Animated Rocktronica band Gorillaz's 'Demon Days' was one of our favorite records of 2005 here at Imageyenation. Since it's release it sold mad copies, was nominated for mad awards, and the singles released from the LP were remixed mad times. The band's newest release 'D-Sides,' which hit stores November 20th on Virgin Records, presents an assortment of b-sides, demo versions, remixes, unreleased tracks compiled together as a set for the first time.

The set, which is available from Apple's iTunes store and Amazon amongst other retailers, is also available as a special limited edition in a debossed glossy box containing two exclusive prints from Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett, a collection of Gorillaz badge-pins, stickers, and a "Choose Pazuzu" patch. The track list, which includes non-album cuts like "Hong Kong," "Bill Murray" featuring The Bees, "We Are Happy Landfill," "Stop The Dams" featuring the Sugercubes' Einar Orn, "People" (an early demo of "DARE"), "Don't Get Lost in Heaven," a Mandarin version of "Dirty Harry" and remixes by the DFA, Junior Sanchez, and Hot Chip.

Since we love Gorillaz so much, we're honored to be able to hit one lucky Imageyenation reader off with a super-dope Gorillaz 'D-Sides' prize pack containing one Deluxe Edition 'D-Sides' box, one "Dirty Harry" CD single, on Gorillaz 'Phase 2: Slow Boat To Hades' DVD, one "Feel Good Inc." DVD single, one "Feel Good Inc" CD single, and a Gorillaz Sticker set! All you've got to do for your chance to win is enter your name, e-mail and complete mailing address in the form below, and press "send!"

Your e-mail:

Your name and complete mailing address:

Entries will be accepted through Wednesday, December 26th, 2007.

Core Wu Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah has been one of the most consistent affiliates of the nine-man crew when it comes to his solo output. His seventh full-length studio LP 'The Big Doe Rehab,' featuring guest appearances from Raekwon, Method Man, Masta Killa, Kid Capri, U-God, Beanie Sigel, and Chrisette Michele, dropped last week on Def Jam Records.

To celebrate, Ghostface has teamed up with Microsoft to share some of his "Big Doe" with Imageyenation readers. One lucky winner will receive a copy of Ghostface Killah's The Big Doe Rehab' on CD, and a 30GB Microsoft Zune portable media player to boot! That's some very big doe indeed.




All you've got to do for your chance to win is send us your three favorite Ghostface Killah lines along with your name, e-mail and complete mailing address via the form below!

Your e-mail:

Your name and complete mailing address:

Entries will be accepted through Monday, December 24th, 2007.

A special 25th Anniversary edition of Charlie Ahearn's groundbreaking slice of old-school Hip-Hop cinema 'Wild Style,' starring graffiti legend Lee Quinones, Fab 5 Freddy, and countless other Hip-Hop pioneers is in stores now!

Filming on location in the South Bronx in 1982, director Charlie Ahearn captured a rare look at the true origins of hip-hop culture with his groundbreaking film WILD STYLE. Featuring appearances by such legendary and influential old-school giants as Grandmaster Flash, Fab 5 Freddy, Cold Crush Brothers, Rock Steady Crew and Chief Rocker Busy Bee, this groundbreaking film is recognized worldwide as the premier hip-hop film and was inducted by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 10 best rock 'n' roll movies of all time. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this captivating time capsule, Rhino will release a special edition of the DVD expanded with new extras including a mini documentary, footage of a 20th anniversary concert, interviews and unreleased photos.

The DVD contains a digital transfer from the original 16mm film with commentary by director Ahearn and Fab 5 Freddy. Several extras debut on the special anniversary edition of WILD STYLE including a mini documentary featuring interviews with Fab 5 Freddy, Lee Quinones, Busy Bee, Lady Pink and Ahearn plus footage from the 20th anniversary concert held at the original amphitheater, a "Bongo Barbershop" DJ battle in the Bronx featuring Grand Master Caz, a new musical short with Busy Bee titled "Busy On The Beach," scenes from the 25th Anniversary Wild Style Reunion Show and an expanded gallery with unreleased photos.

