VIDEO: John Forte - Welcome Home ft. John Forte

"Homecoming" John Forte + Talib Kweli from The ICU on Vimeo.

NEWS: Hip Hop Lives Tour Dates

There's a new Hip Hop Live! Tour coming up, this time featuring Talib Kweli, David Banner, Little Brother, and B.O.B. performing with The Rhythm Roots All-Stars. More info over @ Sony.com/HipHopLiveTour. By the way, The Rhythm Roots All Stars are a collective of the industries best musicians, who have performed/recorded with such notables as Black Eyed Peas, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Outkast, etc.

Tour Dates:
(w/ Little Brother supporting)
10/08/08 Fox Theater, Boulder, CO
10/10/08 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
10/13/08 Bluebird, Bloomington, IN
10/16/08 Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
(w/ BOB supporting)
10/18/08 Georgia Theatre, Athens, GA
10/19/08 Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
10/20/08 9:30 Club, Washington DC
10/21/08 Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
10/24/08 Showcase Live, Boston, MA
10/25/08 Nokia Theatre, NYC, NY

VIDEO: Talib Kweli Gives Back

VIDE: Talib Kweli Bonnaroo Performance & Interview & Eat To Live

Talib Kweli performed and gets interviewed at last week's Bonnaroo festival. He speaks on what it's like to represent hip hop at the festival, the message behind his music and wanting to work with Bjork one day. Below that his new video for 'Eat To Live'.


Talib Kweli - Bonnaroo/Ourstage Interview

Talib Kweli - Eat To Live

VIDEO: 9th Wonder & Buckshot - Hold It Down ft. Talib Kweli

Created by the venerable Dru Down.

VIDEO: Talib Kweli - Blacksmith TV Episode 2

VIDEO: Making Of Novel's 'I Am' Ft. Ben Folds & Talib Kweli

Ben Folds is the new Chris Martin.

via DS.

LISTEN: Kidz In The Hall - Work To Do (Obama For America) REMIX ft. Bun B & Talib Kweli

DOWNLOAD Kidz In The Hall - Work To Do (Obama For America) REMIX ft. Bun B & Talib Kweli (MP3)

Obama has Hip Hop on lock. This is a great track in itself too.

VIDEO: Behind the scenes of Talib Kweli's 'Hostile Gospel Pt. 1'

The Making Of 'Hostile Gospel pt. 1
Hostile Gospel Pt. 1 The Video

VIDEO: Talib Kweli - Hostile Gospel Pt. 1 (Deliver Us)

'Hostile Gospel Pt. 1 (Deliver Us)' is one of my favorite Talib Kweli tracks of late.

LISTEN: Jean Grae - #8 (Prod. by 9th Wonder)

DOWNLOAD Jean Grae - #8 (Prod. by 9th Wonder) (MP3)

New Jean Grae track. Very Talib Kweli.

LISTEN: Talib Kweli - Momma Can You Hear Me (Prod. by Kanye West)

DOWNLOAD Talib Kweli - Momma Can You Hear Me (Prod. by Kanye West) (MP3)

If someone tightly mixed and mastered this nice unreleased Talib Kweli/Kanye West track it'd make for a great video/net single.

VIDEO: Duo Live - Caught Up ft. Talib Kweli

Duo Live's 'Caught Up' featuring Talib Kweli is one of my favorite tracks of 2007 (download here). Now there's a video for it.

LISTEN: Talib Kweli - Hot Thing Remix Main ft. Ne-Yo and Jean Grae

DOWNLOAD Talib Kweli - Hot Thing Remix Main ft. Neyo and Jean Grae (MP3)

Talib Kweli brings in a brand new beat, Ne-Yo and Jean Grae to remix the already excellent 'Hot Thing'.

NEWS: Idolator Pop '07 Lists Released Today

When Gawker media's music industry website Idolator requested a list of my favorite artists, records, tracks, etc. of 2007 I chose to submit seperate lists. One for Hip Hop and one for basically everything else (but essentially indie rock/folk). Idolator just threw up the lists of 451 music writers/critics. Below is the top 10 list of albums compiled of all the writer's lists. Only one Hip Hop album. To check out the full list and all the other categories go here. My personal lists are underneath that and can also be checked out here with further commentary and reasoning.

Idolator Pop '07
1 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
2 M.I.A. - Kala
3 Radiohead - In Rainbows
4 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
5 Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
6 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
7 The National - Boxer
8 Kanye West - Graduation
9 Panda Bear - Person Pitch
10 Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

SDSU's Favorite Albums Of '07
1. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
4. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
5. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
6. Feist - The Reminder
7. Band of Horses - Cease To Begin
8. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
9. Wilco - Blue Sky Blue
10. Sigur Ros - Hvarf-Heim

SDSU's Favorite Albums Of '07 [Hip Hop Edition] (repost)
01. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
02. Jay-Z - American Gangster
03. Kanye West - Graduation
04. Sean Price - Jesus Price Supastar
05. Talib Kweli - Eardrum
06. Little Brother - Get Back
07. Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth
08. Freeway - Free At Last
09. Pharoahe Monch - Desire
10. El P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead

LISTEN: Just Blaze - 1 Degree Of Me ft. The Game, Large Professor, Talib Kweli & Rahzel

DOWNLOAD Just Blaze - 1 Degree Of Me ft. The Game, Large Professor, Talib Kweli & Rahzel (MP3)

I have no idea what this bizarre yet enjoyable Just Blaze track is from, but it features The Game, Large Professor, Talib Kweli and Rahzel over a mellow beat that definitely sounds in the vein of previous Just Blaze/Game collaborations.


