1. Requiem For a White MC.
Pete Nice of 3rd Bass – one time rival of the Beastie Boys – memorializes fellow Brooklynite, Adam Yauch, and comes to terms with the “Elk’s Club for white boys who rhymed on records for Def Jam.”
[Gawker]

2. Show & AG On The Bronx, Watching Grandmaster Flash Back In The Day, And Stereotypes In Hip-Hop.
The BX ambassadors share some truth. Show on today’s rap scene: “This isn’t really a complaint, just an observation. My main thing is that now you’re forced to listen to one style of hip-hop, at least on the radio and in videos anyway. There’s only one lane really being shown… All of us aren’t like that, though. Everybody from the hood isn’t a street nigga.”
[Village Voice]

3. Track-by-Track: El-P Unveils Cancer4Cure.
Co-Flo MC/producer chops it up about every cut on his new LP.
[The Skinny]

4. Fresh Air Remembers Maurice Sendak.
Brooklyn’s finest – one of the most important children’s writers/illustrators of all-time, who passed away this week at 83 – is remembered via print interview excerpts, audio, and more.
[NPR]

5. Looking Back at Huey Newton’s Thoughts on Gay Rights… In the Wake of Obama’s Endorsement.
Via Bay Area rap scholar Davey D, a transcript of a speech given by the co-founder of the Black Panther Party on August 15, 1970: “… Sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in the mouth, and want a woman to be quiet. We want to hit a homosexual in the mouth because we are afraid that we might be homosexual; and we want to hit the women or shut her up because we are afraid that she might castrate us, or take the nuts that we might not have to start with. We must gain security in ourselves and therefore have respect and feelings for all oppressed people.”
[Davey D's Hip-Hop Corner]

6. UCLA Video Game Art Festival Features Caine’s Arcade Made by a 9-Year-Old, and More.
Caine (Monroy)’s Arcade – the East L.A. DIY cardboard arcade that became an Internet sensation – enjoys a showcase alongside more adult endeavors devoted to women in jail and teenaged Russian nicotine addicts. Welcome to the big time, kid.
[LA Weekly]

Normally, we don’t like to post about music that we can’t host ourselves here on egotripland, but in this case, we don’t mind. Killer Mike’s new album R.A.P. Music, which has been steadily building anticipation for months now, finally drops next week on May 15 and SPIN’s website has a free stream of the entire thing. After we heard it, we knew we had to spread the word. The El-P produced effort delivers on its promise of being the most politically charged Killer Mike work to date, but it’s more than that. The whole long-player burns with a dedication to craft and is a testament to rap’s music ability to still give listeners a genuine charge. Straight out the gate with the blistering “Big Beast,” featuring Bun B, T.I. and Trouble, you’ll know that this is the “opposite of the sucker shit they play on TV,” like Mike says at song’s end. Go ‘head and give this a shot and let us know what you think.

LINK: Listen to Killer Mike’s new album R.A.P. Music over at SPIN.

1. Long Kiss Goodbye: How Fear Of A Black Planet Killed A Black Radio Station.
An in-depth, must read analysis and historical overview by Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop, detailing the demise of 98.7 Kiss FM.
[News One]

2. Bill Stephney on Kiss FM and WBLS.
Former program director at WBAU and Bomb Squad affiliate on the hole left in the black urban radio market after the merger of the two former rival stations.
[The Grio]

3. I Gotta Be Able To Counterattack: Rap and the Los Angeles Riots.
Jeff Chang explores L.A. hip-hop before and after the civil unrest.
[LA Review of Books]

4. John Peel’s Record Archive.
Peruse the noted BBC Radio 1 DJ’s collection virtually and alphabetically.
[The Space]

5. The Definitive List Of White Music Stolen By Black People.
Whitney covering Dolly, Otis covering Bing, Hendrix covering Dylan are just a few of the ebony on ivory tunes in this countdown.
[The Awl]

1. Adam Yauch: 1964 – 2012.

Statement via the Beasties’ official site.
[beastieboys.com]

2. 1987 Playboy Interview with Adam Yauch.

A glimpse back at the wild days of Licensed To Ill and MCA at the tender age of 22.
[Mic to Mic]

3. Vintage Ricky Powell Photos From the Paul’s Boutique Sessions.

The longtime “4th Beastie” documents the crew’s days recording a classic in the City of Angels.
[SPIN]

4. 1993 interview with Adam Yauch from bOING bOING #13.

