Change We Can Believe In

John Legend ft. The Agape Choir - If You're Out There

Still playing catch up with ish that dropped over the past few days. Most stuff I'm not gonna post jus cuz, but joints like this deserve a post. Enjoy.

The Patriot

Download

The retail of that new Jeezy. Even though things tend to be left of center here, I will be the first to tell you that Jeezy's consistency is reason enough to be a fan. Who cares that his first two albums sounded the same? We knew it and still bumped it. Hard. Plus, his entrance onto the national scene was probably one of the first hints that darker days were ahead. The soundscapes are depressing, the lyrics stark--if Marvel Comics ever made a soundtrack to their Age of Apocalypse series, it'd be a full Jeezy album. As has become more frequent, this link is stolen, so it might be down already. If it's effed up, lemme know and I'll try to fix it, but since school's starting back up, I won't make any promises. Enjoy.

Blow it out your ass

Pepsi's the new generation? So I guess Bill O'Reily or the rest of Fox News aren't gonna make the hubbub about Daddy Yankee's endorsement as they did for Luda's. I'm back from the Wild Wild West Coast. Ya miss me?

Robot Frog Killa

Random as it may be, this might be the silliest ish I've seen this week... next to Ceasealeo's Ruff Ryders Workout tapes

Word to Garrett A. Morgan

Hopefully thanks to YH!SN... you've been jamming off this joint all summer. Video just dropped, much to my dismay since September is all but upon us but I really cant trip thanks to Mr. Stephens love interest in the clip.


Did I forget to mention that this masterpiece of video was directed by lil known Alan Ferguson, once responsible for lensing this classic by the senior Mr. Carter.

The Bay Area and Back Down

Mr. Kenneth, the blog's all yours. Holler at yall on Monday.

Super Smash Brothers

Complex Magazine, the publication that hypebeasts love, cool guys love to hate, and everybody buys, is featuring The Paxtons as part of their Emerging Artists Challenge. A definite resume builder for the duo and yet another cosign that the hype is deserved, they are currently in the first round of the competition. If the judges of Complex and OnSmash.com decide that they're worthy (and why wouldn't they?), they'll be one of 10 finalists to win a music video shoot, at which point you can count on yours truly to bombard you with not-so-subtle suggestions that you vote (or die). Check out the site here and tell your friends you were on it first.

The Mad Rapper

Caught off NahRight. It would be easy to chalk this up as some "has been" complaining why he never blew up or blaming his lack of success on the people who succeeded, but I think it does a disservice to much of what Skillz is saying. He makes MANY salient points about why hip hop is in the state it's in today. His assertion is compelling: The present-day gatekeepers of the industry--the Diddy's, Jay-Z's, etc.--are preventing the future Diddy's and Jay-Z's from reaching the point that they themselves have reached (and, perhaps, surpassing it). He doesn't go so far as to say why, but if Animal Planet has taught me anything, it's that when a male is king, the ones most likely to dethrone him are kicked out or killed. That's not to say Puff and Jay are out murdering niggas, but ego will make a man act like a biotch by preventing up-and-comers access to the resources they themselves had when they were in that position. (Too many antecedents in that sentence; hope it makes sense.)

I agree with much, if not all, Skillz had to say. I always found Jay to be a little shady when it came to other good rappers and I don't think it's a coincidence that Making The Band maintains Diddy's celebrity (and his bank account) without actually advancing the careers of the artists it claims to be profiling. It's more an exercise in self-promotion than anything else. (Did Donny get a cut from the sale of SeanJohn's No Bitch-Assness t-shirts?) Food for thought. It's the new face of selling out, when the oppressed becomes the oppressor.

"I do this for my culture"? Nigga please.

Decisions

Download

Link is "borrowed" since it'd take too long to download and reup this onto sharebee. Get it while it's good. The Game's album is out too. (The webrip's been out for a minute.) I've never been a fan of the Butterfly Bandit, so I'm not posting it, but Dave, if u wanna, go 'head. Aaaaaand I'm out.

