Saturday, July 29, 2006
"You Hear the Sireens Ringing?"
Not on this record but this one: Labba feat. Busta Rhymes "Make A Lane" - this kid's been kicking around the peripheries of the Flipmode Squad and the NYC mixtape scene for a minute. Is it his time to shine now?
Speaking of sirens though....
Young B of DJ Webstar "Chicken Noodle Soup" fame show you how to do the that rapidly-becoming-infamous dance. Now you can try it yourself. BTW the video is shooting today somewhere uptown.
And speaking of uptown girls....
Kelis "F-ck Them Bitches" - but will it make the album?
The Def Jam Report Card.
Nonfictional Fantasies
Too $Hort - Mack of the Century.
and his proteges The Pack = a hyphy/skateboard mash-up?
While my man (and celebrated author) Colson Whitehead (we called him Chip in college, LOL) now has a blog.
And shout once again to my man Selwyn whose "The Chop Up" BET News show is still going every Sunday.
But finally, how many times do I have to tell y'all, I break stories?!!!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
"Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people....”
Don't get it confused: God forbid but when the next disaster inevitably hits, your government will not or cannot save you from harm:
- Heat wave wreaks havoc on California electrical grid.
- St. Louis Suffers: Heat, Rain, No Power.
- As Many As 100,000 Without Power in Queens (I know this number has gone down in the past few days but Bloomie's "Heckuva job, Con Ed" gaffe warrants special notice here).
And by the way, you know this extreme weather is probably due to Global Warming or is that just crazy Nazi talk by wacko liberals (at least according to the more conservative experts on this issue who know better than everyone else)?
Related:
The movie that set it off this summer: An Inconvenient Truth - I'm riding with Gore all the way on this and I did like the movie for the most part, but those folks who said this was "highest grossing powerpoint presentation ever" were not overstating the point which is that it was kind of dry overall. Recommended viewing nonetheless.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations....
Lil Scrappy: next to blow (pause)?
The Game "One Blood (clean)" - admit it, haters, this is better than you were expecting. Now if he'd only stop name-droppping!
On the other hand....
Lil Scrappy feat. Young Buck "Money in the Bank" - G-G-G-G-Unit. C'mon don't front on this either, this record's crazy.
And in another case of greatly execeeding expectations:
Fonzworth Bentley "Since I Was 9" (mp3 via streetspace)
Fergie "London Bridge" - yo, I ain't gonna lie I LOVE this record. Seriously. Do I detect an M.I.A. influence in the chorus?
Troy Ave. "Rep It Wit My Heart" - NY finally admits defeat in the "war" for hip hop supremacy? This dude (signed to Def Jam) is from (I believe) BK but he sounds like he's from NOLA with this knockoff of Lil Wayne's "Hustler Musik"- WTF?! What exactly is he reppin' with his heart??
The De La Collection Volume 3.
How to make the T.I. "What You Know" beat.
Pharrell's new HP computer ad. His new album hit stores today (I think). Go get a copy... or something?
Saturday, July 22, 2006
"We are extremely worried...."
Doesn't this pretty much say it all? Stop the madness. (image spotted via Poplicks)
The Times on how the "U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis." (related: video of Vice President Cheney bashing The New York Times again during a campaign rally.)
Nearly 20 percent of the Lebanese population is displaced by the fighting.
In Mideast Strife, Bush Sees a Step To Peace - un-fccking-believable.
As I've said a couple times before, every once in a while crazy-ass Pat Buchanan actually makes sense.
Blogging the war from northern Israel.
Blogging From the Belly of Beirut. (related: Blogging photos from bombed Lebanon)
The Iraqi Prime Minister Denounces Israel’s Actions (!).
Deja-Katrina? US rescue bogs down in Lebanon (unless you're an Ivy League student - this is why it pays to go to Harvard!).
And from Oliver Willis' "Iraq: The Awesomeness Continues":
The number of civilian deaths is way up. No one knows the real total, either for recent killings or the overall death rate. It seems likely, however, that past estimates of total deaths of 30,000 to 40,000 are now at least 10,000-20,000 too low because they rely far too heavily on Iraqi morgue and Ministry of Health data, and media reports. These figures do not cover outlying areas where reporting is far less accurate or comprehensive, disappearances and kidnappings where the body is never recovered, and hidden body dumps in the desert.
Click here to read more.
Senior official says Iraq 'as a political project is finished' (and that's not as in meaning completed).
Afghanistan is “close to anarchy.”
And Turkey Signals It's Prepared to
The Middle East: being made safe for freedom and democracy by your friends at The Carlyle Group and the Project for the New American Century.
"Ghost gets all the praises, and the rest of us get sh-tted on...."
Any excuse to post a Nelly Furtado photo is a good excuse (see below).
The Pack "Vans" video trailer.
