Courtesy of the homie shamz:

After a brief hiatus, okayplayerTV is back. This time around we’re featuring D.C.’s own, Wale. In the clip, he talks about the Afrobeat/Go Go influence in his music, being a close friend to The Roots, his favorite emcees, and the anxiety leading into his debut album. At long last Wale’s highly anticipated album, Attention Deficit, is in stores today, make sure to pick that one up (iTunes, Amazon). The LP features Bun B, Gucci Mane, Jazmine Sullivan, Pharrell Williams, Chrisette Michele, K’Naan, Marsha Ambrosius, J. Cole, Melanie Fiona, and more. Props to Greg The Dude and Tunji on the video.

Last night The Roots crew did their thing (as always) for The Jam @ Highline Ballroom NYC. Some of the guests that graced the stage included Amanda Diva, Estelle, Skillz, Oddisee, CurT@!n$, Casey Benjamin, Binky (from The Dap Kings), Chuck Treece, and more. I got on stage to film this clip of Black Thought, Oddisee, and CurT@!n$ exchanging verses over the Get Busy beat. Pardon the sound quality, I was a lil’ too close to the speaker.

We dropped the audio earlier, now we get some visuals (snagged from OKP). Bear-One on the production, Monsee on the directing tip. Truck Jewels drops next week (June 2nd)!

PREVIOUS: Truck North – What More Can I Say (Video) | Truck North – Flyer Than the Rest f. Wale | Skillz – Yea Ya Know It f. Truck North

The emcee of Zion I speaks on their latest album (The Take Over) and it’s difference from past projects. Him & Reece Q also talk about their current tour and how the Geek to the Beat video was put together. I agree whole heatedly with Shamz on it being one of the dopest videos of the year. Interview conducted by ActiveForTheCity.

A white rabbit riding bmx + dancing women in tutus + some heavy 808s and dope lyrics = Zion I’s new video. Here is the OKP world premiere for Zion I’s Alice In Wonderland themed video, Geek To The Beat (dir. M.A.Y.O.). Zion I’s new album, The Takeover is in stores now.

I don’t think you’re ready for this one.

MEKA: In case you haven’t noticed, we here over at 2 Dope Boyz have been going under a reconstruction of sorts. Shake (the giant, cup looking guy) and Meka (the Sideshow Bob-resembling fellow) have linked up with the good folks at OkayPlayer. What does that mean? Well, for one it means that we are no longer “free agents,” and have finally got down with a team that we feel will help us expand on our horizons with the site. Being OkayPlayers also mean we’ll be able to bring even more content, exclusives and everything in between for the masses. It’s only the start of something serious, something that I’m very excited to be a part of. Stay tuned to the wave [||].

SHAKE: I know there’s been a lot of you feeling like you were in the dark about it all. We apologize for that; but the time has arrived. As far as the new layout, you can see not much has changed. I wanted to keep it similar to what we had before; but had my eye on a few things. You’ll notice the font is bit larger and slightly different in color. Now it should allow links to stand out more. We also made sure to put who made the post on main page. Now people shouldn’t get confused on who said what. And you’ll know who to blame for hurting your feelings or whatever. The right bar has expanded in size but hasn’t changed much; as far as content. With that said. I want to thank you all again for dealing with downtime, the slow’ness and more that went down this week. We back though!

That’s not all we have planned, though…

(2)DopePlayer: You might notice the banners highlighted around the site. Well… after the success of our first outing, we’ve decided what better way to commemorate the union than with another mixtape? Trust, this tape will be just as dope than the OG jump-off (if not better). More details will be surfacing soon, until then… know it’s not gonna be like what you’ve seen/heard before!

Spotted this over at the good folks of Okayplayer, the homie shamz got some nice footage of Talib, Res & Graph getting it in at the legendary venue. Check out under the cut for another video, and be sure to check out shamz’ spot for footage of DOnny Goines as well.

[vimeo 3112168]

[vimeo 3111720]

Courtesy of shamz:

New Orleans natives The KnuX combine an OutKast influenced style with a fresh, forward thinking aesthetic that shines through in their music and their live show. Check out the latest installment of OkayplayerTV as The KnuX perform at the University of Southern California and answer a few questions about their music, influences, and style. As always, thanks to Gregthedude and Tunji for the hookup.

Exile flexes his directional skills on the first official video off his upcoming album, Radio. Shouts to OKP!

Next time I gotta find my way out to one of these things. Props to shamz.