As we mentioned earlier, Kid Cudi ain’t afraid to dabble in a little indie-rock. And his eclectic taste makes a benefit show where he co-headlines with our boys in Phoenix all the more exciting. Sure, they’ll probably just play their own separate sets. But what if Cudi threw a freestyle verse into “1901″ or the boys backed him on “Man On The Moon” or something? Yeah, we thought so too.

The show is Saturday, September 12 in New York City. It’ll be DJ’ed by Clinton Sparks and is a show to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS as part of LIFEBEAT. Tickets can be purchased here or you can get more info on the LIFEBEAT website.

Psychedelic pop duo MGMT have been running in lofty circles recently. Despite news this summer that the two would be featured in a collaboration with Jay-Z on the former’s Blueprint 3, this week’s leak of that record proved otherwise. Still, NME is reporting today that MGMT will be appearing on another hotly-anticipated hip hop record, that of Kanye West protegé Kid Cudi. The song is entitled “Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare),” a collabo that will also include electro-onomatopoeia duo Ratatat. This is some pretty hip shit. Like, REALLY hip. That Kid Cudi is like the coconut water of rappers right now. Or wait, maybe that’s Drake. Either way, witness further the hipster-hop coalescence.

The 2nd annual Roots Picnic took place in Philadelphia, PA this past Saturday, June 6th. The day long festival was curated by The Roots included performances by Santigold, Kid Cudi, TV On The Radio, Public Enemy, and two sets from The Roots themselves.

Santigold pretty much stole the show with her new live band and a special guest spot from Philly hometown hero Spank Rock. The band behind her provided the live show with that extra spark she’s been missing on stage. She’s decided to hold onto her two fly-girl, both of whom who are still really dope. Good move.

Kid Cudi brought a lot of energy to the seriously inferior side tent. It felt like a high school gym with a stage set-up on low risers. Cudi fought threw the loud sound coming from The Black Keys playing on the main stage to gain control of the mostly under-age crowd. People were singing along and bouncing around as Cudi’s charismatic stage presence took hold.

Public Enemy killed it with Antibalas and The Roots backing them up for a complete live rendition of their 1988 album It Takes A Nation Of Millions… As seemingly nutty and (wh)acked out as Flava Flav has become, he still destroys it onstage with great energy. Combined with the consistent militaristic tone of Chuck D (and Black Thought on most songs), the album got solid treatment.

TV On The Radio brought the night to a close for me. They played a beautiful, simple set mixing oldies such as “Staring At The Sun” with new crowd favorites off of Dear Science.

It was a well-organized event in a beautiful setting right on the water with a real sense of Illadelph pride and community. As concert organizers work out some kinks it should become a summer-staple a few weeks after Coachella and a few before Bonnaroo.

— Words by Will Suter, Photos by Thomas Pacchia

Since we have a tendency to look below the radar for our music, we decided to take a weekly look at The Populist View. We’ll stop short of calling our tastes underground, let’s just say we’re pop-culturally inept. So we’ve devised a way to keep up to date.
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We know you’ve all been planning your TX days and nights without worrying about the Levi’s®/FADER Fort, because you already knew that it’s all day, every day from Wednesday, March 18 through Saturday, March 21. And we know you already had planned to be there regardless, you were just waiting to hear where it is and who would be there. Well, now you know.
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