Keith Masters "Game Day: Part II" & January Tour

It’s been more than an 11 week season for journeyman rapper Keith Masters, but the training and preparation are finally paying off as “Game Day: Part II” sees its official i-tunes release on Wednesday and will appear in the nationally televised Saints vs. Falcons game on NFL Network this Thursday November 29, 2012.   The track, produced by Curtis Marolt, has already been featured on Fox Sports SEC Gridiron Live and ESPN. 

Following up his 2012 Kiez Beats release, which featured Beatport chart topper “King Kong”,  Hype Machine favorite “Gary Busey” and current single “Desoto”,  Game Day highlights Keith’s lyrical versatility on top of his love for the game of football.  Drawing reference to a who’s who in the NFL – its an anthem for any gridiron head to get behind and should be part of any tailgate soundtrack for the rest of the season. 

As teams head into December and January to make a playoff run, Keith goes back to the lab to cook up some more bangers and prep for his 2013 tour with Cannibal Ox.   Keith will be supporting on dates in Los Angeles at The Airliner on January 11th, as well San Francisco , Las Vegas and other cities/dates to be announced.  

Prob Cause Gonna Knock You Out - "Flex"

Rising Chicago hip-hop artist Prob Cause is back in the music ring for another bout - this time delivering "Flex."  The second single off of his forthcoming "Recipe" project - showcases Prob midwest repping with clever metaphors and, in classic Chicago fashion, a varying flow speed.  



Prob Cause breaks it down for his hometown this weekend at North Coast Music Festival as well as a stop in Bloomington on August 30th with another midwestern spitter - Machine Gun Kelly.  L.A. gets the privilege of another Prob Cause visit in early October for Filter's Culture Collide Festival; start training for the event by watching the video and copping Recipe (featuring Rockie Fresh, YP and more) when it is released this coming Labor Day weekend.  

"Flex" video was directed by Elijah Alvarado and High Ambition.

Check out more at http://probcause.com and more videos at http://www.youtube.com/probcausetv.

MC To Watch: ProbCause

Chicago native, ProbCause is bringing us some home-cooked goodness with his latest E.P. Stir Fry. This rising star is adding new flavor to the hip-hop scene, bouncing from gritty rap to dubstep to lyrical hip-hop and even some R&B. With diverse influences from Cannonball Adderley, Mulatto Astatke, Black Milk, Dilla, Stones Throw, Rhymesayers, STS9, Odd Future, Phoenix, Ratatat, Basquiat, Picasso, and Gerhard Richter, you can be certain that versatile talent such as ProbCause will take you on a limitless musical journey.

Immersed in a scene where, according to ProbCause, “there is always going to be hate and criticism”, this young MC is taking and preaching from the best. Mentored by the likes of Chicago’s queen of hip-hop, Psalm One, and Chicago’s veteran MC, Longshot, ProbCause is not interested in “the city of hate excuse.” And his mentality is translating very well in his music career, he's already toured this year as lead support for Big Sean, Twista, Machine Gun Kelly, Steve Aoki, Kreayshawn and Neon Indian in addition to performances with Raekwon, Chip tha Ripper, even earning a spot at the North Coast Music Festival for the second consecutive year (his performance was dope). He most recently visited L.A. last month - dropping in at Dim Mak Studios for their notorious Tuesday party and then hitting up Yost Theater the following night.

Probcause is not only making it hard to keep up but also influencing those behind him in a way that many probably didn’t see possible. Spitting rhymes that make you think and feel good, he’s nothing short of impressive, proving that creativity transcends all labels. For a taste of his most recent Mixtape, “Stir Fry”, SUPERGOODMUSIC has a free download of "Loud Through the Town" available for your listening pleasure and then a video for his remix of "Blue Sky."

North Coast Music Festival - Five Picks for Friday

The young (but up and coming) North Coast Music Festival kicks off tomorrow with a line up of hot electronic music - and a few big pop stars. While you might be familiar with Wiz Khalifa and David Guetta - you may not be aware of some of the other rising stars they've got on the bill for tomorrow.

The day opens with Orchard Lounge and 40 oz. Kings. The former are a Chicago based DJ collective made up of 2 parts Lokken (Spencer and Bethany) and one part Ben Silver. Their palate for electronic music is pretty wide ranging - so while you don't know exactly what to expect - it should lift you from the couch to the dancefloor (and back).

Immediately following Orchard Lounge on the Red Bull stage is The Hood Internet. These mash-up kings are some genre-blending Chicagoans too. Their recent remix of Foster The People's "Pumped Up Kicks" that features Hollywood Holt has made quite the rounds in the blogosphere, although I still think their best work is "Cult Logic Forever" mashing up Lil Wayne with Miike Snow.

Mask wearing SBTRKT hits stage at 6:30 - delivering his Chicago house/two-step/dubstep blends. With an album out this year on Young Turks and a constant presence on Beatport recently - SBTRKT is worth peeping if you haven't seen him. Here is a video of "Wildfire."

Toward the end of SBTRKT's set, I expect to travel toward the Magic Hat Local Stage to check out the electrofunk of Ghosthouse - a project spearheaded by Jamie Wineman. They were one of the first recording artist to have a hat made by Grassroots California - who happen to be making the official North Coast Festival hat as well.

Last but certainly not least is Wolfgang Gartner - set to rock the North Coast stage immediately before David Guetta. The originally anonymous brainchild of Joey Youngman, Gartner has been rocking dance floors since late 2007 although has been generating considerable more buzz in the past few years. With eight of his compositions having reached the #1 spot on Beatport, performances at EDC and Ultra in both 2010 and 2011 and an album, Weekend in America, coming out September 20, 2011 - Gartner is not leaving the spotlight anytime soon. Make sure you catch him while he's living in it...here is his video for "Illmerica."

Then stick around for Guetta....

More recommendations for Saturday and Sunday to follow soon.

Mashers of The Year - The Hood Internet

The Hood Internet is taking the remix and mash-up world by storm - and this is nothing new if you're from Chicago or have been up on your blogroll. After impressing the industry at SXSW just a few weeks ago - they've embarked on a brief tour alongside Black Moth Super Rainbow's Tobacco that recently took them through Los Angeles, to both Echo and Detroit Bar.

The rest of their tour takes them to the following cities before ending in at Empty Bottle their hometown of Chicago:

Saturday 3/27 - Bottom Of The Hill, San Francisco CA
Sunday 3/28 - WOW Hall, Eugene OR
Monday 3/29 - Holocene, Portland OR #
Tuesday 3/30 - Chop Suey, Seattle WA
Friday 4/2 - Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis MN ^
Saturday 4/3 - Empty Bottle, Chicago IL

My new favorite mash-up heroes just seem to get it right every time. From mixing Drake with Miike Snow to Dr. Dre with Class Actress, this duo knows how to take the good things from popular music and the good things from indie culture and bring it together to make something infectiously danceable, repeatable and awesome. I wish these guys would DJ every party I ever had.

You can check out a lot more about the group on their own site -http://www.thehoodinternet.com/ - as well as get free downloads to their zipped mixtapes and other songs.