RH First Listen: Scheme - "Hello (What Up?)" Feat. Astonish
If you are a regular at RH, you definitely know of the homie Scheme. Having been a staple on the local scene for years now, Scheme has reached an important point in his career and is ready to let music tell the story. Today we feature Scheme's first official single "Hello (What Up?)" as our latest selection in our re-occuring First Listen column, in which we digest the inspiration behind each song, learn its purpose, and how it applies to each artist's future. " I think I found my balance man, you can see it in this record." States Scheme after the jump discussing his growth as a MC, as well as a new DJ catered approach he took with this record. You can stream the song below, but the single drops officially tomorrow (Nov. 1st) via iTunes of his upcoming EP Life That I Chose dropping December 6th.
Purchase "Hello (What Up?)" on iTunes.
RH First Listen: Charmingly Ghetto - Glory (Prod. By Introspective Minds)
From here fourth, we will be resurrecting a past column titled RH First Listen, taking a slightly new route we will be examining new music from an array of up-and coming musicians in the industry today. Within the feature through a mini-interview process, we will digest the inspiration behind each song, learn its purpose, and how it applies to each artist's future. Our first selection comes from Boston-bred MC Charmingly Ghetto. Having already released one of the highest quality organic, jazz driven Hip-Hop EP's this year, Charmingly Ghetto is only looking to continue to build of his June Overstanding release with Atlanta producers Introspective Minds. Today CG brings us "Glory," showcasing his improved lyrical arsenal, over a classic head nodding, guitar laced beat from Thumbs Up representer's Introspective Minds. Hit the jump to hear the RH First Listen.
How About Some Old S*#t: Yelawolf's First Chicago Show
We've been doing this little thing called RubyHornet for a while now, since February of 2008. In that time, we've had some great memories, and (we think) built a wealth of dope content. "How About Some Old S**t" is our way of shedding some light on some of our favorites pieces from the past, some that may still be new to you. The title of the post comes from an old Beastie Boys live performance bootleg that I got a few years ago in which MCA says, "how about some old s**t", before they go into their classics. So, that's the vibe. That's the deal...
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Lupe Fiasco: Why I Joined SOTSK
Lupe Fiasco explains his motivations for taking part in Summit On The Summit: Kilimanjaro in his new blog.
One of the most utopian and challenging phenomenon of man is the process of trying to realize the ideal. To sculpt the tangible from what is the ether of the mind. It manifests in the artistic mind as a vision and translates in the world via the specific talents of the artist as a song, a painting, a poem, a sculpture, a building, etc. The ambitious among us try and take a crack at it in every category. I think the category that best fits this trek is dance. Expressing oneself through the movement of one’s own body. An inaudible rhythm that silently screams a message to the audience. A public sacrifice of sorts. Putting ones own body directly in the firing line of critics, risking humiliation and to the extreme even creating enemies of friends and friends of strangers. All because of a dance. The steps of this dance in particular are simple enough, one foot in front of the other. The stage is a harsh and meandering, chaotic thing. The cast is a mix of Juliard graduates, street trained, pop-lock champions and downright hopeless amateurs. The music is all natural thunderclaps and raindrop drumsticks upon cold plastic rooftops. But the message is the real star of the show. The underlying manifesto is one of awe inspiring pageantry fit for carnival in the streets of Brazil or the main drags of New Orleans. It’s classic and new, unchanging but full of progression. Alvin Alley meets The Court Waltz. A “dance macabre” and the unfortunate ones amongst the skeletons are ignorance and complacency. So What’s The message?!?
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Shiny Toy Guns: "Ricochet!" (Nadastrom Head Spin Dub)
I think I have a little bit of a crush on Shiny Toy Gun's Ursula Vari. I see that mischievous grin... and I like it... Anyway, Nadastrom has had his way with the band's first single off their second album, otherwise known as a little diddy named "Ricochet!". Don't forget that apostrophe... Nadastrom really does spin the hell out of this, and my head is still spinning from this remix. I may leave it out of my crates, but if you're DJing at a crazy dance spot, you might like it. I'm going to stick to the original for now. But, Ursula Vari is so fine that I can't miss a chance to post up some STG. They have a new album in the works, which should be seeing some light in the spring. It is titled III. See below for the track via RCRDLBL.
Schwerve's Magnum Opus: Top 1000 Songs and 100 Albums of The Decade (2007)
Disclaimer: Years are fairly arbitrary time periods. The only thing that makes a decade is the human conditions' odometer fetish. Unfortunately, like you, I'm human as well and fall prey to these tendencies. I can't claim to know everything, I'm just an educated observer; and here are my educated observations. They are not perfect and neither you nor I will completely agree with them in a years time, but that is the fun of lists.
This is my last list that falls under the category of music dork, prior to 2005 I'd call myself music-dork-in-training and from here on I move to music uber-nerd. I actually still have the copy of the top 25 list I made in 2007, and I have to say, at least for the top spots, not much has changed. Although since then the Les Savy Fav and Beirut albums have really grown on me. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Of Montreal album, which I think already sounds dated.
Make sure to check out, Leslie Fiest doing 1,2,3,4 on sesame street, Radiohead - House of Cards for its brilliant video, which you can download and actually play in 3-D, Cheeseburger - Tiger, cause they don't make that kind of straight up sloppy rock n' roll anymore, and the amazing take away show version of Beirut - Nantes.
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The Schwerve's Magnum Opus: Top 1000 Songs and 100 Albums of The Decade: (2006)
Disclaimer: Years are fairly arbitrary time periods. The only thing that makes a decade is the human conditions' odometer fetish. Unfortunately, like you, I'm human as well and fall prey to these tendencies. I can't claim to know everything, I'm just an educated observer; and here are my educated observations. They are not perfect and neither you nor I will completely agree with them in a years time, but that is the fun of lists.
Check out Man Man's performance of "Black Mission Goggles" live at Amoeba, it conveys fairly well the insanity of their shows. Others to look at, Cornelius' "Fit Song" for brilliance, Chad Van Gaalen's "Flower Gardens" for a bad acid trip, and The Knife's "Silent Shout" for I don't know what.Read more
A Chip Tha Ripper Refresher Course
What to say about Cleveland's Chip Tha Ripper? I guess I first want to say that Chip is going to perform live tonight (Oct. 15th) at The Darkroom as part of our show Return of The Real with ADaD and NYC's Skyzoo. Thanks to a stand out feature on "Hyyerr" off Kid Cudi's debut I think it's safe to say that a lot more of the world is familiar with Chip now than 3 months ago, 6 months ago, and definitely more than a year ago when Chip came to Chicago and met up with us for the first time. Of course, if you follow RH than you know all about Chip, as he's been a featured guest at our Creme De La Creme parties, and will also be hosting our Dimes and Dozens show with He Say She Say on Saturday. His last mixtape, "Can't Stop Me" made our end of the year list, and he's simply of one our favorite rappers. Naledge has been in ear about Chip for a minute too, featuring him on the last Kidz In The Hall album, his Chicago Picasso mixtape, and the newly released Closed Session's joint, "Fresh Academy". Beyond that, Chip's in a group with Kid Cudi named Almighty Glorious, and is about to release a new mixtape with Mick Boogie and Terry Urban called The Cleveland Show...
But, rather than go on about Chip, I've compiled a refresher course that will catch you up to speed and ready to rock out at tonight's show. Here is a "Best of Chip Tha Ripper" package that you can download here. More Chip, including photos, music, and video after the jump.
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