First of all I wanna thank my Connect. The most important person with all due respect... Word. It's not what you know, it's who you know. I can't stress that enough. It's such a cliche but it holds weight for me at Rock the Bells. My friend Graham who I was interning with at 209Vibe called me and told me that I can get into Rock The Bells for free but I did have a job to do and it was to work the VIP Booth. My answer was, "Fuck Yes." Lol.

We were to to be at venue at 8 am so we planned on heading out at 6 am. I was up at 5 am and didn't even bother to sleep because I was madd excited! Our job was madd chill because we were just passing out merchandise and anytime we wanted to go watch an act we can just leave but someone would have to cover our shift. There was maybe 15 heads so it was perfect. What was fresh was that there was a tv screen inside the VIP area so I was able to also watch the performers.

Jay Electronica opened up and he was the first act that I went to check out. Jay Electronica did well for a short set and a small crowd. He even went into a little freestyle session. Wale! I was madd excited to see him perform. He kicked off his set with his verse from The Roots "Rising Down" joint. He went into Nike Boots and performed WaleDance. I love me some Wale!

At 12 noon it was lunchtime and we got to eat backstage. Backstage was a trip in itself. Let me explain something first. There were a few rules that were set from the beginning. If we saw an artist, we were to respect them and not ask them for photos. I must admit I did cringe upon hearing that. Anyway, the first artist that we saw backstage was Supernatural but no one said anything. The next person we saw was Jay Electronica. Everyone at my table wanted to say hi to him and get a picture but everyone held back. My friend said his name out loud and he looked and waved. Jay Electronica waved at me! Lol. M1 came out of his room and my friend Sam is a big fan of Dead Prez. She wanted to get a pic but it was hard with the boss around. She did ask our boss and at first he said no but later said yes. What was whack was that Sam was standing in front of both members but both said no because both was just ready to hit the stage. Sam did mention later how M1 told Sam to come back later and get the pic. Awww. He’s cute and sweet. HA!

I kept going back and forth between the set and the booth but during Dead Prez, Immortal Technique and De La Soul’s set I remained in the VIP booth. It’s the God emcee! Rakim! Sam and I went to check him out and as excited as I was to see him, he was boring to watch. Indeed I said it. I won’t take away from his classic’s but he isn’t able to rock a crowd. Sam and I left during the middle of his set and came back to check out Raekwon and Ghostface. Rae and Ghost performed their classic’s from 36 Chambers and got into Verbal Intercourse but no sign of Nas. That would’ve been insane if he did show up for that. I also got to watch Pharcyde perform. Their set consisted of “Yo Mama,“ countless of others including the classic “Passing Me By.” One of the members I have no idea who (Sue Me) took a second to get the facts straight. He’s not a crackhead or an alcoholic. Lol. The group later performed, “My Perogrative.” That was their “Fuck You” to the rumors. Mos Def, of course, I’m not going to miss! He performed a new joint off The Estatic. He went into joints from New Danger and performed Hip Hop, Respiration and Traveling Man.

Part of volunteering was that we were able to meet A Tribe Called Quest. Yayyy! What sucked though was that the meet and greet was at the same time as Nas’s performance. Nas or A Tribe Called Quest? It wasn’t much of a difficult decision. Lol. Nasty Nas! I ran to watch Nas’s set. I went buckwild during his Illmatic set just saying every word. There was this kid that kept looking at me. Whatever. It’s Illmatic. I remember the first time that I saw Nas perform. I was saying the words to Illmatic and he looked straight at me and shook my hand! Towards the end of Nas’s set, my friend called me and told me to hurry up to the VIP booth to meet Tribe.

Meeting Tribe was good. Yes, good. What was whack was that everyone was rushing us because when Nas’s set is done, Tribe is done with the meet and greet. Q Tip was wearing his headphones so it was akward but whatever, I got to meet A Tribe Called Quest!

We cleaned up the area and I grabbed some tshirts and a backpack. I passed out for a little until Tribe hit the stage. Tribe was insane! First Qtip performed alone and Mos came to join him on stage. Tribe performed every classic in the book. It was madd fresh! Rock The Bells was an adventure but my night was just beginning. My next trip was to the Rock The Bells after party but I’m saving the details for a later day. Lol. Thank you to Graham, Jose, KGB, Jose and everyone else! Thank you!!!

It's been a while so this could end up being epic.

Craig Robinson, Darryl on The Office, has been arrested and charged with possession of a shedload of drugs including meth and ecstacy.

Check out Jezebel's 'Pot Psychology' this week, it's deeply strange and funny.

