Thursday, April 09, 2009

What I'm Listening to Right Now... Pete Philly & Perquisite


I came across Pete Philly and Perquisite, a crew out of Amsterdam. According to their site "Pete Philly and Perquisite found each other in their quest to widen the boundaries of the hip hop genre, which is dominated by meaningless bling videos, lyrics about boobs and guns, and music deprived from any form of creativity." I've listened to a few tracks, watched their videos and their love of the craft is displayed so eloquently in both. You can tell that they truly enjoy what they do.

This video Q&A was filmed on a cell phone. Video is DOPE!




Check out more of their work at:
Pete Philly Perquisite YouTube
Pete Philly Perquisite Website

What I'm Listening To Right Now...Heiruspecs

I've seen these guys perform over a year ago at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT. After they were done, I bought 2 cds. Boom. That easy. Good music. Really good music. Band is ill. Just was a great experience. Lyrics are great. Listen to it. That is all.

What I'm Listening to Right Now... Blu & Exile


Boy, I can't rhyme but if I could I would freestyle over this track right here. It's so mellow and chill. It's a decent day outside (finally) and with a cup of coffee next to me, I'm vibin' with "You are now in the clouds" from Blu & Exile.

Yeah, that's hip-hop... or not


Oh, I get it, this is hip-hop. Right?! Yeah, this is hip-hop or not at all. Apparently Jim Jones was arrested this week after he was pulled over for allegedly missing a license plate. He had an outstanding traffic ticket warrant and was taken in. Woooooow. Keep it gangsta! Word son, don't pay those parking tickets. He immediately twittered his over 30,000 followers (obnoxious that many people follow) about the incident and kept them all up to date throughout the process. He was processed and released. I guess he's in the studio working on the new single, "I tweet that!"

"I will tweet that... tweet... tweet... tweet
I get that tweet... I send that tweet... Mobile or internet tweet...
I will tweet that with a fox
I will tweet that in a box
I will tweet them here and there...
Jim Jones tweets that everywhere...
(insert bird sound here and some dumb ad-lib)"

Bona-fide hit. Oh, I have to had add "no homo" to make it real!

Or not.

Another ignorant moment for the kids to follow.

The Reason I'm Laughing Right Now


I hope you've seen this entire stand-up. I hope you even own the DVD! Kevin Hart is hilarious!

THE BRIEFING: Thanks but How About Telling us Ten Years Ago

I'm watching the Colbert Report and Colbert made a pretty funny comment about newspapers and how they are dying. He said, "if newspapers die, who will publish the obituaries."

I'm a newspaper guy. I've spent the greater part of the last fourteen years involved in the industry in some capacity. I started when I was in high school as a youth reporter for a local paper and grew from there. I've even run a few publications as both editor and publisher, as well as being a graphic designer. It pains me to see the industry struggling but really through no fault of their own. They never quite jumped onto the technology bandwagon, even some of the huge publications missed the boat on that one. And when they finally did they made the decision that they wouldn't charge for the content. It's probably a decision they are kicking themselves for now. Many consumers just gobble up their online content and keep their print product on the shelves, causing many newspapers to scramble for revenue.

Many folks have come to expect the newspaper daily. It's just something about being able to hold a newspaper in your hand with a cup of coffee nearby reading the news.

But so many more just reach out to the internet for all of the endless content provided online. With a few clicks of a button you have the stocks, the weather, the sports and just about anything else you need. Ironically enough, I read about the newspaper industry falling apart online on my iphone.

The only way for newspapers to survive is to revamp themselves. To pull themselves out of bankruptcy they need to cut circulation, redevelop the product and go high tech in the process. In order for local newspapers to survive, they need to cover just local news that you can't get on any of the major news media sites. No one wants to read about a story that was covered the day before on television, especially with the 24 hour news cycle that has been created by television media. By the time it's printed, it's old news. The thing that many folks don't know is that the newspaper industry is run by a bunch of old heads for the most part, and they are reluctant to change. Who knows if there is anyway to really save the industry.

I thought the following story was interesting about how Google is offering advice to the industry but how the advice may be a little too late. (Google Offers Advice to Newspapers).

"Here lies the newspaper industry..."

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

TELL 'EM WHY YOU MAD: Punch Him through the Phone


It pains me that Soulja Boy gets so much radio play. I feel like by allowing his music on the radio and his videos on television we are telling our youth that it's okay to be untalented and ignorant, because ultimately you'll be rewarded for it - well if it's catchy.