Part-Time Model, Full-Time Rapper

I'm still not posting his every move like I used to, but since the White ?uestlove went in on this, I said what the haystack. Wale and Travis Barker working on their respective albums together. BTDubbs, I'm currently at home in the DMV and after that I'm headed to an undisclosed location for a brief vacay. Mr. Kenneth, take it away.

No Homo

Remember this nigga?



Apparently there is life after snitching.



Can't hate on the reverse lat pulls tho... might have to add that to the routine.

You betta sang, gurl

You know how girls throw their panties on stage at male singers? Jazmine would make me throw condoms. Just empty a whole box of Trojans. It's that serious.



In related news, they shoulda never gave you niggas money free time and a digicam:

Bandana on my right side

Some minor tweakage on that right hand side over there. Holler at it. And yeah, the Members Only drop will be available the day after Labor Day. Can you smell what the Rock blog is cookin'?

Real Talk

Obama might lose. Like for real. Sorry guys, but watching the forum at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, I understood why people are drawn to McCain. When he's speaking his mind and not what his handlers are feeding to him, you see someone who is much more common sense than partisan. Yes, he carries his torture like a badge of honor. He can be boring and gimmicky--a quarter-century in the Senate will do that to you. Shoot, old age'll do it to you. Still, he's much more thoughtful than ideological, and, even though I want to vote for Obama, and hope that he wins in a landslide, the reality is that I'm still relatively undecided. If McCain can convince me that he will preside as McCain and not as A Republican, he stands a good chance of winning my vote.

Just sayin...

Slow Down

Let's take it back for a minute (or 4).

You like what you see?

It's a dude. No lie. This transgender person--read: dude--is on the next season of America's Next Top Model. Anything for ratings I guess...

Here's the whole story.

And homey's from PG County, MD. Goes to show, you can never be too safe these days. Niggas walkin around looking just like these females. Be careful out there Dave. Here in Philly, you can usually spot em cuz they look more like this:



This post inspired by the good folks at Bossip.

Forever My Lady

Yes thats pre-O.P.P. Naughty By Nature in 1989. Yes I'm wrong for posting that corny-ass cover. But theres a point here. Great music stands the test of time. The fact that you had no idea that these niggas wore argyle cardigans and called themselves "The New Style", before dropping the #408 most jamminest song of all time, proves the strength of a record like OPP. You probably had no idea that RZA ever wore tuxedos or groomed himself in We Love You Rakeem


before he produced the classic 36 Chambers, due to the longevity of ish like C.R.E.A.M. which most recently found itself interpolated in 2007's Sweetest Girl.

If you ever have 8 hours of a day to kill at your job (as most of us do) and are curious as to where your favorite jams fall amongst the 3000 Greatest Songs of All Time in the Whole Wide World, then you might like this list of the 3000 Greatest Songs of All Time Ever in the History of Recorded Music.

The folks at acclaimedmusic insist that this is a fully comprehensive list...

The basic idea is that I match all records against each other in pairs. In a match, each critics list is weighted depending on
* the number of lists I have from different parts of world
** when the list was presented (newer lists are weighted more heavily)
*** how many matches the list is a part of

To be able to compare new records with older records, I have put together best-of-year-lists from the same magazine, e.g. the #1 record on NME's best-of-year-list of 2001 beats not only the other records from year 2001, but also #2, #3... from older NME's best-of-year-lists.

Interesting submissions include:
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (32)
Amerie - 1 Thing (182)
Jay-Z - 99 Problems (383) (strangely his first appearance on this list)
MIA - Galang (485)
Hot Chip - Over and Over (614)
Kanye West - Jesus Walks (970)
Lupe Fiasco - Kick Push (1157)
Jay-Z - Big Pimpin (1614)
Mongo Santamaria - Watermelon Man (1886)
R. Kelly - Trapped In The Closet (1920)
Mike Jones - Still Tippin (1992)
Clipse - Wamp Wamp (2557)
EU - Da Butt (2923)

If you have as much free time as the team that put this ish together, enjoy!

Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?

