Fawk Da Rest

Time Bandits

2011-08-29T18:27:00.001-05:00

My NBA Predictions for the 1st round

2009-04-20T13:37:00.002-05:00

I gotta issue a spoiler alert, dont read my predictions if you dont wanna know whats going to happen in the future.

Lakers v. Utah, Lakers in 5
Portland v. Rockets, Rockets in 5
Spurs v. Mavs, Mavs in 6
Nuggets v. Hornets, Nuggets in 5

Cavs v. Pistons, Cavs in 6
Hawks v. Heat, Hawks in 5
Magic v. 76ers, Magic in 7
Celtics v. Bulls, Bulls in 7

Discuss
_

Kanye West "Welcome to Heartbreak"

2009-02-17T22:04:00.000-05:00

KANYE WEST "Welcome To Heartbreak" Directed by Nabil from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

Pretty good video. And here is the rest of it.

2009-02-09T13:39:00.001-05:00

This is hilarious. Anyone who has ever been high off of anything, or seen anyone who has had a bad trip.And here is the rest of it.

I'm On A Boat (explicit)

2009-02-08T12:58:00.000-05:00

This is hilarious

Fever Ray "If I Had A Heart"

2009-02-06T18:34:00.002-05:00

If I Had A Heart from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

Basically this is some other shit. My boy who's into a lot of cutting edge shit (he rocks a rat tail haircut) put me onto this, just as he puts me onto many other tight things the mainstream will never show you. I think the music is tight, and the camera work is spectacular. Enjoy at your own risk.

Freeway "When I Die" featuring James Blount

2009-01-28T15:33:00.004-05:00

When I Die - Freeway Ft James Blunt

On the low, Freeway has been killing it lately. He's definitely in my top 5 right now (hmmm, seems like a good topic for a post). This is a joint that makes me feel like I'm back in 2000 right here.

Hi e-Haters... I'm Back off e-Hiatus

2009-01-28T15:12:00.004-05:00

... I feel just like you, I mean even I e-hate us...

I'm snowed in today... and then I remembered I had a blog. Suddenly I started coming up with some new ideas for your e-pleasure. So that's that, we back in e-business.

I just finished doing some steak and eggs with a side of homefries. I washed it down with a fresh papaya smoothie, all hand crafted by who else? I proceeded to shovel some snow, clean up the kitchen, and throw on Whatever Comes to Mind.

I'm winning right now to say the least.

In the spirit of Obama I'm gonna go ahead and pledge to do a lot of things which probably all can't get done. Yes we can... hit the jump.

***First and foremost I pledge to re-upload Whatever Comes to Mind and The Marty McFly Mixtape.

***Secondly I pledge to create at least one post per week.

***Thirdly I'm going to start posting songs for discussion.

***But this isn't all about me. Ask not what your blog can do for you, but what can you do for your blog! To my regulars, I'm gonna need you assholes to comment. Let's make this a worthwhile experience for us all. Yes we can!

We were just laughing about this...

2008-11-06T12:12:00.000-05:00

Figured I'd share it

Election Day in Pictures...

2008-11-04T15:06:00.006-05:00

The lines were long.

People waited.

I casted my vote.

Let's Go Barack.

Currently In Rotation: Soundtrack to my Commute

2008-11-03T11:34:00.004-05:00

Crooked I "The Block Obama Mixtape"
I might be late on Crooked I, but this mixtape had a few joints that I was feeling. Seriously, Crooked I is kind of nice.

Yeasayer "All Our Cymbals"
This is one of those Brooklyn "hipster" bands that I actually like. They bring a little bit of variety to my commute. I must warn the listeners out there, that this music is a bit out there, so if your not very sonically adventurous, you might not feel this.

Robin Thicke "Something Else"
This dude does a good Marvin Gaye impression, but I'm not really mad at him for it. Some good songs on here to mix up the commute sounds.

Joe Budden "Halfway House"
Joey is real hit or miss with me, but he came through with a few joints on this album/mixtape that I let run everything they pop up on shuffle. Considering how I've felt about some of his past work (some of his more depressing material), this one has a few joints that carry a nice vibe.

Welcome Back Basketball

2008-10-30T12:36:00.006-05:00

It's November again, and that means another NBA season has begun. Last season seemed like one of the best NBA seasons in years, with the rise of the Celtics... I mean, finally a perennial powerhouse that I can actually tolerate (sorry, but I hated the Spurs, though I respect them [how can you not?]).

But all that is water under the bridge now, and looking forward, things look to be getting even better. I love this season. First off, I love the incoming rookie class. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I love Derrick Rose's debut performance.

I love the fact that it is now obvious (albeit several seasons too late) that the Dallas Mavericks cannot compete for the NBA title. By this time I was tired of the talking heads on various sports talk shows claiming the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk as a contender in the preseason picks. It was obvious to me many years ago that Dallas never could hold a candle in the west (the Pheonix Suns are another perennial preseason darling who never ever had a shot, but I don't hate them like I hate Dallas).

Finally, to keep this post from rambling on too long, I love the fact that Mike D'Antoni has benched Stephon Marbury and bum ass Eddy Curry indefinitely. These three things and many more make me extremely excited about this years NBA season.

It's official that I am back in love with basketball (I'm even playing again). Expect regular coverage of Derrick Rose's rookie season, Dirk's futile attempts to be recognized as a clutch player, and Mike D'Antoni's fat ego check on the overpaid Starbury and bum ass Eddy Curry, among other things.

Most Lethal Athlete ever in Video Game History

2008-10-28T12:39:00.003-05:00

Mike Vick was a beast too in Madden 05 or so, before he got knocked for body slamming dogs.

Petey Greene delivers a great message: "Just Be Yourself"

2008-10-26T16:25:00.003-05:00

This is Mr. Petey Greene, who I don't know much about right now, but from what I gather he was hilarious, and led quite an interesting life. In this clip, he delivers the incredible message: "be yourself," while also teaching you the proper way to eat some watermelon.

You see, I can respect anyone who breaks down some real shit for the people, and apparently that's what Mr. Greene was all about. Interestingly enough, Don Cheadle, one of my top 3 favorite actors of all time plays Mr. Greene in a HBO biopic called "Talk To Me," which is now on the top of my short list of must see movies.

Hit the jump for some more real talk from Mr. Petey Greene.

Petey Greene on Hustlin' Backwards

Petey Greene on Black History

Chicago... more hood than Iraq?

2008-10-23T10:59:00.002-05:00

Quick fact I want to share.

Over this summer Chicago suffered more casualties of war than the US army in Iraq.

SOURCE

There is on block in Chicago that is so hood the US Postal service will no longer deliver mail there. It is being called the most dangerous block in America.

SOURCE

That is all, carry on my friends.

The Marty McFly Mixtape DOWNLOAD LINK

2008-10-08T13:28:00.005-05:00

Here is some music that should be fresh to everyone's ears: The Marty McFly Mixtape. This is the proper download, with all tracks labeled and numbered accordingly (I know some of you got an early version that had no track names, and wouldn't play on your MP3 players properly).

UPDATED LINK: DOWNLOAD HERE

OR

DOWNLOAD HERE

Hit the jump for the full tracklist and a brief commentary on the material.

This mixtape is basically a compilation of material that I did between 2005-2007. Its different from my other shit in two major ways: (1) there is a lot of experimentation and one verse records here, which would be more like freestyles (hence the "mixtape" title); and (2) the material is a bit more personal than some of my recent stuff, should be somethings on here that anyone out there can relate to.

As always, all of the music is produced either by me or my cuz Creashaun.

Leave me a shout in the comments if you messing with this one.

1. FDR - Rap Marty McFly (Intro) (1:39)
2. FDR - The Low Spot (ft. Melknisse) (2:36)
3. FDR - Holden Cauffield (1:20)
4. FDR - Special Gifts (1:50)
5. FDR - The Big Life (0:41)
6. FDR - 20/20 Vision (ft. Rory Goldstein) (1:37)
7. FDR - Its Just My Life (1:01)
8. FDR - F*ck This Sh*t (1:27)
9. FDR - You Shouldn't Have To Guess (1:12)
10. FDR - I Want That (1:28)
11. FDR - Still Not A Rapper (1:01)
12. FDR - Step Into My Zone (2:15)
13. FDR - My Name Is... (1:25)
14. FDR - Plataeu (1:31)
15. FDR - I'm On My Own (1:29)
16. FDR - Fresh (1:20)
17. FDR - Why Is It Illegal (1:48)
18. FDR - Journey (1:33)
19. FDR - Going Over Budget (1:48)
20. FDR - Frankness (1:28)
21. FDR - The Discography (1:36)
22. FDR - Never Be The Same (0:53)
23. FDR - It's Been A Long Time (2:04)
24. FDR - His Name Is F (1:00)
25. FDR - Gotta Love (ft. Creashaun) (2:33)
26. FDR - Everyones An Expert (1:14)
27. FDR - I Was A Witness (2:13)
28. FDR - Who Really In Charge (1:55)
29. FDR - I Love You Baby (2:19)
30. FDR - Bounce, Stop, Shake It (1:44)
31. FDR - You Know Whats Occurring (1:35)
32. FDR - Roll With Me (1:21)
33. FDR - Why You Do This For? (2:10)

In this Crazy World...

