Archive for The Solution Showcase

Saturday, 3/24 -> The Solution Showcase #4 w/Che Grand (Brooklyn /// Lessondary), 1984 (Big J Beats & Marky Bias), Dealz Makes Beats, DJ Low Key, Lazy Eyez & more at The Meadowlark…

Saturday, 3/24 -> The Solution Showcase #4 w/Che Grand (Brooklyn /// Lessondary), 1984 (Big J Beats & Marky Bias), Dealz Makes Beats, DJ Low Key, Lazy Eyez & more at The Meadowlark (2701 Larimer). More details coming soon!!!

Thursday, 2/23 -> The Solution Showcase #3 w/Trackademicks feat. DJ Tap 10, Black Actors (Quiz & .anansi), Kid Hum, DJ Low Key & Lazy Eyez at the Meadowlark…

THURSDAY, 2/23 -> Before we get this started, shouts to everyone who came out to The Solution Showcase #2.  It followed in the footsteps of the first one and was a blast.  Inka One showed why he’s one of the most respected DJs in California, Es Nine blessed the crowd with some beautiful music and The Foodchain somehow squeezed their whole band into the cozy space and had a packed house going crazy.  Big ups to everyone who’s been coming out, y’all are the reason even the biggests of haters would have to say #TheSolutionShowcase is 2 for 2.  In the interest of keeping our newly minted streak going, we’ve got a hell of a lineup booked for the The Solution Showcase #3 at the Meadowlark (2701 Larimer St).

He’s one of our favorite producers out and no slouch on the mic.  His fun, breezy style of music slaps hard enough to get the attention of tastemakers like Mark Ronson and A-Trak (who signed him to his Fool’s Gold label) while his resume is thick with  diverse and talented names like Phonte, Wale, Mistah F.A.B., Lyrics Born, Little Dragon, Teedra Moses, Tanya Morgan, J’Davey, his own Honor Roll crew & more; we’re honored to bring out the bay area’s own Trackademicks.  Track will be joined by his Honor Roll brethen and one of the bay’s favorite DJs, DJ Tap 10, for their first Colorado show ever.

Above: DJ Tap 10 /// Below: Quiz (fka Sunkenstate) of Black Actors

Black Actors aka Quiz (fka Sunkenstate, of Suicide Watch fame) and .anansi will be holding down things for Denver, rocking songs from Quiz’s new Elm & Oak project, Etcetera, and more.  To represent the production side of things, we’ve got the infamous Kid Hum debuting his first live beat performance and we don’t think anybody’s ready for that.

Me and Lazy Eyez will be the night’s DJs (Sounds Supreme will be holding things down at ‘Round Midnight for The Solution Boulder), rounding out the bill and keeping the party sounding right from beginning to end.  We’ll be posting music and videos from everybody on the bill to get y’all familiar over the next few weeks, so don’t worry if you’re not familiar with someone on the bill, just trust that your favorite DJs aren’t gonna steer you wrong (a big part of The Solution Showcase is about discovering dope new music and people have been digging it).  Stay tuned to @DenverSolution for more details and a chance to win free tickets.  21+ /// $5 Pre-sales available at Family Affair downtown & get you 15% off your entire purchase /// $8 at the door. – DJ Low Key

Friday, 1/20 -> The Solution Showcase #2 w/Inka One, The Foodchain, Es Nine, DJ Low Key, Sounds Supreme & Lazy Eyez at the Meadowlark…

FRIDAY, 1/20 -> First off, thank you Denver. The first Solution Showcase was packed full of great people and great energy.  All the performers left the party raving about how cool the crowd was, saying everything from “that was the best show I’ve ever been a part of” to “you guys have a great thing going on in Denver”; so thank y’all for being so damn cool.  Everybody I talked to in the crowd showed love right back, excited to see some of their favorites rock and learn about other dope new music.  Just about everything went according to plan, better than expected even; and on that note, it’s my pleasure to announce the lineup for The Solution Showcase #2 at the Meadowlark (2701 Larimer St).

He’s one of LA’s favorite DJs, the founder of Boombox, one of the best hip hop parties in the country, was a key part of Basementalism’s national college radio dominance in the mid 2000s and still somehow manages to hate 99% of the music that comes out, your favorite hater Inka One.

In my humble opinion, their new album Brunch is one of the best #COHipHop albums of all time, they’ve rocked with a who’s who of hip hop over the last few years and made fans worldwide, you know them as The Foodchain.

Our featured producer is a member of Prime Element and En Stereo, was named by best producer in Denver by Westword in ’09, and has produced songs for KRS-One, Dilated Peoples, Fashawn, Killah Priest & a whole lot of other notable artists, the one and only Es Nine.