Samm Levine has been cast in Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards.

Here's a Q&A with Shane Meadows, director of Somers Town and my film of last year, This Is England.

What's the point in literary agents?

Here's a primer on the career and works of Woody Allen. (Start with Annie Hall and Manhattan and work around)

Sonatine enters the New Cult Canon.

Here's a list of thirty actor-directors.

The Wackness is dosing folks with nostalgia for early-90s hip hop.

Why do beach volleyball players keep patting each other on the arse?

Jackson Browne is suing John McCain.

Predictions on the future for China.

Iron Man's deleted scene with Ghostface Killah.

Twilight is moving into the space left open by Harry Potter.

Here's the trailer for 90210, the one with the old cast members.

Here's fiction from Joshua Ferris, writer of the pretty-decent Then We Came To The End.

Flobots are bringing politically-conscious hip hop back to the charts, according to PopMatters.

Jerry Wexler has died at the age of 91.

Michael Phelps has won yet another bloody medal. Seven! Seven gold medals!! Wow.

Here's what he listens to before jumping into the pond.

Rebecca Adlington has won her second for Blighty so massive well done to her.

The Riff has had a little listen to the new Verve.

'Good Morning, Captain', the piece de resistance of Slint, has been turned into a children's book...

America is killing another overseas TV series, this time Australia's Kath & Kim.

Check out Michael Hammett's White Denim covers.

A conversation between Werner Herzog and Philippe Petit, the tightrope artist.

AC/DC in 'fancy dress' return for Reading.

Vote in the Drowned in Sound Pluto Prize, the alternative to the Mercury Music Prize.

The top 5 accordion rock songs.

Here's an interview with mad genius Guy Maddin.

Here's one with not-mad but still-genius Art Spiegelman.

Best ever music producers?

The ten fastest guitarists are...

Finally, the Criterion edition of Bottle Rocket has been announced and I can't wait.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1478075&w=425&h=350&fv=config%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzcuts.com%2FgetVideo%2F2534]

CLICK BELOW ON THE PAGE 2 LINK ON THE LEFT TO THE REST OF THE PHOTOS.

VIDEO CLIPS & RECAP COMING SOON!

]]> http://lewatcher.wordpress.com/?p=39 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:44:48 +0000 lewatcher http://lewatcher.wordpress.com/?p=39

Im his Sunkist miss,

Tangerine mami.

Wet like a sponge,

But hard like his gat.

Praised his cunning linguistics,

He just smiled and looked down.

He was shakin, i could feel it,

when he laid his arm around.

Put his head next to mine,

Smelled his testosterone,

the chronic on his breath

stirred up my sweet pheromones.

Opened with a smile,

sealed it with a wink.

No, no, no, no

Its not what you think

Just a meeting of the souls……..

]]> http://celebl0g.wordpress.com/?p=1376 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:17:12 +0000 celebl0g http://celebl0g.wordpress.com/?p=1376 [/caption]

Talk about an Elite Eight. Last week’s 78,000 votes have determined the final eight rappers in VIBE’s Best Rapper Alive tournament, and for true rap fans, this week of competition should be the most challenging.

In the Notorious B.I.G. bracket, it’s big brother versus little brother as Jay-Z squares off against Kanye West. Both Jay-Z and Kanye went up against formidable MC’s from their hometowns. Jay beat out fellow Brooklynite Fabolous, 80 percent to Fab’s 20 percent. Kanye, who faced off against fellow CRS member Lupe, beat the skateboard riding MC, 61 percent to 39 percent.

Lil Wayne received 60 percent of the votes over Scarface’s 40 percent in the Pimp C bracket, thus proving many voters were apt to give the nod to a living legend over a current-day popular MC. Nonetheless, Wayne will be going against Ludacris, who beat out T.I., 58 percent to 42 percent.

The backpack MC set took an L in the Big Punisher bracket as Common lost to Andre 3000. Three Stacks is moving on to face the Game, who beat out his fellow West Coast MC, Snoop Dogg by a 10 percent margin.

But the most exciting match up is taking place in the 2Pac bracket. After beating out fellow Queens rapper 50 Cent, by a surprisingly wide margin of 61 percent to 39 percent, Nas will take on Eminem, who slaughtered Ghostface Killah in Round 3 with 84 percent of the vote. Nas, who is the number two seed to Eminem’s number one seed, will undoubtedly be the match up to watch.

Winners of these match ups move on to the tournament’s final four. Be sure to vote all this week, and check back next week to see who has moved on in VIBE’s Best Rapper Alive tournament.