Pauline Croze - Un Bruit Qui Court

I don't understand a word of French. The first 3 hours of my trip to Paris back in '05 almost turned me off to French people completely. Luckily enough, the rest of that weekend was great, and this album doesn't even require francophone translation. Yeah, it sometimes sounds like she's saying the same thing over and over again for 4 minutes, but who cares? It's good. Real good. But don't take my word for it, click the album cover and see for yourself. Word to Levar Burton.

Once You Go Black

Mongo Santamaria - Workin' On A Groovy Thing (1969)

With an album cover like that, I hope I don't have to explain why you should download this. Classic. I mean really, look at that thing. It's friggin great. All album covers should be a reinterpretation of this one. Any rapper willing to recreate this cover deserves at least 5 mics off the top. Mongo Santamaria was an Afro-Cuban jazz percussionist who worked with pretty much every jazz and latin musician worth mentioning. In that sense, I'd be remiss if I didn't let you know that the music lives up to the album cover. It's got latin soul. (ha, you'll get that later.) Now tell your blogger friends about that one. Click the album cover and enjoy. Upped straight to zshare cuz sharebee was acting up.

Happy Juice

A String Quartet Tribute to Fiona Apple - Strung Out On Fiona Apple

Don't hate. You know Fiona Apple was the ish. This album was one of the many I drew from on RNLC3. I was gonna use the "Shadowboxer" track, but at close to 8 minutes long, I figured some of yall's attention spans wouldn't last so I nixed it. Either way, this jawn is smooth as henny and apple juice on the rocks (with a splash of cider of course). Click the album cover and enjoy.

I'm back in true form, which means there should be more albums coming soon (including some others from Real Niggas Light Candles, Vol 3). Stay tuned.

Give Yourself The Green Light

JIM is on tour in the states and you should see him live. I'm definitely up for any of those NY dates, whichever I can hit for the low.


09.26 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
09.26 Austin, TX - The Parish
09.29 Los Angeles, CA - Avalon
09.30 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
10.01 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
10.03 Seattle, WA - Showbox
10.04 Vancouver, British Columbia – Plaza
10.07 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity
10.08 Chicago, IL - Metro
10.09 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
10.10 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
10.11 Clinton, NY - Hamilton College
10.12 Boston, MA - Paradise
10.14 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
10.15 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

Perhaps the GPOAT

I know LL's been tryna seriously act like ppl should consider him the greatest rapper ever--and he should stop--he could at least claim that he had the greatest live rap performance ever. (Sorry Hov.) I would pay $20 to travel back in time to be in that crowd. That was a friggin party. He had them white boys in the band gettin jiggy! LL took em to church. (Literally, he gave that "Leave that crack alone" sermon during the break.) And you can't forget about when he flipped "Jinglin Baby" either. My mood is very early 90's right now.

All that I can hear is music

Jazmine Sullivan - Mistress of Soul

Now that RNLC3 is out, I can start putting out that real real. Odds are you have some of these songs (especially if you got the Old Soul Mixtape), but unless you have 50-something odd Jazmine Sullivan tracks in your itunes already--and I know most of you don't--then a lotta these will be new to you. It's a bit bootleg, even for the internet, but who cares. Enjoy.

Macaroni Niggas

For those of y'all that are familiar with avant-hop producer Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, Beck, Gorillaz), you should be well-aquainted with his DangerDoom project with underground-icon MF Doom. If not, I wont hold it against you considering that I actually have the cd and couldnt recite a single bar if I tried however thats just a matter of personal preference. It doesnt take away from the fact that dude has a ginormous following and a cool gimmick of appearing in a Gladiator mask at all times a la Mr. Bangaltar & Mr. Homem-Cristo.

Either way, Mr. Doom made news with his performance on the San Francisco leg of the Rock The Bells tour when a supposed imposter in a Maximus mask took the stage and lip-synched his way through a lifeless performance. The pissed San Franciscans that caught wind proceeded to pelt him with bottles and other assorted particles of dumpster juice. Peep the footage.



