This week WWW.ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, a site put together by the folks at Architects Recording Studio, launched and they've got a whole bunch of free downloads of full-length albums and mixtapes by artists including Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Bossman, TestMe, Barnes, Huli Shallone, UnReal, D.O.G., ShellBe R.A.W., EJ, Rye Rye and many others. I think it's great that there's gonna be a site like this from now on, and from Ogun's told me they've got a lot more stuff planned.

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, announcements, Architects, Barnes, Bossman, D.O.G., EJ, Huli Shallone, Ogun, Rye Rye, ShellBe RAW, Skarr Akbar, TestMe, UnReal

Here we go, WHOLE LAAAAAT:

11. Diablo - "Jail Flick" (mp3) - August 16, 2005
12. D.O.G. f/ Blaq Starr - "Ryda Gyrl" (mp3) - June 26, 2006
13. Rod Lee - "Dance My Pain Away" (mp3) - June 2, 2005
14. Comp - "Whole Lat" (mp3) - February 13, 2008
15. Mullyman - "Oh Baltimore" (mp3) - May 19, 2006
16. Ogun f/ Che'Rae - "My Life" (mp3) - December 22, 2006
17. Bossman - "Dat Night" (mp3) - February 4, 2005
18. DK - "A Part Of History" (mp3) - March 21, 2006
19. Heavy Gold - "Charm City" (mp3) - February 16, 2006
20. Labtekwon - "Uhnnn Huhnnn" (mp3) - August 29, 2005

Labels: Blaq Starr, Comp, D.O.G., Diablo, DK, Heavy Gold, Labtekwon, lists, mp3, Mullyman, Ogun, Rod Lee

Aaron Lacrate & Debonair Samir present B-More Club Crack (Koch Records/E1 Music/Milkcrate Records)

Aaron Lacrate and his whole "club crack"/"gutter music" thing have never sat well with me, but I've kinda explained all that on this site before, so I'm not gonna get into all that too much again. But this album, which was mostly recorded 3 years ago and features a lot of dope Baltimore rappers like Tru Bill and B. Rich and J Wildz over hip hop and club beats by Debonair Samir, is pretty good, and I was really happy to hear that it was finally coming out nationally when I interviewed Samir a couple months back. The kinda breakout MCs featured on multiple tracks are Verb, who's on the single I posted a few weeks ago, and Mz Streamz, who I saw compete at Queen Of The Mic 2 recently.

Bret McCabe's City Paper review kinda summed up how I feel about the album, which is that it's good but kind of consistent to a fault, because it's just one party-oriented banger after another. It's fun and well-produced, and I especially like D.O.G.'s "Talkin' Ish," but it gets a little monotonous over the course of a CD. Plus I mainly like the older tracks from the original version of the album they made 3 years ago; the newer tracks feel a little too trendy to me with the AutoTune and "A Milli"-type beats, I think they might've tried too hard to sound current. There was an article by Rashod D. Ollison in the Baltimore Sun this week about the renewed interest in club music, centered around DJ Class and the release of B-More Club Crack. It's a good article, but I'm disappointed that it makes the same mistake as a lot of other media by focusing on Lacrate, who's mentioned almost a dozen times, and downplaying Samir, who's mentioned exactly once. This is really Samir's record and his beats, and I've never gotten the impression that Lacrate's contributions were ever really musical rather than on the business side, especially given that some of these songs were made before they even met.

Tim Trees - "F.I.R.E." (mp3)
Some of the songs on this album original appeared on local Baltimore releases by the artists, like Mullyman's "The Real Is Back" was on Industry Invasion in 2007, and Verb and J Hussein's "Post Up" was on the Dirty Hartz mixtape It Is What It Is Vol. 2 in 2006. But this one is practically ancient, and first appeared on the Tim Trees mixtape Too Gangsta For Radio in 2003 or 2004. It's kinda cool to hear it included on here, too, because I think Rod Lee's beats on the first couple Tim Trees albums were really kinda the blueprint for a lot of what Samir does on this album. Trees said in my 2005 City Paper article that this song would be on his 3rd album, but here we are almost four years later and as far as I know that still hasn't dropped, which is a shame, I was really looking forward to it. I guess it could be like B-More Club Crack and just drop outta nowhere eventually, though.

