Monday, August 31, 2009

LEAKED: Jay Z's Blueprint 3 (a quick and dirty review)

Well the internet blew up this morning with download links to Jay's long awaited new album, Blueprint 3. I was actually thinking, what is taking so long!?!? It sucks that it was leaked... but its to be expected in this day and age. I hope if you like the album, you will cop a legit copy when it officially drops Sept 8th.

I didn't really to know what to expect from this album... I like D.O.A. when it dropped, loved when he performed it at the 2009 BET Awards... but after I heard the album, there's autotune all over it... I guess he's 'using it' correctly? :) Actually there are tracks where auto-tune was used in a manner that it did not take over the song, but then there are some that did.
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As for the record...tracks I like:
What We Talkin About (like what he is saying, I like how he answers some of his detractors)
DOA (I like, but in listening to the album, it seems somewhat hypocritical)
Empire State of Mind (Jay Z + Alicia Keys = Nice combo)
A Star is Born
Venus Vs Mars
Hate (West did his thing, again)
So Ambitious (Pharrell and Jay never disappoint, the tradition continues with this track)
Thanks You
*When The Money Goes
*Jockin Jay Z (Travis Barker Remix makes this a better track)
*Brooklyn (Go Hard)
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Tracks that are okay:
Run This Town (there are times when I say its okay, there are times when I hit skip 5 seconds in)
Real As It Gets (I initially did not like it, but the track is growing on me)
Off That (like the verses, don't like the hook)
Already Home (very Em-ish)
*Ain't I
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Tracks That Are Prohibited From the Truck:
On To the Next One
Reminder (ouch, my ears hurt)
Young Forever (seriously, this track is terrible)
*Ghetto Techno (Timbaland produced; this track will never get play in the truck)
*Jockin Jay Z (never liked it)
*History (meh)
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Overall, I give BP3 a "B"... its good, but not on the level of Reasonable Doubt (not that I was expecting it to be), just my opinion. It won't make my 'must cop' list (coming soon), but Jay Z fans will be happy, and at the same time, Jay Z haters will be happy to hate it.

With that said, I will cop a legit copy on Sept. 8th..... Peace

*Unofficial bonus tracks

Friday, August 28, 2009

New To Me... Pseudo Slang


Last week, I came across a track by a group called Psuedo Slang, out of Buffalo, NY, called Broke & Copasetic. The track caught my eye because it featured Vinia Mojica.

After hearing the track, I had to hear more from Pseudo Slang, so I went over to iTunes, previewed the album, "We'll Keep Looking", and the proceeded to fork over $9.99 for the album. It turned out to be the best $9.99 I spent last week. The album is dope, end to end. Don't believe me, check out the album review over at Okayplayer:

We’ll Keep Looking, the latest effort by Pseudo Slang, blends standard jazz with drum and bass lines, the likes of Dilla, and a silk, though seemingly tangential flow, which happens to work perfectly with the jazz root of each track. This is what would’ve happened if Digable Planets formed a super group with Slum Village.


Wow... that last sentence really raises the expectation... but the album delivers!!! Okayplayer rated the album an 88. For context Tanya Morgan's Brooklynati rated an 89, Diamond District's (Oddisee, yU & XO) In the Ruff rated an 87 and Marco Polo & Torae's Double Barrel an 81.

More from Pseudo Slang's We'll Keep Looking:
Perfect Beat:


Bedouin



A Deeper Dive....
In trying to find out more about Pseudo Slang, I found that one of the member of the group, Tone Atlas, was part of Pseudo Intellectuals. Pseudo Intellectuals dropped in 2008. All I can say, "Damn, what a fun and creative album"... its definitely worth copping! My iPhone has a playlist dedicated to We'll Keep Looking and Resourceful Illery that's been playing since last week....

Decemberfest


Autumn Leaves


No Money, More Problems

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Release Date? Anybody? Anybody?

I saw this trailer for a Talbi Kweli Documentary about six months or so and still can't find release date! I'm there, whenever it drops....

NEW HEAT - Bekay "Brooklyn Bridge" feat. Masta Ace

Spotted this over at Okayplayer... anything with Masta Ace on it deserves a listen, and as expected, the ish it tight!!!

