Dear Dear Whoever readers, I apologize. There has been a dire lack of freestyles on the blog for a few weeks. Blame either my academic obligations or my incessant job search for graduation. Even so, we've got two freestyle verses this week for your listening pleasure. The first one is by Fabolous. As he prepares to drop a new mixtape, he released this freestyle to Kanye's 'Devil in a New Dress', and RIPPED it. Fab shows us here why he gets so much play: his wordplay. If only John Jackson could put that formula together for an ALBUM, there'd be little competition, as he'd be ACTUALLY killing them. Regardless, it's a nice verse. 'The SOUL Tape' is slated to drop this month. The second freestyle is by Jim Jones, and isn't completely a freestyle. After his near-death experience in a car crash last week, Jones quickly released a 'Crash' freestyle detailing the event. The video below is not only a trailer for the upcoming video for 'Crash', but an impromptu performance of his take on Kanye's 'Runaway' (so I'm guessing Ye's beats are the standard again?). Check out both freestyles and have a happy Friday people!
The wait is over. That's right. The wait is over. All of you underground heads that have been waiting for the Ski Beatz-headed collaborative project '24 Hour Karate School' can finally breathe a sigh of relief, as the album is now slated to drop on September 14th. Featuring Curren$y, Mos Def, Jay Electronica, Stalley, Jim Jones, Rugz D. Bewler, Tabi Bonney, Wiz Khalifa, The Cool Kids, Camp Lo, Jean Grae and Terri Walker, this figures to be one of the most hyped-releases of the year. What baffles me is how many of the tracks are already available on the interwebs. Does that take away from the value of the complete work? Not necessarily, though Ski may very well have to pull something crazy out of his dojo to keep all of the students happy. Again, 24 Hour Karate School drops on September 14th, just in time for you to bump it on that 'back to school' playlist. Check out the promo video DD172 and Creative Control released to go with the good news...
“Minya, it’s Jimmy….I’m sitting in the passenger seat of this car right now. I want you to talk to the driver real quick.”
“Ok, Jimmy.”
[brief pause] “What up, Min. It’s Cam…”
Jim Jones: “It’s 2010, and this is something I gotta get off my chest…You’ve known us from back when we didn’t have what we have now, so you remember, that above all, me and Cam, we still brothers. And we’re building on getting back on track but first, I apologize for being a rude brother, for saying things publicly without first trying to handle them privately. I apologize for not leading by example because what I didn’t realize at the time, I was venting but it wasn’t all about me. There were other people whose dreams were also part of this movement. So by not leading by example, they were left stranded too. The way I handled our business issues was with emotion, and it got totally f–ked up. That’s what selfishness does….”
Cam’ron: “There’s nothing really Diplomats-related to show you yet. We all have our own obligations right now, our own projects. I have this Boss of All Bosses Pt. 2.5 mixtape with Vado and DJ Drama dropping soon. But yes, me and Jim have been speaking, we’re working out the mechanics of this, and looking at our options right now. If it makes sense, it can happen.”
Back in 2004, I was in high school, still somewhat young in my understanding of hip-hop and rap. That said, along that time, the movement that was moving was Dip Set. You, Cam and Jim, served as the soundtrack to basketball games, tomfoolery in hallways and homework. When the rumors came in around 2007 that you two weren't speaking, it was like seeing the Power Rangers get into an argument: slightly devastating. That said, the news relayed by Miss Info was a highlight to my day. I blasted 'I'm Ready' and 'Come Home With Me' in my room as I remembered the tall tees, jerseys, fitteds and ridiculous jewelry that you guys donned during your run at the top. Of course, the look will be different now. Even so, it's refreshing to see some unity come back. That doesn't mean the news comes without its issues.
First of all, why did it take the two of you so long to reconcile? Maybe it's the fact that both of you were too wrapped up in your own individual success to realize that your strength came as a group. I suppose both of you started feeling the dent in your sales, regardless of hot singles (would it be cliche to yell 'BALLIN' right now?) or illegal dealings outside of rap. Second of all, where's Juelz?? A Dip Set reunion wouldn't be complete without Santana on deck, and you both know it. As a matter of fact, I'd definitely say that Juelz is doing a lot better than both of you at the moment. He has a hit single out and a lot of buzz for 'Born to Lose, Built to Win' (or whatever it's called), while you two have two sub-par underselling albums under your studded belts. You guys would have to truly bury the hatchet and apologize to Juelz for doing him dirty, ALONG with offer up a few hundred stacks to get him to come on with the movement. Third of all, this is only the 3rd or 4th time that you guys have alluded to a reunion and have come up with either nothing or a new beef to squabble over. While it's great to see you guys are cool riding around town together, until I have substantial proof that Diplomatic Immunity 3 is on the way, I will continue to be the skeptic. Besides, I'm looking forward to Boss of All Bosses 2.5 and Slime Flu much more than I am anything Jim Jones-laced these days. At least we can reminisce...
In the days of old, when no one hopped on each other's beats like that, this wouldn't have happened. But, alas, this is the blogosphere, and no instrumental is safe. Lloyd Banks and Juelz Santana finally came out with the visuals for 'Beemer, Benz or Bentley,' but a few days after Joell Ortiz and Jim Jones (Dip Set seems like they're becoming the hip-hop mercenaries) did the same for 'Nissan, Honda, Chevy.' Do I smell some contention? I hope not, because while I'm inclined to give the nod to Banks and Juelz since it was originally their song, Joell & Jimmy's video was a tad bit iller, as is the concept. Not sure who's to blame either: the artists, the labels or idiotic producers who don't lock down their instrumentals. Regardless, both videos do their respective tracks justice. Which one do you guys prefer??
