Hip-Hop.com

4/20 is a special day in San Francisco, and A$AP Rocky understands the urgency in such matters. He swept across the city yesterday, starting with a day at Black Scale in Union Square, moving on to the Bill Graham Auditorium for the show with Wiz Khalifa, then heading to the Mezzanine for Black Scale’s afterparty in his honor.

Sometime before they filled the stage with girls (which happened quick) and kicking them off (not so quick) we got this footage of A$AP Mob’s empathetic reaction to the beat from “Pretty Flacko”. Check out the pics we got of him at the party and at the in-store appearance at Black Scale, and also check out Grady Brannan for his pics from the show.

A$AP Rocky, Harlem’s ambassador to Houston, isn’t beyond giving the west coast some love too. The emerging rap star is teaming up with Black Scale to unveil their collaboration, A$AP BLVCK, and on April 20, he’ll celebrate the collaboration with a party in Black Scale’s hometown of San Francisco at the Mezzanine following his show with Wiz Khalifa at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. DJs A$AP J Scott, Jay Kush, De & Ruby Red-I will hold down the tables along with special guests. Tickets are available now at EventBrite.

dead prez and Los Rakas ran through the Mezzanine ragged Friday night in San Francisco, along with stand-up set from Chris Riggins to warm the crowd. Thanks to Ankh Marketing for this one crazy night. Check out the pics we got at the show.

Mos Def (Yaasin Bey) and Talib Kweli are Black Star, and they took to the stage last week at San Francisco’s Mezzanine for two dates—the second one added after the first sold out in hours. The two prolific artists who personified 90′s independent hip-hop proved once again that they are still at the top of their game and the classic tracks from their debut album, released 13 years ago, are far from forgotten. read more »

News that Black Star cancelled their tour dates with Live Nation must have been disappointing to many, but we know for sure that Talib Kweli and, most definitely, Yasiin Bey are not done touring yet. Fresh from debuting their new single on the Colbert Report, Black Star will be back on the road next month and have scheduled two west coast appearances: Seattle at the Showbox SoDo on November 5 (tickets on sale now at Ticketmaster) and San Francisco at the Mezzanine, November 15 (tickets will be available via Ticketmaster this Friday, October 14). read more »

San Francisco’s biggest urban marketing & events production company (and the force behind Hip-Hop.com) will celebrate its seventh birthday in August, and it was decided that one party just wasn’t enough. Erykah Badu, reprising her vinyl-spinning persona DJ Low Down Loretta Brown, and Questlove of Twitter fame (and incidentally the frontman/drummer of The Roots) will come and do their respective things for Ankh Marketing’s 7th Anniversary Shows on August 12 at Mezzanine and August 13 at Public Works. Know all about their recordings but not sure how they play records? Check out our reviews and galleries of Erykah Badu’s and Questlove’s last DJ sets in San Francisco back in April.

For tickets, see baduankh.eventbrite.com and questoankh.eventbrite.com. Early-bird tickets are on sale now.

UPDATE: Check out the flyer for the shows: read more »

It’s a bit hard to not look at Mobb Deep and start thinking we’re watching their reincarnation. The group that personified the 90′s style of youthful street hip-hop reunited after a lengthy hiatus due to Prodigy’s legal problems and is touring the country to celebrate, stopping at the Mezzanine in San Fran on Sunday night. With the appearance, Mobb Deep came with a more mature, world-wise attitude and delivered a solid, nostalgic performance which placated the impatient and imbibed crowd that never cooperated much with the show’s MC and host, Flossafee. read more »

Ms. Lauryn Hill, again dressed in a long billowy gown, came back Wednesday night to the Bay Area in her third such appearance in a little over a month, bringing with her to the Mezzanine in San Francisco her usual backing band and perhaps a different demeanor. The stage, tightly spaced but larger than the one at The New Parish that barely contained her ensemble, appeared to carry more weight than usual with a special Bob Marley tribute, where Hill would sandwich her usual set with several Marley classics. Maybe it’s that she is doing a special tribute to a man whose bloodline she carried for so many months and years, but she definitely came with a different, more particular attitude. read more »

Did you miss your chance to see Ms. Lauryn Hill in a small club setting last time around? In so many months, Ms. Hill will be making her third appearance in the Bay Area, this time at San Francisco’s Mezzanine on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. That’s exactly in one week, folks. Ms. Hill will be performing a special set in honor of Bob Marley, who passed away 30 years ago today.

Click here for more information and tickets.
Check the jump for posters and more info… read more »

In case you were wondering why we don’t have any pics of Ghostface on stage last night at Questlove’s DJ set at Mezzanine, we had the camera busy rolling film on the whole set. Well, here’s the proof: Ghostface Killah surprises the hell out of the crowd and performs “Brooklyn Zoo” and “Cherchez LaGhost.” Ghost will have his own show next weekend, on April 29 at Mezzanine as well. Tickets are still available.