Thursday, December 29, 2005
Running More Year End Lists
Mullyman: leading the Baltimore invasion in 2006?
Joey's excellent year-end wrap-up lists are forcing me to step my game up.
Once again, you know it's that time of the year: Mad Skillz' 'The Rap Up - 2005' (mp3 via Spine, natch)
Government Names' Best of Baltimore hip hop in 2005 mp3s.
Why wasn't 'Running Your Mouth' featuring Foxy Brown, Fabolous, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Busta Rhymes on the Biggie Duets album? (from HipHopDX spotted via Spine again)
She Real Cool on this year's Grammy nominations (related: Does Kanye West deserve the Grammy?)
KRS-One on the Tookie Williams' execution. (related: "Tookie Williams is not Malcolmn X" by the "new Byron Crawford", Dallas Penn - ayo!)
Interesting Fader interview with Raekwon.
Street Hop - but is somebody gonna buy the Traphop.com URL and set up a site/blog to cover news & gossip about Young Jeezy, T.I. et al ?
Allhiphop on the most irrelevant "beef" of the year in a year full of irrelevant beef.
Stop Snitching (!).
More random rap nerdery courtesy of Eric's Archives.
And movie nerdery with the Scarface movie soundboard. (related: downloadable soundclips from The Warriors movie)
Everything you'll ever need to know about Republicans
Clearly the Bush administration still doesn't get it. But why should they when the mainstream media won't do their job and call them on their bullsh-t
Seriously though, what do I have to say to convince you Bush and the GOP are a bunch of sleazy fccks?
- Things That Happen When You Elect Republicans
- Republicans Do What Republicans Do Best
More:
- Big Brother is watching
- Even NSA agents are distrubed by the domestic spying scandal.
- Think Al Qaeda is the #1 target in the "War on Terror"? According to your government and their military it's actually members of PETA, Greenpeace, the Quakers, anti-war protesters and future gay lawyers.
- The Department of Justice memo defending President Bush’s warrantless domestic spying argument debunked.
Unfortunately, if this article on how entrenched the GOP's grip on congressional power has become is at all accurate, there's not much hope that things will change and my call for the Democrats not to f-ck up this opportunity to turn things around is likely to be in vain.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
All I Want For Christmas...
Is it too late to still buy your loved ones some last minute gifts? If not, here's a few suggestions I've just come up on in the past couple days:
- Tickets for The Color Purple - just saw it myself last night and it was better than I would have imagined given the dour subject matter. Damn, looks like Oprah's about to stack even mo' guac.
- Tickets for Sa-Ra live for the first time in NYC next month. (spotted via Catchdubs)
- Ghostface Killah
- Limited-edition leather version Lebron Zoom III's.
- And for the ladies: stiletto heel Bape sneakers. (also spotted via Young Catch)
- Graffiti Rugs (spotted via Boing Boing)
- Advance copy of The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster - perfect for the Intelligent Design-loving friend in your life.
To friends and family who may read this site: where it applies, please note that these are not all necessarily things I personally want (but some are) so don't go whipping out your credit all wreckless but thanks for thinking of me either way.
Happy holidays, people. Thanks for all those who've ridden out with me on this site and have supported the movement. I'ma be posting pretty regularly over the next week or so because I have a TON of backlogged links and post ideas I wanna get out before the end of the year and, while I'm off work, actually have some time to post them. There'll be even more link madness in 2006 as long as I have time to do keep doing this so stay tuned.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
"President Bush presents a clear and present danger to the rule of law...."
"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and ... defend the Constitution of the Uni...." - never mind.
So no disrespect to those who lost their lives in the Florida plane crash on Monday or their grieving families but why was that story all over the cable news networks instead of the fact that President George Bush was a SELF-ADMITTED CRIMINAL who should be on the verge of being impeached?
The mind boggles at how there could still be any apologists out there like Bill Kristol trying to justify Bush's actions. They should be ashamed of themselves. Straight up and down: son is mad guilty, there's no two ways about it. Let's review the facts though:
- Bush's "Need for Speed" argument runs into the truth.
