With so many Electronica festivals these days, it’s somewhat refreshing to see an ALL hip-hop lineup that isn’t in New York City. Rock the Bells is one of the iconic festivals every year, and the lineup for 2012 is absolutely nuts!!! There are a few changes depending on the date, but here are the first couple of dates for this year.
So if you’re a true hip-hop fan like a lot of us here at Rich Kids Brand, the cypher is something you must recognize and respect. According to the urban dictionary a cypher is:
The process of tapping into your subconscious. A state of mind where thoughts and actions flow from your mind rather than being instrumented. Clearly shown in freestyle/beatbox circles and breakdancing.
1. The Shady 2.0 Cypher. Maybe the entire list isn’t in any particular order but this cypher definitely deserves to be #1. Not too many people listen to Slaughterhouse because they don’t make music for the radio but Eminem has got himself a roster full of some of the most amazing lyricist out there. Oh and Marshall Mathers himself shows once again why he’s the king of wordplay.Now what we know about cyphers is taking it way back to the days before recording, finalizing, and publishing your music wasn’t so easy. Aspiring emcees would get in large circles and freestyle together to showcase lyrical skill and try to out-do the guy before them. Even Jay-Z credits the cypher as an important aspect of his lyrical development as a teenager in the book “Decoded”. Cyphers aren’t the same as they used to be because most of the ones we see today are either put on by some corporate television station or everything is pre-written. Even with the given adjustments, some people have been coming out and killing their verse when it’s time to go. So here’s a list of some of the best cyphers out there on YouTube. This is in no particular order and we’re sure there are many more great ones. So if you know of any go ahead and comment below! Here’s our list.
2. The G.O.O.D. Music cypher. This also happened during the BET Awards and went down as one of the best of the night. Kanye brought all his people to rock the mic and not one of them disappointed.
3. Canibus, Big Pun, DMX, Mos Def, Mic Geronimo, and John Forte. Now this battle is really special because Big Pun is not around any more and for those of you that never really listened to his music, this video will really show you how good he was with his words. All the other dudes hip-hop legends also, must have been a fun meal to all be at. “No Beatbox!”.
4. Charles Hamilton gets owned by fan. This freestyle session came out around the time Charles Hamilton was buzzing. He went up against some guy at Penn State University and had no idea that the dude can spit. Hamilton approached it really lazy and got served. Where’s Hamilton now?
5. Notorious B.I.G. at 17 years old. Here’ another clip that’s not so much a cypher but still a great throw-back video. People would perform outside of the corner stores in Brooklyn and this time it was the late great Notorious B.I.G. that had his turn. Killed it as expected.
6. J-Pro and Mos Def. The nice part about this video is that it’s part of a documentary about hip-hop and cyphers. J-Pro and Mos Def go at it way back in the day.
7. MC Supernatural on the spot object-naming freestyle. Some may not know who MC Supernatural is and that’s probably because he one of the best rappers out there that doesn’t rap for fame. Haven’t seen many just rap about anything for this long and with such smooth delivery. He tells people in the crowd just to hold up random objects as the topics for his freestyle. You should be impressed by the end of this one.
8. Team Backpack Cypher. Hopsin and Dizzy Wright are two artists that people really need to start looking into if you enjoy good lyricism. This one is recent too, both artist part of Tech N9ne’s “Strange Music” movement.
9. A$AP Worldwide Cypher. Now lyrically this might not be the best cypher but since A$AP Rocky is anything anyone can talk about these days, you might as well meet the rest of the A$AP Mob. Here’s what happened when they all got together for a cypher.
10. DMX and Jay-Z Backstage. This was an instant classic video right when it dropped. Back when Jay-Z and DMX were touring together they would mess around backstage sometimes and get into these cypher circles. In the beginning of the video there’s a little kid rapping and he’s pretty good too. Here’s some history for ya.
As many of you in the fashion world remember from last year, John Galliano, then Artistic Director at Dior fashion house, was fired for Anti-Semitic remarks he made. This was a huge shock, and naturally he was immediately removed from his position. From that point up until now, there was much speculation as to who would succeed him as the chair for the Paris fashion house. Marc Jacobs was in questions for some time, as well as the man who has now officially been named as the new Artistic Director, Raf Simons.
Simons’ own private label is madly successful, and has received even more spotlight from the mainstream fashion and streetwear world after mentions from rapper A$AP Rocky. Raf Simons also has been doing some great work with Jil Sander over the last couple of years. It will be an exciting coming year with Simons as the head of Dior. Look forward to updates from us on where he takes the brand with his vision! Simons’ Dior debut will be the fall collection which will be unveiled in June.
I’m sorry but everything A$AP is on fire right now so I have to keep posting. The Bone Thugs inspired crew decides to get together and freestyle of Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin”. They killed it.
“Pretty nigga pin yo hair up!” One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite songs from Rocky’s first project. Vice Magazine’s Noisey added some visuals to the track, that is inspired from some classic movies. Peep the description on the youtube page. Enjoy the video!
A$AP Rocky Ft. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar: “F*ckin Problem” (Music Video)
Florence + The Machine – Breaking Down(VIDEO)
A$AP Rocky x Jeremy Scott Cover Complex Magazine
New Look – Nap on the Bow(VIDEO) Shot by Tim and John on Xbox Kinect
A$AP Rocky x ScHoolboy Q: “Brand New Guy” (Music Video)
One of the fresher magazine covers I’ve seen in recent memory, it looks as though Complex is looking to make a big splash this year, as they debut their 2012 issues with A$AP Rocky and Jeremy Scott sharing a cover and feature together. Should be an interesting one indeed! Can’t wait to pick up my issue.
WOW WHEE.. Now THAT is some music. Coachella just announced the lineup for this years festival not too long ago, and it’s got the internet going nuts. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are dope and it’s been a long time since they’ve been together on stage for a set, but Radiohead is going to be a night to remember. as well! There’s something for everyone, so be sure to take a look at the lineup, and buy your tickets as soon as their available!
Now this could definitely just be an assumption but very soon after Danny Brown’s music video “Blunt after Blunt” (directed by ASAP Rocky) surfaced, Tyler the Creator took to his Twitter and wrote the Tweet below. There have been other instances where Odd Future members have tweeted somewhat negative remarks about the Harlem rapper. Could we be witnessing these young up-n-comers getting at each other already?
New shit! ASAP’s new project LiveLoveASAP drops on Halloween. Be sure to cop that disk! It’ll be available on his SITE.
ASAP rocky has made a big splash into the music industry and has been linking up with a lot of new producers and artists. In this next video he gets the opportunity to work with Araab Muzik, one of the best producers in the game. Araab has always been known for being affiliated with the whole Dipset movement but is now branching out to a lot of other artists. Be on the lookout to see what these two create, here’s the footage.
