Wednesday, November 29, 2006
More Nas Yet Again?!!
Yup. I HAD to go in one more time even though this has already spread like wildfire in less than 1/2 day as things do on the internets nowadays...
Nas feat. Game "QB True G" (prod. Dr. Dre) - PURE FIYA, coppable here (MP3) and here (zshare stream/download link). But maybe NOT on the Hip Hop is Dead album?!! Ridiculous. Who makes these decisions if that's really true??
BTW: can people please stop frontin' on Game? At least some people get it though.
More:
Nas - official website | MySpace | Buy Hip Hop is Dead
Game - his official websites | MySpace | Buy Doctor's Advocate
(Thanks to Eskay for letting me jack your image when Spine cockblocked... I keed, I keed. Be kind to Spine and respect their bandwidth by Right-Clicking and Saving to play their mp3 link.)
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Hip Hop Is Dead: Another Opinion?
Following up on yesterday's post: God bless Skillz for making this record. I actually think him and Nas agree and are expressing the same thing in two different ways but this had to be said too.
Skillz "Hip Hop Died?" [MP3: YSI | zshare stream/download]
More on (Mad) Skillz: website | Buy From Where???
, Confessions of a Ghostwriter & I Ain't Mad No MoreMonday, November 27, 2006
Hip Hop Is Dead is Coming...
But this DJ Dirty Harry produced collab with Lauryn Hill from his Living Legends mixtape (which I've spotlighted before) isn't on it (but should be): "It Wasn't You" [YSI | Zshare stream/download]
Nor is his "Blood Diamond" track from the movie soundtrack of the same name.
Or the new remix of Diddy's "Everything I Love" feat. Nas, Cee-Lo & Jadakiss: YSI | Zshare stream/download (thanks to my dun-dun James C on this one).
Bonus: DJ Wrekk 1's interview with Nas on all the recent beef he and bossman Hov have been entangled in recently: YSI | zshare stream/download.
Related: people might have questioned Nas' jump to Def Jam but it looks like he truly is Nastradamus
who jumped off the Sony Urban trainwreck just in time!More on Nas: official website | MySpace | Buy Living Legends (mixtape)
, Press Play & Hip Hop is DeadSaturday, November 25, 2006
Weekend Outernational Sounds....
How does Jim Jones end up in the middle of a reggae-related post?! Cos that f-cking "We Fly High" record keeps going and going (Hov's retarded sales notwithstanding)...
Mighty Mystic feat. Frank Wain Wright "Ballin' (clean)" - the official dancehall reggae remake of "We Fly High"? (alternate link: Zshare stream/download)
MIMS feat. Junior Reid & Cham "This Is Why I'm Hot (Remix)" (alternate link: Zshare stream/download)
Related: slightly old but worth f-cking with, Fader on (Baby) Cham (pictured above).
And from 2002, a rare(ish) cover of The Police's new wave/reggae classic "Bed's Too Big" by underrated Canadian left-field hip hopper K-os. (alternate link: zshare stream/download)
Worth investigating: official mixtape reggae sounds out right now from the Blazing Flames record label.
And because you will no doubt hear some club remix or variation on "We Fly High" multiple times in a night out at the t-tty bar, you may as well understand the physics of pole-dancing while you're there.
Friday, November 24, 2006
"Beyond Anyone's Control...."
From a new Time magazine article:
"It has been clear for some time that the U.S. is not in control of events in Iraq. But the latest sectarian bloodshed suggests that even help from Iran and Syria may not be enough to stop the slide into chaos
If this week's announcement that President Bush is to meet Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the capital of neighboring Jordan raised eyebrows, by Friday it was abundantly clear why the meeting couldn't be held in Baghdad — the Iraqi capital is under siege. After a day of open sectarian warfare on the streets had claimed more than 200 lives, the city's airport is closed and its residents are forced to remain indoors under a curfew.
The latest carnage comes as the focus on Iraq's immediate future shifts outside its borders — to U.S. discussions over redefining its strategy, moves by Iran and Syria to stake their own claim to a role in stabilizing Iraq, and perhaps, to competition between the two camps.
