I only listened to this song because when it was sent to me, the title was “T.I. – Hello/Good Morning.”

True to this fact, I completely spaced out after Tip finished rapping and Sean started talking to himself. So I can’t tell you what the song is like. However, while in my daze, I did have a few thoughts. So I’ll share those instead.

1. Last Train to Paris: Is this a Diddy album, a Dirty Money album or a Diddy attempt at creating a pop version of Detox? Or just a bad idea?

2. Damn, I’m glad T.I. is out of jail. Can’t wait for that album. Read the rest of this entry »

Sweet Candy

Tiger Woods Shoots New Nike Commercial in His Own Backyard [Gossip On This]

Not Signing Your Name & 9 Other Common Tax-Filing Mistakes [Consumerist]

Netflix Is a Sad Experience on Both the Wii and the PS3 [Gizmodo]

Bizzy Bone Sets The Record Straight On Absence From Bone Thugs [Hip-Hop Wired]

6 People You Meet In A Holding Cell [Coed] Read the rest of this entry »

“Never said I’d be prepared to feel the way I do…”

With that opening line, Elizabeth & The Catapult closes your eyes and opens a memory bank flooded with images. Some real, some imagined. A bevy of contradictions — a dark room with light bed sheets, a warm breeze with the cool smell of rain, an empty space next to you filled with the thought of someone who’s miles away.

I’d hate to clutter this with too many words. Sometimes you strike upon a song that speaks for itself. Leaves you speechless and makes you want to just shut up for a minute. Slow down for a minute. Be present and absent and everything in between for a minute. This is that song for me.

Enjoy.

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Elizabeth & The Catapult – “Right Next To You”

She has a level of hotness every rapper hopes to achieve. The kind when you can turn down magazine covers just to “make ‘em pay” when their scope didn’t align with yours. But what’s it really saying when you’re on fire for everything except your music? Aside from a few cameos and provocative poses, Nicki Minaj really didn’t have anything to call her own Read the rest of this entry »

Aspiring artists, please remember that videos are key right now, just as essential as your mixtapes. I know budgets are tight but do like CyHi did here and cap off two birds with one stone. Moving music equally qualified visuals for “Dead Prez” and “Ready Or Not” off his Prynce Of The Jacks mixtape. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine your eight-year-old handing you a permission slip asking you to sign it so they can be a part of the spectacle which is Scarface: The School Play. The only “coke” they’re aware of is a fountain drink and shall they ever visit a Cabana Club prematurely, you can kiss college goodbye. That tuition money will be spent/earned by the stripper pole. Read the rest of this entry »

Teddy Pain and The Poe Boy try to recreate that ol’ “Low” magic once again on “Zoosk Girl,” the first of expectantly many rousing dashes of disco zest from Flo Rida’s third LP. Read the rest of this entry »

Any opportunity to use a picture of this woman is a blessing. Continue.

“Wore that p#ssy out like radios did ‘The Thong Song’…”

In the words of Joe Biden, like universal health care for Americans, Pill’s upcoming Gangsta Grillz is “a big f#ckin’ deal.” America, as it shouldn’t be a surprise, loves sex. So, therefore, America loves freaks and Pill makes no qualms about it on this recently liberated ode over Usher and Nicki’s sexually charged anthem. It is funny, however, how McDonald’s has effectively become the jumpoff destination of fast food. Every red-blooded American under the age of 35 has at least one wild story involving the “Dollar Menu.” At least one.

Anyway, now that everyone can obtain equal medical care by law, look for 1140: The Overdose to be the epidemic which truly exposes Pill to the masses.

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Download– Pill – “Lil Freak”

Respect: The Educated Villains

The Bay Area has been on the map for years and now it just got a little more balanced. As in Balance, the rappin’ Raider who’s ten toes deep in the rap game. For his next act of gratitude and grustle, he’s offering up We All In, a ten track disc for you to bleed the block with free of charge. Mixed by DJ’s Ill Will & Rockstar and appearances by Jay Rock, Mistah Fab, Fashawn and plenty more, watch how Balance and the West do it in Twenty Ten. Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of weeks ago LC recited one of the commandments TSS was founded upon some five years ago: Dave Chappelle is an unquestioned genius. Because of this, Dave is one person I’ve always hoped would reemerge. He won’t, I know, but let’s just say he did decide return. Where would it be? What would he do? And is there anything even worth Dave even taking his time to step back into the lab? You damn right there is. Read the rest of this entry »

Murs & 9th Wonder have been pushing quality product since they first hooked up back in 2004 for Murs 3:16. The chemistry between the two is nearly unmatched in this era of Hip-Hop where the majority of albums are split between a dozen producers. Their latest video, “The Problem Is,” does a great job of pairing up the song’s social commentary with the visual of the gritty inner city that still gets overlooked by politicians. Uncle Chucc & Slick Jacken both make appearances to perform their contributions to the song and the end result is well worth the free price of admission.

ForNever hits the stores April 13th. Support the real. Read the rest of this entry »

Putting on all sorts of Hip-Hop showcases means having to sit through performances from a Secretary Of State line of rappers, which begins take it’s toll after about the two-hundredth time you’ve had to ‘throw your set up.’ Luckily, during the friction factory that was Hustlepalooza 2010 @ SXSW on Saturday afternoon, there was a welcomed and well-received songstress named Monica Blaire to clear up the congestion. She’s a product of the Motor City who I’d long heard had a reputation for stealing stage shows, but had personally never seen live. She lived up to and exceeded every expectation I had upon hearing her name announced by Hustle Simmons. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not a fan of hood DVDs. Once you’ve seen about one or two, then you’ve pretty much seen them all anyway. If it isn’t “Ty Money” flashing his income tax return while yapping about “making that paper,” then it’s Marcus aka “Bryckz” whose raps include more drug references than a Clipse record.

But this Hood 2 Hood DVD footage is a little different. It starts off like your regular dose of fuckery though. Drugs, loiters, a bodega and that one boisterous dude who puts on for his city. But the events that take place after the initial “introduction” will either leave you in stitches or with a new found appreciation for your favorite misunderstood neighborhood hoodlum.

And shout out to the dude in the Ecko shirt. When your swag is on a 100 million trillion, the only cold you acknowledge is your own. Read the rest of this entry »

“Terminader Gold 60/Love Letters will be my last mixtape before Starlito’s Way 3 and my last mixtape indefinitely” © Starlito Read the rest of this entry »

Some tracks just feel right. “Aerials” is another product of the Ski Beatz‘ 24 Hour Karate School and is one of these extra special exceptions to Murphy’s Law. This movingly melodic mood music features a perfect outward-bound-airplane-based-basis for it’s always percolated pilots; Stalley, Curren$y, Whosane, Terri Walker and Mos Def, forming an uplifting ballad of balance and fortitude. Read the rest of this entry »