Nivin In The Crates

Nike Air Max 2009 Preview

2009-01-15T13:06:00.002+13:00

So I've blatantly stolen this from the Slam X guys site but you know - its dope. Preview of the upcoming Air Max for 2009 with an image from the Nike offices in Canada. Looking goooood.

MF Doom - Ballskin

2009-01-14T16:43:00.006+13:00

Yup, after delaying the album release date of Born Into This (out on Lex Records) again we finally have a little taste of some new Doom. I know there is a lot of controversy and everyone is hating on him, but to be honest I don't give a fuck I'm excited to hear some new shit, especially after his work on Jake One's album.

Doom put up the new track entitled Ballskin(yeah, what the fuck?) up on his MySpace so you can check it out there. DOOOOOOOM

Peace!

Nivin

Remo Conscious

2009-01-13T21:48:00.004+13:00

A big shout out to Deva for hooking me up with this. I'm gonna be honest - I've never heard of Remo Conscious before this but from what I have seen I am pretty impressed. I couldn't find much about him to give you a witty profile but as always, the music is more important.

Hailing from Oakland, Remo's sound is.. well conscious. He seems to pick up on social issues in his raps but pulls it off in a way thats not too whining and bitching (I'm sorry Common but I'm looking at you). I have included the video Lies from his new album Infiltration. I recommend picking it up from his site or iTunes.

Peace,

Nivin

Nike AF1 Chinese Lunar New Year

2009-01-07T18:45:00.004+13:00

Now I can't say that I am the biggest fan of the Air Force One (I much prefer dunks or Air Max) but this shit is just killer. As a salute to the Chinese Lunar New Year Nike have put together the Clot 1World Air Force 1's, and what a shoe it is. The upper-shoe is made from red Clot Royale Deluxe Silk (the most famous Chinese-made textile) and features Clot graphics inspired by thousand year old Chinese prints.

You think thats sick? Oh no. In addition to that - the red upper-shoe top layer can be peeled, burned or torn off to reveal a bottom layer made from dark brown leather. The thinking behind this was to inspire people to see beyond the superficial and to search for what lies within. Yeah sure, thanks for the moral tips, but I'd rather give a high five to consumerism and throw my hard earned cash at these bad boys.

The shoe will be available on January 16 2009 exclusively at 2 stores in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Thanks to Slamxhype for the heads up.

Eminem feat. Dre & Fifty - Crack a Bottle

2009-01-07T15:30:00.002+13:00

This just arrived in my inbox this morning. I'm going to be honest. Mediocre. It's ok, its good to see him back, especially with Dre still on the team but I'm not jumping for joy about this tune. I know you'd all want the exclusive before it was released so I put it up anyway.

I'm not putting up an MP3 at this stage because the post will get taken down in all of 10 seconds by our best friends at the record companies, so you'll have to do with a YouTube video for now... lets see how long that lasts.

Jake One feat. M.O.P - Gangsta Boy

2009-01-06T22:18:00.006+13:00

I haven't really spoken much about Jake One's album released last year entitled White Van Music for a few reasons - but this (apart from the MF Doom joints) is probably one of my favorite tracks from the album.

It kind of surprises me that I like this song so much, but its one of those hard bangers that you can't help but put a lighter up to. Of course we all know Brooklyn's M.O.P and the duo has never failed to deliver some dope underground stuff so I won't bother going into their history.

Gangsta Boy reminds me of some old West Coast shit that would make even Dre screw his face up in awesomeness. The song features a sample from "Pusher" by Final Decisions, who I have to say I had never heard of before this, and of course the famous heavy hitting Led Zeppelin break from "When the Levee Breaks" (If you didn't pick up on that one - shame on you!)

Get Jake One feat M.O.P - Gangsta Boy mp3 here - and of course buy the album here its totally worth the cash

Nivin

A Funky Year (Sly & The Family Stone)

2009-01-03T22:12:00.003+13:00

Well another year has gone, and what an interesting year it was for me. But with all of that behind me I wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year and I hope that 2009 brings you much joy, and that you fulfill all of your goals with a lot of hard work and fun.

To get the year started off right, here's one of my favorite tracks from Sly and the Family Stone If You Want Me To Stay taken from the album Fresh.

Stay tuned for a dope year from this blog - you won't be disappointed.

Nivin

Samiyam - Moon Shoes

2008-12-31T08:24:00.005+13:00

Another brilliant beat architect to come out of the whole LA "electro soul" movement a la Flying Lotus-esq sounding beats is the man Samiyam.

