Photo Credit: The Last American B-Boy

Blood Before Pride are paying homage to rap royalty in the new video for their debut single, “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun.” It’s a head-banging, rap-meets-rock cover of one of the Beastie Boys’ hardest tracks, and it features guest vocals from Brownsville bruisers Rock and Lil Fame.

Fronted by Staten Island’s own Phil Anastasia, and including group member, bassist Ryan Kienle of Matchbook Romance, Blood Before Pride are clearly ready to make some noise with this riff-heavy banger that sounds straight from the classic Judgment Night soundtrack. To that end, it’s a bit rowdier than the Beasties’ original that appeared on their seminal release, Paul’s Boutique, making it all the more unique.

And then there are the features from Lil Fame (of M.O.P.) and frequent collaborator Rock, the latter of whom’s new album was actually executive produced by Anastasia. Rather than simply add a few bars here and there, both rappers integrate perfectly into the vocals throughout the entirety of “Looking.”

The tag team-based approach makes for one of the better rap-rock combos to be released in a minute, and it certainly bodes well for BBP’s upcoming album, Mimesis, Catharsis, and the Imitation of Art in Life. Not only that, but it adds even more life to the spectacle of the video, which was directed by The Last American B-Boy.

Check out the visuals for “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun,” above, which is now available as the debut instant grat track off the iTunes’ pre-order  for Mimesis, Catharsis, and the Imitation of Art in Life, which is due out October 20 via Digital Deja Vu Records. The 12 track LP is now available for pre-order for digital download, and on CD through Fat Beats!

Album Pre-Order (Smart URL): http://smarturl.it/BloodBeforePride

Tracklist: Mimesis, Catharsis, and the Imitation of Art in Life 
01. The Colosseum
02. Move Units (feat. Sean Price)
03. The Revelation
04. The Storm
05. The Descent
06. The Unspoken
07. Stress
08. Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun (feat. Rock and Lil’ Fame)
09. The Plague
10. The Ascent

Twitter: 
• Blood Before Pride: https://twitter.com/blood_b4_pride
• Rock: https://twitter.com/_ROCKNESS_
• Fame: https://twitter.com/FameMOP

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The post #PeepTheVisual: Blood Before Pride (feat. Rock & Lil Fame) – “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

German-based producer Superior’s new video for “Rapper Shot” is a grimy, bad-ass take on your favorite Saturday morning cartoon—just with more hybrid-robo animals, epic space battles and explosions galore.

The video was put together by the team at StreetHearted Videos (M-Dot, King Keil), who were clearly inspired by this brassy banger. On its own, “Rapper Shot” is a hard-nosed posse cut featuring tough bars from Don Streat, Termanology, and Lil Fame; precise cuts from DJ Grazzhoppa on the hook; and a horns-driven instrumental courtesy of Superior.

And in its visual form, “Rapper Shot” transforms into a viewing experience that blends the slick style of Japanese anime with the explosive scenery of your favorite ‘80s action flick. All four of the featured artists are animated by the Street Hearted crew, and they eventually meet up with the all-powerful Superior to absolutely tear apart their nemeses headquarters. They also took out a rabid robo-bear because hey, why not?

Check out the visuals for “Rapper Shot” right here courtesy of RESPECT., and be sure to support Superior’s new album, The Journey, which is now available for pre-order via iTunes, and drops February 17 through all major digital retailers and streaming platforms through Below System Records. The 15 track LP will also be available on vinyl in limited quantities!

Tracklist: 
01. Make The World Go (feat. Blu & Edo G)
02. Guarantee That I mean That (feat. SkyBlew)
03. Earn It (feat. M-Dot & Revalation of EMS)
04. Superiority (feat. REKS)
05. Open Letter (feat. Lyric Jones)
06. Fleshed Out (feat. Shaman)
07. Burn (feat. Moe Pope & Mike P)
08. Supreme (feat. Wildelux)
09. Daylight Savings (feat. Mad Flows)
10. Onslaught (feat. Supreme Sol)
11. Mastermind (feat. Verbal Kent)
12. Rapper Shot (feat. Don Streat, Termanology, Lil Fame & DJ Grazzhoppa)
13. I Got You (feat. Rocdwell)
14. The Breakdown (feat. SPNDA)
15. Freedom (feat. Verbal Kent)

The Journey (Pre-Order): http://smarturl.it/SuperiorTheJourney

Vinyl Pre-Order Links:
• Below System Records: http://bit.ly/TheJourneyVinyl
• HHV: http://bit.ly/2j5K7Ws
• UGHH: http://bit.ly/2jJCPcS

Twitter:
• Superior: https://twitter.com/Superior_Prod
• Don Streat: https://twitter.com/DONSTREAT28348
• Termanology: https://twitter.com/TermanologyST
• Lil Fame: https://twitter.com/FameMOPreal
• DJ Grazzhoppa: https://twitter.com/DJGRAZZHOPPA

