BNB ARTIST CHECK-IN : BIG TONE

BNB Artist Checkin-In
BIG TONE

What are you currently working on?

Tone: Finishing up the  second music release out of The Art Of Ink line, entitled "AOI: Pens and Needles". Also beginning to map out the AOI coffee table book as well. Those are top of the agenda projects, but definitely focusing on production placements a lot more this year too. Really just focusing on expanding, and prepping my formula to do so.

Have you done any collabs since BNB last heard from you? 

Tone: Umm...nope. I'm a horrible friend. There's a couple...Lazy Genius...LaNiece McKay...CEL...C Reid. Other than that, I'm on my quiet storm ish.

Who are you working with? 

I am really excited about a record I had the chance to be apart of by the homie Woodz. It's called The Secret. I think he's gonna blindside everybody. I can't wait until its ready.

BNB's forever gonna be a huge fan of yours, BUT who are YOU a fan of these days?

Tone: Crown Nation, Oli Rockberger, MonicaBlaire, Marv Won, and the rest of my friends. Aside from that, Jay Elec...Nipsey Hustle...Dead Weather...The Gorillaz...anything fresh.

If you could put together your dream tour, who would it include?

Tone: Breakfast Club...Live. With Karriem, Amp, Frap, Dez, and a bunch of other bananabread musician's we know as the band.

Anything else you wanna say to the people?

Tone: Support God music. 5000, G.

BNB ARTIST CHECK-IN : KENN STARR

BNB Artist Check-in
KENN STARR

What are you currently working on?

i'm currently puttin' the finishing touches on my next full length project "Two Track Mind"

Have you done any collabs since BNB last heard from you?  If so, who are you working with?

i've been fortunate enough to put in work with alotta dope emcees and producers recently. From Tanya Morgan, Chaundon, 14KT, etc. alotta dope collabs coming up.

BNB's forever gonna be a huge fan of yours, BUT who are YOU a fan of these days?

recently i've been knockin' that new Roc Marciano, yU from Diamond District and my homie Sean Born. been playin' those three pretty extensively lately

If you could put together your dream tour, who would it include? 

Little Brother, Diamond District and Kenn Starr opening!

Anything else you wanna say to the people?

stay tuned! new music is on the way! old music is here: http://www.kennstarr.com ! tell your mom i said hi!

BNB ARTIST CHECK-IN : 14KT

BNB Artist Check-in
14KT

What are you currently working on?

14KT: Working on EVERYTHING. lol. Right now, im currently working on a full-length album with Othello of Lightheaded, another 14KT solo, a New-Wave project with Mayer Hawthorne, and various others.

Have you done any collabs since BNB last heard from you?  If so, who are you working with?

14KT: I don't think i've had many collabs since that last time. The most recent for me would be on Danny Brown's "The Hybrid" release.

BNB's forever gonna be a huge fan of yours, BUT who are YOU a fan of these days?

14KT: These days i've been a rising fan of Mike Snow, Jay Electronica, Dam-Funk, and Devin The Dude!

If you could put together your dream tour, who would it include? 

Everyone of A-Side Worldwide performing live. Athletic Mic League, Now On, Mayer Hawthorne, Buff1, Crown Royale, DJ Graffiti, DJ Benny Ben, and Houseshoes(with special guest artists) Now THAT would be monumental.

Anything else you wanna say to the people?

Keep supporting that good music! Its working!!

 Red Bulll Big Tune Beat Battle 2010

Round 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7PmtXoTCXw&feature=PlayList&p=88048E2052BE8DD7&playnext_from=PL&playnext=2&index=15


Semi-Finals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c5V8id3Zy8

Finals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqoT23xLUcg&feature=related

BNB ARTIST CHECK-IN : JORDAN ROCKSWELL

BNB Artist Check-in
JORDAN ROCKSWELL

What are you currently working on?

First & foremost I'm working on becoming a better person, more conscious & aware, also working on being less socially awkward when out & trying to eat healthy.   Musically... I'm currently wrapping up an album with Magestik Legend, we're called DTW... getting ready to begin recording an album with Shawn Jackson in May...  Producing 2 albums at once aint no joke!  lol.  Once those two projects are in the can, I'll be starting to work on my instrumental LP...

Have you done any collabs since BNB last heard from you?  If so, who are you working with?

I've done a couple new tracks with Guilty Simpson which will see the light of day, eventually... Just got Frank Nitty & GrimAce (Orio Circus) on a track for the Shawn Jackson project...  working on a couple tracks with Philly's DistantStarr as well as Emcee/Producer HAZxSOLO & vocalist Jimi James...  Also open to working with other artists as well... Busta... Get at me!

BNB's forever gonna be a huge fan of yours, BUT who are YOU a fan of these days?

