Hanukkah Radio 2013

Back again, schmucks! Here is the 2013 edition of Shade45's Hanukkah Radio hosted by yours truly and the migh Reef the Streets. Our guest DJ this year was the incomparable legendary Stretch Armstrong, and we also had honorary Jews for a Day Lord Sear aka Lord Shmear and DJ Whoo Kid aka DJ Whoberg as well as Dro Grindstein and Shmuley on the boards.
The show features a call-in from Hanukkah Radio staple The Alchemist as well as plenty of Jewish infused hip-hop and our Jew of the Year 2013. Finally, no Hanukkah Radio program is complete without our very own game show Jew or Not a Jew.
Check it all out below and find out who earned the very first Jew in Hip-Hop Lifetime Achievement Award.





BONUS: Here's the Stretch Armstrong AC/DC remix of "My Name Is" that we talked about, along with "Rhyming Words" and some of the prank calls we did with Stretch for the MMLP snippet tape.

High Maintenance- Elijah

I don't really laugh out loud much at movies or tv shows... so when it happens, I like to share. This video is from a series on Vimeo called High Maintenance that's pretty great overall, but the clip below is outstanding. I love Jewish humor, but throw in a dysfunctional family and a weed dealer with a Passover seder and I'm all-in.

High Maintenance // Elijah from Janky Clown Productions on Vimeo.

Proof & Dilla 3

Very hard to believe, but it has been 7 long years since we lost Big Proof. Again, to celebrate the his life and share his art with the world, I've unearthed another lost track from P and J. Dilla called "Keep It on the Low". The track was produced by Dilla and that's also him on the chorus. Forgive the sound quality but as I've said before these are ripped from cassette dubs and it's the best that I have. I'm pretty sure the track is from 1994, when Proof and J were working on their Funky Cowboys side-project. What can I say? The world just isn't as enjoyable nor the same without you guys. Rest in peace.

Me & Jude on Shade45 at SXSW 2013

I meant to post this a while ago, but here's the interview with me and Jude at SXSW this year. I stopped by a dimly lit cave of a studio on the side of The W hotel in Austin on a beautiful, sunny day to find a lonely Jude discussing what Jude discusses. Hear about Jewish pimps, designer drugs, BBQ, Yelawolf and the airport Hilton below.

Detroit Rubber- Episode 1

Back when Ben Silverman, producer extraordinaire and principal of Electus, reached out to me and Em to created content for their Loud channel on YouTube I had an idea in mind that had been sitting around up there for a while. I always thought that a sneaker store would make for a good reality series given the culture and passion of sneaker-heads and the frequent crossover into the music world. A good sneaker spot can have bit of a barbershop vibe in the sense that people come their to buy stuff as much as they do to share opinions, ideas and basically shoot the shit.
When we threw the idea to Ben and his team, they loved it! One problem- I didn't really know the Burn Rubber guys that well yet. I had been in the store several times and have admired their designs and hustle from afar, but I never really kicked it with them. So my guy J.D. made the introduction, and Rick and Ro turned out to be even more interesting, funny and charismatic than I could have hoped for. We turned the cameras on, and the guys and their crew shined even brighter.
Please take a minute to check out the first episode below, and if you like it, walk with us in something exclusive for the 6 episode run of the first season. We are proud to shine the light on this story of successful and positive entrepreneurial spirit straight from The D. Burn Rubber, baby.

Hanukkah Radio 2012

Can you believe that it's been an entire year since the last one? Well I can too. It's back, this year's installment of Hanukkah Radio on SiriusXM's Shade45! Join myself along with Reef the Streets, DJ Scram "Scramishewitz" Jones and Lord "Shmear" Sear as we take you on an exploration of the meaning of Hanukkah and a bunch of other stuff. This is where Judaism and Hip-Hop collide! This year we name a new Jew of the Year, have guest Rabbi Wechsler lead us on a brief prayer, play everyone's favorite game Jew or Not a Jew and play an assortment of music with Jewish connections. Thanks for listening, Happy Hanukkah and whatever other holiday you celebrate. L'Chaim!

Name The Pig

Shady Records and Slaughterhouse invite you to name the pig from their logo... Yeah, he's tied upside down and looks lifeless but we want to give this poor guy an identity and who knows where it goes from there...

