KLC Talks Kanye

The Smoking Section just posted a cool video interview with KLC, a member of No Limit's former in-house production team Beats by the Pound.  His sound has influenced countless other producers and his massive back catalog  includes records with artists like David Banner, Ludacris, and Snoop.  In the video KLC talks about the making of his classic "Down 4 My N****z" and his reaction to Kayne sampling it on "Blood on the Leaves".  It's nice to see TSS paying tribute to someone who is far too often overlooked by music journalists.  Check out the interview by clicking here.

LC Weber Schools Me on Mayer Hawthorne

My friend LC Weber over at The Smoking Section is always fun to talk music with. She also likes DJ culture and is friends with a bunch of ill DJ's. One of her close friends, DJ Haircut from Ann Arbor, has recently signed with Stones Throw records under the name Mayer Hawthorne, his soul signing alias. Believe me when I say you need to peep this guy's material. What I've heard from him as Mayer Hawthorne so far is unreal and I cannot wait for a full length project. Don't believe me? Famous DJ's like Giles Peterson and Mark Ronson are already giving his single spin on their radio shows. Anyhow, make sure to read/listen to the audio from this great interview LC did with Mr. Mayer over at Michigan Radio News and go insane for his music like I did.

Check the interview by clicking here.

When you're done, check out the Mayer Hawthorne & The County MySpace.

Plug Tunin'

Here is a piece I wrote for The Smoking Section for the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Show. It's almost two months old, I just didn't bother linking to it 'til now because it didn't get many reads. It's about my favorite group of all time, De La Soul. Read it by clicking here.

Nate In '08 Interview with DJ Steve1der

Check out this cool interview I did a little while back with my homeboy DJ Steve1der over at the Smoking Section. We chopped it up and talked about his incredible new Nate Dogg mix tape. Read on by clicking here.

TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Girl Talk

Oh snap, another Girl Talk interview??? Yup. Say what you will about him, I'm a huge fan. He's a great voice for the sample based music community and a very cool dude. If you missed the first two interviews I did with him, you can check them out by clicking here and here.

This time around me and Gregg get deep about his new album, Feed The Animals. Please take a minute to Digg the interview by using the link provided below. If you aren't a memeber of Digg, consider joining. It helps get The Smoking Section articles additional press.

read more | digg story

"I've Been Downhearted Baby"

Check out my blurb about Primitive Radio Gods' 1996 hit "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand" by clicking here.

Reconstructing DJ P's Hell on Wheels

Check out my recent Reconstruction with DJ P where we break down his classic Hell on Wheels mix tape series. To read the interview and get some free DJ P blends, click here.

To learn more about P's favorite horror movies, check out his installment in my Famous People Love Horror series.

15 Minutes with Seth Ferranti

Check out my most recent piece for The Smoking Section with prison author Seth Ferranti. It's a great interview about prison misconceptions, writing, his publishing company, and many other interesting topics. Please take the time to read about this very inspiring human being.

To read the interview, click here.

To purchase a copy of one of Seth's books, click here.

To learn more about Seth's publishing company, click here.

Supa Emcees

Anyone who knows the kid Sorce-1 knows that I love me some De La Soul. In my opinion, Posdonus is one of the most underappreciated MC's of all time. Check out this cool lil' piece I wrote about one of his illest verses and download the track for free.

Read it by clicking here.

Crew Love

Wanna know what me and my Smoking Section squad are bumping right now? Click the link below to download a bunch of dope shit, both new and old.
Crew Love Link

Skillz Reconstruction

My Reconstruction with Skillz is now up for public consumption. I'm very happy Skillz agreed to do this interview. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. To read it, click here.

I Gotta Get Paid

Ok bloggers, it's time to play name that tune.

I just wrote a post for The Smoking Section about an essential summertime song. I'll give you a few hints and we'll see if anyonyone can name it before heading over to TSS.

A) It came out in 99.
B) It features two famous Houston MC's.
C) It samples this song...