Etter terrorangrepene mot USA 11. september har musikkbransjen vært mest opptatt av patriotisme og hylling av hverdagshelter og ofre. Men det murrer i Hiphop-USA, og den som murrer høyest er California-rapperen Paris.

– Sensur av motstridende meninger i USA er høyere enn noen gang etter 11. september. Vi opplever en massiv propagandakampanje til støtte for regjeringens og næringslivets motiver og holdninger til krig og terrorbekjempelse, noe som gjør uenighet ikke bare vanskelig – men også farlig, sier Oscar Jackson Jr. alias rapperen Paris.

Dobbelt Bush-angrep
«Tolerance is getting thinner / Cause Iraq never called me «nigger» / So what I wanna go off and fight a war for?», rappet Paris på «Bush Killa» i 1993 – et flengende angrep på daværende president George Bush og krigen mot Irak. Nå har 11. september, og ikke minst politikken i kjølvannet av terrorangrepet, fått Paris til å bremse sin lovende karriere som aksjemekler for å ta opp mikrofonen igjen – for å angripe en ny president Bush.

I «What Would You Do», tilgjengelig for gratis nedlasting på nettet, rapper han om Bush junior: «Now ask yourself who's the one with the most to gain / Before 911 motherfuckas couldn't stand his name / Now even niggas waiving flags like they lost they mind». Paris er sint, og han er ikke alene.

For 11. september har ikke bare fått gamle ringrever som Paris, Chuck D og KRS-One på banen igjen med fornyet kraft. Også yngre artister som Eminem, OutKast, Nas, Mr. Lif, Sage Francis og Talib Kweli er ikke redde for å oppfordre til verdiendringer og kritikk av amerikansk politikk.

– Er det rom for dere i dagens politiske landskap?

– Det er alltid rom for stemmer som er uenige med det etablerte, og det er nettopp det USA skal handle om, sier Paris, som jobber med sitt femte album med den passe provoserende tittelen Sonic Jihad.

Samfunnsbevisst
Men kritikken og de musikalske stikkene mot president George W. Bush og krigen i Afghanistan er fortsatt klart i mindretall. «Mr. Bush sit down, we're in charge of the war», rappet Ghostface Killah i Wu-Tang Clan rett etter terrorangrepet mot World Trade Center og Pentagon 11. september 2001.

I den andre enden av det musikalske spekteret lovet den konservative country-stjernen Toby Keith hevn i låta «Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)»: «You'll be sorry that you messed with the US of A / 'Cuz we'll put a boot in your ass/It's the American way».

Mens den musikalske kritikken var massiv under Vietnamkrigen, virker det som støtten til regjeringen var like massiv etter 11. september. Men du skal ikke løfte mange steiner før kritikken strømmer fram, og de fleste kritiske røstene finnes i hip hop – en musikkform som i årevis har vært undertrykt av mer materialistiske og hedonistiske verdier.

– Jeg vil ikke si at samfunnsbevisst hip hop forsvant, det var heller snakk om plateselskap som valgte å fremme rappere med negative eller ufarlige budskap framfor det tankevekkende, mener Paris.

Hans glødende politiske engasjement vekker minner om den politiske hip hop'ens gullalder på tampen av 80-tallet – med artister som Public Enemy og Boogie Down Productions i spissen. På 90-tallet tok gangsta-rap over, og verdiene gikk mer i retning dop, damer, våpen og biler enn Malcolm X, afro-sentrisme og islam. Tendensen har gått fra samfunnsbevisst hip hop til ignorant hip hop; eller som det heter i verset på «So Ignorant» av gangsta-rapperen Yukmouth: «We drink beer and smoke cigarettes/Cause we niggaz so ignorant, ignorant».

– Folk velger sine favoritter ut fra en «pool» med tilgjengelige valg, og når det samfunnsbevisste ekskluderes fra denne «poolen» virker det som vi har forsvunnet helt. Men avgjørelsen om å markedsføre de negative elementene av svart kultur gjennom hip hop var bevisst, og ble tatt på vegne av oss – av dem som eier plateselskapene.

- MTV fordummer
Public Enemy, Paris' samtidige politiske travere, ble ifølge rapperen Chuck D nektet på MTV fordi gruppa fremmet sakene til de drapsdømte borgerrettighetsforkjemperne H. Rap Brown og Mumia Abu-Jamal i videoen til «Gotta Give The Peeps What They Want». Chuck D beskylder MTV for å forme og fordumme dagens «designer-generasjon», og Paris er enig.

