90's week: DJ Premier

You can't possibly have a reputable discussion about 90's hip hop and not mention the architect of the entire east coast sound, mr. boom bap himself, DJ Premier. No rapper from the early 90's could truly be validated until they passed the hip hop rite of passage and spit a few bars over a Primo beat. Luckily for Guru, as a member of Gangstarr, he had first dibbs on these heaters. Hence, the creation of such classics as "Mass Appeal", "Code of the Streets", "DWYCK" and many more.

My Top 5 Premier Beats:
1. "Mass Appeal" Gangstarr (My all time favorite beat EVER)
2. "Come Clean" Jeru the Damaja
3. "Unbelievable" Biggie
4. "Supa Star" Group Home
5. "D'Evils" Jay Z

Honorable Mention "NY State of Mind" Nas

90's week: Smooth da Hustla

Before I speak about Smooth da Hustla, let me first explain why I love 90's hip hop. It's simple; lyric-driven hip hop. In the brief history of hip hop, the early 90's stand alone as the only era characterized and driven by both strong lyrical content and beat production. The golden era of the late 80's solidified hip hop as a reputable genre of music and developed true "fans" of the culture. But it wasn't until the 90's that hip hop really took off. Unfortunately, the days of good lyrical content are over. Today, artists that used their lyrical prowess to thrive in the early 90's, (Redman, Wu Tang, etc.) struggle to find success in an industry driven by radio-friendly, forumalic hip hop. Which leads me to Smooth and his brother Trigga. This "Broken Language" would eventually prove to be their only hit but damn was this shit hot. To be honest I don't remember much about these two and I'm not really in the mood to do any research but I will say that 90% of the "rappers" today
couldn't pull off a flow anywhere close to this.

90's week: Black Moon

So I've been doing some thinking and decided it would be a good idea to make this week, 90's week and relive a few of my favorite moments, albums, and events from the 90's in hip hop. Today's jog down memory lane comes courtesy of Black Moon. Black Moon and Duck Down Records (Smif-n-Wesson, OGC, Helter Skelter) were responsible for a slew of underground hits during the early 90's and my personal favorite "I Gotcha Opin" Remix. Here's a clip of the opening bars to this underground classic.

A word from our sponsors...

So I couldn't let Black History Month escape without me saying a few things. Sadly enough, the Anna Nicole Saga and Britney Spears' crazy ass has garnered much of the media attention for the month of February. But lets face it, it's not like media outlets are fighting to cover anything related to Black History month anyway. I'll spare the entire "every month is black history month" argument and instead promote my idea of making history. Ironically this month has been a great month for making history. Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith's Superbowl appearance, Barack Obama's entry into the dirty game of Presidential politics and even Jen Hudson's big win last night are all events that deserve acknowledgment. So I challenge everyone to make history. In other words, whatever it is that you do, be the best at it. Now go out there and make history!

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

Ever since I picked up that new Redman mixtape Live from the Bricks, I've been in a very nostalgic mood. So I've reached into the archives to relive '94 with one of the greatest hip hop "tapes" of all time. We all know that Ghostface is without a doubt the most prolific of all the Wu tang members but OB4CL is the best effort ever produced by Wu tang. Now if we could only get the sequel. Here's a rare video from the classic purple tape.

Juice '06?!

Ok so you can hit me with a major late pass on this one but I just came across this video on youtube a couple days ago and I can't stop watching it. I saw this Curtains dude in a XXL mag a while back but never checked for him. He performed at the "Leaders of the New School" show in NYC a few months back with one of my favorite groups, Supreeme. Its not that he's the best lyrically but his swagger on this Rakim remake is undeniable.

A Cure for AIDS?!

It has long been speculated that Magic Johnson used his NBA pension check to buy the cure for HIV. But now it looks like you can add Tommy Morrison's name to the elite list of people who have the "cure". According to an article on msn, Morrison is looking to return to the ring this year after his career was ended by a positive HIV test in 1996. Apparently he was "misdiagnosed" with HIV and now is perfectly healthy and ready to return to boxing. Misdiagnosed?! Sounds a little fishy to me! If I had been living the past 10 years of my life thinking I had HIV and I was as big as "Tommy Gun" Morrison, I'd be paying a visit to that clinic that tested me! I guess it pays to have the "Duke" in your bloodline.

LUVANMUSIQ

There was a moment when I looked around and realized I was the only dude in the front row. Here I am singing my heart out like I'm alone in the shower oblivious to the rest of the venue who may or may not hear my tonedeff "singing". I couldn't help myself though, Musiq Soulchild is my dude. After waiting outside in line for a hour and a half in what seemed to be the coldest weather my balls have ever experienced, I was a little pissed that he only performed for an hour. But that hour did include performances of a couple of my favorites like Halfcrazy, Love, Dontchange, Previouscats, Forthenight and others. To my surprise his tribute to a few of our fallen legends ( Gerald Levert, James Brown, J Dilla, and Rick James) was very good, especially his rendition of James Brown's "Superbad". After the concert I realized, even though he didn't perform my favorite song "Time", there is not one Musiq Soulchild song that I can honestly say I don't like. Overall the show was well worth the wait and now that I've seen my two favorite artists (Jay Z and Musiq) I can die a happy man.