Method Man "dissin the sh-t out of Wendy Williams." Meth's just not a happy dude nowadays huh?
A record player made out of paper.
'Gangsta lit' poisons black audiences - discuss?
No links but here's a few tracks I love from some recently-released albums:
- Busta Rhymes feat. Stevie Wonder "Been Through the Storm" - his vocals on the chorus of this track almost sounds like classic era Stevie (by way of Anthony Allen?). I haven't heard him sound this good in years. BTW you know those beats Dre gave Busta would have sounded WAY better as part of the (now abandonded again?) Detox album. I can't exactly explain why, they just would have.
- Nelly Furtado "Showtime" - Loose has got to be one of the best albums this year. But then again, that's not saying much.
- JR Writer "Grill 'Em" - Dipset is still the most retarded and overrated movement ever but this track slowly took over the Hot 97 playlist (and my consciousness) during the past month or so. I got the album but I ain't peeped it yet. Yes, I still listen to Hot 97 (on and off). Sad I know....
And some news that I'm not sure has been covered in the media:
- the fantastic Sound Library record store in the East Village of NYC is supposedly set to close at the end of this summer. I've copped many a rare record and sold extra/unwanted inventory from my collection for a grip of paper to these guys. I've gone digital now but I was hoping to get some extra cash by selling some of my collection to these guys. Vinyl is really over if this beat diggers' haven is a wrap, man. Shed a tear.
- I'm hearing Dilated Peoples has been dropped by their record label but Little Brother are mad that they don't sell. They should be happy they still have a f-cking major label record deal after how that Minstrel Show travesty sold. Still got love for The Chitlin Circuit 1.5 though.
Buffie the Body Larger Than Life DVD. (related: new pics of Esther Baxter, the Jay-Z to Buffie's 50 cent in the video vixen game)
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
"These Boys and Girls Are Not Spare Parts...."
Somebody's "children"?? (see below)
Times of London: "Baghdad is now verging on total collapse."
Nearly 6,000 Iraqi civilians died in May and June, UN says.
U.S. war commanders think some level of American forces will be needed in Iraq until 2016.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban have returned and the "democratically elected" government is considering restoring the Taliban-run "vice-police."
The Bush administration is charging Americans for evacuating them from Lebanon - WTF?!! (or maybe not?)
Poplicks' Junichi on the bombs over Lebanon.
And not because of this this specifically but it's getting so bad that even conservatives are now realizing what a f-ck-up Bush and his "neo-con" cabal are.
Oh by the way... Mr. President, you really embarassed yourself by how you exercized the first ever presidential veto of your adminstration today.
Big Chef Steps Into The Kitchen....
The Pack (L-R: Young L, Stunna, Uno and Lil B) is the future: get down or lay down....
James, you gotta keep up: The Pack feat. Too $hort & Mistah FAB "Vans (remix)" - straight crack. BTW, the video for the original version of "Vans" is coming soon and is RIDICK. If I know the kids in this group though, that joint will be circulating around the internets by tonight - LOL!
Kelis' "Bossy" video - "This is pretty much what every music video should aspire to be."
Futureheads: Live in Boston (MP3s) - anyone know if their new album's any good?
Why most gangsta rapper are bullsh-tting when they claim they are spitting about their crimes on wax: "Police: Rapper's CD outlined drug gang."
And semi-related: Ex-Rapper Chi-Ali Sets up to Help his Younger Cousins Become the Next Big Thing in Hip Hop From his Prison Cell - WTF?
"Who’s the stupid one - the Young Joc fan or the rapper who expects a Young Joc fan to feel throwback rap?" (click here for more)
Slim Thug fishing. (spotted via the world's longest post courtesy of Matt)
And since I don't post so frequently any more, some new blogs for you to peep:
- Biochemical Slang
- Words 2 Herbs!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Bush: "Hear the words of bin Laden, 'This Third World War is raging' in Iraq...."
This is not Iraq - cancel your summer plans to go visit a post-Syrian pullout Beirut.
While I've been killing you with Clipse, Pharrell and Timbaland-related mp3's all week, there's been some news of real consequence going down.
Israel-Lebanon: holy smokes - have we in fact entered the beginning of World War III? What happened to the Bush argument that regime change in Iraq would help spread democacy throughout the Middle East?! This is his version of diplomacy??! F-cking scary.
You already know about the newest war crime atrocities being committed by US soldiers in Iraq that surfaced recently, right? Hearts and minds, sweets and flowers etc., etc.
I scoffed when my man told me he thought Ken Lay had been killed by the government but then I read this and I wasn't so sure it wasn't true any more. (related: more details on the f-ckery)
Ken Lay-related WTF? news from the Houston Chronicle: At his memorial, convicted CEO felon Ken Lay was compared to John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus. (spotted via Skimble)
$11 Million Every Hour - that's "What the Iraq War is Costing Us" according to Rep. John P. Murtha. What percentage of that went to Halliburton before they (were) cashed out?
