More brilliance from Kanye Wes.

Wruh wroh! It appears Kanye West and a number of high profile record
labels are the subject of a new copyright lawsuit, centering around the use of a 1974 sample below - ‘Bumpin’ Bus Stop’ by music group Thunder & Lightning.

Trena Steward and Lorenzo Pryor, who are the owners of the copyright for the song and the children of the late David Pryor, a founding member of Thunder & Lightning who passed away from various health conditions back in 2006 are suing for millions of dollars in damages, claiming Kanye illegally used a portion of the tune in his hit single “Gold Digger.” According to the lawsuit, Kanye and various labels engaged in a 15-year “illegal copyright infringement scheme and criminal enterprise involving the unauthorized, willful sampling of plaintiffs original copyrighted music on a massive scale.”

Other record label’s named in the lawsuit include: Roc-a-Fella Records, Bad Boy Records, Stones Throw Records, Bomb Hip-Hop Records, Autumn Games, Activision, Caroline Distribution and The Island Def Jam Music Group.

Checkout a few of the tracks that have made use of the sample below or head over to Who Sampled? to see a list of all the guilty peeps.

via ANIMAL NY

After schooling New Yorkers on etiquette via numerous unsanctioned interventions, artist Jay Shells channeled his love of hip hop music and his uncanny sign-making skills towards a brand new project: “Rap Quotes.”

For this ongoing project, Shells created official-looking street signs quoting famous rap lyrics that shout out specific street corners and locations. He then installed them at those specific street corners and locations.

Shells went all city and posted over 30 signs quoting the likes of Jeru tha Damaja, Mos Def, Nas, Kanye West, CL Smooth, GZA, and RA the Rugged Man. ANIMAL followed. Ride along with our video below. Follow @TheRapQuotes for more.

When Ed Sheeran isn’t busy touring the world selling out huge venues and capturing the hearts of millions of girls with the old ‘just a guy & a guitar’ routine he probably doesn’t have much time on his hands to get his party on BUT we caught up with Ed on his recent Australian tour and managed to find out what he puts on the stereo when he gets the chance to let his famous ginger hair down.

Check out the playlist below which features sure fire bangers from A$AP Rocky, The Game, N.E.R.D, KanYe, Lauryn Hill & more.

Just add some red party cups in the mix hit play on one of the two options below and you’re good to go.

Buy it!

via Miss Info

Heeee’s Back!

I live my friend Theophilus London’s life vicariously through the internets. Sometimes he’s hanging in Paris with Kanye at Virgil Abloh’s Pyrex x Colette Pop-up. Then he’s Karl Lagerfeld’s special guest at the Chanel runway show (dressed in a 3/4 length green python tweed Chanel jacket, of course). And there’s late night cabarets with vapid models and funky old rich dudes… Or studio sessions with the faces of the cool cartels, like Solange Knowles, Matthew Williams, Aaron Bondaroff et al. But don’t let the felt hats and photo shoots fool you, Theo keeps his humor and his friendliness at all times, and he’s got new music cooking to boot!

Theophilus has been living in Paris (and working on his français), recording a follow up to Lover’s Holiday and Timez Are Weird These Days. And he’s already teamed up with lots of diverse talents, everyone from electro producers like Club Cheval, Brodinski, and Gesaffelstein…to Afro-soul artists like Thomas Brenneck of The Menahan Street Band and Budos Band.

In the meantime though…. Theo blessed us with a remix of Rihanna’s Pony inspired “Jump” that he did with Club Cheval that we love!

via RCRD LBL

Party music in 2012 was one big cluster of genre-bending goodness. New releases from favorite artists did not disappoint, while inventive producers and DJs creatively provided a diverse landscape of club anthems.

Members of the old guard held it down, but 2012 saw the rise of newcomers unafraid to blend street swag with dance music. The result has been the continuance of pounding global bass, a sprinkle of ’80s synths and drumbeats and a brilliant revival of ’90s house and R&B.

Oh, and let’s not forget the vibrant comeback of trap music and its not-so-subtle influences on pop and indie. From the mobbing and booty-shaking bangers to the wavy tracks that made you go ‘Damn, I’m faded,’ here are some great songs for a New Years Eve party and an overview of notable party-related developments in 2012.

Azealia Banks Rules The World - Banks hit hard with her smash single “212,” but it’s been subsequent tracks such as “Jumanji” and “1991” that have kept our attention. She also has a knack for delivering kooky but highly-seductive videos, which is a plus. Her high energy and unapologetic attitude are palpable in her songs, which makes Banks a go-to for all the divas and divos wanting to be fierce for the night.

Brenmar Is Dope - What more can be said? As a producer and avid remixer, Brenmar has lit up the scene. He’s like the reincarnation of everything great that we thought had died in 1998. He’ll two-step you, house you and force you to make it clap all on one track. Simple titles such as ‘R&B’ or ‘club’ just aren’t sufficient for him and some of his peers, but one thing is certain: He’s brought straight swag to the dancefloor.