Just Blaze @ Radio City Music Hall. More photos here. Props to Moe for the audio.

LISTEN: Rhymefest - Man In The Mirror (Full Mixtape)

DOWNLOAD Rhymefest - Man In The Mirror (Full Mixtape) (MP3)

This one's been floating out there for a few days already, but I hadn't gotten a chance to listen yet and I'm pleasantly surprised with Rhymefest's latest mixtape 'Man In The Mirror', presented by Mark Ronson. Tracklist below.


1 The Cipher (Rhymefest & Michael Jackson)
2 Can’t Make It (Rhymefest) [prod. by Best Kept Secret]
3 “Thriller” Skit
4 Get Up (Rhymefest ft Wale)
5 Dancin’ Machine (The Jackson 5 ft Rhymefest)
6 Flip It Skit
7 Never Can Say Goodbye (Rhymefest ft Talib Kweli) [prod. by Best Kept Secret]
8 Mike The Mentor (Rhymefest ft Michael Jackson)
9 No Sunshine (Rhymefest) [prod. by Emile]
10 Caught Up Skit
11 Foolin’ Around (Rhymefest ft Dres) [prod. by Mark Ronson]
12 Set The Mood
13 Breakadawn (Rhymefest ft Daniel Merriweather & alpha.)
14 Windbreaker Skit
15 Higher Intro
16 Higher (Rhymefest)
17 Mark vs. Mike
18 All That I’ve Got (Rhymefest ft Ghostface Killah & Mary J. Blige)
19 Maybe Tomorrow (Michael Jackson)
20 Sunshine Skit
21 Coolie High (Camp Lo ft Rhymefest)
22 Family Reunion (ft Tito, Randy, Mike & Rhymefest)
23 Much Love Skit
24 Man In The Mirror (Rhymefest ft Michael Jackson)

NEWS: Sit Down Stand Up´s Favorite 10 Hip Hop Albums Of 2007

Per request of the folks over at Imeem I put together a list of my 10 favorite Hip Hop/Rap records released in 2007. They even built a playlist of singles from those albums for us on their front page (and see below). I always have such a hard time putting together these lists, and I will change in a few minutes, but here is my list of my 10 favorite Hip Hop/Rap albums of 2007, of this moment. Who did I forget? (I'm sure I forgot someone.)

Sit Down Stand Up´s Favorite 10 Hip Hop Albums Of 2007
01. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
02. Jay-Z - American Gangster
03. Kanye West - Graduation
04. Sean Price - Jesus Price Supastar
05. Talib Kweli - Eardrum
06. Little Brother - Get Back
07. Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth
08. Freeway - Free At Last
09. Pharoahe Monch - Desire
10. El P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead

Honorable mentions: DJ Jazzy Jeff - The Return of the Magnificent, KRS-One & Marley Marl - Hip-Hop Lives, Joell Ortiz - The Bodega Chronicles, Ghostface Killah - Big Doe Rehab. Who else?

The whole thought process for putting together this list can be summed up as: Which album did I listen to a lot, and will I continue to listen to. For example I really dug Common's Finding Forever for the first week or two, and then I was never played again. The reason that Ghostface Killah is merely an honorable mention is because I really just haven't lived with it enough. American Gangster is as high as it is because, even though there are some duds, some of the songs on there are better than any songs on any of the other albums on the list. Joell Ortiz shows most promise and is rookie of the year. 8 Diagrams is a sonic experiment and a step into the unknown for the Clan by way of RZA and I think it's visionary. It grows with each listen. For a seperate top 10 favorites list of mine, in the folk/rock genres go here.

VIDEO: Talib Kweli's Best & Worst Of 2007

Talib Kweli discusses the best and worst things thats happened in the year of 2007 for him personally.

NEWS: RZA, Nas , Black Moon, Nice & Smooth Shows

No, not all at the same show unfortunately. Here's a run down of upcoming Hip Hop shows in NYC for the next month.

12/18 Lupe Fiasco @ Irving Plaza, tix
12/19 Public Enemy @ Irving Plaza, tix
12/30 Public Enemy @ Warsaw, tix
12/21 Ja Rule @ B.B. King's, tix
12/21 Black Moon @ B.B. King's, info
12/22 Nice & Smooth @
12/23 Bone Thugs N Harmony @ B.B. King's, tix
12/26 Nas @ Hammerstein Ballroom,tix
12/27 The L.O.X. @ B.B. King's, tix
12/29 RZA @ Hiro Ballroom
12/30 Talib Kweli @ HighLine Ballroom, tix
01/12 Wu Tang Clan @ Hammerstein Ballroom, tix