REALLY, DR. DRE? SERIOUSLY?

I know I don't post often but every now and then something gets my proverbial goat.

Instead of releasing the greatest record that has never come out, Detox, Dr. Dre is adding an overpriced laptop which you can buy along with his overpriced headphones. Frankly, I don't care if Detox never comes out. I really don't. Maybe he should just concentrate on doing steroids working out and lay off the music. If he worked on that instead of bodybuilding, maybe he'd have a record out.

Dr. Dre, laptop, still no detox via Nah Right.

A reminder of when Dr. Dre was relevant (at least to me)

FOG: DRAKE IS STILL CORNY

http://www.forcesofgeek.com/2009/09/drake-forever-feat-kanye-west-lil-wayne.html

SHOCK THE NATION, LIKE THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

Found this video at Nah Right. Wu-Tang+Lego=dopeness.

Wu-Tang Lego: Da Mystery of Chessboxin' from davo on Vimeo.

BORN AT THE RIGHT TIME/NICE HOE COLLECTION

I know. I'm a bad blogger. I've been busy, but that's no excuse. I found the following video on Nahright. It reminds me how entertaining the fan video can be. Usually, they're pretty good because you see how a fan interpreted a song or how they would have shot the video different. Sometimes though, it's just a bunch of jackass kids (no Steve-O). This makes me glad I was born when I was. I have a feeling if I had come up in this Youtube generation, I would have ended up making a video, if not several, like this one. Sure, it seems fun at the time, but then you end up being an adult and your adolescent follies are captured...on the Internet...forever and ever.

That said, this is fuckin' funny.

One, the kid looks like the bastard son of my friend Jared and McLovin of Superbad fame. If two men could make a baby, this would be him. (Hypothetically, I assume you could make a clone of the two Serpentor-style but...never mind. Let me just tuck my nerd back into its hole.)

Two, the ho(e) collection. Even though there are no actual hoes in the collection, I got the joke. Well played, young one.

Three, the McNabelovin clone lip-synching about having sex. There's comedy in itself.

Four, the extra wearing a Rashad McCants Timberwolves jersey. Not a UNC McCants jersey but Timberwolves jersey. Apparently, they were out of Michael Olowokandi jerseys.

Here it is.

FORCES OF GEEK: WAITING FOR THE GOD...

http://www.forcesofgeek.com/2009/02/waiting-for-god.html

DJ PREMIER SPEAKS...

Primo. DJ Premier's nickname pretty much sums up the man in two syllables. Is he the greatest producer ever? Possibly. In the top 3 producers ever? Easily.

With that said, I always like to read or find out how artists create their works, what inspires them, how they develop certain pieces, et cetera. (I'm a nerd like that.) A German hip-hop site has an MP3 of DJ Premier talking about the stories behind some of his classics like "Words I Manifest," "Nas Is Like" and others. It really shows the difference between an artist and someone who puts out music. (There is a difference.) Also, there's a bittersweet tale of how he found out about the passing of Big L.

Enjoy.

DJ Premier-14 Deadly Secrets mixed by DJ Derezon & Illfated Tre


Via spinemagazine.com

EGO TRIP'S MISS RAP SUPREME SHOW

I'm sure all the cool kids live-blogged ego trip's "Miss Rap Supreme" last night with their fancy cable television, DVRs and such. Well, here at EB headquarters, we're not on the cutting edge. No siree. I had to go to VH1's website to watch it. Anyway, let's get to it.

MC Serch is back again, along with Yo-Yo, to host this show. The preliminary elimination round is done pageant style where they each have to do a sixteen bar verse. From that round here's my take on the contestants in the preliminary round.

-Miss Cherry: From the South. Sixteen bars were okay.

Rece Steele-From the Bronx. Raps in that on-the-corner-cipher style. (See any "Smack" DVD)

-Nicky2States: A little too hardcore with no real direction in her verse. But not really hardcore (like M.O.P.) but just lot of cursing. Has been rapping for a year. That's more than obvious.

-Lionezz: German. Can see language barrier being a problem.

