Collaborators say Guru, the influential rapper who combined jazz sounds with hip-hop beats, has died at age 43 after battling cancer.

A statement from Solar says the world has lost "one of the best MCs and hip-hop icons of all time."

nytimes.com
Guru + Gang Starr Videos: All Of Them
ap
mtv.com
old zack

Willie Nelson tells Larry King he is stoned as they speak. It reminds me of the time Timothy Leary was at a press conference and a reporter asked him: "When was the last time you took LSD?" and Leary said, "I'm tripping now."

Auch wenn Kid Frost als der Künstler gilt, der Rap von Latinos bekannt gemacht hat und bereits in den 80ern elementare Werke wie „Terminator“ oder „Rough Cut“ veröffentlichte, waren es zwei MCs und ein DJ, die 1990 von Kalifornien aus der ganzen Welt zeigten, welches Potential Chicano-Rap hat.

Es gibt kaum eine relevante HipHop-Party auf der keinen Song aus dem riesigen Reportoir des Trios gespielt wird. Das wurde einem nicht erst seit der 2005 veröffentlichten Zusammenstellung namens „Greatest Hits from the Bong“ klar. Cypress Hill sind HipHop wie kaum ein anderer Akt. Diese Gruppe hat Hits für die Ewigkeit geschaffen. Die Songs „How I could just kill a man“ oder „Insane in the brain“ besitzen den Klassikerstatus, den wenige Rapkünstler in ihre Karriere überhaupt erreichen.

1beat.de

The first Mexican opera to deal directly with the country's drugs conflict has staged its premiere in Mexico City.

The opera, Only the Truth, is based on a popular Mexican song of the 1970s which tells the story of a woman who smuggles marijuana into the US.

Her lover betrays her and in an act of crazy revenge, she murders him.

The work premiered at Indiana University. Here's an interview with the composer:

bbc.co.uk

In 2010, the year he would have celebrated his 65th birthday (February 6th), Bob Marley continues to inspire and influence people around the world. One of the most charismatic and challenging performers of our time--a musical, political and even spiritual figure of mystical proportions, both poet and prophet, hero and rebel--Marley remains reggae’s greatest icon and a monumental musical figure of our time. Throughout 2010, Island/Tuff Gong/UMe, his worldwide catalog home, will honor with new album releases a legacy which continues to resonate as Marley’s music is revealed and rediscovered by new generations.

Well hear it is...Smoking Made Music for the Modern Day Hippie. Wiz Khailifa - Burn After Rolling [B.A.R] dropped on Monday November 2 and I have to say it is a as good as No Ceilings if not all around better. Wiz Khalifa, DJ iLL WiLL, & DJ Rockstar bring us one of the best mixtapes of 2009 and the best weed mixtape of 2009 until The Hail Mary Jane Mixtape drops sometime soon [artists the final day to submit tracks is Nov. 6th.].

smokingsection.uproxx.com