Wikipedia describes Fela Kuti’s style as “…essentially a fusion of jazz, funk and Traditional African Chant. It is characterized by having African style percussion, vocals, and musical structure, along with jazzy, funky horn sections. The “endless groove” is also used, in which a base rhythm of drums, muted guitar, and bass guitar are repeated throughout the song. This is a common technique in African and African-influenced musical styles, and can be seen in funk and hip-hop. Some elements often present in Fela’s music are the call-and-response with the chorus and figurative but simple lyrics. Fela’s songs were almost always over ten minutes in length, some reaching the twenty or even thirty minute marks.”

Read more.

Also check out this documentary (in 6 parts on youtube):

*Special thanks to Bob Mendelson for this find.

“The first single for HTDD will be a song called ‘Got Up this Morning’ featuring Buck 65 and Jolie Holland. We filmed a video for this song last month. It will be available online in late April. This video looks incredible thanks to the great work and craftsmanship of director Stoney Sharp. The video features Slug (from Atmosphere), Brother Ali, Buck 65, Jolie Holland, Tom Inhaler and Bernard Dolan. There will also be a ‘behind-the-scenes making of’ video blog soon. Check our site for updates.” This screenshot looks promising:

Rage Against The Machine will be headlining the Rock The Bells tour with Wu Tang.  This combination of a hip hop and rock music group will undoubtedly cause some cross over with the two music genre fan bases.  On that note, check out this video:
Rage Against The Machine : Testify

The group Blue Scholars “has garnered media attention from VIBE and URB magazines, as well as touring the country and opening for groups such as De La Soul, Slick Rick, Immortal Technique, and most recently, Zion I. For more information, ask yo mama or visit bluescholars “

This is the video of their song Freewheelin, a really “chilled out” song.

This is a video for their song The Ave, which has a sizzling beat.

*Special thanks to Josh Frank for this find.

Is that a real tattoo? 

Better Than I’ve Ever Been (DJ Premier Remix) This video is an example of defhiphop venturing into the mainstream. This video features DJ Premier, Rakim, Kanye, Nas, and KRS-1. We could not embed this video, but click here to check it out (requires flash).
*Video thanks to Malte Goesche