Friday, September 30, 2011

Cats & Dogs

Happy Friday all! So this week was a big week for music from J.Cole, to Blink 182, 9th Wonder, Phonte to Evidence. There were so many albums that dropped.  One album that definitely stood out and has me playing it on repeat would have to be Evidence's Cats & Dogs. "On a new level wait... I mean a new label"... Evidence as always been one of my favorite artists PERIOD. His new album Cats & Dogs definitely does not disappoint.

Check out Evidence talking about "Strangers," definitely one of the best tracks off the album.




Also here's the vid for "It Wasn't Me" off his latest album.

 

-Ernest Ivory

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Saga Continues...


(Image from www.setanta.com)
So as I mentioned before I am training for the 2012 LA Marathon which will be my 3rd stab at it. My goal is to break 5hrs but I really want to break 4hrs. 30min, which I am definitely set to meet. I just started training and I am feeling really good. Had speed work yesterday- 3 sets of 4x400m- and after the last 400m my coach announced that the marathon world record had been broken by Patrick Makau of Kenya in Berlin on September 25. Makau set the new world record at 2:03:38, which is insane.

Check out the full article below from sbnation.com:
Sep 25, 2011 Patrick Makau broke the world record in the marathon on Sunday with a 2:03:38 performance at the Berlin Marathon. The Kenyan Makau beat legend Haile Gebrselassie's 2008 record by 21 seconds. Haile, from Ethiopia, had set that record in Berlin, as well. In fact, the last four world record marathons have been run at Berlin, which (accurately) bills itself as the world's fastest marathon.
 Haile ran in 2011, but did not finish. The 38-year-old Ethiopian has never won Olympic gold in the marathon -- he has two golds in the 10K -- and will continue to attempt to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. Makau ought to be the overwhelming favorite in London. The 2008 champion, Sammy Wanjiru, died after a fall off of a balcony earlier this year.
Florence Kiplagat won the women's race in Berlin, coming in at 2:19:45. The top American finisher on the men's side was Alex Crabill at 2:17:42.
Here is another article from the Wall Street Journal detailing the victory. Read the full article HERE

Although Makau holds the titled now, records are definitely made to be broken.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

It's the N.C. Way 9th & Phonte Drop Today

Phonte's Charity Starts At Home and 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years both drop today! 
Support good music. Nothing else needed to be said.

"Heralded for his work with Little Brother and The Foreign Exchange, Phonte releases his solo offering, Charity Starts At Home, displaying why he’s become such a respected MC through the years…" (xxlmag.com)


Below off 9th Wonder's new album "Piranha's"


Phonte speak on 9th Wonder in a snippet from The Wonder Year documentary
(Originally from http://www.vimeo.com/21670467)


- The Ivorys

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Cole World Real Cole World

Image from Vibe.com

Say what you want about J Coles album leaking... that "he sold out" or "where's the soulful beats" or "where's the monster lyrics"...blah blah blah. Here is something I have come to understand, the music business is just that a BUSINESS!  Cole gave us "The Come Up" "The Warm Up" and "Friday Night Lights" for FREE! All 3 mixtapes could be deemed albums since they are that good...so yeah maybe he has to play by the labels rules a little bit to get his album out and yeah he is not a Godzilla on the mic this time around like he was on the mixtapes...but to be honest it's still better then 85% of mainstream music out right now. I'm not saying that he gets a pass because of this...I mean yeah it could have more of the mixtape vibe to it...but now is the time for J Cole to eat...he has to make the money back the label put into him. It sucks but from what I've seen this is how the game goes...so basically he plays the game so we can get a sophomore album and more free mixtapes in between ya dig...it's sucks but business is business! We allowed this to happen in my opinion we steal so much music that the labels can't tell if people are feeling a particular artist. SoundScan says 200,000 sold but what about the 300,000 downloaded illegally.

All I'm saying is this, "Cole World" may not be what I expected but I don't want J Cole to fade away like MJ in crunch time... so I'll support... 3 free mixtapes that are heat rocks! and an album that is not what I'm use to but is still dope on certain levels I'll take that (for now)... most of us don't know what it's like to be signed to a MAJOR label... not saying dumbing down is OK but hey it is what it is. What other artist do you know right now that gives out as much free music as J Cole has thus far. I felt like it was a crime to put J Coles last 3 mixtapes out for free. I def would have coughed up that good $10 to purchase them. All that to say this, support the kid because if his album flops (per SoundScan and label standards) there won't be a second album or free mixtapes in between...just sayin.

