Thursday, June 29, 2006
"They wanted to kill the rap in France...."
Thanks to everyone who came out Tuesday night. The vibes were cool even though I was having hella sound system problems which messed up my flow mid-party. Highlight of the night though was having the legendary Super DJ Clark Kent (aka known as the dude who produced Junior MAFIA's "Player's Anthem" and the immortal Jay-Z/Biggie duet "Brooklyn's Finest" from Reasonable Doubt) come up and give me props for spinning "Party & Bullsh-t" and asking me about the Malik Yusef feat. Knaye West and Common track "Wouldn't You Like to Ride?" I was spinning. Shouts to the blog posse in the building including the infamous Combat Jack, Funkdigi and Dallas Penn - who I met in person for the first time.
I know most of y'all don't care 'cos you're too busy looking for Lil Wayne bootlegs but new muh'f-ckin' De La Soul "Voodoo Circus" courtesy of Joey - I'm not mad.
Stevie Wonder on "Sesame Street."
Biggie and Public Enemy action figures.
Spiderman 3 trailers here. (h/t: Nadreams)
The Eject Button: Classic Movies It's Okay To Hate - I'm of the generation that grew up with the original Star Wars trilogy and the orthodoxy that it was the greatest action movie trilogy ever but real talk: only Empire Strikes Back was actually any good and the best trilogy of all time is Lord of the Rings.
But while you debate that and the merits of Hov's Cristal boycott, here's some hip hop news of real consequence. Can you even imagine this happening in the US?? It's up to the Ava Lowry's to fill that role in the US now. Don't hold your breath waiting for (mainstream) hip hop to fight the power in 2006. (related: Daily Kos on the politics of hip hop).
To end though, I'm late but so what? Respek is still due:
Clyde Charles Smith (of Kool and the Gang) R.I.P.
Billy Preston R.I.P.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Tomorrow is Thor-sday: mark your calendars
TOMORROW NIGHT, 6pm until. Be there.
I promise it'll be more than than just an exercise in OD-ing on Down South rap with some old school soul, funk and hip hop in the mix but expect to get your Shoulder Lean and Motorcyle Dance on too.
Meanwhile: Jay-Z performs 44 Fours @ Nokia Theater last weekend. Do you really want to read reviews of the 10th anniversary Reasonable Doubt concert?? Google it - I'm sure you'll find 'em somewhere. I am kind of curious how he worked around these issues and am still laughing at a message board post I read asking: "Reasonable Doubt came out in 96? Jay-Z's whole [recorded] career is barely 10 years and he's been retiring for three of them." LOL. (Thanks CJ for the Hov YouTube link)
Tweet
I promise it'll be more than than just an exercise in OD-ing on Down South rap with some old school soul, funk and hip hop in the mix but expect to get your Shoulder Lean and Motorcyle Dance on too.
Meanwhile: Jay-Z performs 44 Fours @ Nokia Theater last weekend. Do you really want to read reviews of the 10th anniversary Reasonable Doubt concert?? Google it - I'm sure you'll find 'em somewhere. I am kind of curious how he worked around these issues and am still laughing at a message board post I read asking: "Reasonable Doubt came out in 96? Jay-Z's whole [recorded] career is barely 10 years and he's been retiring for three of them." LOL. (Thanks CJ for the Hov YouTube link)
For Tia: video for Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man"
'Crackheadz Gone Wild' - the hit underground video of the summer?
And are these the best albums of the year so far?
New URL for the ever-excellent Broke B-boys. Change ya bookmarks.
Trailer for Wassup Rockers - is this The Warriors meets Lords of Dogtown? No idea but it looks kind of cool. Who's gonna do a movie about black skateboarders though? Rome, Lupe, Skateboard P wassup, rappers??
I might have put money on Dallas Austin being the man to make it happen but I think he might otherwise be busy for the next 25 years or so unless his lawyers can work some serious magic.
