Meet Steve Duncan.  Steve lives for adventure, danger and feeding his curiosity.  All three of those thirsts are quenched whenever he dons his backpack and heads where millions of people would never dare explore, the underground of New York City.  And I don’t mean musically or culturally.  I’m talking LITERALLY UNDERGROUND.

Steve, along with a tremendous amount of help from director / cinematographer Andrew Wonder, has created some serious seismic tremors on the internet with the above short documentary called UNDERCITY, a 27-minute crash course in what has been coined as “urban exploration.”  With no permission or official consent of any kind (like true rebels do), Andrew slithers into sewers, trespasses in tunnels and scales steel all in the name of education for the masses.  I will never have the cojones to attempt the things that go on in this film, but I’m grateful for people that do.  Because it’s captivating.  My heart seriously started racing around the 25-minute mark.  You’ll see why.

p.s.  If you dig this, peep one of the must-read articles that started all of the buzz, The Wilderness Below Our Feet (NY Times).

Hip-hop is truly a global force. And if you don’t know that by now, you need your head examined. It transcends religion, age and nationality. We can sometimes take that for granted. But when you step back and examine how popular a music and culture like hip-hop is, it’s almost staggering. The documentary Bouncing Cats is an educational and raw look into how hip-hop can infiltrate an African territory for the better. Powerful stuff here. And this is only the trailer.

Here’s an official description for the upcoming film:

Bouncing Cats is the inspiring story of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda using the unlikely tool of hip-hop with a focus on b-boy culture and breakdance. In 2006, Abraham “Abramz” Tekya, a Ugandan b-boy and AIDS orphan created Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU). The dream was to establish a free workshop that would empower, rehabilitate, and heal the community by teaching youth about b-boy culture.

It speaks volumes about a person when they are not complacent about just honing a craft and simultaneously chasing a dream.  When they are also trying to learn about the world around them at the same time and influencing others to do the same, that’s another dimension of selflessness and amazing character.  Music is a powerful thing.  One of my favorite people in the world, DJ / emcee Jasmine Solano sat down w/ the homie TONE real quick-like for a window seat introspective.  She even snatched the camera and got her Barbara Walters on for a hot sec.

This is one of my favorite TONE profiles to date and I don’t know why I didn’t post it sooner.  The homie Sucio Smash (host / DJ of Squeeze Radio on WKCR 89.9 FM and head honcho of indie hip-hop family High Water Music) sits down and concisely breaks down what has happened to the state of hip-hop on the radio in New York City and eventually nationwide.  I couldn’t have said it any better.  100% sad but true.

The Bronx braggadocio is in full effect in this clip as The Kid Daytona briefly breaks down why he chose the path he’s on now — becoming a super emcee.  There’s no lack of confidence here whatsoever.  Not many people can grind as tough as this man does so be on the look out for him.  He’s on the verge.  Oh, and be on the look out for a new mixtape he’s doing w/ LRG called The Interlude.  Homie takes interlude beats from some of your favorite hip-hop albums and hyperextends them into full songs.  Yeah, it’s shaping up to be pretty serious.

I’ve fast become a fan of the new HBO series How To Make It In America.  If you’ve never seen it before, I like to describe it as Entourage‘s hustling New York native cousin.  Alot less glamour and glitz.  So far it’s pretty entertaining.  Everyone’s scrapping to carve out a little name and comfort for themselves in this gritty city.  As a supplement and tribute to the enterpreneurial spirit of NYC, HBO has created an online series called Hustle Stories.  The first subject is graffiti legend Lee Quinones (who’s art was featured in an early How To Make It episode).  If anyone knows about manuevering these streets (literally and figuratively), it’s this man.

Kudos to the Stussy gang for this nice piece of film.  A couple of weeks back, in conjunction with the anniversary of J Dilla’s death / birthday, Stussy released a limited edition tee which showcases the famous B+ (aka Brian Cross) photo of the man himself in front of his turntable and MPC doing what he does best.  Oh, and Dilla just happens to be rocking a Stussy tee in the photo. How ill is that? 

Obviously the tees are selling like buttered hotcakes.  But they didn’t stop there.  As a special treat, they released this nice digital mini-documentary on the Detroit beat magician told through the eyes and ears of some of his closest friends and colleagues.  This is a great education for those of you who might still be in the dark.