The film follows the exploits of maverick tagger Zoro (real life graffiti artist Lee Quinones), whose work attracts the attention of an East Village art fancier (Patti Astor) and is commissioned to paint the stage for a giant Rapper's Convention. An authentic documentation of the early days of hip-hop in the boroughs of New York, everything in WILD STYLE is real -- the story, style, characters, and most of the actors, are drawn from the community.

The film shows many early hip-hop personalities in action before they went on to acquire national acclaim. Chief among these is Fab 5 Freddy, who hosted Yo! MTV Raps from its inception and plays the brash rap promoter Phade in the movie. Producer/director/writer Ahearn credits Freddy for the film's vision of hip-hop as a unified culture. WILD STYLE may not have been the first movie featuring rappers, but was the first to link graffiti, break dancing, DJing and document the birth of hip-hop nation.

DVD EXTRAS:
A documentary short featuring footage from the 20th Anniversary concert
New interviews with Fab 5 Freddy, Busy Bee, Lady Pink, and Charlie Ahearn
Bongo Barbershop featuring Grandmaster Caz
Busy Bee interview

In honor of the film's 25th anniversay we're giving our readers a chance to win copies of the new special anniversary edition of the 'Wild Style' DVD and Charlie Ahearn's hardcover 'Wild Style: The Sampler' book!

Two runner-up winners will receive a copy of the DVD, and one grand-prize winner will receive a copy of the DVD and the book!

All you've got to do to secure your chance to win is enter your name, e-mail address and complete mailing address in the form below.

Winners will be chosen at random.

Contest closed! No more entries will be accepted!

But do it now, because we'll only be accepting entries until Wednesday, November 14th.

By now you should already have LCD Soundsystem's sophomore LP 'Sound of Silver' in your collection. If you don't, well, you can suck it... loser. Our good buddy Cereffusion (who actually commented that Monster Pig post the other day... crazy!) posted a review of the album back in April. He liked it a whole lot. I liked it a whole lot too. If you don't like it, well, you can suck it too... loser.

If you want to stop being a loser and become a winner, literally, you should take a couple minutes to enter our newest give-a-way here at Imageyenation. What's it for? Why, some pretty sweet LCD Soundsystem merchandise, that's what it's for!

We're giving away one prize-pack containing the 12'' vinyl singles for both "North American Scum" (featuring the original mix, the Kris Menace mix and the Onastic Dub) and "All My Friends" (featuring the original mix and B Harvey's mix), and maybe some other LCD-related goodies. All you have to do for your chance to win is enter your e-mail address, name, and complete mailing address in the form below, and press "send." Yes, it's just that simple!

Contest closed! No more entries will be accepted!

As already stated, 'Sound of Silver' is in stores now, so you really should get it. And if you missed them the first time we posted 'em, here are YouTube links for the "North American Scum" and "All My Friends" video clips.

By now you should have already heard "Classic ( Better Than I've Ever Been )," the DJ Premier produced collaboration between Rakim, Kanye West, Nas and KRS-One, recorded to honor the anniversary of the Nike AF1. You might not have seen the video though. So check it out.



The video actually improves on the track a lot in my estimation. The whole concept, with Primo putting the beat together, and the inter-spliced acapella sections just add something. You can also watch it in streaming Real Media and Windows Media formats as well.

More importantly, you can win one of four vinyl copies of the "Classic" 12'' single from us right here on Imageyenation!




For your chance to win a copy of this 12'' just fill in your name, e-mail address, and shipping address in the form below, and press "send."

Contest closed!

But enter soon, because we'll only be accepting entries through Friday, March 30th, 2007. Good luck!

For a number of years I operated under the erroneous assumption that 'Fader' magazine was free. I thought it was like 'Vice,' so when I'd see it sitting in a store I'd pick it up and take it home with me. I didn't find out I had been taking copies of a magazine you're supposed to pay for until Lady Glock was looking into joining the 'Fader' street team a couple Summers back. In recent months however the people behind 'Fader' have proven my assumptions about their publications freeness totally correct, sort of. You see, they've begun giving the magazine, and an accompanying podcast, away, online, via Apple's iTunes music store. Visit the 'Fader' website to download the new issue and podcast free of charge.

