Movie Review: Funny People

When I walked out of the theater after watching Funny People the first thing I thought was exactly the first thing I knew I would think: Needs more Rza! But honestly, other than that Funny People is a good movie, until it takes a dramatic turn for the worst at the end.
The film stars Adam Sandler as Comedian George Simmons, a stand-up comedian turned movie star who could be compared to the real life Sandler, though I was more reminded of Eddie Murphy. At the start of the movie Simmons learns that he has a debilitating blood disease, with only an 8% chance at survival. Depressed, Simmons makes a surprise return to a standup club, to the surprise of opener Leo Koenig (Jonah Hill) and the guy who has to follow Simmons up, Ira Wright (Seth Rogan). Wright and Koenig share an apartment with Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman), an aspiring actor who was just cast in the lead of the TV series Yo Teach! (Think welcome back Carter on Nickelodeon).

Ira isn’t too great at standup, Leo attributes this to his weight loss saying that average looking guys can’t be funny. Ira even ends up paying his co-worker (RZA) to go see his show. Simmons, however sees something in the performance, especially how Ira is able to capitalize off Simmons weak routine prior to his own. The Next day he calls Ira to ask for the two roomies help writing jokes.

Simmons begins doing more standup with Ira as his opening act. He also becomes his Simmons secretary, driver and the person who talks him to sleep. While dealing with serious issues like telling parents and loved ones about his disease, the movie makes no missteps, with seriously funny standup bits and visits to the doctor’s office. The film also features cameos from celebrities and comedians, but Eminem’s cameo was probably the show stealer.

This takes us to an hour and a half in the movie, things are going well and I’m about to give it four to four and half star rating. Until Simmons finds out that the disease is disappearing. This is especially hard to break to his ex-fiancée Laura Anderson, (Director Judd Apatow’s wife, Leslie Mann) who George reconnected with during his farewell tour. Though in perfect health, Simmons uses the opportunity to rekindle the flame, at Anderson’s house nonetheless. While Ira is left to look at the children, his original unease about Laura is reinforced by the arrival of Laura’s husband Clarke (Eric Bana). From here the film takes some strange turns, while supposedly dealing with real life issues, this part of the film is dragged out, boring and unnecessary. In the end, everything is patched together again.

I would highly suggest seeing funny people, just not the full movie. 2.5/5 stars

Grand Puba & Lord Jamar . Tony Touch Freestyle

Wu-Tang Chamber Music- Album Review

After the disaster that was 8 diagrams, RZA must have got back in the lab and realized what fans of the Wu actually wanted. Hard rhymes over beats that can at least be considered "Hip-Hop" as opposed to "experimental". The production on this record is overseen by RZA, but the whole album uses live instrumentation from the group "The Revelations". It also features M.O.P.'s Lil' Fame producing a few tracks as well.

The album features all but three (living) members of the original clan. This is surprising considering the three, GZA, Method Man, and Masta Killa, were the least vocal in their displeasure of the last Wu-Tang album. In their place, the guest appearances may surprise, as all are credible established rappers. This includes Masta Ace, Cormega, Sean Price (BCC), Havoc (Mobb Deep), M.O.P., Kool G Rap as well as AZ and Sadat X, who have basically been written off in the last few years.

So what does a bunch of 30-40 yr old rappers over live instrumentation overseen by RZA create? The answer is the best album of 2009 so far.

The CD starts with an interlude called "Redemption" that uses old Kung-Fu movie voice samples calling for the clan to reclaim it's Honor. The theme of Movie samples, as well as RZA speaking on Wu-Tang wisdom and spirtuality, peices the album together when the music isn't playing. Only 8 of the 17 tracks on this album are actual songs.

The album starts with "Kill to Hard" features Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Ace. Wu-Tang's weakest member holds his own against two lyrical giants in rare form. The production is new, sharp and still Wu-Tang, setting the precedent for the album.

