Out with the old, in with the new. And what better what to see 2009 out than by doing it in grand fashion, how we really used to get down. Read the rest of this entry »
20X will be the Year of the Blacksmith. There’s been plenty of telltale signs along the way to indicate so. Prepping you for the next 365 of sweet memories, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek, a.k.a. Reflection Eternal are dropping the ball in style with The Re:Union. Engineered, mixed, spearheaded by Statik Selektah, they got something old and something new for the Hip-Hop heads bouncing into next decade. Read the rest of this entry »
For the life of me, I’ve never understood why 98% of people make New Year’s resolutions. They’re virtually obsolete by January 15 anyway. That being said, the prospect of entering a new decade is amazing and potentially successful pending the right mindset and work ethic. By the time December 31, 2019, arrives, I’ll be, God willing, 33 years old with hopefully an admirable and ever-evolving legacy etched to my name. Whether it’s dealing with music or a world-class shrimp boat captain, it really makes me no difference. I just want to be great.
Throughout my first semester at Georgetown, I found myself revisiting a track I’ve always held in a high regard and the album even higher. The intro to Common‘s Be (my favorite album from the guy) serves as that record. Starting with the beat, Kanye laced him with a foundation which reflected my mindstate and the concept of the song. It was reflective, yet progressive. Motivational and lyrically beautiful. Yeah, all that wordy stuff. Com blessed the beat with wisdom like only the Chi-Town wordsmith could. It was the perfect intro. It got right to the point with no hook, just lyrics which would begin to cement the album as a classic from the moment I pressed play. You see, he was looking towards the future when he spoke about gazing into his daughter’s eyes. He even criticized “his people” for not attempting to grasp their true potential. All stuff that remains relevant some four years later as we embark on a new decade. That’s why I love music. Shit is timeless.
“The chosen one from the land of the frozen sun
Where drunk nights get remembered more than sober ones
Walk like warriors, we were never taught to run
Explored the world to return to where my soul begun
Never looking back, or too far in front of me
The present is a gift…and I just wanna be…”
So whatever party I’m at tonight, I’ll be sure to put my drink in the air, with these bars serving as the soundtrack for the moment, and look forward to the next 3,652 days. A legend is coming.
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Pat Knight, Texas Tech head coach and the son of legendary coach Bobby Knight, sounds just like his old dad in tone and diction. While he’s doing well with the Lobos’ program (they’re ranked with a 10-2 record), he’s amassing his own press conference highlight reel that may one day rival his father’s. Check the clip from Tuesday night after his squad took their second loss of the season, a 90-75 defeat by New Mexico.
“The color that I rep is…, fill in the blank on yo next quiz, Why S.L.? That’s the quest-ion.”
Keep your ears open. Jonesy with another “flowmercial,” this time putting a chokehold on Drake and Nipsey’s original. All I know is he had me @ “Applehead hoe!”
Listening to Auntie Viv talk and watching her cry while talking about Boo-Boo makes me think that boy reversed the game and put blood in her spaghetti. As old as Vivica is, she still sounds like an unstable emo schoolgirl reeling from her first crush. Read the rest of this entry »
If I’m not mistaken, this is the party that Turk and homeboy went to. Yeah, them people jerked us. Our connect told us there was “absolutely no cameras,” which happens to be Turk’s specialty (check him out if you didn’t know). Quite obviously, it didn’t make sense to me. Why invite us if you don’t want coverage of the event? Lo and behold, Turk gets there and the place it packed with special guests…and other attendees with cameras. Read the rest of this entry »
…and the outcome is surprisingly better than what you’re expecting. And when your younger friends say “You don’t know anything about Miley Cyrus,” you can truthfully say you’re familiar with at least one song.