But following the latest attacks, the pressure on Maliki from his own base to resist U.S. demands will likely be greater than whatever leverage President Bush can bring to bear: The Iraqi leader has long made clear that he can only move against the Shi'ite militias after the Sunni insurgent threat has been removed, and the bloodshed in Sadr City Thursday will only reinforce that point. Indeed, Sadr's party threatened to quit the government if Maliki's meeting with Bush goes ahead next week — and Sadr's support has been critical to keeping him in power." (click here to read more | related: more at CNN)
Bonus updates:
So clearly sh-t is bananas over there but conservatives are still trying to spin it.
Amazing, I mean even Bob Novak (who should be in jail anyway as far as I'm concerned) now concedes that the Bush presidency is a disaster.
Bonus videos:
- Watch Robert Greenwald's Iraq For Sale on Google video.
- Is it a manufactured "Insurgency" in Iraq?
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Reasons to still be thankful today....
21 Reasons to be thankful.
The top ten GOP "dirty deeds" of 2006 as compiled by Salon. (spotted via Raw Story)
How many times can you post up William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful" so I offer a link to the vintage proto rap/disco-punk classic "Reason to be Cheerful (Part 3)" by Ian Dury & the Blockheads instead. Investigate, learn and enjoy....
Bonus: a Thanksgiving e-greeting card.
More Fish for Thanksgiving
Image jacked from Rizoh!
I missed the listening session but I've been f-cking busy working and you know the album is gonna leak sometime soon anyway (if it hasn't already) so I'll hear it soon enough. Based on what I've heard already, it's sounding pretty crazy even though I wasn't one of those who drank the kool-aid and thought Fishscale was all that. I'm not sure that album would make the top 10 of my favorite hip hop albums of the year but the new album is definitely sounding promising so far...
Ghostface Killah feat. Amy Winehouse "You Know I’m No Good" - yo, let me say that again: Ghostface Killah feat. Amy Winehouse from More Fish??!!! Whoa and WTF?? (mp3 via Spine too but respect their bandwidth and "Right-Click and hit Save As" to play)
Not from More Fish but just noticed in my itunes and worth f-cking with: "5 Deadly Venoms (feat. Ghostface, Kool G. Rap, Lord Tariq, Raekwon & Big Daddy Kane)" [MP3: YSI | Zshare stream download] - from the Kay Slay & Greg Street album, The Champions: the North meets the South.
Ghostface feat. Sun God "God To God" - Sun God is Starks' son for real apparently. Is dude that old? Maybe Jr. can form a group with Corey Gunz (or something).
More: Website | MySpace | Buy: More Fish & The Champions | album art & track listing here.
Bonus: Soul-Sides has a post spotlighting the Willie Hutch sample used on Ghost's "Back Like That (featuring Ne-Yo)" here.
Happy Turkey Day, people. Back over the long weekend with more heat.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
When Will This Madness End?
"The United Nations on Wednesday reported 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the highest monthly toll of the 44-month-old war, as gunmen and bombers behind the plague of revenge-driven sectarian bloodshed increasingly targeted top politicians and professionals.
Assassins murdered a bodyguard of Iraq's parliament speaker on Wednesday, one day after a bomb exploded in the hot-tempered politician's motorcade as it drove into a parking lot in the fortified Green Zone, a major security breach in the heavily guarded central Baghdad compound that houses the U.S. and British embassies and the Iraqi government.
Security considerations also could have dictated U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Amman, Jordan, next week rather than in Baghdad." (click here to read more at USA Today)
Between the ever-worsening debacle in Iraq and recent events in Buenos Aires, do you trust Bush to be capable of defending anything let alone the homeland from terrorist atack?
Shady & G-Unit are Back?!!
After a year-plus dropping all kinds of sub-par material?
Eminem feat. 50 cent "The Re-Up" - this one's got a real Young Jeezy "And Then What" boom bap feel but don't get it f-cked up: this is a heater! (alternate link: zshare download/stream | more: MySpace | Buy)
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Kramer: "Lewd, lascivious, salacious, outrageous!"
