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Zack Hemsey - "Changeling (New Beginnings)"

2011-05-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Song of the week: Curen$y- Roasted

2011-03-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

AZ "Sugar hill"

2011-02-22T12:55:00.001-08:00

Album Review:Wu-Tang Clan "Enter The 36 Chambers"

2011-02-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

This debut revolutionized hip-hop (and launched half a dozen solo careers), as much for The RZA's raw barrage of off-kilter, off-key loops and sound effects as for its consistently violent lyrics. Martial arts,at least as they appear in kung fu movies--are the Wu-Tang Clan's favorite metaphor, but they're also the organizing principle of the group, a crowd of eight rappers, each with his own way-out-there "fighting style." They created their own little self-contained culture, with its own symbols and shifting identities, and let listeners figure it out for themselves. Unless you're willing to immerse yourself in its world, it can be baffling and a little dry, but its aggression and originality are undeniable. This is it. If an alien landed on earth and wanted to know what hip hop was I would play him this. This is the definition of (Near) perfect hip hop.

1.Bring Da Ruckus (Ghostface, Raekwon, Inspektah Deck, GZA)
Perfect opening song. Once you hear "Shaolin Shadowboxing" you know it's on. With a dark Beat from the RZA and equally dark rhymes from the rest of the clan. Great Song. 10/10

2.Shame On A N**** (Ol Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ol Dirty Bastard)
The complete opposite of the first song. A funky, piano abundent beat with laid back rhymes. This is the first you hear of Ol Dirty Bastard and it's some of his best. It's also one of the only old upbeat RZA productions I've ever heard (even though I love this beat). 9.5/10

3.Clan In Da Front (Intro by the RZA, GZA solo)
My favorite Wu member (GZA), rips it up over a classic RZA piano loop. 9.5/10

4.Wu-Tang:7th Chamber
This song is so underrated just because it isn't one of RZA's best beats. But if you look past that this song holds some of the best rhymes on the album (RZA's, Ol Dirty Bastard's & Inspectah Deck's especially). 9.5/10

5.Can It Be All So Simple (Raekwon, Ghostface Killah)
A laid back track from Ghostface & Raekwon (Who went on to work together much more in depth) talking about the "Good ol Days" This song ends with an interview that has Method Man describing every member of the Wu. 9.0/10

6.Da Mystery Of Chessboxin (U-God, Inspektah Deck, Raekwon, Method Man, Ol Dirty Bastard, Ghost Face Killah, Masta Killa)
This song gets better the more you listen to it. The song starts with the familier use of kung fu samples. U-God makes an apperance and just destroys the first verse and makes this song a classic. Masta Killa appears on this song (this is actually like a guest apperance considering he wasn't part of the group at this time) and shows off his lyrical prowess with lines like "We have an APB on an mc killa/looks like the work of a masta" 9.5/10

7.Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin Ta F' Wit (RZA, Inspektah Deck, Method Man)
One of my favorite songs of all time, one of the greatest RZA productions and the energy on this track is crazy. 10/10

8.C.R.E.A.M. (Raekwon, Inspektah Deck, Meth on chourus)
RZA produces one of the best piano loops in rap EVER, and Raekwon and Inspektah Deck drop 2 of the best verses on the CD. 10/10

9.Method Man (Method Man)
Yes it is like the title says. Method Man gets a solo song. That can be good or bad however you look at it. I think it's a shame that method man and Ghostface are the only members of the clan to get much commercial exposure. However this song is still great but it may be a little too long for it's own good. Still it's hard not to get caught singing along with the chorus "M.E.T.H.O.D. MAN!" 9.5/10

10.Protect Ya Neck (Inspektah Deck, Raewkon, Method Man, U-God, Ol Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, RZA, GZA)
This song is edited on this CD for some reason. This song features all Wu-Tang members except for Masta Killa, and everyone drops a hot verse, especially ODB & GZA. Classic Video. 10/10

11.Tearz (RZA, Ghostface Killah)
RZA puts his keyboards to good use in this song. The Catchy beat works perfectly here. RZA & Ghostface both leave you thinking with their verses which are both meaningful, disturbing and thought-provoking. 9.0/10

12.Wu-Tang 7th Chamber Pt.II (Raekwon, Method Man, Inspektah Deck, Ghostface Killah, RZA, Ol Dirty Bastard, GZA)
This is basically a remix of the original but with an even weaker beat. A conclusion to the interview started in Can It Be all so Simple is a nice way to close an album. 8.0/10

Final Rating:96 out of 100

Wu Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M
-

Wu Tang Clan - protect ya neck
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Wu-Tang Clan - Mystery Of Chessboxin
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Wu-Tang Clan - M.E.T.H.O.D. Man
-

Classic Video:Camp Lo "Luchini"

2011-02-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

J. Cole Feat. Drake-In The Morning Official Video

2011-02-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

Album Reveiw: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death"

2011-02-22T12:27:00.000-08:00

I

remember back in 1997 when this album was released, the whole hip hop scene seemed like all out war... Biggie had lifted the vacant King of New York crown back in 94 with his killer debut 'Ready To Die', but got killed on the streets of Cali weeks before this follow up album was released. Life After shows Biggie's growth as an artist and man. The storytelling is very cinematic and compelling. This is really a movie on wax for real. The paranoia is also raised on here and for good reason since Biggie spent 1996 fending off Pac's accusations and insults. In short, Biggie was a naturally gifted, personable, smart dude that's greatly missed.

Disc one

1. Intro
Good intro that picks up right where "Ready To Die" left off (literally).

2. Somebody Gotta Die
My favorite song. This is Biggie at his storytelling best. He creates a vivid story of revenge and he lays out some amazing lyrics over this haunting beat. "Revenge I'm tastin at the tip of my lips. I can't wait to feel my clip in his hips." 10/10

3. Hypnotize
I hate this song. 3/10

4. Kick In The Door
Great song with some really tight lyrics from BIG. He's got some classic rhymes over this great beat by DJ Premier after a pretty funny skit with the Madd Rapper. "Ain't no other kings in this rap thing. They siblings, nothing but my chil'ren. One shot, they disappearin." 10/10

5. #!*@ You Tonight
Pretty nice song with R.Kelly for the ladies. Big's got some nice rhymes and it's got a good beat. Incredibly raunchy. 7/10

6. Last Day
Pretty hot song produced by Havoc. It features LOX and they all tear up their verses as does Biggie. "You still apologizing, analyzing, my size and your size and realizing, a fist fight would be asinine" 9/10

7. I Love The Dough
A little too poppy. I think of it as the sequel to "Brooklyn's Finest" on "Reasonable Doubt". Again, both Biggie and Jay-Z produce some great lyrics. "You ain't fazing the amazing. While your gun's raising, mine is blazing." 8/10

8. What's Beef?
Good song over a pretty catchy beat with a lot of strings. Puffy gets annoying but Biggie's got some more great, slow rhymes. It also contains one of the most fucked up lines in the history of rap. (Well besides that ONE song by DMX) 9/10

9. B.I.G. Interlude
Nothing special or notable other than that it's produced by The Notorious B.I.G. He just spells out his name.

10. Mo Money Mo Problems
Very catchy beat but it got overplayed. Still, Ma$e provides a nice verse as does Big. Puffy is OK. "Me lose my touch? Never that. If I did, ain't no problem to get the gat." 8/10

11. N****s Bleed
Another great song in which BIG tells a gripping story. It's got a great, dark beat. By the end of this song, you feel like you're in that hallway. "Nothing to lose, tattooed around his gun wounds. Everything to gain, embedded in his brain." 10/10

12. I Got A Story To Tell
Funny story BIG tells about what happens when a guy walks into his house where Biggie's with the guy's girl. Afterwards, BIG tells the story again but not in song. 9/10

Disc Two

1. Notorious Thugs
Good song with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Shows Biggie's range as he speed raps successfully with Bone Thugs. Catchy hook as well. "Doesn't it seem odd to you? Big come through with mobs and crews." 10/10

2. Miss U
Depressing song that Big sings about friends that have died (mainly about his homey "O"). "I'm a thug, but I swear, for three days I cried. I looked in the sky and ask God why. Can't look his baby girls in the eye." 9/10

3. Another
Pretty weak song featuring Lil Kim. Probably considered filler. Pretty bad techno sounding beat too. 4/10

4. Going Back to Cali
Okay song about Cali. average beat and some great lines by Big. Funny phone conversation between BIG and Puffy at the beginning. "All I got is beef with those that violate me. I shall annihilate thee." 8/10

5. Ten Crack Commandments
Classic song basically about how to be a successful drug dealer. Clever lyrics and delivery. "Don't you know Bad Boys move in silence or violence? Take it from your highness. I done squeezed mad clips at these cats for they bricks and chips." 10/10

6. Playa Hater
Very funny song with BIG singing about how to rob. It's just funny hearing him sing (or at least try). 9/10

7. Nasty Boy
I don't know. I don't think that there's anything really special about this song. The beat's kind of annoying and the song's not a standout by any means. I Cant fuck with this shit. 3/10

8. Sky's The Limit
Great inspirational song by Biggie who basically explains his ascent in the world. It's sad hearing him look forward to his future though. "Only make moves when your heart's in it and live the phrase 'Sky's The Limit'" 9/10

9. The World is Filled
Unnecessary song. Too Short and Puffy make guest appearances but they're not memorable. 7/10

10. My Downfall
Creepy song with BIG talking about people out to get him. Great beat and lyrics and DMC handles the chorus. "Not too many keep a mill in the briefcase. Infrared's help me sleep safe." 10/10

11. Long Kiss Goodnight
Another great, dark song at the end of this album. Some really great rhymes in here over really great beat by RZA (Wu-Tang Clan). "Laugh now cry later, I rhyme greater than the average player haters and spectators." 10/10

12. You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)
Perfect ending for The album even though it's creepy as fuck listening to it. Classic lyrics and great beat by the Hitmen. "As I leave my competition respirator style. Climb the ladder to success escalator style." Crazy line. 10/10

With 2 discs, Life After Death gives the listener a lot of material by Biggie. Some reviewers criticize this as having some weaker stuff and annoying guest appearances, but I think that's just a function of having a bigger album. Some stuff inevitably will not be as good as the rest. And I think the guest appearances are fine. Lil Kim spews off a foul mouth on one track, but that's what she does in her own stuff. Anyway, there's lots of great raps on here. The album's a bit slicker and more produced, lacking some of the edge of Ready to Die, but I think things as a whole work very well. While maybe not quite as awesome, on a song by song basis, as Ready to Die, this album definitely has enough quality material for the an enjoyable listen.

Lyrics: A-
Production: B+
Guest Appearances: C+
Musical Vibes: A-
Overall: B+

Top 5 Favorite Tracks:
1. Somebody's Gotta Die
2. I gotta Story to tell
3. Niggaz Bleed
4. Ten Crack Conmmandments
5. Sky's The Limit

Honorable Mention Tracks:
1. Whats Beef
2. You're Nobody (Till Somebody Kills You)

Kanye West - All Of The Lights ft. Rihanna, Kid Cud

2011-02-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

Sony HDR-FX7 3-CMOS Sensor HDV High-Definition Handycam Camcorder with 20x Optical Zoom

2011-01-14T08:07:00.000-08:00

Shoot like a pro with the HDR-FX7 High Definition Handycam(R) camcorder. Capture amazing video and still images in high definition with the first HDV 1080i 3 CMOS sensor consumer-level camcorder and player in the world. The three - 1/4" ClearVID CMOS Sensors provide stunning detail and precision, while a 20x Optical Zoom Carl Zeiss Lens maintains image clarity. Since the HDR-FX7 records video in high-definition, you can dual record still images at the same time. So no matter what the occasion, the HDR-FX7 is the perfect camcorder for the situation. A Sony developed Real Time MPEG Encode/Decode system with reduced energy consumption and compact size to fit inside a personal camcorder. This provides efficient MPEG2 compression, and recording and playback of clear HD images at the same bit rate of the DV format, so that High Definition video can be recorded on the same cassettes as are used for MiniDV recording. From the authority in lens technology, the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T lens provides a high-quality 20x optical zoom which maintains image clarity and color while reducing glare and flare. Dual independent zoom and focus rings provide precise and detailed control over the amount of zoom and the overall focus of the image with just a turn of the rings. Fast, intuitive framing when zooming, and finely detailed focusing is easy with the natural "feel" of the rings. Easily adjust the amount of light entering the lens by adjusting exposure brightness in accordance with the iris and gain. The Iris control allows the volume of light to be adjusted (shutter speed and gain are adjustable). Though not small enough to carry with you to Disney, this camcorder opens up new opportunities for serious amateur and semi-professionals to record videos suitable for play on new widescreen HDTV sets. An IEEE1394 iLink port is provided for easy transfer to a PC or Macintosh for professional editing applications.

Album Reveiw:"Rick Ross-Teflon Don"

2010-07-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

It's real hard to give Rick Ross a legit rating seeing I'm already so biased against him but I'll try. I tried to compare him to Nas(my favourite MC) where Nas calls himself Nas Escobar. But really I couldn't, while rappers have been stretching the truth for a long time, no rapper has ever called themselves a drug king pin then found out to be a prison officer. I understand the man had to eat, and a man that big eats alot. But it's a massive blow on his music, albums and his whole career. Unless you like his flow and voice you won't really like his album, so that's another blow for me. He no doubt has an ear for beats, I'd rather rather listen to his instrumentals then him to spit the truth, he's feature heavy so most the talent you come across on this album isn't even his. I can't give it a bad rating because the album isn't bad and I can't give it a good rating because it isn't that good, Rick Ross has barely any quotables or verses that hit you and make you think "Dammmn this mother fucker is off the chain" but it's reasonably solid. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but I wouldn't advise against it. It's just got a neutral feeling.

Lyrics(Ross's only) - 2/5
Beats - 5/5
Originality - 2/5
-1 for being a CO but I'm not going to pitch that in the rating.

25 Things That Killed (And Are Still Killing) Urban Music....

2010-06-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

25 Things That Killed (and are Still Killing) Urban Music

In the midst of everyone's declarations that "Hip Hop is Dead" we somehow forgot the slow death that is spreading across all aspects of "urban" music, as the legacy of Soul and its close cousins has devolved into a writhing mass of commercialism, homogenization, thuggification and overall laziness. Now, in no particular order, I present to you the "25 Things That Killed (and are Still Killing) Urban Music" because you love lists and i'm not afraid to say what you're thinking. Keep in mind that there will be some overlap, as certain items gave way to others that deserve their own spanking.

1. The End of the "Event" Album: There was a time when albums encompassed an era that included a look, a feel, and a style that informed an artist's videos and live performances for as long as they (or the label) could squeeze revenue from a project by releasing singles. The "event" album can chiefly be credited to Jacksons Michael and Janet, who have entire timelines built around the idea of a "Thriller Era" or a "Rhythm Nation Era". Nowadays, instead of treating albums as what they are (a collection of songs with one unifying theme) artists are more likely to seek out the most ubiquitous Hip Hop beatmakers of the moment and record over a hundred songs from which to "pick" singles. Also, when you have artists that are too scared to release music with a healthy 3-5 year gap in between, the lines to between albums begin to blur, and the eras become indistinguishable, rendering them null.

2. Big Name Hip Hop Producers: With respect due to the beatmakers that introduce a track with the name of their production imprint, ad-lib all over it, and insert themselves as guest rappers 50% of the time, they overshadow the actual vocalist of a song. We certainly don't begrudge any of them the right to employment, but when an artist has to do an inventory of who produced her project to qualifiy it instead of telling us what the album is about, we have to take exception. Reality check: If you're trying to goad me into a purchasing your album because you have a Pharrell beat on it and I'm a Pharrell fan, then that's the only song I'm buying. Your album has to have legs of its own.

3. Deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. & 2Pac: You can probably draw a direct line from the deaths of Biggie and 'Pac to the current state of Hip Hop. The two of them cultivated a style that even a decade later is re- and misappropriated to the nth. Perhaps if they were still alive, they'd have pushed the genre forward. Or maybe they'd be wack and irrelevant. Hey, at least they died while they were still good.

4. "Neo-Soul": We understand the emergence of the "neo-soul" genre as a response to the growing commercialization of modern R&B. But even the artists lumped into this category began to the see that the term was as much a marketing ploy as the very things they eschewed. The language used to describe these artists ranged from "organic" to "avant garde" and any press materials would claim that he/she looks up to Stevie, Marvin and Donnie. And don't stand too close to the stage lest you get burned by the candles and frankencense! Before long, the audience would be fooled and we would either grow to love or loathe this music, defending the art of its purveyors and loudly wondering why they couldn't move as many units as their mainstream counterparts. Simply put, "neo-soul" has become a term used by people to describe music they respect but would never buy.

5. Reality TV: Aside from the manufactured Pop idols that are struggling to stay signed within their prize contracts, we have to question the motives of Sean Combs, Robin Antin and Missy Elliott, who have all aped the reality television format to generate acts for their own stable of artists. To be sure, reality TV has replaced proper Artist Development as a means for these entrepreneurs to cash in, stroke their egos and embarrass people who, 9 times out of 10, deserve it. Speaking of which, what's O'so Krispie doing?

6. Lazy A&R Departments: Did you know that A&R people are also responsible for Artist Development? Probably not, since these days a newly-signed artist is more likely to be stripped of their identity and given one that falls in step with what's popular or, even worse, none at all. Take Cheri Dennis for example. While her album has a respectable amount of solid R&B tracks, we still don't know who Cheri Dennis is, what sets her apart from everyone else or even what she sounds like. But, she has earned the distinction of being signed to her label for nearly a decade with no album to speak of. Did the A&R department utilize that time by playing Spades? Probably.

7. Scarface and The Untouchables: Okay, rapper, we get it, Scarface and The Untouchables are the greatest movies ever made; your life in celluloid, even. But, if you look close enough, you'll come to learn that you are neither Pacino or De Niro and should stop emulating them by using audio clips from the films in your interludes and the script in your lyrics. Too many of you are still doing this after all these years. Also, tell members of your crew to stop calling themselves "Ness" and "Nitti". Just, please, cut it out. Thank you.

8. Thugs: Not only do we have "Studio Thugs" that use de Palma films to inform their image (see above) but there's the "Corporate Thug" (robs an artist of his publishing and signs him to a hellified contract he could never fulfill) and the questionable "R&B Thug", which happened somewhere between R. Kelly and Jodeci and continues to this day. Along the way, labels got the bright idea that the way to a woman's heart was by selling drugs and beating up people. Sexy! This trend has also given rise to something else we'll never understand: "R&B Beef", in which two singers talk trash about each other to the media. Unfortunately, this doesn't result in a "sing-off" but pretty much makes everyone involved look kind of retarded.

9. Crime: Between violating probation, not paying child support, being pulled over and caught with an ounce of weed or cocaine, assaulting nail technicians, shooting people, tossing concertgoers off the stage, committing perjury, tax evasion, and urinating on minors, we have to wonder if being a good artist means being a bad citizen.

10. Ringtones: "Real Music Ringtones" were created as a way to distinguish your ringing cellular from someone else's while also bringing you closer to your favorite artist. Unfortunately, the labels realized this was the only way to generate revenue and started making music for the sole purpose of selling ringtones. Now, we have stripped-down keyboard beats and grunts and "yaahhs" instead of lyrics. Is that my cellphone ringing or yours? We'll never know, because we both downloaded Soulja Boy.