2008-10-07T10:18:00.007-05:00

Right about now, the world seems to have really gone apeshit. Nowadays when I look at the news and read the headlines, its pure fear city out here. I'm trying not to be scared, because its not good for my mental health (fear is a sickness), but you could tell they want me reaching for my panic button. Between the financial crisis and the threats of the next Great Depression (the Greater Depression perhaps?), and me going by the name FDR, there is a lot of pressure on your boy. People are tripping out, taking strange crimes, sadistic sex acts, and gun violence to new levels of creativity and bizarreness. Hit the jump for my short list of the ridiculous headlines I've been seeing so far this year.

In Sex...

Now as I was compiling this post I came across headlines that were even more macabre and disgraceful than these, but in good taste and to preserve the heterosexuality of this blog, I decided to only share these.

Student auctions virginity, sparks online debate, why would you want to buy this? Do you think this is going to be fun? You gotta be one sick human animal.

Man shoots himself over sex failure, now I've been mad over sex refusals before, but SON!

Women Have Surgery to 'Restore' Virginity, I'm sorry, you could say what you want, but these women know, in the hearts and minds of many men they will never be virgins... EVER, EVER AGAIN.

In Sports...

In double bizarro news, first Kimbo Slice is defeated! and then it is revealed that the man who dominated Kimbo considers himself (and not Kimbo) a "homo!" (warning this link contains slightly gay situations, nhjic)

In Finance (this stuff is truly sad)...

US stocks close with biggest fall since 9/11

Man kills himself and family due to financial crisis

In the Ghetto...

Mother knowingly drops her son off at a gangfight!

And if you thought you were having a rough year, rest assured, Yung Berg is having a much worse year. First he is robbed a beaten in a Detroit club, and then more recently he gets hit with an open hand slap from NY rapper Maino!

Thats basically a career suicide in Hip Hop.

Who wants to be the next President of the USA

2008-10-01T15:46:00.002-05:00

It seems as though John McCain had a contest called, "Who wants to be the next President of the USA," and through the luck of the draw, Sarah Palin won. That would be a nice reality series, someone call VH1. If you haven't had a chance to see Sarah Palin interviewed by Katie Couric, it's definitely a classic that you can enjoy again and again, even if you have no interest in politics. Hit the jump for more great clips and some more fun.

Remind you of anyone?

KILLA SEASON HAS RETURNED!

2008-09-25T09:55:00.004-05:00

The boy Cam'ron is back with three new tracks. I have to post this, because its an event whenever Cam'ron drops new music. Cam still remains one of my favorite rappers of all time. This guy is arguably the most entertaining rapper ever. If you don't believe listen to these two new songs, hit the jump.

While listening to these songs I was either laughing or grinning the whole time. Quite enjoyable. Link courtesy of NahRight... Cam'ron "Still the Reason;" "Go In"

Another Instance of a Artist using the same Sample as Me...

2008-09-24T17:28:00.002-05:00

J the S feat. B.o.B - Another Round [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO] from Restless Films on Vimeo.

Well, it has happened again. I don't know who J the S is, but I do know who B.O.B. is, and I am a fan of some of his work. But the point of this post isn't really either one of them, its the fact that the song utilizes a sample that I have also used. Check out the track "Whatever comes to Mind" off of the album by the same name.

This happens all the time in Hip-Hop, and I am in no way insinuating that any biting took place...

But I always find it interesting, and even kind of cool whenever someone flips the same sample as me, especially a sample like this one, which is by no means a highly utilized sample in Hip Hop. It brings back memories of when Jay-Z dropped "Falling" off of American Gangster, which sounded eerily just like a flip I made on that same exact sample.

In the case of this specific song by J the S, I gotta get on my own dick and say, I think I flipped it hotter.

The Marty McFly Mixtape

2008-09-23T11:48:00.003-05:00

Coming Next Tuesday...

1. FDR - Rap Marty McFly (Intro) (1:39)
2. FDR - The Low Spot (ft. Melknisse) (2:36)
3. FDR - Holden Cauffield (1:20)
4. FDR - Special Gifts (1:50)
5. FDR - The Big Life (0:41)
6. FDR - 20/20 Vision (ft. Rory Goldstein) (1:37)
7. FDR - Its Just My Life (1:01)
8. FDR - F*ck This Sh*t (1:27)
9. FDR - You Shouldn't Have To Guess (1:12)
10. FDR - I Want That (1:28)
11. FDR - Still Not A Rapper (1:01)
12. FDR - Step Into My Zone (2:15)
13. FDR - My Name Is... (1:25)
14. FDR - Plataeu (1:31)
15. FDR - I'm On My Own (1:29)
16. FDR - Fresh (1:20)
17. FDR - Why Is It Illegal (1:48)
18. FDR - Journey (1:33)
19. FDR - Going Over Budget (1:48)
20. FDR - Frankness (1:28)
21. FDR - The Discography (1:36)
22. FDR - Never Be The Same (0:53)
23. FDR - It's Been A Long Time (2:04)
24. FDR - His Name Is F (1:00)
25. FDR - Gotta Love (ft. Creashaun) (2:33)
26. FDR - Everyones An Expert (1:14)
27. FDR - I Was A Witness (2:13)
28. FDR - Who Really In Charge (1:55)
29. FDR - I Love You Baby (2:19)
30. FDR - Bounce, Stop, Shake It (1:44)
31. FDR - You Know Whats Occurring (1:35)
32. FDR - Roll With Me (1:21)
33. FDR - Why You Do This For? (2:10)

RIP to the Green Oldsmobile, 1996-2008

2008-09-21T20:54:00.004-05:00

It saddens me to have to bring you the news that the great Green Oldsmobile has seen its last day of service. It was very loyal, and it was a great car.

But seriously though, I am actually sad about this. Now I need to figure out how I'mma get a new car. For now I got a lil treat for the folks that knew Frank Knuck when he was really Frank Knuck. Hit the jump for the Green Oldmobile's most famous moment caught on film in the opening scene of the 2004 video for "Pretty Pretty Pretty Girl."

Real Late With Peter Rosenberg 9/15/08

2008-09-20T11:12:00.002-05:00

Real Late with Peter Rosenberg is to today what Stretch Armstrong's late night Sunday radio show was to my high school years. Its basically a radio show dedicated to playing shit that would never be on the radio otherwise. It airs on Hot 97 at some ungodly hour on Sunday, hence I download it. Now you can too. Hit the jump for the link to Rosenberg's site, where you can get all his shows.

http://www.rosenbergradio.com/2008/09/15/real-late-2/

He drops a lot of new music this week, Jadakiss, Asher Roth, some other new guys.

The New Yawk Accent

2008-09-20T11:05:00.001-05:00

Using the great resource that is Wikipedia, I was doing some independent research today that was "mad fun." I stumbled into it "on accident." Figured I would share with the blog, which I know has at least a few real "New Yawkers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_dialect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Vernacular_English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuyorican_English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_and_non-rhotic_accents

Some parts of the articles are written in some kind of language code, which I'm assuming no one will understand, because I damn sure didnt. Just read what you can understand.

Some parts I found interesting include:

In the NY Dialect article you can see european effect on the New York accent. That accent has been heavily stigmatized in hollywood and media, but there is a slight to very slight influence on my speech, though in the brooklyn accent you hear it, particularly in many females when pronoucing words like dog as "du-og."

The article on African America Vernacular English breaks down a lot of the speech patterns that seem very southern to me. With the emergence of southern hip hop, a lot of the stuff that article breaks down is not really true New York shit per se, although you may hear it being used more in NY nowadays with the southern music being a major influence, i.e. "finna" in phrases like "I'm finna get outta here."

But, I have used the "be" as the article describes, to communicate that someone habitually does something i.e. "He be lying" which means "He is a habitual liar" in standard english. I'd say the AAVE has had a significant influence on my speech patterns, particularly as a teenager, though not so much currently. I do still relapse into certain speech patterns that are heavily influenced by AAVE though.

The New York Latino English article has some recognizable features such as the tendency of spanish people to phrase a question as if it was a statement, but with the speech emphasis of a question i.e. "I can go to the bathroom?" I found that pretty funny, cause all my hispanic friends talk like that.

As far as rhotic and non rhotic accents go, I clearly have a non rhotic accent, as most New Yorkers.

Co-Sign Time: Termanology

2008-08-03T10:16:00.011-05:00

Sometimes you don't really realize how much you miss something until it comes back into your world. Sometimes you don't realize how over something you are until you run into it again. Luckily in this case its the former and not the latter.

Termanology is a guy I don't know much about aside from the fact that I've been seeing his name pop up a lot on the blogs. It's sad to say that the game is in such a state where its really hard for me to even give a new name a listen. Needless to say, he went under my radar for a while. Now I'm ready to give this guy a co sign as I continue the transition back into "fanmode." I'm not gonna gas the guy too hard, I'ma let you listen and decide for yourself. What I will say is the music is definitely refreshing, especially in this day and age in music.

