Random Requests: Talib Kweli x Young Chris x Strong Arm Steady x Rico Love
25th Feb2011
1 Comm
25th Feb2011
24th Feb2011
‘Hip Hop: A Cultural Odyssey’ book, Grammy Museum Exhibit Celebrate The Musical Movement
Decades before Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Eminem or Lil Wayne made names for themselves in mainstream hip-hop, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc introduced the movement to the first adopters, who spread the genre to the masses via not only music, but dancing, art and DJing.
That rich history of hip-hop culture, dating back to the days of b-boys and b-girls breaking on streets, DJs scratching turntables, MCs battling each other on corners and graffiti writers tagging wherever and whenever, is explored in a new coffee-table book and accompanying Grammy Museum exhibit, which opens Tuesday.
“Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey” is a massive, sprawling 420 page opus that includes exclusive photos and interviews with the pioneers, trendsetters and icons of the genre and provides an exhaustive account on the birth, evolution and global ripple effect hip-hop has had over the last four decades.“There was a realization that there was a huge void in the market for a book like this,” said Jordan Sommers, editor of the book and president of ARIA Multimedia Entertainment, the book’s publisher. “Coffee table books are usually associated with iconic subjects, culturally (more…)
24th Feb2011
10 Delayed Hip Hop Albums And If They Were Worth The Wait
It’s been a long time coming, but, Saigon‘s The Greatest Story Never Told finally saw the light of day. Years after burning up New York’s mixtape scene with songs like “Stocking Cap,” executing the power move of a lifetime with a role on HBO’s hit series Entourage playing himself, and getting a Jay-Z-assisted single, his Just Blaze-helmed debut album is finally out of Atlantic Records attics and into the hands of consumers. But Sai-giddy is only the latest in a long list of artists whose projects have been shelved for months or years before hitting stores. And with delays currently hindering releases by Young Jeezy, The Game and Nas, he won’t be the last. Look below for how the likes of Cam’ron, Big Boi, Royce Da 5’9” and others fared with album delays.
1.) Cam’ron, Purple Haze
Scheduled Release: November 2003
Cam’ron was on a roll at his new home of Roc-A-Fella Records. His label debut Come Home With Me went multiplatinum and had Grammy-nominated singles like “Hey Ma” and “Oh Boy,” and his Diplomats crew dropped a hood classic with the double-disc Diplomatic Immunity. Unfortunately, Purple Haze was pushed back several times until its final release date a year later.
Actual Release: December 7, 2004
Even though it didn’t have the sales of its predecessor, Purple Haze still reached Gold status from singles like the Kanye West-helmed banger “Down & Out” and Cam’s new steez of wearing pink. The album received generally positive reviews as well. But Cam requested his release papers from the Roc after being dissatisfied with the push the album got from the label, and he hasn’t achieved higher sales or accolades for any solo albums since then. Mixtapes like Public Enemy No. 1 and a few highlights from Killa Season and Crime Pays only provide a glimpse of the standards that the former Children of the Corn member built with albums like Purple Haze.
Worth It (more…)
24th Feb2011
Chris Rock x Scott Raab: The LeBron Conversation
SCOTT RAAB: I’m writing a book about LeBron. I’m a Cleveland guy. I’m mad at him.
CHRIS ROCK: I don’t even see what the big story is. The owner’s an idiot. Why is the owner an idiot? I said it on television — you can look it up. I was at a Lakers game — they were probably playing the Knicks. It was on TNT, and Kenny and Mark Jackson and whoever interviewed me on the sidelines, they asked me about LeBron. I said, “They should trade him.” I said it, on national television.
SR: We thought he was coming back, Chris.
CR: I said you should trade him. I said any owner, any big-ego owner would take this shot. You could’ve got any player — you literally could’ve got Kobe Bryant. You could’ve got any player you wanted. You could’ve gotten literally any player outside of Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard. Any player. You could’ve got any two or three players you liked. I said this on national television. You could look it up — you’re a writer.
I said that in the middle of the season. The day the season was over, I was doing press for Grown Ups, the movie I did with Sandler. They asked me again: “Where’s LeBron going? What’s going to happen?” I said, “Well, if he’s going to Cleveland, you will know within 24 hours, but if Pat Riley gets him in a room, it’s all over.”
SR: We thought he was coming back.