Yauch discusses sampling the chants of Tibetan monks, snowboarding, meditation, and entering that “realm of nothingness.”
[Boing Boing]

5. Adam Yauch: Check His Head.

Yauch interviewed in the mid-’90s on spirituality and finding Buddhism.
[Shambhala Sun]

6. Adam Yauch: Dreams of Tibet.

Late ’90s Frontline Q&A with Yauch about his work on the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.
[PBS]

7. An Interview with Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys.

Yauch interviewed in 2008 on his high school and street basketball documentary, Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot, and how filmmaking compares with music-making.
[Huffington Post]

8. Adam “MCA” Yauch: Rest In Peace.

Former Def Jam director of publicity, and our friend, Bill Adler eulogizes Adam Yauch, remembering how he evolved from angry young man to agent of peace.
[Complex]

UPDATE: ADDING MORE MCA LINKS AS WE FIND THEM.

9. MCA (What Does It Mean?) – Questlove and Respect To The End.

The Roots’ ?uestlove shares some Beastie memories.
[Okay Player]

10. Brass monkey, class act: Mets pay tribute to Beastie Boy MCA.

Honoring the memory of Adam Yauch one at bat at a time.
[USA Today]

11. Peace, Adam.

Writer Sasha Frere-Jones looks back at the life and times of MCA: “And this is the Yauch people remember: a man who could say he was sorry and not feel lessened by it; a man living within the principles of Buddhism and committed to broadening awareness of the political situation in Tibet; and a genuinely quiet person who had become more likely to make a joke at his own expense than anyone else’s.”
[New Yorker]

12. Yauch Rocked: Raised by the Beasties.

A-Trak on how the Beasties shaped his musical aspirations.
[Huffington Post]

13. Requiem For a White MC.

One time 3rd Bass rival Pete Nice gives props.
[Gawker]

14. Henry Rollins: The Column! R.I.P. MCA.

The musician/spoken word artist/TV Host recalls touring with the Beasties and how MCA inspired him to visit Tibet.
[L.A. Weekly]

1. The 5th Annual 10 Softest Niggas In the Game.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to da Internetz cyberspace’s best rap impersonator, the great Big Ghostface as he once again counts down in his humble opinion and whatnot the softest rappers going right now. As usual, he holds nuttin’ back. Don’t believe us? See what he had to say about Drake “aka the Patron Saint of Tenderness aka the Human Glee Episode aka The Inventor of the Audio Scrunchie aka the Merchant of Cuddles otherwise known as The Wizard of Pause”: “…You kno you soft when you inspire muthafuckin Zac Efron to get YOLO tatted on his creamy little hand b. You kno you soft when the furry mascots at ball games n shit be askin if they can get pictures wit YOU son.” Ha!
[Big Ghost Chronicles]

2. Why I Gave Up On Record Store Day.
Supporting record stores as essential places through which to build community? Cool. Standing in line to compete for exclusive releases with folks who are gonna turn around and post them shits to ebay before the day is done? Okay, maybe not so cool. Read how RSD special releases ruined the waxist holiday for one music fan.
[Village Voice]

3. Mourning MySpace.
Globetrottin’ DJ/producer A-Trak reflects on the once trendy social network’s fall from grace and reminds us of its good side.
[Huffington Post]

4. J-Zone’s Tool Box: Kool and The Gang – “Let the Music Take Your Mind.”
Yo, you peeped the relaunched Hot Peas & Butta site, son? Fiya! egotripland contributor J-Zone contributes a piece on why those classic Kool & the Gang 45s are better than all your rare-as-shit, expensive-ass joints.
[Hot Peas & Butta]

5. DJ Quik Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records.
David Drake interviews David Blake in this in-depth piece for the ‘Plex. Quik is the name, and don’t ever forget it.
[Complex]

6. A Complete Guide to “Hipster Racism.”
HBO Girls controversy spawns a think piece by Lindy West: “… This new scheme someone came up with — where we prove we’re not racist by acting as casually racist as possible? Not our best, white people. Not our best.” Wonder if Ted Bawno’s son, Gaelen, has read this yet.
[Jezebel]

1. Tick-Tack-Toe for the Vigorously Unsquare.
The million-dollar question tho: Who’s the rap Paul Lynde?
[Via New York Times]

2. Blunted On Reality: A Journalist Recalls Smoking With Snoop Dogg, Biggie, Cypress Hill & More.
Our amigo and respected colleague Michael A. Gonzales reminisces about all the times he got lifted with rap stars including Biggie, Snoop Dogg and Cypress Hill. Sample quote from Sen Dog: “I do everything better when I’m high. I write better, ride my skateboard better, make love better, and talk shit better.” Also, as a bonus, the author counts down the “50 Best Weed Songs.”
[Via Complex]

