We’ve been bamboozled y’all. Hornswoggled and mislead.

Young Money & XXL were probably in cahoots the whole time on this.  All that frontin’ like they were too good to be among this year’s freshman class. When in reality, someone had to take Wayne’s spot in the rotation during his bid. It only makes sense; they’ve both garnered enough buzz to carry an issue catering to the same fan base as their detained Martian leader. Read the rest of this entry »

I have to thank Burn One for reminding me of this album. Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s music and image are ones that I’ve known my whole life; the cover of A Real Mother… – with the musician boxed in a guitar car – will forever be etched in my brain because my dad had it in his loose vinyl collection. Read the rest of this entry »

The co-signs of Maurice Garland, Noz and Burn One go a long way. About two weeks ago, the three tweeted the praises of an artist from Cali named DaVinci. Seeing as how these three have never led to disaster as far as music is concerned (still working on getting Mo’ on the pro-LeBron bandwagon), a point was made to give this guy’s music a true run through. Read the rest of this entry »

Always looking fly in that bowtie, Janelle Monáe puts on slippin-n-slidin’, saddle-shoeing, fight-the-system montage for her new school classic from The ArchAndroid. Not since Michael Jackson has hitting the boogie in highwaters looked so cool. Even Sir Lucious tries to walk the tightrope a couple times. Read the rest of this entry »

If you couldn’t tell by the leaks or the swagger, Sugar Tongue Slim a.k.a. STS has a silky smooth flow but he still believes in pushing the creative boundaries in Hip-Hop to the limit. That’s why Demand More 2 isn’t your average tape just by your average fly-by-night rapper. Featuring appearances by the Money Making Jam Boys (Black Thought, Truck North & Dice Raw), production by Don Cannon, Sean C & LV, see what STS has been brewing from his journeys from Philly to Atlanta and back again. Read the rest of this entry »

Sports are unfaithful, cruel and, often times, a b_tch. They always have been and probably always will be. And this is exactly why the world will always have an unabashed love affair when it comes to their favorite athletic past-time. Even more than steroids, the thrill of the unknown is the most powerful drug in sports. Take Monday night’s Stanford/Xavier Elite 8 women’s basketball match up for example.

From a very young age, one of the most elementary of lessons instilled in the youth is “it’s a team game.” You win as a team, you lose as a team. One person can never lose the game. Consider this as classic case of being the “exception to the rule.” Dee Dee Jernigan is her name and blowing two wide open layups in the close seconds is unfortunately her claim to fame.

And wide open is meant to be taken literally. There isn’t a more wide open shot in basketball than standing right under rim with the ball in your hand. Maybe she heard footsteps or maybe she wanted to save her team an eventual mauling by UConn. Whatever the case, she secured herself in the hallowed halls of sports infamy alongside names like Steve Bartman and Leon Lett.

Then to watch Stanford go coast to coast for the game winning layup? Again, sports can be a bitch at times. Even now, 48 hours after the fact, it’s hard to watch because of the anguish on her face. You never want to be “that guy” – or “that girl” in this case – to jepordize your team a chance at winning. When it’s on one of the biggest stages in the world, witnessing a player choke is like watching scene from “Boyz N The Hood” when Ricky was killed. It’s extremely uncomfortable and never easy to watch. We here at TSS wish the best (no, seriously) for Dee Dee because that’s something you just don’t forget in a week, month or even a year.

And it doesn’t get any better with Stu Scott pouring alcohol on an already exposed wound.

We’ve all got that one that got away. That lover that, for whatever reason, you let slip through the cracks (not in the sexy way). After you lose her, you can spend years looking for replacements to fill the void she left behind.