One of our favorite stylized minds here at TFB, Peter Hadar, copped a squat with the Trace Magazine folks for a quick five questions.  Nothing like a little insight into the mind of a mover and shaker.  Peter’s gearing up for the release of his new single “Full Time Lover” (peep the teaser promo here).  That’s a position that I’ve been applying to for years now.  Gotta get my resume tighter I suppose.

While doing the slow scroll through the homie Lichiban‘s blog, the above video caught my eye.  What was my boy Mikey 1 Soul doing on Vimeo?  I pressed play and was pleased to open my ears and mind to the message that was set forth. 

Mikey takes inspiration and framework from some of the most forward-thinking organizers of the civil rights movements in the ’60s and ’70s and uses that as a platform for a present-day evolution in liberation.  Although things are much better than they used to be, you’d be a fool to think everything was 100%  hunkey dorey.  There is always work that can be done.  Here’s more on Mike…

A member of the Brooklyn-based artist collective, TRUST YOUR STRUGGLE, brand architect of 1 Soul Designs and co-owner of Fresthetic, Michael has launched several successful arts and community based businesses and has dedicated his life t0 promoting social, political and cultural awareness in order to provoke change. His work has impacted communities in NYC, San Francisco, Cuba, Vieques, Mexico and Guatemala. To find out more, check out his site at conscioushustler.mvmt.com.

I really like how this was put together.  Unless you were living in a cave in Afghanistan (and that’s still no excuse), it’s evident that Jay-Z was pretty much running things in 2009.  The Blueprint 3 was pretty much EVERYWHERE.  And when it was time to hit the road and tour, the homie DJ Neil Armstrong was summoned to handle a very prestigious role — tour DJ, of course.

Neon Gorilla (w/ a  little help from the Ransom Holding Company) tagged along with Neil for 24 hours during the Toronto stop of the tour and put together this cool piece to give you some kind of insight as to what it feels like to be a part of something this major.  There’s no rest for the weary, apparently.

Here’s a quick anecdote direct from Neil about the above footage:

A sort of funny side note – I was SUPER SUPER SUPER SICK that day. I had sort of overdosed on Robitussin, took way too much because of my asthmatic coughing self. While I was performing with Jay for the first half of the show, I thought I was dreaming. On tour, I barely get to sleep.  One of the sacrifices I guess…

I want y’all to meet a homie of mine.  His name is James Blagden and he’s a pretty f*ckin’ fresh illustrator.  He linked up with an equally-as-fresh NYC-based art and apparel collective No Mas to flex his art skills for the interwebs.  The first product of this dream team-up was the fun(ky) short posted above entitled The Greatest of All-Time (Muhammad Ali) vs. The Godfather of Soul (James Brown), inspired by the historic phenomenon that was 1974′s Rumble In the Jungle. 

You didn’t think they’d stop with that one gem now, did you?  The above clip (the second installment in this sporty collabo) is something that has garnered MUCH attention since it was released into cyberspace and rightfully so.  This time they got a little fancier too.   No Mas dug up some audio of former professional MLB pitcher Dock Ellis recounting the infamous game in 1970 where he took the mound and pitched a no-hitter high out of his melon on LSD.  James gets his trippiest ink work in on this one to illustrate the story.  And yes, this was an absolutely true story (according to him).  Look it up.  Dock Ellis passed away in December of 2008.

p.s. BREAKING NEWS!  Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No has been selected for the U.S. Documentary Shorts category in the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

If you’ve never been to wejetset before (dubbed as a “modern travel site”), you’re doing yourself a grave disservice.  Especially if you’re the kind of person that likes to see the world and discover new territory. 

In addition to selling an array of fantastic product, the wejetset staff also finds time to produce some quality web content as well.  Here’s a little something from their Travel Chronicle series – a peek into one of their favorite vintage shops, Sugarcube, located in their hometown of Philly.  As they so eloquently state…

Curating a timeless mix of vintage and contemporary clothing seems impossible, but founders Elisa Burrato and Edward Dormer do it with sophistication and ease. Through a casual conversation they discuss their history, their committment to Philadelphia, and a few other intangible ingredients that make their retail operation special. Whether it’s the interior buildout constructed entirely from reclaimed wood, or their amazing customer service – you quickly realize that a visit to Sugarcube isn’t just about shopping, it’s much more experiential.