"Harbor Masters" with Ghostface, AZ and Deck features all three MC's pacing themselves over a slow drum beat. With Ghostface and two rappers that many would consider washed-up, AZ and Deck don't miss a beat. In fact, this album may be The Rebel-INS resurrection, as he is back in vintage, show stealing form. Next up is "Radiant Jewels", featuring Raekwon, Cormega and Sean Price. All three lyricist are trying to out-do each other while not ruining the flow of another excellent song.

"I wish you were here" is Ghostface in R&B form with NaS associate Tre Williams, who has proven to be a excellent singer to those familiar with him. Ghost spits a few gem's to the lady's as well "My minds telling me to stay calm, I'm tryin to get it off like a G bomb/ on top of your skin, I'm sliding it in, when I'm done you can wake it up and ride it again".

Any fan of 90's gangsta rap salivates over the dream Raekwon, Kool G Rap and M.O.P. collaboration. "Ill figures" somehow lives up to that guest list over a slow beat, Rae and G Rap slow their flows up and get lyrical. M.O.P. still uses the scream delivery, and yet they make it work. This is by far the best song this reviewer has heard all year.

"Evil Deeds" with Havoc, RZA and Ghostface and "Sound the Horns" with Deck, U-God and Brand Nubian's own Sadat X are better than most rappers best songs, though both suffer from weak choruses. The last official song on the album is probably the weakest, produced and performed by RZA, "NYC Crack" is still not a throwaway song.

With Cuban Linx 2 becoming some sort of a hostage crisis, Wu fans will be held over by this stunningly well done collaboration album. Certainly, the Wu-Tang clan has regained it's honor with this release. 4.5/5

Detroit got this right

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4297296

Doesn't make up for Darko, AI and never adding pieces besides Antonio McDyess after the championship run.

Most Unstoppable Shot

The other day I was shooting around at the YMCA with my friend and I practiced some sky hooks. He laughed at me and asked my why I was shooting that way, to which i replied it is the best shot you can take. He found this funny and asked why nobody used it. So why doesn't anybody take that shot? Maybe because nobody takes that shot? Because it just looks different?

J.A. Adande of ESPN did a article on the skyhook that discusses why they move is no longer used as well as exploring Kareem Abdul-Jabar's greatness. With lifetime Laker fan writing it, the move was glorified but rightfully so. The gem is watching the accompanied video many coaches and players (even Dwight Howard) talk about the move. Kareem never got blocked by his defender, this includes examples Wilt Chamberlain and Manute Bol. He was the leagues leading scorer and was first option 18 of those 20 years played. The page also explores why players no longer use it (Style, Difficulty, It's Kareem's Move).

The General Consensus is that the skyhook is the greatest shot ever.

check the article here:

Ghost, AZ, Deck

Listen to "Harbormasters" off Wu-Tang: Chamber music, This album will be comming out June 30th.

Jay Stay Paid: Album Review

Three days before James (J-Dee/J Dilla) Yancey died he released the Critically Acclaimed album Donuts. The next release, The Shining came later in 2006. After this a struggle for the rights to the Yancey estate occurred. During that time Busta Rhymes was sued for releasing the free download mixtape Dilligence, and has since swore from using Dilla's music. But, recently "Ma" Yancey has obtained the rights to Dilla's estate. So how does the average fan know this was the right person to entrust it to? Because she hired Dilla's musical idol Pete Rock to help executive produce the project. Produced as a radio station broadcasting by Pete, Jay Stay Paid is Dilla's 5th solo album.


Jay Stay paid totals 28 tracks, about half are under 2 minutes, 10 songs feature vocals by rappers. As far as the guest list, the artist selection is true to what Dilla would have picked himself for good: Raekwon, Havoc (Mobb Deep), Doom, Black Thought (The Roots) and Lil' Fame of M.O.P headline while Detroit Rappers like Frank Nitti (Frank & Dank), Illa J and Danny Brown also appear on the album.


