Written by K. Barrett

Sharon Jones has done it again.

‘If You Call’ stings like the ringing memory of a heart carved in a tree. Anyone who has ever loved and lost recognizes the helplessness in Jones’ wail. It’s the ringing potential of a number that will not be dialed. It’s the deafening silence of a phone that will not click. As my grandma would say, it is “the coffin nail.”

Jones’ performance is so wrought with emotion that her every phrase paints a master portrait of heartache. Her intonation is warped by years of lost love and wasted memory, boiled down to a voice that drips the devoted dissipation in which every legend has stirred his or her bones. This is soul. Read the rest of this entry »

Obviously aiming to score big on the smoker’s holiday, 8Ball & MJG’s “Fly Away” seems appropriate for all seasons especially for those that partake in the sticky icky as a part of today’s breakfast breakfast. Holed up in a studio with merely a few females, Swisher Sweets stuffed with greenery and upstart stoners HillKrunk, the Memphis duo slave away on yet another possibly tote from Ten Toes Down. Read the rest of this entry »

Splash got a hold on a batch of tracks which will be making appearances on a few upcoming Tapemasters Inc. mixtapes.  So consider this your inside track on these, so by the time the full/tagless versions surface you’ll have the leg up on what to grab & what to pass on. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in ’96, Ras Kass did a Rick Ross song before Mr. Triple C’s even dreamt of becoming the Teflon Don.  Taking his West Coast boom bap on a quick trip down South, where the only thing that changes is the scenery, Ras drops the knowledge & metaphors we all love him for at the pace of a downhill skier, while sounding competely at home over the beat.  Making it’s way on both his debut Soul On Ice & The Substitute soundtrack, this song goes hard in the whip. 

“Miami Life” is a perfect song to add to your playlist for those days when windows and tops up are optional.

Download — Ras Kass – “Miami Life”

We’re back again with the second part of first round preview.  Hopefully today’s games will follow the lead of the later games yesterday and provide a great game from start to finish.  Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to go with an analogy here.

Dave Chappelle is Outkast. Tracy Morgan is Bobby Ray.

We all miss Outkast and their work. It won’t ever be repeated. Their level of excellence is above comparison. That doesn’t mean that I can’t see something special in a new talent that brings similar values to the table. While I miss ‘Kast, I’m not going to ignore the potential classic that Bobby’s about to to release. Read the rest of this entry »

One of 20 videos that Lil Weezer shot before heading to the clink, the DJ Scoob Doo directed clip for “Single” off No Ceilings. When you’re filming a mass amount of videos in a short time, there has to be inspiration from elsewhere, otherwise you get the usual rapper fare of cars, clothes and a couple of h_es. For the treatment, Martin Lawrence’s work provided the inspiration. Read the rest of this entry »

The kid with the golden mic is joined by another of the Hip-Hop’s favorites as Bobby & Lupe come together for a track that will be on The Adventures Of…, even if it may end up sounding slightly different. Read the rest of this entry »

Courtney Dominguez

How Much Will the Volcano Cost? [The Daily Beast]

Game Vs The Alchemist [HHNM]

Coachella 2010: Why Jay-Z Is Still Hungry? [Pop & Hiss]

City of Cleveland Rejects LeBron2010 Banner [Waiting For Next Year]

Should Nike & Kanye Release Air Yeezy II? [TSG] Read the rest of this entry »

Time to renew the call.

Dear Dave,

It’s been two years since last we spoke. Two years of a dream deferred. Nothing has changed. You’re still the greatest, I still want to interview you, it can still be on your terms and my dog’s name is still Dylan.

For propriety’s sake it should be noted that if the New York Times motto is “All the news that’s fit to print,” then The Smoking Section’s is “1) Outkast sh*ts on everybody 2) The Wire sh*ts on everybody 3) Dave Chappelle is master class 4) *Kanye Shrug*”

There really isn’t much to say beyond that.

Shoot, I don’t know… let’s talk about music. Let’s talk about the Midwest. Let’s talk about Tila Tequila’s rap career. Let’s talk about my man in the red in this Whispers video. Let’s talk about Ray J’s dating life. Let’s talk about how Badu does what she does. Then let’s talk about why Jay Electronica hasn’t released an album yet. Let’s talk about how TSS readers thought I was a dude until I wrote you last time, then they just thought I was a ghey skin-flautist.

We could talk about politics for 15 minutes or dingleberries for an hour… makes me no difference. I’m in for what you’re in for.

Sincerely,

LC

For the rest of yous, observe TSS Truth No. 3 in action in this recently unearthed clip from circa 2009 with Chappelle performing at Hollywood’s Laugh Factory.

[Via]

– If you didn’t grab Wiz’s delectable Kush & Orange Juice mixtape yet, we’ve got you covered, simply by clicking here. “Taylor Gang or die!”

– David D. questioned L.A. Reid’s sanity with the recent succession of sh#tty Shyne songs.

– Rapping white women were represented here (see: Kellee Maize & K.Flay), for better or worse. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time for the NBA playoffs and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  Baseball’s just warming up & a few months from warranting paying attention to it.  Only thing popping off with football is the draft & spring practices in college.  Hockey’s playoffs have begun, but you can’t even find those games on TV if you wanted to.  The Lakers appear to be in prime position to repeat, but there are capable teams in both conferences standing in the wings & waiting to take it off their hands.  Which makes the NBA playoffs the hot ticket, the intensity picks as the O’Brien trophy is the ultimate prize. Read the rest of this entry »

“I embody Hip-Hop down to my last follicle…”

Every time we post an unfamiliar track or feature an atypical Hip-Hop artist, the tomatoes come raining from all sides. It’s fine and dandy because we see our path as one that’s geared towards music discovery, most of focused towards rap. There’s times when that means taking a gamble and highlighting tracks that might not satisfy the majority.

But we balance it out by bringing it back to a guy like J-Live, who just so happened to launch his new J-LiveMusic.com site this week and release “The Way That I Rhyme” too. The line “four albums deep, sick with the pen, nice with the beats, plus he can spin” sums up J’s résumé for those unacquainted and even those who forgot exactly who he is. He’s Hip-Hop, so is the song and that’s why we’ll always like him just as much as any other new face on the scene.

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Download — J-Live – “The Way That I Rhyme” (Prod. by Korede)

J-LiveMusic via Potholes…

You can have your promises of Hip-Hop albums that probably won’t come out this year. I’m going to go ahead and anxiously wait for The-Dream’s new project. Love vs. Money was a certified banger and Love King is shaping up to be the same.

The recently liberated T.I. had a lot of time to fantasize about women and he puts some of those fantasies on wax. This is classic Dream and classic T.I., coming together to make a track that will be hitting a club near you very soon. It’s probably best you memorize the first two notes so you can make sure you know when to grab the nearest tenderoni for some grind time as soon as this song comes on in your local booty-shaking spot.

The-Dream Feat. T.I. – “F.I.L.A. (Fall In Love Again)”

Isn’t this special? Mr. and Mrs. Jiggaman do a rendition of “Young Forever” during Hov’s performance @ Coachella. Although I think some of the energy gets lost in translation of YouTube, I bet this was a phenomenal moment for those in attendance. The song is one where you either see the beauty in it…or you loathe it. But when it comes @ the end of Hov’s live set, it has a different appeal to it, one where you do hope that he’s able to keep stringing along the hits and keep performing for a while to come. Read the rest of this entry »