I’d like to give a thorough shout out to my man Marcus Dowling, the most prolific music journalist in the DC area, as well as the most slept-on talent in this region by a long shot.

If music tastes were compared to guns (and granted, the only guns I’m familiar with are from video games, particularly Goldeneye on N64. Oddjob, baby!), Marcus’ would be a akin to sniper rifle; there’s nothing too far out of his range, and he’ll listen to it all with the utmost care and attention. Talk about eclectic, dude. I don’t even want to know what his iTunes/record/tape/CD collection looks like, because I’m sure he has a room in his living space devoted to it, whereas all I have is my Macbook. The man can talk to you as eloquently about Teena Marie as he can about Fat Trel, and I’m not even exaggerating. You name somebody, he’s interviewed them. (Check his site if you don’t believe me.) Speaking of Trel, Marcus even hosted The Board Administration’s showcase at UHall two days ago. Trel, Black Cobain, and Wale were performing there because of this guy!

Enough cise. Let’s get down to why he got that grand introduction. Marcus invited me to chat with him on True Genius Requires Insanity Radio this past Wednesday, and although reluctant to get on the air and sound foolish in front of God knows how many listeners, I accepted the opportunity. I called in from my location and we chopped it up for a half-hour or so. The convo revolved around where the music industry is headed in the near future, but it was far from boring. We weren’t talking about the same old stuff that they do at conferences across America. It was basically me saying “F*** all record labels” and giving great examples of people who have done great work without label support.

After listening to myself on the radio show (which is just absurd. I hate my voice and I sound foolish about 70-75% of the time!), I learned that I know a lot more than I thought I did about that stuff. I don’t wanna keep on typing, so I’d prefer if you just checked it out! Thanks again to Marcus and TGRI for this! Enjoy, and make sure to check other TGRI radio interviews, as well as everything on their site! Thanks. Listen below on the player, or open it up in a new browser while you do other stuff on this site/your computer by clicking here. I make it so damn user friendly!

(It’s the joint that’s highlighted blue; the first thing. Just press play. Let me know if you have any problems. Thanks again guys!)

Chris Barz is among my top five artists out of DC, without a doubt. Witty wordplay, a mix of classic and new school flow, and hella bars, just like his name suggests.

He had one of the most slept on mixtapes to drop last year around Christmas, Class[Sickz] Out The Dark; the only reason that I can think of for people not praising the tape heavily is simply because they didn’t get a chance to hear it. However, when you look at the ingredients included in the final product, namely Best Kept Secret producing the entire project, you’ll probably scratch your head wondering how it slipped past you. Well, today’s your lucky day. I’ll introduce (re-introduce for some of you early adapters) you to Mr. Barz with his new video, produced by the New York-based LightUp Film. Their handled Chris’ video for “Dreamers”, featuring crooner Jesse Boykins III, and the final product looks crispier than those fresh Krispy Kreme donuts that come out if you get there right when the store opens! Take a look.

And between me and you, this isn’t even close to the best song on the mixtape. My favorite joints are “Wherever We Go”, “Til Erybody Knows”, and “Fall (Keep Movin’)”. The production is wild on everything, even the sole track not by BKS; Rocky Radio KILLS one of my favorite Jackson 5 songs for the sample, and could quite possibly body every other song on the mixtape.

I’d rather not talk anymore. Here are the samples (my three favorites; I’d listen to them all!), and the link to his tape is below.

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Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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DOWNLOAD: Chris Barz – Class[Sickz] Out The Dark [MIXTAPE]

I can’t find him! Can you!? When you do, tell Omar. He’s got an e-prize for you.

“As always, we stress presentation and quality when we go about crafting these events, and we are happy to have local artists, the talented Kokayi, NY based-but Ohio bred artist Stalley (Creative Control), and to top things off we have the illest hip-hop trio, Diamond District along side the amazing in-house band, The eLs to close out the nights festivities. Soundtrack throughout the night provided by DJ CamJus and DJ EYE AM!  Hosted by Lamine of DYDC. Definitely a night to remember!”

Don’t forget to check out DYDC on Tumblr here. Oh, and don’t worry. The event is free, but due to limited spacing you must RSVP @ thetalented2.eventbrite.com.

