If you find yourself dozing off during your morning commute, I implore you to stay awake! Tom foolery tends to occur when we least expect it, and often in the most ridiculous ways. Improv Everywhere is a group of improv actors based in New York City that started off doing flash mobs (real flash mobs, not the BS they're calling rioting teenagers in Philly), and now has toned their act down for smaller settings, like the 6 train. In this video, they re-enact the scene in Star Wars with Princess Leia and Darth Vader's first meeting. The reactions from the other commuters are priceless, and the book Leia is reading is next on my reader's list. Just goes to show you that the Force can be used for good, evil and comedy. Check the video out...
Machete is a Robert Rodriguez-directed film about an ex-Federale (Mexican policeman) who gets put up as a hired gun to fight against a corrupt US Senator sending illegal immigrants out of the country. The movie features Danny Trejo (didn't know he had so many films under his belt; Wiki this man) in the lead as Machete, and a hell of a lot of swordplay, given the title. It's funny this movie is coming out right now. The racial, cultural and sociological undertones in this movie are going to be ridiculous, considering the way immigration is being handled by our friends in Arizona. As opposed to the much more peaceful solution of protests and lobbying and voting, Machete's premise is a sick little fantasy of mine: a rogue warrior fighting for the rights of the people with huge guns and unreal explosions. Whether you're watching for the action or the story, this looks like it's going to be a doozy. Check the trailer...
There's something about XV that intrigues me. Maybe it's that he's lyrically gifted. Maybe it's that he's from Kansas (never seen an artist come out of there). Maybe it's that I hated his first mixtape Everybody's Nobody. Hell, maybe I'm just in ViZZy Zone. Whatever the case, XV is back on the interwebs, with a new track off his highly-anticipated mixtape ViZZy Zone. I'm really not sure where he's going to go with this mixtape, since the previous one, 30 Minute Layover was a lot of punchlines, metaphors and wordplay. It'll be interesting to see if this time around, Vizzy gets a little more introspective and truly takes us into this place he calls ViZZy Zone. To be honest, parallel universes usually don't work in hip-hop, though I'm sure heads will be jumping on this one in... ehh, give or take 2-3 more leaks. Regardless, the first track is dope sauce. Check it out, and be on the lookout for ViZZy Zone...
It's a great day in music when, as an artist, you see your wildest dreams come to fruition and your music take on a life of its own. Curren$y, your album 'Pilot Talk' is the fruits of your labor growing into a mysterious garden of fresh rhymes, incredible production, and a strange stench of well-tended herbs. Spitta, you've come a long way. From proclaiming 'Where the Cash At' behind the ego of Lil' Wayne, to destroying a mixtape circuit where few are well-equipped and fewer make it out alive, to becoming the underground's green thumb, you've circled the block so many times, you might as well live there. Pilot Talk, though only your third album (with more on the way), is a culmination of sorts. Rather than digital releases and blog leaks, this work has a much more professional and personal touch to it, right down to the cover (see above). Damon Dash's reincarnation of Roc-A-Fella Records has breathed life into your already vibrant career, and I for one couldn't be more excited.
Around this time last year, I was fresh off listening to your juggernaut of a mixtape with Wiz Khalifa, 'How Fly'. Now, that was damn near a classic (by today's standards; don't get it twisted), but one thing stuck out to me: how juvenile, or better yet, unrefined it sounded. If a person wasn't a fan of you or Wiz, they heard this:
Weed, cars, sneakers, weed, girls, weed, flight metaphors, weed, random video game/sports/movie/music reference, weed, cars, weed, sneakers, girls, weed
That's a lot of marijuana references for someone who, I hope, doesn't wish to be classified as a stoner rapper. You and Wiz reek of excellence, but I doubt you want to be the next Cheech and Chong. You needed to step your game up, in a real way. You needed to show the world that the Hot Spitta is a pro at this, not just a good amateur with connections. In other words you needed to rise above the smoke. Pilot Talk is the work that, when we go back and look at your career, will be recognized as your turning point, or the takeoff point. The album is ridiculously well produced. Every beat sounds masterful, especially Breakfast (probably my favorite song of the past 3 months), whose horns and new guitar melody (it's a much deeper beat than the one I posted a while back) will put the most restless soul at ease. Your lyrics sounded effortless there, with more subliminal wordplay than most would know what to do with. Tracks like Prioritize, Roasted, The Hangover and Address show you haven't lost the edge that got you to this point. When you said you spit vicious, you weren't lying.