- From Talking Points Memo: "According to this table compiled from DOJ statistics at the EPIC website, the FISA Court did not reject a single warrant application [emphasis added] from its beginning in 1979 through 2002. In 2003 it rejected four applications. In 2004, the number was again zero.
So, in a quarter century, the FISA Court has rejected four government applications for warrants." (click here for more)
and also:- "FISA specifically empowers the Attorney General or his designee to start wiretapping on an emergency basis even without a warrant so long as a retroactive application is made for one "as soon as practicable, but not more than 72 hours after the Attorney General authorizes such surveillance." (see specific citation, here).
Unless I'm missing something, that really puts the dagger in the heart of any rationale based on timeliness or exigent circumstances." (click here for more)
- Congress explicitly said the War Resolution did not expand Bush's Executive Power.
More:
- Think Progress debunks the argument currently being floated by many on the Right that President Bush’s warrantless domestic spying program isn’t news because the Clinton administration did the same thing.
- Alan Dershowitz says: Bush broke the law.
- Even Conservative Scholars argue that Bush’s wiretapping is an impeachable offense.
- Bruce Fein, a former Reagan Justice Dept official and conservative constitutional scholar says: "President Bush presents a clear and present danger to the rule of law." (click here for more via AMERICAblog)
- "Bush was desperate to keep the Times from running this important story—which the paper had already inexplicably held for a year—because he knew that it would reveal him as a law-breaker." - Newsweek has the scoop on Snoopgate.
- "The claim by President Bush that he needs to ignore the FISA process in order to nab terrorists shows that he either does not understand that this law has been used to actually capture a terrorist based on a phone call from a foreign country or he is hiding something." - Larry C. Johnson on how the FISA law actually works.
- Bush = Flip-flopper and hypocrite: he was against illegal wiretaps before he was for them. (via Think Progress)
- "A few current and former signals intelligence guys have been checking in since this NSA domestic spying story broke. Their reactions range between midly creeped out and completely pissed off." (click here for more)
Bust depaite all this, I still have to pray that this is not a preview of how this scandal eventually plays out. Dems, PLEASE DO NOT FCCK THIS UP!
Oh Snap! The New Hip Hop Sound for 2006
Dem Franchize Boyz: they've got the power...
Just as the mainstream hip hop and general music media (and me!) finally got their heads around the fact that Crunk music took over the world, the South has moved on and come up with a whole new sound.
Ying Yang's "Wait (The Whisper Song)" -- possibly my favorite hip hop single of 2005 (year end lists coming soon-ish) -- and Dave Banner's "Play" were just the opening salvos in the Snap music movement. Mark my words, this sound is gonna run the clubs and sound systems in old school Chevy's down South all next Summer.
I'm sure Lil Jon is just waiting to see how long it'll take before Scott Storch bites this style too. And Smurf, you better watch your back as well cos there's probably a cute girl somewhere who could sing some sexy nothings over a "Snap&B" beat and ride it to the top of the pop charts.
The irony of course is that the roots of the Snap music phenomenon and Intimate Club music sound can be traced back to The Neptunes' production on Snoop's "Drop it Like Itz Hot." Will Virgina Beach ever get it's real props? I mean even Houston is getting media love and attention now.
Click, download, lean and listen - the three snap music anthems crossing over right now:
- Dem Franchize Boyz "Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It" - I've said a couple times before I was feeling these cats. But after "White Tees" and"I Think Dey Like Me" what's it's gonna take for people to take this group more seriously? I'm saying, they're not lyrical monsters or anything but damn, three hits in you gotta give them some respect or at least stop calling them One Hit Wonders, no? Speaking of which...
- D4L "Betcha Can't Do It Like Me" - betcha never thought you see a second hit from this group, right? Well the jokes on all y'all who thought these dudes were gonna disappear forever after "Laffy Taffy" runs its course. One more hit and D4L will officially be a movement.
- Lil Jon feat. 4ize, E-40, & Sean Paul "Snap Your Fingers" - the missing link between Crunk and Snap Music?
More:
- Interview with DJ Smurf aka Mr. Collipark.
- MTV on The ATL Sound.