I got his mixtape for you, which has a lot of features from some big names, and some good production and sick flows. Download the mixtape here.

And here is his first single from his album, featuring Bun-B and produced by DJ Premier. I like this joint a lot, everyone does their thing hard.

UPDATE: Plus there's a Pink Floyd sample on the mixtape!

UPDATE 2: Prospect from what used to be the Terror Squad is on the mixtape too! Oh shit son!

UPDATE 3: Hip Hop nerd moment: This guy's beat selection is really good, a rare thing in this day and age. His producers sample usage and flippage is extremely impressive as well.

Big Boi - Somethings Gotta Give

2008-07-31T13:47:00.001-05:00

Good song, and a good video.

The Life & Times of Latarian Milton

2008-07-30T15:33:00.003-05:00

This is kind of old, but still, its fun to do bad things, and smokes with cigarettes.

A Milli: The Obama Remix

2008-07-26T20:27:00.002-05:00

This shit is kinda clever.

I know its been a while since I posted something up. After Whatever Comes To Mind dropped I had to fall back and let it marinate.

Just Like I Said: FDR "Whatever Comes To Mind" Download Link

2008-07-08T15:43:00.003-05:00

FDR "Whatever Comes To Mind"
http://www.zshare.net/download/14939777a81f6e70/

there you go, download and listen for yourself... and definitely leave comments in the comment box below ya heard!

Whatever Comes To Mind Official Release Date Announced

2008-06-25T12:35:00.004-05:00

This is the preliminary announcement that the album is finally done. This is it for me, I'm happy its finished so I can focus on other things and put this one behind me. But that's another topic entirely, so let me announce the date:

FDR "Whatever Comes To Mind"
July 8th, 2008

There it is, mark your calenders, do whatever you need to do. I'ma try to do some stuff to add to the excitement of the album dropping, I was actually thinking of doing some kind of behind the music style documentary if I find the time.

Also I included which tracks I sampled on those tracks that have samples, so if you got the time, do some digging and listen to where I built some of these tracks from before you hear what I did to them.

Here's the final tracklist and credits:

1. Mel's Intro
Produced by: FDR

2. FDR Is Back
Written, produced, and performed by: FDR
Contains sample from Unknown Artist "Kung Fu"

3. You Ain't Nice Yet
Written, produced, and performed by: FDR
Contains sample from The Beatles "I Want You So Bad (She's So Heavy)"

4. Yeah
Written, produced, and performed by: FDR
Contains sample from Al Green "Love and Happiness"

5. Why You Looking at Me (featuring Middle Fingas)
Written, produced, and performed by: FDR
Additional vocals and writing: Remix AKA Middle Fingas

6. How You Feel (featuring Melknisse)
Written and performed by FDR, Melknisse
Produced by Creashaun for Creashaun entertainment

7. What You Drinking
Written, produced, and performed by FDR

8. Layin' Em Down
Written, produced, and performed by FDR

9. Getting into Music
Written, produced, and performed by FDR

10. Fly Away
Written, produced, and performed by FDR

11. Feed My Belly (featuring Rory Goldstein)
Written and performed by FDR, Rory Goldstein
Produced by FDR
Contains sample

12. New Religion
Written, produced, and performed by FDR
Contains sample from Trifle "New Religion"

13. Set Me Free (Interlude)
Produced by FDR
Contains sample from Black Merda "Set Me Free"

14. Whatever Comes to Mind
Written, produced, and performed by FDR
Contains sample from Chic "Savoir Faire"

Real Talk from Jay Smooth

2008-06-23T13:23:00.001-05:00

She has a boyfriend...

2008-06-22T22:39:00.000-05:00

http://view.break.com/493085 - Watch more free videos

I love Black people!

2008-06-12T11:11:00.001-05:00

Scientists are the best...

2008-06-12T10:54:00.003-05:00

Saw this headline, "Underwater Volcano Eruption Caught on Camera," and found it interesting enough to click on.

Was a bit dissapointed that this was the only picture:

But then I watched this video and it made me remember some old science teachers I had, and it made me think about how hilarious I find scientists. I love scientists. Why? Besides the fact that they are always jolly guys, you can ask a scientist any sick twisted question you can possibly imagine and he will seriously try to answer it. Next time you meet a scientist try it. As a kid this was my favorite thing to do during science class. It appears they have an unending patience for ridiculous questions. See:

FDR "The New Deal" Download

2008-06-07T10:46:00.001-05:00

Grab the debut from FDR "The New Deal"

2girls1cup The Cake

2008-06-05T09:27:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday!

SOURCE

Kid slaps mom in the face!

2008-06-04T13:25:00.000-05:00

This is beyond hilarious to me.

Obama makes history

2008-06-03T18:51:00.002-05:00

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois sealed the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, a historic step toward his once-improbable goal of becoming the nation's first black president. A defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton maneuvered for the vice presidential spot on his fall ticket.

SOURCE

F.D.R. "Whatever Comes To Mind" Update

2008-06-03T11:15:00.006-05:00

A bit of news on the album... it is slowly coming together. Right now I am tweaking about 15-18 brand new tracks. The sound is like a mixture between The New Deal's original compositions, and The O.N.E.'s soul sound.

Expect a sampler to drop soon and I may also drop some unreleased tracks I have as a mixtape. I'm looking for a graphic artist to design the cover as well. This is the last one I'm doing for a while, so I may as well try to go all out.

UPDATE: I did some more work on the album after I posted this, and I basically narrowed the album down to 15 tracks. Here is the tentative tracklisting:

1. FDR Is Back
2. Layin' Em Down
3. New Religion
4. Yeah
5. Have You Been Drinking?
6. Fly Away
7. How You Feel (featuring Melknisse) (produced by Creashaun)
8. Are You Experienced?
9. Getting Into Music
10. Feed My Belly
11. Set Me Free (Interlude)
12. Whatever Comes To Mind
13. Step Into My Zone
14. The Final Showdown
15. Low Spot Is The Team (Outro)

This can still change, but I feel good about all of these tracks. It's bout to be crazy son!

Random Series 3

2008-06-02T10:55:00.006-05:00

And now for another random sampling of my mp3 player. If you need to do the knowledge on the Random Series click here.

I know your digging the new features too.

Random Series 3

PLUS: I retroactively added this feature to all past random series. Use the Random Series label to check it out.

Sex & the City Riots...

2008-06-02T09:51:00.005-05:00

Interesting story from Friday night for you.

All week the girlfriend was bugging me about Sex & the City. I say yes a lot, almost reflexively, so on Friday when she reminded me that I promised to go, I was a little surprised. But as I scanned the net for news, I saw that Sex & the City was extremely sold out... everywhere. I was happy! Moments later she called and confirmed my suspicions: she couldn't find an available show in the Tri-state area... except the 10:40 at Harlem's very own Magic Johnson theaters. I asked her one simple question, "Do you really want to see it that bad?"

Needless to say, we arrived at Magic's place at about 10pm to be greeted by a ridiculous line. The crowd was, how do you say... interesting. A lot of women dressed up like they were going to the club. A lot of women who weren't scared to speak their mind. Um, it was just a lot. She wanted to skip the line, but my spider senses told me no. Something was finna happen.

So as the wait grows longer and more intolerable, what started as a "kind of line" had degraded down into an uncomfortable mass of irritated ghetto dwellers standing in no particular formation. I saw two white people, who had employed very different strategies of fitting in. One, let's just call him the smarter one, had on his Obama 08 t-shirt and was with a black women. The other was complaining to the staff at Magic's place, at the lack of order, and the rampant skipping. She screamed, "YOU MUST DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!" He looked at her expressionless, and his face said what he clearly couldn't: "Bitch they don't pay me enough."

Then the staff at Magic's place unsuspectingly opened the doors, and suddenly I was smack in the middle of a full on riot. Literally though. A straight up riot had broken out in Magic's place over the movie Sex & the City. Fists were thrown! Weaves were torn! Property was damaged! You couldn't imagine the look on my face. These bitches are willing to ride for Carrie son! If Beyonce had "Carrie Fever," these bitches straight up had "Carrie RABIES." The sickest part about it was, MOST OF THEM WERE FAT! It was real messy man, I mean I seen chicks straight take off their shoes so they can run faster! I'm sure a few of them even utilized the flying projectile feature on their shits.

WOW.

That's all I was saying as dozens of fat women blew past me. WOW. The theater rope is toppled. WOW. The coming soon sign is knocked over. WOW. Somebody bites the dust. WOW. A couple bitches just straight up fist fighting. WOOOOW. A group of gay white dudes, laughing and taking pictures. WOW.

THE MOVIE FUCKING SUCKED.

WOW!!!!!!!

Blogger arrested for comments made on blog...

2008-06-02T09:47:00.002-05:00

Gotta be careful SON!

A California-based blogger who allegedly accused a judge of "prostituting herself" has been arrested and charged in Singapore, his lawyer and a court document said Monday.

