AWKWORD ‘Bars & Hooks’ Video On Roku

The new AWKWORD video “Bars & Hooks” [w/ Sean Price, The Kid Daytona, Harry Fraud & The Incomparable Shakespeare] premiered Wednesday, May 9, 2012, via iFame TV on ROKU nationwide [available now in 3 million households] — and it is still available on your TV today.

To read the critics’ rave reviews about the “Bars & Hooks” video, click here!

Worldwide Critical Acclaim for AWKWORD ‘Bars & Hooks’ Video

The number-one single off AWKWORD’s forthcoming DJBooth-sponsored World View album, “Bars & Hooks” has been played and downloaded tens of thousands of times since its release December 2011; and two Sundays ago (April 29) The Source Magazine world premiered the official video, directed by Andre Ward of Across the Bridge Productions and featuring the full cast of characters: AWKWORD, Sean Price, The Kid Daytona, The Incomparable Shakespeare and Harry Fraud.

Within a week, the “Bars & Hooks” video had accrued 20,000 plays, thanks in part to great features from the likes of Complex Magazine, Hip Hop Wired, Okay Player, Hip Hop DX, 2 Dope Boyz, Nah Right, You Heard That New, etc. — without a single dollar spent on promotion.

See below for some of the rave reviews, plus a list of top links (a couple sites posted it twice!).

And feel free to click the links to vote-up or comment on the video/song. They take notice. And we appreciate.

Reviews

Complex Magazine:

New York City rapper AWKWORD just released the visuals for his collaboration with Sean Price and The Kid Daytona “Bars & Hooks,” produced by Harry Fraud with The Incomparable Shakespeare on the chorus. These guys are taking it back to the essence of NYC hip-hop with this one. Pay attention.

Okay Player:

AWKWORD takes hip-hop back to its essence with this brand new video “Bars & Hooks” featuring Sean Price, The Kid Daytona, and The Incomparable Shakespeare (with Harry Fraud on the beat). The title says it all, what more can you ask for?

Hip Hop Wired:

Some rugged Hip-Hop for your Monday morning. Awkword drops “Bar & Hooks (Keep It Moving [K.I.M.]),” featuring Sean Price, The Incomparable Shakespeare and The Kid Daytona. Harry Fraud hooks up a beat heavy on flutes and brolic drums. Keep it moving and peep the video for “Bar & Hooks”.

2 Dope Boyz:

The entire song is called “Bars & Hooks (Keep It Moving [K.I.M.]).” Harry Fraud on the beat, and a bunch of talented emcees on the raps make for one good combination.

Hip Hop DX:

Finally… some grimy, boom bap, bully foot East Coast shit. This goes super hard.

The Sermon’s Domain:

AWKWORD, Harry Fraud, Sean Price, and The Kid Daytona are to backpackers what Future, 2 Chainz, Ross & French are to main stream. this collab is huge. and Andre Ward form Across the Bridge Productions brings this Harry Fraud production alive.

Ruby Hornet:

“Talking about the jerks in the game, you know who you are.”

AWKWORD brings some of NYC’s most talented emcees together for 4-plus minutes of dope NYC rap on “Bars & Hooks”. The posse cut features Sean Price, The Kid Daytona, and The Incomparable Shakespeare, with production from Harry Fraud. The video is directed by Andre Ward, who does a great job of not over visualizing this straightforward record. Watch it below. Shouts to AWKWORD.

Digiwaxx:

Don’t worry about the lengthy title, just press play. Its about time NY emcees re-take the throne. Can’t go wrong with P! With a song title like “Bars & Hooks” what else you expect. La musica de Harry Fraud.

Revolt Radio:

AWKWORD releases the crazy visuals for the street heater “Bars & Hooks”… Everything is hot bout this track — the cocaine beat by Harry Fraud, the sick verses, and the video just puts it all in perspective.

Ecko Unlimited Italy:

These guys are doing back the true New York style of the past. [translated.]

Pop Killer (Poland):

Oh yeah, i enjoy that song since its release (December), and finally shot him a video. [translated.]

aik.éqt & fngrprnt (Germany):

The new week starts again more than epic. Rotate your boxes to enjoy the brilliant weather, and to this unspeakably sexy sound! The track can be found on the album “World View” by AWKWORD again and is just one of many other beads. AWKWORD released on Sub City Productions / DJ Booth, and up to mischief in no less a city than the metropolis of New York City Hip Hop. The guy I’ll keep an eye on each case. Until then, enjoy the track and listened to the album purely sometimes! [translated.]

Honorable Mentions

‘AMERICAN’ (U.S.)

