Tonight: Hip Hop in NYC – M.A.E. CD Release, Notar Performs, The What? Show

Thursdays can be quite hectic for hip hop fans in New York City, as there is usually a plethora of events going on, industry and underground. Tonight, there many options, and we’ll be at a couple events, but thought we’d give a quick rundown of others on our events calendar (which you should bookmark, and check often. It’s at www.BirthplaceMag.com/events. You can add your events as well. It’s a good thing.)

M.A.E. (CD Release) w/ The Tru Statement Cypher, Coole High & M.G.F.

Come celebrate the release of the self titled album by M.A.E. (Indigo & Express The Motif) as they perform at their first ever headlining gig in New York City at Sullivan Hall. There will be many guest performers, both from Tru Statement Entertainment and otherwise. The album will be released on Tuesday, January 11th, but you can get your copy ahead of the crowd at tonight’s event. This show is brought to you by the good people at Tru Statement Entertainment & Creative Entertainment Group. Also in the mix, the energetic duo Sleepwalkas, the cool Coole High, Machine Gun Funk and DJ DS.

Download the MORE EP (FREE): http://www.mediafire.com/?clyznhlwhym

The show is at Sullivan Hall (www.SullivanHallNYC.com), located at 214 Sullivan St., Manhattan. Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m. $10

To purchase Tix: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3362275

For more information: www.TruStatement.com.

Tyrannosaurus Records/Sony/Red/Megaforce artist Notar

Tyrannosaurus Records’ artist, NOTAR, rapper, musician, producer, discovered and signed by Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz, will be releasing his debut full-length CD, Devil’s Playground, in March of 2011.  Devil’s Playground is the follow-up to Notar’s self-titled EP, currently making the media and consumer rounds.  Duritz was said to have been “blown away” by the writing of what his bio refers to as, “the gritty genre defying performer.”

We were asked to swing through and check out Notar do his thing tonight at his Canal Room appearance so we took a quick look/listen to Notar’s video for “Alcoholic” to get an idea what Notar is working with. A definiate rap/rock edge with an angst-ridden tone and counter-culture lyrical content for sure, but too early to judge what we really think. We’ll be rolling through his performance to get a better idea what the Connecticut native is bringing to the game, and will report back, so stay tuned.

Notar performing live at the Canal Room, 285 West Broadway at Canal St., Manhattan at 10:00pm.

The WHAT? Show f/ O.I.S.D., Mo Danger & La Loba Vanessa Martir

The WHAT? Show is an ongoing monthly series (every 1st Thursday), run by the WHAT? Team; DJ Polarity, Reid Enwright, Skematics, Eva Lucion, Red Clay Woman & Divino DeNegro. This uptown performance/open mic/afterparty tends to highlight some of the brighter upcoming stars in the underground, and this week, will feature some we have mentioned in the past, including Mohammad Dangerfield (two-man crew consisting of Hasan Salaam and Rugged & Raw) and O.I.S.D.

The night will be co-hosted by the curator of La Loba Poetry and The Heights own Vanessa Martir. It’s a hookah spot, with a strong lineup and an afterparty. Hard to beat that.

The WHAT? Show takes place at Vibe Lounge, 203 Audubon Ave. at 175 St., in Washington Heights. Everything starts at 7pm.

There’s more, including Mazzi and S.O.U.L. Purpose with Questlove at Brooklyn Bowl, and Albe Back at Southpaw, so be sure to check out the Birthplace Magazine NY-area hip hop events calendar on a regular basis, and discover some hot event you might not have known about.