-Fabrisha Dankins: White hipster from Brooklyn (my guess is Williamsburg). Uses a tambourine to keep beat). Also in her verse, she uses "challah" but pronounces the "ch." The "ch" in challah is pronounced "kuh" sound crossed with a coughing up phlegm sound. I know I'm being overly technical but these things matter....like when Greg Nice said "Dizzy Gillespie plays the sax" in "Funky For You." (*sidenote: Being white and choosing Fabrisha Dankins which you know isn't her real name, kind of sounds like nominal blackface. It's like if I was going to law school and changed my Moshe Goldblattstein. I'm just saying)

-Chiba: Pretty good verse. Reminds me of Left Eye. Ironically, she damaged her left eye in a car accident.

-Bree: Feminem. Not quite G-Child but along those lines.

-Hedonis Da Amazon: Gave the verse "handing out free abortions." Gets my vote.

-Robbi: Rhymed like someone reading Dr. Seuss on too much 'tussin.

-Byata: Wait. I think I've heard her before. She was on that Think Differently: Wu-Tang comp a few years back. She's Russian, from Brooklyn and so far, is my pick to win it all.

-Lady Merk The Black Russian: While I don't know if she's an actual black Russian, she is black and does rap in Russian...the entire time. Hopefully, they will pair her up with Byata to do "Ebony & Ivory (Russian Rap Remix)."

-Lady Twist: Has a Twista-like delivery but adds a Bone Thugs style melody. She should make the cut.

-D.A.B: Used to be addicted to heroin and has a trouble past.

-Khia: Thought it was pronounced Kia, like the car. You would think having a hit single (not to be confused with a good song) would eliminate you from the competition but there she is. I hope this doesn't take away from her blogging time.

-Miss CKC: Horrible but funny. But not that funny that you could stomach 12 episodes of her.

The 10 finalists: Ms. Cherry, Rece Steele, Nicky2States, Lionezz, Chiba, Bree, Byata, Lady Twist, D.A.B. and Khia.

My picks: Ms. Cherry, Chiba, Byata and Lady Twist.

Other random notes:

-Nicky2States is not very good. Next to the German chick, who doesn't speak English that well, she's the worst rapper.

-Nicky2States also blessed us with the quote during a drunken game of "Truth Or Dare": "Alcohol makes you let down your prohibitions." It also makes you lose your inner thesaurus.

-Two near-catfights. One due to Ms. Cherry calling out Khia for being a one-hit wonder. The other between D.A.B. and Nicky2States just on out and out bitchery. I have a feeling this may be "Flavor Of Love....of The Mic."

-The German chick will probably be the first one booted due to her lack of knowing the language. Example: "You're the reason I keep it feminine/People don't call you "lady"/They call you an ugly gentleman." Stick to rhyming in German and you'll be huge...in Germany...like Hasselhoff.

As for the episode, the challenge to rap in front of sistas/sisters was interesting. They sent one team to a beauty shop, mostly consisting of older women, in South Central LA and another to a sorority house. The team who got the beauty shop one because Ms. Cherry had the sense to write an empowering hook focused on women, so they connected with their audience. The sorority house team, led by Nicky2States, had no game plan which is probably why they failed...miserably.

In the elimination round, where they had to write about women or the strength of women or something like that, everyone does so-so. Most of them missed the point. Khia continues the beef with Ms. Cherry by glaring at her during her verse about respect. More or less, Lionezz will be the first to go. Her elimination round verse was bad. Plus she stopped right in the middle. (ESL classes. Get your English on.) The cliffhanger ending leaves us wondering who will get the axe. Guess we'll find out next week.

HIP-HOP MEETS PUNK ROCKERS UPTOWN....AT THE MALL

Tapered jeans. Extra-medium shirts. Spiked belts. New Era caps. Who'd ever have thought the hip-hop kids and punk rock kids would be dressing alike? While this officially puts me in the "old man" category, it's a positive sign for the world.

Now, it looks like we have the first love child of this multi-cultural union: "Birthday Girl." After leaking two incredible, Lou Ferrigno-on-coke singles, "75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)" and "Get Busy," their first single features Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump on the hook. Before I heard the song, I read about Stump's appearance. Immediately, that queasy feeling overwhelmed me...like when you found out your first girlfriend blew the frontcourt of the school hoops team while you had mono. (Not that that happened, but you can imagine what it'd be like if it did.) Mostly, I jumped to this conclusion after Stump produced and added his "emo banshee" style on Lupe Fiasco's "Little Weapon" which he also produced.