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiet."  © Sen. Clay Davis  From a production standpoint... Im a huge fan of KLIPMODE  --->  DevonWho, Knxwledge, Suzi Analogue & MNDSGN... but equally up there for me are folks like 14KT, Mayer Hawthorne, Master Blazter (Dam Funk, J1 & Computer Jay), Samiyam, Dibia$e, P.U.D.G.E., Rhettmatic, House Shoes, Ta'Raach, Shafiq, Zo!, Black Milk, Dez, Apollo Brown... the list goes on & on... everyone of these artists constantly send me back 2 the lab.  #Respect.

If you could put together your dream tour, who would it include? 

James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Rick James & the Original Slum Village w/ Richard Pryor Hosting.

Anything else you wanna say to the people?

No matter what your going through, it could always be worse.  Trust.  Be thankful for what you've got... oh yeah... can't forget the GOLDEN rule... "treat others the way u want to be treated".  #Love yall.

ps: CONGRATS, newlyweds!  and we love our new sister, Lily!

A-Side Worldwide Update

News, Events, Contests and baller Free Sh!t from the A-Side Crew

A-Side, once again, all up in your inbox. Down below you got the SXSW Recap, Buff, Now On and 14KT Europe tour dates, 14KT on BET, some free music and some ol' other ish.

A-Side Does Europe.

This week Buff1, Now On and 14KT hit Europe once again. Let's go!

Dates.....

April 9 – Basel (Switzerland) @ Die Kuppel
April 11 – Dresden (Germany) @ Altes Wettbüro
April 12 – Essen (Germany) @ Heldenbar / Café Central
April 15 – Berlin (Germany) @ Bohannon
April 16 – Leipzig (Germany) @ Conne Island
April 18 – Linz (Austria) @ Kapu
April 20 – Vienna (Austria) @ Café Leopold
April 23 – Mainz (Germany) @ Red Cat
April 24 – Paris (France) @ Nouveau Casino

More shows may be added. For more info, updates and additions....click click.

SXSW Recap.

Austin was off the hook this year. Peep the full recap, including photos, vids, etc HERE. Shouts to VTech and everyone who helped to make SXSW a great success for A-Side.

See a couple videos - Mayer Hawthorne and Buff1 live at the Pure Volume House:

Full Recap.

14KT on BET.

As part of the Red Bull Big Tune beat battle national finals in NYC last year, 14KT and the rest of the participants will be featured on an exclusive special on BET next Sunday night. Tune in. Word up KT!

TELL EVERYONE TO WATCH!! CHECK OUT THE TRAILER BELOW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZLTc9nS7Os

Big Baby on HBO.

A-Side sends much love and congrats to our brother, the A-Side blog master himself, Big Baby Ben aka Ben Alfaro. Ben is appearing in a new series on HBO called Brave New Voices beginning TODAY. Peep Ben's profile and other information about the show here. Yeah Big Baby!

Free Download.

Download the new cut "Magenetic" featuring Buff1 and Darien Brockington by our homie Yoshi from his new album "The Talent Show" out soon on iTunes.

Download here.

Twit.

http://www.twitter.com/asideworldwide

Coming Soon...

- A-Side Podcast #3
- New Mayer Hawthorne 12”
- Buff1 "Real Appeal" video
- New Now On videos

www.asideworldwide.com

www.colorblindcreative.com

Karriem Riggins : The Human Metronome

Im sure you've all heard the name before. You probably know he reps the D, kicks it with Common, was very close with JDilla. You probably think hes just some producer guy that can play the drums. You may have compared him to ?uestlove, you may have heard a couple things about him being dope, but you probably don't know just how dope he really is.

So here's what the Wikipedia says:

Karriem Riggins (born August 25, 1975) is a jazz drummer, hip hop producer, and sometime rapper. He is a former member of the Ray Brown Trio and Mulgrew Miller trio and currently appears in the Diana Krall quartet.

Riggins was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father, Emmanuel Riggins, is also a musician, and Karriem would often play drums with him as a child.^[1] Riggins began producing hip hop in middle school and continued through high school.^[1][2] He studied music at Southfield High School as well, and joined Betty Carter's band Jazz Ahead soon after, at 17.^[3] When he was 19 (in 1994), Riggins moved to New York City, and joined the Ray Brown Trio in 1998. Riggins has also recorded and performed with Donald Byrd, Hank Jones, Mulgrew Miller, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, Cedar Walton, Roy Hargrove, and Bobby Hutcherson.^[1]

Away from jazz, Riggins has done production work for hip hop artists including Slum Village, Erykah Badu, Common, J Dilla, The Roots, Talib Kweli, Phat Kat, Consequence, and Dwele. He has collaborated with the hip hop multi-instrumentalist Madlib, performing on his 2007 album Yesterdays Universe and in collaborations entitled Supreme Team and The Jahari Massamba Unit.^[2] He also produced a portion of the soundtrack for the 2007 film Smokin' Aces.^[2]

The Nitty Gritty : Frank Nitt Does Europe!