Gopalan Nair, a former Singapore lawyer who is now a US citizen, was arrested in the city-state Saturday and charged Monday with insulting a public servant, his lawyer Chia Ti Lik told AFP.

Nair, 58, was later remanded in custody for one more week as the authorities said they needed to investigate further, Chia told reporters.

SOURCE

Video: RZA "You Can't Stop Me Now

2008-06-02T09:34:00.002-05:00

New music from living legend The RZA. He has a new album dropping soon called "Digi Snacks," which I'll be checking for to hear the beats if nothing else (this guy is kinda weird sometimes).

I will now attempt the unthinkable...

2008-05-19T09:00:00.005-05:00

... and review Kanye's "Glow in the Dark" set.

I had good seats. If I was wild, I prolly could have successfully caught him with a flying projectile.

From a fan's perspective, you literally can't ask for much more from a performance. The guy had a lot of shit going on, in terms of effects, pyrotechnics, smoke effects, light shows, robot voices, different camera views, and all kinds of other shit I might be forgetting. On top of that, you could tell he was putting a lot into his performance on a personal/emotional level. A lot of reviews that I've read about the concert complained that Kanye seemed to pull out all his tricks not so much for the fans, but for his own sense of ego. I don't even want to speculate on that... I'm just taking it for what it is, like how a fan is supposed to from time to time.

But truthfully the show was kind of overwhelming. For many of the songs all I could do was just kind of stand there in a state of awe. I knew the songs, I knew the words, but it was like I was stuck. After the show, the feeling kind of stuck with me. I was speechless.

My favorite song in the set, strangely enough, was "Homecoming." It was strange, cause even though its a good song, I was never really in love with it. But when he played it on stage, the way he timed it and the way it fit in with the entire show, that shit was crazy son. That was one of the songs where I was straight wilding out. All in all it was an amazing show, but its one of those shows that I feel I need to see again. Its like one of those movies thats just on some other shit... You need to watch it twice before you really can say how you feel about it.

P.S. He was rocking these "Air Yeezy's" which looked crazy on stage.

Wild Nature Shots

2008-05-13T09:34:00.001-05:00

"Lightning bolts appears above and around the Chaiten volcano..."

Gnarls Barkley 'I'm Going On"

2008-05-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

GREAT VIDEO!

Harlem's Answer to Taco Bell, Old Bullies, and Hood Fashion

2008-05-10T14:04:00.005-05:00

Let me just preface this story by saying, everything written below is a 100% true and accurate depiction of some of my day today.

I had to run a couple of errands today. So after I take care of what I needed to do, I realize that I'm craving some Mexican food, but my budget can't stand much of a hit. So I needed something akin to a Taco Bell fix. Sadly, the nearest Taco Bell wasn't near enough. But before my hopes were dashed, I remembered a place, Harlem's very own answer to Taco Bell, so to speak. The name of this establishment was Jesus Taco (I'm assuming that you're going to want to pronounce that Jesus in the Hispanic tongue... phonetically: "Hey-Zeus", for the purposes of this story). Jesus Taco is a very dynamic establishment. Its laid out in the style of a combination fast food restaurant, similar to the Baskin Robbins/Dunkin' Donut style of fast food establishments popping up nowadays, only Jesus Taco puts these places to shame. I'm sure the owners realized when they named the place after Christ himself, that they had quite a heavy burden to carry. When I say combination fast food restaurant, maybe what I really mean is EVERYTHING.

I placed my order, sat down, and began to observe my surroundings. What I soon realized is, this place has everything to ever be on a fast food menu, EVER, plus more. My eyes started at the left most section, as I began to read to myself the offerings of Jesus. There was an ice cream section complete with sundaes, milkshakes, and smoothies; a section for burgers, complete with popular modifications such as the double, triple, and triple with bacon and cheese; a section for plated food, complete with combinations of rice, beans, and whatever meat you can think of; a section for seafood, which I didn't even bother to read; a section detailing the many breakfast offerings, including but not limited to pancakes, eggs, and french toast; apparently there was also a bakery on site, which offered various assortments of bagels, donuts, and pastries; another section complete with coffee, ice coffee, cappuccino, and various other forms of caffeine fixes; and finally printed on an 8" x 11" sheet of paper was Jesus latest offering, Small, Medium, and Large cups of ice, for 25, 50, 75 cents respectively.

I would have continued to read but by this time the Chinese man working the counter had summoned me to retrieve my order. On my way out I couldn't help but to observe the two computer workstations quartered by the exit, which for a dollar allowed you to browse the internet, perhaps to search for things Jesus did not offer, or maybe to word process while you waited for your order, assuming you didn't come to Jesus Taco simply for the computers. I have not been to church for a while, but perhaps this Sunday I will attend Jesus Taco and worship.

Needless to say, while I was admiring everything Jesus had to offer, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation taking place between 3 senior citizens, who apparently just like to hang out in Jesus Taco, perhaps waiting on their next meal. What struck me about this particular group of seniors was the manner in which one of them verbally abused the other two. He asked questions about the current Presidential Election to both of them as a group, but then scolded the first one to answer, insisting he wanted to hear the other ones answer first. He laughed loudly at her answer, insisting that she must have been joking to say something so ridiculous, to which she responded with a blank stare and silence. He then stirred the other one, notifying her (or maybe it was a him, she was looking pretty Unisex) that he was ready to hear her response. Apparently he/she was attempting to appease the senior citizen bully by agreeing with his prior statements. He then responded by mocking her ridiculous attempt at agreeing with him, pointing out to her that she does not agree with him. She appeared confused, and insisted that she did, in fact agree. He shunned her response and spoke loudly, "You think you agree with me, but you don't agree with me," before laughing dismissively at her.

I was regretful that I couldn't stay and listen to the entire exchange. As I walked down the avenue, I realized there was some heavy human traffic. With the weather getting warmer, people are making more and more interesting fashion statements. I noticed a guy in front of me, he was about 5' 8", 150 lbs at the most. He seemed to be in possession of some clothes that were purchased for a man three to four times his size. Perhaps he was anticipating a massive growth spur. Truthfully, I know this is a style of fashion, so I got to thinking: when are guys going to complete this look by getting their shoes three to four sizes too big?

Before I could complete that thought, my attention was grabbed by a loud female voice to the right of me on the other side of the street. My head followed the sound, as my eyes squinted to bring the image into focus. This woman, who apparently was angry, excited, or high, or any combination of the three, was making quite an interesting fashion statement herself. She was wearing a pair of pants with one leg long, and one leg cut off, with the one arm long sleeve, other arm sleeveless matching shirt. She also had the longs matched on the right side of her body, and the shorts matched on the left side. Nice touch! She was definitely the center of attention. As I walked by I heard one man remark, "she got the monster." Interesting!

That's all I got for you today, back to the books!

P.S. While I was googling these images, I found this nice little site with a photo log of my neighborhood. Enjoy! It's an idea I've been wanting to get into for the longest time.

Yo, What's Your Favorite...

2008-05-09T11:53:00.002-05:00

New series of posts. I'ma just state a category and state my favorite. Chime in if you feel the urge.

... Track on Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool" album?

Without a doubt "Gold Watch." It's one of the few songs on the album that I don't have to be in a certain mood to hear.

Follow Up: Faux News illustrates my point perfectly in this clip...

2008-05-05T19:22:00.005-05:00

The news coverage on this channel is truly unbelievable. I am really starting to admire the genius of this channel.

In this clip Faux News gets some black guy, who I am going to have to struggle to not make fun of, to denounce Jeremiah Wright and the Church he is apart of. Then, to make it even better, Faux has an older white man simply pick the poor guy apart on live TV. The irony of it is beautiful and you really have to watch it for yourself.

Of course the host/mediator says a couple of extremely ridiculous things, and the clip fades out.

Alright, I wasn't going to do this, but after posting earlier, I started YouTube surfing, and I came across this clip which was the last straw. I have to address this idea that I am hearing more and more people subscribing to, that a black church, claiming to subscribe to "black" values is racist, because if you substitute the word "white" for "black," it would be racist. That my friends is not strong logic.

Why? Why is it not strong logic, you say. Are you really going to make me answer that? Seriously just think about it. I don't want this blog to go too far down this road, so please, just think about it, because the two value systems, historically speaking, are drastically different... both in terms of philosophy and actual implementation.

Besides, values don't have a color. There are better adjectives to describe values, like peace loving, god fearing, or on the other hand, violent or god imitating.

We can do better than this!!!

Steps off soap box... I'll be back with my NBA analysis tommorow.

LMAO @ the part where homeboy says he substituted the word "white" for "black" and he suddenly became very scared! You can't write better shit than this!!

Rev. Jeremiah Wright Speaks His Mind...

2008-05-05T16:30:00.006-05:00

... And after hearing what he had to say, without getting into whether I agree with the things he said, I was pleased to be able to hear his point of view, as he has been under attack in the media for some weeks now. I purposely let the fever die down before I brought anything to the topic, because it is hotly debated, and many different accounts and interpretations exist on who the man is and what he stands for.

