Frankie Releases The Visuals For ‘Swim Good’ From Nostalgia, Ultra. Directed by Nabil And The Panda.
(Source: frankocean)
Fool’s Gold + Dj Mehdi
NYC record label Fool’s Gold has seamlessly tied up the two worlds of Hip Hop and Electronic Music with the prettiest bow ever.
Here’s one of their legendary block parties - Fool’s Gold Day Off - spliced together by the lovely people at Complex. Also peep out the talented DJ Mehdi, who sadly passed away last week. RIP bruv.
Massive props to AraabMUZIK, Just Blaze and The Brothers Macklovitch for making each of their 10 second slots in the vid pretty damn brilliant.
Looks like it was an amazing party, but seeing DJ Mehdi looking happy and doing what he did best, the video also serves as a chilling reminder that life is way, way too short and can be senselessly cruel.
Blakroc 2
YES!
Lauryn Hill being normal
The lady is a legend and I was quietly rooting for her when she clearly was completely off the rails for all those years. Seeing her perform live at Coachella was a highlight of my life. She came on stage on time (unlike Mr Cee Lo Green) and sang all the hits, minus Killing Me Softly.
Anyway here she is talking about Miseducation to Reebok Classics.
“I think though I made the music from a sincere place… I think my motives were in the right place.”
Quote of the week
“Some stuff with Swizz, and it was so funny just hearing him do the Swizz Beatz ad-libs. Just like, [imitates Swizz] “Uh-huh, Goddamnit! 1-2, 1-2. Vroooom!” I was just sitting there dying, I thought that was the funniest thing in the world. I wanna be Swizz Beatz. I don’t want to do comedy anymore, I just want to do ad-libs. Just make noises before rappers start rapping. [Laughs.] That would be a great job.”
- Aziz Ansari on witnessing Kanye and Jay-Z recording Watch The Throne
Gig photo of the week #3
This week it’s the Queen of Neo-Soul, Erykah Badu.
SCORE: 9/10
WHY: Any lady that can pull off blue pom-poms hanging from a gigantic Mad Hatter top hat gets almost perfect marks from me. Only letdown is the purple eyeshadow. That shit has got to go.
It’s like asking to choose between your kids
Anyone who knows me knows the insane love I have for Pharrell Williams. There’s a list of reasons why:
2. Out of this world producer that had a lot to do with Wrex N Effect’s Rumpshaker while he was still in high school
3. Personal style so good Louis Vuitton had him design a bunch of things
4. Oozing masses of sex appeal
5. Epic falsetto that could make clothes disappear
6. This episode at McDonalds
Anyway, you get the picture. Yes I may be more than a little infatuated.
Complex has compiled a list of 25 of the best Pharrell hooks and the BBC Icecream blog is asking people to vote on what their favourite is.
I can’t choose just one. Can you?
Anyway I picked a handful of my favourites which I’ve posted for your viewing pleasure below!
Best. Interview. Ever.
Everyone’s favourite drummer, producer and all-round nice guy ?uestlove gave an amazing interview to Pitchfork. I truly hope he writes a book someday. He sounds like such a thoughtful guy and has some amazing stories.
Kinda wish I was in the room when Puffy/Diddy/Swag had a crack at him and Mos Def.
“Puff’s like, “Yo, I want a meeting now!” We went backstage and Tip’s playing the role of Minister Farrakhan with me and Mos on the right, and Puffy on the left with his 14 hitmen. That’s when I realized how he came into power. It was basically hearing Puff go off like he does at the end of “My Downfall” on Life After Death. Screamin’ it. He was like, “Let me tell you something, playboy. Big had nothing but love for y’all motherfuckers! And y’all shitted on him! Y’all shitted on my man!” I thought we were in the principal’s office. And he just went on and on for an hour. Thirty minutes into it, I realized I wasn’t going to get killed. It was just strange.”
Read it in its entirety here.
My favourite part of the week
It’s the weekend! It’s finally here. I could cry with excitement/relief. Truly. I’m one hour away from a glass of red wine and my couch and I couldn’t be more pleased.
But there’s something else I’m excited about. I’m excited about The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, the Toronto-based R&B singer who’s just dropped his latest project called Thursday which you can download here
Pretty solid listening, which will be perfect for my flight up to Brisbane this weekend to cover the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival.
Personal favourite joint is The Zone, which features Toronto native and crush-of-mine Drake. You can listen to it below.
Iver x Blake
I don’t know what this means but all I do know is my heart and brain just exploded at once. Tell my mum I love her.
Gig photo of the week #2
Another Rolling Stone special, Patti LaBelle working those butter-smooth pipes of her’s
SCORE: 11/10
WHY: Because she is a living legend. That’s why. Don’t question my authority.
Will she?
Turns out She Will - The latest single from Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV featuring Drake.
August 29 it comes out. CAN’T. WAIT.
Weezy dropped a mixtape recently called Sorry 4 The Wait - which you can get here - to apologise to fans for countless push-backs on the release date for IV. And I guess it also builds a bit more hype around an already hugely anticipated album.
Standout track on the mixtape is his freestyle over Kreayshawn’s Gucci Gucci which in it’s original form is an average song at best. But admittedly, the beat on that track is meeeeeeeeeeeean.
Black Simon and Garfunkel?
YES!!!!!
Rocking horsey
All things Mad Decent have always intrigued me. Diplo, in particular… however that could stem from his boyish good looks. Even Alexander Wang sees it. But I digress.
His latest track Horsey is all types of fab. Flecks of moombahton and pure foot-moving goodness. You can’t help but want to shake your ass. Even just a little.
Diplo - Horsey by diplomaddecent
It features on Mad Decent Volume 1 - the first official compilation put out by the hipster-favourite label featuring 18 tracks of oft-overlooked remixes hand-picked by Diplo himself.
Beatport is exclusively selling it right here
Only recently did Mad Decent throw its annual Block Party. It has grown and visited more cities as the years have rolled on. The latest instalment went a little something like this (hit it)!
However one of my favourite ones was back in 2008 - the inaugural block party. Crackhead + Baltimore remix of “Elmo’s song” + dancing giant Elmo = Hilarity.
Mad Decent Block Party Video Podcast from Mad Decent on Vimeo.
While this may be a little old and anyone who owns Major Lazer would have heard this countless times by now, but my love for Diplo expanded 100 fold when I saw this video of him and another one of my favourite producers, Switch, do this at SXSW a couple of years back.
Autotuning a baby? YOU BET YOUR SWEET ASS.