Superior Online:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/superiorprod1
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/superior-productions-1

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The post #PeepTheVisual: Superior – “Rapper Shot feat”. Don Streat, Termanology, Lil Fame & DJ Grazzhoppa” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Paterson, NJ’s Ran Reed first broke ground in the mid ‘90s. After building a substantial catalog under the tutelage of his fellow Garden State beatsmith/deejay, Nick Wiz (Rawkus Records, Rakim), the talented emcee/producer would eventually drop a retrospective greatest hits of sorts, in the form of Respect the Architect. Although this project wasn’t released until January of 2012, via No Sleep Recordings, it makes one wonder if his full potential has yet to be realized. Well it seems as if that’s all about to change as Reed gets set to drop a barrage of hay-makers in promotion of a forthcoming, full length effort.

Although a release date or title have yet to be determined, that hasn’t stopped the Silk City native from wetting our appetites with a taste of what’s to come. This ors d’oeuvres of sorts comes in the form of “Gun Boy Anthem,” which features the lyrical pandemonium of none other than Hip-Hop’s first family, M.O.P. Reed’s electrifying synths and racing drums welcomes his laid back, albeit menacing, flow that sets the stage for the reckless abandonment of Lil Fame and Billy Danze. If this is what we can expect on his album than it’s going to be a cold winter, better bundle up. Hit that play button below!

The post New Music: Ran Reed Feat. M.O.P – “Gun Boy Interlude” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Rae enjoyed himself without ever letting the energy or grit diminish. He put together a rugged set of classics from his and the Wu‘s catalogs (“Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ To Fuck With,” “C.R.E.A.M.,” “Ice Cream,” “Incarcerated Scarfaces,”) and performed them all with polish, only occasionally stumbling over a word and cutting the track. Whenever he took a moment out to speak to the crowd, it was to say something genuine and genuinely confusing, if only because Rae seemed too overjoyed and lost in his work to really worry about making sense. “Tonight…even if it’s today, it’s tonight,” he said at one point, getting a good laugh out of everyone left wondering what he initially was going to say. Later, he said “You know, you go to the South, they party, they have fun, but New York…New York we more like we-we-we visual. It’s a lot of shit going on, life is in front of us! We talk about struggle man, this is real struggle on wax! Pay attention!” It’s that kind of narrow focus that it takes to think that there’s more “life” in NY than other places that has kept Raekwon so detail oriented and sharp for over 20 years. It’s the trapped-in-the-’90s mindset it takes to think the South is all parties that has kept Raekwon Raekwon.

Raekwon thinking, “This beat is disgusting.”

Rae rapped nearly ever classic joint with the urgency that they packed 20 years ago. Scram called the crowd’s attention to Rae’s performance of “Triumph” in particular–“This man just did 8 rappers’ verses!” 20 years ago, however, not everyone in the crowd knew just about every bar; Rae was lucky enough to catch a breath every few rhymes as the crowd was well-initiated and served as a strong hypeman for most of the show. The only other help The Chef enlisted was a handful of alley-oop guest verses and less spectacular guest performances. Masta Killa notably came out for “Glaciers Of Ice,” keeping all of the Wu songs from being all-Rae affairs. With all the trouble going on in Shaolin, it’s good to know Rae and the Killa are still cool. AZ came out the verse from Illmatic. The crowd nearly lost their voices rapping the iconic bars along with the Brooklyn-born old timer. “Life’s A Bitch” was particularly special to hear live, to hear chanted with such ferocity, because it is remembered and loved above all else for its wisdom. There’s very little slick talk and no punch lines; it is simply a verse of tenacious intellect, and AZ certainly did it justice.When Raekwon brought Lil Fame out on stage, it was initially just to show due respect to another “Brooklyn real one” and M.O.P. in general. However, the sly DJ Scram Jones let loose those iconic opening horns of “Ante Up” just as Fame was waddling away from the stage, and, as Raekwon noted, you can tell Fame is a true MC, because at that sound, he jumped into gear. After a momentary delay to laugh, Fame ripped into “Ante Up,” and the crowd lost their collective shit. There hadn’t been much recklessness during the day before this, but something about the “Oh! Oh!” chant of the hook jolted everyone alive. True to the grit this year’s festival was based off of, it seemed that in that moment, everyone was more excited to see Lil Fame than they were to see Jay Z. (It should be noted that this is the 2nd year in a row Fame has made a surprise “Ante Up” appearance at the festival).
Troy Ave got a medium-strong welcome, performing the extremely appropriate “New York City,” featuring a Raekwon making an always-valid claim at continued relevance and ability. That momentum was lost, however, when Troy performed “Your Style.” The song was introduced as a “radio hit” but no one in the crowd knew the words or seemed interested in them. Due even more so to the weak and quietly played beat, this might have been the worst-received moment of the day.
Unfortunately, the show closed with Papoose. Even though “Current Events” was just about the least currently popping song to take the BHFX crowd home with, they did have the consolation of knowing they’d seen one of the most consistent rappers of all time rock (with incredible consistently), as well as seeing him cosign a song so extremely of-the-moment that it was surreal to see it performed on such a big stage: Bobby Shmurda‘s “Hot Nigga.” It was a strange link, but one that showed that even the most tooth-and-nail spitters of his and all generations knows how to just have a good time.

