The venerable DJ store Fat Beats on Melrose was welcome to L.A.’s first visit by Hip Hop artists Diamond District, an infectious charge of old school rap flavored by the emcees’ region, the “DMV” — the area spanning D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, a merging of affluent areas with impoverished neighborhoods wrapped around the heart of America’s government. The group gets its name from the diamond-shaped layout that is the District of Columbia.
In this video, emcee/producer Oddisee explains Diamond District’s musical goals, and the group performs their album’s opening song, “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill.” Insisting on getting the small gathering hyped, Oddisee leads those present in call and response during the song, rather amusingly.
Today I appeared on the Interwebs with eGuiders Live from their Los Feliz studio, discussing my film PAY 2 PLAY and my recent coverage of the Ohio primaries. Host Marc Ostrick was witty and urbane, and he screened a series of clips from the recent political dramas I have been following.
D.C. Hip Hop came to West Hollywood yesterday as Diamond District gave an in-store performance to celebrate the release of their debut album In the Ruff. This song is “I Mean Business,” and already seems like a classic. Fat Beats’ illustrious interior featuring decades of rap greats plastered over every angle makes for an effective setting.
More video to come of Diamond District’s first L.A. appearance.
D.C. hip hop artists Diamond District shone in East LA tonight. Check them Saturday at Fat Beats on Melrose & Curson in West Hollywood at 5:30 pm doing an in-store performance. (And remember, you first heard of them from me!)
In a disturbing precedent, a Federal judge has ordered a filmmaker to surrender over 600 hours of raw footage he filmed about a long-running suit against Chevron
In a race that drew national attention in its closing days over allegations of race-baiting and conspiracies, the winner of the Democratic Primary for U.S. Representative in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District is political newcomer Surya Yalamanchili. Yalamanchili, or “Chili” as he is also known as, is 28 years old and left his job as the youngest brand manager in Proctor & Gamble’s history to run for office full-time on a threadbare campaign out of his condo.
Yalamanchili will now challenge U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt in November for her House seat. While the political establishment has already taken a dim view of his chances, Yalamanchili has already exceeded expectations in winning the party nomination, and has the networking ability you might expect from someone who worked at LinkedIn. Besides, he was on “The Apprentice,” and those people are hard-core.
Here is Surya’s speech Tuesday night upon hearing that his opponent David Krikorian had conceded the election.
Krikorian’s remarks at a campaign event last week with veterans in Clermont County struck one attendee as racially insensitive in how Krikorian referred to his opponent for the Democratic nomination, Surya Yalamanchili. That attendee then wrote a letter to the current representative for Ohio’s 2nd District, Jean Schmidt, concerned that Krikorian had suggested to the audience that Yalamanchili could not get elected in the Second District of Ohio because of his name.
Jean Schmidt then took the surprising step of writing a letter to David Krikorian, deploring his conduct and intolerant attitude. Her public reprimand was quickly joined by similar letters to Krikorian from David Lane, Chair of the Clermont County Democratic Party, Tim Burke, Chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, and Chris Redfern, Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party. Such a broad condemnation for a candidate less than a week before the primary election is virtually unprecedented, according to people who have been in Ohio politics for decades. Read More »
Subscribe RSS 
youtube
twitter
facebook
myspace
huff post