Birthday bloggin-more or less

I live a pretty meager existence so instead of throwing back shots of some cheap house liquor I'll spend this birthday at home reflecting on my last 26 years. I accomplished alot as a 26 year old and hopefully this year at 27 I can continue to break new ground. I came across this new Kweli video and found it to be the perfect inspiration for this post and my pre-27th year assessment. So this year I will spend more time chasing and less time dreaming. Hopefully I make more money so I can have less bills. Even though this year I will officially enter the workforce I'll probably buy more sneakers and less dress shoes; it should be vice versa. I plan on spending more time writing and less time sleeping. But knowing my tendencies I'll probably spend more time talking and less time doing.

RIP Big L, Respect the man. He has in my opinion the best posthumous album ever. Yes better than Makaveli!

Love is for suckas!!!

I'm convinced that Valentines Day was started just to serve as a reminder for me that the next day is my birthday. This year I could really care less about Valentines. I know alot of you simps get caught up in all that lovey dovey shit but I just feel like "whats the point?" Call me a hater or maybe I'm just really jaded but Valentines is just February 14th, the day before my birthday. So I'll just stretch out on the couch and watch my Duke Blue Devils struggle to pull themselves back into the top 25.

The evolution of Ray J

I know this is old news but Ray J is one lucky son a bitch. Somehow he has managed to transform his former dubious title of "Brandy's little brother" to "Brandy's little brother that fucked Paris Hilton's friend." Ray J, the nasal sounding crooner responsible for the unbearable "One Wish" has been all over the net, and apparently over all LA spreading his seed into the likes of Karrine "Superhead" Stephens, Whitney "Hell to tha Naw" Houston and most recently Paris Hilton's buddy Kim Kardashian. With big sis likely facing vehicular manslaughter charges, looks like Ray decided to finally pay his sister back by selling the rights to his home video with Kim K to Vivid Video reportedly for a million dollars. Supposedly Kim wants nothing to do with the video but ironically this video will make its way onto the net and into the homes of perverts everywhere just as Kim graces the cover of Complex magazine. Besides being Paris Hilton's weed carrier, what does she do? Stay tuned for Ray and Kim's big debut. Supposedly Ray blesses her with the golden shower Kells made famous.


Kim Kardashian Ray-J tape Preview
Uploaded by BOSSIP

Fuck tha Police

I got my car towed and got a speeding ticket all in about one hour. It screwed up my entire weekend and subsequently my birthday festivities.

I hate South Carolina!

Just about everyday I'm reminded of how much South Carolina sucks. And today is no exception. During my daily jug around this extremely addictive virtual world called the internet I came across these new DC x Lemar&Dauley kicks over at complex. Now I'm not really into skate shoes but I'm kinda feeling these. Then about 15 minutes later I came across these Asics X Patta joints at endorsed and damn near lost my mind. A few weeks ago I saw a few snapshots of this shoe but the collab wasn't finished yet. Now everything is done and these will probably be dropping pretty soon. Unfortunately for me they won't be dropping anywhere remotely close to SC. Damnnit I hate this place!!

Nasty Nas

Nas has really been killin it lately. Here's his new video for "Can't Forget About You". It took me a while to get used to Hip Hop is Dead but its been getting a lot of burn lately.

My new guilty pleasure

Okay I gotta admit, I wasn't really feeling this new Rich Boy cat when he first dropped but lately the kid has grown on me. I kept telling myself that I'm not gonna like that "Throw Some D's" but he just dropped the remix and its pretty hot. To top it off he stopped by Rapcity last week and murdered the booth. I'm really curious to see how his cd will sound.

"Rex Grossman is our quarterback"

I bet Lovie and his boys wish Grossman wasn't their quarterback tonight. Another dismal performance for Rex Grossman, in the biggest game of his life. Congrats to that light skin nigga Tony and his Indianapolis "House niggas" Colts.

The team everyone loves to hate...

Needless to say, Coach K and his boys won't be holding up that trophy this year. It's been a tumultuous season for the Blue Devils so far. After today's loss, Duke will fall to 18-5 and certainly fall out of the top ten. They are currently on a two game losing streak and will face their arch rivals, UNC, on Wednesday. After dominating the ACC for damn near the last decade, an ACC title looks unlikely for this year's team. But I'm no fairweather fan, so I'm riding with my Blue Devils till the wheels fall off. This could have been a post about how disgusted I have been with their play lately but I'll save that until I see what they do Wednesday against North Carolina.