Krizz Kaliko "Misunderstood"

Check the vid

"Make it Rain..."

I remember the first time I heard this story, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. Watching the clip today on rippdemup.blogspot.com made me laugh, especially the Sports Center Intro "Jones infamously took to the club stage to quote, 'make it rain'". Like my man said on his blog, lets go ahead and file this one under "Never should have given you n*ggas money".

Slaughterhouse - One

Shout out to Got That Good?'s blog for this video. Slaughterhouse's 1st single off their upcoming album that will be released August 11th. Check out the video and cop the album when it drops!

"Knock You Down" Acoustic Cover

This Keri Hilson, Kanye and Ne-Yo song may be a bit overplayed on the radio (actually very overplayed) but I dig this acoustic cover. Homegirl's voice is good and dude comes in and definitely does his thing. A friend sent the link and I figured I'd share. Peace.

Road to Release Day: Eternia & MoSS: "AT LAST" Episode 6

In Episode #6, Eternia revisits the playground with 88-Keys and makes a grown man cry in Queens, after an impromptu performance on the block with Mauikai. 88 & E reminisce over recorded tracks that never leaked (including a song w/ Kanye West & E?!) and Skyzoo recalls the 1st time he saw E spit @ Squeeze Radio.



Check Episode One
Check Episode Two
Check Episode Three
Check Episode Four
Check Episode Five

Did Drake Drop the Ball with "Best I Ever Had" vid?

Music Monday - Soul Position "Hand Me Downs"

This track is real talk! It's been kicking around for a bit but it's still relevant.

There is some crap coming from the mainstream music market right now. No disrespect to folks that attended a community college (I did) but it's like mainstream music is turning into a community college, because anyone and everyone can get in. The music industry use to be Harvard but now it's your local community college spot.

Here's the forumla: Just give us a catchy hook and no content... Oh, and a dance step or too also. Who cares, right?! Labels don't care about artist development, because you'll be out and irelevant when the next instructional-dance-ringtone-song hits the scene. Nah, I want more from my music.

For music cats out here just looking to enter the industry for a job to make money, look elsewhere if you don't have any passion or love for your craft, because it's disrespectful. Be an artist, because right now a lot of these cats are record company employees. You know the difference? An artist does what's in their heart and an employee does exactly what their boss says.

Check this Soul Position joint, Hand Me Downs. Happy Monday and enjoy!

[Chorus]
Come on say it loud
Look what we handed down
Don't it make you proud?
Look what we Handed Down

Come on say it loud
Look what we handed down
Don't it make you proud?
Look What We Handed Down

[Verse 1]
My mommy gave me Donny Hathaway
I miss the Positivity, I want to bring it back
But Rap now-a-days is by a bunch of ignorant cats
No young gifted and black
Just guns, bitches and crack
I react by turning off BET and Sambo's telling me what blackness is supposed to be
Used to give us world news now it's all videos replaced Tavis Smiley with reality shows
If you let the TV define what black is you think ice and violence is all we think that matters
I guess this is what happens when rappers look up to thugs
And kids look up to rappers
To some of y'all if I don't talk about the gat enough
Or sell crack enough
I ain't black enough
But I rather be a pro at being myself
Than be an idiot trying to be somebody else, what?!

[Chorus]
Come on say it loud
Look what we handed down
Don't it make you proud?
Look What we Handed Down

Come on say it loud
Look what we handed down
Don't it make you proud?
Look What We Handed Down

[Verse 2]
I'm at the bus stop with my bike
Been there for awhile
Mom's taught me how to catch this route when I was a child
-Another kid walks up freakin up black and mild
Fifteen same age, I learn shits wild
An older lady walks up greets us with a smile
Asks how we both doing and sits down
She knows what's it's like to grow up in the south
Civil Rights when the whites was hosing us down
I started thinking to myself that even though that time's were tougher
They still took time out to speak to one another
But look at us, me and this young brother
Acting to proud to break down and speak to each other
So inside I felt ashamed
Not sure of how to but I wanna change
And as long as I'm alive than the fact remains
That it's never too late for us to break the chains
Come on y'all

[Chorus]
Come on say it loud
Look what we handed down
Don't it make you proud?
Look What we Handed Down

Come on say it loud
Look what we handed down
Don't it make you proud?
Look What We Handed Down

What I'm Listening to Right Now ... "Rather Be With You"

Listen closely, because Rather Be With You is one of my joints. Check out the Wale track featuring J Cole & Currensy, produced by 9th Wonder off that Back to the Feature mixtape. Enjoy!

Maxwell ... Grown Up Music

Maxwell's new album BLACKsummers' night is a problem! From beginning to end, the neo-soul artist proves he hasn't lost a step since his last studio album. In an industry saturated by the unoriginal, Maxwell steps forward to provide some grown-up music! Hope they are asking folks for id when they purchase this album, because this isn't for the ringtone music generation (even though it would provide one hell of an educational lesson).

I personally grabbed the album immediately on Tuesday from iTunes and haven't stopped playing it since. This is the definition of baby making music. I'm not sure what his first week numbers will look like in terms of sales but I'm sure conception rate via his album will be through the roof and a lot of babies will be born nine months from now (all with Maxwell as their middle name). If you don't have it, get it.

The only drawback is that the album is just nine tracks long. I guess Maxwell is a drug dealer and is just giving us a taste. When the next two cds drop, we'll know exactly where to go for a follow up hit. Maxwell definitely sets us up for his follow ups.

