Guns N Roses

A lot of people say the Blueprint 2 is wack, I am not in that majority. One of my favorite cuts off the album is Guns n Roses feat Lenny Kravitz. Some of the lyrics in there were just crazy, the simple witty Hova that we all respect. I thought Lenny made the song himself, but it is actually a sample from Cake song called Arco Arena. I leave u with this, Even a broken clock is right two times a day.

ITSSSS CHAAA BOOIIIII!

SHAKE

I look for any excuse in to post a video with the lovely Stacy Dash. Luckily this Game song not only features the voluptuous nubian princess, the song rocks too. This song is on the new R.E.D. room mixtape, and it seems like Game has gotten over his name dropping phase, so u might wanna check that out the tape. This song is called Shake and it features a a sample from the great Sam Cooke. Hope yall lke the song, but i gotta SHAKE!

DONT FUCK WITH THE FUCKIN WITCH!!!!!

So im in STAT class bored as shit. Looking at old and new interviews of my favorite artists, trying to get see where the head is at. A lot of artists just talk about up coming albums, mixtapes, clothing lines, new artists comin up u kno promotion shit. It gets repetitive, but the one i found for all u bumbaclots is definitely my favorite one. My man Em way back in the day when he was still on his drugs (his best days unfortunately). Check this shit out cracks me up every time.

Jam of the Week

Every week it seems like I find a really good song that is worth sharing. These are songs that are worth repeating every time. Here is the first one off of Skyzoo's Album, The Salvation



Production and Lyrics are Stellar, another reason to buy this album!

AND now on a different note:



Two songs have used this sample effectively. Two producers with two different styles.



The single off of the Last Little Brother Album, produced by Khrysis.



From the Madvillany album, produced by none other than Madlib.

Kush & OJ

Kush & OJ has really worn on me, and I will now consider it as arguably the top mixtape of 2010 (no disrespect to Fabolous or Curren$y). This whole vibe of the mixtape is so chill and I can play it from start to back. Wiz Khalifa as an independent artist, in my estimation, is about to make as big of as a buzz as anyone in the next few years. Wiz has a delivery unparalleled and a personality that is infectious. You can definitely put me in the fan club which I joined after Flight School, shouts to Salty Balls who's an original fan from Prince of the City. With that said check out this sample from Loose Ends- Hangin on a String. This is a song that my parents used to listen to when I was young so it really hits home with me.

YEAAAAAAA BIAAAAATCH

Seriously? (Guru Rest in Peace)

In all honesty I thought I faced the bad side of music when J Dilla passed some few years ago, and Nujabes in Febuary, but no. Apparently a few more legends in music need to die because God just likes to mess things up for us.

Guru Has died today. Once again I'm not so much sad, but mostly angry, annoyed to some extent, especially considering Gangstarr is one of my musical influences.  To put it in short, He was responsible for the entire Jazzmatazz movement (integrating Jazz with Hip Hop, which worked and sounded great), as well as, of course, founding Gangstarr with DJ Premier...I don't think I need to tell you how much of an Impact Gangstarr has had on the hip-hop world, and me...if you don't, do some homework.

A few months ago he had a stroke, and was hospitalized. His so called "best friend" Super (douche) producer Solar (Dumb name) had supposedly controlled Guru's twitter accounts and communications, and didn't let his freinds or family visit him in the hospital. Apparently, this wasn't fully proven true (maybe it was, I don't trust Solar at all), of whether Solar did control Guru's communication. But Guru did later recover from the coma following the Stroke. (family says he never did, which is most likely the real truth)

And today...he dies of a battle with Cancer, and The Final letter he supposedly wrote has  signs that  Solar obviously wrote this letter:

URL: http://www.tzumii.com/breaking-hip-hop-legend-guru-has-died.html

Guru basically says (paragraph by paragraph) that

1) Solar is his family, Solar is the one that supposedly stuck with him the entire time through his life and that all awards and tributes should be accepted by Solar (Not the guy Guru worked with on 6 LP's from 1989 to 2003...hmmmm)

2) He then completely disregards Premier (ex-DJ as he says) and anything he has done with him, saying that the work he did with Solar is greater than anything Gangstarr has made.

3) Solar basically rides Guru, saying that he's a great black American hero and all that.

