To Space and Back....RA the MC takes DC on a Ride

So i have been hearing alot of buzz about this newcomer from the GREATEST place on earth, DC ofcourse!!! she goes by the name of RA the MC and she is nothing but talent. she had much sucess with her first mixtape (a mixtape about something)and she has just come out with another one today called " A Trip To Neptune". i've had a listen and it definitely has my approval and hopefully it has yours as well.

"mixtape about something..i think"





http://rapidshare.com/files/138395480/JUDAH_x_HYPEBEAST.COM_x_MICK_BOOGIE_Presents_RAtheMC-A_MIXTAPE_ABOUT_SOMETHING...zip

"A Trip To Neptune"





http://www.zshare.net/download/508187704f42ed75/

Maine Loves Themselves Some Go-Go!!!

Ok, first of all, i gotta thank DCtoBC for making me laugh this morning. Junkyard Band held a concert in Maine about a month ago. And in the crowd LOVED it. its quite a funny video actually. (check out the 50 seconds mark) for the full video go to http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/49535.html

Wale Defends Himself

Ok, so lately theres been alot of controvesy with Wale. Apparently, alot of people, (Angie Ange 93.9) have accused him of not remembering where he came from, and basically getting his fame and not looking back. So, he made a song about it. Im a little late on this, but here it is. "I Will" by Wale.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1899784701b93ed8/

P.S. the album is COMING OUT IN MARCH!!!! yess!!! LOL

Wale on "Put On" Remix

If you havent heard this already you need to do so. heres the link thanks to herfection.com
http://www.zshare.net/audio/17569248d58d8d6d/

Wale "Mr. Carter" Freestyle

im just stumbling across this. theres not too much to say about this one, but yeah, just listen. This is Wale's freestyle for "Mr.Carter" check it out.

Wale's Best...According to Him.

if i had my way, all of Wale's mixtapes and freestyles, BASICALLY anything he spits on would be in his best songs but i have HIS list now, thanks to herfection.com, here is what Wale thinks is his best songs......

1. Stronger’ Freestyle“I love this one where I’m talkin’ about my football and all that. That brought me to talk about my football past and I never really mentioned it and I feel like it hit every point so well, youknamean.”

2. “The Kramer”
“Because of the artistic aspect of it how like it’s like drawing a perfect circle, you know what I’m sayin’, manually. You just look at it like ‘Shit, I just did that.’ It is impossible to draw a perfect circle, but if you did one, you look at it like, ‘Oh shit!’”

3. “The Artistic Integrity”
“Same goes for ‘Artistic Integrity’ just the way it came together. I really wish, like, ten million people could hear that mixtape, know what I’m sayin’, and then just kinda reflect on it. I feel like I did a real good job of just putting things together and conveying a message.”

4. “Warming Up Cane”
“Because I’m telling a story about Crack City—D.C.—where Crack really became popular over a classic Hip-Hop beat.”

5. “I Think They Crazy”
“That’s a real sleeper. The flow is just so conversational and it was like the first time of me really, really stepping outside of my real flow and coming up with something different. I ain’t really hear anyone else rap on that beat.”

so im expecting a CD really soon. i mean seriusly i am becoming impatient. even a video on BET or MTV or something. i just want dude to shine.....

Wale Reps DMV Well on Rock the Bells Tour

so bascially Wale killed it with this freestyle. In the midst of Big Timers, DC shines like never before. Keep your eyes open. im predicting a video really soon. I mean he's already signed. :)

Likeblood "Like Us" Video on MTV

okay, so i dont know how they slipped past me, but this group Likeblood has made it big time. This DC natived group was on MTV2 this morning, with a video from their new single "Like Us". They are pretty good actually. here's the video. More coming soon about this group im sure.

Jay-Z in D.C.

JAYZ was in attendance in the DMV this weekend performing “minority report” off kingdom come acapella at DC’s kennedy center for the annual “thisday” festival. this year, the festival’s theme, “africa rising,” was devoted to finding sustainable solutions rather than on the problems facing the continent. thanks to DC to BC for the video and pics.

Marky & Tabi to Shoot "Sheila" Video

okay guys, first it was Wale, then J.Holiday, now its Marky. Tabi and Marky will be shooting Marky's "sheila" video. shooting begins downtown in DC, august 10-11. he is asking for all the Beautiful ladies to be in attendance, maybe even be in the video. so be there girls!!!