broadcasting live from munich, germany....frank nitt

what's poppin people? it's ya boy Frank Nitt, and like the heading says i'm live in germany, on tour with munichs own Dj Sepalot(redhanded lp go get it!!!) so where do i begin.....i guess it would be russia, moscow to be exact. and people if u have'nt been.. get your passport, get your vodka game up and, mannnnn! it's goin down!! from the moment i got off the plane and into immigration,( my international players know about this) i should have known it was goin down! why! cause deebo...thats right deebo..from friday....u got knocked the fuck out!..deebo was in the line next to me! no jail suit tho! and no sticky fingers! but that incident set the tone for this whole day, cause there is no way i could have predicted that one. so thru immigration, into the cab ,and on to the city. moscow traffic is the worst shit ever! what should be 15 minutes.... 3 hours! i learned this from our crafty cab driver who took the back streets, and that took 2 hours! did u know that in moscow any car can be a cab? and not u can take any type of car and make it a cab, i mean anyone driving down the road, can and will pull over and take your happy ass where u wanna go! they gotta get their money! the only problem is that it might be a benz, might be bucket, but my boy andrew said he would try to make sure we get a benz! but not this time..lol but the journey was eye opening. moscow is an extreme place. just as an example of how extreme it was, on this little ass two lane road we we're riding on u had buses, bikes cars, kids, cows, everything all together, on one side of the road it was a castle, fully equipped with the 10 foot privacy wall and the rolls royce in the driveway(which was the only place u could see in) and on the other side of the road, directly across the little road, maaaan! it looked like somebody found some old broken ass wood, some plastic and slapped them some ish together and pulled their car up to it and was like"fool i live here". no lie! no middle, just rich or poor..crazy. and that leads to the club, did i mention i never slept in moscow! anyway the club was like some movie shit,a real upscale posh place. incredible soundsystem, what every intimate hip hop joint should be like, so the people can enjoy. to get backstage u had to go thru the kitchen on some goodfellas ish, meeting the cooks and shit, and in the back.....lets just say that all types of medicines for recreational uses were available! but u know me just a blunt of moscows sweetest chiba and i'm good!(kids say no to drugs)needless to say this show was off the hook and lasted until it was time to get on the plane! so kids again if u get the chance go to moscow! i can't sum it up any better than what my crafty cab driver told me, it's the only thing he said in english, (he spoke to me and sepalot the whole time in the cab but it was in russian, neither of us speak russian) he said while holding some liquor and a cig," i drink, i drive, i smoke i'm a russkie what do u expect" and thats it the russkies just do it! dope place! now there are more cities and shows but i can'type anymore so i'll give u a clip of what the other shows we're like, check it out and i'll get with ya'll late......peace

Def Sound "Something" Review

yo yo yo!
I just finished listening to Def Sound's new album "Something."

It's filled with bangers like "Spaz" which is probably the best single of the album.
its got a real uptempo beat the wil start any party off.
The Cd starts off with a song called "A Song about Something" definitely check it out
Theres a bonus track "25 x 1" (Feat. Marc Payne) which samples Angela Bofill.
Vann Clayton produced the best song "Last Song of my Life."
"The Interview" sounds like a young Jay in his heyday.
"Last Night" (Feat. Lite, Mike Nova, & Carlos Jr.) is such a visual song. the video to this is gonna be crazy.
For all you sneaker-heads out there, i'm sure you'll like "Junkie"

Definitely get a copy of his album at Def Sound's "Something" Release Party @ The Temple Bar on May 20th.

oh yeah here's a alternate album cover:

The Nitty Gritty : General Info

Frank Nitty Says:

"whats poppin mudasockas? hope all is well with you where ever you are. ya boy nitty is all good! since this is a general info blog lets get straight to the meat of the matter(or the potato of the matter 4 u veg heads).lets start with the music, "The Concert Hall EP" is my first solo project and also the first release off my new label DigiPop. it's all produced by grammy nominated producer Young Rj and Craig Lane(young buck,dwele,slum village, etc), it features Big Pooh(little brother)and QD on the skits,and for lack of some better words.....that shit is crazy!!!!" Automatic" is the first single, it's on the page and u can download it for freeeeeeeeee!make sure u download that and get geared up for the ep, it drops in june!!! u can cop it at all ur fine digital retailers. u can also catch me on tour in europe for most of the summer, check the page for the dates and i'll add them as we go, so make sure u come back! i feel like craig talkin to smokey!(for my friday fans).also i got dem beats for the streets...lol..thats corny, but i got them tho! big shout to Dj Sepalot i'll be touring with him in europe starting in june, i'm featured on the first single " She Likes Me" from his lp that drops in june. and last let me send a big thank you to all the dj's,scrap dirty, my Needillworks fam, the cuties at BlacknBling, deirdre, ben and peter and er'body yup er'body around the world for helping me make this "The Year Of THe Nitty" and of course to all of ya'll for the support! keep bangin!

p.s. dj's if u need cleans and instros send me an email and i'll send it to u fasho....."

Frank Nitt