Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Havoc and Alchemist: The 2 most underrated producers

When people name their favorite producers, the cliche people named are Kanye, Just Blaze, and the Neptunes. I agree that they are three of the top producers doing it right now but people forget two of my favorites, Alchemist and Havoc. They are the two remaining people with that grimey 90s style of beats. Havoc and later Alchemist crafted the Mobb Deep sound. The only one of my favorite Mobb joints not produced by one of those two is Drink Away The Pain which is produced by Q-Tip. These two have been doing it since the 90s and still are on a bunch of projects today. Havoc recently had a song How we Live on Styles P Time is Money, He did Fully Loaded Clip for 50 Cent, while Alchemist perfectly crafted Prodigy's Return of the Mac Mixtape Album. Just Blaze has been my my favorite producer for the past couple of years but I just had to address this issue. They are underrated because they do not work with everyone. Alchemist said that he likes to give some of his best beats to unknown rappers, but people seem to forget that Alchemist has done two of the most classic songs of this generation in We Gon Make It, and Keep it Thoro. Havoc has established himself while almost single handedly handling the production of Mobb Deep albums forever.

WTF is This Shit - Dances From Tha Hood

I'm sitting up in my sisters house the other day flicking through the channels and I turn to MTV and there is a show called Dances from Tha Hood. It has this ugly chick Tweety hosting it. This has to be one of the most racist shows MTV has ever had. If the name of it was hip-hop dances I wouldn't have such a big problem, but why do the dances have to be from the hood. Why not from urban areas? Why don't they have dances from the burbs, oh they can't cause most white people can't dance. My thing also is if your going to name this show Dances from the hood, have hood people on it. In the background dancing there are a bunch of white boys toe woppin. I'm like really. This show is why I need to stop watching TV. Even with all of my hate, I did sit there and watch the whole show and must admit it is a good way for white people to try to hip-hop dances, but I am officially boycotting this show. Half the people couldn't get the dances right Even though I probably won't boycott this show, but it is definitely an exploitation of hip-hop imo. While it as an exploitation of the hip-hop culture, they are trying to make it an exploitation of black/hood culture by having "tha" word hood in the title. I wonder how long can it last. There are not that much dances to do unless they start teaching the reggae dances, which white people probably won't be able to get down.

She A'int Got No Money in the Bank

When you have no money, you make amends to make your money last. With all my opposition to the "Chicken Spot" I decided that I must eat from there last night because of my lack of money. So my cousin and I start our journey to the chicken spot down the block. It was an average trip so far but as we were crossing Linden Blvd, something weird happened. There were no cars in sight but one. As we approach the middle divider, this one car slows up. We did not know what to think. Were we about to get jacked, was it someone we knew, all things possible was going through both of our minds. As this run down car pulls up to us my first thoughts were run, but this girl pulls up, rolls down her window, looks me in the eyes and starts saying "She A'int Got No Money in the Bank". I bust out laughing in the middle of the street as does my cousin. We talked about it as we were in the chicken spot getting our snack boxes, finally coming to the conclusion that young hoodrat girls do stupid shit when they have cars.

Little Brother=The Last New Real Hip-Hop Group

Let's name all of the true hip-hop groups; Mobb Deep, A Tribe Called Quest, Outkast, De La Soul, UGK,Run-DMC, etc, and Little Brother. If you want me to name the only real Hip-Hop group to come out during the new millennium, they are the only one. They make that real authentic hip-hop. They are not a gangsta group but they are not backpackers. The average teeny booper would classify them as backpackers but they are not. They are average dudes who can rap. They rap about stuff that us regular people go through. They perfected their craft. Anybody that tells me that Minstrel Show isn't atleast 4.5/5 don't know hip-hop. Most people hate on them before they even hear them (which I admit I did), but once you listen to them you realize they are great. With one MC who I would rate at a 8.5 (Phonte) and the other I would rate at 7.75 (Big Pooh), with a great array of Justice league producers, who are they not going to make a classic. I was a little scared when I heard 9th Wonder left but they released the And Justus For All mixtape which is classic imo. Little Brother is the album I am anticipating with the 50 album. All I have to say is that people need to stop hating and go pick up that Minstrel Show and push it to gold, and pick up Getback when it drops.

Why I respect Yung Joc and not D4L

I hate to hate on people getting money, but I hate on D4L. I love hip-hop but they are not hip-hop, while I think Yung Joc is still hip-hop. They may make similar types of music, but atleast Yung Joc attempts to rap. He is bad at it but he is still rapping. His songs just happen to have that motorcycle beat to it. He is from Atlanta and is heavily influenced by that dancing shit. And tell the truth, who doesn't enjoy doing the motorcycle (they even bought it back for this summer wit Buy U a Drank). On the other hand D4L makes dances and then comes up with the song. They get no respect from me. I will admit D4L and all these lame rap groups did do something, which is bring the fun back to hip-hop, but so did Yung Joc and he did it with having some (but minimal) rapping skills. Before this whole southern dance explosion (which started with crunk) Hip-hop was something you bobbed your head to and caught a little diddy bop to, but now these southern people got the thugs dancing instead of leaning back. Even though I give these lames some props, they are ruining hip-hop. They need to be eliminated. I would not want to eliminates the Yung Jocs and Young Dro (who can actually spit), but we can get rid of the shop boyz, d4l, dem franchise boyz, and everyone else who wants to make a song that goes with a dance instead of the other way around. Oh yeah lets really get rid of the Aunt Jackie.

