Free De La Soul/Fishbone/Slum Village Show

For anyone interested, De La Soul, Fishbone, and Slum Village are giving a free show to celebrate the network launch of Current TV. Click below to snag a ticket. Who knows? You might even spot one of us floating around.

http://takebacktv.com/

Stuff

Howdy. First off, allow me to say, I think it's hilarious that JNew was the one to summarize Amsterdam (inside joke - as in, "inside" a bottle of Jack the whole time). I keed, I keed.

We had a friggin' blast. But enough about that, we have a NYC HHK event in a few days - time to get focused. Monday, October 3rd, 2005. Signup @ 8pm, Show starts very promptly at 9pm. This month, there's a show happening after HHK, so we'll have a curfew to keep an eye on - so get there early!!

We've added some new songs this month, as always, hope you enjoy. There's definitely some absolute classics on the list that nobody has even done yet, so get to work people!

Ummm, what else? Oh yeah - I'm about to add the performance pictures from Amsterdam to the Pics section of the site, so take a look a little bit later.

For now, I'm gone, be easy.

wex

Dutch Treat

We're back from Amsterdam. A bit weary and broken down but overall, a pretty sick experience. I won't make this too lengthy but to sum up: the phrase "This is surreal" came up more than anything else (Except "Josh, get out of the bike path or you'll get hit.") Still kinda shocking.

The event we were a part of was BOSS at Paradiso (http://www.paradiso.nl), an old church with three main rooms that looked like Webster Hall (For you NYC cats). Diamond D + Sadat X had the main stage and we had the basement. Pics'll go up soon and that'll describe it in detail better than anything I can write. But yeah, we had our own dressing room (complete with a case of Heineken and bottle of Jack), got interviewed by The Box (http://www.thebox.nl), a national hip-hop television channel, and a Dutch hip-hop radio show and even had a quasi-surprise appearance by the one and only Gusto, a NYC regular who happened to be in Amsterdam (or so he says.)

The show itself went fine. We went from around 1:30 a.m. to 3:30/4:00ish and at first, the crowd seemed to approach the show as one would a caged, wild animal: curious, bemused, unsure whether to get closer. But eventually, as things loosened up a bit and people saw what the event was about, the crowd got more and more hype. The quickly emptying bottle of Jack clouded a lot of my memories after a certain amount of time so I'll defer the rest of the show's rundown to my colleagues (ZQ, I got your first Jack shot in the states.)

Two countries down, 191 to go. (Maldives, I'm looking in your direction.)

Bye for now,

J. New

Amsterdam (Ain't Ready)

In a couple days, the fellas and I will board the plane for our trip to Amsterdam. Our first ever European HHK performance will go down on Friday at the Paradiso. Needless to say, we're definitely really looking forward to bringing our brand of hip hop entertainment to the Netherlands.

The setup will be the same. Me on the wheels, Digs hosting, and J. New on the signup sheets (and the occasional Das Efx performance). We really don't know what to expect crowdwise, it could be a little bitty crowd of a 100 or so, as much as 8 billion. So we're pretty much ready for anything.

One thing is for certain. I'll be back here on the Blog sometime after we get back with some pictures of us... probably baked out of our minds, probably laughing, and possibly freestylin.

speak soon and godspeed.

wexingtonthethird.

Sittin' on 22's

here is an mp3 of the amazing acoustic performance of "Cadillac's on 22's" by David Banner on the "ReAct Now" MTV Hurricane relief program.

I never really checked for him before... in fact, i probably just dismissed his stuff all together... but this performance really impressed me.

wex

K-Otix - "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People"

Yeah, I don't wanna turn this into a political battle but when creative music and ideas comes along, I gotta share. Props to O-Dub for putting this on his site http://soul-sides.com. You haven't been to that site?? WTF are you waiting for? Longtime underground emcee K-Otix takes Kanye's "Gold Digger" beat and flips it into a message to our leader. Click on the link below, scroll down a bit and click on the record.

http://www.k-otix.com/

-J. New

HHK Winners - 9/9

This was a tough one.. The performances were tremendous... People have really stepped their game up..

Two stuck out the most though, and I simply can't choose one over the other..

So...

We have two winners this month!

TJ and Stacey for their performance of "Check The Rhime", and
Sonia for her performance of "Work It"..

Congratulations!

Please contact us at info@hiphopkaraokenyc.com to claim your prize..

(Hopefully you had such a good time, we can just give it to you in person next month).

Thanks again to all that came out.

- J. Digs and the HHK family.

Thank You!!

What a FUN night! Thank you to everyone that came out to Rothko last night. It was a truly an amazing time. Also, a big thank you to everyone that picked up the new HHK t-shirt. All proceeds from the sale of these shirts go directly to the Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. If you'd like to purchase one for the measly cost of only $10, feel free to email us at info@hiphopkaraokenyc.com.

The pics should be up on the site in a few days and I think your host, J. Digs, will be on here sometime soon to announce the winner of the nights best performance prize pack.

Wex

Tonight!

Come join us TONIGHT for another weekend edition of HIP HOP KARAOKE!

As J. New said in the email: No work. No class. No parole officer meetings. Just you, your people, and cheap booze. (Hell, we may even buy you a shot ourselves.) <-- ok, that's on J... cuz I can't afford all that! :o)

Get there at sign-up to ensure a spot! Also, Hip Hop Karaoke t-shirts will be on sale at the show for a measly $10. All proceeds will go directly to the Red Cross for help with the Katrina relief effort.

Some of the new songs added this month:

Arrested Development - Mr. Wendel, Common - The Bitch in Yoo, Cypress Hill - Hand on the Pump, Da Brat - Funkdafied, Dr. Dre - Keep Their Heads Ringin, Ghostface Killah - Daytona 500, Ludacris - Area Codes, MC Lyte - Paper Thin, Method Man - Bring the Pain, Nas - Nas is Like, Notorious B.I.G. - Kick in the Door, 10 Crack Commandments, & Sky's The Limit, Redman - Da Goodness

See you there @ 10pm!!

WEX

Tomorrow Night!

That's right folks, the wait is almost over. The 10th Edition of HHK is going down tomorrow night at Rothko. We're ready, you're ready.... we... are... all... ready.

We should have the first (limited) pressing of the HHK T-shirts available for tomorrow nights event. They'll be cheap ($10) and all proceeds will go directly to the Red Cross for hurricane relief. So buy them!

Ok, on with some randomness now:

- If you're a hip hop nerd like myself, and you want to be kept up-to-date with news, exclusive tracks, etc, add this link to your favorites. no popups, no hassles, just good clean hip hop fun.
- If you're a big AZ fan like myself, then you'll want to go to this link and download an excellent new track by him, called "Seems that Way".
- DVR. If you don't really watch a lot of TV (like me), but there's a couple shows that you wish you could watch on the regular... but can't because of a busy schedule... then BAM, DVR is for you. I'm a huge Conan O'Brien fan and am usually either out on the town or passed out (or both!) by the time his show comes on. So now, after work, i can come home, plop down on the couch, eat some dinner, and watch Conan. I think we pay like $10 a month for it. Brilliant.

talk soon.

Wex

Thanks for the patience.

The pics from the August '05 Edition of HHK are now up on the site.

Thanks for being patient!

WEX

Labor Dizzle.

Happy Labor Day folks.

Now, get on out there and barbeque something!

Speaking of, wouldn't it be dope if Central Park (and other NYC parks) put out some bbq grills during holidays for people to use? i mean, going to Sheep's Meadow is great and all... but wouldn't the experience be that much better if you had some burgers & dogs fresh of the grill?? listen, i know that would be a practical nightmare for the city and it wouldn't happen in 8 bizzillion years, but that doesn't mean a man can't dream.

The next installment of HHK is only 4 days away. Counting down. It feels like months have gone by since our last one. We're really amped to get back up there and get the party started...
shit, I'M really amped just to get up there and spin for a while.

Kanye West - Thank you for having the nuts to speak your mind.

In the spirit of continuing Jay's generous music suggestions... Click Here for a DOPE track, starring MF Doom & Moka Only. More soup ya'll.

Have a fucking nice day.

DJ WEXINGTON THE 3rd.

We're back!!!

As some of you may have noticed, our site was down for a couple days. This was due to the fact that our server is located on the 11th floor of a downtown New Orleans skyscraper. To be frank, the fact that our hosting company was able to get their sites fully functional in the days following the hurricane is completely mindblowing. It is my understanding that the company's servers & internet connection are currently being powered by diesel fuel generators. I have faith in the brave people at "Directnic" that our site, and many many others that they host, will be able to continue to remain up and functioning in the upcoming weeks, while they continue the uphill battle to recover from such a catastrophe.

I'm sure that i'm not alone when I say how much compassion I feel for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans, and the whole Gulf Coast region. My heart breaks every time I turn on the news.

--- dj WEX.

Music You Will Like, Vol. 2

So I may be biased but I gotta say that this month's new tracks are the best additions we've done since we started. Daytona 500, 10 Crack Commandments, Bring the Pain! Classics, people. Classics.

So three more songs you will like. I'll stick with the 2 non-hip hop/1 hip-hop pattern.

Japan - Visions of China (1981)

Japan were a British new wave band in the late 70s/early 80s and before you skip ahead and think I'm on some Flock of Seagulls tip, all I ask is that you check out the first 10 seconds of this track for one of the thickest funk basslines laid down. (Producers: To my knowledge, this hasn't been sampled yet...wtf are you waiting for??) None of the members were Asian but the influence on this one is pretty obvious. But it's the bassline that makes me go back to this shit constantly. Oh, and Radiohead loves these guys and you like Radiohead (I hope.)

http://s27.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0K2W1ROHQWMC30R3NB0B8I8UHF



Tim Maia - No Caminho Do Bem

I admittedly don't know much about this cat other than the fact that:

- He was a big Brazilian funk/r&b singer/producer who Brazilians sweat to this day
- He was a major influence on Chief Xcel for the new Blackalicious album (gotta bring it back to hip-hop)
- This was on the City of God soundtrack

This'll continue tonight's theme of "Unlikely Sick Funk Songs That Would Make Hot Samples." Over Fender Rhodes (I think) , a "Superstition"-like bassline, and funky breaks (before they were called breaks), throw this shit on and watch heads slowly start nodding and asking you who this is.

http://s28.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3M0DAFXN1BY982N858B0O5Z8BW


Diverse - 747 (Flyin) (2003)

So Diverse is this Chicago emcee who was good enough to get every loved-but-still-slightly-under-the-radar hip-hop producer to throw him a beat or two for his 2003 debut album (RJD2, Madlib, Prefuse 73 etc.) Fuck that. It's all about Overflo. I have no idea who this cat is other than the fact that he's from Chicago and founded a record label most people never heard of. But this beat -- with the thick funk bassline (again!), heavy drums and superhero horns -- is just retarded. It's only 2:32 but save 10 minutes for this one when you repeat it three times over.
If anyone knows anything else this cat's done, lemme know. I'm sure Wex has his whole discography on his work computer and just hasn't told me about it.

http://s28.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0A8UAB2EYXTOH1QJAVJ3SO3FO5


Until next time,

J. New