The hip-hop label opens their online store
By MATT ASHARE | May 22, 2006
Mr. Lif
|
In a move that’s sure to be copied by other indie labels, the underground hip-hop imprint Definitive Jux recently created what it’s calling “The Pharmacy” or “DJRx,” an on-line store that mimics the amazon.com/iTunes model. Everything from new releases from the Def Jux stable — El-P, Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, Cage — to Def Jux merch to news about tours is available athttp://store.definitivejux.net/store/index.htm. Oryou can buy individual songs, videos, and ringtones by Def Jux artists for 98 cents per song and $1.98 per video. Of course, the site also has a few freebees to lure potential customers. Here’s a little of what’s up there now . . .Mr. Lif, Mo’ Mega Mixtape mixed by DJ Big Wiz
Apsci DJ Big Wiz takes Lif’s latest Def Jux album, Mo’ Mega, and turns it inside out, upside down, and three times sideways, incorporating verses from all over the disc, regular shout-outs to Def Jux, a whole lotta scratching, and some deep, thundering bass to string together this mash-up. It jumps, thunders, and booms, with a dizzying array of breakbeats, skewed horns, ringing telephones, and, well, I think I even hear the kitchen sink in there somewhere toward the end. An epic tribute to Lif.
Aesop Rock, “Frijoles Instrumental”
It’s a freestyler’s dream: a track from Aesop Rock’s Bazooka Tooth disc stripped of its lyrics. All you get is the murky, stoned groove, which does get a little boring after the first few minutes, but think of it as a pleasant opportunity to enjoy the intricacies of one of Aesop’s tracks as pure music.
Aesop Rock, “Mars Attacks Instrumental”
“Frijoles” sans lyrics is fun, but this takes things to a whole other lunatic fringe, with its rubber-band funk intro segueing into minimalist drum ’n’ bass breakbeating peppered with sci-fi synth and other ominous, echoey sound effects. Dare you to freestyle over it — this orbit’s reserved for Aesop.
On the Web
Definitive Jux: http://www.definitivejux.net
Related:
Aesop Rock, All in the Fam, Common, More
- Aesop Rock
Sometimes I don’t have one goddamn clue what misanthropic underground hip-hop king Aesop Rock is talking about.
- All in the Fam
Halfway through my interview with the Allston-based alt-hop collective Fameless Fam about their upcoming showcase at Wonder Bar this Tuesday, Will from the posse's glitch-minded duo Time Crisis mentions that he went to high school in Pittsburgh with rising rap sensation Wiz Khalifa.
- Common
Can you fault a Second City 35-year-old Gap-shilling rapper for wanting to make elevator hip-hop for Second City 35-year-old Gap-wearing yuppies?
- U.N.I.T.Y.
This Wednesday, May 30, a hip-hop bill comes to the Paradise Lounge that boggles the mind.
- Slingin' it
They at once cemented their status as hip-hop rhyme pushers.
- Ghostface Killah
For the second time in 2006, Wu-Tang’s Ghostface has released an album that makes it seem everyone else in the hip-hop world should be paying more attention to Ghostface.
- Tear the club up
"What Samir and I bring to the table is that we were both coming from a real street hip-hop sentiment," says LaCrate, "and that’s where club in its origin came from. As much as it may have been comprised of rave breaks, there was nothing rave – I always say there was nothing white-boy about it." Lily Allen, "Smile (Aaron LaCrate Gutter Remix)" (mp3)
- A call to action
The credits of Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes rolled, and I felt two ways.
- Ol' Dirty's dirty side
Sometimes it takes an outsider to understand the inside.
- Quitters, tinklers, tacklers, and whoppers
David Berman of Silver Jews intends to quit the music biz and concentrate on writing prose, says a post on the Drag City Web site.
- Review: Dashah | Rap Burglar 2.5
Dashah is the sort of artist who inspires wack rappers to retire early.
- Less
Topics:
Download
, Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music, More
, Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music, Underground Hip-Hop, Mr. Lif, Aesop Rock, Lif Mo, Less