Album Review: T.I. vs T.I.P.

Obviously if you have read my blog, I do not think T.I. is all he is hyped up to be. I still think he is a good rapper but I think that his swagger out weighs his actual rap skills. With the new album T.I. vs T.I.P. you get a typical T.I. album which is still pretty hot. Though it took a couple of listens for songs to catch my ear, some joints definitely have. The album is divided into 3 sections, with T.I.P. starting off the album, then the T.I. portion of the album, followed by the T.I. vs T.I.P. section which is only 3 songs. Is it just me or is T.I. copying Cassidy with this different personalities. Wasn't Cassidy's first album divided in a similar way? But anyway the strongest section of the album is the first section of T.I.P. He has the two first singles of Big Shit Poppin and the Wyclef assisted You Know What it Is. Both of these songs are pretty hot but no comparison to the Busta Rhymes assisted Hurt. This is the standout track of the album in my opinion. We also cannot forget about the Jay-Z assisted Watch What You Say To Me, where Jay could possibly be dissin Lil Weezy. The Second portion starts out strong with the Just Blaze Produced Help is Coming but wacks itself out with another Wyclef produced song My Swag and a Nelly track which I am not feeling, but will be a great single. Touchdown featuring Eminem sounds decent but hasn't quite caught my ear. The album closes out nicely with two Danja produced track and a final track My Type where T.I. talks about many aspects of his career., Overall this album is a solid 3.75/5 but once again T.I. has'nt proven himself to me. He is still a good rapper but never sweeps me off my feet with anything he puts out, besides What You Know About That (Lyrics weren't even that good, hot track). I actually enjoy Jeezy's music more. My main question is where is DJ Toomp, but anyway for right now T.I. retains the title of King of the South but watch out for Weezy coming 4th quater.

Friday, June 22, 2007

New Ti and hov


For all my dedicated viewers (the nonexistent ones)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/23802659c4c41d/
Remember where uou heard it first

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

New Weezy F.

I know I said I was takin a weezy break but this song is crazy
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2331276b51cf7a/
He was like stickin to the script like java

Who else was offended by Hola Hovito?

When I first heard Hola Hovito at the end of the Izzo video, I thought it was gonna be Hov's next banger. As I listened to it on the Blueprint I was feeling it, until a statement that made it become the wackest song is this very great album. The cockiness of Jay-z by saying "If I ain't better than Big, I'm the closes one." This statement is crazy. Personally I think Nas is the closes one, and when did Jay get the balls to say this. He goes through his whole career idolizing Big and then he has the audacity to say this. This must have been that armadale and Cris (his champagne of choice at the time) speaking. This has become a controversey in my eyes and divides hip-hop into 2 divisions: the ones who think Hov is better than B.I.G. and the ones who think B.I.G. is the best. I fall in to the latter division. Many who fall into the first category are the youngins in the game of hip-hop (these people may be my age but I consider my self older in the music sense). This controversey sometimes creates beefs between my friends and I. If you don't know the words to Juicy or the B.I.G. interlude (less than 1 minute verse) I can't respect your opinion in music. These are the same kids who think Reasonable Doubt is the best album ever and don't listen to many classics like The Infamous, Ready to Die, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Midnight Mauraders, etc. Besides older people I only find 3 people who I can relate to in music, who are my cousin, and 2 of my friends from my school, with one being from VA and the other being from BK. It is sad but I think we must school these youngins. The 3 best rappers in the modern era (post 92, before that is before my time) in this order are B.I.G., Nas, and lastly Jay-Z. Some people may throw 2pac in there but I am not particularly a fan. We must get this straight, B.I.G. is the GOAT

Is the Internet taking away from the essence of Hip-Hop?

We all know the internet is taking away album sales and all of that but is it taking away another element of Hip-Hop, which is the element of the radio and videos. Think back to before the internet became a staple in even the poorest American household. Remember sitting next to your radio waiting to press record or watching Video Music Box or Yo MTV raps waiting with that fresh VHS to tape your favorite video. I know I don't remember but I remember watching my sister tape stuff and I even began in the period right before the internet became poppin. With the invention of file sharing programs in the early turn of the millennium and now with sites like youtube you don't have to record your favorite songs. It takes away from the essence of the song. Now you can hear it whenever you feel like it, thus making the radio and channels like BET or MTV2 irrelevant. The last time I listened to the radio I was in utter disgust. I heard the same songs twice an hour and like the music video shows, it was heavily southern dominated. The only time I consider listening to the radio is when I'm in a car, or when there is a mixshow on like Mr. Cee's Old school at noon. These once popular mediums are pretty wack to me and people with similar taste in music. The only people who watch these shows are teeny boopers who want to pop lock and drop. In the world of music in general, TV and radio are obsolete and theres probably no coming back for them.