With tough as fuck beats, rolling bass, very interesting use of samples and synths and seemingly having thrown quantizing out the window, simply put - Samiyam is on some next level shit. Already a local legend in the LA scene he is starting to gain more and more international exposure.

I finally picked up Rap Beats Vol. 1 off iTunes yesterday (yeah I'm like 2 years late, my bad?) which can be seen as a beat tape of soughts by Sam. It contains 23 beats that are around a minute long, and from what I heard on the way home they're all fire. I will put up a full run down of Rap Beats Vol. 1 once I cut through it all but for now here is a track Moon Shoes taken from his new Return EP that is available on Hyperdub records.

P.s How sick are those Nikes?

Nivin

FlyLo in the AKL Jan 9

2008-12-30T10:06:00.007+13:00

Firstly

O M G

Now that we have that over, Flying Lotus one of the craziest beat smiths to come out of LA will be playing Seba in Auckland on January 9th, 2009.

If you like beats, don't front on this. Tickets $25 from Conch in Ponsonby.

I'll have more up on FlyLo this week to get you on the buzz, but for now here is one of my favorite tracks from his Reset EP, Massage Situation

P.s a shout out to Nato over at DBNZ for giving me the heads up about this one, I would have had to have a cry-wank had I missed it..

Busta Rhymes - Fire It Up

2008-12-23T12:40:00.003+13:00

Ahhhh you're sure to remember this one. Dope dope hip hop joint from yester-year. Was reminded of it when my friend X-Man told me "Tell me where you at, I'll be there in 10 secs flat... you know I got your back" in response to me being caught in some shit night club over the next few weeks... Enjoy.

P.s Knight Rider samples - best flip evahhh. All my people say Fire it up!

Nivin

Onra - Coming Soon

2008-12-18T13:42:00.002+13:00

I intend to do a full post about Onra tonight, but I just had to post this first. This is probably the biggest track of his album entitled Les Chinoiseries which was put together from Vietnamese records bought while on holiday... AWESOME.

Nivin

Comme Des Garcons XMas Tee's

2008-12-16T08:38:00.003+13:00

Come Des Garcons' Play have released two tee's for the festive season. One of them has the famous Heart logo and the other "Crystal Journey" one gives a message about searching for crystals - and is made with crystallized Swarovski Elements. Fuck yeah.

I'm back bitches

2008-12-12T00:09:00.003+13:00

Guess who's back in the area code?

You know it. And since New York I've never had more inspiration to do musical things and write about musical things. So give me some time to get it all together, and expect a higher quality of blogging starting next year.

Nivin

New York, New York

2008-11-19T19:11:00.002+13:00

So I am off to New York tomorrow. I was going to attempt to do some furious blogging while there but... I barely get any done when I'm at home so its not looking hopeful.I will attempt to visit every major record and sneaker store while there, so you're guaranteed some photos, at least.

Never fear though - I shall be back before anyone notices I'm gone, and the musical goodness shall return.

Au revoir

Nivin

A Tribe Called Quest - Jam

2008-11-13T23:26:00.005+13:00

When I reminisce over the Tribe Called Quest back catalogue, not only do a lot of memorable tracks come to mind, but so do a lot of insanely good samples.

Although I could literally go on for days listing samples and how important these artists are, I don't intend to bore everyone to death. I will however focus on the track Jam from the album Beats, Rhymes & Life. Aside from being a friggin dope beat, the track contains a sample from Howard Roberts' song Dirty Old Bossa Nova.

Howard Roberts was an American jazz guitarist who did a lot of work as a session guitarist and believe it or not, played on the I Dream of Jeannie theme song. Gangster. I first heard the original Roberts track during a podcast interview with one of my favourite composers / arrangers of all time, David Axelrod who worked closely with Howard Roberts during his time as a session guitarist. Axelrod, apart from being basically god, has also been very heavily sampled by everyone from Shadow to Dre (although that topic will require a whole series of blog posts).

Upon hearing the original Howard Roberts track, it struck me that I didn't know whether I liked his version or Tribe's Jam better. The lack of drums in the original seems to keep you waiting for something to happen, perhaps the anticipation is what makes it? Who knows. Anyway, pour yourself a drink, sit back and enjoy two dope tunes. And remember although these two sets of artists have seemingly different backgrounds - we can show how good music conquers all.

Howard Roberts - Dirty Old Bossa Nova

A Tribe Called Quest - Jam

Peace,

Nivin

Video: The Hot Grits - Headlights

2008-11-13T08:25:00.007+13:00

Shout out to Noematron from work for hooking me up with this video.