Adam "MCA" Yauch Tributes

I meant to get this post up sooner, but I just got back from Disney World with the kids and that's not really a trip that you have any extra time on... Anyway, the Beastie Boys have had a profound impact on me. I have been a fan ever since I first saw them debut on the big screen in Krush Groove (which I was completely blown away by, them and the young LL Cool J impromptu "Radio" performance) and at one point I was determined to be IN the group at around 15 years old. I was already completely smitten with rap music since my older brother introduced me to Run-D.M.C.'s debut album, and the fact that 3 white jewish dudes could make a career out of it put a lot of gas in my young tank (pause).
I've personally always credited the Beasties as the original hipsters, crafting everything from ironic facial hair and retro clothing to auteur film making and indie companies (Xtra Large, Grand Royal) as chic and way ahead of the curve. Combine that with their debut LIcensed to Ill and the groundbreaking production and sample usage on Paul's Boutique and that alone is enough to cement them as classic, indescribably important artists of my generation. Obviously it didn't stop there, as Check Your Head and it's follow-up Ill Communication continued their trailblazing talent well into the '90's as both were classic albums themselves.
A couple of my good friends and Shade45 stalwarts DJ Lord Sear and Reef the Streets both shared their Beastie Boys memories with the mix and interview below, and I wanted to make sure that I posted them here for the rest of you to check out.





Adam Yauch will be especially missed by me as an inspiration, musician and cultural icon. Here's to you, in your honor.

Kermit the Frog vs. DJ Whoo Kid

G Unit's DJ Whoo Kid has always amazed me for many, many reasons- not the least of which is the variety and quality of guests he ropes in for interviews. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if he interviews Obama one day. But this one really blows my mind...

Yelawolf & Kid Rock on Letterman- "Let's Roll"

In case you missed it, the Wolf came to the big city with his other Mid-west buddy Mr. Rock to perform "Let's Roll" on the Late Show with David Letterman. Rock is chillin' hard in the fur. (I don't know if it was real so don't ask so you can just splatter my blog with red paint if it was. Knowing him, it was.)

2122163159 by YardieGoals4

Gangrene "Vodka & Ayahuasca" (Video)

Here's the first official music video from The Alchemist and Oh No's Gangrene project Vodka & Ayahuasca directed by the fresh mad-man Jason Goldwatch from the Decon crew. I'm sure you will find this is a very entertaining and clever approach to mayhem. No Queens rappers were hurt during the making of this clip.

Cop the album HERE.

Shady Records x GQ NFL Playoffs

Our friend and GQ Senior Editor Will Welch came up with the idea to have some Shady Records artists, Eminem and myself create bracket predictions and talk some smack about the NFL playoffs and who will emerge victorious in the Super Bowl.
The brackets started with Divisional Playoffs following Wild Card weekend. Slaughterhouse was in the studio in Detroit with Eminem and I was in town as well when we filled our brackets out, and everyone saw mine and balked. Eminem got his words in first with this interview that ran last week.
Turns out that I picked 3 out of 4 right in the first round. My bracket is below.

Check out my interview and amature opinion here. Interviews with Yelawolf as well as Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz of Slaughterhouse are coming soon. May the best man(ager) win! LET'S GO BIG BLUE!

Shade45's Top 25 of 2011

Below are the top 25 most played records of 2011 on SiriusXM's Shade45 across all areas of programming- better late than never.

1. BAD MEETS EVIL “FAST LANE”

2. JAY-Z & KANYE WEST “NIGGAS IN PARIS”

3. BAD MEETS EVIL FEAT. BRUNO MARS “LIGHTERS”

4. BIG SEAN FEAT. CHRIS BROWN “MY LAST”

5. KANYE WEST FEAT. RIHANNA “ALL OF THE LIGHTS”

6. LIL WAYNE FEAT. CORY GUNZ “6 foot 7 foot”

7. WIZ KHALIFA “ROLL UP”

8. YELAWOLF FEAT. LIL JON “HARD WHITE (UP IN THE CLUB)”

9. JAY-Z & KANYE WEST “OTIS”

10. DJ DRAMA FEAT. FABOLOUS, ROSCOE DASH & WIZ KHALIFA “OH MY”

11. 2 CHAINZ “SPEND IT”

