Oh man, I cannot wait for this! If you haven’t seen the show, Dexter, you are not living your life the proper way. It’s a huge success, and follows Michael C. Hall as a serial killer that you can’t help but root for. And our boy Mos Def will be appearing on the upcoming season. I’ve been a fan of Mos’ acting career (mostly), and I’m excited to see what he does with this role.
According to Billboard, Mos will play “a hardened ex-con who claims to have found religion yet seems to continually find himself surrounded by violence,” and Dexter will show “who he really is.”
I woke up this morning and decided to check the news just like any other day. I was still blinking away the sleep when up popped a post from that Nate Dogg has passed away at the age of 41.
While the cause of his passing is still yet unknown, we here at 4080 wanted to take the chance to pay a small tribute to him.
While Nate hasn’t released much since 2008, much of that can be attributed to his health problems in recent years. Nate Dogg suffered two strokes back in 2007/2008. Regardless of his modern day output, the man was a huge influence on hip hop. It seemed more and more that Nate’s biggest strength was the skill he brought to his collaborations. Even if his success as a solo artist was not as high as hoped, his efforts as a featured guest on numerous songs really added something special to the mix.
Don’t believe me? Remember his turn on Warren G’s Regulators?
He’s done work with everyone from Mos Def to 50 Cent, and did so with the same skill and style that made him famous. Even if you don’t love the work he’s done, he’s been a big part of some massive, massive hits. I mean, Ludacris’ Area Codes isn’t exactly what I want in my headphones, but you can’t doubt that the song blew up.
Rest In Peace, Nate Dogg. You had a hell of a career.
No, this is not a repeat from 1997. , posted by CNN in January of 2011, notes that the LAPD somehow has new leads after many, many years of failure in catching anyone for Biggie’s murder.
The CNN story, while interesting, really offered nothing new on the crime and really no major detials of the big break. The gist of the article is in the excerpt below:
Retired Los Angeles Police Detective Russell Poole, who worked on the Wallace case, told CNN that he believes Knight was behind the murder, even though the Death Row Records’ boss was serving time on a probation violation at the time.
“Suge Knight ordered the hit,” Poole said, adding that he believes it was arranged by Reggie Wright Jr., who headed security for Death Row Records.
Reggie Wright Jr. told CNN he had nothing to do with the murder, and Knight has repeatedly said he had nothing to do with the crime. Poole said he retired early from the LAPD, in part, because he was thwarted in following leads in the Wallace case involving police officers, some of whom worked off-duty for Death Row Records.
“I think I was getting too close to the truth,” Poole said. “I think they feared that the truth would be a scandal.”
One of the officers Poole said was involved is David Mack, who was sent to prison for robbing a bank in 1997, the same year Wallace was killed.
Poole said Mack owned the same type of car driven by the gunman who shot Wallace, and Poole said a friend of Mack’s resembles a police sketch of the shooter.
Basically conjecture and conspiracy theories at this point. Still, at least something is starting to happen. Now in another 20 years they may get around to looking into Tupac’s murder too.
Apparently we here at 4080 got a little too wrapped up in ourselves an missed a big album drop this past year. Reflection Eternal, the hip hop team made up of Taliban Kweli and Hi-Tek have been consistently making solid hip hop that dwarfs any of their solo stuff.
Pitchfork’s review of their latest album (http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14292-revolutions-per-minute/) speaks pretty damn highly of it. The album, titled Revolutions per Minute, has garnered a solid following. Pitchfork also notes that while it is not a momentous revival, it is still a worthy record.
” But those are minor demerits, and the things people do listen for– conscious yet unpretentious lyricism delivered with acrobatic dexterity over on-point, no-gimmick beats– are all over this album. Kweli and Hi-Tek never had to rework their styles to stay on the cusp of mainstream-name status, so they’ve spent more time playing to their strengths than distracting themselves from them.”
I’m pretty down with it, and very much agree. While it doesn’t shift the musical landscape, it is very much an album I plan to throw on again.
Apparently it’s a young one known as the . It’s pretty funny, and actually seems to have taken quite a bit of effort. His was overwhelemed, so I couldn’t access it. But it seems like this kid is blowing up.
The New York Daily News ran a story on him, where he talks about his inspiration for the track.
"I didn’t like the way people were staring at my mother when I walked down the street. It was very offending," the teen said.
"Every kid goes through that; every mother goes through that.
