Ok, here’s the first single off the new Matisyahu album Light, scheduled to be released August 25th. Just saw him at his parent’s house in WP for his surprise 30th birthday party, and he was in great spirits and excited about the single. He should be, it’s dope. The Matisyahu summer tour starts this week in Florida, and as I mentioned in the post below, he’ll be in NY on the Central Park Summerstage July 9th, and I’ll be making my usual special appearance with him. For now, you can listen to the single by clicking the link below…
Well Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, and now it is time to look ahead to the summer. One of the best things about the upcoming months is there are a bunch of great live music festivals happening all over the country. Unfortunately I will not be attending any of the big ones, but I will be performing with Matisyahu on the Central Park Summerstage July 9th, and I HAVE TICKETS TO SEE THE BAND OF HORSES ACOUSTIC SHOW AT CARNEGIE HALL JUNE 11th WHICH IS GOING TO BE SICK!!! There are lots of other great events going down though, from Lollapalooza (which was the first festival I ever went to back when The Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest were at Randall’s Island in 1994) to Bonnaroo (which I’ve never been to always wanted to go and my boy Nick Kroll is performing stand up comedy at this year) to the hip hop circus Rock The Bells (which I would love to be a part of one year) and everywhere in between. So if you love music, and you don’t have a hundred weddings to go to this summer like I do, hopefully you’ll have a chance to check one of them out.
Now I know this summer marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, but it also is the 39TH ANNIVERSARY of another famous festival, FESTIVAL EXPRESS. In 1970, a group of musicians and bands, most notable The Grateful Dead and Janice Joplin, took off west on a private train across Canada (see pic above), making stops along the way in all the major cities to play concerts. The best thing about it for us that weren’t even alive yet at the time is that the whole thing was documented. From the live shows to the jam sessions in the train’s bar car, it’s all in the excellent rock doc titled, you guessed it, FESTIVAL EXPRESS. I’m no dead head, and I certainly don’t own any Janice Joplin albums, but this movie is great, especially if you like music documentaries. The sing a long clips from the train remind me of my own friends hanging out together making music. That’s what we do on the reg. Here’s a live performance from the movie of The Grateful Dead singing an unreleased cut “Don’t Ease Me In” in Toronto…
If you can get to Chicago at the beginning of August, I would highly recommend checking out Lollapalooza this year. The lineup looks great. Check it out below. And when you get a chance, watch the Festival Express movie, the link to the official website is below. Peace and love.
Juan Epstein is easily hip hop’s most entertaining podcast. Featuring Hot 97’s Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg, this is a rap nerd’s dream talk show, especially since now they regularly have on legendary guests (dig into the Westcheddar archives for their interviews with Large Professor, Fat Joe, and Pete Rock). Their latest episode features Method Man, Redman, and Busta Rhymes in one pop, all who just dropped albums this week. It’s a very fun listen. Lots of talk about the good old 90’s. Link below…
*BONUS UPDATE* Just want to put this up here real quick. Rosenberg caught up with Dave Matthews recently down in the Hot 97 for a brief walk and talk…check the vid…
I’m a big time Arctic Monkeys fan. These dudes are nice. Both of their albums have a bunch of bangers on them. And you can tell they have been influenced by hip hop music from their riffs and rhythms. Their beats are HARD BODY, and their lead singer is a great vocalist, almost like a 21st Century Beatle. They’re from across the pond, the suburbs of London, yet they kind of remind me of my buddies from here in Westchester County. I guess we share similar stories of growing up outside a major city. I even sampled them on my song “Get Horny” off Bachelor Party. Well, they have a new live DVD/CD that just came out (cover above), and I highly encourage you to check it out if you’re a fan of the band (the DVD was filmed in England, but the live CD is actually from Stubb’s in Austin, same venue as Matisyahu’s live album). Here’s some clips from the DVD for those of you unfamiliar…
“Fake Tales of San Francisco” (sampled on Stan Ipcus “Get Horny”)
“Teddy Picker”
“I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor”
“Dancing Shoes”
And here’s a bonus live clip, unfortunately not on the DVD, but from the Glastonbury Festival. This is my absolute favorite Arctic Monkeys song! And supposedly this clip is from the first time they ever performed the song live, which is actually a B-Side from one of their singles and not on any of their albums. Featuring London’s own hip hopper Dizzee Rascal. Check it (say it like Ali G)…
“Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend”
These guys are definitely on my bucket list of bands I want to see live. And I hear they have a new album on the way. For now, I’ll go cop the DVD and crank the live album that comes with it in the whip. And if you don’t have their first two albums, check them out on Itunes or Amazon. Scream.