Jay Stay Paid starts off a little slow, but once it kicks in, it kicks hard. Listeners will certainly be able to jam to almost any instrumental on this album. Filled with soulful and creative samples samples, the best in Dilla is certainly showcased. Pete Rock did his job, and for fan's of Dilla will surely be happy with the beat selection.


The tracks that highlight this album include "Reality TV" by Black Thought. The Roots front man tells the story about his baby-mother who ignores all the problems in the world to instead watch Reality TV shows. The song cleverly uses Reality TV as a basis for the rhymes : "When I drop a super sweet 16, she's day dreaming of becoming Miss Rap Supreme". And "Who rout like Daddy's girls outta Run's house?". "24k Rap" By Havoc and Raekwon goes back to hard rhymes with a different Dilla flavor.


"Dilla Bot Vs. The Hybrid" is a good instrumental with a song that it terribly executed in whole, while "See That Boy Fly" with Illa J & Cue D, wears off by the second listen.


Still, almost all these instrumentals hit right, and this a good album all the way through for any listener. With Pete Rock picking beats and a guest list that certainly could have appeared on any Dilla albums, fans and newcomers a like will be pleased. 4/5

Lost albums

Hey, I guess Mos Def has a new CD coming out June 9th. Titled "The Ecstatic" it will feature production from J-Dilla, Madlib and some no-names. The album snippets don't sound too bad: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/mixtape/id.822/title.mos-def-the-ecstatic-album-snippets

NaS & Kelis, FAIL.

So it appear's Jay-Z won another battle with NaS. While Jay bagged "the hottest chick in the game", NaS tattooed the "Milkshake" singers name on his arm and proclaimed he had found love. Hip-Hops second couple behind B&J.

As Jay-Z said "smarten up NaS".

The thing that gets to me, and I'm sure a lot of NaS fan's is that your favorite (and my former) artist can never seem to make wise decisions. Let's look at some things on NaS's track record.

-Failing on an album featuring AZ, Foxy Brown and Nature produced by Dr. Dre and Trackmasters, the hottest two producers at the time.

-NaStradamus and QB's finest, also known as NaS's "break" from the music industry in Stillmatic.

-Beefing with artist he put on like Cormega, Nature, Lake, 50 cent instead of signing them to record deals.

-Abandoning DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Large Professor production for DJ Toompt, Chris Webber and Green Lantern.

-Saying fuck Hot 97 after they didn't allow him to mock-lynch a Jay-Z doll at summer jam.

-The title of his last album

The list goes on...

Anyways the point being the Kelis decision could have never been a good one. The breakup is rumored to be because Kelis has an old sex tape with another rapper coming out. After "Milkshake", would you think she was an innocent girl with nothing hidden about her sexual past? NaS has a long and well documented past of sexual exploits. And yet 4 years into marriage, when Kelis finally hits the goldmine and has his child, she files for divorce. Which according to gossip rumors was to beat NaS to the punch. If I were a person of NaS stature I may want to think long and hard before falling in love again.

Fortunately for NaS, this has not turned into a fiasco for his rivals in Hip-Hop. 50 cent who has a website to broadcast these alleged tapes (see: Rick Ross) has even said he doesn't hate NaS that much. NaS may wanna holla at fiddy, and get the name of his lawyer. You see how 50 got his baby-mama's child support reduced even after he made it half way to a billion. I'm sure NaS has much less money to his name with reduced record sales, a failed acting career and severing business ties with fashion companies. If Kelis is going for half, it can't leave Nasir with enough to buy those huge gold chains anymore.

But then maybe, he can hit the reset button on his career. That would be back to a hungry rapper from Queensbridge projects. So if Kelis does win, ;et's hope for another Illmatic.

Kool G Rap- Dopeman

New, yet Vintage G Rap. Needless to say, I couldn't be happier

DL: http://www.zshare.net/audio/5971243380876f7e/

He's Back! (More Officially)

I don't usually like Eminem, I felt for the most part that his best days had gone by.

Today's new single is 3Am

I like this song, we finally get a good Dre beat after god knows how long. Eminem's flow is kind of weird. In a recent interview he said he used different flows for every track and picked the most challenging beats Dre could give him.