Now everybody knows this is not a political blog, and I try to keep things as light hearted as possible around these parts, but after seeing the headlines, having a few discussions with some friends in school, and some friends on an email chat, I thought I may as well post my input as originally quoted in the email chat:

clearly the timing of wright's comments are questionable, but at the
same time, for the black thinkers who struggle with the current
strategy of dealing with the nations history (just not talking about
it or acknowledging it), he wanted to be heard. its a free country,
and he should be able to express his point of views, which when taken
at face value, aren't really that ridiculous. the media has succeeded,
much the same way as they have with characterizing many muslims as
radical terrorists, at characterizing most blacks who display any hint
of anger or outrage at some of the historical injustices in this
country as radical, aggressive, ignorant, and threatening to the
collective caucasian peace of mind. in doing so, it has also succeeded
at scaring many of the well to do blacks who seek to live peaceably
with white people, through the same strategy of simply not addressing
or acknowledging many of the historical injustices in this country. i
understand that many blacks in the country, who want to live in peace
with other races, but also want their unique history and experience in
this country to be recognized for what they feel it is, understand
this, and struggle with themselves as a result, but god forbid one
decides to deal with this situation by appearing proud and unafraid to
offend his fellow man in addressing the sensitive topics that are
apart of his experience. god knows, he swallows his pride on a daily basis.
i think its a sad bind that most blacks have
to live with, and a certain part of me feels happy when one decides he
will be unafraid to offend, and also will be unafraid to have his
character assassinated by the people who are afraid of fearlessly
addressing this countries history and present situation.

Check his comments for yourself, and tell me if you find them offensive, and if so, ask yourself "what is the source of my offense?"

As far as Obama goes... I feel for the guy. Its tough running for president when the mass that will elect you is used to getting their information in 30 second sound bytes, and bold headlines. Eventually you just have to give them that 30 second sound byte they wanna hear or that bold headline they wanna read. For most of us, that's all we have time for.

I wish I was a sports analyst...

2008-04-30T13:34:00.006-05:00

I love the NBA playoffs this year. The last few years in the league has seen some perennial contenders and non-contenders, but this year we are seeing the landscape beginning to change. Why? Well, the last great set of rookies to come into the league are starting to mature, and I think many teams are abandoning this "super star" team model the league has been stuck on since Jordan came and changed the game. The reality is setting in, Jordan was a once in a lifetime talent... There is no next Jordan. Let's play team ball again, and forget about one player being that savior (doesn't Kobe look a lot better now that he isn't doing his best Jordan impression). Reformed "superstar" players are showing up on rosters taking on a different role, and making the games more competitive and better to watch.

While I was searching for the "I Love This Game" image, this popped up. I had to share it for obvious reasons. It may also give you that boost you need to keep reading this piece.

I should have made my predictions before some of the series concluded. Let me take this time to make some predictions, and review some of the results.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Spurs win in 5 over Suns - No huge surprise to me. Tim Duncan is the kind of guy you love to hate, so he must be great. The Spurs win, bottom line. All aesthetic criticisms aside, this is a team of winners. All aesthetic positives aside, the Suns are not.
Lakers sweep Nuggets - If this series shows us anything, it is that Melo is the weakest link out of the Big Three draft class he was apart of (shout out to Lebron & D Wade). The guy has some attitude issues, but you would think a guy like AI would be able to mentor him. The Nuggets are just another completely unproven bunch of aesthetically pleasing players from the west who haven't learned how to be WINNERS yet (except for AI, a true warrior). Sorry guys, but I'm just being honest.
Hornets win in 5 over Mavericks - I think the Mavericks story is a tragic one. They get completely showed up for the second year in a row by a team of less experienced players who run a clinic on WHAT ITS LIKE TO PLAY WITH HEART. Yo, Marc Cuban, money can't buy you championships, time to fall back and let the basketball guys do the basketball thing. You fired Avery but you kept Nowitski? This team is a joke!
Jazz Up 3-2 on the Rockets - My heart is pulling for the Rockets, my mind is going with the Jazz. How do I make a decision when I'm in such conflict? This series is going to be won by the team that plays with more heart. I haven't watched it closely enough to make a pick, so for now I'm going with my mind. My heart needed to see more! I may adjust this pick after watching game 6, if there is any adjusting left to make.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

The Celtics and Hawks knotted up at 2 - WOW! The west was supposed to be the competitive conference, and the East was supposed to be sown up! It looks like the young teams in the league are brining some HEART to the game. I love this series for that. But since I'm older than most of the players on the Hawks (CRAZY RIGHT!), I'm going with Boston. When those lucky shots stop falling, experience and fundamentals will take over. Boston wins the next two, but you can never be sure!
Pistons up 3-2 on the 76ers - Another major surprise, once again the East although much less aesthetically pleasing than the west, is playing with something the West is lacking in, HEART! Applaud the 76ers for giving us some drama, but the Pistons got this. I love this Pistons. I haven't stopped loving this team since they did what they did to those trumped up Lakers that tried to get Karl Malone a ring. Hey Karl, if Ewing, Barkley, and Nique dont get one for playing in the Jordan era, neither do you buddy!
The Cavs up 3-1 on the Wizards - So Jay-Z makes a diss song against Deshaun Stevenson for calling Lebron overrated. Jay-Z raps, Lebron doesn't. Lebron drops buckets and wins series. **Holds thumbs down** Off with their heads. The Wizards are clowns and they are finished! TONIGHT!
The Magic take out the Raptors in 5 - Dwight Howard is a beast. If he keeps getting 20/20 stats, and his supporting cast shows up (Hedo!), this team is serious. Be careful, this team can definitely leave somebody UPSET!

I'm going to preview the 2nd round soon, complete with picks that will be bulletproof. My NBA analysis is tight son! If you read this whole piece then you deserve this:

I DO THIS FOR THE LOVE BABY!

Homeless Rants

2008-04-22T09:27:00.004-05:00

So I just witnessed a homeless rant and its barely 10 am. This particular homeless man was stumbling down the hill quite violently, while speaking at the top of his lungs. The reason I thought to blog on it was because, his selection of a homeless rant topic was kind of interesting. You know, usually these guys rant about something you don't want to hear about like how "the white man is the devil" or some other form of whining, but this guy was rather unique in the homeless style of rant.

So let me run down the events to you. I was standing in the middle of the hill on my steps, enjoying the sun when I spotted him enter my field of vision on the top of the hill. He was screaming rather loudly and obnoxiously, and he was very unstable on his feet. It goes without being said that he was engaging himself in conversation aloud. I heard him yell out, "Yea I used to smoke weed," then he began to laugh really loudly. Then he repeated it and laughed loudly again. Then he mentioned something about doing 3 years, and he laughed again. I was doing my typical "I'm not looking at you dude, I'm looking past you" gaze, as he began to expound on the topic of marijuana. I thought he had some interesting insights.

Suddenly he began talking about the munchies. He continued his conversational style of saying one sentence, and immediately following it up with laughter. Apparently he was upset that he tried to talk about the munchies to someone and they didn't find him funny. He asked himself, "how am I going to be in a room full of people talking about munchies and no one laughs?" Good question. Then he goes on to point out that "people don't know what real munchies are." This statement was followed by the obligatory laugh. He continued on his diatribe, "Munchies are when you want something sweet! Cookies! Pies! Cakes!" You could tell that it was very challenging for him to make these statements while keeping his balance, but he continued with the obligatory laugh. He concluded by saying, "You don't eat no sandwich for no munchies, that's not no munchies, munchies is when you eat something sweet!"

So my question to you is, does this wandering vagrant have a point?

My Sports Hero's: Olajuwon's Greatest Hits

2008-04-16T09:34:00.006-05:00

Olajuwon was just inducted into the basketball hall of fame, and it made me remember how incredible he was as a big man. So now I give Hakeem (aka Akeem) "the dream" (before falsetto)Olajuwon all the praise and props due to him by giving him a big cosignage.

If you've ever seen me ball, its unquestionable the influence that Olajuwon had on my game. Peep his rhythm of movement, its incredible. For that I love Olajuwon. Plus his name is crazy official.

Sidenote: Peep how his blocks are so ill that ref's just don't mind that its actually goal tending!

Remember this?

2008-03-26T13:20:00.000-05:00

This used to be my jam.

Around the world in 5 minutes...

2008-03-26T09:05:00.008-05:00

Oregan man says he's pregnant
Stories like this always get a real good laugh out of me.

Hillary Clinton Lying about having shots busted at her
Even presidential candidates want to seem more thugged out. Hillary claimed she was in Serbia ducking head shots from haters... then CBS put some video up of her chillin'. I blame it on Hip Hop.

I been listening to J Dilla's "Donuts" a lot, and I'm officially co-signing it

NYTimes does write up on "Workplace Bullies"
Ridiculous story on workplace bullies. You know what I say: grow some balls. If not, then just make up a lie about how you were ducking head shots from haters in some foreign nation, it's sure to win the respect and admiration of all of your peers.

Conde Nast's Portfolio attempts some video game humor

Speaking of Video Games, here's the new trailers for GTA IV:

Wasn't really looking forward to this game that much, but this trailer makes it look like it could be funny.

