I missed my boys Broken Bells perform on Letterman last night in celebration of their album release (it dropped yesterday). Did anyone see it? Did you cop the album yet? Don’t see last night’s clip online, so instead check this live, in studio style performance of “The High Road” they just released, which I’m sure is fairly similar to their Letterman performance (they rocked the same song). Enjoy, and go cop that Broken Bells album!!!!
*Bonus*
A tough set of judges (kids) review the new Broken Bells single “Vaporize”…
Also, MTV’s got a performance of “The Ghost Inside” on their buzzworthy site. Watch it HERE.
I posted a video of the PS22 Chorus singing their version of “Run This Town” a few months ago, and now they’re back with Matisyahu’s “One Day”. Love it. These kids are great performers. And I gotta give props to their teacher for this one too. Check the video below…
Turns out the PS 22 chorus has tons of videos like this, and they have their own blog! You gotta check this out. They’re resume is crazy. Good Morning America. MTV. Performances with all sorts of celebrities. Sooooooo cool.
My young boy Rell from the BX is still at it, writing good songs and making cool music videos for the streets. I support this dude 100 percent, and have posted his stuff a coupletimes on Westcheddar (he’s one of Matty B’s students). Here’s his latest, over Jay-Z’s “A Million And One Questions”. It’s called “I Feel”…
Check out all his videos on his YouTube channel HERE.
Another dude I’m checking for right now is my geee Killa Whale. I’ve known this kid since 7th Grade, and he lives up to his name on the mic. He’s ferocious. Even as a 7th grader his bars were so ridiculous you would’ve thought some grown ass man was ghostwriting for him. Now he’s a senior in high school, and still doing his thing. I’m looking forward to hearing some new stuff from him (his latest mixtape cover is above and is available on his Myspace page). Check out this two part interview with Killa Whale below. Thanks for the shout out Whale! White Plains stand up!
Now please, download this song onto your nearest Ipod or computer or whatever the hell you listen to your music on. These are my high school boys from Mount Kisco, and trust me, they are focused. All original beats and rhymes. Alon “Life With Stars”. I fux with this hard body…
One more. This is from my boy Chase (from White Plains but lives in Mt. Kisco). He is writing every day, and recording every night with me where I work. Great kid, and he’s got some dope lyrics. This is his newest track, which he said is one of his best, so I thought I’d leak it out here.
If you are in tune with the youth of America right now, then you know that the biggest dance in the country is called the “jerk”. It’s basically like a backwards running man. Where I work, all the kids from Kindergarten and up can do it. It’s awesome. I think I’ve got it down too. Check out the video above of a couple of my fly whiteboy middle school kids (Killa Cam and Fettucini) doing the “jerk”. I join in towards the end. LOL
Now, watch the OFFICIAL tutorial of how to do the dance, by the guys who started it all. I guess the move we are all actually doing is called “the reject”, and something else is the “jerk”. Huh. Well, around the way it’s all the same…
I’ve been teaching a blogging elective class at a local jewish high school here in Westchester. My class is made up of a small group of senior boys who kind of remind me of the crew from the movie American Pie. To their credit, they’re cooler and smarter than those guys, and really passionate about New York sports culture. So I linked them up with my boy Tommy Dee from The Knicks Blog last week, and they proceeded to throw him in The Toaster, which is an interview show they created for their blog The Bagel’s Roar (a goof on their school’s literary journal The Lion’s Roar). Watch part one of the video above, where Tommy talks about how he got started blogging and his thoughts on The Knicks this season. And below, in part two, he discusses why Lebron James should come to New York, his history with jewish girls, and what he likes on his bagel…
I also brought in another prominent sports blogger and author, Adam Zagoria of Zag’s Blog (which gets over a million hits a month), to share some knowledge with my guys from The Bagel’s Roar. And he ended up getting toasted too…
The Bagel’s Roar is just getting started. They’re less than a month old, but they’ve got some pretty good stuff up there, including a pretty insane Toaster episode with a kid who got kicked out of school and had to live in the woods for the summer, and also an interview video where they go around asking people at their school who they would hook up with. Check out their blog HERE. Shalom.
Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg aka Avi Buffalo is only 18 years old, but his band (also called Avi Buffalo) just signed to legendary indie label SubPop Records, and they are making major waves along the Pacific Coast. With roots in Long Beach, California, Avi Buffalo also consists of three other local musicians, two of them female (one who is still in high school), and all who are under 21. But Avi is the heart of the band. He writes all the songs, sings lead vocals, and plays guitar. And his real last name is Isenberg just like mine, spelled the same way and everything. A Californian with the last name Isenberg who is signed to SubPop Records?!?!? I’m an instant fan. Check out these two clips of Avi playing stripped down versions of the A and B side from Avi Buffalo’s first SubPop single “What’s It In For?”/ “Jessica”, off their upcoming album which is due out this spring, live from his bedroom in Long Beach…
“What’s It In For?”
“Jessica”
Talented kid. And here is a two part behind the scenes video with Avi Buffalo in the studio, which features Avi, keyboardist Rebecca Coleman, and their producer Aaron Embry. It will give you a feel for the vibe of the band…
Their single is available now on Itunes, and I also suggest you check out a session they recorded for Daytrotter.com, which is a cool website that lets you download free high quality mp3’s from their very large catalog of live performances by well known acts like Fleet Foxes and Raphael Saadiq, as well as loads of up and coming bands. Just register real quick it takes two seconds and you get instant and unlimited free download access. Links to the Avi Buffalo website and their Daytrotter session are below…
By the way, that’s the cover for their first single…
Happy Halloween! Here’s the official video for the new Halloween anthem “Creepin On Ya Candy”, performed by the BGC All Stars. These middle school kids (and their staff) have been putting in work at our in-house studio in my Cultural Arts Center, and I must say, this song is sick! I’m so proud of them for seeing it through, from making the beat themselves on Garage Band, to coming up with the concept and the lyrics, to shooting the video yesterday live from our Halloween. Check it out above. And below, watch the new video for the 4th Graders’ song “Show Us Respect”, which they also made on Garage Band and came up with the concept and lyrics too. Both of these tracks are getting heavy airplay with the youth right now…
More hotness to come. We already have a few more in the can, like the new banger “Riding On My Bike”. Watch out! Happy Halloween everyone. Be safe…
Okay, this kid Justin Bieber has every middle school girl that I work with in an absolute tizzy. Constant Youtubing of his videos and songs, they all have his picture on their phone’s main screen (and supposedly all over their bedroom walls too), and they can’t stop talking about him. They played the video above for me today, which I had never seen, and I was actually really impressed. He’s playing the piano, and he sings pretty, pretty good. He’s like the next Justin Timberlake, though I’m not sure if he can dance. Maybe the next Jesse McCartney is more accurate. Regardless, the middle school girls are riding with him, and I thought posting his performance of his ballad “Where Are You Know” would be appropriate to keep all my Westcheddar readers in the loop with the youth. I mean, it’s got 7 million views. I think he’s on the verge of major superstardom. By the way, he’s managed by the same guy who discovered Asher Roth. Interesting. Oh, and below, check out John Mayer’s new video “Who Says”, which I happen to think is kinda dope. Yes, I’m a John Mayer fan. Sue me.
My young dude Malley from White Plains just came out with a new mixtape, Call Of Duty. I want to give him some shine on here, because he’s been getting a lot of respect around the way, and been putting in work with the recordings. Plus, he threw me on his last mixtape (he used my appearance on Hot 97’s morning show as an interlude) and love is love. I’ve always liked Malley’s rhyme style. It’s laidback and lyrical. And I can tell from the video below that Malley and his Goonies crew are following in the great WP tradition of heavy Dutches and Hennessy. I’m not mad at them. Check the clip of his “Run This Town” remix (peep the White Plains scenery), and then download/stream the whole mixtape at Datpiff.com by clicking the link under it…
I’ve posted a couple of these guys videos in the past. Matty B put me on to these dudes (they’re his students down in the BX), and they’ve got a new video for their song “Thru My Eyes”. Rell and Flip…
Shout out to all my young dudes in the 914 and all over NYC doing their thing with the mic, the beats, the dancing, and anything else artistic. I support you 100%. Holler at your boy.
*Super Bonus*
P.S. 22’s chorus performs “Run This Town”. The kids look like they’re having a great time!
Peep my newest coloring sheet. The NY fitted caps. Just in time for the playoffs. Kids have been enjoying these up in my Cultural Art Center at work. And so have the adults! I recently went head to head (pun intended) with my dude June, who has a daughter in my program, to see who could color in the freshest fitteds. Which two hats are you feeling more? Leave your vote in the comments section. Oh, and pardon the S on METS getting cut off, it’s the scanner’s fault!!!!
Westcheddar 