Now I've been sitting on this hilarious story until Cee dug up this fantastic message board post in support of MetalFace. If you want to know what the future holds for America, look in the message boards or comments sections of mainstream blogs. You too will contemplate raising your children in Vancouver.

Real talk Comming From the #1 doom Fan. let me know any On tape full preformances that DOOM dident say shit to the croud. and the Fat guy if im correct Big Ben Cling-On is his Main hype man.

If you took the time and money to buy the MM..FOOD Reissue. And the Chrome Children DVD. You could See. He dont say Exacly what is on the Track He be fucking around he asks the croud to find him Old Tan Elleses size 10 1/2 (im guessing hes still lookin for them). so holla. what yall dont know is DOOM has a big mouth(no offence) but Hes not going to spit Exacly wats on the track and thats it.

Also another thing is. If your a Die Hard DOOM Fan. You would know Exacly What he does when he does perform. he has Signatures 3 of them that he does in almost Every show

1)Reighing the Crowd- he Bends over to the tip of the stage and raps to the crowed like his Reighing.

2)Extended hand- THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT!! In 100% of all Filmed performances and all of the 11 live shows i been too he does a Signature that you all must be familiar too. When he Raps he sticks out his hand stright to in airplane possision. and he has one hand on mic. so with one hand he has it sticking out and he walks around like a villian like that.

3)Lyrical Interaction- In the Chrome Children DVD on all caps he does it alot. like "spot a pair Fat ass" he goes from Extended hand to a grab ass motion. in the MM FOOD DVD on One Beer. "the Mic is like a shotty no body move no body get hurt" me holds the mic like its a shotty.

4)BBCO- this is an bonus one when he performs with Big Ben. He Interacts with him. Basicly him and Ben sing the songs together. Ben makes jokes with the lyrics and DOOM makes Jokes with the lyrics. In the Performance you dont see no type of Interaction.....

If you think im full of shit tell me because i want you to show me a video tape of a full performance that he doesent do what i just said besides this one. also DOOM dont look like that. Physicly.

I been thinking up alot of Thoreys too about what might of happened.

1) maybe DOOM has just Fell off and has Bad heath and doesent want the fans to think that doom is going anywere soon.

2) and this is a Far Fetch but maybe that DOOM might be Subroc. DOOM IF You Read this please dont get mad.

3) Somthing happend to DOOM (murderd, Killed) but no one will ever know because the man is behind a mask 24/7.

4) That Guy might be Him.

5) DOOM is doing somthing Real Real Evil maybe a promotion like "Were is DOOM?" for an up in comming Crazy Realese

6) OR maybe DOOM Pulled another Zev Love and Vanished himself to find himself or to make music. so his management already had Commitments and thought they could pull it off like that because they dident want to cansell.

This is by far the strangest thing I've come across on the internet since this, physicly speaking that is.

Turn off the lights...

Real Niggas Light Candles, Vol. 3

Tracklisting:
1. Martin Luther - "Daily Bread"
2. Yael Naim - "Levater"
3. Janelle Monáe - "Cybertronic Purgatory"
4. Jazmine Sullivan - "Prototype"
5. Hot Chip - "Made In The Dark"
6. Tiombe Lockhart ft. Bilal - "Strange"
7. Jamie Cullum - "In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning"
8. The Cinematic Orchestra - "That Home"
9. The Fray - "Hundred"
10. First Aid Kit - "Season"
11. Pauline Croze - "A l'évidence"
12. She & Him - "Take It Back"
13. Janelle Monáe - "Warm Up (Cloud 9 Interlude)"
14. Adele - "Now And Then"
15. Vashti Bunyan - "Train Song"
16. Jason Mraz - "If It Kills Me (From The Casa Nova Sessions)"
17. My People Sleeping - "Seahorse"
18. Casey Dienel - "Asleep At The Wheel"
19. Donny Hathaway - "Misty"

Click the album cover. Download, distribute, disfruta. Now you can put a name to the faces. I'd like to think each mix is better than the last. You tell me. As always, the mixtape is meant to be played in sequence. No skipping. Summer's winding down. Leaves and temperatures will be dropping in the coming months. This might keep you warm. If not, it'll at least remind you that it's about to get cold. Enjoy.

