From our homey and brother Jimmy Blags, the creative director of The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival and the main who built this site from scraps.

Some don’t realize that James is an accomplished illustrator whose work has appeared in funky fresh magazines including King, Wax Poetics and a slew of others.
He has designed all the BHF posters and flyers since 2005. Bottom line, he is stupid nice.

Check out his new site and give him some work.

The limited edition Brooklyn Bodega vs. Emperial Nation t-shirt which debuted at the 2008 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival is now on sale for $20 over at the Emperial Nation website! The sale is for a limited time only. With each purchase of this shirt you will receive a $5 gift card applicable to any style from the Emperial Nation collection. Hurry and get your very own while supplies last!

Check us out…

• Video Vixon
• Highbrid Nation
• Chris Brown Blog (???)
• Weight of a Nickel
• Old to the New
• Baller Status (big ups to Donny Goines!)
• Nobody Smiling
• DUMBO NYC
• YUME (very big shout-out to them!)

And the Google Alerts continue…

We here at the BODEGA™ would like to thank every blogger, writer, journalist, photographer, and Festival attendee for showing support. Saturday’s event would not have been a success without you all. Check out the coverage from the following:

• Gotham Gazette
• Clinton Hill Chill
• UGO
• Old To The New
• Blackburn
• Herfection
• Who Is Ava
• Everyone Knows Best
• The B Side Show 
• Like You Care

There’s more to come so stay posted…

More info coming soon. BHF 2008 July 11th & 12th. Shout out to DBA in Brookyln!

With less than one week until the Festival we are all very excited.
There is a lot going on and we just want to break down a few important things.

The last ticket mailing is today (Monday July 7th) All donor tickets moving forward will be held at Will Call.
Will Call will be at the main entrance at the corner of Plymouth and Main Streets.

VIP Level Donors - upon arrival please head to VIP check-in also at the corner of Plymouth and Water Streets in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

All premiums (beer tokens, goodie bags, and food vouchers) will be distributed at the Brooklyn Bodega Booth inside the park. We will be located in the Tobacco Warehouse under the tent immediately to your right.

For the after party, all donors at the Confidante and VIP level will be admitted free. This is an additional premium for all of our valued donors. Your names will be on the Brooklyn Bodega VIP list. You will also be given a special wrist band.

There is also a limited reduced admission list at the After Party. Your BHF ticket stub is all you need. The list is limited so don’t waste time heading over to Southpaw once KRS finishes.

Remember the July 10th date has been postponed.

We thank everyone for the enthusiasm and appreciate the patience. Any questions, comments etc, please hit us up donors@brooklynbodega.com.

See you Saturday!

The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival prides itself on not only bringing you the finest in traditional Hip-Hop music, but giving you a taste of the future. This year, the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival is proud to have Homeboy Sandman on the bill. Here’s a preview of some of Homeboy’s music…

above: T.O. responding to the following news…

All: The July 10th date at the Masonic Temple has been postponed.
Below is a letter from Revive Da Live, the main producers of the event.

———————————–
Hey Everyone,

Due to several scheduling conflicts with our July 10th lineup, Revive Da Live, Boom Boom and Brooklyn Bodega have decided to postpone our July 10th date.

As disappointing as this may be we feel that by postponing the date and coordinating everyone’s scheduling and marketing efforts we will be able to make this event exactly what Chris Dave & Friends represents.

Brooklyn Bodega, Boom Boom, and Revive Da Live thank you for your time and effort. Please rest assured we will return to the Brooklyn Masonic Temple and put on the best show we can.

Alright y’all. Drink your water. Eat your vegetables and proteins.
Two weeks from today the 4th Annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival will begin at the Masonic Temple in Fort Greene.

Speaking of July 10th at Masonic we will have a SUPER BIG artist announcement on Monday. We just need this cat to finish another obligation in NYC before we can announce for our little shindig.