Classic Source Review: Illmatic

Sunday, June 17, 2007

R.I.P. Stack Bundles He woulda been the next Dude


I remember the first time I heard Stacks rhyme he started out a freestyle over the Bangout beat with A team and Joey Jumpoff. He had a memorable line in " def jam did it wit Russell, Jay did wit Hustle, 50 did it wit muscle, imma do all 3" and I was convinced he was nice. Goin to Beach Channel in Far Rock everybody was feelin him and it contributed to me feelin him. He was a mixtape rapper that I actually checked for. I was unimpressed with his first biddin war mixtape but he did his thing on the second one and on The Jim Jones Gangsta Grill. He actually stole the show and really made a name for himself. He had something that separated him from a typical mixtape rapper which was he was not a punchline rapper. He realized how to make a song(on the few that I heard). He had a distinctive voice and had more swag than the average and actually had lyrics to back it up. Just as he was gaining noterity he life was cut short by an average hood nigga. It was all about jealousy. Niggas in the hood was jealous and as I always say people in Far Rock have nothin to live for. They dont have a shopping area, a movie theater, or any type of activity to do besides hustle and rob niggas. Its a sad moment but im still wonderin why he lived in the Ps. Hes the first person I heard talk about antiks and thats when I realized I needed a pair. I know he had a lil bread, but I realize if you are a rapper you have a certain lifestyle to live and it cost money. R.I.P. to Seymour Cake.
The bangout freestyle http://www.zshare.net/audio/2236909a6386da/
6 Minutes of death freestyle http://www.zshare.net/audio/2230452a8c4028/
Tipsy Freestyle http://www.zshare.net/download/2236865c7648a4/

Saturday, June 16, 2007

The ones ladies love gettin at the Boss(Not Rick Ross or Slim Thug)




Really LL you gettin at Hov. I cant believe it. He went in though. Its all about Jealousy. He wishes he was the Prez. Jay-Z got that job because he continuously puts people on, even if they are not the most talented. He gives everyone a try. Who did LL put on besides Canibus (Who he had a beef with). I must say this song is pretty hot. Nice lil Queens anthem. Guess they tryna bring the boro back. I'm wondering who did the beat. Heres an except from LL's verse:
“I dont slide like Usher, I dont make no bands, I aint a frontin’ ass coward, I dont rig soundscan./ I wish Rick and Russell was back, I miss the old Def Jam.’Cause them new monkeys act like they dont know who I am./ The promotion and marketing wasnt worth a damn./ Now they on the balls again ’cause 50’s my man? It’s a Queens thing, doofy, this is how we do…”
No one can front and say LL didnt do his thing. Im wonderin where they got Kool G Rap from. The last person to do that was Saigon.

Uncle Murda: What really happened

I must say this shit is gettin out of hand. I felt like Uncle Murda was a gangsta dude and I started doubting it when the news came out that Papoose (or what Uncle Murda calls him Gieko Lizard) snuffed this nigga and Uncle Murda cleared it up on the first video. Pap came out wit some fraudulant soundin shit with Medina on in and now this nigga Uncle Murda got a new video wit the real Medina. Few things that I wanna address from this video. First is why doesnt he let Medina talk. Every second he keep cuttin her off and screamin its the roc and other random things. Second it looked like Medina was lookin at this nigga like thats not what really happened but im not gonna expose you. Third I cant believe this nigga said he be gettin bitches. He must threaten to throw the Bullet Bullet (that song is actually alright) threw their hood. Lastly Medina titties was lookin right but she still a over weight Puerto Rican. From all of this I think Pap and them ran up on him like 50 deep and snuffed him and he ran a lil down the block gripped up and had niggas scramblin. Uncle murda claims my story and says he wasnt snuffed and Pap says it was only 4 of them and he ran 6 blocks. My story is somewhere in between so thats what I think happen. Nobody knows except the people that were there and no one else really wants to know.

This is why You need to use a condom

This movie Knocked Up came out recently and I saw it on bootleg. In my mind I was thinking that this scenario would never happen to black people. The first reason is that if we get to smash a chick we got from the club on the first night we would strap up no matter what cause who want that drama, but if it did it would happen like this.

Once dude found out that the girl was pregnant he would deny, even if she said that he was the only one who boned that month, we would not believe her cause he met her in the club. He would most likely stay out of the chicks life until the baby was born or something like menace would happen, but say if the Menace version didn't happen, the chick would contact the dude like a month after the baby was born and be like "why you aint come see your son yet" and the dude would say "you know that aint my kid." So after the paternity test and you found out it was ya kid she takin ya ass to court for them child support payments. Dude was only like in his earlier 20s in the movie so most likely that nigga go to bmcc or city tech workin in footlocker and his mother still claim him, so now she gotta pay child support. Sooner or later he drops out of school after his parents kick him out and now he livin wit some other girl or hisboy. Child support payments stop once you gotta pay them and now he gotta pay something or he goin to jail. He never have money cause he get fresh and smoke weed,so he gets involved in some illegal shit and do a bid. Now you get out of jail and are tryna to right for ya kid but the baby mother aint havin it.
This is a very fictional story but stuff like this happens all the time. Thats why you should use a CONDOM. Also she could be burnin.

