Welp, The concert has been cancelled.

My man Parrish at SOBs hit me up to let me know about this benefit they are having tonight. If you are in NYC, you really should check it out. Also, let Knobbz know if Styles does his ‘Kill The ******’ Song.

Details are after the break.

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Another great boom bap joint from J.J. Brown’s Connect the Dots, which drops November 10. Brown is performing twice on Tuesday in NYC; he has a free in-store at Best Buy on 23rd Street and an album release party at S.O.B.’s. Flyers for both after the jump.

Download: J.J. Brown – The World’s A Stage

via 2dopeboyz

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(Photo by Hannah Lipman)

View the full photo set here (Thanks Hannah & Joshua)

[Ed Note: Here is the grand recap of all the on-goings that happened this past weekend in New Orleans, as seen through the eyes of ML contributor Julie. Be sure to check out Julie's twitter stream which had a bunch of nuggets from the festival. Also, if you would like to check out Eminem's performance, I got word that it will be airing on Fuse as a part of the Best of Voodoo 2009 TV Special, tonight, November 6th @ 10PM EST (check the trailer here).]

Taking place during Halloween weekend in a city known as one of the greatest places in the country to don a costume, listen to music and get drunk, The Voodoo Experience 2009 inspired a lot of expectations. We’re talking Eminem, KISS on Halloween night, P. Funk, local artists that sound like nothing you’ve heard before, funky folk artists and talented craftspeople… and overall, Voodoo brought it. This festival required a stamina that most don’t because it was interrupted by some of the wildest Halloween parties in the nation. Voodoo, however, proved worthy of every ounce of effort it required to dance through each and every show.

The festival got off to a rough start with the chilliest storm New Orleans has seen all season. Mud, rain and kicking The Knux off stage didn’t make for the most promising opening day. Yet the festies got creative, borrowing trash bags from the grounds crews to make ponchos and huddling together at Justice to keep warm. With the help of a few beers and an other-worldly dance party/light show, the crowd managed to forget the cold and have a blast. Most people who lasted that long trudged through the ankle-deep mud to at least catch the first few songs from Eminem + D12 before heading out. Eminem’s decade of fame has taught him how to really wake a crowd up, showing a gory short film of a psychotic, asylum-bound, murderous Marshall Mathers. They threw in gunshot noises between songs, keeping the audience on their toes throughout Eminem’s energetic performance. When the audience finally dispersed, most people looked pumped for the next day’s shows.

Saturday’s lineup included The Black Lips, Mates of State, a cancelled K’naan show, Mutemath, Gogol Bordello, Parliament-Funkadelic and KISS. Few people showed up without a costume, and the crowd started drinking early. The festival had a friendly, frenetic vibe, people getting more and more excited as the day wore on. Strangers took pictures of and with one another, and the festival-goers traded tips on where to spend the evening between the countless after-parties, Halloween parties and Frenchmen Street.  Security wasn’t too tight, and most shows smelled strongly of pot, contributing to the audience’s already relaxed, comfortable vibe. K’naan’s cancelled show changed the locations of many artists slotted to perform around the same time, making for a confusing afternoon. Yet things got back on schedule by Mutemath.

Gogol Bordello got the festies dancing harder than any other show all weekend, save Justice. P. Funk, on the other hand, played for a relatively small, chill crowd on a quiet stage between folk art vendors’ tents. As they got funky, the majority of the festival-goers rushed toward the KISS stage, dancing through art installments on their way. The crowd was packed, and KISS was, in a word, insane. Pyrotechnics, Gene Simmons flying across the stage, an infomercial between songs to buy their new album — it’s available at WalMart, apparently Simmons has seen it there. Teens and college kids were busy texting their dads, blown away that rock ‘n’ roll used to rock this hard. Older women in leather jackets and KISS-style face paint sang every word of the KISS classics (though, as Simmons reminded us, just because something is a classic doesn’t make it an oldie). People walked out of City Park that day high from the music and drunk from the spectacle, ready for an even wilder show: the New Orleans Halloween scene.

