ASG (A Son Of God) - "Gitcha Caww Out" (mp3)
When I heard recently that there was a hip hop song being played at recent Ravens games, apparently by a local Baltimore MC, I was pretty curious to find out who it was, and if it was any artist I was already familiar with. Turns out it's a Christian rapper named ASG, and I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that the Ravens would only wanna align themselves with a hip hop artist if they're on the safe, wholesome side. But I got the song from the Ravens games off of ASG's MySpace page, and listened to some of his other music, and it's actually kinda dope, Jay-Z-influenced stuff. I'm not religious so I'm not real interested in gospel rap or anything like that, but I can't hate, this song is kinda catchy. He also has an album out on CD Baby, but it looks like it doesn't have this song on it.

Labels: mp3

Labels: flyer

Labels: 5 Seasons, flyer

Lately a lot of the stuff on the Noise page @ http://noise.citypaper.com has been coming from the City Paper's new music editor, Michael Byrne. But as far as my stuff, I've interviewed DJ Chris J. and King Tutt for my Baltimore club column, and checked out a bunch of shows. Bigg Patch's Bmore Luv Fest @ Fletcher's featured B.O.M.B., Greenspan, Vvs and others. And I went to a mess of other festivals, including the High Zero Festival @ the Theatre Project, the Current Canyon Festival @ the Current Gallery, and the Fells Point Fun Festival. Plus I went to Thurston Moore @ the Rock And Roll Hotel in D.C. and probably the best show I've seen in the last few months, the Kix reunion show @ Rams Head Live.

Labels: B.O.M.B., Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Bigg Patch, Noise

Stackz - No 2Morrow (Rebel Royale Ent.)

Stackz sent me this mixtape a few months ago, he's a rapper who crews with B.O.M.B. and Backland, who appears on here. I kinda slept on it for a while and hadn't gotten around to posting about it, when one of my favorite songs "Kick It Ova Here" appeared on the DJ D-Mob mixtape and kinda reminded me that it's pretty dope. Stackz reads Gov't Names and is really one of the only artists who's given me some real constructive criticism on the site, asking me how I select songs and telling me that sometimes he feels like my taste is wack, which I really respect, to be honest. Not too many people keep it real with me like that, and I do understand where he's coming from, since he's a really lyrical artist and a lot of the stuff I post here and rave about is more about a great beat or concept than about the rapper being really solid. You can download this whole mixtape off DatPiff.com, and I reccomend it.

Stackz - "No 2morrow" (mp3)
The title track and the last song on the disc, really ties it together and makes it feel like an album, rather than just a mixtape.

Labels: Backland, mixtape/album review, mp3

Labels: flyer, Sonar

Labels: flyer

About a month ago, when it was announced that Baltimore rapper Heavy Gold had been signed to Epic records, I put up a big Gov't Names post with the news and a bunch of mp3's and YouTube links. This week, I've got a big feature on Heavy Gold in the City Paper, I think it came out well, he came of as a real humble dude. He's performing at a Team Fifty event this Friday, and I'll probably post about his mixtape Tha Testa on GN sometime soon.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Heavy Gold, magazines/newspapers

Blaq Starr - The Raw Starr Mixtape Vol. 1 (JB Starr Productions)

Blaq Starr may have just dropped the King Of Roq mix CD with big DTLR distribution over the Summer, plus the nationally released Supastarr EP back in the Spring, but he's already got another CD out that's apparently newer than those, which I spotted a few copies of it at True Vine recently. This one is kind of on the same low key tip as last year's I'm Bangin', just a disc with no cover or tracklisting, less than 45 minutes long. But this one isn't a Baltimore club mix, it's basically all hip hop and downtempo stuff from Blaq Starr along with some of the rappers in his crew, including Rye Rye, Lithium and Hipno, who has a bunch of solo tracks at the end of the disc. So it's got some of the tracks in that vein from King Of Roq like "Swagga Back," as well as some different stuff like Blaq Starr doing a freestyle with a dancehall dude over Cham's "Ghetto Story." I wouldn't say it's really essential listening like his last few releases have been, but if you're a huge fan of Blaq Starr like I am, you might wanna cop it anyway. Check out the new Blaq Starr Music page on MySpace, and Blaq Starr will be performing at Sonar this Friday.