What do recent events tell us about where this country stands on racial issues at a time when we are looking at a seriously viable black candidate entering the 2008 presidential race? It's ironic what's happened when it seemed like we had moved beyond the black/white dynamic of the racial divide with the strong anti-Latino tint to the immigration debate and muslims and arabs almost having become the designated new "n-ggers" in a post-9/11 world. To wit:
Flying still sucks if you're Arab.
As does going to UCLA especially if you forget your ID at the library.
O.J. Simpson: It Ain't Over Til It's Over.
While a BU group offers a white scholarship "to protest race-based scholarships."
Finally, here's a couple views on Michael "Cosmo Kramer" Richards' recent racial meltdown, the first forwarded to me by a friend by email [slightly edited for clarity]:
"People who viewed TMZ.com (company founded by AOL & Telepictures Productions which is a division of Warner Brothers) to see former "Seinfeld" co-star Michael Richards' comments must not be too quick to judge what he said since no one knows exactly what the heckler(s) INITIALLY STATED to provoke such a response by Mr. Richards.
However, a lot of people have those same racial feelings that Mr. Richards expressed but are just too scared to say them. If you do have those feeling regardless of whether you express them verbally or not, you are a BIGOT- Period! If you have the same racial feelings that the heckler(s) stated then you are a BIGOT!
Mr. Richards subsequent apology on David Letterman may have been genuine but the time & place in which he expressed his remorse was Dead WRONG!! Why (you may ask)?? Because
So by having Mr. Richards suddenly apologize on the same show causes a lot of people to question the REAL motives of his apology. Furthermore, there are many BLACK people that NEVER watch the Letterman show. So if he was really looking to apologize to them (which may have not been the case) why would he do it on Letterman?????????"
Dan Charnas says: Are You Really That Surprised?
Fool Me Twice....
Right wing delusion is just sad!
The CIA says there's 'No proof' of Iranian nuclear arms. Journalist Seymour Hersh concurs.
Yet the White House brushes it off.
Myabe they're trying to get another war going as a distraction so they can recommence the pillage back home.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The Kitchen Exposed!
Image courtesy: ni9e.com blog
So apparently I've gotten it wrong all this time. This is not a hip hop(-ish) and news blog after all. I am in fact a "hipster blogger" according to one wag commenting the other day.
If that's the case, I may as well go in hardbody with the hipster content then, right?
Pharell x Bape Roadsta Sneakers.
Fresh 2 Def!!! - NYC's Retro Kids. (via The In Crowd)
Lady Sovereign cover of the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant."
Air Jordan XX Laser Blackberry.
And I should be crying over seeing:
A video clip of a PS3 Smashed in Front of Best Buy Line (that might be more geek than hipster actually).
Pics of a pair of ultra-rare Nike SB Pigeon Dunks DESTROYED! (spotted via Rome)
Bonus:
Jay-Z feat. Diddy "Show Me What You Got (Clinton Sparks remix)" [MP3 links: YSI | Zshare stream/download] - not an official remix. Sparks slyly jacks Puff's verse from "We Gon' Make it" which, as discussed previously, has the same beat. (via Clinton Sparks)
Saturday, November 18, 2006
A few final nails....
The gang's all here!
British PM Tony Blair admits that the Iraq War is a disaster.
Hnery Kissinger: Iraq Military Win Impossible.
The other O-Dub on How Iraq Was Lost.
The Bush admin. publishes "a basic guide to building an atom bomb" on the net at the behest of congressional Republicans. Bush, why not just send the bombs directly to Al Qaeda?
AMERICAblog: North Korea test was plutonium: produced under Bush I or Bush II, not Clinton.
The senate GOP on the return of Trent Lott (pictured above with Strom Thurmond and President Bush): [his] racist comments are ‘No longer an issue,’ ‘Admire Him For Coming Back’.
Finally, Bush gets his just desserts for his f-ckery!
Friday, November 17, 2006
First Official Papoose Video....
For "Ghetto Soldier (feat. Akon)" over at Hot 97/YouTube.
Related: Kay Slay & D-Rich "Let It Bang (Freestyle version)" ("Right-Click and hit Save As" to play to save bandwidth)
More: website | MySpace | Wikipedia | Rolling Stone | Buy his mixtapes
New for your backpack (or your Benz)
From Game to Termanology: Kanye does it all!