Labels: B. Rich, Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Baltimore Sun, D.O.G., Debonair Samir, Dirty Hartz, DJ Class, magazines/newspapers, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, Mz Streamz, Tim Trees, Verb

Labels: Baltimore club, D.O.G., Debonair Samir, flyer, KW Griff, Mullyman, Mz Streamz, Tim Trees, Verb

Mr. Vegas f/ Verb - "Oh My Gosh" (mp3)
You may remember all the fanfare back in 2006 about Debonair Samir and Aaron Lacrate signing with Koch Records to release the B-More Club Crack compilation. Well, 3 years later, Koch is now E1 Music and they finally decided to drop the album this year, a couple weeks from now on March 10th. This is one of the two lead singles, and features a new version of the classic "Samir's Theme" beat with Verb and dancehall artist Mr. Vegas. My interview with Samir about the record is here and the press release and tracklist are here. The album also features Mullyman, Tim Trees, B. Rich, Dirty Hartz, Tru Bill and D.O.G.

Labels: B. Rich, D.O.G., Debonair Samir, Dirt Platoon, mp3, Mullyman, Tim Trees, Verb

Y'know, it's funny. I've been running this site for over 4 years now, and hearing more and more Baltimore rap every year that I do it, and yet every year I feel less and less qualified to let my opinion be the end-all-be-all that some people treat it as. There's simply too much music, too much variety coming out of this scene for any one person to really fairly judge, but if I'm gonna be the only person that attempts to hear all or most of it, I might as well throw in my two cents, even as I encourage any and all other critics and bloggers to cover this stuff from a different perspective. So I make no claims to objective truth with this list; this is totally my taste, my opinion. I tried to do a poll a couple years ago, but that didn't really pan out and I'm kind of soured on the idea now, but if anyone wants to post their top 10, top 5, whatever in the comments, or e-mail them to me, I'd love to post those if I get enough of a response.

The last two years I did top 50 lists, but this year I decided to scale down to 20, even though I heard more stuff, just because I really wanted to emphasize the cream of the crop, and also because a lot of cats put out boring garbage this year. That's not to insult everyone that isn't on this list, because there were definitely some good releases that didn't quite make the cut, and also some great singles and tracks that didn't really fit into the list anywhere, but I felt the need to be more selective this time. Government Names will return to daily posting sometime in January, probably not for another week or two.



1. 410 Pharaohs - 410 Funk (Strictly Rhythm/Ill Friction)
This list is not really about club music, but the Labtekwon/DJ Booman/Jimmy Jones club/rap masterpiece really deserves to be at the top of this list, as well as the City Paper top 10, anyway, because it is a historic moment for Baltimore hip hop in general.
410 Pharaohs - “Big Girls” (mp3)



2. Brown F.I.S.H. - Bootleg III: F.I.S.H. & Friends... The Mixtape
This isn't really an album or a mixtape, just an odds & sods collection of remixes and collaborations that the F.I.S.H. recorded in the past few years, but it's so full of great music that it's the equal of any album, in my opinion.
Brown F.I.S.H. f/ Jeneba Suma & Jahli of Golden Seal - “Cheatin' (It Ain't Cheatin' Unless U Caught)” (mp3)



3. various artists - Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks from The Wire (Nonesuch Records)
There's a couple club tracks on this, and a couple non-hip hop tracks, but this is still more than half local hip hop, and considering how much mileage Baltimore rappers have gotten from associating themselves with The Wire over the past few years, I thought it was pretty amazing that an official soundtrack of the show came out with songs by Ogun, Bossman, Mullyman, Tyree Colion and others. It was really one of the highlights of my year that I got thanked in the liner notes for this album, and had even a small role in it coming together.
The Get ‘em Mamis feat. L. Cash - “When You See Us” (mp3)



4. The Pornstars - Dirty Work (Pornstar Productions/Bird City Entertainment)
A couple MC/producers that are nicer on the tracks than on the mic, but got enough personality and humor that you aren’t sitting around wishing they just sold the beats to someone else. These dudes could be, like, Baltimore’s answer to the Beatnuts. I can bump this album all fucking day, front to back.
The Pornstars f/ Ckrisis & Mell - “Bird City” (mp3)