J.Cole feat. Missy enjoy!





- Ernest Ivory
  Don't Trip Just Grow

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Let Me Put You On! #1

Happy Wednesday all.
Check out some new music for your listening pleasure.
It's a 3 course meal for your ears plus dessert.


Phonte Ft. Evidence Big K.R.I.T. - The Life of Kings  off his upcoming album Charity Starts at Home dropping September 27th.

Check out part of the Q & A Phonte did with Jake Daine of HipHop DX below. 
For the full Q & A click HERE
 

Phonte Explains Crafting His Solo Debut, Charity Starts At Home

HipHopDX: When you and I last spoke, with 9th Wonder and Peter Rosenberg on the phone, it was great talking to you. But I had no idea you were working on a solo project -- 

Phonte: I didn't either. [Laughs] I had plans to do one, but up until the time when we spoke, I hadn't even really started my solo record [Charity Starts At Home]. The way things came together was very quick; me and 9th [Wonder] just started knockin' out records. At that time, when we did the interview...shit, I didn't know what the hell I was gonna do, or what the album was gonna sound like.

DX: You've done your fair share of projects over the years, between Little Brother, Foreign Exchange, the '80s joints with Zo!, and so on. For you, what is it like having full creative control for the first time? So many artists these days jump right into a solo, and you've waited 10 years...

Phonte: For me, it was a learning process - or shall I say re-learning process. The best way I can describe it is, you look at a married couple that's been together for 20 years or whatever. They spend all their time raising the kids, taking care of the house, just going through everyday life of marriage. Then the kids [grow up and] leave, and they're stuck with an empty house, and they're just like, "What the fuck do we do?" Their friends are tellin' 'em, "Yo, it's the time for y'all to do y'all. This is y'all's time." They're looking at it like, "Who are we? Outside of the house. Outside of the kids. Outside of walkin' the dog." It becomes that very awkward time where [they realize] that their marriage has just been based on doing things, and not doing stuff for each other.

So for me as a solo artist, it was very much the same. Because I'd been doing stuff for so long - 10 years, everything I have done has been in service of another brand or another group, whether it be a Little Brother or Foreign Exchange. Everything had been done in service of that. I'd been giving my creative energy to that. When you sit down and strip all that away - Little Brother's no more, me and [Nicolay] have pretty much moved away from Hip Hop altogether, and then you just sit down by yourself, you're like, "Okay, now it's time to do me."

You've got to find yourself first. I'm so used to giving myself to other people that I never took time to give time me, nahmean? So that's the significance of the title, Charity Starts At Home. This is the first thing in my career that I've ever done completely for myself.

DX: You recently congratulated Khrysis on turning 30 years old, saying "welcome to the club." A&R's often say, "This is your album; what do you have to say to the world?" I'm curious, for you, do you think you could have taken on this type of project in your twenties?

Phonte: Not a moment sooner. I think too much of my twenties and the early part of my career was spent on me looking outward. Now I'm just at a point with my life where I'm really just looking inward. Cats ask me, "Phonte, what you think about the Rap game?" Nigga, I don't give a fuck! [Chuckles] "Tell us what you think about the industry..." I'm not thinkin' 'bout that shit, dude. I'm tryin' to take care of my kids; my mind is on other things. Lyrically, in a lot of ways, I think [the album] can be taken as about coming to grips with yourself and all of your limitations as a person. I just don't think I could have written this record in my twenties. I was too narcissistic, and always ready to point fingers, thinkin' the world was against me. [Laughs] Once you get older, at least in my case, you really have to start workin' on yourself. A lot of lyrical content on the record is based on my internal struggles, just as a man. [Sighs] I will be the first to tell you, Paine, it's not gon' be a record that's for everybody. People that was expectin' rappity-rap-rap-attack-72 bars of God damn lyrical, miracle, hypothetical... nah. Fuck all that shit. [Laughs] We'll see.

DX: Concept albums are super popular lately. Since The Listening, all of your albums --- I won't call them "concept albums," but I think you're a proven master of albums that execute a theme bigger than a string of singles. You said the title is reflective of what's going on in your personal life, looking inward. I love the cover art and the real estate aspect. I'm curious as to what element that plays, in adding humor to the seriousness?