Please tell me you watched the first three episodes of Off the Wall Sessions?  Homebase NYC and Hot Mop Films are making some great use of that folding chair and brick wall.  One of my rock solid crushes Melanie Fiona sits in front of the lens and answers a number of questions about her beginnings, her career and more.

It’s great to see one photographer interview another photographer.  Our peeps TONE has come through again with another great installment for his untitled interview series.  In this one, he sits down with another homie Mel D. Cole to speak about the path he is taking as a freelancer and what he thinks of the game in general.

The homie TONE puts his beast of a camera to good use and has hip-hop duo Kidz In the Hall stop by The New Pop Loft in Jersey to shoot the breeze and chit chat.  They end up waxing poetic about their humble beginnings hustling mixtapes on the exotic car show circuit (wow) and their failed attempt at starting a modeling agency (double wow).  I  had no idea about any of this history so this was fun to learn.

For those that don’t know, I live in NYC.  And I spend alot of time in the Lower East Side.  It’s a great place to eat, drink and just soak up alot of semi-authentic downtown ambiance.  However, unless you’re a native, you probably don’t know much about the LES’ very humble and rebellious beginnings.  One person successfully documented the evolution of this diverse section of Manhattan over a 30-year time span — Clayton Patterson.  Here’s an official blurb about Captured:

Since 1979 Clayton Patterson has dedicated his life to documenting the final era of raw creativity and lawlessness in New York City’s Lower East Side, a neighborhood famed for art, music and revolutionary minds. Traversing the outside edge he’s recorded a dark and colorful society, from drag to hardcore, heroin, homelessness, political chaos and ultimately gentrification. His odyssey from voyeur to provocateur reveals that it can take losing everything you love to find your own significance.

If this trailer doesn’t pique your interest, you might wanna check yourself for a pulse.  But if you were as intrigued as I was and have an hour and a half to kill, you can watch the documentary in its entirety courtesy of SnagFilms.

Homebase NYC (whattup Alice?!) is doing some great things these days.  I got an IM the other day w/ links to the videos above (in conjunction w/ Hot Mop Films).  These are very-well executed interviews with Cleveland up-and-comers The Kickdrums, New York’s own pretty boy mic wrecker Outasight and Toronto’s own skinniest jean rockin’ Colin Munroe.  I feel alot of folks fall into the same trap all of the time where they ask all the boring, standard questions.  Sometimes thinking outside of the box can help delve into the psyche of an artist musically more than the general Q&A can.

Wow so this ended kinda early.  I was kind of hoping that The Sway Kids series would be ongoing.  However TONE has chosen to end it (for now) at three episodes.  A nice, little mini-series / trilogy sort of thing for The New Pop catalog.  You can catch episode 1 here and episode 2 here if you’d like to watch in order.  Just another crazy Monday night in lower Manhattan with a bunch of cats celebrating youth, vibing off music and evolving NYC nightlife.  Make sure to keep watching after the credits for a fresh freestyle.

A little over a week ago, TONE debuted the first episode of The Sway Kids.  And look what we have here, episode 2 is alive and well.  Meet some more of the regulars of Sway nightclub on Monday nights here in the Rotten Apple.  Live and in living gray scale.  Big ups to The New Pop fam as always.   They never stop pushing boundaries in multimedia and that’s the kind of ambition that I respect.

One of my favorite people in these nitty gritty NYC streets is my man TONE.  For a long time now, he’s been one of the city’s go-to photographers, capturing everything and anything that makes our nightlife so rich, vibrant and chaotic.  His work is second to none. TONE has also made his foray into moving pictures w/ undying love and assistance from The New Pop. 

One of his homes-away-from-home is downtown nightclub Sway on Monday nights. For a few years now, Sway Mondays has been a benchmark for what’s hip and cutting edge in young NYC culture and music.  Every now and then, TONE puts down the still camera, grabs the video camera and documents the club regulars. Here’s the first episode.

One of the mottos I strive to adhere to on a daily basis is “life is too short, live it to the fullest.” And there are many people who follow the same creed. But when you juxtapose it against the kind of experience that Jeff Staple explains in the above Friends We Love 120 Seconds piece, it kind of takes on a whole new meaning and importance.  And make sure you watch all the way to the end.