- Grip magazine - the new ATL hip hop magazine. Really well-designed (check their beautifully photographed Purple Ribbon Allstars cover for the current issue) and heavily slept on so far. How long until they incur Benzino's wrath like the rapidly blowing up Dirty South hip hop magazine Ozone?
Shout to my man Spearhead X and the rest of the DARP/Rowdy crew down in ATL.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Kelis Boss'n Up!
Why is this woman not as big as Gwen Stefani yet (in America, that is)?
Readers who've recently joined the DK movement and look forward to copping Kanye bootlegs and Paul Wall, Juelz Santana and Young Jeezy mp3's from this site on a regular basis have probably been dimayed over the past few days to see all the political and news posts. But OG readers know this site used to do equal time between these two areas.
With the Bush administration imploding rapidly (I hope) and my work load slowing down a little as the year comes to an end, expect things to veer back more in that direction at least for a little while. But after a weekeend OD-ing on coverage of the spy scandal (which I'm gonna get back to again in a minute), let's jump into some music ish for a minute to break things up.
Yo, Mary J Blige covers U2's "One" on her new The Breakthrough album (with Bono?). It's kind of meh but that's still a great song. On the other hand "I Found My Everything" from the album is faux-vintage soul nirvana. Not sure how I feel about the album overall though. It's kind of all about the Keyshia Cole album nowadays really, isn't it?
Random rap nerds peep the mp3 blog The Rookie.
And peep the Vinyl Addicts' Tim Dog interview - no kidding, I still play "F-ck Compton" and "Step to Me" anywhere I feel I can get away with it when I DJ.
New Bathgate interview - Bath's single from earlier this year, "Everything's A Go (The Flow)," released on my Supreme Clientele label looks like it's set to be featured in the Xbox 360 edition of the Saint's Row video game. (related: cop the single here)
Info on Kelis' new album tentatively titled The Puppeteer. Long time readers know how I felt about her last album Tasty which was HIGHLY slept on. (related: Kelis' new single "Bossy" feat. Too Short)
Franz Ferdinand look to Amerie for songwriting inspiration- why does that headline get me excited (n/h) to peep their next album even though I pretty much passed on checking out the current one after being unimpressed with the first few tracks I heard? They should get Rich Harrison to produce some tracks f'real - that ish would be bananas.
I didn't bother reading this personally but apparently this Rolling Stone article is a very thorough and solid overview of the still-unsolved Biggie murder case. (related: HipHopDx's interview with Biggie's mom, Ms. Voletta Wallace)
The Chappelle Theory
ipod hoodies - er, what?!
Bape Finder (via Freshness)
And more sneaker ish: The new Nike Considered Mid - b-boy and mod aesthetics collide! "That blue and cream colorway?! So Tony Starks, it's crazy! N--gaz don’t even know this stuff. Word is bond I’ma rock n--gaz next summer if I cop a pair of these. Yo son, I'm having crazy visions...."
And finally, getting into the holiday spirit:
- Stones Throw Records and Peanut Butter Wolf present a mp3 downloadable holiday megamix.
- Via Nadreams and funnier than a muh': Santa's MTV's Cribs episode (BTW, can anyone help me figure out how to get videos like this onto my ipod? I can play it in itunes but can't drag-and- drop it into my ipod and it throws up an error dialog box when I try to convert it into an AAC (?) file.)
Man, I can't believe Christmas is like five days away. I haven't bought one gift yet and nann Christmas cards. Work has turned me into the Grinch.
" I know this war is controversial...."
Bush: "You gotta believe me, we can win this Iraq war thing... I have a plan f'real now. I swear!"
Transcript of Bush's Iraq speech last night here.
Post title above = understatement of the year. So were you buying the same ole' Bag o' Bullsh-t dude was selling? Should I believe my eyes and what I read in the news reports out of Iraq and Afghanistan (remember that place?) everyday or his lying mouth?
Think Progress asks: if there are, as President Bush claims, "More than 125 Iraqi combat battalions fighting the enemy [with] more than 50 taking the lead … and we have transferred more than a dozen military bases to Iraqi control," why are there still 153,000 American troops in Iraq, as many as there have ever been? Why can’t 125 battalions replace a single American soldier?