Phonte: Definitely, with the cover art, there is a story there. I don't really want to give it all away, but nothing is on there by accident. Everything is by design. Everything there is part of the story - I will say that. It was a moment of serendipity. The guy who shot my cover art [Dipesh Prasad] is in Australia. His company is called Peche Designs. We were just kicking around ideas, going with the whole real estate angle. He said, "Okay, I'ma shoot some houses around my way." When he showed me, I was like, "This is it. This is dope." So I was like, "Did you do some Photoshop [work] with the number of the house? The house number is 32." He was like, "Okay..." I'm like, "I'm 32 years old. This is it! Dude." That house didn't have any branches or trees blocking it [so that is why he shot that one]. This is Australia, dude - other side of the world. How crazy is that?

DX: You said this isn't a rappity-rap album. You rap, you sing, you've got jokes. For you, it must have been a balance to approach that first solo, as far as your talents and approaches go. What was that like?

Phonte: It's definitely just me being myself. When recording, you don't want to force things. You don't want to try to put things there that aren't there. At the same time, I knew it wasn't about making a Rap album or a singing album, it's about making a Phonte album. Going back to the marriage/empty nest analogy, now I've got to find me. I have to make a record that embodies all that I feel is in me. My goal for making this record was to make a one-stop-shop for people who had my name. "Okay, Phonte, he's got this group Little Brother. Then he's got this group he sings with, Foreign Exchange. He does this, he's done a hook here..." I knew consciously that I had to make a record that brought it all home - no play on words. I just had to make that record, where if you were tryin' to get someone into Phonte's music, rather than [explaining the history], just giving them a copy of Charity Starts At Home and saying, "Okay, start here. Depending on what you like from this album, I can tell you which road to go down."

-The Ivorys

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

One Day It'll All Make Sense

So last night we had the pleasure of going to Common's book signing at the Americana Barnes & Noble in Glendale. Common has always been an influential artist, so we were excited to hear that he was dropping a book about his life. We haven't had a chance to read it yet but we are looking forward to it for sure.
Maya Angelou says, "[One Day It'll All Make Sense] is a book about [Common's] fascinating life. That is true. More important, his story is the story of all young people trying to grow up. His saga reminds the reader that love liberates and poverty cripples. Common writes beautifully, like the poet he is."

Check out a few pictures from the night.



Red wristband meant you got to sit in the chairs and hear Common talk and get your book signed first.
Early birds.
Some people getting a few pages in before he arrives.





Common arrives






The line still wrapping around the store later on that night.


-The Ivorys

Monday, September 19, 2011

A Weekend with Bridgette Ivory

Image from Fiore Beauty Blog
Hope your weekend was relaxing. This weekend I finally had the chance to check out the Beauty Culture exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography with some friends, which ended up being a really great exhibit. I got a chance to see many of the images that have become so iconic over the decades in the fashion/modeling industry but I was also given the chance to watch a short documentary directed by Lauren Greenfield on the fascination with beauty culture and its almost destructive/cult quality and the strive for perfection in our society and the media's portrayal of it. Don't get be wrong there were some really beautiful images but also in contrast to that there were images that documented the obsessive and as mentioned before almost destructive side to beauty. The collection included some very intriguing and captivating imagery. Extremely well done. If you have the chance to check it out I insist you do!



Unfortunately I wasn't able to take my camera in so I ended up shooting some quick pictures on the outside of the building which was pretty cool since it is surrounded by the high-rise buildings of Century City.


 Here is a small description of what the exhibit is all about:
BEAUTY CULTURE provides a seminal examination of photography’s role in capturing and defining notions of modern female beauty and how these images profoundly influence our lives in both celebratory and disturbing ways.
Through different lenses focused on the body beautiful, the exhibition examines both traditional
and unconventional definitions of beauty, challenging stereotypes of gender, race and age. It explores the links between beauty and violence, glamour and sexuality and the cost (in its multiple meanings) of beauty.

Featuring works from over 100 world-renowned beauty, fashion and fine art photographers, BEAUTY CULTURE encourages a social discussion about the allure and mystique of the pursuit of female beauty, as well as its cult-like glorification and the multi-billion dollar industries that surround it.

BEAUTY CULTURE presents diverse viewpoints on beauty as it has evolved through the 20th and 21st centuries. These viewpoints are at times challenging, daring and controversial.  Ultimately, the exhibition illustrates the power of the still image in shaping cultural ideals and expectations of feminine beauty – and photography’s undeniable influence on conceptions of the Self.