– MTV og tv-kanalen Black Entertainment Television har stor innflytelse, og er på mange måter ansvarlig for å fordumme oss. Samfunnsbevisste artister slipper sjelden til på MTV, noe avvisningen av Public Enemy viser. Populære artister beskyldes ofte for sitt negative innhold, men det er først og fremst MTVs ukritiske aksept og promotering av disse artistene som gjør de store. Dersom MTV endret sine standarder ville folks forventninger også endre seg.

En politistat
Tidlig på 1990-tallet oppdaterte Paris The Black Panthers-filosofien til et USA i bølgene etter Rodney King-saken – og gikk knallhardt ut mot presidenten, politivold, rasisme, kvinnefiendtlighet og hjerneløse gangsta-rappere. Nå mener han terrorangrepene 11. september har gjort amerikanerne blinde for presidentens påfølgende innenrikspolitikk.

– Det er viktig at vi sier fra om sannheten, og sannheten er at USA i dag er blitt en totalitær politistat. De fleste har bare ikke oppdaget det ennå.

Paris peker på den ferske USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism), som ble godkjent i all hast av Kongressen – og som Paris mener bryter mot en lang rekke konstitusjonelle rettigheter som ytringsfrihet, rettssikkerhet, privatliv og straff uten dom.

– Flere av våre friheter blir tatt fra oss, mens kong George erklærer krig mot, invaderer og bomber alle som anses som en trussel mot vår nasjonale sikkerhet. Men dette handler i virkeligheten om penger og maktposisjonering. De fleste musikere skjønner ikke dette, eller så er de skremt fra å si fra. Folk flest vet ikke dette, fordi de er ofre for propaganda, krigshissing og «Bushit».

Opprinnelig publisert i Dagsavisen 24. november 2002.

In case you haven't recognized, many rap careers are centered around soul and funk samples. So, why not give rap the opportunity to make an R&B album? Well if you're a sucka for soul samples, Ghostface Killah is the man more than qualified for the job. Yes, Ghostface Killah is 13 tracks deep into an R&B album. You still don't believe Ghostface can do it? Check out his collaborations with Beyonce and Mary J.: [SOHH]

Photos courtesy of my man Josh Sisk. Excuse me, SICK ASS photos courtesy of my man Josh Sisk.

Well it sure as hell went down. What an amazing day. After rain threatened our tailgate session we headed in just in time to catch the end of Immortal Technique. As he was killing it I surveyed the scene. Forgot how dope of a venue Merriweather is. The place was packed with hip-hop heads of all ages, races, styles and levels of intoxication and stimulation. An excellent scene and stage set for a great day of music.

The first act I remember settling in for was Rakim. Now I have seen this hip-hop Hall of Famer before and wrote about it here, but once again this legendary MC did not disappoint. Raekwon and Ghost were next and of course laid it down, performing songs from Only Built for Cuban Links (a sequel is to be released soon apprarently) as well as a memorable tribute to ODB. Oh, before I go on, I only remember Wale coming on stage for a song or two it was kind of a blur so not sure what was happening there.

De La took us for a trip down memory lane and was definitely a highlight of the day. Meth and Red brought the ruckus and were crowd-walking and stage diving/flipping. DC's DJ Kool also came out for their set (I think, the beer was flowing at this point). The Pharcyde was up next and was a high point for me as I had never seen them, and they were impressive, had the crowd singing along to every track.

My friend Deez and I did make it over to the second stage for a bit and caught most of the Cool Kids set which was dope. Come to find out our friend Roxy Cottontail was over there hosting (we should have known she grew up down the street from Merriweather! - sry Rox!). We also ran into Diplo hanging out supporting friends Blaqstarr and Spankrock. We talked about his new Santo mixtape (check out the Gun of Brooklyn cover), invited us to the afterparty at Sonar and busted our balls when we told him to keep on pushing out that good shit - "everytime i go to the bathroom man." ha.

Back over on the main stage, Mos Def was next and every time I see this cat he seems to get better. And he even played some Blackstarr tracks where Talib was sorely missed. Speak of Blaqstarr, I'm pretty sure he came out during Mos' set?

Then Nas came out firing, and by judging by a lot of my friends opinions he was the best show of the day, laying down his tracks with a passion and a pissed off attitude. Thanking the fans for helping his album reach number 1 and telling FOX News to fuck themselves, he played old school tracks as well as numbers from his new album. Tip opened Tribes set with a solo performance (with Mos Def's help) promoting his new solo album. Tribe delighted the crowd with all the classics and ended the show with an emphatic exclamation point. (Full disclosure - my friends wanted to leave halfway thru Tribe's set. Needless to say I was disappointed.) Amazing day overall.