Man, Buck Fush.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
"The President has authorities under FISA which we are using and using actively...."
From the New York Times editorial "This Call May Be Monitored ...":
"Let's be clear about this: illegal government spying on Americans is a violation of individual liberties, whether conditions are troubled or not. Nobody with a real regard for the rule of law and the Constitution would have difficulty seeing that.
This particular end run around civil liberties is unnecessary. The intelligence agency already had the capacity to read your mail and your e-mail and listen to your telephone conversations. All it had to do was obtain a warrant from a special court created for this purpose. The burden of proof for obtaining a warrant was relaxed a bit after 9/11, but even before the attacks the court hardly ever rejected requests." (click here for more)
Ole' girl Condoleezza Lies was tap dancing like crazy this morning on Meet The Press but she still came off real weak.
I think Bush is in real trouble this time around. Both Republican Senator and noted Iraq war hawk Lindsay Graham and Senator Bob Graham are debunking the White House talking points that the sceret domestic spying without court approvals was run by Congressional oversight committees first and conducted with legal authority.
You know the Right must be desperate when they go for their standard spin angle of last resort that the Domestic Spy Scanadal is actually Clinton's fault.
More:
- David Sirota on the Most Important Question of All in the Bush Domestic Spying Scandal.
- From the Unclaimed Territory blog: "Defenders of the Bush Administration are resorting to outright distortions and deliberate falsehoods about the Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) in order to argue that the Administration's warrantless eavesdropping on U.S. citizens complies with the mandates of that statute." (read more here)
- From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "The Bush administration is continuing its assault on Americans' privacy and freedom in the name of the war on terrorism.... The idea that all of this is being done to us in the name of national security doesn't wash; that is the language of a police state." (read more here)
- And like I said before this scandal ain't nothin' new or unique.
Next stop: Impeachment Hearings?
Worst.President.Ever....
Don't just take my word for it though: experts agree. (via AMERICAblog)
As does the general public evidently. (via Daily Kos)
More:
- MTV News' list of Bush stumbles in the past 12 months.
- Year in Review: What’s Happened Since Bush’s Reelection
- Too Stupid to be President.
So I'm sorry but actor/economist/"journalist" Ben Stein is just deluded. I still liked him in Ferris Bueller's Day Off though. ("Bueller, Bueller...?" and "Something-d-o-o economics. Anyone?" - classic ish.)
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Let's Be Clear....
There is no "War on Christmas"
War on Christmas Fraud Exposed: The Silent Night “Rewrite” That Wasn’t
Or maybe there is?
Fcck Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson. The Times' Nicholas Kristof stands up to the redonkolous demagoguery by these two idiots.
And by the way: Fox News, Oh the hypocrisy. You too, Evangelical "Mega-churches".
More:
- "Guilt free Christmas tree rentals"
- Don't let Christmas spoil the meaning of Festivus
- Rep. John Dingell (D-Michigan) Writes a Christmas Poem
Merry Christmas, everyone.
"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong...."
"What? My actions caused the death of over 32,000 innocent Iraqi civilians and American soldiers? My bad...."
So we've gotten to the point where we know that, whether Bush actually outright lied about there being WMD in Iraq or not, he did present evidence that had not been corroborated by reliable, unbiased sources. He is also finally taking responsibility for the use of the faulty intelligence to justify going to war in Iraq. I guess I should give him some credit for that, right?
But even more troubling now is that he has been caught admitting that whether there were actually WMD or not was irrelevant to his calculus in the decision to go to war.
Plus it's also been verified yet again, officially by a Congressional report this time, that Bush had more prewar intelligence than Congress in the lead-up to the war.
But of course, the White House is still doing the same ole' two-step clinging to the now-tired talking point that Congress saw the same intelligence as the president.
More reading from a few weeks back:
- The Washingon Post on the "same intelligence" story.
- Who forged the infamous Niger uranium yellowcake documents?
