MP3 Download: The Thrift Shop Experience

This is the title track for my album that was originally “put out” in May 2008. I say "put out" because it never had the proper release I'd planned for it, and as such, I wanted to do it right. In the last year, I’ve met some dope cats that I've become fans of, and a few of them are spotlighted here...

"The Thrift Shop Experience 2.0" will feature the god Emilio Rojas (one of several special guests), along with new production from The Apple Juice Kid, Djay Cas and more. Juice and the others will touch up a few tracks with the remix treatment while I'm swapping out some joints altogether. And while it may not play out like the movie version I intended the first one to be, I'm also trimming many of the skits so the music is the main focus.

Lastly, as soon as this new version is ready to drop, the original will be available for free download. People can still scoop the remaining physical copies through PayPal for $10 or holler at a show/on the train for $5 if they dig what they hear now. At the moment, the original is still up at iTunes, as well, along with a bunch of other unsavory download spots and torrents.

Maintain. Hip-hop isn’t dead until we say it is. I appreciate all of your support.

Download: The Thrift Shop Experience (produced by Terminill)

Interview With Scram Jones

The homie Jon Master chopped it up with Scram with the Favorites, now we get the actual interview. He talks working with Mariah, underground vs. mainstream, not cosigning new artists, why he'd work with Nas, Michael Jackson and Billy Joel and how his diversity has proven to be his biggest strength. Yup.

Loud.com Favorites With Scram Jones

Man, some people have no idea how sick dude is! Scram went in with three of his favorite verses, and you can tell dude gets busy with the wordplay and punchlines. What you might not know is he’s produced for Mariah Carey and is a certified hip-hop triple threat: emceeing, producing AND DJing. Show some respect and be sure to cop the compilation when it drops. All signs (and those hard to ignore whispers) around the lab indicate it’s gonna be dope!

Exclusive: Knitting Factory Resurrection – J-Zone & The DJ’s Go In

Got a dope interview here that the homie Jon Master from Same Plate Mgmt did with J-Zone the night of the show. This is Pt 2 in the Knitting Factory Resurrection series (Black Thought killed Pt. 1), with more goodies to come in the next couple weeks (Beatnuts & Rakim). Here, J-Zone talks about SNL, his new album "Live From The Liquor Store," his diversity in creating music and what it's like to help close down The Knit.



Below is the audio where you can peep all the DJ’s doin their thing before the start of the show. It’s broken down in three sets:

Exclusive: Knitting Factory Resurrection - Black Thought

Hip-hop and The Knitting Factory had a good relationship the last few years. With former head of talent Peter Agoston heading up the charge, The Knit became a hub for local talent getting busy in The Old Office, graduating to the Tap Bar and finally, making some headway on the Main Stage as an opener for acts like Kanye West, Busta Rhymes and on it’s last hip-hop show ever, Rakim.

A few emcees became fixtures at Knitting these last few years, ushering in a resurgence of underground, New York hip-hop. Sav Killz, Homeboy Sandman, Hasan Salaam and others hustled their shows and built their buzz, sharing stage time with the likes of indie stalwarts Royce Da 5’9, AZ and The Cunninlynguists, among scores of others. Myself, I got to share the stage with the latter group, as well as Pack FM, Jeru The Damaja and Das EFX. They were incredible experiences and ones that have been burned into the back of my own eyes for future replay.

Which brings us to this first installment of our audio/video/picture/words series from that final hip-hop show at The Knitting Factory. The below stream consists of Black Thought’s entire set, with some occasional backspins by his Roots co-founder, ?uestlove. Props to Jamnow.com for the incredibly clean audio. If you were unaware, their technology allows you to both stream live shows and collaborate with other musicians in real-time across the web. They host a number of shows each month at their location in New Jersey and you can check them out anytime here.

For a more comprehensive and intimate (pause) on the event, get over to Adam Bernard’s spot here, and for the rest of these pictures on Flickr, get your right-click on here. Illadelph.

The Thrift Shop Experience Ep. 1: 88-Keys

What's good ya'll? This blog was more like a testing spot for posts in the past, but I'm going to work to make it a regular thing. Random older writings from college will likely find their way here, as well as some newer ish here and there, along with any and all music-related videos, songs and pictures, with a healthy dash of Yankees and UFC notes, movie awesomeness and other assorted crap I feel like sharing. Walk with me.

Below is the first enstallment of The Thrift Shop Experience episodes, a series I'm putting together as sort-of personal inspiration towards the re-release of my album (more on that coming). My first guest is 88-Keys, he's produced for my favorite emcee of all-time (Mos Def) and his latest album, "Death of Adam," was executive produced by Kanye West. He's a great dude with a severe Polo obsession, and his beats are ridiculous. Here, he got open on his Thrift Shop Experience* for the camera. I included some raps cuz I thought they'd make sense. Hit me up on Facebook here. Enjoy.




* The Thrift Shop Experience is essentially a metaphor for life through a thrift store. When you visit a vintage or second-hand spot, Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc., there's items there that have been around. They have history. When you drop your $2 on an old book or ill t-shirt, you're buying into that story, that history. That experience. So whenever you talk with someone, see something, are captivated somewhere... that's all part of you. And when it's shared, it's your donation back to the world. That's at least the long explanation.

DOWNLOAD: The Thrift Shop Experience (Album Version)


Here's a final hand-written draft of the "Heart of The City (Pt. 3)" rhyme:

Video: Loud.com Favorites With Peter Rosenberg

New York, NY (December 8, 2008) – Host of Season 2 of Loud.com’s Finalists took some time out of recording the sequel to the first Oddisee, a few of the cats on it (shout out to Folk & Stress), his favorite releases from Loud Records, and a host of other gems. Peep the distractions at 7:22 that constantly force men in NYC to stay the course. Or not.




And for more on the Finalists, check out their full competition tracks below: