For those of you who caught Dahlak last year while he toured the world with the hip-hop theater production Scourge, you’ll for sure recognize Delina Patrice Brooks, his beautiful talented incredibly loving co-star, and the writer, choreographer, and star of Beauty, the Beast, showing this weekend at Dance Mission in San Francisco.

Directed by our homie Kamilah Forbes (who also directed Scourge and the break/s), the dance theater production opened last night and from what we’ve heard, it was the bombdiggity.  We’re heading over tonight, so cop your tickets and come kick it!  But if you must dedicate your evening to getting ready for the club, there’s a matinee tomorrow afternoon at 4, just late enough for you to shake off that morning hangover.

BEAUTY, THE BEAST, A DANCE-THEATER PRODUCTION
Friday, August 29th & Saturday, August 30th @ 8p
Sunday Matinee, August 31st @ 4p
$20 General Seating

Two years ago, in the Summer of 2006, I met Fahamu while he was exhibiting his infamous work inside the Cain-Schulte Gallery in San Francisco. It is now the summer of 2008, and here we are again in the same space, this time with little ol’ me as an actual part of the exhibit!  It was an incredible honor to see it up inside a gallery. I have to admit, it is pretty darn boss, if I may say so myself. Look out for the artwork on my upcoming Miss Universe, out this Fall!

Mu’s gallery opening may have passed last night, but if you want to check out the exhibit, its up until October 4th! And there will be an art walk this Saturday from 1-5, so if you’re looking to chill in the city, come by!

CAIN SCHULTE GALLERY [website]
101 Townsend Street, Second Floor, # 207 | San Francisco, CA 94107

I’m not the only one with a book: FAHAMENON, Fahamu’s genius and wit captured, is available now! More information on Fahamu’s site!

Our homie Nirav Sheth of Obnoxious Listeners caught up with Dahlak in DC a couple of weeks ago and worked up an interesting conversation, which includes but is not limited to: the evils of the record industry, his next album, iLL-Literacy’s unfuckwidable hustle, and the fact that his hip-hop and spoken word engage in frequent booty calls with each other.

Also: Obnoxious Listeners reviews Dual Consciousness.

Goldiloks is a ridiculously fresh visual artist based in northern California, and of the breed of folks who, like us, darts back and forth between Sacramento and the Bay every week to hustle art.  She sets up shop every weekend at the Ashby Flea Market in Berkeley, where we met her and jocked her work hella hard.  Loks works with various mediums, with her signature work being collage pieces done on old windows, frames, and wood blocks.

She also makes jewelry…check out the Barack bling!

And what could be fresher than that, you ask?  How about FRESH PASTRIES!!  You haven’t had a cookie until you’ve had a Wu-Tang cookie.

Ruby meets Goldiloks.

Check out Goldiloks’ full gallery on her Flickr!  And Bay heads, she’s around Saturdays and Sundays at the Ashby BART station.  You know what it is.

This next one doesn’t have anything to do with her, but we couldn’t not post this.  This president merch is starting to get a bit out of hand…

So you know you’ve seen Fahamu Pecou’s work all over our blogosphere (is that right?) cause we jock him so much, but now you can get a chance to see his paintings live! You’ll even get to meet, touch, and smell the infamous ATL-ien Fahamu Pecou coming all the way from Atlanta to land his space ship in Planet Hyphy, where he’ll entertain Bay earthlings with a whole new exhibit of paintings in out-of-this-world proportions. And yes, yes, my Miss Universe Cover is SO part of this exhibit! Come shine with us!

phone: 415.543.1550

Dammit, if Michelle and Barack make speeches cool again, we spoken word artists may be out of jobs. You know how much we depend on the boringness of speeches to lure y’all in with our rhymeschemes and spacey metaphors? Okay Obamas, lets make a deal…after you win, please cool it down and ween the country back to the bland and uninspiring speeches that it’s accustomed to…we need gigs, yo!

PS: Not that we’d vote for someone just because they consistently choose Stevie Wonder for their intro and outro music, but it definitely doesn’t hurt.

Well, it’s finally happening, people. DJ Phatrick is going Hollywood–literally. So you mean this cold ass summer wasn’t enough to convince you to stay in the Bay, huh? Yeah, we see how it is. You know what, fine. Go ahead to LA and enjoy your season-appropriate weather, sellout.

Oh, we’ll miss you Phatty, and it’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday. But luckily, it won’t be difficult to say hello to Thursday and Friday nights, where good ol’ Phatty will turn the beat around a couple more times before heading down south. And ooooh look, Adriel’s roommate mai-lei partners up with Phatty at Devil’s Pie!

Man…don’t you wish both of these events were free? Oh shit! They are!

