make music with me.

so these are from zefrank.
damn i love this site, for finding things that are useless but so entertaining.

create a sweet beat

sweet jams

love these singing horses

onra

French beatmaker from Paris.
Check out Onra & Quetzal present Tribute, released in 2006, a hip-hop tribute to soul music.
Check out The Big Payback - Byron & Onra, released in 2007, Byron the Aquarius plays the keyboards and Onra programs beats on his MPC.
And Chinoiseries, his first solo album, released late 2007, only made with chinese and vietnamese samples.

The Cool Kids

So Cute... The Cool Kids be a hip hop duo from Chicago & Detroit. The duo consists of Antoine "Mikey Rocks" Reed and Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll

They have been on tour, opening for M.I.A. One of the duo's singles, "Black Mags", was featured in a late 2007 Rhapsody TV commercial, along with Sara Bareilles. In the same year, the group collaborated with Lil Wayne and DJ Benzi through the Internet on a track entitled "Gettin' It", which will reportedly appear on the DJ's future album Get Right.The band has been featured in the video game NBA Live 08 with the song "88", and in the episode "The First Cut Is the Deepest" from HBO's TV series Entourage with the song "I Rock." They were listed in Rolling Stone's Ten Artists to Watch in 2008. They were recently featured in URB magazine.



new album, When Fish Ride Bicycles, soon

redef clothing

a friendly venture.

redef productions

buy these shirts:

love me some dilla

i have recently (last couple of months) been listening to everything J Dilla.


J Dilla R.I.P (1974-2006)

After quietly serving as a member of A Tribe Called Quest's production team, the Ummah, and scoring hits for Busta Rhymes, De La Soul and Pharcyde, Detroit producer Jay Dee became known as a major hip-hop prospect by the late 90s. The hip-hop community took notice of his no-frills, breakbeat-heavy hip-hop style as he helped craft albums for Common (Like Water for Chocolate), Q Tip (Amplified), and the debut for his own group Slum Village (Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1).

By the time of his major-label debut with Slum Village's Fantastic, Vol. 2 in 2000, Jay Dee was recognized as one of hip-hop's most admired and desired producers. Jay Dee's debut as a solo artist came in 2001 with the single “Fuck the Police” and the album "Welcome to Detroit" on BBE.

After assuming the name J Dilla, he joined the Stones Throw roster in 2003, forming Jaylib with fellow producer/MC Madlib, and relocated from Detroit to Los Angeles. The duo released the “The Red” b/w “The Official” in 2003, followed by the album "Champion Sound" and a tour the following spring.

When Pharrell Williams was asked about his favorite hip-hop producer during a BET interview in 2004 he replied, “You may not know his name, but J Dilla, Jay Dee from Detroit.” Indeed, the interviewer didn't know – J Dilla has eluded the spotlight, preferring the studio to the stage or video. His work is mostly released by independents, for different groups, and under different names, but his core audience and cult status has grown. His pirated beat tapes (instrumentals, raw working material for rappers) have become something of urban legend, as their circulation from hand to hand and over the internet have led to a black market of Dilla beat tape collectors.

Despite contributing two tracks to Common's career-resurrecting "Be" this year, it's been a quiet time for Dilla. So where has he been? A cover story in URB (Mar 2004) made public his recent, sudden struggle with illness, and recently rumors began circulating again about health emergencies and hospitalization. Asked about this in XXL (June 2005), Dilla himself partially confirmed these stories. “The rumors were like, ‘Jay Dee is dead’ and all that, but I was just in the hospital. I was in ICU, with all types of tubes. It was crazy.”

Working both from his home studio and while hospitalized – from a portable sound system including turntable, samplers, and small boxes of vinyl brought in and out from visitors – Dilla continued making music at his usual non-stop pace, circulating beats to MCs, and coming up with the foundation of what would become "Donuts".

Begun simply enough as a production beat tape, "Donuts" evolved into a project as unusual as the environment in which it was created. It's a hip-hop album without MC's. An album of electronic music that at times sounds like a 70s soul mixtape. Its abrupt transitions and numerous interludes might make you think you're rapidly turning the radio dial in some strange city where every station is programmed by a certain Detroit hip-hop producer. "Donuts" is J Dilla doing what he does best – crafting hip-hop, soul and electronic music into his own sound.

And a few have asked, “What's up with the title?” Easy explanation. Dilla likes donuts.

listen & learn