11. Lack of Music Programs in Schools: Programs like Garage Band have not only made producers lazy, but undercut the importance of immersing young would-be musicians in music history as well as basic composition. Unless a popular musician was trained in the church, they probably lucked into a contract without knowing how to write, play an instrument, or worse, sing a note.

12. BET (and by extension its corporate owner) is on a mission to not only destroy urban music, but poison the perception of Black people in the process. If we were to use this network as a guide (and people unfortunately do), we would believe that "drug dealer > rapper > pimp" is a logical career path, alcoholic beverages can be used as bodysplash, women of exotic or indeterminate race are the standard of beauty, darker-skinned women are only valuable if they have a big ass and a tiny waist, a person's worth can only be determined by what they drive and what they wear, you ain't sh*t if you're over 30, and a week's worth of debauchery and decadence can be undone with a Sunday marathon of religious programming. It's funny because it's true.

13. The Radio: Used to be, you would turn on the radio and hear a variety of artists with a variety of sounds. But due to the "Clear Channeling" of Urban Radio, you'll hear a T-Pain song followed by 15 minutes of commercials, followed by a song featuring T-Pain, some shucking and jiving by unbearable radio personalities for five minutes, then something that resembles a T-Pain song, but isn't because just about everyone sounds like T-Pain now. And it's probably a commercial.

14. Spineless Club DJs: If you're going out to a club, you might as well sit in the house and blast the radio instead of paying the inflated cover charge. Once upon a time, DJs were tastemakers, but now so many of them are afraid they'll clear the floor by spinning something new that they just play album versions of songs people are tired of but are too drunk to notice. Then, they add insult to injury by showing off their "skills" with poorly-timed scratches, blends that don't line up and screaming over the music. And consider yourself lucky if you happen upon a DJ with ACTUAL! VINYL! RECORDS!

15. Mainstream Hip Hop Publications: Back in the 90's, holding one of these rags in your hands was like holding a monthly Bible to all things Hip Hop and R&B. Now, they've all been relegated to chasing blogs and reiterating things we already knew weeks ahead instead of properly utilizing the print medium to do something unique. Changes in personnel and ownership aside, they were already marching towards irrelevance. Even the covers suck now, but you probably won't get the damn thing delivered on time in order to find out.

16. Bloggers: Guilty as charged! Trifle few of us are qualified to be writing about music with any authority, especially since most of the people behind blogs haven't been alive long enough to have a healthy perspective on the subject. Although it can be argued that record companies rely on blogs for buzz, most of the music championed by popular websites is the same music that would've gotten attention anyway. Also, we have to point out that the commenting system has turned discussions about music into an unholy war of "haters" versus "stans", where everyone is an expert on what they hate or love, but have no concept of anything else including real life. Oh, and providing your readers with the URL to full album leaks doesn't "help" the artist.

17. Youtube & Myspace: On the Internet, everyone is a star (thank you, thank you). But while sites like Myspace and Youtube can provide mainstream and indie musicians with a means of cultivating and connecting with an audience, it becomes a chore to sort through the muck of people with a webcam and a login classifying themselves as "artists". And damn you all to Hell for having the crap you made in Grandma's basement on auto-play.

18. Singing Rappers, Acting Rappers & Rapping Athletes: We'll keep this short. Every now and then you'll happen upon someone that has been able to organically transition from one career to another. Will and Latifah come to mind. To everyone else (coughCurtiscough), stay in your lane. Again, we don't begrudge anyone the chance to make some extra ends; it just shouldn't be at the expense of the audience.

19. The End of Real Singing Groups: Once upon a time, you not only had singing groups that weren't put together by a reality show, but wherein each member contributed a distinct voice or purpose to the group. Sometimes they had members that barely sang a note, but who actually produced or wrote the song. Point is, throwing a bunch of strangers in a house with one phone and giving them makeovers doesn't create synergy. Also, name a recent singing group that wasn't created for a television show or for the purpose of launching someone's solo career. Exactly.

20. "Kanyitis" : is a temporary, yet frequent, illness that afflicts singers and rappers alike, wherein an artist waits until the precise moment they are in front of a camera, microphone or reporter to say something shocking and stupid, which will then be quoted by bloggers and searched on Youtube ad nauseum. Then the artist has to explain what they "really" meant, but by that time everyone already thinks they're nuts and doesn't care about a retraction.

21. Death of Aaliyah: Not that Aaliyah took an entire genre of music with her to the grave, but it can be argued that her passing made way for a wave of young, pretty dancers with okay voices and no personality. Only difference between them and Aaliyah is, Aaliyah had personality along with talent, ideas and a willingness to experiment. Also, she wasn't so full of herself.
(DAMN WE LOST A GOOD ONE...THIS ONE HIT CLOSE TO HOME AS A GOOD FRIEND OF MY FAMILY WAS ONE OF THE VICTIMS OF THIS TRAGEDY. AND I ACTUALLY SAW THAT PERSON AND GOT THE PRIVILEGE OF MEETING AALIYAH JUST WEEKS BEFORE THIS OCCURRED!!! AND SHE MIGHT POSSIBLY BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN I EVER SAW IN PERSON. AT LEAST FACE-WISE ANYWAY. SHE WAS VERY SLIM...ALMOST FRAIL BUT HER FACE WAS DOWNRIGHT BEAUTIFUL. SHE DEFINITELY HAD AN ANGELIC PRESENCE. CHICK WAS DAMN NEAR GLOWING IT SEEMED. JUST CRAZY!!! I DIGRESS.)::

22. Money: Even worse than artists releasing garbage because they know it sells is the audience's obsession with how much an artist makes. Unfortunately, we've given lack of artistry a pass because someone's "making that paper", which totally undermines the hard work of true creative talents that are constantly writing, recording, and performing. When I buy an album I don't want to hear an entrepreneur, which brings us to--

23. Products & Brands: Whether rappers and singers are inserting the names of designer alcoholic beverages into their lyrics or cable companies are inserting rappers and singers in their ad campaigns, things come to a point where we need to start realizing how owned these artists are. There's a thin line between businessperson and corporate slave. We'd also like to reiterate a fact that has been pointed out time and time again over the past 10 years: If you can't pronounce it, why should we care that you're wearing it, driving it, or drinking it?

24. People That Aren't in Any Way Associated with Music: Opportunities in the industry are built on connections and there's almost never been a time when someone didn't rise to stardom on someone else's coattails. But now, things have gotten way out of hand. Why be an actual artist when you can be someone that danced in videos, screwed a bunch of rappers and got a book deal? Or, you can be a butler or Executive In Charge of Umbrella-Carrying? Or, worse, be the "Fifth Mic" guy on stage and reliable instigator? Who needs a recording studio?

25. Teenagers: Young people have always had the power to determine trends in all genres of music, which is why corporations defer to them. However, today's teenagers seem to be slightly more insipid than they were in previous generations and definitely have a shorter attention span. Whether it's the teens themselves driving the garbage labels are releasing, or the labels that are leading teens down a path of ignorance, is totally up for debate. It's the chicken/egg question in its purest form.

Man....

2010-04-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

I havent been on here in a while....Check out my Youtube channel at Youtube.com/ThisizweezyF. Cheers!!

Too tired to post anything...watching How High...

2009-10-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

Kanye West "Flashing Lights" Live

2009-10-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

Crazy News lady

2009-10-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Classic Video:Jay-Z "In My Lifetime (Remix)"

2009-10-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

"25 Worst Rap Lyrics Ever"

2009-10-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

25 lyrical missteps that made your favorite rappers wish they could go back in time and rewrite their rhymes

25. "Verse number 2 do the damn thang keeps on my neck pocket's full of Ben Franks."
Yung Joc, "It's Goin' Down."
Album: New Joc City
A classic case of saying...absolutely nothing.

24. "There's no need to lie folk, Why you sleepin' wit ya eyes closed?"
Timbaland, "Get on the Bus"
Album: Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Soundtrack)
Well, Tim, if I had to endure your mediocre rhymes all the time I'd definitely sleep with my eyes, ears, and nose closed as well.

23. "I can double my density from three-sixty degrees to seven-twenty instantly."
Canibus, "Funk Master Flex Freestyle"
Obviously, Canibus slept through 10th grade when they went over units of measurement.

22."Thirty-eight revolve like the sun round the Earth."
Jay-Z, "It's Hot"
Album: Volume 3: Life and Times of S.Carter
And, Jay-Z skipped his Geography class.

21. "N****s in the Bronx call me Lex cause I push a Lex, and I rock a Rolex and I lounge on Lex', and I love sex."
Peter Gunz, "Deja Vu: Uptown Baby"
Album: Make It Reign
What are the odds that Cory Gunz ghostwrote this for his dad at age 9?

20. "Never let me slip, cause if I slip, then I'm slippin."
Dr. Dre, "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang"
Album: The Chronic
Aren't we glad that he eventually decided to hire some ghostwriters?

19. "When it's hot I'm duckin' them people with my firearm Look I be straight thuggin."
Turk, "Trife Livin"
Album: Young and Thuggin'
If he's the one with the firearm, why's he duckin'?

18."My paragraph alone is worth five mics (uh-huh) A twelve song LP, that's thirty-six mics (uh-huh)"
Redman "5 Boroughs"
Album: The Corruptor Soundtrack
Apparently, Redman's calculator is miles ahead of the game.

17. Don't try to treat me like I ain't famous My apologies, are you into astrology Cause I'm, I'm tryin to make it to Uranus
Kanye West, "Gettin' It In"
Album: Kiss of Death
Oh I get it: there's Libra, Sagittarius, Scorpio, and then Uranus. And you say Kanye doesn't deserve to have his image displayed next to the word 'genius' in Webster's Dictionary?

16."Hood n***a from Bankhead, I stay by Grandma Nana I lay by my banana, dumpin' and punkin' monkeys."
Young Dro, "Shoulder Lean"
With all the money T.I. makes from music and movies, you'd think he would at least invest in a decent ghostwriter for his sidekick.

15."When you take a sip you buzz like a hornet Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets."
LFO, "Summer Girls"
Cut them some slack. These guys graduated from the prestigious Vanilla Ice Institute of Hip-Hop and decided to try their hands at random word association.

14. "Sometime y'all get crimey crimey, grimy grimy But those with a tiny hiney they get whiny whiny."
Cam'Ron, "5 Boroughs"
Album: The Corruptor Soundtrack
Someone should have informed Cam that this choppy choppy rhyme thing is silly silly.

13."I'm hungry for cheese like Hungry, Hungry Hippo."
Project Pat ("Ballers")
Album: Ghetty Green
Extra points for giving us one of the worst songs ever known to man.

12."If you don't bring back my m****f*****n money or my m***f****n dope, you can forget about Christmas n***a, cause you ain't gon even see New Years."
Master P ("Do You Know")
In Master P's universe, New Year comes right before Christmas.

11."It's like fee, fie, foe, fum, I smell the blood of a jealous a*s punk."
Prodigy ("Click Clack")
Album: Blood Money
No longer inspired by hardcore hip-hop, Prodigy turns to nursery rhymes for some equally uninspiring lyrics.

10."First family will gradually lift that a*s up like gravity."
Lil' Fame (of M.O.P.) ("Half and Half")
Sire Isaac Newton must be turning in his grave right now.

9."I like the way ya ass move to the beat You a freak, that's somethin' you can be."
J-Kwon ("Show Your A**")
Album: Hood Hop
You see, kids, that's another reason why you should stay in school.

[Could'nt find a pic on Google]8. "D.D.T. the b**ch, I can go for some hours. Let Parlae hit, together we like twin towers."
Pimpin ("Freaky as She Wanna Be")
Album: On Top of Our Game
A terribly humorless and tasteless joke. Enough said.

7."I like them black, white, Puerto Rican, or Haitian Like Japanese, Chinese, or even Asian."
Chingy ("Balla Baby")
Album: Powerballin'
As far as Chingy's concerned, Asian is a nationality damnit.

6."I'll break it down for you now, baby it's simple If you be a nympho, I'll be a nympho."
50 Cent ("Candy Shop")
Album: The Massacre
Well, what do you expect from an artist whose stage moniker in itself constitutes a grammatical mishap?

5."Thirty-two grams raw, chop it in half, get sixteen, double it times three. We got forty-eight, which mean a whole lot of cream Divide the profit by four, subtract it by eight We back to sixteen..."
Foxy Brown ("Affirmative Action")
Album: It Was Written
This holds the world record for worst mathematics on a song.

[Could'nt find a pic on Google]
4."Got a Bill in my mouth like I'm Hillary Rodham."
Ali G (Grillz)
Album: Sweat/Suit
No comments.

3."Young, black, and famous, with money hanging out the anus."
Mase ("Can't Nobody Hold Me Down")
Album: No Way Out
Now, that's the type of money I definitely wouldn't want to touch before breakfast.

2."I watch my back when I'm walkin, I watch my mouth when I'm talking. My glock cocked when I'm crawling."
Mike Jones ("Scandalous H**s")
Album: Who is MIke Jones?
What's next? I watch my ears when I'm hearing, I watch my sight when I'm seeing?

1. Now you know that I'm the Queen of Miami. All that loud talkin, lyin, save that sh*t for your mammy. Sounds like "blah, blah blah, blah bla blah-blah," I'm like uh-huh (uh-huh) okay (okay), Whassup (whassup) SHUT UP!"
Trina ("Here We Go")
Album: Glamorest Life
Actual lyrics.

Lol we should've known then....

2009-10-02T14:31:00.001-07:00

Jay-Z BluePrint 3 Commercial

2009-09-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

This is the first time a commercial actually made me want to buy the album.

Classic Video:LL Cool J - Around The Way Girl

2009-09-03T12:39:00.001-07:00

Vh1 Behind the Music (50 Cent)

2009-09-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

This Actually looks kinda interesting...Check it out on October 13.

My apologizes

2009-09-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of reviews lately, I've just been busy with school, and i don't have the time to listen to a whole album, like I used to, but don't worry, the reviews will be coming. Be on the lookout for Slaughterhouse reviews, Jay-z (Blueprint 3), and more!

Enter The 36 Chambers Movie Samples Used by RZA

2009-09-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

Don't know if anyone has seen this, but I think it's pretty interesting...

Which Is better?

2009-09-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

As we all know by now, Raekwon is preparing to release his new album called Only Built For Cuban Linx 2, which is the sequel to the Classic album "Only Built For Cuban Linx, (I reviewed that album a while back, if anyone was wondering)any way, since its a hobby of mine to compare older things to newer things (I have such good grammar) I want your opinions on the album covers. Personally I prefer the original cover, with the snarling Raekwon, to the newer one with shows Raekwon looking like he didn't even know his photo was being taken.

Anyway aside from my rambling you've just read, what do you think about the new album cover? Does it stack up to the original?

Just a thought....

2009-07-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or are the New Boyz stealing the Cool Kids Style?

Classic Video:Mobb Deep "Give Up The Goods"

2009-07-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

Feeling kinda lazy today, so enjoy.

Classic Video:Dr.Dre "Heads Ringing"

2009-07-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Damn this brings back memories of Friday.

Album Review:The Game "Doctors Advocate"

2009-07-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

There's nothing better to amp a person up than listening to a cocky rapper who is great at what they do, and The Game is just that. "Doctor's Advocate" is a very solid album. In fact, it's even closer to being a classic than his first album ("The Documentary") was. As a whole, there are more enjoyable songs on this album than his first, but there is also a very confusing theme running through the whole album. In some songs (a lot actually) he's trying to sound exactly like Dr. Dre. He copies his flow and voice down to the last syllable. (Also I Changed My Reviewing system, let me know what you think of it.)

1. Lookin At You
This is a good track, with a bassy beat and a very West Coast feel. His "Dr. Dre" flow is appropriate on this track, and he ends it on a high note and a subtle shot at his arch nemesis, saying "Me and my mic can't be separated like Interscope and (*Fifty*)"

2. Da Sh**
Tracy Nelson's vocals were welcome on the first track, but two tracks in a row is way too much. Game's flow however is completely on point, but again with the Dr. Dre voice. It's too much. Game's cocky swagger riding the beat will definitely get heads nodding though. It has to be said that his spoken line at the end of the song ("One day I walked in the mother****** house and all my sh** was gone") is not needed as it doesn't fit with the subject of the song.

3. It's Okay (One Blood)
This track was recorded before Game knew there would be no Dr. Dre on his album, and you can tell. He sounds excited, hungry, and is rapping with his own voice, not Dre's. The flow (especially in Verse One) is the best I've heard from his since "300 Bars and Runnin." As soon as the song starts, Game brushes off all of the gossip that people had been hearing: "I'm the Doctor's Advocate, n***a Dre shot ya. Brought me back from the dead, that's why they call him the doctor. 'The 'Math gunna drop him and Fifty ain't rocking with him no more,' it's okay I get it poppin!" This should have been the opening track.

4. Compton
I has to be said: will.i.am is cheesy. Damn cheesy. His beat for this song is okay, but his shouts of "Where the gangstas boogie, the gangstas boogie!" are just straight corny. Game's verses save the song from being horrible, but they aren't memorable.

5. Remedy
Just Blaze's production is reminiscent of Dre, but this song isn't very memorable, aside from Game's hilarious question posed in the first verse: "Why Andrew Jackson look high as f**k on the Twenty?"

6. Let's Ride
Game's flow is on point in this song, the second single of the album. It's definitely a good album track, but it also seems too mediocre to be a single and a video. There are many tracks on the album just as good as this.

7. Too Much (Feat. Nate Dogg)
Nate Dogg's presence is much needed on this song, and it only solidifies Game's place among the West Coast bests. Game clearly doesn't need Aftermath or G-Unit to sell records. 50 Cent, no matter how much I like the guy, was wrong.

8. Wouldn't Get Far (Feat. Kanye West)
Game and Kanye work together to make a highly entertaining song much like 2Pac's "All About U." Game name drops Vida Guerra and reveals some interesting facts about her, and his verse definitely bests Kanye's. The production works well with the song, but the duo's song "Dreams" on Game's first album is much better.

9. Scream on 'Em
Swiss Beat's modest but crazy production allows Game to completely unleash with fire that we haven't seen in the man since 300 Bars. "This is that disrespectful, motherf***ing west coast, hip-hop death blow, Swizz Beats let's go!" The Game is slowly become, dare I say, a modern day 2Pac. He has the fire, the passion, and the anger. All he needs now is to stay constant with his rap voice.

10. One Night
Speaking of Pac, this track keeps it real like the legend does. While it isn't a standout track, Game's raw talent and realness is evident in the song.

11. Doctor's Advocate (Feat. Busta Rhymes)
The song is about Games feelings about the seperation between him and Dr. Dre and how much he misses working with him and how thankful he is to him...kind of gay but its a good track and really shows Games lyrical ability. Busta Rhymes plays the friend who is trying to help Game through his (Somewhat) tough time...very good song.

12. Ol' English
Along with "It's Okay (One Blood)" and the title track, this is an absolute stand-out track. The Game raps about his childhood, reminiscing about his escapades as a youngster. This is a joint to listen about in a circle, with friends, a 40, and something being passed around. (I have no idea what should be passed)

13. California Vacation (Feat. Xzibit, Snoop Dogg)
Game, again, tries too hard to sound like Dr. Dre in this song, but I can't say it takes away from the effect. The union of Game, Snoop, and Xzibit is monumental, although Xzibit sounds oddly off-point. Some of his lines are okay, but not as good as Game's and the revitalized Snoop Dogg. The Dogg seems to be at his prime once again.