You’ve gotta RSVP for Libre, but it’s hella easy. See?

so today i went to radioshack and got a bootsy ass microphone to rehearse with, because we keep on using dahlak’s expensive mic and when we get really into it in practice i start swinging it around and dahlak gives me this look like i’m dangling his baby from a balcony (sorry, liberian girl is playing right now). so i drove all the way up to practice feeling all good about myself for bringing in new equipment for the studio, like i’m going to be the hero (because we’ve needed a new mic really bad). everyone would hoist me on their shoulders and proclaim how much better rehearsal will be now that we have de uber microphone. and then i walk into the studio and dahlak has this shining instrument of glory:

BEHOLD THE FANTOM. okay maybe it doesn’t look that celestial on my webcam but yes, if i was on a deserted island and the genie would only give me three things to eat everyday, i’d ask for toblerone bars, tgi friday’s macaroni and cheese puffs, and THE FANTOM. here’s a picture of it with its partner. you know that a band with keyboards stacked on top of each other means business.

that’s all. dahlak has just arrived. now practice we shall.

one mo:

SACRAMENTO STAND UP! Our hometown favorites State Cap are celebrating the release of their brand new mixtape, Where Is State Cap? tonight at Java Lounge in Sacramento! Yeah, it’s a bit of a last-minute notice…so for those of you who can’t make it to the city of trees, here’s a track called “Gotta Know” from the joint, featuring your boy Dahlak:

[Download "Gotta Know"]

The mixtape is only available at State Cap shows, so hustle on over to the show tonight if it’s humanly possible!

Previously: State Cap - In Due Time

With iLL’s Favorite Cyborg: Janelle!

I first saw Janelle perform when I was living in Atlanta in March, and her performance made me feel like a little girl in Disneyland: ecstatic and happy and excited beyond belief! Oh dear! When I got a chance to meet her after that Atlanta show, I told her I came all the from California to find her- and I meant it! She’s not only an incredible performer, but a sweetheart. It was super duper dope to see her again, this time on my side of the woods.

iLL Homie Mitch!

Big shout to the homie Mitch (and my girl Eeeesh’s homie!) , who tours with Jane as the coolest A&R on the planet.

As you can hella tell, we loved the show!

crowd surfing! maybe one day i’ll be gutsy enough…

Sorry Raphael, we haven’t given you the love you also deserve. Mr. Saddiq also killed it and made my heart soar with palpitating joy! I think I’m sort of in love. Sighhh. Sorry iLL-Literates, I think I enjoyed this part of the show a little differently. But you know, you understand. Can’t help but swoon over a sweet voice on a cute face. Shadadai.

And speaking of love, here’s our fam, Bamuthi! (Taken post-amazing show)  It’s our very first flick, thus making this little tidbit an official artifact of history. Peace!

Yeah, so there hasn’t been much going on on our end this week…just canceled practices and OH YEAH we went to see Raphael Saadiq and Janelle Monae on Wednesday. We probably would’ve taken some pictures if we weren’t all standing there with our mouths gaped open at the glory that is Jane. Anyway, this John Legend & Andre video shall suffice for our week closer, as it reveals that John is actually not an ordinary person, and Andre might be the last millionaire to still ride a bicycle.

It comes to no surprise to us that Do D.A.T.’s EP is entitled The Skinny–after all, the man is pretty skinny. Not skinny like this, but skinny enough so that naming his project The Big-Boned would be out of pocket.

Well, good ol DJ Phatrick just posted the title track (appropriately named “The Skinny”) on his blog, and when you stop giggling about the phrase “Phatty leaked the skinny” then you can listen to some seriously great music:

[Download "The Skinny"]

The Skinny EP drops soon. Don’t take it lightly.

It looks like y’all are gonna have to multitask with the events this week! With the MADE and Zaki Ibrahim events that cats will be juggling tonight, we’re just hoping that you also have energy left to hop between the Raphael Saadiq/Janelle Monáe show and Pac Div’s San Francisco headline debut tomorrow! This one features our homies Bambu and Hopie Spitshard, with Charlie Darker on the 1’s and 2’s!

Pac Div
@ Fat City
314 11th St (btw Folsom and Harrison
San Francisco

Doors @ 9pm. $15 all night

Previously: Bambu - Exact Change (Snippet)

Tomorrow’s gonna be a loooveeelyyy night!

Once upon a time, an amazing jewelry company named MADE meets a girl named Ruby and discovers they might just be made for each other! As a result of their penchant for shiny pretty things, MADE and Ruby (who cannot go anywhere without cute earrings on) are collaborating on limited edition MISS UNIVERSE ear bling- out this Fall, along with the book! Til then, come meet the ladies of MADE at their mixtape release party at:

OTIS, 25 Maiden Lane, San Francisco

with FREE give aways from Acrimony & the Brooklyn Circus!

And if that wasn’t enough, music lovers rejoice! Electro/NeoSoul/Jazz singer Zaki Ibrahim from Canada is doing a live performance set at 330 Ritch tomorrow night, @ the PST party hosted by DJ Sake ONE.

Zaki’s latest EP, Eclectica (Episodes in Purple), just dropped, and it is ammmaaazzzing. Come peep her live set and cop her EP- it takes you on a whole new level, truly! Proof? Find out more on her website, and here’s a Zaki sample here!

How mad are we that Barack was gallivanting around San Francisco yesterday and he didn’t even call us??? Don’t forget about the little people, Barry.

Well, whether you’re voting for Obama, that other guy (we’re not biased at all!), or the bagel you had for breakfast, voting is definitely important. And now Generation Vote is giving everyone between the ages of 18 and 30 an opportunity to speak their mind with Vote Hip-Hop, a contest that welcomes political art in the form of audio, video, or visual deliciousness. Winners get a wad of cash, a free trip to an awards ceremony, and their work shown on a gang of websites including WireTap Magazine and BET.com!

And ohhhhh snap, Adriel’s in the lineup of judges, along with Talib Kweli, Jamilah King, Favianna Rodriguez, and Monifa Akinwole Bandele.

Click here to learn more about Vote Hip-Hop.