DJ Stylus – The Vibe Conductor

Coming out of semi-retirement to dust off the old turntables and mics. Getting back in the saddle again has been like a heist film, except no one is going to die.

Also, cop the album.

No, Skillz isn’t doing one this year.

And I’m not writing a long treatise about the hippity-hop. This 2010 Pitchfork piece still has that covered.

These are just the last couple of things I wrote that happen to pertain to rappers, and I hadn’t yet posted them here although it’s almost 2012.

Wait, before you read these, make sure you own this album. It’s one of the best favors you can do for yourself if beats, rhymes and heart still matter. DC stand up..

Oh yeah, my crew dropped an album this year too. I think it’s really good. And that’s not just because I was involved. DC stand up… again always.

Aaaand… these guys too. I’m really proud to say they’re part of the DMV. Good brothers, good music, hard work paying off.

Check the vid for “You Don’t Have to Be A Star” and the remix featuring Bahamadia, Monie Love and MC Lyte (!!!)

Ok, now for the other stuff I was talking about…

In concert: G-Side at DC9 (The Washington Post)

I was pleasantly surprised by this duo and had to do an internal reassessment of my feelings on where southern hip-hop is these days. Wish that happened more often.

Common’s Growing Pains (The Root)

Wasn’t feeling Rashid too tough this time around, but I want more from hip-hop, not just from him.

Despite the fact that this record was held in limbo indefinitely, folks still check for us old guys who do the rappity-rap stuff. In gratitude for that, this is the album that you always knew we could make. We actually made it! But we never put it out. Eventually we put out a mixtape instead, so you can check for that too. A lot has changed between when we first started working on it and today, so there’s really no reason to sit on it anymore. Go free, formerly imprisoned album! Emphasis on ‘free’, because we’re not charging for it.

So yes, the homies are rapping like you remember us rapping. You’ll also recognize some of our good friends including Roddy Rod, Tamara Wellons, Wayna, Raheem Devaughn, Kokayi, Oddisee, Darien, Bilal Salaam, Storm the Unpredictable, Priest da Nomad and Asheru.

POEM-CEES* – Everything You’ve Always Wanted

*For those who are like, “what the kcuf is a POEM-CEE?”

We’ve been described as Run-De la Soul, although we did have a band for a long time. We’ve been on Def Poetry Jam. Rocked 9:30 Club a few times. We were born in State Of The Union. If you were there, then you know. We made a few records, including a weird one.

naturalaw-DP can be found rapping less and playing guitar a lot more. For Thaylobleu, Kokayi, Lady Pcoq and The Plumes and Melo-D and the Rados. Black Picasso still slams. And y’all know what I be doing.

There you go, all caught up now.

I still do the rappity-rap music with those other two guys. I forgive you if maybe you forgot. Some young fans actually took to a sort of bizarre hunger strike where they attempted to live solely on nutrition provided by our previous releases to pressure us to give them new songs.

They win.

Here’s an actual album cover:

And tracklisting:

And here’s a song with some R&B guy you may have heard before.

[POEM-CEES - "Honor" feat. Smokey Temptation]
Everything You’ve Always Wanted… 2010

GODISHEUS w/ Poem-Cees
Friday March 13
Asylum
2471 18th St NW Washington, DC
Cost: FREE!

Forgot about us?

A refresher’s in order. I’m with these guys:

We’ll be guests of these guys:

Even as we continue the slog to finish the album, one of us managed to find another outlet for his considerable talents. And since the cast also includes the inimitable Twain Dooley, I highly recommend getting your cat baby on.

Details:

REVENGE OF THE CAT-HEADED BABY, and Other True Tales About Life & Death

location:
Cole Studio, 1714 REAR 15th ST NW 20009

dates:
Friday 7/11/08 8pm
Sunday 7/13/08 3pm
Wednesday 7/16/08 6:30pm
Saturday 7/19/08 9pm
Saturday 7/26/08 5pm
Sunday 7/27/08 4pm

SpeakEasy DC is a great event/organization run by Amy Saidman that exists to promote the fine & entertaining art of STORYTELLING.

“REVENGE…” is an ensemble storytelling piece that is being presented
as a part of this year’s Capital Fringe Festival.

-your master storytellers are:
Slam Poet Twain Dooley
New Dad Edwin Kubal
Poet/hip-hop artist Darrell Perry
Stand-up Comedian Vijai Nathan; and
Peace Corps Therapist Tabbie Mann

-tickets available HERE.

It’s been a long time and the ritual is well established. POEM-CEES records are birthed primarily during bleary eyed night-shift sessions. Leave work, hit studio, go back to work, manage the delirium.

It’s coming up on 5 years since the last official jont, but there have been a couple 12 inches and one official un-official jont since then. Maybe you missed those. There will be time to catch up, but for now we got a bunch of new jonts. They sound pretty good. Here’s a peek from the birthing process.

This is DP, aka naturalaw, aka Durl Purry. He’s good with hooks.

His ad-libs also become more bizarre as the late night hour grows more extreme.

This is Patrick Washington, aka Black Picasso. You might know this guy. He can sleep with his eyes open.

This dude here…

This is Priest. He raps real good. That doesn’t make any money though. So now he makes you sound good after you cut the check.

Btw, we clean up pretty well too.