Vibe Magazine RIP
I was blessed to write for Vibe starting in ’04 (phat thanks to Rondell Conway for giving me a shot) and met and got to work with some great editors (Cell Block, what up!). Coming up it was automatic; cop The Source for my Hip-Hop fix, grab Vibe too for all the other freshness I shouldn’t be missing.
Sad day in the print business, period. Now back to writing…
R.I.P. Vibe Magazine [via Rap Radar]
Vibe Folds [via Gawker]
Another Magazine Death: Vibe Reportedly Closing [via MediaBistro]
Onward. Upward. [via Aliya S. King]
Vibe Magazine to Close Down Immediately [via NY Times]
BREAKING: Vibe Magazine Closes [via Folio]
Losing Our Vibe [via Beats & Rants]
My Final Visit as VIBE Flatlines. [via Media Assassin]
Vibe Magazine, Showcase for Hip-Hop and R&B, Dies at 16 [via NY Times]
Trife Diesel X Project Pope Mixtape (Download)
“Call me Arab Diesel cause I’m a track bomber.” -Trife (Ghostface Killah “Paisley Darts”)
Not the most PC of lines, but I’ve liked Trife Diesel (formerly Trife Da God) and his way with words since first hearing him on “Theodore” on Ghostface Killah’s Bulletproof Wallets. Word is he’s no longer rocking with Theodore Unit. Hmm.
Some of these tracks you should have heard (make sure you listen to “Miguel Sanchez” which was originally Ghostface’s More Fish. Trife’s proper debut, Better Late Than Never, drops July 21.
Download here (or MediaFire), track list below.
Trife Diesel – The Project Pope
01. I’m Saying It Now
02. War Scarz
03. 85 Hip Hop
04. Biscuits feat. Ghostface killah
05. War
06. Hustle Hard
07. The World Is A Ghetto
08. Blockstars feat. Lounga Lo
09. Grew Up Hard
10. Think It Over feat. Termanology
11. Beefing For Nothing
12. Fyuz feat. Termanology and Sun God
13. Speed of Light feat. B.O.B. and Inspectah Deck
14. State To State
15. The Game Don’t Change
16. Miguel Sanchez
Gumsole Beatdowns X Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson 8/29/58 - 6/25/09
The King of Pop is dead. Long live the King of Pop. It was surreal waiting for CNN to confirm what was inevitably certain; Michael Jackson has passed on.
I still clearly remember being a little kid, sitting in a ratty arm chair, reading the lyrics in the gatefold vinyl of my older sis’ copy of Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall.
“Keep on with the force don’t stop/Dont stop ‘til you get enough.”
That’s what he said. Don’t even remember what my totally wrong, kid trying to keep along take on that lyric was.
I was already rocking Hip-Hop colored shades, figuratively, at that point. But, MJ still stayed in my life playlist. More so when the swiped samples Hip-Hop producers were flipping were opening my nose to MJ’s phenomenal discography.
CNN keeps harping on Thriller. Rightly so, 50 millions records sold is frikkin’ preposterous. But, Mike was already pretty damn good without Q [see: Ben] and there’s way more Jackson 5 than those greatest hits.
Picking up a dusty piece Mic Jack wax while digging was standard behavior for the kid. I’m reminded of it every time I look at the chunky Michael Jackson section of my record collection.
So on this sad day let me post some Michael Jackson tunes along with the corresponding Hip-Hop songs that incorporated them. Some blatant, others not so obvious. Better than the original? Hardly.
Q-Tip “Move” – Being signed to Universal Motown is probably the only way Tip cleared this sample.
Jackson 5 “Dancing Machine”
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Nas “It Aint Hard to Tell” – Thank the Extra P for this groove.
Michael Jackson “Human Nature”
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De La Soul “Breakadawn” – With the Daisy Age far in the rear view, De La dropped this MJ assisted gem.
Michael Jackson “I Can’t Help It”
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Kanye West “Good Life” – Yeezy loves swiping him some Michael, see below.
Michael Jackson “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”
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Jay-Z “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” – Michael was surely thanking Mr. West for that publishing check, we hope.
Jackson 5 “I Want You Back”
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Naughty by Nature “O.P.P.” – Blatant sample but Kay Gee got there first (probably).