There's a supreme cockiness that I can hear in your voice, yet you rap about having your head on straight, investing your money wisely and being a workaholic. I guess Dame Dash has rubbed off on you, and his DD172 collective have done you well. There's tenable growth that people who haven't been listening might not see. Curren$y, there weren't any moments during the album that made me want to press skip. It was simply a good listen. The features were a highlight too. Mikey Rocks ripped his verse, Big KRIT and Smoke DZA surprised me again on Skybourne, and Devin the Dude played the perfect sidekick to your only truly weed-inspired song, Chilled Coughee. Spitta, I'm genuinely impressed and happy with this release. Blog rappers don't usually make albums that translate well outside of those blogs. Good to see something going right. Keep flying, Spitta.
#dopetracks:
Address
Prioritize
Breakfast
Example
Audio Dope
I've been telling heads about the Kid Daytona since... actually since I started this blog. There's no reason to lie. I'm pretty excited about where Daytona's been and where he's going in the future. That future includes a new mixtape in collaboration with LRG, entitled The Interlude LP., slated to drop later this summer. For now, I guess we're stuck with the first leak from the new LP, 'Over the Hill'. It's produced by 6th Sense, so you know there are going to be a lot of acoustics and a vintage sound to it. The snare drum does soooo much for the beat. As for the lyrics, to say that Daytona ripped the track would be an understatement:
My ego could, fill the hole at Ground Zero
Roll around, windows down, 10-20 deelow
Psshhh!! They still sweatin' me though
These niggas whole style resemble the fro on Tito... SQUARES
And I'm the heir to the chair that's golden
Velvet rope on, softer than Greg Oden
It's just punchline city on this track. Daytona hasn't released any new music in a while, so I'd suppose this is verbal backup coming from the Bronx MC. I'm interested to see what other producers and features this LP is going to have on board. Regardless, the Kid Daytona is making moves, and good ones. Check out the first leak from The Interlude LP...
Summer is more than halfway over. That still doesn't mean you can't carry over some hotter apparel into the school year. adidas has really been impressing me as of late with some of their releases. This one is no different. Taking a unique spin on the traditional boat shoe, adidas used a very lightweight black canvas material for the upper, a white midsole and a very funky red-striped interior. The Summer Deck shoe is perfect for late summer/early fall and looks great with damn near everything. And at $60, you can't go wrong. Check out some more choice flicktures. Props to Ronnie Fieg...
Is it safe to say that Lloyd Banks is one of the most underrated cats in the game? It seems like every time we count the man out, either due to 50's ego blotting out the sun or label woes (that should be a trending topic for rappers #labelwoes), Banks finds a way to jump start his career all over again. 'Beemer, Benz or Bentley' became an earworm this summer and now we're waiting on "The Hunger for More 2," which promises to be a hell of an album. Banks released this freestyle to Drake's 'Light Up' via ThisIs50 yesterday, and I'm in awe. Lloyd speaks on the state of the hip-hop game, his own personal issues and does some amazing work with his flow on the track. Hope we hear more heat from this man, because NYC rap is back on the way up from what I can tell...