Blaq Starr f/ Prince The Fly Guy, Lithium, and Hipno - "Porno Starr" (mp3)
This reminds me of one of my favorite Blaq Starr productions, Cooli Hi's "Beat It Up," in that it has a slower, Southern hip hop tempo while still having that insistent Baltimore club pulse because of the "Dick Control" kick drum pattern underneath it. Prince is the kid who had that song "Crush Em All" that was real big in the clubs a while back. Hipno is from Chicago and raps in that real fast Midwest style, and I have to say, I'd rather hear a Twista-esque rapper over a real Baltimore club producer's beats than, say, the real Twista over Pharrell's fake Bmore beats.

Labels: Baltimore club, Blaq Starr, mixtape/album review, mp3

Labels: 5 Seasons, flyer, Heavy Gold, Ray Lugar, Team Fifty

Labels: flyer, Sonar

Labels: Backland

various artists - The Street Level Mixtape (DJ Addikt/Pro & Reg Records/ElementsParty.com)

The Elements Party folks have been important to Baltimore hip hop for a long time, and their message board is still easily the best online forum the scene has. Lately they've been stepping up their web prescence with original blogs (as well as some content copied from Gov't Names without permission, which I thought was kind of strange and unnecessary, but I'm not mad) and now this new podcast. They recruited a whole bunch of artists from the message board and elsewhere, mostly Bmore artists, to make a whole album-length compilation available as a free download on the Pro And Reg website, featuring music by Ogun, Profound, Jade Fox, E Major, Tislam The Great, Third Kind, Minlus McCracken, Wordsmith, and the Unstoppable Nuklehidz, among others. I think it's a great idea, I keep encouraging more artists around here to do things like this and DJ D-Mob's mixtapes on datpiff.com to make some of their music available for free online and make it easy for people to sample their stuff. There's going to be a listening party for the Street Level podcast Thursday November 8th at the Turntable Club

Joey Nine - "Just Forfeit" (mp3)
I believe this is the same Joey Nine aka J-Nina from The Black Family, this song is dope.

Labels: E Major, Jade Fox, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ogun, Third Kind

Labels: Blaq Starr, flyer, Sonar

Labels: flyer, Sonny Brown

Labels: 5 Seasons, flyer, Hip Hop 101

Bossman - "Jena 6 (When Will It Be Over)" (mp3)

Just got this a few days ago straight from One Up, Bossman speaking on the whole Jena 6 mess, using that as a topic to address racism in America and a whole lot of other things. Good to hear him spitting something as brutally honest as "Off The Record" again, I think it's been getting some spins on 92Q already. It's also on his MySpace page (under the title "Far Too Long," along with another new song called "Flush 'Em").

Labels: Bossman, mp3

Labels: flyer, Jade Fox, Sonny Brown, UnReal

MIC LIFE this Wednesday night @ The New Turntable Club
2139 Jefferson St. Show from 9PM to 12 NO COVER We really have a great opprutunity to Re-Start something good and keep it going and make it even stronger than ever if its done right, but we need YOUR SUPPORT!!!

not to mention we got performences by...

Salim and the Music Lovers (50% of all their cd sales 2night go to Katrina relief funds)
http://www.myspace.com/salimmusic

Born Divine (peep his new single out on myspace)
http://www.myspace.com/borndivine2

&

Warpath

plus an extremely live open mic...

Hosted By Lyrical Leviathan and Blackwind...So come on out...weather you plug in and play,or grab a mic and spit, even if you just love the feel of a good open mic...get ready to enjoy some of the most gifted musicians,wordsmiths,poets,neo B-boys,and vocalists. MIC LIFE Because HipHop Is Life, So Don’t Waste It!!!

http://www.myspace.com/miclife247
www.myspace.com/slickleviathan

"On October17, 2007 The Baltimore Algebra Project (youth organization) is calling for the city to BLOCK TRAFFIC. The reason why we are blocking traffic is to grab the attention of the state & federal government!! The state is not giving us a quality education or the funds owed to us. Blocking traffic interupts the cash flow of businesses, which will put them in a position to take a stand. If we can get the whole or most of the city to participate it would gain automatic media attention in which we will get the world's attention... We demand a quality education."
**City Hall
***3:30 pm
www.myspace.com/freedomfallbaltimore

For more details hit up Chris 443-957-5346 Baltimore Algebra Project Chair of Maryland Freedom Board of Education

Ok G-Major.. I may have to bite off your PSA announcement for a second homeboy. I have something to get off my chest for real. What would happen if all of this shit we trying to do for the state of the artistic community ended tomorrow. Would we know how to get heard? I say maybe 20% of us would. The other 80% would be sitting back complaining on why they dont have shit cracking in the city and talking about why 92q dont play there shit. I guess where im getting at is that we have to start taking advantage of the tools thats given to us.. Ok im not saying Hiphop 101 is the first stop and only stop in the city but theres other venues in this city that dont get hardly NOBODY coming to there events. Find out whats out there and support it. Dont come to somebodys event expecting to perform and you only bring your significant other and you or your homeboy and yourself.. BRING YOUR MOVEMENT! dont be part of someone elses shit be apart of your own shit.. You as a local artist should be able to get rid of at least 500-1000 cd's at the least.. If you cant do that, go back to the drawing board and figure out what the problem is. I get people everyday asking me to perform, and when i let them they complain about the time they get on. Theres reasons to that..