5. Bear - All We Got Is Us 2008 edition (For The People Entertainment)
For The People Entertainment has really been a unique and fertile label in the past couple years, and in my opinion this is their most complete and enjoyable release to date, although this year's Cutthroat album comes in a close 2nd.
Bear - “Live Through Time” (mp3)



6. E Major - Majority Rules (Under Sound Music)
Another one that I helped get into the City Paper top 10, so I won't say much more about than I already said there, but I feel like he really did everything right with this project, from the great release party show to the videos to making the whole thing available for free online, he really was smart about how he worked this project and got his buzz up.
E Major - “Don’t Worry” (mp3)



7. PenDragon - I Got Hits 4 Cheap: Draggy Baby Edition (Team Arson)
It's funny, Drag is one of these guys that gets on my nerves for calling himself the "king" of the city and this and that, but he also gets my respect for totally watching everyone's moves and sizing up the competition (he's always sending me links to other people's videos and music before know about them). And really between his production skills, and the heart and intelligence and humor that come across in his music, he has as much of a chance at making a run at the title as anyone these days, in my opinion. Not that I think there is a title, or that there should be.
PenDragon - “How Does It Feel” (mp3)



8. Ab Rock - The Mid Midlife Crisis (Rockmics Entertainment)
Maybe it's just because they did the release party together, and guested on each other's albums, but I really mentally group this along with the E Major record, and they're both really good examples of mature 'conscious' rap albums that are actually fun and laid back.
Ab Rock - “The Incredible” (mp3)



9. Tha Profitt - Concept Art (Profitt Productions)
Bmore's #1 white boy really went in on this one, coming up with creative concepts for every song and showing improvement as an MC.
Tha Profitt - “Fast & Furious” (mp3)



10. 80'z Boys - The 80'z Made Me
Most of the time when rappers boast about being born in the ‘80s, I feel almost like they’re making excuses for their music being inferior to the generations before them. But these guys pretty much just make dope music that doesn’t feel too tied to any particular age or era. I got this early in the year and I’m pretty sure it was released before 2008, but it’s still by far one of the best things I heard in Baltimore this year.
80’z Boys - “The 80'z Made Me” (mp3)



11. Skarr Akbar - The Epidemic (DNA/Akbar Enterprize/U-Turn Ent./Round Table Music Group)
Another year, another ton of new music from Skarr, but even as he was churning out radio singles and collaborations, he put out a 'street album' that ranked up there as one of his most consistent efforts to date.
Skarr Akbar - “If I Should Die” (mp3)



12. Profound - Carpe Diem (Real On Purpose Entertainment)
After years of dwelling in Ogun's shadow, Profound came out swinging this year and established himself as one of Baltimore's punchline masters.
Profound - “What You Gonna Do!?” (mp3)



13. Greenspan - Got Green? (Federal Reserve Music Group)
I knew this guy was a serious talent from the first couple times I saw him live, and I was not disappointed by his debut full-length release.
Greenspan - “Mt. Rockmore” (mp3)



14. D.O.G. - G Pack Music (7 Entertainment/Invisible Set Entertainment)
On the same tip as the 410 Pharaohs record, a really inspired union of rapping and Baltimore club, stretched out to album length. If he put this out right after "Ryda Gyrl" it could've been huge.
D.O.G. - “Louder” (mp3)



15. Soul Cannon - Kaboom (Soul Cannon/Morphius Records)
Soul Cannon might be kinda slept on in the hip hop scene, just because they're a band and mainly play rock clubs, but they really made one of the best conscious rap albums in the city this year.
Soul Cannon - “Get Serious” (mp3)



16. various artists - The Mania Music Group Sampler (Mania Music Group)
Mania Music Group put out a pretty ridiculous amount of free music this year, including solo EPs by each of its 3 solo artsts, and while they were all pretty good, this first sampler mixtape still really stands out to me as the best demonstration of the label's range and diversity of sounds.
Ron G. - “What Ya See” (mp3)