What I also fear is that the mainstream media will suddenly also ride Guru like a rodeo show, saying REST IN PEACE WE ALWAYS LOVED YOU, just like they do to J Dilla, when they didn't even give him attention or love when he made music...when he was alive that is.

Guru once said :

"you better watch the motherfuckers around you, nobody's invincible, no plan is full proof, we all must meet our moment of truth" - I guess some people will finally understand this in the context of his letter...



Rest in Peace.

Oh yeah, For those of you who know who Freddie Foxxx a.k.a. Bumpy Knuckles is, I hope Solar runs into him on the street. That's all I'm sayin

Eeh...

Not much has been going on, I got introduced to another set of Music I'm very interested in. My friend Alex showed me this guy named Pretty Lights, who makes his music and posts it online FOR FREE. I highly encourage you guys to download his stuff, its pretty good to say the least.

URL : http://www.prettylightsmusic.com/



Anyways, Not much else goes on in Seattle really..more rain and more sun I guess..

I am on my way to getting an MPC 2500 and it's accessories :), just bought a whole bunch of vinyl records to eventually use.

One of my favorite shows is going to Return for a Season 3 (The Boondocks)...So I thought i'd provide some more music from the past 2 seasons.



 Tom Scott Covered this song originally made by Jefferson Airplane...It was in Season 1, Episode 12

I'll leave it up to you to discover who sampled this in what song...should be pretty easy.



This is for those, who watched Episode 13 (season 1) and didn't know what Dewey says to Huey when he says "your a revolutionary?? where are your sandals...where are your capris??"

It's not mentioned directly, but it's a good song, and I'd thought i'd share it with you guys. (Just listen to what Phonte says...)



A classic by a Legendary group, This is what Huey plays on his Boombox when he walks out of his house in Episode 14

Never Off

Its been a glorious day of sounds capes as I grooved to two of my favorite lost but not forgotten hip hop heads.

First up is Y Society, I took at listen at their album "Travel At Your Own Pace", the lyrics are great and postive at the same time, it has the hip hop groove to it that just wants to make you jump around. Its a shame that it took me three years to find out. One song in particular jumped out at me called Never Off (On&On)

Turning this:
John Dankworth. Return From Ashes


into this:
Y-Society - Never Off (On & On)


and that is hip hop folks...I really don't what else to say. The song speaks for itself, the artist even gives away all the instrumental away for free, and the apple store charges like $5.00, doesn't make any sense.

Damu The Fudgemunk of Y Society - Bandcamp

At 5:08 of Never Off there is a snippet of another song by a legendary group called the Mountain Brothers. They are some of the finer Asian-American Hip Hop artists, based out of Philadelphia they formed their group in college and are known for hits like "Galaxies" and "Paper Chase".

Its is from "Paper Chase" where we hear the line "its a fine line trying to get the money plus represent for me" and its is a classic sample. Galaxies is dope! Check it out.

Paper chase


Mountain Brothers - Galaxies: The Next Level [HQ]

A Far East Movement

I used to listen to these guys back in the day and now it looks like they're blowing up in the commercial sphere. Very Crafty! Reminds me

X vs. Damien

When I think of NY 90s rap DMX, Earl Simmons, or Dark man X however you call him he was one of the greatest out at the time. To this day his first album is one of the most solid and slept on rap albums ever. One track in particular that stood out from the rest was Damien. He goes back and fourth talking to a "Guardian Angel" by the name of Damien. Damien makes him do all types of sinful deeds in order for him to have a better life. From some previous knowledge the name Damien is also the same name as the "Devils Son". I do not see and coincidence at all.

DMX then built on this Damien story and ended up making three different tracks that featured these stories where he tries to get away from the sweet sinful life Damien wants him to follow. The second installment of the Damien tracks features a known Devil worshiper Marilyn Manson on the hook. Some belief that X was a supporter of Lucifer, some belief that he was just doing these songs to sell, and some belief that there just stories he made up. Whatever his real motives were the Damien series of songs is nothing like you will ever hear. Listen to them in order to get the whole story.

DMX really fell off though, here are some of his mug shots. CRACK IS WACKK!!!!

Nothing is Impossible

One of the best samples in recent memory. This Twista and Kanye song has so much soul its crazzy. With that said nothing is impossible! The sample is amazing too, I know y'all gonna vibe to this one!