My Favorite Tv Show- Making the Band 2

Am I the only one ready to start a petition to get MTV to release Making The Band 2 on DVD. This has to be the greatest reality show ever. There are so many classic episodes. Remember the time when Chopper was singing in the mirror and Freddy P was annoyed. From the first season the 2 most memorable episodes had to be the one when babs came back to the house and the final episode. I remember Choppa aka Young City came to everybody and was like babs here. That girl mina got shook and then they battled. She couldn't even remember her rhymes. She sounded like a imitation Foxy Brown. Also in that episode Choppa and Freddy P battled. My man Freddy P was like boom shakalakalaka boom. He mos def won that battle.I like the last episode when Mysterious Burke turned into the Incredible hulk and broke the glass when she aint make it. Also cant forget when the guitar nigga hit choppa wit a bottle in the eye.
Take it to season 2 the best season when they was makin the album. It started off wit the walk for cheese cake which is the most famous moment (Remember the Hoodfellaz song). Tony was always callin the crib to speak to Sarah Stokes. The Freddy P and Ness fights and Babs screamin in the most ghetto bird voice let em fight. The Personality of Die-Lan Dillinger. Ness battlin J-Millz. Diddy always closin the studio.
they left me for some ugly groupies. Everybody I know was like she the ugliest thing since Rocky Dennis. I remember the last episode when Then you can take it to the third season when niggas thought they was the shit. Niggas got chains now and gettin fresh. I remember the first episode when niggas dipped on Babs and she was liekDiddy only picked Ness and the nigga Freddy P stayed in MIA to do Heroin.Thats all I remember from that season. Hopefully they release it on dvd so I can brush up on my memory. Reality TV just dont get that good no more

Am I the only one who remembers the Ness song MY Hood. It was Kinda hot.

Raps Most Consistant=Ghostface

As much as some of you may say Jay-z and Nas, i exclude those 2 from any discussion because those are the 2 best rappers alive. Besides them the next most consistant rapper has to be Ghostface who dropped the Killa and bought it back. Look at his resume, he has arguably 2 classics in ironman and supreme clientele, 2 hot albums that I rocked wit for a minute in Fishscale and Bulletproff wallets, and the remaining 2 while not up to par with the others, they still rocked when they were new in Pretty Tony and More Fish, and you definatley cannot forget his contribution to one of the best hip-hop albums in Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.Ghostface came from humble beginnings. At first he was just a dude in Wu Tang, then evolved into Raekwons Sidekick, to his own artist who talks about the craziest shit like cartoons in a forest. He has said sometimes he doesn't even remember what he was talkin about. Heres some classic Ghost.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TPKJZJITZHw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rz7e9Pkv99I
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9yUk683Sl3U

Gentrification

Walk on St James Pl and Fulton 15 years ago and walk there today. You'll see a striking difference. 1 maybe Biggie would be on the corner and 2 there were black people. Today This part at the very edge of Bed Stuy is no longer part of the DO or Die hood but now part of the Clinton Hills neighborhood. This is a sign of gentrification. This section where Biggie started to hustle is the first neigborhood that gentrification hit and soon its gonna be like living in Manhattan. Gentrification is when white people move to a neighborhood therefore moving the black people out and raising rents. Its happening all over New York. White people living in Harlem and getting off the train at nostrand on the A. It is crazy and its not gonna stop. Once the Nets move to Brooklyn, downtown Brooklyn will become like Midtown Manhattan. I read that they are trying to phase out Fulton st, they tried to say no one shops there anymore, but go out there after school or on a Saturday afternoon. Kanye had it right when he said Bush doesn't car about black people, and neither do these real estate developers who are taking away our neighborhoods. Its like they are trying to phase the middle class out of New York City. The only way you will be able to live in New york city in the future is if you are rich or poor. These middle class people who own their own homes will not be able to affrod their bills and will be forced out of New York, while sooner or later the poor will only live in isolated areas like Far Rockaway, and places far like that. Soon New York will be like a city from a movie or comic book where the poor rob and kill just to survive. Who will stop it?