Jackson 5 “ABC”
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Puff Daddy f/ The Lox, Lil Kim & The Notorious B.I.G. “All About the Benjamins” – Definitely an ultimate break and beat.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Jackson 5 “It’s Great to Be Here”
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PREVIOUS:
Gumsole Beatdowns #2: Kool & The Gang X Spinna & Premier
Hip-Hop Loved to Jack Jackson [via Urban Daily]
The Jackson 5 & Michael Jackson: An Audio Evolution [via Grouchy/AllHipHop]
Clipse X Kanye West “Kinda Like A Big Deal” (Video)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Now you know I had to post this off of G.P. I may be in the minority but I don’t think Kanye West bodied the Brothers Thornton on this one. Yeezy does get busy, though. [via Nah Right]
RELATED:
Clipse X Keri Hilson “Eye On Me” [via Rap Radar]
Foxy Brown Got Jailhouse Perks
Call me Inga.
Consider this yet another female rapper FAIL. Well, not if you you’re Foxy Brown, who the NY Post (not the most reliable rag, I know) alleges got jailhouse perks that included a curtain over her cell bars for privacy and unlimited (nice!) phone and TV time. Oh yeah, an XXL Magazine photo shoot too. I wonder what Officer Ricky would think?
You got two prominent female MC’s in the bing now (Remy Ma, Da Brat) and another one whose parole should almost be done (Lil Kim). Luckily Lauryn Hill hasn’t committed any crimes—save for morality due to the whole baby mama of a married Marley thing. But as far as music, Ms. Hill seems to be more a lost cause with every day that goes by. Let’s do better, ladies. [Spotted at Gothamist]
UPDATE: Prison Denies Foxy Brown Received Star Treatment; Investigation Begins [via AllHipHop]
Below, a dope female MC whose never had any warrants.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Your Swagger Sucks (T-Shirt)
Say it repeatedly.
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of Swagger is…
1: to conduct oneself in an arrogant or superciliously pompous manner ; especially : to walk with an air of overbearing self-confidence
2: boast, brag
Now of course the above description(s) falls in line with some of the essential traits that make for the best MCs. You can’t be a great orator and be shy, after all. However, as the Undrcrwn tee above highlights, “swagger” is overused.
More specifically, folks with minimal swagger keep attempting to convince us they are flush with it. Don’t be fooled.
Let’s get a new word people. Or be doomed to more of this…
Sean P Launches Ruck Down Records
Support Sean P in everything he does. Hey, an OG article of mine on Sean Price from the late Elemental Magazine. [via Duck Down]
Good excuse for a vintage Heltah Skeltah break. If you haven’t acquint yourself with Nocturnal. What are you waiting on?
Sneaker FAIL X Number (N)ine Zip Kicks
F. A. I. L.
With the ample amounts of acceptable sneaker brands out there, why would anyone do this to themselves? The homies at Street Level let me vent my frustrations about this epic shoeware FAIL. [originally spotted at Hypebeast]
Grand Puba X Public Enemy X Lynching
You can call it Grand Puba’s version of “Strange Fruit.” Eskay pointed out via Twitter that folks over at his Nah Right homestead were feeling a ways about the photo (1st pic below) Puba selected for his new single (“I See Dead People” f/ Rell & Lord Jamar).
No surprise there since lynching was such a horrendous fate for too many in the Jim Crow South. It’s not the first time such imagery has been used, though. Public Enemy used a photo of a lynching (2nd pic below) for the “Hazy Shade of Criminal” 12″ vinyl’s artwork. The song is from their Greatest Misses (1992) album.
Puba’s new album, Retroactive, drops June 23, via Babygrande.
Grand Puba "I See Dead People"
Public Enemy "Hazy Shade of Criminal"
Fat Man Scoop, and Wifey, Talk Sex
I can still remember when I first noticed Fat Man Scoop on the back of OG issues of The Source in those Tommy Boy Records ads on the backpage. Scoop stays with a hustle whether it was promoting records for Tommy Boy, being a radio host on Hot 97 or rocking those Av8 break records enough [Fat Man Scoop f/ Crooklyn Clan “Be Faithful”] to go #1 in the UK and nab more Grammy’s than most rappers will ever see.
The sexually themed video talk show—think, Sex Ed for Grown Folk—he hosts with his wife, Shanda, was pretty entertaining when I caught it on MTV a while back. Good to see the couple try their hand at a daytime look with “Scoop and Shanda.” Who says Holy Matrimony ain’t Hip-Hop?
Slang Rap Democracy 