We on the West Coast will be watching and crossing our fingers that Snoop's show approaches the heights of Jay-Z's legendary "Storytellers" some years back. Tune in now to this preview of tonight's show...
Well, the Los Angeles Times got some egg on its face for seeing a story instead of seeing proof of the truth. Guess the guy's sources on Tupac's 1994 shooting weren't all that reliable. It seemed a little fishy how the story ran ONLY online and didn't go out to the Times' millions of subscribers and newsstand purchasers. Between this, T.I. and Remy Ma...yesterday was one of those bad rap sheet days. With that said, what's good with the good music? We got it.
In celebration of last weekend's Paid Dues Festival--a celebration of indie hip-hop at its finest in San Bernardino, CA--we're curious to see who's on truly on their grind.
SOHH Left wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the death of Eazy-Z, aka Eric Wright, who died at the young age of 31, 13 years ago.
Recognize that voice on the trailers below? We bet you do. So who is it? DJ Vlad is promoting two new teasers for the upcoming "Ghostride the Whip" DVD, schooling folks on the history of the Bay Area. Check out the shorts below, one featuring Too Short and Hammer, and tell us @ SOHH Left: Will you be checking for this movie?
Related sidebar: Wasn't it too bad that just recently Barack (had to) refuse the Black Panther Party's endorsement?
Related related: I don't know if it's sad or gangsta that these guys are ghost-riding the MTA Bus!
I musta missed something, or maybe inspired it? My Los Angeles Times piece was the first to confirm that The Game's album would be called LAX (he announced it at Nas's NYE show at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip, which I was covering for the paper). Sidebar: How LA is this photo with Paris and Kim?
Now, the Game's new album is going by the official title Los Angeles Times (LAX). Coincidence? I think not, people. But he did keep that promise for a release date....
Maybe Suge Knight is also trying to be more reality television than Diddy, too. Check the trailer for the no network reality series starring the guy that hung Robert Matthew Van Winkle off a balcony.
The Game knows how to walk with the West Coast swagger. Even over the production of some Miami dudes. It's what made Doctor's Advocate a success, even without the title's inspiration behind the boards: Jayceon is ambidexturous with his region-irrelevant flow. However, that crip walking piano and those organs still sound best. Make that extra step to really get it.
We had no idea that Bishop Lamont is kinda funny. Dude actually looks kinda comfortable talking to the camera. We also had no idea that Detox was still an album alleging release. See Bishop Lamont talk about Dr. Dre's Detox like it's real, right here.
Yesterday we had Mistah F.A.B. and his yellow bus. Today we have LA's favorite weirdo (and believe me there are a lot them) rapper, Busdriver on tour with Dizzee Rascal and El-P...
Enjoying the lyrical linkage with Snoop on "Life of Da Party," the Yay's one-and-only Mistah F.A.B. is currently out on the road. On a yellow bus?
Because we're writing this on a Sunday night and the link didn't go live until Monday morning, we're not entirely sure how the story will develop, but check out this link to the Los Angeles Times. In it, Times writer Chuck Philips "deconstructs the 1994 ambush of Tupac Shakur at the Quad Recording Studio in New York - the first shot of a lethal, bi-coastal feud that culminated in the killings of Shakur and rap's other leading star, Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G."
FBI reports apparently confirm Tupac's suspicions that Bad Boy was behind the robbery. The Times link has a "vivid" photo gallery, classified documents, an interactive timeline and much more that'll keep us busy for a long time. Of course, we should all meet back here and talk about it.
Me either. (So 2002). Anyway, this week the weed aficionado dropped his recent solo album, Ego Trippin' and, in between taking shots at Oprah, Snoop spread the word about his newest releaseâ€"and yes, it involves a "Sexual Eruption." Get it?
Independent hip-hop's premier festival is only on the West Coast. The third annual Paid Dues Festival, founded and organized by Murs, is only a a few days away and we thought we'd give y'all unadventurous ignoramuses a quick lesson on who's playing and why.
(Quick side note, should "unadventurous ignoramuses" officially replace "cookie cutters" as the preferred nick name of the SOHH Left Coast commenters?)
But we won't be talking about that. Game only spent like eight days in there, and while prison ain't cool, why even bother talking about a week Jayceon would rather forget....until it comes time to pimp it for his next single? And while Snoop is going to beat NYC and the South (Fat Joey and Ricky Ross, respectively) this week and we're actually loving Ego Trippin', we'd rather talk about another ego trip today.
Compton lyricist Problem caught a big break recently, and I'm not just talking about Power 106 breaking his single "I'm Toe Up"...OK, make that two breaks.
Long Beach's finest Tha Dogg Pound just dropped the new Pharell-laced joint "Cheat" for all the ladies out there. Check the song out on the flip side and an old school throwback that goes out to our homies on the East Coast...
We're staying real positive....like backpack rap positive (which is kinda like Brett Favre sensitive). Anyway, Ice Cube's slammin' single has a remix....Nas and Scarface hopped on that West Coast swang. Check it out here. What do y'all think?
Three things before we get into Snoop's realest video in a long, long time: (1) Director Rik Cordero dropped two music videos yesterday (the other being The Roots' new jawn) so he's obviously a much harder worker than you cookie cutters, (2) Left Coast guest blogger Damani starts this video off right, and (3) Snoop's a Don, so he's allowed multiple posts in the same week.
Cypress Hill and Psycho Realm affiliates keep it real (and yo, I'll admit, artistic) with this video you can check on the flip for "El Barrio". It takes you through the streets of Los Angeles. It's like one dope Estevan Oriol shot (he may have directed it actually...). So, how many people copped Legend Of The Mask & The Assassin?
Ouch! Snoop got a little salty when an interviewer's first question was about Dre. Defensively, Mr. Broadus then went on to explain why that was a bad question. Among other highlights: Snoop saying that Dre built off of him (maybe true, maybe NWA); Snoop saying the best of him comes out with other producers; Snoop cracking a joke about the Detox album...
It's Monday. On Monday, we can all probably use a laugh. The following video comes from the LA collective People_Food. They do videos, scripts and, in the case of The Gray Kid, music. And all of it is done well. Really well done stuff. Like a burnt steak.
