The Twin Cities upstart Empire Status, comprised of veteran rapper Muja Messiah and emcee/producer Bobby Raps, are pleased to let loose “Benghazi,” the first teaser off their self-titled, Boardwalk Empire inspired project that’s set to drop this summer. So go ahead and hit the jump and familiarize yourself with their sound.. Nucky Thompson soundbites included.. don’t worry, ‘nobody’s watching, nobody’s judging.’

The origins of Ugly Heroes stems from Apollo Brown wanting to do a heavy blue collar album that paints a real picture of life out there. Not a gangsta record. Not a hipster record. A record that paints life as it is today for a lot of the working poor. And as much as we all want to act like we aren’t the working poor – truth is, most of us are living check to check with moments of glory intersparsed with notices from electric companies that the disconnect is pending. Emcees Red Pill (Detroit) and Verbal Kent (Chicago) lay some of the rawest slice of life narratives in the game today over 15 tracks produced by Apollo Brown. Think soul drenched beats with moody horns and heavy drums. We all listen to these rags to riches stories most people sell us, but this is that rags and still hoping story. The album is “Ugly Heroes.”

Today, enjoy the mp3 download for the song “Hero’s Theme” in support of today’s iTunes release. The official CD release date is next week, May 28th.

Swedish producer/deejay duo Create & Devastate present the Most Confident EP, which is now available through all major digital retailers through Elite Fleet/Coalmine Records. Featuring Wildchild, MED, and Mykill Miers, the eight track extended play release also boasts remixes from Swedish producers Freddie Cruger and Max I Million. Original and remix instrumental passes included. Stay tuned for Coalmine’s forthcoming Unearthed compilation album, which will feature the main version of “Most Confident.” Now hit the jump for the full EP stream…

Don’t get into enough private functions to make your friends jealous?  Well, here’s a limited time offer from URB and our partners at The Flavor Group.  

Uniqlo is hosting a celebratory launch event for their Designers Invitation Project collboration with Michael Bastian, SUNO NY, Leur Logette, Plumpynuts and Double Standard Clothing.  Hosted by The Bold Italic, Annabel Ly (Blushing Ambition), Jennie Lodge (Going West), and Alex Chrisman (Chrisman Hoffman) this is an event any self-descerning fashionista or style fan should not miss.  If you need extra incentive, the folks behind Motown On Mondays will be providing their aural support.

The event is going to be held at the SF UNIQLO location located on 111 Powell Street, Thursday May 23, 2013, 8:00PM – 9:30PM.

For more information and to RSVP follow this link: UNIQLO DIP Celebration!

Extra Special Shout Out to Marky aka @livinproof for the hook up!

Today marks the release of Daft Punk’s highly anticipated album, “Random Access Memories” and last night, I had the honor and privilege to witness one of the collaborators from the album. With the help of the Red Bull Music Academy, Hansjörg Moroder, better known as Giorgio, the Italian disco icon, made his first DJ appearance in the United States yesterday at Output in Brooklyn, NY.

If you have never heard of Giorgio, he’s the man responsible for convincing Donna Summer to sing, helping the disco queen produce some of her greatest hits.  He’s also produced for notable artists such as David Bowie and Blondie amongst others.  Most recently, Giorgio helped produce track three on Daft Punk’s newly released album, titled “Giorgio by Moroder.”

Output was packed as can be last night.  I can’t remember the last time I was at a club crowded as yesterday’s event.  I was told this was the most requested event on the RBMA NYC 2013 schedule and they weren’t kidding.  

The producer came on just before 12:30am with his music director who assisted him for the entire set.  After a quick intro, it was disco time.  In his set, he performed “Racer,” a song he produced in collaboration with Google Chrome Experiments.  He then proceeded to play some disco classics such as “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” “On The Radio,” and “Hot Stuff,” all by the late Donna Summer.  To end his show, he recreated “Giorgio by Moroder,” which he kickstarted with his bio, just like on the Daft Punk album.  But unlike the abridged version, he gave us a little more info on his life.  Some interesting things he shared with us is that the bio on the album is actually shortened from three hours.  He also spoke about meeting Donna Summer for the first time and how he helped her come out of her shell by asking everyone in the studio to leave the room so he can have some “privacy” with her.  Then, this happened…

After the track, everyone in attendance showed their appreciation with an overwhelming round of applause and I had an epiphany…whoever said disco was dead must’ve been crazy.  

