March 2007 Archives

First off, I just want to thank everybody who took part in yesterday's discussion about political hip hop and activism in general in our generation. Although the discussion isn't going to spark some kind of immediate revolution, it's definitely a step in the right direction. Even if the thoughts and opinions of different readers who stopped by to leave a comment opened the eyes of someone else to a new vantage point, it's enlightenment at its most grassroots level.

Boots Riley of The Coup recently added the song “Captain Sterling’s Little Problem” (from their recent album Pick A Bigger Weapon) to the group’s myspace page- where it can be downloaded for free -along with a blog that explains his motives in doing so. The song, which features Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine fame, is performed from the perspective of a dissenting soldier taking part in a violent mutiny. But rather than just listening to the track for its entertainment value, Boots is urging The Coup’s 25,000+ myspace friends to send the song to anyone they know who serves in the armed forces. Apparently he’s hoping that by doing so, the song will spark real-life rebellion amongst the troops, at which point the war will end and the troops will be sent home.

While many hip hop fans around the world spent Monday remembering the legacy of Eazy-E, there was one person who was pretty much using the anniversary of his passing as an opportunity for publicity- his daughter, Erin Bria Wright.

Due to yesterday’s coverage of the Paid Dues Festival, I set aside this week’s West Coast Classic for today. Yesterday was the 12 year anniversary of the death of one of the most important men in West Coast rap, so it’s only fitting that we dedicate today’s blog to that man... Eazy-E.

We usually take Mondays to remember a West Coast Classic, but today we have something special. Tune in tomorrow for your West Coast Classic for the week.

As some of you read last week, I asked anyone who was thinking of going to the Paid Dues Festival to hit me up. Brillyancestar (pictured above with Evidence and Rakaa Iriscience) hit me up about it, so I hooked him up with a couple of tickets, some press passes, and a photo pass in exchange for coverage of the event. Just as promised, Brillyancestar followed through (on-time, nonetheless) with an in-depth report on the festival, so here it is...

For the past several months, the station that the radio at my work is forever tuned to has been playing several lame-ass Fergie songs intermittently, but the buck stops here. In case there are some of you who out there who are lucky enough to have evaded the shitty new single that she dropped, I’ll break it down for you.

In part two of the interview with Evidence that I posted yesterday, we briefly touched on a topic that has been at the forefront of West Coast hip hop for the last couple of years, and I wanted to get everyone’s take on the situation. I’ve seen a few of you bring it up here and there over the months since the inception of SOHH Left Coast, so I know some of you definitely have an opinion on the subject.

It's been a few days since part one, but here it is... Part Two of the Evidence interview, picking up right where we left off.

And if you don't already know, The Weatherman LP dropped Tuesday; go cop that.

First off, if anyone's heading to Paid Dues this weekend, holler at me on the SOHH Left Coast myspace page if you're down to write up a review of the festival. You can hit me up at www.myspace.com/sohhleftcoast.

Now I know I told y’all I’d have part two of that Evidence interview up for you today, but it’s been a hectic couple of days, so you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow. But his album, The Weatherman LP, does drop today. Make sure you go cop that; it’s worth your $14.99 just on the strength of several of the Alchemist beats on there, but the rest of the album is pretty dope from start to finish.

Not everyone who dropped a song that became a hip hop classic went on to have a successful career in the music business. Today we’re going to go back to 1995 to remember a West Coast classic from a one hit wonder named Skee Lo. And since he really only had one hit, I shouldn’t even have to tell you the name of the track.

But for all of you young bucks out there who might not have any clue what I’m talking about, that song was “I Wish.”

Friday. Feels good to say that word, doesn’t it?

Snoop was arrested. Oh wait, apparently he wasn’t. Either way, is Snoop getting busted for drug posession or drug use even news any more? That shit is about as newsworthy as Paris Hilton acting like a skank. And yet... here i am talking about it. It’s a vicious cycle.

Moving on...

When people think of Los Angeles’ own Evidence, they typically think of his work as a member of Dilated Peoples or of his solid work as a producer. But with his first solo album dropping next week, hip hop fans are about to see a whole new side of The Weatherman.

Ev recently took some time out from his hectic schedule for a phoner, and even though he had a limited amount of time available, he had so much to say that I’ll be splitting the interview into two parts.

Here is part one for your reading pleasure; I’ll be posting part two on Tuesday of next week.

So for those of you who tuned in yesterday, hopefully you did your homework and checked out the Bishop Lamont mixtape, N*gger Noize. If you haven’t heard it yet, you can download the entire mixtape for $ free.fifty-free at dubcnn.com. But for now, here's the review...

As promised, I will be dropping a review of Bishop Lamont and DJ Skee’s “street album” (I’m just quoting Skee; apparently they’re not mixtapes anymore) N*gger Noize. Kind of an odd choice for the title, but if you listen to the intro (and the segue into “Klansmen,” which is one of the dopest tracks on the whole shit) you’ll see where Lamont’s coming from with it.

But I’m going to be posting that tomorrow. Today, I’m just going to preface the review with a quick explanation of why I think Bishop Lamont has the potential to be the next West Coast artist to blow up in a major way, and why I think that would be a really positive thing not just for the West, but for hip hop in general.

California wouldn’t be what it is today without its weed or its Latino population. Today we’re gonna take a moment to remember a classic joint (no pun intended) from a group that celebrated both with equal fervor.

You all know this one... Keep an eye out for cameos from Ice Cube and Q-Tip.

Some things need to change, and soon... but we'll get to that in just a moment.

I had a long, busy-ass week, and a I got a pounding headache right now, so I’m gonna keep this one a little on the short side. But please believe that I’ll have some big shit popping off on SOHH Left Coast next week.

For those who haven’t already heard, Snoop’s next single from Tha Blue Carpet Treatment will be “Boss’ Life.” But for those of you already own the album (and all of you do own the album, right? RIGHT?), you’ll be noticing that something’s a little different when you hear it this time around...

Big Fase 100

For all of you that kept up with yesterday’s blog, I’m sure you saw Elliot Wilson’s response in the comments section- as if I really needed further proof that this dude is bi-polar.

That's cool that he's a fan of SOHH Left Coast though; I wonder if he's the one who's always in here spamming us with propaganda for Interscope artists...

If you missed out, here’s what he had to say:

XXL editor-in-chief Elliot "YN" Wilson is losing his fucking mind.

The other day I picked up the new issue of Triple Extra Medium (the one with Weezy on the cover), and casually decided to read Wilson’s editorial letter to see what kind of ignorant bullshit he was spewing this month.

And it ended up looking like this...

It’s Monday, which means it’s time to remember yet another West Coast Classic.

You know I had to do this one sooner or later...

Thank God, some days of sunshine in the weekend forecast. FUCK this weather, for reals. If what Raphael Saadiq said was true, I’m about to pack my fuckin’ bags for San Diego the next time Winter rolls around...

Here at SOHH Left Coast we have a couple dope things in the works. First off, next week I’ll be talking with Evidence about his new album, The Weatherman (which is fucking dope, by the way). I’ll definitely try to get it posted as soon as possible.

Since we’re supposed to be doing this “City Guide” thing on Thursdays to give our readers a heads up as to what’s going on event-wise in our respective regions, I’m just gonna take it a step further and dedicate today’s blog to shedding some light on a couple of huge events that will be hitting Northern and Southern Cali in the next few months.