Hands down one of the best interviewers I've ever seen, the man, the myth, the legend that is Nardwuar "The Human Serviette" hit up the 2012 SXSW music and film festival in Austin, Texas this past couple of weeks. While he was there he interviewed a bunch of great hip-hop acts and I've picked out his interviews of 4 of my favourite MC's at the moment Action Bronson, A$AP Rocky, Danny Brown and Kendrick Lamar. Narwuar delivers these interviews in his customary quirky "show and tell" style and his research is once again second to none. It's always awesome to see the surprise on the artists' faces when he pulls out a little known fact or a significant piece of music memorabilia from their childhood. Check out all four interviews after the jup and if you like what you see head over to Nardwuar's YouTube channel to have a look at some more of his unique interviews (some personal reccommendations are the J.Cole, Drake, Nas and Odd Future interviews). Also if you haven't heard any music from the above artists I've included some links to a selection of their best material after the jump. So keep on rockin' in the free world and doot doola doot doo... doot doo!
Continuing on the R&B tip, Usher recently released a new track "Climax" which is the lead single from his upcoming album "The Shanertance". The track which was produced by Mad Decent head honcho "Diplo" and is genuinely the best thing I've heard from Usher since his Confessions album way back in 2004. Even if you're not an Usher fan there's no denying Climax is a real slow burner. Don't anaylyse it, just listen to it and get a bit of good R&B back in your life. Stream Climax below and check out the official video after the jump.
OK, so I might be more than a little bit late with this video but as I'm a big Frank Ocean fan I thought it was well worth highlighting. So the story goes that Odd Future member, Ocean initially leaked "Thinking About You" onto the interweb back in July and it was later revealed that the song was actually a reference track for Roc Nation arist, Bridget Kelly's debut album. Then in September High 5 Collective released the official video clip for the song. So who knows where this this track will end up, all you need to know is that it's Frank Ocean and it's good. The video is unsurprisingly weird involving some vengeful Native Americans, catatonically sick children and of cource Ocean, making a brief appeareance as a male nurse. This is definitely one of my favourite tracks of 2011 so stay tuned to see if this makes it into my best singles of 2011 list, which I'm currently compiling. Check out the full Thinking About You video after the jump aong with stream/download link.
The second trailer for arguably one of the most anticipated movies of 2012 and the conclusion t Christopher Nolan's reboot of the franchise, Batman: The Dark Knight Rises has been released to the masses. The trailer looks pretty epic and it gives us a first hand look at Batman's enemies for this movie in the form of Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and Bane (Tom Hardy). I also have to take this opportunity to give a special thanks to Ryan Ingram. As a result of his Michael Caine impression I don't think I'll ever be able to take another monologue by the actor seriously again. Check out trailer #2 for Batman: The Dark Knight Rises after the jump and mark the date July 20, 2012 in your calenders as that's when the film hits movie theatres. Also if you missed out on seeing the first teaser trailer, head on over to everyone's favourite online video site YouTube for a little look-see.
A-Trak and Armand Van Helden AKA Duck Sauce are back with the hilarious visuals for their latest single "Big Bad Wolf". The Keith Schofield directed video sees the duo playing the part of some enthusiastic male appendages getting up to all kinds of mischief. This is a genuinely creative and humorous video and it gets especially crazy towards the end (cue the ping-pong ball). Also if you didn't read the "Not Safe For Work" title it's probably not a good idea to watch this at your place of employment unless you have a very lenient boss. Check out the full video after the jump or head on over to the iTunes store to purchase a digital copy of the Big Bad Wolf single.
As we near the end of the year there are several events that everyone starts to anticipate - Christmas, New Years..... oh yeah and the annual BET Hip-Hop Awards show which has rolled around once again. Even though the show itself is usually pretty crappy overall there's one segment that everyone always looks forward to and that's the cyphers. Once again BET has brought together some of the best and most respected lyricists to showcase their skills in the cypher. After watching all 9 cyphers I would say that the Shady 2.0 Cypher featuring Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse and Eminem was the pick of the bunch (Eminem was on fire and Royce Da 5'9's "Hi Rihanna" line was classic) although I was genuinely surprised by Chris Brown who is definitely improving as a rapper and Machine Gun Kelly, Skills and B.o.B. all had classic punchlines to finish off their verses. Check out all 9 BET Hip-Hop Award 2011 cyphers after the jump or head on over to the BET website for a full run-down of the award show.
Stones Throw artist and one of my favourite soul singers Mayer Hawthorne recently dropped his sophomore album "How Do You Do". The lead single from the album is the track The Walk for which he has also released an interesting set of visuals. It's a strange combination of song and video with the mellow break-up track put against the backdrop of an all-out gunfight between two lovers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith style. Check out the full video after the jump or head over to the iTunes store to buy yourself a copy of How Do You Do.