14. Bang (Feat The Doggpound)
Tha Doggpound seem a bit out of place on this album, and Game's flow is the laziest I've ever heard it. There is absolutely no fire or hunger in his voice, and Tha Doggpound shine on this Jellyroll produced track, which is saying enough. There is no question, this is the worst song on the album--it should have been saved for a mixtape and replaced with the One Blood Remix, which features an insane amount of artists. That would probably be impossible to get clearance with all the labels though.

15. Around the World (Feat. Jaimie Foxx)
The track starts off with Jamie Foxx's distinctive voice, and then Game's lyrics start and they're as real as they come: "She like that Jay sh**, that's her favorite/ if it's gunna get me the p***y I'ma play that sh**." Who hasn't thought that before? The song itself is generic r&b/rap, but Game's lyrics are on point.

16. Why You Hate the Game (Feat. Nas)
I definitly expected a harder track from the Nas/Game collaboration, but it's okay. This song is decent, and Marsha Ambrosius's vocals add depth to the track but there seems to be too much of her on the song and not enough rap from either Nas or Game. I have to say though, Nas isn't at his best, but Game's lyrics are memorable in this track: "Fifteen years old/ red rag around my head, my sisters used to laugh and call me Rambo." Game ends the song on a high note, addressing the death of Proof as well,
as the situation with 50 Cent. "And I still think about my n***a (Proof) from time to time/ makes me wanna call Fifty and let him know what's on my mind/ but I just hold back 'cause we ain't beefing like that/ he ain't Big and I ain't Pac and we're just eating off rap/ One love." Great ending.

I admit, I was pretty amazed when I heard The Game's sophomore album "The Doctor's Advocate". When I heard that Dr. Dre wasn't going to be apart of this album, I wondered how is Game going to handle working with other producers. But he didn't let it affect him whatsoever, because he used it to his advantage. The Game has shown improvement since "The Documentary", and has gone through some drama between that album and this one. The fact that he was able to work with that and let it all out on this album was good. Although "The Doctor's Advocate" is nice, we still have some residue from the previous album. Of course, The Game does his name dropping. I can't count how many times he mentioned Dr. Dre or "The Chronic" on this album. It doesn't affect this album as much as his first, probably because we've all gotten used to it. Also I wasn't feeling the songs "Compton" and "Lets Ride". Other than that this is one excellent album from The Game. He didn't let any distractions phase him when he made this album. He also showed that he can carry an album without Dr. Dre's production This is one album I can recommend to your library.

Lyrics: B+
Production: B+
Guest Appearances: C+
Musical Vibes: A-
Overall: B+

Top 5 Favorite Tracks:
1. Why You Hate The Game
2. One Blood (It's Okay)
3. Ol' English
4. California Vacation (with Snoop Dogg and Xzibit)
5. Doctor's Advocate (with Busta Rhymes)

Honorable Mention Tracks:
1. Wouldn't Get Far (with Kanye West)
2. One Night

B.o.B - Put Me On (Reebok Classic Remix '09)

2009-07-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Big up to Reebok for bringing back the classics, and adding a new twist to it. (i still won't wear your shoes though)

Jordan Dmp Pack

2009-07-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

This would have to be my favortie pair of Jordan’s that are releasing this year. Here we have the Jordan 1 DMP pack which commemorates the day MJ lit up Boston Garden for 63 points in Game 2 of their first round series against the Celtics back in 1986. These will be releasing this saturday at select Jordan retailers such as Undftd Silverlake in Los Angeles this Saturday, July 11th

Classic Video:EPMD "You Gots To Chill"

2009-07-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

Epmd.-You.gots.to.chill
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Special Album Review:Michael Jackson's "Thriller"

2009-07-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

I do not want to dwell on the death of Michael Jackson or his behaviour or his personality or the tabloid rumours. This is a discussion of music. But all I would like to say is that Michael Jackson will always be remembered for so many positive things through his music, videos, live performances, charity work and overall kindness. I will miss him deeply.

But as far as THRILLER is concerned, it deserves every accolade and award it received. For Michael, he was only trying to progress after the success of his previous album, OFF THE WALL. But with Quincy Jones producing and inviting the talents of Paul MacCartney, Eddie Van Halen and Vincent Price, the album had quite a pedigree before hitting the stores.

Seven singles is probably milking the cow very dry but really every song has single potential and it is a shame that the two non-singles: BABY BE MINE and THE LADY IN MY LIFE are always eclpised by the other songs.

1. "Wanna Be Starting Something"
pure funk with a verse that is hard to make out what MJ is saying. But it is a great way to start off the album and is capped off with the very memorable chorus: "mama say mama sa ma ma coo sa"

2. "Baby Be Mine"
Now this is a pretty good song and should be more known. I think it would have been a better single choice than PYT.

3. "The Girl Is Mine" (Feat. Paul McCartney)
My least favourite song is the duet between Michael and Paul McCartney. It's somewhat sugary but it is not so bad until the last minute where they have an atrocious verbal sparring. For a classic album this has got to be one of Pop Music's worst disaters. Also, as it turns out, this would not be the last time Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson would record together. On Paul McCartney's 1983 album, PIPES OF PEACE, there are two duets between he and Michael: "Say, Say, Say", which was released as a single and became a big hit, and "The Man".

(Next comes the powerhouse trio of songs that made the album a mega-seller. There were also three accompanying videos that showed how music videos should be made and everybody else has tried to emulate them ever since. From storyline, drama, backing dancers, the use of colour and choreography, Michael annihilated every video before him layed down the new rules that have been in effect ever since and no-one, including MTV dared dissent.)

4. "Thriller"
Thriller is a six minute opus written by unsung hero, Rod Templeton. Great melody, great musicianship and the most popular video ever made for a song. Throw in the wonderful lyrics and a ghoulish spoken vocal from Vincent Price, it is scary, funky and tremendous fun to listen to (and to watch!).

5. "Beat it"
"Beat it" is MJ in more of a rock mood, again enhanced with a classic video and the superb guitar solo from Eddie van Halen.

6. "Billie Jean"
If I was to pick one Michael Jackson song to take to that desert island, it would have to be "Billie Jean". This has to be one of the sexiest songs ever coupled with one of the coolest videos ever. The solo drum that kicks off the song, the classic bass guitar and those four notes on plucked strings set the mood. For all the glory that the THRILLER video receives, I still think the "Billie Jean" video is much better.

7. "Human Nature"
The one gripe about the album is that it gets anti-climatic at this point. "Human Nature" is a beautiful song and another deserved hit but it is a steep drop after the intensity of the previous 16 minutes.

8. "P.Y.T." (Pretty Young Thing)
This is a fun disco number but it is not in the same league as the three giants in the middle of the album. The "Pretty Young Thing" female vocals actually belong to Michael's sisters: La Toya & Janet.

9. "The Lady In My Life"
Another slow number but is very well done and very serene as a closure to the album.

It's interesting that of the seven singles released, only three had a video made. I do not know of any video for THE GIRL IS MINE, P.Y.T, HUMAN NATURE and WANNA BE STARTING SOMETHING. Overall though, it might have been better for Michael Jackson if this album sold half as much but that he personally doubled his capacity to deal with all the sudden fame and adulation that this album brought upon him. As much as I like the follow-up album BAD, the cover photo is very unsettling because of the change in his appearance. The cover of the Thriller album plus the music it contains will always show the real MICHAEL JACKSON to me.

Score:100 out of 100

Michael Jackson - Thriller
-

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
-

Micheal Jackson - Beat It
-

Album Review:Raekwon "Only Built For Cuban Linx"

2009-07-07T10:16:00.001-07:00

The RZA is known for providing the perfect beat to fit each rapper he gives it to, and "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" is the perfect example of the amazing chemistry between him and his Wu-Tang emcees. The beats and samples are all so perfect to fit with the styles of Rae and Ghost and each song flows so perfectly into the next that they seem to be like "part 2" of the song before it.

In the mid 90s, Rae was one of the best storytelling rappers ("the story tellin rap Magellan" as he puts it) around. Ghostface could kick a vicious battle rap any time he wants, and with those two elements combined over amazing production you get some of the best group work hip-hop has ever seen. Now be warned that I was'nt even aware of this album when it first came out, being that i'm only 17, so the nostalgic vaule is a little lost on me. I do however understand what this album means to people who were around my age in the 90's and what effect it had in their lives. My opinion is unbiased (Well not entirley since im a huge Wu-Tang fan). Anyway, enjoy the review.

1. "Striving For Perfection"
An album where even the INTRO is classic, simply put, rae and ghost want the best for themselves and each other.

2. "Knucklehead"
Nice opening song. The Beat is well made, Fast tempo beat, nice piano, It's a song about three guys who go rob, and then split those money up, One of them cheats them' and finally gets shot. (That someone was U-God, who I did'nt mind not hearing on this album afterwards, since he sucks balls.)

3. "Knowledge God"
One of my favorites with a hot beat. Oh yeah, it's also a Raekwon solo.

4. "Criminology"
The intro is a sample from Scarface, which is fuckin' awesome! Ghost and Rae both drop ill verses like their lives depended on it.

5. "Incarserated Scarfaces"
The beat is pretty simple, Just a beat with some little sound in background, something like a horn of Train. Another one Rae solo, and it's pretty good.

6. "Rainy Dayz"
The bitch singing is annoying but its a hot song with hot lyrics and a hot beat. If you read the XXL interview (Or my ealier post about the making of the album), You'll know that this beat is RZA's favorite on this album.

7. "Guillotine" (Swordz)
The only "kung fu" type wu song on here, every member tears it up on here.This beat is cut from one of the skits from Mr. Meth's Tical. Ghost,Inspetah Deck, and GZA all murder this beat, and make it their bitch, Much like 50 cent treats Tony Yayo, and Loyd Banks (Cheap shot, I know).

8. "Can it be all so simple" (Remix)
good song but not as good as the original

9. "Shark Niggas" (Biters)
On this interlude, Raekwon and Ghostface warn a certain someone (Well Biggie To be exact), to NEVER bite the Wu, nuff said)

10. "Ice Water"
Good song, good lyrics

11. "Glaciers of Ice"
One of my favorites, Masta Killa tears it up

12. "Verbal Intercourse"
The only song with a non Wu member in it and it happens to be my favorite rapper (Nas) with my favorite rap group (DUH WU-TANG). Nas rips the SHIT out of his verse, and proves why he's considered one of the greats.

13. "Wisdom Body"
Ghostface Killah solo...could've been better.

14. "Spot Rusherz"
I'm not really feeling this song.

15. "Ice Cream"
Hot song with hot beat and good lyrics...Cappadonna shines on this one.

16. "Wu-Gambinos"
One of my favorites...Rae, Ghost, Rza, and Meth tear it up...Masta Killa really tears it up (Suprisingly).

17. "Heaven and Hell"
Nice duet with Ghost and Rae switchin back and forth most melodic/beautiful song in this album. The sample is so great, Just imagine s slow version of C.R.E.A.M.

18. Skit

19. "North Star"
A Bonus track album, Rae solo but I'm not into it.

Raekwon's debut (Ghostface gets just as much props as the Chef does for this), as said by many, is considered a rap classic. As the beats drift on, you'll start to realize that it is solid and even though some beats are not familiar with the term of "catchiness", as those on previous Wu-Tang joints, Rza had found a way to make the tracks suit the Chef and Killah's distinct flow.

I wouldn't say that the beats beat out any other Wu-Tang joints as that fact is clearly not true (see: Liquid Swords by GZA) but I would say that it is true that Raekwon's loungin' big-dick-style bravado is memorable (it's those looped Mr. Softee bells that take center stage on Ice Cream). When it comes to finalizing to the best cut, you'd best stick with Verbal Intercourse, as it features masterful lyrics by the Chef and Killah, and includes very SMART lyrics by Nas, perhaps even too smart for himself. If Incarcerated Scarfaces isn't considered crack-rock catchy, maybe the word needs to be redefined. Like the Genius' Liquid Swords, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx takes a few listens to reveal the full scope of its lyrical complexities, but it's immensely rewarding in the end, and it stands as a landmark in the new breed of gangsta rap. I also might add that if this is considered the best Wu-Tang solo joint, maybe you need to check out GZA's Liquid Swords.

Raekwon - incarcerated
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Air Jordan AF1 Fusion 4

2009-07-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Nice Kicks, we have a look at what seem to be everyone’s favorite Air Jordan AF1 Fusion model, the Fusion 4. Similar to the classic Air Jordan IV “Military” colorway above, after the jump you’ll find the Air Jordan IV “Cement” and the Air Jordan IV “Blk/Red” colorways. All pairs are slated to release between July and September. Stay tuned as we keep you posted on these Fusion’s, till then check out the other colors after the jump.

Classic Video:Public Enemy "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos"

2009-07-06T01:54:00.000-07:00

Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos
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Album Review:Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool"

2009-07-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

Lupe Fiasco's sophomore album, 'The Cool', is killer, meeting my 'sky's the limit' expectations following his brilliant debut, 'Food And Liquor'. Not content producing a bog-standard rap album, Lupe has tread into dangerous territory by recording a concept album (yes, a rap concept album!). Thankfully, he emerges untouched on the other side, and even with a few more strings to his bow. Not only does Lupe outclass his peers on their ground- in terms of beats- he repeatedly demonstrates that he possesses a keen eye for a good rhyme, producing unbelievably brilliant metaphors from his bag of tricks. We, the fans, can only hope that Lupe receives the credit he deserves second time around, and finally becomes recognized as the modern savior of hip hop/rap.

When rap started off, the focus lay on the lyrics, and yet over the years personality has been slowly sucked out of this genre, and what we are left with is a group of bland,(mostly) untalented people who drop "rhymes" about their money, girls and cars. Thankfully, these are exactly the things Lupe attacks on 'Dumb It Down', establishing himself as a variation on this theme. This album is a breath of fresh air in a genre dominated by glamour and money, both of which Lupe is privy to, despite not having sold his soul by producing identikit rap. This album is almost a statement of war: both against the majority of other artists in this genre and bootleggers. If I remember correctly, 'Food And Liquor' leaked a full 6 months before it was released in September 2006. Second time around, Lupe has been more careful, but he still hasn't completely stamped out leaks; tracks from 'The Cool' have been around for a couple of months now.

Lupe album's are different in that they challenge you, just as music should. And that's just what is missing in rap nowadays. Out of the current rappers, most of the ones I rate have been around for a while: Nas, Common, Wu-Tang Clan and Talib Kweli, who focus on the lyrical content of a song, and let the beats come as a bonus. It doesn't take a genius to work out what Fiddy is talking about when he says:
"She know's just how to move to seduce you
She gone do the right thing and touch the right spot
Dance in you're lap till you're ready to pop"
A world away from this, on the other hand, lies Lupe, who crafts songs that unfold after each listening. Every time I hear the album I decipher a new rhyme, and there are many that I still don't understand... 'The Cool' is chock full of pop culture and rap references, almost like a puzzle that is waiting to be solved. It actually hurts to think about how he comes up with some of the stuff on this album, and after two intelligently executed albums there can be no doubting that Fiasco is a pretty smart guy.

In his sophomore effort, Lupe adopts a darker tone than 'Food And Liquor", and Fiasco has obviously vented his emotions over a tough few months directly into this album:
"Complex Magazine"- "So would you say that this album is darker than your first?"
Lupe Fiasco- "Oh yeah, it's much darker just on the strength of the situation that I'm in, in life right now is kind of a happy period. It's a lot of success but it came with a lot of sacrifice and having my pops pass away and just recently having an aunty pass away and then having a friend pass away, Stack Bundles, a rapper in New York who got murdered out here and then to also have my partner get locked up, to get 44 years, all that stuff came along with the situation. It made the setting for me a more darker because I'm a little bit sad."

1. "Intro"
The Cool' gets of to a relatively slow start with 'Baba Says Cool For Thought'. We are welcomed to Lupe's world by the familiar voice of Iesha Jaco, who replicates the 'Intro' on 'Food And Liquor', a cool theme which Lupe has stuck with, finishing with impact:
"Freeze- cause the problem is we think its cool too.
Check your ingredients, before you overdose on The Cool."

2. "Free Chilly" (ft. Sarah Green & Gemstones)
Doesn't have a lot of good things to its name: at this point I found myself waiting for the album to kick off, and we are deprived of Lupe for this one minute song. I'm not quite sure I understand the point of an interlude before the album has started. But hey, its got some great soulful singing by Sarah Green and Gemstones... unfortunately, they aren't who I paid to hear.

3."Go Go Gadget Flow"
Despite possessing a popular sample (from Go Go Gadget) and a repetitive hook, kicks off the album on Lupe's terms. He switches up the flow: I'd never heard him rap this fast, and its a refreshing change. The beat is solid, Lupe is on point, and whilst its not the intro I was expecting, this song still kills most of competition. Lupe's rhymes are ridiculous, and he almost out-Twista's Twista...

After track three, things start to get interesting, and you are hit by a barrage of truly brilliant songs.

4. "The Coolest"
Here comes the concept. The Cool is an expansion of the same-named song on Food & Liquor about Michael Young History, or the spiritual manifestation of him as a character called The Cool (if I'm reading this print out right), who was a hustler come back to life. The other characters are The Game (a deviously sexy female with dollar signs in her eyes, no relation to the former G-Unit member) who is married to The Streets (imagine Wyclef as a wannabe rapper from the Dirty Dirty, gold fronts and all; no relation to the snarky British emcee). "The Coolest" is perfectly indicative of the macabre premise and its complexly construed cast: haunted house piano, Tim Burton violin crawls and slightly scary choirs mix for a measured amount of drunkenness.

5. "Superstar (ft. Matthew Santos)"
We've all heard this one by now, and its really growing on me. Relative unknown Matthew Santos should replace Chris Martin as rap's male vocal go-to-guy (after the horrendous 'Beach Chair' with Jay-Z and the passable 'Homecoming' with Kanye). Boldly, Lupe has obviously chosen him to sing all male vocals on this album, which is a good move IMO. The combination works well...

6. "Paris/Tokyo"
While Lupe caught some flack for his not-really-liking-A-Tribe-Called-Quest admission, it's quite obvious that his producers--mostly Soundtrakk--have heard Midnight Marauders a few times. "Paris, Tokyo" tells the tale of the newly famous's globetrotting adventures while simultaneously falling in love. Breezily floating along, it's a familiar second album story from an artist who suddenly finds himself being recognized in Japan or France after a successful debut LP.

7 "Hi-Definition" (ft. Snoop Dogg & Pooh Bear)
I've heard a lot about this one, but I really wasn't blown away by it. There is almost too much packed into 4 minutes: Lupe, Snoop Dogg, Pooh Bear, samples from Common, synths and heavy beats. Snoop Dogg slots in an amazing verse, but there's something grating about the overall sound of this song. And as good as Snoop is, Lupe still walks all over him. A possible mis-step, but disaster is averted through the sheer awesomeness of Lupe and Snoop's rhymes.

8. "Gold Watch"
Dominated by a sample which threatens to drown out everything. Has enough bass and instrumental to save the day once again. The subject matter is sensitive, concerning the effect of fame. That damn vocal sample dominates everything...and not positively. A little less volume on the sample, and this would have been brilliant- how could something so easily altered get past post-production? This and Hi-Definition are the two weakest tracks on 'The Cool'- from here on it's plain sailing.

