Tag: hip hop

Tyler’s Camp Flog Gnaw Year 10 Intersects w/ Chromakopia Number 1

Aria Silva-Espinosa December 17, 2024

A long hike up the hills of Elysian Park is a small price to pay for the view from the top. Three massive stages situated in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium and boasting a wildly impressive hip-hop centric lineup, Camp Flog Gnaw celebrated its 10 year anniversary this past weekend and sold out well in advance, and the lineup wasn’t even announced until a month before the festival. related content: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Camp Flog Gnaw 2019 From legendary acts to tributes, DJ sets and soulful serenades, Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival is a uniquely curated exhibition of mainstream and underground artists, youth culture and untethered creative expression. The fan engagement and level of commitment to the art is evident in the way the incoming fans have chosen to dress. It’s early November and we’re up on a hilltop so everyone is a bit bundled up knowing that once the sun goes down it’ll be about as cold as Los Angeles is willing to tolerate. Workwear, faux fur and puffer jackets are out which would make a New Yorker giggle to see how dramatic we are about the shift into cooler weather. Among the masses it’s

Boys Noize, IHEARTCOMIX founder Franki Chan, and The Dare with Yo Gabba Gabba shot by The Cobrasnake

Partying Like It’s 2004: IHEARTCOMIX 20th Anniversary

Danny Ryan October 29, 2024

IHEARTCOMIX have established themselves as one of the most forward-thinking and distinct promoters in recent LA history over the past two decades; dipping their toes into events celebrating nearly every form of art not limited to raves, parties, movie premieres, album release events, and interactive art exhibitions. Celebrating their 20th anniversary, IHEARTCOMIX threw an absolutely wild party with a complete hodgepodge of a lineup; Featuring The Dare, Boys Noize, Fcukers, Nation of Language, Chela, and even Yo Gabba Gabba blessing the night with their presence. Comedy legend Reggie Watts hosted the entire event, completely taking ownership of the evening’s vibes and making sure everybody in attendance had the most memorable night possible. Although the early 00’s where they started may be long over, IHEARTCOMIX went above and beyond in providing a futuristic lineup that still evoked a nostalgic feeling that celebrated their history in the most crafted way possible. As soon as I approached The Bellweather, it was instantly apparent that this was not the average club event with the eccentric and colorful outfits that everybody was decked out in. While it was a more formally dressed crowd, IHEARTCOMIX’s brand is entirely based on being as expressive and colorful as

Photo Recap: Onyx at The Echoplex

Janky Smooth Central Command April 11, 2023

If you’ve ever been in a mosh pit or slam danced at a hip hop show, you can thank Onyx for that type of singular release of tension. Something that is so common place now started with this group from South Jamaica, Queens in New York City. And regardless of Rick Rubin’s early rock influence in the beats he made for Run DMC and Beastie Boys, Onyx were one of the first to truly fuse metal and rap, ala the soundtrack for the movie Judgement Night . On March 29th, 2023 Onyx returned to play a show at The Echoplex in Los Angeles. Photographer Greg Flack was there to document the occasion.

PHOTO RECAP: Mike Jones at Echo Flex

Janky Smooth Central Command July 23, 2021

The last concert before Los Angeles’ mask mandate was put into effect had to be LA’s premiere 90’s hip hop party, Echo Flex at the Echoplex where late into the evening fans got up close and personal to each other to romp and dance to hip from the greatest era of the genre’s history, only to top it off with a rare performance from one of the OG’s himself, Mike Jones. Photos by: Rodney Campos Mike Jones

Hip Hop Oasis: Day N Vegas 2019

Janky Smooth Central Command November 12, 2019

Words by: Mario Chavez Photos by: Rodney Campos “In the desert you can remember your name cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain…” “A Horse with No Name” by AMERICA was the soundtrack on repeat in the back of my mind as we made the trek towards the Las Vegas desert oasis, on our way to the rookie music festival, Day n Vegas. This was a first of its kind gathering on the northern part of the strip, where Hip Hop and R&B can live & breathe as one in one of the entertainment capitals of the world. related content: Rolling Loud SoCal 2017 Doses The Youth With The Latest Opiate Of The Masses Day 1 On its inaugural day, we entered knowing only that it was a Dreamville takeover line up, but all that was yet to be seen. Later, a long-awaited set by Lil Uzi Vert was about to commence. He began his set with his hit “XO Tour Life” and it was off to the races. In true Lil Uzi Vert fashion, he became a tangible part of the show, jumping in to the crowd while performing songs amongst his fans. The Philly

Photo Recap: The Happiness of Pursuit Fest

Janky Smooth Central Command October 22, 2019

Photos by: Rodney Campos True hip hop was given center stage at The Happiness of Pursuit Fest which catered to the tastes of both true hip hop heads and to those seeking enlightenment through bars. None of the artists present were Billboard darlings or ever really mainstream but all were beloved in the eyes of those who understand the true art form of hip hop as a means of speaking truth to power purely through lyrics and a dope beat. Whether it be Murs, R.A. The Rugged Man, Crooked I or Slaughterhouse, or Havoc of the legendary Mobb Deep, all these artists made a mark on the underground. Murs R.A. The Rugged Man Havoc Crooked I Curtiss King Self Provoked

Take This: Win Two Tickets to The Happiness of Pursuit Fest

Janky Smooth Central Command September 26, 2019

Hip hop heads rejoice, we are giving away a pair of tickets to a stellar and true hip hop lineup that is sure to get all the real heads in the room excited. This is that enlightening school of hip hop that The Happiness of Pursuit Fest is representing. Expanding minds through fire verses, we can’t wait to check it out and see you there. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO THE HAPPINESS OF PURSUIT FESTIVAL OCTOBER 5TH Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK THOP Fest Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON SEPTEMBER 30TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