17. Wordsmith - The Revolution Begins With a Takeover Vol.1 (DJ Furious Styles/HipHopDX.com)
Wordsmith is another guy that's been so prolific this year that it's been really hard for me to keep up with his output so far, but this mixtape was the first time I really started to get a handle on how talented he is.
Wordsmith f/ Kontact - “Hard To Forget” (mp3)



18. B.O.M.B. - Testers EP (Money In Da Bank Entertainment)
B.O.M.B. had one of the best ideas this year: make a release as long as possible (9 songs) while still being able to call it an EP, so that he could sell basically an album-length release at half price. And really, there's something to be said for making a short release where every song counts, instead of just filling the CD to its maximum running time just because you can.
B.O.M.B. - “Over Here” (mp3)



19. EJ - The Westside Hustle (Carnigie Records/DJ Radio)
I'd been waiting to hear a mixtape from EJ since I first heard him like 3 years ago, and while I thought it could've been better overall, this still had some jams on it.
EJ - “Bitch Niggaz Pt. 1” (mp3)



20. Caddy Da Don - Fixed Fight 2.5: Exclusive Edition (Harup Entertainment)
Caddy definitely gets props for being one of the most notable newcomers of the past year or two.
Caddy Da Don - “What’s Funny” (mp3)

Labels: Ab Rock, B.O.M.B., Baltimore club, Bear, Brown F.I.S.H., D.O.G., DJ Booman, E Major, Labtekwon, lists, Mania Music Group, mp3, PenDragon, Skarr Akbar, The Wire

Brown F.I.S.H. - Bootleg III: F.I.S.H. & Friends... The Mixtape

Brown F.I.S.H. is a pretty important group in Baltimore hip hop that I feel like I've never really given enough coverage to on here, partly because a lot of their activity predates this site (I remember seeing them open for Black Sheep way back in '02). Plus, they're really deep into a whole different side of the scene (roots reggae and slam poetry and live R&B bands) that I'm not as into, although I totally respect what they do. In 2006, they did a special invite-only show called "F.I.S.H. & Friends" that was basically an unplugged performance with no sound system and a lot of special guests. I remember getting the invite but I wasn't able to go for some reason or another, and kept hearing how great it was afterwards. Now, there's a DVD full of footage of the event, which looks like it was a lot of fun, and this album/mixtape/compilation-type CD, which basically compiles a lot of remixes and collaborations the group recorded from 2004 to 2007, along with some performances from that show. There's just a lot of jams on this, including all-star remixes of "45" and Golden Seal's "Sistahs Pimpin'," and guest appearances by D.O.G., Symantyx, Greenspan, Heavy Gold, B-Fly, C Love, EJ, and Skarr Akbar.

Brown F.I.S.H. f/ Symantyx and Greenspan - "Cry Baby" (mp3)
Symantyx and Greenspan are two of the new Baltimore MCs who I've been the most impressed with in the past year or two, so I feel like Brown F.I.S.H. are really watching the scene and taking notes when they put both of them on a song like this. OOH has a line on here about how Brown F.I.S.H. was pissed when they didn't get a trading card back when City Paper did them, and I didn't really decide who got one or who didn't at the time, but I have to admit, that was definitely an oversight, Brown F.I.S.H. should've gotten one.

Labels: B-Fly, Brown F.I.S.H., C Love, D.O.G., EJ, Golden Seal, Greenspan, Heavy Gold, mixtape/album review, mp3, Skarr Akbar, Symantyx

This week in the City Paper, I wrote a feature about Gearie "The Grench" Bowman of Sleepin Giant Media, a Baltimore music video director who's been making some really impressive videos over the past year. I've posted some of his work on Gov't Names in the past, including Heavy Gold's "Drug Dealer," 100 Grandman's "Take It 2 The Top," and Bossman's tribute to K-Swift, "I Wonder." You can see them all on Sleepin Giant's YouTube channel, along with other videos for Tim Trees, DG2 and WildOutCamp, and above is the video for D.O.G.'s "Emergency" that literally landed in my inbox just this morning. I feel that this guy's work really speaks for itself, his videos just look great, especially for the budgets and types of artists he's working with. I get a lot of inquiries from people that make videos and DVDs who want press, and I usually brush them off because that's not really my area of expertise, I'm really only interested in music usually, but these Sleepin Giant videos are so good that I sought them out to write about them, so I hope people see how much they need to step their game up visually to compete around here.