You may/may not be fully aware of how authentic that statement pictured above is. But, if you’ve ever sat in the leather executive-style computer chair, you know how challenging the task can be. Count off how many sites you’ve seen fall by the wayside, updates trailing off until you notice that the last update was weeks or even months ago. Or maybe you started your own little crummy blog (don’t trip, we all started with little crummy blogs) only to realize that there were too many other more important things to do for you to bother with trying to hold it down. Why do that when you could play Xbox, casually download mp3′s, stir up a ruckus in the comments section of other blogs and be a 140-character menace on Twitter? Read the rest of this entry »
Just as the new decade begins to pop off, El Dorado will jump out that Impala and pop the trunk for some good ol’ Trunk Muzik. How great is the quality of this video by the way? Imagine if all notable artists got their mixtape ads ran on daytime television to increase visibility. They even screamed out ya boy Maurice Garland. Read the rest of this entry »
Even in our single-driven society, the truth is that most rappers can still reel in listeners influentially by simply reciting the honest realities observed through their rearview mirror. The irony in keeping rap one hundred, however, is that the realness is killing one of it’s building blocks; The Da Art of Storytelling. For the most part, our preoccupied society has become so enthralled by artists’ personas and reputations that listeners are more likely to appreciate the ‘truth’ in a cheesy block star anthem than a storyteller’s well-crafted depiction of intricacies. For instance, why check Slick Rick’s timeless – yet, artificial – narratives of youth demise, when Gucci Mane – the chicken-movin’ ATLien who’s seen more dirt than an earthworm – is telling selling everyday stories from his stoop that would drop the jaws of any anchorwoman not broadcasting from Baghdad?
Despite the prolonged demise of perhaps the most imaginative aspect of emceeing, not all is lost.
Scattered sparsely through the past decade, a select few inspired artists went ahead and crafted concoctions of creativity whether people wanted to hear them or not. Some capitalized on the gamble and became worldwide icons, while others got buried in a niche and couldn’t dumb it down enough to dig themselves out. No matter how their fables unfolded though, these perceptive pen poets were full of enough dusty details, foreshadowing and character-driven plot twists to enable them to open up the box, step right out and deliver the best storytelling songs of the past ten years.
After all, anybody can rap. Very few can tell a good story.
1. Ghostface Killah Feat. Raekwon – “The Hilton” from Bulletproof Wallets (2001)
We think a bad hotel experience is a foul smell and an absent mint on our pillow. Raekwon and Starks, on the other hand, can fend off a double-glock-wielding bell-hop and still find the time to iron their outfits. After choas popped off at “The MGM,” you’d think these Wu dudes would stick to the bed and breakfasts.
2. Mark Ronson Feat. Saigon – “Diduntdidunt” from Here Comes The Fuzz (2003)
Back when The Yardfather was still one of the more promising rappers in the game, son was dropping so much quality material that a knee-slappin’ street satire like the phonetically pronounced “Di-dun-di-dunt” became a forgotten treasure just months after release. This Mark Ronson-produced ditty takes it back to the playground, where we find young Saigiddy schooling some bum knuckleheads with some knuckles to the head. Lil’ Ray never saw it comin.’
3. Ludacris – “Runaway Love” from Release Therapy (2006)
I could’ve very easily slid “90210” in this slot. But considering this type of lil-girl-lost song scenario will never be topped, it’s difficult to choose which dismal portrayal of deprived feminism is tops. Until you factor in the that Luda’s laceration got him to #2 on Billboard and put a Grammy on his mantle. Better luck next time Olubowale.
4. Obie Trice Feat. Nate Dogg – “The Set Up” from Cheers (2003)
On his debut album, Mr. Real Name No Gimmicks used his obligatory Aftermath-related Nate Dogg appearance rather wisely. Rather than doing the typical single jingle, Obie had Nate hum the hook to a fabricated account of a trifling female who gets what she has coming to her after turning the whole hood against one other. And, unlike most of the songs on this list, “The Set Up” still had plenty of success on the airwaves, despite it’s lyrical lean. Oh, and a Dr. Dre beat always helps, too.
5. Brother Ali – “Dorian” from Shadows On The Sun (2003)
Ever tried to stop domestic violence and caught a case a result? Well, that sucks. At least you’ll appreciate “Dorian,” my Brother Ali’s self-guided and nonfictional trip down memory lane from his beloved debut, Shadows On The Sun, which was completely produced by Atmosphere boardsman ANT. That whiteboy doesn’t look like much of a scrapper, but I bet he’d whoop your ass.
6. Young Jeezy – “Bury Me A G” from The Inspiration (2006)
Yeah, I know. Jeezy is the absolute last person you’d expect to see on a list complimenting rapper’s lyrics (actually, the third from last), but on Da Snowman’s second lick he picked up a shovel and scooped up some honest-to-Gosh creativity for “Bury Me A G,” a riveting portrayal of his hypothetical assassination. Not only do Jeezy’s words get deeper than his pockets, but when the video dropped, fans were stunned to find out Weebay and Omar were the ones behind the trigger all along. Not you, Omar. Not you…
7. Wax & EOM – “The Adventures Of Larry & Tina” from Liquid Courage (2008)
There’s about a 50% chance you’ve never even heard of nomadic rapper Wax, but when MySpace Cool Kids-ed him and producer EOM, the finished goods became their somber tale of Larry; a divorced 39-year-old who falls in love with a stripper half his age, finds an online video stream of her being raped and gets beat up trying to save her. Not the most uplifting track, but probably as structurally sound as any the list, with a transcendental video that could’ve vied for video of the year had it’s captain been more renown.
