Subject: Kanye West

• Monday Music Junkie: Kanye, Beirut, Aesop Rock & more

  August 13, 2007

• Monday Music Junkie

  August 27, 2007

• iD Brings the Beats to Blayney's

  October 2, 2007

• Anna Wintour, Lego lady

  November 7, 2008

• From Cool Kids to Kanye: Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums Of 2008

  

  From the Cool Kids to Kanye, hip-hop did it up in 2008. Check our choices and see if you agree (and score some downloads!)

  December 22, 2008

• All the Record Machine MP3s You Need, Right Here (Max Justus, State Bird, Interstates, and more)

  Well, mostly. If you owned all of the Record Machine's releases from the past year, then you'd have all the MP3s you need. But this is a good start. To end the year, RM owner Nathan Reusch has passed us a slew of MP3s 'n stuff from his local label's cornucopia of indie-pop. State Bird MP3: "I Saw The Light" from Mostly Ghostly MP3: "The Golden Glowing Mask" from Mostly Ghostly MP3: "I Don't Love You Anymore" from 4 New Songs ZIP: 4 New Songs EP Interstates MP3: "Uniforms Forever" from Run

  December 16, 2008

• The Download: New Team9 MP3s

  Neil Mason is best known for mashing up other artists' work (at times, to the chagrin of record labels), but he isn't afraid of originality. From his Team9 website: "I've spent the last few months neck deep on an original album - the first since 2003. 'We Dont Disco' is an electronic soundtrack to the days of my life. A little bit ambient, a little bit pop, a little bit dance......its a little bit kind of thing. If you like it then great, its free to download and completely copyright free - y

  December 17, 2008

• The Year in Music: 2008's Top Ten Pop Songs

  BY ANNIE ZALESKIPop music often gets a bad rap for being disposable or vapid, and in many cases that's true. (Katy Perry, Danity Kane and the Pussycat Dolls, step right up!) But every year, a few irresistible bits of innovative ear candy rocket up the charts and seep into our subconscious. The following ten singles saturated the Top 40 -- or what passes for hit-oriented radio in this topsy-turvy musical climate -- while proving that accessibility doesn't necessarily preclude creativity. CHRIS BR

  December 18, 2008

• Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

  By Randall RobertsYou don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demolished by a Midwestern black man, and gender barriers were hurdled by an Arkansan and an Alaskan.Democracy has a few awesome new dance moves rolling into the Obama presidency, and it'

  December 18, 2008

• Max Justus Releases 8 Remixes from Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak

  Lo, it has come to pass. More or less. Late last year, Record Machine prez Nathan Reusch issued the challenge to his KC label's resident DJ, Max Justus, to remix the new Kanye West album. Justus ended up working with his eight favorite tracks from 808s (we're surprised he could find that many!), giving them his own patented electro-dubstep therapy, and releasing them to the world. Grab them here or by clicking on the album cover above. Addendum: If you pick up this week's Pitch, on page 33,

  January 21, 2009

• The Download: New Mick Boogie Mixtape

  The 51st annual Grammy Awards is set to kick off on Sunday, so the duo who brought us Viva La Hova is providing us with an audio crib sheet. From the Mick Boogie website. "Ironically, looking back at our projects the past 12 months, it seems we were definitely barking up the right tree... since Coldplay, Jay-Z and Adele all were nominated for multiple Grammys. We decided to go through the list of nominees and work with our favorite producers to come up with some really cool takes on your favo

  February 3, 2009

• The Download: New Mobius Band EP

  Last year, the Mobius Band gave its fans something to celebrate on Valentine's Day with its free covers EP, Love Will Reign Supreme. Apparently, the Brooklyn outfit is looking to make it a tradition, including renditions of Kanye West and the Dixie Chicks this time around. Download Empire of Love below, along with last year's V-Day mix, but a word of advice from the band: "Any girl worth her salt will prefer a good mix to a box of chocolates and flowers anyway. And put Bowie's "Modern Love"

  February 13, 2009

• Darediablo

  December 11, 2003

• Twista

  March 18, 2004

• New Stik Figa MP3: "Flight School"

  Miles BonnyStik Figa, mayn. Listening to Stik Figa work this Kanye track over reminds one that 1) Kanye is not a very good rapper and 2) quality production is half the battle, if not more, to creating a solid creative track. In a hurry? Skip the first minute of T-Pain's vocoder crooning, and go straight to Stik's verse. MP3: Stik Figa, "Through the Wire" (originally by Kanye West, feat. T-Pain) Anyone make it out to Stik's performance at the Jackpot last night? Do share ...