12. DR. DRE FEAT. EMINEM & SKYLAR GREY “I NEED A DOCTOR”

13. BIG SEAN FEAT. KANYE WEST & ROSCOE DASH “MARVIN GAYE & CHARDONNAY”

14. YOUNG JEEZY FEAT. LIL WAYNE “BALLIN”

15. SLAUGHTERHOUSE “BACK ON THE SCENE”

16. DRAKE “HEADLINES”

17. EMINEM “SPACEBOUND”

18. J. COLE “WORKOUT"

19. MAINO FEAT. ROSCOE DASH “LET IT FLY”

20. BIG K.R.I.T. FEAT. LUDACRIS & BUN B. “COUNTRY SHIT (REMIX)”

21. TRAVIS BARKER FEAT. BUSTA RHYMES, LIL JON, TWISTA & YELAWOLF “LET’S GO”

22. SLAUGHTERHOUSE, YELAWOLF & EMINEM “2.0 BOYS”

23. TECH N9NE “MENTAL GIANT”

24. MEEK MILL FEAT. YOUNG CHRIS “HOUSEPARTY”

25. FABOLOUS “YOU BE KILLIN' EM”

Here's a Spotify link to the playlist as well courtesy of Riggs Morales.

Hanukkah Radio 2011

Every year, like we always do about this time (Hanukkah is a moving target because of the Jewish calendar), SiriusXM presents the audio knish known as Shade45's Hanukkah Radio! Myself and Reef the Streets (@NYCreef) took to the mic this year on the eve of the lighting of the first candle on the menorah to celebrate the Festival of Lights with a slew of guests and surprises. Guest DJ and lantzman Scram Jones was on the on decks spinning tunes from our favorite jewish hip-hop producers along with out co-host and honorary jew for a day Lord Schmear. Check out both hours below and learn about the holiday of Hanukkah and guest call-ins from our 2010 Jew of the Year DJ Drama and the legendary MC Serch of 3rd Bass- as well as our 2011 Jew of the Year young Mac Miller and special in-studio guest none other than the hysterical and talented Action Bronson aka Action Bernstein. If you listen all the way through (for some reason) you can also check out this year's installment of everyone's favorite game show Jew or Not a Jew. Shalom and enjoy! Happy Hanukkah. Hanukkah Radio 2011- Hour 1 by Bunyan71 Hanukkah Radio 2011- Hour 2 by Bunyan71

Bad Meets Evil- Shade45 Halloween Special

Last night on SiriusXM's Shade45 Bad Meets Evil aka Eminem and Royce Da 5'9" delivered a Halloween special counting down their favorite Unlucky 13 (get it?) Halloween-themed hip-hop classics. Listen below to see what Eminem's costume was for Halloween and hear Yelawolf's scary Halloween mishap involving too much information...

The Knux "Razorblade" (Video)

Check out the Benjamin Greenblatt directed video for The Knux's song "Razorblade" below. The Knux album Eraser is available now! The Knux are on THE ERASER TOUR this fall. Check for dates near you here. For more information visit TheKnux.com.

Shady 2.0 Cypher Beat

Sadly, a lot of folks don't know what the instrumental used in the Shady 2.0 Cypher was. It's a 12" single from East Flatbush Project feat. Des called "Tried by 12." The record was independently released in 1996 on a label called 10/30 Uproar Records and was produced by Spencer Bellamy. When we were preparing for the cypher, I was messing around on my laptop playing random mp3's and Em overheard the beat and yelled "yo, ask them if we can rap on THAT!" So I did, and our good friend DJ Premier obliged. The record's instrumental was a favorite in the Detroit battle scene back in the day, and I consider it a classic. Check out the song and video below.

Steve Stoute on Sway In The Morning

As reported below on Rosenblog, Steve Stoute recently released his Tanning of America book. As part of his media tour to promote the tome, he stopped by SiriusXM's Shade45 to talk to Sway on Sway in the Morning. Below see Steve address Run-DMC and their impact on Adidas and Jay-Z's pairing with Reebok and Hewlett-Packard.