Also in this week's paper, I review Changeling, which had its moments but was pretty much a wash.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Bossman, D.O.G., Heavy Gold, K-Swift, magazines/newspapers, Sleepin Giant Media, Tim Trees, video

Rod Lee - Volume 7: Club Armageddon (Club Kingz Records)

It's an event in Baltimore club music anytime Rod Lee releases an album, especially a new album amidst all the reissues of his early albums this year, and this one has been getting hyped up since way back before the new Club Kingz Music Store on Park Avenue opened in August. And like his last album of new material, 2007's The Producer, nearly every song is a Rod Lee production, which is something very few Baltimore club producers can do, especially with just recent tracks, although there are a couple tracks produced by Booman and Jimmy Jones, and vocal performances by D.O.G. and B Gibbs. It's not all new stuff, a few of the same songs ("Let The Freaks Loose," "Enjoy Yourself," "MySpace Chick," the "Dance My Pain Away" remix) also appeared on The Producer, but those are mostly hot songs that still get play from other DJs so I can't knock it.

Rod Lee - "Count Down" (mp3)
I've been loving this track lately, kind of a different sound for a Rod Lee track, some funky little textures going on in the beat.

Labels: Baltimore club, D.O.G., DJ Booman, mixtape/album review, mp3, Rod Lee

Labels: D.O.G., flyer, Huli Shallone, Paula Campbell, Skarr Akbar, Tim Trees

DJ Diamond K - K-Swift Tribute (High Rolla Records)

Diamond K was one of the first people in Baltimore to put together a dedication track for K-Swift after her death in July, and now he's got a mix CD tribute to her. It's really just that one song and a few others at the beginning of the CD that are about or for K-Swift, and the rest of it is kind of a regular mix of new and old Baltimore club music, including tracks by Rod Lee, D.O.G. and DJ Booman, with occasional shout outs to K-Swift. It's a nice gesture, though, hopefully people will be making tribute projects like this for years to come, and hopefully donating any profits to Swift's family. You can get this on Diamond K's website, which also has a DVD of a K-Swift documentary, which I have not seen yet.

K.W. Griff - "K-Swift (Griff Mix)" (mp3)
This is one of my favorite K-Swift tribute songs that I've been hearing on 92Q a lot over the last couple months.

Labels: Baltimore club, D.O.G., Diamond K, DJ Booman, K-Swift, KW Griff, mixtape/album review, mp3, Rod Lee

D.O.G. - G Pack Music (7 Entertainment/Invisible Set Entertainment)

Two and a half years ago, D.O.G. remixed Blaq Starr's "Ryda Gyrl," and while it wasn't the first hip hop version of a Baltimore club song, it was by far one of the biggest, and in a way its popularity was the main catalyst for my City Paper article Best of Both Worlds about the crossover between rap and club music. One of the things mentioned in that article is that D.O.G.'s main in-house producer, Sean "Mocca" Banks, was teaming up with Booman, who's also D.O.G.'s tour DJ, as the Baltimore Boys to do more club-type beats, the first of which was the mixtape track "Look In My Eyes." It was all pretty exciting, but then D.O.G. got signed (I guess he's still with Universal?), and his whole camp seemed to go quiet for a year or two, which was a bummer, and I figured that idea was dead.

Then, last December around the time I posted about D.O.G.'s last mixtape, The Feeling - Bring It Back, I saw a flyer for this G Pack Music album he was releasing, which turned out to be the club music-themed project he'd been working on. Supposedly it was out in Downtown Locker Room, but I looked for it a couple times and never found it. So I didn't get a chance to finally hear it til D.O.G. hit me up about the new video and free download of The Feeling and I asked him for a copy, and it's pretty damn good. Booman isn't credited on it, but Mo Banks is, so I guess he did the beats, and if so, he's pretty good at club tracks. It's just 9 songs and a half hour long, so it's kind of an EP or a street album, but it's 9 dope tracks, all pretty much club tracks with D.O.G. rapping on them. Ironically, the only one that's at a slower tempo is "Automatic Lover," a remix of Blaq Starr's club track of the same name with pretty much a completely different beat. This album should've been a monster local hit, but I never really heard even "Automatic Lover" on the radio more than once or twice, I hope it ain't just that they missed the right moment to drop it. Between this and the 410 Pharaohs album there's some exciting stuff going on with club/rap fusion right now.