• Duckdown.com
• DJ Bobby Trends (Hot 97)
• The Combat Jack Show
• Dallas Penn
• Nah Right
• You Heard That New
• DJ Booth
• The Well Versed
• Xclusives Zone
• Kevin Nottingham
• Donuts & Milk
• The Tony Grands / Reading & Writing Is For Dumb People / Ear Hustlin
• The Mad Bloggers
• Hip Hop Ruckus
• Drop The R
• Its Bizkit
• Ashley Outrageous
• 808 Crate
• Hip Hop Dependency
• Dope Music Blog
• Dork Mustache
• Heavy Mentalist
• Just A Love Thing
• We Goin In
• Eastside Morales
• Rock The Dub
• Refined Hype
• Crayon Beats
• Emilio Sparks
• Above Ground Magazine
• Hip Hop Site – 1 x 2
• Gorilla Leak – 1 x 2
• CyberGorillas
• Good Music All Day

INTERNATIONAL

• The Hip Hop Chronicle (England/United Kingdom)
• DJ Loscar (France)
• WHUDAT (Germany)
• KINGSIZE (Norway/Scandinavia)
• Yappari HipHop (Japan)
• Illegal Promo (Portugal)
• Versos Perfectos (Spain)
• Sunete Sub.Sol (Romania)
• Hip-Hop.sk (Slovakia)
• Street Poets (Netherlands)
• Music Kitchen (Lithuania)
• HipHopaholic (Russia)
• Ozarts Etc (Belgium)
• Funky Unk (Mexico)

For more rave reviews, including mad love from Japan and elsewhere in Asia, click here to read the late 2011 write-ups on the “Bars & Hooks” song; and follow @AWKWORDrap on twitter — he reads, responds, retweets, etc.

And if you want to watch AWKWORD on your TV, stay tuned for the next post on AWKWORDrap.com…

AWKWORD Interview with The Village Voice

Fittingly, on May Day, a day after the release — to critical acclaim and great fanfare — of the video for AWKWORD‘s World View single “Bars & Hooks“, The Village Voice‘s Sound of the City blog drops its interview with the Activist Rapper…

The Village Voice:

N.W.A.’s “Fuck Tha Police” burst into Awkword’s life thanks to his baby-sitter. The Manhattan-based rapper visibly remembers the day when his part-time watchdog turned up with a copy of Dr. Dre and Ice Cube’s anti-establishment rant; hearing the song kick-started his first forays into writing his own raps. True to that song’s sentiment, today Awkward is as much an activist as an artist, channeling the idea of conveying a message and a viewpoint through rhyme and attempting to cause a change in the world around him. His upcoming World View project is the next stage in his mission, with all profits from the project going towards the Guns 4 Cameras (Aim To Live) anti-street-violence organization.

With the Occupy Wall Street movement set to snag more headlines today, we checked in with Awkword to speak about the potential for instigating social change through music, the dynamics of organizing a successful protest, and how his music is equally as inspired by Ill Bill as The Beatles.

Click here to read — and comment on or share — this unique, lengthy interview.

AWKWORD, Rickie Jacobs, more on RTD #onlybuilt4hulksharelinx

Rock The Dub:

This project has been a thing of comedy. It should’ve been out before 2012 even hit, but I was looking for either proper versions of tracks or promised jawns. Had to let this one go – the idea was too good. I broke the (skewed) science behind the title in the liner notes, and won’t go into it all here. Featured artists include Rhymageddon, Mr. Fickle, Rickie Jacobs, AWKWORD, BURNTmd, Touchphonics, Daniel Joseph, Dutch New York and more. A hair under 45 minutes or so. Fucked up part is, hulkshare wasn’t letting me upload a .zip (or a .rar!) to their site, so the punchline got merked. Sharebeast, thank you.

TRACK LIST:

1. Rhymageddon – Suck-A-Clip (prod. Edobeci)
2. Rickie Jacobs ft. Arctic – Gift x Curse (prod. Brainiac Beats)
3. Mr. Fickle ft. Fel Sweetenberg – No Apologies (prod. !llmind)
4. AWKWORD ft. GuessWho? – Doctor Doctor (prod. Major R.E. [Malaysia])
5. Dutch New York – I Don’t Know Y’all (prod. Broadway)
6. BURNTmd ft. Main Flow & DJ Grazzhoppa – Brain Tumors Part 2 (prod. Simmer)
7. Superlinks – Baraka O’Baman
8. Grey Granite & 90lbs – Critical Mass
9. Nato Caliph ft. Prince Ea & Sadat X – Identity Crisis (prod. STLLegend)
10. Chels – HIIIPOWER (Chels’ Account)
11. Touchponics ft. The Ragga Twins – Ragga Style
12. KRK! & Daniel Joseph – Right To Be Ill (prod. KRK!)

Click here to download the full compilation.

Click here for Rock The Dub’s review/post of AWKWORD’s World View record “Doctor Doctor”.

New Single Cover Art for REQUIEM from SweatShop NY

#Requiem THIS week…
[ ]==|==|==|==|==|==|==[]>–——–

New Single Cover Art by Andreis Costa for SweatShop NY. 