1) if you aint bring nobody to watch you perform dont expect a good slot
2) if you superstared out thinking you are bigger then kanye west and you suck for real... you will get called out and the plug pulled

Hiphop 101 has got to be that place where we let people know how to really get it in and get heard as well as be a place for you to showcase your craft. Im not trying to be the man in this hiphop game. im trying to get money and help someone acheive there dream. hiphop 101 is a place where you should be able to promote and politic with people you never thought you would be able to politic with. hiphop 101 is a place where you air out your differences with someone you dont like or whatever.. hiphop 101 is that tv show you cant wait to come on every monday night at 9pm... hiphop 101 is 88.9 every friday night at 12am.. hiphop 101 is a culture.. hiphop 101 is a way of life.. hiphop 101 is a poweful movement of powerful players thats fed up with the current state of how we as a artistic community is being portrayed business wise as well as talent wise. we will make a diference whether you with us or against us.. with that being said come to hiphop 101 and support what me and my team put together for you as a artist not just rap... but whatever you do musically or within the culture.. i hope to see you all at the 2 years and running,2006 voted best weekly event in Baltimore, with the 2006-2007-2008 reigning best street grinding, best a&r/management, best host HIPHOP 101 along with shaka pitts squirral wyde and yours truly sonny brown

BLOCKHUGGA
SONNYREDDZ
DIRT PLATOON
BIGG PATCH
B-ALIVE MOVEMENT
TYREIKA
TRIUMPHANT MUSIC GROUP
TBE
SOREAL
LUCKYHANDS

AND MORE MONDAY AT THE 5 SEASONS

We do it each and every monday night yawl.. come on thru and lets get heard, polly with folk, get drunk, eat good, freestyle or promote that new mixtape or single or album with some very influential people.. We have some hot performances but im gonna let you sweat for a second before i put them up..lol.

DJ JABRIL- One of the Eastcoast most hottest and most consistant DJ's EVER! HIPHOP 101 DJ

SHAKKA PITTS-Spitters club, Real talk radio, Spitters club studios, One of Baltimores hottest engineer, The infamous Spitts Mcman The dude who arranges the battles, HIPHOP 101 HOST..OH YEAH.. PLEASE BATTLE HIM OR EVEN ATTEMPT TO TRY.. WHY? BECAUSE HE'LL CHOP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF HE COMES FROM THAT MOB!

SUPER SQUIRRAL WYDE-92q's own Radio personality, host the number 1 radio show in RADIO one! SMUT KING, HOOLIGAN EXPRESS CODUCTOR, HIPHOP 101 HOST

SONNY BROWN-HUSTLER, ARTIST, I HOST EVERYTHANG SMOKING IN THIS CITY, OH YEAH.. CO FOUNDER AND HOST OF HIPHOP 101

And a few more players that get it in but hey im tired of typing.. make sure you come thru, get at us for performances, hand us your music, talk to us if your stuck, COME OUT AND SUPPORT!!! THE MOVEMENT BEEN STARTED HERE!

$10 for the fellas
$5 for the females

$5 for the artist performing

drink specials all night long
$1 sonny brown shots

food

each and every monday

at the 5 seasons 830 n. guilford ave

- Sonny Brown

Labels: 5 Seasons, Bigg Patch, flyer, Hip Hop 101, Sonny Brown

I just got done talking about how much press UnReal has been doing lately before I realized that he's actually on the cover of the new issue of Bmore Vibe Magazine. I didn't get around to writing anything for this issue, although Rogue asked my permission to excerpt some things I said in a Gov't Names post about the 92Q controversy for an article on that subject, so I guess that's in there. The issue comes with a mixtape and there's gonna be a release part at 5 Seasons on November 13th.