The entire festival crowd seemed at least a little bit hungover Sunday. Relatively few people showed up before The Flaming Lips, but the Voodoo producers seem to have anticipated this. With an emptier schedule than any other day, Sunday’s big shows included The Pogues, Widespread Panic, The Flaming Lips and Lenny Kravitz. Yes, Lenny Kravitz. It was almost as if they wanted to clear the park before the final performance. Yet those who did leave before Lenny walked away with a most beautiful ending to an exhausting weekend. The almost too-mellow show saved itself by concluding with the sound of “Do You Realize?” playing under the full moon, tens of thousands strips of confetti floating in the dark sky like psychedelic stars, and an entire audience singing together “to make the good things last.”

[Dj01 Note: ML is back at The Voodoo Experience, one of the most prominent music festivals, kicks off in New Orleans tomorrow, and we have dispatched Julie, a talented and up & coming writer to cover all the festivities. Enjoy Julie's picks below, with live coveritlive/twitter coverage to come throughout the festival, and a wrap-up & dope pictures early next week!]

The Voodoo Experience 2009 is only one day away, so  it’s time to figure out which shows you’ll hit and which ones you’ll miss. New Orleans is home to some of the best bands and the biggest parties in the states, and if you’re going to do Halloween weekend here, you better do it right. That means the checking out the Zydepunks instead of the Black Lips on Saturday, and missing the first few Flaming Lips songs to hear all of Trombone Shorty’s set on Sunday. Here are some of this year’s Voodoo essentials, and why you’d be crazy to miss them:

Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?
3 p.m. Friday @ Bingo! Parlor
The local nine-member ensemble has more energy and more instruments than you can imagine. An accordion, a stand-up bass and a banjo make appearances in most of their songs, and the band is known around town for their bluesy, gospel-infused, funk performances at AllWays Lounge. Yet Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? can do more than play mellow shows with haunting vocals — they can also tear it up as well as any New Orleans band. The first time I saw them was at an abandoned warehouse with no sound system but plenty of gutter-punks and beer, and I expect the band to get the Voodoo crowd moving as hard as we all did that night.

The Black Keys
5:40 p.m. Friday @Billboard.com Stage
With a blues-rock sound unlike anything else produced in the past decade, The Black Keys play live shows with the same soul as they record their music. Watching drummer Patrick Carney play like his life depends on each and every beat is not something you want to miss. Never mind Dan Auerbach’s powerful voice, the intensity of his guitar will be enough to get you hooked on The Black Keys for good. So if you hate the superficiality of the most modern rock, stop by The Black Keys show for a refreshing reminder of what rock is supposed to feel like.

The Knux
7:30 p.m. Friday @ Soco/WWOZ Stage
Also hailing from the New Orleans, The Knux are a rap duo that work so well together that could almost guess that they’re brothers. Kentrell “Krispy Kreme” and Alvin “Rah Almillio” Lindsey got discovered in Houston, where they landed after Hurricane Katrina. They moved out to the Los Angeles area, and the self-produced pair has been playing their own music ever since. While The Knux made a name for themselves touring with Common and have worked with Eminem’s producer Paul Rosenberg, their original style and musical talent ensure that they’ll do just fine on their own.

Eminem + D12
9:30 p.m. Friday @ Voodoo Stage
Ten years since his debut release, Eminem is back with as much fire as ever. Not that you really need someone to encourage you to pick his show over the second half of Ween, but in case you do: Eminem is one of the greatest rapper-MCs of all time. Relapse may not be your favorite Eminem album, but the man’s energy and talent — plus D12’s own skills — doesn’t seem to have faded, and Friday night is your chance to find out for sure.

Saturday/Sunday highlights after the jump!

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In case you missed the trio the last time they were in the area (like me), around the release of Brooklynati, here is your chance to catch them. This time around they will be joined by the classic group Black Sheep. Wenesday they are at The Quarter in Baltimore & Thursday at LIV in DC.

