Welcome to OkayCity

Vancity Loves Haiti

2010-02-01T22:40:00.000-08:00

Peace Peace Y'all

So the boys and I checked out this dope benefit show at Fortune Sound Room last night. The bill was stacked with a lot of ill local artists. The vibe was nice and everyone was there rockin out for a good cause.

As I walked in.. the homie Omar Khan was steppin on the stage and filled the room with a ton of soul

I figured Omar was the first act on. but I found out later that I missed my girl NaRai!! I've been meaning to see her live for way too long and missed it.. whack! I know she killed it though

http://www.myspace.com/naraimusic

One girl I had never heard of before, Georgia Murray, really surprised and pretty much blew me away...this girl can sing!! She had a dude up on stage with her rippin an acoustic but the beats were BANGIN! it was ill! check her!

http://www.myspace.com/georgiamurray

Love & Electrik came up next and transported me to Japan haha. Some dope funk and electro gave me that vibe! First time seeing this duo and it was dope!

http://www.myspace.com/loveandelectrik

Alright, so Erica Dee was not on the flyer and I was not expecting her to be there but she showed up and rocked an ill dj/vocal set. I've been following this girl for awhile now and not gonna lie, I have a crush on her so it was good to see her rock it. Raw Talent!

http://www.myspace.com/mcericadee

She also brought up my good friend David Morin for a song... these two rip it together!

So usually when violins meet hip hop.. it is undeniably dope..last night was no different.. Suzka came on stage and KILLED THINGS... thats all i have to say

http://www.myspace.com/suzkamusic

I was waiting for this moment all night.. battle of the one man bands.. Randy Ponzio vs David Morin haha who are we kidding? these two can't battle they are equally as dope and do some ridiculous shit with a loop pedal..extremely talented! extremely genuine!

http://www.myspace.com/questpoetics

The infamous beat battle ended off the night. I wish they had this earlier on in the evening because it wasn't as hype as it could have been but was still real dope regardless

Kemo vs. Chin Injeti

If y'all don't know either of these producers then you need to step your game up lol

they both got an extensive production catalogue( Kemo produced "dangerous" by akon & Kardi also "Top of the World" by the Rascalz) ( Chin has done beats for Jay-Z, Drake, Jay Electronica just to name a few.. he gave us a sneak preview to an unreleased jay elec track and lets just say my neck still hurts WOW) They exchanged banger after banger... check em out

I think Chin took the battle though

I had no idea he produced this

I gotta admit that I'm proud to be a resident of this city full of extremely talented musicians, rappers, singers, and artists. We make music together, we are friends, this community is all about love. For those who are just finding out about some of these cats.. I hope i introduced you to some new music that you enjoy! I send my condolences and wishes to all those affected by the terrible disaster in Haiti. We sent them love from Vancity last night and even though they are miles away, they definitely felt and heard us!

Ray Black

oh and big ups to Lantern girl for guiding the way all night!lol

DOWNLOAD: B.o.B AKA Bobby Ray "May 25th" Mixtape

2010-02-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

B.o.B was touted by XXL as one of the new school of artists coming up in 2009, and named as a "face to watch in 2010" by Billboard. In the last few years of his short career he has worked with Eminem, T.I, Big Boi, Pharrell and even Canada's Classified. "May 25th" is a mixtape in preparation for his album "The Adventures of Bobby Ray" which will be released on May 25th on T.I.'s label Grand Hustle.

B.o.B aka Bobby Ray - May 25th DOWNLOAD

www.bobatl.com

By: Ben

Distant Relatives First Single (Nas & Damian Marley- Only the Strong Will Continue.)

2010-01-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

Hello Okay City residents,

"It's your boi, Ben"
'Distant Relatives' is the highly anticipated, long overdue project from Nas and Damian Marley combining Nas' ridiculous lyrical ability with Damian Marley's Island flavour.
I got to see these two live at Rock The Bells this year and needless to say it is one of the best live music experiences I have ever had. Since then they have kept quiet on the details of the project and some believed it would go into the vault along with Dr. Dre's 'Detox'. BUT today there is light at the end of the tunnel as the first single from 'Distant Relatives' was released online. Please check out the link below, this track has got me even more excited for the upcoming album.

Nas & Damian Marley - The Strong Will Continue

Enjoy!

OKAYCITY IN VICTORIA! JAN. 15th

2010-01-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

Peace Peace

Ray Black checking in from Victoria. It's a beautiful day on the island..first sunny day in about a month which is crazyy! So I'm in a good mood partly cuz of the weather and partly because we TORE down Sugar last night!

Jumped on the ferry around 3pm yesterday for the 90 min sail to vancouver island. Gave us a chance to get mixing done for some new material (stay tuned for details) Ben picked us up at the terminal and we headed over to his parentals house where Momma Martin had burgers waitin for us. Those definitely helped with the amount of beers that were consumed afterwards. Hit up the venue at about 9 and kicked it in the green room. By 10 the place was startin to fill up nicely and the vibe was good... Dj Speedy Shoes was holdin it down on the 1's and 2's.and then Pocket Kings started off the night with a dope performance and warmed up the crowd for us. So it's about 1130 and we are about to rock it. I'm walking down the stairs to make my way to the stage..Im not that faded at this point. but it was pretty dark and it didn't help that the stairs were black so I missed a step..my knees buckled and i bailed HARD! haha a couple people witnessed.. I got up..winked and smiled at them trying to hide the intense pain running up my shin haha Next thing I know.. Dags is on stage giving us a HYPE introduction.. and the rest is history! Victoria knows how to have fun at shows! Everyone was jumpin around.. hands in the air..screaming! It felt real good. My man Shad definitely wasn't lying when he said Victoria was one of the best places to perform in Canada

Kyprios & Sweatshop U came on after us and killed the stage. That crowd was sooo hype. I spent a lot of my time in the green room watching their set with a birds eye view. Then I began to feel a pain in my shin. OH YA!!! i fell down the stairs earlier.. BRUTAL! so i roll up my pant leg and noticed a bloody hands length gash down my shin. whatever.. i'm down with battlescars.. now I will have a memory of the first time I ever rocked a show in Victoria haha... Good night with Good people and Good Rhymes.