Respect My Vote Brings T.I. To D.C.

In 2004, voting was promoted in a new way that hasn’t been seen before. Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Pres. Hip Hop Caucus, and Diddy came up with the campaign Vote or Die. Unlike before this year we are greatly influenced by the Sen. Obama having a chance to win the election coming up. To insure that Sen. Obama gets elected Rev. Lennox joined up with another heavyweight of the Hip Hop genre, TI.

Rev. Lennox and TIs collaboration created the Respect My Vote campaign which will hopefully bring in more young voters to the polls. The Respect My Vote campaign kicked off yesterday in Washington DC with a performance by Mambo Sauce and an open floor discussion. The discussion was led by TI and a host of celebrities that included Dawn from Danity Kane, Young Berg, Maino, Wale, Young Steff, Washington Wizard Etan Thomas, Olympic Gold Medalist Anthony Killieberew, Immortal Technique, Pleasure P, World. Class Sprinter and Champion Michael Walton, and BET Executive Vice President Stephen Hill. This tour will continue to travel to 16 other cities.

This Week In The DMV ..

This week there will be THREE great free events to attend, that I will be spotlighting. Two will be held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the other will be held at the National Portrait Gallery.

1) Local Color: Washington Painting at Mid century
This exhibit will show twenty-seven works of art that were created by Washington DC artist from the 1950 - 70s. These paintings will show the various styles of artists that lived in DC during the time of the biggest change. The artists that will be featured Leon Berkowitz, Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Sam Gilliam, Fel Hines, Jacob Kainen, Howard Mehring, Paul Reed, and Alma Thomas.

2) Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist
Have you ever read the works of Langston Hughes and Bessie Smith? If you have you understand how important their work was to ordinary citizens but don't you wonder how the artists of the time were affected. During the Harlem Renaissance, Aaron Douglas, an artist, led a movement of bold, creative paintings, murals, and book illustrations. SO ACT FAST THE EXHIBIT ENDS AUGUST 3.

3) Exhibition: RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture
Hip Hop est. 1970, that alone sums up this exhibit. Since 1970 hip hop has been documented by enthusiasts and artists. The exhibit will show the graffiti, photography, and paintings of artists, events, and poets who impacted the most powerful genre of music right now HIP HOP.

STD's Have Black Teens Learned Their Lesson?

"Practice safe sex." Or, more recently, the "Rap It Up" campaign from Black Entertainment Television. We’ve been hearing these cautionary messages for decades. Is the black community finally getting it?

Yes and no, according to the latest statistics on sexually transmitted diseases. The good news is that STD rates are decreasing steadily among African Americans. The bad news: The black community is still contracting STDs at a much higher rate than every other racial and ethnic group.

Coming off of the chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis epidemics of the late 1980s and early 1990s, STD rates have generally declined across the board. But African Americans are still decades behind most other racial and ethnic groups in STD prevention. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that even though gonorrhea rates have been declining each year since 1991, African Americans continue to contract the disease at 24 times the rate of whites. Almost 75 percent of the total number of gonorrhea cases reported to the CDC occurred among African Americans. Similarly, incidences of syphilis are down, but African Americans still accounted for half of the total cases of the disease reported in 2002.

In spite of countless awareness campaigns, advertisements and rap songs, the group that consistently reports the highest rate of infections is African Americans age 15-24. Black women in this age group have the highest occurrence of genital herpes and syphilis. Teenage African American males lead all other groups for gonorrhea infections.

Why is the black community contracting some STDs at rates that are more than 20 times that of whites? A recent CDC report called "STDs in Racial and Ethnic Minorities" blames "poverty, access to quality healthcare, health-care-seeking behavior, illicit drug use and living in communities with high prevalence of STDs.

Obama Wins Berlin Over

Barack Obama said Friday that persuading NATO allies to contribute more troops to Afghanistan could lead to U.S. troops cuts and help improve the U.S. economy, with reduced military expenditure being diverted into tax cuts to help middle class families.

"Part of getting that right is having the Europeans engaged and involved in this same battle that we're involved with," the Democratic presidential contender told CNN's Candy Crowley in Berlin, Germany, where he had addressed an estimated crowd of 200,000 a day earlier.

Obama's multi-nation trip, which has included stopovers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel, is aimed at bolstering his foreign policy credentials. The one-term senator has been criticized as inexperienced by Republican rival John McCain.

