Archive for April, 2011

Cashmere Throwback Thursday

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

I think it was around 98 or 99 that I first came across DJ Quik’s “Pitch In On a Party”. This was in the first year I really got into hip hop, studying producers and artists, analyzing styles and such.

I won’t front, DJ Quik was on the first burned CD I ever owned, and this was the song. When I first got into rap, I was strictly East coast—Wu Tang, Notorious Big, Etc. This song bumped a little differently and it felt, good. It felt like how non-Californians see California.

So DJ Quik gets today’s Throwback Thursday, mostly because his album drops 4/20 (GO GIT DAT) and I spent most of today with him. I’ve sat through a handful of DJ Quik interviews, and even when he seems like he’s feeling himself, there’s this dimension of under appreciated genius. Behind the gangster bravado, there’s this feeling that he wants you to intellectually appreciate his music—and you should.

And with that, it all comes full circle—BLAOW!!

Tydolla$ign “All-Star”

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

After entering Billboard’s Hot 100 with last year’s smash hit, “Toot It and Boot It”, Tydolla$ign is set to prove  he’s not just your average featured artist on a hook with the release of his debut single, “All Star.”

Ty reached out to some of today’s freshest artists, such as Swedish House Mafia and Joe Moses, to complete the final version of his highly anticipated debut. “All Star” is quickly becoming a hit with fans while getting play from club DJs  as well as radio. Take a listen to “All Star” below. For those hiding under rocks, download it on iTunes TODAY!

And if you’re not doing so already, follow Tydolla$ign on Twitter and ‘Like’ his Facebook page, to get properly introduced.

Digital Push for the Presidency

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Already, social media is dominating the upcoming 2012 race to the White House. Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, announced his candidacy with a 150-second YouTube video, blasting President Obama for failing to “know how jobs are created in the private sector.”

Romney’s video comes one week after Obama launched his own campaign initiative via YouTube, to which Romney fired back on Twitter with “@barackobama I look forward to hearing details on your jobs plan, as are 14m unemployed Americans.”

Without a doubt, social media will play a much larger role in the 2012 Presidential race than it did in the 2008 race, when President Obama led a revolutionary campaign utilizing Facebook and Twitter, while John McCain fell behind using his more conventional operation.

Currently, Romney has 840,000 Facebook fans and more than 33,000 Twitter followers, but that’s peanuts compared to Obama’s 7.3 million Twitter count and 19 million Facebook fans.

Time to play catch up, Romney.

Mixtape Monday: Dom Kennedy – Original Dom Kennedy

Monday, April 11th, 2011

Los Angeles emcee Dom Kennedy has been making some noise over the last couple years but has really heated up in recent months.  With a major co-sign from Hip-Hop Since 1978 (Kanye, Lil Wayne, Drake and more) it’s been rumored that Hip-Hop Since 78 is even managing Dom now (untrue).  From that rumor other industry insiders have said that Dom Kennedy may create the next bidding war.

The Los Angeles scene has been on the radar for the last few years but with Dr. Dre aligning with Kendrick Lamar recently, many feel that more labels will start investing on this local scene.  Dom Kennedy rocked two nights at our #VIBEHOUSESXSW including the now historical “Respect the West” showcase.

Right before SXSW Dom Kennedy dropped his latest project Original Dom Kennedy aka OGDK and it’s been getting a lot of attention as well as play from a few of the folks in our own offices.  So, since we’ve been giving it play ,we feel you should too (if you haven’t already).  12 tracks with a consistent flow yet enough range to party to, roll around or just work at your desk.

Download the Original Dom Kennedy – Dom Kennedy from here.

Here are some bonus videos of Dom doing interviews with some major outlets:

Dom Kennedy x Karmaloop :

Dom Kennedy x The Source Magazine:

Cashmere Tech Wrap-Up

Friday, April 8th, 2011

UPGRADED TWITTER SEARCH HELPS YOU FIND NEW PEOPLE TO FOLLOW

Twitter has rolled out an update to its search tool that makes it easier to find new people to follow.

Now, when you search for a given topic on the microblogging site, you’ll get suggestions of people and accounts that tweet about that topic. For instance, a search for “movies” yields Roger Ebert, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau and the iTunes Trailer account under the “People results for movies” sidebar.

You can get further suggestions by clicking on the “People” tab on the left-hand side search results where you can also browse recent tweets about the queried topic. In the movies example, further results include Tom Hanks, DisneyPixar and Kevin Smith.