Not my usual steez but I did say I was gonna try and switch it up a bit over the next while so here's something hot out of the underground featuring one of hip hop's biggest (stars or egos, take your pick!):
Termanlogy featuring (and produced by) Kanye West: "Everything I Got (If I Was Diddy)" - more evidence to support Kanye's claim to being one of the best to ever do it behind the boards? Dunno much about this Termanology dude but I've been seeing his name around a lot recently and he's obviously making the right moves to have hooked this collab up. (mp3 jacked from Spine but spotted first via Rizoh's comments | alternate link: Zshare stream/download)
More: Termanology "Lost Ones (Big Mike/Statik Selectah mixtape freestyle)" [MP3: YSI | Zshare stream/download] - web | MySpace | Buy
Related: "I guess rapping with mediocre skills for 12 minutes about how no one wanted to sign you and you worked at the Gap consitutes being the World’s Best Rapper."
Jay-Z: Fallin'?
Y'all got this one yet??
Nas feat. Jay-Z "Black Republicans (No Gomez Bros/No Big Mike!!!)" - this is so monstorous, it's retarded. (alternate link: zshare stream/download)
This being the internet though, I know everyone's already copped, "Brooklyn High" (aka "Brooklyn (Ballllinnnn)"), Hov's response to Jim Jones over the Capo's own unlikely x-over street anthem "We Fly High" via Rizoh, JJ, Discobelle, Eskay or one of (probably) a million other places online. Just in case you didn't though, that's a slightly higher-quality version of the track than has been circulating so far for your enjoyment. My take on it: this is definitely no "Takeover" - he didn't body Jimmy but managed to backhand dis his own artists (Nas) in the process - WTF?!.
Why did he even go here in the first place? He should have stayed above the fray and kept making those (real) CEO moves, blazing out Beyonce and maintaining his legacy in this rap sh-t as the Greatest Rapper Alive. Now he's the old man taking shots from younger cats who weren't really in his class to begin with just like he said. Plus Jim, Cam & crew are like the Iraqi insurgents. They don't have to really even win this beef - they just have to not lose (update: case in point, see below too). And with this lame joint from the former "God MC" they're in no danger of doing that. If I know the Dips, they've probably already hit the lab preparing their response. (alternate link: zshare stream/download)
UPDATE:
- Jim Jones feat. Juelz Santana "We Fly High (Jay-Z Response)" - I knew it! "You and Nas remind me of the Golden Girls" - wow! (h/t: my dude, Max H. | alternate link: Zshare download/stream)
- Jim Jones speaks with DJ Wrekk One about the Jay-Z dis record. (alternate link: zshare stream/download)
Bonus throwback joint: "Watch Me (feat. Dr. Dre)" from Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter - hotter than 90% of his new album? I decided to post this after randomly coming across it while scrolling through the albums in my ipod yesterday. This track barely warranted discussion, even with a Dre feature and production by a then red-hot Irv Gotti, when the middling album it comes from originally dropped seven years ago. Compared to Kingdom Come though, it sounds crazy. (alternate link: zshare stream/download)
More: official website | MySpace | Buy
Thursday, November 16, 2006
This is why I stay saying....
Image courtesy: Bartcop.
F-ck the mainstream media:
- Time magazine.
- Newsweek.
- NBC
- CNN
- FOX News - (although who's really shocked at anything they do any more?)
Thank God for Keith Olbermann.
Bloc Party is Back!
Ha! Not just a hip hop blog after all. I've been reppin' this Bloc Party movement from pretty much the get. Now the new album, A Weekend in the City is here as part of the "Week of Leaks"™ (Jay, Snoop, Game, Clipse!) and from the initial couple listens I've given it, I'll step out declare that it's pretty f-cking good. Their sound hasn't changed or evolved much but, for lack of a better term, it has gotten more "refined." It feels like they've gotten more comfortable in their own skin and now sound less like merely the pretty-good sum of their influences and more like just themsleves. Check it:
MP3: "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)" [YSI | zshare stream/download] - first track on the album. Is it inspired by Less Than Zero, the novel (or movie)? Also vaguely reminds me of "Price of Gasoline" from Silent Alarm melodically.