Hot damn, it’s Summer already and with Summer comes Summer parties.  With Summer parties, comes one of our all time favorites out in NYC — Makossa Brooklyn.

Trust us.  Our folks with Makossa know how to do it.  These guys kept a party crackin’ in the middle of a heatwave, through a rainstorm (till the clouds parted), and all points in between.  From our Makossa folks, ‘We repped Brooklyn, Cali and man parts of the world proudly.’  We can second that.  Dope food, dope beats, and dope peeps… the perfect ingredients to a summer shindig…

Need something to do this weekend?  We’ll here’s a free answer to that Brooklynites — Makossa!

RSVP here: http://makossabkmay25.splashthat.com/

Extra Special Thanks to our homies, DJ Wonway Posibul for the hook up on the RSVP & TheWhooligan for keeping it locked down.

Information directly from our friends at Makossa Broolyn:

2013 marks the Makossa Brooklyn Cookout entering its fourth consecutive summer. Still considered one of the best outdoor summer soirees in Brooklyn, DJ Wonway Posibul of Latin Soul Brothers fame brings his famous Makossa sound from San Francisco to NYC to create a bi-coastal vibe like none other. The monthly summer cookouts have garnered a loyal following, a multitude of acclaim and success since its birthplace, the backyard of Fresthetic, a boutique / gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

MAKOSSA BROOKLYN COOKOUT (Season 4 Opener)
Saturday, May 25, 2013 | 2-10pm | FREE
Memorial Day Weekend!

music by residents
DJ WONWAY POSIBUL (Latin Soul Brothers / ThinkBeat Radio – SF)
DJ TARA (Rare Form – NYC)
DJ SHINOBI SHAW (Rare Form – NYC)

with special guests
THE WHOOLIGAN (www.thewhooligan.com - SF)
OP! (I Love Vinyl – NYC)

hosted by
DEE PHUNK (Rare Form / Trees for Breakfast – NYC)

Get your Nails did by LADY FANCY NAILS 2pm – 7pmhttps://www.facebook.com/ladyfancynails

Offical Makossa BK Photos by DeMATO PHOTOGRAPHY
(https://www.facebook.com/DeMatoPhoto)

Brooklyn Tap House
590 Myrtle Ave
(corner of Classon Ave)
Trains: G to Classon Ave
www.brooklyntaphouse.com

presented by Latin Soul Brothers, Fresthetic & Rare Form

www.twitter.com/MakossaBK
www.twitter.com/LatinSoulBros
www.twitter.com/fresthetic
www.twitter.com/RareFormNYC

Tricky has always seemed like an artist whose bad side you don’t want to end up on. And he’s really cut loose in an interview with Exberliner magazine, in which he calls out Domino Records head Lawrence Bell and his former Massive Attack colleague 3D, whom Tricky calls “pretentious” and a “corny guy” who “always needs someone who’s a tall black guy.” OUCH!

From the Exberliner interview:

Sincerity means a lot to you.

Yeah, I mean, I really don’t like pretentious people. It’s like – I was working with 3D from Massive Attack last year and within two hours I had to say to him “Look, no one gives a fuck about Massive Attack. It’s a different generation. No one cares about us anymore,” you know? Because he likes being 3D. He was always the corny guy. People used to rob him, and slap him and he was the guy who was trying to be cool. You know, he had all the clothes, you know, all the latest fashion accessories. Me and my friends, we were from Northwest. I come from a white ghetto and the white guys where I come from don’t like someone like 3D because they were very true to theirselves [sic]. My friends, they’re white, they know they’re white and they act like they’re white. Don’t get me wronhe’s got a good heart, 3D, he’s not malicious, he’s not a bad person. But he’s pretentious.

So, no Massive Attack reunion?