Anyway, let's get down to brass tacks. Despite its saccharine feel, Black Thought did not slack on this tale of an underaged groupie. The music has a very relaxed feel. But it's a little too laid back, conjuring up images of high school ska bands. Is it poppy? Yes. Is it horrible? No. I mean compared to the actual feces pieces that pass as music these days (Soulja Boy, Lil Wayne, et cetera), it's not bad. Is it The Roots' best work? No. Will it help them sell a lot of records and expand their fanbase? Probably. The cross-marketing strategy with one of the biggest bands in the country was pretty brilliant. (And we should be thankful they collaborated with Stump instead of that style-biting, guyliner-wearing douche nozzle. Yes, there's been some uproar amongst their fans, but I think it's a bit premature. Some fans and critics act as if Black Thought announced that he was engaged to Paris Hilton. And yes, the dreaded S (rhymes with "fell out") word has been tossed around. Selling out is such a If they had written a song about a new dance they had created called the Dirty Sanchez or some such nonsense, the cry of sellout would have been appropriate. But sometimes an established band branches out tries something new. The Clash did "Rock The Casbah" and Bruce Springsteen did "Dancing In The Dark." Ultimately, The Roots are painting a bull's eye on their collective chest. But could it be there's a method to the madness? I think The Roots are too smart to be in it solely for the money and they're not getting enough credit for what could be a subversive move. Here's how it could play out. Joe or Joanne FOB-fan buys the CD, only because Stump is on it, it's a catchy song and the dipshit from biology class says it's like Gym Class Heroes. Upon actually listening to the whole CD, they may have their eyes opened and realize it's not all about tapered jeans and having the same haircut as your boyfriend/girlfriend. A new generation of kids get into good hip-hop. Far-fetched? Yes. Impossible? No.

Worst case scenario: The Roots sell a lot of records, expand their fanbase by five percent and still continue to make good music. Either way, it's a win-win scenario and The Roots deserve a big win.

The Roots feat. Patrick Stump: "Birthday Girl"

THE STORY OF GANGSTALICIOUS PART 2

Fresh link at the bottom of the post.

The Boondocks keeps getting better and better. In the world of animated sitcoms, if The Simpsons are Michael Jordan, then The Boondocks would be LeBron James. It has the same satirical angles as The Simpsons but is a lot more edgier. (I hate the word "edgy" but it fits.) Like Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks and Dave Chappelle, Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder fuses comedy and social commentary to spark dialogue amongst his audience.

The latest episode focuses on Gangstalicious, a closeted gangsta rapper, who was outed to Riley Freeman, younger brother to the main character and a huge Gangstalicious fan, in the first season. "The Story of Gangstalicious Part 2" centers around the still-closeted Gangstalicious' new single "Homies over Hoes." (Oddly enough, the beat sounds a lot like D4L's "Laffy Taffy," a song that makes me want to light puppies on fire.) McGruder has fashioned Gangstalicious, voiced by Mos Def, as a sort of hip-hop Rob Halford, the Judas Priest singer who announced his homosexuality in the 1990s.

McGruder highlights the homophobic tendencies of hip-hop, along with its contradictory homoerotic subtleties. I'll let you judge for yourself. Enjoy.



alternate link: Here you go Enjoy

VIDEO: THE ROOTS "75 BARS"

Maybe this will lead to Black Thought finally getting his props as one of the best. In a world of Jim Joneses (Jonesi?) and Soulja Boys, this is a breath of fresh air. I just miss the pitbull tenacity of olden days where MCs just attacked the mic like it fondled their younger sister. And The Roots' Black Thought definitely possesses that. Also, lack of a hook...good move. The dependency on a catchy hook/chorus is another problem with hip-hop nowadays (yes, that's the grumpy old man in me). Crisp drums + ominous bassline tuba + superb lyrical effort = the best song I've heard in 2008.

As for the actual concept of the video, I can see MTV filing this one right next to Public Enemy's "By The Time I Get To Arizona" and the original version of Brand Nubian's "Wake Up" in the "Hell No" category. I don't eve know if BET will play it as there's no dance associated with the song...unless there's a dance called "Light A White Hostage On Fire." I wouldn't know as I'm not into arson...or dancing.

Let the controversy storm begin...



Via Idolator via On Smash

THE BEST THING EVER

This blog originally appeared at www.forcesofgood.blogspot.com

Finally, some genius on Youtube has merged two of my favorite things...gangsta rap and Star Wars. For those who are confused please refer to this.