Solidisco - This DJ duo from Buffalo, NY simply can’t be overlooked. Solidisco has delivered one sexy, lush remix after another and it’s obvious they’re not going to stop anytime soon. Personally, I’d love to see the duo bringing the house down at a sweaty summer festival in 2013.

Diplo - He’s Diplo, and always will be – forever and ever.

All Hail G.O.O.D. Music - It’s kind of hard to go to a party and not hear a G.O.O.D. Music track in some form. As a label and collective, GM has titans of hip-hop, some of the best new talent and an admirable collection of young producers, like Hit-Boy, who murdered the charts last year with “Niggas In Paris” and delivered equally well this year with “Clique.” Kanye West boasts that he can ‘build Rome in one day,’ and he’s done it here – musically speaking at least.

Avan Lava - With the recent debut of the intoxicating video for “Sisters,” Avan Lava has reminded listeners that its Flex Fantasy EP still packs a punch, even though it came out nearly a year ago. I’d vote it as my favorite EP of the year, especially for dancing. With only a handful of tracks, Avan Lava comes off as Prince, multiplied by six and jack-full of liquid-sex funk. The momentum of this EP will carry on for awhile, but Avan Lava needs to keep making sticky and wicked music forever.

Dancing Is Getting Intense - Despite acts like Brenmar, Avan Lava, Teen Daze and Solidisco providing plenty of funk and house grooves, party scenes could not escape the clutches of trap, drill and bounce music. As a result of this and other aspects of YOLO culture, dancefloors have been turned into mob scenes, much purple drank has been consumed and many eyes have been taken-out by swinging hair.

This isn’t entirely a bad thing. You’ll never feel more accepted than when you’re chanting the lyrics to “Bandz A Make Her Dance” with your rowdy comrades in a crowd. Nothing brings people together better than a twerk-off. Somehow the community-building ratchet madness that was once reserved for basement parties in Atlanta or Oakland has now found its way into venues and clubs around the world, so put your drink down and take your earrings out. Or just get the hell off the floor whenever our man 2 Chainz comes on.

Best Of 2012: Party Mix from rcrdlbl on 8tracks Radio.

Featuring tracks and remixes by M.I.A, Kanye West, Azealia Banks, Diplo, Justin Timberlake & Beyonce, Miike Snow, A-Trak, Passion Pit, Tegan & Sara, Icona Pop, Lykke Li, Solidisco & Heaps More

-Elise Peebles for RCRD LBL

via Cosmo Baker

Music ‘year end’ lists are great. They give listeners and readers a chance to look at the year as a whole and take in what has happened in the past 12 months in this fast moving, content driven art world we live in. We can reflect on our favorites, discuss with others different aspects of different artists in various genres & scenes, and also pick up on titles we may have skipped over or missed completely. In future years, we can look back and remember that era through those titles and artists.

Music ‘year end’ lists suck. It often seems like an arms race to see who can be the first person to publish a year-end list, or who can be the first to place a crown on so-an-so’s head just so they can be the first to say that their opinion is the popular opinion. People jump to put songs in genres and boxes, and important qualities such as staying power and age are often overlooked or simply not applicable. It can be very one-dimensional. It can be restricting.

Although using the calendar year is a great tool for cataloging and referencing releases, music moves at it’s own pace, and we have found that songs have a way of finding you when they are supposed to find you. Songs you grow to love are discovered in many ways: through hearing them at a club night, on a DJ mix, in a movie, in a friend’s car, at a restaurant – and those songs aren’t always new songs, or songs that came out the year that you hear them first. But they are songs that are relevant to YOU that year. And in each of our individual music experiences, they play a role in shaping your musical taste.

And so we bring you our version of a ‘year end’ mix. “Songs We Listened To A Lot In 2012″. A 3-hour compilation of songs that found their way into our sets, onto our ipods and into our ears this year. You may have heard some of them before, but you surely haven’t heard them all. Some are ‘new’, some are ‘old’. All in all, these songs meant something to us this year, so we hope that this mix will both bring you some of your favorites as well as make some new ones. Enjoy!

Skratch Bastid & Cosmo Baker - Songs We Listened To A Lot In 2012 by Skratch Bastid on Mixcloud

Read More

A few years back The Black Keys teamed up with a whole bunch of hip-hop cats and put together a record called Blakroc. Nope, you won’t find it under the Black Keys catalogue because they also did it under the moniker of Blakroc, but point is, it was off the chain and it featured a few true bangers.

The Keys have taken the rap route once more, this time teaming up with the RZA on a joint called The Baddest Man Alive. The track has been lifted from the soundtrack of the forthcoming The Man With The Iron Fists film which was directed and written by your both RZA himself so you know it can’t be all bad. Also Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu are in it so this isn’t a low budget hip-hop self indulgence. Listen to this little gem.

Also featured across the soundtrack are Pharoahe Monch, Kanye West, Corrine Bailey Rae, Raekwon, Wiz Khalifa, Method Man and a whole bunch of others.

Our new favourite blog! Famous Album Covers Recreated With My Socks