Our beautiful seats

We arrived about 12:30ish to go check out the side stage. Not only are there absolutely no signs that lead you to the side stage, but there's tons and tons of games and merchandise to get sidetracked from the side stage (as ironic as that sounds). We mindlessly spend our cash on T-Shirts and roam left and right from false directions from Amphitheater employees. Finally, we make our way to the side stage where we're greeted from a newcomer, Wale. While I'm very much familiar with the name, I've never heard his music. With that said, I was very pleased with his performance. 

Wale's short set introduced an even shorter set from, one-time It's Lloyal guest, Skyzoo. Despite the length, Skyzoo showed great energy and good annunciation.

That was just the beginning of the beginning, MURS was clearly the highlight of the side stage. He only proved what most of us knew already, that he belonged on the main stage! Not only did he murder it, but he murdered it while his mom was on stage watching him! Gangsta!

But like I said before, THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING! This was all before the Main Stage even opened! The opening act I'll tell you was the biggest disappointment of the show, Kidz In The Hall. They had multiple unsuccessful attempts at starting their show. After Double-0 (The producer / DJ of Kidz In The Hall) consistently blamed the sound man for their mishaps, he finds out that his external hard drive was unplugged the whole time!

That was the only thing that kept this show from perfection. It was all heaven from there, Dead Prez and Immortal Technique followed the Kidz who both had a little above average performances. Mind you, I'm not a fan of either so I'm sure it was a much better show for those who actually enjoy their music. De La Soul followed with an amazing set. They ran through classics from their first album all the way up to the more recent, "The Grind Date".  

Not to take anything from De La, but I was really surprised by this performance. They started what seemed to be an event full of surprises when they brought out non other than Biz Markie. Who of course came out beat boxing to perform his all time classic, "Just A Friend".

After De La Soul came The Pharcyde who also, surprising to me, put on one hell of a show! Opening with the Jay Dee (DILLA) classic "Runnin'" and finishing off with some OG Pharcyde, "Passin' me by". Sorry for the shitty pic.

Raekwon & Ghostface followed with a very refreshing performance. Ghost is usually the one who's outshining, well, everyone. But this set consisted more of Cuban Linx tracks which not only gave Raekwon more shine, but added some surprise to a usually predictable Wu show. LET ME CLEAR THIS UP RIGHT NOW, I could go to a Ghost show ten billion times and still say he's the greatest, but we have to admit, their shows do get a little repetitive. Raekwon, who last year looked like he was coked up, showed high energy and just generally proved he was happy.

Wu's for the kids

Mos Def, who I saw very recently at the Nokia Theatre, went through his basic routine of playing classic Reggae and revealing both DILLA samples and samples from his own tracks in between performing his songs.

It didn't really get live until he brought out Talib Kweli who performed the always extra hype, "Get By". Kweli & Mos went through a large chunk of their Black Star classics before the biggest surprise of them all...

PHAROAHE MONCH! He tore the whole spot with "Simon Says".

The most surprising performance came right after with Method Man & Redman. These dudes were hopping up on speakers that had to be at least 10 feet high (no lie, peep the pics!). Method Man stormed the crowd not once, but twice! He threw his sweaty Du-Rag which I happily handed to Jennifer right next to me (shorty has a Wu-Tang tat on her foot). Not much more to describe how these dudes tore it down!

As if that wasn't enough, Red & Mef bring out Slick Rick who came out and did like 8 bars. This dude must be caking. Although it's not clear in the picture, his new chains are ridiculous.

Now as if that wasn't enough, Red & Mef pull out EPMD!

I told ya'll before that this was a show full of surprises, but I can't even describe to you how it was actually being there. NaS was up next and I was extremely skeptical when they started setting up for a live band. NaS came out to "N.I.G.G.E.R. (Slave and Master)" backed by the band and DJ Green Lantern. But that led into a slew of Illmatic tracks. He hit us off with like 5 joints, it was bananas.

After a solid performance, I was convinced that the backing band was a great idea. As satisfied as I felt, I guess NaS felt it just wasn't enough. NaS at one point turns around and puts on his Mets fitted. Jay-Z comes out of nowhere rocking the Yankee fitted. It was like two of the greatest players from opposite teams getting together to take over the league. They performed "Success" follwed by "Black Republican".

I've seen NaS multiple times but this was another very refreshing set. Finished off by an amazing showcase of "One Mic", NaS' set setup what we've all been waiting for, A Tribe Called Quest. I was so disappointed for the first couple of minutes when Q-Tip was on stage with Mos Def as a hype man. Not because it was wack, but it really had me thinking that Q-Tip was going to be there to represent for A Tribe Called Quest.

