Adriel has prepared a Kanye-style response:

It is beyond me why there are people who take the time to travel all the way to shows with unattainable expectations in their hearts and then who are going to be all pissy when what they get doesn’t fit into their tiny little world view of what should or should not happen at these shows… why not just STAY AT HOME AND REVIEW YOUR LEFTOVERS MOLDING YOU’D PROBABLY HAVE A BETTER TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I’M ALL FOR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM BUT I REFUSE TO PAY ATTENTION TO PEOPLE WHO CALL THEMSELVES PRESS AND THEN USE SARCASM AND ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE AUDIENCE TO PIECE TOGETHER A SORRY EXCUSE FOR A REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!  OF COURSE THERE WEREN’T A LOT OF PEOPLE AT THE SHOW… WHAT PART OF “EXIBITION SHOWCASE AT A SMALL VENUE ON A WEDNESDAY BY AN INDIE GROUP DOING A NONCONVENTIONAL GENRE IN A NONCONVENTIONAL FORMAT” DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND??????????????????????  DID IT MAYBE CROSS YOUR CLOSED-MINDED MINDS THAT YES SOME OF THE PEOPLE AT THE SHOW ARE FRIENDS (BECAUSE WE HAVE FRIENDS, DOY) BUT THAT MOST PEOPLE THERE ACT FAMILIAR WITH US BECAUSE THEYRE RETURNING FANS FROM PAST SHOWS AND PEOPLE WHO FEEL PERSONALLY CONNECTED TO US BECAUSE WE KEEP IT TRILL WITH OUR FANS?????……. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A STADIUM OF PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO TO A MILEY CYRUS CONCERT I’M SURE IT WOULD BE RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEY. ILL-LIT IS DOING SOMETHING THAT IS OUT OF THE NORM, WITH NO OUTSOURCED PROMO OR MANAGEMENT SO EXCUSE US IF WE DON’T DRAW CHEETAH GIRLS NUMBERS… AND OF COURSE IF WE’RE GOING TO BE DOING HIP-HOP AND SPOKEN WORD THERE ARE GOING TO BE ASPECTS “TYPICAL” TO A HIP HOP AND SPOKEN WORD SET LIKE CALL-AND-RESPONSE. THERES A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THINGS THAT ARE CLICHE AND THINGS THAT ARE FOUNDATIONS.  NEXT YOU’RE PROBABLY GOING TO SAY THAT WE WEREN’T BREAKING BARRIERS BECAUSE WE WORE PANTS LIKE OTHER “TYPICAL” ARTISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… BUT HAVE YOU EVER SEEN IN-DEPTH SOCIAL COMMENTARY DISCUSSED AT A CLUB STANDING ROOM ONLY???  DID YOU SEE ALL THE PEOPLE AT OUR SHOW LOSING THEIR FREAKING MINDS AND SPAZZING OUT ON THE FLOOR?????  DID YOU NOT NOTICE OUR FULL BAND THE HI-LIFES, LIGHTING, AND 60-OUT-OF-75 MINUTES WORTH OF MUSIC ALL THAT YOU FAILED TO MENTION????  NO SO SHUT YOUR TRAP!!!! AND THEOPHILUS LONDON IS THE FUTURE OF BROOKLYN HIP HOP AND WHAT YOU CALL “EMO RAPS” IS ARTISTIC TRANSPARENCY THAT’S DIFFERENT FROM THE BLING AND HOS AND MONEY TALKS THAT YOU PRESS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HAILING AS GROUNDBREAKING FOR CENTURIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND ALSO CAN I SAY THAT IF A SHOW’S DOORS OPEN AT 8 AND IT ENDS UP STARTING AT 10:30…………………………..THAT’S PRETTY DAMNED GOOD!!!!!  WHAT TYPE OF BILL COSBY HIP-HOP SHOWS DO YOU GO TO THAT START ON TIME?????????????  YOUR NEGATIVE ENERGY CAN’T STOP US FROM CHANGING THE UNIVERSE AND YOU CAN’T REVIEW AN EXPERIENCE, SQUIDBRAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got a chance to link up with the dope folk of Karmaloop TV while we were out in Boston College, and here’s what we created with them! Watch here for Adriel’s account on the true-life, secret history of iLL-Literacy- NEVER HEARD BEFORE!

Looks like Karmaloop had the exclusive. Now you can too.

On the morning of November 4 as we left Washington DC, we flipped on Music is a Weapon, a documentary following Fela Kuti, a musician who once ran for president of Nigeria.  Fela is a huge influence on the music that we have been creating, especially to Dahlak who has recently been dipping his toes in production.

Dubbed as the Father of Afrobeat, Fela was a singer and musician who used his art to influence politics in an unprecidented manner.  Determined to change the direction of his home country of Nigeria, he put himself forward as a presidential candidate in 1979 but was refused and treated like an outlaw.  Fela was immensely prolific, recording more albums than have been accounted for, and at a certain point in his career he held daily jam sessions that lasted all night long, and that people from throughout Africa would drive across several countries to witness.

Fela has influenced musicians across the musical spectrum, from Common to Erykah Badu to Red Hot Chili Peppers.  In the fall of 2008 his life was depicted off-Broadway in the musical Fela!, which received critical acclaim and is set for a Broadway run beginning in 2009.

Check out Music is a Weapon above, and let your life be changed.