Meanwhile on other blogs...
Call Me Mickey:
- New Bloc Party: The Prayer
- Bloc Party @ Coachella
Fader:
- City Songs
- Just Blaze
And for more elsewhere on the internets: website | MySpace | Buy
Much repsek: Still Listen's JJ.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
"A life of conscious and purpose can lift up many souls...."
About time....
Nice to be able to quote Bush actually saying something truthful that I can agree with.
Jay-Z feat. Ne-Yo “Minority Report” (Produced by Dr. Dre) - Hov's commentary on the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Truth be told the voices sampled in the track are far more affecting than anything he says in his rhymes but I gotta still give him props for doing this track.
Monday, November 13, 2006
All Linked Out Monday....
Only a few quick links. I've just about pimped out as much of Jay, Jim Jones, Game, Snoop and Nas as I feel I can get away with so I may switch directions for a while on the site unless some momentous tracks pop up and then ignore what I just said. BTW: still nobody come up on a nice Gomez Bros.-free version of "Black Republicans" yet??
The Pack "Vans (Ratatat re-edit)"
Diddy "Get Off (DJ Booman B'more remix)" - I linked one of this dude's remixes before. I'm not that big a fan of B'more club music really but I f-cks with this dude. Apparently I'm not the only one. His "Watch Out For the Big Girls" was a x-over B'more "hit" a while back. (alternate link: zshare stream/download | more: Booman MySpace | Buy Diddy's album)
Speaking of which... I'm normally mad suspect of these regional underground, niche subgenre musical "movements" like B'more club, baile funk and grime that get trumpeted by hipster mp3 bloggers and the Fader alike but I'm not mad at "Puto Prada" a kuduro (think: an Angolan version of Baile Funk) track spotlighted over at Discobelle a couple weeks ago.
Clipse e-card.
Godfather video game reebok sneakers.
Ghostface New Era fitted.
Man, snowboard season is almost here - maybe B-boys can take over that sport like they have started to the skateboarding scene. These Timberland workboot-inspired snowboard boots by Burton and ThirtyTwo would be a good look for them if they do.
Finally, to all my extreme internet mp3 diggin' nerds: about 6-8 mos. ago Hot 97 here in NYC was playing a (I think) mixtape-only or exclusive 50 cent track in their mixshows that interpolated large elements of the old 80's latin hip hop/freestyle classic "Don't Stop the Rock" by the group Freestyle. I have never been able to find this track or even get the name of it. Can anyone help me out on either count?
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Weekend Bits N Pieces
Nas feat. Jay-Z "Black Republicans" - F-CKING EPIC, peoples. Even through the sh-tty-ass radio rips I have linked to here you can tell this track is a beast and as good as your expectations were hoping it would be. Someone get me a CD quality mp3 on this stat! BTW: this was not played at the listening party on Thursday (or was it and I just misssed that part?).
Jacked from Spine:
- The Game "I'm Chillin'" (prod. Cool N Dre) - UK-only bonus joint from the Doctor's Advocate. Even Game's cast-off's are pretty solid. Show this dude some respect! (Spine's bandwidth too: Right-Click and Save As that mp3 link please, thanks. | more on the web: website | MySpace | Buy)
- Beat Street Record shop, R.I.P. - my fellow BK representers: stand up and pour out a little liquor in rememberance and respect. Do you know how many records I bought in this place over the years?? This means more to me than the closing of Tower records and is the end of an era for an institution of not only BK but NYC & hip hop in general! Peace and good luck to DJ's June, Finesse, Goldfinger and everyone else I ever dealt with over there. Good luck and keep your heads up.
Download the Dj Drama and Young Jeezy - I Am The Street Dream mixtape courtesy of Get Right Music.
Noe - the new (?) Dipset/Byrdgang affiliate who sounds (to me at least) like a Reasonable Doubt era Jay-Z on the final track, "Concrete Jungle" from Jim Jones' album.
Chrisette Michele - homegirl from Jay-Z's "Lost Ones" (not Erykah Badu after all like I thought) and Nas' upcoming Nat King Cole-sampling "Can't Forget About You" on Hip Hop is Dead. This chick just might make people forget about Lauryn on the soul tip if she comes with the right record when its her time. (more: Chrisette live at Crash Mansion in NYC next week Emily King, Johnta Austin and others. I might f-ck with this show for real....)
