Love this. Coco sounds beautiful.

On Thursday, June 2nd, 2011, Peek Gallery in association with Noise Pop proudly presents an exclusive photo gallery IF IT FITS IN THE BACKPACK…10 Years On the Road with MOCHILLA. Between B+ and Coleman, Mochilla’s co-founders, the two have photographed some of music’s biggest icons, including Eminem, Lauryn Hill, Black Eyed Peas, DJ Shadow, MF Doom, Dilated Peoples, Blackalicious, David Axelrod, Mulatu Astatke, J.Dilla, EPMD, Snoop Dogg, Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli), Damian Marley, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Madlib, Jay Electronica, and many others. Outside of their photography work, Mochilla developed into a full service production company, producing 3 groundbreaking music films which include KEEPINTIME, BRASILINTIME, and TIMELESS, all exploring the connection between Jazz/Soul/Funk/Brasilian music and the latter generation of DJs and producers who were so influenced by the previous generation’s music and aesthetic. Recent video projects include Eric Coleman’s video work w/ Jay Electronica in South Africa; B+’s travels w/ Nas & Damian Marley in Jamaica; an interview with the legendary Jose Maria “Curro” Fuentes (producer of some of Colombia’s most important musicians and orchestras on his own Discos Curro imprint); and their combined work on Banksy’s film, “Exit Through The Gift Shop.”

The June 2nd, 2011 grand opening of IF IT FITS IN THE BACKPACK…10 Years On the Road with MOCHILLA will feature work made under the Mochilla aegis over the last 10 years, showcasing their cultural imprint on music from all over the world and their brilliant execution as photographers and videographers.

The photography and films of
B+ and ERIC COLEMAN (MOCHILLA)

Exhibition Dates:
June 2 – June 30, 2011

Opening Reception:
Thursday, June 2, 2011, 7-11pm
Exclusive film screening with Q&A starts 7pm / Special Guest DJs
(films featuring Damian Marley, Nas, Jay Electronica, Quantic, J Dilla)
@ Peek Gallery at The Summit, 780 Valencia St., San Francisco

thesummit-sf.com
mochilla.com
noisepop.com

Last Monday, April 11th at 10:43AM, my daughter Ajané arrived into the world. It was the most beautifulest thing in the world without a doubt. Being “on call” for the whole month of March & April kinda put a roadblock in my head as to what ‘theme’ I wanted to execute for Aprils NKD & as I pondered the thoughts I lowkey was already playing the soundtrack & not even knowing it. Playing songs that I felt related to what I was going through or have gone through or what I want to achieve as a man & as a father to my children. About a week before the 15th (sorry for the delay… been busy changing diapers n schitt. pun.) I finally decided to dedicate this months NKD to the babies. The children. The kids! But no… not on some Yo Gabba Gabba or Kids Sing Along schitt… naw… on some grown folks – grown biz – type of musical growth if you will. Whether you are a mother or a father, raising your sons or daughters, this edition goes harder to marauder & slaughter any biologicals that don’t bother. I breaks water! hahaha Naw pho trill tho… I’m on Cloud 9000 & 99! Blind I For The Kids… literally.

TL & DL after…

NO KNOWS DOPE | NO KNOWS BABIES | APRIL 20XI | DOWNLOAD

“I let songs breathe, as they’re all deserved to be heard and the vibe is deserved to be felt. Some synths. Some Lo-Fi. A bunch of recognizable names. A couple unknowns. 33 tracks. 81 minutes. In the words of Stretch Armstrong, this mix is “chonky.”  DJ Mensa

Download audio file (djmensa_seasonschange.mp3)

DL and track listing after the jumpoff!

Kanye West ft. Mos Def & Swizz Beatz – Lord Lord Lord
Pete Rock – A Word of Two
Choclair – Just A Second (DJ Mensa Remix)
High Def – Gone
Joell Ortiz – Sing Like Bilal
Adam Bomb – Wouldn’t Understand
1982 ft. Bun B – You Should Go Home
Assorted Flavors – Make Up Your Mind (DJ Mensa Remix)
Freddie Joachim – What Comes of Dreams
Red Cafe ft. Talib Kweli – I Luv
Trackademicks ft. Phonte – Fool On A Hill
Al B. Sure – Nite & Day (Onra Edit)
MF Doom – daBoom (BasicBlink Remix)
N*E*R*D – Inside of Clouds
Lauryn Hill – Repercussions
Adriana Evans – Waiting
D’Angelo – Left & Right (Sam Champ Remix)
Tamia – Imagination (DJ Mensa Remix)
Cheri Dennis – Over
Little Brother – Before The Night Is Over
Jim Jones – Blow Your Smoke
Snoop Dogg ft. The Dream – Luv Drunk
Consequence – Got Me Trippin’ (The Amerie Joint)
Ne-Yo – One In The Million
DJ Center ft. Middle Child – In A Song
Aloe Blacc – You Make Me Smile
Bishop Lamont – Friends
Kanye West, Jay-Z, Pete Rock – The Joy
Tyga ft. Pharrell – First Time
Marsha Ambrosius – I Hope She Cheats On You
Jessica Kaya ft. Rich Kidd – Heavy
The Foreign Exchange – Maybe She’ll Dream of Me
Quadron – Baby Be Mine
http://www.djmensa.com/mixes/djmensa_seasonschange.mp3
[ RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE ]

Take a peek at the trailer:

Commentary is provided primarily by woman rappers, including MC Lyte, YoYo, Trina, Salt n’ Pepa, The Lady of Rage, Diamond, Eve, Missy, etc. Other heads weighing in include Kevin Lyles, Joan Morgan, Questlove, Glennisha Morgan of The Fembassy and Russell Simmons. I was really excited to hear the thoughts Jean Grae, Tiye Pheonix and a few other female rappers who aren’t as familiar to the BET audience (there is a great independent artist roll-call at the end as well).

Continue reading after the jump.

The film itself is visually stunning. The colors are rich and lush and warm. The women themselves look beautiful and they were shot in a way that feels very intimate, personal. I got tears in my eyes about 15 minutes in. I felt like I was watching a family reunion or something. So many of the special names, faces and (most importantly) sounds of my youth were present in this piece.

The filmmaker and her subjects took no shorts and take on some tough questions: why are so many female rappers hypersexualized? Why do women seem to need a crew of men around them to be taken seriously? How is it that the absence of one person had such a tremendous impact on an entire genre of music (and it’s listeners)? Why is it still so hard for women to make it in this game? Make sure you pay particular attention to Trina’s thoughts on her own success at the end of the film. Her astuteness was both remarkable and incredibly depressing.

I had been a while since I had really sat down and thought about the role of sistren in Hip-Hop and the film inspired me to finally take on the topic of Lauryn. My conversation with the fabulous Esther Armah after the film a was the spark for this piece as well. Even if you are as cynical and jaded as I about what mainstream Rap has become (particularly as it relates to women)…if you have love in your heart for Hip-Hop, you are gonna love this movie.

It is important that people know we are interested in seeing work like this not just in small, independent spaces, but on major networks like BET. We’ve been asking to see work like My Mic Sounds Nice for years and we have to make sure that we support it if we want to see more. If you are on Twitter, check out the official page for the film. “Like” it on Facebook. Tell friends to tune in and MOST IMPORTANTLY….watch!

My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women In Hip-Hop will premiere on August 30th at 10:00 PM EDT on BET.

Download audio file (Repercussions.mp3)

DOWNLOAD LAURYN HILL-REPERCUSSIONS [MEDIAFIRE]

NPR Lauryn Hill Interview

The Many Voices of Lauryn Hill

I interviewed a lot of people for my story about Lauryn Hill’s voice. I had to, because I didn’t know if I’d be able to speak to her myself. The singer and rapper last released a recording eight years ago. She rarely performs in the U.S., and she almost never gives interviews. But her fans haven’t forgotten her — they’re still pleading for her to come back. Hill is a fantastic singer, as well as one of the greatest MCs of all time, and the story of her voice is the story of a generation.

It doesn’t take much for a group of 30-somethings to get nostalgic about Hill. Put her solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, on at a bar, and it takes the crowd right back to college days or high-school summers. I met Daryl Lutz while he was hanging out with a group of friends on the deck of Marvin’s Bar in downtown Washington, D.C.

“We went to school in Hampton, Va., and she came to do a show,” he said. ”It was one of the best times in my life — I mean, she spoke to me! We snuck backstage and I got her to sign my meal card. She said, ‘This is your meal card, brother, you know?’ I said, ‘That’s all I got.’ She signed it, ‘Eat well — L. Boogie.’ That’s something I’ll never forget. I love her. I love her to death.”

I heard tons of stories like Lutz’s that night — mostly closed with this plea: “Come back, Lauryn. We need you. Come back!” People spoke directly into the microphone, as if it were a telephone line.

