We’ve changed up a few things in 2012. The most visible of these changes is the introduction of our new Tumblr site which will now play host to the many things we love in pop culture and music. Our Updates section here will now exclusively be the place to get the latest news on our music, projects and events as well as those of our extended fam and affiliates.

Speaking of which, our West coast fam over at Beatrock Music have put out some new music recently and we got a chance to get our hands on it. The Bar, made up of Bambu and Prometheus Brown (Geo of Blue Scholars) released the song “Lookin’ Up” which is produced by Fatgums. The maxi single is available for download now and features remixes by 6Fingers and a Generation ILL collab by illa and PMBeatz.

Download the maxi-single now at beatrockmusic.com or click the cover below:

Shout out to Fatgums, The Bar, and the rest of the Beatrock fam. Check the Okayplayer mention as well…

And don’t forget to check out our new Tumblr site here.

Last but not least, this week’s edition of The Weekly Beat Sessions will be posted around midnight tonight– don’t miss it!

- @bsoco

De La Soul members, Kelvin Mercer (Plug 1) and David Jude Jolicoeur (Plug 2) have taken on all new identities for their new project as duo, First Serve. Jacob “Pop Life” Barrow (Posdnuos) and Deen Whittier (Trugoy) have come together to release The Goon Time Mixtape. Check the Soundcloud description below for some context:

First Serve is the brainchild of French producers/ DJ’s, 2 & 4 (aka Chokolate & Kahlid), who met as master turntablists at the 2004 DMC Championship. After an instant meeting of minds they decided to embark on a musical adventure – a Hip Hop album played by musicians. All they needed was a couple of MC’s to help complete their vision. Enter NY based Jacob ‘Pop’ Life and Deen ‘D’ Whitter.

Check the teaser video, “Mrs. Whittier”:

It’s so refreshing to hear Pos and Dave once again. De La Soul is a big influence on a lot of the music we make and, personally speaking, has dictated my taste in music on more than one occasion. First Serve’s official album is slated for an April 2012 release and we are definitely looking forward to it. Make sure to check the single, “Pushin’ Aside, Pushin’ Along.”

Listen or DL the free The Goon Time Mixtape now on Soundcloud:

Latest tracks by FIRST SERVE

In other news…about video games:

Some crazy visuals dropped in the past couple weeks for a couple upcoming games– check them out and try to endure without having a seizure. Seriously. Make sure to step away from the screen and turn a light on. Epilepsy is not a joke. Jerk.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

This 5 minute tour de force is masterful in its action scenes and replete with guns, gore and mf’n zombies. Scheduled release in March 2012:

Soul Calibur V

Get your iPhone ready and open your Googe Translate app– unless you know Japanese. With an elaborate character creation mode and what appears to be clean, seamless gameplay– not to mention a playable Ezio from Assassin’s Creed– SC5 certainly looks to be a contender for fighting game of the year. Scheduled release towards the end of Jan 2012.

Make sure y’all head over to The Weekly Beat Sessions as a new edition of our on-going beatmaking series will be posted around midnight tonight.

- @bsoco

Check out the two videos below featuring Mark Ronson and DJ Premier:

Mark Ronson “A La Modeliste” ft Erykah Badu, Zigaboo Modeliste, Trombone Shorty, Members of The Dap Kings, and Yasiin Bey

DJ Premier “Regeneration” ft Nas and The Berklee Symphony Orchestra

Find out more about the RE:GENERATION project and check out more videos at www.regenerationmusicproject.com.

Happy New Year, folks!

Our last posted video of 2011 was a Common joint…let’s kick off 2012 with another new video off his latest album:

“Raw (How You Like It)” is featured on Common’s ninth album, The Dreamer, The Believer.

DL the album now on iTunes.

Also, make sure to check out the this week’s edition of The Weekly Beat Sessions! Should be up around midnight EST.

Was about to leave on a road trip up to Tebow country when brother Com’s official music video got posted on the YouTubes.
Check it here:

“Blue Sky” will be featured on Common’s soon to be released album The Dreamer, The Believer.

DL the single now on iTunes.

I had a bunch of videos ready to be posted randomly this week…but I never seem to be able to post on time. So I’m dumping it all here. The best of the internet…this week…thus far. Check it:

ATCQ on Bluray

The documentary you saw (and paid for) is now on Bluray. Let’s try to drop a few more for this one too. It’s A Tribe Called Quest for crying out loud!