And to end: Ben Folds "B-tches Ain't Sh-t" - great (or at least funny) cover of the Dre & Snoop G-funk classic from The Chronic. Props to Stereogum.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Imagine Revolution....
Leaky weekend. First Jay, now Snoop:
Snoop Doog feat. Dr. Dre & D'Angelo "Imagine (album mix)" | alternate link: Zshare stream/dowload
Unquestionably blazing hot new Dre production (except to those few haters who argue that Dre's stuff is all starting to sound the same). Obviously, dude's been busy (except for on Game's album that is, LOL).
Bottom line though: some of these A-list cats coming out for the Christmas season (Jay, Game, Nas, Snoop, UGK, Clipse etc.) are gonna catch L's at retail. How can they not? There's too many of them all coming out back to back or on the same release dates, some with virtually no set up. Nas don't even have a video out yet (but more on him later and more Snoop leaks at XXL | also: official website | MySpace | Buy)
And also Clipse!!! "Double Down (feat. Vybz Kartel)" | "Where You Bee" (Right click and Save please, via Thirty Three Jones - solid site, go check it out for yourself. | more: website | MySpace | Buy)
I didn't catch the whole Nas listening session on Thursday but Prefix runs down the main points and puts me up on the fact that I missed an appearance at the beginning by Nas and Hov themselves! (Note to self: get off C.P.T.!).
But off the music and getting gear-orientated for a minute:
Action Figure - "Revolutionary Gear."
Sample lines and info from their manifesto: "Half of our profits will be donated to a driving force behind the local Stop The War Coalition," "We want the revolution to look good" and "It's great when Madonna gets thousands of fans yelling 'F-ck Bush'. But if she is the avant-garde of celebrity radicals, the radical chic is in a sorry state." C'mon, why not rep this instead of whatever wack collab limited edition tee or hoody is hot this week.
Burden Clothing (peace to my man, Omar...)
The Year Of jeans (peace also to my man, Slim Pickens...)
Shmack clothing
But to end: the DJ Hi-Tek MPC-3000 sampling drum machine jewelry piece: cool or not?
Young H.O. - "30's the new 20, n-gga!"
30?! Paging Sickamore.
Jay-Z - "Beach Chair (feat. Chris Martin)" - also "produced" by Chris Martin. (YSI link | Zshare stream/download)
Coldplay - "Til Kingdom Come [Hidden track]" (wma link courtesy Game Recon)
So is that where the inspiration for the album title came from?
As you're already no doubt aware if you're the kind of person who scurries the net looking for music, Hovi's Kingdom Come album has completely leaked now. This is the only other track I'm gonna post from it. Partly out of respect I have for Hov as an artist personally, also 'cos cats need to get out from behind the computer screens and go out support these artists I spotlight by actually buying some of their music and maybe 'cos I wanna let the rest of y'all other mp3 blogger nerds "eat" too, LOL.
I'm gonna post some more thoughts on the album later this weekend but off-top I'll say that so far I'm not that impressed overall although also not that surprised at how the album ended up sounding. Let me just say that the pic above pretty much sums up what you should expect from this album by the 2006 President Carter edition of the "God MC."
And by the way on a sidebar note: I see the numbers on the d/l's coming off this site - can't even some of y'all leave some comments? It just ain't that cool to just come through and jack these tracks that I work hard and take time to put up and then be out without so much as a thank you or any kind of feedback, seriously!
More: official website | MySpace | Buy Kingdom Come and X&Y
(h/t: the Risky Bizniz massive out of [I think] Sweden)
Bush Political Capital Account: NSF!
Charlie: help fix this country!
I guess using a premature announcement in the Saddam trial as a last gasp effort at a "November suprise" (coupled with the irony of the GOP's e-voting chicanery unexpectedly (?) backfiring on them) wasn't enough for the GOP to prevail. I'm still of two minds as to whether Tuesday's results are a good thing or not though but I'll take it. You can get midterms news & analysis everywhere so instead, here's some select post-election news & views from various sites I f-cks with:
Nation of Thizzlam: Later, Alligators
Joey: It's Morning in America
Poplicks' ELECTION POST MORTEM.