Click to read full article

YOUTUBE LAUNCHES LIVE STREAMING PAGE

YouTube, the video site owned by Google, on Friday unveiled a page highlighting live programming and said users have asked for more live streams.

“With over 2 billion views a day, it’s easy to think about YouTube as a place to watch videos recorded in the past,” it said in a blog post. “But you’ve told us you want more – and that includes events taking place right now. In response, we’ve live streamed a number of popular concerts, sporting events, and interviews, but primarily on a one-off basis.”

The initial rollout of YouTube Live will “integrate live streaming capabilities and discovery tools directly into the YouTube platform for the first time,” the video site said.

Click link to read full article

SONGZA RETOOLS AS SOCIAL RADIO

Over the last few months Songza has made the transition from quirky streamer of YouTube audio to a non-interactive DMCA compliant radio model with a licenced library of 11.3 million songs.  Internet radio is a crowded field, but Songza’s angle is to make listening social. “The under 35 demo spends 87 minutes per day listening to music in a social vacuum,” according to Songza’s Eric Davich. “That experience will change, like many other experiences on the web, to become far more social and immersive.”

Social radio on Songza means playlists created by people: friends, celebrities and groups of users collaborating.

Click to read full article

SMALL CARRIER GET BIG TAILWIND FROM SOCIAL MEDIA

THE popularity of Richard Simmons, the fitness guru known for his big personality and tiny shorts, peaked sometime in the 1980s, but on YouTube he is enjoying something of a Justin Bieber moment.

Mr. Simmons stars in an in-flight safety video for Air New Zealand in which, along with providing standard instructions about oxygen masks and flotation devices, he leads crew members clad in fluorescent spandex and leg warmers in aerobic exercises. Since being uploaded to YouTube on March 28, it has garnered more than 1.9 million views.

Air New Zealand may be a small carrier with a modest presence in the United States (it flies only from airports in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu), but its online videos, just as surely as its airplanes, seem to always take off.

Click to read full article

INVISIBLE INSTRUMENT – AN IPHONE BASED MUSIC TOOL

At Music Hack Day NYC, Tim Soo won the top prize with his invisible instruments. Using the iPhone and Wii controller as a MIDI device, he is able to create music out of thin air. Thus far, a drum set, violin, cello, bass, keyboard, and guitar have been developed with many more coming soon. How soon? Soo is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter. Check out Soo’s cover of “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars.

Click to read full article

Laurieann Unleashes The Dance Scene Sundays on E!

Friday, April 8th, 2011

When the curtain rises and the lights shine on some of music’s biggest stars, she’s the one woman you don’t see in the spotlight.  Yet Laurieann Gibson’s blood, sweat and tears are obvious everywhere on stage.  This acclaimed choreographer and creative director has worked with A-list artists from Diddy to Alicia Keys to Katy Perry, making her one of the most powerful women in music today.  Helmed by Ryan Seacrest Productions, The Dance Scene follows the lives of Gibson and her team of aspiring dancers and choreographers, (aka Team Boomkack), as they tear up the dance floor preparing for a variety of A-list performances around the world.

Sunday’s series premiere, following the new series Khloe & Lamar, will show creative director Laurieann Gibson choreographing for Katy Perry and Keri Hilson while hiring a new Assistant Choreographer. Sarah of Team Boomkack gets bad news from her boyfriend. Drama. Raw Talent. Passion. Love. Hurt. The dance industry. All enclosed in one show – The Dance Scene.

Anxiously awaiting the season premiere of The Dance Scene? Well we have something worth the wait. Head over to iTunes, and grab your FREE download of the sneak peek for the season premiere airing this Sunday on E! at 10:30pm PT/ET.

Follow the show on Twitter and ‘Like’ on Facebook to stay abreast of exclusive incentives, sneak peeks, bonus videos and other details related to E!’s super new series.

Prince ‘Welcome 2 America Tour’ to Hit L.A.

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Prince made a surprise announcement on last night’s edition of ‘Lopez Tonight.’ The Purple One phoned into George Lopez’s late night talk show to announce a 21-night string of tour dates hitting the Forum in Los Angeles beginning April 14th.

“I will be starting a 21-night stand next Thursday, the 14, at the L.A. Forum with the New Power Generation and a whole gang of special guests,” revealed the 52-year-old singer. “We need some place to rehearse though, can we come over there next Wednesday?”