I Got the Mic, So Shut the Fuck Up: Freddie Gibbs and Madlib at the Roxy

Jonathan Reyes June 30, 2019

If there’s anything to take from Tuesday night’s preview of Bandana, the latest release from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, it’s just shut it and enjoy what could possibly be the best Gangster Rap artist of the last ten years. Counter to that claim, Gibbs would have to care about accolades and “best of” lists, from his yearly revitalization and inability to create anything unoriginal, he couldn’t be bothered, the only thing that seems to matter to him is being the best version of himself. related content: The Music Millennials Make Love To: Smokin’ Grooves 2019 At The Queen Mary If Freddie has all the ingredients, Madlib is the chef preparing the courses. Their second album is Mexican candy, it’s a burger, its caviar, it’s one part Hennessy one part Freddie one part Madlib, and like a basket on Chopped it all works out into an unconventional but complete meal. Imagine being so good that you don’t need gimmicks in a genre populated by them. Think about making best rap album of the year and deciding to put a teddy bear riding a zebra on the cover. The confidence in skill to freestyle multiple times a night, I’ve seen plenty headliners

Flowers and Oysters: Yasiin Bey at the Observatory

Jessica Moncrief January 9, 2019

I missed Yasiin Bey‘s set at Smokin’ Grooves over the summer and deeply regretted it, so when the opportunity arose to see him perform in an intimate setting like The Observatory, I was elated to redeem myself for one of my biggest FOMO moments of 2018. related content: Black Is Beautiful: Smokin’ Grooves Festival At The Queen Mary Before Yasiin made his way out, his DJ spun iconic songs that have since been sampled in modern day hip hop, Joe Simons “Before The Night Is Over”, which you may remember was sampled in Outkast’s “So Fresh So Clean”, was one of many. Perhaps to signify love and his soul’s active presence in creation, Yasiin prepared the stage by sprinkling rose petals all around it, he then spray painted the word “Oysters” on a white sheet as he began his set. During his first song, Yasiin Bey took one look at the two of us in the photo pit and requested for the house to dim the lights. The photo journalist in me accepted the challenge to “get the story” regardless of the lighting situation, however the human part of me struggled with the inherently dirty feeling of photographing someone who

Photo Recap: Necro’s Night of the Living Dead at Catch One

Janky Smooth Central Command November 2, 2018

Words and Photos by: Pedro Carrera An underground hip hop Goliath, Necro, took the stage at Catch One with his right hand man, Mr. Hyde to perform to a crazed crowed of demons. This was Necro’s Night of the Living Dead and for all the insanity that took place in that club, it’s better to describe this as a circus than a show. Topless woman, mosh pitting minions and thick clouds of smoke for days only touches the surface of what we witnessed. related content: Black Baptism: Prayers At The Fonda Then you had MCs from every school of rap like 2 Mex, Pawz one, Johnny Slash, Dannyboy, P. Dogg, and One Be lo dropping bars that were all too real for the radio. For all the visual stimulation this night offered, what it really had an abundance of was free thought. Necro Mr. Hyde 2Mex Pawz one P. Dogg One Be Lo Johnny Slash Dannyboy

Make American Green Again: The Great American Smoke Out

Janky Smooth Central Command September 25, 2018

Words and Photos by: Maggie St. Thomas Master rap artist Snoop Dogg celebrated 25 years of Doggystyle, his debut album on Death Row Records. Produced in 1993 by Dr. Dre with cover artwork by Mr. Joe Cool, Doggystyle sold almost a million copies within its first week of being released. While taking the sold-out arena back to the days of old school hip hop using the microphone as a time machine with heavy weights Cypress Hill, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and adding a heavy dose of hazy funky infusion with Slightly Stoopid and reggae legend Don Carlos. Though the words on the flier read that Wu Tang Clan, Berner, and Warren G were scheduled to perform, so were the words ‘line-up subject to change.’ It didn’t seem to matter as the legends murdered the stage, and if you were a participant in that hot-boxed arena at The Great American Smokeout you got more than your money’s worth. Musical Youth, Afroman, Kottonmouth Kings and DJ Quik were also featured performers of the night, but let’s concentrate on the headliners. related content: The Queens Converge At Outside Lands 2018 Cypress Hill opened with “Band of Gypsies” taking our minds to strange and welcome places. B-Real took the stage mixing his helium style rap lyrics with Sen Dog’s rhymes performing their anthems like “How I

The Daytona Experience: Pusha T at the Observatory

Rob Shepyer September 4, 2018

2018 has been an amazing year for rap. We’ve seen the return of Slim Shady, five Kanye West produced albums, and one of the most volatile rap beefs to ever occur in the game with Pusha T completely destroying Drake. Along with making a star fall, Pusha T created my favorite album of the year, the first of the five Kanye produced albums of 2018, Daytona. related content: Summertime In The LBC: This Is Your Dad’s Hip Hop From the very beginning, when the album cover was released and we saw Whitney Houston’s addiction exploited for art with a photograph of her drug strewn bathroom as the cover, Daytona garnered controversy and hype. Then with “Infared”, the last track on the short, seven song album taking shots at Drake, nucleur heat was generated between the two rap Gods. For the first time in a long while, traditional rap stabbed through trap’s control of hip hop media. Finally, there was a ray of hope that hip hop could rekindle its golden years when the metric of quality was lyricism and beef elevated everyone in the game. So Pusha took shots at Drake with “Infared” then Drake came back with “Duppy Freestyle” and Pusha