D.O.G. f/ Paula Campbell - "Back In The Club" (mp3)
Oh man, speaking of people who disappeared as soon as they got a record deal, good to hear something from Paula again, here's hoping she gets to release another album in this lifetime.

Labels: Baltimore club, Blaq Starr, D.O.G., mixtape/album review, mp3, Paula Campbell

Here's D.O.G.'s new video for "Gettin' Gone." He's also now offering a free download of his mixtape The Feeling - Bring It Back, which I wrote about a few months ago.

Labels: D.O.G., video

Labels: B.O.M.B., Comp, D.O.G., Dirty Hartz, flyer, Ogun, Tha Profitt

It's been a while since the last time I did a DVD post, but I've gotten some lately, so let's talk about 'em a little bit:



Even A Man Can Do This is a documentary about the women in the Baltimore hip hop scene, artists or otherwise, directed by Civil Jones. It's been in development for a while now, I talked about the film a bit in my article on the same topic, Ladies First, in the City Paper last year, but now it's done and I got a copy a few weeks ago. Actually, there's a scene at the very end where Civil Jones shows the article and shouts me out and gives a plug to Government Names, so I appreciate that. The film is just one hour long but covers a lot of ground, and features appearances by G.E.M., C Love, Ms. Stress, ShellBe R.A.W., B-Fly, Ms. Tris Beats, Jade Fox, and Golden Seal, among others. One of the most impressive things about it is in addition to the female director, pretty much everyone behind the scenes on the project is a woman: Amotion from Deep Flow did most of the camera work, and the score was all by female producers Ms. Tris Beats and Reina WIlliams. My favorite part of the movie is the footage of Symantyx's set at the 5 Seasons show, I was really impressed by her that night and that performance is the main reason I check for her music now.



Baltimore Real Talk Volume 3 is the third (duh) DVD from County from Little King Entertainment, and I know he went through a lot to get this one finished. I think he was supposed to have it done almost a year ago and then he got arrested while filming outdoors and there was a whole situation with him getting equipment confiscated and losing footage and having to work on it some more. But he finally got it done, and obviously he had no shortage of footage because this thing is 3 hours long. In my opinion, that might be a little too long, because even though I know and listen to a lot of these artists and am interested in the subject matter, some of the individual segments could've been edited down to be much shorter and more to the point. He still got some great stuff in here, including appearances by Los (who spits a great freestyle), Heavy Gold, NOE, Comp, Barnes, D.O.G., B.O.M.B., M.O.L.
Bigg Patch, and Mullyman.

Paused In Time is a documentary about Baltimore hip hop that I got contacted to do an interview for a while back. At the time they said it was gonna be a DVD, but since then I guess they decided to release it on their YouTube site in 8 or 9-minute 'webisodes,' and I guess the whole thing will be out on DVD at some point later. So far 4 webisodes have been posted, and my interview hasn't been in any of them yet, but that's alright since I don't really feel like I said anything interesting, maybe they should hit me back and try to get me to say something more substantial or opinionated than what I gave them before. Anyway, here's what's up so far:

webisode 1 featuring Beat Box:



webisode 2 featuring Comp:



webisode 3 featuring Komplex:



webisode 4 featuring Bossman and Ty Gudda:

Labels: B-Fly, B.O.M.B., Barnes, Bigg Patch, Bossman, C Love, Comp, D.O.G., Deep Flow, G.E.M./Tha Plague, Golden Seal, Heavy Gold, Jade Fox, M.O.L., Ms. Stress, Ms. Tris Beats, Mullyman, NOE, ShellBe RAW

various artists - B-More Vibe Magazine presents Watch This! (mixed by Musse' Mus)

