“Seeing Sounds” is the third album from Pharrell Williams and his rhythmically inclined band mates, otherwise known as N*E*R*D.

The first single “Everyone Nose” is the type of song that will start playing in your headphones and make those around you wonder if your second cup of coffee just kicked in. Whether or not you choose to pay attention to its clever word play, the song makes you want to get up and dance. In fact, that seems to be a general theme throughout the album. It’s as if they went into the studio and asked themselves what they could do to keep people moving. But despite this general theme, “Seeing Sounds” is a very rhythmically diverse album wherein each song yields a sound that definitively belongs to N*E*R*D. Whether you feel compelled to embrace 70s roller disco flashbacks (no matter what your age) while listening to “You Know What”, or take up skateboarding just to have something appropriate to do while listening to “Spaz”, each song on this album not only possesses a sound, but also a feel.

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Great! For all of you who wanted to know where and when it started, You can go to the Bronx tomorrow and ask the man himself.

Wednesday June 11th @ Barnes & Noble (Bay Plaza 290 Baychester Ave. Bronx, NY)
Grandmaster Flash book signing
7:00 • FREE • All Ages

Thursday June 12th @ Book Revue Huntington (313 New York Ave, Huntington, NY)
Grandmaster Flash book signing
7:00 • FREE • All Ages

Saturday June 14th @ Webster Hall (125 E. 11th St. @ 4th Ave, NYC)
Grandmaster Flash w/ Klever, Treasure Fingers
11:00 PM • $10 • 19+

Talib Kweli Lauches Blacksmith TV with a tour through his ( and my ) Brooklyn. Hitting up spots like Joloff Resturant and talking to his people about whats going on in his neighborhood. Kweli knows there a great deal going on in Ft Greene and Clinton Hill so there should be no shortage of entertainment and information over this 10 episode series.
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Does playing music for babies make a difference? Opinion is divided, but
many experts seem to think that it stimulates the brain and helps
educational and emotional development - boosting IQ, improving health,
strengthening family ties and even producing the occasional child
prodigy. It’s known as the Mozart Effect.

Now it seems 2008 brings us what I’ll call the DAS EFfect – known to
stimulate the mind and help educational and emotional development while
boosting street cred and building a social conscience.

How will listening to hip-hop at an early age, in utero even, effect the
mind of your little player? Find out when you turn your little bboy (or
bgirl) on to a dinosaur-themed collection of tracks featuring Scratch
(The Roots), Ladybug (Digable Planets), Wordsworth(eMC)and Chali 2na
(Jurassic 5), all under the direction of The one and only Prince Paul.

For the sequel I suggest approaching Biz. And re-imagine Slick Rick’s
“A Children’s Story” as a story for actual children…

~Eileen”Mean Joe”Greene

They say it’s nice just to be nominated. Yeah well. We gotta make sure Jenn wins! She got nominated for a SF Weekly Award in the soul category. Ms Johns is well on her way to becoming a big deal. So should you vote for her now here:
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2007/10/two_gallants_the_pack_top_the.php

Then you can say “I was down with her then” . Which is all anyone wants to say. Check out her new myspace page

Jennifer John’s Myspace

In a climate when the industry is ( to be kind) extremely sick. Maya Arulpragasm (M.I.A) saves hip hop just a little bit every day. All by herself. She samples this track on her track “Jimmy”. So she’s diggin in the crates. Which is more than most American’s do. And she is digging in the Bollywood crates so you know they have mad samples from all the movies the likes of which Kayne and 50 will not get hip to for years. She is not always by herself, because the Timberland track “Come Down” is another one of my favorites. But the Album banger is definitely “Hussel”. As you sit there slouching at your desk wasting time, dying a little bit everyday, trying to decide what cat food to bring home, lest you remember ” If you think it’s tough now, come to Africa”