Shad - Freestyle

Shad, DJ TLO, and Dallas Green had a little sound session producing songs in their Warped Tour bus. Here is Shad freestyling on a beat they just made.

k-os Design a T-shirt Contest

Calling all k-os fans!

This is your opportunity to use your imagination, and create something totally unique and different for k-os merchandise.

The design will be used for a t-shirt, and may also be used for a hoody as well. Once the submission period ends, the top 10 designs will be posted.

k-os fans can then vote on their favorite designs from the top 10, which will be presented to k-os, and he will choose the winner who will receive the grand prize! There will also be two runner-up winners.

You can access high-resolution images and designs from k-os' latest album here. Feel free to use these in your designs. But the sky is the limit! You can base your design off of k-os' current art, or go in a completely different direction. We only ask that you avoid use images or designs from any of k-os' albums other than Yes!

Deadlines: Contest Starts June 29, 2009
Contest Ends July 13, 2009

Prizing
valued at approx. $800 (first prize), $400 (second prize), $75 (runner ups)

* 1 (one) T-shirt of the winning design, autographed by k-os
* The T-shirt of the winning design featured on tour and online for sale around the world.
* 2 (two) tickets to one concert of the winner's choice on k-os' tour and a chance to meet and hang with k-os (*tickets only, travel NOT provided)

Contest guidelines:

1. Please only submit jpg images in RGB colour (not CMYK).
2. You may submit more than one.
3. You may hand draw, or make it on the computer. Either way, it will have to be submitted on this page.
4. A maximum of 4 colors can be used in the design.
5. The image uploaded should be roughly 600x600 pixels, under 1MB file size.
6. The design must be 100% your work.
7. No copyrighted images can be used in anyway.
8. After a winner is selected, that person will be contacted by our art department in order to prepare a the design for printing, so be sure to keep your hi-resolution version of the design somewhere in case your design is picked.
10. You must be over 12 years old to enter. If you are 12 years old or younger, you must have permission from your parent/guardian for your entry to be accepted. Please refer to the contest Rules & Regulations.

k-os @ Edgefest '09 - Photos

Photos via 102.1 The Edge

The rain and mud did not stop the crowd from having a good time at Edgefest '09.

Shad Cover of Mr Spriggs' Commercial

Shad on the MMVA's Red Carpet

Via Dose.ca

Blogging on the Road

Shad and his crew are hanging out in Laguna Beach until Vans Warped Tour starts on Friday. They have also started a blog called bloggy-blog. Check it out for the latest updates straight from them.

There are still spots available for the Warped Tour Guestlist for MOST cities. To take advantage of it, go to Shad's facebook fan page click on the 'discussions header' up top and check out the discussion about warped tour guestlist.

Shad and Hey Ocean! Performing at Car Free Vancouver Day

Photos via Tegan Sjoberg

More about Car Free Vancouver Day:

In 2005, the Commercial Drive Festival launched the first community- driven Car-Free Festival in Vancouver. The Festival was wholly volunteer-organized and presented, involving over 30 core organizers and 300 volunteers. It was an enormous success, bringing over 25,000 people out to celebrate the community and party in the street.

After that, the Festival happened in 2006 and twice in the summer of 2007, snowballing in popularity and attracting up to 40,000 people per day. Clearly, car-free days were an idea whose time had come.

The first annual Car-Free Vancouver Day, on Sunday June 15, 2008 ushered in the next phase in this bold experiment that had been gradually happening in Vancouver for many years. It took the car-free meme to the whole city, and represented the next level in our evolution toward healthy communities, authentic cultural celebrations, and car-free streets. On that day, FOUR communities presented their own Car-Free Festivals: Kitsilano, West End, Main Street, and Commercial Drive. Each Festival was envisioned and organized by the local core organizers, and each had a unique flavour.

This year the event took place last Sunday on June 14th.

k-os at Festival Mode et Design de Montréal - Photos

k-os performs at a fashion show.

Photos via Night Life Magazine

The fashionistas, the fans and musicophiles beautiful people gathered downtown for the show that marked the beginning of the Festival Mode & Design on 17 June.

k-os - 4321 (Rock Steady Drew The Love Mix)

via Rock Steady Drew

Shad Featured on the Cornerstone Mixtape

DOWNLOAD HERE

via The Audacity of Dope

Bad Karma

By Sandra Sperounes

Fans of Toronto hip-hop star K-os are cheapskates. During a recent trek across Canada, he let fans pay what they want — they got in for free, but they were asked to make ‘karma’ donations before they left.

As it turns out, fans only paid an average of $6, according to Billboard.biz and the artist’s manager Terry McBride. (In comparison, tickets to the rapper’s 2007 shows were about $30 plus service charges.)

Prior to the launch of his pay-what-you-want tour, K-os said he wouldn’t be disappointed with the outcome. He performed at the Edmonton Event Centre in May.

“You don’t get into music for money, man,” he told The Journal. “My dad used to say, ‘To chop down weeds, you’ve got to let them grow.’ If you’ve got a garden, you can’t just keep cutting the grass — you want to see what’s in there so you can treat it in the right way. If people are paying nothing, then we’ve seen what’s in the garden and we can move on.”