It's not my favorite, but its waaay better than "We Made You".

Dangerous MC's

Redman Music Video Freestyle from Radio Planet on Vimeo.

Ripped it.

Stupid Sportswriters

Well first off, that is actually the picture he uses in his columns, but i digress. In a recent article he threw more than a couple of jabs towards Allen Iverson and I really couldn't disagree more with any of it.

Points
Whitlock accuses A.I. of having no excuse for never winning a championship, then admits that his best team was made up of "Aaron McKie, Eric Snow, Tyrone Hill and 34-year-old Dikembe Mutombo providing support". Did he listen to himself.

- Whitlock claims "Iverson gave up on Chocolate City, a chocolate coach (Michael Curry), a chocolate general manager (Joe Dumars) and an all-chocolate, one-Argentine roster." But doesn't mention that that chocolate coach is in his first year as a coach, and is unproven to say the least. It was his job to make Iverson blend, not Iversons.
Dumars picked Darko Millichic over Carmello Anthony, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, but that doesnt bother me at all, the fact that he has 3 of the same starters from the 2004 but has failed to really be in any championship contention since Lebron and only Lebron beat them in the Easten conference finals in 2007. Detriots answer to fill the center position this season: Kwame Brown.

-Iverson average 18pts 5 assist in 50 games with Detroit Can anybody tell me what lineup he was supposed to be playing with? Can anybody tell me what position he was playing? Is Rodney Stuckey really a point guard?

-Averaging 18 points was never Iversons problem, he was just confused in the system. He should be applauded for sacrificing his game because if he continued at that pace he would no longer have the 3rd highest scoring average of any player in NBA history.
Iverson's complaints to begin the season were that the Pistons weren't winning and he "wasn't used to not leading the league in minutes per game". He certainly tried to adjust, Detroit just couldn't get it together, or they did, and they weren't good enough.

-Iverson did not quit on Detriot, they didn't want him back after three terrible return games. Iverson is undeniably a future hall of famer, even Whitlock acknowledges that. So he should be coming off the Bench????


Whitlock says to anybody that thinks AI will resurrect his career "Much like the death of his role model, rapper Tupac Shakur (Iverson is actually a Biggie fan), Iverson's supporters will reject the news of his demise and predict a Machiavellian return, a Dr. J-like finish to Iverson's career.

Picture me rolling on the floor laughing my ass off"
I would Jason, but I would feel to bad that you couldn't get up after you were done.

here's the link: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9436532/No-question,-Iverson-was-never-the-Answer

Iversons FG %
FG% 3P%
.425 .313

It's Comming!

Method Man & Redman - "International" THE REAL BEHIND THE SCENES from Radio Planet on Vimeo.

Doom: Born Like This - Album Review

>After making a notable album with DJ Dangermouse that got good exposure because of an affiliation with Catoon Networks Adult Swim program, as well as a strong body of work that seemed endless in previous years, KMD member MF Doom stopped making CD's. He supposedly had collaborative albums with Dangermouse, Madvillian and Ghostface Killah coming in the future. His production was widely circulated on Wu-Tang records and Talib Kweli said he wanted to sign him. That was 2005, in 2009 MF reemerged as just Doom with the album born like this.

This album is produced by Jake One, J Dilla, Madlib and Doom, short and sweet, that makes a good producers crew. The album kicks off with "Gazillion Air" which features Doom rhyming straight through a crazy Dilla beat that immediately made it my new favorite songs. Good things continue with Ballskin, which is cool, but cuts off way to short at a 1:30.

The album moves on to Yessir featuring Raekwon. I think he's really trying to get his name back out in the circles. He's been on songs with Lil' Wayne, Wyclef, The Game and Outkast, he's probably trying to plug that Cuban Linx 2 is comming out to a wider audience now that it's not on Aftermath and it's probably not going to get promoted well. It's good if you aren't tired of the UFO sample. "Absolutely" is a sad song that’s not bad if you want to get introspective with Doom.