3. Da Oral History of Da Butt.
How D.C. go-go band E.U.’s go-go smash from Spike Lee’s School Daze went national 24 years ago. Retold by all the key players with wonderful subheads like “Da Butt: Backstory” and “Da Butt Explodes.”
[Via Washington City Paper]

4. Period Piece: Rammellzee and the End.
Our good homie of North Kakalak extraction, the esteemed Mr. David Tompkins, once spent all night with hip-hop enigma Rammellzee talking military engineering, tanks, dentistry, deep-sea bends and gangster ducks while listening to Black Sabbath. Read more about that and take in Dave’s assessment of the latest Rammell art exhibition.
[Via The Paris Review]

5. Doing It to Death: A review of RJ Smith’s biography of James Brown.
Another piece by our man Dave Tompkins. This new JB bio sounds too good to resist with tales of hallucinogens, funky sweat and a glorious cape.
[Via Grantland]

6. Prodigy Speaks on Mobb Deep Rumors with Cipha Sounds & Rosenberg (Video).
P tells HOT 97′s Cipha Sounds & Peter Rosenberg that the Mobb was never on the verge of breaking up and all that Twitter beef wasn’t real. Sorry P, we don’t believe you. You need more people.
[Via Miss Info]

New Michigan Museum Showcases Racist Artifacts.

This really is the best of racism. Provocative, emotional, and more n-words on display than a Fox News message board. We wanna go.
[Via The Grio]

Acura Super Bowl Commercial Only Light-Skinned Blacks Need Apply.
The casting call document is Accura-te. You hardly see dark African-Americans on TV.

[Via TMZ]

1. 7 Types of People at Coachella.
List includes “Hopeless Drug Addicts” (pictured above), “Bro’s,” “Industry Assholes,” and “Dirty Hippies.” Also this bit of wisdom about “Music Lovers”: “The sentence, ‘I only go to Coachella for the music,’ makes me think of the words, ‘I only read Playboy for the articles,’ because they’re both things that nobody has ever said.
[Funny or Die]

2. Source Close to Mobb Deep Says Duo Will Never Put Out Another Album.
Look at all these rumors, surrounding us every day. Must… resist… but can’t… stop… reading… gossip…
[XXL]

3. The Kid Mero – #KNOWLEDGEDARTS: Twitter Ruined Rap.
Yes, but this editorial may have saved humanity. Excerpt: “THE PROBLEM WITH TWITTER AIN’T THAT NIGGAS IS ON TWITTER TALKIN BOUT ALL THE WILD SHIT THEY DOIN. THE PROBLEM IS THAT ALOTTA NIGGAS RELEASE HIGH LEVELS OF CLITORICAL ESSENCE ON TWITTER YOU FEEL ME?”
[Takin Mines]

4. Beastie Boys’ Mike D Curates Art and Music Festival in Los Angeles.
MOCA-linkin’ good, y’all!
[Rolling Stone]

5. Interview: David Simon doesn’t want to tell you how to watch The Wire.
But he’ll strongly suggest what he prefers. Alan Sepinwall interviews The Wire‘s creator on what’s wrong with Omar vs. Stringer Bell bracketology, weekly episode reviews (before the series is over), and bloggin’ outta control.
[HitFlix]

6. Dr Dre to bring Tupac Shakur and Nate Dogg to life during Coachella set.
Holograms – the 5th element of hip-hop. (Holla-grams?)
[NME]

Red Bull Music Academy recently asked our own Chairman Mao to assess the life and work of hip-hop icon and “ikonoklast,” Rammellzee. In addition to touching on some of Ramm’s history – his appearances in Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise and Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style, “Beat Bop” and Basquiat, masks and mulitple personas – Mao guides readers through the new exhibition of Gothic Futurism at the Suzanne Geiss Company in Soho in money makin’ Manhattan – a mandatory visit for all Rotten Apple dwellers:

“You’ve no choice but to feel participatory upon experiencing Rammellzee: The Equation/The Letter Racers… Upon entering the gallery’s main exhibition room, you’re immediately greeted by two sets of Letter Racers suspended from the ceiling positioned at 40-45 degree angles, descending in attack formation, appearing frozen as if in mid-flight. The frontline fighters are actually low enough to graze your dome – or literally give you an eyeful if you happen to stand north of six feet. It’s a welcome hazard given the fact that the detailing on these mythic pieces has never been more visually accessible.

Read the rest of the article at redbullmusicacademy.com.

BONUS AUDIO: HEAR RAMMELLZEE RHYMING LIVE ON DUTCH RADIO IN 1986… AFTER THE JUMP…
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