Wednesday’s aren’t just for comic books any more. Read the rest of this entry »

Taking the circuitous route, I just finished reading Fred Wesley’s autobio, Hit Me Fred so that may partially be the reason “Patti Dooke” is making an appearance. Amazing when you think that De La managed to grab some masterful musicians to join them for tracks on Buhloone Mindstate. Read the rest of this entry »

“And letters from a dead man I do not trust…”

Upon another’s death, everyone has got their opinion, their dedication & attempt to add brevity to a situation. Especially in rap, the R.I.P. movement has been one filled with trite remembrances that lack a real connection with the dead. That’s where esteemed gentleman Bigga comes in with his accurate assessment of the sh#tstorm surrounding the death of Keithy E. the Guru. While hanging with the Tennesee Mixtape Titan Wally Sparks, Mike decided to share his .02, conveying what Gang Starr’s music meant to those of us that grew up with their discography and even saves a few barbs for, you guessed it, Solar. Read the rest of this entry »

Innocence

Five Best Music Discovery Services [Lifehacker]

10 Rock Songs Over 10 Minutes Long [Listverse]

Dame Dash, Marc Ecko Host Fundraiser For Kevin Powell’s Bid For Office [AHH]

Best Goal Celebration Ever [With Leather]

The Roots Announce New Features For How I Got Over [OkayPlayer] Read the rest of this entry »

Regardless on what side you took surrounding the events leading up to his declining health and ultimate demise, Hip-Hop shed their collective tears just five days ago when it lost a pillar of its storied foundation in Keith “Guru” Elam, due to cancer. He, along with the legendary DJ Premier, brought a sense of unity and harmony in their basic MC/DJ setup for over a decade strong. Read the rest of this entry »

– Guru’s passing put a damper on 4:20 and perhaps added incentive for countless fans to “Take Two And Pass” with his spirit in mind.  Tins caught up with Big Boi, Burn One, Freddie Gibbs & Curren$y & let them reflect on their favorite marijuana memories.

– Joe Scudda gave us the skinny behind Not Your Average Joe & J. Cole was the latest to be featured in Yours Truly & ours 3:16 series.

– A tale of two reviews: Rocky Rivera’s eponymous debut showed promise, while Little Brother’s swan song Leftback left fans let down.

– Tracy Morgan’s antics inspired us & in turn our antics inspired SNL, thus completing the circle of life.

– From the blacktop to the hardwood, we’ve got you covered:  LeBron’s putting player’s aspirations in body bags & Jim Jones is plotting his own dynasty.

– And you can see Jimmy & Co. defend their “Stanley Cup for Harlem” simply entering our giveaway for tickets to Converse’s Band Of Ballers Celebrity Basketball Event.

Not much to say here that wasn’t said previously. After his long, public battle with cancer, Guru aka Keith Elam has passed away. No official statements but Premo’s Twitter pretty much gave all the confirmation fans need. Read the rest of this entry »

– Fab may be grooming baby Los to be the successor to his throne, but he found Drake’s “Over” to be a worthy opponent for trending topic supremacy on Thursday when he finally got around to dropping the second installment in his No Competition series.

– LC watched the Winter Olympics… So we wouldn’t have to.  You can thank her, but it wasn’t much of a chore due to her suppressed figure skating aspirations.

– We picked the brains of House Shoes & Ben Baller for playlist suggestions & S. Cadet sat down for a quick pow wow with Ayah.

– Please welcome & familiarize yourself with XXL’s incoming Freshman Class of 2010 (if you haven’t done so already, lol).

– Save The Date: March18th, 2010.

– For The Free: Fornever listening party.

– In our thoughts & prayers: Guru

“Gotti*, Can we get a Guru post???? I didn’t see a story about my man, one half of one of the most significant duo’s in hip hop. Not a mention yet?” — Pooch

Sheesh. I’ve gotten roughly six emails regarding Guru and seen a few comments like the one above. Honestly, I was rather busy today so I couldn’t get to a post. Plus, I was awaiting confirmation, hoping that last night’s reports that Guru lay comatose after going into cardiac arrest would end up being false reports. They weren’t. Read the rest of this entry »

Diamond Coleman Brings The Thickness On Thursday

TV Everywhere Is Comcast And Time Warner’s Answer To Free Internet Video [Tech Crunch]

Remember When…People Wore FUBU? [Broken Cool]

Top Ten Songs to Fight To [Gunaxin]

Celebs Respond to Perez Getting Punched [Celeb Jihad]

Nike, NBA HOF, and Leroy Smith Sued Over Michael Jordan Products [Hoop Doctors]

Craigslist Pot Ad Leads To Pot Bust [AP]

How The Record Industry Committed Suicide [Hypebot]

Guru’s Policy on GangStarr: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell [TRU]

Man Stabbed at GZA Concert [The Boombox]

J.Lo’s Sweetface: Another Celebrity Clothing Line Nites The Dust [Sandra Rose]

Dean Cain Wards Off Puke and Porn With Internet Explorer 8 [Gizmodo]

Phil Jackson Might Go Halfsies In 2009-10 [With Leather]

Homeless Girl Is Going To Harvard [BoH]

The End of Flavored Blunts? [Coed]

Six years removed from the last Gang Starr project, it’s quite clear there won’t be a follow-up anytime soon. Unyielding to the fact, Guru has continued on with his career with a series of collaborative projects with “Super-Producer” Solar, replacing the legendary DJ Premier in unexceptional fashion. Their latest venture, updates Guru’s operation system to 8.0 and finds the parched pair searching for the Hip-Hop of yesteryear in the Lost & Found bin. The 17 track LP is essentially a lambaste on today’s industry and sadly functions like an older model. Read the rest of this entry »

It doesn’t take much to ridicule Guru and “Super-Producer” Solar these days. If they spent more time putting the foot in their craft than into their mouths, maybe it would be the complete opposite.

Let’s get one thing clear though: Guru hasn’t been involved with anything “classic” since 1998′s Moment Of Truth. But if someone such as…say…Soulja Boy isn’t Hip-Hop, Read the rest of this entry »

Produced By “Super-Producer” Solar

Previously Posted — Premier Must Be Proud…

It’s something every Gang Starr fan must experience to realize it’s OVER…

No longer satisfied with working alongside one of Hip-Hop’s greatest soundmen, Guru 8.0 (as he’s constantly evolving and upgrading) collaborates exclusively with “Super-Producer” Solar and their latest creation has arrived in the form of…what else?

AUTO-TUNE. Read the rest of this entry »

We have been here before…literally. If you check Sorce’s post, it was almost a year ago to the day. And every time we make a trip back around to this neck of the woods, discussions ensue.

So instead of espousing our beliefs as to why this album should be an essential part of the Hip-Hop canon & required listening for all, we’ll let you handle the discussion. Read the rest of this entry »