Obama was in France on Friday meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy. His last stop will be the UK later Friday.

Gilbert's Back!!!

Gilbert “Agent Zero” Arenas may have opted out of his contract to hold out for a better signing deal with the Washington Wizards in the hopes that they would also resign fellow teammate Antawn Jamison, but it was all smiles and applause Tuesday afternoon in the Acela Club at the Verizon Center as Arenas held a press conference to discuss his new contract with the Wizards at $111 million for six years.

“This is a very big day for the Wizards. Two weeks ago we were here for Antawn [Jamison] and now we’re here for our other fantastic star,” said Wizards’ owner Abe Pollin of Arenas’ big day. “He is a true, true, fantastic basketball player,” Pollin added, “and unfortunately he’s had some health problems and now it’s going to be ok. I said, Gilbert, you are never, ever going to wear a jersey other than the Wizards. NEVER.”

Taking a risk and making the free agency voyage without an agent, Arenas was initially offered $127 million over a 6 year period, which is the maximum that an NBA player can get over that period of time. After mulling over the offer for a few weeks, Arenas finally accepted, now entering into his sixth season with the Wizards at the time of the signing and even more shockingly, gave $16 million back to the organization for future recruiting purposes.

When asked why he chose to represent himself, Arenas responded it was to take out the third party of it all. “To take trauma out of it,” he further responded, ‘You see with the Clippers and Elton Brand.” (Brand currently has left the Clippers and has upset former coaches who blame the move all on his agent).

The pressure is now put on Arenas to lead this Wizards team past the first round, past the Cleveland Cavaliers in which they have lost the past playoff seasons to the Cavs, and even further into the spectrum: to an NBA title. Washington has not won a National Championship since 1978 when the organization was still the Bullets.

Rock The Bells Tour in DC

Sameerah S. Summer 08'
BSC 11'

If you are a old head, and remember the early days of the hip hop era, or you just bump a tribe called quest in your iPod at your young age like me, you might need to be at the ROCK THE BELLS CONCERT this Sunday. Artists scheduled to appear are A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, the Pharcyde, De La Soul, Rakim, Method Man and Redman, Raekwon and Ghostface, Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, Murs, Spankrock, Wale, Santogold, Jay Electronica, B.O.B., Kidz in the Hall and Amanda Blank. The concert is at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, tickets are between $40-$83. For more information, call410-715-5550.

Young Chris ft. Wale - Larger

within the last two weeks we have been hearing alot from this new duo. this is the newest song by Young Chris ft. Wale, called Larger.
Young Chris ft. Wale - Larger
thanks to Herfection for hooking us up
with the pic

Struggling Times

After the whole Nas expression, saying hip-hop is dead, everyone has been running with it. In my opinion, it's not dead; it's hurting. If you look at the start of hip-hop, it started off with the DJ's. The MC's were there to keep the parties hyped. Further on, rap was fun when it started; there were party songs meant to make you dance, and then there were rappers that used their music to send a message. Until N.W.A. hit the scene, there wasn’t any gangster rap. Then when that hit, everyone wanted to reveal the hood, and the struggles with a little of "I’ll mess u up" in it. The "bang-bang, shoot them up" was okay. I can't lie; I used to bang it too. Later, there were pure lyricists around through the mid and late 90s. It was changing so much from Tupac, and the Notorious B.I.G, to a disgruntled caucasian from the trailer park, breaking into rap, dominating. Most people never thought that could or would happen. There was also a time when each region had their own all-stars thriving.

When year 2000 come, "beefs" were going around, but that’s what comes with hip-hop. People were calling themselves the best. Others were being called the best, and didn’t want the title, for example Eminem. In 2005, rap went through, what I think should have been, years of waited evolution. Yet, it only took 15 years for it to go back to its roots of play rap.

Now I don’t like some of the new artists' music, but I can't say it's their fault that people say it's dead. I believe in four different reasons why it is hurting:

1.)The rappers need to become more clever. I know you made a name about talking about this and that, but try to switch it up. Even if you are not a lyricist, which are very few, deliver your message differently. As a fan, I don’t want to always hear the same thing; switch it here and there to be different.

2.)The corporation now feels they have all rappers and listeners in the palm of their hands. It’s up to you as the artist to follow yourself, not the corporation. Don’t let a 55-year old white man tell you what to rap about, because they wouldn’t care if they dropped you. They feel they can get another person in your place. They're going to just keep doing what they feel is making them money. Think about it. When rap was just starting out, white people said it was a fad, and it would go away. Don’t let that happen.