Shout outs to the Friends We Love team. Such a dope site.  Please check it out when you get a chance if you never have.  They just threw up this great 8-minute artist profile on the incomparable José James (who I’ve blogged about in the past here and here to great response).  Jose just finished up his sophomore release, Black Magic, which should be seeing stores in the very near future.  In this video, he touches on his influences, creative process and his love of music in general.   And if you listen close enough, you get a preview of a couple of joints from the new album.

I anxiously await the period where I’m going to have enough free time and cash to make a second visit to The Bay.  I got to see some sights, meet some great people and party my ass off on my first visit.  And it’s no secret that I fell in love with San Francisco, Oakland and Piedmonte. 

Just recently, SF native producer / DJ Kero One dropped this great little visual tour of his home turf on YouTube putting folks on to what they should peep if they ever visit The Bay.  Funny thing is I didn’t make it to ANY of these places when I was there.  I am gonna have to rectify that next time.  This was very well put together.  Oh and Kero’s fantastic new album Early Believers is out now on Plug Label.

Gordon Gartrell Radio took one of their many patented hiatuses due to both DJ Brainchild and Phonte being busy with other aspects of their professional lives.  However, a brand new episode has materialized in the wake of the demise of the beloved Michael Joseph Jackson.  It’s only right.  The entire podcast is nothing but MJ (classic, samples, remixes).  You would be doing yourself a great disservice if you don’t go on ahead and download this now.  Put it on your iPod and never delete it.

Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean” (DJ Brainchild’s Power Trio Mix)
The Jackson 5 – “Can’t Get Ready For Losing You”
The Jackson 5 – “It’s Great To Be Here”
The Jackson 5 – “Lookin’ Through The Windows”
The Jackson 5 – “I’ll Bet You”
The Jacksons – “Give It Up”
The Jacksons – “That’s What You Get For Being Polite”
Michael Jackson – “Pretty Young Thing” (demo)
Michael Jackson – “Someone Put Your Hand Out”
Michael Jackson – “Good Thing Goin” (DJ Bobo James Remix)
Q-Tip – “Move”
De La Soul – “Breakadawn”
Kanye West – “Good Life”
Jay-Z – “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
Michael Jackson – “Stranger In Moscow”
Michael Jackson – “Whatever Happens”
Michael Jackson – “In The Closet”
Michael Jackson – “Scream”
The Jackson 5 – “Superstition”
Michael Jackson – “Call On Me”
Michael Jackson – “Got To Be There”

DOWNLOAD | DJ Brainchild & Phonte – Gordon Gartrell Podcast Episode #14

p.s. A few days after Michael Jackson’s tragic and untimely passing, Phonte posted a very powerful MySpace blog with his thoughts on the King of Pop.  It was appropriately and lovingly entitled “My Hero Ain’t Molest Them Bitch Ass Kids: Phonte’s Teary-Eyed Tribute to The King.”  This has made the rounds on the Internet like wildfire and I just had to include it.  Read it if you haven’t already.

What you see above is the third installment of Peter Rosenberg‘s Noisemakers series at 92YTribeca in Lower Manhattan.  It’s sort of a hip-hop version of James Lipton’s Inside the Actor’s Studio on Bravo.  I missed the first two editions due to other obligations (DJ Premier and ?uestlove were the guests, respectively) but I was not gonna miss this one whatsoever.  Q-Tip happens to be my favorite emcee of all time.  I purchased my ticket, entered the venue, proceeded to bumrush VIP (thanks to fwmj & DJ Ness) and listened to Tip reminisce about the humble beginnings of A Tribe Called Quest.  There were a bunch of people filming but The Fader got the best vantage point, hands down.

One of my FAVORITE series in this neverending viral video phenomenon that the Internet has to offer is D-Nice’s True Hip-Hop Stories.  Armed with nothing but his Canon 5D MKII, he sits down in front of some of hip-hops legends, pioneers and game changers and let’s them talk about their contributions to the game.  Past episodes include Monie Love, Buckshot, Kwame and many more.  But this one stands out in the crowd. In a very good way.

D-Nice (a legend in his own right) treks it down to DUMBO section of Brooklyn (short for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, a gentrified nickname for the area down by the water)  to interview a homeless gentleman.  I think he says he goes by the name Sawed Off.  He proceeds to lay down his life story in a nutshell as well as spit a few bars.  Hip-hop keeping people alive and somewhat sane.  It’s a trip.