir, DJ Presyce, and DJ Shakim; some of the artists who have helped define Atlanta’s “Tru Skool,” including  4ize, Haziq Ali, Mojo Swagger, Senor Kaos and producer Illastrate; and some of the most promising new comers, including Fresh Daily and Tommy Nova.

Download the Ten Year Anniversary Beatz & Lyrics Mixtape

2EMQF45DDREB

Two A3C veterans, Dillon and Paten Locke (Therapy), will be hosting a release party for their upcoming album Studies in Hunger, on December 12, 2009 at 529 in the East Atlanta Village.

Special guests include Supa Dave West, Willie Evans Jr., Stacy Epps, Boog Brown, Senior Kaos and Uncle Herm.

Join us for the Who’s Jax Art Show

In loving memory of one of the greatest MCs to ever rock a stage at the A3C, we’d like to take a moment to invite you out to the Who’s Jax Art show on December 11 at The City of Ink Tattoo Shop and Art Gallery on Walker Street in Atlanta.

The event is being put on by Binkis, Jungle45 & The Kaos Effect. Please come out and show you’re support.

Free tickets to see Raekwon and CNN

Ladies and gentlemen, we have free tickets to give away for one of the best shows to hit Atlanta this year. Look at the lineup:

• Raekwon
• Capone-N-Noreaga
• Queen Yonasda
• Senor Kaos
• The Nice Guise
• Arablak
• DJ Dug Boogie
• Hosted by Fort Knox

Tickets are selling for $18, which is pretty damn reasonable considering. That said, we’ve got two pairs of tickets to give away.

If you want a shot at seeing the show for free, please leave a comment on this post naming at least two aliases use by Raekwon and one by Noreaga.

Good Luck.

Show Details:

Saturday December 5th at the Masquerade (695 North Ave)
All Ages
Starts at 8PM
Tickets cost $18 and are available from all local artists on the bill, as well as through ticketmaster.

Red Bull Big Tune national finals will be hosted in Atlanta at Opera on November 3rd. The regional winners from across the nation will gather under one roof to try and win over the audience for the chance to fly out to Los Angeles, California and collaborate with an A-list recording artist at Red Bull Studios.

Red Bull Big Tune is the nation’s premiere head-to-head producer battle and education outreach program established to showcase the musical talents of emerging, as well as established, music producers.
Admission is free so long you R.S.V.P beforehand at:
http://www.redbullbigtune.com/rsvp2009.aspx

If you do not R.S.V.P online, there will be a $5 cover at the door. An “attending” status on this facebook page does not account as a R.S.V.P.

www.redbullbigtune.com

Hip-hop was alive and kicking in the East Atlanta Village this weekend for the 5th annual A3C Festival. Over 200 artists, producers and DJs brought fans to venues in the ATL and there was truly something for every kind of rap music listener out there.

From the iStandard Producer Battle—judged by Don Cannon, Tha Bizness, Illmind and J.U.S.T.I.C.E League—to Friday’s (October 2) 45 showdown with Jake One and Vitamin D, to the incomparable Big Tune: All Star Edition with Battlecat, DJ Premier, Diamond D, 9th Wonder, Marco Polo and Oddisee, producers showed up in full force to this year’s A3C.

Some of the biggest buzz of the weekend swirled around the Perfect Attendance events held at the Five Spot. Young Atlanta came out in droves to see up-and-coming East Coast artists Donny Goines, Skyzoo, Outasight, and Tanya Morgan on Thursday and Midwest acts Mikkey Halsted, Stalley and Kidz in the Hall came through on Friday. West Coast rappers El Prez, Diz Gibran and U.N.I. hit the stage on Saturday, while J. Cole, Joe Scudda, Big Pooh, Yelawolf, Pill and Curren$y showed southern hospitality all weekend long.

Other big names at the fest included Rakim, who was at an event called The Relapse with Killer Mike on Saturday and Urb magazine had a showcase involving XXL Alumnus B.o.B.

All in all, the events went off without a hitch and the consensus throughout the weekend among the parties involved was that it felt like hip-hop summer camp.-Janeé Bolden

October 4th, 2009 by Jacinta Howard in Music news

MOVIN’ THE CROWD: Rakim

SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM RAKIM’S SHOW

You know the feeling you get when the DJ makes the last call for alcohol?

You know you probably don’t need another Blue Moon, but what the hell? You’re there; you may as well. Same goes for the A3C Festival. With more than enough acts to chose from, attendees staggered from one venue to the next looking for one last shot to keep them properly buzzed until next year.

Though the entire final day was full of joyful hip-hop activity, the most potent shots of the night belonged to Rakim, Mike Bigga (Killer Mike), J. Cole and … Grip Plyaz? (We’ll get to that later).

First stop: East Atlanta Icehouse headlined by Mike and Rakim. The place was packed to capacity (security wouldn’t even let Buckshot and DJ Evil Dee in, though, ironically, the DJ was playing their music to hype the crowd before Rakim’s set). At any rate, Mike proceeded to impress those who hadn’t seen him perform — you could practically see the “Wow, this guy can really rap!” expressions on newbies’ faces. While his set wasn’t as intense as last week’s when he opened for Slaughterhouse, God was definitely in the building.

By the time Rakim got on stage and opened with “Microphone Fiend,” there was barely any breathing room in the place, proving that everyone’s favorite MC to quote has staying power even after years of shelved albums and failed deals. Rakim killed the crowd, straight, no chaser.

While Mike and Rakim’s show was like a nice glass of Henny and Coke, the Perfect Attendance stage at the 5 Spot was more like a glass of bottom-shelf Long Island iced tea — not necessarily the smoothest drink, but guaranteed to help you reach your bottom line nevertheless. Featuring a slew of Internet rappers that mostly only blog heads would know and thoroughly enjoy, the night was full of activity, both planned and unplanned. After missing his set due to some “misunderstandings” and apparent schedule complications, everyone’s favorite non-hipster, Grip Plyaz, decided to rush the stage and perform anyway. While the crowd was amped to see him get into his current signature ditty, “Fuck Dat Hipster Shit,” he was cut short and forced from the stage, much to the disappointment of the crowd, which went nuts during his performance.

Grip may have provided the night’s drunk PBR moment (i.e. unexpectedly entertaining), but Jay-Z’s signee, J. Cole, was really the man of the hour. Fueled by the energy and response of the crowd, the “Fayette-nam,” N. C. rapper decided to go ahead and do one of his more poignant records, “Balance,” after performing his signature track, “Lights Please.” Closing with his verse from “A Star is Born” from Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3, J. definitely left the most lasting impression of the night.

Bobby Creekwater hit the stage directly after J.Cole, and though the crowd had already started to clear out (super lame), Creek amply demonstrated, once again, why he’s probably one of the most under-appreciated MCs in rap music. Just ask J. Cole, who animatedly declared that he’s “been on Creek for a while” before exiting the stage and watching him close the show and the festival properly with an especially rousing rendition of his groovy, perceptive song “Ms. Atlanta.”

With more performances and hip-hop activities than any of its previous years, the A3C Festival’s final night was a fitting culmination of the bright and dark spots of the three-day event. While some attendees declared that they were “hip-hopped out” and taking a vacation from rap for a minute, others seemed content to bask in the hip-hop haven, “battling” outside of the venues until the wee hours of the final night. No matter what the consensus, everyone left feeling drained but with a definite buzz.

Here’s hoping next year’s festival is just as intoxicating.

(Photo courtesy Dustin Chambers)