Earlier this week Talib Kweli released an entire album of rarities, B-sides and never-before-heard material available exclusively through his website, without any prior notice. "Train of Thought: Lost Lyrics, Rare Releases & Beautiful B-Sides Vol. 1" includes twelve tracks of unearthed gems that feature Common, Killer Mike and Yasiin Bey just to name a few. The songs are being described as having been kept in storage, finished for various projects but unreleased until today, including an unreleased Black Star cut, "Bright as Stars". Production credits on the surprise LP include Hi Tek, Kanye, DJ Quik and Dave West among others.

As mentioned the album is currently only available digitally through the official website, kweliclub.com, so head over there and grab your copy today.

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Described as "a day to celebrate independent hip-hop collective Hieroglyphics & Independent Music Everywhere", the 4th annual Hiero Day is set to take place Labor Day, Sept 7th, 2015 in Downtown Oakland. An all-ages music festival scheduled to included 25+ artists, bands and DJ's, this year plans to include a Ferris Wheel, The Beats Lab, and exclusive DJ Tent, 3 stages of performers, a skate park and a number of local vendors.

When Jill Scott announced her 25-date summer tour last month, she mentioned that in addition to her staples, she'd be performing music from an upcoming fifth full-length studio album. While no details were available at the time, she recently came forth with an album title ("Woman"), release date (July 24th) and album artwork.

We visited The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles for their exhibit All Eyez on Me: The Writings of Tupac Shakur. The exhibit includes handwritten notes, lyrics, poetry, outfits, original tape boxs, studio notes and much more. In addition there's also a number of multimedia stations available playing audio/video of Tupac recordings and interviews.

D'Angelo and The Vanguard at Club Nokia, Los Angeles for the second night of "The Second Coming Tour" on June 8th, 2015. D'Angelo performed songs from his catalog with special attention paid to the most recent release, Black Messiah, now available on iTunes and Amazon from RCA Records. Read our own Curtis Walker's review and see some captured footage and photos from the show below.

The current state of hip hop events and promotions have gotten out of hand, and Hiero aren't having it anymore. Pep Love of the legendary Hieroglyphics crew recently penned a manifesto that every hip hop head should read and overstand, and following the success of the already established Hiero Day (www.hieroday.com) in Oakland, hip hop event promoters might want to pay attention.