Muppet Workout Plan

You Can Have It

This is the final teaser for Real Niggas Light Candles, Vol. 3. I'm releasing it tomorrow. Let's say noonish. Be there. (and by there, I mean here).

Real Niggas Light Candles, Vol. 3.

8/12/08, 12pm.

Spoke Too Soon

Sorry, Bear Grylls is the illest nigga alive. Then Barack. If you have never seen Man Vs. Wild, "my nigga what is yo life about"!?

Today is gonna be the day

Jay-Z - Jockin Jay-Z (Clean Studio version)

It'll be all over the internet by tomorrow morning, but I'm posting it anyway. And yeah, it's the studio version, not the rip off Kanye's MSG performance. And yeah, I've declined to comment or add to the hoopla over Jigga's next album. He's let me down before, so I'm not gonna get my hopes up. Just take it one track at a time. My personal opinion? He should pull a Weezy and flood the market with songs as he does them to get in the zone and then really go all in. He should also call Mr. 3 Stacks so he could feel some competition and really put the burner to these niggas.

Other than that, I'll try to stay mum about it so as to not fall victim to the inevitable hype.

Umm... my new guilty pleasure...

So yeah, I downloaded that Danity Kane jawn when it came out jus cuz. I never listened to it tho. Why? What have I been missing? This is on some Metropolis: Suite The Remix. And Missy's verse? crazy son.

Join the Migration

As soon as David Kenneth finishes the cover, I'm dropping Real Niggas Light Candles, Vol. 3. Until then, enjoy.

I Put On

Brought to you by the good folks over at Goadome Talk:

Download: Part 1 Part 2

Part 1:
1. We Major Intro
2. Shiela - Marky
3. Is There Any Love [Verse] - Wale
4. Drum Roll - G2
5. Magnum Dollars - Mold of a Man
6. Flashing Lights - Point Blank
7. Meet The Rapper - High Society
8. Text Message [Remix] ft. A.P. - Raheem DeVaughn
9. Bad Girl - Syxx
10. Sickkk - Nando Mcflyy
11. The Bomb - Southeast Slim
12. Wholetime ft. Young Chris - Wale
13. Kick Rocks - Tabi Bonney
14. The Local Rapper

Part 2:
1. Release Party
2. Sexy Lady - De-U.ce Double
3. After The Go-Go - TnT
4. Dopalicious - Chris Barz
5. swag done - BKS
6. Push em' Off - E.M.P.
7. Live From The - K. Beta
8. Allure - A.B. the Producer
9. Henry Ford ft. Marky - D. Omen
10. Incredible [Freestyle] - Lyriciss
11. Yesterday ft. A.B. the Producer & Marky - Cayan
12. American Boy - The Paxtons
13. African Gangster - R.E.U.B
14. What Else - Ra the MC
15. Energy - el Prezidino
16. Rid'D ft. Wale - X.O. Uptown
17. Why Must It Be - Judah
18. I Am So D.C. - A.P.
19. I Put On [Outro]
20. Bonus Track - Anonymous MC

Support The Paxtons. Support the DMV. Download and enjoy.

Here's the back album cover too:

63:29

Real Niggas Light Candles Vol. 3 is officially done. It's been a work in progress for what... 5 months? Oh well, it's finished, and I'm just gonna say this: either you'll love it or you'll hate it. It's the most esoteric mix I've done and as such, it's got some songs that you might find straight weird. Still, it's got a few gems I've been sitting on since I didn't wanna post them on the blog until the mixtape dropped. That said, I'm not putting it out today, just wanna let yall know it's done and provide yall with a picture of what's gonna be on it.

This mixtape, as the 2 before it, are not "bedroom mixes," which is to say, ur not gonna put it on and close the deal with a chick. It's much more about enjoying solitude. It's something to put on when you need to think, or you need inspiration (at least for me). So don't download it and expect to hear Isley Brothers "In Between The Sheets." It's much more "She's Out of My Life" than "So Anxious".

