Category Archives: In My Headphone

Underground Music Tuesdays – See. Francis

“Me and fallin off, that don’t have no correlation!” -See. Francis

Red Lights-By See. Francis

What’s good y’all?  Y’all know I thoroughly enjoy many things.  I enjoy my many hoods (Jersey City, Essex and Hudson county stand up!).  I enjoy good music (whether it’s Dwele, Lupe or Marvin Gaye).  But most of all, I enjoy “realness” (something a little more difficult to list).  Fortunately, being a Twitter personality/myself, I was able to come in contact with a few people who encompass “that shit I do like”…(and no I’m not talking bout poor lil Chief Keef)

See. Francis

“Born in Newark, NJ, while also having ties across the Tri State Area, See. Francis began crafting his unique style of artistry at the age of 14 and soon after began producing. Inspired by a variety of artists such as Mos Def, Marvin Gaye, and King Crimson to name a few, See. Francis’ style of music came alive, creating his own exclusive style of lyricism to match his distinct personality. His life experiences have shaped him and given him the opportunity to be the artist he truly wants to be. #LightUP” (Credited to reverberation.com)

I started following See. Francis on twitter after seeing several tweets from him that I believe to be smart, creative, not of the majority, truthful and funny while not caring to cater to a specific audience or become a twitter character.  (I call em’ “Real Nigga Tweets” lol)  His tweets comprise of the love he has for his son and how much work he gets done in the studio, just to name a few.  The funniest thing about it though, was that, initially, I didn’t know that he was a rapper, a pretty good one at that.

See. Francis

See. Francis – Crack (Seemix).mp3 in Hulkshare:.

I began listening to some of See. Francis’ music.  Which i’ll place toward the end of this post.  But once we initiated contact he sent over some new sounds.  ”Crack (Seemix)” was one of them.  The words I have for this song= Dope, Explicit, turnt-up, Real nigga ish (if thats a word lol).  No you will not find a Lupe Fiasco or B.O.B. type artist with See. Francis, and that’s not a bad thing.  His lyrics are raw, full of life experiences and urban living and how he triumphs…. whether that be by beating the competition or by #LightinUP <–Which is another dope track by the way.

Below are more tracks by See. Francis that are appealing.  To hear more of him visit the homie’s souncloud at http://soundcloud.com/casmirseefrancis.  Hopefully, the next time you hear of See. Francis on the blog, i’ll either have live footage of him or an interview.  But, for now, just settle for the greatness in underground music.  Until next time, @therulah is out.  Holla! #UndergroundMusicTuesday

 

AFROPUNK FEST – “A Miniature Woodstock with an Urban Twist”

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Welcome to AfroPunkFEST 2012

The smell of freshly cut grass, food truck delicacies and illegalized smoke filled the Brooklyn Park air for the duration of this past weekend.  This year marked the 8th Annual AFROPUNK Festival, held this year in Commodore Park near the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, NY.

Commodore Park, Brooklyn, New York

Now some of you may not know what an “AfroPunk” is, so let me get you caught up.  On the website, www.AfroPunk.com, part of their description reads as a “touchstone of a cultural movement strongly reminiscent of the early days of Hip-Hop.” But, even that description does not fully incorporate the embodiment of the “melting-pot culture”.  A rising culture that combines skateboarding and underground music.  A culture that combines independent films and art with spontaneous representations of individual style and thought.  Sprinkle in some Afrocentric awareness and you’ve created “AfroPunk”.  The most notable influence on the culture is actually the people themselves.  The AfroPunk culture has a “grass-roots” appeal and is not sponsored by big corporations, but the fans themselves.

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Even Solange came out to enjoy the festival…

So now to the Festival, where do I begin?  BMX showcases, numerous food trucks, varying musical talent that is sure to entertain someone in the audience.  Should I talk about the open picnic blankets covered in beautiful women and happy conversation?  Maybe I’ll speak on the diversity & inclusion of different races, classes and genders that supported and enjoyed the event with safety not seemingly being an issue.

I’ll jump straight to discussing the artist lineup.

(Keep in mind, there were two stages for a two day festival…. the number of artists = >>>>>>>>)

On one stage:

RADKEY, THE SKINS, JOE JORDON EXPERIMENT, SINKANE, TOSHI REAGON, ALICE SMITH, PURPLE FERDINAND, THE MEMORIALS, and last but not the least, ERYKAH BADU f. THE CANNABINOIDS.

On another stage:

NINJASONIK, OXYMORRONS, CEREBRAL BALLZY, SPANK ROCK, and of course DAS RACIST.

All the performances were a hit and entertaining.  I will say, that my favorite two were from Das Racist and my analog girl from a digital world Erykah and her band the Cannabinoids.

