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This sunday I went to Rock the Bells, a big travelling hip-hop festival. It was awesome… I got to see so many of my favorite artists… Nas, Ghostface, Raekwon, A Tribe Called Quest, as well as check out some artists from the old school I had never gotten to see like Mos Def, Dead Prez and Tha Pharcyde. I would say that Nas was the highlight of the night for me… that and seeing my friend Blaqstarr come out on stage during Mos Def’s set! That was amazing.

Check the set out here.

Last weekend was Whartscape in Baltimore. It’s a music and arts festival held by the collective arts group WHAM CITY every year in Baltimore… it kicked off an insane weekend that also included Artscape, the Unruly Records 15th year anniversary, and some other events too. For me, the Whartscape highlights were Future Islands, which I can only describe as an avant dance band with Meatloaf as singer, Celebration, Dan Deacon, an illegal lecture by Mark Hosler from Negativland, and the Oxes reunion. Click here for the whole set.

I only met her once or twice, but she was a really warm, friendly person who obviously had a ton of talent. It’s a real shame when someone passes away when they have so much ahead of them.

Rest in peace.

Last night, I saw Jay Reatard, Vincent Black Shadow, and Ratsize at Sonar… I loved VBS and Ratsize, VBS was kind of stoner-y and Ratsize was kind of 80s hardcore-y. Never seen either before. Jay Reatard was fun, but I didn’t really see why people are so excited about them/him. Fun pop-punk-esque fast rock. Full set here.