AWKWORD Soundcloud followers [click here, then click the 'follow' button] can hear “Requiem” NOW:

AWKWORD ft. SoulStice, Ess Vee & CuzOH! Black – “Requiem” (prod. ATG)

AWKWORD, Jadakiss, J. Cole and more on TrackBlasters Radio

The week of Feburary 27, on Germany’s TrackBlasters Radio, DJ PR mixes 17 of the hottest and newest Hip Hop records coming out of America, featuring Fabolous, Jadakiss, Joe Budden, Mobb Deep, J. Cole, Sean Born, Kaimbr, Hassaan Mackey, AWKWORD and many others.

Click here to hear and download DJ PR’s entire show.

TRACK LIST:

1. 50 Cent ft. Tony Yayo – I Just Wanna
2. Too Short ft. 50 Cent – I’m A Stop
3. Teyana Taylor ft. Fabolous & Jadakiss – D.U.I.
4. The-Dream ft. Casha – Kill The Lights
5. Usher ft. Joe Budden – Climax (Remix)
6. Drake ft. Rihanna – Take Care
7. Drake – Practice
8. Estelle ft. Busta Rhymes – Thank You (Remix)
9. Prodigy ft. Havoc & Estelle – Getting Closer
10. AWKWORD – Thank You (A Tribute To My Mommy)
11. Sean Born ft. Kaimbr, Toine (of DTMD) & Hassaan Mackey – 12 12
12. Swerve & SYG – Stress
13. Swerve & SYG – Growin’ Up
14. J. Cole – Grew Up Fast
15. Hodgy Beats – Higashi Loves You

Earmilk Features “Bars & Hooks” by AWKWORD & Harry Fraud

In a recent article on AWKWORD friend and producer Harry Fraud for Earmilk.com’s Half and Half Presents section, Andrew Stanley selects his favorite songs from Brooklyn’s Mr. Shot Caller, including “Bars & Hooks”, featuring Sean Price, The Kid Daytona and the Incomparable Shakespeare.

Click the image below to read the writeup on Fraud and see/listen to the list of Earmilk’s top six Harry Fraud-producer records.

[Note: The download link on "Bars & Hooks" is broke, so click here if you want it.]

Switzerland’s Vinyl Digger Joins World View Movement

It’s in the name itself: World View is all about the global connections we make through Hip Hop music x culture. So, it should come as no surprise that we considered every continent when looking for the person/team to mix & master this important project. We went no further than Switzerland’s Vinyl Digger.

Vinyl Digger:

scratchin, blendin, cuttin, jugglin. remember hot 90s mixtapes? dats how i do!

And it doesn’t hurt that Vinyl Digger has the co-sign of two trustworthy World View participants, emcee Tenacity and Brown Bag AllStar-affiliate producer Tranzformer, each of whom describe Vinyl Digger as, simply, “dope”.

AWKWORD Talks Music, Politics & Death with HipHopDependency

HipHopDependency.com:

AWKWORD has a lot on his mind these days. He has been very busy pushing his music from the forthcoming album, World View. He has released single after single building the buzz for his 100% for charity project, letting us know, it’s not all about the Benjamins.

AWKWORD is a social advocate and a musician. With each release he puts out it becomes more and more apparent that his name deserves to be recognized for the talent he possesses. But more than that, Awkword is a son, a son who lost his mother earlier this year. He talks below about the special relationship he shared with his mother and his music. Enjoy…

Click here to read the full conversation.

AWKWORD, Reks, The Kid Daytona, more on TrackBlasters Radio

The week of Feburary 19, on Germany’s TrackBlasters Radio, DJ PR mixes 17 of the hottest and newest Hip Hop records coming out of America, produced by the likes of DJ Premier, Statik Seletkah, Damu The Fudgemunk and Vice Souletric. Emcee features include The Kid Daytona, KRS-One, MF DOOM, Action Bronson, Brother Ali, ScHoolBoy Q, Stalley, Dom Kennedy, Apathy, Curren$y, Nas and AWKWORD.

Click here to hear and download DJ PR’s entire show.

TRACK LIST:

1. Reks – Autographs
2. J. Cole – Grew Up Fast
3. AWKWORD ft. KRS-One, Dug Infinite & Brimstone127 – Radio 2.0 (prod. Vice Souletric)
4. Action Bronson & Statik Selektah – The Rainmaker
5. Erick Sermon ft. Sheek Louch – Dodge This
6. DJ Premier ft. Apathy & Nas – Regeneration (Remix)
7. Union ft. DOOM – Coco Mango (Damu The Fudgemunk Remix)
8. Prodigy – That’s Nasty
9. Prodigy – Look In My Life
10. Brother Ali ft. Aby Wolf – Haunted Housebroken
11. Common – Gold
12. Common – Windows
13. Swerve & SYG – She’s Gone
14. The Kid Daytona – Angela’s Sister
15. 38 Special ft. Sean Hayes – Gone
16. ScHoolBoy Q ft. Dom Kennedy & Curren$y – Groovline Pt. 1
17. Stalley – Mind Made Up

[For additional production credits, we recommend DJ Booth.]