BEKAY - "BROOKLYN BRIDGE" feat. MASTA ACE [HUNGER PAINS: 11.10.09] from Coalmine Records on Vimeo.

Check out Bekay's debut video for his single "Brooklyn Bridge" featuring the legendary Masta Ace and produced by DJ Babu (Dilated Peoples). This is is the first single/video in promotion for the release of his long awaited album, 'Hunger Pains' which drops November 10th, 2009 through Coalmine Records. The video also contains an intro snippet to his follow up single "I Am" produced by The Alchemist featuring DJ Revolution. The Digi-12" maxi-single for "I Am" & "Brooklyn Bridge" are now available through iTunes, Amazon and other well known digital retailers. Stay tuned as the road to 'Hunger Pains' continues...



I never heard of this cat Bekay before, but I will keep a look out for more music from him.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Does That Two Piece Combo Come WIth A Beer?

I guess it does!!!



And here's another priceless picture from Citi Field (HINT: peep the guy's shirt). Would this happen in Philly or in RaiderNation?

Love them or hate them, Philly Fans represent!!

Moral of the story, DON'T FUCK WITH PHILLY FANS... seriously:

Police say a group from the bachelor party got into a fight with other patrons at a sports bar and restaurant in the Citizens Bank Park complex Saturday night. The trouble started during the closing innings of a game between the Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The groups were told to leave McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon, and the dispute moved outside to a parking lot.

Police say 22-year-old Lansdale resident David Sale was assaulted there and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.


FOR FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Sunday, August 23, 2009

UPDATE: Hip Hop Hits (1990-2004)

UPDATE: Hip Hop Hits (1990-2004)

After me and my boy e.V.p spent close to 3 hours going through all the videos Jeff Weiss of Passion of the Weiss wrote about (did not set out to go through all the videos, just turned out that way), here are some observations:

-One De La Soul song, REALLY?
-Mos Def, one song... that's criminal!
-Chingy, three songs, really?
-Meth and Red dropped 'How High?' 14 YEARS AGO! DAYUM... really, does it seem like 14 years ago???
-DMX had the late 90s on lock! What happened?
-Father MC was more popular than I remember (peep a young Mary J in the I'll Do 4 U video - DEC1990)
-Craig Mack, Shyne, Black Rob, Biggie, Mase, The Lox proves that Puffy is poison
-Busta Rhymes wasn't always so angry...
-Snoop and Dre need to work exclusively with each other!
-Lauryn Hill is a Top 5 emcee, male or female, PERIOD!
-A lot of Too Short, a LOT of Too Short I never heard of before... and yet I feel better about myself for it...
-What happened to conscious rap?
-Eve is one of the nicest female emcees, ever...
-Missy & Luda knew how to make a hot video...
-What happened to lyricism?
-What happened to real DJing in a rap song?
-Too much Nelly & JaRule, not enough KRS-One!
-Who knew Kriss Kross grew up to be the Ying Yang twins...
-WIll Smith's Summertime is still one of the best summer songs to this day, the other Will offerings have no business being on this list!
-Not hatin, but West Coast Gangsta Rap just isn't my thing...
-One spit in a song makes Joe Public hip hop?
-Pharrell's been around for a loooog time..


LINK TO VIDEOS via Passion of the Weiss

What are some of your observations? Hit me up in the comments!

Mos Def + Jay Electronica = Exhibit A (remix)



Live from the The Ecstatic Tour in New Orleans - VIDEO

Youtube: Exhibit A (Original)

Listen/Download: Exhibit A (remix) Snippets from The Tony Touch Show on SiriusXM

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Can't wait for the tour to hit Philly, I already have my tickets!

Cable, Bumaye, Cable, Bumaye!!!!

The league-owned NFL Network reported Hanson told police he had been struck by another member of the team's coaching staff. A report by the Web site FanHouse indicated Cable had punched Hanson in the jaw.

Cable declined to comment during a news conference Monday, calling it an "internal" issue, but made his denial to ESPN.

Former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah wrote on his Twitter account that "no punches were thrown" but "Cable flipped Hanson's chair, and Hanson hit his face on a cabinet."