July 11th we will be at powerHouse with High Water Music, Sucio Smash, Fresh Daily, Sputnik Brown, P. Casso and friends. Free admission (donations accepted of course), Free Beer courtesy of our family at Brooklyn Brewery, and fresh beats. Sucio came by yesterday and told me he is inviting Spinna and Bobbito down as well.

On July 12th at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park is when ‘we gets busy.’ There is a lot going on so here is how you should play it:

At noon bring the little duns, your moms and auntie down to the park. Get free stuff from Nickelodeon, learn how to play lacrosse, check your blood sugar, take some salsa lessons, get some fresh lemonade from Jakada Juice and listen to our homegirl DJ Misbehaviour.

At about 3:30 tell Auntie to take the kids home because the show is about to begin. Go get a beer from the Brewery. Get a burger from Sal and the boys at Front Street. Or go get some grilled chicken from the good folks at Rice.
Tell Auntie to hurry back because we got some old school legends in the house she does not want to miss

Text your cousin and tell him Blu and Exile are about to rock. And he does not want to miss Mickey, Fresh or 88 either.

Get a mixtape and CD from the truth.com truck and say ‘thank you.’

Then buckle in because J Period is about to get on the wheels. And the word is he is bringing a gang of special guests like he did last year. And you missed Chubb Rock last year so don’t front.

After J, Buckshot will hit the stage with all of Brooklyn behind him. Time for ‘Who Got Da Props’, ‘Buck ‘Em Down’, some joints from the new 9th Wonder joint. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sean P, or Smif N Wessun come out.

Then my friends prepare to see the Greatest MC of All Time – motherskunkin’ Blastmaster KRS ONE Da Teacha. All you old farts – limber up because KRS is gonna take us back to the old school (‘take it to Union Square’). Young’uns – rest assured KRS can rock it for you as well. He is old school but is still the best there is on stage.

Then… catch your breath. We are not done yet.
Get a car, catch the train and head over to Southpaw. We are gonna take it to Detroit (Day-tway) with The Platinum Pied Pipers, House Shoes and Invincible. Downstairs DJ Parler will be spinning nothing but the goodness. Classic Hip-Hop from ’76 to now (no Lollipops).

Then you can go home.
Thank you and God Bless.

For the third straight year legendary VJ and Hip-Hop pioneer Ralph McDaniels will serve as host of the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival.

Uncle Ralph, as he is also affectionately known, has been hosting the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival since it moved to Empire Fulton Ferry State Park in 2006. More than just a host Ralph has been an ambassador for the Festival. “A student of Hip-Hop will know that you cannot underestimate the importance of Ralph McDaniels and Video Music Box. He saw the need to archive and document our culture before MTV, and before YouTube. Without him I am not sure Hip-Hop as an art form or as a business would be the multi- billion dollar industry that it is. We are his children and the Festival is a continuation of the trailblazing spirit manifested by Ralph and all of our other elders,” Wes Jackson, Festival Chair and Executive Director.

Uncle Ralph is also celebrating 25 years of Video Music Box, his groundbreaking music video show. In the 80’s, Video Music Box was the only place to see music videos for much of New York City. Before Yo MTV Raps!, or 106th and Park there was one game in town, Video Music Box. Video Music Box gave Ralph the platform to help launch the careers of Jay Z, Black Moon, A Tribe Called Quest, KRS ONE, De La Soul, Leaders Of The New School and more. In addition to continuing to host and produce Video Music Box, Ralph also hosts “The Bridge” on WNYC. “The Bridge” focuses on classic videos and interviews from legendary groups and artists.

The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival takes place July 10th - 12th Ralph McDaniels will be hosting the Main Day at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park on July 12th

DJ Premier is…

DJ Premier is, rightfully, one of hip-hop’s most revered producers, and a cornerstone of the New York scene, an active testament to its once and future vitality. But while Preemo has his fundamental features—the impeccably curated jazz and soul samples; the spot-on scratched choruses; the effortlessly flowing hip-hop sound bytes—no one track will ever quite capture the man.