Labels: 5 Seasons, 92Q, magazines/newspapers, UnReal

South Paw Entertainment presents Never Saw Us Coming (DNA/South Paw Entertainment)

South Paw Entertainment is a label comprised of almost a dozen MCs and a couple producers who released a self-titled album in 2005. I hadn't heard a whole lot of music out of their camp since then, but they definitely make their presence felt at shows here and there. Over the Summer at the Making The Right Moves Conference, I was on a panel with the main dude behind the South Paw label, I forget his name, but I talked to him a little bit and he gave me their latest CD, a mixtape with DNA that I think came out in '06. I hope some of the groups and solo artists on the label release projects too, though, it'd be good to hear how they stand up on their own.

Kadar & Gamin - "Whispers" (mp3)
Kadar's group Lost Soulz seems to grind hardest out of all the artists on South Paw and do the most shows, and Kadar really puts in his work on this mixtape and appears on almost half the songs. I like the beat on this song, it's really unique and not really like anything else I've heard before.

Labels: DNA, mixtape/album review, mp3, South Paw

Labels: B.O.M.B., Bigg Patch, flyer, Midas, Mullyman

Labels: flyer

DJ D-Mob - Put B-More On The Map Vol 6

You might've noticed in the last few months that a lot of times when I write about a mixtape, I note if it's available as a free download on the mixtape site DatPiff.com, and have been really encouraging other artists to bandwagon on that and get their music out there that way. One thing I noticed more recently is that there's a bunch of mixtapes on the site by this young guy named DJ D-Mob, compilations of a bunch of different Baltimore artists. It looks like he just does these mixtapes for DatPiff, and hasn't put them out as actual CDs with artwork, but maybe he's working on that. But the thing that caught my attention about D-Mob's mixtapes, particularly this one, is that they sometimes look like they were patched togther primarily from Government Names downloads. That's not a diss or acting like I'm important, I'm just saying I can tell because there's really no reason he'd pick those particular songs from those releases/artists except that I posted the mp3's at one point or another. So if D-Mob reads the site, I'm not mad at that, I always hope when I post songs I like that they get burn somewhere and end up on more mixtapes. His latest mixtape, Put B-More On the Map Vol 6, has music from Bossman and Ogun and Noe and Los and D.O.G. and Huli Shallone and a whole lot of other people, plus some R&B from Dru Hill and Mario, and he says Vol 7 is dropping this month.

B.O.M.B. "Lean (Graphmix)" (mp3)
This is a version of the single that B.O.M.B. had in stores that charted on Billboard earlier this year, but it's a different beat from the J-Funk produced original version with the same lyrics. B.O.M.B. is also the one artist on here who did a couple drops for DJ and speaks on the mixtape. Last time I saw B.O.M.B. over the Summer, he said he's got an EP dropping real soon.

Labels: B.O.M.B., Bossman, D.O.G., Heavy Gold, Hots, Huli Shallone, Los, mixtape/album review, mp3, NOE, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Tim Trees

Labels: Baltimore club, flyer

I've been pretty impressed lately with how UnReal has been using the internet as a promotional tool. His latest mixtape is still available as a free download on his MySpace page (something that more artists should really think about doing), and he's done interviews with a whole mess of websites lately including All Skool, The Hip Hop Cosign, and Widows Webb. Dude already has titles for another mixtape and an album that he's dropping in the next year, good to see someone really on their grind.

Labels: UnReal

Baltimore Town Hall Meeting

Topic: Solidarity = SUCCESS
Are we all on the same page?

Date: Tuesday 10/9/2007

Time: 6:00PM - 8:00PM

Location: 5 Seasons
830 Guilford Avenue Baltimore, MD 21202
(Guilford & Madison Ave. @ Mt. Vernon Shopping Ctr. near the Dunkin Donuts)
FREE FOOD!!!

FREE TO THE PUBLIC!

PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY!
LET'S MAXIMIZE OUR ALLOTTED TIME

Moderated by "Bmore's Hip Hop Ambassador" C-Love
(Style Warz// www.itsbaltimorebaby.com //ItsBaltimoreBaby LIVE!)

Bought to you by concerned members of the highly influential, but often forgotten and/or overlooked Baltimore Metro community - Its Young Adults!

Dedicated to promoting the ideas, principles and visions of Baltimore's hip Hop generation.

Instead of waiting for the revolution.....BE IT!

I AM THE REVOLUTION!

More info: synergizehiphop@yahoo.com

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! INFORMATION AND DIALOGUE APPROPRIATE FOR ALL AGES, RACES AND PERSUASIONS!

See also here and here.