To promote their new downloadable freeness the fine folks at 'Fader' are also joining forces with their friends ( from sites like Imageyenation ) to give away limited edition 7'' singles featuring artists appearing in each new issue. The second 7'' in the series features Dancehall Reggae artists Movado and Busy Signal, wrapped in a really ill sleeve, which you can see below.



For your chance to win this limited edition 7'' just fill in your name, e-mail address, and shipping address in the form below, and press "send."

Contest closed!

But enter soon, because we'll only be accepting entries until Thursday, March 22nd, 2007. Good luck!

Rapping British midget Lady Sovereign dropped her hotly anticipated Def Jam debut 'Public Warning' a couple months ago. Our own Cereffusion volunteered to review it here at Imageyenation shortly after it's release, but for whatever reason he never actually got around to doing so. He must've liked it though as he nominated it for inclusion on our "Best of 2006" list.

Sadly, we'll never know exactly what he thought about the album. But Lady Sovereign herself seems to be pretty happy about it. So happy in fact that she's joined forces with one of the most iconic pop-culture/fashion brands of my generation, Swatch watches, and hand-picked four different watch designs which she, her label, and Swatch, in conjunction with culture outlets like Imageyenation, are giving away to her fans!

The watch designs she chose are ( pictured below from right to left ) "Sign of the Times," "Endlessly," "Pure Black" and "Full Blooded."



One lucky reader will win one of the watches, model/design subject to what Swatch has in stock and ready to ship. All you've got to do to enter is submit your name, e-mail address and shipping address in the form below!

Contest closed!

And after you've done that feel free to hit Lady Sovereign's Def Jam site and check out the video for her single "Love Me Or Hate Me."

Fort Wayne Indiana based emcee, and sometime El Keter (that's me) collaborator, Sankofa recently released his sophomore solo LP 'Still Means Something' via his own Obese America imprint. Produced by now retired beatsmith FANGFACE, the album is one of a handful of recent indie hip-hop releases that hearkens back to the sounds and styles of hip-hop's golden era heyday of the late '80s and early '90s, with breakbeat heavy production and fast-rappery meeting the complicated wordplay and ironic conceptualism of modern day indie rap. It was good stuff, even Cereffusion thought so, and now you've got a chance to find out for yourself how good the stuff really is... for FREE!

We have three copies of Sankofa's 'Still Means Something' to give away to three of our lucky readers. All you've got to do to enter for your chance to win is fill in the form below and press "send!"

The contest will run from January 26th 2006 through February 16th 2006. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Contest closed!

And remember, you can always cop Sankofa's 'Still Means Something' online at CD Baby if the mood should strike you.

We already gave away a copy of Activision's 'True Crime - New York City' video game right here on Imageyenation not too long ago. But we're proud to join the makers of 'True Crime,' Puma and a "Syndicate of Sites" in offering you a chance to win some more 'True Crime' related prizes.

This time three Grand Prize winners have the chance to recieve prize packs containing one pair of Limited Edition Puma Le 'True Crime' themed sneakers ( pictured above ), a Puma Track Suit, a copy of the 'True Crime - New York City' game ( Xbox or PS2 format ) and a five-pack of 12'' vinyl featuring music from Redman ( who happens to be an unlockable character in the game ), Young Jeezy, Little Brother, Juelz Santana and Nas! All you've got to do is visit the external contest page at the URL below anytime before January 10th 2006 and fill in your info to enter for your chance to win!

http://thedst.com/contests/truecrime/

Good luck to everybody who enters, and please don't forget to write in "Imageyenation.com" as your "favorite blog" on the entry form.

