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15 Beers Inspired by Famous Musicians

By Margaret Eby on

The craft beer market has gotten crowded these days, with all manner of IPAs and double bocks vying for space on the grocery store shelves. Breweries have begun differentiated themselves not only with zany ingredients — passion fruit! coffee! saffron! — but also with clever names and interesting pop culture referring titles. Recently, there’s been a wave of music-inspired suds, giving the nod to storied jazz greats or amping up a favorite new indie band. From Wilco to Frank Zappa to Outkast, seems like everyone has a beer these days. We’ve rounded up fifteen music inspired microbrews for your perusal, after the jump. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Cee Lo Green

By Doug Levy on

Following the huge viral success of his single “Fuck You!,” Cee Lo Green is poised for the next step toward superstardom with his third solo album, The Lady Killer.

The Atlanta soul singer has been in the spotlight many times, from his early work with Goodie Mob to collaborations with everyone from Outkast to TLC — and most notably, topping the charts with Gnarls Barkley, his project with Danger Mouse — but with The Lady Killer, Green is set to finally have his name on everybody’s lips, instead of just having his voice in their ears. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Michael Schmelling’s Atlanta

By Russ Marshalek on

Michael Schmelling’s original intent for Atlanta was to create a photo book based on Outkast’s seminal record Aquemini; but as he immersed himself in the city’s hip-hop culture, he found a different story to tell, focusing on the pulse of the future.

The photographs in Atlanta portray Atlanta hip-hop as a living, breathing, growing thing to be found anywhere and everywhere, from strip clubs to the alcohol-free teen rap-party scene. The book also includes a series of exclusive interviews with the likes of producer The-Dream and notoriously elusive André 3000 himself, conducted by GQ editor Will Welch. The true pride of Atlanta, though, is in the included downloadable mixtape of unsigned ATL rappers, including Pill, Them Concrete Boyz, and cover-photo subject Lil Texas. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Big Boi

By Doug Levy on

Three years in the making, Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty is a debut solo album that makes Outkast’s less flamboyant half the one worth watching.

Label issues prevented Big Boi’s partner in rhyme, André 3000, from making any vocal appearances on the album, but they didn’t keep away other A-listers like T.I., B.o.B, George Clinton, and Janelle Monáe. Even with all that talent on board, though, Big Boi lives up to the moniker of album track “General Patton,” leading the pack and commanding every beat with authority, finesse, and charm. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Janelle Monáe

By Doug Levy on

Rising future-soul star Janelle Monáe is reviving the art of the concept album, citing influences that range from Stevie Wonder to Salvador Dalí.

Monáe’s debut full-length, The ArchAndroid, continues the tale of robot-on-the-run Cindi Mayweather, first introduced on her 2007 EP Metropolis. The wildly diverse album includes contributions from Saul Williams, Outkast’s Big Boi, and Athens-based indie rockers Of Montreal, echoing everyone from Prince to David Bowie on its immense 18-track journey. … Read More

Music

Social Media Sites as Hip-Hop Artists

By Caroline Stanley on

Yesterday Russell Simmons wrote a piece for the Huffington Post entitled “Social Media Is the New Hip-Hop.” A sampling: “Social media is the rock and roll of the sixties, the hip-hop of the 80′s, the radical new equalizer, giving parity to new voices and leveling the access to culture, politics, and social justice.” While he lays on the Facebook love a little thick, it’s definitely worth a read. Inspired by the concept, we ask our hilarious writer friend Christopher R. Weingarten (whose 33 1⁄3 book on Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, is on shelves now), to reimagine some of hip-hop’s biggest names as social media sites. Click through to see what he came up with, and be sure to buy his book, dammit! … Read More

Music

The Flavorpill Mixtape XX: Stars, Grizzly Bear, Noah and the Whale

By Andrew Hwang on

This, the 20th(!) mixtape in the Flavorpill series, is an homage to bands nicely pulling off the art of the Revival. Embrace the familiarity, and right click + Save As the 10 tracks after the jump — or cut a corner and download the mix in its entirety. And as always, let us know what you think. … Read More

Music

Last Night's Concert: Erykah Badu @ Good Units, NYC

By Doug Levy on

With a new album set to drop this week, Erykah Badu decided to celebrate by playing a “secret” show in NYC on Saturday night at the Hudson Hotel’s underground venue, Good Units. Of course, it was about as much of a secret as the opening of Hot Tub Time Machine, meaning the last-minute tickets sold extremely fast. Those who did manage to snag one were treated to a phenomenal show from the born performer, but not one that went off without its hitches. … Read More

Music

Download: Christmas Songs for Rap Nerds

By Stelios Phili on

Courtesy of the magnificent DJ1000TimesYes (aka Chris Weingarten), we have been blessed with the Top 10 Christmas Rap songs. (His knowledge of the sub-genre is so profound that he’s even DJing an entire set of Christmas Rap songs in Williamsburg tonight.) When asked for this Top 10, he delivered it without hesitation. Mr. Weingarten is also the man who reviewed 1000 records via Twitter this year and his encyclopedic mastery of Xmas rhymes only further his legend. Streaming and downloadable songs after the… Read More