Skateboarder, Shotta Boy, Rockstar, Fabolous clone or Somewhere In Between

Today the black youth has a huge crisis, we don't have a true identity. We are stuck in the world of ever changing trends. The hood trend is no longer a rocawear outfit with a pair of Jordans but either Skateboarder, Shotta Boy, or Rockstar. Few of us fal in between and I consider myself someone in between.
The Skateboarder trend came in somewhere between late 05 and summer 06. I remember being at school out of NY talkin wit other people in NY how we need to do something different, maybe learn how to skateboard. This was before Lupe became hot and before everyone started skateboarding, but by the time we got back to New York in summer 06 everyone was doing it. Its funny seeing someone who just a short year ago was tryna be a thug try to skateboard. The skateboard uniform is some sb dunks a pair of levis which is tighter than any rocawears they have ever worn, and a tight t shirt to go along with a fitted usually from a t shirt brand.
The Next trend is the Shotta Boy. This has always been a trend in some neighborhoods like Flatbush but has overtaken many places. These shotta boys know all of the reggae dances and go to parties in the ark or c-pax. They have always been around but its out of hand now. Sometimes they go to parties just to dance with their crew and not with girls. To me this is outrageous. There uniform is some extra tight high priced denim, pradas, and some tight jamaican lookin shirt, and they have long hair a lot.
The next trend is the rockstar. I blame Santana and Jim Jones for this. This style is very popular amongst harlemites but around the whole city too. I would say this trend started in fall of 05 which was the first season ed hardy was poppin. It was big by the summer and it now out of hand. Everything is skull and crossbones. Their uniform is high priced denim with a wallet chain, ed hardy, affliction, grail or one of those shirts, with some acgs.
Next type of style is the Fab clone aka the vinnies shooper. These people spend all their money in Vinnies or Brooklyn Circus to get the most high priced thing they can get, hot or ugly. Everything they have is exclusive. It is really like a mesh of all of the high priced items in each category. It is similar to somewhere in between but without any of their own flare to it. Their uniforms are any type of expensive anything.
Lastly is somewhere in between. I would consider myself their. I say I have a mesh of all these style. I have pradas, sbs, hot nikes, t-shirts,polos, exclusive hoodies high priced denim, levis, lrg, everything you can think of I have it (not literal). In my opinion this is where the true stylish people are because you are still following somebody but you put your own twist to it. You add your swagger to what you wear. My style may be similar to everyone else but there is a difference that everyone may not notice.

Differnt Types of Classics

In hip-hop many things can be called classics, but how do we determine what is really a classic or a five mic album. I believe we can break it down into 3 categories, Timeless Classics, Classics for its Time, and Impact Classics.
Timeless Classic- Illmatic, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Ready to Die, Chronic, Midnight Muaraders, Infamous ect.- These are classic that will be classics no matter what year it is, who listens to them. They are undeniable and undisputable. These albums are perfect. People base their albums off of these albums. When you listen to these albums it feels like you were transported back in time. You see things through the eyes of the artist. You know how they felt and their mind state during this time in their life.
Classics For its Time- Dynasty, Carter 2, N.O.R.E., Doe or Die, Tical, War Report, E.L.E., etc.- These are albums that are also classic but different from the above. They were 4 or 4.5 mics in their time. They are albums that you bumped for a period but then stopped listening to them. They do not have the longevity of Timeless classics. Many of the songs are still hot but just not as hot as they were back then. When you listen to them you are brought back to where you were when this album dropped. It brings back memories.
Impact Classics- Get Rich or Die Trying, Its Dark and Hell is Hot, Volume 2, Black Album, etc- These are albums that were a breathe of fresh air for hip hop. They signify a change in hip hop. A different mentality in the way a young hip hopper thinks. These are the most unique types because impact classics can be classics for its time, a timeless classic or neither. For instance I would classify Ghetto Fabolous as an impact classic but neither of the above. I say this because it started a whole new trend in rap. The throwback jersey, big earrings, Akademiks. This was far from a great album, in fact it was mediocre, but it started something new. An impact classic can signify the end of an era or the beginning of an era.

MIA: Camron Where have You Been (Cam'ron Lost)

http://videos.onsmash.com/v/zF3FKM6KAGgHXeN9
Didn't Cam say his vacation was done on June 1st. I thought it was gonna be a hot summer.Its June 16 and here in NY we had our share of hot days but cam hasnt been around to make the block hot. Maybe after taking 2 Big L's(R.I.P.) hes considering making a good album and stopping all this bullshit. He allegedly got kicked out of the crew he made famous and got snuffed by Tru Life. Every beef he's been in he lost or no one would respond to him. I used to be a fan before he dropped the putrid (not sure if thats the right useage) Killa Season with an even wacker movie to go along. My question is what happened to Killa Season 2. But camron we lookin for you. Maybe Tru Life got him scared or maybe he hidin from that woop,woop. whant, whant, beep, beep. Oh shit I cant be talkin about cam cause first movie ever murked out Mekhi Phife. I retort all my statements

Last Summer

Here Is a List of clothes that are most likely on their last summer
1. Evisus- There last summer was a couple of years ago but I still see and know a couple of people who rock these. I was never a big Fan but I let everyone have their opinion. It can be seen in fade to black
2. Red Monkey- There one and only summer was last summer and now their done. Same as Evisu I was never feeling them
3. Year of the...-Another brand on its last summer. I first saw these last summer and thought they were hot, but they are the exact same thing as Evisus and Red Monkeys. None of the super hard denim brands last. It can be seen in the Fabolous Make me Better Video
4. Grail, Ed Hardy, Affliction, etc.- Popularized by Dipsets capo and the 2 Mr. I cant feel My Faces and they can be seen with this in all public appearances. It had its run last year and I wanted it but Im glad I dont have it. This whole skull and crossbones thing got a little out of hand to where its Dipset Skull Gang. I'll take a pass
5. Bape- It came and went in about 2001 and came back hard in 05/06 with the Clipse and their Mr.Me too Weezy F. It was hot. If you fresh you can still get away with it. This is a brand that I think may always be around
6. Ice Cream/BBC- See above since it is basically the same thing. I still may get a tee or something just to say I had it.
On The Come Up
Rich Yung- I had it last summer before a lot of people but this will be around as long as it stays in limited places and does not get bootlegged.
Still Here
T Shirt Brands- These will stay around because there will always be skateboarders and half of the urban population thinks there skateboarders now. They have hot designs and will be able to change. Same with LRG one of my personal favorite brands.
Polo- Will Polo ever go out Of Style, Prolly not I just wish they would bring back some of its Lo wear made famous by the lo lifes of 90s brooklyn.