Jeremiah, writing his information came from "a very reliable source," indicated the incident occurred when Raiders defensive coordinator John Marshall and Hanson "were in a heated discussion, and Hanson got pretty nasty. Cable took exception and went off on Hanson."

Raiders players, while they were doing stretching exercises before Monday's practice, reportedly chanted, "Cable, bumaye. Cable, bumaye," as Cable walked nearby. That's a reference to the chant by fans in Zaire in support of Muhammad Ali at his famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight against George Foreman in 1974.

Seen @ The Washington Post

However, the National Football Post is describing a different scene:
In the meeting among coaches that included Cable, defensive coordinator John Marshall, defensive backs coach Lionel Washington and assistant defensive backs coach Willie Brown, Cable allegedly came at Hanson from behind as he was verbally contesting what Marshall had said.

According to the source, Cable knocked Hanson out of his chair and up against the wall and into a cabinet. Cable and Hanson fell to the floor, where Hanson was choked, the source said, and Cable was pulled off Hanson by the other men before Cable went after Hanson again.

“Cable said, ‘I am going to kill you, I am going to kill you,’ as he was choking him,’’ according to the source, who also said furniture in the room was damaged.

FOR FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

WHOA!!! And it looks like Hanson is talking to the po po... never a dull moment in RaiderNation... stay tuned!

Photographing the Beginning of a Culture

Martha Cooper was a photo-journalist living in New York City when she first began documenting the origins of B-boy (short for break-boys) and hip hop culture. While other New Yorkers at the time saw this movement as a trite, uninspired or even offensive fad, Martha found a new form of expressing art. Through her camera lens we recount the infancy of hip-hop culture, from the alleys and subways of New York to the masses beyond the boroughs.

Friday, August 21, 2009

GOT!

Let's review the rules real quick:

Rule #1: DO NOT STICK IT IN THE CRAZY!
Rule #2: If you ignore rule number 1, stick and move... any more than that is your own fault!!
Rule #3: See Rule Number 1!
Rule #4: Never ever date a chick named after an alcoholic beverage
Rule #5: Do Not Let the Crazy Move In!!!

Okay, let's continue:
In an exclusive interview Wednesday, Olympic gold medalist and professional wrestling champion Kurt Angle said his live-in girlfriend got him arrested on an alleged violation of a protection-from-abuse order after the two had broken up.


Just a few hours after returning to Pittsburgh from Orlando, Fla., where he had been performing for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling the past three days, Angle told WTAE Channel 4's Michelle Wright that he can't get back into his Moon Township home because the woman is still there.

Breaking into tears during the interview, Angle said spending nine hours in custody after his arrest Saturday morning was the lowest point of his life.

"I didn't do anything wrong, and I was sitting there in the (Allegheny) county jail, just thinking about why I even started dating this girl. I can't believe she did this to me. I don't even know when I'm allowed back in my own home," Angle said.
VIDEO


FOR FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE
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Kurt & Dirk need to start a support group, Easy Prey!!!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

INSANE BOLT

INSANE is the only way to describe what Usain Bolt is doing at the World Championships in Germany...

Plaxico, want a do over?

That 3 month offer probably looks as good as Beyonce right about now...

via Pro Football Talk on Thu May 28, 2009
“This is what I’ve been told and what I’ve heard,” Papa said on the air. “They worked out something where they had it down to about a three-month jail term with actually only two months served and about 1,500 hours of community service. And I think his lawyers felt that they had a pretty good deal. He doesn’t want to go to jail at all. He shot down the deal. . . . He does not want to go to jail at all. So now coming up in another couple of weeks we’re gonna find out what’s gonna happen. But my guess is that the city of New York is not gonna back off any kind of jail time.

“Evidently, he’s gonna have to go to Ryker’s [sic] Island,” Papa added. “He’s deathly afraid of going. . . . [I]f he would have just taken the deal when it originally was offered it would all be over with by now. But supposedly the community service hours and the jail time are not appealing to him. He does not understand that he is not in any kind of position of leverage. He has no leverage. He — not his representatives — he thinks he has leverage.”