From New Ark To Israel

Hill became a star with the hip-hop trio The Fugees. Their second album, The Score, came out in 1996, and it was an instant classic. The group — Hill, Wyclef Jean and Prakazrel Michel — sounded like they were in perfect sync. On the first single, “Fu-gee-la,” Hill sang the hook, rhymed a verse, then sang again. She was the total package, more so than any other rapper, male or female, has been.

She’s one of slickest rappers ever: Her rhymes are dexterous, spiritual, hilarious, surprising. Without a doubt, she was the best-looking rapper the world had ever seen. And Hill was a soul singer with a real old-school, almost militant, politic. The second single was Hill’s cover of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.” That recording has never really gone away, and its success built the expectations for Hill’s solo record to a fever pitch. Particularly to women and young girls who listened to her then, she was a revelation. There was steel in her voice when she rapped; she sang like she really cared about our hopeless crushes and our impotent rages, like she really loved us. We thought maybe we could grow up to be like her.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill came out in 1998. It was like LeBron James’ rookie year in the NBA. You knew he had the potential to be great after seeing him in high school — and then, right out of the gate, he’s one of the best ball players in the league.

Jayson Jackson, part of Hill’s management team, described the recording process this way: “The record was already inside her. She would go into the studio, and it would just pour out of her.”

Lenesha Randolph sang backing vocals on Miseducation, and she describes herself today as the backing vocals “to all your favorite artists.” She’s on tour with Lady Gaga right now, but a formative influence on her singing was her work in the studio singing backup for Hill.

“I don’t know if people are gonna like this album, because I’m just singing, and nobody wants to hear rappers sing,” Hill told Randolph at the time. Randolph says she couldn’t believe it. “I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ ” Randolph says. “I would just stare at her, like, look in her mouth! Because when you hear her sing, and then hear her speak — it had such power and volume and rasp. It was something to strive for.”

Everything Is Everything

In 1998, everyone was listening to her sing: mothers, daughters, college students and little kids. As the rapper Nas described his audience, “listeners, bluntheads, fine ladies and prisoners.” Miseducation crossed demographics and genres. It made people dance and cry and blast it from their speakers as they drove around with their best friends.

Jay Smooth, a longtime radio DJ, remembers there was a little sadness in the hip-hop community that there was less rhyming on the album than during Hill’s time with The Fugees. “We may have missed out on the best rap album of all time,” he says. Nevertheless, the album was a note that longtime fans of hip-hop had been craving for someone to hit. Smooth says that for people his age — the same age as Hill, the same age as people like Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls — “we saw our generation create something so powerful and innovative. They were speaking with a love and righteousness that we, perhaps naively, believed could change the world at that time.”

Smooth compares the idealism of the hip-hop generation to the hippies before it. But just as the optimism of the ’60s gave way to what he describes as “the malaise of the ’70s,” Smooth says that hip-hop had lost its way. The music grew more commercialized, and consequently more violent and self-involved, culminating in the deaths of Tupac in 1996, and then Biggie Smalls in 1997.

“It was right after that, in 1998, that Lauryn Hill’s album came out,” Smooth says. ”And it seemed that she was that voice inside our soul — coming out and asking all of us, ‘How could we have gone so wrong?’ and ‘Can we have some grown folks talking about loving ourselves, before it’s too late? If it’s not already too late?’ ”

‘Look At Your Career,’ They Said. ‘Lauryn, Baby, Use Your Head’

Hill raked in the Grammys, including Album of the Year. But that same year, some of her collaborators filed suit, saying they weren’t properly credited on the album. They settled out of court, and the stir over the suit prompted what seemed like a fall from grace for Lauryn Hill.

Shortly after the Grammys, in the winter of 1999, Hill disappeared from public life. For years afterward, her fans traded rumors — the prevailing theory was that she’d had some kind of breakdown. Smooth says he thinks the pressure put on her to save the hip-hop generation from itself might have broken her. She was also a busy mother: Over the past 10 years, she’s had five children. Her MTV Unplugged album, which came out in 2002, seemed to reveal a person worn thin.

After Unplugged, those of us who grew up listening to her missed her voice in the same way we missed our hopeful youth. That powerful sound that represented great potential being fulfilled was silent.

“No one ever stops missing her,” Smooth says. ”Every time you say her name — like, ‘Lauryn Hill walked into Home Depot’ — you’ll be hoping she starts tapping on a table and making a beat and singing.”

This could be the year.