8. "Hip Hop Saved My Life" (ft. Nikki Jean)
The story of Michael Young History, a rapper from Houston, Texas. A strong vocal contribution by Nikki Jean (a Fergie sound-a-like) and the most commendable piano instrumental (it turns up quite a lot on 'The Cool'). Lupe is dependable as ever, telling Michael Young History's with lyrics like:
"Reps north side so he rocks them braids,
1100 friends on his MySpace page,
stack that cheese got 700 plays,
producer made him take it down, said he had to pay"

9. "Intruder Alert" (ft. Sarah Green)
A really ominous song about the outcasts of society, and those with some serious issues. Someone give Sarah Green a solo album already.

10. "Streets On Fire"
I can't do this one justice: you have got to listen to it to understand how Lupe owns this song. Get over to Youtube now to listen!

11. "Little Weapon" (ft. Nikki Jean)
Produced by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump, this was a very pleasant surprise. To start with, a slow-mo voice over, with some gothic chanting, had me worried that Stump had gone all emo on Lupe. What comes next, then, completely blew me away. The beat on this track is unbelievably new and unfamiliar, with a catchy snare and vocal hook. The originality of this rock-influenced track is a blessing, and its one of my favourite tracks on 'The Cool'.

12. "Gotta Eat"
A song from the perspective of a cheeseburger. Again, intriguingly fresh, this song works due to its creativity, a general theme on 'The Cool'. I hate the beat though.

13. "Dumb It Down"
This song is the most complete display of Lupe's lyrical abilities thus far. He absolutely trashes it:
"'I'm flying on Pegasus you're flying on the pheasant
Writer of the white powder
Picker of the fire flowers
Spit hot fire like Dylon on Chapelle's skit"

14. "Hello/Goodbye" (Uncool)
Another rock-rap song, produced by UNKLE, who does a great job with the instrumental. This is a really gritty song, and is one of the darker on this album. A tune in the mold of 'Little Weapon'.

15. "The Die"
Gemstones really compliments this track with his Twista-esque rapping. A continuation of the story, with a little interlude ending. Listen carefully to the radio, and you will hear 'The Cool' from Food And Liquor' playing in the background. The song ends with gunshots. On a Lupe record? Thats a new one, but its a concept album after all, and from here on the album tends towards the darker end of the musical spectrum.

16. "Put You On Game"
Sinister is the name, a classic track is the game. Lupe invades 90's rap tradition on this song, harking back to the old Wu Tang albums, and emulating their grimy sound. Its a valiant effort, and he pulls off the new (or should I say old?) sound.

17. "Fighters" (ft. Matthew Santos)
The end is in sight, and things begin to slow down, aided by Santos' melancholy vocals (which just get better and better, by the way). Lupe reveals a devoted fan's blog address at the end of the song: check it out- http://www.lupethefiasco.blogspot.com/

18. "Go Baby"
A bit cheesy, but a jubilant ending it most definitely is. Lupe signs off with a cheer, but honestly, I thought this should've been left off.

There are two occasions when the brilliance of this album is almost shattered: 'Hi-Definition' and 'Gold Watch'. Catastrophe is averted, however, and this is mainly down to Lupe himself. Convincingly pulling of a concept album is unbelievably difficult, but Lupe has succeeded in this endeavor and rewarded with a brilliantly fresh rap album, with some unassuming rap songs and interesting stories to boot.

Lupe Fiasco is a talent to watch- at the age of 25 he already possesses far more lyrical prowess than most of the other members of this genre. He is unique, bucking the trend at each and every turn. On 'The Cool', he really has something to say, and delivers on the promise of 'Food And Liquor'. It's a shame that he's retiring after his next album, LupEND; hopefully he'll pull a Jay-Z on us.

Score:90 out of 100

Lupe fiasco feat. Matthew Santos_ Superstar
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B.E.T.= Black Exploitation Television

2009-07-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

Is it me or has BET gone mad??? As most of us know, BET shows religious based programming for the majority of the day on Sundays up until around 1PM. This Sunday was just like "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" Sunday. Around 2PM I was flipping channels and I happened to see Beef 1 or 2 on there (they showed all 3 of them back-to-back-toback so I don't know which 1 it was) and I see them talking about beef between 50 Cent and some guy he used to run with or whatever. It was just a bunch of he say/he say BS over why 50 didn't bail this guy outta jail that helped him out when he was dealing drugs and blah blah blah. Anyway here is my issue: HOW IN THE HELL ARE THEY GONNA SHOW THESE GUYS WITH GUNS ALL ON TV, POINTING THEM AT THE CAMERA, TALKING ABOUT THEY GONNA KILL HIM, BEAT HIS *** ETC. AFTER THEY HAVE THEIR "MORNING INSPIRATIONS"??? ON A SUNDAY NO LESS??? I just need to know am I wrong for seeing a problem with this or do some people out there feel as to what I am saying??

Drake:Best I Ever Had "Video"

2009-07-05T01:15:00.000-07:00

Drake's debut album, "Thank Me Later" will be in stores soon, no current release date is set, but it is rumored to be released in the fourth quarter this year.

Directed by Kanye West.

Fail Of the week:Lil Wayne On the BET Awards

2009-07-01T09:55:00.001-07:00

Watching Lil’ Wayne rap about filet mignoning New New and Nivea’s pussies and harmonizing about fucking every girl in the world while his adolescent daughter bopped around stage was one of the most devastating moments from the this year’s EBT Awards. I wanted Don Cornelius to come back out on stage and give Young Money a lashing about the good ol’ days but that means the show would still be airing live right now.

Sources tell Sandra Rose that the reason for Weezy’s daughter Reginae was on stage was because she was unable to accompany her pops on stage while he accepted the award for Fucking The Most Random Women Ever To Appear On A Cover of Sister 2 Sister [maybe next year Soullow] and wanted to make it up to the youngin. Do you think Lil’ Wayne did the right thing as a parent?

Album Review:Ace Hood

2009-07-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Not gonna bother to review the new Ace Hood album, we all know he sucks.

Classic Video:Michael Jackson "Don't Stop Till You get Enough"

2009-06-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

Initial Reaction:Jay-Z "Death Of Autotune"

2009-06-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

I gotta admit, as big as a Jay-Z fan as I am, I honestly did'nt think this song was that great, but after seeing the video, and listnening to it a for a while, it kinda grew on me. Though Jay could've went into more detail about the subject, atleast he tackled the subject.

Damn......

2009-06-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

Damn Man, when i heard that Michael Jackson was resting with the lord above, i was just...speechless. Never in a million years would i think i would be writing R.I.P. next to Michael Jackson. The world doesn't even seem the same without Mike in it, and there will NEVER be another Mike, in terms of celebrity, fame, sales, and overall attention. R.I.P. mike, you will be missed.

Classic Video:Ice Cube "Check Yo Self" (Remix)

2009-06-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

Chris Brown avoids jail time. Gets 5 years probation & 150 hrs community service

2009-06-23T09:34:00.001-07:00

Unbelievable....

Memo to all niggas,
If you want "real justice" become a star. You can beat women up, drive drunk and murder niggas, buy up machine guns and all types of shit. Just fall back on fighting dogs tho....First Kellz, then T.I., now this clown...I need my own reality show or something!! lol

Album Review:Kanye West "Graduation"

2009-06-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

Well the question of whether this album was going to be better than Curtis was answered a long time ago, so I think enough time has passed to look back on it and assess it as it is; Kanye West's third studio album. To start off, the artwork is one of the best I've ever seen on a hip hop album, and it'll catch your eye every time. Also ,it's no secret: critics love Kanye West. The media loves Kanye West. Whatever wrongs he do in public are forgiven by them and each of his albums end up on some annual "Best of" list. Everybody else, however, has their own criticisms: he can't rap, he gives his best beats away, he's too cocky, etc. Well, this album, Graduation, probably won't change the naysayers' opinions but it is another well-rounded effort from Mr. West.

I'm not gonna lie, The College Dropout will always be Kanye's best album to me. Still, if you haven't yet, attend Kanye's Graduation because it's a special event.

1. "Good Morning"
From the moment I listned to this song, i knew what direction kanye was going in. This was the introduction of the "new" Kanye, where synthesizers, and hard drums dominate, and i gotta say, it was a breath of fresh air.

2. "Champion"
Kind of an odd choice for a second song, i feel that "Can't Tell Me Nothing" would've been a better choice. Anyway i do like the song, and how Kanye give his father a shoutout.

3. "Stronger"

Yea, i hate this song, but i guess it does serve it's purpose in the clubs. I do wish that kanye would've done more with the Daft Punk sample, because the way he uses the sample just comes off as lazy. I also heard that Timboland had a helping hand in getting the right drums for Kanye on this album, though i coulnd't tell the difference.

4. "I Wonder"
When i first listned to this album, this was the song that stood out to me. I guess it's because of the way Kanye Raps over the beat, but I always liked this song.

5. "Good Life" (feat. T-Pain)

I don't really know anyone who has a T-Pain album, but i do gotta admit, the man knows how to make a good hook. The P.Y.T. sample is really clever too.

6. "Can't Tell Me Nothing"

Took Me a while to appreciate it, but this became my favorite song on the album. This song sounds great live, i guess it's so operatic (Not in a snooze kinda way)

7. "Barry Bonds" (Feat Lil Wayne)
In case you readers didn't know, let me make it clear: Lil wayne is the most overexposed, overated rapper in existance, and he ruins an already mediocre song.

8. "Drunk and Hot Girls" (Feat Mos Def)

The worst song on here, and why the hell does Mos Def Never raps with Kanye?? The only good thing about this song is hearing Kanye say "Da da da da da/that's how the fuck you sound" (you gotta listen to it to find how funny that line sounds.) The production is also pretty decent too.

9. "Flashing Lights"
Correction this is the best song on here.

10. "Everything I Am" (Scratches By DJ Premier)

Good song, although i do feeln that Premier was a little lazy with the scratches. I don't know why, but i much prefer the mash-up verson with Jay-Z on the "Graduate" Mixtape.

11. "The Glory"
Kanye Originaly gave this beat to Common, but took it back. Good call Kanye

12. "Homecoming" (Feat Chris Martin)
I might be in the minority here, but i actually prefer this version over the John Legend one thats been circulating. Whether thats Bet, and MTV Jams fault is up to you.

13. "Big Brother"
I Like the Prince sample, and i like how Kanye adresses his relationship with Hova, Especially in the homophobic world in Hip-Hop (Though Lil Wayne is trying his best to change that )

Although Graduation isn't the classic that everyone claims it to be, it is a pretty enjoyable listen. If only Kanye deleted two songs, and replaced them with much better songs,(Ex. "Good Night" Feat. Mos Def instead of "Drunk and Hot Girls") then it would've been a classic (Well Nearly), but we can't always get what we want. I'll recommend a "buy"

Best tracks: I wonder, Flashing lights, Homecoming, The glory.

Flashing Lights
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Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothing
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Kanye West - Homecoming
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Classic Video:Black Moon "Who's Got The Props"

2009-06-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

AIR JORDAN III TRUE BLUE RETRO

2009-06-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Love the Colorway..

Classic Video:Common Sense "I Used To Love Her"

2009-06-19T13:33:00.001-07:00

Common - I Used To Love HER
ineptique -

Lost Tupac Interview (By:Davey D.)

2009-06-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting and intense interviews, I’ve ever conducted was with Tupac Shakur.. He had just hit it big with the movie Juice and and everyone wondering was he just acting or putting forth his real life persona in the movie.. Although I had known him for a couple of years it was hard for me to tell.. cause he had a loaded gun on him as we spoke…If I recall it was a 38….Pac explains in this interview his then recent encounter with the Oakland Police Department which resulted in him getting beat. I had run excerpts from this interview in a newsletter I used to publish back in the early 90s. I had completely forgotten about this interview and had misplaced the tape.

A couple of months ago while working on liner notes for Digital Underground’s Greatest Hits which recently came out on Rhino records, I came across a tape that had an old interview I did with Shock G. I flipped to the b-side and to my surprise I discovered the missing 2Pac interview from 1991.So today in celebration of his birthday we are sending off the transcript of the entire interview. We are also going to be playing the entire interview on our Hard Knock radio show. If you happen to be located in the San Francisco Bay Area or anywhere throughout Northern and Central california tune into KPFA 94.1 FM… If you happen to be listening to us up in Seattle where we are also heard tune into Radio X. Everyone else peep us out on line at KPFA.org or radio-x.org.

We will be putting excerpts of the interview up on the site tomorrow. Enjoy the interview.Tupac Shakur considers himself the ‘Rebel of the Underground’ [Digital Underground] and for good reason. He stirs things up and does the unexpected. Such a person is bound to generate excitement because they have impact on both the people and situations around them.

2Pac in 1992 promises to have major impact in the world of hip hop. He’s kicking things off with a sensational acting debut in the movie ‘Juice‘ where he stars as the character Roland Bishop. His debut lp ‘2Pacalypse Now‘ is beginning to cause a bit of a stir on retail shelves around the country. And if that’s not enough Tupac is branching out and signing new acts to his production company including his older brother Moecedes who raps in the Toni Tony Tone song ‘Feels Good. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing this out spoken and very animated individual at his apartment where he told his tale.

Davey D: Give a little bit of background on yourself. What got you into hip hop?

2Pac: I’m from the Bronx, NY. I moved to Baltimore where I spent some high school years and then I came to Oaktown. As for hip hop…all my travels through these cities seemed to be the common denominator.

Davey D: 2Pac… Is that your given name or is that your rap name?

Davey D: You lived In Marin City for a little while. How was your connection with hip hop able to be maintained while living there? Was there a thriving hip hop scene in Marin City?

2Pac: Not really..You were just given truth to the music. Being in Marin City was like a small town so it taught me to be more straight forward with my style. Instead of of being so metaphorical with the rhyme where i might say something like…

I’m the hysterical, lyrical miracle
I’m the hypothetical, incredible…

I was encouraged to go straight at it and hit it dead on and not waste time trying to cover things…

Davey D:Why was that?

2Pac: In Marin City it seemed like things were real country. Everything was straight forward. Poverty was straight forward. There was no way to say I’m poor, but to say ‘I’m po’…we had no money and that’s what influenced my style.

Davey D: How did you hook up with Digital Underground?

2Pac: I caught the ‘D-Flow Shuttle’ while I was in Marin City. It was the way out of here. Shock G was the conductor.

Davey D: What’s the D-Flow Shuttle?

2Pac:The D-Flow Shuttle is from the album ‘Sons of the P‘ It was the way to escape out of the ghetto. It was the way to success. I haven’t gotten off since…

Davey D: Now let’s put all that in laymen’s terms

2Pac: Basically I bumped into this kid named Greg Jacobs aka Shock G and he hooked me up with Digital Underground and from there I hooked up with Money B… and from there Money B hooked me up with his step mamma… and from there me and his step mamma started making beats…[laughter] Me and his step mamma got a little thing jumping off. We had a cool sound, but Shock asked me if I wanted a group. I said ‘Yeah but I don’t wanna group with Money B’s step momma ’cause she’s gonna try and take all the profits… She wants to go out there and be like the group ‘Hoes with Attitude’, but I was like ‘Naw I wanna be more serious and represent the young black male’.

So Shock says we gotta get rid of Money B’s step mamma. So we went to San Quentin [prison] and ditched her in the ‘Scared Straight’ program…[laughter. After that Shock put me in the studio and it was on..This is a true story so don't say anything.. It's a true story. And to Mon's step mamma I just wanna say 'I'm sorry, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. I'm sorry but it was Shock's idea-Bertha.. but don't worry she can get her half of the profits from the first cut after she finishes doing her jail time. [laughter]

Davey D: What’s the concept behind your album 2Pacalypse Now’?

2Pac: The concept is the young Black male. Everybody’s been talkin’ about it but now it’s not important. It’s like we just skipped over it.. It’s no longer a fad to be down for the young Black male. Everybody wants to go past. Like the gangster stuff, it just got exploited. This was just like back in the days with the movies. Everybody did their little gun shots and their hand grenades and blew up stuff and moved on. Now everybody’s doing rap songs with the singing in it.. I’m still down for the young Black male. I’m gonna stay until things get better. So it’s all about addressing the problems that we face in everyday society.

Davey D: What are those problems?

2Pac: Police brutality, poverty, unemployment, insufficient education, disunity and violence, black on black crime, teenage pregnancy, crack addiction. Do you want me to go on?

Davey D: How do you address these problems? Are you pointing them out or are you offering solutions?

2Pac: I do both. In some situations I show us having the power and in some situations I show how it’s more apt to happen with the police or power structure having the ultimate power. I show both ways. I show how it really happens and I show how I wish it would happen .

Davey D: You refer to yourself as the ‘Rebel of the Underground’ Why so?

2Pac: Cause, as if Digital Underground wasn’t diverse enough with enough crazy things in it, I’m even that crazier. I’m the rebel totally going against the grain…I’m the lunatic that everyone refers to. I always want to do the extreme. I want to get as many people looking as possible. For example I would’ve never done the song ‘Kiss U Back’ that way.I would’ve never done a song like that-That’s why I’m the rebel.

Davey D: Can talk about your recent encounter with police brutality at the hands of the Oakland PD?

2Pac:We’re letting the law do its job. It’s making its way through the court system.. We filed a claim…

Davey D: Recount the incident for those who don’t know.

2Pac:For everyone who doesn’t know, I, an innocent young black male was walking down the streets of Oakland minding my own business and the police department saw fit for me to be trained or snapped back into my place. So they asked for my I-D and sweated me about my name because my name is ‘Tupac’. My final words to them was ‘f— y’all’ . Next thing I know I was in a choke hold passing out with cuffs on headed for jail for resisting arrest. Yes.. you heard right-I was arrested for resisting arrest.

Davey D:Where is all this now?

2Pac: We’re in the midst of having a ten million dollar law suit against the Oakland Police Department. If I win and get the money, then the Oakland Police department is going to buy a boys home, me a house, my family a house and a ‘Stop Police Brutality Center’ and other little odd things like that..

Davey D:In the video for the song ‘Trapped‘ do you think that would’ve had the police want to treat you aggressively? After all, the video is very telling especially in the un-edited version where you have a cop get shot.

2Pac: Well the ironic thing is the cops I came across in that incident didn’t know about that video. The second thing is that everything I said in that video happened to me. The video happened before the incident. In the video I show how the cops sweat me and ask for my ID and how I can’t go anywhere…

Davey D:Let’s talk about the movie ‘Juice’. How did you get involved? Where’s it at? and what’s it about?

2Pac: MMM what led me? Well, we have the Freaky Deaky Money B and Sleuth [raod manager for DU]. Money B had an audition for the movie Sleuth [road manager] suggested I also come along so I went. Money B read the script and said to me’ this sounds like you- a rebel. he was talking about this character named Bishop. I went in cold turkey, read, God was with me…

Davey D:Have you ever had acting experience before?

2Pac: Actually I went to the school of Performing arts in Baltimore and that’s where I got my acting skills.

Davey D:Ok so you weren’t a novice when you went up there… So what’s the movie about?

2Pac:The movie is about 4 kids and their coming of age.

Davey D:Is it a Hip Hop movie?

2Pac:No, it’s not a hip hop movie. It’s a real good movie that happens to have hip hop in it. If it was made in the 60s it would’ve depicted whatever was ‘down’ in the 60s…My character is Roland Bishop, a psychotic, insecure very violent, very short tempered individual.

Davey D:What’s the message you hope is gotten out of the movie?

2Pac: You never know what’s going on in somebody’s mind. There are a lot of things that add up. There’s a lot of pressure on someone growing up. You have to watch it if it goes unchecked. This movie was an example of what can happen…

Davey D:Can you explain what you mean by this?