Here is the blurb my dude Alex sent:

The fast-rising rap trio, Tanya Morgan, has teamed up with hip-hop pioneers, Black Sheep, for a pair of shows in the DMV(Oct. 7 in Baltimore and Oct. 8th in DC) to promote their sophomore album, Brooklynati.Already being called one of the best albums of 2009, Brooklynati, an ode to hip-hop’s heydayin the form of a utopian city, has garnered high praise from the likes of Billboard, Spin,XXL Magazine and Okayplayer.com for its classic blend of golden-era beats and thoughtful flows, which has oftenbeen likened to the 1990’s rap crew, Native Tongues, of which Black Sheep was a part.Now, joining forces with official Native Tongue family member Black Sheep, whose iconic hits “TheChoice is Yours (This or That)” and “Similak Child” are timeless symbols of hip-hop’s golden-era,Tanya Morgan continues to push the genre forward while bridging the gap between 2 decades of hip-hop.

Bmore flyer after the jump.

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NYers, get your asses to Fat Beats at 6 to meet M.O.P. and get your shit signed by Billy and Fame! And go shake the post-Yom Kippur blues next Tuesday with Skyzoo and 9th Wonder! They’re performing! For free!

Shout out to the Audible Doctor!

!!!

Today marks the Kickoff of the The Soul Tour at the Kia Collective in DC which will feature Wale, Dan Deacon, Ponytail,  and the Creepers rocking out through out the weekend in a warehouse in Washington DC.

Next weekend, Kia  moves on to Philly where MGMT will be joined by The Drums, Amanda Blank, Popo, YACHT and Francis and the Lights.

All the shows are free except you need a ticket for the MGMT shows that you get by test driving a Kia at the respective Collective location Friday through Sunday from noon – 8pm.

ML will be in the building Space in DC on Friday night to catch the homie Wale, and on Sunday for MGMT.

DC Location: 3330 New York Ave, NE

Philly Location: 23rd Street Armory 22 South 23rd St

More Info at The Kia Collective site.

If you’re cool and you’re in NYC, you’re getting a piece of the action  next week when Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt II drops. There’s not one, but two release parties.

On Tuesday, Diddy and Peter Rosenberg are hosting at Santo’s and Ghostface, Method Man, Beanie Siegel, Talib Kweli, Slick Rick, Busta Rhymes and Lyfe Jennings will be in the building.

Then on Thursday, Raekwon and Rosenberg will be at S.O.B.’s with special coverage by ML*.

(*special coverage = rushing the stage to flash the Wu-Tang tattoo that covers my chest and stomach)

Mad Raekwon tracks after the jump.

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(image source)

DJ Green Lantern provides great audio from Jay-Z’s 2006 concert in London.  The first link starts with Jay doing “Where I’m From” and goes to the line, “Who’s the greatest MC, Biggie Jay-Z or—” but before he says “Nas,” the man himself comes out amid a surge of excitement from the audience and launches into “Made You Look.” His entire set lasts 14 minutes.

The second link is Jay-Z and Nas performing “Dead Presidents” with Chris Martin of Coldplay on the piano. Instead of Jay’s third verse, Nas does the first verse from “The World is Yours.” And the third is “Heart of the City,” once again assisted by Chris Martin.

Listening to “Where I’m From” and “Dead Presidents” reminds me how Jay used to rip shit.

Download: Jay-Z, Nas – Where I’m From, Made You Look, If I Ruled the World, Hate Me Now (Live in London)

Download: Jay-Z, Nas – Dead Presidents (ft. Chris Martin of Coldplay) (Live in London)

Download: Jay-Z – Heart of the City (ft. Chris Martin) (Live in London)

via DJ Green Lantern

The Brown Bag AllStars drop the video for the joint ML premiered. The video was filmed at Fat Beats as the BBAS all work there. Cameos include Marco Polo, Homeboy Sandman and DJ Eclipse. Show some love for one of NYC’s greatest bastions of hip-hop.

Also, if you can stand the 90 degree weather, swing by tomorrow at 7 for a free performance by Fresh Daily, Tanya Morgan and Homeboy Sandman. Flyer after the jump.

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