When they emerged on the scene in 1992 with their hit single "Rebirth Of Slick ( Cool Like Dat )" and the follow-up LP 'Reachin' ( A New Refutation Of Time And Space )' a lot of heads were quick to pigeonhole emcees Butterfly, Doodlebug and Ladybug Mecca of Digable Planets as Native Tongue immitators. Sure, their music was breezy ( imbued with melodic jazz samples ), their flows were simple ( replete with listener friendly hispterisms ) and they recieved both widespread critical acclaim and pop-chart success, but they were much more than A Tribe Called Quest lite. And on their 1994 sophomore LP 'Blowout Comb' they would fully bask in their free-thinking originality and show the record buying public just how much more they actually were.

Revealing themselves as basement dwelling, beat digging, Black nationalist Communist revolutionary book-reading, boho-backpackers of the most elite order, the Digable Planets of 'Blowout Comb,' with it's lead single "9th Wonder ( Blackitolism )" ( my personal favorite DP tune ever ) finding the spritely Ladybug talking down to "these devils," just weren't as friendly to Mr. and Mrs. America, despite their previous Top 20 pop hit and Grammy winner status. To that end 'Blowout Comb' just didn't see the same commercial success as the group's debut, and the three members disbanded due to "creative differences" not too long after it's release. The album did however become something of a cult classic among underground hip-hop heads and the influence it's had on successive generations of forward thinking indie hip-hoppers is palpable, if not tangible.

In the end, as hip-hop spiralled out of control during the late '90s, Digable Planets, who at first were thought by some to be mere shades of another "superior" group began to be recognized as sorely missed beacons of creativity and originality in the face of thugged-out, playlistic, shiny suited commercial rap. And ironically enough, the group's short life-span and limited commercial output saved them the embarrasment of the same sort of shame-ridden fall-off experienced by their supposed superiors, A Tribe Called Quest whose own career petered out at the end of the '90s.



Today all the members of Digable Planets are back together. They embarked on a reunion tour this year that took them all over the world. Ladybug Mecca released a solo LP titled 'Trip The Light Fantastic' on indie-label Nu Paradigm. And it's assumed that the group's reunion will extend beyond the tour to recording new material. The group was also honored by Blue Note Records ( whose catalog the DP's were not afraid to mine for sample fodder ) with the release of a compilation of hits, remixes and rarities called 'Beyond The Spectrum - The Creamyspy Chronicles,' featuring 13 newly remastered Digable Planets tracks.

Your folks here at Imageyenation are happy to announce that we've got a couple copies of Digable Planets' 'Beyond The Spectrum - The Creamyspy Chronicles' on compact disc and a copy of the companion video compilation DVD ( featuring 5 of the DP's notable videos ) that we'd like to give away to a couple of our lucky readers!

One Grand Prize Winner will receive one copy of Digable Planets' 'Beyond The Spectrum - The Creamyspy Chronicles' on compact disc and one copy of the 'Beyond The Spectrum - The Creamyspy Chronicles: The Videos' on digital video disc!

While one Runner Up Winner will receive one copy of Digable Planets' 'Beyond The Spectrum - The Creamyspy Chronicles' on compact disc!

For your chance to win just type your e-mail address, name, complete mailing address, and any extra comments you feel like adding, in the form below, and press "send!"

The contest will run from December 7th 2005 through January 7th 2006. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Contest closed!

The Digable Planets compilation of hits, remixes & rarities 'Beyond The Spectrum - The Creamyspy Chronicles' is available in stroes now on Blue Note Records.

You might remember a post I put up a couple weeks back previewing Activision's forthcoming 'True Crime - New York City' game which hits store shelves November 15th for PlayStation2, XBox & GameCube. Putting you in the shoes of criminal turned cop Marcus Reid, the game gives you the opportunity to run the GPS-accurate streets of New York City, kicking ass and taking names as a no-nonsense peace officer, or a no-good crooked pig... it's your choice. All the still-images and video tailers from the game look incredible, and the voice talent assembled -- including Chris Walken, Larry Fishburne, Mickey Rourke, Redman and others -- is pretty impressive, but only time will tell if the game-play stacks up against the hype of all the previews though. Hopefully we'll get a chance to review the game and find out. But even if we don't, you just might get the chance to.