And finally to complete the cycle, let's touch upon sports very shorty.

Hopefully those standings are visible... but the point is simple. The number 8 seed in the west is 5.5 games out of first place. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before.

The playoffs should be fun to watch on the West. I got my money on the Lakers, with Kobe Bryant retaking his throne as the most talked about in the league (quieting that Lebron hype down a little bit).

I also got my eye on Golden State (BTW: I called the Dallas upset last season before the series started). It will all depend on the seeding. If they can avoid the Spurs and the Lakers in the first round, they have a chance to upset whoever they face.

It's kind of crazy that New Orleans is sitting on top of the West right now. Crazy season. If Golden State can face N.O., then I'm calling upset again for the second year in a row. BUT, I must say, my heart probably will be pulling for N.O. to pull some kind of crazy Cinderella run, considering what that city has been through over the past few years.

Once again, I predict Dallas goes down in the first round, and the Rockets and Tracy McGrady will go down in the first round as well, yet again (at which point we can officially call it the curse of Tracy McGrady). BUT, it would be very interesting to see the Rockets go up against Dallas in the first round. It would be the battle of the teams with deceptively good records, and in that case I would have to call it for the Rockets.

Someone Actually Said This To Me Today...

2008-03-19T12:48:00.003-05:00

New series of posts... Someone actually said this to me today... I'm not even going to put these quotes into context when I quote them. Just take the quote as it is...

So... Someone (a white person) actually said this to me today:

"To make up for it, would you be my slave?"

That's not the best part.

"I always wanted a slave..."

This same person said...

"I don't think asians have pubic hair"

2 in one day... WOW!

Random Series 2

2008-03-19T12:35:00.003-05:00

If you don't know what The Random Series is... hurt yourself. Then click here.

Random Series 2

A More Perfect Union

2008-03-19T09:55:00.001-05:00

Here's something to mix it up. This was Obama's big speech addressing race. I didn't get a chance to watch the whole thing yet, but I will later, and maybe update this with some reactions. Regardless, for archival purposes, here is Obama's potentially history making speech.

Unforgivable...

2008-03-16T14:26:00.003-05:00

I'll admit this is pretty dumb, but it made me laugh a few times (ok, it made me laugh kinda hard at a few parts). Its my job as your blogger to bring you different shit. This video right here is another one of them internet fads, like 2girls1cup or whatever, that picks up steam, and people watch it, and when they're done watching they don't know quite why they just watched that.

What can you do?

Coming Soon...

2008-03-12T21:30:00.006-05:00

I been thinking about this one for a while, but I think I'm now ready to officially announce it. In case you didn't know, I have literally, and I mean literally, thousands of beats/instrumentals on lock stash.

As you can see, lately I been on a kind of a instrumental thing. I started messing with Daft Punk lately, and I been messing with some other electronic music for a while, including but not limited to shit like Kraftwerk and Royksopp. I always loved instrumental music.
So coming soon is my own series of instrumentals. My shit is definitely all over the place, drawing influences from anything. So I'ma try to organize them into series such as a "Soul" series, a "Cinematic" series, and a "Year 3000" series. Maybe I'll mix them up a lil' bit too, on some Random Series type shit.

It's gonna be raw, like straight up how I mixed it down on my first try. I got beats dating back to 2003 in their 2003 form, and I'm not going back to change shit! However I had it, is how I'm gonna give it. So expect some distortion, some shit that sounds like it came right out the basement for real. And I'm leaving whatever I named it as the same too. When you're making that many beats, you start to come up with some reckless names. Expect some pure unfiltered art right here. This is for the art crowd.

Either way be on the look out for Knuckstrumentals: Chapter 1... this shouldn't be slept on.

It's time to share with the world.

PS: Shout out to Nunu, I kinda bit your style on this post! Its ok, I named you, among others (i.e. Lacezilla)

Incredible

2008-03-09T13:13:00.003-05:00

These guys are incredible. If you didn't already know, their last album "St. Elsewhere" is a certified modern day classic in my eyes. This album just solidifies Cee Lo as one of the greatest song writers I've ever heard. I'm not even bullshittin you.

Guess What I Just Discovered? 1

2008-03-02T23:41:00.005-05:00

Introducing another one of my bright ideas... Guess What I Just Discovered?

(I need an art designer to create logos for these things)

Ok, give up yet? I just discovered: Daft Punk while MySpace surfing.

TANGENT ALERT

I'm going to go off on a tangent real quick right here about this thing I do called MySpace surfing. The reason for that is simple, yet complex. It seems that during the recent writers strike in Hollywood, all the clever writers got bored and started writing for the average joe, and suddenly the average joe has an endless ammunition of clever quips coupled with dramatic increases in witty sensibility. I'm not mad at yall, carry on. The real purpose of this tangent is to prematurely defend against these witty unpredictable folk who might say, "Oh you MySpace surf? What's that? You weirdo."

It's a replacement activity. As we all know everyone does something. Or maybe we all don't. Well I don't know about you, but I do things. Instead of say, browsing through the entire photo album library of every person I've ever known on Facebook or MySpace, I tend to just bounce around music profiles through the top friends list until I find a piece of music that I like.

TANGENT OVER.

Today I discovered Daft Punk, and I think their music is kind of hot. This is my weekend offering to you. Holler.

Obama got game...

2008-03-01T12:56:00.003-05:00

For all the ballers out there, bet you didn't know Obama had game.

High School Footage

Lefty Three

Yo, say you want about all the issues of racism and sexism that people want to bring up in this election, but Obama seems to me like the most down to earth politician I can remember, ever, really. Like I would wanna chill with this dude, play some ball, talk some shit. Definitely, definitely, gotta be a big part of why he has so much momentum.

I co-sign all day.

He is the fucking man, I'm sorry.

Rory Goldstein in the Booth

2008-02-28T11:44:00.001-05:00

Rory Goldstein going in on the T-Pain effect... theres some things even the T Pain effect can't help. This shit is classic material, good job Lacingtong.

I think its time I make my endorsement...

2008-02-27T11:26:00.007-05:00

Lately it seems everyone has suddenly been bitten by the political bug. Everyone has an opinion, and I think thats great. Therefore I want to make my official endorsement for governor of New York State... Jeff Peress running under the Green Party. He wants to put money back in public schools and legalize marijuana!

Check out his speech

Oh and by the way, he is also the janitor at my school. I'm serious.

**Straight Face**

**Tumbleweed blows through blog**

(For some reason this pic isn't animating so CLICK ON IT)

Air Jordan

2008-02-23T19:48:00.003-05:00

Nike and Jordan, the only companies that truly have me on some brand loyalty shit, majorly. Their marketing is out of control.

Frozen Time Commercial

Bald Jordan vs. Jordan with hair (even tho this is a gatorade commercial)

The failure commercial

What is Love (long one, runs the whole career down)

Random Series 1

2008-02-22T19:38:00.004-05:00

A little background on this post before I commence.

It's been a while now that I've been respected as a good compiler of music. To my credit, I've DJ'd a rundown club in the cuse'... and filled the place beyond capacity (much respect to Jon Jon, who I owe that experience to). I've been producing my "Clue Faker" mixtapes since about the age of 14, and have enjoyed success and a solid reputation as an authority on whats hot within my small community (by urban standards). And then at some point, during my run in the cuse, I began producing the "Random Series" of mixes, which was based on the radio station I had popping on campus within my small community (by rural standards). The random series was created to relax the strain of the 5 hour drive from NYC to the cuse' (Rory Goldstein claims to have done it in 3 hrs, which is definitely a best within the group... my best was clocked at approx 3 hrs 45 mins).

So since I've returned to carrying the MP3 Player in public, I began shuffling through my collection in hopes of creating the next generation of my famous mixes. Needless to say, I've decided to share some of my lists. Random Series has no rules. Any music of any genre can make the cut as long as its hot. Slow, fast, mid tempo, classical even.

And so here is the first list, randomly compiled from a much larger list of music that has all passed the Random Series test. I will not be providing any links, only song titles. But if you see any song on Random Series you've never heard, I suggest you try to get your paws on it. I mean come on, this is the internet, what do I gotta do, spoon feed you the shit?

Random Series 1

Random Series 1

Limited Time Only: F.D.R. makes a stripper anthem

2008-02-21T15:07:00.003-05:00

Just when you thought it was safe to leave the strip club...

This post will self destruct in approx. 48 hrs

The MP3 Player is back out in public

2008-02-19T12:39:00.002-05:00

Yes. After about six months away, I am reclining back into my own little world once again in public, and bringing the mp3 player back out. That is my new piece pictured above. Feel free to recommend me anything I should be listening to, as I now should have the time to listen to it during my ridiculous daily commute. Carry on.

That chick from Flashing Lights

2008-02-15T11:19:00.004-05:00

So inquiring minds wanted to know... who's that shorty from the flashing lights video? Well here is her website, but be warned, the site is not safe for work. Yup she's one of those. Put it like this, that picture above is about the most safe for work I could find on her site, and that was after a bit of browsing. AND I'M AT WORK. I'm committed to this blogging shit baby!