Childish Gambino BTS

We missed his in-store a few weeks ago because the young emos got there hours before. Anywho, lookin forward to Camp.

Quantum Leaps

I don’t understand how it works…but I want that. Now.

Boobs

Melanie Iglesias presents her 2nd flip book and invites a friend.

Occupy…On My Street?

Jay Smooth provides his take on the Occupy Wall Street movement.

John Paul Digs K-pop

It might seem like you should know something more. But you don’t. All you need to know is John Paul digs K-pop.

Music You Need to Listen To…Now

Jelani the MC – De La Vega

Jelani the MC – De La Vega

I’m hoping this will be a weekly thing– the Gen ILL blog is not really known for consistent posts. However, I believe this Tuesday night post will continue to be just that– every Tuesday night. So let’s see what’s making noise in music and pop culture so far this week:

Russell Simmons brought Kanye West out to the the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations yesterday. I think it’s a great thing to have celebrities present in support of worthy causes and all… but c’mon, man. Don’t get me wrong– it doesn’t matter how much one has in the bank compared to another, but dude was talking about being in his “other, other Benz.” Does he really care about all of this? Or is it possible that College Dropout Kanye still exists inside of Watch the Throne Kanye? As contrived as it may appear, the intentions behind this silent appearance lie only in the mind of Mr. West.

The new Avengers trailer was released today. Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly fame) directs this soon-to-be mega blockbuster starring Robert Downey Jr (Ironman), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), and Samuel L Jackson (Nick Fury). May 2012 can’t come soon enough.

Nas – “Nasty” Music Video (NasirJones.com) from Nasir Jones on Vimeo.

Nas is still working on his 10th album tentatively titled, Life is Good. Word is there’ll be some dope production on the album (names like Premier, Dr Dre, and Kanye have been thrown in the mix). Based on this single, we’re definitely looking forward to the new album.

And finally… the latest edition of The Weekly Beat Sessions was posted late last night. Here’s a glimpse:

Original Sample: Dream by the Brothers of Soul
Beats by Country: 17 beats from the United States (MIA to The Bay, all points in between), Canada, England, France, and the Philippines.

See you next week, right? Peace.

- Soco (t: @bsoco / @generationill)

This week’s edition of The Weekly Beat Sessions hit a record high featuring a roster of 26 participating producers from around the globe.

Check out the participants below:

Canada

MVP-Big L (Mr. Kwazi ReFIX) by Mr. Kwazi
(Ontario, Canada)

Frankie Payne-Hard Headed Remix by Hi-Rock
(Toronto, Canada)

Philippines

10 Meter Dash feat. Verb & JedLi by JedLi of People’s Future
(Manila, Philippines)

puh puh puh puh puh puh pum by Chrizo
(Las Piñas, Philippines)

Beat6 by Dondon aka Proven
(Paranaque, Philippines)

Rise & Shine by SPNZ
(Makati City, Philippines)

United Kingdom

Living is Harder by Blackph03nix
(London, England)

The Girl by Ant Hearn
(Southampton, England)

France

Fonzie by Kam0
(Paris, France)

United States

California

It Was Me by Paper Son
(Los Angeles, CA)

At First Sight by thadizzie1
(San Francisco, CA)

What I Want by @ProdbyDrew
(Fresno, CA)

DMV

The Drive Home by Def Justice
(Washington, DC)

60 Minutes by Grayscale
(Richmond, VA)

Florida

Damp Knees by Bruce Juice
(Orlando, FL)

When You Find by Enfinity
(Winter Park, FL)

I Miss Real Hip Hop by Kritikul
(Miami, FL)

Ok Here’s The Plan by Morris Chestnut
(Gainesville, FL)

Georgia

Embrace (Autumn’s Return) by NeV
(Augusta, GA)

Illinois

Sweet Sixteen by Agent Smith 78
(Chicago, IL)

(We BrainStorm) Tha Teacha remix by Sev Seveer
(Chicago, IL)

Michigan

ATLiens (Dingo Remix) by Dingo
(Detroit, MI)

North Carolina

Gone & Come Back by Ambush feat Tony Decks
(Charlotte, NC)

That’s What I Want by 1stup
(Greensboro, NC)

Ohio

ITSUPTOU JOINT by Mr. Klimatic
(Toledo, OH)

Oregon

Thirty-One by Sideways
(Portland, OR)

If you would like to participate in next week’s WBS, contact illa at weeklybeatsessions@gmail.com or hit us up on Twitter: @generationill

Catch a new edition of The Weekly Beat Sessions EVERY week– and contrary to some randos in the Twittersphere, you’ll only find it here at Generation ILL.