Shout out to The Madbury Club (and Phil Annand, the mastermind behind that whole movement, as well as one of the brightest young minds I know) for recruiting me to write for “The Club” this week. This marvelous Columbus Day (hey, I’m just talking about the day outside and stuff, dude. I don’t particularly care much for the actual holiday. No work, though. So I can’t complain too much.), they dropped their coverage of NY’s tour date for The Smoker’s Club, and those photos, by Vincent Picone, are crispier than that Kia Shine song that dropped a few years back.

Check the write-up here, and explore the rest of the site for other incredible features, spreads, and writing. It’s next-level genius, really. I honestly think that when it’s all said and done, they’ll be one of those sites that people talk about like they talk about Complex, Hypebeast, and The Gee Pee. Ha. I had to throw myself in there. My bad!

Shout out to Ellington, too.

what exactly does it mean?

let me know in the comment section, cuz clearly there’s no solid definition for the poke.

Exactly what the flyer says:

the great progression (“the gee pee”). the movement you’ve heard about, but have yet to see actually move. well, it’s finally upon us; all i need now is funds to make the dream a reality. yeah, you heard me. the moola and the guap, like wiz said on his album. what better way to donate to a good cause than to throw a video game sports tourney / kickback on the eve of sunday, october 10th? NBA 2K11 dropped (with a playable michael jordan, who you can see in the background!), recently; we’ll be playing that on PS3. but while we’re at it, we might as well pay homage to dreamcast, a system so ahead of its time the industry couldn’t handle it. it dropped on 9.9.99, and 2K premiered its first game, NBA 2K, on this console.

we’ll have two screens going all night; one with the newest 2K offering, and the other with vintage dreamcast 2K sports games (NHL, NBA, and NFL. we ain’t playin’!). suck at video games? so what? come to support! we got jenga, connect four, uno, taboo, music, and great people to keep you occupied. $5 to fall through (larger donations welcome). it’s in g-town; e-mail modi[at]DCtoBC.com for the address. complimentary cocktails by belvedere, the best vodka in the biz.

Yeah, you read it. Starts tonight at 8pm. You don’t have work tomorrow, so don’t even fake like you do. Feel free to bring more beverages to spice things up, too. Could be some surprises there, too. You never know…!

Not in town/can’t come out to support, but still wanna donate!? We appreciate that! Check out our donation link below.

Links riiiight to my PayPal account. If you’re curious, the funds you donate will help pay for the beautiful website as well as any fun events like this that we have in the near future. We appreciate you! Do me this favor and tweet about the event via this twitpic link: http://twitpic.com/2wdv0e. Thanks for supporting another DC to BC/The Gee Pee-powered gathering, and hopefully you’ll enjoy it like the last joints we’ve had.

A couple months ago, I went to New York City with my boys Mike Lights and Daniel, as well as the DC to BC regime (Marcel and Quinn) to help with this Chip Tha Ripper/KiD CuDi concert that you probably saw us publicizing heavy a while back.

Shortly before the event began, I met up with Jack Sommer, founder of Imagination Detonation, for an interview. This 17-year-old Bronx native has always reached out and been supportive of the DC to BC movement from early on, so when he asked to interview me, I was all for it. I’ve never been interviewed, but it was a pretty awesome experience to see things progress from a radio show to throwing a show in New York with Chip Tha Ripper and KiD CuDi. Check it out if you get a moment. I appreciate your support!

Everybody is affiliated with a video game character these days, so I’m going with this guy. simple as that. I remember there was a little point guard I used to play against in the rec league in my neighborhood named Kirby, and he was so ill with the pill. A little guy from Potomac; I think his real name was Curtis. Anybody know him, and if so, what happened to him? Is he still balling up?

Somebody let me know! In the meantime, let’s see how people embrace Kirby:

Oh boy.

INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends & creativity become contagious today in music and fashion.

Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion and entertainment) who are shaping today’s pop culture.

Looks pretty cool, but I wish we could see influencers in other industries, like in agriculture, or in medicine. Or even if that concept of an influencer even exists in those spaces.