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Das Racist

Das Racist is a group my older brother actually put me up on (@nizz_sentine).  Das Racist is a hip-hop group based in Queens, New York City, composed of MCs Himanshu Suri (aka Heems) and Victor Vazquez (aka Kool A.D.) and hype man Ashok Kondabolu (aka Dapwell).  This group not only uses humor but also adds academic references in their lyrics.  Two of the members are of Indian descent and the other is of Afro-Cuban & Italian descent…(an interesting twist in the rap genre itself).  Whatever their race and cultures are, they must have found the perfect ingredients it takes to create the pieces they performed so well.  The audience couldn’t get enough of the group and their verbal obscenities, and it was just what the park needed before the R&B hummingbird sounds of Ms. Badu and her band The Cannabinoids…

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Erykah Badu & The Cannabinoids

E. Badu, Low Down Loretta Brown, Analog Girl in a digital world, Ms. Fat Booty herself performed the last set during the first night of the festival.  I’ll admit, it took a little while for her and the band to get on stage, but for a free show there was no room for complaining.  Performing for about a half hour, E. Badu and the Cannabinoids played through the timeline of Badu’s career.  Songs like “Apple tree”, “Didn’t cha know” and “Danger” evolved from her opening act “The Healer” which is on her album “New America Part 1”.  When describing Erykah, I love to refer to her as “My Favorite Hoodrat” and it has no negative connotation to it at all.  Erykah expresses herself the best she knows, straight to the point, in your face and in your ears.  And please let us not forget the band, the cannabinoids.  That band is made up of Erykah’s producers over the years mainly from Dallas.  Not only has she been inspired and created beautiful pieces over the production of the band, but she also decided to put them all together into a group that just happened to work better than most bands I know today.

After only attending Day 1 of AfroPunk, I know that day two couldn’t have been any better.

I will say, AfroPunk pulled off a very successful festival and not only impressed their fans, but also created new fans from the word-of-mouth communications of the event.  My one fear for this event would be that it turns into what “Rock The Bells” seems to be slowly turning into…. A mainstream event that people only attend to say they were there.  I just want people to start recognizing the beauty in difference the world has to offer, and I believe AfroPunk Successfully did that this weekend.

COMING SOON:

Dwele’s Album Release Party~~~Look Out for that!

Follow Me! @Therulah ….. #RuLaHSays

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Like how I think? Follow me then, I’m here to educate. #TheRuLah

Luke James: #luke

OMG! I don’t know if anyone else has been missing SANGERS, but I know I have. Luke James is definitely coming to SANG! We saw him debut on ‘I Want You’ on BET Honors, and I don’t know about y’all but I fell in love. Then today I was watching the video for his new single ‘Mo’ Better Blues’, and THIS is when I found out that this man had a mixtape. IMAGINE MY EXCITEMENT!!! I was nowhere near disappointed. With a single like ‘I Want You’ how could he do such a thing? His tape entitled ‘#luke’ is a short nine songs, but it is a great peek into a possibly long career. His voice is MAGNIFICENT!

Luke James‘s mixtape #luke on DatPiff.com. And follow him on Twitter at @WhoIsLukeJames

It’s Finally Here! Dreamchasers 2!!

One of the most anticipated releases of the year isn’t even a studio album. It’s a mixtape. Meek Mill’s ‘Dreamchasers 2′ dropped yesterday at 2PM. As of right now, it is well on it’s way to 2 million downloads and it hasn’t even been out for 24 hours. A lot of people didn’t expect this tape, which has features from Big Sean, 2Chainz, Kendrick Lamar, Trey Songz, and of course MMG mates Wale and Rick Ross to do or be as good as the first Dreamchasers.

But contrary to what some expected, this is some that will definitely be considered ‘classic’ Meek. Two tracks stand out to me the most. The first one is #2 ‘Ready Or Not’. And yes, he uses the Fugees sample. It comes on, and you make the ill face. Definitely one for constant play. The other is ‘Used to Be’ ft. Jordanne… Idk where they found this man from, but his voice is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for this song. So emotional, and heart felt. You immediately feel it. Meek features Fab, Wale, AND Mac Miller on the House Party remix. (Mac killed it by the way). Trey’s feature on ‘Face Down’ caught me off guard. Didn’t even know it was him, but he absolutely held it down.

Overall, I am a satisfied MMG fan. His album is supposed to be released later this year. And much like this mixtape, it is widely anticipated.

WOOOOOOOOP! And I’m out!

Click Here to download Dreamchasers 2

Fuck Da City Up

So, we started the new year with new music. And the fact that it’s from one of my favorite rappers meant I couldn’t wait too long to get it. Two days ago, T.I. dropped yet another mixtape entitled ‘Fuck Da City Up’. I had NO DOUBT in my mind that this wouldn’t be a waste of download. And I IMMEDIATELY found my favorite song ‘Piss’n On your Ego’ ft. B.o.B. This mixtape is nothing short of T.I. and has everyone from Bobby Ray to the Late Pimp C. It is well worth the download and listen. So go head, and FUCK DA CITY UP!