Shady Records History Hall

As reported on Rosenblog below, the Shady Records Brisk Bodega in New York City was a one-day-only event with performances from Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf with a pop-up "museum." The staff at Shady and myself searched our archives, homes, storage facilities and vaults to come up with a collection of artifacts, awards and memorabilia spanning the history of the label and Eminem's career. I was personally very concerned that some things might get damaged and/or stolen in the process but we hired the Shady Security crew to spend the night with the collection to make sure nothing got vicked or ganked. Special thanks to Riggs Morales, Marc LaBelle, Dro Genao, Alvon Miller and Craig Barnes for making sure everything went smooth and putting in overtime hours to make sure that this special collection came together. Below check out two different videos with narration from yours truly describing most of what was on display for those that couldn't make it in person. See you in another 12 or 13 years I guess? Shady Records, Established 1999. TRUST US. (P.S. I know I said "tooken" and that "5 Star Generals" isn't actually on Soundbombing 2 so shutup).

The Knux- Eraser

Tomorrow, The Knux release their sophomore album entitled Eraser. If you aren't aware, The Knux are two brothers (literally) from New Orleans named Krispy Kreme and Joey LeStrat, or just Krispy and Joey (click to follow them on Twitter). We at Goliath Artists, Inc. have managed The Knux since before their Interscope debut Remind Me In 3 Days... and we are firm believers that these guys are a unique and special talent that the world needs to hear. Their new album is a previously never accomplished mix of hip-hop, electronic, pop and indie/garage rock styles that blend together in a rapturous fashion. I hear influences from De La Soul to The Clash to Depeche Mode in their music- and somehow it comes together and works. The guys produced the album themselves and write all of their lyrics, too. If this sounds interesting to you, check The Knux out and pick up their album here or check it out on Spotify or buy a copy in an actual store. You will thank me later. My personal favorite tracks are probably "Eraser", "1974", "Queen of the Cold" and "I See Stars." Let me know what yours are. Here is the LA Times review of Eraser. For more info and upcoming tour dates, visit TheKnux.com.

Yelawolf on Sway In The Morning

This morning Shady Records' own Yelawolf came by SiriusXM's Shade45 to chat with Sway on his Sway In The Morning show. Below hear Yela discuss his new DJ, the Shady Records Brisk Bodega, the song he has with Eminem on his upcoming Radioactive album, his Jim Morrison phase and more.

NYC Shady Brisk Bodega

This Saturday, September 17th, The Shady Records Brisk Bodega will be open for business- for the day at least. The concept of the Shady Records Brisk Bodega is to turn the experience of copping a bottle or can of Brisk Iced Tea at your local corner store in NYC into a Shady Records corner store run and operated by the Shady brand of entertainment mixed with a little bit of history... See, in this bodega there is a pop-up one day only Shady Records History Hall, which chronicles the inception and rise of the label through rare photos, art, objects, awards, apparel, sneakers, etc. The collection contains items from the Shady Vault, including some of my personal prized possessions such as the Dr. Dre "Missing" milk carton from "The Real Slim Shady" video. The Shady Records History Hall will be open for public viewing from 1-5 pm. Come nightfall, lucky contest winners and invited guests will be treated to exclusive performances from the 2.0 Boys themselves, Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse. Sounds will be provided by the incomparable Dj Enuff. Drinks will be provided by the bar via the good folks at Brisk. Our whole staff spent a ton of time putting this experience together along with the Brisk team and the homies at Cornerstone. If you are a fan of Shady, this isn't something you will want to miss. Unfortunately, tickets aren't available to the public. Follow Yelawolf and the Slaughterhouse guys as well as myself and Shady Records on Twitter to be some of the lucky few. More information is available at BriskBodega.com or by clicking here.