Speaking of Lupe: he was at this Saturday's Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. I missed most of it and was a little underwhelmed by what I saw (though the sh-tty weather wasn't helping my mood any), especially a band-less and often flat-sounding Sleepy Brown and a middling performance by Mr. Food and Liquor. Witnessing an unannounced CL Smooth, headliner Big Daddy Kane and an epic Brooklyn take on Rick Ross' "Hustlin'" by surprise guest Talib Kweli with Juice Crew vet Craig G pretty much made the trip to DUMBO worth it though. Props to Wes 'n them 'cos it's only getting bigger.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
So much for the "party of Lincoln."
Hannah from Slang Editorial pulls my sleeve about news I missed that the 1965 Voting Rights Act might not be renewed.
Learn more:
"The struggle to protect US minorities' access to the ballot box continues with a new challenge to the Voting Rights Act." (click here to read more)
The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson on the Bigotry Beneath the Fog. (related: the GOP shows its true colors.)
The ACLU on the Reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.
The Kitchen previously on election f-ckery and the supression of minority voting rights in America.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
"Not many people understand how important having a butler is...."
Caption this! (Image courtesy New York magazine)
BREAKING RIGHT NOW!!! DJ Webstar Feat. Young B "Chicken Noodle Soup (snippet)" - this is the hottest record in the clubs uptown - ask your little sister. This ish is so underground, it hasn't even made it onto MySpace or any of the mixshows on NY radio (yet). Hip hop purists beware though: this record is so simplistic it makes "Laffy Taffy" sound like "Eric B for President." Hip hop is dead - who can call it?
Low End Theory's Top 10 List of Stuff They Want To See Happen & Also Go Away in 2006. I actually agree with more of it than I would have guessed.
Rick Ross feat. Dre (from Cool & Dre) “Blow”
New Fam-Lay/Pharrell "Beeper" here or here. And his "Skrunt Owt" track here.
Links for mp3's of the Janet Jackson/Nelly "Call On Me" and the Eve/T.I. "Cash Flow" tracks (and more) here. ("Call On Me" stream here too)
Besides the standard stuff like the fact that he has 1300 pairs of sneakers, here's some other "facts" I learned about Dame Dash from his New York magazine feature: he lettered in lacrosse at the South Kent prep school ('sup Wes?), he's worth $50 million (allegedly) but wants to spend $8 million on a house in Miami and not only does he have a chauffeur and a butler but also two personal chefs on call. BTW, why does he have a feature in New York magazine anyway??
Enter the Dave Chapelle Block Party video contest here. Aspiring filmakers, pay attention: the odds are real favorable I hear.
And fun for the whole family - Oh Word's Visual Interpretations of Popular Rap Lyrics. (I couldn't even come close to figuring out the first few -- obscure tracks by obscure rap artists like Vordul Mega, Cannibal Ox and MF Doom constitute "popular rap lyrics"?? -- so gave up after that.)
Better Than Beer - the controversy.
"Top of the Pops" is being canceled??!! Prolly only Brits will realize the significance of this news. The closest equivalent here would be if NBC announced they were canceling "Saturday Night Live."
This Saturday - the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. If you didn't get a ticket, you f-cked up 'cos last year's event was fiyah.
And next week: check out the return of me spinning on Tuesday at the Hotel on Rivington at the Thor party. Party details here, hotel directions here.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
"[This] ruling is a victory for every crooked politician in the United States...."
The photo we all wanted to see will have to remain in our photoshopped dreams only.
"There’s no possible scenario under which Bush’s “I trust Karl Rove” doesn’t leave him looking like either a credulous fool, or a disingenuous liar, or an ethical reprobate and a thoroughly lousy hypocrite." (click here to read more)
Speaking of right wing embarassments:
Coulterwatch - at least other (or should that be true?) conservatives think Ann Coulter is as ridiculous as the rest of us do.
"A word of warning to all government employees: The First Amendment right to free speech no longer applies to you." (click here to read more)
War on Terror Bogeyman/Straw Man update:
While last week...
June 15:
- Captured Papers Show Weakening Insurgency.