Fast Forward to today, August 20th, 2009:
Plaxico Burress, the former Giants receiver, pleaded guilty on Thursday morning to criminal possession of a weapon, in a deal with Manhattan prosecutors that will send him to prison for two years.

Justice Michael H. Melkonian of State Supreme Court accepted the guilty plea. Under the plea agreement, along with the two-year prison sentence, Mr. Burress, 31, is to be sentenced on Sept. 22 to two years of post-release supervision. With good behavior, he will be eligible for release after slightly more than 20 months.


FOR FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE
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He should of hired Dante Stallworth's lawyer... hell, all pro athletes should have Stallworth's lawyer's name & number in their rolodex!!!

DAMN, if it was a car, all would of been recalled!!!

DAMN, I knew the RROD was a problem, but I had zero idea that the failure rate of the XBox360 50%+.... if it was a car, there would be a recall of the entire production line...

Survey: Xbox 360 failure rate is 54.2%
Xbox 360 gamers know the Red Ring of Death all too well. When one of Microsoft's gaming consoles experiences a hardware failure, three of the four red lights ringing the Xbox's power indicator illuminate.

Since the Xbox 360's launch in late 2005, system failures have gained their fair share of attention. Last year, Microsoft even set aside $1 billion to extend Red Ring of Death warranty coverage to three years.

In fact, a Game Informer survey of 5,000 readers found that the Xbox 360 has an astounding 54.2 percent failure rate. That means 54.2 percent of Xbox 360 consoles fail in one way or another.

That's well above the reported failure rates of Sony's PlayStation 3 (10.6 percent) and Nintendo's Wii (6.8 percent).

However, when the results hit newsstands in the September 2009 issue of Game Informer, gamers were surprised with the results. No, they didn't think 54.2 percent was a high rate - they thought it was low.



"We're not sure what future techno-utopia this poll was conducted in," wrote Griffin McElroy of Joystiq, "but a 54.2 percent Xbox 360 failure rate sounds awfully low. Had the survey's participants been comprised entirely of Joystiq staffers, it would have been a bone-chilling 100 percent."

Furthermore, 41.2 percent of Xbox 360 owners suffered a second hardware failure after sending their console back to Microsoft for repair, according to the survey. PS3's second-failure rate was 14.7 percent, while the Wii's was 11 percent.
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Microsoft, seriously, what's the deal?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Do You Pee Standing Up?

After winning Gold in the 800 at the World Championships, the IAAF basically asked 18-year-old Caster Semenya if she was a boy or girl.
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Weiss said that the medal ceremony for the 800 would take place as scheduled on Thursday evening in the stadium but that if the investigation proves Semenya is not a woman, she would be stripped of the gold and the other medalists elevated. The investigation could take weeks, he said.

“But today there is no proof and the benefit of the doubt must always be in favor of the athlete,” he said. “Which is why we had no reason, nothing in our hands, to forbid the athlete to compete today.”

Not all of the finalists agreed. “These kind of people should not run with us,” Elisa Cusma of Italy, who finished sixth, said in a postrace interview with Italian journalists. “For me, she’s not a woman. She’s a man.”

Mariya Savinova, a Russian who finished fifth, told Russian journalists that she did not believe Semenya would be able to pass a test. “Just look at her,” Savinova said.


FOR FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

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Look at the picture... what do you think? Male or female?

Hip Hop Hits (1990-2004)


Hip Hop Hits (1990-2004) via Passion of the Weiss

"In the quest to defend his thesis that great hip-hop is on the decline, Ivan of Hip-Hop is Read crunched the data from the Best Rap Albums of the Decade list to come up with an awesome bit of rap nerditry,. While I’m not entirely certain if I agree with the conclusion, it’s a fascinating post that dovetails nicely with these YouTube videos compiled by RetrohitsTube.

Below the jump, all the Biggest Hip-Hop/Rap Hits of 1990-2004, separated out by year in chronological Order..."


FOR MORE, visit Passion of the Weiss

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Thanks to rchanou for the link...

America Dies on Dunkin



Dr. Jason Newsom railed against burgers, french fries, fried chicken and sweet tea in his campaign to promote better eating in a part of the country known as the Redneck Riviera. He might still be leading the charge if he had only left the doughnuts alone.