To take that chance all you've got to do is enter now to win a prize-pack containing one copy of 'True Crime - New York City,' plus a 10-pack of 12'' vinyl singles from Redman, Young Jeezy, Little Brother, M.I.A., Juelz Santana, Nas, Ludacris, and more! For your chance to win just type your e-mail address, name, complete mailing address, and any extra comments you feel like adding, in the form below, and press "send!"

The contest will run from November 3rd 2005 through December 3rd 2005. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Contest closed, entry form removed!

Of course, if you don't feel like trying your luck you can always just go cop 'True Crime - Streets Of New York' when it drops November 15th.

Darling of critics, bloggers and hipsters alike for the last year, Sri Lankan-born, London-bred artist and musician M.I.A. just continues to seep into the mainstream consciousness. Her critically acclaimed album 'Arular' was re-released ( complete with "U.R.A.Q.T." the super-catchy "Sanford & Son" sampling track which was left off of the XL/Beggars pressing ) a few months ago by giant label Interscope records. She'll be on-tour in parts of the US and Canada with mega-star Gwen Stefani throughout the month of November. And she's even released a 'Live Session EP' exclusively through Apple's popular iTunes music service.

You might remember that we already gave away a bunch of cool M.I.A. stuff earlier this summer. But in conjunction with the release of the iTunes exclusive 'Live Session EP' we're giving away another dope set of M.I.A. prizes. One lucky winner will receive an M.I.A. prize-pack containing a $5 iTunes gift-card, a copy of the 'Arular' album on vinyl, a "Galang" remix CD, a pair of customized M.I.A. Reebok sneakers ( these shoes were not customized by M.I.A. herself, but stylistically designed to reflect her album artwork and no we can't guarantee you a specific size, but hey, they look cool ), and a copy of EA Sports new 'NBA Live '06' game which features her track "Bucky Done Gun!" All you've got to do to enter for your chance to win is type your e-mail address, name, complete mailing address, and any extra comments you feel like adding, in the form below, and press "send!"

The contest will run from November 2nd 2005 through November 16th 2005. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Contest closed, entry form removed!

We hope you win, but if you don't remember that M.I.A.'s 'Arular' is in stores now on Interscope Records, the 'Live Session EP' is available exclusively at the iTunes store and the 'NBA Live '06' game from EA Sports can be found on the shelves of stores everywhere that sell that sort of thing.

Forget that his new album 'Welcome To Jamrock' is a hit with critics and music fans alike, young Damian Marley is a hit with the ladies! You see, the title track from his new LP has been getting play pretty much everywhere I go, and everywhere I go all I ever hear from whatever women happen to be present is how cute the guy who sings that song is. Granted, he is the son of Reggae legend Bob Marley with former beauty queen Cindy Breakspear, so I guess it really isn't so surprising that all the ladies seem to find him quite sexy. And though I can't say that I see what all these women are apparently seeing in the burgeoning Reggae superstar, I guess I should just take it as a sign that dreadlocks and crazy beards are suddenly the "in thing," thank my lucky stars that I happen to have both, and try my damndest to cash in on their newfound sexiness. That said, I can't help but think it'd be far sexier to give you, my valued readers, a chance to cash in. And no, this has nothing to do with foxy babes who crave knatty locks and facial hair. This is all about Marley and his music.

It's in that spirit that your bredren here at Imageyenation offer you, our readers, the opportunity to come up on some righteous Damian Marley treats! Two lucky winners will each receive a Damian Marley "prize-pack" containing a copy of his 'Welcome to Jamrock' on compact disc, a poster, and a sticker pack! All you've got to do to enter for your chance to win is type your e-mail address, name, complete mailing address, and any extra comments you feel like adding, in the form below, and press "send!"

The contest will run from October 17th 2005 through November 17th 2005. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Contest closed, entry form removed!

Once you've entered to win, take a minute to check out Damian Marley's official website, the 'Welcome To Jamrock' media player ( featuring 5 full audio tracks and the full "Welcome to Jamrock" video ), or these links to streaming audio and video files.

