Granted, Public Enemy's audience has changed a great deal since the days when the band sent chills down the spine of white America, but this still seems like a bold pairing: Hip-hop's Afro-centric elder-statesmen will be bringing along Milwaukee's house-rap jester Juiceboxxx as their opener on a six-date tour of Canada later this month. It should be interesting to see how Public Enemy fans respond to the apolitical suburban rapper's manic, full-body performances.
In other local rap news:
* North Side rappers Born Brothaza trio of literal brothersare plugging their new mixtape, JFK Conspiracy Series, available for free download through their website. It's solid from start to finish, divided between barrel-chested, Timberland-stomping street rap and lush Midwestern soul. Among the stand outs are a couple of Milwaukee pride anthems, "Keep It 100" and "Brew City Made."
* Milwaukee's breakout club rapper Ray Nitti, whose single "Bow" is still garnering strong commercial radio play, also recently released a new mixtape, April Showers, which finds the affable emcee trying to burnish his street credentials on some angry tracks, but mostly sticking to his comfort zone, reworking uptempo hits from Drake and T-Pain. It's posted for free download here.
* Local promoter Hood Hephna has been typically busy. He's launching a new weekly event, LaFamilia Thursdays, at Center Court (1118 N. 4th Street), which will feature music from DJ Infotek and a different party theme each week. For its launch next week, which will double as a launch party for Hephna's Aalumni Magazine, the party will be glow-in-the-dark themed. Meanwhile, Hephna is also promoting an Internet radio show hosted by Slich Rich called The Slick Spot, which discusses rap culture and debuts new music from the local rap scene. The show airs at 10:30 p.m. from Sundays to Wednesdays.
* Milwaukee's popular producer battle the Miltown Beat Down hosts its final 2010 preliminary round tonight at the Wherehouse. The event will include performances from the sprawling alternative rap ensemble House of M and dead-president-chasing club favorite Scott Knoxx, whose video for "Tonight" is embedded below.
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