1115.org on Bush: The Emperor Without His Clothes.
TTLab blog: "Minnesota just sent the first ever Muslim to Congress."
Oliver Willis on how Black Conservatives did in midterms 2006. Sorry about Harold Ford but props to Charlie Rangel and Deval Patrick too.
Bonus audio:
Barack Obama + Pete Rock = classic. BTW: how bugged is it that Obama has more (any!) Grammys than Pete Rock? (spotted via Rizoh)
Going down South yet again...
Are you riding with The Mack?
Why wouldn't we?
Mack Maine Ft. Lil' Wayne & Dizzy A.K.A. Raw D.I. "Ride With The Mack" - OK, so apprently, this dude is really Weezy's protege coming out on his new Young Money records imprint. This joint is mo fiya from from Weezy, it's feels like dude is unstoppable right now. (alternate link: Zshare stream/download | web | MySpace)
Trick Daddy feat. Lil Wayne "Yea Yea Yea" - I mean, just accept it: Wayne is KILLIN' the game right now....
UGK feat. Kool G. Rap & Big Daddy Kane (prod. Marley Marl) "Untitled" (still!) - from the forthcoming UGK: Underground Kingz double album. OH.MY.GOD!!! No link yet but this record is f-cking INCREDIBLE - REAL hip hop ish with the legendary Marley Marl flipping the intro beat from the old school Juice Crew "Symphony" video to ridiculous effect. And to my man Noixe who asked a couple weeks back: "Why [does] every north/south collab gotta be about how it's a north/south collab?", this record is for YOU! (more: official website)
Milano feat Sean P (of YoungBloodZ) "Shake N Bounce" (related: Unkut says this is the real Milano but that's just their P Bros.-centric hip hop world view bias coming out. I keed, I keed.... peace to D.I.T.C 'n all that.)
Rasheeda "My Bubblegum" - she may have been dropped by Jive a while back but this record ain't bad on some "Snap Yo Fingers" ish although I wouldn't be shocked if others thought this was a waste of a good beat. (MySpace | Buy)
Ying Yang & Clef "Dangerous" (prod. Mr. Collipark) - video: real | quick | e-card
Finally...
** ANOTHER CONTEST ** - win a "Quit hating the South" UGK promo t-shirt by answering the following question: what is the brand of champagne mentioned in the hook to UGK's early 90's underground hit "It's Supposed to Bubble"? Answers by email (see top left), subject line "UGK t-shirt contest." Winner selected at random sometime this Monday (11/13).
Can't Forget....
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Pity this child....
Another PSA announcement: it looks like someone is coming down hard (No Ted Haggard) on the hip hop blogosphere, or at least my tiny slice of it, 'cos a bunch of my recent mp3 links have been taken down involuntarily.
One day these music industry f-cks are going to understand that what folks like me are doing is f-cking HELPING.THESE.ARTISTS! It's called promotion, people. They give away promo mixtapes and samplers by the (promo wrapped) truck load but having someone do the same via a blog at no cost to them for an audience looking to discover new music is a problem?! Can anybody explain this to me - I mean, WTF??
Anyway, the tip of the day for my readers is: visit often and d/l any music that strikes your interest ASAP before the links expire or are disabled by the mp3 Nazis. Like this one...
The Roots x Beatles feat. Zion-I "Pity the Child/Come Together" - hot track from the excellent new (?) Best of the Roots mixtape by J. Period. Why didn't their Game Theory album sound more like this? (alternate link: Zshare stream/download | Buy)
Check out The Pack on MTV "You Hear It First."
Frank N Dank - new album Xtended Play Version 3.13 is in stores now featuring a GRIP of production from some of the T.dot's best known beatsmiths (and J. Dilla!) which is not that suprising since this Motown duo have been (still?) living up there. I used to love their "Take Them Clothes Off" single on ABB Records. Peep the first single from the new album: "What Up" Dirty | Clean | Instrumental (right click and Save As please). Click here for more details.
