My dude kills Adele’s “Someone Like You” on the 86th Street subway platform in NYC. Absolutely murders it, vocals and drum only. Shout to the good folks at Complex Magazine for putting me on. And crack up below to some guy on the subway rapping along to Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Niggas In Paris” he’s off the hook! Major LOL!
Only in New York. Hollerrrr.
New band alert! These dudes Electric Guest are out of California, and their debut album Mondo, which is producer by Danger Mouse, is set to drop in April. Check the video below for thier latest release “This Head I Hold.” Tell me this shit ain’t fresh.
For more, stay tuned to their official website. That’s it!
My boy Jon Jo, who is a teacher at White Plains High School, told me these Pogo music videos are the craze with the students right now. This guy basically takes audio clips, mostly from Disney movies, and makes them into original songs, complete with the matching video edits. My first thought was, “This reminds me of Kutiman!” Kutiman makes songs and videos by taking different YouTube clips of musicians and mashing them all together. Anyway, this Fresh Prince of Bel Air one is my favorite Pogo song/video by far. The beat and samples are sick, and all the Will Smith dance moves make it very entertaining to watch. My only complaint is I want to see more Carlton dance moves!!!! Watch above, and then check out the official Pogo website HERE. One.
My boy Matisyahu shaved his beard last month, and it was big news! The pics he posted on Twitter were all over the Internet, from the Huffington Post to the Washington Post to Billboard Magazine. Crazy. What’s funny is that I was just with him over Thanksgiving, and a few days before we got up I had a dream that he shaved his beard! True story!
So now the dust has settled a bit (pun intended), and Matis is in the lab working on his new album, Sparkseeker. And he’s been sending me songs to put verses on, so look out for your boy possibly being on there.
Matis recently did an interview with DJ Whoo Kid, one of my favorite mixtape DJs and hip-hop personalities of all time, and they discussed the shave (he got it done at Supercuts LOL), his influences, and his thoughts on current artists that are out now. He also talks about the show we did in Mount Vernon in 2000 (the picture from that day is the Westcheddar header see above) and mentions Stanley Ipcus, which is crazy because I met Whoo Kid on a plane coming home from doing a show with Matis at Sundance Film Festival in 2007. Whoo Kid’s reaction to hearing my name is awesome. Very cool that he knew who I was and remembered me. Check the clip above. Pow!
My young boy Kaliph from Mt. Kisco is getting ready to drop his first solo album, ARTism, and this is the first video release from the project. The song is called “Menace,” and I’m featured on the third verse, which is one of the hardest verses I’ve ever spit. Props to Kaliph for inviting me on to this song. He produced the beat from scratch, and it’s super dope. He also handled the editing, which in my opinion is pretty impressive for someone who just started making videos. And don’t sleep on his raps! His choppy flow reminds me of Jeru The Damaja. And shout to my dude Xavier Simmons (DMX’s son) for the filming and directing. Nice job, fellas. Glad to be a part of this 914 instant classic.
Stay tuned for the official drop of ARTism. More videos from the album coming soon too….
*UPDATE*
Kaliph just posted another video from ARTism. This song is called “Contemplating,” and it’s my favorite cut on the album. I love this beat. I even have a Stan Ipcus version of this song in the stash. But Kaliph’s is superior. Check this shit. Dope video too…
Mondays usually suck, but this song made today much, much better. Nothing like a brand new song from my favorite band of all time, The Shins. Click below to hear their first single, “Simple Song,” off of Port Of Morrow, due out March 20th. I just listened to it five times in a row. Stream below, and get more info on the album also (including how to pre-order)…
Listen: The Shins “Simple Song”
Finally, an album dropping that I am truly excited about.
*BONUS*
“Insane Lullaby” was the first song The Shins’ frontman James Mercer and Danger Mouse ever released together, before they formed Broken Bells. The actual studio recording is not that rad, but this acoustic version, performed live on KCRW, is incredible. I totally just stumbled upon this, and it got me super open. Plus, I found the mp3 of it! Oh gosh, I love the Internet. Watch the video of their performance above, and download the acoustic version of “Insane Lullaby” HERE. Uno.
Gonna keep this post short and sweet. Check out this great cover version of Cee Lo Green’s “Fool For You,” one of my favorite soul songs released in the past few years, done by the highly talented and slept on Alice Smith. Some may remember her from “Dream,” a song that I first heard on an episode of Entourage. Fun fact about Alice Smith: she’s Citizen Cope‘s wifey! Enjoy…
Ch.
Okay, so I’ve been listening to Drake’s new album literally every day since it came out, especially the slower songs with more singing than rapping. But this project, by Drake collaborator The Weeknd (he’s featured on Take Care’s “Crew Love”), just knocked it out of rotation for a minute. It will be back, for sure. But for the past week, Echoes of Silence, The Weeknd’s third official free album drop of 2011 has been on repeat. I’m in love with two tracks particularly: “Montreal” and “Initiation” (listen below). But the whole thing is worth checking out. This is the future of R&B music…
“Montreal”
“Initiation”
Download The Weeknd Echoes of Silence
And here’s my favorite song from his second release, Thursday. This is called “Life of the Party”…
Also, some decent live footage of a song I posted a while back from his first release House of Balloons, “What You Need,” so you can see the man behind the music in the flesh…
I’m looking forward to watching this guy blow the fuck up. Peace out.
My young boy JSWISS from Dobbs Ferry, who is now an undergrad at UNC, recently dropped a new EP titled Cool Grey. I gotta show him some love here at Westcheddar, because he’s been making a name for himself in the past year, and I’m proud of him. He’s a very talented MC, who makes authentic hip-hop music. Check his video below for the title track, and then go stream/cop the EP…
Download/Stream JSWISS Cool Grey EP
Keep spitting JSWISS!
Happy New Year from the new and improved Isenberg crew!!! Welcome to Westcheddar Noah Daniel!!!!
Westcheddar 