2Pac:In the movie my character’s, father was a prison whore and that was something that drove him through the whole movie…

Davey D: This was something that wasn’t shown in the movie?

2Pac: Yes, they deleted this from the film. Anyway this just wrecked his [Bishop's] mind. You can see through everybody else’s personality, Bishop just wanted to get respect. He wanted the respect that his father didn’t get. Everthing he did, he did just to get a rep. So from those problems never being dealt with led to him ending four people’s lives.

Davey D:Do you intend on continuing making movies?

2Pac: It depends on whether or not there are any good parts. I want to challenge myself.

Davey D:What is your philosophy on hip hop? I’ve heard you say you don’t to see it diluted?

2Pac: Well when I said that, it made me think. It brought me to myself. Now I have a different philosophy. Hip Hop when it started it was supposed to be this new thing that had no boundaries and was so different to everyday music. Now it seems like I was starting to get caught up in the mode of what made hip hop come about. I would walk around and hear something and start saying ‘That’s not Hip Hop’. If someone started singing, I would walk around and say ‘That’s not Hip Hop’. Well, now I’ve changed my mind. That could be Hip Hop.As long as the music has the true to the heart soul it can be hip hop. As long it has soul to it, hip hop can live on.

Davey D:I guess my question would be, how do you determine what’s soul and what isn’t?

2Pac: Well you can tell. The difference between a hit like ‘Make You Dance’ [C&C Music Factory] and ‘My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me’ [Geto Boys]. You have to ask yourself, ‘Which song moves you’.

Davey D: Well actually both. Both songs move me

2Pac: Really? well… ok there you go

Davey D:So they both would be Hip Hop, right?

2Pac:I guess so, at least in your opinion. ‘The Make You Dance’ song didn’t move me. But the Geto Boys song did move me

Davey D:Well for the record Bambaataa says both of them are Hip Hop. I asked him what he thought about groups like C&C Music Factory. He said they were part of the Hip Hop family…But that’s his philosophy on things. So what’s your plans for the next year or so?

2Pac: To strengthen the Underground Railroad. I have a crew called the Underground Railroad and a program called the Underground Railroad…I wanna build all this up, so that by next year you will know the name Underground Railroad…

Davey D:So what’s the concept behind The Underground Railroad?

2Pac:The concept behind this is the same concept behind Harriet Tubman, to get my brothers who might be into drug dealing or whatever it is thats illegal or who are disenfranchised by today’s society-I want to get them back into by turning them onto music. It could be R&B, hip hop or pop, as long as I can get them involved. While I’m doing that, I’m teaching them to find a love for themselves so they can love others and do the same thing we did for them to others.

Davey D: How many people in the Underground Railroad? Is it a group that intends to keep constantly evolving? Also where are the people who are a part of Underground Railroad coming from?

2Pac: Right now we’re twenty strong. The group is going to be one that constantly evolves. The people that are in the UR are coming from all over, Baltimore, Marin City, Oakland, New York, Richmond-all over.

Davey D: What do you think of the Bay Area rap scene compared to other parts of the country?

2Pac: Right now the Bay Area is how the Bronx was in 1981. Everybody is hot. They caught the bug. Everybody is trying to be creative and make their own claim. New York just got to a point where you could no longer out due the next guy. So now you have this place where there isn’t that many people to out due. Here you can do something and if it’s good enough people will remember you. So that’s what’s happening. here in the Bay Area, it’s like a renaissance.

Davey D: In New York the renaissance era got stopped for a number of reasons in my opinion. What do you think will prevent that from happening in the Bay Area?

2Pac: Well at the risk of sounding biased, I say Digital Underground. They are like any other group. I’ll give that to Shock G. He made it so that everything Digital Underground does it helps the Bay Area music scene. It grows and goes to New York and hits people from all over the country. That helps the Bay Area. Our scene is starting to rub off on people. We want everyone to know about Oakland. When other groups come down, like Organized Konfusion or Live Squad and they kick it with Digital Underground, they get to see another side of the Bay Area music scene.It’s a different side then if they kicked it with that guy… I don’t wanna say his name, but you know who he is he dropped the ‘MC’ from his name [MC Hammer].

Davey D: So you think Digital Underground will be more strength to the Bay Area rap scene because they help bring national attention. What do you think other groups will have to do?

2Pac: What we have to do is not concentrate so much on one group. We have to focus more on the area. It’s not about just building up Too Short, Digital Underground and Tony Toni Tone and say; ‘That’s it. They’re the only groups that can come from the Bay Area’. We have to let the new groups come out. Nobody wants to give the new acts a chance. Everybody wants to only talk about Too Short and Digital Underground…We have to start talking about these other groups that are trying to come in that are coming up from the bottom.

Davey D: When you say ‘come up’ what do you mean by that?

2Pac: It’s like this. Instead of letting them do interviews where nobody ever reads them, let a good newspaper interview them. Instead of putting them on the radio when nobody is ever going to hear them or where nobody is going to hear them, have them where people can hear them and get at them where they had a better chance, just like if they were Mariah Carey.

Davey D: Do you find the Bay Area sound is being respected? Do you find that people are starting to accept it around the country?

2Pac: I feel that the Bay Area sound hasn’t even finished coming out. It’s starting to get respected more and more everyday.

Davey D: Your brother Moecedes is a rapper for the group Tony Toni Tone. What’s the story with him? Are you guys gonna team up?

2Pac: He’s in the Underground Railroad. He’s also about to come out with another guy named Dana.

Davey D: Who produced your album and are you into producing

2Pac: I co-produced it with the members of the Underground Railroad which is Shock G, Money B, Raw Fusion, Pee Wee, Jay-Z from Richmond, Stretch from the Live Squad. It’s really like a life thing-this Underground Railroad. It effects everything we do.

Davey D:Is there anything else we should know about Tupac?

2Pac: Yeah, the group Nothing Gold is coming. My kids are coming out with a serious message…NG is a group coming out that I produce.. All the stuff I say in my rhymes I say because of how I grew up. So to handle that, instead of going to a pyschiatrist, I got a kids group that deals with the problems a younger generation is going through. They put them into rhymes so it’s like a pyschology session set to music. It’ll make you come to grips with what you actually do..

Davey D: What do you mean by that? Are they preaching?

2Pac: No they’re just telling you straight up like Ice Cube or Scarface. They’re being blunt and it comes out of a kid’s mouth. If you’re a black man, you’re going to really trip out cause they really call you out and have you deal with them…NG will make us have responsibility again. Kids are telling you to have responsibility…

Davey D: What do you think of the current trends in Hip Hop like the gangsta rap, Afrocentric Rap, raggamuffin and the fusion of the singing and rap? Some people call it ‘pop rap’.

2Pac: I think all the real shit is gonna stay. It’s gonna go through some changes. It’s going through a metaphorphis so it will blow up sometimes and get real nasty and gritty, then the leeches will fall off and Hip Hop will be fit and healthy. Hip Hop has to go through all of that, but no one can make judgments until it’s over.

Davey D: What do you think the biggest enemies to Hip Hop are right now?

2Pac: Egotistical rappers. They don’t wanna open up their brain. Its foul when people are walking around saying things like; ‘Oakland is the only place where the real rappers come out. New York is the only place where the real rappers come out. They booty out there or they booty over there…’ All of that just needs to die or Hip Hop is gonna have problems. Its gonna be so immature. Thats just conflict in words. We can’t be immature we gotta grow.

Davey D: Cool I think we got enough out of you 2Pac.

2Pac: yes I think you got enough

Davey D: Peace.

Happy Birthday 2-Pac

1992 interview

Album Review:Q-Tip "The Renaissance"

2009-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

After getting Q-Tips Amplified album back in 2006 (I know that's really late to be listening to that album but I'm only 17, which means i was only in the first or second grade when that album originally came out, and i didn't even know who the hell Q-tip was.) Anyway, after giving that CD away to a friend, I made a promise to myself to only listen to Q-Tip within A Tribe Called Quest, believing that Tip couldn't carry a whole album. After seeing the video for the first single "Getting Up", and being forced to hear this album from a friend (Who's a huge Q-Tip fan.) I found myself pleasantly surprised by what i heard, and within the next day i bought the album. Here's my thoughts on the album...

1. "Johnny Is Dead"
No intros to be found here, just Tip rapping about random stuff. The beat isn't as great as the other songs on the album,but its decent enough. I like the hook, and the way the beat switches up during it.

2. "Won't Trade"
Decent production, I'm guessing it's about Q-Tip not trading in his morals, for fame and money. My favorite part is when he Say's

"The physical ability with mental capability
Legitimately faces me outside of your vicinity
And I ain’t really seeing’ me Vacating this community"

Love it!!

3. "Getting' Up"
The first single. Waaay better than "Vibrant Thang". This is easily the best produced song on here.(At least in my opinion). I love this song, and the video was pretty creative also.

4. "Official"
My second favorite song on the album, I like the beat on this one too. I also like the way Tip flows on this song, the hook is really creative too.

5. "You"
I love this song, it has a nice vibe to it, and it gives me a peaceful feeling. I don't really mind hearing Q-Tip Sing in the background, as he can actually hold a Melody. (Looks squarely at Lil Wayne)

6. "We Fight/We Love" (featuring Raphael Saadiq)
It seems like Q-Tip is really back into the whole love movement that he started back on Tribes last album, as this is the fourth song in a row about it. Raphael Saadiq's hook is decent enough.

7. "Manwomanboogie" (featuring Amanda Diva)
Dumbass title aside, this is actually a nice upbeat song, that helps the album from becoming a snoozer. I'm indifferent to Amanda Diva's hook though.

8. "Move/Renaissance Rap"
The second single, The video is kinda low budget, but this is a good song that would probably sound even better Live.

9. "Dance on Glass"
Starts off with a brief a cappella from Q-Tip, the hook is annoying as fuck, but otherwise this is a decent song.

10. "Life Is Better" (featuring Norah Jones)
This song has a good vibe, and Norah Jones is a good singer (In small doses). Tip takes his sweet as time to actually rap though, as he shows up halfway though the song. Tip names all his favorite rappers in a creative verse, so i guess that a good trade off.

11. "Believe" (featuring D'Angelo)
Every one's favorite drug addict comes up with a good hook. The beat is
pretty creative too. This is just Q-tip philosophising on Religion and what it means to believe.

12. "Shaka"
Easily the most Tribe like track on the album, and that's why i like it (Yea I'm biased)

This is easily the album that all Q-Tip fans have been waiting for. For the most part, the production is top notch, and while it may not be on the same level as any of the tribe records, it's probably the closest were gonna get to it.

Score:90 out of 100

HAMMER PANTS DANCERS CRASH TIGHT PANTS HIPSTER STORE

2009-06-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hahahahah!!

New Nike "Marty McFly's"

2009-06-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

The shoe comes in a grey base, speckled midsole, light blue highlights and pink accents. Instead of the standard flywire technology, the mid-section is constructed from a flexible satin material.

Glow in the dark is implemented on the sole, while the swoosh is a white patent leather.

Classic Video:2-Pac "If My Homies Call"

2009-06-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

Verrryy Underated Pac Song

Tupac - If My Homies Call
-

Album Review:Busta Rhymes "Back on My B.S."

2009-06-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Trevor Smith, better known as Busta Rhymes is a rapper,Songwriter, and Occasional rapper.(what movies other than Halloween has he been in?)Anyway,Busta's musical career began at the age of 17 as a member of the hip hop crew Leaders of the New School along with fellow Long Island natives Charlie Brown, Dinco D, and Cut Monitor Milo. They began recording in 1989 and released their debut album A Future Without a Past in 1991 on Elektra Records. In 1993, they released T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind's Eye). Soon after, however, internal problems arose within the group, and the group broke up on the set of Yo! MTV Raps.

Shortly after, Busta went solo, and released a slew of albums, none of them classic,(though a few did come close) and all of the successful, in 2005, Busta cut of his trademark dreadlocks, and joined Dr. Dre's aftermath records,(strange, I know) and released the album "The Big Bang" which wasn't as successful as his previous albums, and was a critical disappointment, mainly because Busta was the complete opposite of his happy funny personality. After that album, Busta left aftermath, and signed to Motown, and released "B.O.M.B.S." or "Back on my Bullshit".

Lets see if the album is any good.

1."Wheels of Fortune"
I hate the intro to the song. It's pointless, but it does seem like busta is getting back to his old funny self. Song is alright too.

2."Give Em What They Askin for"
This song sucks, the hook sucks, and the title sucks. This is not what we asked for Busta.

3."Respect My conglomerate" (feat. Lil Wayne & Jadakiss)
The second single, Guess what? It sucks!! Surprise! Busta's ear for beats seems to be waning, and the hook sucks monkey balls cause its too long, and it doesn't even sound right, and i doubt that the term respect my conglomerate is gonna catch on since it has more than one syllable. Lil Wayne in generic as always,and not even jadakiss could save this song. Shame on you Busta.

4."Shoot for the Moon"
This song is mediocre. Next.

5."Hustler's Anthem '09" (feat. T-Pain)
The third single, the video looks more like the old Busta's video (Albeit less creative) T-Pain delivers an alright hook. It feels like its missing something though.

6."Kill Dem" (feat. Pharrell & Tosh)
Grammatical errors aside, this song is kinda interesting, with Busta doing his Jamaican accent. The hook sucks. This has to be the weakest Busta/Pharrell colabo though.

7."Arab Money" (feat. Ron Browz)
The first single. The beat sounds intersting the first time you hear it, then it just gets annoying, Ron browz should be subject to death by musical firing squad.

8."I'm a Go and Get My..." (feat. Mike Epps)
Funny intro by Mike Epps, but i've heard him use that 25, 27,37,20,38 joke Three seperate times since he said it in "All about the Benjamin's"! This song is alright the first time around.

9."We Want In" (feat. Ron Browz,Spliff Star & Show Money)
Ron Browz actually sounds decent, But is it me, or does Busta sound tired on this album.

10."We Miss You" (feat. DeMarco & Jelly Roll)
I'm guessing that this song is about his bodyguard/friend who died awhile back. It takes Busta well over a minute to actually rap, i guess he thought the beat was ill enough to stand by itself, i thought different.

11."Sugar" (feat. Jelly Roll)
I like the beat, this is the best beat on here, Busta gets a lil explicit on here.

12."Don't Believe Em" (feat. Akon & T.I.)
Even though i hate Akon, i gotta admit that he sounds kinda alright on here, the beat does sound like that Maino song "All the Above" which in turn sounds like "Live your Life" T.I. Sounds pretty decent even though his verse is short.

13."Decision" (feat. Jamie Foxx, Mary J. Blige, John Legend & Common)
First off, there too many R&B singers on here, but the beat does sound ill, common does good too.

14."World Go Round" (feat. Estelle)
The song samples "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics, and it sounds kinda good, but it feels more like a bonus track.

Well another basically this album is a disappointment. Busta's problem that keeps him from making great albums, is his inconstancy, it sounds like he just threw a bunch of random songs that he did into an album. This sounds more like a mixtape that an actual cohesive experience. Also i was surprised to hear the beat selection, as Busta is known for picking usually good beats. Maybe next time Busta.

Score:55 out of 100

Kanye West: Paranoid

2009-06-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Interesting Video...

Kanye West Feat Mr. Hudson - Paranoid / NEW
Uploaded by PeteRock - Watch more music videos, in HD!

2009-06-04T10:07:00.001-07:00

Eric Sucks

Wow long time no see.

2009-06-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hey guys sorry for the lack of post for the past couple of weeks, be sure to stay tuned though! -Nova

Album Review:Jay-Z "Reasonable Doubt"

2009-05-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

Reasonable Doubt is the debut album of American rapper Jay-Z, released June 25, 1996 on Roc-A-Fella Records in the United States and on Northwestside Records in the United Kingdom. The album features production by DJ Premier, Ski, Knobody and Clark Kent, and guest vocals by Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money and The Notorious B.I.G. It peaked at #23 on the Billboard 200, received platinum status in 2002, and sold 1.4 million copies as of 2006. Four singles were released, the most popular being "Ain't No Nigga" and "Can't Knock the Hustle". Both reached the top 40 in the United Kingdom, but were less popular in the United States; the former reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the latter reached #73.

Reasonable Doubt received strong critical reviews and has been heralded as Jay-Z's "crowning achievement", a seminal work and an "undisputed classic". Reasonable Doubt received a "4 Mics" rating from The Source,and five stars from Allmusic, the highest ratings issued by AMG. The Source ranks it among the top 100 albums of all time, Blender ranks it as one of the 500 best albums of all time, and Rolling Stone ranks it at 248 on their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Reasonable Doubt and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... are considered to have popularized Mafioso rap and "revolutionized the hip hop scene". (Im not gonna bother for a biography on Jay-Z, since everybody knows who he is.)

1. CAN'T KNOCK THE HUSTLE (FEAT MARY J BLIGE)
This Song is good, but it doesn't start the album off with the bang that it deserves. this song (minus the Loooooooooong intro, belongs im the middle of the album.) This song is still enjoyable though. Cool video also.

2. POLITICS AS USUAL
Now this would've made a better track one.(Or maybe im just too used to the custom playlist on my Ipod) Hard to belive that Ski went from producing classic Jay-Z songs to being Camp Lo's go-to producer. (How did this happen?)

3. BROOKLYN'S FINEST (FEAT THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G.)
One of the very few actual collabos between Jay and Biggie(2 on my count.)I don't care for this beat very much, and when Biggie references the line about his wife's supposed infedelity, even he sounds unconvincing.

4. DEAD PRESIDENTS II
One of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time. I prefer this one to the original version. The lyrics seem to fit this one more.

5. FEELIN' IT (FEAT MECCA)
Love this song. Has a nice "Conversational type flow that Jay-Z's good at. Oh and who's Mecca?

6. D'EVILS
It's Jay & Premier..Need i say more!?

7. 22 TWO'S
Borrows a Tribe called quest hook. Hate the announcer lady, love the lyrics.

8. CAN I LIVE
Dint know until recently that Vh1 alumni Irv Gotti produced this. Who would've thought that this is the same guy who brought us Ja Rule, and Ashanti? (But then again Jay did bring us the Young Gunz)

9. AIN'T NO N---A (FEAT FOXY BROWN)
Never liked this song. Never will.

10. FRIEND OR FOE
The shortest song on the album. Also one of the best (Ironic Huh?)

11. COMING OF AGE (FEAT MEMPHIS BLEEK)
Did Memphis Bleek save Jay's life at some point? Cuz the the only logical answer as to why he hasnt been kicked out by the man. This song on the other hand, has great verse's by both artist, and it's quite enjoyable.

12. CASHMERE THOUGHTS
Got the 'Hip Hop Quotable' in The Source when the album came out. Nuff said.

13. BRING IT ON (FEAT BIG JAZ AND SAUCE MONEY)
Great song by all three artist. Features Jay-Z's former mentor/current enemy Big Jazz (Now known as Jaz-O). Plus what the hell happened to Sauce Money??? He's great!!

14. REGRETS
Nobody makes beats like this one anymore. Great way to end your album.

Well watdya know, Reasonable Doubt still holds up to this day. This is not only the definitive album from H to the Izzo's catalogue, it's one of the ten most important rap records of the entire 1990's. It's possible to live without having heard it - but after you do, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it. Even nearly six years later, this album stands up to the best production and strongest lyricism coming out of any rap around the globe. If an album could be said to have made corny MC's into Jay-Z haters, this is the one. Get this album know.