The new must have Jeans:Nudies

I must say im a pretty trendy dude. I have kept up with it all and I have True Religions, Antiks, Indian Rock Cultures, etc. but the new hot jeans that everyone must have is nudies. When I first saw someone with them I was on campus and saw this white boy sneaker head rockin them and I was like what jeans are those. I loved the simple yet stylish emblem on the pocket.I went back to my room and searched the internet for them. When I found them I knew they would be mine. As I got back to NY from school I saw only a select few with them on and knew they were not attainable for everyone. I also found out how to get that ultimate fade on your jeans. There is even a fansite all about nudies mynudies.com For more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudie_Jeans
<----------No Homo

Is T.I. really that great?


I will not lie and say that T.I. is not hot and hasnt been doin it for the past few years. I actually have all of his albums since trap music (sorry no im serious) and they have all been hot, but I dont see how he is the KING. I think it is all self proclaimed and people started to believe it. He has a flow but really what is he talkin about. I do not know a person that is from the north that can understand what this nigga is sayin. Only words i understood in the what u know about that hook is what you know about that and Louis napsack and that took me a month to realize it. I remember I heard that song extra early when dj enuff played it like in january of 06 when my sister lived at 934. We was buggin and was like to the man, but then i never heard it again til march. But anyway I think Wayne is better than him. Like you better get ya nikes bro. Really. Whats so lyrical about that. T.I. just got that swagger, and that is one of the problems with hip-hop. Swagger has replace skill and flow and lyrics. Take for instance Jim Jones. I dont even consider him a rapper but people love him cause of his swagger. T.I. swagger is a 10 but his actual rapping skills are about a 7. Dont get me wrong I am a fan but he is just a tad bit overrated.

Mixtape No More

Do you remember the feeling of gettin that new mixtape with all the new hot songs on it from the African 2 for $5 man. Well I know you dont get that feeling no more cause mixtapes are all filled with wack juice. Little Brother said it best that no one wants to hear a Red Cafe(no offense first mixtape artist i Thought of) rhyme over a beat that had a hot song and weezy killed already. I remember when mixtapes used to have all the exclusive shit on it but over the years got wacker and wacker. Nowadays instead of an artist givin a song to mixtape dj he gives it hiphopgame because they dont have to wait for it to hit the fans and the people can leave their opinion. In my opinion mixtapes began to fade in after the G-Unit era. G-Unit used to run the industry for a short period and got big through mixtapes, and now everyone tries to do it but it dont work like that no more. I remember my first mixtape. It was in 97 when my sister oved out the house. It was the best songs from DJ Clue Triple Platinum, Spring Tyme Shootout, and one other I cant think of. It had great songs like the been around the world remix, 2nd round ko, cam and dmx pull it, 24 hours to live, Rap game crack game, Wyclef and Canibus No Airplay, and my favorite firm biz remix amongst other songs. I can even bring it back up to around 2001 when clue had the Hev e Components Series. These mixtapes had songs that you would not hear anywhere else like the queen bitch pt 2 wit kin and hov, first time i heard grimey, knock yaself out, put ya hands up, bad boy 4 life aka megahertz, pov city anthem, Fabolous freestyle over Young BLack Gifted and a bunch of other hot songs. Or even more recent with the Big mIke and Green Lantern collab with Jadakiss the Champ is here. I wish mixtapes could go back to these days.

Who's Next: Joell Ortiz

I remember watching this Joell Ortiz video by accident on Youtube and sayin this nigga is nice. I stumbled upon it looking in someones playlist and recognized the name. I knew the name from last summer when I was an intern at LRG. His publicist called and asked for some clothes for a photo shoot. I heard the name Joell Ortiz and expected a daddy yankee type. Boy was I surprised. Once Hiphopgame had a preview of his album I listened to it and he a good amount of joints on it. I found out he was signed to Aftermath. Now I was lookin for interviews of this dude. Heard about his past and was sold. Not sold cause he has a gimmick, but sold because he seemed like a real dude. I dont wanna compare him to big pun cause hes puerto rican cause hes not like him. If i had to compare him to a great it would be B.I.G., no hes not that nice but reminds me of him kinda. Hes on his grimey new york shit. Will he bring NY hiphop back, I dont know, but I will be checking for him.To add to that hes signed to Aftermath. Thats a cosign form the best producer of all time. Heres one of his songs http://youtube.com/watch?v=eDbkebLz7h8