"Rap ambush" and "Lightworks" both start off sounding good but are under 2 minutes. Maybe this is some kind of budget album that actually took all of Dooms best work, even if it wasn't finished. Maybe that would explain why they put "Batty Boys" on the album with Lyrics that aren't even that entertaining if you liked bashing homosexuals and a sample called from a play called “Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity”. Still Dope is a worthy of its title, but it’s not Doom, instead “Empress Sharhh” rhymes this one. Then the next 3 songs are too short, “Supervisions” is too much, “Bumpy’s message” is rapper Freddie Foxx giving Doom his props, and “Thank you” ends the album on a decent but not fulfilling note. This album has good songs but most are too short with only four clocking in at over 3 minutes on a 17 track album. Born Like this will leave you unfulfilled, but impressed. 3.5\5

Infrequent posting

Sorry this stuff has taken so long to get up. Google's word tool has been giving me problems for copying and pasting things I wrote up In Microsoft word.

Watch this documentary

http://www.scion.com/broadband/index.html?ch=2&sh=0&ep=undefined

Big Daddy Kane on a tour through Brooklyn. This documentary shows where "The Man, The Icon" came from and why he is still so respected. Includes a cypher where Kane murders it. I can't say much, just watch.

Blame Michael Curry?

I Remember Michael Curry playing in Detriot with Jerry Stackhouse and Ben Wallace, when the Piston's kept getting into the playoffs off the strength of wonderful coaching by Defensive Minded coach Rick Carlise. As a player, Curry was a very smart, hardnosed dender who started at Small forward for the Pistons under Carlise, even though he was 6'6 and barely ever scored any points. If my memory serves me correctly Curry ended up being cut after Larry Brown took over the team and played for Toronto and Indiana, reuniting with Carlise for his last season. He stayed on as leader of the players union even when he was having trouble finding a roster spot, none of the players seemed to care, so I think he must have gotten a lot of respect.

So Detriot goes on without Curry on the Roster, hirers Larry Brown to coach, trades for Rasheed Wallace, wins a title, looses in a championship series the next year, Replaces LB with Flip Saunders, looses Ben Wallace in 2006, Looses Flip Saunders after 2008 when the team decides the guy can coach to get wins, but not a championship.

In all honestly I always thought those Detroit teams were overratted, Curry got replaced in the Rotation by Darvin "Ham-Slamwich" Ham, who was like 8th or ninth in the rotation between, the Wallaces, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, the rest of the bench filled up like this:

	Mehmet Okur
	Corliss Williamson
	Mike James
	Elden Campbell
	Lindsey Hunter

Okur wasn't the player he was then that he is now, Mike James Rarely played, I never thought this roster was a championship calliber one, but still, for the next four years Detriot would stay winning with basic variations of this Roster, Most importantly, Ben Wallace left for Chicago and got replaced by Antonio McDyess.

At Whatever point Joe Dumars finally decides he is going to shake things up, gets rid of Offensively minded Flip Saunders and Replaces him with the defensive minded, inside-the-organization favorite Michael Curry.

But at what point was this team ever going to become defensive anyways? They had a bunch of old guys in a team that out-gunned the others. Their undersizes and probably need to play more up-tempo basketball. Chauncey played two games this season for the Pistons before being traded for an undoubtedly bigger talent - Allen Iverson.

So Iverson goes into this new situation missing training camp, but believing with Detriots Record in the last few seasons, that they can be a championship contender. Ask any basketball analyst if they actually believed this.

AI lost his first game as a Detroit Piston when Devin Harris dropped 50 points on them in a close loss to the Nets? Why? Because new Point Guard Rodney Stuckey couldn't keep up With Harris, and the much quicker, but smaller, AI had to guard Vince Carter because "In Detroit you guard your posistion" according to Michael Curry.