June 17:
- Insurgent Blasts Kill at Least 27 in Iraq.
- U.S. Forces Seek 2 Soldiers Apparently Captured in Iraq.
Meanwhile, here's a good related question: "So Republicans are for amnesty for terrorists who murder US soldiers, but they oppose amnesty for Mexicans seeking a better life in America?" (click here to read more)
And a bonus ridiculous Cheney quotation: "I don’t think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we have encountered." That's a bit rich coming from him. But where have I heard those words before?
Don't worry though, be assured that your government is hard at work securing the homeland from disaster and terrorist attack.
... or maybe not. (related: "Feds: US Still Not Ready For Disasters - DHS Says All 50 States, 75 Major Cities Show Continuing Weaknesses" - click here to read more)
Sunday, June 18, 2006
The World Cup is Keeping Me Out of the Sun!!
I mean all jokes aside, I need to be looking for a new, cheaper apartment in my prospective new neighborhood but I can't miss these matches. In the internet age TIVO-ing/taping games and trying to watch them later just doesn't work.
Anyway, a few soccer-related links to celebrate the quadrennial, month-long global (the US excepted still) holiday that is the FIFA World Cup:
The "Beautiful Game" indeed.
Live Science on why goalies hate the new World Cup soccer ball.
I talked about this a while ago on my other site but here's more on the photo book abut soccer fan culture in Africa by former Fader mag editor Knox Robinson, The African Game.
Video for the England soccer team World Cup anthem "World At Your Feet" by consistent britpop underachievers Embrace.
Link to a video of US soccer team member Clint Dempsey's rap duet with the late Houston rapper Big Hawk "Don’t Tread On This" here.
And finally, God bless the US team for holding their own in a valient effort against Italy yesterday but isn't it pretty much a wrap for them this time around? Seriously....
Non Hip Hop For Your Hard-Fi
Hard-Fi usher in a new Summer of Love?
On the non-hip hop tip for a quick minute:
After I trashed her a while back, here's an actually decent track by Lady Sovereign called "Gatheration." (via Catchdubs)
I didn't even know there was a new Zero 7 album out called The Garden. Anyone cop that? Dork mag has links to the video for the first single "Throw It All Away" here. I'm a big fan so this might be one of the few CD's I actually buy this year.
Also didn't know the second Futureheads album was a go. I liked the first one a lot but I'm not sure about this new one News And Tributes based on the mp3 I've heard even though I've seen it described as "Jam-tastic."
I might be f-cking with these kids Hard-Fi on some 2006 Happy Mondays ish based on their first single "Hard to Beat." I'm gonna wait until I hear the whole album before I pass final judgement one way or another though. Just like Shaun Ryder & co. did back in the day, they have club remixes for those who get down like that. Peep game: video | Ashley Beedle remix | Axwell remix | Minotaur Shock remix | Hard to Beat remix
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Jacob the Jeweler Goes in Extra Hard Body?!!!
Jacob with Diddy: back in better days no doubt.
Wow!!! - and just when I was about to go cop a pair of Jacob sneakers (!). $270 million and 476 kilos?!!! But Jeezy thinks he was better off severing ties with BMF and rapping about being a dope boy instead of staying in the trap and actually being one? I dunno, he might have made a bad call on that one. I kid, of course....
But seriously, is this officially the end of the Bling era?
I mean you got Hov dissing Cristal.
Or maybe not:
Diamond Encrusted Mercedes.
Blinged Out Pacifier.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Crazy in Love with Hov and Beyonce again?
Can Bey-Z save Hot 97?
Beyonce feat. Jay-Z "Deja Vu" - is it possible I'm already sick of this song less than one day after it first started being spun? That's how much they played it on Hot 97 yesterday. It's kind of a grown 'n' sexy rehash of "Crazy in Love", no?
More links later maybe but c'mon, you know you're really here looking for this joint....
Monday, June 12, 2006
When I Hear Music, It Makes Me...
The genius of Debbie Deb finally recognized?