CR: Why would you think he’s coming back? People move from Cleveland to Miami every fucking day. They don’t move from (more…)
24th Feb2011
Bad picture…good song24th Feb2011
Eric Blair Presents – Daily Knowledge: The Minstrel Show (Day 24)
Unfortunely this is part of our history; I feel like people need to know there are still minstrels in entertainment today but without the paint. So, before Lil Wayne and BET, in the 1840s and 50s, William Henry Lane and Thomas Dilward became the first African Americans to perform on the minstrel stage. All-black troupes followed as early as 1855. These companies emphasized that their ethnicity made them the only true delineators of black song and dance, with one advertisement describing a troupe as “SEVEN SLAVES just from Alabama, who are EARNING THEIR FREEDOM by giving concerts under the guidance of their Northern friends.” White curiosity proved a powerful motivator, and the shows were patronized by people who wanted to see blacks acting “spontaneously” and “naturally.” Promoters seized on this, one billing his troupe as “THE DARKY AS HE IS AT HOME, DARKY LIFE IN THE CORNFIELD, CANEBRAKE, BARNYARD, AND ON THE LEVEE AND FLATBOAT.” Keeping with convention, black minstrels still corked the faces of at least the endmen. One commentator described a mostly uncorked black troupe as “mulattoes of a medium shade except two, who were light. . . . The end men were each rendered thoroughly black by burnt cork.” The minstrels themselves promoted their performing abilities, quoting reviews that favorably compared them to popular white troupes. These black companies often featured female minstrels.
24th Feb2011
Pennsylvania Judge Convicted In Alleged ‘Kids For Cash’ Scheme
A former juvenile court judge in Pennsylvania could face more than 10 years in prison after being convicted in what prosecutors called a “kids for cash” scheme.
Prosecutors say former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella used children as pawns, locking them up unjustly in a plot to get rich. Ciavarella is accused of taking nearly $1 million in kickbacks from owners of private detention centers in exchange for placing juvenile defendants at their facilities, often for minor crimes. Ciavarella claims that the payment he received from a developer of the PA Child Care facility was legal and denies that he ever incarcerated kids for money.
“Absolutely never took a dime to send a kid anywhere,” said Ciavarella.
Ciavarella, 61, was found guilty of 12 out of 39 charges on Friday, including racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy, in connection with the nearly $1 million payment from Robert Mericle, the developer of the PA Child Care center. He plans to appeal. Ciavarella was acquitted on charges of bribery and extortion in relation to additional payments from the center’s builder and owner.
Families complain of Ciavarella’s rapid-fire brand of justice and trials that lasted only minutes with even first-time offenders sent to detention centers.
In one reported case, Ciavarella sentenced a child to two years for joyriding in his mom’s car. In another, he sentenced a college-bound high school girl to three months (more…)
24th Feb2011
Two Controversial Abortion Billboards Show Racist Viewpoint Of Topic
Most people are highly offended by this, I’m not. allow me to explain why before you erase my site from your bookmarks and call me all types of uncle toms and hypocrites. I am offended, but only slightly. I’m offended as a parent because they used a child in this billboard instead of an adult. What does a 5 – 8 year old child have to do with abortion? Are you also saying that 5- 8 year olds in the black community are having abortions as well? Thats offensive, but not enough to make a big deal about. “The Game” and (whatever that show is that comes on after it and) every Tyler Perry show that has ever aired on television is WAAAY more offensive than that, but you tune in and shut up, so why the uproar now? As far as what it says, why be offended if its true? They didnt have to word it in that manner to appease the overly sensitive “african americans” (whatever that is) but the statistics dont lie… or in a language they can better understand I’ll quote Jay-Z “Men lie, women lie…numbers dont”. Dont be offended at that ^ be offended at this: In 2009 there were 40,798 black babies killed (aborted). Some of them may have been, but all 40,798 of those women were not rape victims or 10 year olds too young to carry a child, the vast majority of them were careless late teens and adults. So you’re offended at what they said or are you offended at what the tribe (african americans) you identify with has done? Or maybe you’re just mad because everyone else is mad… this is a culture of followers and ADD so its possible that you dont even know why you’re mad at all. BUT, judging by the numbers, I would say you are offended because YOU or someone you know is a part of that 40,798 women who decided to murder their child as opposed to having protected sex or being financially prepared for what comes with “no glove lovin”. Sometimes…often times when things are reversed, the mirror becomes much clearer. Be offended, but look objectively within before you point a finger at those telling a truth you would rather not face.
Note: Also below Kanye West gives us his take on abortion…
“Nothing absolutely nothing is shocking anymore” – Cee-Lo Green
Cee Lo Green – You Dont Shock Me Anymore
The anti-abortion group Life Always just unveiled a giant billboard on the corner of Watts Street and Sixth Avenue that features a photo of a black girl and the caption, “The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.” Part of a national campaign, the billboard is about a half-mile from a Planned Parenthood facility on Bleecker Street. “During Black History Month, we celebrate our history, but our future is in jeopardy as a genocidal plot is carried out through abortion,” says Life Always Board Member Pastor Stephen Broden. Others, like City Council Member Letitia James, find the message a tad offensive.