Wouldn it have made more sence to switch the Defensive schemes to have 6'0 180 pound Iverson to guard Harris and the slower but stronger 6'5, 205 pound Stuckey to guard the shooting guard.

Does this really make any sense in any situation?
I thought Curry was sabotaging the team.

Still a media love affair began with Iverson, who was willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team. And Sacrifice he did, AI averages 18 points a game in Detriot, and he takes less shots. Before the season Iverson was 3rd all time in scoring Average only Behind Jordan and Chamberlain, he's sacrificing History right now to play the way they want him to play on a sub- .500 team.

The Piston's actually beat the Lakers soon after the Nets game, and hopes were high again. Of course, this was with little coaching help as Iverson had not yet adjusted to the trade. If you believe his is now, they just suffered an eight game loosing streak.

For the people buy into the fact that the Piston's would be better this season with Billups, who is flourishing right now in Denver are kidding themselves, you can't tell how the Pistons were going to do with Billups, he was only there for two games. Obviously Detriot wasn't going to win a championship, they got no better than last season and were pretty willing to get rid of Chauncey. Who now plays for the up-tempo type team Iverson would fit great on if they didn't have so many scorers.

Curry was always a defensive player, its hard to imagine his type of player mentality fits the ones of those he coaches now. Rasheed Wallace is guarenteed a technical if anything ever gets to physical, Hamilton and Prince are too skinny to guard 3's and 4's, and that why having all 3 guards in the lineup never worked.

Throughout this whole time, Stuckey has been the most inconsistent, he has up and down games all the time and has proven he is not a defender. Sorry Pistons, but he is not the franchise.

Now Iverson is going to come off the Bench (when he returns from injury), making this the forth major change in the lineup this season. Is Detriot really going to be any better taking their only all-star off the Bench, or did somebody else handle the situation wrong? If you ask my, I think it's the latter.

I Didn't Buy Hidden Files

Here's an Interview with Havoc where he talks about how Koch made him put Auto-tune on his album, that they wouldn't let him put any G-Unit appearances on because the label has beef (remember 50 called it the graveyard) with them. Defends Prodigy's beefs, and comments on the state of the music industry.

And For anybody whose like me who wondered why "I'm the boss" was the first single from Koch:

"Sometimes you come to some weird f**king compromise with these labels. No disrespect to Nature Sounds, but how long have Nature Sounds been a label? I could run a label better than most of these independent labels. These independent labels they offer you a cut, get you the material, and you don’t speak to them anymore. The relationship isn’t even built with them. The next thing you know, this s**t is already e-mail blasted as a single that you didn’t even approve of. I’m like, “I want to do the song to the hardest s**t on the album.” And they say, “The radio spins…” And then you started thinking, “Word, the radio spins…” And then you become a victim. But right now I don’t give a f**k because I’m going to do my numbers regardless."


Havoc usually does one word answer interviews, but this one is Really good so check it out.

$15.99- Fuck That!

Today I was going to publish a review of Havoc's new CD Hidden Files. Being that this record came out on Koch, features no 50 or G-Unit and received little promotion, I figured I would make the first trip to the record store since The Renaissance and pick up an album by one half of one of my favorite rap groups of all time. So I called FYE, made sure they had it and headed on my way.

The last Havoc CD, The Kush cost me 9.99 and I missed FYE's special deal that came a week later with the albums instrumental CD. So why is this one 15.99 with a "savings" sticker on it? I mean honestly, why in an economic recession, would a record store inflate it's prices? Do I really need CD's that much? I'm gonna have to try to cop it somewhere else tommorow.

Here's a preview

Really, Really, Bad Diss Records

This Rick Ross Song called "What Goes Around Comes Around" or "Don't count the Bawse out" on thisis50.com features Bang Em Smurf who was in G-Unit before they blew up. The only Rick Ross I have really heard is whats on at footlocker, The biggest boss song, hustin and the beef setting song "Mafia Music". So the fact that I had heard of these two artist and never really lisened to them made me curiois, to listen.

