Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Howard Dean's Iowa rant remixed & the story behind The Game
Image courtesy: NewYork Post
Dean "sounded like a Muppet being strangled": that now infamous rant in Iowa examined. (NY Post)
And remixed. (via Barlow Farms or Stereogum)
Related reading: Dean TV Performance Eviscerated On Air: ‘Worst Since Quayle’ (NY Observer)
Via Newsweek:
American policymakers made two grave mistakes after the war. The first was to occupy the country with too few troops, creating a security vacuum. This image of weakness was reinforced when Washington caved in to Sistani's objections last June, junked its original transition plan and sped things up to coincide with the American elections. The second mistake was to dismiss from the start the need for allies and international institutions. As a result, Washington is now governing Iraq with neither power nor legitimacy.From "Bowing to the Mighty Ayatollah" by Fareed Zakaria.
Are we even in the right country? (Part III): The Syrian Connection.
and
Nukes: is the Intel on North Korea as Bad as It Was on Iraq? (read full article here)
Via MTV News:
Basement Elevation or B-boy Evolution? Either way it looks like Common is finally coming home.
And Eminem gets back at The Source in an ongoing battle that is rapidly becoming tedious.
But hopefully this news signals the end of it. (EURWeb via American Black)
Related reading: The Real History of The Source - Part One (Hiphopmusic.com)
The music industry plays itself yet again: FBI Logo to Grace Music CDs. (Los Angeles Times)
Which is why stuff like this is happening: Warner Music Task Forces Seek Cost Cuts (Reuters)
A copy of the Warner Music Group layoff memo here. (via InternalMemos)
The real story on The Game from a friend of mine with an insider's view:
Contrary to published reports (San Jose Mercury News), he wasn't discovered by Sean T, he was discovered by JT The Bigga Figga, who flew him out to the Bay Area to record an album for his label Get Low Records. JT decided to have Sean T produce the entire album which is why people assume Sean discovered him.
Get Low eventually elected not to drop the album thinking it sounded too "East Coast" (Kanye West style sped-up soul samples etc.) and considered plans to drop a mixtape instead. Then Game got signed to Aftermath (after a bidding war including Death Row/Tha Row and Murder Inc) and Interscope stepped to Get Low about buying the unreleased masters for a high 5 figures amount with no success.
Jeff Chang on Dizzee Rascal in his article "Future Shock" (Village Voice)
Bounce: the Playground Magazine launches new website Bouncenyc.com while the next print issue will hit newstands in June. To purchase the magazine, visit www.fatbeats.com.
Wanna buy Cam'ron's 2003 Pink Range Rover? (eBay motors via Mishpucha)
And I'll have you know I have several black Friendsters. (via The Onion)
Li'l GN'R: the first ever Guns N Roses kids tribute band.
While finally, disco-punk fans check out volume 4 in my man Jerome Sydenham's Space Lab Yellow compilation series which collects nine rare 80s disco synth-flavored joints including jumpoffs by The Clash, Modern Romance, Klein & MBO, Alexander Robotnick ("Dance Boy Dance"), Soft Cell, (ahem) Bronski Beat and more.
