Rare picture of Grip Grand, Outkast, and assorted naked ladies (Source: New Orleans Daily Picayune)

Grip Grand “A New Drug”/Outkast “13th Floor/Growing Old”

So, I was cleaning out my closet (if anyone knows a good skeleton-disposal service, hollerate me) and I found this demo. Before I made the “beat” for A New Drug (a song that can be heard on my Facebook page, among other places), I recorded the lyrics over one of my favorite beats of all time, Outkast’s “13th Floor/Growing Old” (ATLiens is the best). I did this so that I would have something to work with when making new music for my song. But now you can listen to the verse in its most unadorned form, complete with ad-libs that the audience was never meant to hear, and laid on top of a super-hot beat by an amazing production team who isn’t me (Organized Noize, also the best). Finally, it’s worth noting that this version (unlike my final song) has drums, which I know that some of you prefer. Whatever.

Anyway, give it a spin (as always, at you own risk). If you do, hey, you are a terrific human being, so pat yourself on the back, pal. But if you don’t (and in that case, you haven’t read this far, have you?), I really don’t care. No, I do, I do, I’m totally holding back the tears, but I’m so mannish you’d never know it. So very, very mannish. And, with that, I’ll take my leave. Until the next…

Yawa,

Grip Grand

Hopie Spitshard – Yummy

http://www.hopiespitshard.com

Do D.A.T. w/ Melina Jones – The Bridge

http://melinajones.wordpress.com/
http://www.myspace.com/datamen

Topr – Sirens Song

http://www.myspace.com/topr

Grand Invincible – The Way We Revolt

http://www.grandinvincible.com

Z-Man – Crumb Of The Bay

http://machetevox.com/

Hit up all these artists for more music and get familiar.

Grip Grand — Above the Clouds (Right-click to download)

While the legendary Guru makes what is hopefully a swift recovery following his recent heart attack, I wanted to show my support for one of my favorite artists during this difficult time. Hence, the song above. Very few groups have been as influential to hip-hop, and to myself personally, as Guru, DJ Premier, and the monumental Gang Starr foundation. Peace and prayers to Guru, Primo, and their family and friends. Stay up and hold your head, y’all.

Much love and respect,

Grip Grand

PS–This song will also be available on my upcoming mixtape in advance of the new Grip Grand & MF Shalem album release. Stay tuned…

www.facebook.com/gripgrand

gripgrand.bandcamp.com

Oh snap! Well, would’ya lookie here…I done put out an album! What? Whats that you say? Is it good? Well, I dont know. Do you enjoy music thats dynamically incredible, just as much as it is freakin’ outstanding? Well, if you do…then I gotta say, in all humility…this album is pretty great. I cant take all the credit tho, I just made up the words. DJ MF Shalem allowed the production. But, dont take my word for it. There it is…right there…go’on and get you some.

Click Here To Purchase

In the weeks leading up to the release of Neighborhood Kid, RoutineFly.com and Haji P released a serries of songs called Home Repair, which were songs recorded durring the Neighborhood Kid sessions but are not on Neighborhood Kid. These songs are all available for free as some incentive to check out the final product. Sticking with the album format, all of the songs are produced by DJ MF Shalem, and each song has it’s own cover art!

Bonus: FREE DOWNLOAD “Haji P – Home Repair EP”

In reverence of my previous environs, the extremely kind folks at The Fold Clothing remixed my “Home” logo and affixed it to an all american made, cut and sew t-shirt. Thats some classy ish. Designed by graphic artist/ music & film producer D1, this coveted piece of cool people clothing celebrates some good ol’ southern, backwoods, countryfied, greens ‘n grits goodness. Yeah, you like that. Dont you? I hope you do. If not, what do you know about gear anyway? You probly still wear Fubu jereseys and Jnco pants. Loser.

Anyway, the shirts will be available soon, BUT, only in an extremely limited run…and by that, I mean 10 ( #Willywonkash*t). Stay tuned to hajip.com to figure out how and when you can cop one’uh deez…

here’s a hint…you’ll probly have to get the album.