Things children of the new millenium wont remember

I am not that old so im sure there are things that i wont from the 80s and before, but while watching my 3 year old niece I have realized she wont remember a lot of things being that she was born in 03.
1. UPN and WB- I remember the glory days of these networks and a recent merger has erased these once famous networks(within the black community). UPN aka the nigga network was one of my favorites. Mo to the e to the and to the more recent one on one. This was niggas on tv at its finest. The WB had some great show during the 90s including Animaniacs. It was also the original nigga network with shows that included parent hood sister sister and waynes bros. Cant forget about the fake married with children unhappily ever after.
2. The Ricki Lake Show- This was in a time before Maury and Jerry Springer took over with all the drama. This tackled similar subjects but in a more sensible fashion
3. Afternoon and Morning Cartoons- We all remember these. Now the afternoon is bombarded with court shows and every station has news in the morning now.
4. Cassettes and VHS- My niece sees these two things and is in bewilderment. I have tried to explain these items to her but she just doesnt get it.
5. Discman and Walkman- Who still uses these in the age of the ipod.
6. When FOX, WB and UPN were syndicated stations- I remember watching different strokes and perfect strangers all day on these networks in the early 90s.
I am an 80s baby so im so sure you older people remember stuff from before my time

Juelz Santana=W.R.A.

WRA = Worst rapper alive. Okay I may be getting ahead of myself but he is definitely the worst popular rapper. Honestly what do people. One of my boys put me on to him being horrible but meanwhile my other boy argues me that hes the truth. Im not gonna front he has his good moments when I see flashes of a decent rapper but other times hes terrible. I always felt him when I was on my Diplomatic Immunity days but i go back and listen to those once classic songs (imo) and think what was I thinkin back in 03. No one can say that his albums were hot. If anything hot garbage. Really what does this nigga talk about. Heres an excerpt from a song of his
Now tell me who wanna fuck with us? (Who) Who wanna romp with us? (Who) (BO! BO! BO! BO!) You know what's up with us (We are shottas!!!) True coke smugglers Tombstone coverers the news goin need full blow coverage Our shottas (BO!) BIG was a shotta (BO!) Pac was a shotta Shyne locked up cause Shyne was a shotta (BO!) Shottas, one more time lick a shot for my shottas My pops was never there that made my mama the shotta (BO!) Made by a woman I was raised by a woman So I never love a bitch but I stays by my women (They are shottas), We a breed of achievers That will do anything to suceed or achieve it You walk like a shotta, you talk like a shotta But won't stand up in the court like a shotta Niggaz like you ought to get shot up For actin and bein a fraudulent shotta
This nigga is so wack. Like I cant believe he has fans. Even though I say hip-hop is not dead santana is killing it. He had a good verse on the Black Republicans freestyle, but those are few and far in between. He is definitely unlike cam because there was a time when cam was actually nice and every so often he shows us his skills. My theory on why santana is so wack is because he is doin all that coke wit weezy. Wayne says he smokes sherm which is weed and coke, What does I cant feel my face Imply and this come up dvd i saw where he was talkin about his jewelery. his nostrils were very red and it was not cold outside. He definitely not what the games been missin.

Cop These, Dont Cop These






Cop These

Not These

I Sold my Soul to the Devil

Do you ever wonder how people with no talent get on. Well I have a theory. It says Akon and T-Pain sold their souls to the devil. First lets look at Akon. A African in his late 30s who all of sudden got poppin (I see u Shanah). His voice is straight up annoying. I must admit he makes hot beats. I cant believe white america is accepting this dude. Hes doing songs wit Gwen Stefani now. I thought locked up was goin to be a hood hit but went on a national level. It came to a point where there were versions of the songs without styles p on it so they could play it on pop stations and r&b stations. If you listen to a station like z100 or ktu thats all they play. I be thinking how this nigga go platinum cause the hood dont cop akons albums. Its obvious hes poppin in the burbs. This same situation goes for the rappa ternt sanga. Im sprung was a hood hit. Now he got a hit in buy u a drank (which i admit is hott). I still wonder how this synthesized voice jigaboo got on. The only theory is they sold their souls for the money and fame. The coincidental thing is t-pain is signed to Konvict records. This label has to be funded by devil himself. Akon must of tried to get his soul back and devil is punishing him, thats why all is goin wrong for him now. But im not hatin. I hope my soulless brothers keep gettin that money.

