Pic Property of Rap-Up

More than anything else on Christmas Eve, I wanted to walk out of the home of the Golden State Warriors able to affirm everything Wayne has boasted from being the best rapper alive to the embodiment of music itself. I’ve seen Jay-Z in his prime, Big Daddy Kane years past his but still raw as ever, and James Taylor rock an arena with a guitar and microphone. I know what great is. Don’t get me wrong, Weezy did his thing but as a whole the show failed from trying to do too much. With such a broad audience it would be hard to please everyone, but put it this way the Bald Bull looking motherfucker in front of me was up and buck through “The Block Is Hot” but in the heat of all the teenage screams he was fast alseep. True story. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By S. Cadet

Pics Property Of Gamespot

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I popped in Prince of Persia for the first time. I played some of the previous games on Xbox and even messed around with the OG version back in the day. Over time, the series has seen a lot of changes so I knew I was going to be in for something different.

Now that I completed the game I can say that I had fun with it. I had some gripes with it here and there but the game maintained my interest. There is a questionable design choice that has a few who bought or played the game buzzing. This could make or break the game for you. With that said let me break down the story quickly. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By David D.

A couple of weeks ago I caught an episode of The Colbert Report in which the guest was staunch conservative and Hip-Hop critic John McWhorter. McWhorter, an African-American, said he hopes Obama wins the election so we all “finally” realize how racism in America is over-exaggerated by African Americans and can be treated as nothing more than a nuisance of an idea shared by a very small fragment of American society. While the ridiculousness of this statement is worthy of its own response, I was more disturbed by the book McWhorter was promoting: All About the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can’t Save Black America. Read the rest of this entry »

So, it’s been a few since the last time. You’ll have to pardon me for the lack of writing on what I’ve read. But it’s been more because I’ve managed to run across one interesting hardcover after another. Couple that with what’s been a completely jacked up schedule & it didn’t leave much time to give you any book reports.

Nevertheless, here’s a few of note that are worth a read & they should hold you over til we meet come back to this space again.

Reefer Men: The Rise and Fall of a Billionaire Drug Ring by Tony Thompson

Want to know how hundreds of tons (yes, TONS) of Thai weed made it to the US throughout the 70′s & 80′s and hundreds of millions (yes, HUNDREDS of millions) of dollars were made in the process? Read the story of “The Ring” – a consortium of sixteen smugglers who lived the life and the criminal case to bring their epic reign to an end. Props to Neil D. for turning me on to this one.

Nike Air Force I 25th Anniversary Book & Bobbito’s Where’d You Get Those?

Coffetable readers for sneakerheads. I copped two of the Anniversary Book — one to rock, one to stock.

Giant Steps – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

If you thought all there was to Kareem was sky hooks, goggles & quiet fury, consider yourself mistaken.

Midnight Mover: The True Story of the Greatest Soul Singer in the World by Bobby Womack

Despite the braggadocios title, Bobby has contributed so much to the world of music, having worked with seemingly every single name that you can imagine: Clapton, Sam Cooke, Jimi, Aretha and many more. The better part is that he’s got personable tales regarding everyone he encountered. I bought/received this book three times in a two week span (don’t ask lol)…but it was well worth it. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Jason Hortillas, Jesse H., LC Weber, David D., Gotty, M.Z., Darius Sinclair and TC

Can you remember the first time you saw Common’s Be cover sitting on the shelf? If you’re anything like me, you were skeptical at first glance (just a lil’). I remember thinking “Look at ol’ Lonnie smiling like he found a penny in the park in the middle of June but hey…’The Corner’s’ tight.”

Yes folks, it never pays to judge a book an album by it’s cover. Pharoahe Monch dressed like Boris Karloff or André Benjamin holding a smoking pink elephant gun could keep me from the musical treasures that lied beneath the surface. The people over in the marketing departments at record labels are well aware of the importance a creative, yet original album cover has on the buying public. But sometimes, shit gets let out the gate that should have never ever came out a person’s head. Read the rest of this entry »