Really bad,

the last 50 cent one was at least entertaining. This guy ruins it for himself in terms of winning this "lyrical" battle. The guest is awful. He says he loves Tia. He's not funny like 50, I think he stutters like twice. The thing that gets me is from what I've heard of Rick Ross, this rap style sounds different. I think what Rick Ross should do is somehow get "Mafia Music" or something in that same vein on the radio, thats all that would really bother 50 now because nobody's gonna feel this songs.

A great way to launch your album

Remember Mark Curry?

Probably not right? When I used to follow Puffy, Ma$e and Biggie I remember Mark Curry being on Born Again. I noticed that Bad boy still had some good caliber artist like Mark Curry not really getting any shine from the label. In the highlight of Mark Curry's career he was featured on the Puff Daddy P. Diddy record "Bad Boy For Life" which blew up and in short helped Diddy's career recover after The shooting incident and the labels failure's such as Forever and Ma$e retiring. Mark Curry's verse on "Bad Boy for life" wasn't anything too special but it worked really well with the song.

So now after a virtual disappearance from the Earth Mark Curry is back with a Book, called "Dancing With The Devil" how Puff Burned the Bad Boys of Hip Hop. Why? It comes down to right and wrong. There’s a fine line between heaven and hell and that’s why the book is entitled Dancing with the Devil. It’s not a pretty picture but it takes a strong person to survive. The book is inspirational to youth as well. I lost a lot of things chasing a dream. If I could go back and put the dream aside, I’d spend more time with my mother, my family, just real life instead of on the road."

It's obviously pretty hard to get into the music industry and with what I've heard recently from former (or possibly current) label members G-Dep and Black Rob, they can't get in touch with Diddy or get any money from the label.

So does Diddy screw over all of Bad Boys musicians or is Mark Curry lying?
Judge for yourself in this interview with Allhiphop.com but whether you believe Mark Curry or not is erelevent.
Why?
"The music you get with the book is the music Puff said wasn’t good enough; I’m not selling it, I’m giving it away. Now if you listen to it and you feel like it’s corny then Puff had a point. But if you say it’s good then you’ll be like, “Puff is crazy.”

So the book gets more publicity than a Mark Curry album ever would and as he has found a way to actually get his music out there without using the recording industry to promote the album. Since the music industry apparently messed up his life, he found away around it to get music out and if he does well enough, he'll get a lot of attention for himself as an artist as well.

Good Move? I think so.

End Note: I just searched Mark Curry in Itunes and he was listened as a composer for the Puffy/Godzilla song.

Beats, Rhymes And Life : Revisted

Covering Chris Brown or every step of this lengthy beef between Rick Ross and 50 cent isn't really my style. The only thing new with me and Hip-Hop is I've been listening to the 4th Tribe Edition lately and I got to think about why I dismissed it as bad at first and why I like it so much now.

Why I Originally Didn't Like it: I Didn't really give it a chance to be honest with you. Being born in 88' I was 2 when People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm dropped and I was more "Sheltered" from rap music than I am now. So after I listed to the first 3 albums in about a week, I decided to move on to The Love Movement, which was conveniently located in my brothers CD collection. I didn't like the love movement and I still don't, besides maybe a few choice songs ex: "find a way". The fact that I heard Beats Rhymes And Life was similar in critic reception by the fans probably made me tune the greatness of this album out.

Why I Like It Now: The album starts with "Phony Rappers" which quickly becomes boring rhymes over a boring beat. This sets a bad precedent. We are introduced to Q-Tips cousin, rapper Consequence who makes 6 appearances on the album. Q-Tip has 5! solo songs and Phife has one.

When I first got into Tribe I always wondered why Q-Tip was so famous while Phife was on the milk carton, because Phife always had some slick rhymes or would say something to make you laugh on the first 3 albums, though his influence grew greater after People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. It's clear on this album, Phife is beginning to slack on the rhyme and the addition of Consquence should be welcomed by Tribe fans as he provides great verses on just about every song he's on.