Pusha T is releasing a solo mixtape. Go ahead, let that one marinate. In fact, I'll say it again... Pusha T is releasing a solo mixtape (recovers from heart attack) on September 14th, the same day as Kanye, CuDi and Big Sean. Not that the elder Thornton brother doesn't deserve his own showcase, but Pusha's always been my favorite. EUGHCK has become a mainstay in my vocabulary, and Pusha's rhymes don't disappoint either. Whatever the case, Miss Info hinted (not so subtly) that Kanye was going to be on board for Pusha's project. It sounds almost too good to be true, just like Pusha's freestyle over Jay Electronica's 'The Ghost of Christopher Wallace'. It's called 'Bidding War,' which may be an apt title if the younger Thornton's solo foray goes like I think it should. Check the new track...
Why is it that the justice system tends to work against those it was designed to protect? Or better yet, since when are a taser and a handgun so similar, that one can be mistaken for the other? These are both questions begging to be answered as we reel in the aftermath of the Oscar Grant murder trial. Grant was shot in the back during an altercation with your kind, brutal police, after being accosted for a fight on San Francisco's BART. Now, from the video, it would seem as if this incident didn't occur during the wee hours of the night. In fact, if it wasn't clearly at night, I'd be sure it was around 3 PM when kids were getting out of school. That said, wouldn't it be smarter to not engage in unwarranted police violence elsewhere? As a matter of fact, wouldn't it have been smarter to just accost the young men and make your way to the squad car, rather than play the scene out for much longer? #imjustsaying
You see, in this day and age, where everything except the cameras themselves have cameras, it's not smart to say or do anything that you don't want 500,000 Youtube hits for. Officer Mehserle seemed more like he was putting on a show than attempting an arrest. That's right... a TV show. A new episode of Police vs. N*ggers. Next week Mel Gibson might make an appearance. Jokes aside, Office Mehserle did what he did. He shot a young man in the back for a fact that we will never know. What we do know is that he was charged with involuntary manslaughter. How is that possible? Involuntary manslaughter means that that the killer acted without malicious intent, yet it's inherently impossible to uncover one's intent after the fact. Also, lack of intent isn't synonymous with lack of malice. Office Mehserle could have been intensely malicious in his act, without intending to kill Grant. Therein lies the problem with police today: for those who are supposed to be enforcing the law, too many times they're asked to be interpreters of the law and bastions of morality.
Neither of those titles should be apt when dealing with police. You guys are usually so muddled in the wrong things that when an opportunity to do right arises, you're too busy watching your colleague shoot a kid in the back. Just imagine, all of this could have been avoided had you trained Mehserle not to confuse his taser and handgun. BART Police, I'm not from the Bay Area, nor will I be, but I (along with any sentient being over 18) can tell when an act has gone too far. Officer Mehserle got off easy and you know it. Had the shots gone the other way, Lord knows Oscar Grant would be losing his life in prison rather than at the hands of a dumbfounded policeman...
Cleveland fans, you can still hold your heads high: The curse has been lifted! Or so the Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert asserts, in an open letter to “Cleveland, all of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers supporters wherever you may be tonight.”
While some in the city and state that once hailed LeBron James as “king” burned his jerseys, Gilbert promised a much brighter future while simultaneously chastising and berating James for his “cowardly betrayal” of his hometown fans.
“But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called ‘curse’ on Cleveland, Ohio,” Gilbert wrote, noting that the “self-titled former ‘king” will be taking the bad luck and karma with him to South Beach. With the “curse” on its way to Miami, Cleveland is now primed to win a championship, in Gilbert’s eyes. In all capital letters, in the middle of the letter, Gilbert made a vow to Cavaliers fans everywhere:
“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE.”
Cleveland, Gilbert says, won’t just live on, it will prosper. Its children won’t have the image of a selfish role model draped over their arenas, and its front offices will be working harder than ever to win a championship against James.
As everyone is sitting there hating LeBron on the Heat, and raising their blood pressure over a deal that sealed basketball future, it would be easy to write about LeBron. However, the media firestorm, combined with the entire experience of the LeBronathon sickened me, so I'm not writing a part 2 to the previous letter. Instead we're going to take a look at you, Dan Gilbert. The owner that gave up the best player in the NBA.
