It’s not as if a group of emcees could hang around The Roots and not cook up funky material, be it scripted or impromptu. Here, Matt Koza directs as Black Thought, Dice Raw, P.O.R.N., Truck North, and STS aka The Money Makin’ Jam Boys rehearse for their recent performance at The 3rd Annual Roots Picnic. If you’re in the area, TMMJB will be joining The Roots @ Highline for a mere $10. Read the rest of this entry »

warrenJae finally brings us his love-at-first-sight video for “Dear Jasmine.” The buzzworthy South Cackalack rapper keeps it simple and to the point with his words of admiration with an ode to bathwater-drinkable damsel Jasmine Sanders, who initially heard the emcee’s pleas and stepped forward to co-star in the clip. Off warren’s What Dreams May Come mixtape. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, this new pack of rowdy ATLiens. You have to love them because they’re making music that’s brilliantly fun & cocky without being ignorant or arrogant. Aleon’s been winning crowd’s with live performances of “Donkey Kong” for a while now. Now, we have a version we can load into the whip and play extra loud. Crank the bass up, SMKA’s production deserves it. Read the rest of this entry »

Gotty™ isn’t the only one taking fancy schmancy trips to New York these days. The good folks over at The Source had a feature on influential Hip-Hop journalists, bloggers and personalities and wanted a representative from TSS. Gottsdale, TC, LC, MZ, Tins, Word, P, the tech guys, the guy that shines G’s shoes, last Wednesday’s Cooler, Teef, and the guy that organizes TC’s Tony Yayo posters were all busy, so they asked me to participate. Read the rest of this entry »

One third of the Lox trio, Sheek checking in with new music. Off his upcoming Donny Def Jam mixtape with DJ Green Lantern. Read the rest of this entry »

“You know what I’m ‘bout, in the office, shout out to Steve Stoute, Yeah, I get the dollars, on my paper route…”

Emcee Chiddy Bang must be doing something right if he’s up in the house that Hov and Steve built, showing out in the boardroom. Big in the UK, he and producer Xaphoon Jones impacted the charts overseas with their MGMT-sampling “Opposite of Adults” single earlier this year. Read the rest of this entry »

As if Dame Diddy couldn’t wait to exercise the terms and conditions of his slave papers, Ricky Ross and Nicki “Not Gonna Pay Homage To Lil Kim” Minaj help add some awareness to newly-pushed-back Last Train To Paris. Read the rest of this entry »

One of these days I’ll log into TSS to see Gotty drafting the return of the now cult-classic, but short-lived Mythblazers. Until then, Spitta’s autobiographical antics via Twitter and the occasional new music will have to suffice. My computer access has been few and far between these past few days, so I used earlier today to compensate myself with what I had missed. Read the rest of this entry »

With a solidified position in the game, I often wonder what Face’s purpose is for continuing to make music. Part of me hoped he slowly ease out of the way after the weak showing that was Emeritus. He didn’t; he released Dopeman Music on iTunes. As a lifer, I’m glad he did because it’s a redeeming effort to a degree. The first six to seven tracks trump Emeritus, all Chevy-ready tracks that sound akin to Face from The Untouchable era. Read the rest of this entry »

On this side, there’s been a quiet search for the perfect duffle bag. I’ve got several different bags but they range from athletic-inspired joints that scream “I’m home from college, mom. There’s dirty socks in the side pouch.” to a nice leather one that I really hate tossing around and stuffing in overhead compartments in airplanes. Previously, I was on the brink of copping this Bric’s two-in-one but the smaller satchel made me feel slightly emasculated. I want a bag that’s mature but not to snooty/borderline ghey. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a way to ease into your Monday? Too much of too many things and trying to shake the cobwebs? Try a dose of After The Smoke’s “Typical Weekend” to maybe wash away the bad and help you begin to relive the good from a weekend that could have lasted a few days longer. Here’s hoping the memories sustain until next Friday or at least provide enough encouragement for next weekend’s redemption attempts. Read the rest of this entry »

Steph Irene

So, What Exactly Is A Vuvuzela? [TRU]

Tony Hsieh: Why I Sold Zappos [Inc.]

Police Video: Vince Young Fight In Dallas Stripclub [SbB]

Dear Tia Mowry, I Can See Your Nipple [I Had Heard]

Sample Set #155: Recovery [HHIR]

Chamillionaire Addresses Broke Rumors [XXL] Read the rest of this entry »

Larger than life banners displaying prospective members of Team USA basketball, frozen in time in the midst of signature moves. Mannequins wearing uniforms with various country names emblazoned across the chest. Basketballs strewn across the floor, bearing slogans such as “celebrating local heroes” and “embracing a better game.” And tables of bold, brightly-colored sneakers.

Sneakers strategically positioned on metal tables, hoisted on wall displays and beckoning curious eyes to touch them. Several rooms dedicated to showcasing Nike’s latest offerings in style and footwear technology. While there was tons of information shared and plenty of people on hand to disseminate it, the sneakers were the main draw for me at Nike’s World Basketball Festival media event. The whole Festival introduction experience was astonishing, but being a part of the unveiling of select models of kicks had to be the most striking. Read the rest of this entry »

If you happen to see one of these banners at a venue this summer, you’re probably headed in the right direction. For this prized piece of propaganda is proud representation of the residence of Respected Fresh and, if it so happens to gloriously grace those shaking walls at your next show, you are undeniably worthy of our support network of conscious music/life aficionados. We call it how we see it, applauding and attesting evenly, with the same honesty we expect from our artists.

If you don’t see one, we either ran out of gas money or you need to work harder.

Footage of Styles performing last Tuesday @ SOB’s for the release of his new fiction novel, Invincible (available on Amazon). We could rank Lox members all day and Pinero will still be my favorite. Straight up, buddy’s performance was the truth. No way to express it otherwise. I think the his solo efforts, work with group and featured appearances are way underappreciated, but seeing dude string along song after song makes you realize how many anthems he and the trio have under their belts. Read the rest of this entry »