BLACK GENIUSES is a new section of the iLL-Literacy blog inspired by Dahlak’s song “Black Genius.”

The perpetually fly line Mama Clothing has just released their Winter 08 line, “La Vida Loca” which we think means déjà vu in Cantonese.  But you know what thing that has no language barriers?  Good fashion.

Via the consistently hot people at M.I.S.S. Crew.

2008 has been a big year.  We went on our first full music tour.  Ruby dropped a book.  Dahlak dropped a mixtape.  We elected Barack.  Nico started using the word “awesome” a lot.

This month, Adriel will be documenting the songs that soundtracked his year, and that inevitably, he forced into the lives of the rest of iLL-Lit through countless burnt CDs on countless roadtrips to rehearsals, gigs, and taco trucks.  Get your eardrums f*cked at Adrizzle.com.

Okay, that was an OJ quote.

This past weekend a couple of us met Oakland legends Fiyawata, a hip-hop duo that has been holding it down over here for some time now.  From the small 33 Degrees of Love & Sound house parties we used to throw, to the big stage with the likes of Mos Def and dead prez, Fiyawata brings that…well, they bring that fiya.  Check out their single, “Do You Know My Name,” and then cop their latest project, This is a Journey into Sound.

As much as we love SF, we loooooooooooove when there ar hot events that don’t require us to cross a bridge.  Throw in a sample sale featuring 25 of the Bay’s dopest designers, Adriel’s roommate DJ Lovelee with the music, and food from our favorite bakery Bakesale Betty’s, and you pretty much have an orgasm in the form of an event.  Come through to Old Oakland this Friday, and oh yes, this is guaranteed to be one of those hella-beautiful-people-everywhere-you-look shindigs.

Hit the jump for the full flyer. (more…)

Pacific Standard Time is very likely the hottest weekly dance party in the Bay.  With the infamous DJ Sake One as the resident, and having featured guest DJs and performers like Q-Tip, Dwele, and Maxwell (yup, Maxwell with the high voice), PST draws the largest crowd of fly people you can fit in one room.  This Tuesday will be even more hotttneessss as they bring in Res, whose debut album How I Do was hooked up by Santi White of Santogold, and is now roaming the stages with Talib Kweli and Graph Nobel as Idle Warship.  Here’s Idle Warship’s new video, “Black Snake Moan.” It takes some getting used to seeing Kweli on a club joint, but Res is the shit.

UPDATE: doy, forgot to put the event details:

It’s Black Friday, y’all.  Did you line up outside of Toys R Us at 6am??  Trample any mothers for a talking Teletubby?  Hope not.

Well, when all your hypershopping in the real world is finished, hop online to LA clothing company GRN Apple Tree’s site and check out these two delicious pieces women’s outerwear designed by Adriel’s own baby sister, Kimberly Luis! My, long gone are the days of fighting over the Super Mario Kart controller.

PS: The white girl isn’t Adriel’s sister.

There’s guy gear too!  Find it all at GRNAppleTree.com

It’s turkey day! Make sure you get all the sweet potatoes, mac&cheese, cornbread, and greens in your system, because you’ll be burning it all off on the dancefloor tonight at Dahlak’s Kanye West Tribute party!  Celebrating the release of Dahlak’s new mixtape Commencement, as well as Yeezy’s 808’s and Heartbreaks, the night is sure to be fiiiiiiiiiiiiyahhhhhhh!  You know everyone at the family party will be knocked out by 10 anyway.

New goodness from our LA brotha Bambu!  Grabbing footage from his nationwide travels, check out the new video for “Like Us,” produced by  Xylophone Films.

All this electro-influenced rap coming out the woodworks isn’t new to Zion I, who had been freaking over drum-n-bass and house beats since their first album, Mind Over Matter, which dropped almost a decade ago.  While the duo waits for everyone to catch up, they pay a visit to the old school, and track their way back into the weird outerspacean cosmos that they’re used to.

Check out one of the tracks, their remix of Santogold’s “Starstruck,” featuring Grouch:

Ready for the best part though? The mixtape’s FREE at the Zion I website. Oooh yeah baby.

We hope, from the depths of our beings, that you don’t have the god-forsaken task of having to handly any responsibilities whatsoever this Friday morning, after you’ve spent an entire evening of stuffing yourself with delicious turkey.  So after you’ve shaken off the itis, recovered from your hangover, and paid tribute to the pilgrims who slaughtered their way into American history, can you think of anything you’d rather do than get down to some Bobby Brown???  Neither can we.

Our iLL-homie DJ Zita will be hosting the monthly old school RnB and hip-hop night Reverse, along with greats like Vinroc and ShredOne.  And for real…you know you’ll need to burn off those calories from the mac and cheese.

Event details after the jump. (more…)

We’re glad we finally got a chance to meet Theophilus London when he came through to rock with us at Crash Mansion NYC.  Besides being one of the few people tall enough to make Ruby look short, the man definitely knows how to work a crowd, and he made many-a-believer that night.  Here’s his new track featuring Jesse Boykins III, who also played with us at the show.  It’s called “Cold Pillow.” Don’t sleep.

[DOWNLOAD Theophilus London ft. Jesse Boykins III - "Cold Pillow" via Trees for Breakfast]

Kanye West is a musician and designer from Chicago, iLLinois.

Click HERE to see Kanye linking Dahlak on Twitter and our late asses not noticing until today…