I can't think of ANY time in the NBA when a team would allow, not only their best player to walk in free agency, but the best player in the NBA, and the world! Dan, you really dropped the ball on this one. The Cavaliers have had 7 (count em; 7) seasons to win an NBA Championship with LeBron James. That's 7 different seasons and 7 different chances to win. In NBA years, that's a long time. Dynasties are forged within 2-3 years. We're watching the end of one (sorry Lakers) and the beginning of a dynasty of endless epic proportions. The fact that you had well over twice that time to build a championship-caliber team around LeBron is sad. In those 7 years, I can't think of one season where James had a legitimate 2nd option on the team. Signing Larry Hughes was a joke and Mo Williams can't produce in the postseason. Not to mention, Antawn Jamison never can cut it in crunch time. Everytime your team won, it was because LeBron did something extraordinarily skilled or inhumanly athletic, not because someone else contributed consistently. Therefore, you can't ever be mad that he left to get some support (I think he went for broke for no reason, but that's another letter) around him. LeBron might have taken the easy way out, but can you blame him?
Your letter to the fans sounded like an angry ex-girlfriend who's ex-boyfriend upgraded significantly. It sounded like you were trying to find any conceivable way to speak ill of that person, regardless of whether you did right by them or not. What's worse is that you guaranteed a title before the Heat. You can't promise that!! What crystal ball were you looking into? Dan, you do realize that the your team, the Cavs have NOBODY on the squad. You guys won't be competing in the Eastern Conference for a long time. The Heat are a juggernaut, and they only have 4 players on their roster. The Celtics just re-upped with Jermaine O'Neal, the Bulls got better with Boozer and the Magic are still the Magic. Not to mention, the rest of the East is getting better. All that, combined with the fact that LeBron tried to smooth his move to Miami over with apologies, made you flip. That doesn't mean you should write angry letters to fans bashing the man. Seriously... Who tries to put a hex on a player leaving his team? Did you sit there at home and prick your LeBron James voodoo doll? Had you simply expressed remorse, or sounded optimistic (neither would truly make a difference, anyway), you wouldn't look like an ass now or have to start from square one with the Cavaliers and with Cleveland. Hope your wallets will be okay as Cleveland's economy rapidly declines and the Cavs don't make the playoffs for another 15 years...
First this, and now LeBron leaves?? Maybe Cleveland just isn't meant to win...
If you've noticed a sheer lack of Wale across the interwebs, don't adjust your Google Reader. The DC MC went on a mean hiatus for the past month, and explained why in this video. Wale is preparing to drop a follow-up to his critically-acclaimed, and surprisingly apt mixtape 'The Mixtape About Nothing'. The new work is going to be called 'More About Notthing'. Folarin even leaked a track from the new tape, called 'Workin', which describes exactly what he's been doing. Can't say I'm not pleased that the DC representer is back on his grind. Check out the promo trailer and the loosie to go along with it...
Besides a few paltry mixtape reviews, my music intake has decreased dramatically... And I finally realized why! 90% of rappers are BORING. No, that's not to take away from the music, lyrics and hard work of the artists I listen to. Yet, I'm not sure if I'd have fun conversing with a lot of these cats outside of the context of music. Curren$y provides an excellent example of a rapper who's mantra is the minutiae of everyday life. Spitta is preparing to release the album Pilot Talk (FINALLY), and rather than leak songs every day and do random, boring interviews answering the same questions, he's decided to go another route with his marketing. The New Orleans MC, and BlackRoc signee tapped Ferris Beuller's Day Off to delineate what the album is going to feel like. And if this trailer is any indication of his inclinations, Pilot Talk should be a piff sandwich with a hefty side of dope sauce. I suppose it doesn't hurt to have Creative Control in his corner, but you have to admit, Curren$y is a hilarious dude. I can't wait to hear Pilot Talk, which drops on the 13th. Check out the trailer and experience the constant musical high that is the Hot Spitta...
