Dionne Warwick and The Shirelles Sue Over Musical

Seattle-based hip hop artist, Sonny Bonoho has released four songs from his latest album, Phonephreak, as a free download. Phonephreak is the follow-up to his debut "Life of a Back-up Singer." He will appear in Portland May 13.

Northwest rappers Animal Farm have released a single from their forthcoming album Culture Shock. Test of Time, features Talib Kweli as well as the talents of these rising stars.  

NEW YORK (AP) -- Phoebe Snow, a bluesy singer, guitarist and songwriter who had a defining hit of the 1970s with "Poetry Man" but then largely dropped out of the spotlight to care for her disabled daughter, has died

The performances will be in honor of National Poetry Month on April 22 in Portland at the First Unitarian Church and April 23 in Seattle at Daniels Recital Hall

Brownish Black will be joined by musical guests On the Stairs, The Way Downs and DJ Seoul Brother Number 1. Doors open at 8 p.m.

Check out the start of Mos Def's amazing concert at the Roseland April 16, 2011.

Portland hip hop artists are dropping some free samples of their music for weekend listening. And I looked for some other videos -- perhaps not new, but not old -- that will liven up your Friday.
Support your local artists and check them out.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Grammy Award winners Chaka Khan and Jennifer Hudson are joining the 2011 lineup for the Essence Music Festival, which will be held over the Fourth of July holiday weekend in New Orleans.
Festival officials said Tuesday they've also added Kem, Marsha Ambrosius, New Edition, Hal Linton, Eric Benet, Doug E. Fresh, Naughty By Nature and Vanessa Bell Armstrong to the roster of artists scheduled to perform in the Louisiana Superdome.

Illmaculate and G_Force have just released their new album "The Green Tape" for free to download.
Visit http://www.freshselects.net/illmaculate-x-g_force-the-green-tape to get it.
The album is a track-by-track reworking of Al Green's 2008 hit album "Lay It Down" which was produced by ?uestlove and James Poyser of The Roots.