3.)Listeners you all need to expand your minds as a rapper. If I know that talking about "busting dudes," and "trapping all day" is going to make you buy my album, I'll do it. Only because I have a job. You as listeners can make a artist change because without you, rappers have no jobs.

4.)Last but not least, what is really hurting rappers is ilegally downloading songs. Think about it. If you were a rapper, and the person beside you is listening to your song, and said they got it from downloading the song free, you would be upset. The reason being you are not getting what you worked hard for, and then you would think you were robbed. Downloading free songs is killing our artists,which is the main reason why hip-hop is hurting, and will eventually die.

Justin Stills
Summer '08

Obama in Baghdad to Discuss Strategy

Barack Obama flew into Iraq on Monday, thrusting U.S. strategy in the country and troop levels to the centre-stage of the November election race. Obama has called for the removal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office should he win the election. He visited Afghanistan over the weekend, the other big foreign policy challenge the next American president will face. Obama has come under attack from Republican candidate John McCain for not making a recent visit to assess conditions in Iraq, where violence is at a four-year low. McCain has been to Iraq eight times while Obama's only other trip was in 2006. The U.S. embassy said Obama, who is visiting Iraq as part of a U.S. congressional delegation, would meet senior Iraqi officials, U.S. military commanders and American troops. He does not have any news conferences scheduled while in Iraq.

Seeking to boost his foreign policy credentials, Obama will travel to other countries in the Middle East and also visit major powers in Europe this week.
Obama courted controversy on July 3 when he said he might "refine" his views on withdrawing combat troops from Iraq within 16 months but later said his stance had been unchanged for more than a year and that he intended "to end this war."

McCain says a U.S. troop buildup last year helped boost stability in Iraq and has criticized Democrats' vows for a quick withdrawal as "reckless."
But with violence down dramatically, Baghdad has become increasingly assertive about its own security capabilities.

Run DMV!!!!

DC's newest clothing brand, Clockwise Clothing, provides "RUN DMV" t-shirts to all of DC, most recently seen on Tabi Bonney and WALE. Clockwise Clothing is an upscale urban/skate brand dedicated to constructing high-quality garments from the superior materials. They describe themselves as "the type of people that do and no matter where they are the clock never stops ticking. They beat the clock all day everyday, and every trip going in a clockwise direction."



Support Clockwise Clothing and purchase a T-Shirt over on their website. www.clockwiseclothing.com

Boyfriend Pressure Makes Black Teen Girls More Likely to Want Pregnancy

Black teen girls who think their boyfriends want a baby are 12 times more likely to wish they were pregnant compared with similar teens who expressed no desire to become pregnant, according to new research. Girls in the study who wanted to become pregnant were almost four times as likely to have a partner who was at least five years older than themselves. They were also twice as likely to report feelings of low self-esteem and low family support, and twice as likely to feel that their partner would disapprove of using condoms. For the study, the researchers surveyed and interviewed 462 sexually active black teen girls between 14 and 18 years old living in low-income Birmingham neighborhoods. Forty percent of the participants had a previous pregnancy, but girls who wanted to become pregnant were less likely to report a past pregnancy.

Studies suggest that these girls may experience a power imbalance in their sexual relationships, since their boyfriend's age and perceived reluctance to use condoms have such a significant effect on the girls' pregnancy wishes. This may mean that adolescent boys would be a good target for early pregnancy prevention programs, according to the researchers. Although factors like self-esteem were not as strongly associated with pregnancy desires, "other studies suggest that early parenthood is perceived by some adolescents as an opportunity to heal childhood wounds, receive support from family members or obtain emotional closeness not found at home," say the researchers.

Capitol Hip Hop Festival

Do you have anything to do on Saturday July 26? If not the Capital Hill Hip Hop Festival is going to be in town. The festival will be held a in Marvin Gaye Park, metro accessible, from 11 am to 8 pm. Every year the festival tries to schedule DC up and coming artist to perform and promote how to fix social issues. This year, they are promoting the slogan “Vote for Soul”, a ploy to help make people register to vote. Artist schedule to attend the festival are Afi Soul, Anonamas, Chaquis Maliq, Christylez, Cool Cee Brown, Dee Stone, Edie Sodolo, God’s Illa, Jamma*Wun, and Jua just to name a few. There will also be various sections such as The Battle Zone, for those at the festival to freestyle for prizes, Music store to buy the feature artist’s Cds, Market place, where vendors sell food, clothing, and jewelry, Awareness Avenue, non-profits tell about their mission, and Graffiti Bridge, where activities vary from pop-locking to face painting.

