A little insight into Mr Factz as he prepares for the release of his new LP this summer, The Achievement.

The cool kids favourite lothario of late, Frank Ocean dropped this official video for ‘Acura Integurl’. Didn’t make it to the Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape, but with less than two minutes of visuals and typical Ocean swag, the public dutifully lap it up. Album next.

To be exact Def Jam are re-releasing physical copies of Nostalgia, Ultra from July 26th or digitally available from 31st May.

“The Man of the Year” ‘ey? New J Cole leak. Produced by himself and Elite. Can’t wait for the album drop later this year. Cole world.

2011′s Billboard Award Ceremony was held last night in Las Vegas. Major winners of the night were Eminem and Justin Beiber who copped 6 awards each. Among his collection, Eminem took Top Artist and Top Rap Album. Other highlights of the night include, Rihanna frolicking with Britney Spears, Queen Mary J Blige with Lil’ Wayne and of course Beyonces 100 strong female army.

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Bloody hell time flies!!! I remember when First Word records was born up in Leeds when I was at Uni! I managed to play a couple of times down at the night held down at the Faversham which was always a road block and I am so so happy for Gilla and the rest of the crew that it is still going strong. With a stellar line up of artists on their roster they have decided to give away a real nice mix LP to celebrate their birthday. With artists like PinBoard favourite Kidkanevil, Homecut, The Haggis Horns and Lotek you definitely need this in your collection. Enjoy…and make sure you keep supporting one of our best Independent UK labels consistently providing us with the high grade.

I am feeling this right about now. UK keep stepping up each and every time. Bristol’s very own Javeon McCarthy gives sultry soulful lyric over a slab of one of the finer bass lovers, Julio Bashmore beats. Building a heavy 100bpm nu-future bumper. Sounds so good.

Out June 13th on PMR Records.

Pinboard homie, Katy B’s next single off the album. Out June 6th. Cop the album too, it’s solid.

Wiz Khalifa, one of the new class of hip hop hopefuls for 2011 was in London town this week for his first headline set of shows. Like fellow graduate, J Cole, the sold out shows were with much anticipation and fans bought tickets based off the success and love for the mixtapes.

Unlike J Cole, by the time the concert came around, a lukewarm album dropped, a mainstream anthem has become of ‘Black and Yellow’ and off the back of this, new fans have assembled themselves onto the Wiz wagon. All these ingredients led to a show of mixed emotions, not to mention the mixed smells in the air. Heading to the Kentish town Forum on Wednesday night, the queue was a blend of loyal hip hop alumni, seperated distinctively by exciteable young girls chanting the infamous colourways and matching their garments accordingly too.

Semtex warmed up the crowd with some grizzly bangers from Jay-Z to Rick Ross and definitely got the audience hyped. Wretch 32 came on as the support act and seemed to have a hard time convincing the crowd of his talents. I like Wretch and have seen him kill it with a live band before, but this time, most seemed uninterested. It’s a shame.

By the time, Wiz came on stage, expectations were hovering high, build up had been delivered, yet the result was mediocre. Considering I was among die hard followers, often times, they appeared well…bored. Yes there was a noticable wave of elation when he performed ‘Taylor Gang’, ‘Phone Numbers’ and ‘Roll Up’. Those moments had hands in the air and singalong crew in full effect. Wiz played along and the showman inside pranced, gyrated and worked the stage as much as possible. Even removed his top for added brownie points for those (pre-legal) girls who ignored their curfew, but a glistening torso made it all the more worthwhile.

Then there were a few lulls. Silences almost. Mostly when Wiz performed the three minute, something radio friendly album tracks such as ‘No Sleeping’ and ‘Fly Solo’. The reality of such average fillers in a venue that a moment before were charged with chants of ‘Money and Hoes’ courtesy of ‘Gangbang’, along with sporadic mysterious..ahem…clouds forming in the atmosphere only made for the most disjointed concert and ergo rapper I have seen in a while.

The short set was redeemed with the obvious ending of ‘Black and Yellow‘, where the crowd reconciled and found common ground, but the dichotomy of Wiz Khalifa and his fans remains present for now.

New Beyonce leak. Extremely annoying ‘for internal use only’ tag throughout. You’ve been warned.

I’m now officially worried about Bey’s new album. ‘Run the World (Girls)’ still fails to move me. This, if it’s to appear on the album, joins suit. A shame.

So far the only thing I’ve liked off 4 is the album cover.

I gave up on posting #timbalandthursday tracks a while ago, they were offering nothing (hence being a day late on this). ‘See You Again’, a dedication to the late great Aaliyah, is different though, as this, unlike the others comes directly from Timbo’s vault (as opposed to a newly composed beat) – maybe that explains it.

Not only is the beat working here, but Tawanna’s voice and melody (out to the late 90′s / early 00′s flow) suits beauitfully. I actually love this, it reminds me of the sound / style of R&B I love the most. Those who know, know.

Download: Timbaland Feat. Tawanna – ‘See You Again’ (Aaliyah Tribute)

‘London Minutes’ is a new, stripped down, on-going feature we’re going to roll out over the coming months – these short by sweet clips will include freestyles, quick sound-bite interviews and anything else interesting that can fit inside a couple minutes.

What’s more, they’ll be produced by our new team of interns at PinBoardFilm as we champion fresh visual talent. If you’re interested in coming on board as a young film-maker, hit up info@pinboardblog.com or tweet us 911 @PinBoardFilm.

We begin the series with Brooklyn homie and super producer / emcee Melo-X – who touched down in London Town last month for a  one-off show at YoYo. During our filming, as we walked around the city and took in the sights – Mustafa kicked a quick freestyle for us. Peep his ‘London Minute’ up top…

… More coming soon!

Film by Mo Ayyad.

New video from those Strong Arm Steady boys, this one features Marsha Ambrosius and comes off their The Arms & Hammers LP – out now.

Head nod.

On Wednesday night Jay-Z came performed New York’s Roseland Ballroom for a Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim event where he was expected to announce his new deal with Adult Swim. The brooklyn MC even performed ‘Intro’ and ‘Thank You’ over ‘The Boondocks’ theme song. According to AdWeek the reported deal most likely included an animated series, though there seems to be no confirmation of this arrangement.

Adult Swim has had a close relationship with Hip Hop over the years. If this is indeed a real deal Jay-Z joins Danger Mouse, DOOM, André 3000 and more in working with Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.

Would you watch a Jay-Z animated series?

Source Billboard

Two new Drake tracks in one day? OK, lets roll with it.

Drizzy says: “A song that I felt the need to share. Not my single. Just a piece of my story. Hear me out though…Take Care.”

‘Dreams Money Can Buy’ samples Jai Paul’s ‘BTSU’ which we posted a while back. Again, very smart move on Aubrey’s side, it would appear his ears are firmly locked on this side of the pond. Dun know.

Download: Drake – ‘Dreams Money Can Buy’

My love for Apollo Brown runs deep. His Clouds long player has been on constant rewind over the past month, he is one of my new favourite masters of the head-nod. This track comes from the ‘The Official SXSW Mixtape’, which ‘was a culmination of 3 straight days of non-stop beat listening, rhyme writing, and recording by a who’s who of several of the most notable emcees that were in Austin this past March for the 25th anniversary of SXSW. It all took place on board the Unique Squared Mobile Studio; a state of the art recording studio contained within a massive 45’ tour bus’…how I wish I was there to capture that! Real Hip Hop goodness for your ears. Ro Spit came with it!!

Download: Ro Spit- ‘All Alone’