Sure enough, after a solid solo set, they introduced the rest of the crew to really wreck the stage.

In the middle of their set, they brought out Consequence who was completely useless, he barely even ad-libbed.

The highlight of the whole night had to be when Tribe brought out Busta Rhymes while performing Scenario. I was intimidated by Busta as he shows off his strength on stage. He had the whole place going straight bananas. After Scenario, Busta went straight into "Woo Hah" which had everyone going more retarded.

Tribe ended off their set and the show with "Award Tour". This ended what was History for Hip-Hop. I was happy to attend, even after all the money spent on $5 waters and $3 Skittles (yes, it was that serious). If you missed out, well you just did that, missed out. I'll be more than happy to show you how much fun I had. Don't forget to check out It's Lloyal, tonight from 9-11pm.

p.s. This is the first of four postings to my new Top 10 everything. You'll see soon enough. Mwhahahaha

Hot sucking flows into dirty nasty sluttie videos here adorable virgin sluttie videos of fucking process with virgin and her body was just made by huge stiff cock as if she wanted to suck all cum out of it pretty babe performs tasty blowjob and cock-riding with her cherry popped and throat fucked by two hung. Dude fucks this virgin banged by two cocks into the virgin s, innocent face is tempting humps of this tart gets double teamed by, two studs beautiful virgin, handles two fat meaty rod is going to this hot and beautiful virgin chick receives two lovers horny spoiled virgin.

[audio http://joe.diephuis.home.insightbb.com/songs/16-ghostface_killah_-_slow_down_(feat._chrisette_michele)_(bonus_track)-ysp.mp3]

Öncelikle nedir bu Best Rapper Alive? Sadece Lil Wayne değil (ki yetenek açısından bakıldığında diğer popüler isimlerden ayrıcalıklı olduğu görülse de) herkes kendine bu tarz bir lakabı uygun görüyor. Ludacris "En İyi 5 MC'den biriyim." diyor; T.I. ve Shawty Lo krallık iddialarında bulunuyor, internet üzerinden milyonlarca insan da kimin gerçekten 1 numara olduğunu tartışıyor. Bana kalırsa Hip Hop dünyasında özellikle overground ve popüler kesim içerisinde bir numara olan isim yoktur. Bugün bir numara diyeceğin isim yarın karşına öyle bir albümle gelir ki balon misali elinde patlar. Boom! Kimlerin gerçekten iyi olduğunu ise ancak zamanla görebiliriz. Umut var mı? Ice Cube gibi bir tane daha ortaya çıkar mı? İkinci bir Rakim olacak mı?

Kısacası, popüler kesimi memnun edecek, sürekli TV'lerde, haberlerde gözüken kimi jet sosyete üyesi rapper'ların ve araya sırf renk olsun diye katılmış Mos Def, Talib Kweli vb. günümüz dinleyicileri tarafından bir kenara itilmiş ama işini ciddiye alan MC'lere de yer veren bir anket karşımızda duran! Oy kullanmak isteyenler buradan başlayabilir: Vibe.Com! Özellikle "fan kısmının" akımına uğrayacak bu anketin sonucunu ilerleyen günlerde göreceğiz.

Peki ben kimlere oy attım? Şöyle bir dönüp baktığımında ilk 2 ayakta oy kullandığım isimlerden bazılarını zaten tahmin edebileceğinizi görüyorum. Cube, Nas, Ghostface Killah, Scarface, Crooked I, Mos Def, Andre 3000, Common, Busta Rhymes...

There are several hip hop/rap acts that "white people" say they like because its the cool thing to do (this mostly applies to that "indie" crowd or 'hipsters').  The Roots, Mos Def, Wu Tang Clan, Clipse, and other similar acts all apply.  Essentially is the rap artist or group who makes it into Rolling Stone's or Pitchfork Media's Best of List every other year to fill that 'one hip hop album' quota.

Raekwon's first album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is considered by many to be one of the greatest hip hop album's from the 90's.  This album definitely fit that 'one hip hop album' quota on many lists in 1995.  Pitchfork Media referred to this album as #33 on the best 100 albums from the 90's (of all genres).  Rolling Stone also included this album on its list of "Essential Recordings of the 90's".  All of these combined are many of the reasons why pains me so much to say: I didn't enjoy listening to this album.

