If I were doing a rap album, and had unlimited pockets, not only would it probably be feta as f_ck but it would also guarantee Nate Dogg and TQ belting out a few hooks. As far as reaching out to a few rappers for assistance, I might choose Too Short to round out my pimp game and feature Lil Wayne for promotional purposes only. And beats? Read the rest of this entry »

Pic courtesy of ErikVoake.com

Guys, I messed up.

A few weeks back, my long-standing request for a Smoking Session with West Coast pioneer Warren G was finally granted. As an artist I literally grew up listening to and who helped enlighten my musical taste-buds at an early age, the rare opportunity to speak to an idol was something I’d been bugging Gotty™ for since day one. So, it was quite stellar to hear that after years of waiting in the wings, our connects came through in the clutch, hooking up a phone interview to help promo his appearance in the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors tribute to his former label Def Jam, along with an upcoming seventh record from the Long Beach vet, The G-Files.

I got the call a few weeks later and, as expected, Warren was cooler than a cucumber and the interview came & went without a hitch. Until, of course…I got home to my Google Voice account and saw I’d pressed 4 an extra time on my piece-of-shit flip-phone to un-record the entire conversation/interview.

Heart. Break. Read the rest of this entry »

Yea. You saw the title. You know you’re interested.

Let me tell you what I think. Read the rest of this entry »

The DubCC forums have been dropping new, unreleased Pac like an overflow from Santa’s sleigh this week. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this week, Gotty™ directed us to a piece entitled “Six Guests That Need To Be On Detox.” Throwing the element of surprise directly out the window, that list included Redman, Kanye West, Hova, Weezy, Raekwon and The Game. Now, I don’t mean to rain on another’s opinion…but aside from Jayceon, that list is subpar setup for a less than stellar presentation. It reflects someone who turned the radio off long enough to pick his favorite rappers, mix them with headliners Dre has yet to work with and, voilà, a “new & improved” version of Detox. “I would love to see a rejuvenated Hov kick sixteen bars over a supernova hot Dre beat. C’mon – you would too.”

Not on this album.

Nor would I ever want to hear Wayne ruin a Dre song by using one of disgusting Autotuned moan adlibs. The good Doctor’s series of Chronic albums are contemporary classics that have spotlighted emerging rappers and paved the way for two generations of the Westcoast. They’ve never been a who’s who of popular rap and never should be. Too many big names leaves a watered down product (See: Aftermath’s roster, circa 2004-2007).

With that said, let’s see who should really be on most the anticipated gangsta-rap album of all time.

Crooked I

Not only has this man been grinding harder, better, faster and longer than most emcees presently out, he’s basically the leader of the New West movement. He’s got the all the tools to keep the coast afloat, has had little to no help from his elderstatesman and the man’s breakout is overdue. If you’ve heard “Say Dr.Dre,” a track Crooked supposedly ghostwrote for Doc, you know this is probably already in the works. And that’s why it’s justified.

Ice Cube

It’s hard to believe how little these two have worked together since the demise of N.W.A. Aside from the ill-fated Read the rest of this entry »

In my opinion nobody is seeing Nate when it comes to hooks.

But based on their run within the past three to four years I can see where someone would be justified in throwing Akon or T-Pain’s name in the mix, especially with Hip-Hop not being the best genre at remembering people once they’re out the public eye. Sadly, with Nate having been out of the mix due to health reasons the past few years, is all he’s done remembered by the casual fan? Read the rest of this entry »

If you listen to rap music, chances are you’ve fallen in love with a Nate Dogg chorus. Even if you hardly ever listen to rap, you’ve probably found yourself signing along with the legendary West Coast crooner at some point in your life. His impact on modern music has been profound as he has shared the recording booth with everyone from Pac to Mos Def. Despite countless classic hooks and guest spots as well as some strong solo material, no DJ has ever tackled a best of Nate mixtape…until now.

Read on as The Crew’s DJ Sorce-1 gets the lowdown on the making of DJ Steve1der’s Nate In ’08, the first ever, all Nate Dogg mix.

TSS: Before we get things started, well done on the Nate in ’08 mix. I’ve had the idea to do a tape like that for a while, but you beat me to the punch. I’m a little bit jealous.

DJ Steve1der: (Laughs) That’s funny because it was on my plate for a minute and I finally had the time and piece of mind to do it recently. I’m glad I was finally able to finish it.

TSS: When I first listened to the mix, I was expecting it to be focused on his radio hits and guest spots. I like how you kept a balance between his recognizable stuff and his more obscure material. You were able to pull it off without the quality of the music hurting.

DJ Steve1der: I definitely wanted to make the mix his best work but at the same time make it interesting. I’m not up on all of his material, especially his solo stuff. Luckily I have some friends who put me up on some of his lesser known joints that were featured on the mix. I was glad to get a full CD worth of quality material and have it mostly be him and not too many of the other artists that he has worked with.

TSS: Do you own any of Nate’s solo albums?

DJ Steve1der: I have the 213 album The Hard Way, which is really slept on. It didn’t get much credit in the mainstream. I have some of the singles off of his Music and Me album, but I never really got into the album itself.

TSS: What equipment did you use to put the tape together? Read the rest of this entry »

We started the week in a reflective mode as we took time out to remember the untimely passing of Pac, sadly a day late but a lot sooner than most. Nate Dogg also made a splash in the media as we wish him a speedy and full recovery.

On wider scope, the country (and rappers), rallied to recover after Hurricane Ike struck Texas and made his presence felt all the way up in the Mid-West. The Stock Market tanked as institutions that have been around since The Great Depression received a golden life raft from the Government with our tax money. It’s still mind boggling that Jeezy’s the only one addressing this. Kinda puts us in perspective as we took stock of what TSS is and isn’t. We’ll let it slide this time VH1 since Hip-Hop Honors looks good this year. The National Anthem had a rough week as Kat & Josh were caught with the cameras rolling. Read the rest of this entry »

Keep your fingers crossed, knock on wood and put one to the sky for Nate Dogg, who has apparently suffered his second stroke since last December. Read the rest of this entry »

Can someone please tell me why this picture of Chromeo and Nate Dogg exists? Read the rest of this entry »

LOL @ Snoop’s character having hair like Orlando.