What I'm Watching...KRS-One & Buckshot: Robot

KRS-One & Buckshot finally did a video to the fire track titled "Robot". I'm sure you have heard about it. And if not, this video should refresh your memory. Take another listen to the lyrics. Hip Hop music needs a mainstream revamping. Check it out...




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"Gone too Soon" Goodbye Michael ...

The media is relentless. I don't know what they were expecting today with Michael Jackson's memorial service but they seemed surprised at how well organized and classy the event was. The service was moving and memorable.

And as I watch clips over and over throughout the night from places around the world paying tribute to the man who will always be known as the King of Pop (or the greatest entertainer of all time) I am moved. As a father, the words spoken by his daughter Paris touched my heart. And even as much as I am against Al Sharpton on many issues, his words were for the most part inspiring and truly heartfelt (weirdly enough it was the first time I ever felt like Al was a reverend because he brought us to church). From beginning to end it was a very respectable and classy service, that spoke to the man as an artist and the man as a friend and a human being.

In a way I felt like the memorial allowed MJ to reclaim a bit of what the media and others tried to chip away from him over the years, with accusations, rumors and lies. "Maybe now Michael, they will leave u alone..." his brother spoke from the stage. Sadly though, I doubt it will happen as the exclusive hungry media continues to examine the details of his untimely death and follow what will happen to his children in the coming weeks, months and probably even years. They're vultures. But I still think MJ was honored in a way that they will never be able to take away. He was honored as a King.

A friend sent this video link over to me. I'm not sure if it's legit or not but I thought that it was well put together and allegedly could have been a part of the BET Awards show (what a travesty that event was in it's entirety and clips). I don't normally post things I can't confirm (because we aren't TMZ) but again I thought that it was a pretty dope video.

So whether legit or not, we post this video as a respectful tribute to MJ.

I still can't believe the man is gone. Michael was simply an amazing artist and person and his music was a cornerstone growing up. As if he could hear me, I yell out "I LOVE YOU MICHAEL"

"In Our Darkest Hour

In My Deepest Despair

Will You Still Care?

Will You Be There?

In My Trials

And My Tribulations

Through Our Doubts

And Frustrations

In My Violence

In My Turbulence

Through My Fear

And My Confessions

In My Anguish And My Pain

Through My Joy And My Sorrow

In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow

I'll Never Let You Part

For You're Always In My Heart."

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Tha Lady Blogga Asks...Where's Hip Hop?

Given the recent events in the music industry, we can't help but realize that the hip-hop culture is on a rapid downward spiral. We lost the King of Pop, Vibe magazine folded, XXL featured a cover full of shiny suit rappers. What the hell is going on with hip-hop? It needs to be revived and quickly. We have been bombarded with parties and bullshit, bling and swag, titties and asses (thanks, Drake), but no talent. Where did it all go?

Pandora Internet radio has become a necessity in my Blackberry. While mainstream radio caters to the artists that pay the most for spins per day, Pandora gives you a mix of stuff you want to hear. I can't stand listening to mainstream radio anymore. Every hour, the line-up is the same...and it's a shitty line-up at that.

So, here I am jammin' to my Pandora "Nas" station, listening to Nas, Jay-Z, Tupac and then it plays Ma$e? WTF is this? Ma$e? Where did this come from? How does he fit in here? He doesn't and that's the problem. I can't deal with the shiny suit rapper. I can't do it. So then I got to thinking, where did hip-hop go wrong? When did we lose it to talentless gimmick promoters with expensive cars? First I thought it was Puffy and his shiny suit movement. But then what about Hammer? And who the hell gave Vanilla Ice a record deal?

The new age of rappers is coming equipped with everything but talent. I mean, it's one thing to have a sales pitch or a certain image but you have to have talent to back it up. I am not even knocking the use of auto-tune. I was rocking to "Computer Love" and it was all good. If artists were saying something worth listening to, it wouldn't matter if it was auto-tuned or not. Having to listen to the likes of Soulja Boy, Hurricane Chris, New Boyz and other talentless "Hip-Hop" acts makes it difficult for the real Hip-Hop acts to shine through. In my opinion, their music isn't considered "Hip-Hop", it's just noise. Soulja Boy will never live down the fact that he lyrically compared himself to Nas! Nas is a rapper, Soulja Boy is not. So for him to compare himself to a lyricist such as Nas, he deserves to be smacked.

Not for nothing, I think Drake is lyrically inclined and has potential to be something special, but he is allowing himself to be pushed in that bullshit artist direction and that isn't a good move. He is going to lose a lot of fans because of that. He really needs to think about staying true to himself and his talent and not following behind the likes of Kanye West. Honestly I think Kanye just wanted to kill his competition a little bit so he created that video to put Drake on hold for a second. Drake created a buzz without tits, ass and jewels. He can continue to make moves sans that crap in his act.

We have always had underground rappers. The underground movement in the Hip-Hop culture was real serious at one time but now all the real Hip-Hop artists are being pushed into that category. We need to start moving in a direction to bring back Hip-Hop as we knew it. Supporting bullshit music is a problem. We have to start supporting real music and stop helping these "lucky" mediocre artists who knew the right people get ahead. We have new rappers emerging with ridiculous talent and they deserve to be heard on a mainstream level. How awesome would it be to turn on the radio and hear tracks from Diamond District, or Tanya Morgan, some Marco Polo & Torae, or how about "Queens' Anthem"? That would be a revitalizing breath of fresh air. I wouldn't have to cringe every time I turned on the radio or kill my Blackberry battery listening to my Pandora Internet radio.

We need to bring it back and it's going to take a lot of work, but...it can be done.

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