Soul Power! Got to see this one. As soon as I get this cast off, I gotta check this one out. Check the synopsis below…

In 1974, the most celebrated American R&B acts of the time came together with the most renowned musical groups in Africa for a 12-hour, three-night long concert held in Kinshasa, Zaire. The dream-child of Hugh Masekela and Stewart Levine, this music festival became a reality when they convinced boxing promoter Don King to combine the event with The Rumble in the Jungle, the epic fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, previously chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary WHEN WE WERE KINGS. SOUL POWER is a verité documentary about this legendary music festival (dubbed Zaire 74), and it depicts the experiences and performances of such musical luminaries as James Brown, BB King, Bill Withers, Celia Cruz, among a host of others. At the peak of their talents and the height of their careers, these artists were inspired by this return to their African roots, as well as the enthusiasm of the Zairian audience, to give the performances of their lives. The concert has achieved mythological significance as the definitive Africa(n)-American musical event of the 20th Century. SOUL POWER is crafted from the extensive outtakes that remained after making WHEN WE WERE KINGS, which documented the epic title fight, but relegated the music festival to a small, supporting role. The outtakes have remained vaulted for the past 34 years, until now. Lensed primarily by celebrated cinematographers Albert Maysles, Paul Goldsmith, Kevin Keating and Roderick Young, SOUL POWER finally provides todays audience the opportunity to experience this historic musical event in all of its magnificent, filmed glory.

Via Ian.

Since I posted the trailer for this not too long ago, it’s only right i bring you the full feature. Check it out below…

As part of the Scion Easy 10 series, Anthony Marshall made this short 17 minute doc about one of our living legends, Brooklyn’s finest, BDK. Watch as Kane returns to his Brooklyn hood and gives us some great behind-the-scenes insights.

via OKP.

My bad for the slow posts. Currently I’m rocking a broken foot, a heavy-ass cast and a shiny pair of crutches, so that will be my excuse going forward. That said, I think I sound some tunes for the BBQ I’m about to limp over to…

I brought you their first mix so it’s only right I bring you their new one. Check out the details below…

Since Flight School Vol. 1 was so lovely, TOBE$ & DJ Yoda aka Sparkle Motion, are back to give you more pause. They return with New Jack City Vol. 1, taking things forward a few years from where Flight School left off. To the days of hi-top fades, parachute pants and doing the Running Man. Think Bobby Brown cruising for chicks in a 1989 Testarossa, and Mike Tyson riding shotgun with a white baby tiger on his lap.

Download the mix here: Sparkle Motion – New jack City, Volume One Mixtape.

And be on the out for Slow Jamz Vol. 1 and Flight School Vol. 2, both coming soon.

Check out the tracklisting after the jump…

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Since I posted the audio a couple of weeks back, it’s only right that I post this. I’m pretty sure this isn’t anything official, but at least it looks good.

Spotted over at RapRadar.

Won’t ever be the same without Mike. Looks awesome though.

Been a little minute since I posted one of these. Check out Special Ed’s story on “I Got It Made” below…

In this episode of True Hip-Hop Stories, Special Ed discusses the making of his hit recording “I Got It Made.” He also gives his thoughts on the Rick Ross & John Legend collaboration “Magnificent”, which was inspired by Ed’s song “I’m The Magnificent.”

Nice little video from Mos, previewing his new album, The Ecstatic, which drops June 9th.

A record player that rips while it plays? Whoever came up with this one? I need to shake their hand, now. Check out the info below…

….what if you have a stack of old records around that you want to listen to on your iPod? If you ask the RIAA, you’ll be pointed towards an online store where you can pay for your music all over again. If you ask the folks at Denon, they might suggest their new DP-200USB, a turntable with a twist.

The $250 record player does all the dirty work for you. You can, of course, just pop on a record and listen, but the guts of the machine contain an MP3 encoder and will not only detect gaps and separate tracks into individual files, it will query Gracenote and actually add names and ID3 tags to the resulting MP3s. To be clear, the tagging is carried out by included software back on your PC.

The neatest touch, though, is the position of the USB port. It’s on the front, so you can just stick a pen-drive in their and rip. Just press record and it’s all automatic once the music starts. You even get to listen as you copy….

Birthday is 5/28 folks. You know what to do.

More info here: Wired.com Gadget Lab: Denon Record Player Rips as it Plays.

As soon as I heard about this one, I had to let folks know. Niel is one of my favorite DJs and I don’t even remember the last time he put out a mixtape, but I’m sure he’s not rusty at all, given the fact he’s been backing up Jay for the last year plus. Check out the info below…

Long before backing up Jay-Z around the world I was known way more for making these really interesting thematic mixtapes, as opposed to being known for throwing up diamond roc hand signs.

The 2nd cd I made was one called sweeet, dang near 10 years ago. It wasn’t as planned as my other cds, but it became clear when it was done that it was about the sweet goodness of love life and soul.

The music on it felt good, like the sunshine.

Now although I’ve done some crazy things over the past year – performing at Madison Square Garden, hitting the stage in front of over 120,000 people at the glastonbury, and being on the stage front and center as the man behind the 1’s and 2’s at President Obama’s Inauguration, I’ve learned to my greatest pleasure that I’m the same cat I was 10 years ago.

Nothing’s changed, because -
I was who I was before I got here.

I’m this person, who listens to a lot of music, who loves the art of djing, and whose answer to Huey Lewis’ (can’t forget the news!) eternal question will always be an unequivocal “yes” – I do believe in love.

This cd is called Sweeet part 2, to keep pushing the feeling on. This is my first cd in over 3 years, and I really missed making these things for y’all. Sorry it took so long…

Check out a sample below and a tracklisting after the jump…..

Sweeet Part Two Sampler.

Click here to buy the CD for the $5 Early bird special: Sweeet Part 2 Pre-Order.

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Gotta love HBO for continuing to bring quality to TV. My good friend Rolando hipped me to this a few days ago, a new show their set to launch, Brave New Voices. Check out the info below…

One part Def Poetry Jam and two-parts documentary, Brave New Voices is a new late night series that features the finest young spoken word artists in the country. We ride along as teenage poets from San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, Santa Fe, Honolulu and Ann Arbor prepare to compete in the Brave New Voices National Poetry Slam Finals…

…They left their family, got on a plane, performed in front of a crowd of thousands and found new opportunities for growth and friendship beyond borders.

And one team rose above the rest to become the 2008 National Youth Slam Poetry Champion.

Check out a clip from the show below…

The series begins airing this Sunday @ 11PM EST. You can check out the first episode now, and get more info on the show, here: Brave New Voices On HBO.

Also, Ro: Congrats.