This line-up is CRAZY! Brought to you by Garden Grown Entertainment, Flygirrl, Phrequency, Bee Eater Records, Okayplayer, two.one.five Magazine & 215hiphop.com, some of the illest to do it in the history of hip-hop will be together at the Trocadero (1003 Arch St, Philadelphia). Mos Def, De La Soul, Philadelphia’s own Hezekiah, special guest Slick Rick the Ruler, and the legendary Pete Rock on the wheels. All this for $40! Doors open at 8PM. Get your tickets by going to the Trocadero box office or clicking here.

Join bluntedonreality.com at The Bell House (149 7th St, Brooklyn) this Saturday night for “Donuts Are Forever 4″, a J. Dilla Tribute & Benefit, with proceeds going to the J. Dilla Foundation, which works toward finding a cure for Lupus. Doors open at 10PM, but early arrival is suggested, as there is limited room & this show is guaranteed to fill up quick. Hosted by Detroit’s own Guilty Simpson, live art by bluntedonreality’s favorite artist, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, and music spun by DJs ?uestlove (of the Legendary Roots Crew), Brainchild, Parler, Low-Key & Tara. A $5 donation to the Foundation will get you in the door, but please consider giving more if you can. Hope to see you there!

It’s that time again… HARVEST time! Spoken.Soul.215, Buje Concepts & SP Photography bring you the February installment of The Harvest at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia) this Wednesday February 3rd from 7 – 11PM. Once again local poets “Just Greg” Corbin, Nina “Lyrispect” Ball, Reuben Jones, RhapsodE & Vision will be on stage, with the UK’s own DJ Maggy Thump on the 1s & 2s. Cover is just $10, and a portion of the proceeds will be going to support relief for the people of Haiti. Happy Hour drink & food specials are from 7PM – 9PM, so be sure to get there early!

DMV Stand UP! PG County’s own Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, or as you know him “Wale” (Wah-lay, don’t say Wall-E!) comes through to Philly on Thursday, January 28th at TLA (334 South St, Philadelphia) with fellow DC artists Fly Gypsy & the Illadelph’s own Chiddy Bang. Show starts at 8PM & tix are just $18… get your tickets by clicking the banner above or right here.

Just in case you’ve been in a cave for the past year or so, here’s a video for Wale’s “The Artistic Integrity”…

Remember 2001? George W. Bush was President, J. Lo had a #1 album, and Anthony Hopkins was frying up slices of Ray Liotta’s brain in Hannibal. Fortunately, there were good things about 2001, too… and DJs Emynd & Bo Bliz will be bringing them all back this Saturday (Jan 23rd) at “It’s The Year 2001″ at Johnny Brenda’s (Frankford & Girard, Philadelphia), hosted by Reef the Lost Cauze. The party starts at 9PM and continues to 2AM, cover is just $7. Put on your Ecko Unlimited & come join the time warp!

You know that Fatman Scoop/Faith Evans mashup called “Be Faithful” that I always complain about hearing at the club? Well, this Friday you can check out one of the men who is responsible for producing that track: DJ Riz of the world-famous Crooklyn Clan, when he spins this Friday night at Bounce at The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia). Of course, Bounce resident DJs Bo Bliz & Emynd will be in the house, spinning hip-hop, soul & Baltimore club hits from 9PM – 2AM. Oh, and get this… get there before 10PM and your cover is free & there’s an open bar until 11PM!

Spoken.Soul.215, Buje Concepts & SP Photography present The Harvest, an open mic poetry session at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia) this Wednesday January 6th from 7 – 11PM. On stage will be local poets as “Just Greg” Corbin, Nina “Lyrispect” Ball, Reuben Jones, RhapsodE & Vision, among others, with the UK’s own DJ Maggy Thump on the wheels. Cover is just $10 with Happy Hour drink & food specials from 7PM – 9PM, so be sure to get there early!

Come out to Silk City (435 Spring Garden, Philadelphia) for the Heineken Green Room, featuring Black Thought of the Legendary Roots Crew & DJ Statik of the Illvibe Collective. Doors open at 9PM and the show runs til 2AM.

Keep an eye on 215mag.com, where you can enter to receive a VIP All-Access Pass. From midnight to noon on December 8th – 15th, the first 10 submissions will receive a pass for themselves & a friend!

This Thursday at Elena’s Soul Lounge (4912 W Baltimore Ave in West Philadelphia) from 10PM – 2AM, the DJ Jam Session presents Kaleidoscope, with resident DJ AfroDJiak on the wheels. Joining her will be Lil Dave of the Illvibe Collective, Be Free & DJ Baby DST… also on the turntables, possibly you! If you’re a DJ, you can come spin at Elena’s every other Thursday. Turntables are available on a first come, first served basis, or you can RSVP with AfroDJiak at her e-mail address: afrodjiak@gmail.com. If you’re not a DJ, and you just want to listen to some good music, there’s no cover, so you have no excuse.

If you’ve never been to Elena’s Soul Lounge, definitely check it out… the crowd is just as diverse as West Philly is, the food is delicious (the kitchen is open until 1AM) and the drinks are hella affordable. It’s one of my favorite spots to hit up in all of Philly.

Come out tonight for what’s definitely going to be a dope show with some great live music. Boston’s Mr. Lif & Philadelphia’s Dephonic & Writtenhouse are gonna bring Johnny Brenda’s (1201 Frankford Ave) down, and Dephonic will be debuting their new LP, Dephonition! Doors open at 8PM and cover is just $12. If you don’t feel like waiting til 8PM to get the party started, head over to the Fresh Melt Water Shop at the Piazza (1001 N. 2nd St in Philadelphia) from 6PM – 9PM for the official pre-release party with Sock the Rapper, Scanz & The Paxtons. Need more encouragement? How about free beer at the pre-release provided by Stoudt’s Brewing Company? Good people, good music, free beer? Doesn’t get much better than that!