Any guesses? Either way, head on over to TSS to watch the video and download the mystery song by clicking here.

Skillz N Sorce-1

Yes yes ya'll. I'm sitting around the crib finishing up an interview with Skillz (aka Mad Skillz) about his debut album From Where???. The interview is part of a new Smoking Section series called Reconstruction, which features in depth, behind the scenes interviews about great albums, songs, and mix tapes. The goal is to "reconstruct" what went into the creation of various projects that we want to shed some light on. Skillz had a lot to say, and this article will not disappoint hip hop historians.

To tide you all over until its publication, I'm going to post one of my favorite songs off of From Where???, the J Dilla produced "It's Going Down".

Enjoy.

It's Going Down- Skillz (Produced by Dilla)

Behind The Stained Glass Review

Check out my review of Killah Priest's new album Behind The Stained Glass by clicking here.

Behind The Stained Glass

I just finished my review of Killah Priest's Behind the Stained Glass for The Smoking Section. It should be online in the next day or two.
Here is a video for the song "For Tommorow"

I'm also still grinding on my De La piece, plus I have pieces in the work with Skillz and Prince Paul. Stay patient and I promise the blog will be alive and kicking soon.

Reconstructing Pizza At Primo’s With DJ Jaycee

DJ Jaycee (Luda's DJ and member of DJ Drama's crew the Aphilliates) makes some bangin' mix tapes. Dude is diverse too, dropping everything from a best of Michael Jackson to a best of DJ Premier. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a life long die hard Premier fan, so it goes without saying that his Primo tape has been in non stop rotation at my house. I'm happy to say that I got to do a Reconstruction for The Smoking Section with Jaycee about his Premier tape, Pizza at Primo's. To read the article, click here. To read Jaycee's reaction to the interview on his personal blog, click here.
To watch Jay cut up some Justin Timberlake, watch the video below.





To read my Reconstruction with Vinroc of the 5th Platoon DJ crew about his classic Recon-Struction mix tape, click here.

Crooklyn In My Mind

I recently did a little write up for The Smoking Section about one of my favorite DJ Premier tracks, "Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers". Read it by clicking here.

Recon-Struction

If you're a mix tape head, the name Recon-Struction rings more than a few bells. It's the title producer/DJ Vinroc gave to his late 90's sonic masterpiece. In my opinion, mixes like Recon-Struction are more important now than ever. They represent what is starting to become a forgotten time in rap music and hip hop culture. Check out my interview with Vinroc, and download the entire Recon-Struction tape (with Vin's permission) by clicking here. The interview is a very insightful and in depth breakdown of the making of Recon-Struciton and the lasting impact that it has had.

Uncommon Valor: The Story of Staff Sergeant John A. Thorburn and RA The Rugged Man

The Smoking Section recently helped me get in touch with RA The Rugged Man to do two different interviews. The first interview was about his career background and some of his new projects. The second interview was an in depth look at his verse from the Jedi Mind Tricks song "Uncommon Valor". The interview went online today, and I'm very proud of how it came out. It's a piece that I've wanted to write for a long time, so I'm glad it made the transition from idea to finished project.

Here is a snippet...

TSS: How much input did you and Vinnie Paz have on Stoupe’s production for the song?

RA: Well, Stoupe originally hit us with different beat. I started writing some shit to the first beat he hit us with. Stoupe is neurotic, and after I started writing to the first beat he said, “Oh, I hate the beat. I don’t like the beat.” I told him, “Just give me the fucking beat that we’re really using.” Paz sent me over the next beat that Stoupe had, and I just started writing to it. Neither of us really had any influence. Vinnie just accepted it and I said, “No doubt, we’ll do it.”

To read the whole interview, click here.

Smoking Session with RA The Rugged Man

I have a brand new Smoking Session (interview) with RA The Rugged Man at The Smoking Section. Amongst other things, we discussed Treach from Naughty by Nature, OPP, and his new movie project titled Bad Biology. To read the interview click here.