RoutineFly and Richie Cunning are proud to present the official video for “Richie Cunning’s Day Off”, shot and directed by Trevor Traynor (www.trevortraynor.com / www.ishooteverything.com). The video is filmed in a grip of locations including but not limited to; someone else’s limo, a matinee showing of “More Than A Game”, and a cave. The song itself is available on Richie Cunning’s “Late Night Special” mixtape as well as Rec-League’s “Season Two” compilation, both released in December of 2009. Richie Cunning’s debut album “Night Train” is available now on Routinefly.com as well as iTunes, Amazon and other fine internet music retailers.

Grip Grand — D.O.A.

Now in digi-stores near you!!

New 5-song digital single includes:

1. Grip Grand — D.O.A. (Dirty)

2. Grip Grand — D.O.A. (Clean)

3. Grip Grand — D.O.A. Instrumental

4. Grip Grand — D.O.A. Acappella (Clean)

5. Grip Grand — D.O.A. Acappella (Dirty)

Now available from better imaginary stores everywhere (mostly Bandcamp and iTunes), may I officially present the Grip Grand “D.O.A.” Maxisingle! Totally unrelated to the Jay-Z song of the same name, D.O.A. (recently featured on the Rec-League “Season 2″ compilation) is a classic winter-thru-summer jam combining pointed punchlines and sly social commentary with a catchy little-kid chorus. It also happens to be one of the most poorly timed releases ever. But that’s how it goes…great minds think alike. I recorded this shit before Jay’s was released (you’ll just have to trust me), but since his version came out first, I lose…or maybe I would lose either way. Typical. Try to forget all that while you enjoy a tall glass of lemonade alongside the equally refreshing sounds of Grip Grand, aka myself. If you decide to try your hand at a remix, give me a shout (facebook.com/gripgrand or myspace.com/gripgrand or gripgrand.com…you get the picture). If you decide to just bump the instrumental, I won’t be mad at you. If you decide you want nothing to do with me, why don’t you just keep it to yourself, pal? Thanks a million. Whatever you do, I hope you’ll give this track a try. It could be your new favorite song! How do you know it’s not? What are you, psychic?

Best wishes from sunny California,

Grip Grand

Well, here we are…a mere twenty days from the release of the album; pending the date you actually read this. In which case, its up to you to do the math, and we’re a mere_____ day(s) from the release of the album. In any event, I can only imagine you’re waiting with bated breath, and the anticipation is a real dickwad. Thats how I feel too. But what exactly are you waiting for? Just another rap album? Just another combination of beats intermingled with some cute lil’ wordy words? Absolutely! This, similar to most rap albums, is just an imposition of the authors presumed life relevancy, masked behind a series of jovial rhythms and a mildly decent application of a number of literary devices. However, and I quote, *ahem* “This sh*t right here, nigga! This sh*t right here…” This sh*t right here is faaaantastic!

I didn’t attempt to break any musical barriers with this album, or preserve the culture with lyrics dispelling tales of head spinnies, biker shorts or the luminous shine of my third-eye’s soul…that junk is so Bahamadea. Instead, I had fun with it. I wrote some raps that I thought were pretty amusing. If you cant fox with that, its totally cool. You and the rest of your sour patch friends can go sit in a circle and play Duck, Duck, Sad Face.

However, if you enjoy a good ditty about nomadic wandering, misadventure, and lighthearted/ambiguously racist commentary, narrated by an Uncle Remus like voice…well, hot damn have I got something for you!

In addition, to keep you abreast (boobs, haha!) with whats going on before you purchase the album, I’ve decided to give you a one-word subject description of every song on the track list. Enjoy.

1. Wake Up- Induction.

2. Mockin’Bird- Whop.

3. Trouble- Larceny.

4. El Segundo- Larceny. (en espanol)

5. Applesauce- Gaiety.

6. Porch Swing – Porches.

7. Februaries- Entrepreneurship.

8. S.O.S.- Slavery.

9. Jumpback- Absurdity.

10. Neighbors- Crackas.

11. Good Grief- Me.

12. I know- Knowing.

*Haji P & DJ MF Shalem. “Neighborhood Kid.” Feb. 23, 2010.*

Please Re-tweet.