K-os won’t be moving on without a few dollars in pocket— Rogers Wireless covered most of the costs of his tour.

Hip-Hop Linguistics Yes! Review

Rating:
Review Date: June 10, 2009
Website: K-os Website
Label: Crown Loyalist Recordings

K-os “Yes!” Album Review
K-os is an artist who is just constantly evolving. His first three albums, each a classic in my mind, showed K-os on a different musical journey. And after where he took his last effort, “Atlantis: Hymns for Disco,” I couldn’t really imagine what he had left in him. Where could K-os possibly go next? Well, with “Yes!” K-os has proven that his evolution is not yet complete, and that he is incapable of making a less than spectacular album. And even better for HHL followers, “Yes!” seems to be more hip-hop based than his past couple of albums.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It’s electro – I’m a hip-hop fan who doesn’t want to hear the same thing over and over again. Maybe that’s why I’m such a big fan of K-os. To me, K-os’ production - which despite his array of past sounds has always been very instrumental and perhaps even folk-ish – is much more futuristically electronic this time around. Tracks like Zambony, Astronaut, Eye Know Something, The Aviator and Mr. Telephone Man demonstrate this electronic feel and will have you bumping your head. This sound works out well for K-os, who rhymes more than he sings on these tracks. And while I can dig both, there’s nothing like listening to emcees spit over tight beats.

2. It reps Vancouver – Right before I picked up this album, I read an article about how K-os moved to Vancouver to record most of the tracks for “Yes!” Some of my favorite albums were recorded and clearly influenced by being created in a place away from home (the best example that comes to mind is the Living Legends’ “Classic” which was created in Maui). So when I hear a lot of the songs, I envision dude in the city living the fast life and shit. Or maybe that’s because I’m in the city living the fast life and shit. Either way, I like the influence Vancouver has apparently had on K-os’ music.

3. It makes me dance – Yeah I’m gay. But a couple times recently, I’ve jumped the train home from work, smoked one (I’m quitting tomorrow), and thrown on this album. I cook dinner and dance around the house like Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club (like you never have), because there are definitely some cranks on this album. Tracks like Burning Bridges, Uptown Girl, I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman, 4321, FUN!, WhipC.R.E.A.M and The Avenue might have you busting a move for real.

4. Rhymes are dope – I gotta relate at least one of my reasons to the music itself. And as usual, K-os’ lyrics and flow are on point. There are dope rhymes, sing along choruses and quotable lyrics all over this album. One good example is the following verse from Burning Bridges:

Turn on the light/
‘Cause the left hand knows what you’re doing with your right/
When the right hand glows, left is jealous of the light/
So you put ‘em both together and you clap for your life/
Time – that’s why I’m back in the building/
To burn through flame the thing that I was building/
Get off the bridge all the women and children/
Fire pros/
Sheep’s in wolves clothes/

The Aviator is a self-reflective track in which K-os drops two dope verses off inner dialogue and questioning. The following verse from that song is a good example of this:

Who am I using?/
Who is abusing?/
Who isn’t choosing?/
Who am I sleeping on that I’m confusing?/
Who is my muse? She probably plays the guitar/
Probably 4th dimensional, probably living bars/
So many scars young black boy in my room/
Made my style animated, call my style cartoon/
That you bump when you’re driving up the coastline/
The closed mind exposed by the sunshine/
Designed by the most high/

One of my favorite songs lyrically was former HHL track of the week Mr. Telephone Man. In that song, K-os drops the following verse that seems to point to how human relationships are being affected by improving technology.

We went from pagers, beepers, phones, to creepers/
Ringtones, text messages, not reaching/
Speaking close all up in my receiver/
Afraid to meet in person the dial tone deceiver/
Pick up, hang up, break up, banger/
Man I wanna press every button Atlanta/
Area code South Beach number I forgot it/
We cross bionic style exotic forget about it/
Now here’s what I’m thinking/
Is this ship sinking?/
While we’re dancing and drinking/
Could we be at the brink and?/

Overall: Probably my favorite album of 2009 – and that’s saying a lot. I like every song on this album, and I have a different favorite daily. If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of this album. Favorite tracks include I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman, Mr. Telephone Man, Uptown Girl, Eye Know Something, The Aviator. Really all of them. Peace.

via Hip-Hop Linguistics

Shad - Rock To It Video (Acoustic Version)

This is most likely the very first Shad video I saw on Youtube. I came across it today after my round of random videos.

Shad - Compromise Live (Jeremy Starcok Video)

While we wait for the official "Compromise" music video to be released, here is a live performance of the song!

"SHAD : The biggest thing outta Canada 'til Quebec seperates."