- Sleeping With the Enemy: Chalabi’s Sordid History - a profile of one of the main lying jackasses the White House listened to/used to get themselves into the Iraq war mess.
"He's President George Bush, not King George Bush...."
Image courtesy UggaBugga
Bush raps senators over blocking renewal of the Patriot Act? What does he care whether the Act is renewed or not when he personally authorized illegally spying on citizens anyway, doesn't even deny it and then tries to justify it? Wow....
But should anybody be really surprised? Bush has already demonstrated in the past that he holds the US constitution in complete disdain. And that he's not opposed to playing Big Brother including having the Pentagon target their own citizens rather than foreign military enemies.
Be clear this guy is a fccking criminal. Mark my words, we're about this.close to seeing him being impeached.
I just wanna know why The New York Times sat on this story for over a fccking year though?! This is yet one more example of how the MSM has continually kowtowed to the Bush administration and supported their corrupt agenda from echoing Bush's call for the Iraq War on. (NYT link via Raw Story)
Friday, December 16, 2005
Still Check Up On It
Is it any wonder their singles are so similarly titled?
But both pretty hot nonetheless:
Ashanti feat. Paul Wall & Method Man "Still On It" - Masta Ace and Lord Digga must be on their knees somewhere saying, "Thank you."
Beyonce feat. Slim Thug "Check Up On It" - heads are telling me the video is RETARDED.
Lil Scrappy vs. the Orlando police (from Ozone magazine via Serious Lord, shout to Julia)
Crooked Tongues Air Max feature (reg may be required)
B Side Wins Again
Sneakers for Jesus
Do people still give a fcck about M.I.A.? I know the Swift Chancellor doesn't and never did.
Cocaine Blunts Best Rap Singles of 2005.
"EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MEN AND WOMEN, I LEARNED FROM THE HIT SONGS OF 2005."
Profile of hipster nerd icon Nigo.
The next MySpace?
DNA mutation accounts for white skin - I'm gonna leave that one alone. Needless to say there are probably some 5 percent-ers in Bed Stuy right now saying, "I told yall..."
Finally, Tookie Williams R.I.P.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Uptown and Queens connect....
LL: far from wooden on his new single
And I'm not talking about Pastor Mason Bertha's recent defection to G-Unit:
No, instead "It's LL & Santana" the new monster collab by LL Cool J & Juelz Santana - Just Blaze back in the game. I'm feeling it, are others though? (mp3 via HipHopGame.com)
Jay-Z 101 in mp3's (related: Jay-z 201: Rolling Stone cover feature | full text here)
New Order Item DVD set
Can I just say that even though it's kind of old now (mixtapes have a shelf life of what - like a week nowadays?), DJ Kool Kid's Harlems Own Diplomats mixtape is still redonkolous. Cop it ( or upload a copy onto your ipod like I did).
Anthony Hamilton Ain't Nobody Worryin' album e-card.
HipHopdx interview with The Clipse.
Al Sharpton TV sitcom - this could actually work.
Speaking of TV, I know most of y'all already know about this but Chappelle Show Season 3 scraps is still better than nothing 'cos I'm wearing out my DVD's of Season 1 and 2.
50 & Kanye get stylish?!
When did psycho husband killers get so smoking hot looking?
Brinco's limited edition "Mexican migrant worker" sneaker.
Players fight back against the NBA's continued "war on hip hop."
My half-assed riding skills up at Killington over Thanksgiving notwithstanding, I am definitely trying to see First Descent, the documentary on the origins of snowboarding.
X-Men 3 trailer - one of the few other movies I'll probably still bother to go to a movie theater to see. Yeah, I guess I'm a nerd like that.
"So Far Off The Radar Screen, You Can’t Find It...."
Untitled silk screeen by Andrio Abero, image courtesy 25 Above Water.
It's been a while since I looked at the post-Hurricane Katrina sitaution. I could get in to how FEMA was gonna leave thousands of victim families out on the street homeless but then changed their mind after public outcry but there's so much more than that going on:
- Death of an American City - "we are about to lose New Orleans. Whether it is a conscious plan to let the city rot until no one is willing to move back or honest paralysis over difficult questions, the moment is upon us when a major American city will die."