Score:96 out of 100

Jay-Z - Dead Presidents
- .

Birdman on kissing Lil Wayne

2009-05-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

Let me quote Dmx on this "I show no love to homo thugs"

“That’s my son. If he was right here, I’d kiss him again. I kiss my daughter, my other son…If you did (have children), you’d understand what I meant with it. I just think people took that too far man. That’s my son. I’ll do it again tomorrow, I’ll kill for him. Ride and die for him.”

- - Baby on kissing his son Lil’ Wayne, again . . . and again, and again! Cause that’s what parents do!

Fail of the month:Alfamega.

2009-05-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

As news broke about Alfamega snitching, after The Smoking Gun exposed the Atlanta rapper Alfamega’s past work as a government informant earlier of the week, Grand Hustle has decided to take action. T.I., the Co-CEO of Grand Hustle announced that Alfamega was no long a part of Grand Hustle through a statement on Atlanta’s Hot 107.9.

Even though all our artists and employees are asked by us to be honest and open about their past history, at no time did Alfa disclose to me or Grand Hustle what has now appeared in the media. He essentially deceived us by failing to fully disclose the truth about his past, and there is no place in our organization for dishonest and misleading behavior. As I have always said, you must take responsibility for your own actions. We at Grand Hustle can not support or condone the blaming of others for our own mistakes. I hope and pray to God, bless his savings plans, but I don’t foresee me or my company playing a role in his personal or professional business.

Alfamega has yet to comment on the entire ordeal.

Alfamega on how real he is.

Classic Video:Geto Boys "Mind playing tricks"

2009-05-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

These guys don't get the respect they deserve.

Geto Boys-My Mind Playing Tricks On Me

Nototious B.I.G. "Ready To Die" Album Review

2009-05-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ready to Die is the debut studio album of American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released September 13, 1994 on Sean "Diddy" Combs Bad Boy Records as well as the first release of the label. Recording sessions for the album took place from 1993 to 1994 at The Hit Factory and D&D Studios in New York City. The partly autobiographical hardcore hip hop album tells the story of The Notorious B.I.G.'s experiences as a young criminal, referring to himself as "the black Frank White". The record gained strong reviews on release and became a commercial success, reaching quadruple platinum sales. It was significant for revitalizing East Coast hip hop at a time when the genre was mostly dominated by West Coast artists. In 2006, Time magazine named it one of the 100 greatest albums of all time. It was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance for "Big Poppa" at the 1996 Grammy Awards. It also won 2 Awards at the Billboard Music Awards. Never before had a rapper burst onto the scene quite like Notorious B.I.G. did in 1994. With Ready to Die, Biggie struck a cord nation wide. His amazing delivery, mixed with blunt reality, created an album so solid it put him into the rap stratosphere. His slick approach to hardcore rap, and his massive presence bloat Ready to Die into a rap masterpiece. It stands as one of the greatest rap albums of all time. Lets see if it still holds up. (Hint:Hell Yea)

1. "Intro"
Takes A little too long to start up, but it ends up being a really interesting start to this album. I'm already hooked.

2. "Things Done Changed"
Great Song from Biggie on how much "things really have changed"

3. "Gimmie the loot"
Biggie trades rhymes with a higher pitched version of himself, and the result is a hilarious tale of robbery, and shootouts. My favorite line is "I wouldnt give fuck if you're pregnant/Give me the baby rings and a #1 mom pendant", i like it, cause I'm a sick fuck like dat. (Side Note: I'm note THAT messed up, i just appreciate a good joke.)

4. "Machine Gun Funk"
Not as great as the previous song, but its still one badass song.

5. "Warning"
Very good song about someone planning on taking Biggie out (and not on a date) and with Biggie explaining on how he'll handle them (Hint:It's veeery violent) great song, that leads to an even better song.

6. "Ready To Die"
Biggies magnum opus, i don't give a fuck what ANYONE says, this song kicks ass, from his flow, delivery, rhyme cadence, production, and metaphors, this is one of the best songs on here, and that's saying something.

7. "One More Chance"
I prefer this version, over the version that plays on MTV. This version is also much dirtier, but im a dirty muthfucka so i like it. (im coming off as pissy/distgusting today am I?).

8. "Fuck Me"(Interlude)
Skit that includes Lil Kim and Biggie fucking. I wonder if this was real?....Actually i don't.

9. "The What"
Meth and Big team up, and come out with a great song. I was only 4 when this album came out, but from what i've learned, this song was a pretty big deal back in the day.

10. "Juicy"
The single that catulpulted Big from just a rapper with a buzz, to a rapper with a hit single. This song is a classic, and shows Biggies rise to the top.

11. "Everyday Struggle"
This semi-autobiographical track, shows Biggie, and how much stress is in his life. Great song.

12. "Me and My Bitch"
This shit right here? This the shit!! love this song. great storytelling. it's basicaly a gangsta love story. Love the way this song ends.

13. "Big Poppa"
Used to love this song, but now its just Meh. It doesnt fit with the rest of the album. (I blame Puff)

14. "Respect"
I..Hate..This..Song.

15. "Friend of mine"
I really like this song

16. "Unbeleiveable"
Great DJ Premier beat. Biggie own this song with lines like

"B-i-g, g-i-e, aka, b.i.g.
Get it? biggie
Also known as the bon appetit
Rappers cant sleep need sleepin big keep creepin
Bulelts heat-seekin, casualties need treatin
Dumb rappers need teachin
Lesson a - dont fuck with b-i, thats that, oh i, thought he was wack
Oh come come now, why yall so dumb now
Hunt me or be hunted, three hundred and fifty-seven ways
To summer sautee, Im the winner all day
Lights get dimmer down biggies hallway
My forte causes caucausians to say
He sounds demented, car-weed scented
If I said it, I meant it
Bite my tongue for no-one
Call me evil, or unbelievable"

17. "Suicidal Thoughts"
I got a confession....Track 6 is not his magnum opus THIS IS. (Actually it's a tie)
Great song.

18. "Who shot Ya"(Bonus Track)
Oh yes, the song that started it all (Meaning the west coast feud)
even though its a bonus track, its still top quality. This song is intense.

19. "Just Playing"(Dreams)
Cool song, It's about Biggie fantasizing about fucking his favorite R&B singers. Funny ass song.

What makes Ready to Die so great? It is maybe because it's the most complete rap album ever made, and this being his very first effort, ever! The range of emotion, and depth is astounding. From the freighting display of thievery in "Gimme tha Loot", to the pure pimpery of "Big Poppa", to the Back in the day tale of "Juicy". The album starts strong and ends even stronger. Each track has a story to tell that is intricate, and each track brings out a different emotion. There are absolutely no tracks that could be considered trash. This is something that maybe no other album could claim, not even Life After Death. While there are only a few songs that are mega hits, there are 12-13 that are magnificent rap songs. The album is rich with lively street tales of murder, robbery, and drug dealing, and a rough childhood. But more importantly Biggie plays these themes out as important messages, as he has essentially has "grown up" and in turn cast aside these things, because of his raps. Biggies approach is to tell you about the life he lived, through lyrical storytelling, instead of glorifying the life, he reminisces about his past, a harsh and dangerous past.

Notorious B.I.G. blows up on this album. His talent is extraordinary. He possibly possesses the greatest delivery ever. His smooth flow is remarkable. And his lyrics are blunt and powerful. His flow is maybe his best skill, as he can flow through each line with great speed and still bring emphasis to certain words or phrases. His skills are limitless, from changing speeds, or tone, to rapping hardcore, or smooth. But maybe his greatest attribute is his staggeringly brilliant word play. Biggie meshes unique words like a chemist mixes chemicals. Biggies style is pure and original, and basically just legendary.

Score:100 out of 100

Notorious B.I.G : Juicy

Notorious B.I.G. - Warning

New Eminem " 3 A.M."

2009-05-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Nas and Kelis to divorce

2009-05-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

Hoes from Danity Kane without makeup.

2009-04-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Never do this on live televison again.....

Scott Storch gets a taste of humble pie

2009-04-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Storch is engrossed in dept that spans from failed property tax payments on his $10.5 million mansion and arrest warrants for several failed appearances in the child-support cases of his two sons. Storch’s poor decisions have hobbled his music career. In the past the maestro commanded $100,000 per beat. Now, the embattled star has not been able to crack the Top 10 of Billboard Hot 100 since 2005 and has retreated into hiding.

Lil Wayne on The View

2009-04-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Classic Video:Beastie Boys "Sabatoge"

2009-04-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

Great Video.

Beastie Boys - Sabotage

Classic Interview:LL Cool J

2009-04-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

Interesting interview of a 19 year old LL..

Words to live by....

2009-04-25T19:13:00.001-07:00

See, there's three kinds of people: dicks, pussies, and assholes. Pussies think everyone can get along, and dicks just want to fuck all the time without thinking it through. But then you got your assholes, Chuck. And all the assholes want us to shit all over everything! So, pussies may get mad at dicks once in a while, because pussies get fucked by dicks. But dicks also fuck assholes, Chuck. And if they didn't fuck the assholes, you know what you'd get? You'd get your dick and your pussy all covered in shit!

Mos Def On Bill Maher

2009-04-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

Classic Video:Ll Cool J "I Shot Ya"

2009-04-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ll cool j - i shot ya feat. keith murray

World Premier:Kanye West "Amazing"

2009-04-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

Meh, i was expecting more...

Kanye West - Amazing

Classic Video: Dr.Dre "Let Me Ride"

2009-04-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

dr.dre let-me-ride

Eminem Relapse Album Cover

2009-04-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

Kinda reminds me of the Paper Trail Cover...

Biggie on Twitter

2009-04-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

A site called >bounce/oz has an interview with a guy who pretends to be Biggie on Twitter. This is really fucked up, but still funny.

Here's a bit from the interview:

1. You’ve been quiet for a bit. When’s the next record coming out?

Poppa’s just takin his time to get his tracks straight. To tell you the truth, I’m talking to a couple of labels, so I ain’t sure who’s gonna release my new shit. Spendin’ a lot of time in the studio, though, cuttin’ shit up. Puffy ain’t around much, so it’s going a little slower than I thought.

2. I often see on your Twitter that you’re “ignoring Ma$e’s calls”. What’s wrong with that kid?

I know he’s Puffy’s man, but damn. I ain’t got nothin else to say about that. Motherfuckers ain’t actin right.

3. You still cool with Cease and Kim?

Word, my fam is fucked up. Cease and Kim in court?!? That shit ain’t right. But all my crew still my blood. Oh, and everybody know I’m still tappin’ Kim on the regular. Yes, she do look like she Chinese now, but her booty still fine.

4. Have you talked to Puff about his rapping? Or his dancing, for that matter?

Look, Puffy concentrating on other things. He got that raisin TV show, his clothing line for white people, some vodka bullshit, and threatening to kill people if they don’t vote. And on top of all that, he tryin’ to marry a 14 year old. So he ain’t got time for you triflin’ reporters talkin bout “he can’t dance,” or “he can’t rap.”

5. What is your drink of choice these days? Moët still a favorite?

Still a big Moët fan. But lately I been tryin’ out these new cups of coffee with chocolate at a place up in Bed Stuy called Starbucks. That shit’s my motherfuckin drink.

I don't do drugs, but i'd imagine it would be something like this..

2009-04-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Classic Video:Wu-Tang Clan "Protect ya Neck"

2009-04-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

Wu Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck

Special Announcement

2009-04-19T17:32:00.001-07:00

Be on the lookout for the some more reviews on T.I. Kanye West, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., and more!!

Classic Video:Run DMC "It's Tricky"

2009-04-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

Run DMC - It's Tricky

Which Is better? Old T.I. Vs. New T.I.?

2009-04-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

T.I. Feat Justin Timberlake - Dead And Gone / NEW
Uploaded by PeteRock

Special edition of "Which is Better?"

2009-04-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

In this special edition of "Which is Better?", i've decided to do something a lil' different. I've collected every version of Jay-z's Classic song "Dead Presidents", out of the three, which do you think is better? (I also included the original samples)

And Now for the Samples...

Big Boi Interview

2009-04-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Big Boi speaks about his album again this time from a different perspective, explains that he really has "enough records for a triple album"

Classic Video:Wu-Tang Clan "Triumph"

2009-04-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

Greatest Posse cut EVER.

Wu Tang Clan - Triumph

Which is Better?

2009-04-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

This Is a new section of the blog that I'm working on called "Which is better?" which is basically me taking new songs, that uses the samples of older songs, and compare the 2. This is just a prototype of this new section, so i want you guys to give me feedback on how i can improve on it. My first post of this, is the Kidz in the Hall song called "I Got it made 09'" which samples the Special Ed song "I Got it made" I want u guys to say if its a good, or bad use of the sample, and why. Oh yea, the Reakwon review will be on here by Saturday, because of some adjustments I'm making to it.( i always go overboard with the writing). Anyway, enjoy.

Kidz In The Hall - "I Got It Made (09)" -

Special Ed - I Got It Made

Classic Video:Pete Rock & Cl Smooth "When They Reminisce over you"

2009-04-14T17:21:00.001-07:00

Pete rock cl smooth troy
Uploaded by oublierleracismeskyblog

The Making of "Only Built For Cuban Linx"

2009-04-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

in Anticipation of my Review of "Only Built For Cuban Linx", here's a behind the scenes look from the creators themselves. It's a really interesting read. A
Loooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng read but definitely worth it. Best rap album of the 90s? Yup.
The Documentary:
Ten years ago, some men with rhymes changed the face of hip-hop music. In the shadow of fellow Wu-Tan Clan stars Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon and his lyrical accomplice, Ghostface Killah created Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... a criminology rap classic that hustlers worldwide relate to.

BUILDERS:
Raekwon the Chef a/k/a Lex Diamonds
RZA a/k/a Bobby Steels
Ghostface Killah a/k/a Tony Starks
Method Man a/k/a Johnny Blaze
Inspectah Deck a/k/a Rollie Fingers
Masta Killa a/k/a Noodles
GZA a/k/a Genius a/k/a Maximilian
U-God a/k/a Golden Arms a/k/a Lucky Hands
Cappadonna a/k/a Cappachino
Blue Raspberry, guest vocalist
Nas, guest rapper

INTRODUCTION TO 'THE PURPLE TAPE'
Hov and Kris can claim albums they've christened as blueprints. But if any recording from rap's modern age has earned the title, it's Raekwon the Chef's colossal Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... released on August 1, 1995, behind solo efforts from Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard, the Chef's showcase broke new ground, deviating from past Wu-Tang efforts, which emphasized nimble verbal jousts, and bringing something completely unexpected: a narrative - driven concept album that followed two ambitious street hoods (Rae and in a star making perfomance, partner-in-rhyme Ghostface Killah) along their rough road the riches. Cinematic in structure, infused with Rae's personality and humor and Ghost's indelible worldplay, and supporrted by some of Clan svengali RZA's finest production work, Cuban Linx inspired hip-hop hustlers everywhere to chronicle their own grimy paths to glory - from Jay-Z with Reasonable Doubt to 50 Cent with Get Rich or Die Tryin'. ."I was straight up into a drug zone vibe," raekwon recalls of making his autobiographical opus. "It was like a tablet of my life, where I wanted to go, and all thihs shit I seen. We was just showing n*ggas that we master all sides of the streets when it comes to trying to get to the top." Although East Coast rap gangstas like Kool G. Rap and Mob Style (the late 80's Harlem outfit that included Pretty Tone Capone a nd famed crime lord the original AZ) had covered similar subject matter, Cuban Linx's gritty vignettes elevated such storytelling to another level, potraying a slice of underworld life where Five Percent Nation theology, gangland robberies and recreational cocaine bumps commingled freely. The album also kick started several trends withing the rap game. Cuban Linx was the first instace of rappers adopting mafia-inspired aliases (Wu-Gambinos), songs like "Incarcerated Scarfaces" and "Ice Cream", initiated slang like "politic" and "butter-pecan Rican", into the hip-hop vernacular, and Cristal became the bubbly of choice for the ghetto fabulous set, thanks to Rae and co.'s endorsement in various song lyrics. Nothing, however was more indicative of Raekwon's allegiance to the street soldier aesthetic than the LP's intended full title, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Niggaz - as much a declaration of its musical potency as a forewarning to those not perpared for the uncut raw contained within, (Eventually and understandibly, the N-wordr was dropped). Rae also cosmetically distinguished his product from those of other artists, insisting on a purple-tinted cassette and CD case instead of a conventional clear version. "I wanted to potray an image that if I was selling cracks or dimes in the street, you would recognize these dimes from other n*ggas' dimes", he explains "recognize that I'm putting myself in another class, where this might not reach everybody table, but for the n*ggas who table it do reach, it's like, Yo, that's some hip hop bible to the streets." Ultimately, this uncompromising approach remains Cuban Linx's most enduring legacy. Raekwon and Ghostface would create their own slang, devote skits to Wallabee Clarks, use entire dialogue passages from their favorite films as interludes, and invite just one guest star to their coming-out party (Nas), because they didn't give two shits about fitting in with what other rappers were doing. As the duo spelled out on the controversial skit "Shark Niggas (Biters)", the whole key was to "be original". In this spirit, XXL alslo breaks form - from devoting our expanded Classic Material tributes to groundbreaking works of the dearly departed. On the 10-year anniversary of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'s release, we spoke with Raekwon and his collaborators for their reflections and insights on the creation of this hard-boiled hip-hop classic.

01: Striving For Perfection
RAEKWON: When we sat down and did "Striving for Perfection", we knew how important the intro to an album is. We were comming in as young, scrambling n*ggas. We had visions-- goals and dreams. And when we was saying certain things, shit was relating to n*ggas' lives for real. But at the end of the day, we was just trying to let it be known that, Yo, we gonna do this and we ain't gonna stop. If we fall off, we fall off. But if we get on, this is only the beginning. It was just something like, Yo, if this shit don't work right there, gotta go another route. Probably gotta go get on some robbin' some bank shit. Some ol' other shit. So, we felt like we was just striving to get recognized in the game as those dudes that really repped the streets hard. And basically let n*ggas know: We will be rich in the next year - I guarantee you that.
RZA: The theme of the album is two guys that had enough of the negative life and was ready to move on, but had one more sting to pull off. They're tired of doing what they doing, but they're trying to make this last quarter million. That's a lot of money in the streets. We gonna retire and see our grandbabies and get our lives together. Being that Rae and Ghost was two opposite guys as far as neighborhoods was concerned, I used John Woo's The Killer. (In that movie) you got Chow Yun Fat (playing the role of Ah Jong) and Danny Lee (Inspector Lee). They have to become partners to work shit out. Mostly everything (of the spoken interludes) is from The Killer on that album, that or personal talking. I met John Woo that same year. He sent me a letter. He was honored that we did it. I felt confident we could settle anything that came up. You can usually settle that shit. It's part of the budget, man. But John Woo didn't want nothing, never no money for that. We actually became friends. He took me and Ghost to lunch and dinner many times. He gave me a lot of mentoring in film.
METHOD MAN: In RZA, you got a guy that watched karate flicks most of his childhood. He has that type of mind; his imagination is crazy. So when he put those (early Wu) albums together, he was like a kid in a candy store - like, Now I can finally make my own karate movies. So when the solo albums dropped, mine took up where Wu-Tang left off, so it was good for me to come then. Dirty's still had the kung fu element, but it was more twisted; it was like screwed music because it was seen through Dirty's eyes this time. When Raekwon's album came, since he was on some mobster shit, that's how the n*gga structured his album. Every gangster movie he could find, every quote - it's like the way he put that album together.