So, without further ado, I present to you the artists featured on the next installation of Real Niggas Light Candles, in the order in which they appear:





















In case you didn't notice, it's a lotta white ppl. I didn't plan for it, but I go where the music takes me. In the coming days you'll be able to put a song to some of the unfamiliar faces (and yes, Janelle is up twice on purpose). You'll get the tracklisting when you get the mixtape.

19 tracks. 63 minutes, 29 seconds. Make room.

Space Invaders

N.E.R.D. - Everyone Nose (Remix) (Feat. Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco & Pusha T)

Ur computer isn't messed up. It's pixelated on purpose.

Harder than a roll of quarters

Randomly, I've been listening to Jodeci for the past couple days. So it only makes sense to post this. Plus, the song goes hella hard. Dope beat, dope lyrics. It should be killing the charts right now.

Hustle & Flow

Terrence Howard - Shine Through It (Advance)

Yeah, that title was a copout. I know. This is the advance off Terrence Howard's upcoming CD (yes, DJay is dropping a real album). I don't usually post advances, but I guess today's the day of "I don't usually do this but, uh... keep the party goin!" BTW, that's not the album cover, jus a pic off google images. Also, this link is leeched of the den. I'm bout to head out the door and don't have time to re-up it. Sue me.

Upped to sharebee now. After listening to much of it, it'd be much better if Terrence didn't sing.

Fish are jumpin and the cotton is high

Been holding off on this one for a while, but now that summer's drawing to a close, it's only appropriate:

Summer
by John Ashbery

There is that sound like the wind
Forgetting in the branches that means something
Nobody can translate. And there is the sobering “later on,”
When you consider what a thing meant, and put it down.

For the time being the shadow is ample
And hardly seen, divided among the twigs of a tree,
The trees of a forest, just as life is divided up
Between you and me, and among all the others out there.

And the thinning-out phase follows
The period of reflection. And suddenly, to be dying
Is not a little or mean or cheap thing,
Only wearying, the heat unbearable,

And also the little mindless constructions put upon
Our fantasies of what we did: summer, the ball of pine needles,
The loose fates serving our acts, with token smiles,
Carrying out their instructions too accurately—

Too late to cancel them now—and winter, the twitter
Of cold stars at the pane, that describes with broad gestures
That state of being that is not so big after all.
Summer involves going down as a steep flight of steps

To a narrow ledge over the water. Is this it, then,
This iron comfort, these reasonable taboos,
Or did you mean it when you stopped? And the face
Resembles yours, the one reflected in the water.

Works Cited

NKOTB ft. Ne-Yo - Single (Produced by Polow da Don)

I try not to repost things I find on bigger music blogs too much, but The Fader's blurb about this song was so good I decided to just copy and paste for yall. Enjoy:

Let us genuflect once again at the rhinestone encrusted altar of Polow Da Don. "Single" could have been a slow-jam vessel for anyone to sing about absolutely anything - Ciara's vacant yearnings, Usher lamenting nightclub bottle service, Plies mumbling about things that your lady parts can do - yet Polow said "No! I shall bestow this upon Jordan, Jonathan, Joey, Donnie and Danny, for only they are truly deserving." Why? We don't want to dwell on the fact that New Kids [On The Block] are old (it requires dwelling on the fact that we are old) but you can tell it was on Polow's mind when he whipped this up. On the surface, "Single" is an ode to all the single (duh) ladies out there with their own jobs / real hair / etc, but it's really an anthem for the over-40 set playing the bar, wrinkling in ill-fitting Ed Hardy sweatshirts and unbuttoned Armani Exchange, copping appletinis for Rebecca and Amy and 'em just to "be your boyfriend till the song goes off." These dudes. You know these dudes! You have seen them in every nightclub in every city in the world. New Kids On The Block are these dudes. Polow you a genius! (Not sure where Ne-Yo falls into this particular May-September romance, but we forsee a Rex Manning Day somewhere in his future too.)

