Maybe we could start again.

Kanye West - Homecoming

and this for good measure:

Turn on the light from heaven, Lord

Something told me it was coming out today. Click the album cover to download. And oh, I'm at school. Ha.

What I Look Like?

Three new Wale joints. I work hard for u ppl. And oh, he's HipHopGame's artist of the month.

Wale - HipHopGame Freestyle (produced by 9th Wonder)
Wale - Conclusion (off The Mixtape About Nothing)
Wale - Rain, Sleet, or Snow (my new personal anthem)

All heat rock. Call me the outsider's insider.

Blues Clues

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

No reason. Jus cuz. Download and appreciate.

This Little Light of Mine

A couple new tracks from Estelle.

Estelle - Shine
Estelle ft. Cee-Lo - Pretty Please

Falling Up

The Roots ft. Wale & Chrisette Michele - Rising Up

First official single off the new Roots album Rising Down.

Decisions.

It's on a Thursday night. Now, technically, I could go to NYC, catch the concert, crash at somebody's spot, and take the early train back to Philly just in time to be at work at 8:15am Friday morning. We're only doing PSSA testing anyway. But that would cost a lot more than just the $10 cover. And if tix are only sold at the door, then I'd be SOL to get there and find out they're sold out. (There are only 100 tix available to us regular folk.)

I guess we'll see. But for all u NYCers, do urself a favor and holler at it. Ms. Monae is a potential future fiance. Support her dowry fund.

For the Homey David Kenneth

Cassie - "Thirsty"

You know what really grinds my gears?

Mos Def speaks on baseball's steroid scandal. Can we get this guy a show?

I hope this is a joke

Pauly Shore is off his rocker. Too many quotables here.

Know Your History

Ice Cube Amerikkka's Most Wanted

One of hip-hop's greatest albums. I might start dropping random old joints at random times... jus cuz. Click the album cover to download.

This is sexy

Emily King - "U and I" one of my personal faves.

This particular blog is a 1 of 1...

Click the album cover. And um, yeah, we posted the "Roof" track back in January (one of them Scion joints).

Wet like jheri curl juice

-via macbook.

I'm a new soul

It's been a long time coming, but your boy finally got that white... laptop. Just got the macbook and I'm hype. I didn't want the white jawn but i'm bout to get the black hardcase from incase so it won't even matter. So far so good, except it won't play the .avi file i put on it. I was tryna watch the Boondocks BET episode on it but it said i had to download some xvid codec. Oh well, i'll figure it out at some point. And oh, this is the first post via macbook. Catch me at the coffee shop.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks

Allow me to say that if these two men aren't running our country this time next year, I'll be extremely sad and disheartened about America. Hilary, who I once supported after Edwards dropped out, has single-handedly made it possible for John McCain to be elected President. Before her last-ditch smut campaign against Obama, both she and Barack were ahead in the polls against McCain. Since then, Obama's losing and Hilary is neck and neck. Good job, b!tch.

Add to that that the "Obama-bashing" has reached cruise control and I'm not sure if I'll even vote if I have to choose between Hilary Clinton and John McCain. Even Fox News's own people are saying enough is enough. I mean shoot, it's gotta be time to reel it back in if a Klansman tells another Klansman, "I think we're going too far Billy Bobby."

Over at NBC, Keith Olberman gave an unprecedented "get ur act together" speech to Hilary Clinton. What I think is beautiful about this campaign is that it's forcing everyone out of their comfort zones, the not-so-tidy cubbyholes we live in and forcing us to reexamine everything. If nothing else, Obama has accomplished the feat of bringing America down off its high horse and put a mirror in front of it, but not for derision's sake, but rather to inspire all of us to actually make the American dream more of a reality for everyone.

Even I, the perennial cynic that I most often am, felt like the Democratic race was the best-run campaign of my lifetime, because it presented voters with real options minus the minutia of highly politicized prattle about stuff we shouldn't care about. Candidates talked about the issues like adults and then left it up to the voters to decide. It was gentlemenly (and gentlewomanly) that, in the end, we were all thinking that it was already set in stone that Barack and Hilary would be on the same ticket and coast to an easy victory in November. I had personally hoped for a Clinton/Obama ticket with Hilary as head honcho (pun not intended) because she has great ideas and a wealth of experience and connection to actually make those ideas a reality and Obama cuz I felt like he could hold down the #2, cut his teeth, and after Hilary leaves, be the greatest President since FDR, Lincoln, or maybe ever in the history of the whole world, ya dig?