Peace,

- Soco ( t: @bsoco / @generationill )

So, this past Saturday, I was at Panera with my girl enjoying a delightful roasted turkey artichoke panini when I get a call from illa. He sounded like someone had bought him candy after punching him in the gut.

He proceeded to inform me that The Weekly Beat Sessions was picked up by the music aggregator site, The Hype Machine. I remember using the site to find mp3s when I would update my Project Playlists at work years ago. I was floored. Now, come to find out, The Hype Machine has become an even bigger deal since I last checked it out having partnered with SoundCloud — allowing labels to connect with bloggers, giving them access to exclusive songs amongst other benefits.

Exciting as it was, the news came rather unexpectedly– what did this mean for the participants, supporters, and listeners of The Weekly Beat Sessions? Generation ILL has since sent out a mass email to its in-house producers as well as to the producers currently participating in The Weekly Beat Sessions, communicating what this means for The WBS and informing everyone that this is certainly a positive step toward connecting The Weekly Beat Sessions with a wider audience. A larger audience means a larger network and an even bigger platform for both exposure and expression.

Check out some exerpts from the mass email below:

Sometime yesterday around Noon, The Weekly Beat Sessions was selected by the Hype Machine as a music blog that they are tracking, following, and indexing for their website. The Hype Machine is the world’s largest music blog/mp3 aggregator. They basically collect all posts/music from the best music blogs (in their opinion) on the internet and presents it to their audience in one place. In regards to WBS being selected, this is quite significant considering that the Hype Machine is known for selecting prominent/established music blogs which they feel are relevant and of high quality. It is the goal of many music blogs to eventually get listed on Hype Machine. Yesterday, we reached that goal. This is something that all participants of WBS should be proud of.

How does it work?
Basically it works like this: on Monday night, as soon as I click “update post”, WBS pings Hype Machine and lets them know that a new session has been posted. Hype Machine visits the site, and automatically indexes the post and makes all the posted mp3s available for streaming (more on this later) on their front page. As new posts/songs get cataloged our songs move further down and eventually off the front page. It’s kind of like WBS is now being syndicated by Hype Machine.

I personally think that this is a great thing. Generation ILL wants WBS to be a platform for beatmakers/producers to get their music heard. This furthers that mission on a larger scale. And it is also a testament to the greatness that you guys do every week.

Make sure to check out this week’s edition of The Weekly Beat Sessions (being posted later tonight) and also make sure to check out The WBS now on The Hype Machine.

Peace.

Billy Soco ( t: @bsoco / @generationill )

PS. The hype feeling we have can’t be completely explained in words– check this dope instrumental from Generation ILL producer, Eladbrit (what up, Elad!?!?):

The Grime – Eladbrit of Generation ILL

A true artist and part of Gen ILL’s extended fam, Larry Achiampong, recently released more than 20 beatstrumentals compiled in a project he entitled, Meh Mogya (Sample of Me). Better known to the Weekly Beat Session audience as Black Ph03nix, Larry has been contributing to the WBS for the longest and we at Generation ILL are super proud and in awe of the emotion and passion he put into making this project. The resulting album is tinged with an amalgam of history and contemporary flavor that has molded Larry to become the artist he is today. It is a glimpse into his African heritage and gives a sense of both the joy and the struggle that those before him labored. The beats mirror the bricks that would eventually pave the way for a generation that birthed and raised him. The album also gives foresight into a path he continues to build for himself as a creative.

“The Title “MEH MOGYA” or “MY BLOOD”, when translated from Twi/Akan (a principal native language of Ghana) to English symbolises my intentions of the concept that I originally titled “SAMPLE OF ME”.

The aim of the project was to investigate, navigate; sample and re-present sound as a heritage/legacy of my origins. This project uses samples from Highlife music of the 1960’s through to the early 1980’s.“

Follow Larry on Twitter @artistela and make sure to support good music and download Meh Mogya (Sample of Me) NOW!

…and don’t forget to check out London’s own Black Ph03nix along with other producers around the globe over at the Weekly Beat Sessions.

Peace.

- Soco (t: @bsoco / @generationill)