For instance, I’m sure there is an armada of wretched skanks our there looking to regain what they lost in David D. by looking for mediocre lovers with questionable hygiene and a comic book fetish. While they’re sure to find someone with one or even two of those awesome qualities, the full package stays elusive. So, every chiseled, rich guy they have sex with is only cheap filler for the real thing. Read the rest of this entry »

As it turns out, the “Surgical Gloves” heist didn’t end according to plans and Raekwon and the rest of the Icewater camp have some lunch dates with the interrogation room. If you’re like me or the rest of the TSS Crew, you lost track of Rae’s videography for OB4CL2 about say…three videos ago. Still, it’s a swift reminder to keep an all-time great sequel nearby for the drought. Read the rest of this entry »

Boaz wants to sell you a dream. For payment, all he asks of you is to lend him your ear for the next hour and get the inspiration of a street poet stamped on your receipt. For a tax credit, you’ll receive the jewels you’ll need how to obtain and keep work to better your lifestyle. And consider it a bargain deal with Statik Selektah, Sean Price and plenty of Pittsburgh’s mic soldiers helping to issue out meal tickets. Read the rest of this entry »

We like the Tanya Morgan guys. On the exterior, they’re “Hardcore Gentlemen” who rap quite well and are cool as cucumbers as individuals. If you’ve been around long enough, you know that we once had Von Pea as an honorary guest for one of our Crew Love roundtable sessions many moons ago. And the team @ Audible Treats are always a delight to work with because they align themselves with authentic acts. So, when they pitched the idea of letting on of the performers from their inaugural SXSW showcase recap the event, it seemed brilliant…a brilliant way to escape work. Even more, it just helps to reiterate what type of energy that Hip-Hop brings to the festival, both for fans and performers. So, allow me to pass the mic keyboard to Donwill and let him take it from here. Read the rest of this entry »

YelaWolf confirmed today via the world’s new number one news source, Twitter, that he’s bringing his sound to Interscope. Truthfully, I’m just surprised it took this long. The aura that dude put off at SXSW made it seem like he’d been signed for months and had the number one record in the country. Clearly, other people took notice, too.

If Jimmy Iovine screws this one up like he did Wale – as my sweet mother would say – heads will roll.

A calculated attack by the Slaughterhouse guys? Releasing four individual tracks in a matter of about 12 hours?

Crook pushes Paul Wall’s original to the limit lyrically and he manages to drop a few well-constructed lines on the New/Old West thing. I’ll wait on one of the current crop of upstarts to tackle “Bangin’ Screw.” Then, the last of the four to drop a track was Royce. Off Bar Exam 3, “Nobody’s Fuckin’ With Us” finds Royce receiving an assist from fellow butcher Crooked (again) and Bun B. Read the rest of this entry »

I ran into Jeff from It’s The Real last week and he said:

“Yo, dunny, Smoking Section ain’t got love for It’s The Real?!”

And before I could answer, he shot me in the kneecap and put me in the Camel Clutch. Suddenly, Eric ran up and force fed me a bottle of Ciroc, broke the empty bottle over my head and made me chew the glass. Then, I explained to them that TSS takes time to let videos marinate so we can give a worthy write-up that encompasses the full historical impact of their messages. Read the rest of this entry »

“What y’all spit sugar coated/I be spittin’ that phleghm/’cuz where I come from, little dudes got guns bigger than him…”

No matter what heights Hip-Hip reaches, it’ll always walk hand and hand with the hood.  It’s where it began and it’s where it’ll be welcomed back with open arms whenever the mainstream fixes it’s gaze elsewhere.  So songs like these will always be welcome and needed.  My head was bobbing like it was ’96 and I was holding down seat #22 on the bus when I first heard the oft-kilter loop & scratched chorus. Read the rest of this entry »

CaSSiie MeLinDa

Kelsey Grammer Settles Lawsuit For Only $10 [EW]

The Top 10 Blunders Independent Artists Make With Their Web Presence [My Music Success]

The Cop That Pulled Over Joey Porter Has A DUI Of His Own [With Leather]

No One Wants To Sing Happy Birthday To Chris Brown [Broken Cool]

Facebook Posting Allegedly Led To House Robbery [BX Sports]

Drake Sets Release Date For Thank Me Later [The Urban Daily] Read the rest of this entry »