The Beijinger Blog - Hip Hop

One Flew into the Cuckoo's Nest: Birdy Namnam at Yugong Yishan Tomorrow Night

Jerry — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:00:00 +0800

Birdy Namnam are no mere knob twiddlers - the four-man French DJ "band" take an instrumentalist's approach to turntables and collaborate to create beat-laden compositions out of sampled sounds and instrumental parts pressed on vinyl.

Taking their name from a Peter Sellers film (The Party, 1968), the group met as members of DJ crew Scratch Action Hiro (winner of the 2000 World DMC Team Championships) and went on to take the title themselves in 2002. Four years later they dropped their self-titled debut album and have since released three others, including their most recent LP Defiant Order.

Grand Slam: Wicked Wordsmith Omar Musa At the BILF

thebeijinger — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0800

Is the 27-year-old Malaysian Australian Omar Musa a rapper with the heart of a poet, or a poet with the heart of a rapper? No matter, we're lucky enough to see him do both as he weaves his words through Beijing crowds at this year's BILF. Read on and get to know the wordster, then find out details for his performance tonight at 2 Kolegas.

Weekend Live Music Roundup: Mongolian Hip-Hoppers and Rustic Glam

danedwards — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:00:00 +0800

We’ve all heard of traditional Mongolian music involving throat singing, but like the rest of China, Inner Mongolia is diving into he modern world. This weekend, we have an invasion of Mongolian hip-hoppers, with PTS, MNT, TST at Mako Livehouse. On the rock front, after winning the Global Battle of the Bands back in April, Rustic are the latest “stars about town,” and they’ll be rocking the stage up at D-22 on Saturday.

STOP PRESS: Fat Joe Performs at VICs Tonight

thebeijinger — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:00:00 +0800

The date of the Fat Joe show that was originally announced for Fri, May 28th, was moved to tonight, May 14 after the last issue of the Beijinger went to press. The legendary South Bronx MC (D.I.T.C, Terror Squad) brings his hardcore street rhymes for the first time to Beijng tonight at Vics, starting at 10pm.

Mass Appeal: DJ Premier coming to Yugong Yishan

Jerry — Mon, 10 May 2010 22:47:25 +0800

Here's one for you true heads: The one and only DJ Premier will make his first ever performance in Beijing at Yugong Yishan on Thursday, June 24.

With a who's-who of production credits to his name (Common, KRS-ONE, Mos Def, Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Dilated Peoples, Bahamadia, Mobb Deep, D’Angelo, Jay-Z, Limp Bizkit, Christina Aguilera, Ludacris, Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, and many more), the 44-year-old DJ/producer is one of the most prolific in the game and already a legend.

Having risen to fame as one half of the legendary Gang Starr, Premier's first appearance in the Chinese capital has a special significance on the heels of the recent death of erstwhile Gang Starr partner Guru, who passed away from cancer just last month.

Call it a Comeback: Hip Hop Bling King Damon Dash does Beijing

Jerry — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:36:36 +0800

With both the Midi and Strawberry festivals going down this past weekend, hip hop impresario Damon Dash was spotted out and about town taking in Beijing's music scene.

Renowned for being Jay-Z's first producer and launching the careers of Kanye West, Beanie Sigel and Cam’ron, among others, Dash rose from rough and tumble beginnings in Harlem and amassed an empire that included "a record label, five clothing and shoe companies, a Swiss watch company, a top-shelf vodka company, a television production house, and a movie production company ... worth an estimated USD 50 million," according to the Atlanta Post.

But his fortunes fell in 2004 after a very public falling out with his former protege, Jay-Z (read all about it here). With his marriage, houses and business interests on the rocks, the 38-year-old has been working on rebuilding his empire with a host of creative music, art and business related projects - among them DD172, a four-story art salon-cum-music space in Tribeca, Creative Control (an online TV station) and the BlackRoc project that has paired Ohio blues rock wunderkinds The Black Keys with a who's-who of MCs, including Mos Def, Raekwon, Black Thought, The RZA and more.