This is more Lemon Red or Catchdubs' steez but I heard this joint on the Baka Boyz mixshow (it's also on their new mixtape) while in Boston this weekend seeing the CBM graduate from college (alongside muh'f-ckin' Rivers Cuomo who, it turns out, has been living in her dorm like a regular student the whole time!!). Even though it's kind of cheesy, I gotta admit it still kinda stood out and grabbed me: Marcy Malone "Jump In, Jump Out." More, not as impressive, cuts on her MySpace page.
Janet Jackson "Weekends" - I prefer the Debbie Deb original but I'm happy any time freestyle (or Latin hip hop or as us old folks used to call it) gets some shine. Shout to Joey Gardner and TKA.
And more vaguely old school and 80's-related ish: a link to the Bambaataa "Looking for the Perfect Beat" VISA ad here. (via Dino @ Chroma)
Too $hort - Born and Raised (Blow the Whistle, the album - coming soon).
Moving on from the old school fixation though: what's going to take out hip-hop?
I put you up on the Crunk clothing line, now it's time for Hyphy Wear. (related: Hyphy promotes a "culture of death"?? spotted via Danyel)
Rhymes and Beats.
But 'cos I don't put enough rock sh-t up like I used to: Bloc Party "Banquet (remix)" (via Dork)
Thursday, June 08, 2006
I guess the insurgency will end now, right?
After this news....
'Cos everyone's been doing such a bang up job in the War on Terror.
Uh-huh...
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
"I’m regarded as the guy who out-rapped Jay-Z...."
The next rapper named Carter to run this rap ish?
Lil Wayne & Birdman "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" - I actually don't love this record so much but I ain't gonna front when it's exploding everywhere. Inescapable by July 4th holiday - believe it.
More good mp3's over at Rollie's.
The Benny Hill dancehall riddim - WTF? Can't we just miss this and stick with the Rockers revival that was bubblin' up nicely last year?
The "Latin Motown" - the Times on the revival of the legendary Fania record label.
Dave from De La Soul on the De La Dunks. (related: more sneakers via Sledgey)
Great interview with Bun B of UGK.
And a good one with the Rap God Rakim at Status Ain't Hood.
And this is what's wrong with America - H2 Hummer Golf Carts. These have prolly been around for a minute but I just got up on them after skimming the Reason blog (spotted via Young Barat) today.
While another luxury brand bites the hand that feeds and hates on hip hop after it blows up. Only this time it's real.
Yoda breakdancing (!).
The Coolest Blog
RaymondChiu.com
And coming soon: no link (yet) but trust me R. Malcolm Jones' video for Clipse's "Mr. Me Too" is bonkers.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Will of the People?
In good company? Who we "elected" in 2000 and 2004 (allegedly).
(click image to enlarge)
It's really pretty clear where my sympathies lie in this debate but don't let it be said that the Kitchen isn't fair and balanced:
"Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House." (click here for more from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?" piece in Rolling Stone.)
"In Rolling Stone, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argues that new evidence proves that Bush stole the election. But the evidence he cites isn't new and his argument is filled with distortions and blatant omissions." (click here for more from "Was the 2004 election stolen? No" in Salon.)
More to listen to and read here from BenFrank.net.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Couldn't Stay Away....
I had to drop these on y'all real quick:
CHRISTINA AGUILERA "AIN'T NO OTHER MAN" (PROD. BY DJ PREMIER) - I don't wanna any of y'all hip hop nerds carping about selling out or this not being real enough - this record is crazy!! Could Premo be back in the game making some real paper and hot joints instead of dying a (not so) slow death making records nobody is feeling for artists nobody cares about any more like Blaq Poet?
Method Man featuring Lauryn Hill "Say" - the first single off of Method Man’s forthcoming release 4:21. This is hot but very Miseducation era sounding. Do people still want that?
Rick Ross feat. Nina Sky "Flippin' That" - is the Rick Ross movement really real? As much as I like "Hustlin'" I'm still not fully convinced but this track is banoodles. (thanks, Anon)
Out again....
