Mopreme Shakur is the newest member of Mob Life Records. Mopreme is one of the original creators of “Thug Life” along with 2Pac and Dr. Mutulu Shakur. He has appeared on several songs with his brother 2Pac including, “Papaz Song” from Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., “Bury Me A G” and “Cradle To The Grave” from Thug Life Volume 1, “When We Ride” from All Eyez On Me, “M.O.B.” from Until The End Of Time and many others. Mopreme can be seen on several dvd’s as well, including Thug Angel and Biggie & Tupac. You can expect Mopreme’s album to drop late 2004, early 2005. For now you can listen to a brand new Mopreme song on the latest Mob Life release, On The Grind.

The highly-anticipated and long-awaited SA Hip Hop Tour is back! This time, dedicated to showcasing innovative youth talent in music, poetry, comedy, art and fashion within the SA Hip Hop community. The Tour has more than 21 acts and more than 17 DJs including Skwatta Kamp, Pitch Black Afro, Spex, Amu, H20, HHP, Fortune(Abomrappa), Hidden Force, Optical Ill, to name but a few and DJs Dolla, Syntax, Naked, C-live, to name but a few – list is endless. Read on for details on the tour this weekend!

Once again Urban Voices produces a fantastic line-up of award winning overseas and homegrown poets including the likes of Linton Kwesi Johnson from Jamaica, popularly known as LKJ, reggaes foremost poet. On the line-up from the US, is Jessica Care Moore, an award winning poet, actor, recording artist musician and publisher who tours extensively. She has worked and stages with the likes of Gil Scot Heron, George Clinton, Dead Prez, Mos Def and many others. Read on for dates and more info…

A while back we featured PVT Militant in an interview which you can read here. “One Man Against Many“, his new album, is being mastered and packaged right now. Also be on the lookout for the Impossebull’s sophomore release “Slave Education” coming this summer. For details on how to pre-order the album click to read more…

What’s up – Hip Hop back in the city, where? At 115 ANDERSON STREET. Who? – HeavyLoaded. How? Q’s, Bravestar, Township Frequency, Robo, Karl Kani, Homebru, Le Club, DJ Blaze, Shorty Skills, Dj Bigga, Loco, MetamorForces, Metroplis, Data Base and DJ Bionic. If you’re wondering what these words mean, those who know will definitely agree that such names are actually hip hop brands that represent the most vibrant era of South African hip hop.

The biggest event in the Durban underground movement is back! Saturday the 3rd Of July, Albert Park, Indoor Soccer Courts. For the third month in a row, Durban’s only HipHop/Lifestyle store THE YARD in collaboration with Durban’s freshest clothing label ANONYMIS are having ANOTHER FREE PARTY! How is this possible? In a city where every event seems geared towards crowd capacity and profit, some old school heads have decided that if it can be given away for free then so shall it be. Live graffiti, live turntablism featuring Durban’s biggest names in both fields, spontaneous b-boying and continuous ciphers, Real Durban Hip Hop at no charge. This month has two guest artists from Cape Town taking part (and no I don’t mean Mantis! I said guests not gatecrashers!).

The official release of Spillage is on the 7th July 2004 and will be launched at the Colour Bar in Mellville, JHB on the return of GODESSA’S two month stay in Switzerland. The Cape Town launch is set for Mercury Live (previously known as the Jam) on the 15th July 2004. Watch all press for details.  Note: I noticed that Spillage is already available in some shops…

This is Shadow Zu based in Los Angeles representing African hip hop. You can check out the album review on React Mag by the well known journalist Adam Bernard. Also check out the interview at Urbanelite based in Scotland plus the upcoming reviews at Rap Reviews and Ekgds. Come visit us at Shadow Zu and get a taste of this new kind of hip hop flavor.

AfricasGateway and African Hip Hop Indaba would like to ensure that all deserving African hip hop artists are recognised in this years awards. Take the time to nominate who you think deserves recognition in the African hip hop community. Start your nomination by clicking here.

One of the most anticipated albums of the year is finally ready to hit the market of Ghana. Double Dee (Big OJ and Odiefour Daniel a.k.a. Blood Eye), a Canadian based hiplife group, promise to be the next big thing in the hiplife (Ghana) industry since Akyeame.

Whether u want to call her Josie Styles or Jozi Styles it doesn’t make a difference, she is still bringing us closer to the art. This Dj/hip hop activist hails from down under, where u find animals that carry their babies in pouches. Australia mate. Their scene has been bubbling and Josie just hit me up with a compilation called “Straight from the Art” which was compiled by this diva.

The Zimbabwean hip hop generation was in for a treat this past weekend courtesy of hip hop activists “The Movement“. They are the same guys that brought you the “Pungwe” compilation and have now released their sophomore release tentatively titled “Bira“. This compilation features some of the hottest Zim talent from the Diaspora.

Thursday, 9:40pm X-Rate and Mic-Kanix joined Eraze on the Cypha. The show was threatening to be the wackest ever with no emcee up in the studio. We were all happy when Eraze finally announced that he had some emcees up in the Studio. Then Mc Ekks rolled thru as well…The freestyles begin….And guess what X-Rate came to do…

What does FM stand for? That is the question that PackFM hopes you will seek to answer on his debut full-length project whutduzFMstand4? This young Brooklyn MC is already off to an exceptional start in his musical career, and he is ready to take on the world.

Award-winning Filmmaker Bob Bryan has just announced that his Graffiti Verite’ Documentary Series has just been released for DVD chapter on-line viewing on his website http://www.graffitiverite.com/. The widely acclaimed Five (5) Part, One-of-a-kind series explores the eclectic world of contemporary youth, Hip-hop and the Graffiti Art Movement.