But now, it's back to the tried and true bulldiddy of American politics. My homey Shakespeare said it best:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

America is in a tempest of its own making right now. But come November, at storm's end, I hope the two up top are at that ship's helm.

Cot durn, this post wasn't even sposed to be this long.

Skew it on the bar-b

Big Boi ft. Andre 3000 and Raekwon - Royal Flush

Seat's Taken

Tabi Bonney - "Beat Rock"

and yes, among others (like Big G and Wale), that was Angel Melaku.

Now off shopping for a laptop. Roberto is weezing, literally. What should I get, a macbook or a pc?

Stack That Cheese

"Hip Hop Saved My Life" from Lupe's The Cool

Famous Last Words

Before I depart on my red-eye to meet my brethren-in-blog in Orlando, I leave you with this...

Lupe Fiasco - Superstar Official Remix (Feat. Young Jeezy & TI)

On paper, this could have horribly wrong. It didnt. Another performance like that and TI might get a cool name like "House Arrest TI" akin to "Styrofoam Cup Weezy".

We'll be back.

Catch me where the weather be, somewhere in the 70's

If we blog, we blog. If we don't we don't.

But what's new?

It's Official

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – It has just been announced on 93.9 WKYS that DC-area hip hop artist, Wale, has signed with Interscope Records in a joint venture deal with three-time Grammy award winning producer Mark Ronson’s Allido Records.

Wale, 23, has seen a tremendous amount of success for an unsigned hip hop artist over the past year, gracing the covers of URB and DNR magazines, doing remixes for Justice, Chris Brown and MIA, performing at the MTV Video Music Awards, song licenses with Nike, ENTOURAGE and MTV and a growing internet buzz surrounding his most recent mixtape 100 MILES AND RUNNING and his upcoming Seinfeld-inspired project, THE MIXTAPE ABOUT NOTHING. Entertainment Weekly recently reported that the mixtape features a skit from Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Wale signed a production deal with DJ-turned-producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera) in June of 2007 after impressing him on Ronson’s European tour. Following an intense, six-month bidding war, Wale signed to a joint venture between Allido Records and Interscope, saying Jimmy Iovine, Luke Wood and the whole Interscope staff understood his vision better than anyone else.

“Look at their track record,” said Wale via phone on his way to perform at a Justice concert in DC. “Dre, Eminem, 50, Pharrell, Timbaland, Black Eyed Peas, Soulja Boy…the list goes on.”

“This is the best possible situation we could ask for,” says Daniel Weisman, Wale’s manager. “We waited and kept grinding until someone came with something we felt reflected the work we’ve put in; Interscope got it.”

Mark Ronson will executive produce Wale’s untitled debut album and contribute production to the project due out in fall. Other tentative contributors include past Wale-collaborators Osinachi (“Nike Boots”) and Best Kept Secret (“Back In The Go Go”), along with Just Blaze, Pharrell, Kanye West, 9th Wonder, Justice and DJ Toomp.

Allido Records is a New York City-based label founded in 2004 by Mark Ronson and former manager, Rich Kleiman. Allido Records has put out releases by Rhymefest and Daniel Merrieather through J Records, and by Mark Ronson through RCA. Wale’s album will be the first release through their new joint venture deal with Interscope.

Good luck to the kid. From the looks of it, it may indeed have been the best situation. Def Jam is a graveyard, and Interscope does grind for their ppl, unless ur name is Pharrell.

Also, coming soon:
The Mixtape About Nothing (March 2008)
Wale x 9th Wonder x LRG Present: THE 10TH WONDER

Sleep is the Cousin of Death

I swear, a nigga can't take a day's reprieve from internet travelings lest he miss ish. This is the finished version of the joint we posted previously.

Wale ft. Bun B and Pusha T - Back in the Go-Go

and oh, word is, Wale officially signed a major deal and the rumor mill has mostly said it's with Interscope. With him spending so much time in Cali (as opposed to NYC), that wouldn't sound too far fetched. It also would go along with what ppl have been saying for some time. (Remember the Black Thought interview?)

Doctors Orders

Lupe Fiasco (aka the panther who was late to the meeting) has recruited the ever-fresh Dr. Romanelli to serve as his brand manager for the continued marketing of 2007's critically-acclaimed The Cool. For starters, Lupe's one-of-a-kind (until he began hustling em online) tour jackets are available on solebox for 450 Euros. If you dont know that conversion, I'll let International Grease explain. Either way... peep!

Flyer than the rest of em... still

Throwback of the Week

If only for the two-fisted double-pump, Subway X 702 was the epitome of the 90s. Shouts to Cee for the inappropriate usage of email at work.

