A sick visual for one of the best track of Diz Gibran & MoonShine’s Soon You’ll Understand project.  For more info on Diz, check out our interview.

Kid Cudi performed “Pursuit of Happiness” on The David Letterman show last Friday.  This track is the third single off of his upcoming debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day.  Cudi’s performance is incredible, and the Youtube video has been circulating around the internet, bringing even more attention to this young artist’s amazing album.

The song itself is produced by Ratatat and features vocals by MGMT.  If that wasn’t enough to get you excited, Kid Cudi’s lyrics on the track are very deep and inspirational, giving the listener insight into Cudi’s album and his personal quest for success in the music industry.

“Living my life getting our dreams,
People told me slow my roll,
I’m screaming out fuck that,
Imma do just what I want,
Lookin’ ahead, no turnin back,
If I fall, if I die,
Know I lived it to the fullest,
If I fall, If I die,
Know I lived and missed some bullets.”

Kid Cudi is venting in those lyrics, and showing us that following your dreams, no matter what other people think, is the only way to become truly happy.

The Kid Daytona – Air Born (Featuring Bun B)

The Kid Daytona is the Bronx’s latest emcee to make a name for himself in the ever changing hip hop scene.  Daytona linked up with Bun B for the video to his single, “Air Born.”

The track’s smooth beat was produced by 6th sense, and the equally smooth video was directed by Derek Pike.  Big shout out to Dee and Ricky who made the cigarette piece on Bun B’s hat in the video.  These guys have been making some sick jewelry for hip hop videos for a minute now.

Neither artist produces extremely deep lyrics on the laid back track, but The Kid Daytona impresses me when he spits:

“My narrow mind got me petrified,
Of fake niggas and bitches who want to Papelbon,
Pitch their way into my life
In the 8th or 9th inning
Last minute fake advice givers.”

I’ve never heard a rapper spit a verse about a Major League Baseball closer, ha!  The Kid Daytona does a great job with that line, calling out all the people running into his life now that he’s starting to see success around the corner!

Dom Kennedy – Of All Time (Featuring BJ The Chicago Kid)

Dom Kennedy’s latest video is extremely clean, and adds a lot to the song, which is mostly just a smooth track to vibe out to. However, Dom does spit a few strong lyrics here and there.

He addresses bloggers with:

“I aint never shot at blogs,
Why you scared to speak to me,
I aint never got at ya.”

It is true that Dom Kennedy and BJ The Chicago Kid deserve more attention from the blogs.  After all, they are more talented than a lot of the artists who are getting recognized on your average blog site.  For more on Dom Kennedy, check out our previous article!

Beyond Belief – U dont know me

Beyond Belief has been making a name for himself in Rockaway Queens for a minute now, and having his whole mixtape, What about BOB?, produced by multi-platinum producer Kwame, shows he’s an artist to keep an eye on.

“U Don’t Know Me” features the deep lyrics and reflective qualities that all up and coming emcees need to develop in order to build a strong fan base.  In this track Beyond Belief spits about his family problems as well as his personal struggles.

“I’m 21 and I’m still acting immature,
And I don’t think I’ll ever stop being insecure…
And why my neighborhood’s so racist,
And why I’m talented but feel I wont make it…
Cause you can be the illest spitting,
still its all about location,
And what you look like,
It doesn’t really matter what your saying.”

As sad as it may be, talent alone is not enough to take your career to the next level in the entertainment industry. Spitting verses from the heart, like the one above, is what it takes to help move the needle!

Having spent sometime working a corporate job, as well as exploring opportunities in both skateboarding and fashion, this Los Angeles emcee is now focusing wholly on his music.

HipHopAtLunch.com was lucky enough to meet up with Diz while he was in New York to rock the crowd at SOB’s. We used this opportunity to ask the emcee about his past and to get a better glimpse into his personality.

However, before we jump into the interview, take a quick listen to one of Diz’s freestyles so you know exactly what we’re dealing with:

Diz Gibran uses his freestyles to speak about real life experiences, and as the following lines show, this style of rapping works very well:

“The streets treating me like a celebrity now,
Both in fashion and rap they respecting the style…
Walking by faith but still controlling my destiny,
Changing what I can, all else I just let it be…
The streets sing along to my melody,
cats imitate the style, but the talent’s sold separately,
they can never be Diz.”

Now to get a better look into Diz’s life, check out these interviews where we discuss his musical influences, his time at Florida A&M, Twitter, and how Soon You’ll Understand overshot his expectations.

Diz Gibran’s latest mixtape, which he spoke about in the interview, was completely produced by Queens producer Moonshine, and distributed by hip hop clothing company Crooks & Castles.  This one producer-one Emcee method is very rarely done in today’s hip hop world, but significantly increases the work’s cohesiveness.  Soon You’ll Understand is a great example of what a full work of art can sound like from start to finish.

A standout track on the mixtape is “Truly Yours”

Together with BJ The Chicago Kid, Diz uses this track to reminisce on growing up and falling in love with hip hop.  He also manages to work in some clever references to Crooks & Castles:

“I’m on the brink all I need is a push,
on my way to the castles peace to the crooks…
learned there’s no way to be king without the rooks,
and what it took is much more than you see,
In every form, this is me yours truly.”

If your interested in seeing this song performed a capella, check out this video where Diz and BJ The Chicago Kid do just that.  Dudes kill the a capella performance!  Other stand out tracks on Soon You’ll Understand are Stereo, Morning Light, Just Me, Impossible, and City Lights.

As one of the leaders of the West Coast’s new hip hop movement, Diz Gibran is definitely an artist to keep an eye on.

We should all go to Fifty Cent’s Family Day party in Queens on Aug 30th… I have a feeling this party is going to be one to remember. More on RealTalkNy.com

?uestlove and Common’s upcoming Hennessy Artistry tour sounds like it is going to be amazing!  Check it out –>  More On GoodFellaRadioShow.com

Dom Kennedy released his video for “Of All Time” featuring BJ the Chicago Kid.  If you haven’t gotten up on Dom Kennedy yet, watch this video now! More on NahRight.com

This tour has had some serious special guests, and once again the snowman does not disappoint with his live show!  More on 2DopeBoyz.com

New song, “Favorite Show” from Wiz Khalifa and Boogz Boogetz. Let me know what you think of the track @HipHopAtLunch –> More on PocketFullOfPaper.com