I in no way consider myself to by any form of hip hop/rap connoisseur.  I listen to maybe different 20 rap songs a year and the majority of those are "club" hits.  Aside from Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury, Lil Wayne's latest album and several Kanye albums I really haven't been 'feeling' the hip hop seen as of late.  But I do have a great respect for the genre, and feel that as a whole they don't get the critical recognition that it should.  In fact, it wasn't until 2004 that a hip hop album won a Grammy for 'Record of the Year'.  That artist was Outkast with their commercial and critical success and two headed beast Spearboxxx/The Love Below.

But, what I realized about myself is that I enjoy hip hop that has some easy accessibility.  I like the indie stuff here and there, and generally with rock music I enjoy the stuff that stays AWAY from the mainstream.  However with hip hop it seems like I need a catchy beat, or chorus/hook.  This album is not about that type of music, this album is very heavy on lyrical talent and does not focus on the production as much (which don't get me wrong, the lyrics are very good).  However it simply came down to just not being 'catchy' enough for me.

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is an amazing album, and it basically launched Ghostface Killah's solo career.  But its not an album full of 'singles'.  Sure there are cameo's a plenty, but there wasn't a song I was humming or singing in my head that day.  This will go down as an album that I have respect for, but it won't be playing in my car stereo any time soon.

Somewhere, some little starving kid in Africa with her ~$180 laptop (sorry MIT media lab) is staring longingly into the sky dreaming about eating fresh cereal, wearing silver platform shoes, and writing the electro of the future. Really, it sorta gets me the whole degree of how colorful, and decadent, things have become. Personally, I embrace it, because what would the alternative be? Go back to listening to the Beatles and writing passable acoustic indie rock with obnoxious references to obscure dead folk singers for the rest of time?

Maybe after 2012 strikes and either Aliens land, Nevada becomes the West Coast of the US, the magnetic poles shift in polar opposites, or Nuclear war blows us to a land without electritcity... maybe after that I'll start even considering acoustic music as a possible future for our art again. But till then, I'm jacking my subs, and loving them Lucky Charms. Here's some good tunes for you to enjoy over the week running the gamut of the tasteful, dancey, synthy 8-bit tunage of Trash80 to the latest D.I.M., Treasure Fingers and Yuksek to, finally, a great remix of Cut Copy's 'Hearts on Fire'.

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First on the hitlist is a remix of Flo-Rida's 'Hands in the Ayer' by Spinstyles. This is a hot, banging, peak-time, DJ-friendly remix with an excellent sense of pacing, synthy-balanced production values, and a great use of the original tracks vocals. It has a sense that reminds me of the Bob Sinclar remix I posted of 4 minutes last month with that short ostinato bassline playing that pentatonic riff over and over. C'mon now, this remix is so good that it even makes Auto-bots want to shoot their lazer beams in the ayer. You should too.

Flo-Rida feat. Will.I.Am - Hands in the Ayer (Spinstyles Remix)

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Lazertag was totally sweet when I was a little kid. That combination of crazy skateboarding, cool synths, and shooting people with lazers had a big impact on my mind, and what seems to me to be a whole generation of people into it now. And as I was watching this, I wondered, what would a Lazertag commercial have for music if it were made today? We're not quite as innocent anymore, so I was feeling something more sinister, like an evil rave with humongous ravey synths.

Lo and behold, I stumbled upon this killer remix of Math Head by Drop the Lime. Nothing screams rave more than the 'What the' patch on the old Roland Alpha Juno's, and it's a sound I'd love to hear used more in music. Check it out when it hits at 3:30. Also look into Trouble and Bass for more on this sound. Rave is dead, long live the Rave.

Math Head - Drop It (Drop the Lime Dynasty of Fury Remix)

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D.I.M. = the current face of angry, distorted, gothy german electro. Not falling into the bizarre tendencies of so much German electronic music, D.I.M.'s music has a decent combination of distortion, sonic space that allows it to mix well with other tunes, and that unique aggression that makes you think, 'du hast mich'. Here's the latest D.I.M. I stumbled upon, a remix of Franz and Shape's 'Eyes Like Knives'. His tunes are a bit sparser and more abstract than some of the more outward banging groups like Boys Noize, Redial, and Lies in Disguise. Instead of a wash of distortion, you get a more pointillistic approach. I also included my favorite remix by D.I.M., 'My People' off the recent album Apocalypto by Aussie indie electro mainstays, the Presets.

Franz and Shape feat. Kill Memory Crash - Eyes Like Knives (D.I.M. Remix)

The Presets - My People (D.I.M. Remix)

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Here's something new I stumbled upon that apparently hasn't gotten that much press in the blog world. Using a combination of arpeggiated 8-bit synths and more than a little bit of inspiration from old Nintendo game music, Trash80's 'Sodium Sonet' is a glistening, and propulsive track thats far more Ibiza than it is Crystal Castles. Lacking the bizarre intellectualizing of Crystal Castles, this tune has a hi-fi sheen that makes me feel like I'm sitting down at some resort, watching a sunset that looks more like an end-game from a video game than anything you'd see in reality.

