And we all thought 2011 was the year of Philly didn’t we? One week in October has killed both the Phillies and the Eagles’ seasons. The you-shall-not-call-them-the Dream Team moved to 1-4 on the season following a defeat to the AFC East’s rising dynasty, the Buffalo Bills. Mental mistakes on offense killed the Eagles as Michael Vick gave up four picks to the ball-hawking Bills defense. While the Eagles’ high-priced secondary shutdown Buffalo’s passing game, the D had no answer for Fred Jackson who put up 200 yards of offense himself. Read the rest of this entry »

The third installment of the weekly drama that is the NFL saw continued offensive explosions in the Northeast, some surprising upsets and some fallen soldiers in the league’s war of attrition. The marquee matchup of the early set featured 2011’s “Dream Team”  the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the underwhelming New York Giants. Read the rest of this entry »

2011 appears to be the NFL’s answer to the MLB steroid era. The lockout, years of pro-passing rule changes and obvious obliviousness to steroid use (I’m looking at you Peyton Hills) have offenses putting up NFL Blitz numbers from coast to coast. The marquee matchup in week two featured two of the Air Attack Era’s offensive juggernauts in the Patriots and Chargers. Read the rest of this entry »

Best known as Crooked I’s posse, the Horse Shoe G.A.N.G. attempts to break through on their own merits with Firing Squad. Unlike their previous effort, Firing Squad does not co-bill Crooked, emphasizing the focus on creating a new set of West Coast stars. While the collective rhyming efforts of G.A.N.G. members  Demitrius Capone, Julius Luciano, Kenny Siegel, and Andrew “Dice” Dinero are noteworthy, the album lacks the breakthrough single necessary to put this collective into the ears of even the dedicated Hip-Hop fan. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been making my way through The Wire one Netflix disc at a time over the last few weeks.  I’m stunned at how much I’ve forgotten, as this is my first revisit to the streets of Baltimore since my initial run through years ago. While everyone remembers Clay Davis or Stringer’s final demise, the series bursts with moments of greatness. The basketball game between Eastside and Westside. Read the rest of this entry »

With 2011’s first quarter coming to a close, it’s time to put down the Kanye and the Saigon turn your ears and anticipation to a loaded Spring of Hip-Hop. To get you in the mood, TSS is proud to present the official mixtape for the upcoming Pete Rock and Camp Lo’s summer album, 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s with Trackstar the DJ and DJ Mark Divita backing the project. Read the rest of this entry »

Fresh off rubbing elbows with us at SXSW, Agacee gets back to the grind with this party posse track. A minimalist cut at its core, “Check Your Status,” offers no fancy production gimmickry or avant garde lyricism. Instead, it’s the rock-solid vocals and punchy rhymes of Agacee and cohorts Mikkey Halsted and Nicholaus Kane that carry the weight. Read the rest of this entry »

Trackstar passed us this one in the middle of his pre-SXSW mania. “Mic Check,” the first leak off the anticipated 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s collaboration features a boom bap-ish beat from Pete Rock that fulfills expectations. Camp-Lo’s rhymes on this joint are particularly loquacious and the chemistry between the particulars seems natural. Read the rest of this entry »

Chicago emcees have gone horribly awry or at least that could be the partial perception from the outside. Thankfully, R.O.E. is here to save us all and help save face with the 5 track EP A Backpacker Named R.O.E.. Read the rest of this entry »

No doubt that ‘Melo to the Knicks will get more hype as no one disputes that the Knicks are still the darling franchise of the NYC. But this week may ultimately be remembered as the week Mikhail Prokhorov launched the Nets back towards respectability while simultaneously making life more difficult for his crosstown rivals. Read the rest of this entry »

Donny Goines celebrates the flashier facets of the Far East on “Ich!ban,” the lead track off upcoming project Success Served Cold. The backbeat is on some Asian prog-rock shit—you can imagine some Japanese guys in red leather suits with crazy hair rocking out to these riffs. Yet Goines doesn’t let Tokyo’s influence drift in too much, spinning the luxury into a more typically American story of success and excess with a sharp street edge. Read the rest of this entry »

In honor of your favorite gentlemen’s establishment’s soundtrack, Snoop’s 2011 submission to that cause acts as the first single off of Doggumentary. “Dirty Dancer,” should keep butts shaking and hips gyrating behind a pulsating beat. Snoop gives an ode to a fictional femme fatale, although something about his detached flow suggests he used these lines on a stripper last week. Read the rest of this entry »

The end of the football season stings a little more for most fans than the normal climax. After all this could be the last football for years if Roger Goodell’s 18 game stubbornness derails labor negotiations over this summer. 2011’s Super Bowl thus took on greater significance, as two of the league’s foremost franchises battled for supremacy in Texas. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve been behind Young Gliss as he preps for the release of Dealing With The Pressure Vol. 2.  He’s blessed us with another track to keep us on the edge of our seats while he finishes cooking up the final meal in the kitchen. I don’t have to tell you what the subject matter of “Money” is, but this builds on “The Life,” Read the rest of this entry »

The artistic work of the social dynamics of crack cocaine, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, The Wire, often get labeled “cinematic,” by high-art critics who live far away from where the shit actually goes down at. Perhaps it was with this in mind that Planet Asia named his Corner Boy opus Crackbelt Theatre. Read the rest of this entry »