A 38-year-old former Army doctor who served in Iraq, Newsom returned home to Panama City a few years ago to run the Bay County Health Department and launched a one-man war on obesity by posting sardonic warnings on an electronic sign outside:

"Sweet Tea (equals) Liquid Sugar."
"Hamburger (equals) Spare Tire."
"French Fries (equals) Thunder Thighs."

He also called out KFC by name to make people think twice about fried chicken. Then he parodied "America Runs on Dunkin'," the doughnut chain's slogan, with: "America Dies on Dunkin'."

Some power players in the Gulf Coast tourist town decided they had had their fill.

A county commissioner who owns a doughnut shop and two lawyers who own a new Dunkin' Donuts on Panama City Beach turned against him, along with some of his own employees, Newsom says. After the lawyers threatened to sue, his bosses at the Florida Health Department made him remove the anti-fried dough rants and eventually forced him to resign, he says.

"I picked on doughnuts because those things are ubiquitous in this county. Everywhere I went, there were two dozen doughnuts on the back table. At church, there were always doughnuts on the back table at Sunday school. It is social expectation thing," says Newsom, a lean 6-foot, 167-pounder in a county where 39 percent of all adults were overweight in 2007 and one in four was considered obese.


FOR FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE
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Wasn't he, by definition, doing his job?

YOU GKTFO!!! Cable Allegedly Chin Checks Asst Coach

"Nothing happened," Cable told a large swarm of reporters Tuesday when asked about it following a joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers. "Listen, you want to talk about this football team and the players on this football team, I'll talk all day. Otherwise, I'm not getting into it."

A report filed with the Napa Police Department describes an unnamed 41-year-old Raiders assistant coach being treated at the Queen of the Valley Hospital for a jaw injury, which the victim alleges was caused by an unidentified member of the Raiders coaching staff on Aug. 5.

AOL Fanhouse reported that Cable was the coach who caused the injury.

Cable also declined to comment on the NFL investigation.

FOR FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

True Hip-Hop Stories: B-Real

True Hip-Hop Stories: B-Real from D-Nice on Vimeo.



In this episode of True Hip-Hop Stories, B-Real of Cypress Hill discussed the making of their hit recording How I Could Just Kill A Man and the influence latinos had on the hip-hop culture.


The Messengers




Fela Kuti + Bob Dylan + Bob Marley + MC K'naan + J. Period Remixes = The Messengers

Spotted @ Okayplayer.com

LISTEN: Let's Start

Seriously, is this what the forefathers had in mind?



Besides 'grandstanding' and creating an unstable atmosphere, what's the purpose of coming to Obama's Town Hall ARMED? What the hell happened to common sense in this country?

That Didn't Take Long...




The Eagles wasted no time getting this on the rack. The picture was taken @ Modell's one day after the Eagles signed Michael Vick...

Rev. Al Sharpton (and others) to host WWE's Raw?



From Variety...

Celebrities and their handlers may have found an unusual alternative to the traditional talkshow circuit when promoting projects: a wrestling ring.
For the past two months, World Wrestling Entertainment has essentially handed over its "Monday Night Raw" show on USA Network to guest hosts, who arrange matches and interact with the WWE's wrestlers while touting their new movies, TV shows, books and other fare.

Jeremy Piven recently stepped into the ring to promote his laffer "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard," for Paramount Vantage, while Seth Green pushed "Robot Chicken" on DVD, and Shaquille O'Neal sold his new ABC reality show "Shaq Vs."

Upcoming booked talent includes former gameshow host Bob Barker, the Rev. Al Sharpton, "Access Hollywood" co-host Nancy O'Dell, boxer Floyd Mayweather and basketball player LeBron James. Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, Ashlee Simpson, the Osbournes, Danny DeVito, Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, Jimmy Fallon, Rachael Ray, MC Hammer, Woody Harrelson, Serena Williams and Ashton Kutcher also are in talks for hosting gigs.

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Which begs the question, what is Rev. Al selling? Don't answer that...

FOR FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Chart of WWE stock over the past six months...

My Bad....


Awkward Jamie-Lynn Sigler Interview - Watch more Funny Videos