I know, I know, but that's what friends are for buddy. You're welcome.

Cross over, Spin move, Hit em' with the Sham!

2008-02-13T23:30:00.003-05:00

I believe my main man Baron Davis is the most exciting player in the league right now, playing for the most exciting team to watch in the league right now. I gotta give dude his respect by putting my co signage on the man. How did they snub him from the All-Star game? That is a travesty and a supreme miscarriage of basketball justice. He could very easily be the best point guard in the league right now.

His first step is explosive, he can find the open man, his handles are dangerous to the ankles of all who oppose him, his jumper is wet, he utilizes the fade away... I mean what else can I say about this guy before I turn into Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now. Great fucking basketball player.

They showed his game on ESPN tonite, versus the Suns (who made that weird deal for Shaq), and they pulled off the win, Baron Davis 27 pts, 13 asts. And he defers to his team mates, Monta Ellis dropped 37 pts. Sick team, sick player. Makes me wanna strap my sneakers back up.

Get me on the court and I'm trouble, last week messed around and got a triple double.

Kirilenko gets no love in this post. HA!

Flashing Lights

2008-02-13T14:40:00.007-05:00

Kinda weird video right here, but Kanye is kind of a weird dude. But because he's an "artist," I will attempt to interpret this video off watching it once. First thing you noticed was the nice car pulling up (first thing I noticed was that booty tho honestly) in an abandoned desert like area. This reminded me of the movie alpha dog. So I'm thinking this girl is an alpha dog... female dog.

So she sets her clothes on fire. And her body is also smoking. Interesting.

The slow mo is interesting too. I think it symbolizes the surreal feeling that life sometimes has. Or maybe this is one of those chicks that when you see her, it just always seems like shes moving in slow motion. It could also be an excuse for us to get extended shots of her booty, and observe her muscle tone. Its not your average hip hop ass, which is usually much larger, and jiggly-er. But then again Kanye isn't your average rapper is he? Aha!

Then she opens the trunk, and Kanye is in there. This kind of reminds me of the movie casino. I was surprised it didn't remind me of goodfellas, but I think the desert background has a more vegas feel, hence casino.

So then I guess she kills Kanye or beats him up pretty good. We never thought that she would take it this far. But what do we know? This kind of makes the song a lot darker than I originally envisioned it. I mean, based on the songs choice of Strings as a prominent instrument, live strings at that (as opposed to synthesized strings, present in most modern hip hop), it always felt as though the song was trying to capture a lot of emotion. To me, strings have a unique emotional feel to them. So maybe that was his intention all along, but he kind of caught me off guard with the whole murder thing.

Then the song abruptly ends with the digitized "Flashing Lights!" vocal. So basically, taking everything as a whole, lyrics, visuals, and music, I'm feeling like shorty might be fame or hollywood something? She's smoking, she's looking fine as hell, and she has Kanye hostage, then she bashes him up pretty good, maybe kills him. I mean she could just be a shorty too, but with all the current events of celebrity's falling victim to addiction and what not, it could be a commentary.

Regardless, I don't really love the video, and I like the remix with R. Kelly better than the original song. The beat is amazing, and that girl is... she's special.

That's all I got.

UPDATE: I just watched the video for the second time, and I changed my mind. It makes perfect sense now and its a great video.

Feel di Rhythm...

2008-02-06T14:42:00.001-05:00

This is my new shhh. If you can find this, cop that. Sold in most west indian spots.

Fawk the rest. YES!

The "T-Pain Effect"....

2008-01-30T14:46:00.002-05:00

The elusive T-Pain effect is now in the wrong hands.

Yes, that is me.

And then I sat down and really tried to write a song, haha. This is what I came out with. I call it, "Gram ma ma said."

I love this shit!

Lemme put you onto something...

2008-01-24T10:51:00.002-05:00

Yo, lemme put you onto something real quick. Jay Electronica...

Jay Electronica - Victory Is In My Clutches

Jay Electronica - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Yeah... Its not too much times that I'm at a loss for words.

Your Rareness...

2008-01-22T17:37:00.001-05:00

I'm in the library, listening to music on random and Jane Birkin comes on, singing something that doesn't even sound english and I'm like wow, I like this joint. Not only that, but this was sampled in some rap song, I'm sure it was something very underground, when I was in my underground rap phase. Can't recall it, extra to points if you know it. So I decided to take a break and expose you to your rareness...

I googled her and came up with this:

I could work with that... anyway here's a piece of what wikipedia had to say about her:

Birkin emerged in the swinging '60s in London, starring as one of the models in the controversial 1966 film Blowup^[1]. In 1968, Birkin went to France to audition for the lead female role in Slogan. Though she did not speak French, she got the role. She met her future husband Serge Gainsbourg on set.

In 1969, she and Serge Gainsbourg released the song "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you... me neither" or, less literally, "love-hate relationship"), written by Gainsbourg and featuring both of them singing, which caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness. Arguably due in part to the publicity it got from being banned by radio stations in Italy, Spain, and the UK, it was a commercial success all over Europe. The song's fame is a result of its salacious lyrics (sung in French) against a background of female moaning and groaning, culminating in an orgasm at the song's conclusion.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Birkin

This shit made me laugh...

2008-01-21T15:38:00.001-05:00

Mike Jones - Drop and Gimme 50 Digital Version

This shit is kinda funny to me.

Channel Surfing

2008-01-13T14:08:00.001-05:00

What you know about channel surfing and then stopping on the Spanish station just based off of instinct once you saw that senorita talking that guala guala, and doing that dance? Happens to me everytime I channel surf.

I told yall I was gonna start watching TV again this year.

Rapping in Church

2008-01-13T14:00:00.001-05:00

Hilarious. Extra funny to me cause I know what its like to start a freestyle and feel it being wack while actually freestyling, but it being too late to stop, continuing to wackness. HAHA.

Your Rareness has Arrived...

2008-01-09T14:23:00.001-05:00

Amon Duul - Kismet

I came across this track like I came across most of my music collection, totally randomly and by luck. This is one of those tracks that I run on repeat cause its just that sick to me. I googled the name and came up with a wikipedia article breaking down the history of the group. Turns out its a german rock band, even though the music sounded middle eastern to me when I first heard it. I'm not even going to get into the significance of european rock bands doing funk influenced music, but a lot of european rock bands from this period were doing rare and great funk inspred music. Here's some of the wikipedia article...

Amon Düül began in 1967 as a radical political art commune of Munich based artists calling themselves, in part, after the Egyptian Sun God Amon; Düül has been cited as a character from Turkish fiction. [1]

The commune quickly attained cult status for its free form musical improvisations, usually performed around the happenings and demonstrations of the contemporary politicized youth movement. The orthodoxy within the commune had a highly liberal attitude to artistic freedom, valuing enthusiasm and attitude over artistic ability; membership was fluid; anyone who was part of the commune was part of the group. However a faction within was more ambitious, conventional and musically structured, leading to the inevitable split within the collective, which separated in 1969 into the components "Amon Düül I" and "Amon Düül II".
- wikipedia

COS - Postaeolian Train Robbery

Couldn't find much info on COS other than this pic. I'm gathering from the picture that they're another rare and talented funk inspired european funk group from that period of the 60's and 70's. A lot of big 90's hip hop producers fed on these little rare european funk bands for samples. I can't blame them either.

2008

2008-01-05T12:03:00.000-05:00

2008.

Let's switch things up this year.

New Years Resolutions and such?

I'm thinking of taking the year off of rap in more ways than one and taking up some new activities. Podcasting perhaps? That is unchartered territory for me. More of my coveted Mixtapes? Indeed a strong possibility. More physical activity? Haha, I was once a respectable athlete. Venturing into different genres of music? Already started. Reinjecting myself into popular culture? It seems I've missed a lot during my vacation from all things popular. Watching television again? I've heard there have been some great shows that I've been missing (already got all the seasons of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). Rebuilding my wardrobe? You didn't know I had taste like that. Redesigning my living space? 70% complete. Bring the mp3 player back out in public? A strong possibility. Tie all of the diverse influences into one cohesive character? Already making strides. Redefining what I now think is possible? Its been a consistent theme. More actual creative writing on this blog? Are you sure you're ready? (Did you pick up the conclusion of the pattern?)

So what do I have to say about 2007.

Well musically, 2007 was a year where I liked a lot of albums... at first. But then for some reason I was not getting much replay value out of said albums. But 2007 was also a year that saw me abandon the mp3 player in public. So could those two developments be connected in some way? Life is funny like that sometimes right. But strangely, even with the distance I began to put between myself and music, another thing I noticed happening to me and music in 2007... We're getting closer.

Yeah, I know.

Songs with lyrics are becoming less and less tolerable for me (I never thought I would say this but, I'm starting to prefer books as my primary source of words). But 2007 was also a year that saw 3-4 songwriters monopolizing radio (how much songs had the repeated "ay ay ay" this year?). So could those two developments be connected in some way? Life is funny like that sometimes right.

I forgot to mention, even though I was born in an odd year, I love even years.