Oh, how I enjoyed Crank Dat Soulja Boy dance... or not at all! Guess he was trying to tap into that "Electric Slide guaranteed to be played at weddings, proms and dances" market. By the way, when did hip hop become instructional dance music?

How is this creative?

"Baby I kno that u like me
U my future wifey
Souljaboytellem
Yeah u can be my boonie
I can be ya clyde
U can be my wife
Text me, call me
I need u in my life
Yea all day
Everyday I need ya
And eveytime I see ya
My feelings gets deeper
I miss ya, I miss ya
I really wanna kiss ya
But I can't
678 triple 9 8212"

Don't you feel like you're short a few brain cells after reading that verse?! If I ever read an article in which Soulja Boy said he didn't write his lyrics down, I would say "no shit". If he does write them down, what a waste of paper.

So, does anyone have Soulja Boy's phone number so that I can punch him through the phone?

THE BRIEFING: Make your Money Boo Boo

The one price fits all approach has ended on Apple's iTunes. They've introduced a three-tier pricing structure, offering individual songs at 69 cent, 99 cent and $1.29. Many of the full albums will remain at $9.99.

Apparently the record companies will be allowed to pick the prices. More popular songs quickly jumped to $1.29. If I could pick the price, "Kiss me through the phone" would be a $1000 just to make it unreachable for the youth that constantly download it to keep it Top 10 Songs category (I'm just trying to help the kids and save brain cells).

When Apple first introduced iTunes it was a new way of buying music, and the less complex it was made it better for Apple and the music labels. But things have evolved, Apple has decided to let go of control over pricing in order to keep its service in line with competitors.

Heads looking for the lowest price definitely have other alternatives out there. Can't hate on Apple though. Make your money boo boo.

The Black Kids...

Saw them at the Webster Hall on Saturday in NYC. They performed after a group called the SUNBEARS! and before Mates of State. Told you guys I'm diverse. I can dig it!


I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You


http://www.myspace.com/sunbearsmusic
http://www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock
http://www.myspace.com/matesofstate

I'm Edumacated!


So I have a pet peeve. OK, I have about four handfuls of them. Spelling. Grammar. Basic English intelligence. Specifically, the lack of knowledge on performing those correctly. I'm in my 30s and I'm no scholar by any means. But......I did graduate high school. Also, I have this thing called self respect. I get emails, read bulletins and statuses and even texts all day, everyday and I can't seem to figure out why people make it seem so difficult. It's not Rocket Science. It's English. Literally. Irritates me to see people display ignorance so proudly. "Gurl/Gerl" for "Girl". "To" instead of "Too". "Your" in place of "You're". Zs for Ss. Numbers in place of letters. Etc. A paragraph of 1000 characters and only but 3 periods and 2 commas and in the wrong place as well. Really? I mean, really, people? You want to look stupid? I can't pinpoint the day it was cool to be ignorant. No one's talking about abbreviations either. U instead of you in passable. BRB. LOL. TTYL. CUL8R, even. Those are all acceptable. I'm talking about using the same amount of letters or MORE to misspell. ON PURPOSE!!! No one's asking you to type like a professor with a doctorate. Just spell. Doesn't have to be super formal. Damn. Grown a** folks. And they have the nerve to get mad at me for treating them like they should have some intelligence and some sense. Hey, my bad. Go on and keep writing that way and I'll keep hitting the delete button. Because I don't have kids so I don't feel like reading mess that looks like they'd write it. "Hey bois and gerls your cool so don let nobodi tell u ha 2 type! P3@ce 0ut"

P.S. DiS sH*T iS oNe Uv Da DuMiSt TrEnDz EvA!!!!


Maybe if they get a kick in the a** with these, they'd do a better job.

TELL 'EM WHY YOU MAD: Acting Lessons May Not Work


Rough when you can't even act in a Nintendo DS commercial. It makes me want to switch the channel. You think I'm being too harsh? I saw Carmen: A Hip Hopera, Fighting Temptations, Cadillac Records and Dream Girls. Those performances were harsh to watch. Sorry. She does her thing in that Single Ladies video however. Ha!

What I'm Listening To Right Now...Rapper Big Pooh

Rapper Big Pooh of Little Brother’s “Delightful Bars -
The Candy Apple Version”.