Labels: 5 Seasons, C Love, flyer

DJ Chris J. - Club Mix Vol. 21 (Baltimore Club Music Group)

Two years ago, I posted a review of a mix CD by DJ Chris J. and I guess he only saw it recently, and hit me up with an e-mail and we got to talking. He disagreed with what I said about his beatmatching on that mix, but there were no hard feelings, and we decided to do an interview for my September Club Beat column. He's been DJing a long long time and he's really coming up as a producer these days, I've posted his song "Good Foot" a.k.a. "The Aww Track" here before, and some of the new tracks he played me are really dope. He'd hoped to have his new mix CD done in time for our interview, but I guess he had some technical setbacks, and instead he gave me this, his last mix from about a year ago, and it's pretty dope. Lots of his own tracks, plus Rod Lee (who he's working with as part of Harm Squad and the upcoming Club Kings outlet store), Blaq Starr, King Tutt, and this new kid DJ Pierre that I gotta start looking out for. I know Dimensions In Music still has copies of this CD, and he should have new one out pretty soon, Check out Chris J. on MySpace, he's selling individual tracks on his page.

DJ Twikks - "Scheduled Program" (mp3)
A lot of my favorite modern Baltimore club tracks are these kinds, with the big anthemic synth horns. DJ Twikks has been killing it on a lot of mixtapes lately, especially K-Swift's, usually with Mike Marvelous, and this is one of their best recent tracks, which features a little vocal sample from an interlude on Jay-Z's Black Album.

Labels: Baltimore club, Blaq Starr, mixtape/album review, mp3, Noise, Rod Lee

Labels: flyer, Jade Fox

my birthday party next monday at the 5 seasons

Thats right, Next monday is my birthday party and I EXPECT EVERYBODY I SHOWED LOVE TO BE THERE ROCKING OUT AND PARTYING WITH ME! Shit, I aint suppose to be out BUT i will be in the place Monday!

Who's performing? A few people, But i really want everyone to have fun and party

how much? $10 for the fellas
$5 for the females

Shit yawl helping me pay for my insurance for next month so a little extra would be good but not necessary

Where? the 5 seasons hiphop 101 830 n guilford

when? october 8

host? SHAKA PITTS and SQUIRRAL WYDE

DJ? DJ JABRIL!

come one come all.. help me out by supporting my birthday party yawl!!!

- Sonny Brown

Labels: 5 Seasons, flyer, Hip Hop 101, Sonny Brown

Labels: flyer

Young Dip - "D.T.T.W.C." (mp3)
Last year I reviewed a mixtape that had Young Dip on it, and earlier this year, Dip released a solo mixtape called You See Me?, and I remember a couple times back then he tried to send me a download link for the CD, but for some reason I could never get the files to work, probably because I'm dumb with computers. But I really loved one song that had been on his MySpace page at the time, kinda backlashing at the whole 'rock star' fashion thing that's been going on in hip hop: "death to the wallet chain/ that's the campaign slogan for the new year/ fuck a rock star!" The mixtape was out back in February, so the funny thing is this isn't even like a response to the Shop Boyz, because "Party Like A Rock Star" wasn't even out yet, at least not nationally, but that whole trend had already been going on for a while before that. So Dip is just kinda tearing down the whole fad in a really funny way on this song, which I dig. I mean, I grew up being really into rock music, and even I think all that cliche'd rock star clothing, leather jackets and chains and shit, is cheesy as hell. Dip's label, IMP Records, just came out with a new mixtape, Marketing And Distribution Volume 1, so when they got at me about sending me one, I asked them for a copy of this song because I still really needed it, and they hooked me up. I'll have to listen to the mixtape some more before I write about it here, but I just wanted to post up this song first because it's really one of my jams of the year.

Labels: mp3, Young Dip

Upcoming Brown F.I.S.H. live dates:

Oct 2 2007 8:00P
Organic Soul Tuesday@ Eden’s Lounge Baltimore, Maryland

Oct 15 2007 8:00P
Bar Nun WASHINGTON, Washington DC

Oct 16 2007 8:00P
The Session w/ Komplex @ The Haven Baltimore, Maryland

Oct 18 2007 7:00P
Coppn State University (Tawes Center -- Fireside Lounge) w/ Em Sea Water Baltimore, Maryland

Oct 27 2007 8:00P
Art of Conversation W/ Bro. E @ The Yabba Pot Baltimore, Maryland

Oct 31 2007 8:00P
Warm Wednesday @ The 5 Seasons Baltimore, Maryland

Nov 1 2007 8:00P
Eubie Blake Cultural Center Baltimore, Maryland

Labels: 5 Seasons, Brown F.I.S.H., flyer

Labels: flyer, Turntable Club