Hip-Hop.com

Shabazz Palaces invites an interesting crowd. The duo, who performed last night at Yoshi’s in San Francisco before departing on an European tour in a few weeks, seems to straddle that line between indie rock and hip-hop only if you look at their audience, because their music is doesn’t sound like rock at the least bit. The avant-garde duo of Palaceer Lazaro (aka Ishmael “Ish” Butler) and percussionist Tendai Mariare has pieced together a theme of bluster, black power, african diaspora, jarring beats and psychedelia, and perhaps that last part is what brought together the two different scenes.

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Shabazz Palaces announces dates for a European and North America tour, starting a couple of weeks after their date at Yoshi’s San Francisco with Siddartha this Thursday on Groundhogs Day. On the agenda is a swing through the continent, starting in France through Switzerland and Italy. Coming back home, they land in Minneapolis, touring the Midwest, Canada, and finally two shows in the City of New York. If you haven’t checked it out yet, they also released their newest video for “Are You… Can You… Were You…? (Felt)” along with the announcement.

Here are the dates:

2/18: La Cave aux poetes, Roubaix, France
2/19: Stereolux, Nantes, France
2/20: Les Trinitaires, Metz, France
2/21: Strasbourg La Laiterie, France
2/24: Palace, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2/25: Stall 6, Zurich, Switzerland
2/29: Astoria, Turin, Italy
3/1: Circolo degli Artisti, Rome, Italy
3/2: Bronson, Ravenna, Italy
3/3: Studio 2, Vigonovo (Venezia), Italy

4/3: The Whole, Minneapolis, MN (All Ages Show)
4/4: Mad Planet, Milwaukee, WI
4/5: Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
4/6: Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
4/7: The Horn Gallery, Gambier, OH
4/8: The Shadow Lounge, East Liberty, PA
4/10: Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON
4/11: II Motore, Montreal, QC
4/12: Iron Horse, Northampton, MA
4/13: SOB’s, New York, NY
4/14: Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY

via Sub Pop

Idle Warship landed ashore in San Francisco last night. The duo of Res and Talib Kweli are now in the middle of a two-night, four show stay at Yoshi’s Jazz Club, which is a bit ironic since they seem to be playing every genre but jazz. Idle, along with the live band they brought largely intact from Talib’s Gutter Rainbows tour, also seem like they’re warming up for a summer festival tour, doing the pick-a-genre-from-each-column approach to music that fits like a glove at Coachella, Lollapalooza, or any other buffet-style all-you-can-listen music festival. (Doesn’t hurt that their set is about an hour long, just as long as your typical festival slot.) Of course, plenty of hip-hop is offered thanks to Talib Kweli’s presence, but if you expect R&B from Res, you’re just typecasting.

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While a crystal obelisk alighted by the effects pad on the DJ mixer in the center console, two scratch shamens enter the stage wearing fullbody gowns covering their entire body and face except the eyes, where they wear glasses with lights on the side of the frame. This ain’t your typical DJ show. Such is the beginning of DJ Qbert’s new stage show, “Dymentional Tryportation,” which debuted at Yoshi’s in San Francisco on Saturday. read more »

By Camille Hearst

On Saturday, April 30th, San Francisco concert-goers gathered at Yoshi’s on Fillmore in The City for an evening with the lovely Goapele. Glowing in vintage bejeweled earrings, an 80s inspired black tiered skirt, and a partially sheer black lacy top, the South African beauty sashayed to-and-fro in front of a tall vase of lilies and a sold-out audience for her fourth appearance in a 3 night run at Yoshi’s. read more »

So in 2011, weird is fresh. For De La Soul, it might be the perfect chance for a renaissance. For the past decade, it seemed they needed to mold and remold themselves to fit the current mood in hip-hop, which had no room for the whimsy and quirky attitude that made their name. And now—now they don’t need to. Thanks to timely Gorillaz cameos, they don’t even need to make records to be hot. Maybe that’s why they seem to be more comfortable than they have been for a long while? read more »

The original beat box extraordinaire Doug E. Fresh touched down at Yoshi’s last night. Slick Rick, his most notable partner in his 26 years in the business wasn’t there but he deftly kept the crowd hyped in an hour long set that made everyone happy despite arriving late (due to plane delays, the DJ explains, while he played a steady stream of R&B and rap from the early 80′s).

While older rappers shy away from the idea that their audience is old, Doug E. embraced it, referring to his people as “35 and better.” But while others might shy away from age to avoid the perception of irrelevance, Doug E. confronted it directly. “You know ‘Teach Me How to Dougie?’”, he asks while the DJ plays the Cali Swag District track. “I’m Dougie! Doug-E. That’s me!” he says, before dancing every variation of it he knows. read more »

Naughty by Nature swept into San Francisco on Thursday night, playing at the legendary jazz club Yoshi’s in the middle of the Fillmore District. There was a notable lack of kiddies in the crowds, as you would imagine a show for an act that haven’t (yet) released an album in almost 8 years. But what they make up for in age was skill befitting of a 20-year career. This crew from Jersey are professionals in the craft of hip-hop, able to move a quiet crowd into a frenzied mob in a matter of moments. They showed off their years of experience of knowing what buttons to push, and they jammed them like it was Street Fighter II. read more »