Related: Check out the J. Dilla x New Era Fundraiser/Release Party in Toronto at the end of this month. Support it!
Finally, TOMORROW NIGHT: details here on the "re-release party" for the paperback edition of "Where'd You Get Those? New York City's Sneaker Culture 1960-1987," the seminal sneaker history book by NYC renaissance B-boy Bobbito Garcia.
Still on his New York Sh-t?!?
I checked around a few of my peoples and didn't see this up as an mp3 anywhere but I could be wrong. Compared to that Game remix though this is sounding positively lean if not anemic in terms of guest MC verses:
Busta Rhymes feat. Nas, Papoose, M.O.P. & Labba "New York Sh-t (remix)" - like Diddy this is coming really late in the game too, right? (alternate link: Zshare stream/download)
UPDATE bonus remix: Busta Rhymes "New York Sh-t (Manny Faces/Frank Sinatra "New York, New York" Remix - Clean Edit)" - I posted one of this kid's remixes before. I'm not mad at this one either, the obvious gimmickry of it aside. Tell me what y'all think though - don't just vulture the joint and bounce. (YSI link | Zshare stream/download | Buy the album)
Dretox - unreleased Dr. Dre cuts originally slated for Detox? I've been talking about that album almost as long as I've been doing this site - it's the Chinese Democracy of hip hop. I know some of y'all already have these joints but the re-up for new arrivals is always welcome.
Still Listen has new Clipse, Jeezy, unreleased Wayne, etc.
Off the music for a minute, it looks like we retook the house (edit: and the senate - YES!). More on this later....
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
One (Thousand) Blood(s)!!!
Game unsucessfully tries to count on one hand how many cats are on his "One Blood (remix)"
The Cecil B. DeMille of rap remixes is here:
Game feat Jim Jones, Snoop Dogg, Nas, T.I., Fat Joe, Lil’ Wayne, Nore, Jadakiss, Styles P, Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, Twista, Kurupt, Daz, WC, E-40, Bun B, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Young Dro, Clipse and Ja Rule "One Blood (The remix)" (alternate link: Zshare stream/download)
This is not a joke. All these cats are really on this remix. But no Too $hort, Young Jeezy or Ludacris to name a few missing who immediately come to mind? I'm not sure if this is a monumental event or an act of desperation? Either way can somebody confirm that this is the official, correct line-up of who's on this remix stat? (spotted via the Mighty Eskay)
Agallah "Club Hoppin'" - one of the best tracks from this Purple City/Dipset affiliate's recently-released You Already Know album. Even if you think the lyrics are a little vapid, the production is crazy. I've been knowing this kid from way before his name was "Brad Piff" (or is that "Laurence Piffburne"?). Glad to see him finally getting some recognition. (alternate link: Zshare stream/download | MySpace | Buy)
More of that classic vintage Red Alert live on KISS-FM at Palms Out Sounds.
Forget the sneakers, cop clear rims?!
Fader calls out Premo on the premise of his new No Talent Required mixtape.
And in case you missed them, mp3's of:
Fat Joe feat. Game - "Breathe and Stop" here.
Ghostface feat. Trife Da God - "Good" here.
For Election Day: Don't Leave Home Without This....
So whether your vote will actually count is more than a philosophical issue in the great democracy they called the United States of America nowadays. As you head out later today to perform your civic duty, hope for the best and consider the following:
From Vanity Fair: "As Iraq slips further into chaos, the war's neoconservative boosters have turned sharply on the Bush administration, charging that their grand designs have been undermined by White House incompetence."
"The American Conservative, a magazine started by Pat Buchanan to offset the over-representation of neoconservative thought in public debate, has taken a strong anti-Bush position this election." (click here to read the article)
I mean, if conservatives can't even f-ck with this dude and his adminstration any more....
Meanwhile as far as this bananas war goes:
"The U.S. government conducted a series of secret war games in 1999 that anticipated an invasion of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, and even then chaos might ensue [emphasis added]. " And yet they still won't learn the lesson.
And from the Army Times: Rumsfeld must go! Along with G Dubs' crew, LET'S GET IT!
Bonus reading:
Army recruiters to students: "The Iraq war is over." Wow....
