In a quick follow-up to our last post about Shaq dropping a brutal freestyle, apparently I wasn’t the only one unimpressed with his rap.
Shaq was stripped of his honourary Sheriff’s deputy badge, which I guess is a sad thing?
“Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the Phoenix Suns centre’s use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language left him no choice. Arpaio made Shaq a special deputy in January and promoted him to colonel of his largely ceremonial posse earlier this month.”
I’ve never heard of a freestyle costing someone their job, but I guess I shouldn’t be particularly surprised. Poor Shaq!
It’s about time for some new auditory goodness. In today’s edition, The Cool Kids recall the age of mulletts and leg warmers, Marlena Shaw’s classic ode to the West Coast gets remixed and Henry Mancini is sampled to ill effect.
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Comprised of Midwest emcees Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish, The Cool Kids are making waves for their unique style. On “88″ – released last year – the duo take listeners back to the heady days of the late ’80s. With an irresistble electro beat, raps about throwback kicks (“got my foot lookin’ like an ’88 draft pick”), and references to the Golden Age, ”88″ is a winner. Courtesty of Soul Sides’s .
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Another Soul Sides find, this remix of Marlena Shaw’s oft-sampled classic “California Soul” verges on repetitiveness, but is funky enough to keep you from dozing off. As Oliver Wang puts it, “instead of piling on, he [Diplo] pulls back, keeping the audience anticipating – but never quite delivering – the crashboombam they expect, at least until the very end where he brings back those gorgeous strings again.”
DJ Noodles –
, everyone and their dog has been remixing “A Milli”, the unofficial single from Lil’ Wayne’s newest album. And it’s not just cats you’d expect, like Chris Brown or Young Jeezy. Jay-Z has recorded a remix, and so has Jadakiss. Even LL Cool J is in on the action! If you want to check ‘em out, visit Vibesource (linked to above) to download DJ Noodle’s compilation of the best of the bunch.
Crate Kings is an online resource for beat makers. Recently, several of the site’s finest producers each produced a beat using only Henry Mancini samples. The result – linked to above – is a truly impressive mix that will have you jonesing to rent Breakfast At Tiffany’s.
The Pharcyde – Passin’ Me By (DJ Z-Trip Remix)
I first heard about DJ Z-Trip a few days ago, when I found out he was coming to Victoria as part of the festival planned for August. I decided to see what he was all about, so I did a quick search. The fourth or fifth result was this incredible and unexpected remix of “Passin’ Me By.” Now I’m even more stoked for August.
This is a terribly entertaining and awful freestyle by Shaquille O’Neal, that giant pro basketball player. We all know he had beef with Kobe Bryant, but you can hear him mock Kobe for this whole little verse he spits. Nothing says lyrical genius like the chorus “Kobe, tell me how my ass taste.” Someone get this man a Pulitzer.
Besides Common’s “” – whose initial brilliance has since been dimmed by seemingly endless imitations - J-Live’s second verse on “Timeless” may be the finest example of extended metaphor in hip-hop. A critique of the contemporary African American condition, J-Live’s second 16 on “Timeless” (the 10th track on his excellent album The Best Part) is made more poignent – and ironic – by virtue of his decision to use basketball as a metaphor. After all, how often have we heard about the facing inner city (whatever that means) kids of colour: that success is only possible through sports or rap? By framing the struggle in terms of basketball, J-Live challenges the notion that African Americans are limited in their potential, or, for that matter, only capable of understanding their condition in the narrow, crude lexicon of sport.
J-Live also uses the verse to address divisions within African American society. Although he doesn’t name any names, it’s not hard to imagine who he’s referring to in lines like: “high scorers check stats but they still have yet to win” and “they can’t back their home team ’cause they got no guts.” J-Live is unequivocal: his community’s rich and powerful are to blame for their self-interest (“high scorers check stats”), ethical bankruptcy (“power corrupts”), and failure to effect real change, despite their potential to do so (“’cause they got no guts”). For J-Live, the losers of this sorry situation are the people trying to make an honest living – the “hardest working squard” who get “left with the donut.”
The song is made even better by its dope, jazzy beat and J-Live’s poetic flow. Dude is honestly one of the most underrated cats around, and this song is further evidence of his mad talent. Check it out below, followed by the lyrics to the second verse, which starts at about 1:26.
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“What do you do when you got 20 two minute tasks
And 10 minutes to deal with it
And for the first 5 you bullshitted
The scenario really best describes our folks
Its like devils got plans and niggas got jokes
Like an underdog team got hopes, but
Hoop dream buzzer-beaters choke when y’all triple teamed pointguards go nuts
Power corrupts
And its a shame ’cause the hardest working squad gets left with the donut
The front runners say ‘so what?’
They can’t back their home team ’cause they got no guts
And high scorers check stats but they still have yet to win
Plus tomorrow they’ll be riding the bench once again, so you see
In this game of life I’m not trying to be the M.V.P
‘Cause the enemy’s the clock and the referee
Because its obvious the world is out of order
I hope you wake up because we in the fourth quarter y’all … Timeless”
4080 Records is no stranger to the Zimbabwe controversy. We’ve been reporting on the developments there for quite some time now, and it is with a heavy heart that I must announce that Morgan Tsvingrai has pulled out of the Presidential Race.