"Why are US blogs ignoring Mumbai?", ask South Asian bloggers.
And other (just as important) stuff: Valerie Plames sues Cheney, Libby, Rove et. al / Geneva Convention protections for the Gitmo detainees are finally upheld / North Korea demonstrate their real WMD's.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Weekend Music Avalanche
Why does it seem like there's been a tidal wave of new music in the last few days or so?
Via Discobelle.net:
- Tons of Cassie "Me &U" remixes.
- Justin Timberlake feat. Clipse - "Sexy back (remix)"
Ludacris feat. Pharrell "Money Maker" - this smells like a smash to me.
The Clipse ft. Slim Thug "Wamp Wamp (full song)"
A link to Pharrell feat. Jay-Z "Young Girl" and Pharrell "I Really Like You" here.
More leaked music by Clipse & Pharrell via AmI High? here.
P. Diddy feat. Nicole "Come to Me" - this one is already killin' 'em in NYC and I predict is probably gonna go the distance. NEVER count this dude out.
Look like good reads from Oh Word's “Week of 1,000 Guest Bloggers”:
- What Would Tupac Do?
- Keystrokes and Kangols: 10 Tips for the Internet Hip-Hop Head.
- How G-Unit Saved Hip-Hop (no, seriously)
But just so you don't spend ALL your time in front of a computer screen downloading free music, some stuff to go out and do:
- In the T. dot TONIGHT!!! Sweet Tears: A Night of Solid Soul and Psych
- Tomorrow night (and Sunday thereafter) in NYC: Dj Asho Presents: Get Up, Stand Up! A Musical Re-Evolution.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
"Put Your Hoodie On and Thug It On Out"
New music via HipHopGame.com:
- Trick Daddy "I Pop (Full version)" - I like it but I get the feeling this will be a love it or hate it proposition for many. I've already seen some cats killin' Disco D's production.
- Fat Joe "Clap and Revolve" - is this enough to get people to give a damn about Joey Crack again?
- Jojo Pellegrino feat. Papoose "92" - "On the real" Jojo bodies NYC's Great Hope for 2006 on this Marley Marl/Nas/Screwball remake but when it was his time to blow back in 2001 with Violator at his back, it never happened. Something to consider for the Drama King and his young Padawan learner?
Diddy "Gettin' Off (clean version)" - I'm feeling the James Brown-meets-Uptown production flavor but is this gonna go - as a first single?!
I'm kind of late on this one but download Mr Kamoji's I-Jonez DJ Premier Primo Cuts mixtape here.
Omarion "Entourage" - also been around for a minute, this is my current guilty pleasure single. (Windows 128k | Quicktime 128k)
DJ Clue feat. Jadakiss "Thug It Out (clean version)" (prod. Swizz Beats I think) - I like it but does anyone care outside of the tri-state?
Speaking of which, for my old school, thirty-and-over heads: Class of 89, new music from Mr Long (aka Mista Lawnge of Black Sheep) . (spotted via Hello World)
Rick Ross' Port of Miami album previewed.
The Young Hov Project
Alifes - folks a lot cooler than me say these are that next ish in sneakers. They're the shoe of choice for The Pack when they're not rockin' they "Vans."
A Zinedine "Zizou" Zidane soccer headbutting game. (h/t: Greg)
And finally, if you missed them on Tuesday night at SOB's or this AM on Hot 97, tune in tomorrow at 8am to hear Clipse (pictured above) on Power 105 with Big Tigger and Egypt.
Monday, July 10, 2006
"Let It Rain, Now Clear It Out...."
Timberlake returns: is the hype justified?
Justin Timberlake "Sexy Back" (prod. Timbaland)- but what's with the Mos Def The New Danger album cover image bite and the Outkast-esque title for the forthcoming album?
Dre Feat. The Game, Rick Ross, Pusha, Fat Joe & Dirtbag "Chevy Ridin' High (Remix)" - out for a couple weeks now. Are folks feelin' it?
Monica feat. Dem Franchize Boyz "Everytime Tha Beat Drop" - "Grillz" reimagined as an R&B track. Why not? (mp3 link via http://www.middlechildpromotions.com/)
DJ Webstar feat. Young B “Chicken Noodle Soup” - XXL (and SOHH), you're late.
Trick Daddy “I Pop” (prod. Disco D) - this will not "change rap, pop and electronic music forever" but it sounds pretty promising.
New Bathgate MySpace page.
"Kick Push" Pt. II - photos from the set of the video shoot for The Pack's "Vans" single here (but somebody, please tell these [certified] dudes how to set up proper permalinks on their posts).
Nerd alert!!! Dr. Octagon Remix Streams.