A Private Conversation with Damian Marley ( video interview )

Windows Media

Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley "Welcome to Jamrock"

Real Audio

Windows Media

And don't forget that Damian Marley's 'Welcome To Jamrock' is out now on Universal Records.

Known as one of the seminal labels on California's underground hip-hop scene and home to staples of that scene such as Dilated Peoples and Defari, ABB Records has been making mad moves towards diversifying their artistic line-up. First they launched North Carolina's Little Brother to stardom and a major-label partnership. Then they entered the world of soulful sounds and mellow dance music from Peven Everett, Lizz Fields and Mark De Clive Lowe with their ABB Soul imprint. And now, they have releases from Little Brother's Justus League crew-member Cesar Comanche ( which our own Cereffusion just reviewed ) and Detroit veteran, and Slum Village/Jay Dee collaborator, Big Tone ( review coming soon ) on deck! And that's not even mentionion the long awaited release of the 'Static' LP from Springfield Massachussetts' own Maspyke!

But we'll save the hype for the home-town heroes for some other time. Right now all you need to know is that we here at Imageyenation are happy to offer you, our readers, the chance to win some fresh ABB Records schwag. That's right, three lucky winners will each receive an ABB Records "prize-pack" containing one copy each of Cesar Comanche's 'Squirrel and the Aces' and Big Tone's 'The Drought' on compact disc! Pretty sweet, right? Right. And all you've got to do to enter for your chance to win is type your e-mail address, name, complete mailing address, and any extra comments you feel like adding, in the form below, and press "send!"

The contest will run from October 11th 2005 through November 11th 2005. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Contest closed, entry form removed!

If you want to get a taste of the flavor Cesar Comanche and Big Tone have to offer, check out these links to the artist's e-cards and downloadable MP3 sampler "mixtapes."

Cesar Comanche E-card

Cesar Comanche "mixtape" by DJ Flash

Big Tone E-card

Big Tone "mixtape" by DJ Houseshoes

And don't forget, Cesar Comanche's 'Squirrel and the Aces' and Big Tone's 'The Drought' are both out now, on ABB Records.

As you may or may not know, Phonte, Rapper Big Pooh and 9th Wonder of Durham, North Carolina rap trio Little Brother dropped their highly anticipated sophomore album, 'The Minstrel Show,' on September 13th via ABB/Atlantic Records. Like their debut 'The Listening,' which was centered around the fictional WJLR radio station, 'The Minstrel Show' takes that imaginative faux-broadcasting concept one step further, using a fictional television network ( UBN or the "you black nigga network" ), and a fictional variety show ( complete with skits, commercials and musical guests ) as the platform for the album which takes a satirical look at the portrayal of African Americans in modern popular entertainment.

Or in their own words:

"As rappers, we have to take responsibility for what we say, and for the images we portray to our people. If not, we’re doing essentially what minstrel shows did: perpetuating negative images and reinforcing those negative stereotypes."

And now, Imageyenation.com is pleased to be able to offer you all a proverbial front-row seat to Little Brother's "minstrel show," as we're giving two lucky folks the chance to win two Little Brother prize-packs from us! One First Place winner will receive an autographed poster, a CD sampler, a copy of the album, and stickers, while one Runner-Up will receive a poster ( unsigned ), a CD sampler, a copy of the album, and stickers! It's a win-win situation any way you cut it, right? Right. So enter for your chance to win by typing your e-mail address, name, complete mailing address, and any extra comments you feel like adding, in the form below, and pressing "send!"

The contest will run from October 5th 2005 through November 5th 2005. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Contest closed, entry form removed!

If you're looking for something to listen to while you fill in the entry form you just might want to listen to "The Pilot," Little Brother's 'The Minstrel Show' album sampler in streaming audio.

Little Brother "The Pilot ( album sampler )"

Real Media

Windows Media Lo

Windows Media Hi

And even though you just might win it here from us for free, you shouldn't forget that Little Brother's 'The Minstrel Show' is available in record stores now!