The Hot Grits are a funk / afro-beat sounding band from New Zealand who have that old school rock style, you know the type, sounds like the whole band was recorded with 3 microphones straight to tape. Apart from the song actually being pretty good, the video is probably the best part.

Banned by TVNZ for inappropriate content, the video shows a group of kids, about 5 years old, on a big night out. Chugging down milk and taking "lollies" in the bathroom (one kid even double drops) I guess you can see how it was banned. In my eyes it aims to put a lighter touch on what munters we become on the weekend, and makes me slightly reconsider my plans for Saturday..

I have to give it up to the Down Low Concept on this one. After taking away a fair few 48 Hour Film wins, I wouldn't expect any less.

Nivin

MOB Nike Dunks

2008-11-07T08:33:00.003+13:00

I've already admitted my love for the married to the mob brand, one of NYC's most rad girl crew, and now that they've done a dunk my life is almost complete...

Nivin

November 5th 2008

2008-11-05T21:00:00.002+13:00

He really did it man.

Throughout the last year (I can't believe it has been that long) I have been following Barack Obama's campaign. From the win of the Democratic nomination to this historic day he has never failed to amaze me in the way he carries himself. The home boy brought it home.

Through all the controversy and unnecessary allegations he managed to pull through while maintaining his cool, and that is something to be respected. Whatever your beliefs or views, this is without a doubt a day that will go down in the history books, something that we were a part of.

The point of "history" needs to be addressed however. Although I may have been a bit too strong with my support for Obama, no matter what your background or which country you are from, this is is a huge win for humanity. An event like this highlights that it does not matter what creed, colour or cast you are, it doesn't matter what one's history has been, if you have the will there will be a way. This is the message we need to remember in our day-to-day lives.

From this morning I have been feeling and hearing a lot of negativity from people in general about the hype of the election. Sure, maybe this isn't our countries election, but it was never about that. This election stood for everything that was right, and shows that if you really want something, you can achieve it. It does not matter who is American, does it? As a young black male there is nothing more inspiring than seeing Obama achieve what he has after such a hard battle. So if you are one of those people that seem to have an issue with both Obama winning and non-american's taking more interest in this election than their own, get over yourself. This was never about America or our own election, this was about inspiring millions to believe in themselves and the idea of HOPE.

If there is something I want everyone to take away from this whole situation however, I don't want it to be about race. Sure, it played a big role and made for a nice headline in the newspapers, but if you think that it was the only issue you're sure to be seen as ignorant. No, the lessons you need to take away from this is hope and inspiration. Hope because although you may not have directly been involved in any of this, you held up your belief of what was right and stuck with it.

Inspiration - I couldn't think of a better case study for ourselves, no matter who we are or what we do. Whether you are black white or purple, rising against all odds to take on the impossible is something to be admired, and no one can take that away from you. The win of this election shows us that if we really really want something, we can do it and no one should ever tell you different.

2008 - The year of Obama. The year of change.

Peace.

Nivin

Baron Zen Theme - Danny Breaks Remix

2008-11-04T18:38:00.004+13:00

Is your life lacking some bounce? Perhaps some heavy chopped break beats with squelchy bass? Then you've landed on the right post.

I won't go into too much detail about who Baron Zen is or what it means, but trust me, this shit is fire. This Danny Breaks remix of Barzon Zen Theme is like some J Dilla meets Dillinja type shit. If you don't love this, we can no longer be friends.

I first heard this tune on the podcast Gaslamp Killer did for Stones Throw records and I went nuts trying to figure out what it was.

Download the Baron Zen Theme mp3 here

Peace

Nivin

A Tribe Called Quest - 1nce Again

2008-10-26T18:47:00.005+13:00

This ones a nice track to get you into your summer chill. 1nce Again is from Tribes fourth album entitled Beats, Rhymes & Life and is produced by the late great J Dilla and Q-Tip.

Download 1nce again mp3 here.

You on point Tip? Yo once again Phife...

Nivin

The Story Of Bloquera

2008-10-23T12:06:00.000+13:00

Bloquera is one of those records that I picked up a few years ago when I wasn't that well versed in the whole hip hop thing. I couldn't even tell you which record store it was from, but I remember seeing the cover and thinking it looked cool. It wasn't until the needle touched the wax that my mind was blown. Sick rhymes backed up by even sicker beats, my whole perception of hip hop was turned on its head.

It was at this point in my life that I was intimidated by the record dealers (a big fuck you to that homie that used to work at Groovy's, I'm glad you're shutting down), the extent of my collection was a few Al Green records and stuff I inherited from my Dad, I thought every major break beat had been discovered and as far as I knew, Gangstarr were the most underground hip hop group there was...

