January 2009 Archives

So what else is new?

The last time I heard from Raekwon and any signs of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, the Ghostface-featured "Necro" was playing on Hot 97. That was May of last year. It's now nearly February of 2009.

Everyday, I lose more and more faith.

MIMS aka Mimi aka Alvin-- or Chipmunk, whichever one works-- will never learn. Because apparently, he seems to have convinced himself that his "relevance" in the game is the reason why so many n*ggas hate him. LOL.

"Under One Roof" is (or was) a modern day minstrel show that needs to be snatched off the air (if it hasn't been already), stoned, bounded, hanged, and burned to a crisp. It is full of nasty stereotypes, coonish antics, blatant buffoonery, and is an embarrassment to black Americans from the East Coast to the West. And blacks all over the world.

Is the title confusing? Yeah... thought it would be. No, this isn't another letter to Biggie. This is a letter to the late Harlemite Big L, coming straight from the Canadian streets of Toronto.

Mase is a cornball. I can't believe how many people really believe this fool. A lot of people don't, though, because they can't shake their memory of his being a rapper on Bad Boy.

"I wanna thank the mothaf*ckas who helped them move they sh*t up out the White House. Keep it movin bitch! Cause my president is mothaf*ckin black, n*gga!"-- Young Jeezy

Yeah. Thislittle beef was over earlier this week. But then Saigon turned around and shot it two more times at Joe Budden just to make sure it was dead for sure. Now we've got the last dis. And Saigon indeed went in.

Too much boom bap. Too much truth. Too much rhyme and reason. Too much consistency. Check out the video below. 

First and foremost, happy belated birthday and R.I.P to Martin Luther King, Jr. (1/15/29-4/4/68), who paved a way for black America-- and this country as a whole-- in more ways than anyone could ever imagine. For those who have crappy jobs, I hope they at least have the decency to let you enjoy MLK day at home.

High or not, DMX never fails to entertain. And this video is no exception.

Def might as well relocate their offices to Yankee Stadium, because they've been striking out so many players, Babe Ruth's legacy pales in comparison.

So, the boy Mos is back with a fresh new single and an album on the way.

Brooklyn is going hard. This week, Fabolous, Saigon, and Q Da Kid have released some blazin joints.

What? The "New York Post"? This is so strange I'm wondering if they were paid to write a review this nice.

First and foremost, shout out and MUCH APPRECIATION to the THIMK blog for a five star post. This is the second time within seven days that "The Source" magazine has gotten some recognition.

Ohhhh... Kobe Bryant better put his ear to the speaker for this joint.

Yep. It's a new year. And Juelz is making new moves.

Dipset who?

Since everyone's writing letters-- mostly to illlustrate reverence and homage-- I'd like to write an (irreverent) letter to Def Jam, seeing the fuck-up its become.

As seen in previous posts, I'm using the upcoming "Notorious" motion picture as an excuse to showcase some of Biggie's work. Only this time, I'm posting more of the unpopular items not usually found around the net. At least not all in one place. Check it out below. 

Big, big shout out to the people over at Ifihavent, who collect classic hip-hop articles. An interesting site I've never seen before.

Easy bake oven rappers come in all different forms and come from all different regions of the country, but they all share one characteristic: They all sell more ringtones than albums. One by one, they all got signed, got one little hit that they made in five little minutes, and pushed out one little album. And then after they can't make another hit and the support from the label slowly begans to descend into the maelstrom, they struggle with the little bit of money they have to their little names. Why? Because they have no f*ckin talent. And these corny A&Rs haven't a CLUE as to what they're doing, so they keep pushing artists who they feel will bring in the most cash instead of helping to develop an artist that will actually last.

Man, if he doesn't get this cornball song out of here. What is this a Yankees ball park concession stand commercial? This sh*t is retarded.

Remember when Bone Thugs-N-Harmony were fast-rapping their way through the '90s? Even if you had the bouncing syllables down to a science, half the time you still didn't know what the hell they were saying. But many of us still f*cked with it, 'cause their beats banged and whatever bars we could manage to recite was enough to make up for what we couldn't.

... just minus the bars. And to prove that, there are plently of artists sitting on the Bad Boy roster to last from now "to the year 3000," just like Puffy said on Biggie's "Downfall."

Yesterday, SOHH spotted a quote that Harlem's very own Black Rob dropped on XXL, which went a little something like this:

Yezzirrr! This cornball Mic Error aka Mic Terrified aka Got Punked On The Phone By Mazzi is in this video spitting some hot garbage over Boogie Down Productions's "P is Free."

Son. Is that YOU Mic? This can't be the same Mic who was Terrorized on the phone when Soul Purpose's Mazzi SONNED him. This can't be the same Mic Terror who was rocking some tight ass ashy colored jeans, a gypsy cloak, some crooked high top fade, and some other Kid N Play sh*t in one of his Myspace pics. Now this dude is wearing a hoodie and a chain while brandishing a gun? Ahahaha!

Gravy has come along way from that up-and-coming rapper from Brooklyn who got banned from Hot 97. Why? For getting shot in the ass... and then proceeding to the radio station to do the interview after it all went down.

Now that's definitely a cat from Brooklyn.

Check out Harlem's John O. standing alongside The Breezy Effect's Crys Breezy (from BK) as she counts down her top 5 favorite NYC hip-hop videos.

Lloyd Banks and his big ass face is back with a new mixtape called The Cold Corner. And don't give me credit for "big ass face." I got that from Sheek Louch.

In any event, I heard this mixtape is hot. But after that wack LP The Rotten Apple sat and rotted on store shelves, this mixtape better be a complete 180. I think that after deciding to stop listening to Fif with this pop music sing-songy bullsh*t he was trying to get the ladies to like, Banks took it back to square one. Of course there have been some who are not convinced, but the mass audience has been giving The Cold Corner good reviews, suggesting that perhaps Banks might finally be "back." Words heavily associated with this mixtape release: Hard, fiyah, tough, etc. Haven't heard that for Banks in awhile! Last time I checked, Banks was "wack," "doo-doo," "washed-up," and "done." Good job, Banks.

 Which one of B.I.G's lines was the hardest he ever spit?

Today's blog wasn't as easy a task as I thought it would be. Biggie had so many hard songs, it would take entirely too long for me to narrow down which one was the hardest of them all. But with a little thought, I decided that "Ready To Die" was the best choice, and for one reason: not only was the beat and lyrics hard, but this song-- which shared the name of the album from which it appeared-- proved to be just three years shy of living prophecy.

This blog is not random. In fact, I was asked to do something with some of Biggie's lyrics in honor of "Notorious," the Biggie movie that's slated for theatrical release January 16th.

What was I asked to do exactly? Either post Biggie's top five lines, hardest lyrics, or break down a verse. I'm a die-hard Biggie fan who came up on his music. But still, I deemed it nearly impossible to pick five hardest or cleverest lines out of countless, try to accurately interpret one of his verses, or even fish for some of his hardest lyrics. I'd be debating with myself for hours on end. So instead, I chose to post the lyrics from one of my favorite songs on the album.

Remember when Cash Money was supposedly the sh*t back in the late '90s? Well that was about a decade (and some change) ago. What made me reminisce about Juve and the Cash Money crew? Papoose's song "All That."

There's a couple of things wrong with this song. I notice lots of fill-ins to make the words "all that" not seem forced and awkward. And I'll leave the other complaints out. But if you listened to this song acapella, you'd cringe. 

Check out the video below: