Ohio Takeover 2012 Tour featuring Stalley, Ill Poetic & LxE for the Uncool

It’s that time of year again.

Last year, VoiceOfRzn worked our asses off to bring you guys the OhioTakeover Tour, featuring myself, J. Rawls, LxE for the Uncool & Illogic. It was an amazing experience and overall one of my favorite tours ever. You guys really showed out to these shows, which gave us enough confidence and momentum to try this again.

So this year we’ve decided to re-up for a second season. The new cast consists of myself, LxE for the Uncool & recent MMG signee  and Massilon, OH-nativce Stalley. Needless to say, we’re very excited about this line-up and this tour in general. We’ve never approached a tour quite like this, and I’ve never approached performing a set like this (more on this in a later post, though if you saw the SLAM Festival show in Cinci this past August you caught a preview). For now, enjoy our Tour Trailer, courtesy our friends at Arris Productions. Keep reading to get details on our jump-off show next weekend @ OU.

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Tags: BIG KRIT, Dom Kennedy, ill poetic, illogic, j. rawls, lxe for the uncool, Ohio, Ohio Takeover, ohio takeover tour, OU, Shows, Stalley, Tour, VoiceOfRzn

Stalley “Savage Journey to the American Dream”

I first saw Stalley at 6AM on MTV2 a couple years back featured on Curren$y’s “Address” video.

But I didn’t officially start checking for him until “Lincoln Way Nights” dropped. Rashad (LWN Producer) had just produced “The Measure” by LxE for the Uncool, which I still think is one of the best hip-hop records to EVER come out of Ohio. Off the strength of that, I assumed “LWN” would be just as fresh. And it was. I’m really a fan of the one emcee/one producer set-up. Needless to say, this record didn’t disappoint. Most of all, it just sounds like such an Ohio-ass record. Everything about it is Ohio. If you live here you know, if you don’t you should get a pretty good idea.

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Tags: lincoln way nights, lxe for the uncool, Ohio, Rashad, savage journey to the american dream, Stalley

M.I.A. “Bad Girls” Video

I’ve been watching this video all weekend and I can’ t stop. No one is touching this at the moment. #NoCGI
I love M.I.A. and you should too. I hear she flipped the bird to everyone at the halftime show too. So that’s cool. I could give a shit either way.

Tags: bad girls, m.i.a., video

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Cover one of the Greatest Songs ever created by man

“…Me? Well..I’ve never been there…well, perhaps once…”

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble covers “SpottieOttieDopaliscious”, one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard (peep how they flip Sleepy Brown’s verse)

PS – I can’t wait to cover this song live again (coming soon).

Tags: aquemeni, cover, hynotic brass ensemble, Outkast, spottieottiedopaliscious

Schoolboy Q “Habits & Contradictions”

I usually don’t have the time and energy to find new music on the internet. Specifically hip-hop. After a while the blogs all start running together. Every couple of months, a new rapper comes along that everyone buzzes about and over-hypes to be the most amazing dude on the planet since the last most amazing dude on the planet three months ago.

So I had heard about the Black Hippy group for a while. And I thought Kendrick Lamar was dope and everything just like everyone told me I was supposed to. But last week I was intrigued by this new Schoolboy Q record “Habits & Contradictions”. I don’t know why. Then I listened to it and watched the “Hands on the Wheel” video. Now I like it. And him. And his record. And his videos. This dude is really creative and I like that he could give two shits about anything except what he’s on. I miss this energy in hip-hop right now. This vibe is sorely lacking. These dudes have picked it up and put a nice twist on it. I fuck with it. I love discovering artists at this moment in their careers. It’s like a small layover of time where they’re discovering their potential, style and sound in front of the world before the industry folks try to market it. It’s still raw as shit, but not unpolished.

Hit the jump for a couple videos:

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Tags: Black Hippy, habits & contradictions, hands on the wheel, kendrick lamar, schoolboy q

DJ COREY GRAND “NON-FICTION HEART(BREAKS)”

LxE just hipped me to this dude a couple days ago, as sometimes they he backs LxE up on the decks when he performs.

Then I came across a post on this record by my friends at TheHigherPlane.

Which is cool and all. But then I looked at the tracklist.

I feel like outside of my circle, no one in Ohio really messes with half the artists I mess with, so when I see FlyLo, J*Davey, and The Weeknd (amongst many others) on here, I get relieved that I’m not going crazy.

Here’s the trackslist & link

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Tags: DJ Corey Grand, Exile, flying lotus, j*davey, lxe for the uncool, mixtape, Non-Fiction Heart(Breaks), The Weeknd, TheHigherPlane.net

Ill Poetic “Instrumentals” Vol. 2

I make beats.

Then I flesh the beats out into productions. Then I bring in musicians to play my ideas, and vocalists to accentuate the song-writing. Then I begin the process of mixing, post-producing and anal-retentive analysis that leads to months in a basement working on a single song.

I can’t use them all. Some of them have to just stay beats and semi-fleshed out ideas. These ideas need homes. They’re orphans with empty bowls of porridge, looking for a singer, emcee, or musician to nourish them and put a blanket over their sad, cold bodies.

Enjoy!

Oh, and here are some more from before.

Ps – Shouts the homie David Perez for the always amazing pictures of pretty ladies. And shouts to this coffee shop I’ve been in ALL DAY designing the cover.

Tags: bandcamp, david perez, Download, ill poetic, instrumental hip-hop, instrumentals vol. 1, instrumentals vol. 2

FREDDIE GIBBS x MADLIB x GUNS..LOTS OF GUNS “THUGGIN”

A couple nights ago, I had a nightmare that Freddie Gibbs robbed and killed me.

The next day, I saw this video, and realized why.

Funny story:

Illogic and I had a show with Gibbs last Spring, afterI interviewed him for Citybeat a month earlier. Gibbs and I were sitting right next to each other at the Merch Table. Illogic told me I should introduce myself and tell him that I had just interviewed him a few weeks back. Since we just rocked a pretty big show with him, I though “Ok, cool, I can do that.”

So I introduced myself to him. And then he looked at me the same way he looks at the camera in this video. Then I went back to my seat. So that was that.

The End.

Enjoy the video. This song is amazing.

Tags: Citybeat, freddie gibbs, illogic, Interview, madlib, show, thuggin, video

Black Spade “Nobody’s Fool” Converse Track of the Week

Anyone who comes to this site knows I’m a big Black Spade fan. I’ve been waiting on a new record from since 2010′s “Build & Destroy”, which i still play very regularly to this day.

Came across this video on his FB Page. Hoping this means a new record is on the way. Joint sounds serious.

Tags: black spade, Build & Destroy, Converse

New Ill Po Song “Numb”

Tags: flying lotus, free mp3, free music, ill poetic, numb, synesthesia, the yellow movement