- Sunday, February 6th

Last night The Rub at Southpaw was absolutely incredible. We're so fortunate that our party is consistently the best time with the best people. Thanks again and again and again to everyone that came out last night, and to all of Brooklyn Massive in general. The full set of photos by the one and only Kenny Rodriguez can be found here at www.doobevision.com

- Friday, February 5th

Scion Radio 17: Busy P February Interview Preview from Scion A/V on Vimeo.

- Thursday, February 4th

This is real dope...

So my man Espo is taking over Northern Liberties Tatoos in Philly this and next week in commemoration of his amazing A Love Letter For You project. No, he's not doing the ink itself but he will lay something down on your skin to get inked by one of the dudes in the shop. Let me let him tell it though:

Hello,

Celebrating the release of “A Love Letter For You Brick Valentines On The Philly Skyline” book by Free News Projects, we’re doing a series of events in Philadelphia. The one I’ll tell you about here is I am taking over the Northern Liberties Tattoo shop for a week (more or less depending on demand), and the only artwork that will be on offer will be all Steve Powers, all week long. All your favorite icons, punchlines, poignant reminders of the futility of life, hilarious illustrations of our inadequacies, True depictions of true love from the Love Letter project, and of course, PIGEONS. Its all here, it’s cheap, its permanent. No, I’m not tattooing, no skills. I will, however, sign your arm and let one of the skilled pros on staff at Todd’s shop re-ink it, fair enough? Sometime during the week, we’ll be having a book signing at Exit Philadelphia Skateshop next door, watch the project blog www.aloveletterforyou.com for time and date. THANKS

Best Regards
Steve

- Tuesday, February 2nd

- Breakbeat Tuesday: This week I'm going to talk a little about Janko Nilovoc. He's a Montenegro born, France based jazz composer whose keys can be found on a ton of  (mostly library) records of the 60s and 70s. Think kind of like European jazz space fusion, with elements of psychedelic rock combined with classical Baroque music, and you've kind of got an idea of his sound, Janko is an absolute genius with his arrangements and the way he's able to convey moods with his compositions.

Now tons of people have touched his music for hip-hop from The Beatnuts to (most notably) No I.D. for Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)." But here's a little piece that I unearthed that I think has been completely unscathed by those greedy thieving  hip-hop samplers (No Albini!) It's kind of like the hardest smacking drums that I've heard in a while, and just perfect for this week's edition of Breakbeat Tuesday. So I hope you enjoy, and respect the architects.

Janko Nilovic "Roses & Revolvers"

And here's another added bonus for all you rap-dudes.

Janko Niovic "The The Space"

 

And for your viewing pleasure, here's an interview with Sheen Bros. AKA me and my man 4th Pyramid about what we're about, how we came about, and what we're doing. Thanks to my man Zeb over at www.gpmentertainment.com for hooking this one up.

- Monday, February 1st

Oh yeah, here we are in February and it is officially cold as schitt, and that is no joke. Today is also the 62nd birthday of the late, great funk-pioneer Rick James. Rick is incredible because his music was so original and in no way was confined to any certain box. He created PUNK-FUNK and his sound was as comfortable to fit alongside Michael Jackson, The Whispers, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson as it would be with Funkadelic, Talking Heads, Liquid Liquid, Blondie, The B-52s, ans so on and so forth. Not settling for just being an incredible solo talent and multi-instrumentalist, Slick Rick went on to produce some of the biggest names in music at the time as well as bringing us the incredible Teena Marie as well as his own Mary Jane Girls. Let's also not forget that dude got his start as a musician alongside another musical giant, the great Neil Young, in the sort-lived Motown group The Mynah Birds. And as aside, I will be bold enough to say right now that if there was no Rick James, there would be no Prince. Dispute that all you want, you know it's true.

So when the whole world has relegated Rick's work, and life, to a (admittedly funny) joke, don't overlook the man who did things his own way and took no shorts, and changed modern music for the better. Well alright, you squares... FIRE IT UP for the one and only King Rick! Also also, thanks to Mister Playo, my 2nd grade gym teacher at Greenfield Elementary, who used to play "Super Freak" during gym period for us to run around the track to. That was the best! Here's a really great - both informative and poignant - blog post about Rick and his legacy on weallbe.blogspot.com

In commemoration of Rick Jame's birthday, here's a treat for the world. Just remember, "Brothers, sisters, there's got to be UNITY...

DJ Eleven & Cosmo Baker Present "I'm Rick James Bitch!"

So I've teamed up with the folks behind Fela! The Broadway musical (you know, Jay-Z, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith haha... as well as my people at HHC Marketing) to help spread the word about the greatest musical to hit the stage in recent memory. This is truly a magical event, and I encourage everyone and their moms to attend. Fela! the musical is truly a magical show, and anyone that knows me knows how much I revere the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He stands as a giant in modern day history, not only in music but in human rights and political activism as well.

So tickets to the show are kind of pricey (like most Broadway shows) but you can use the following codes to get tickets at a discount rate. Do not sleep on this!

Discount off:

$60 (regularly $99) for Wednesday matinees

$75 (regularly $112 - $122) for all other performances

How to order:

1: Visit www.broadwayoffers.com and use code FEHHC107

2: Call Telecharge @ 212-947-8844 and mention code FEHH107

3: Bring a printout of this discount to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre at 230 West 49th Street.

Restrictions: All prices include a $2 facility fee. This offer is valid through 2/28/10. Not valid for Saturday night performances. Other blackout dates may apply. Each order is limited to a maximum of 8 tickets for this promotion.