It seemed as though every hip hop fan in Detroit made his or her way down to St. Andrews Hall last night to witness the National Championship of the most talked about emcee battle of the summer —Red Bull EmSee: The Road to 8 Mile. When judges Eminem, Mr. Porter and The Alchemist named 18-year old hometown favorite FowL as the national winner, the crowd of over 1,000 fans went bananas. Hip hop legends Bun B, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Xhibit were among the VIPs that came out to support.
Los Angeles based, indie/new wave band Ima Robot have been through their fair share of music industry travails – most of the drama stemming from their involvement with the questionable politics of being signed to a major label contract. What is it that Q-Tip said again so prophetically on the track “Check the Rhyme”? Oh yeah, “Industry rule #4080, record company people are shady.”
All the label issues culminated in the band taking a break from their situation and stealing some time away to refocus and try new things. Ima Robot founding member, Timmy Anderson states it this way.
“We were all a bit tweaked from our last year or so in the major label game – I’ll leave it at that! Some life happened, a lot of work and side projects went down (Guns n Bombs, Edward Sharpe, Werewolf Heart records) and we all just went off exploring other musical endeavors and interests.”
Eminem just released his new album, Recovery, last week to absolute rave reviews. Personally I can’t stop listening to “Not Afraid” as well as “Love the Way You Lie” feat. Rihanna. Both have insanely infectious grooves and strong messages, no surprises there. After years of silence, threats of retirement, substance abuse, divorce, re-marriage, and god only knows what else, he’s finally stepped back in the spot light and we’re happy to see him shine.
On June 22nd, Eminem also took the stage to not only show the world he’s still relevant, but to pay homage to his roots, the MC battle. Red Bull EmSee is a new competition focused on the truest form of rap competition while highlighting the modern freestyle spirit. The event was hosted by Angie Yee. Judges Alchemist, Just Blaze and Craig G will gave their thumbs up or down to a stellar line-up of the freshest MC talent.
This week, Ozzy’s back with his latest, Scream; Glenn Danzig shuns all possible accusation of femininity with Deth Red Sabaoth; and electronica pioneers Front Line Assembly concoct another gem. Also, jazz legend Herbie Hancock unleashes The Imagine Project, a video and music collaboration with everyone from Dave Matthews to John Legend and Derek Trucks (the last of which is also out with a new one).
Chemical Brothers – Further
The Constellations – Southern Gothic
Danzig – Deth Red Sabaoth
Eminem – Recovery
Derek Trucks Band – Roadsongs
Front Line Assembly – Improvised. Electronic. Device.
Macy Gray – The Sellout
Herbie Hancock – The Imagine Project
Cyndi Lauper – Memphis Blues
Kele Okereke – The Boxer
Ozzy Osbourne – Scream
The Roots – How I Got Over
Sia – We Are Born
Stars - The Five Ghosts
Uffie - Sex Dreams & Denim Jeans
Every week, China Shop talks to a music blogger who is taking part in the new global music community.
For hip-hop fans around the world, few sites deliver a more thorough look at hip-hop culture than HipHopDX.com. More than just a blog, Hip-Hop DX is a complete news portal for hip-hop heads. Meet Jake Paine, the Editor-In-Chief who keeps the site always fresh.
Name: Jake Paine
Age: 26
Location: Philly
Title/Website: Editor-in-Chief, HipHopDX.com