Photos by RESPECT.’s Julia Schur.

The post Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival: Raekwon feat. AZ, Lil Fame, Masta Killa, Troy Ave, Papoose (Photos & Review) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

This past Saturday concluded the weeklong 8th annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival headlined by Busta Rhymes.

The week began with the Brooklyn Bodega’s Show & Prove competition featuring performances by Evitan, Reks, 1982 and Freeway. Tuesday included symposiums with veteran music writer Nelson George, sound engineer Young Guru and publisher of Akashic books Johnny Temple.

Thursday featured a collection of documentaries for the event’s Indie Film Screening curated by the filmmakers themselves. The three screenings were Egypt Through The Glass Shop by Anyextee, The Infamous Mobb Deep documentary by RBMA/Rooster NY and Nelson George‘s critically-acclaimed documentary Brooklyn Boheme. George’s film chronicles the artistic prevalence among African Americans in the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill areas of Brooklyn during the late 1980s-early 1990s. A great week for hip-hop heads overall, especially those from Brooklyn.

Photo by Jack Sommer/RESPECT.

Despite the impressive lineup of events during the week, the clear headliner of the festival was Saturday’s concert. The culmination of the week-long celebration of hip-hop and Brooklyn featured performances by Ka, Clear Soul Forces, Chuuwee, Fat Tony and the entire week’s headliner, Busta Rhymes. The concert featured dozens of vendors including LRG and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Hundreds roamed the Brooklyn Bridge Park which had a gorgeous view of downtown Manhattan across the water.

Aside from Clear Soul Forces, the opening acts did not adequately prepare the crowd for Busta. There were minimal crowd reactions and more call than response, leaving the festival-goers with little reason to get excited. The first signs of life crept in during the DJ’s set before Busta Rhymes came out on stage. “Hip Hop Hooray” finally got the crowd moving. Busta calmly walked onto the stage with his hype man Spliff Star and said, “Can I ask a question?” DJ Scratch started playing the 2002 single “Pass the Courvoisier (part. II)” and it all started to make sense. Because really, “Don’t this shit make my people wanna…?!”

Photo by Jack Sommer/RESPECT.

From his days in Leaders of the New School, Busta performed about 20 years of material including “Ante Up (remix),” “New York Shit,” “What It Is,” “Give It To Me,” “Dangerous,” “Gimme Some More,” “Woo Hah” and many more tracks. To the crowd’s delight, Busta reunited Leaders of the New School for the first time in 19 years to perform “Case of the PTA” with fellow members Dinco D and Charlie Brown.

Photo by Jack Sommer/RESPECT.

The “And Friends” part of the headliner’s set included a brightly-colored Slick Rick, complete with dozens of gold chains around his neck. He stayed on stage to perform his classic “Children’s Story.” The breakout performance of the night was when Busta assembled A Tribe Called Quest to perform “Scenario (remix),” in which Phife Dawg and Q-Tip came out to perform their classic early 90’s anthem.

Because of the late start time, Busta’s sound was cut off before he finished the set. Despite the lackluster openers, hundreds of fans still found their way into the venue to show support for hip-hop and Brooklyn. The 8th annual affair should be growing in stature, prevalence and caliber of artists, but something about this year made it difficult to see the long-term growth of the overall festival.

BKHHF is the homegrown equivalent of HOT 97’s Summer Jam, with perhaps a too-specified niche of hip-hop. Joell Ortiz even had a few words to say on the festival, which weren’t too positive. Brooklyn Bodega embodies the spirit of a grassroots organization trying to facilitate a grand festival, but without the monetary backing of big-name sponsors, it’s difficult to put on an impeccable lineup. Many complained of the openers not being “good” enough, (one festival-goer even called it “no child left behind rap”) and based on the crowd’s interactions, it isn’t difficult to see that.

Photo by Jack Sommer/RESPECT.

From the outside looking in, it seems as though either money or the quality of talent booking was the reason for this year’s lacking festival. The vision of the festival is clear, but it would be a shame if money is the reason why the event never reaches its tenth birthday. For the sake of hip-hop, the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival is needed, but constant “surprise” appearances by Duck Down Records artists eventually grows old. An expansion of vision or perhaps a wider reach to more relevant artists could make next year’s festival as great as last year’s (Q-Tip, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar).

Photo by Jack Sommer/RESPECT.

Photo by Jack Sommer/RESPECT.

Photo by Jack Sommer/RESPECT.

Photo by Jack Sommer/RESPECT.

The post Event Review x Exclusive Photos: Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.