Reading Between the Lines

The Wire's David Simon speaks. You should be listening. And oh, for all you people who thought Michael was gonna be the next Marlo, I called the Michael/Omar parallel last week.

Can't Stop Won't Stop

Janelle Monáe - The Audition

[1] album in 10 years? Nigga, I can divide

I usually don't eff with non-group rips*, but when it's Portishead's first album in 10 years, you lay arbitrary policies like that aside. The retail album comes out next month, but this poorer quality version leaked yesterday. It's called Third. You know the drill. Click the album cover to download. And eff you if you don't appreciate Portishead's trip-hop goodness.

*a "non-group rip" in layman's terms is a bootlegged bootleg. They are usually low quality, may not have all songs, or may be unmastered, unfinished, and unpolished in a traditional way. "Group rips" are always the bootleg digital standard as they are the digital equivalent to the actual CD sold. Most albums we put up here are group rips.

Dang, I be educating yall bammas.

It's not easy being green

The line outside of Supreme for the Supreme x Kermit gear. More here.

The internet is going nuts. $125 for a regular tee shirt? And you paid a fifth of that? Nigga please.

Feeling Mellow Like a Cello

Life is good. Last night, I had the privilege of seeing Alice Smith live at the Tin Angel. (Remember her?) It was a great show. The crowd was live and Alice did her thug thizzle. The girl has a powerful voice. She also has a remarkably approachable stage presence. During a song, she's in her own world. Her face contorts, her body emotes every note-wrapped lyric. It's like pulling back bark to get the sap. But as soon as the song ends, she smiles this huge smile, tugs at her jeans, and looks at the crowd as though she's surprised to see that people actually paid to hear her. The humility was refreshing.

That doesn't mean she lacked confidence though. It was her stage and she held it down with her bantam band, (of which the lead guitarist seemed a crowd fave. smirk). Ol' girl is real tall though. Much taller than I'd thought. I think 5'10" is on the shorter end of any estimate. She was also sans brassiere, which is another trademark of hers. Still, she's very attractive, and put together rather nicely. After the show, I got the chance to get her autograph. I asked if I could take a picture with her and she refused.

Me: Hi Alice great show. Could I get a picture with you?
Alice: I'll do anything for you... except that.
Me: Watch out now, you don't wanna say something like that, Alice. You don't know me like that. Might get you into some trouble...
Alice: *Makes a screw face of disgust* Eww! Gross!
Me: Uh.. yeah.. just kidding. Could I get your autograph tho?
Alice: Yeah, sure. What's your name?
Me: Jonathan
Alice: *signs autograph*
Me: And you spelled my name right too!? What don't you do, Alice?
Alice: *disinterested laughter* Thanks for coming to the show.
Me: Thanks. Bye.

I later went back to my table, which was two tables away from where she was signing autographs, turned my camera on, turned the flash off, sat it on the tabletop and took a picture when she wasn't looking, the results of which are below.


I don't know what her deal is with pics, she was pic blocking folks the whole night, but besides that, it was all real "jazzy" as the homie dave ken would say. In the end, I got an autograph and a pic so I won't complain. Great show. Great night.

Life is good.

What am I here for?

Santogold - "L.E.S. Artistes"

Weezy F. Baby Defines "No Homo"

In a show of hood charity, Lil Wayne has decided to be part of an ad campaign for Houston hood star J-Prince's Strapped Condoms. I'm all for advocating the use of prophylactics, but really Weezy? Is this not the most homo-erotic poster possible? Getting man-raped by some old white guy on the hood of a car?

At least you know he's wearing protection.

Also, a moment of silence for the slogan. You definitely don't want the boys in prison getting a hold of this one, Dwayne. Who's saying "Please say the baby," now?

Strange Fruit

Ebony & Ivory

For the loyal readers, thought I'd slip yall a Wale joint I've been sitting on for a few months along with some old Daniel Merriweather.

Wale - Eye No DC
Daniel Merriweather - She's Got Me

Partake.

Ether

According to little-known "Skull Gang" affiliates 40 Cal & Bezel, The Dips is Ova...

boomp3.com

First off, I dont understand how one crew can maintain sooooo many sub-affiliations (Purple City, Juelz' Skull Gang, Jim's Byrd Gang) and not appear disjointed. I guess they couldnt either. So much for the last real NY crew standing.

I'll admit it, back in these days...

... you couldn't tell me nothing. Between Cam's "Come Home With Me" and the first "Diplomatic Immunity" (both released on the Roc, might I add) I was all for the alliterative abuse and pink throwbacks.

I suppose I'll continue living for Jim's interviews and attempts at hypebeasting.