“It is misguided to use Black History Month as a tool to promote this message,” James said in a statement. “Every woman has the right to make personal choices in regards to her body, and I respect many different points of view, but to compare abortion to terrorism and genocide is highly offensive.” (Life Always’ press release also asserts, “There is a battle being waged in the United States that has taken more lives than any foreign war or act of terrorism. The enemy is abortion.”)
James also points out that the website’s “Pregnancy Help” section guides users to various Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs), which are “notorious for being intentionally vague concerning their agenda to deter women from seeking abortion services; and some have been accused of being deceptive about abortion risks (more…)
24th Feb2011
BANNED!!: Byron Crawford’s XXL Article On Odd Future (Uncensored)
Note: If you’re unfamiliar with Odd Future (and you wouldnt necessarily be in the minority) then below is a video of them performing their breakout single “Sandwiches” on Jimmy Fallon and a twitter rant from the group’s “leader” Tyler, The Creator. Enjoy…
What if a group came along that was obviously a black variation on Insane Clown Posse, but no one seemed to notice or give a shit, because they were black, and because no one (who has a computer) knows enough about juggalos to say for certain whether or not someone actually is a juggalo, and because they’ve been championed by people who see themselves as being above listening to juggalo music. It looks like this is what’s happening with Odd Future.
Odd Future has been the talk of the hip-hop Internets for the past couple of weeks, especially amongst people who are constantly trying to figure out the next big thing and attach themselves to it, regardless of what it is. No shots at the late, great Combat Jack. Oddly enough (no pun intended), they didn’t merit inclusion on the cover of this year’s Freshmen Issue, the hilarious cover of which was revealed yesterday, even though it’s a well known fact that Odd Future is secretly signed to Interscope, one of the main
(more…)
23rd Feb2011
Ten Things Will Happen If Facebook Shuts Down
If facebook shut down it would cause panic on everyone. Because it has many users, it considers facebook social networking as an important facility. Fortunately this is just a lie that the media only believes, so no need to worry about it. But what would happen if Facebook really closed? Here are ten things that will likely occur, including:
1. People will start talking to each other again:
You may have forgotten, but once there was a time where people meet face to face to talk. Using Facebook, this communication is almost extinct. In fact, the phone has become a rare item. Death of Facebook can regenerate two models of communication.
2. We Must Own Photographing
Facebook has created a new spring fever: Lazy people take photos themselves. If our friend had a camera and will do the tag to the theme of his companions, What do we spend time taking pictures for? But if there is no the facebook, those who are lazy to take photos would not have memories to look back.
3. There will be a question, Who Is Complaining Today?
All complaints on the Facebook. In fact, we prefer to see the profile of a person to see (more…)
23rd Feb2011
The Negative Psychological Effect of Facebook on Children
Do you ever wonder what kind of deep permanent damage Facebook, and the internet in general, is doing to children? That would be an interesting longitudinal study.
After watching The Social Network, and just recently reading Ronn Torossian‘s take on “Is The Internet Written in Ink?” it got me thinking about what this means for future generations.
Unfortunately I don’t have answers, but a few interesting scenarios are bouncing around in my brain. Particularly, how will the perceived notion of permanent reputation damage be viewed by children in their experimental stages of life.
As kids it was our job to make stupid mistakes as a way of experimentation, learning, and growth. At times we were mean and teased, but then we learned to be caring. We were insecure and fought, until we became brave. We were complete jackasses, until we learned to be sophisticated enough to be civil.
That’s fine, that’s what kids do, that’s how we all learned. However, what if there was a strict realistic expectation that whatever dumb thing came out of your mouth in 5th grade, would be blogged by Johnny when he got home, and thus your permanent reputation would be ingrained in internet history.
Three of several scenarios that I see: (more…)
23rd Feb2011
US Gov. Software Creates ‘Fake People’ on Social Networks to Promote Propaganda
The US government is offering private intelligence companies contracts to create software to manage “fake people” on social media sites and create the illusion of consensus on controversial issues.
The contract calls for the development of “Persona Management Software” which would help the user create and manage a variety of distinct fake profiles online. The job listing was discussed in recently leaked emails from the private security firm HBGary after an attack by internet activist last week.
Click here to view the government contract (PDF) (original)
According to the contract, the software would “protect the identity of government agencies” by employing a number of false signals to convince users that the poster is in fact a real person. A single user could manage unique background information and status updates for up to 10 fake people from a single computer.
The software enables the government to shield its identity through a number of (more…)