I thought it would be only right to post this considering we're witnessing the advent of one former phenom into the limelight. Then again, you have to admit that it's a bit sick how society, or sporting society, is weeding out the prodigies at younger and younger ages. Dakota Simms is only 9 years old, yet is being looked at for college basketball already. He's ridiculously talented for his age, but does that mean we should start to sap the fun out of his livelihood and start surrounding him with people who only care about him because of a gift? Dakota looks like he would love nothing more than to shoot around and dribble all day. The business side of sports should have no business in his business at this point. At the same time, it's still exciting to see what the future of the sport of basketball holds. I'm thinking a 7-year $500 million deal in 2025. Something tells me Dakota and the young man below will be seeing a lot of each other down the road. Check out both of the next to be next up in basketball...
You couldn't have come up with a more generic and boring name... Where are your PR people?
I never thought we'd come to a day in the NBA again where one player's moves and leanings superseded that of the rest of the league. That said, I can remember when Michael Jordan was the game of basketball, and I gladly accepted that ideology, along with copious amounts of his sneakers and memorabilia. That's not the case for you LeBron. While I'm in sheer awe of your athleticism and ridiculous aptitude for the game of basketball, it's really disconcerting to see how you've turned something as simple as signing a damn contract into a 3 week long LeBron-athon. It's ridiculous. We've been hearing about this vaunted 'Summer of 2010' since 2008, and I'm honestly sick of it. Detox doesn't have that much hype, and it's probably never coming out. But seriously, LeBron, you need to just sign with a team and end all of this hoopla. Now that Chris Bosh has effectively latched himself onto Dwyane Wade's member, it's looking like wherever you go, you will be the main man. If that's the case, there's no excuse for you not to ball out of control in the upcoming season.
Sure, you just joined Twitter, but what's with you contributing to the media firestorm by joining at this time and then scheduling a press conference tomorrow? It's like you're trying to make this whole process into a ridiculous climax, when we all know a week afterward, most people will be just 'mehhh' about it (especially if you're not on their team). Why couldn't you be like the homie Kevin Durant? That man signed a 5-year extension worth $85 million, and we barely heard about it. Hell, if I didn't check my Twitter randomly at 10 this morning, I might not have even known! LeBron, I'm not trying to deter you from having fun with the whole process. In fact, I lauded the fact that you weren't going on a 10-city tour like the rest of the free agents, and basically turning the country into the United States of LeBron. It's just that you milking the process is getting really really old. Whatever the case, LeBron, tomorrow is D-Day. Wherever you end up, you're going to be the best player, so does it really matter anymore? And better yet, wherever you end up, are you remotely guaranteed to be close to a championship? I doubt it...
EDIT: Apparently Bron Bron is donating the proceeds from his LeBron-athon to the Boys & Girls Club of America. That's pretty commendable. You can't even be mad at that, though it's still chump change compared to what he's going to make no matter where he signs...
This is just crazy, to say the least. Filmmaker Rob Spence, who lost his right eye in a shooting accident as a teenager has found a new way to bridge the gap between man and machine, and in an eerie way. He calls it the eyeborg and it is, simply put, a tiny digital camcorder embedded in his false eyeball. Spence found that people are much less receptive to speak freely and plainly with an actual camera in their faces (big surprise). That said, he founded the Eyeborg Project to make more movies using his eye-cam. The camera transmits directly to a computer, though it isn't directly connected to his brain, which would be incredible. Spence claims the mission of his eye, and the subsequent documentary are to raise awareness of constant surveillance in society and to get people talking unselfconsciously. I can't say that I disagree with his plan, but it's gonna be a bit creepy for people to see themselves on candid camera, when they thought they were just talking to a guy with a false eye. Guess it's a catch-22 either way. Check the video...