2005: The Best Year in Hip-Hop in a Minute

We sometimes think about the past too much. Hip-Hop is dead and all of that. Hip-Hop isn't dead, it just evolved a bit. Coming off the G-unit dominated year of 2004, no one knew what to expects in the year of 2005 but late 2004 gave us some good signs. At the end of 2004 we had T.I. drop urban legend, Cam drop Purple Haze (the best cam album imo) and Snoop drop R&G. In 2005 we were blessed with many classics for the time. We got Game with the Documentary, We got Beans with the B-Coming, We got the trapstar Jeezy with Thug Motivation 101, and we got tha Carter 2. We also got some good albums in the Naked Truth, Im a Hustla by Cassidy, Massacre, Trill by bun B, A.W.O.L. by Az, and I hate to admit it but even Jim Jones Diary of a Summer had bangers. We also got 3 undeniable classics in my opinion in The Minstrel show, Late Registration, and BE. People need to reevaluate their statements. Even though in 2006 hip-hop went to sleep with all that dancing, we still got a lot of hot albums. Ghost dropped fishscale, Hip Hop is dead dropped, Hell Hath No Fury, King, Big Bang, Food and Liquor, Doctors Advocate, Blue Carpet Treatment, Kingdom Come, Jeezys Inspiration, and I was feeling the Pharrell hybrid hip-hop r&b joint. And also Game theory by roots and The Shining by J Dilla were slept on. I do say hip hop in 07 has been horrible besides Red Gone Wild and Fab, but people must understand if I could make a mil being a buffoon I would too. Many people would also. I also think the reason people think hip hop died is the lack of one hit wonders from people in the north, all of them come from the south. Thats the main difference from now and then. In the 90s we had 1 hit wonders like skee lo and ahmad and in the earlier part of the millennium we had mr joey jumpoff. All of these people named reached pop culture just as the shop boyz are right now. If the east coast invented crunk we would not be sayin hip hop is dead. I hope this changed the opinion of many people even nas

Album Review: From Nothin to Somethin

I must say since he first came out Fab has been one of my favorite rappers. He is the truth but his albums always seem to be lackin somethin. This time its lackin somethin but its closer to nothin. I must say im impressed Fab is spittin hard on this. There are 2 songs the are straight up wack which is Baby dont go wit T Pain and First Time with Rihanna. It may seem like there are a lot of features, but most of them are hooks. Diamonds with Jeezy is an average song and BROOKLYN is a pretty wack representation. Its sad when uncle murder goes in more than the God MC. I was actually impressed on the song with Lloyd. I though it would be wack but it turned out good considering its Lloyd. On what should I do with Lil Mo Fab shows the evolution of his skills , rapping about fans problems. Im not particularly feeling this song but its not all braggin. IMO the 3 three stand out tracks are Gangstas Dont Play with Junior Reid (Producer Reefa has single handedly revived his career), Change up with Throwin niggas off the stage Akon, and my favorite Jokes on You with Pusha T. In this song fab and pusha spit crazy verses while relating them to comedians. Overall this is a great album for Loso and I give it a solid 7.5 out of 10.

The Weezy Factor

Think back the the beginning of the millenium when Cash Money coined the phrase bling bling. Who was the stand out person of the Hot Boys? Was it Juvenile, B Gizzle, Turk, or Weezy F. Baby then known as Lil Wayne. You are buggin if you say Wayne and you saw potential in him the whole time. Tell the truth, who was feelin him. He was just the little nigga rollin with them. Who knows a song from 500 degreez besides The block is hot. I know I don't. Look at him now. Arguably The most popular and hottest rapper in existence. You even hear 15 year olds and stans on hip-hop sites saying he is the best. Im like really? Weezy began to get hot once Go Dj dropped. He was one of those people that you were scared to admit that you were feeling one of his songs. You only told people you trusted would not tell that you were feeling that song. After months of contemplating I downloaded his album ( I only buy albums after U hear them. I support the artist). I must admit it had some joints on it but it wasnt until the Carter 2 that I was convinced. He stirred up the controversy that he was going to def jam and dropped a classic for the time ( difference between timeless, impact, and classic for its time). A solid 4.5. Thats when it all started. I remember being in school chillin in oxford ( not the school a place in temple) listenin to the album everyday. Next he drops Dedication 2 which was bumped all of summer 06 at the LRG office and now everything he touches is a hit. I feel that he is oversaturating the market, but thats just me. I am tired of him. Everybody is on his nuts. He says hes the best rapper alive but he got 2 hot albums. Has he ever heard of Nas, Jay-z, or even Snoop and Redman. Right now Wayne is walking blasphemy in the hip-hop world. I admit he is nice but Im taking a break from the weezy until carter 3 drops.

Legend of the Falloffs

As a youth growing up listening to hip-hop Mobb Deep was one of my favorite groups. They are one of the only groups to have 3 classics in a row (Tribe, Gangstarr, De la Soul). Out of the two Prodigy was the beast on the mic. Prodigy got better and better from album to album, reaching his peak at Murda Muzik and the Mobb also reached their commercial peak. On his solo album P held it down but not with the same lyrical prowess as before. On the Free Agents mixtape he did his thing sorta and on Amerikaz Nightmare (which i thought was hott) Havoc definitely out shined him. As Mobb Deep reached an all time low and signed to G-Unit so did P. Circa 95 P was in the top three arguably right behind B.I.G. and Nas now hes lucky to make it in the top 100. He went from spiting classic verses on songs like quiet storm and Apostles Warning to spitting horrible verses on such hot tracks Win or lose and Pearly Gates (controversial but still wack best mobb g-unit song). Now with the release of his Return of the Mac P returned from the garbage truck but is still in the garbage can. I wonder is it because of his sickness (sickle cell), is he a crackhead (caught with crack in car), or he just fell off like Meth. Still I reminise of the Mobb glory days. Hearing The Infamous as a youngin and how Illuminati ruled his mind soul and his body.