After Winter Must Come Spring

Lauryn Hill took the stage at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, Calif., just a few weeks ago. She’s barely performed at all in the U.S. in the past 10 years. The band was restless and loud behind her, almost drowning her out at times. She looked completely regal, even in a carnival balloon-style jumpsuit, with her hair blown out and dyed maroon to match. She pranced around the stage in huge heels, shouting directions to the band, as though they were in rehearsal. When she rapped, her words flew by so fast, it seemed she was barely breathing. But when the sound guy brought her mic up and the band would breathe for a moment, her voice soared over the crowd. It was the same voice I’d grown up with, just as raw and present and full of soul as I remembered.

The reputation that surrounds Hill is wild — it’s hard to know what to believe, because she does so few interviews. She’s got handlers on top of handlers, publicists and managers who, you think, will lead you to her, and then they turn out to be red herrings. My editor and I chased them all down during the weekend of the Harmony Festival. I was told by various people to not touch her, don’t look her in the eye; that instead of talking directly to you, she writes on a Post-It note and sticks it to your chest. I’ve also been told repeatedly not to call her “Lauryn” anything — she goes by Ms. Hill. This is the only rumor that turns out to be true, in my case. Because after her performance in Santa Rosa, when we ask Ms. Hill if we can ride with her back to the hotel and ask her some questions, she tells us to get in the car.

I ask her the question her fans have been asking each other for years: Why did you stop putting out music?

“There were a number of different reasons,” she says. ”But partly, the support system that I needed was not necessarily in place. There were things about myself, personal-growth things, that I had to go through in order to feel like it was worth it. In fact, as musicians and artists, it’s important we have an environment — and I guess when I say environment, I really mean the [music] industry, that really nurtures these gifts. Oftentimes, the machine can overlook the need to take care of the people who produce the sounds that have a lot to do with the health and well-being of society, or at least some aspect of society. And it’s important that people be given the time that they need to go through, to grow, so that the consciousness level of the general public is properly affected.  Oftentimes, I think people are forced to make decisions prematurely. And then that sound radiates.”

This would sound self-important coming from many other artists, especially popular artists. But to someone who grew up with Hill, it makes sense. She did have a hand in shaping how we were feeling, or it seemed that she did. And the disappointment of her disappearance is just one in a catalog of disappointments that we experienced as we grew up.

Her voice sounds just the same: low and raspy, full of intensity and soul. It’s no wonder. She tells me she grew up singing along with mostly male soul singers — “the Donny Hathaways, the Stevie Wonders, the Jackie Wilsons.” As for her rhyming skills, she says she used to have a rapping voice and a singing voice. But now the voices have to become one, in order for her to get the kind of music mix that she wants in a live performance. It’s a work in progress. It’s so funny to hear that Hill is still working on her extraordinary voice — holding it out in front of her, waving it like a sheet to see what more she can shake out of it.

“I’m trying to open up my range and really sing more,” she says. ”With The Fugees initially, and even with Miseducation, it was very hip-hop — always a singing over beats. I don’t think people have really heard me sing out. So if I do record again, perhaps it will have an expanded context. Where people can hear a bit more.”

How You Gonna Win When You Ain’t Right Within?

I ask her what it feels like to sing, and she flips the question on me — “Well, what’s it like to hear me?” I tell her listening to her sing makes me feel both happy and sad. It feels like her voice comes from a higher place. I’m paraphrasing all the people I’ve interviewed about her.

“The feeling that you get,” she says, “I get first. I think you have a delayed experience with the feeling that I usually get. When I have a creative insight, there is a high. I think back in the day, I made music as much as I did because it made me feel so good. I think you could argue that there is a creative addiction — but, you know, the healthy kind.”

I ask her about having a voice that moves so many people, if there isn’t a certain amount of responsibility that comes along with that.

“I think about it, and yet I don’t think about it,” she says. We pull into the hotel parking lot and she’s about to continue, but we’re interrupted by one of the festival employees, who comes up to the car to ask if someone-or-other’s keys are in the Suburban we’re riding in.

“No,” Hill says with a laugh. “No one in here has those keys.” After all, it’s just Hill, me, the driver and my editor in the car. As the man walks away, Hill says, “He looks just like Matthew McConaughey. First, second cousin. He does! … What I was I saying? Oh, I think if I was created with such power or an ability, then what’s also been put in me is the blueprint for the responsibility part, as well. I have to take care of myself in order to take care of this gift, which has affected so many. I don’t treat it lightly. It’s important to me to be healthy and to be whole.”