Ever since he narrowly won the election a few months ago, there has been major speculation about what the “run-off” between Tsvingrai and Robert Mugabe would be like. Pretty much everyone has reported that there is a better chance of Mike Jones winning a grammy than of this election being free and fair.
There has been a steadily growing campaign of violence against supporters of Tsvingrai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Mugabe has been blaming this on Tsvingrai, somehow claiming that he’s doing this to make Mugabe look bad. Looking beyond the amusing denials of a senile old man, it is a definite tragedy that this is continuing. 70 MDC supporters have been killed so far, and many more have been detained or beaten. A major opposition figure is even currently charged with treason, which could ultimately result in the death penalty.
Mugabe has pulled out all the stops, even getting the police to ban opposition rallies. Somehow, the Zimbabwe court system overturned this ban and gave the opposition permission to hold their rally and campaign. But the MDC rally was blocked. This is apparently what caused Tsvingrai to finally pull out.
Here’s what he says:
“Conditions as of today do not permit the holding of a credible poll,” Mr. Tsvangirai told a hastily arranged news conference in Harare.
“We can’t ask the people to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote will cost their lives. We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an election.”
It’s true that the people of Zimbabwe (who are suffering insanely under the rule of Mugabe) were brave in voting against him in the first poll. In a society that is as tightly controlled as Zim, it will be dangerous for them to try and vote against him again, unless the world pays closer attention.
It is majorly the fault of the neighbouring nations, especially South Africa. It is with their support that Mugabe is able to continue his reign. In recent weeks, more and more leaders have begun to turn against Mugabe, except for Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa. If he doesn’t add his voice to the calls for Mugabe to step down, then Mugabe will likely continue his rule for a few years to come.
By not contesting this run-off, Tsvingrai will have handed a default victory to Mugabe. He’s forfeiting, essentially.
It’s a sad day for Zim, and hopefully the world will take notice.
As most of you know, George Carlin passed away a few days ago. He was an extraordinarily talented comedian who had one of the dirtiest mouths I’ve ever seen.
He was irreverent, political, and fearless. Carlin was one of the few comedians out there who seriously didn’t seem to care who he offended, and yet people loved him. The internet is abuzz with tributes to him, most of them talking about the 7 Words you Can Never Say on Television. This routine, (embedded below since it’s just THAT popular) apparently led to a major Court ruling on broadcast standards.
Carlin was the inspiration for many of the new generation of comedians. His dry delivery style is rather hilarious, and I think his loss will definitely be felt for a while.
This has been a tragic month, losing a few respected icons in entertainment and news.
[Source: , ]
The is a wonderful idea. It’s a music festival meant to promote spiritual and religious understanding amongst faiths. It’s named after a Moroccan holy city and is still held there.
People fly in from all over the world to see performances of different styles. Sufi musicians perform with gospel performers, or to Afro-Rock artists and folk singers.
A pretty admirable thing. You can listen to the NPR broadcast . The 2007 festival was a huge tribute to the Islamic poet Rumi, and I can only imagine what 2008 will bring.
At the same time as the festival, they organize what is called the , which is a more sombre discussion amongst politicians and ideologues to break down these various barriers and solve some of the major problems.
In the Stanley Cup Finals of unexpected musical phenomena, Bash’d would sweep any opponent in four games (so would that metaphor, in the Stanley Cup Finals of bizarre, barely workable literary devices). The brainchild of writer/actors Chris Craddock (“T-Bag”) and Nathan Cuckow (“Feminem”), Bash’d is a gay rap opera starring two white Canadians. And no, that acid isn’t finally kicking in – you just read a sentence containing the words “a gay rap opera starring two white Canadians.”
to Variety magazine, it isn’t as bad as you’d think. In the past, any mention of the word “rap” within about thirty words of the phrase “white Canadians” was a signal to brace oneself for a painful account of terrible, embarassing music. Variety brings up , for example. I’d throw in as well. Fortunately, Craddock and Cuckow come correct, delivering “some radio-worthy hip-hop.”
Even better, the duo also put a “smart spin on gay rights.” By realistically portraying ”each facet of the … debate,” Craddock and Cuckow emphasize the ambiguity inherent in an issue like the gay community’s “relationship to straight culture.” As the author of the Variety article notes, “the increasing acceptance of gay marriage only propels both sides: From one vantage point, marriage equality grants everyone the same human dignity, but from another, it assimilates gay people into hostile hetero traditions.” There are no easy answers. Craddock and Cuckow are, apparently, unafraid to explore these questions.
And, while it’s always good to see a reasoned, creative addition to the gay rights debate, it’s almost as good to see Canadian hip-hop get some props.
is an emcee, radio host, and erstwile reporter. He performed for quite a while with a group called , before leaving them earlier this year. He doesn’t run with the most original name on the block, so make sure you follow the links to find out a little more about him.
I believe he’s off pursuing a solo career at this point, but details are rather sketchy. He is, as far as I can tell, still part of the Hip Hop Collective, a powerless group based out of the University of Florida.
Still, I’m a fan. His lyrics aren’t overly complex, but he’s got a solid flow and I’ve got some hopes for him to produce some better fidelity stuff in the future.
Listen to One Piece at a Time below.
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In a quick follow-up to our last post about Shaq dropping a brutal freestyle, apparently I wasn’t the only one unimpressed with his rap.
The is a wonderful idea. It’s a music festival meant to promote spiritual and religious understanding amongst faiths. It’s named after a Moroccan holy city and is still held there.