"Slow Down, Turbo"

There are two types of Season 5 "Wire Watchers" (as I like to call them). Those that faithfully watch Sunday nights and those that hastily watch the Monday airing. Within these two classes, there are a multitude of divisions; i.e. those who dont have OnDemand, sunday night purists who choose to avoid the early showing, thirsty ass niggas who cant wait 6 days and feel like its the next best thing to copping the bootleg, while frowning upon niggas that copped the bootleg, etc. I happen to fall into the latter.

Either way... if you're anything like me, you happened upon this.



Is it too much to ask to get Clay Davis on a mixtape remix of "Shawty is a Ten"? Either way, just as Canibus once rapped "the greatest rapper of all time died on March 9th", so will the greatest show on Earth, sans Barnum & Bailey.

Coinky-dink? Absolutely.

Say What?

I'm doing my normal round of internet cruising and happen upon this. Sneakerheads will recognize that this is part of hypebeast. This is a post from a member of their blog team, Rob Heppler, who also does Weekly Drop.

Long story short, homey went visiting friends out in Massachusetts to celebrate that one of em just got outta jail. Somewhere during the festivities, drama erupts and one of em gets shot. These videos were taken as they rushed the guy to the hospital.


Pay special attention around the 28-30 second mark


Pay attention to the 14 second mark.

"You can't square off with these punk fucking niggers!"
"I'm not about fighting these fucking niggers with guns."

Maybe this is how Paul Mooney felt watching Kramer go off, but a part of me wishes that this dude woulda taken some shots Curtis Jackson style. I'm really pretty speechless.

The meaning of a word.

In a sentimental mood [Repost]

EDIT: Links [and album covers] are fixed

In addition to Amy Winehouse's (vocal) heir apparent, Adele, ya boy's been grooving to some other old jawns that I figured are worth sharing. You'll prolly hear a few of em on the next volume of "Real Niggas Light Candles," which is why I almost abstained from posting these, but I'm bored, so what the hoe down. Click the album covers to download.

The title track from Ledisi's latest album, Lost and Found was featured on the last RNLC mixtape. It was honestly the only track from the album that I liked. The girl can sing, no doubt, but I felt like I was listening to 96.3-WHUR for most of the album. Not so with this one though. I won't say anymore and let you enjoy it for its surprises and overall goodness.

Reasons why this album cover is cool:

Her sweatshirt
The Souljah Boy-esque sunglasses
The reflection in her sunglasses of the photography umbrella
The straight MS Paint (not even Photoshop) use of the text box for the artist name and title

Besides that, it's just good music. And yeah, her name's Tiombe Lockhart.

I might as well drop this one too. This chick is being touted as the next Amy Winehouse--as is every young female talent from the UK--by some. I really don't think she deserves the title. Adele, for many reasons is much more worthy of the comparison. The album is okay, some people seem to think this album is good. I agree with others though, this guy in particular. It lacks the authenticity of Back to Black and 19, not to mention the girl's vocal capabilities are not comparable. She's trying too hard. "Mercy" sounds trite. "Delayed Devotion" sounds like microwaveable '60's soul... I could go on, but I won't .

All hating aside tho, she's cute. She's at least got that over Adele. Still though, the fact that she's always clutching herself in pics (see: Google images) makes me wonder if she's hiding some physical deformity a la DJ Paul.

Jay Electronica has the cure for Baduizm

Erykah's featured in this video on the internet rap phenom Jay Electronica (shame on you if you don't at least recognize the name.) I don't post Electronica ish mostly cuz he's already all over the rap internet. He's also only on the internet.

But really, the only reason why I posted this is because for once, a man seems to have finally met Erykah, boinked Erykah, and come out (pun intended) still intact and somewhat normal. (But when you think about it, it's not like Jay Electronica is your typical normal dude either. Homey makes some weird--ahem, "avant garde"--choices musically.)

Badu gushes over Electronica, calling him everything except God-incarnate. Could she have fallen victim to Baduizm?

Sidenote: I noticed the sharebee links for the "Sentimental Mood" post aren't working. They'll be fixed soon. Be sure to check back.

If Obama loses, I'm moving to London

Shout out to Blake incarcerated. Mr. M.R., Mark Ronson, performs with Adele, Daniel Merriweather, and A-dot Winehouse. Amy throws a not-so-subliminal loveline out there for her jailed hubby in a sloppy but entertaining performance.

I guess Daniel Merriweather deserves some hype too. Maybe I'll drop a joint or two of his today too.

Pretty in the face, fat in the waist

Adele - Chasing Pavements. Because I believe in hype.