It’s been a while since his royal badness has done an extended run of shows in Los Angeles, with his last performance taking place at the Nokia Theater in 2009. Cashmere is sure our resident Prince fanatic, Anthony, will have front run seats whenever tickets go on sale.

To get yours, head over to TheLAForum.com for the latest ticketing information.

Cashmere Throwback Thursday: Houston Edition

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

“N Luv Wit My Money” was the 1st single from The Source Indie Album of the Year-nominee,  Get Ya Mind Correct by Paul Wall and Chamillionaire.  Perhaps it’s still a bit too green to be called a “throwback”, but anyone from the great state of Texas will tell you the song is a part of local history.

Get Ya Mind Correct put it on for my city before Mike Jones dropped “Still Tippin’”, before Slim Thug was making moves with Star Trak. I know Scarface and a handful of other Houston rappers were representing the Lone Star State, but this is the album that caused me to embrace Houston’s own rap culture. It just made sense to the locals.

When you hear the synth-heavy production that serves as a backdrop to Miami’s rap scene, it sounds like the aural avatar of club parties and neon lights.  The griminess of samples used by East Coast producers is similarly reflective of music that bloomed amidst a concrete jungle. As far as the West is concerned, G Funk just had to come from people who spend an inordinate amount of time in a roofless old school Impala, enjoying the best weather in the country.

But the South, let me tell you about where I come from. 96 BPM (Beats Per Minute) seems to be your average pop radio tempo. Slide it down a little further South, say 80 BPM. If you’ve ever spent time in the South during the heatwave, it’s debilitating. You won’t want to do ANYTHING with haste, nor do you want to hear music that gets your heart pounding.

Now cue that 808. That slow, pounding bass set against shiny hi-hats and the cleanest snare in rap production—that feels like the audio equivalent of the candy-coated Caprices and blue-leather DeVilles I was hopping out of. And the delivery, rich with southern slang, was a look at to how language was shaped in the south. Hiip-Hop in the south was rustic and pastoral, a damn withheld from those who can’t grasp it.

That’s enough reminiscing for me, with a special 713-edition Throwback Thursday.

Goodwill Gathering: Happy Hour Shoe Drive for a Cause

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

The earthquake and ensuing tsunami has left over 500,000 individuals homeless and in need of basic items, such as shoes. Soles4Souls is doing its part along with reaching out to local tennis community and friends for help.
Tonight, Gyneari Korean BBQ & Lounge will be host to a special charity event to aid the people of Japan during the recent crisis.

To help out, bring your gently-worn or new athletic shoes to Gyenari Korean BBQ & Lounge this Wednesday night, April 6th 5:00-8:30 p.m. They’ll be collecting shoes until 8:30 p.m. at Gyenari. Bring your shoes, then stay for the booze and Happy Hour Specials; bulgogi sliders, anyone?

A portion of all proceeds will be donated to Soles4Souls. Additionally, Gyenari is offering their Happy Hour Menu ALL evening, so stick around and dine/lounge into the night. RSVP ASAP, space is limited.

For more info on Soles4Souls head over to GiveShoes.org. And you can find other drop-off locations and info on Give Shoes: A Tennis Shoe Drive for Japan.

Goodwill Gathering would like to give thanks to its many sponsors including:

Paul Nakayama, Gyneari, Scratch DJ Academy, Head, and Keds.

Join the conversation on Twitter by following their movement @Soles4Soul.

Cashmere Tech Tuesday: Meal Snap

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Soon, you’ll be able to toss that hateful food diary in the trash (not that the entries were truthful anyways). The iPhone’s latest health-minded app, Meal Snap, enables the user to count calories simply by sending in a picture of a meal, to which a rough estimate is sent back and logged.

How can this be accurate, you ask? Well, “accurate” is certainly a stretch, which accounts for the caloric “rough estimate.” While the company explains the app’s inner workings as “magic,” Meal Snap’s charmed calculations can spit out a wide spectrum of possibilities. As seen in the screenshot above, a “small handful of cashews” returns a count of anywhere between 150-614 calories.

Meal Snap might be more effective at attaining peace of mind than a smaller waistband, but it’s good to have at least some idea of what you’re shoving into your mouth.

You can find Meal Snap on the App Store for $2.99 right here.