Carmel's Jamielee Darley makes the second round in Victoria's Secret Angel's Camp

I posted a story yesterday, but I wanted to follow up with local gal Jamielee Darley's progress in the Victoria's Secret Angel's Boot Camp competition, where the winner gets to be a Victoria's Secret Runway Angel.

Above is the latest video, posted at www.vsallaccess.com. You can vote for her there, as well as at www.cbs.com/victoria.

Voting lasts through 5 p.m. PST, Tuesday, Nov. 17. Stay tuned for more updates. And don't forget to vote!



Rest of post here

Read more!

MC Lars Gives Current TV a Lesson in "Nerdcore 101"

Another friend of "The Beat," MC Lars, has a new spot up on Current TV. Shot right here in Carmel Valley!
The video gives a quick breakdown of the Nerdcore canon (with MC Chris, a nerdcore flip-flopper, listed at No. 2).
Funny part: Lar's hypeman/friend DJ shows up in a random shot, then quick cut to Lars in a hot tug (!). Never thought I'd see Lars shirtless (and never wanted to see that, for that matter). All good.

Rest of post here

Read more!

Free Download: New Album from Santa Cruz artist Nima Fadavi "Behind The Beat 1"

A good friend of "The Beat," our boy Nima Fadavi (Ineffable Music Group) has a new album out titled "Behind The Beat 1" featuring Nima's bangin' production and a nice selection of artists, including The Grouch, Pep Love, Sunspot Jonez of Living Legends, and local favorites Ghambit and Sincere.

The best part of the deal is you can download if for FREE at his site, www.nimafadavibeats.com. Show some love to the local boy (by way of SC, now residing in The Bay) done good.


Rest of post here

Read more!

Raw Dios- a headRush Produciton (I'm In This!)

My Bay Area familia is presenting their latest show, “Raw Dios,” at La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley. My crew, Baktun 12, produced and performed a big chunk of the audio dialog that accompany's the live performance. If you're in the Bay (and sadly, I won't be there for this opening event) please go and check this out and let me know how I sound:)

Peace to my headRush famm-bamm.
Rest of post here

Read more!

Cambio interview Part II

Part two of my interview with Cambio of Para La Gente.

On his musical evolution:
Before, honestly, I wasn't comfortable in the first years of PLG. The process of creating music was different.
I was uncomfortable with a certain style. I said I want to create (a different) type of sound. I had lot of conversations with (band mates) Zach and Omar, and we'd be in each others car and listening to something that's different from what we're playing on stage. I finally said let's create something we're comfortable with. Now, the crew is genuinely into the music.
PLG formed in 2003. There's been a huge difference since then.
There's a video for one of the old songs “Brown and You.” And there was this YouTube comment that said “Where's Cambio?” And I'm all over the video! That said a lot about how different the band has become.
We're at where we're at because we made changes. The “People Living Growing” album was us saying ‘This is where we're at, so get comfortable.” We've probably lost about half of our fan base because of the changes, but from that half that stayed with us, we've gained a new fan base and doubled the number of fans that we originally had.

Working on “Or Does It Explode.”
It's been more than a year of sitting on “Hard Times.” (They recorded it last November, and the process began in September). Most of the album was done in April.
The target audience is Latin America. I think it will do well too.
I havent' seen a lot of Spanish and English hip-hop come together. I'm really trying to features more Spanish language artists.
I can go to Mexico and not spit one song in Spanish and they feel me. That's the most nerve-wracking part. Going down there with my fucked up Spanish. It's hard. I still get really nervous. I still get the same kind of anxiety.

On how fatherhood has changed him.
I'm just a lot more honest. I'm too grown to fuck around and bullshit and do things I'm not comfortable with. It forces you to be responsible.
Fatherhood is really missing right now. We're trying to reclaim fatherhood with no examples. I want to let people know I'm a father, and it's okay to be a dad and make that shit cool.
He's gotten the support of his family, which has helped. “First and foremost, thanks to my partner. Without that support, I would not be able to go record, go to practice. I want (my son) to grow up and be like ‘I'm going to pursue my art because I saw my dad pursue his art.’

On the show set:
PLG plays five tracks from the album. Our audience is growing, and we realize that we're going to give them that substance because we're genuinely having a good time at the show.
Most people that listen to dead prez listen to Too $hort or Bun B. I listen to Q-Tip's album and Mos Def's album and I'll be like they're talking so much shit. Why can't I talk shit on a track?”
I don't know why it took time for me to get confidence in myself. Just be yourself and in that process you realize (what you can do).

Rap is very necesssary. I wish everyone would recognize it and support it.

Read more!