Well, I think I did four tracks with him, right, but now I’m getting texts: he texts me going “Oh Tricks, you want to come DJ, you want to come?” He wants a friend. Not that I don’t want to be his friend, but I got friends and I’ve got family and, um, I don’t want to DJ with him because I know it’d be trendy. 3D is always looking for credibility because he hasn’t got the confidence himself and he doesn’t think he’s a cool guy so he always needs someone who’s a tall black guy.

 Tricky is talking to promote his new album, False Idols, which finds the artist revisiting the trip-hop sounds of his ’90s work. We love it, so we’ll give him a wide berth on the smack talk. Although we’re not so sure about his slagging off Prince. False Idols is streaming right now on NPR First Listen, and comes out May 28 on K7  Records

Five and two.  Both are the respective number of years that the King of Worldwide, Gilles Peterson has played in San Francisco or Los Angeles.  It’s no secret that both events will sell out. In fact, it would be safe to assume that more than a score of you are planning to go and have already contributed to it selling out!

If you haven’t yet jumped on ticekts, why not let URB help with that with another @phil_enn ticket giveaway!  As always it’s super easy to enter:

1) Find us on Facebook.  Like our page and like/share this article.

or

2) Tweet the following: @URBMag, tell @phil_enn to send me to @GillesPeterson in <Insert ‘SF’ or ‘LA’ here>!

Easy right?  Well, get on it; we’re giving away 1 (one) pair of tickets for each show.  The SF event is on May 24th and the LA event is on May 25th.  

The contest will end on Thursday, May 23 to give us time to confirm tickets for the winners!

For more information on Gilles Peterson and both events… click through the break…

Gilles Peterson | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud

theLift | SF Event Info | LA Event Info

KCRW | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud

Rabbi Darkside is proud to announce the release of his album “Prospect Avenue” dropping on June 18th. The album is a platform for Rabbi Darkside’s stories, written from the hallways of NYC’s public schools, and an homage to NYC and the borough of Brooklyn. The album features guest appearances from Homeboy Sandman, DJ Rob Swift, Nickodemus and many other collaborators from all over the world.

Today, enjoy the first leak from “Prospect Avenue” for the song “True Lies” produced by Da Beatminierz. The album’s tracklisting is also below.

Download Link

Tracklisting:
1. Morning Paper
2. See Something Say Something
3. Animal Farm
4. True Lies
5. Minds Our Minds
6. What Would Galileo Do? ft. Duv
7. Good Pop Music ft. Core Rhythm
8. Guitar Hero ft. Brother Hamm
9. Mayday for Congress
10. Redacted
11. Clotheslines ft. Homeboy Sandman, IllSpokinn & Mariella
12. Hey Miss ft. Caits Meissner
13. Staring at the Mirror
14. Grow Up Slow ft. Grace Galu Kalambay
15. You and I and The Moon ft. DJ Rob Swift

Avant Garde, nee Avant-God, auteur Def Sound has graced us with a new set of aural permutations that took us a bit by surprise late last night.

Young.Defferson. (prt 1-3.finally), despite it’s interesting choice in nomenclature, is another look into the mind of the producer/musician/artist.  Def tells us that the piece is inspired by a “new lil ‘selfie’ of my inner self,” and it shows.  Indicative of his multi-dimensional nature, Def provides not only the ‘sound selfie’ which takes us through a journey through the Trap into the Nu-Soul and ending up in some inspired Trillwave but also an animation meant to texturally speak to our visual senses.  (Editor’s Note: The original had to be resized because of a display issue… hit @phil_enn on twitter for the original!)

The kid has been on a solid run lately, having just dropped an album, entitled Anything, as well as collabs and appeareances with folks like Gilles Peterson, J*Davey, Jarell Perry, RC, Nikko Gray, Alex Isley, and Zack Sekoff.  With those folks showing some support the the gifted gent, count us among that group.

Check the break for a listen to the track (and some bonus beats), and for more information and a link to the album click on over…

∂eƒS❍und | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Soundcloud | Bandcamp

Anything | iTunes | Spotify