- A City in Lingering Pain - "this city of feathery Mardi Gras masks and chilling vampire yarns grapples with its new realities: More than 100,000 homes and businesses remain uninhabitable. More than three out of four residents live elsewhere. More than 5 million tons of storm debris is still on the ground. The power company is bankrupt. Workers are in short supply. Its pro football team is playing in Baton Rouge, its first -- and so far only -- public school reopened Monday. The police force is in disarray. Scientists are recording alarming mold levels. Suburban suicide rates are spiking. Local doctors are operating out of tents." (click here for more from "Night and Day in New Orleans" in The Washington Post)
- Bush Advisor To Reporter: Katrina “Has Fallen So Far Off The Radar Screen, You Can’t Find It” - be clear, this is a preview of how your so-called "Tough on Terror" Homeland Security-focused Bush government will handle things if there's another catastrophic terror attack.
- Another federal government propaganda boondoggle --- FEMA's "Recovery Channel" in New Orleans.
- And as of the middle of last month, they were STILL finding bodies in NOLA - WTF?!
- New Orleans Levees Still Aren't Safe ... And Maybe Never Were - Senate hearings question whether levees were purposely constructed poorly.
Don't worry though, I'm sure Michael Brown's new Emergency Planning consulting firm will make sure the federal government will be on point, right?
Lesson to learn:
Sunday, December 11, 2005
On Set with T-Pain, Akon & Mike Jones...
... at the "I'm N Luv (Wit A Stripper") video shoot a couple weeks back in ATL.
T-Pain has been getting clowned recently but in all seriousness his debut album Rappa Ternt Sanga which just droppped last Tuesday is one of the surprise albums of this year and I'm not just saying that cos I work with the dude. Peep it for yourself.
Bonus joints:
- T-Pain "And Then What (Freestyle)" - click and download to see where the Rappa part of his album title comes from.
- Disco D's "I'm Sprung (Baile funk remix)" (via The Fader)
And a couple other thangs:
- "The Conquest of America (North and South)" - Caramanica on "The Neptunes of reggaeton" the Luny Tunes in The New York Times. (related: Don Omar feat. Fat Joe, Nore & LDA "Reggaeton Latino" - not quite "Gasolina" heat status but sounds like a hit nonetheless)
- A (true life) Bronx Tale taints one of my favorite films of all time.
- 1 More Hit - another tragic tale of "wasted talent" which especially hits home for me as I used to know J-Sw!ft real well. He's the first cat I ever knew who got real messed up on drugs to this extent.
- Richard Pryor, R.I.P. - young'uns recognize. Every modern Black comic (and quite a few white ones too) ripped off or was influenced by Pryor from Eddie Murphy to Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle.
Bush's Iraq War Revisionist History
I'm crazy behind on news posts so I'm gonna try to knock a few out over the next couple of days. Apologies if some of the links are kind of old news or a little stale.
Since Bush's case for the invasion and occupation of Iraq has been completely discredited, the White House spin has been to blame the Democrats and Congress by claiming that both had the same intelligence as the president when they voted to support the resolution giving him the authority to use force to disarm Saddam Hussein.
Don't believe the hype.
Read more:
Bush Resurrects False Claim That Congress Had “Same Intelligence” On Iraq
A history of the Iraq war told entirely in lies.
Richard Clarke Debunks “Same Intelligence” Myth
Why Bush's Case For Iraq Was Different (And False)
Why Bush’s Case On Iraq Was Different From Clinton’s
Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept From Hill Panel
Report Warned Bush Team About Intelligence Doubts
What Bush Knew: More Evidence That He Deliberately Misled
What The Senate Intel Commitee Found: Bush Admin Manipulated Case For War
I could keep going throwing you more links but I think you get the picture....
Tweet
Since Bush's case for the invasion and occupation of Iraq has been completely discredited, the White House spin has been to blame the Democrats and Congress by claiming that both had the same intelligence as the president when they voted to support the resolution giving him the authority to use force to disarm Saddam Hussein.
Don't believe the hype.