AM New York's look at the post-punk/no wave music scene of NYC.
"Black guys like fat chicks" is racist?
Suit: NBA Player Watching Porn, Drunk Before Crash - what?!
Friday, July 07, 2006
"A much more dangerous world...."
"Thomas Jefferson once said: 'Of course the people don't want war. But the people can be brought to the bidding of their leader. All you have to do is tell them they're being attacked and denounce the pacifists for somehow a lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.' I think that was Jefferson. Oh wait. That was Hermann Goering. Shoot." -- Jon Stewart while emceeing at Peabody Awards for broadcasting excellence
Rolling Stone on The [Holland] Tunnel of Fear. Raw Story deflates the hype too.
One year on [from the 7/7 bombings], a London bomber issues a threat from the dead.
Bartcop on the leaking of "secret" banking records surveillance program story:
Then:
"We will follow the money as a trail to the terrorists and freeze the money to disrupt their actions." -- Dubya, September 24, 2001, unveiling his new "terrorist asset tracking center"
Now:
"If you want to figure out what the terrorists are doing, you try to follow their money. And the fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror." -- Dubya, too stupid to remember HE revealed this program five years ago
Disclosed what exactly? "Former CIA and State Department terror official says bank spying already known to terrorists."
What makes it harder to win the "War on Terror"? Maybe when the "C.I.A. Closes Unit Focused on Capture of bin Laden." By the way that unit was started 10 years ago during the Clinton adminstration and shut down unannounced last year by Bush.
Greg Sargent on why the right wing is going hard attacking The New York Times but not the Wall Street Journal and the LA Times both of whom reported on this story at the same time here. Alex Koppelman breaks down the right wing f-ckery here too.
AMERICAblog on how Bush, who just turned 60, is building a legacy of a more dangerous world.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
A Mediocre Summer? Get Used To It.
Sa-Ra: too fly to fail?
Not much in the way of new music I'm hearing that's getting me really open right now:
Jae Millz "My Swag" - another futile attempt at an anthem that will save New York hip hop produced by Scott Storch (see below)? I heard dude was introduced to perform up at the Rucker a couple weeks back to almost complete indifference by the crowd and he's from Uptown (I think). Wow....
Styles P feat. Rashad "Favorite One" - I actually kind of dig this too but c'mon: how you gonna come out with this after T.I. already killed this sample like two minutes ago? Others are less forgiving.
Cherish feat. Yung Joc, Jody Breeze, Chingy & D4L “Do It To It (Remix)” - scientifically precision-crafted to annoy me for the rest of the summer on the 106 & Park countdown.
Brand New Heavies Get Used to It - the reunion album with N'Dea Davenport back on lead vocal duties. I say it's wooden and uninspired sounding (and about 10 years too late). Others disagree.
Rhymefest - "Stick" (Windows | Quick) - not up to par with other tracks that have leaked from this album due in stores next week but I'm still looking forward to hearing Blue Collar if someone wants to see their way clear to send me a copy (hint, hint).
Maybe this new De La Soul mixtape can save the day?
Or maybe Outkast will with even more new music leaking (despite some dissenters in the ranks).
Or Sa-Ra proclaiming: "This is Excellence, Black excellence!" (Video EPK: QuickTime | WM High)
Or will it be "the nerds who grew up and took over [hip hop]...." - Rolling Stone commenting on Pharrell, Kanye and Scott Storch.
Speaking of nerd rap: new video by Aceyalone.
While at the other end of the rap spectrum:
Great Too $hort "Blow the Whistle" animation from the Kids Around Your Way.
Reincacertae Yayo?
Daddy Yankee's Reebok DY sneaker - does anyone really care still? Maybe I need a human flesh sneaker instead (!). (spotted via the new Ent. Weekly Popwatch blog - thx Nadreams | related: Bayareakicks.com | Sneakerplay "the world’s first social network for the style conscious sneaker community" - spotted via Dork)
But to end for the fellas: Stacy Dash strips for Playboy. I hope it's better than Vida Guerra's wack-ass pictorial from this month's issue.
Coming soon(-ish) in the next music post: links to some f-cking excellent Solar Records CD reissues.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
項目為新中國世紀
Invented in China, by the way....
I hope my American readers enjoyed their day off for Independence Day but I'd get my Mandarin learning on ASAP if I was y'all:
From the US Census Bureau's July 4th Holiday Edition "Facts for Features" news release:
- $201.9 million - The value of fireworks imported from China in 2005, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($211 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $14.9 million in 2005.
- $5.5 million - the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags in 2005; the vast majority of this amount ($5 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.
Li Na's Star Rises as U.S. Loses its Last Wimbledon Contender. (click here to read more)
Working on a Dream: Fine Wines of China.
Train 27, Now Arriving Tibet, in a 'Great Leap West'.
愉快的遲來的7月4 日