The timing of this post is pretty unfortunate, because a couple months ago B-More Vibe Magazine released its first mixtape, and put on a great release party show for the occasion, but I'm now getting around to writing about the CD here just a few days after it was announced that B-More Vibe is no more. You can read the full announcement here, so all I'll say is that I have a lot of respect for what Rogue and Me'Aze Millioni tried to do with the mag, but knowing what the market is like for print publications these days, I totally understand their decision. I only contributed to B-More Vibe a little bit and always wished I did more, but it is what it is. Let's talk about what they did accomplish, though, because this CD is pretty dope, with new material from D.O.G., UnReal, Ms. Stress, Tha Profitt, B.O.M.B, PenDragon, and even Rogue herself. I was impressed that they got virtually every artist on the mixtape to perform at the release party, too.

Remstarr - "Know Me" (mp3)
I have to admit that the real reason I'm posting this song is that about 28 seconds into the track, Musse' Mus says "Government Names dot Blogspot dot com." I've heard my government name shouted out on mixtapes a couple times now, but this is the first time I've heard Government Names itself shouted out, which is pretty cool. The song is good, too, though, I've never posted anything by Remstarr before but I see dude all over MySpace all the time.

Labels: B.O.M.B., Bosslady, D.O.G., magazines/newspapers, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ms. Stress, Musse' Mus', Tha Profitt, UnReal

Keyaira Chanel Live Feb 1 @ The 5 Seasons!!
February, 1 2008 at The 5 Seasons
830 Guilford Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Cost : $10
Live Hip Hop Event also featuring special guest performances by TM the Giant, D.O.G, Amazon, Eze Jackson of Soul Cannon, Ray Victory, and many more!!

Labels: 5 Seasons, D.O.G., flyer

This week in the Baltimore City Paper, I wrote a feature about Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks From The Wire, one of the two official soundtrack albums out next week. For the article, I spoke to some of the musicians featured on the CD, including Juan Donovan from Darkroom Productions, Mullyman, Ogun and Diablo, and ran down the whole album track by track, which also includes Rod Lee, DJ Technics, Bossman, Dirty Hartz, Tyree Colion and The Get 'Em Mamis.

There's going to be a release party event in New York this Friday with some of the artists on the album (plus D.O.G.), I'm still debating whether to make a road trip up to NYC for it this weekend. And both of The Wire's soundtrack CDs will be in stores next Tuesday, January 8th, two days after the season 5 premiere. I don't usually push hard for people to go out and purchase records that I write about. But seriously, the 6th is my birthday, and I don't want you to get me anything, just buy this CD. I already have promo copies of both and I'm still gonna go buy 'em, since I haven't seen the whole package with the liner notes and everything. The Amazon.com sales rank for The Wire: And All The Pieces Matter just for pre-orders has been climbing steadily, and I'd be really thrilled if it could make a respectable showing on the Billboard 200 during a slow post-Christmas sales week. I don't know about any particular soundtrack release parties or in-store events going on here in Baltimore, but if there are any please let me know so I can promote those, too.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, D.O.G., Darkroom Productions, Debonair Samir, Diablo, Dirty Hartz, flyer, magazines/newspapers, Mullyman, Ogun, The Wire

This month on http://noise.citypaper.com, I posted my personal top 50 list of Baltimore albums in 2007, as kind of a companion to the list in the City Paper's Top Ten Issue. The list has Darkroom Productions, Jade Fox, Say Wut, Ogun, Comp, Labtekwon, Blaq Starr, Bossman, D.O.G., K-Swift and a whole shitload of other artists on it. Otherwise on Noise recently I covered the Blammy Awards at Hip Hop 101 at the 5 Seasons, and shows including Monarch, Yukon, and Jason Dove & The Magic Whip at the Ottobar, Lake Trout and Gunwife Gone also at the Ottobar, Ted Leo's two night stand at the 9:30 Club, and Carbon Leaf also at the 9:30. And there's been a whole lot of other local music news on the page recently besides my posts, too.

Labels: 5 Seasons, Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Blaq Starr, Bossman, Comp, D.O.G., Darkroom Productions, Hip Hop 101, Jade Fox, K-Swift, Labtekwon, lists, Noise, NSW (Say What), Ogun

Labels: Baltimore club, D.O.G., flyer, K-Swift, Unruly Records