Q-Tip does well with his solo songs. "Crew" is smoothly delivered over some nice keys while Tip raps about altercation. "What really goes on" will get you saying to yourself "We got the bump-da-bump-da-bump bump" for the rest of the week, but hopefully listeners won't ignore the knowledge kicked in the verses. "Get a Hold" provides smooth lyrics over an awesome J-Dilla* beat that no fan of either the rapper or producer can miss. "Seperate/together" and "Keep it moving" are okay songs, but hold no special place on this album. The same can be said for "Baby Phife's Return", which sadly is Phife Dawg's only real place to try to get some shine on the album.

The crew gets together for the smooth "Motivators" which features Tip, Phife and Cons trading verses and is followed up with the same formula on "Jam" which features the best baseball organs I have ever heard on a record. "1nce again", "Mind Power" "The Hop" and "Word Play" all feature variations of the crew and will be well recieved by fan's of the group or hip hop in general. The album closes out with Consequence, Q-Tip and Faith Evans on "Stressed Out" which sets a good tone for the quality of this album, though it carries a softer feel than most of the songs Check it out

*Note: J-Dilla fans, get this album as well.

Now I'm really getting excited

Raekwon ft. Crooked I & Ghostface Killah -Yes Sir


Raekwon ft. Method Man & Ghostface Killah -
Wu Ohh


Obviously I don't contend to say this album will be better than the first. But with the state that rap music is in, I could not ask for more.

50 cent beats Rick Ross

Over the weekend I mulled over how to address the 50 Cent/ Rick Ross Beef. Heres a quick run down. (Honestly all this stuff happened in less than a week)

-Earlier last week Rick Ross released a song called Mafia Music, which featured the lines ""I love to pay ya bills, can't wait to pay ya rent/ Curtis Jackson baby mama, I ain't looking for a cent/ Burn the house down,You gotta buy another/ Don't forget the gas can, jealous, stupid muthaf----r." - obviously refering to 50's baby mama drama.

-Word got out somehow or another that this was indeed a diss and not a surprisingly slick rhyme for Rick Ross

-50 release one of the worst diss records I ever heard called "Officer Ricky" in which he called on his inner Cam'ron by continuously calling him "Officer Ricky" and goes at Ross for being a fake rapper.
(http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.6650/title.50-cent-officer-ricky-go-head-try-me-rick-ross-dj-khaled-diss)

-Rick Ross, goes on the radio and says 50 cent's diss was soo bad that he's going to pretend the 50 cent diss record never happened and he'll give fiddy 48 hours to come up with a new one. He also talks about his own baby mama drama. Ross recently had his childs mother car repossed, and said he was just trying to get her head straight and focused. And that she was working on a book deal, that he would publish and they could split the money 50/50 "because he's the boss". (lolz)

- 50 says he has a new life goal- to ruin Rick Ross's life. And releases this cartoon, which is meant to describe Ross's (still unclear) frustration with Mr. Cent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjLGm3nH0gM&eurl=http://www.thisis50.com/


I was personally really split on where to stand on this one. The rapper with some actuall street credibility who made a garbage diss track. Or the former Parole officer, who's music I normally don't like, but in all honesty had the better diss.

Then today 50 released this video - http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh85ZaMMWH03vIVsxq

Note the vitamin water drinking, "I get it in" plugs and the hilarious "Isn't she lovely" during the shopping spree.

Can Rick Ross really come back from this constant onslaught? Weigh in

Criminology Pt.2 !!!???

Yes It's true, an actually leak from Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Linx II. Featuring Ghostface and Produced by RZA, you really couldn't ask for more from a new Clan-member album. Not quite as good as the original but RZA re-flips this sample brilliantly.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/54793786876c15a2/

The album (supposedly) comes out April 7




Source: http://www.onsmash.com/page3

First Blog

Hey this Blog is for Fan's of Music, Sports, Movies and anything else I can possibly write about. You might even get some of my opinions on current events.

Read the post and comment, I want to know what you think.

-Ryan