Fader Mag bloggers, you are the Heisenberg to Polow's Einstein. Download the song and get to groovin.

College Days Swiftly Pass...

Despite the homolarious imagery depicted, this is not a pointed post. Despite my love for black and old gold, Alphas are guilty of corny ish like this pic and hyperlinked song as well. Too bad I found this New Jack Swing Nupe jam first. The pic... taken with my good ol trusty canon in DC's Pasha. The point... stop strolling in the club... EVERYBODY... kappas especially.

Enjoy.
Delta Theta (Penn State) Nupes - I Love U Ship

Mr. Garr Was Right...

Barack is definitely the baddest man in America.

A Guy Called ?uest

Today I decided to venture outside of the 3 block radius from the crib in West Philly and head downtown to catch up with the Ubiq peeps. ?uestlove's special edition Air Force 1's are releasing here tomorrow and there's quite a hubbub over them. My personal take? It's a cool shoe and it's backed by a pretty dope dude. Nevertheless, I'll be watching from the sidelines (literally) since I don't have $235 to throw at some sneaks. The NYC release at Alife drew a lot of attention and ?uest himself showed up. Hypebeast said ?uest personally bought the first 5 ppl's pair for them. Some of the folks at Ubiq told me he actually bought a couple other ppl pairs for them as well.

Here in Philly, dudes have been camping out since Saturday. Not to be outdone in his hometown, I heard that ?uest made numerous appearances and treated the fiends to pizzas and hoagies on his personal tab. Will he also be buying kids sneakers come tomorrow? Who knows. All I know is that I can't afford 'em. But hopefully, I'll win that email drawing. If I do win them, I will immediately resell them. Times is tough, and a nigga needs to pay the bills, ya dig?

Regardless, the release party will be in-store tomorrow night. If you're in town, there's no reason to not stop by. ?uest will be spinning, a few other local celebs might show up (cuz they always do), and there'll prolly be a few quasi-cool, psuedo-eccentric females to test out that game you've been perfecting all summer. But please, leave the shemaghs at home. They're kitsch, not cool.

You're in time-out

Jazmine Sullivan - Don't Let Me Get Started (feat. Missy Elliott)

I'm starting to get worried about all these Jazmine Sullivan leaks. Demand is high among the chitlin circuit, but dang, don't put half the album out 6 weeks before it drops.

Opening Ceremonies

In partnership with Goadome Talk, we will be releasing The Doors Opening EP this Friday. The EP will feature music from Tabi Bonney, Raheem Devaughn, The Paxtons, RA the MC, Wale, Southeast Slim & EMP, Marky, TnT, Lyriciss, Syxx, G2, Mouse, Nando McFlyy, AB the Producer, AP, BKS, Chris Barz, D. Omen, High Society, Judah, K-Beta, REUB, Magnum Dollars, and a few others.

I think you rappers call this sorta thing a "movement." We're proud to take part.

Bullseye

No Robert Kelly, this is a good commercial.

Chaos

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

If ever I became an actual recording artist, I'd be like this dude.

Live Nigga Rap

Download

Link is stolen, but it works. For now.

Am I alone on this one?

The Air Yeezy's are not hot. When I first saw glimpses of them after his Grammy performance, I thought they were interesting, but once I actually saw what they looked like, I easily passed. Still, 6 of the 7 internets have continued to add to the hype of this overrated sneaker. Oh well, if you like em, fine, but they're an ok sneaker at best, in the vein of other ok mashups like the Spizike's.

I appreciate the sensationalization tho. They even got this pic of Kanye acting like he can draw.

Nice try. I'm not convinced tho. On second thought, maybe I am. Kanye's always been good at trying to look good (pause). The shoe looks like it's trying too hard to be hot, kinda like Mr. West. And before you Kanye stans get ur panties in a bunch, it's my opinion, and I'm a regular joe who has never flown on anything but commercial airlines and still doesn't own a car. In other words, if your feelings are hurt, you obviously don't have enough things to worry about in life.

The Staple Pigeon 575's tho? Now those are hot.