02: Knuckleheadz
RAEKWON: That's a track where we runnin' around. We doing what we do, getting paper. We smackin' n*ggas up. The beat just had us feeling like, Who the knucklehead wanting respect?! That was just one of them tracks where we felt like we just got finished robbing a bank and we got hohme and broke that money up. See this knucklehead n*gga try to get slick with that paper; "One for you, two for me". It's like "What are you stupid? Tom-and-Jerryin' me, n*gga?"
RZA: My idea was besides them rapping the verses, afte they talking all this brotherhood shiht, they splitting the money up and he cheating them. The idea is that U-God gets killed in "Knuckleheadz." It's like a movie. One dies, two others go on. To me, the album is a movie and shit. You get to hear U-God come in. After that song, I had to give Rae a few back-to-back solo joints.
U-GOD: I was like two days out of prison. I just came out the penitentiary. Id' just come home on Wu-Tang's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang, 36 Chambers, too. I did two years in prison. I came home on paorle - work release right before the first album was done. That's why I'm only on two songs on the first album. Then I got violated. Knucklehead cats out in the world, you know how we d o. So I got violated for another eight more months. Then I came back home and got on Rae and Ghost's album. When I did my verse for Knuckleheadz, it was a come up time, everybody trying to come up and get into the game. I ain't get a chance to do my vocals over. When I did that, I got locked up again.

03: Knowledge God
RAEKWON: Knowledge God was a serious story that I wrote. It's like I'm sitting down and writing a letter, but it folded out into the crime scene of what he was gonna do. I was talking about going to go hit up a real n*gga, a store owner like Mike Lavonia - them n*ggas that be having money in the hood and they be trying to stay out of the way of the tough guys. But at the same time, he still hold his ground because he got business out here in these streets. He's thinking, I"m not gonna be intimidated by yall young boys, but at the same time I know some of yall young boys might be scheming. That's where that character came from. In them ealry '80's, cocaine was a rich n*gga high. So if you was doing that back in the day and you had knowledge of self, you was a sharp n*gga to us, cause that was the sign of the times then. But nobody neve r said nothing about it. The sniffing at the start of the song just happened. That was a part of the take. When I did it, it wasn't like we knew that was gonna be ba part of the track.... I just did it on some (makes sniffing sound). You know , a n*gga don't gotta yell to hear the mic. A n*gga could do another sound to hear the mic. So that happened to come out. I felt when I was sitting down writing that drug pararphernalia rhyme, that I could've been a sn*gga on it like that at that time. We could have really been getting skied up, going to get this n*gga after that. So, it matched perfectly. But that wasn't like we was sniffin' coke in the studio or no shit.

04: Criminology
RZA: That was me trying to produce like a DJ, produce a breakbeat. Ghost actually asked me to make one of those beats. You listen to old DJ tapes. That's how I made that song, and he wanted hihs shit to sound like a breakbeat. He had a rhyme that he knew was going to change the game - that was the verse that got him recognized. Cypess Hill's DJ Muggs called up and was like "Yo, he killed that shit. He ripped that shit" Form that point on, he's the co-star. He wins Best Supporting Actor. Rae got nominated, maybe won or didn't - but Ghost definetly wins.
GHOSTFACE KILLAH: I wrote that verse in San Francisco. We used to carry the beat machine around a lot. We was out there a good two weeks, so RZA was making beats all day. I heard that beat and I loved that track. The year was '95. Hip hop was still hip hop, and we was going in. I don't know if I was drunk when I wrote that, but I know when I went in the booth, I had a battery in my back, fucking with the Ballantine Ale. I recorded a lot of my shit on Ballantine.

05: Incarcerated Scarfaces:
RAEKWON: The way RZA had it poppin' back thenn, we would come into his spot. It was like dudes would come in on their own time and create stuff. I remember I just came in, and the beat was just pumpin'. I wrote the hook - that was the first thing I did. I think one of my mans just got hit with some heavy time around that time. I had a lot of n*ggas up there, too. So it was like. Yo, this one gotta be for them n*ggas right here. This right here will be just fo them n*ggas in jail. It won't be for nobody else. I just wrote it out real quick. I did three verses on that, so Ghost didn't have to come in and really do anything to it.
RZA: I wasn't making that beat for Rae. I was finished with Rae. I like having 13 tracks. I don't like having 18. I was making it for GZA probably. He was next. But then Rae heard that beat, grabbed his pen and paper, and started writing. Two hours later, it was written.

06: Rainy Dayz
RAEKWON: When we wrote "Rainy Dayz", I think we was already out of the country. We was in Barbados, by the water. Some joints we had the beats to we went out of town with. And that one specifically, we wrote by the water. Had that good villa right off the ocean and shit. Three, four in the morning. wind is blowing, curtains is blowing, and we just really got a chance to put it down. I think I wrote mine out there. We just basically gave you some action on how n*ggas in the hood think. Like how a n*gga lady think - they don't act like they there to try to bring you back from doing what you gotta do, but they try to get you caught up. We was like, This is gonna be perfect for the struggling girl who can't understand her man and he a thorough n*gga. We wanted to put a girl from the movie in the skit, at the start of the song, when she said "I sing for him and he isisn't here". He ain't here, bitch , cause he makin' money! He trying to put some food on the table.
RZA: This is one of my favorites, if not my favorite track. It stayed on the grill for a long time. That's what we called it back then. I didn't take a song off until I was satisfied. I generally like to do 'em, mix 'em, put 'em away. This was too emotional and too real fo me, too close to my personal situation. This was the life we was living, just talking and rapping and hoping. Record royalties take too long to come. We had a platinum album, but we waiting on the check to come fast, like babies wanting they food.
BLUE RASPBERRY: I was on the microphone, singing thaht old song by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summe (No More Tears (Enough is Enough)), that sings "It's raining, it's pouring, my love life is boring me to tears." I was just singing that, and so then RZA started playing a track. So that's where "It's raining, he's changing" came from. That's the kind of mind state it put me in. .I got a little stumped in middle, so it's like, "No sunlight, more gunfights." When I said "No sunlight," RZA brought in the "More gunfights" which brought me intno a whole other realm of the song, where I could go ahead and complete it.

07: Guillotine (Swordz)
RAEKWON: To me, that was a "Symphony" track. Meth had a piece of that beat on his album that was used as a skit. Cause that's how RZA is. Sometimes he'd mix other shit in and give you a piece of something but not really act like it's gonna be assigned to that. He'll see if somebody like it and use it for filler or whatever. I had told RZA awhile ago after he did that. "Yo, I want that beat." We was the first to be talking that Cristal shit. I know that for a fact. I never even heard of Cristal before that. Back then we would go do dinners and shit with Loud Record President Steve Rifkind and them up at the label. And our mission would be like, when we sit at the table, we want the best fuckin' wine they go in the building .We might have asked for something else. We might have asked for some Mo or something and they didn't have it. So we was like "What the fuck is the next best thing, Steve?" And Steve's like "Give 'em the next best thing" They came out with Cristal. Me and Ghost liked thhe bottle, and the name on the bottle was Louie Roederer. I was like, I'm Lou Diamond, Louie Roederer. Me and Ghost is loving how fruity the bottle looked. It cost more than the muthafuckin' other , so we was like, Cristal, n*gga! That's our new shit!
RZA: For that beat right there, a very open beat, not too heavy on production. This is me trying to imitate the sound Isaac Hayes did on "Do You Thing". That da-na-na...na-na, I found a way to imitate that shit. When you plug the Yahama VL7 (keyboard) up to a MPC (sampler), because of the note cutoff of the MPC, it cause the notes to stutter, cause it don't link up perfect. I heard it and I could reproduce it, but only with those two machines. I had the prototype from Yahama cause I didn't want nobody else to get it.
GZA: I don't know why I onlyl got on one track. Maybe cause it was just a Rae and Ghost album - it was featuring Ghost, and I think he was probably pleased with me just getting on one. Just to fill in a slot.

08: Can It Be All So Simple (Remix)
RAEKWON: The remix came from when we used to do shows when Enter the Wu-Tang dropped. Me and Ghost used to come out to that part of the beat in the middle of the show. RZA did a little bit of magic to it and touched it and twirled it, and Ghost basically was talking about how he got shot back in the days when he was out of town. He started going into his story rhyme shit. Back then a lot of n*ggas we knew was in and out of different states and cities, andn you know shit could happen. So when he wrote, that I guess he was going back to the time when he got popped: "Emergency trauma Black teen headed for surgery." It was like he was just describing the moment.

09: Shark Niggas (Biters)
RAEKWON: It was one of them skits where we was looking at our competition. And when Ghost is saying whatever he was saying, we kinda knew who he was talking about, but it wasn't llike we trying to start a beef. It's just sometimes, when you get in the boothh and you start saying what you wanna say, it just happened. Back then we was feeling good. The liquor's mamking a n*gga feel stronger. We know we coming up with a good album. And we letting it be known, listen : Blah blah blah blah blah. And that's all we did.
RZA: This was the end of the first side. That's how we thought of it right then. We was letting n*ggas know, we know what we was doing, knew what we had in our hand. Don't sound like none of my crew. Eventually, n*ggas did bite. If they would of have it in that year, they would have gotten fucked up. We was enforcing, we was fucking n*ggas the fuck up. You grow up out of your meanness. Hip hop had only one rule: no biting. We knew that everybody was already jumping on it already. You had a few n*ggas trying to clone our shit, already had a few fake Meth's popping up. Fuck that, we gonna see you. At one point, a n*gga would kill you if you sounded like them.
GHOSTFACE KILLAH: I didn't want n*ggas to sound like me. Basically, we was just wilding, starting a lot of trouble. We was airing out at that time. I'm not here to fuck around and start throwing out names. But at that time, nigas knew what was going on and who n*ggas was talking about. You know how Wu came through. At that time, it was on for anybody. We came into the game, like Fuck everybody. Niggas can't touch this, whatever, whatever. That was our mind-frame back then. We ran all that shit - jails, streets, Brooklyn House, Rikers Island and Up North - Wu-Tang was what was up. So we was just them two n*ggas bugging out off of that shit. God bless the dead, I love BIG. He's a fucking icon. Even when I seen him out in Cali, I wanted to tell son, Yo, let's go ahead and make this record together because I matured through the years, and at the same time, I recognized good music. We shook hands on some peace shit, but that was all, cause they was on their way leaving out. A day or two later, n*ggas aired him out. I felt bad like damn, the n*ggas aired out one of my New York n*ggas.

10: Ice Water
RAEKWON: Everybody knew Cap from the hood. We knew Cap could rhyme, and I think he was getting hot at that time, too. Me and Ghost had already dropped our part, so we needed hhim to come up there and do his thing. He slid right in between, and he do what he do. Cappa knocked GZA out, and knocked everybody else who had rhymed over that track out. He knocked n*ggas out on the strength of the rhyme was phat; but also, when he said certain names that was from the hood, everybody went crazy. So he kinda won with a landslide. But GZA came sharp. So GZA felt robbed a little bit. He had to go back home, "Whatever, yo." We even laugh about that shit to this day. Like, a n*gga robbed GZA. But Cap won. Funny shit.
RZA: On side A, you had U-God come on the sting with them. In my mind, in the movie, he's killed already. Now there's a new n*gga coming in, with a whole new flow and shit. Cappadonna, he's hardly been to the basement. He was in jail but he still sounded good, still had it in him. I let him know. "You can pop in how Green Hornet did". And Big Un - he's in jail for life, a thorough ass n*gga, a real street n*gga. We let him do the talking between the second and third verses. He confirmed Ghost and Rae's association from the streets. He was from Stapleton with Ghost... So he's immortalized now. Music and film, it kkeeps you there forever.
INSPECTAH DECK: That's my shit. When I do shows, I come out and freestyle to that. Niggas be going crazy. That beat is RZA on his weed high. I think RZA smoked weed that day. Heh don't normally smoke. When we smoke, he don't fuck with us. He might take a pull or two, then comes with that crazy shit.
U-GOD: Cappa did eight years in prison. Cappa came home. I'm the one that came and got Cappa out of his bed when Rae and them n*ggas were recording. He didn't even wanna come, cause he was bitter. When you in jail and you come home and cats you grew up with his doing it withhout you, of course you gonna feel bitter. I got him out his fuckin' bed, slapped off all that bitterness and brung him down to the studio. Rae's carpet fell out. Cappa taught me how to rhyme! I used to be his beatbox.

11: Glaciers of Ice
RAEKWON: The opening skit was something me and Ghost really wanted to stress, because around that time we was really buying Clarks left and right. We had bumped into a Chinese n*gga who could dye shit. That was Ghost's man. And we was just runnin' back and forth to that n*gga every time we was into shoes hard. We wanted to wear Clarks because the shits was comfortable and nobody in the game was fuckin' with 'em. So you know, we'd be going to dye shit, ,and that's where Ghost came up with the idea to slice 'em. I was the solid-color n*gga, he was the striped n*gga. We started coming up with different flavors. So he was letting n*ggas know, "I wanna get a pair of Clarks like, I'm a murder 'em!" When I rhymed to "Glaciers", it wasn't even to that beat. It was the drum part of that beat I rhymed to. That day, when I went home, I didn't like my rhyme. Everybody else kept stressing that they liked my rhyme. But I didn't. RZA was like "Don't worry about it. Go home, get some rest, you tired, you buggin'". I was like fuck that, when I come back tomorow, I'm changing that shit. When I came back, it was likethe shit was a whole new different beat with the drums under it. He made Blue Raspberry hit certain notes. He'd have her scream, go crazy. That shit's nothing but an AK festival with all the screaming. I took it like he had a shooting range with a bunch of Iraq n*ggas just having a festival.
BLUE RASPBERRY: One night, I was just at the studio and I was playing around on the microphone, singing Patti LaBelle's "Over the Rainbow." I was with no music, no nothing. I was sitting there, just singing. And when I got to the end like "Why then, oh why c-a-a-n't I?" RZA recorded it. And that's where he put it in "Glaciers of Ice."
RZA: The Clarks skit is totally how Ghost is. He recorded the skit - I think we was in the car. I had a portable DAT. I made everybody get oen, cause no telling where you gonna be at when an idea hits. Put it under your bed with your bitch, whatever.
GHOSTFACE KILLAH: We was in the car one day, driving around with the DAT machine with a microphone. and we just started talking shit about how we're gonna do it this summer with the Clarks. The dying was something I was doing already. I'm an inventor. Niggas can't fuck with me when it comes to style. Only n*gga that is right there with me is probably Slick Rick. Other than that, I'm boss.

12: Verbal Intercourse
RAEKWON: We got in the studio, RZA played the beat. Nas was liking it, and he was trying different rhymes to it. We would sit there, and he'd say some of his shit. But he didn't really know which rhyme he wanted to say. and I was there, being like his little coach. And I was like, "That it son", he was like "that's it?", I was like "Nigga, that's it!" But he had already went through 3 or 4 rhymes, and he couldn't really see which one he wanted it to be. But I heard it. Once it camem out his mouth, I was like, That's it. Our main focus was just to make sure that he get his nut off and do what he gotta do. When he did his thing, I wrote something real quick, just to get this shhit really looking like something. Ghost just put the cherry on the top. No hook, cause we didn't care about hooks like that. All we had was the "RZA, Chef, Ghost and Nas" which is more or less an introductory hook. Not really a hook.
NAS: Rae would come out to Queensbridge, I would go to Staten Island. We'd just ride and hang out all night. We didn't call each other to work. We called each other to hang out. Somehow we wound up in the studio. RZA had a couple of beats ready. He played them for me. I got on both of them. The other one never came out. I was honored to be asked to be on the album. Raekwon was ahead of his time. I knew Rae was a classic artist and the album was going to be a music classic.
GHOSTFACE KILLAH: Nas banged it out in one night. He went first with his shit. We all came after. Son was fast. Nas had a couple verses. He spit one verse to us and then another, not on the mic. He just asked "How this sound?" and then we picked the one he spit. He still had the pen in his hand and all the other shit, but son got in there and just threw an ill crack verse. He was on fire.

13: Wisdom Body:
RAEKWON: In my eyes, Cuban Linx was always Ghost's album as well as it was mine. That's one thing about me. I already knew that me and him was a pair. So even through people felt like it was a Raekwon album, I looked at it like it was a Wu-Tang album, and this is me, and Ghost's departure right there, cause dudes don't really talk the street stuff like that. Or dudes talk it, but don't talk it the way we talk it. So when Ghost had put Wisdom Body up there on the album, I felt like, this track is definitely needed and it sound fly. I wasn't at the studio that day when he did it, but I knew that rhyyme he was gonna play, cause I remember RZA keep playing that beat over and over, like "Somebody gotta eat this." That's how RZA is. "Somebody gotta eat that. Whether you wanna eat it or not, somebody gotta eat that." And Ghost just ate it up alone.
RZA: This track was originally called "Fly Bitch Shit". At this time, Ghost became Tony Starks. On that song, Ghost came in and did that song one day I actually put it in the stash; it was Ghost by himself at first. Then Rae jumped on it. I was like, No, it's too personal to Ghost. It's a glitch in that performance, the way he did it the first time on ADAT. He never came with that same wetness of voice. He's more high-pitched when other producers work with him. His voice should be compressed on 90 MHZ and sloped down. I know that; other producers and engineers don't know that. I had nine compressors - one for each MC - thath I could just patch in.
GHOSTFACE KILLAH: You can hear the punches in there. There's a few punches in there right in the beginning when I say, "Check the bangin-gest". You can hear the shit switch up a little bit. RZA had to punch the other take in. Cause back then, since I was drinking, I'd slur a lot so I had to do a bunch of takes. You can hear that I'm a little bit drunk if you listen. That's why I punched in, because I fucked up one of my words. So, I just kept the beginning and put the other take in. That's the thing about these albums that we made earlier. We used to keep a lot of the fuckups. That's what made it raw. Everything ain't always gotta be too perfect.

14: Spot Rusherz
RZA: Spot Rusherz was another example of that zone. I wasn't really feeling the beat. I was done with Rae's album. Another time I was was making beats for GZA. Rae and me got a similarity. We workaholics; we dedicated to the cause. It's one of those things where he came in and aired it out. And to me, it saved the beat. I still don't like that beat. I still wanted to get it off the album. The two gun shots at the end: Just in case you got bored, I was bringing you right back.

15: Ice Cream
RZA: I gotta take total credit for the idea. I got this basement downstairs in my first nice apartment I had, in Mariner's Harbor in Staten Island. There's a line running from the basement to the production room on the second floor. I just zoned the fuck out one night and did the beat. Meth came over. I told him I got a crazy idea on this one. I wanna use girls' breasts as imaginary ice cream cones. I came up with the idea to make T-shirts to go with it. "Meth you gonna do the hook." It was the first song besides "You're All I Need to Get By" that we pressured him into. He didn't like being the pretty boy. He took those words I said "French vanilla", "butter pecan" - and put them in perfect order. It was really Wu-Tang's first reach out to women. Women wasn't even allowed into the studio. A woman wouldn't be allowed in the studio until '97. It's a distraction. It reminds me of the ingenuity of the mind I had ticking and making these songs and we thinking we can make t-shirts. We must've sold 20,000 t-shirts at the Wu-Wear store alone.
CAPPADONNA: Well, the first joint I did, the one that put me on the map was "Ice Cream" And we did that one like, that was the beginning, nobody ain't really had nothing. We had a lil' studio up on Clove Lake. RZA had an apartment over there, with the studio in the basement. That's the studio that got flooded out. They had a flood in there. But before the flood, I was out as a security guard up there at the time, and I had went in there and I heard "Ice Cream"; I had heard Rae's verse; I heard Ghost's verse on there. And I had made a joke about me getting on the track, and RZA took it seriously and was like "Yo, go ahead. Lace that."