2008.

Ear to the Internets...

2007-12-19T00:28:00.001-05:00

Every once in a while I randomly surf around the net to see if I can discover something I've never heard before thats actually good. In this day and age of music, you have to do what you have to do to keep the love alive. In my pursuits, I've run into a lot of wack sauce, but every once in a while you find something your feeling.

Well I found this guy 8thW1.

Yeah I don't know what that means either, but I listened to this guys song, A Fool's Lullaby, and was impressed. Then I realized... I love this song.

Download the song here, from the site I originally discovered the guy.

Gotta love random shit.

Don't ever test my gangsterrr, yaerd!

2007-12-17T19:08:00.000-05:00

I thought this was pretty funny. Be sure to cop that new Bow Wow/Omarion album "FaceOff," in stores now, yaerd!

Tasers gone wild...

2007-11-29T14:14:00.000-05:00

So it's been in the news a lot lately. Cops tasering people. Here are some of the stories:

- Taser kills man in Canada

- Cops taser pregnant women in Ohio

- Cop tasers himself

That's what happens when you make Star Wars fans into cops (shout out to Lacingtong!)...

This ain't defcon 9 nigga!

Open acts of war...

2007-11-29T14:03:00.000-05:00

And to think, my day was going real great until I saw this.

Well this is it folks. I didn't really share this much with people, cause to me rap beef is wack, but yeah me and Wayne been throwing subliminals at each other for a minute now, yeah that's me. Whatever, cause like I said rap beef is corny to me.

But this, this is too much. This is an open act of war.

But ya gawn too far biggs

Like for real tho son, how you gonna holler at my girl like that tho kid? This is not a game tho son.

You fuck my girl dog?

I'm calling this...

2007-11-29T11:04:00.000-05:00

Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction [EXCLU]

I'm calling this... video of the year number 1. But 2, this will be a hit. This is a hit record. Check my track record, I might as well be a got damn mafia boss the way I be calling hits.

For example, I called Sisqo "Thong Song" like 3 months before it came out, knew it was a hit. Not sure if thats something to be proud about, but fuck it, I do this!

Snoop, if your reading this, I wanna be like you one day.

Where my money at??

2007-11-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

Wyclef has always been one of my fav artists, even back since the fugees. I remember I used to get made fun of on the block as a kid for liking Wyclef's "Carnival" album, singing that Gauntadamera on them.

His new album is tight, real worldly, which is kind of right up my alley (yeah, I been a few places). The sequel's never better than the original though, so check that first album, The Carnival... one of my all time fav's.

I Think I'm In Love

2007-11-17T01:59:00.000-05:00

Yes. You read that right. And I know what your thinking.

"IN LOVE? You sure about that son?"

I mean you never know but I Think I'm sure.

Lemme explain it a lil, because this isn't just like some shit I came up with willy nilly like that. Nah, nah... not at all, this truly requires explaining. I got a musical crush on Amerie. I usually don't listen to female artists. Its just a matter of preference (no its not, I'm just sexist! nijk). But I'll listen to some Amerie though. And there in lies the difference. The difference between Amerie and all these other R&B chicks.

Did I mention I love her.

This post has been brought to you in part by:
Amerie... and god bless her parents.

Chillin in the Library, listenin to...

2007-10-30T11:47:00.000-05:00

Yea man. So listen, I'm sitting in the library right now, I got this one lil' private room I chill in to do my work. Work hardly gets done...

Today I distracted myself by messing with this beat making software I just put on my laptop (FL Studio), and I came up with this jawn. I don't really feel like writing right now, so see if you can catch my vibe thru the music.

Keep in mind that I mixed this on laptop speakers while sitting in a library. I'll prolly mix it and get it to bang a lil harder and cleaner when I got some time. But its spur of the moment shit like this that blogs are made for right?

On some other shhh...

2007-10-26T11:17:00.000-05:00

You ever went thru a phase where u started to get on some other shit? Let me start by defining "other shit" as I see it. "Other shit" is any shit that is different than the prior shit you were accustomed to being on. So what might be "other shit" to me, might be normal shit to you, and vice versa.

It's kind of like back when I first went to college, and my roommate was on some "other shit." He looked at me like I was on some "other shit." See but we kind of embraced each others shit. Eventually we influenced each others shit, and broadened each others shit. What was "other shit" to me then, is now normal shit to me. It's like the natural cycle of life, of growth... evolution even.

Back then it was Pink Floyd. That was "other shit" in my eyes. Now, its a little bigger than that (no disrespect to Pink Floyd of course). Not exactly sure where I'm going with this, but fuck it, that's what blogs are for right?

This post has been brought to you in part by:
Random events in life that catch you totally by surprise.

American Gangster - Fallin'

2007-10-24T10:25:00.000-05:00

Firstly, this post is inspired by the Jay-Z track "Fallin'," which is available in snippet form here. I know it's only a snippet, and you can barely get anything from it, but I took a whole lot from it. Why? Because circa 2003/2004, when I was flippin' samples for fun, I was pissy drunk listening to Stylistics' tunes (RIP BIG), and caught the exact same loop, and flipped it in almost the exact same way. It's a bitter sweet feeling.

At least I know me and Jay have similar taste in music (I know... this means nothing, but let a nigga dream).

Secondly, because I'm sitting in class, and I'm bored (and I kind of enjoy writing), I decided to flex some of my literary muscle by interpreting the phrase "American Gangster - Fallin'"

Gangster. A term in the hip hop community that is as overused as SuperHead's... Head.

Fallin'. Time and time again we see the figures who many might consider "Gangster," fallin'. Fallin' victim to the pitfalls of sudden success, Fallin' victim to the mental impressions of American ghetto life, or Fallin' from grace? Perhaps its all three.

In my humble opinion the word itself has fallen. It has fallen out of favor with me. Everyone's a gangster. Too many movies. Too many rap songs. Too much Mary Jane. Now you really believe it. Now you think its real. Now you think thats you.

Now something real happens and you can't turn back. American Gangster. Fallin'.

This post has been brought to you in part by:
Jay-Z's "American Gangster"
The current state of Hip Hop culture
The major motion picture "Alpha Dog"

P.S. The album sounds great so far.

I'm back...

2007-09-17T12:44:00.000-05:00

Aight, I'm back on my blogging shit, just for the hell of it. Let's see how long this lasts...

So first lemme make my big announcement:

I think I'm going back to just being a fan. For those of you who know me, you might know what I mean when I say this. I forgot who said it, but someone was saying how nowadays fans aren't fans anymore. They are A&R's, chatting about first week sales, and breaking down things in music that generally have nothing to do with the music itself, i.e. "M.C. Guns Go Bang caught 3 bodies though, son is real!"

I'm done with that.

FOREVER.

AND EVER.

Wait for my next post for more on this sentiment...

Just to get back into the swing of things, let's run down some random things on my mind:

- Everyone was shocked about Britney, but what did you expect from shorty? So you know... and yea, that's on my mind too...

- Kanye over 50. I think its a big symbolic win for the substance in art crowd, whom I feel apart of. Who can capitalize off of this event and maybe turn it into a bigger movement? Lupe, if you are what you say you are...

- With that said, I liked a few joints on the 50 album. It's not garbage, 50 has always been a good rapper, even back before he got shot. Problem with the guy is, he plays it a little too safe. It's pretty much the same problem with a lotta guys. That's just my opinion though.

- With that said, Kanye took more risks musically, and created something different that feels honest and dare I say, Happy. I can't remember the last time I heard a hip hop album that feels this happy. It's prompted a lot of the internet guys to call Graduation a R&B album. Haha, you guys are funny.

- Finally, I kinda like that new Wu-Tang song. If you don't know, I put Wu-Tang up at #1 in terms of best group ever in Hip Hop. I miss this feeling in rap. The "I dont give a fuck about you or nothing else" but done in a more intellectual and artistic way. Grab it here if you haven't heard it.

That's a wrap on me for now folks. Check back in the coming days and weeks, as I plan to continue this...

I got a lotta shit on my chest, and niggas tryna put more on it...

Supersoak that Hoe

2007-09-17T12:38:00.000-05:00

Don't know why this shit is so funny to me, but it is yo.

I don't see how you could hate this song, its incredible, even if its barely English. Y'all be the same ones dancing to reggaeton, knowing you dont understand that shit either.

To catch a Predator...

2007-08-09T22:28:00.000-05:00

Sgood.

I was watching Predator the other nite. It's a personal favorite of mine.

Noticed something I never really noticed before about the movie though.

The part when Arnold and Apollo Creed (RIP) and the rest of the goons, including that big black dude from fitty cent's movie (best character in the movie), run up on those south american cats (mexicans perhaps?), and kill them. You ever notice how much ammo they wasted right there. The one dude shot like at least 10 grenades. Arnold was pretty much emptying assault rifle clips into one dudes chest. Large calibur weapons you know. Just doesn't make any sense. You think that subconsciously has to do with why America is so fat?

I'm going to see Rush Hour 3 now.

Holler.

Will make me into a child again...

2007-03-30T18:35:00.000-05:00