Steve Stoute's The Tanning of America

Tonight I attended Steve Stoute's cocktail party for his new book The Tanning of America. The book is being published by Gotham Books and is available in-stores and online now (it was released on September 8th). Steve is an old friend of mine. We first met when he was the head of Urban Music at Interscope around 2000. I remember my first conversation with Steve- he called me to tell me how big of a fan he had become of Eminem and how he wanted to help us break D12 on Shady. Over the course of the next few years we developed a close friendship as he lived in my neighborhood and we had many mutual friends. Yeah, we fell out for a few years but the problems we had became water-under-the-bridge and we reconnected last year and picked up where we left off- smoking cigars and talking about hip-hop and the landscape of the music world. During those conversations Steve told me about the book he was writing and explained its premise: that hip-hop culture had so greatly affected american culture that it became part of the marketing language and attitude of the mainstream which eventually forced Corporate America to embrace it and ultimately utilize it. Eventually that obviously led to the topic of Eminem and his part in the process. Steve asked to interview Eminem about the subject, and the conversation appears in the book's epilogue. If you get the opportunity pick the book up. There's a very intelligent discussion and explanation of the theory of "tanning" as an american phenomenon that is sure to spark conversation. Below are some photos I took on my Droid from the party. Ok, so Nas, Jigga, Diddy, Fab 5 Freddy, Run, Russel Simmons and Brett Ratner were in the building amongst others- along with the lovely Allison Rosenberg. The Otis Maybach

Steve Stoute and Fab 5 Freddy

A Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince Varsity Jacket

Tom Sachs Grand Piano

The Knux Feat. Kid Cudi "Run" (Video)

Pleased to present the shiny new BBgun directed video from The Knux and Kid Cudi for the single "Run"... This is the day (every day?) in the life of a young model as she's on the move in NYC. Running, indeed. Maybe her nose too. The Knux sophomore album Eraser is in stores and available online 9/27, or you can pre-order this gem here.

Where Is Danny?

This record is so dope. Not sure where this Danny! guy came from but his rhymes are phenomenal. I'm gonna play this for Em, hopefully he digs it. Hopefully you do too.

Check out "Manic At The Disco" and the title track. Or just go to his website and find some other goodies.

Bad Meets Evil "Fastlane" (Video Teaser)

Here's the teaser for the Syndrome-directed video for "Fastlane" from the Bad Meets Evil EP Hell: The Sequel. Look out for the full version after the holiday and be sure to cop the EP on 6/14/11.

Bad Meets Evil- Hell: The Sequel EP Cover

Unveiled: the cover for Hell: The Sequel. For this one, Eminem and Royce hooked back up with The Slim Shady LP photographer Danny Hastings. Danny did the interior packaging and special edition cover shots for Em's Interscope debut and we decided that since the Bad Meets Evil project is bringing things full circle from that time period that it would be appropriate to work with Danny on the visuals. You can peep some of Danny's classic work and current material HERE. Be advised, this is the guy that did the classic Wu-Tang Enter: The 36 Chambers cover, Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... cover, and many others.

Here are a couple of shots that Danny did back-in-the-day with Em for The Slim Shady LP:



Bad Meets Evil's EP Hell: The Sequel is in-stores 6/14.

The Knux- "She's So Up" (Video)

Here is the first clip off of The Knux sophomore LP due out this June on Cherrytree/Interscope Records. Don Tyler got behind the lens for Joey and Krispy once again to deliver this grainy flashback to a night that never happened in 1978.

Proof & Dilla 2

As promised, here is another previously unreleased (as far as I know) track from Proof & Dilla, called "The Fizzo." I heard about this track before I ever actually heard it from a very excited DJ Head back in '94, right around the time that F.C. (Funky Cowboys) was created. In his typical fashion when he had heard something that nobody else had, Head just giggled and said "man, Proof and Jaydee got this new record, man..." When I heard it I knew what Head was so amped-up about, these guys really had a crazy chemistry together. That's T3 of Slum Village on the chorus.
I don't want to do anything but remember P and his music today, so hopefully this will put you in the same headspace. Don't ask about the photo, let's just say Proof went through a Spongebob phase! Enjoy- until next year: BIG PROOF FOREVER.



Previously....

Proof & Dilla "The Science"
J. Dilla Metro Times Article '96

Slaughterhouse x Yelawolf 3/24/11- Royal Oak, MI

Following their sold-out individual shows at Highline Ballroom in New York City, Shady Records' Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf are joining forces in Detroit in further celebration of the announcement of their addition to the roster. Tickets are still available as of today, don't miss it.