16: Wu-Gambinos
RAEKWON: The Wu-Gambinos aliases come from how I used t o like that movie Once Upon a Time in America, with Robert De Niro and James Woods. I liked how these young little n*ggas grew up, from the ground up, not having nothing to start, but still was confused about how they treated each other. Andt he names came. You knonw, "Tony Starks" came from Iron Man. "Lou Diamond" came from me being infatuated with the diamond world. Back then I was wearing a lot of ice, was calling shit ice. But then I started giving some of my n*ggas in the crew names. Being that it's my album, I wanted n*ggas to know, You gotta have a certain a.k.a. when you're on this track. This is a Gambino track. Wu-Gambinos. I would call Masta Killa "Noodles" call GZA "Maximillian". Inside the movie, Noodles and Max was partners. I felt like GZA was like "Maximillian" because he was like the brains of the crew. He would say something real intellectual and smart, ,and I looked at him like a "Max". I called Deck "Rollie Fingers" cause of the way he roll blunts. So names just started fitting n*ggas. "Golden Arms", U-God. Then n*ggas just start making they own names up. "Bobby Steels" - RZA was on some real Black Panther, DJ, ill producer shit.
RZA: Now that these guys pulled they sting off, they got one more big sting. They gotta call the heavy hitters in on this one. It's Rae getting the rest of the team to make this thing official. Actually, that was the first one where everybody took on another name t o go along with the concept of the album. That was done intentionally. We was probably 11 songs into the album. "Everybody come with your Gambino name." My name was Bobby Steels when I was 12, 13, so I brought that back out. It was me and Ghost the last to lay our verses. Ghost goes last; everybody was up in the cut. True Master had to be the engineer to record me. I let n*ggas know I'm part of the sting. I'm coming forr that money, too. For me it was a chance to show n*ggas, because I hadn't been heard for a minute.
MASTA KILLA: That was all done in the same place. And it was a beautiful thing to see. Wu-Gambinos: You see Meth come in; he lays his verse. You see Deck come in; he lays his verse. RZA is there; he lays his verse. It's inspiring to just see other MCs come through. And not just MCs. This is your brother. This is your family. It's like the Jackson 5 and shit. They all in one room. It's going to be magical. RZA was the Beethoven of the whole shit. I think he orchestrated the whole shit. A lot of times brothers came and it was llike you came in and you rhymed; you could have left and you went wherever. When your album was completed, you came in to listen to what he stayed up putting his magic touches on things.
METHOD MAN: We were high, hanging out. It was always a relaxed atmosphere because we were so used to being there, sleeping on the floors and all that. So it was like being home, writing rhymes in your own house. You went from the floor to the booth. It took thhrere hours tops, just to put vocals on it. That was the first time we ever used our aliases, The Wu-Gambinos names. We were sitting there like, "My name gonna be this" and "My name gonna be that." People really thought my fuckin' name was Johnny Blaze. Raekwon started that. Rae always had that mobster mentality, always liked to watch gangster movies and read mob books and stuff like that, you know? So he pretty much knew the names of the cats and what they was about. He polished his whole style like that. Plus Staten Island is known for mobsters - that's where the Italians live. Not saying all Italians are mobsters, but you know, we ain't blind and shit.

17: Heaven & Hell
GHOSTFACE KILLAH: This was one of the first songs recorded fo Cuban Linx cause we made it for the Fresh soundtrack. Rae wrote all of it, and then we just broke it up. I just did it with him. So, I was right there. I was the co-singning like, I'm a say this part. There are a lot of things me and Rae do like that. I might write, and be like "Yo, here, son just say these parts." But on that one, he had did that. We recorded it the same day.
GZA: Some artists owrk together. I've thrown lines at brothers, and I've gotten lines from brothers. That's how we get down.

18: North Star (Jewels)
RAEKWON: "North Star" was a track I really, really wanted on my album. It was a track that I felt a vibe of it was motion picture-like. I was havin a vision of that song: I could just see a little kid looking out the window, just eating a $100,000 Bar. He coulda been on the seventh floor, eighth floor. And just looking out the window, just looking at these n*ggas out there in the street doing they thing. How they eat, how they get money. Back in them days, n*ggas would run up to cars and stick they drugs in the window to make n*ggas buy 'em and whatever. So that beat always reminded me of some slow, theatrical trouble that's to take place. The inspiration that Popa Wu was saying, he was more or less giving a documentary of me with the words he was saying. He was talking about me like "Yo, just keep your head up, man. Don't let nothing get you down." Just trying to really inspire me from being an OG's point of view. And in the hood, OGs is legends to us.
RZA: "Fly Bitch Shit" and "North Star" was one song, but I separated them out. The idea is Rae did everything he had to do. Eveything is over now. The job is over. Mission is over, it's a perfect closing t the album. Popa Wu was a very smart mentor in the younger days to me and ODB. I formed Wu-Tang Clan. Everybody had dibs and dabs of street knowledge, knowledge of self, I brought him in to be a mentor to these men like, I love them and you the only person I know that have the intelligence to keep them in sync with knowledge. It's very poisonous unless they got proper guidance. He was the smartest man I'd ever met at a certain time in my life. After two years, they'd turned him into a Wu-Tang member. His name used to be Freedom Allah. He was Five Percent. He came Popa Wu after the experience, went from silk pants and buttom up shirts to fatigues.

UNDERSTANDING: Ghostface reveals the science behind a musical masterpiece
Rae was hot on the Wu Album, and when Loud decided to sign one of us solo, they wanted to carry Rae. I don't know really how that went down, but RZA made the deal with Steve Rifking and asked Rae, and they had the budget for the album. He was amped We decided to do the album together because our rhyme styles was comparable. We both talked a lot of street shit and liked the flossy and glossy shit. We already had the title. The chain we used to rock back in the days was Cuban links. So Rae came up with the theory, like a Cuban link is one of the roughest chains to break. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Real n*ggas, strong n*ggas. We wrote it in South Beach. It was just me and Rae down there for two or three weeks. It was recorded in the basement of RZA's old house in Staten Island. We had a lot of good luck in that room. We was in our prime. Back then I was punchin' a lot of rap n*ggas in their face, and n*ggas was getting beat up in the clubs. We were banned from everything. They wouldn't even let me in the Tunnel. Niggas was scared to death when I was out there wilding. I was fucking n*ggas up, robbing n*ggas, fucking a lot bitches, just doing dumb shit - and I'm rhyming. We was on it. We was going in at the time. We did everything. Rap n*ggas sniffed coke, too. Black n*ggas sniffed coke, too. Black n*ggas was street n*ggas. I was a dusthead. Rae didn't really like that high. We was young n*ggas getting a lot of shit poppin'. Talking shit about n*ggas, all types of shit. I used to drink a lot back then, which is why I sound so aggressive on a lot of shit. I was going through a lot of real internal shit during Cuban Linx. I was drinking my pain away every day. I used to drink before I wrote my rhymes and even before I went in the booth.. We tried to make every song a single, like how Rakim had "Eric B. is President", "My Melody" and all that - every song was basically banging. We wanted to do the same thing. It wasn't plots, like: Yo, you gotta rhyme about that. RZA came with a different sound. He started off the shit that's going on right now with the little voices in the background, old samples, and it was just fresh... It just happened that the beats made us talk a lot of shit. you might have a Scarface sample on Criminology, and Wu-Gambinos hahd a mafia feel with the violins. So, we were throwing a little mobster in our rhymes. I came up with all that "a.k.a. Tony Starks, a.k.a. Ironman...", Rae came after that with "Lex Diamonds." Then other Wu members came in. Now you hear all these other rap n*ggas with aliases. A lot of dudes started taking our shit, like Cristal and skits and "politickin". Even when we start rhyming, we be in the booth like, "Hey yo, hey yo, hey yo." Raekwon started that shit. He's the first n*gga I heard do that shit. That's the biggest shit n*ggas got now on the mic. We done took that to the highest peak. We bonded as a tight family, so n*ggas is starting to try and do that right now. Everybody thinking they have a strong family. We opened up the door for a lot of n*ggas. The shit was just crazy on how it came together. It was all meant because a lot of the shit, I don't even remembe. It was just how God worked it out.

MY PHILOSOPHY: RZA reveales the life behind the beats
We started working on Cuban Linx after Meth's album in '94. The way we had it planned, Meth was first, Dirty was second, then Rae and GZA. At that time, it was all my word on how it would go. We attracted the children and the women with Meth; attracted the wild, crazy people not really into philosophy with ODB. Then the real street n*ggas, the n*ggas we all were shying away from, we needed to hit them. Rae was an elder as far as MCing. Rae and Ghost together, those two right there were notorious kids from two different projects. At one point, they was rivals. Ghost is from Stapleton, Rae is from Park Hill. They kinda hooked up and seen that similarity in them, and that's how it went down. They didn't know each other as well as they knew me - it was my concept. Me and Ghost was living together; I lived in Stapleton in '91, '92. Me and Rae go back to second grade. Cuban Linx was an opportunity fo Rae and Ghost to give us the street side. When we did it, I said, "yo, it's gonna be a very dangerous album; it's gonna change the game. We gonna invite those demons, every negative stereotype, and deal with them. It's like the shit was lived; a lot of it was lived or experienced in one form or another. It's so natural, it don't feel like songs. It was a chance to show the world not only how New York livs but also how Shaolin preserved New York. An older generation was leaving and getting older. We're from the crack generation - that real gritty, rough project shit. We was on corners at 15, 16, doing shit you couldn't imagine. I was getting high at 11. We're street college guys - we call it criminologists. We had a certain kind of look: cables, Guccis, Bally, Polo. We went to Red Parrot, Latin Quarter. People would be like, who the fuck is those n*ggas? In my mind, we was what New York was about. This was the real shit that was happening. People in the projects live this life. We felt we was the shit rappers rapped about. I think Cuban Linx marked an era in hip hop personally. Cuban Linx to me solidifies it. Hip hop today is basically rapping about how tough you is in the strets, how you raking in the bitches and shit, how fly a n*gga is. We wasn't trying to be R&B'd out. I wasn't going out ike that. We was velour suits, gold fronts. Rakim was a great example, '86, to '87: a fly muthafucka, super cool, respected by corporate suits or n*ggas in the streets. I made most of the Cuban Linx beats first, eight of the tracks. I gave Rae & Ghost a tape of 10 beat, sent it to Florida. They had wanted to go to Barbados. But when they got to Barbados, the racism was so crazy. It was on some slave mentality. The Blacks was being treated like shit. They stopped back in Miami, and everything was recorded in my basement. No engineer, no assistant engineer. I did everything on that shit. The only two albums I did with nobody fucking with me was Linx and Liquid Swords. I was on a mission. To make all those early albums took three and a half years of my life. I didn't come outside, didn't have too many girl relations, didn't even enjoy the shit. I just stayed in the basement. Hours and hours and days and days. Turkey burgers and bluntes. I didn't know if it was working. But nobody could hear or say nothing, no comments, no touching the board when I leave. Everything was just how I wanted it.

Kanye on South Park

2009-04-12T16:20:00.001-07:00

Rick Ross "Deeper than Rap" Short film

2009-04-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here goes the new short film from Rik & Rick. Ross on the production, Cordero on the directing.

"Executive produced by Rick Ross, “Deeper Than Rap” shows the young brother of a successful drug dealer witness the murder of his older sibling and associate while in his home. Filmed with a dark setting and with songs from Ross’ album playing in the background, the film jumps to a present-day image of the protagonist as he has followed in his brother’s footsteps within the drug game. Showing he has a business mentality amongst his associates and partners, the story’s main character faces off with the men responsible for slaying his family."

Q-Tip Breaks Down His Discography

2009-04-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

In a recent interview with Tim Westwood on Radio 1, Q-Tip runs through his hit records from past to present. What’s your favorite Tip/Tribe record?

Tyga - Circus Souvenir (Click to download)

2009-04-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

Here’s a tagless version of the track found off the Young Money whipping boy’s affiliate’s latest mixtape.

Desperate for celebrity: Cassie Edition

2009-04-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Now Normally, i wouldn't talk about anything R&B, but this shit is too funny not to show. I'll let the photo's do the talking......

Now the most important question. Would you still smash?

I really hope this doesn't catch on...:(

Camron On Miss Info

2009-04-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Rick Ross’ (Unreleased) Trick Daddy Diss (Video)

2009-04-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

Before Officer Ricky admitted to actually being Officer Ricky, he did an interview in which the interviewee brought up Trick Daddy’s statement about him being a CO. We saw the footage of this where Ricky denied it up and down. But now we get the extended version of the answer in which he yaps at the mouth about Trick for a 6 minutes or so.

Courtosy of 2dopeboyz.com

Big Boi Talks About Solo Album (Video)

2009-04-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on the Air Yeezy's. Vote!! ----->>>

2009-04-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've been following Kanye's new shoes since i've first heard of them. I actually like them. What do the rest of you guys think?

Classic Video:A Tribe Called Quest "Jazz/Buggin Out"

2009-04-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

A Tribe Called Quest : Jazz/Buggin Out

2-Pac:"Me Against the world"

2009-04-11T15:58:00.001-07:00

Im sure most of you guys know the history behind 2-Pac and this album, but to those who dont here's a brief history. Me Against the World is the third album by American hip hop artist 2Pac, released March 14, 1995 on Interscope Records. The album's recording sessions took place at ten different studios(I don't know why). The album was recorded in a matter of weeks before 2-Pac was to go to prison on sexual assault charges stemming from a 1993 case in which a woman accused he and others in his entourage of sexual abuse. It was also during these sessions that 2Pac was infamously shot five times in the lobby of the Quad Recording Studios in New York City, which, along with his impending prison sentence, many believe might have contributed to his artistic re-emergence on record, as his material is believed to have become increasingly more "confessional," "reflective," and "soul-baring."(It also marked the Beginning of the East Vs. West War with former friend Biggie Smalls)Me Against the World, released while the artist was imprisoned, made an immediate impact on the charts, soaring to the number one spot upon its release, and making 2Pac the first artist to have an album debut at the top of the Billboard 200 while serving time in prison. The album was also one of 2Pac's most well received by critics and fans, with many calling it the best effort of his career, and one of the greatest hip hop albums of all-time. Lets see if it still holds up.

1. "Intro"
Basically the intro is some basic ominous beat, with people talking in a 'news-reporter' like way about his 1994 Shooting in the Manhattan recording studio. It's quite interesting the first time you listen to it, but naturally after a while you'll be skipping it.

2. "If I die 2nite"
I think this was the actual time when Tupac started thinking about his own fate. The whole track is about ballin', about how he is known, his former life and of course, about his own death. A fairly deep track,that gives a decent mental picture of how he lived and what he was thinking. The beat isn't anything spectacular, and it doesn't impress me that much. Not a terrible track, but it doesn't match up with the rest of the album.

3. "Me Against The World"
This track is definitely a classic, very nice production, intelligent verses, catchy hook. This track has it all. It is based, similarly to the previous track,which was on ballin' and how Tupac himself, as a rapper, and a person, is facing the world. Tight verse by Dramacydal, this makes for a quality Pac track. Even a sample of it was played in the movie 'Bad Boys' and is on the sound-track, if I recall correctly.

4. "So Many Tears"
Another great track from 2-Pac. i love the Stevie Wonder sample. (I'm a sucker for harmonicas) The track is a very deep one mainly about death, his death, god, his peers passing and him trying to give up ThugLife. This is a Pac classic.

5. "Temptations"
This is more of a party track, and as the title suggests, its about women. The beat is aight, but you wouldn't be able to just play it when your chillin' maybe stoned or pissed. On the movie '8 Mile'(great movie by the way)while some of the characters are driving around, a sample of this track can faintly be heard. So this track just reaches average.

6. "Young Niggaz"
I can really vibe to this track. Nice production, real lyrics. 'Pac gives a shout out to the young/late Robert Sanderford, who if y'all don't know that is; was a young L.A. gangsta who slang dope, and was found shot dead in his brothers room. 'Pac really thought about this track and the message he was trying to put out. Over. Great Track

7. "Heavy In The Game"
WHAT. THE. FUCK. This track sucks!! Is it me, or did every Hip-hop album in the 90's have at least one reggae song on it? its a track based on hustlin' and keeping yourself alive while being, heavy in the game; not that you could tell from Lady Levi's random singing, which is annoying as fuck. all in all stay away from the track. FAR AWAY

8. "Lord Knows"
First Line: "I smoke a blunt to take the pain out", simple; the track is based around pain, god and once again ballin'. Tight production, some of the best 'Pac verses I’ve ever heard. Thus, Over-Average song.

9. "Dear Mama"
the track that leaded the album to its Number 1 spot. It’s a highly deep, sensitive song about, you guessed it; his Mother, Afeni Shakur. He's reminiscing back on all the stress he put on her through the years. This is a Mother's Day anthem.

10. "It Ain't Easy"
Fuck Yeah! Now we're bangin' again. This track has some slow but good verses by 'Pac, spittin' about his life, ballin' and how life ain't easy. Nice song, it has a nice relaxing vibe to it.

11. "Can U Get Away"
Ok, this is a wack-ass track. I think Tupac was trying to show his sensitive side towards women or something i dunno what he was smoking, the beat is neary like something in the background of a porno movie. Slow and boring, skip.

12. "Old School"
This is a good track, not too fast or slow. Its interesting to just listen to his lyrics, they rock! He's basically just reminiscing on the, yep, the old school.(Its crazy, cuz Pac was rapping about his old school, and to me pac is my generations old school)

13. "Fuck The World"
Another one of them tracks that are wild to slowly concentrate on what he’s saying. Decent beat, the track is based around all the shit that has or was happening to him at the time, then he’s saying, Fuck The World!! (Boy Pac was angry on this album. i wonder why.....? jk)

14. "Death Around The Corner"
This track has one tight-ass beat placed under 'Pacs crazy verses. Once again speaking on his own death and his life. I personally think this track can be placed up there with 'Me Against the world' or 'If I die 2Nite'.

15. "Outlaw"
This track has a tight-production, decent verses but the OUTLAW, OUTLAW, OUTLAW, will be getting circulated around your mind for days to come. It bores you also after a while. Basically track is about ballin' and being an outlaw.(Side note: Is that lil Bowwow in the beginning?)

Well there you have it, give the most controversial rapper one fucked up year, a recording studio and you get 'Me Against The World'. All in all, This Album is a good sign of Tupac's amazing talent to give you a mental picture or message through his music. Not only were the tracks bangin', lyrically they had meaning. I would recommend this album to anyone who is a Hip-Hop fan.

Score: 95 out of 100

2 Pac - Dear Mama

2 Pac - Temptations

Classic Logo New Era Hats

2009-04-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, HUF will be releasing their Classic Logo New Era exclusively at both HUF locations in LA and SF. The fitted is a ‘city edition‘ which one color way that matches along with their hometown MLB team colors will be available at that location. Both hats are limited to 75 pcs. These are sure to fly off the shelves like other HUF fitteds. More pics after the jump.