8. Lupe Fiasco – “Little Weapon” from The Cool (2007)
Oh, Lupe. Always one to complicate things. While most songs featured on this list are fairly unambiguous, Cool Lu uses this sonic gospel as a forum to vaguely vent how kids are becoming numb to war at an earlier age then ever, via three very adverse POV themes of third world poverty, war and video games. Once you’ve cracked the code, you realize it’s a great song from a great album…about a bunch of shitty topics we all fund in one way or another.
9. Tech N9ne – “Slither” from Absolute Power (2002)
Usually Tech’s songs are just super fucked up and true. This one is actually super fucked up and fictional. Over an entrancing and extremely complimentary RonnZfromBerlin beat, “Slither” finds Neezle spittin’ game to strippers in a KC MO titty joint, who happen to lure dude back to their pad and turn him into…actually, let’s not give it away. Let’s just say Tech was ahead of the curve on one of today’s prevalent fads.
10. Joe Budden – “3 Sides To A Story” from Mood Muzik 2: Can It Get Any Worse? (2006)
Hit the cupboards and grab some popcorn before “3 Sides,” because Joey’s interweaving triple-narrative about the injustices of the streets plays out like an eight-minute-long mini-movie, that ends in chaos and proves a viable point most rappers completely miss when speaking on their hood horror stories; it’s always more complicated than it seems.
11. Big L – “Casualties Of A Dice Game” from The Big Picture (2000)
No disrespect to the deceased, but upon listening to the bloodbath that is “Casualties Of A Dice Game,” it’s not surprising Big L was slain on the streets. Despite obvious lyrical embellishments for story’s sake, the eerily intricate details on display during Corleone’s posthumous portrayal of pay back and punishment are so vivid listeners are left reaching for blood money from the sky at song’s end. Imagine the the kind of stories Lamont Coleman would have told had he seen the new millennium.
12. Jay-Z – “Meet The Parents” from The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse (2002)
One of few hits among misses from the middle installment of Hov’sBlueprint trilogy, this depiction of a broken home brought together by tragedy (and not in a good way) is almost Tarentino-esque in that it’s beginning follows it’s ending, which has to be hard to do…when you don’t write down your raps. The former president’s storytelling in this is so dictated and complimentary to the beat, “Meet The Parents” may find it’s way onto a Jay-Z Greatest Hits album one day.
13. Immortal Technique – “Dance With The Devil” from Revolutionary Vol. 1 (2001)
The craziest part about Immortal Technique’s goosebumps-giving deliberation isn’t that it’s featured wannabe gangbanger ends up raping and killing his own mother, it’s that the reformed Harlem-raised activist/rapper says “Dance…” is a true story and that he participated in the rape. A remarkable song…but maybe one I wouldn’t have shared with the world. I’m gonna’ go cry now.
14. Nas – “Rewind” from Stillmatic (2001)
It’s pretty safe to say most people did exactly as the title suggests when they first heard “Rewind,” the completely backwards account of blunts, broads and retribution from the man who most people would say rules this run-down rap shit (“One Love,” “I Gave You Power,” “Blaze A 50,” “Fetus,” etc. etc.). Talk about talent, though, the verdict is still out on how the hell Nasir wrote this damn song. A dome-blower, to say the least.
15. Eminem Feat. Dido – “Stan” from The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
No explanation needed. “Stan” is the epitome of why storytelling songs serve a purpose. If done well enough, they can properly showcase the spectrum of talent an artist truly holds and – over the right beat and hook – leave listeners enthralled long enough to turn out a number one hit. A beautifully eerie record that will probably go down as not only Eminem’s best piece of work, but one of the greatest Hip-Hop songs of all time. That’s right, of all time.
Golden State Warrior Ronny Turiaf rose to the occasion to snuff the Black Mamba’s dunk attempt something awful. Turiaf didn’t gloat one bit, but I’m guessing that’s because he’s still used to playing under Kobe’s dominating presence during his time as Kobe’s teammate on the Lakers. Read the rest of this entry »
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