The Solution DJs aka me, Sounds Supreme and Lazy Eyez will also be rocking throughout the night, bringing you the very best in hip hop & more.  And in keeping with the Brunch theme, we’ll have complimentary silver dollar pancakes from 9-10pm to sweeten the deal, so make sure you come out early.  Just like last time, we’ll be posting music & videos from everybody performing over the next few weeks to get y’all familiar, so don’t worry if you’re not up on the whole lineup, just know that me, Sounds & Lazy aren’t gonna steer you wrong (a big focus of this night is about introducing Denver to great new music, that is what DJs are supposed to do, right?).  Stay tuned to @DenverSolution for more info, a chance to win free tickets & another contest.  21+ /// $5 Pre-sales available at Family Affair downtown (plus get 15% your entire purchase when you buy a Solution Showcase ticket) /// $8 at the door. – DJ Low Key

TiRon & Ayomari interview from The Smoking Section…

(Catch TiRon & Ayomari when they hit Denver on 12/15 for the Solution Showcase #1)

It was a star-studded event in Los Angeles’s premiere venue, The Music Box, where the sold-out crowd gathered to watch their beloved hometown hero, Kendrick Lamar. Big names like A$AP Rocky, Krondon, and Busta Rhymes were in the house as either entourage or performers and even the mythical Dr. Dre had a section of the balcony for himself to enjoy the festivities without being hounded by the peons. Featured on the bill, Left-Coast duo TiRon & Ayomari caught everyone by surprise as they preached about relationships and love’s many complexities, while eloquently doing live renditions of their highly acclaimed project, A Sucker for Pumps.

After the show, the two rappers sat down with The Crew’s own Raj to enlighten their audience as to how they were brave enough to dedicate an album to love, where they want the project to take them, and of course to serve as alarm clocks to wake up everyone else who’s been comfortably snoozing on them.


Graphic By Talia

TSS: What would say inspired you guys to make A Sucker for Pumps?

TiRon: Really, we had done all these relationship songs like “Ms. Right” and “Sydney” and so many relationship-esque records that were kind of different anyways, so we thought “what if we did like a whole album on it?” Because there’s been a trend in Hip-Hop. There’s been a lot of bullshit like ‘I’ll buy you the moon and the stars and all this other stuff’ and then there was ‘fuck bitches, get money.’” Anger isn’t necessarily that cut and dry and love ain’t that cut and dry. Basically we wanted to make an album with all of that gray in between.

(Check out the rest of the interview here)

Thursday, 12/15 -> The Solution Showcase #1 w/TiRon & Ayomari, Turner Jackson feat. DJ Dozen, The Girlgrabbers, DJ Low Key, Sounds Supreme & more at the Meadowlark…

THURSDAY, 12/15 -> I’m super excited to announce the launch of The Solution Showcase, a new monthly party/show/event/whatever-you-wanna-call-it that we’re throwing at the Meadowlark (2701 Larimer St).  In the same way that me and Sounds Supreme started The Solution to be the kind of party we’d wanna go to, The Solution Showcase is gonna combine the vibe of The Solution with a live show element; showcasing an up and coming out of town act, a dope Denver artist and a Denver-based producer or production crew each month, plus assorted other goodness.

To get things started right, we’re bringing out critically acclaimed and super dope Los Angeles-based rappers TiRon and Ayomari, whose recently released album, A Sucker For Pumps (available to stream free here), is one of the best projects I’ve heard all year (up there with Section .80, Watch The Throne, Charity Starts At Home, To Live For, To Die For & such).  And I’m not alone, Dream Hampton, co-author of Jay-Z’s book Decoded called it a classic and her favorite album of the year, hugely popular blog the Smoking Section gave it 4 1/2 of 5 stars and the album has landed them on numerous bills in LA alongside Dr. Dre’s favorite new rapper, Kendrick Lamar.  You may have also gotten familiar with TiRon and Ayomari via T&A:The Prelude to ASFP (the mixtape I did for them earlier this year, download it here), Ketchup (my other mixtape collab with TiRon and 2Dopeboyz’s favorite mixtape of 2009, download it here), MSTRD, the PB & J Solution or collabs with the likes of Blu, Pac Div, Miguel, Asher Roth, Oddisee and so on.

TiRon and Ayomari will be joined by Denver’s own Turner Jackson, whose last album, My Heart Needs Space (available for free download here), is one of the best local projects I heard all year and showed ridiculous growth from the young MC.  His frequent collaborator and youngest DJ in charge, DJ Dozen, will hold him down on the turntables for the night.  The Girlgrabbers (aka Q-Knox, GypDaHip & Brik-A-Brak) will be showcasing their one of a kind musical magic as our featured producers for the night (check out some of their prolific catalogue here).  In classic Solution fashion, me & Sounds Supreme will round out the lineup as the night’s DJs, rocking all the best in hip hop and more.  We’ll be posting music and videos from everybody on the bill to get y’all familiar over the next month or so, so don’t worry if you’re not up on the whole lineup, just trust that the DJs you like aren’t gonna steer you wrong (a big part of this night is gonna be about discovering great new music and we think you’re gonna love it).  Also, we’ve got a few surprises to announce that’ll make the night even better, so stay tuned to @DenverSolution for those last few details and a chance to win free tickets.  21+ /// $5 Pre-sales available at Family Affair downtown after Thanksgiving /// $8 at the door.

P.S. The Meadowlark is a pretty small venue and this show could very well sell out, so don’t sleep!!!!!

P.P.S. This is just the start of a bunch of big Solution news…We’re about to make up for lost time in a major way, watch!!!