But They Just Not You

6 rings MJ vs. 81 point Kobe? That would possibly make for one of the greatest games of all time, even with the Idaho Stampede and the WNBA All-Stars as their respective supporting casts. Ah well, in the meanwhile enjoy Mike (who clearly still got it like Eddie Kane) school these young bols. I feel for the young'ns in the last thirty seconds of this clip... but maybe not really cuz Mike could probably still drop 15-20 a night if they ice his knees 12 hours a day.

Peter Parker Climb

Hilarious. I'm now a Kid Cudi fan. Yes, that is Vashtie Kola aka the #1 hottest female in the game. (I swear, there are a number of friends and family members I would auction off for a chance with that woman.) I wanted to hate cuz Cudi and Vashtie were in this together, but as you'll see, the hilarity makes it hater-proof.

I will be quoting this video at random now--ur warned.

Best Rapper President Alive

Reading this article from the New York Times, I must admit that Barack Obama may be the only person that I'm not related to who I truly admire. Aside from that, it made me think about all the hoopla over whether Obama's swagger is too splasherific (read: presumptive).

The media, trying to reel itself in after their lovefest this month, is now trying to make the case that the nominee-in-waiting is behaving a little bit too much like the President-in-waiting. Even I will agree with this. I thought the Obama-branding has gone too far, what with the plane's fresh paint job, and that rip-off of the Presidential seal? Bad taste.

Still, in spite of the ballyhooing over an arrogant Commander-in-Chief, I think it's really moot. Arrogance and power go hand in hand. No leader of any movement can escape the aura of his position over others. Abraham couldn't escape it, neither could Moses, David didn't, Solomon definitely didn't, and Jesus? That's the reason they killed Him. Even modern martyrs like Ghandi and Dr. King can't help but lord their humility over others. So it comes as no surprise to see "The One," as McCain aides are known to call Obama, letting his swagger splash all over our TV screens.

Think about it: this guy really wants to be President of the United States of America. You have to be a cocky son of a you-know-what to still want to be President past 12 years old. Add to that the fact that homey is young and black, and your confidence level has to rival that of Kobe Bryant and Lil Wayne combined. Shoot, remember Jay-Z's level of swagger when he dropped The Blueprint or Weezy on Da Drought 3?

I remember reading a book (I think it was Chris Matthews' Hardball) where a politician remarked frankly that it takes an extra bit of self-importance--even for a politician--to aspire to the presidency. Reminded of this, I don't lose sight that at the end of the day, Obama is a man, as susceptible to the trappings of circumstance and power as George Dubya, Bill Clinton, and any other of our leaders, revered or ridiculed. He thought the seal and a platitudinous speech abroad were good ideas, and though I can fault him, I won't.

We all have our moments when we allow a string of good fortune to blind our better judgment. 'Member that Complex Magazine issue where Weezy took explicit aim at Jay? Or better yet, remember the latter part of '07, when, drunk off euphoria and whatever was in that styrofoam cup, Wayne put out a string of lackluster verses? Remember Kingdom Come?

As the proverb goes, "Pride cometh before the fall." I'm happy that all of us--Obama, the media, and the public--were able to get this reality check now, because there's still a general election ahead, and in case you didn't know, no poll is handing Obama an easy victory (even though it should be one).

I'm glad that the media has decided to pare back its adoration, as strained an effort as it must be for them, because it detracts from what's really important: the issues. And, while Obama may have developed into a true political rock star, such acclaim could undermine the very grass roots demographic from which he rose. Catching the tail end of his world tour on the news networks, he sometimes felt like that indie band that suddenly sold out and went commercial, inflated by mass appeal.

Criticism notwithstanding, my admiration of him and his steps on this path to greatness remains steady. Ideologically, he embodies the essence of Plato's idea of the philosopher king. (I'll end my compliments there before I become a hypocrite and wax rhapsodic about Obama myself.) There's still much to learn during the upcoming campaign. Just as Hillary before, McCain is a much better candidate than he seems to be on TV. I doubt he'll figure that out before November though.