Queensbridge MC Nas has dropped the visuals for his single "Nasty", taken from his upcoming tenth studio album "Life Is Good". The track was originally released way back in June and has been hailed as a long awaited return to form for the rapper. The Jason Goldwatch directed video sees Nas trading in his lavish lifestyle and making a return to his roots and the projects of Queens. The video is somewhat symbolic, mirroring the rapper's return to the raw hip-hop sound of his early career. I for one am very much looking forward to hearing Life Is Good when it drops sometime in 2012. Check out the full Nasty video after the jump and stay tuned to The Benjamins for more Nas album updates as they come to hand.
As many of you may already know the new Joss Whedon directed The Avengers movie is currently in post production and to whet our appetites Marvel has released a teaser trailer for the movie. I must say overall the film looks like it's going to be pretty damn cool and Robert Downey Jnr. has a couple of absolutely classic one-liners in the trailer. The Avengers movie will of course feature all your favourite Marvel super heroes - Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Haweye and Captain America played by a who's who of Hollywood stars including Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson. Check out the full teaser trailer after the jump and look out for the finished movie when it releases in May next year.
If you're a gamer and you like sports titles, you'll know that even though we're barely a week into the month of October it's already been a big month for franchise sports games. The latest release in the EA soccer stable FIFA 12 was released last week and now the best basketball simulation game in the business NBA 2K12 has finally seen the light of day. To celebrate the release of NBA 2K12, the games developers 2K Sports have released a bunch of amusing video clips which feature Young Money rapper Drake and NBA legend Michael Jordan along with a host of other people debating which NBA team was truly the greatest of all time. This is to promote the fact that for the first time thanks to 2K12, gamers will be able to take control of some of the most iconic players in NBA history, including Hakeem Olajuwon. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan and put them against other classic and modern-day teams to finally settle the debate and find out who is greatest team of all time. Check out the promotional videos in full after the jump and make sure you head down to your local game shop to pick up a copy of NBA 2K12 on the double!
Four long years have passed since Evidence's last album release but the Dilated People's member is back with a brand new album entitled Cats & Dogs. I'm a little bit late on this particular video but the second single from the album, the very dope "You" was released a little while back along with its accompanying visuals. The track which was produced by none other than the legendary DJ Premier features a classic Evidence flow against a signature Premo beat while the video is nothing to be sneezed at featuring some super cool visual effects. Cat's & Dogs is available for purchase now and features a swag of awesome guests including Aloe Blacc, Raekwon, Rass Kass, Roc Marciano, Prodigy, Slug, Aesop Rock and a heap more. So head on over to the iTunes store to show your support or check out the entire You video after the jump.
To celebrate with the long awaited commencement of the second season of How To Make It In America, HBO has released a parody video of the Duck Sauce hit Barbra Streisand featuring star of the show and all round awesome hombre, Luis Guzman. Like the original the video features a host of celebrity cameos including Mark Wahlberg, Kid Cudi, Bryan Greenberg, Lake Bell, Victor Rasuk, Duck Sauce, Q-Tip, Pharrell Williams, Asher Roth, Pusha T and Justin Beiber. Check out the hilarious video after the jump and be sure to tune into season 2 of How To Make It In America which airs Sunday nights at 10:30pm on HBO in the states (or Monday if you're in Australia like me).
Great news everyone! Legendary funky man of "Diggin' in the crates" (D.I.T.C.) crew, Lord Finesse is returning to Adelaide for an outdoor show at The Old Exchange on September 24 with support from DJ Sheep, Nick Arks and Nixon. I'm sure I don't need to tell you all how much of a legend Finesse is, with a CV that would make even the most seasoned hip-hop musicians weep. For those of you that still need convincing Finesse is the triple threat, producer, MC and DJ and a true hip-hop icon. He has produced tracks for the who's who of hip-hop including "Suicidal Thoughts" from The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut album "Ready to Die", the majority of the late Big L's debut album "Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous" and "The Message" taken from Dr Dre's seminal solo album "2001". As previously mentioned he founded the legendary D.I.T.C. crew who's members include Buckwild, Showbiz, A.G., Fat Joe, Diamond D and Big L. Finesse also provided the vocal sample that DJ/musician Fatboy Slim used for his 1998 hit single The Rockafeller Skank. (Yes, that track and that line "Right about now, the funk soul brother").