You’ll have to go farther back to do that: back to Brooklyn, and 1989, when Premier—born Chris Martin in Houston, Texas, in 1966—first hooked up with Guru, an MC from Boston, under the name Gang Starr. Their debut, No More Mr. Nice Guy, was just a hint at what was to come; namely, 1991’s Step Into The Arena, the first in a deadly string of albums—Daily Operation (1992), Hard to Earn(1994), and Moment of Truth(1998)—on which Premier defined the East Coast sound, bending spare sounds into his spartan, incessant beats.

Premier didn’t sleep much this decade, working with a remarkable, varied array of artists: KRS-One, Jeru the Damaja, Bone Thugs n’ Harmony, Big Daddy Kane, Mobb Deep, M.O.P, Rakim, and Fat Joe, among many others. But it’s his work for the mid-90’s hip-hop holy trinity that hit the hardest: the stomping bass line on Nas’s commanding “N.Y. State of Mind”; the remorseful piano runs on Jay-Z’s breathtaking “D’evils”; the ominous horn burbles on Biggie’s cool-as-fuck “Kick in the Door.”

Preemo could have eaten off his incredible 90’s run for the rest of his life, deeply entrenched in the rolodexes of the industry’s elite. But, to his credit, he never stopped embracing hungry MCs—from a fresh faced Mos Def to the grimy Non Phixion to his latest project, the fleet-tongued Termanology. And, oh yeah, a few years back, maybe just to prove he could, he flipped some sharp trumpet blasts into “Ain’t No Other Man,” a chart-topping Christina Aguilera single that was—unapologetically, uncompromisingly—a Premier track.

Thanks to our man Amos Barshad for this gem

Come see Primo on July 12th. Word

We have had a few people (some haters) ask us ‘Who is Mickey Factz’ and why is he on the bill instead of my client MC Murda Murda Kill Kill.

My first reaction is ‘do a Google search before you show your ignorance.’
My second reaction is ‘you have a point. I remember in ‘06 when people asked the same question about Lupe Fiasco.’ And in the immortal words of Q-Tip, the real John Davis, ‘I really don’t mind if it’s over your head / because the job of ressurecters is to wake up the dead.’

So with that being said here is the first in a series of our attempt to explain who is rocking with us this year.

————————-

“Who Is Mickey Factz”
by Eavvon O’Neal

Hailing from the Bronx, NY Mickey is considered the NYC representative of what is now being called “hipster rap.”
Similar artists: Wale, Kid Cudi, Kid Sister, The Cool Kids, PAC DIV.

While the term Hipster rap has somehow turned into a cuss word when you listen to Mickey you realize that outside of the labels (whether you like them or not) he is an artists trying to push the art form forward. Much the way the models for today’s ‘Hipster’ MC’s did in the Golden Era.

Mickey is about his Supras very similar to how Slick Rick was about those Bally’s.
As Tip said, “Daddy, don’t you know things go in cycles.”

His lyrical connection, to his fan base harps on his nonchalant handling of racism and classicism, as if he doesn’t really see what the big deal is. He has put in intense thought on his wording, and this sometimes creates a choppy feel that revolves more around his intent instead of the actual song thus creating an uncanny cadence that’s hard to ignore.

What do we have to look forward to with Mickey Factz? The future only knows. As it stands now, he’s riding and building that all elusive ‘buzz.’

His growing catalog boasts enough diversity that the threat of impending monotony that looms over all artists isn’t a concern.

Along with fellow up and comers Blue and Exile and Fresh Daily Mickey will be waving the flag of the new school at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. This new generation sharing the stage with masters like KRS and DJ Premier is what this Festival is all about.

So kickback and watch a new movement grow right before your eyes.

For more info on Mickey Factz visit www.myspace.com/itzmickey
Mickey Factz will be performing on the main stage at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival on July 12th