"Women, they are not pieces of meat. They are human beings. They should be respected," he added. "Men should know better."
Brian, a 5-foot-3 high school freshman, said he was infuriated by drooling men hollering, "Yo, Ma! What’s good, Ma?" at his mother on the street.
"I decided instead of being violent, and going about it the wrong way, I’d put it on a record," he said. "It’s a track everyone can relate to. I don’t like people lookin’ at my moms. I’m pretty sure nobody likes it."
Read more:
At least the kid’s heart is in the right place. And remember how was I saying the kid is blowing up? Turns out he’s opening for Fabolous soon.
So it’s been a LA minute since I’ve posted anything (yeah, it’s a phrase I just invented), but this was a little too good not to post. I think over the years, my opinion towards Timberlake has softened a lot. I’ve been a big backer of Fallon for a while though. I may have doubted him a little when I heard the Roots were moving to become a talk show backup band, but I stand corrected. Fallon’s been a bastion of hip hop on TV, and has had some of the best music acts perform live regardless of genre. So the other night, Fallon had Justin Timberlake on to talk about JT’s role in The Social Network. While on, they got chatting about JT’s love for hip hop. And, apparently, Sugar Hill Gang opened for N’Sync back in the day. Who knew? The two of them decided to bust out in what was actually a pretty awesome "evolution of hip hop" type video. Check it out.
. This t-shirt from Urban Outfitters made me laugh pretty damn hard. I remember the days when people used to say this sort of message about someone and a) actually mean it and b) the person actually deserved it.
The wrote a fairly unremarkable piece on hip hop beefs in 2009. The focus of the article was on some simmering beef between Joe Budden and half the Wu-Tang nation. The story goes that Joe Budden wasn’t too happy when Method Man beat him on a poll by the defunct-and-reborn Vibe Magazine. He made a couple of brash statements, and the Wu responded.
It seems like Raekwon took it the most personally, and tensions simmered between Joe and Rae, culminating in an alleged assault on Joe Budden. Budden made the situation public by posting a little video diary online and talking about it.
The only thing I found interesting about the article was the focus on technology in modern hip hop beefs. The author had this to say about the situation:
The supposed attack took place backstage at the Los Angeles date of the Rock the Bells tour, at which both Raekwon and Slaughterhouse were performing. According to Mr. Budden and Mickey Factz, another rapper in the room at the time, the incident was being filmed by a member of Raekwon’s camp, presumably so that Mr. Budden’s primary tool, the Internet, could later be used against him.
If so, it was a mark of modern savvy on the part of Raekwon, a product of the 1990s, an era in which hip-hop beefs were just as likely to play out behind closed doors as on records.
More importantly, I think, was this simple sentence. It both castigates the Wu-Tang clan as being out of touch and seems to suggest that Joe Budden is somehow ahead of the game.
In going online with his gripes about the Vibe list, Mr. Budden was working from an updated playbook, one that most likely caught Raekwon and Method Man, used to the unchallenged public respect of their successors, off guard.
I find it hard to believe that anyone can see a video diary as being a remarkable use of technology that woudl catch anyone off guard, but I can see the author’s point. It may be something that didn’t use to happen as much, in that beefs used to be made public through the odd-interview but primarily through disses at shows and tracks packed with insults. Rappers didn’t use to jump on YouTube to complain about each other.
The article is worth a read. Jon Caramanica makes some good points regarding Budden’s use of the internet to remain relevant, and has some insight to Raekwon’s behaviour.
I’m a big fan of this track, which is something that landed in my lap from one of the far reaches of the internet. It’s totally possible that many of you out there have heard this, in which case feel free to throw some heat my way in the comments below.
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It’s got a very laid back and jazzy beat assembled by Skiggy, and the emcees each deliver a sophisticated verse that’s also unique. The first verse is all about mother nature, and something in the way that it’s delivered hits the right spot.
If you’ve got a couple of hours to spare, check this out. presents the 50 Greatest Samples in Hip Hop History. Kon and Amir, the authors of this mega-post, do a pretty good job of keeping things simple. They present the original track (full length) give their opinion on it and how it emerged into hip hop, then present an example of a new track that sampled it. They let you listen to all the full-length stuff, so I’m pretty stoked about it.
. This t-shirt from Urban Outfitters made me laugh pretty damn hard. I remember the days when people used to say this sort of message about someone and a) actually mean it and b) the person actually deserved it.
