Los Angeles emcee Busdriver follows up 2007’s RoadKillOvercoat with Jhelli Beam (out June 9). On Jhelli Beam, Busdriver’s legendary breath-defying flow teeters precariously on top of samples of classical music, jazz drumming and proggy guitar parts, without ever losing sight of the electronic music that helped define his sound on RoadKillOvercoat.

The legendary underground battle rapper Nocando guests on the classically witty Busdriver track “Least Favorite Rapper,” while Islands’ precocious Nick Thorburn’s influence can be heard on an almost ELO-flavored song “Happy Insider.”  Jhelli Beam is mindfully engaging and physically palpable at the same time – a wholly unique take on what an underground hip hop album should be.

“Least Favorite Rapper”
“Me-Time”

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Busdriver’s Myspace

Vocalist and songwriter Marie Daulne aka Zap Mama’s 7th project ReCreation is out now on Heads Up International, featuring Bilal, G. Love, actor Vincent Cassel (La Haine, Ocean’s Twelve) and several others.

To honor mothers around the world, Zap Mama’s teamed up with CARE and will donate a percentage of the proceeds from the iTunes download of  “Hello To Mama,” the first single.

In the developing world, one woman, every minute of every day, dies giving birth. CARE helps reduce persisting high maternal mortality in the world’s poorest countries.  For more regarding CARE and its partnership with Zap Mama, visit: www.care.org/zapmama.

iTunes | MySpace | Official Site

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British producers Jez Colin and Matt Cooper of The Latin Project fuse together deep house, broken beat and hip hop with Afro polyrhythms and vocals on their second full-length, Musica De La Noche (out on June 23).

With brand new songs and a collection of remixes from A-List producers like Shawn Lee, Supreme Beings Of Leisure, Static Revenger and Morgan Page, Colin says, “some of our most dynamic work over the last few years has emerged from collaborations with other artists in our community such as Bebel Gilberto (“Aganju”) and Incognito.” Vocalists Freddie Crespo (erstwhile percussionist and vocalist for Tito Puente), Debi Nova (also heard performing with Sergio Mendez, Mark Ronson and Ricky Martin) and Guadelupian Joel Virgil still pop at the top of the mix with a few additions to the lineup.

The Latin Project’s first album, Nueva Musica, rose to #1 on the Billboard dance chart, won the IDMA Award for Best Latin Dance Song and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Remix Single.

More info on Musica De La Noche

Fela Kuti’s son’s music venue, the new Africa Shrine, was closed by Nigerian authorities last Tuesday morning. According to Fela Kuti’s oldest child and co-manger of the club, Yeni Kuti, the family was given a notice on Monday evening, stating that they had 48 hours to “to abate the nuisance and restore the land to a conducive environment.” The letter from Lagos authorities held the club responsible for “noise nuisance, illegal street trading, indiscriminate parking, blocking of access roads and obstruction of traffic.” By the following morning, the establishment had been permanently closed by the government. Yeni told AFP, “I’m shocked, indignant.”

Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s original Shrine built in the seventies suffered the very same fate when it was forcibly closed by the Nigerian authorities shortly after his death in 1997.

Femi Kuti & The Positive Force are on tour in America and are collecting signatures at every stop.

Femi Kuti’s MySpace