Alright time to get on the road to Nanaimo...tonight's gonna be real dope as well! We'll update you on that tomorrow!

Much Love my fellow City Citizens!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Peace all my fellow City dwellers and Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone got what they wished for and spent some time with good people and good food!

Since everyone is in the giving mood this season..I thought I would hop on the bandwagon.

For those that don't know..Im currently working on a free mixtape entitled "Fresh Air Vol. 1"

The tape includes a mixture of tracks..many of them collaborations...over instrumentals by some of my fav producers... J Dilla, Pete Rock, Flying Lotus & more. Release is set for early 2010 but i've got a couple tracks i've been sitting on and thought i would give y'all an early listen. Check after the jump for the link!

Merry Christmas Fam!

DOWNLOAD HERE

Ben's Top 10 Rap-up

2009-12-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

As the year comes to a close everyone is creating their list of top 10 songs of that year...I am no different. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Pac Div - Pac Div

2. Rakim - Holy Are You

3. D-Sisive - West Coast

4. Royce Da 5'9"- Shake This

5. Sapient - My Grind Is Tech

6. Vinnie Paz feat. Clipse - Street Wars

7. Hilltop Hoods - Chase That Feeling

8. Kid Cudi feat. Ratatat and MGMT - Pursuit Of Happiness

9. Drake feat. Kanye, Lil Wayne, and Eminem - Forever

10. JakeOne - Brother Ali and Freeway - The Truth

Sure, the last one came out at the end of 2008...but was bumped consistently through 2009...make your own list if you disagree...at least I didn't put this video in my list...

Ray Black's Top 10 Songs of 2009!!!

2009-12-24T03:59:00.000-08:00

Alright so in memory of 2009.. we thought we would reminisce about the year and recap our favourite songs of 2009! I crushed a little less than 2 redbulls before i left work...just finished...its 330am..might as well do it now! Here is my list (in no particular order)...if you haven't heard any of these..take a listen!

1. Tanya Morgan - Hardcore Gentlemen

2. Mos Def - Casa Bey

3. DOOM - Gazillion Ear

4. Drake - Houstatlantavegas

5. Fashawn - Stars

6. Grouch & Eligh - Do It Again

7. Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers

8. Jay Electronica - Exhibit A

9. Muhsinah - Always

And Last but not Least..

10. Nicolay - Lose Your Way

All of these songs bring me back to a specific part of the year..Very dope!

Merry Christmas Y'all and Happy New Decade!

Ray Black

"BACK IN FULL FORCE.."

2009-12-21T19:22:00.001-08:00

"...had to deal with the intervals..refreshed my ears..had to heal em with minerals and vitamins"

Peace y'all...It's Ray Black and OkayCity is back to the blogspot... for real this time we are gonna be updating this place daily.. with everything.. new music... what we are listening to.. funny stuff.. all that jazz..so keep checking back.

So we left off July 28.. and a lot has happened since then...we've been touring a little bit.. had the chance to check out Delta, Maple Ridge, Nelson, Kelowna, Banff, Jasper and more... it's been good times so far.

I'd like to introduce to the world..our manager Ben Martin, who will be working on this blog spot with me to be an interactive..fun place to catch up on some info. Last time i posted.. it was summertime and i was killin it on the skimboard. Well now its December and it so happens that my man Ben kills it on the snow skate!

He's dope right?

haha Alright that's enough for me..stay tuned!

We are rocking The Cellar in Vancouver tomorrow night. A Christmas Themed event and it marks the last show of 2009. It was a crazy year for me..so let's just say im lookin forward to a new year and a new decade. OkayCity Starts out 2010 with this:

Jan. 13, 2010 Whistler, BC @ Moe Joe's

Jan. 15, 2010 Victoria, BC @ Sugar

Jan. 16, 2010 Nanaimo, BC @ Queens

Happy Holidays Y'all.. Im gonna leave you with this...

ITS A GREAT DAY TODAY!

2009-07-28T13:28:00.001-07:00

We also picked up skimboarding (minus the bailing) thanks to the crazy tide in Tswassen!

BlackOut!

OKAYCITY + SHAD

2009-07-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Peace my fellow City members!!

SO we were gonna try and keep this a secret for as long as possible but I'm tired of waiting...

Before our good friend Shad hit up Warped Tour for the summer we were able to kick it for a bit and lay down some tunage... now don't get all excited and think we're gonna spill those tracks yet buttt we doo have a little bit of footage from the studio that may or may not contain a clip of one of the songs.. don't mind the video quality!

anndd for those of you who don't who Shad is...now's the time

www.shadk.com

Till tomorrow...

Best!

Ray B

COOLIN' in WHISTLER, BC

2009-07-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

ps. this water is coming off the glacier on the mountain! last time i checked glacier water is crazzyyyyy cold!

We rocked a dope show in Whistler about a month ago (big ups to Nobody Really)

I love the village and we managed to hit up the skate park!

We'll load up some footage from the show soon!

BEST!

Ray Black

FIRST POST!!

2009-07-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the City!!

2009-07-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

Peace Fam!

sooooo... word on the street is OkayCity officially has a BlogSpot....but i don't like to call it a blogspot... its more of like that barbershop or park bench you go to in the city with all your friends and talk about random facts.

This is more of like an intro and welcome... the first official post will be up within the next couple days!

BEST!

Ray Black