And Hill seems healthy and whole, squished up next to me in the car, making cracks about ridiculous-looking actors, chin in her hand as she thinks through the answers to my questions. She doesn’t tell me to move back, or that she doesn’t want to answer something. Watching her perform earlier in the day made me uneasy. I felt like I was watching a captain who had spent a life at sea, then lived on land for 10 years, stumbling a bit her first time back on the deck of a boat. But hearing her steadiness now, I feel hopeful. It’s also a reality check: Why did we demand so much of this woman?

“I don’t know if you know this, but I have five children,” she says. ”The youngest is 2 now, so she’s old enough that I can leave her for a period of time and know she’s going to be OK. That’s one reason [Hill is starting to perform again]. And I think it’s just time. I’m starting to get excited again. Believe it or not, I think what people are attracted to about me, if anything, is my passion. People got exposed to my passion through music and song first. I think people might realize, you know, ‘We love the way she sounds, we love the music, but I think we just love how fearless she is. How boundless she is, when it comes to what she wants to do.’ And I think that can be infectious.”

This closes the interview. I thank her. She says, “You’re welcome,” and my editor and I leave the car. We sit on the stairs for a few minutes to catch our breath. We spent all weekend chasing Lauryn Hill, hoping to have this conversation about her voice. I compared it to a video game with infinite levels you didn’t even know existed, like when you beat a level and you think you won, but then you go through a door and there’s a whole other world you have to conquer. Getting to Lauryn Hill was like that.

Sara Sarasohn, my editor, compared the chase to the Israelites rising up and following the cloud over the Tent of Meeting. In the Torah, when the Israelites are wandering in the desert, there was a cloud over the Tent of Meeting, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. When the cloud lifted and moved, the Israelites would see it and know that it was time for them to move as well in their journey through the desert. It was like the presence of Hill was this cloud that we could see in the distance, and we were trying to follow it, and finally, we got to the Tent of Meeting.

Sitting on the stairs together, Sara and I couldn’t help but cry, just a little. We talked to Lauryn Hill. And she’s doing fine.

“The Carlton” is an ode to the King of All ’90s Sitcom Nerds, Carlton Banks, and the sounds that he would likely be grooving to if were still around in 2010.

This is a fresh lil mix with a lil bit of everyone from Stevie Wonder to J Davey to Hall & Oats. All the songs have that CARLTON feel to it to definitely get you Bouncing…peep the vid I found to go with it after the jump SUPER CLASSIC.

Download audio file (DJStylus_The_Carlton.mp3)
The video, tracklisting and download is after the bounce.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Listen to the mixtape then watch the video with no sound…goes perfect!!!
Download

Big up to SoulBounce .. these ladies are FRESH!

DJ Stylus: “The Carlton” [MediaFire ]

Download audio file (03-lauryn_hill-i_find_it_hard_to_say-mvr.mp3)

Aight so I had to do my research on this. It ain’t NEW-NEW per say, but yet a collection of schitt that was supposed to be released on her album Khulami Phase in December of 2004, same time the Fugees’ reunion was slated to go down other than their tour stint. There’s a few that I didnt hear on her MTV Unplugged that seem like they came from that. Some live schitt. & then some other. Definitely some stuff on here I never heard tho. The cover was suspect & I had to flip it since $ & I decided to drop it on Blind I, you can peep the O.G. cover, the track listing & DL after the the after…

Track Listing

1: INTRO: Lauryn Hill Speaks
2: Lose Myself
3: I Find It Hard To Say {Rebel}
4: World Is A Hustle
5: Social Drug {Studio Version}
6: Take To Much {Rich Man}
7: The Passion
8: Freedom Time/Mystery Of Iniquity {Lyrical Mix}
9: INTERLUDE: Lauryn Hill
10: Music
11: As (Live @ Nippon-Budo-Kan, Tokyo 1999
12: Killing Me Softly (Live @ Dave Chappelle’s Block Party)
13: To Zion {Rehearsal} 
14: Do You Like The Way
15: Blame It On The Sun
16: INTERLUDE: Lauryn Hill
17: If U Wanna
18: Endless Fight
19: Motives & Thoughts {Poem}
20: The Makings Of You (Curtis Mayfield Cover Live)

DOWNLOAD | LAURYN HILL – KHULAMI PHASE [MEGAUPLOAD]

“You know I only say it cause I’m truly genuine, don’t be a hard rock when you really are a gem baby girl…”