Simon Casselle Summer 08'
Saint Johns College High School 2010

Wale ft. Young Chris- Whole Time

This is new Music from Wale titled “Whole Time” featuring Young Chris (Young Chris again?), check it out and let us know if you feeling it.

www.zshare.net/download/1545102949bec88d/

Crank Dat Radio!!!

Do you get tired of hearing the same outside artist talking about stuff that doesn't affect your everyday life? If so, WPGC has created a new HD radio 2 channel called CRANK. CRANK boast that its "The freshest non-stop mix of your favorite Hip Hop, R&B, and GoGo bands. At any given time you'll listen to Mya and then hear TCB. CRANK also allows you to tell them of local artist. So if you got a band or a friend that creates Hip Hop, R&B, and GoGo they can send it to...

WPGC
Att: Crank
4200 Parliament Place # 300
Lanham, Md 20706
as long as its clean.


Although CRANK is a great idea but many people have asked where can I hear it. Lucky for you i know the answer. You can hear it one of two ways. Online at www.wpgc955.com/crank/1860255 or on HD radio an upgraded version of the radios we all have. In my opinion hearing it on HD radio is right choice. Despite what you've heard you do not pay a monthly fee to hear the radio, which is completely digital, so you don't hear any distortions to your music. HD radio also plays all FM and AM stations as well, while telling you exactly who and what is playing. Including a great Itunes tagging feature, where a message telling your computer that you liked that song.


Simon Casselle Summer 08'
Saint John College High School 2010

Despite low turnout last year, Kurtis Blow will return to DC this year

Kurtis Blow pioneered rap music, holy hip hop, and now he is spearheading a movement to bury the "N" word in rap music lyrics. The rap grandfather acted as pallbearer for the burial of the "N" word during the NAACP's annual conference this week in Detroit. But when Blow brought his Hip-Hop Ministry Tour to Patricia R. Harris Educational Center in Southeast D.C. on June 28, only a handful of Washingtonians were there to hear his clean, holy hip-hop message."The black churches in metropolitan Washington, especially their youth ministries, dropped the ball," said Khalid Naji-Allah, a long-time Washington resident and admirer of Kurtis Blow. "There should have been more youth and parents over there. There were

The grandfather of rap and Barbara Jones, event manager, were, however, pleased with the turnout. "It was a spectacular outcome," Jones said. "Kurtis Blow said to me, 'You can have 10,000 people who don't understand the message, but you can have one person who understands and that's all that matters.'"

Blow was so pleased with the outcome that he came back later in the year. This time, the artist, was set to perform with an entourage that includes some of his "old school" friends.

But the show went on anyway. The audience screamed, clapped, sang, and jammed along to such signature tunes as "Basketball," "The Breaks," and "Rappers Delight."

"A good song is a God song," said Chris Flow, 38, from Louisville, Ky. who has opened shows for Master P, LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow, Eight Ball, MJG, the late Notorious B.I.G., Heavy D, and UTFO. The tour featured Kurtis Blow and the Trinity, with a solo by Noah.

Blow, a self-proclaimed "man of integrity," feels D.C. needs a transformation. "If you change yourself, you change your environment," he told the sparse audience. He believes "the kids are crying out for help."
Twenty-five-year-old A. Wood, a Washington rap artist, was among the inspirational speakers who shared his personal story. Wood is touring with Russ Parr in the Back to School Tour, which will be touring the country. They will be in D.C. on August 17.
Part of the tour's mission is to inspire all people, especially youth, to change and learn from their surroundings.

That message got through to at least one teenager who was sitting in the back of the concert hall. His mother had brought him to the concert because she didn't know what to do with him. Close to the end of the concert, Blow asked the teens and adults to pray with him. They did. The teenager told his mother he was ready to change - testimony to how Blow's concerts are inspiring teens to do right.

WPGC personality John Deadwyler who hosted the event said, "It's important that young people understand that you can be fly but still worship God."

LaDonna Kearse Summer 08'
School Without Walls 2010