Some San Franciscans make a Mission burrito run as soon as they return to town. Rapper and producer Richie Cunning just takes a deep breath and says, “Oh, thank God.” He loves the city’s air enough to give it a shout-out on his debut LP, Night Train, a record with a Blue Note look and a Golden Age hip-hop feel. “There’s definitely a different smell in different parts of town, but there is always the air,” he explains. “In a literal sense, it’s not so much the smell as the texture, the moistness of it.”

There was plenty of moisture — buckets of it — in the air the day I met Cunning at the High Tide, a cozy Tenderloin dive bar his father used to own. “When I was a wee lad, I used to come here with my dad [while he did] the books on Saturdays and Sundays,” he recalls. “I’d just drink 7-Up and grenadine [and play] Pac-Man.”

Richie Cunning was born Richard Lipton; he remembers the day, 15 years back, when he swapped one name for the other. He was lugging a stack of LPs from Amoeba Music to the Sunset District, mulling over rap names. “Richie Cunningham [from Happy Days] just came to mind,” he says. “I was like, ‘That would be cool, without the ham on it.’ I always thought of it like I sampled the name — I only use the part that I want.”

Cunning moved to Santa Cruz for college, where he met the like-minded Rec-League All-Stars crew. Luckily, they followed him back to San Francisco, because he couldn’t have stayed away long. The city is the center of his universe, and there’s no better time to enjoy it than late at night. “The city actually goes to sleep,” he says. “I’ve had many, many years of getting stranded [and] taking the bus and/or train home by myself. That’s where I delve deepest into my thoughts.”

These late-night journeys heavily figure on Night Train. Among the many references is the hilarious “Call me the zen Buddha of the N-Judah.” On “The Station,” a funky, boom-bap joint with Leslie organ swirling over the chorus, he rhymes, “I murder any microphone I happen to touch/Then I’m cracking a Dutch on the back of the bus.” Cunning’s horn- and jazz-heavy production, coupled with his swaggering, perfectly enunciated delivery, results in an upbeat and aggressive revisiting of his luminous predecessors Gang Starr and Pete Rock & CL Smooth.

On the gospel horn–inflected “Work It Out,” Cunning notes, “When I took the stage, other rappers took cover.” This is understandable. He and the Rec-League sold out the Night Train release party at the Elbo Room last month, thanks in part to their ability to maximize the impact of their stage show. “One of the ways that you really lose crowd energy is by pausing in between songs,” he says. “So we [developed] a rapid-fire, machine-gun style. The beat just drops. This song ends; this song starts. We don’t even give people a chance to get bored.”

This style might be too much for most aspiring rappers to achieve on the first time out, but Cunning and Co. have launched a campaign imploring MCs to “Stop Performing Over Your Vocals.” The issue springs from hip-hop shows being marred by the use of accompanying CDs that contain beats, recorded choruses, and sometimes entire songs. “That instantly turns me off,” Cunning says. “All you have to do is be on the mike. It’s already almost like karaoke, but to go one step further down the ladder and put vocals onto [the CD], it’s like, ‘C’mon, dude. Try a little harder.’”

MCs, take heed: Cunning is cleaning up like Dirty Harry.

I don’t remember if I ever put this up here, but the amount I care about that is dwindling even as I type. I did this track way back while recording at the Look Records Masterplex. As you may recall, I put down a couple of verses over some at-that-time-unreleased Madlib beats. One of them got sampled by Madlib for his Percee P remix project, while the other was thrown into the vaults, never to be heard from again. Until now…or until whatever earlier time I already played you this cut. But you get the idea. Enjoy the following one-verse non-song over a famous producer’s beat that may have since been used by someone for something else!

Grip Grand–EarthWindFireWater (“Produced” by Madlib)

Special thanks to Design for making this triumphant collaboration possible. Did you know he also designed the character above? Get familiar.

Alright, y’all, be easy. Until the next…

He flipped it like Madlib did a old jazz standard,

Grip Grand