Trash80 - Sodium Sonet

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Like D.I.M., Treasure Fingers helped create some really crazy violent awesome distorted music (under his groups name Evol Intent) but unlike ole D, his side project is almost the complete opposite sonically from distortion. Treasure Fingers is more about funky 80s dance disco music than anything else. It's happy, cheerful music thats got a good and decent bounce to it. Though, honestly, I'm more of a fan of his earlier tunes from last year that have that sense of unique longing and sorta emo O.C. vocal-emo quality to them.

Regardless, his new style has a personality and disco sensibility to it that is really individual when compared to lots of other music out in the scene currently. A case in point is this new remix of Estelle's 'No Substitute Love'. With it's 80'stastic synths, it's catchy usage of the original Vocal, and it's airy flutes, this tune seems like it would fit in anywhere from the beginning set of a dance mix to walking around the local mall looking at posters promoting the latest Punky Brewster revival fashion stuff.

I've included here the two remixes of Treasure Fingers from last year of the group, One Hand Loves the Other. These are two of the best tunes from last year hands down. With their ethereal indie vocoder melodies, to the soulful youth of electric pianos, and 80s synths, they're really some of the best music that you can find in the new alt and they're what Straight No Chasa would love to hear more of outta the ole Treasure Man. Enjoy it and look into him.

Estelle - No Substitute Love (Treasure Fingers Remix)

One Hand Loves the Other - Tortoise (Treasure Fingers Remix)

One Hand Loves the Other - Don't Know (Treasure Fingers Remix)

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Known for his huge distorted bangers, Yuksek's new remix of Tahiti 80 is, to my ears, a fresh, new direction for his work. Using a combination of electronic drums, grungy guitars, organs, and a propulsive arpeggiated synth, 'All Around' has a organic energy that totally reminds me of early to mid 90s rock production meeting new century electro. Also included is Yuksek's remix of Ghostface Killah, a killer, hip-hop rocking, distorted-alt, peak-time banger.

These two remixes are really representative of the revival of 90's grunge energy and the DIY work ethic of original hip hop remixes and 80's electro. It's 1989 all over again baby, we're just waiting for the next electro-alt-hip hop 'Nirvana' / 'Tupac' to arrive, and trust me, that's whats coming. Screw 80s, it's Nu-90s here at Straight No Chasa.

Tahiti 80 - All Around (Yuksek Remix)

Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown (Yuksek Remix)

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New 90s / Hip Hop Indie Alt not only has guitars, glitched out rappers, and distorted/disco-synths... it has grandeur and power. Just listen to these two sweeping remixes of Martin Solveig's 'C'est la Vie' by Donovan and the Bloody Beetroots. We might be living in a world that will kill us all off before we have time to live forever because of advances in clinical immortality. We might one day live to become beings of digital energy traveling beyond the speed of light throughout the universe. But we might not. This is the age of promise and violence. If it occurs, great, my life won't have been like what fairy tales promised me when I grew up. If it doesn't I'll be dead. So it goes darling...

Martin Solveig - C'est la Vie (Donovan Remix)

Martin Solveig - C'est la Vie (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)

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Last on the hitlist is one of the best remixes that I have heard in a long time. This is right up there with the recent Public remix I posted about, the Twelves remix of Black Kids, and the Bag Raiders remix of of the Galvetrons, for one of the top tunes of the year. Coming from the relatively unknown duo, Disco Pusher, from NYC, this remix of Cut Copy is so good that the review writes itself. Written more like a stand-alone song with slight DJ transitions, this take on Cut Copy has a longing inwardness, a great sense of melody (which markedly improves on the original), and a large palette of instrumental color.

The 80stastic approach of the synths, combined with the quieter sections with flowing synths, a the sounds of crickets, and (gasp) an acoustic guitar, add up to a tune that is far and away one of Straight No Chasa's fave tunes of the year. From the synths at the intro to the build up before the end, to the quasi-gregorian chants in the background, Disco Pushers Cut Copy remix hones elements from the new discoish style of chaps like Russ Chimes and the Twelves to excellent effect. I usually don't use these words to describe new alt, but here it's really appropriate. Disco Pushers Remix of 'Hearts on Fire' is beautiful, poignant, and sensitive. A classic already.

Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Disco Pusher Remix)