I was going to add this picture on to the post below, but it really deserves its own spotlight. Taken at my cousin CI’s bachelor party in Montauk last weekend by one of his boys. You should’ve seen our night game set-up in the basement of the house. It was insane…
NO MAS HAS BEISBOL FEVER!!!!!! Check the promotion, courtesy of my cuz CI…click the logos below to buy the shirts online, or click here to get to the entire store…
“I’m Calling It Shea”, our response to the corporate naming disaster at the new stadium in Flushing has been a huge hit. Made in collaboration with Uni Watch and the Reverend Vince Anderson, it’s been featured in the New York Times and New York magazine and become our fastest selling shirt ever. 10% of sales continue go to New York City food banks, and we want thank everyone who has supported this project.
The new stadium at 161st and River still has the old one’s name so we have other options for those who worship in the Bronx: a sweat tribute to Cosell and the summer of ’77, a tee celebrating the best candy bar of all time, and No Mas’s first baseball hat–in navy and white of course. Also check out our short on Yankee superfan Freddy Sez.
Beantown, your baseball squad is a sore subject around here, but we gave you some parquet love to ease your playoff pain: a sweat commemorating the greatest championship streak and a tee celebrating Boston’s most famous deadhead.
FOR 10% OFF ALL PURCHASE USE DISCOUNT CODE: “FREDDYSEZ”
Here’s three brand new Stan Ipcus cuts. I leaked them to the recently #1 rated hip hop blog nahright.com (Vibe and XXL Magazine both labeled them numero uno), and I humbly thank them for continuing to post my new music. Here’s the description I sent along with the songs, and the download links also…
These three songs are fresh out of the lab aka my fucking crib. I wake up, lay my songs down, then go to work. The first one is something I wrote a while back and have been meaning to put down, it’s over a classic Company Flow beat from Funcrusher Plus, an album I used to listen to constantly back when I was in college at the University of Maryland even though I never knew what they were talking about hahaha. The second is over the only Asher Roth song I actually like, and no it’s not a diss record, but yeah I do talk shit about wack white rappers on it. Sorry. And the third song is over a Menahan Street Band track I looped up and it’s off my next project called The Young Professional, which I will be putting out this summer. I just got married and I’ve got a lot on my mind about growing up, love, relationships, having kids, and that 9 to 5 grind. Hopefully some of you out there can relate. Peace, ip.
I’m looking forward to writing and recording this new project, it’s going to be a challenge to find the right beats and styles for it. So far so good. I’ve gotten great feedback about “The Working Man is a Sucker”. As for the other two leaks, well those are just some straight hip hop shit. Do the knowledge to those and then get back to me. Thanks for checking out the music.
*UPDATE* 5/23…I just leaked another track this week, which nahright.com posted as well, called “The Delegate of Hell”. It’s not on the new project, never the less, it’s brand new. More new music to come. I’m back in the lab baby! Link below…
Looks like Entourage is coming back east, or at least trying to, in a new TV series pilot called WESTCHESTER. It’s actually a great idea for a show, and it’s about time our county got a little spotlight. Take a look at this behind the scenes video about the series, which is the story of an Italian rapper from Westchester County trying to make it in the music business, and all the drama that comes along with it. I love the shots of White Plains and all the familiar streets and houses in these videos. They need to holler at me if they really want their show to blow. I’m a living proof example of what they’ve fictionalized!!!! Of course, I’m jewish…but my wife is Italian!!!! And I’ve got plenty of stories about being a Westchester County rap artist trying to make it, trust me. GOOD ONES. I’ve rocked every stage from the Thirsty Turtle to Madison Square Garden. Check the video, the link to the trailer, and the series’ official myspace page below…
Melanie Fiona (above right with Kanye West), a Canadian soul singer who I blogged about a few months ago after initially discovering her music, is slowly but surely gaining more notoriety in the music industry. She’s is extremely talented and I am looking forward to her first official release. For those of you who are not familiar with MF just yet, watch this video I just found of her performing an unplugged version of her first single “Give It To Me Right” with beatbox legend Kenny Muhammad aka “The Human Orchestra” (who has rocked with Matisyahu and Max B before). THIS IS FRESH!!!! Shout out to her backup singer too, she does her thing with the harmonies. Peep game…
Matisyahu sent me this song a few months ago he did with Crystal Method, and now it’s being officially released on their new album. Check out the video above, it’s quite cool. And Crystal Method are some fun dudes. They opened up for Matis the night Max Bee and I performed with him at Webster Hall, and they were partying backstage and were extra friendly. The song is called “Drown in the Now”. Get it free with the link below. Holler back.
Westcheddar 