Compared to Bay Area, the weather in NYC of late has been overall pretty crappy with some nasty rainy days like today: overcast, wet, showery with highs only hovering around the 60 degree mark. Yep, for spring coming into summer this is not the most desirable weather, but it is another needed reminder for anyone living in or visiting that it is always good to carry an umbrella with you anytime in NYC (summer or spring) because it can switch up from sunny to stormy in an instant. Last Saturday, when the weather was mostly nice, warm, and sunny, outdoor events included a big free hip-hop jam at the season re-opening (after the winter) of NYC graffiti mecca 5 Pointz (pictured above), which was simultaneously the kick-off of the all summer long, four-month hip-hop event accurately titled Celebrating 40 Years of Hip-Hop. Yes, believe it or not is now four full decades since that fateful day back in 1973 in the Boogie Down Bronx when DJ Kool Herc's block parties would kick-start the global music and cultural movement of today known as hip-hop. The always impressive, decade old 5 Pointz Aerosol Art Center, which has been rumored to be facing eviction for some time now but reportedly is not in any danger for the next year, will continue its celebration of hip-hop between now and September 14th with most entertainment taking place on Saturdays (but note the area is open to public 24/7. Entertainers will include influential, legendary NY hip-hop DJ/producer Marley Marl spinning music and local emcees and beat-boxers holding informal battles - and, of course, lot and lots of graffiti art being done live. 5 Pointz Aerosol Art Center is located near the E and 7 train stops at 45-46 Davis St at Jackson Ave, Long Island City, Queens; 317-219-2685, 5ptz.com).

Columbus, Ohio poet/emcee Illogic and New York City producer Blockhead, who first collaborated back in 2000, recently teamed up again to record two EPs and their first full length album project together - the TK via Man Bites Dog release Capture The Sun which arrives in Amoeba Music today. The 16 track album is an all killer, no filler hip-hop release that finds these two talented artists at their best with select special features from such artists as Slug (of Atmosphere), Blueprint, and Abstract Rude. I recently caught up with both Blockhead and Illogic to chop it up with them about the new album that I learned is dedicated to Illogic's grandmother who, he told me, passed away just a few weeks ago after battling cancer for the past few years. "Even before that [though] I was planning on dedicating this record to her because the whole album title and the concept is inspired by something she would always tell me. And that is that your dreams that are delayed are not denied. And that is something I try to impart to my family as well; just to go after their dreams and no matter how long it takes that they can always achieve them. And that is something that my family has imparted in me as well," said the father of three sons who holds family dear to his heart. In fact his mother, who when he was just a little kid used to give him the  dictionary to study, has being perhaps the most influential person in his life as an artist. "My mom is an interesting person," shared the emcee/poet. "She was a black nationalist in college. She studied Islam. She was very intellectual. And I actually learned to speak French before I could speak English. She always made sure that I understood the power of language and the power of words. And that is something to this day that I am grateful for because here I am: Illogic the rapper, the writer, the poet. And that is mainly because of what my mother instilled in me at a young age."

"With the concept for Capture The Sun Blockhead was the perfect producer for what I was trying to accomplish," said Illogic noting that what has always attracted him to Blockhead's production style is his meticulous attention to detail. "He will take a two-second part of a song and put it into a beat. And he will take a whole bunch of those; two, five, ten second parts and create a complete backdrop of something completely beautiful that you have never heard before…..he just makes a symphony out of everything that he does!" 

1) Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city (Aftermath)

2) Swollen Members Beautiful Death Machine (Suburban Noize)

3) The Demigodz KILLMatic (Dirty Version)

4) Murs & 9th Wonder The Final Adventure (It's A Wonderful World Music Group)

5) Souls Of Mischief '93 Til Infinity (Traffic reissue)

Some real good quality releases on the latest hip-hop chart from Amoeba Hollywood above including the brand new The Demigodz KILLMatic featuring such talents as the ever prolific member Apathy (more on him in videos below), the return of Canada's Swollen Members  with the brand new Beautiful Death Machine on Suburban Noize, and the recent (out a minute but still charting) collab from Murs & 9th Wonder The Final Adventure on It's A Wonderful World Music Group which note will be their fifth and final collaborative effort. Too bad as these guys have a great chemistry together.

DJ Nu-Mark spun a set frontloaded with hits and gradually growing weirder Feb. 28 at Amoeba Hollywood. Through promoting his fine Broken Sunlight album, released last year, the DJ stuck with a more traditional set of blending well-known records into one another. He got the audience percolating with an “L.A., California” refrain, building a beat with booming bass and classic funk horns as a crowd of beatheads nodded on. He worked in The Jackson 5's “ABC,” The O’Jays “For the Love of Money,” Men Without Hats’ “The Safety Dance,” Phil Collins’ “You Can’t Hurry Love,” the Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic,” Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.,” Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “Ni**as in Paris,” a remix of Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun,” Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” Oasis’ “Wonderwall” and many other songs. The set started with big hits everyone knew and moved into more obscure sounds — an extended didgeridoo part, instrumental passages, “Kung Fu Fighting” with an underwater effect, a muzak version of “Satisfaction.” Nu-Mark worked with a minimal set-up of a laptop and two turntables, moving quickly between songs and grooving hard, keeping the energy alive even as the set grew more challenging. See more photos of the performance here.

Last Tuesday DJ Toure, DJ/producer and member of Oakland's longtime Hieroglyphics crew, released his long-awaited solo album, Toure's Theory: Session One, which initially was expected to drop last year but due to his busy schedule got bumped back until now. The prolific artist, who in addition to working with the Hieros crew including member Casual  has, over the years, produced tracks for the likes Too $hort, Freeway, Devin The Dude, Phonte, Father Dom, Beeda Weeda, The Grouch & Eligh, Goapele, E-40, and Forty Wata's rapper son Droop-E, has been down with the Hieros since day - initially joining the crew as the DJ for his (elementary school mate) Casual .

The above Dylan Freitas-D'Louhy directed electronic press kit video gives some insight into DJ Toure's rich history (coming up in Oakland upbringing with fellow Hieros (Casual, Tajai, Opio, and A-Plus) as well as some background on the new album that includes many of the aforementioned artists he's worked with including members of the Hieros - Opio, Pep Love, Del The Funky Homosapien, and Casual; plus such Bay Area artists as Too $hort (see new video below for the album track "Mind Yo Business" that also features Jacoria Marzett.), E-40, Mistah FAB, Clyde Carson, B-Legit, J. Stalin, Nio Tha Gift, and The Jacka, as well as such other guests as Philly rap star Freeway.