Fast forward to now and you'll find a much more well versed Nivin, who has finally made the connection with one of this favorite records in his collection to one of his favorite hip hop groups.

Bloquera was a one-time record created by Maanumental, Newman, Sir Kado, Superbrush and The Sassy Warlock - also known as Thes One from People Under The Stairs. Now you know why the beats were so freaking dope.

Each member took on an alias when making the album, and it was after I realized that this album was made by Thes One that I started to do some research and found this:

The group decided to take a spur of the moment road trip to Mexico as an ultimate road trip. The album was a result of a two week road trip to Mulegé, Baja California Sur, Mexico which was the inspiration for the album.

During their stay in Mulegé the group camped on the beach facing the Sea of Cortez where they fished for their meals, visited local taco stands, purchased produce from local farmers, and attended local baseball.

Tres Records released the album as a 12" LP in limited quantities and is now out of print.

What a dope concept for an album? Running away from the grind of the city to some unknown town, setting up camp and making beats all day. I don't think I need to even give you a review on what this is like - the record speaks for itself.

Because you can't get your hands on it anymore, I've decided to record the vinyl into my computer and upload it for all those interested. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Download Here

Nivin

MF Doom - Born Into This

2008-10-21T09:21:00.002+13:00

How long have we all waited for some new Doom to drop? After all the controversy around him faking shows, being dead, and never actually existing, the rumors will be put to rest when the album drops today (or tomorrow rather - good ol' American time).

The new album entitled Born Into This will be released on Lex Records on October 21st, 2008. It is to feature production from Dilla, Danger Mouse and Doom himself with guest appearances from Ghostface and Raekwon.

The general buzz has been that people are not exactly excited about the album - what with Doom's antics of no-show's at certain concerts and allegedly using imposters in his performances, but really - who cares? As far as I'm concerned thats part of the whole Doom Super Villain character. Stop bitching, you little rap-snitches.

Check out Doom's interview with Wax Poetics here, as well as the official press release here.

While you wait in anticipation, here's a little Doom to get you in the mood

As a side note for those of you that are going to hassle me on announcing new albums the day before they are released - shut the hell up. I'm lazy, I know the press release has been sitting in my inbox for a couple months. I'm sorry, I apologize etc.

High & Mighty feat. Mos Def - B-Boy Document 99

2008-10-13T20:53:00.002+13:00

Here's a nice hip hop throw back that is sure to get you all giddy. One of the standout songs from Rawkus Records infamous Soundbombing II. If you don't own a copy of that, get it. In fact stop reading, go and get it right now.

Peace

Nivin

Cut Chemist ft Hymnal - What's The Altitude

2008-10-09T21:32:00.003+13:00

So I've been a bit lazy with posting recently. Most of that has to do with the fact that I've got some new monitors and have been digging in the crates and making beats like crazy.

However as always I have that dope stuff for you. This ones a bit old, but still a favorite on the playlist. Cut Chemist and Hymnal have always cracked me up as a duo for some reason. There is a great interview with them on YouTube where they get really in-depth and spiritual about the music. I love it.

What's The Altitude is taken off Cut Chemist's album The Audience Is Listening, a great album that I recommend you check out.

Peace!

Nivin

People Under The Stairs - Fun DMC

2008-09-29T20:17:00.005+13:00

Although Thes One leaked this out on the PUTS message board a couple months ago I didn't want to hype it up too much until just the right moment, and considering the album drops tomorrow - now seems to be the right moment.

Thats right folks! My favorite (and hopefully YOUR favorite) hip-hop duo from the West Coast People Under The Stairs will be dropping their 6th studio album entitled Fun DMC. Can you believe this is their sixth LP? Every time I hear a PUTS song I still think it is the newest hottest shit out.

The album will be released tomorrow September 30th 2008 on Om Records and you will be able to pick it up from your usual suspects (iTunes, UGHH, Amazon etc). The album looks promising with a nice clear concept described by PUTS:

“We wanted to get the ambience of the dudes playing dominoes, the meat sizzling on the grill, the planes flying by.
We just said, ‘Let’s try to get what our Saturday is like onto a record. Instead of making a record about Saturday, let’s actually go out and record Saturday.’”

What a nice way to bring in summer out in the southern hemisphere? (sorry about those of you on the other side of the world..). To promote the album I've got two tasty treats for you:

here

Have fun with it - and make sure you pick up the official album tomorrow, I heard the CD / LP version comes with a 24 page comic book ;-)