Kaws is in ATL and he brought a LOT of art with him. A few months back I heard the news that Kaws would be coming to Atlanta to showcase his art. Not everybody you hear the words Kaws, Atlanta, and Museum in the same sentence, so I knew this would be an event not to miss.

If live in Atlanta and have been on Peachtree Street you may have noticed the 30 foot Kaws companion (passing through) statue. Kaws is holding a lecture this evening at 6pm (which has been sold out for a while) followed by the opening night party, which gives people a sneak peak at the exhibit before it officially launches this Friday. If your in ATL and into art this will be the place to be tonight.

KAWS started out as a grafitti artist. After moving to New York in the 90s, he made his mark (literally) by subverting imagery on billboards, bus shelters and phone booths. As KAWS popularity skyrocketed, his altered ads became wanted items. Through all of his projects, KAWS has successfully blurred the line between fine art and mass-produced merchandise. He uses his products to allow his imagery to infiltrate a larger audience than that of the fine art world. The artist is currently an active member in both the commercial and fine art communities.

Photo courtesy of ReLowed.

It’s finally here. The Beatz & Lyrics 2 Go project was recorded during the 7th annual A3C Hip Hop Festival (Oct 2011). The project was recorded between the on-site Unique Squared mobile tour bus as well as Salem Psalms studio. The process is the same every year. Emcees are sought after, they come through the lab in their downtime, you listen to beats (which you don’t know who the producer is) and you select one based on what you hear. You may end up choosing a production from someone you know, or you could end up working with a producer you’ve never heard of.

The project involves 35 MCs, 17 producers, 13 visual artists, four DJs, four videographers, three sound engineers, two executive producers, and a photographer. Besides the actual mixtape, they’ve produced accompanying artwork, an interactive photo flipbook (below), and an eventual documentary of the making of Beatz & Lyrics 2 Go: Vol. 2.

What’s also really FRESH, is that every song on the project was given the single treatment with it’s own artwork, clean, dirty, and instrumental. You can check me out on the song “Like You” along with 4-Ize and Headkrack. The track is produced by Illastrate.

Download: Young Lyxx Feat. Skyzoo – “You Ain’t Heard”

“Together” is currently available for free download. Make sure you check out the entire Beatz & Lyrics 2 Go project when it’s released on Feb. 7th.

Starting the new year off with a bang, Lyric Jones wastes no time in dropping the much anticipated third leak, “Loss On Repeat” featuring Grammy Award Winning jazz vocalist and bassist Esperanza Spalding. The song introduces a nice marriage of the two worlds of jazz and hip hop, gelling well to show a versatile style of both artists. Check out how Jones delivers her pensive lyrics, as Spalding sings an amazing hook that ties together their perspectives.

“Loss On Repeat” is produced by emcee, DJ, producer & Berklee College of Music educator Raydar Ellis and also is the final release leading to her debut album Jones St., due out February 7th, 2012.

DOWNLOAD: Lyric Jones “Loss On Repeat” Feat. Esperanza Spalding.

I first met the homie M Slago in Austin during SXSW 2010. Later that year I heard the track (Table Cloth) he produced on Homeboy Sandman’s album “The Good Sun” and knew he was definitely someone I wanted to work with.

A year and some chance later thru Facebook we got the chance to link on a project he was finishing up called “Attack The Wack.” Anybody that knows me, knows I’m all about putting wack rappers, ideas, and people out of commission so I was ALL in. The beat is absolutely amazing and just what I needed to pen something over. I recorded this song just a couple days after getting the beat, sent it back and made it in time for the project.

This marks the first time me and M Slago have worked together but it definitely won’t be the last. His new project “Attack The Wack” was released in conjunction with ProducersIKnow.com and is available for a free download.

Also in addition to myself, Homeboy Sandman, Headkrack, Playdough, Random, Myk Dyaleks, Jabee P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. & Kyle Rapps are featured on the project. DON’T SLEEP!

DOWNLOAD: M. Slago Presents “Attack The Wack”

The song that I’m featured on is called “The S.O.S.” stream or download below.