Couple More Dates Added to k-os' Summer Tour

Montreal Fashion And Design Festival
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
McGill - College Street downtown
Avenue McGill College, Montreal, QC
10 PM - Main Stage
FREE
RSVP On Facebook


Capital EX ED Fest
Friday, July 17, 2009
Northlands Grounds
7600 Borden Park Rd NW, Edmonton, AB
Tickets
RSVP On Facebook

k-os on Q TV (Videos)

Interview

Burning Bridges

4 3 2 1

Canadian hip-hop artist K-OS was Q's 'Friday Live' guest to coincide with the release of his new album 'Yes!'. He performed two songs and sat down for a chat. This is the first song he performed and the first single from the new album. This is a stripped down version of the original.

k-os is returning to Vancouver for Virgin Festival BC

Our Lady Peace and Ben Harper & Relentless7 will headline the Virgin Festival when it returns to British Columbia this summer.

Sonic Youth, former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, Mute Math, K-OS, Brody Dalle's new Spinnerette project, Plants And Animals, De La Soul, Gomez, Future Of The Left and Awesome Color, who are signed to Sonic Youth singer/guitarist Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label, will also play the two-day festival that will be held July 25 and 26 at Vancouver's Deer Lake Park. Additional acts will be announced shortly.

Tickets to the all-ages event go on sale on Monday at noon PST through Ticketmaster and Future Shop. Day passes will run you $72.50, while weekend passes will cost $135. A VIP weekend pass, which will get you front-of-the-line access, a $20 merch voucher and access to the Louder Lounge, will cost you $300.

The Virgin Festival was last held in Vancouver in 2007. It was to be held in the city last year as well, but was cancelled.

Lineups for Virgin Festivals in Montreal and Nova Scotia have already been announced, and organizers will announce who will play Alberta and Ontario versions of the festival (which we bet will be held in Calgary and Toronto) shortly.

Here are the acts playing Virgin Festival BC so far:

July 25:
Our Lady Peace
Mute Math
K-OS
Spinnerette
Plants And Animals

July 26:
Ben Harper & Relentless7
Sonic Youth
Jarvis Cocker
De La Soul
Gomez
Future Of The left
Awesome Color

CLICK HERE for tickets.

Bid on an Ottoman Signed by k-os, the Twilight Cast, and More!

This ottoman was the V.I.P seat at the 2009 Vancouver Fashion Week / Juno's afterparty.

Signatures include:

Cast of Twilight - Robert Pattinson (Edward), Kristin Stewart(Bella), Nikki Reed(Rosalie)
K-OS
Paul Becker (Choreographer and Judge on "So You Think You Can Dance Canada"
Graham Pence (Producer)
Anna Lotfipour (No no Spots)
Stars of Boulevard (Johnny Kate, Joshua Helhason, Ken Abbey)
The Stills (Tim Fletcher, Dave Hamelin, Liam O'Neil, Oliver Corbeil)
Josh Tager (Sam Robert's Band)
Justin Peroff (Broken Social Scene)
Tito Deville
Ultra (Band)
ETC

This ottoman has been used by the celebrities during this event, resulting in a few scuffs and marks.

Canadian Bidders Only!

CLICK HERE to bid.

Bidding ends June 8th. Proceeds go to the the David Suzuki Foundation.

Hero Hill Interviews :: k-os

HH: First off, let me say congrats on Yes! I've been a big fan since
your appearance on Top Of The World (although I do remember seeing Musical Essence on Rap City!), and I think this is as strong as anything else you've done. I read somewhere that you went "back to basics" on this album, was that in terms of the lyrics, the music, or just in your general approach to the album?
k-os: i think the spirit of the album is basic many of the first songs came out in my bedroom. not a lot of thinking went into schematic just alot of frenzied frantic excitement! it was casual and really natural
and basic in terms of not considering myself to have anything to uphold or an image to continue.

What is the creation process like for you, do have the songs written before the beats/production is done? This being your forth full-length, is that process any easier for you now compared to when you were starting out?
i watched TV more than i usually do. Just flipping back and forth between channels and seeing the horrid/boring state of Television inspired me to do something vibrant. I think songs are already out there in the ether and its the job of the songwriter to pull them down into physical reality and manifest their existence. Like a dream- these tunes might have haunted me and then gradually bit by bit -i put them together, kind of like remembering your old combination lock from your locker of grade 12 ..

In my opinion, you were one of the earliest people to mix a hefty dose of indie rock influence into your hip hop batter, and it seemed like you took some unfair heat for that, having to defend how "hip hop" you are. Now that plenty of people, including some of hip hop's biggest names, have done the same, do you feel vindicated at all?
i think artists take chances because we have to. We are forced to be who are in the moment. Part of that quest comes with the understanding that what you do.. the risky business you offer the world may or may not be accepted -and when it is too ahead of the curve it can be often ignored or made fun of! That being said, i think i am happy when artists in any 'form' of music expand their vocabulary. So more than vindication i feel excitement at the possibility that the music of my childhood is growing up!

I think I WIsh I Knew Natalie Portman is awesome, was this your first time working with Saukrates? He's always been a favorite of mine, and I've thought he should be bigger in this country (that's Canadian hip hop for you!) than he is.
Sauks is one of my favorite rappers period! no comma! This was the first time we worked but its been a long time in the making.
i hope to do a video for this song and expose more people in Canada to Saukrates a hip hop Ledgend!

For the rest of the interview CLICK HERE.