The Black Keys have recently finished recording their seventh studio album and the follow up to their smash hit "Brothers" LP, but in more exciting news the duo have announced that they have once again teamed up with Damon Dash to resurrect the "BlakRoc" project and release the sequel "BlakRoc 2". To say I'm excited about this news would be a true understatement, but it's good to hear this is in the pipeline as 2009's "BlakRoc" album was one of my favourites. The Black Keys blues-rock production is perfectly suited to having MC's rock over the top of it, but they have to be the right MC's. With BlakRoc 2 set to feature some of today's best rappers including Talib Kweli, Curren$y, Jay Electronica, Wiz Khalifa, U-God, The Cool Kids, Jim Jones, OC and Sean Price, I think The Black Keys have got it right again. Personally I'm definitely most excited about the Jay Electronica, Curren$y, Talib Kweli and The Cool Kids features and can't wait to hear how those tracks turn out. No release details as of yet, but stayed tuned to The Benjamins as more details come to hand. Check out the BlakRoc 2 trailer after the jump.
Chicago rock band OK Go have once again come up with another quirky video with their remake of The Muppet's Show's theme song. The video even features appearances from the entire Muppets cast! The track is taken from the recently released "Muppets: The Green Album" which also features a whole bunch of other awesome bands including My Morning Jacket, Andrew Bird and Weezer. Check out OK Go's Muppet Show Theme Song video after the jump or head on over to the iTunes Store to grab yourself a copy of The Muppets: The Green Album.
After the successful release of his 24 Hour Karate School album last year, legendary producer "Ski Beatz" returns with the first video taken from the follow-up, "24 Hour Karate School II". The track titled "Lookin' for Me" features the vocal styling of hip-hop duo the L.E.P. Bogus Boys and a very soulful hook from UK soul singer Terri Walker. The beat is a classic Ski Beatz affair and let me just say the horns on Lookin' for Me are downright nasty, and you all know I'm a sucker for some jazzy horns. The video istelf was directed by Jonah Schwartz and is nothing super special content wise but it's well shot and does the track justice. I must admit that I had heard of the L.E.P. Bogus Boys before and hadn't paid them too much attention but after hearing this track I'll definitely have to reconsider that decision. Ski Beatz' "24 Hour Karate School Pt. II" is available for purchase now, so head on over to the iTunes Store to grab yourself a copy. Check out the Lookin' for Me video after the jump.
It's not secret that Loaded Boards make and sell some of the nicest longboards on the market. They also seem to put just as much love and dedication into their videos, producing some of the most aesthetically pleasing longboard videos you're ever likely to see. In this Loaded video titled "French Fries and Dogs Eyes", which I found over on filmmaking and photography blog Cinevate the Loaded boys show you how to pull off some perfect tracking shots. The video features riders Jackson Shapiera and Maxim Garant as they tear down a beautiful hill, shredding a bunch of wheels in the process. There is some awesome riding in this video and it's beautifully put together, definitely worth a look even if you don't dig longboarding. Check out the video after the jump along with behind the scenes photos of how the video was put together.
DJ and prodction trio Cookin' Soul have come up with another certified banger with their remix of the Jay-Z and Kanye West's latest single "Otis". Cookin' Soul remixes never fail to disappoint and this is gives a refreshing taste to a song that has saturated the airwaves ever since it was released. Don't get me wrong the original beat is good but this remix certainly does the song justice and I'm sure there will be plenty of people out there that will prefer this remix over the original (Me included, if you're going to sample Otis Redding - Try A Little Tenderness you better make the song damn good, even if you're Kanye West). Cookin' Soul also went so far as to dub their remix over the official video, although the video seems to have been taken down so you'll have to try and track that one down for yourselves. Stream/download the Otis (Cookin' Soul Remix) below.
Scottish born stunt rider Danny Macaskill returns with another dose of crazy push-bike riding antics in his latest video "Industrial Revolutions". The video shot exclusively for Channel 4's Concrete Circus documentary sees Macaskill doing all manner of amazing feats in an abandoned industrial train yard and derelict buildings. There are so many crazy stunts in this video it's not funny and the balance required for the tight rope riding at 2:27 is unfathomable. Check out the Industrial Revolutions video after the jump and if you haven't already seen Macaskill's other awesome video "Way Back Home" head over to YouTube to check it out.
Let me start off by saying this song and it's video is absolutely hilarious! Allen Samuels has been in the casino business for over 30 years and has now decided to try his hand at a rap career because he lives the life. This song is pure gold and the video shows exactly how Samuels is "livin the life" which includes jet-setting (although he's sans iPad so JD's one up on him) rapping in front two Mercedes', starting dance lines with kids on the street, rocking live shoes, ballin', wearing your sweater tucked in and macking your lawyer on your own desk, plus his dance moves are second to none. There's even a cameo from NBA championship player and Dallas Mavericks veteran Jason Terry. If you look up the definition of "swagger" in the dictionary you are sure to find a picture of Allen Samuels. In all seriousness this is a bit of harmless fun and will provide a great Friday afternoon chuckle. Check out A. Samuel's - Livin De Life in all it's glory after the jump, this is a must see!