Temperatures in metropolitan areas along the eastern seaboard were in the high 90s late Tuesday morning, and a hot air mass that settled into the region Sunday promises hotter and more humid weather. The National Weather Service issued a heat alert for areas along the so-called "megalopolis region" -- Boston, Massachusetts; New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Washington, as well as all of Delaware and New Jersey -- areas that had already awoken to unusually high morning temperatures Tuesday. The weather service also issued an additional "excessive heat warning" to be in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday for Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and parts of Delaware. National Weather Service officials are advising people to stay indoors as the prolonged heat and humidity creates a "dangerous situation."
As I write this, I'm sitting in an air conditioned room, looking outside at scorched grass and sweating landscapers across the street. I can only say this to you, heat: GO AWAY!! Although we hate the winter and it's bitter cold, we can't stand you! We can't stand the way you make every stench that stinkier, the way you make every step walked that much harder and every moment in the sun that much more exhausting. For those households not fortunate enough to have an air conditioner (ie: my apartment in Philly), you're torturous. Heat, you make people not want to move. You make kids cry and make commuters miserable. As a matter of fact, the only positive that you bring to the table is a boost to ice cream sales and public pool admissions. Other than that, you've brought nothing but sweat and fatigue to the East coast. I wish someone would just turn the sun down and turn the breeze up so that I could go outside without feeling like Satan himself is breathing directly over me. Maybe it's best that there is such heat because it makes us appreciate the winter that much more, but I can't help but think that the ridiculous state of our environment birthed you, heat. You weren't that unbearable when I was younger. In fact, I welcomed you. The sad part is, parts of the country that would have never experienced this weather are doing just that. Next thing you know, you'll be all the way up at the North Pole and we'll be in Waterworld. No one can tell me that global warming doesn't exist. Upon taking one step outside and feeling your haze, it's obvious there's more to you than we think. That said, my behind isn't trying to find out anytime soon. I will stay in this air-conditioned room as long as those CFC's and wasteful electrons keep me from you...
Ironic that I'm writing this review. 90% of my friends from high school graduated this year, while I've still got a year left. That said, if I had graduated this year, Dee Goodz might be one of the artists to throw on the graduation party playlist, with his mixtape CoonGRADulations. The homie @TheMelvinThomas (who produced much of the mixtape) and his connects at @PhatKaps put me on to this Memphis MC. Dee sounds classic in all of his songs, with syruppy smooth sounds and a laid back flow. One thing I realize about Dee Goodz is that he's not trying to impress you with punchlines and metaphors and random wordplay. Lyrically, Dee is concise and clear with what he wants to say, whether it's a love song like 'Different' or a more introspective track like 'It is What it Is'. He's just rapping about what he knows, what he feels, what he's going through and where he wants to go. This is some of the truest 'reality rap' I've heard in ages. Dee isn't concerned with a specific sound. I loved how the mixtape kept a simple formula. Like I said earlier, the homie @TheMelvinThomas produced a good amount of this mixtape, which you don't see a lot of in hip-hop anymore. The result is a chemistry that belies how musically inclined both of these guys are. Dee rides every beat perfectly, never trying to make more out of them than necessary. Honestly, this was one of the best complete listens I've had in a while. There weren't any tracks I wanted to skip immediately, nor any throwaway tracks. Dee Goodz puts on for Memphis as well as any other and has a bright future in the works. Check the download, tracklist/back cover, #dopetracks, loosies & videos...
#dopetracks
It is What it Is
Peace of Mind
Carefree
Erykah's Joint
Different
I never understood why the simplest of games never made the transition from physical to digital. In this video, the good people at Nike threw together one of the world's first digital pinball machines. Using an LCD screen along with a traditional pinball setup, they were able to replicate the regular pinball motion with soccer features for their store in Madrid. A part of Nike's 'Write the Future' campaign, they used soccer cleats as the flippers and obviously the soccer ball as the pinball. The action comes pretty damn close to the actual game. Check out the video and pray that they throw together something similar for the states. It'll make me want to hit up Niketown, that's for sure...
