From the SOTU Department... Today we are very proud to launched a new website for the Austin Hip-Hop Scene. We are calling it the Austin Hip-Hop Scene Engine - Community Driven Hip-Hop Knowledge. The reason we are doing this is because we believe that hip-hop is all about community and with that community, there is knowledge/ideas/art that can and should be shared with the larger public.
Austin Hip-Hop Scene Engine is aimed to be the medium that allows the Austin Hip-Hop Community to share this knowledge. You will notice that the website allows and welcomes anyone and everyone to add knowledge to the website. We are excited at the opportunities and growth that will come about from the community and the Austin Hip-Hop Scene Engine. Will you help grow the community?
The Pharcyde (pronounced /ˈfɑrsaɪd/) is an alternative hip hop group from South Central Los Angeles, where the group's members grew up. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson) and Fatlip (Derrick Stewart).[1] DJ Mark Luv was the group's first DJ, followed by producer J-Swift and then J Dilla.[citation needed] The group is best known for the hit singles "Drop", "Passin' Me By" and "Runnin'", as well as their first album, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde.
Pharcyde group members Slimkid3, Bootie Brown, and Imani met as dancers in the late 1980s and dancing was their main ambition as late as 1990.[1] Around this time, Imani and Slimkid3 were in a group called "As Is" and later a group called the "Play Brothers",[1] whilst Bootie Brown was a backup dancer for Fatlip[1] (Fatlip being the last member to join the group[2]). Bootie Brown recalls that their earlier dancing careers influenced their rapping - "sometimes the way I rap is almost like the way I used to dance".[3] The group met Reggie Andrews, a local high-school music teacher who worked with the Dazz Band and Rick James, and who was a major musical influence on their debut album.[2][4] The group also met producer J-Swift around this time, as he was Reggie Andrews's "star pupil" according to the book Check the Technique.[5]
“We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.” -Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963.
Come celebrate M.L.K. Day and expressing your right of free speech at “Speaking the Spoken the Art of Verse” the annual open mic hosted by award-winning “interdisciplinary theater artist” Zell Miller, III. Doors open at 7 pm, and we will be expressing the art of verse till 9:30pm. Come early, seats fill quickly for this super hot open mic with members of the Cipher, Xenogia Spoken Word Collective, Slam poets, and anyone else who has something to say. Featuring the amazing Ebony Stewart, one of the lead voices of the Neo Slam team that took 4th at the National Poetry Slam this year. That’s right, two-time slam champ, actress, singer, author, and recording artist Ebony Stewart is a feature you really don’t want to miss.
So end your day of celebrating the legacy of one of the greatest orators in our history by doing what he fought so hard for us to be able to do: speak our minds, our spirits, and our hearts.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement.[1] He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.[2] King is often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism.[3]
A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career.[4] He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of a color blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.
Keith Matthew Thornton, better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American Hip hop artist. A founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith has recorded prolifically both as a solo artist and in group collaborations. Kool Keith is the self-proclaimed inventor of both the 'Horrorcore'[1] and 'Pornocore' subgenres of Hip Hop.
After the release of Ultramagnetic MCs' debut album, Critical Beatdown, Thornton was reportedly institutionalized in Bellevue Hospital Center.[2][3] However, he admitted later that the idea that he was institutionalized came from a flippant remark made during a stressful interview and he never expected the story to become so well-known.[4] Following the unsuccessful release of Ultramagnetic MCs' second and third albums, Thornton released his first notable solo single, "Earth People," in 1995, under the name Dr. Octagon, followed by the release of Dr. Octagonecologyst the following year. The album's production by Dan the Automator and Kutmasta Kurt, with scratching by DJ Qbert was acclaimed by critics, and the album was released nationally by DreamWorks Records, who also issued an instrumental version of the album, titled Instrumentalyst (Octagon Beats).[2][3] Thornton followed the album with Sex Style in 1997 under the name Kool Keith.
From the where's the love department... Join Matt Sonzala for his birthday @ Mohawk on Saturday, Jan 15th and be treated with some great music by Bavu Blakes, BLACKIE and Kydd!
From the iPhone alarm fail Monday department... We are in the midst of Free Week 2011 and we have Hip-Hop! Check out Crew 54, Riders Against the Storm (RAS), Kill City and The Means @ Red 7 tomorrow night, Jan 4th!