Read more:
Bush Resurrects False Claim That Congress Had “Same Intelligence” On Iraq
A history of the Iraq war told entirely in lies.
Richard Clarke Debunks “Same Intelligence” Myth
Why Bush's Case For Iraq Was Different (And False)
Why Bush’s Case On Iraq Was Different From Clinton’s
Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept From Hill Panel
Report Warned Bush Team About Intelligence Doubts
What Bush Knew: More Evidence That He Deliberately Misled
What The Senate Intel Commitee Found: Bush Admin Manipulated Case For War
I could keep going throwing you more links but I think you get the picture....
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Sneakers By the Gram
I never thought I'd see the day when RUN- DMC would say out with the old and in with the new?!
A few miscellaneous bits and pieces I've sitting on for a minute:
I just told you how Big Boi's Got Purp Vol. 2 compilation is my favorite current hip hop album. Here's a link to some mp3's of some of the best work by frequent Big Boi and Outkast production collaborators Organized Noize.
Cocaine Blunt's 10 Most Anticipated Rap Albums for 2006.
Spotted via Boing Boing:
- A link to mp3 audio of reggae legend Eek-A-Mouse jamming with traditional Irish pub musicians in Dublin here.
- $25,000 blinged out Game Boy (related: Hip Hop loses its bling.)
- "Pardon our Dust" - an out-of-hand Spike Jonz-directed Gap TV commercial.
Pharrell Williams Q&A (related: Pharrell media player for those who have somehow missed hearing "Angel" and the Gwen Stefani collabo Skateboard P has out right now.)
Styles.By.The.Gram
Custom Chuck Taylor All-Stars.
The Pope's Prada shoes.
The New York Times on foraging for sneakers in Tokyo.
My man DJ Tom Laroc's 2006 Crunked Out Remix of Run DMC's "My Adidas" (related: veteran Rapper DMC leaves Adidas, endorsing French brand Le Coq Sportif)
The Behind the Beat book - the perfect Xmas gift for the beat diggin' record nerd in your life (via The Fader)
Chris Brown on the finer points of hollering 'Yo!'
The New York Times' William Safire on the origins of "Swagger," hip hop (and George Bush)'s favorite new slang term.
Scott Stapp vs. 311 - I kinda hate both of these groups but I have to go with 311 on this one for a variety of reasons. Has there been a group responsible for more bad music in the past 10 years than Creed? (Nickelback? Bush, maybe?)
And finally, peace to the Dork crew for letting me bless the decks at their monthly party on Friday night. the spot was RAM-PACKED! Taj & James have really worked hard to turn this party into a real happening. They literally had to kick poeple out the door at the 2am closing.
I haven't DJ'd in a while and couldn't get home to get my records so I basically just grabbed a handful of wax from my office and played those and whatever the other DJ's had on hand. The most inspired part of my set? When I mixed T-Pain's "I'm Sprung (Southern remix feat. YoungBloodZ and Trick Daddy)" into "I'm Sprung (Dave Kelly dancehall remix)" into R. Kelly "Burn It' Up (feat. Wisin y Yandel)" into Talking Heads' "Burnin' Down the House" into Chris Brown's "Run It" into the the "Run It (remix feat. JD & Bow Wow)." I still got it, people....
Blue Notes' Triple Threat
I'm sure somewhere up in Southern Westchester, there's been a major celebration going on with the friends and family of the
I kind of know Irv a little from way back in the Mic Geronimo days when he was getting paid pittance to remix records for the likes of K7 and I have to say, I never thought dude was guilty of what they charged him with because I know how he really got the paper to start Murder Inc.
Forget about the Lyors, Kevin Liles, Dame Dashes and Chris Lighty's that you always read about in hip hop history retrospectives. Irv was the one who, as a producer-turned-A&R at Def Jam in the mid-90's, got them off their knees and saved them from going down the tubes trying to break "Horrorcore" rap by bringing them DMX, Ja Rule and Jay-Z. After those three popped off the way they did, the suits at "The House That Russell Built" were more than happy to cut whatever checks Irv needed to get his own label jumpin' off as were others hoping for a little bit of that Ja Rule sales magic via his production. Hate if you want, that's real talk....
Killer Cam? Nope, Cam Killah.
But I'm not here to just trawl in gossip, innuendo and idle news, even though I think -- as Fresh does -- that it's the future of urban music and pop culture blogging. I'll leave that to the experts who are rapidly filling up the open gaps in this long-neglected space. Y'all nerds can keep trading your Madlib and 9th Wonder bootleg mp3's while these gossip sites get all the traffic by posting salacious rumors and embarassing photos of Beyonce and Bobby Brown et al. Here are some of the major players in this world besides the essential Crunk & Disorderly:
- Concrete Loop
- Beautiful Hustle
- Butta On...
- NYCNN.com
20 years of Nike Air's (related: Kicks Finder)
And via The In Crowd:
- The Jazzanova Blue Note Trip is the album I've been banging the most along with the excellent recently-released David Axelrod and Mizell Brothers compilations. Yes, I'm either getting too old for this rap sh-t or feeling very chill nowadays. Check out some of the music by clicking this ecard or clicking here for full streams of select tracks and also details on how to win all three albums and an ipod shuffle. Speaking of which...
- After I referenced them in the title of last Thursday's post and finally buying my first ipod, I have to say that I think that Apple's itunes service is WAY overrated. (BTW: Got Purp Vol. 2 is the only recent hip hop album I've been playing in any kind of regular rotation on my ipod but FUCK VIRGIN RECORDS for making all their CD's with copy-control software so they sound f-cked up when you import them into itunes. It's still a really good album but WTF? Then again, I'll cut them some slack since I'm one of the few people that actually liked The Dungeon Family compilation album.)
- Nik Cohn's book on New Orleans hip hop.
- The Who's Pete Townsend has a blog?!
- Red Monkey Jeans.
And finally, for grown folks only (seriously): J-Shin's "Baby Mama Drama" video.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"She likes to do it with her ipod on...."
Shots from the Dre (of Cool 'N' Dre production fame) "Naomi" video shoot in Miami a couple weeks ago:
Check it - Dre "Naomi"
Also out and poppin':
Jae Millz feat. Jadakiss "Bring it Back" - this record is sick. By now regular readers have probably figured out the kind of East Coast hip hop I've really been feeling this past year. (Get more Jae Millz ish here)
Grafh feat. Swizz Beats "I Ain't Tellin'" - from the new Grafh: Classic mixtape (available here).
The Game feat. Paul Wall "Say Goodbye"
Chris Brown has got Pepsi on SMASH!
Good lookin' to Top Ten Sources for the love.
Click here to preview Beck's Guerolito remix album.
More than you probably ever want to read about the Murder Inc. trial. (related: the The War on Rap: Is It Real?)
And am I the only one who thinks Chamillionaire's The Sound of Revenge album sounds less like some H-town ish and more like a record that could have come off a production line in the Aftermath/G-Unit hip hop factory?
Finally, George Best R.I.P. to one of the best to ever do it on a soocer field and a dude who, without even knowing it, lived a very hip hop life off it.
Tweet
Check it - Dre "Naomi"
Also out and poppin':
Jae Millz feat. Jadakiss "Bring it Back" - this record is sick. By now regular readers have probably figured out the kind of East Coast hip hop I've really been feeling this past year. (Get more Jae Millz ish here)
Grafh feat. Swizz Beats "I Ain't Tellin'" - from the new Grafh: Classic mixtape (available here).
The Game feat. Paul Wall "Say Goodbye"
Chris Brown has got Pepsi on SMASH!
Good lookin' to Top Ten Sources for the love.
Click here to preview Beck's Guerolito remix album.
More than you probably ever want to read about the Murder Inc. trial. (related: the The War on Rap: Is It Real?)
And am I the only one who thinks Chamillionaire's The Sound of Revenge album sounds less like some H-town ish and more like a record that could have come off a production line in the Aftermath/G-Unit hip hop factory?
Finally, George Best R.I.P. to one of the best to ever do it on a soocer field and a dude who, without even knowing it, lived a very hip hop life off it.