In addition to over 170 photographs featured in the print gallery, BEAUTY CULTURE showcases hundreds of digital images in vivid detail on high-resolution screens in the Digital Gallery.  The Digital Gallery also includes a short documentary film that expands upon the print exhibition’s themes, featuring interviews with well-known photographers, models, historians and beauty experts who guide visitors on a fascinating photographic exploration of the culture – and cult – of beauty. (Info from Annenberg site)
A little Curry House to end a great day!
Curry Chicken was amazing.
Iced Green Tea
- Bridgette Ivory


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Joseph Frazier Update


As you all know we have been praying for our friend  Joseph Frazier who was involved in a hit-and-run accident on August 25th while riding his motorcycle in the San Fernando Valley. According to the CaringBridge Page created for Joseph, he is continuing to make progress! If you would like to keep up with his progress you can subscribe for updates. You can also keep up with what is going on by friending his facebook page HERE.

See below for the most recent journal entry posting on Joseph's progress from Ms. Anita Frazier:
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 11:09 PM, PDT
Joseph's Journey - Day 20
Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement to both Joseph and our family.  It gives us strength to see your love pour out.  The prayers are so powerful and remind us of God's love.
Joseph remains on a road of progress.  Although a trach was placed, he has been breathing on his own all week.  This is great.  His shunt is draining and that drainage has slowed down.  They are contemplating on removing the shunt.  Joe also had an EEG yesterday to measure brain activity and we are awaiting the results on Thursday. 
Although it's been close to 3 weeks, it is still very difficult for us to imagine Joseph in this situation.  I am reminded in the Old Testament of Hezekiah, who in troubled times, went directly to God for wisdom and comfort.  This week, I have studied the posture of those who sought the Lord for healing of a loved one in the New Testament.  With faith and boldness, they made their petition known to God.  
I am sure that God is waiting to meet with each of us, continuously, throughout this journey.  I am sure that He is excited to see us, to hear our humble prayers, and to allow us to develop a greater love for the number one Healer and our Heavenly Father. 
As you continue throughout your week, I hope that you will meet with our Lord daily, praying without ceasing for the one we love - Joseph - our dear son, brother, grandson, nephew, friend, coach and child of the Most High.  Joseph is in good hands - we can rest assured of that!
Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)
We must keep the faith and the prayers coming. God is good! We are very happy to hear Joseph is breathing on his own and making the progress that he is. Keeping fighting Joe!

-The Ivorys

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Recap of The Ivorys Vids

Hi All! Hope everyones week has been treating them well. If you haven't had a chance to check out some or all of our vids, we wanted to repost them for your viewing pleasure. 

There are new vids on the way so make sure you subscribe to our Youtube but for now enjoy these.

The meaning behind "Creative Minds Unite"

Breakfast Bars #1- Dreams

Young Minds #1

Young Minds #2

- The Ivorys

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Exile- Intro to the Outro Mixtape

So Exile's new mixtape dropped and it everything we expected and more. He brings to the table more of his soulful beats which never disappoint. You will hear some of his old stuff, some new stuff and even a chance to hear Exile spit a little. We can't wait for his album to drop later this year.


For this mixtape however Exile has teamed up with LRG and Dirty Science:
"LRG Clothing Co x Dirty Sciences presents Exile’s “Intro To The Outro” Mixtape featuring all Exile production and mixed to perfection by Exile himself. The mixtape features past achievements as well as brand new exclusive music from MF Doom, Bun B, Blu, Fashawn, Aloe Blacc, Dag Savage (Johaz & Exile), Co$$ and others. Also, be on the lookout for Exile’s first self-produced rap album entitled “4TRK MIND” which drops October 4th, via Soul Spazm x Dirty Science. Enjoy and feel free to post and share!"(l-r-g.com).


Listen to the whole mixtape here or download for free by clicking HERE.

  Here's a bonus track for your listening pleasure I came across.
Exile produced this one as well. The beat is pretty sick.


- The Ivorys

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Ivorys at the L.A. County Fair

This last weekend The Ivorys headed out to the L.A. County Fair for some good old fun with family. It was a day filled with good food, fun, nice weather, games and rides. We wanted to share some photos from the day.

Ernest and Bridgette heading into the fair.

 Our niece




Painted puppy face.






 The KIIS booth was holding a dance contest for anyone that wanted to give it a try. This brave girl wanted to show the crowd how to Jerk.

 Bull riding!





 Ernest striking a pose at the Neon Art exhibit


 Fried Everything!



 C. Garrett





What a day at the fair.
 - The Ivorys