  February 27, 2009

• Various Artists

  February 24, 2005

• More Free Milkdrop MP3s

  John-Alan Suter, alias Milkdrop, knows how to get the music out: Give it away for free! We love the free. Boost your local playlist with two tracks from his mixtape, Rise Before the Fall, which he'll be releasing, for free, March 10. The tape (or, rather, ZIP file) makes use of beats by Jake One, the Alchemist, Kanye West, Soul Theory, and Kansas City's DR.T, among others. Locals Lou Rip, Smoov Confusion, and D/Will are on the vocals. MP3: Milkdrop, "Alone Time" (prod. Soul Theory) MP3: Milkd

  March 4, 2009

• Common

  May 19, 2005

• Download

  September 22, 2005

• The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's new hip-hop CD rounds the plates, riles up the club

  Hank Aaron and Jackie Rob/Cool Papa Bell and Hank Leonard/Yeah, they set the stage/But the baddest of them all was prob'ly Satchel Paige/Yeah, clear as the air you breathe/This beat is ballin' like the Negro League That isn't the rap of your usual children's entertainer - some kind of square, after-school-special hip-hop dabbler. Far from it. That verse is intoned by none other than the Doggfather himself, Snoop Dogg, on a compilation album of raps and R&B out today benefiting Kansas City's Neg

  March 24, 2009

• Q&A: Chicago rapper GLC

  GLC, aka Gangsta L. Crisis, came to town Sunday and Monday to promote the release of True to the Game, a hip-hop compilation album featuring industry giants like Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, T-Pain and Kanye West. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the album benefit Kansas City's Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. I met with GLC, whose song with Kanye West, "The Big Screen," appears on the album. The 31-year-old is the latest signee to West's G.O.O.D. Records label. This post contains portions of the

  March 24, 2009

• John Legend

  November 23, 2006

• The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum calls on some all-stars to raise much-needed money

  April 2, 2009

• Black Milk

  February 19, 2009

• Florida’s T-Pain reveals his pop secret

  January 8, 2009

• Max Justus brings the electro heat and the 808 beats

  December 18, 2008

• Lucinda Williams

  October 16, 2008

• Common

  April 17, 2008

• Tactic

  February 21, 2008

• Old Dog, New Tricks

  January 10, 2008

• New Year's Eve at Sake

  December 27, 2007

• Shorty Knows Best

  The year's best scene-boosting hip-hop mix comes from an unlikely source: commercial radio station KCHZ 95.7, the Vibe.

  November 15, 2007

• D-Will

  Just Add Water (InnateSounds)

  September 13, 2007

• The Download

  November 1, 2007

• Talib Kweli

  March 29, 2007

• Dilated Peoples

  20/20 (Capitol)

  March 23, 2006

• Hip-hop, Year 2 A.J.

  December 29, 2005

• Kanye West

  Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella)

  September 15, 2005

• We drag the river for stuff you didn't know you were missing.

  September 22, 2005

• Spin City

  The albums that sent our threat advisory levels to red. Or was it orange?

  December 30, 2004

• God Save the Scene

  Sassy Brits, hoochie mamas and a dude named Beans attempted to invigorate a stagnant year for hip-hop.

  December 30, 2004

• Western Expansion

  Superproducer Kanye West is now the hottest rapper in the world. Just ask him.

  September 16, 2004

• Beastie Boys

  To the 5 Boroughs (Capitol)

  July 29, 2004

• New Free Album from thePhantom*, U:Move's Treasure Fingers Q&A

  And it's free, too. Indeed, continuing in the trend of local hip-hoppers giving away their homespun releases for free download to receptive headphones (see also: MilkDrop and G-Train, among others, I'm sure) is young lion thePhantom*, with his latest, Phantastic: Hummingbird Grooves For The Neo​-​Conscious Mind. He set up a dedicated site using Bandcamp at Phantastic.me, where you can stream and download the tracks and play with the funky visualizer thing. Except for the track that sampl

  May 14, 2009

• Video: NOVA scienceNOW on Auto-Tune

  PBS' NOVA program recently featured a segment on the much over-used (and evidently dead, according to Jay-Z) bit of computer software known as Auto-Tune. Thanks to the miracle of YouTube, you can find out all the science behind the whys and wherefores of how this miracle bit of coding has allowed the likes of Kanye and T-Pain to reach new heights of music sales. NPR has done two stories on the software, as well--one this past November, and another in 2004. Public broadcasting is bigger than hip

  July 7, 2009

• Max Justus

  July 16, 2009

• Kanye did not steal KU freshman videomaker's moment in the limelight.

  Anyone catch the MTV Video Music Awards last night? Evidently, they should stop inviting Kanye West to these things. Unless you saw it and are trying to forget about it, read about his act of enormity all over the Internet. Fortunately, West had no feelings one way or the other about the award for "Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Video," though had Beyonce been up for that, surely KU freshman Shane Reynolds would've been dressed down by the impulsive rapper on national TV. Instead, Reynol

  September 14, 2009

• Passion Pit

  October 1, 2009

• Halloweekend Hitlist

  October 29, 2009

• 'Tis a hot weekend for hip-hop in old KC

  With Digable Planets tonight at the Bottleneck and P.O.S. at the Beaumont on Sunday -- and some killer local shows in between -- you won't be blamed for forgetting rock and roll even exists this weekend in Kansas City. Wait ... check that. For one thing, guitars will be present tonight at the Scion Lab when Mouth the band provides support for area rappers Reach, thePhantom, Dutch Newman, Godson and Swayzorblades.​ Depending on what Steddy P brings in terms of musical support (he's been

  November 13, 2009