Music

Walking through the Street section of The MAGIC Marketplace you heard all kinds of awesome sounds blasting through stereos from various designers. However, in the midst of the rap, hip/hop, electronic and club music filling the convention center, Skullcandy, the headphones, earphones and accessories company that has become a global sensation, attracted every music lover to their booth.

There’s a lot more to the new record “Long Ride” from the guitar-toting Vicky Emerson than her living space – she, after all did make the jump from Wisconsin village Elmwood to the big city in Manhattan.

One of the hottest up and coming hip-hop duos has been amassing a loyal following right in our backyard of Washington, DC – and PEV is finally catching on. The twins of Clabo have just about everything going their way (hell, DJ’s are already drawing rhyme comparisons to Jay-Z) – and now they’re finally in the studio pulling the tunes together.

Let’s be honest – some of these reality shows today… they just suck. They’re horrible! Swapping spouses? Celebrities on islands? It’s ridiculous! But… there are a couple out there that may actually have some purpose – and thanks in part to Neal E. Boyd, “America’s Got Talent” is one of them.

Big B – you’re not kidding. The 6’7, 330lb. hip-hop innovator and self-proclaimed “most notorious white trash renegade” is in the thick of reaching for the heights of hip-hop royalty, combining his spit-for-spit with the roots of punk rock – style more evident than ever on his fourth album, “American Underdog”.

If you venture out into another one of our backyards – Washington, DC – you likely don’t think of it as being home to some essential roots reggae… but boy would you be surprised. I’ve heard my share of great roots acts between Baltimore and Washington, but none may be more talented than Dub City Renegades, a collection of artists loyal to true roots reggae; studying it, appreciating it and sharing it.

Alexis Babini’s songwriting is so damn good, he should have a friggin’ PhD in the art… but his bachelors will have to do. He graduated from the esteemed Berklee College of Music, and his thoughts echo mine oddly enough: How can you teach songwriting – refine it down into courses that can indeed turn into a degree? Babini talks about it, “Berklee is sort of a double edged sword. There's a lot of learning to be had but it's strange to see them take the art of songwriting and make a science out of it.

In every small town in America, there’s a bar band playing… a band that’s been playing together (or have each had aspirations of playing) for at least 20 years, now covering classic hits and giving a few more modern (90’s) songs a go.

I feel like we always say something similar for our milestone features… from 100, to 200, 250, 300 and so on. Something along the lines of “We never thought we’d get to this point” or “Wow! 300, some odd features!” Trust me, with every milestone (and every feature honestly), I really do get excited. But never before has the milestone number looked so big to me – today, we carry out our 400^th consecutive feature, Mr. Brannon Powers.

Los Angeles, CA punk-rock outfit Drive A knows what their bread and butter is, and they’re not afraid to harp on it: “Touring is the life’s blood of this band.