“Impossible” by Kanye West (featuring Twista, Keyshia Cole)

 

It's Impossible- The New Birth

Fringe Hip Hop Mondays

I have been listening to these to amazing artists by the names K'naan of Somalia and K-OS of Canada. Each is  a lion in his art. The reason I bring them up together is that they are part of the hip hop collective fringe, in effect they are out there. They rap about things that are far away from murdering people or drugs but rapping on a more personal note about their life and dreams in a way that is closer to laypeople like myself who doesn't involve myself with murdering etc.

I'd like you to take a gander at two works by these guys and let me know what you think. Fringe or not?

K-os Superstar

Hot Music - Soho 

.

K'naan feat. Chubb Rock ABC's (2009)

                   

Chubb Rock Treat 'Em Right (1990)

Music From Others

I like it when people give me music to listen to, more than If i find music and share it with people. It's just as good as stumbling on music that you really like...and that you haven't listened to/discovered yet. Recently I was talking to my cousin and he wanted to get his suggestion heard...so here it is for you guys :



I don't know much about Wax Tailor, but this sounds awesome. Especially with the cuts and scratches

Props to Sanjay Iyer for giving me new music to listen to!

Album Reccomendation

These days when I hear of people talking about the man known as Marshall Mathers (Eminem), people say he's too "inappropriate" or his latest material is wack to some extent. Some of that is arguable, considering the album of his I'm about to talk about blows any of his other stuff out of the water.

I'm not a fan of Eminem, and some of the stuff he had released was just too dark for my own liking (if you do I don't mind, I'm speaking from my own perspective). But his album Infinite, his very first LP, in which he sold out of his car (selling less than a 1000 copies) is better than anything Eminem released after that...and I honestly think it needs to be re-released, considering that amount of amazing lyrics and beats and music should not be ignored...and yes it has indeed fallen on deaf ears.

His lyrics and flow on this album are immaculate to say the least...


Eminem is heading skyward
for those who thought that I would make you bored and treat you like a piece
of plywood
I've got miracle lyrical capability all in me
with the agility to escape a killer bee colony
So get your cameras and capture how miraculous
I rap for all you Draculas and showed you all how whack you was
I meant it as a dis, cause you don't posses the pizzazz as this
I'm hazardous enough already as it is

The beats are composed by Denaun Porter A.K.A. Kon Artis, who is another great producer in my opinion.

On a personal note, from what I've heard people think this album was also bad because he basically steals AZ's and Nas's flow. Honestly, to you backpacker idiots and cynics that like to compare everything against everything else, it takes a huge amount of talent to come anything close to Nas...let alone AZ. I Wish Eminem stuck to the flow he layed down on this album. I honestly can say the flow is very similar to AZ's, but really, Eminem pulled through on this album, and its everything Hip hop should be. So stop whining.

You guys need to check out this album, I don't care what you think about Eminem, this album is DOPE!

Staying Still

Ever since 2001 chronic by Dr.Dre came out it has been in my rotation of CD's. One track in particular Still D.R.E, the beat is legendary

 

However when one great song is made another is right around the corner. Later on in the early 2000s the man himself, Raphael Saadiq, came out with a much softer version for the non-gangsters. But it is definitely worth listening too.

Armagideon Time - Prepping you for 2012...sort of...well musically

Recently I have been hearing about the end of the world, but who hasn't for the last few hundred years. I saw two documentaries that kind of have me in agreement that things need to change in the world. If you have time go watch Collapse and Food Matters. This song is a throwback, I saw it on the incredible movie "Ghost Dog". I thought its title Armagideon Time was appropriate w/ all of the crazy sham stories I've been hearing. I think it'll sober the most confused individual though. Take a listen and enjoy.

Armagideon Time by Willie Williams (1980)



Sample - Real Rock by Sound Dimension

Nickelus F- Shine On

I'm from VA where aint shit to do but cook! Recently a movement has started all over the DMV and Nickelus F is at the forefront. He has really been slept on as an MC so with this new street single using a Pink Floyd sample I had to put him on blast. This song has a feature from XV which was the icing on the cake. I know yall are gonna feel this one, and be sure to check on the Season Premiere tape dropping in May. I think we need to change the Clipse lyrics to "I'm from VA where there aint shit to do but rap!" The movement is in full effect, get out your bed.

Nickelus F - Shine On

Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond