Hed Rush

The HedRush Episode #38 - The Boom & The Bip

2011-02-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

Keeping it short and sweet, here's the new episode that showcases more of our bread & butter. Lots of bangin' tracks, many with exquisite production. So check us out and tell all your friends.

Oh, and we're looking for beats. So hit us up at: thehedrush@gmail.com

Click here for the playlist.

And here's the playlist:

Gravediggaz - No Where to Run, No Where To Hide
Trendz of Culture - Off & On
Whooliganz - Put Your Handz Up
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LL Cool J - Back Seat
Young MC - Non Stop
Craig G - UR Not the 1 (rmx)
Superlover Cee & Casanova Rud - Romeo
Above the Law – V.S.O.P.
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Simple E – Play My Funk
Mad Skillz f/ Q-Tip & Large Professor – Extra Abstract Skillz
Paula Perry – Paula’s Perry
Organized Konfusion – Somehow, Someway
Justin Warfield – Season of the Vic
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Basehead – 2000 B.C.

The HedRush Radio Show, Episode #37 - We Get Ruff

2011-01-15T11:23:00.001-08:00

So we hope you enjoyed the Top 600 best of the '00s list, but now it's back to our regularly scheduled program: The HedRush Radio Show. And with our new episode, we got back to our bread and butter: dusty hip-hop from the '80s and '90s. So here's another fix.

Head over here to download the show.

And here's the playlist:

Jaz f/ Jay-Z - The Originators
Max & Sam - Rumble Young Man, Rumble
Supreme Nyborn - Versatility (rmx)
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YZ - The Ghetto's Been Good To Me
Brand New Heavies f/ Grand Puba - Who Makes the Loot?
Rough House Survivor - Rough House (Pete Rock Remix)
Resident Alien f/ Maseo & Dres - Shakey Ground
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Krumb Snatcha - Closer to God
Tragedy f/ Extra P & Havoc - Da Funk Mode
Cru f/ Slick Rick - Just Another Case
Rasco - Sophisticated Mic Pros
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Brothas Uv Da Blackmarket - Livin' in a Bottle

Enjoy the music and the analysis and tell a friend.

Top 600 Hip-Hop albums of the '00s

2011-01-02T17:18:00.000-08:00

The list below represents the work of over a year of my life. I’d actually hazard it took close to 18 months to compile and rank this list. And hey, it’s only a little over a year late. As you might guess, I’m into hip-hop, like, REALLY into hip-hop. So when I saw all of the “Best of the Decade” lists pop up in various media around mid-2009, I decided to compile my own centering on hip-hop music. This list was first conceived as a Top 500, but grew to Top 600. Truthfully, I could have turned it into a Top 700 (I’ve got up to #676 loosely mapped out), but that seemed gratuitous even to me.

Okay, some general notes about the list:

1. It a list of MY favorite hip-hop albums released between 1/1/00 and 12/31/09. Releases from the year 2010 are not included.
2. It’s a list based on MY personal tastes and preferences. It does not factor in sales or “impact” or “relevance,” just what I liked the most.
3. Here’s what I did not include on the list of 600:
a. Hip-Hop EPs; they’re on a separate list.
b. Releases of albums/material originally intended to be released before 2000, or compilations of material that was released before 2000; they’re on a separate list.
c. Non-exclusive hip-hop albums released by hip-hop artists; the definition gets a little dicey sometimes, but I tried to keep it as consistent as possible, and yes, they got their own list.
d. Mixtapes. I didn’t get/download enough of these to really put together a comprehensive list. However, I included a separate list with my five favorites.

If you don’t see an album on the list, here are the potential reasons:
1. I didn’t hear it. It’s possible: even I can’t listen to everything. I certainly tried though, as I sought out A LOT of albums I hadn’t heard before putting this list together, and listened to them multiple times whenever possible. Many of them got included on this list.
2. I heard it and liked it but forgot to include it. Less likely, as I tried to be as exhaustive as possible. But my mind does not have an airtight seal; things can slip through.
3. There are, in my opinion, 600 hip-hop albums better than that album.

Last few notes: This list reflects my order of preference right now as I type this. I’ve edited this list countless times. Hell, I’ve edited it a few times since I started writing this intro. The order could be different 10 months or 10 minutes from now. So, if you’re wondering why one particular album is only #X in the list, it’s because I right now like #Y hip-hop albums more than that one.

I’ve listened to just about every album on here multiple times since I started putting it together, ESPECIALLY the ones that are ranked towards the end. There were A LOT of dope/great albums released between 1/1/00 and 12/31/09, which I why I expanded the length of this list from 500 to 600.

Also, I’m old enough that I’ll give just about anything its day in court, but be aware that there is a certain style of hip-hop that I prefer, and the list below reflects my tastes. That said, there’s stuff for everyone to hate about how I ranked these albums, but it’s an as accurate reflection of my beliefs right now as can be expected.

And, if after all that anyone wants to complain about this list, honestly, kiss my ass.

See without further ado, here’s the list:

Top 600 Hip-Hop albums of the ’00s.

1. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele
2. Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein
3. Outkast – Stankonia
4. Madvillain – Madvillainy
5. Edan – Beauty and the Beat
6. Jay-Z – Blueprint
7. People Under the Stairs – O.S.T.
8. Mr. Lif – I, Phantom
9. Blueprint – 1988
10. Reflection Eternal – Train of Thought
11. Blu and Exile – Below the Heavens
12. People Under the Stairs – Fun-DMC
13. Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
14. Masta Ace – Disposable Arts
15. De La Soul – The Grind Date
16. Third Sight – Symbonese Liberation Album
17. Roosevelt Franklin – Something’s Gotta Give
18. Viktor Vaughn – Vaudville Villain
19. Atmosphere – You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having
20. Slum Village – Fantastic, Vol. 2
21. El-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
22. J-Zone – A Job Ain’t Nothin’ But Work
23. Wu-Tang Clan – Iron Flag
24. Asheru and Blue Black – Soon Come…
25. Count Bass D – Dwight Spitz
26. MURS – End of the Beginning
27. The Roots – The Tipping Point
28. CunninLynguists – A Piece of Strange
29. Immortal Technique – Revolutionary Vol. 2
30. People Under the Stairs – Stepfather
31. Aesop Rock – Labor Days
32. Brother Ali – Shadows of the Sun
33. Insight – The Blast Radius
34. Jaylib – Champion Sound
35. Juggaknots – Use Your Confusion
36. Porn Theater Ushers - Taxachusetts
37. Little Brother – The Listening
38. Kanye West – Late Registration
39. Quasimoto – The Further Adventures of…
40. The Roots – Rising Down
41. J-Zone - $ick of Being Rich
42. Wu-Tang Clan – The W
43. The Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
44. J-Live – All of the Above
45. Illogic – Celestial Clockwork
46. The Roots –Game Theory
47. Willie Evans Jr. – Communication
48. Akrobatik – Balance
49. Kanye West – Graduation
50. Mr. Lif – I Heard It Today
51. Quasimoto – The Unseen
52. P.O.S. – Audition
53. Roddy Rod – Blunt Park Sessions 2.0
54. Devin the Dude – To Tha X-Treme
55. Maspyke – Blackout
56. Diamond District – In the Ruff
57. Super Chron Flight Brothers – Emergency Powers
58. Konceptual Dominance
59. Akrobatik – Absolute Value
60. Edan – Primitive Plus
61. J-Zone – Pimps Don’t Play Taxes
62. Atmosphere – God Loves Ugly
63. Asamov – And Now
64. Blackalicious – Blazing Arrow
65. Common – Like Water For Chocolate
66. Tanya Morgan – Brooklynatti
67. Tony Touch – The Piece Maker
68. MF DOOM – MM… Food?
69. Jedi Mind Tricks – Violent By Design
70. El-P – Fantastic Damage
71. Dilated Peoples – Expansion Team
72. RJD2 – Deadringer
73. All Natural – Second Nature
74. Five Deez – Kool Motor
75. De La Soul – Art Official Intelligence Vol. 1: Mosiac Thump
76. Azeem – Craft Classic
77. Kanye West – College Dropout
78. Jurassic Five – Power in Numbers
79. Beanie Sigel – The B. Coming
80. M.O.P. – Warriorz
81. Capital D – Insomnia
82. Brother Ali – Undisputed Truth
83. Big Boi – Speakerboxxx
84. Ghostface Killah – Fishscale
85. Jay-Z – American Gangster
86. Gangstarr – The Ownerz
87. Babbletron – Mechanical Royalty
88. Murs and 9th Wonder – MURS 3:16
89. Soul Position – Things Go Better With RJ and Al
90. The UN – UN Or U Out?
91. Prophetix – High Risk
92. People Under the Stairs – Carried Away
93. Perceptionists – Black Dialogue
94. Binary Star –Masters of the Universe
95. Hieroglyphics – Full Circle
96. CunninLynguists – Dirty Acres
97. Jake One – White Van Music
98. Styles of Beyond – Megadef
99. Louis Logic – Misery Loves Comedy
100. Guilty Simpson – Ode to the Ghetto
101. Jon Doe – Meet Jon Doe
102. One Be Lo – S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.
103. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
104. Semi.Official – The Anti-Album
105. Wisemen – Wisemen Approaching
106. Capital D – Return of the Renegade
107. Jedi Mind Tricks – Visions of Gandhi
108. Non-Phixion – The Future is Now
109. Little Brother – The Minstrel Show
110. Sean Price – Monkey Barz
111. Slug & Murs - Felt 2: A Tribute To Lisa Bonet
112. Foreign Exchange – Connected
113. Scarface – The Fix
114. Uncut Raw – First Toke
115. Ghostface Killah – The Pretty Toney Album
116. Soul Position – 8 Million Stories
117. King Geedorah – Take Me To Your Leader
118. People Under the Stairs – Question in the Form of An Answer
119. J Dilla – Donuts
120. Dilated Peoples – The Platform
121. Pep Love – Ascension
122. Atmosphere – Seven’s Travels
123. Black Milk – Tronic
124. Dagha – The Divorce
125. P.O.S. – Never Better
126. The Roots – Phrenology
127. Living Legends – Almost Famous
128. Esoteric – Egoclapper
129. Y Society – Travel At Your Own Pace
130. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
131. Cunninlynguists – SouthernUnderground
132. Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass
133. Scarface – The Last of Dying Breed
134. Sean Price – Jesus Price Superstar
135. Tony Touch – The Piece Maker 2
136. Five Deez – Kinynasti
137. Invincible – Shape Shifters
138. Zion I & The Grouch – Heroes in the City of Dope
139. Fashawn – Boys Meets World
140. Esoteric – Saving Seamus Ryan
141. Swollen Members – Bad Dreams
142. Ghostface Killah – Bulletproof Wallets
143. Brother Ali – Us
144. The Mighty Underdogs – Droppin Science Fiction
145. Canibus – Rip the Jacker
146. Ugly Duckling – Taste the Secret
147. Binkis – The Reign Begins
148. D12 – Devil’s Night
149. Danger Doom – Mouse and the Mask
150. G&E – Say G&E
151. Jurassic Five – Quality Control
152. Smut Peddlers – Porn Again
153. Del – Both Sides of the Brain
154. Zion I – Mind Over Matter
155. Count Bass D – Act Your Waist Size
156. Aesop Rock – Bazooka Tooth
157. Azeem – Air Cartoons
158. DOOM – Born Like This
159. Nas – Hip-Hop is Dead
160. Esoteric – Esoteric Vs. Japan
161. Smile Rays – Smilin On You
162. Murs & Ninth Wonder – Murray’s Revenge
163. J. Rawls – The Essence of J. Rawls
164. Zion I – The Takeover
165. Exile – Radio
166. Dr. Oop – Mad Hueman Disease
167. Wee Bee Foolish – Brighton Beach Memoirs
168. Jay-Z – The Black Album
169. 7L and Esoteric – A New Dope
170. All Natural – Vintage
171. Strange Fruit Project – The Healing
172. Blackalicious – The Craft
173. The Molemen – The Ritual of the Molemen
174. Common – Be
175. Devin the Dude – Just Tryin’ to Live
176. A.G. – Get Dirty Radio
177. Sacred Hoop – Go Hogwild
178. Masta Ace - Long Hot Summer
179. Mr. Lif – Mo’ Mega
180. Illogic –Got Lyrics?
181. Cool Calm Pete – Lost
182. Lifesavas – Gutterfly
183. Zeph & Azeem – Rise Up
184. Iomos Marad – Deeply Rooted
185. Lifesavas – Spirit in Stone
186. Mr. Len – Pity the Fool
187. Ed O.G. – The Truth Hurts
188. Souls of Mischief – Montezuma’s Revenge
189. Johnny Five – Summer
190. K-Otix – Universal
191. Louis Logic – Sin-A-Matic
192. Nappy Roots – Watermelon, Chicken, and Gritz
193. The Beatnuts – Take It and Squeeze It
194. Motion Man – Clearing the Field
195. Tanya Morgan – Moonlighting
196. Cut Chemist – The Audience is Listening
197. Heltah Skeltah – D.I.R.T.
198. Ken Starr – Starr Status
199. Cage – Hell’s Winter
200. The High and Mighty – Highlite Zone
201. CunninLynguists – Strange Journey Vol. 1 & 2
202. Sound Providers – An Evening With the Sound Providers
203. Porn Theater Ushers – Sloppy Seconds
204. Ghostface Killah – More Fish
205. Redman – Malpractice
206. T.I. – King
207. Busta Rhymes – Anarchy
208. Little Brother – The Getback
209. Five Deez – Kommunicator
210. Mr. Dibbs – The 30th Song
211. Executive Lounge
212. Immortal Technique – Revolutionary Vol. 1
213. Beatnuts – The Originators
214. The Last Emperor – Music, Man, Myth
215. Gift of Gab – 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up
216. Deltron – Deltron 3030
217. DJ Shadow – Private Press
218. DJ Drez – Capture of Sound
219. One Be Lo – The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.
220. Freddie Foxxx – Industry Shakedown
221. Marco Polo – Port Authority
222. Jedi Mind Tricks – Legacy of Blood
223. DJ Rob Swift – Sound Event
224. 7L and Esoteric – Soul Purpose
225. Aceyalone – Accepted Eclectic
226. J-Live – Then What Happened
227. Torae and Marco Polo – Double Barrel
228. Killer Mike – Monster
229. Wu-Tang Clan – The 8 Diagrams
230. J Dilla – The Shining
231. Paten Locke – Super Ramen Spaceship
232. Masta Killah – No Said Date
233. Decompoze – Decomposition
234. De La Soul – Are You In?
235. Nas – Stillmatic
236. Leak Bros. – Waterworld
237. Masterminds – Stone Soup
238. Prince Paul – Itstrumental
239. Hell Razah – Razah’s Ladder
240. Chamillionaire – Ultimate Victory
241. Cam’Ron – Purple Haze
242. Arsonists – Date of Birth
243. Aesop Rock – Float
244. D.I.T.C. – D.I.T.C.
245. yU – Before Taxes
246. Dela – Changes in Atmosphere
247. Dynas – The Apartment
248. Masterminds – Underground Railroad
249. Cali Agents – How the West Was Won
250. Percee P – Perseverance
251. Grayskul – Deadlivers
252. All Natural – Elements/Fire
253. Foreign Legion – Kidnapper Van
254. Cunninlynguists – Will Rap For Food
255. EMC – The Show
256. Keely and Zaire – Ridin High
257. Casual – He Think He Raw
258. C-Rayz Walz – Year of the Beast
259. Finale – A Pipe Dream and a Promise
260. K’Naan – Troubadour
261. J Dilla – Jay Stay Paid
262. Murs – Murs 4 President
263. Greenhouse Effect – Columbus or Bust
264. Atmosphere – Lucy Ford
265. Stimulated Vol. 1
266. Eastern Conference All-Stars Vol. 2
267. Ghostface Killah – The Big Doe Rehab
268. Copywrite – The High Exhaulted
269. The Opus – First Contact 001
270. Aceyalone – Magnificent City
271. Dead Prez – Let’s Get Free
272. Q-Tip – Renaissance
273. CMA – All Over
274. Boss Hogg Barbarians – Every Hog Has Its Day
275. L’Roneous & Elusive – Dreamweavers
276. Hangar 18 – Sweep the Leg
277. Casual – Smash Rockwell
278. Cap D & The Molemen – The Writer’s Block
279. Turf Talk – West Coast Vaccine
280. Eminem – The Eminem Show
281. Sadat X – Black October
282. Murs – Murs Rules the World
283. Da Beatminerz – Fully Loaded With Statik
284. RZA – Digital Bullet
285. DJ Jazzy Jeff – Return of the Magnificent
286. Z-Trip – Shifting Gears
287. Cryptic One – The Anti-Mobius Strip Theory
288. Vakill – The Darkest Cloud
289. Single Minded Pros – From Now On…
290. Phenetiks – Revolutionary Non-Pollutionary Mechanical Wonder
291. Nas - Street’s Disciple
292. 7L and Esoteric – DC 2: Bars of Death
293. Sadat X – Experience and Education
294. Pigeon John – And the Summertime Pool Party
295. Lyrics Born – Later That Day
296. Ludacris – Back For the First Time
297. Unsung Heroes – Unleashed
298. Atmosphere – Strickly Leakage
299. Kan Kick – From Artz Unknown
300. Boot Camp Clik – Casualties of War
301. Dynas – Me, Myself, & Rhymes
302. Thirstin Howl III – Skillitary
303. Da Beatminerz – Brace 4 Impak
304. Sage Francis – A Healthy Distrust
305. DJ Spinna – Sonic Smash
306. DJ Zeph – Sunset Scavenger
307. The Beatnuts – Milk Me
308. The Grouch – Making Perfect Sense
309. Fresh Daily – The Gorgeous Killer in Crimes of Passion
310. Homeboy Sandman – Actual Factual Pterodactyl
311. Sandpeople – Honest Racket
312. Pharoahe Monch – Desire
313. Laid in Full Vol. 2
314. The Nextmen – Amongst the Madness
315. Esoteric – Serve or Suffer
316. Sene & Blu – Day Late and a Dollar Short
317. Count Bass D – L7
318. Phife Dawg – Ventilation
319. Super Chron Flight Brothers – Indonesia
320. Slum Village – Detroit Deli
321. Kidz N the Hall – School is My Hustle
322. Clipse – ‘Til the Casket Drops
323. Vast Aire – Look Ma, No Hands
324. T.I. – Trap Muzik
325. Opio – Traingulation Station
326. The Clipse – Lord Willin’
327. Young Jeezy – The Recession
328. The Coup – Party Music
329. L’Roneous – Purposely Powerful
330. Outkast – Idlewild
331. Hell Razah – Renaissance Child
332. Sacred Hoop – Sleep Over
333. Talib Kweli – Eardrum
334. Mission – One
335. Sage Francis – Personal Journals
336. Electric – Life’s a Struggle
337. MC Paul Barman – Paullelujah
338. Masters of Illusion
339. Phat Kat – Carte Blanche
340. BK One – Radio Do Canibal
341. Side Two
342. Jedi Mind Tricks – History of Violence
343. Doomtree – Doomtree
344. Prefuse 73 – Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives
345. A & E – Arts and Entertainment
346. Beastie Boys – To the 5 Boroughs
347. Large Professor – Main Source
348. Big Tone – The Art of Ink
349. Nobody – Soulmates
350. SA Smash – Smashy Trashy
351. Army of the Pharaohs – The Torture Papers
352. Planet Asia – The Medicine
353. Jedi Mind Tricks – Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
354. Danger Mouse & Jemini – Ghetto Pop Life
355. Blame One – Days Chasing Days
356. Wu-Tang Clan – Chamber Music
357. El Da Sensei – The Unusual
358. The Game – Documentary
359. Devin the Dude - Landing Gear
360. The High and Mighty – The 12th Man
361. Kidz N the Hall – The In-Crowd
362. Slug and MURS – Felt 3: Tribute to Rosie Perez
363. Maspyke – Static
364. Tek and Steele – Reloaded
365. Bus Driver – Fear of a Black Tangent
366. Jay Dee – Welcome to Detroit
367. Encore – Self Preservation
368. Jel – 10 Seconds
369. Spank Rock – YoYoYoYoYo
370. Elzhi – The Preface
371. Dabrye – Two/Three
372. Ludacris – Theater of the Mind
373. DJ Zeph – DJ Zeph
374. Toki Wright – A Different Mirror
375. Three Melancholy Gypsies – Grand Caravan to the Rim of the World
376. Azeem – Show Business
377. Masai Bey – Art of the Covenant
378. Wu-Tang Meets Indie Culture
379. Souls of Mischief – Trilogy: Conflict, Climax, Resolution
380. Jay-Z – Kingdom Come
381. Embedded – The Bedford Files
382. Buc Fifty – Bad Man
383. Dillon & Paten Locke – Studies in Hunger
384. Dizzee Razcal – Maths + English
385. GZA – Pro Tools
386. Rapper Big Pooh – Sleepers
387. Supastition – Chain Letters
388. Convexed
389. The War Compilation
390. 007 Bond – Golden Gunn
391. 7L and Esoteric – Dangerous Connection
392. Hangar 18 – Multi-Platinum Debut Album
393. The Dwellas – The Last Shall Come First
394. C-Rayz Walz – Ravipops (The Substance)
395. The Coup – Pick a Bigger Weapon
396. Mac Lethal – 11:11
397. Nappy Roots – The Humdinger
398. Jigmastas – Infectious
399. Common – Electric Circus
400. Fakts One – Long Range
401. G & E – No More Greener Grasses
402. Black Panther – Darkest Night Ever
403. Euphony compilation
404. P.O.S. – Ipecac Neat
405. Vordhul Mega – Mega Graphitti
406. Raw Produce – Feeling of Now
407. Brooklyn Academy – Bored of Education
408. Abstract Rude – Rejuvenation
409. The Reavers – Terra Firma
410. Nas – God’s Son
411. Jay-Z – Roc-A-La-Familia
412. LA Symphony – Disappear Here
413. Billy Woods – Camouflage
414. Shawn Jackson – First of All…
415. Method Man & Redman – Blackout 2!
416. Freeway – Philadelphia Freeway
417. Dizzee Rascal – Boy in the Corner
418. Topr – Parade of Shame
419. The Micranots – The Emperor & the Assassin
420. Sage Francis – Hueman Death Dance
421. Bus Driver – Roadkill Overcoat
422. Sharkey – Sharkey’s Machine
423. Project: Polaroid
424. Kirby Dominant – Starr: Contemplations of a Dominator
425. The Procussions – …As Iron Sharpens Iron
426. Black Spade – To Serve With Love
427. Nappy Roots – Wooden Leather
428. RJD2 – Since We Last Spoke
429. Non-Prophets – Hope
430. Wild Child – Secondary Protocol
431. Young Jeezy – Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101
432. K’Naan – Dusty Foot Philosopher
433. Johnson and Jonson – Johnson and Jonson
434. Crown City Rockers – Earthtones
435. Buck 65 – Man Overboard
436. Qwel – If It Ain’t Been in a Pawnshop Then It Can’t Play the Blues
437. Lone Catalysts – Hip-Hop
438. Mars Ill – ProPain
439. P.E.A.C.E. - Negabyte
440. Poison Pen – Pick Your Poison: Mark of the East
441. Earatik Statik – Feeling Earatik
442. Tajai – Power Movement
443. Jurassic Five – Feedback
444. Virtuoso – World War One – The Voice of Reason
445. Monsta Island Czars – Escape From Monsta Island
446. Diverse – One A.M.
447. Project Blowed Presents: The Good Brothers
448. The Grouch – Three Eyes Off the Time
449. Bubba Sparxxx – Deliverance
450. K-The-I??? – Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow
451. Grieves – 88 Keys and Counting
452. The Jacka – Tear Gas
453. Lo Deck & Omega One – Postcards From the Third Rock
454. The Grouch – Crusader For Justice
455. Oddiesse – Mental Liberation
456. DJ Muggs and GZA – Grandmasters
457. Matllock – Moonshine
458. Kool Keith – Matthew
459. k-the-i????? – Broken Love Letter
460. Blue Scholars – Bayani
461. Vast Aire and Mighty Mi – The Best Damn Rap Show
462. Black Milk – Popular Demand
463. Lupe Fiasco – Food and Liquor
464. Dujeous – City Life
465. Weightless – The Weightroom
466. East Coast Avengers – Prison Planet
467. Canibus – Mic Club
468. Junk Science – Gran’dad’s Nerve Tonic
469. Mykil Myers – Long Time Coming
470. Substantial – Sacrifice
471. Lone Catalysts – Good Music
472. Devin the Dude – Waiting To Inhale
473. Boot Camp Clik – The Last Stand
474. DJ Murge – Search and Rescue
475. Tame One and Del – Parallell Uni-Verses
476. Triple Threat – Many Styles
477. 50 Cent – Get Rich or Die Tryin’
478. G-Unit – Beg For Mercy
479. tRebleFree - Return of the Dirty Cymbals
480. Jern Eye – Vision
481. Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, Pain That Shit Gold
482. Antipop Consortium – Arrhythmia
483. 14kt - The Golden Hour
484. Dilated Peoples – Neighborhood Watch
485. Aceyalone – Love and Hate
486. The Are – Hustler’s Theme
487. Nabo Rawk – Mt. Olympus Steeze
488. Douljah Raze – Where Are You?
489. L.E.G.A.C.Y.
490. Zion I – True and Livin’
491. Shapeshiftaz – Shapeshiftaz Was Here
492. Zion I – Deep Water Slang 2.0
493. Together Brothers
494. Blueprint – Chamber Music
495. Z-Man – Dope or Dog Food
496. Screwball – Y2K
497. D-Tension – Contacts & Contracts
498. J-Live –The Hear After
499. Nighthawks
500. Nabo Rawk - Teched Out Neanderthals
501. De La Soul – Art Official Intellgence Vol. 2 – Bionix
502. Slaughterhouse
503. Young Buck – Straight Outta Cashville
504. Mystik Journeymen – Magic
505. 50 Cent – Before I Self Destruct
506. Rick Ross – Deeper Than Rap
507. Army of the Pharaohs – Ritual of Battle
508. Josh Martinez – World Famous Sex Buffet
509. Rasco – Hostile Environment
510. Scienz of Life – Project: Overground
511. Hi-Tek – Hi-Teknology
512. Buff-1 – There’s Only One
513. Apathy – Wanna Snuggle?
514. Chief Kamachi & The Ju-Ju Mob – Black Candles
515. Rob Sonic – Telicatessen
516. Grayskul – Bloody Radio
517. Wordsworth – Mirror Music
518. Primeridian – Da Allnighta
519. The Grouch - Show You the World
520. Sadat X – Generation X
521. Abstract Rude and Tribe Unique – P.A.I.N.T.
522. Snoop Dogg – R & G: Masterpiece
523. Lord Jamar – The 5% Album
524. Sixtoo – Songs I Hate (And Other People Moments)
525. Panacea – Ink is My Drink
526. Jay-Z – Blueprint 3
527. Cam’Ron – Come Home With Me
528. KRS-One – The Sneak Attack
529. Dilated Peoples – 20/20 Vision
530. Tame One – When Rappers Attack
531. X-Ecutioners – Built From Scratch
532. Protoman – Grey Area
533. Micranots – Obelisk Movements
534. Ill Bill – The Hour of Reprisal
535. A-Plus – My Last Good Deed
536. Rasco – Escape From Alcatraz
537. Common – Finding Forever
538. Lyrics Born – Everything at Once
539. Akbar – Big Bang Boogie
540. GZA – Legend of a Liquid Sword
541. Eligh – Poltergeist
542. Gift of Gab – Escape 2 Mars
543. Black Moon – Total Eclipse
544. Invizzibil Men – The Unveiling
545. Verbal Kent – Fist Shaking
546. Common Market
547. Haiku De’Tat – Haiku De’Tat
548. Jean Grae – The Attack of the Attacking Things
549. MF Grimm – The Downfall of Ibliss
550. Mayday
551. Sole – Selling Live Water
552. Odd Jobs – Drums
553. Eyedea & Abilties – E&A
554. Themselves – Them
555. Big City – The City Never Sleeps
556. Evidence – The Weatherman
557. Afu-Ra – Body of the Life Force
558. Rasco – The Dick Swanson Story
559. El Da Sensei – Relax, Relate, Release
560. 88 Keys – The Death of Adam
561. Pete Rock – NY’s Finest
562. Thawfor – Where Thawght is Worshipped
563. Rick Ross – Port of Miami
564. Coremega – Legal Hustle
565. Eyedea & Abilities – First Born
566. Analog Brothers – Pimp to Eat
567. Outsidaz – The Bricks
568. Talib Kweli – Quality
569. Ugly Duckling – Bang For the Buck
570. Outerspace – Blood Brothers
571. DJ JS-1 – No Sell Out
572. Dungeon Family – Even in Darkness
573. Statik Selektah – Spell My Name Right
574. Adeem & Shalem – Transitions
575. Son Doobie – Funk Superhero
576. Self-Jupiter – Hard Hat Area
577. Krukid – Af-I-Can
578. Panoramic Utopia
579. Cymarshall Law –Hip-Hop in the Flesh
580. Hezekiah – I Predict a Riot
581. Span Fly – Two Weeks Notice
582. Hobo Junction – Industrial Strength People
583. Kool Keith – Spankmaster
584. Wale – Attention Deficit
585. The Knux – Remind Me in 3 Days
586. Young Jeezy – The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102
587. Barak Yalad – A Loss For Words
588. The Procussions – 5 Sparrows and 2 Cards
589. Grand Agent – Peak Oil
590. Hezekiah – Hurry Up and Wait
591. Embedded Joints
592. Foreign Legion – Play Tight
593. 7Heads R Better Than 1
594. Themselves – The No Music
595. Living Legends – Classic
596. Slum Village – Trinity
597. Sadat X – Brand New Bein’
598. Murs and 9th Wonder – Sweet Lord
599. KRS-One – Kris-Styles
600. Hip-Hop 101 compilation

Here’s my 15 favorite “not-exclusively hip-hop” albums by “hip-hop” artists. Yeah, the definition is dicey, but I just felt weird incorporating these into the list:

1. Andre 3000 – The Love Below
2. K-Os! – Atlantis: Hymns For Disco
3. Avalanches – Since I Left You
4. Cee-Lo – Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections
5. Willi.am – Songs About Girls
6. DJ Spinna – Here to There
7. Djini Brown – Surround Sound
8. Breakestra – Hit the Floor
9. Plate Fork Knife Spoon
10. DJ Jazzy Jeff – The Magnificent
11. Wale Oyejide – Africa Hot!
12. Handsome Boy Modeling School – White People
13. El-P – High Water
14. DJ Vaddim – The Art of Listening
15. Roddy Rod – Cuba After Market

Here are my favorite EPs of the ’00s. Wish I could come with 50 of them, but 46 will have to do:

1. Mr. Lif – Emergency Powers
2. Brother Ali – Champion
3. Aesop Rock – Fast Cars, Danger, Fire, and Knives
4. Mr. Lif – Enters the Colossus
5. Aesop Rock – Daylight
6. People Under the Stairs - …Or Stay Tuned
7. J Dilla – Ruff Draft EP
8. The High and Mighty – Air Force One
9. Atmosphere – Sad Face Clown Season EPs
10. Blueprint – Blueprint vs. Funkadelic EP
11. Third Sight – Murderdeathkill EP
12. Sadat X – The State of New York vs. Derek Murphy
13. RJD2 – The Horror
14. Blueprint – Printmattic
15. J-Live – Always Will Be
16. DVS & Treblefree – Nigga, I Know James
17. Talib Kweli and Madlib – Liberation
18. Count Bass D – Begborrowsteel
19. Maroons – Ambush
20. Romanowski – Part in My Pants
21. J-Live – Time Will Reveal
22. Missin Linx – Exhibit A
23. Living Legends – The Gathering
24. Cool Kids – Bake Sale EP
25. Outsidaz – Night Life
26. Blu – HerFavouriteColo(u)r EP
27. Pumpkinhead – A Beautiful Mind
28. C-Rayz Walz – Black Samurai/We Live
29. The Waldorf and Statler Experience – Balcony Music, Volume One
30. The Opus – 000
31. Atmosphere – Leak at Will EP
32. Dujeous – As Promised
33. Ritchy Pitch – Live at Home
34. Brother Ali – Truth is Here
35. 14KT – Nowalataz EP
36. Dumhi - Yoga At Home EP
37. Kirby Dominant – Prostitute EP
38. Spank Rock & Benny Blanco – Bangers and Cash
39. Tanya Morgan – The Bridge EP
40. Demigodz – The God’s Must Be Crazy
41. Mighty Underdogs – The Prelude
42. Jean Grae – The Bootleg of a Bootleg EP
43. Evidence – The Layover
44. Foreign Legion – Secret Knock
45. Cage – Weatherproof
46. Chicharones – Swine Country

Here are my favorite compilations of previously released/unreleased material. It includes full albums originally scheduled to drop in the 1990s but were shelved:

J-Live – The Best Part
Juggaknots – Re: Release
Nas – The Lost Tapes
KMD – Black Bastards
Company Flow – Class X
Thirstin Howl III – Skilligan’s Island
Large Professor – The LP
One Be Lo – Project F.E.T.U.S.
Pep Love – Ascension (Side C)
J-Live – Always Has Been EP
Asheru & Blue Black – 48 Months
Molemen – Lost Sessions
El-P – Collecting the Kid
Casual – Truck Driver
Lootpack – The Lost Tapes
Five Deez – Slow Children Crossing
Kwest the Mad Ladd – These Are My Unreleased Recordings
MC Serch – M.any Y.oung L.ives A.Go: The 1994 Sessions
Living Legends – Crappy Old Shit
Outerspace
Brand Nubian – Time is Running Out

And here are my five favorite mixtapes released between 2000 and 2009:

Oddisee – Foot in the Door
Kirb and Chris – Niggaz and White Girls
Super Chron Flight Bros. – Deleted Scenes
Prodigy – Return of the Mac
G-Side – Huntsville International

So, that’s it, to the fruits of 18 months of work. Even if you don’t agree with the lists, you’ve got to appreciate the effort.

The HedRush Episode #36 - Ultimate Beats and Breaks, featuring Thes One

2010-12-27T23:00:00.001-08:00

It's time for a special episode of the HedRush, our celebration of the classic Ultimate Beats and Breaks collection. And this time, we've got a little help in breaking down the importance of and the context for all 144 tracks of dopeness: MC/producer/crate digger extradinaire,Thes One of People Under the Stairs. Thes graciously took time out of his busy schedule to let us interview him (at an earlier date) about what makes the UBB collection so damn dope. All that, plus we play more music that ever before. It's an all around banner episode for the Podcast.

Below is the playlist. Note that we included the music we played during the interludes as well, as the songs are either tracks from the collection, or instrumental versions of the tracks.

Here's the playlist:

Jimmy Castor Bunch - It's Just Begun
The Politicians - Free Your Mind
Freda Payne - Easiest Way to Fall
Friends and Lovers - Reach Out to the Darkness
Marvin Gaye - T Plays It Cool
- Interlude
Stanley Turrentine - Sister Sanctified
Bobby Byrd - I Know You Got Soul (Inst.)
Olympic Runners - Put the Music Where Your Mouth Is
- Interlude End
The Monkees - Mary, Mary
The Emotions - Blind Alley
Herman Kelly & Life - Dance to the Drummer's Beat
Melvin Bliss - Synthetic Substitution
The Honey Drippers - Impeach the President
- Interlude
James Brown - Funky President (inst.)
- Interlude End
Eddie Bo - Hook & Sling
The VIllage Callers - Hector
Brother Soul - Cookes
Johnny Pate - Shaft in Africa
Lightning Rod - Sport
- Interlude
The Meters - Hand Clapping Song (inst.)
- Interlude end
Esther Williams - Last Night Changed it All
Dyke and the Blazers - Let a Woman Be a Woman, Let a Man Be a Man
Joe Tex - Papa Was Too
Lyn Collins - Think (About It)
The Winstons - Amen, Brother
- Interlude
Thin Lizzy - Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed (inst.)
John Cougar Mellencamp - Jack & Diane (inst.)
- Interlude end
James Brown - Funky Drummer
Syl Johnson - Different Strokes
The Mohawks - The Champ
Foster Sylvers - Misdemeanor
The Jackson 5 - It's Great to Be Here
- Interlude
Galactic Force Band - Space Dust
The Whole Darn Family - Seven Minutes of Funk
Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock
Billy Squire - Big Beat (inst.)
Wilson Pickett - Get Me Back On Time, Engine #9 (inst.)
- Interlude end
Boobie Smith - Lovomaniacs (Sex)

And click here for the episode.

Enjoy the music and the analysis and tell a friend.

The HedRush Podcast Episode #35 - Head Cracks and Love Trax

2010-11-29T23:12:00.000-08:00

For this episode, we go for an odd little mix of tracks, going from highly entertaining drunken ramblings of a future rap mogul to hip-hop love songs to a few more slightly left of center hip-hop tracks. Side note: I used to hate a least two of the songs we played on this episode.

Click here for the episode.

And here's the playlist:

Russell Rush – Cold Chillin in the Spot
Original Concept – Charlie Sez
- break –
Dangerous Dame – I Call Your Name
Brotherhood Creed – Helluva
Antexx – Understand Me Vanessa
Lil Shawn – Hickies on Your Chest
- break –
UltraMagnetic MCs – Travelling at the Speed of Thought
Jemini the Gifted Ones – Funk Soul Sensation
Mr. X & Mr. Z – Drink Old Gold
The Alliance – Kibbles and Bits
Sir Mix-A-Lot – Something About My Benzo
- break –
Tracey Lee – The Theme

The HedRush Podcast Episode #34 - Cold Gettin' Dumb

2010-10-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

I was feeling slightly goofy when JB and I recorded this episode, coming off of a long day at work, but the music is still banging, and the convo stays interesting. For this episode we went from old school electro-hop to straight boom bap to mid-'90s gangsta shit. A fun lil' podcast.

Click here for the episode.

Here's the playlist:

Raw Fusion f/ Shock G & Big Money Odis – Funkintoyear
MC Shan – I Pioneered This
Larry Larr – That’s What They Call Me
- break –
Just Ice – Cold Getting’ Dumb
Mantronix – Fresh is the Word
Akinylele – The Bomb
Broken English Klik – Here Come the Hoods
- break –
M.O.P. – Rugged Neva Smooth (rmx)
Street Smartz f/ O.C., Pharoahe Monch, & F.T. – Metal Thangs
Method Man – The Riddler
Yeshua – The Head Bop
- break -
DFC – Dig a Bigga Ditch

The HedRush Podcast Episode #33 - Fat Beats & Purple Drank

2010-09-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

And so kiddies, it's time to promote another episode of The HedRush. If you want to hear myself and JB d'Mulatto act like some bonafide fools, plus a rack of dope tracks, definitely check this one out.

Click here to check the podcast.

Here's the playlist:

Old World Disorder f/ Eminem – 3hree6ix5ive
Saukrates – Father Time
East Flatbush Project – Tried By 12
- break –
Akinyele & Sadat X – Loud Hangover (rmx)
Daddy-O – Flowing in File
Monie Love – Pups Licking Bone
Showbiz and A.G. f/ Lord Finesse & Diamond D – Diggin’ in the Crates
-break-
Fu-Schnickens – Ring the Alarm
Blood of Abraham – Stabbed by the Steeple
Defari –The Bottom Line
Nice & Smooth f/ Preacher Earl, Bas Blasta, Asu, & Guru – Down the Line
- break –
Wise Guyz – Time for Peace

The HedRush Episode #32 - Keep 'Em Coming

2010-08-19T23:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we know, another delay between episodes. We're trying to fix that. Anyway, hope you enjoy the podcast, because he go the full range from the fairly well-known to the really obscure on this one.

Click here for the show.

Here's the playlist:

Redman & Method Man – Da Rockwilder
Too Short – Rhymes
-Interlude-
Urban Beatniks – Smoke Filled Room
Call O’ Da Wild – Cloud of Smoke
Thirstin Howl III & Master Foul – Spit Boxers
Shazzy – Gigahoe (rmx)
Phat Doug f/ Preacher Earl – Here We Go
-Interliude-
Leaders of the New School – Sobb Story
Da Youngstas – Hip-Hop Ride
EPMD – Rampage (rmx)
Slick Rick – It’s a Boy (rmx)
-Interlude–
Ill Al Skratch – Where’s My Homiez?

The HedRush Episode #31

2010-06-21T21:30:00.001-07:00

So here's the 31st episode of the HedRush. It was actually ready to go a week or two ago, but ya know, life interfered. Another good little mix of the rugged, the goofy, and the outright weird. Plus a little convo on the talent and how the best make it all look easy.

Click here for the show.

And here's the playlist:

Schooly D - Gucci Again
Smooth Ice - Do It Again
Dr. Octagon - Earth People (remix)
- break -
Joeski Love - Joe Cool
Lord Finesse - Funky Technician
S.O.P. - Bok Bok
Steady B - The Undertaker
- break -
Maestro Fresh Wes - Certs Wid Out the Retsin
Frankenstein - Rain Is Gone
Mr. Live & Tony Bones - Hungry Strike
Future Sound - The Bop Step
- break -
The Nonce - Who Falls Apart?

The HedRush Episode #30 - Of Boom Bap and Happy Rap

2010-05-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

The new episode of hip-hop goes from rough-and-rugged hip-hop, to upbeat party tracks, to meditations and life and death. Shit is heavy, son. But, as always, the tunes are sharp and the discussion is a little humorous. Well, at least we think so.

Check out and dowload the episode here:

http://hedrush.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2010-05-31T17_58_22-07_00

And here's the playlist:

Boogie Down Production - Gimme Dat (Woy)
Craig G - Take the Bait
Big Daddy Kane - Put Your Weight On IT
- Break -
Kid 'N Play - Gittin' Funky
Heavy D - Money Earnin' Mt. Vernon
Guru - Loungin' (rmx)
Masta Ace - Go Where I Send Thee
- Break -
To Da Core - We Got It Goin On
Da Wascals - Class Clown
2 Face - Hey Hey Hey
Dream Warriors - My Definition...
- Break -
Geto Boys - Six Feet Deep

The HedRush Podcast - Episode #29: The Next Chapter

2010-03-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Once again, it's on. The HedRush Podcast begins its second year of existence with us returning to our bread and butter: dope hip-hop from the '80s and '90s. Hip-Hop from the West Coast, East, and Down South. Thugged out, smoothed out, and even a lil' goofy. We play it all.

Click here for the episode. Check it out and tell a friend.

And here's the playlist:

L'Roneous - L'Chemy

Double XX Posse - Not Going to Be Able to Do it

Keefy Keef - Three's Company

- interlude

Downtown Science - This is a Visit

Odd Squad - Smokin That Weed

OC & Big L - Dangerous

Private Investigators - Damn it Feels Good

- interlude

MC Eiht - All for the Money

KMD - The Humrush

Da King and I - Flip Da Skript (rmx)

Raw Breed - Rampage Outta Control f/ Kool Keith, Godfather Don, and Melle Mel

- interlude

Killa Army - Blood For Blood

Enjoy the music.

HedRush Podcast - The Jazz Episode

2010-03-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

The new episode of The HedRush podcast is up. It's our jazz episode. Most of the music featured in this episode is from the "fusion" period of jazz music, late '60s/early '7os, etc., with an emphasis on funky jazz. There's also a few blues songs. Though neither JB or myself would ever call ourselves jazz "experts," we do thoroughly enjoy the music. Hope you enjoy it as well.

Click here to download the episode.

And here's the playlist:

David McCallum - The Edge
The Blues Project - Flute Thing
Reuben Wilson - We're In Love
Jimmy McGriff - The Bird
(break)
George Benson - Footin' It
Ronnie Laws - Tidal Wave
Roy Ayers - Feel Like Making Love
Ahmad Jamal - Misdemeanor
(break)
Joe Sample - In My Wildest Dreams
Galt MacDermott - Coffee Cold
Junior Parker - The Tax Man
Lou Donaldson - Wig Blues
Joe Williams - Get Out My Life, Woman
(break)
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - My Way Home

The HedRush Podcast 2/20/10 - Explorations in Hip-Hop Beef

2010-02-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

The new episode of the HedRush podcast is up. We kick off 2010 with an exploration of hip-hop beef, while giving some shine to some lesser known, but particularly venomous dis tracks. We also delve into personal beef with former bosses, former friends, and even a rapper or two.

Click here to download it.

And here's the playlist:

1. Roxanne Shante - Big Mama
2. MC Lyte - Steady Fucking
- break -
3. Cool C - Juice Crew Dis
4. Twista - Suicide
5. Tim Dog - Step to Me
6. Compton's Most Wanted - Who's XXXing Who?
7. Spice-1 - You Done Fucked Up
- break -
8. Common - The Bitch in Yoo (orig.)
9. Masta Ace - Top 10 List
10. YZ - Crocodile MC
11. 3rd Bass - Green Eggs and Swine
12. Black Sheep - H.A.A.
- break -
13. BDP - Build and Destroy

Timz 'N Hood Check Mix

2010-02-10T22:48:00.001-08:00

So yeah, the entire Eastern Seaboard has been buried under feet of snow (55 inches in D.C.? Gotdamn!!!!!!) over the last few days, and I understand the Midwest hasn't fared much better either. It reminds me of exactly what I don't miss about either region. I'll take overcast and the occasional thunder-storm that the Bay Area has thrown at me so far this winter and keep it moving, thankyoumuch.

Still, visions of snow on the evening news and throughout the web bring back memories of Philly, where I spent four years during the mid-1990s at the University of Pennsylvania. That's four winters, each with it's own unique and miserable snow-storm to go along with it. From what I recall, the massive blizzards during freshman year and senior year were particularly heinous. And although the snow was occasionally bad enough to cancel school (for an unprecedented three days during freshman year), I did spend many a day tromping through massive snow-drifts in my goretex boots, extra-heavy parka, a hat I got from Hed Rush co-host JB, and one of those face-masks that Das EFX and Wu-Tang Clan used to wear in their videos, in effort to get from my dorm to class on time.

But what helped my much it through the cold misery to reach Spanish 130 was my Walkman, equipped with the latest tape in my rotation. It was usually a rapper/group from Brooklyn or Long Island or New Jersey, and he/they usually rocked Timberlands and kept a razor-blade under his/their tongue(s). I loved that type of hip-hop shit. I wish they still made that type of hip-hop shit.

So, to commemorate those days, I came up with this little compilation/"mix" (quotations marks because there was no "mixing" involved in making this), which I call "Timz 'N Hood Check." It goes out to all you East Coast/mid-West shut-ins, people who used to live in either region and are now enjoying better climates, and those of you who just love gritty mid-'90s East Coast hip-hop.

Download

Here's the track-listing:

1. Real Live - Real Live Shit
2. Akinyele - Dear Diary
3. The Artifacts - Notty Headed N@#$!z
4. CMC (The Cash Money Click) - 4 My Click
5. O.C. - O-Zone
6. Smif 'N Wessun f/ OGC - Sound Bwoy Buriel (rmx)
7. Now Born Click - Now Born Soldiers
8. Lace Da Booms f/ Royal Flush - Cut That Weak Shit
9. Pop Mega - Ghetto News
10. Cellas Dwellas - Recognize and Realize
11. Channel Live f/ KRS-One - Mad Izm
12. Broadway - Must Stay Paid
13. The Fab 5 (Heltah Skeltah & OGC) - Blah
14. Show & AG - All Out
15. Young Zee - Milk
16. Blahzay Blahzay - Jackpot
17. Shabazz the Disciple - Crime Saga
18. Smooth Da Hustler f/ Trigga Da Gambler - My Brother, My Ace
19. The Troubleneck Brothers - Back to the Hip-Hop

Enjoy the music, and tell your friends.

12/16/09 Episode of The HedRush podcast: The 25th show

2009-12-16T22:16:00.000-08:00

Anoter week, another new episode of the HedRush. To check part 2 of the two-part "Music of the '00s" episode, head over here: 25th Episode.

Here's the episode's playlist:

1. Roosevelt Franklin – TroubleEarth
2. Anitpop Consortium – 9/9/99
3.Five Deez – Let the People Know
-interlude-
4. Prophetix – Crispus Attucks
5. Insight – Bother Me
6. Foreign Legion – Rommate Joint
7. Sacred Hoop – Dance the Cooch
8. Sandpeople – Group Home
-interlude-
9. Mykill Miers – Gone Too Far
10. Smile Rays – By Design Three
11. Super Chron Flight Brothers – To Catch a Thief
12. Dagha – My Luck
13. RA the Rugged Man – On the Block
-Interlude-
14. Douljah Raze f/ Scavone & Oxygen – Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft

And now, here's a pair links to two tracks that we played on the show.

First up is a relatively straight-ahead song by the usually mega-abstract Antipop Consortium. "9.99" is a solo cut and ill story rhyme by group member M. Saayid from their first solo album, Tragic Epilogue.

Download it.

Second, we've got "Gone Too Far" by Mykill Miers one of L.A.'s fiercest and most slept on MCs. This comes from Miers' sophomore album, The Second Coming. It's out of print at this time, but, again, it's worth the effort to seek it out.

Download it.

Enjoy the episode, and the extra music if you feel so inclined. Another episode due next week, even further off our usual track.

Stay tuned for the Best of '09 list, coming soon.

12/8/09 Episode of The HedRush radio show b/w Re-Introduction

2009-12-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

So, yeah, it's been really time since I posted anything, but now is the time that I'm getting back on my grind. As the last post (circa: 10 months ago) notes, a while back I, along with my partner, JB d'Mullato, started The HedRush radio show through Podomatic. If you haven't checked it out, here's the URL again: http://hedrush.podomatic.com/

If you're coming here from over there, then welcome. Hope you stick around and come back.

So for this week's episode, and for at least a few episodes into the future, this blog will serve as the site of the playlist. It'll also host links to a couple of mp3s of songs that I play on the show. Furthermore, if people start regularly coming around, we can discuss the shows' content as well. And, I swear, I'll be updating this blog more often. I'm cooking up a Best of 2009 list, and I've got a few other ambitious projects on deck. Plus, I'll be around to just speak my mind, as usual.

Now that we're through with the Re-Introduction, here's the playlist:

1. Blueprint – Boom Box
2. Roddy Rod – Whip
3. Willie Evans Jr. - The Unknown
-interlude-
4. Akbar - The 5th Element
5. Substantial – Resurrection Of The House Party
6. Binkis – Bullit
7. Time Machine f/ Edan – @$$hole
8. Babbletron – Space Tech Banana Clip
-Interlude-
9. Azeem – Duragz
10. Maspyke - P.H.Y. vs. Men
11. Porn Theater Ushers f/ Higgenz & Rhyminal – Scummerville to Brocky
12. Al S.H.I.D. – Ig’nant
13. capital D – Enough Already
-Interlude-
14. Third Sight – The People vs. The Fake

And now, here's a couple of mp3s.

First up is Substantial's "Resurrection Of The House Party." This is off the Maryland MC's Sacrifice album, released in 2008. It's still available on iTunes, Amazon, and finer record stores, so if you dig it, definitely support, 'cause it's a damn good album.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/m2ofzn

Next up is Maspyke's "P.H.Y. vs. Men," from their 2002 album Blackout. The album is a little harder to find, but it's worth the effort. Haneef and Tableek are slept-on rhymesayers, and you can't go wrong with a whole album of Roddy Rod beats.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/eihz8v

Hope you enjoy the music. Be sure to come back around.

The Hed Rush: in mp3 form

2009-02-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

One of the great sources of joy I’ve had in my life is having the opportunity to host my own radio show. Multiple times. Without getting into an in-depth history I’ll say that I’ve done radio (either live or Internet) on and off since 1994.

So now, after an over four year hiatus I’ve got my own show again, thanks to my long-time homie/high school potna, JB d’Mulatto. Only this time the show is in podcast/mp3 form. Recorded in JB’s studio, aka Ma’s House, I present to you, Hed Rush, the radio show.

Here’s the 411: The Hed Rush Radio Show features myself and JB playing and conversating on hip-hop from the late '80s through the '90s. We also discuss in-depth some of the trends and context that surrounded the music when it was released, and how it reflects hip-hop today.

It’s lots of hip-hop that I grew up on, and lots of JB and I talking. And cracking corny jokes. So if you like hip-hop from that era, and want to hear a couple of cats shoot the shit about it, you just might enjoy these podcasts.

Here’s the link Pt. 1 (about an hour):

http://rapidshare.com/files/200855493/1-01__1__Pt._1.mp3

And here’s the link to Pt. 2 (about 70 minutes):

http://rapidshare.com/files/200869147/01__1__Pt._2.mp3

The only problem now is that it’s going to be at least another month until me and JB can record another one of these podcasts. JB is currently on the road, helping manage the cross-country tour of The Whitest Kids You Know. As soon as he’s back, there’ll be more music. I’m hoping this is the first podcast of many. I certainly have a lot more music I want to play. Eventually I’ll figure out how to hook this up on iTunes or something. And I also promise that I’ll also start updating this blog with more music.

Until then, listen and enjoy. And let me know what you think.

More Steroid Stupidity

2009-02-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

I really don’t care about this budding Alex Rodriguez scandal. Not even a little bit.

I seriously couldn’t care less. I’m not going to feign outrage and yell about he betrayed my trust and set a bad example for the children (“WON’T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!”) I’m not going to call him A-Fraud or A-Roid or any other lame-brained nickname. I’m not going to lecture how he’s ruined his legacy and doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. None of this matters to me. These allegations (coming from multiple unnamed sources) don’t change the way I feel about Rodriguez.

Since, you asked, here is what I feel about A-Rod: He’s essentially a vastly talented base-player that also happens to be more than a little weird and completely obsessed with his own self-image and how the public perceives him. In those respects he’s exactly like any other athlete-celebrity. The fact that he’s also fixated on people far less talented than himself (Derek Jeter and Madonna) is a fairly odd, but it’s not like he’s eating babies. A-Rod is one of the most-gifted baseball players to ever to ever put on a uniform, and he also happens to be yutz. Anyone disputed the former is either a deluded Derek Jeter fan club or a member of the Red Sox Nation.

What more concerns me is how this information on his positive test ended up getting to the press. These urine tests, conducted back in 2003, were supposed to be confidential. They ended up the government’s hands after they raided the lab where they were processed and stored as part of the BALCO investigation. The players thought they’d never see the light of day. Neither did the union. And Major League Baseball certainly didn’t want the results to become public either. It’s one thing to talk about reforming the game, and even take steps to actually reform it, but that the names getting out there is bad for business.

As soon as the government seized the samples a few years ago, I knew it would only be a matter of time before the list of the players that tested positive would become public. It might be in MLB’s best interest to keep things under wraps, but the Federal Government leaks like a fucking sieve. This whole fiasco feels even sleazier than it had before, which is an impressive feat. There could be dozens of reasons why four sources working closely with the federal investigation leaked A-Rod’s name, including the fact that they’re case against Barry Bonds is looking shakier by the day, and they want to put a new “enemy” in the spotlight. But no matter who’s names are named, it certainly won’t hurt the federal government in any way.

And honestly, it doesn’t really help anyone else either. We in the general public (especially sport-writers) may yammer on about how we’re entitled to “the truth,” but in this case, we’re really not. Each and every other person would want there own privacy respect and promises made to them honored. Baseball players shouldn’t be accord any less respect. But I doubt that’s going to stop any more serious clamoring for the list naming the other 103 players that tested positive six years ago.

I HATE every single part of the steroids scandal. I hate the posturing everywhere I turn on this issue, from the players, to the union, to the ownership, to the sports writers, to the Federal Government. I HATE that it keeps Jose Canseco in the public eye. I HATE that it’s never going to stop. Just shut up already and let me try to enjoy my days and nights at the ballpark.

Do Go Away Mad...

2009-01-19T22:48:00.000-08:00

As of now, it’s past midnight on the East Coast, which means that it’s the first day of Barack Obama’s presidency, while the final day of George W. Bush’s reign has ended. Believe or not, I tend to be an optimistic guy, and most of the time I would opt to celebrate beginning of the good rather than the end of the bad. But given the shitty mood that I’ve been in for the past half-week or so, celebrating the good just doesn’t fee natural. So with this entry I bid adieu to one of my least favorite people that I’ve never met.

I’ve said before on this blog that I don’t do eloquence. So I’ll keep it to the point as possible and leave in all the curse words. I’m aware that I’m saying anything that hasn’t been said or typed before, but my feelings are as visceral as anyone else’s.

Fuck you George W. Bush. Fuck you very much. I have hated every nano-second of your presidency. Everything you’ve done for the last eight years has made life worse for 98% of citizens of the United States, and a large percentage of the world’s population. I can’t think of a single good thing that you’ve done while in office except treat your family dogs well. Barney is the most likable member of your household. I found your two-week “victory lap” around the country and trip down memory lane bullshit asinine and insulting. Fuck you and your non-existent legacy. If you finally want to do something right, you’ll just go away. Forever. The only time I ever want to hear about you again is if: 1) you or members of your administration are prosecuted for war crimes and various other crimes against humanity, 2) you’ve just died. Otherwise, I ain’t trying to hear any of that shit.

2008 Year-End Music Wrap Up

2009-01-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

Note: Many moons ago, when I was the editor for a couple of small community newspapers, my managing editor once told me the year end recap issue couldn’t drop after January 1st, as there’s nothing worse recapping old news after the new year has started. So, please forgive me as I recap this old news, but this entry turned out to take a lot longer than I originally imagined.

It’s a fairly common perception in hip-hop that things nearly aren’t as dope as they use to be. A decade ago, I was a devoted subscriber to this way of thinking. In 1997, you couldn’t tell me nothing except that hip-hop was getting worse each year, and that the art form would soon to be completely rent to pieces by corporate vultures by the year 2000 at the latest. Well, by 1998, I learned to calm my ass down and realized that hip-hop is now big enough that whatever drives the mainstream doesn’t drive the music as a whole. I’ve learned to ignore the music that I know doesn’t appeal to me, and focus on everything else. I’m much happier these days.

So while many hip-hop heads lament how the last few years have been lousy, I’ve been pretty damn happy with the state of hip-hop music over the past ten years. I guess you could maybe make the argument that hip-hop wasn’t as strong in 2008 as it was in 2007, but I still had more than enough albums to consider when putting together a list of the 10 best albums of the year. Truthfully, I could have even put together a perfectly acceptable top 10 list from the albums that didn’t quite make the list and call it a day.

As it stands, I’ve put together a list of 60 hip-hop releases that dropped in 2008 I enjoyed quite a bit. Plus five more that disappointed me. So, starting with the good, here are the 10 best hip-hop albums of 2008:

Top Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2008

10. Azeem – Air Cartoons
As the chorus of the title track says, Air Cartoons indeed sounds like it was written while Azeem’s hand were tripping on ’shrooms. The Jersey born MC, now residing in Oakland, has already had a unique way of thinking and rapping, and with this, his fifth album, the beats reflect his mind state. Convincing psychedelic hip-hop albums are hard to pull off without seeming forced and self-indulgent, but Air Cartoons succeeds because of Azeem’s ability. The despite its lysergic sonic feel, the album isn’t an ode to mind-altering substances; Azeem takes Oakland residents and artists to task for “going dumb” and searches for universal truth. It’s good to see that there are MCs that aren’t scared of being intelligent.

9. Invincible – ShapeShifters
Detroit is really on a come up these days. The scene is spawning some of the best rapper and producers doing it these days. Invincible is one of them, and is a somewhat unconventional rhyming hero: a Jewish female MC. You don’t see many of those everyday. But Invincible is skilled enough to be thought of as a dope MC, period. Though she made her name in the underground as a battle MC, she’s most adept on ShapeShifters creating thematic rhymes, such as commentary on the Israeli/Palestinians state of affairs (“People Not Places”), the beneath-the-surface racism that exists In liberal Ann Arbor (“Deuce/Ypsi”), and the slow and sad gentrification of urban Detroit (“The Locusts”). She even puts a little spin on the Patty Hearst kidnapping on “Ransom Note.” I hope to hear a lot more of Invincible in the future.

8. Dagha – Divorce
I’m tempted to call Divorce the Hear, My Dear of hip-hop albums, but on this album Dagha the details of his acrimonious divorce from his wife in a largely matter-of-fact and straight-forward manner, as opposed to Marvin Gaye’s protracted bitterness. On his second album, Boston’s Dagha explains the all the minutiae that can go along with a failed marriage in vivid detail, from his wife changing the locks on their house without his knowledge, to the process they go through trying unsuccessfully to sell their home, to his separation from his daughter. Divorce then follows Dagha as he describes trying to piece his life back together and maintain his grind as independent artist. It’s a sobering and occasionally depressing album, but its also refreshing in its complete honesty. It also helps that Dagha is a gifted MC and enlists a crew of talented producers.

7. Black Milk – Tronic
Have I mentioned the strength the Detroit scene? Rapper/producer Black Milk is one of the better beat-makers in the game these days. Tronic, his second album, only enhances his reputation. Tracks like “Give the Drummer Sum,” “The Matrix,” and “Hell Yeah” are some of the better produced beats of the year. Black Milk really shines with his drum programming, an increasingly lost art in hip-hop production. However, the beats are the star of the album, as Black Milk rhyming skills need work. But the beats are so well made, that I’m will to give Black Milk more time to grow as an MC and consider this album one of the year’s 10 best.

6. The Mighty Underdogs – Droppin’ Science Fiction
The Mighty Underdogs started the year with a solid EP, and ended it with a spectacular album. The Bay Area trio, comprised of the Quannum Collective’s Gift of Gab and Lateef the Truth Speaker and Crown City Rocker’s Headnotic put together a short and sweet (48 minute) album that still seemed epic in scope. Like almost all of the best albums of the year, it was varied in subject matter and feel, while still feeling cohesive. And like all good album, the Mighty Underdogs prove capable of evoking emotions through their music, from sadness to inspiration; I freely admit to dancing in joy to the album’s closer, “Victorious,” the on Barack Obama’s election night.

5. Guilty Simpson – Ode to the Ghetto
The third and final album by a Detroit artist on this list, Ode to the Ghetto is a throwback “street” album. On it, Guilty Simpson seems less concerned with proving his street credentials than he proving he can actually, you know, rap his ass off. Ode to the Ghetto demonstrates that’s not it’s not what you rap about it, but how you rap about it. Songs cover topics like ghetto life, problems with his girlfriend, and crooked cops, but doesn’t ever sound stale. Guilty Simpson has a very distinctive voice, flow, and demeanor that all command attention. He’s got vocal presence that comes off like an odd combination of Biggie Smalls, Redman, and Sean Price (how makes an appearance on “Run”). It’s also got dope beats provided by Black Milk, Madlib, and the dearly departed J Dilla. Ode to the Ghetto doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but its simple effectiveness carries the weight.

4. Jake One – White Van Music
Part of me objects to the nature of how this album was put together. From Seattle producer Jake One’s own description in the linter notes, much of White Van Music is made up of unused and unfinished tracks featuring a who’s who of mainstream and underground MCs that they originally intended for the own respective albums, but didn’t make the cut for whatever reason. That feels like cheating. But whatever, the results are outstanding so I can’t hate. Some of the tracks on the album are among the best songs released this year, including Blueprint’s “Scared,” Casual’s “Feeling My Shit,” Bishop Lamont and Busta Rhymes’ “Kissin’ the Curb,” MF DOOM’s “Trap Door,” and Freeway and Brother Ali’s “The Truth.” And when it comes down to it, I imagine a lot of my favorite albums were put together in a similar manner.

3. Akrobatik – Absolute Value
This Boston MC is quietly putting together a really solid career. Most of what I needed to say about this album I said already in a record review I did for this neglected blog earlier this year. But suffice to say this is the type of album I wish more artists would make: well-constructed rhymes covering a variety of topics over dope beats, guest appearances that enhance rather than overshadow the artist, and everything coming together to create a distinctive mood.

2. The Roots – Rising Down
Rising Down is a dark and brooding album, which serves as a bookend to The Root’s 2006 album Game Theory (apparently this album is made up songs recorded during those same sessions). It’s also probably the Roots’ best album since 1999’s Things Fall Apart. While these days the group is making a greater pop culture name for themselves on TV as Jimmy Fallon’s in-house band, they certainly weren’t fucking around when they recorded Rising Down. Black Thought’s non-stop lyrical barrage on “75 Bars” has been known to melt speakers. “Criminal” is powerfully grim and haunting. Songs like “Get Busy” and “I Can’t Help” hit harder than left hooks to the jaw. The album also brings out the best in the guest MCs that grace the tracks: Mos Def’s performance on the title track/album opener might be the best verse of the year. And the album’s closer, “Rising Up,” shows that a go-go inspired hip-hop track can actually sound dope. That’s an amazing feat in itself.

1. People Under the Stairs – Fun-DMC
People Under the Stairs make great music about loving music. Their albums reflect deep and abiding love of music by people whose lives are consumed by it. Fun-DMC could be the best album the Los Angeles duo has ever released, which is saying something, since I believe that P.U.T.S. is one of the best groups of the ’00s. Their sixth album, Fun-DMC, is mostly about the joy and fun that goes along with listening to and creating music. This is more difficult than it sounds, since most hip-hop albums are about actions themselves, rather than the happiness that can result from the action. On this album, rappers Thes One and Double K cover the love of rhyming over old school breaks (“The Ultimate 144”), the love of old school hip-hop (“Letter C/O the Bronx”) the love of growing up in a house full of music (“Same Beat (Wesley Rap)”), the love of their home state (“California”) and just plain old loving the act of sitting back and listening to music (“The Mike and Chris Story”). Considering how fun has been sucked out of most hip-hop these days, this album is its own revelation.

Like all People Under the Stairs’ album, Fun-DMC seems like it was made for the spring and summer day and nights, but this album brings a smile to my face, whether it’s 78 degrees and cloudless day when I’m driving up Highway 1 on the way back from Monterey, or I’m shivering in a brick freezing apartment on an overcast and drizzly weekday night.

Bonus: Blueprint – Blueprint vs. Funkadelic EP
I disqualified this EP because it was a free mixtape available online, and its barely 30 minutes long, but if I had to fit this sucker in, it would somewhere in-between #5 and #10. On this EP, Cincinnati’s Blueprint raps over loops (or entire songs) of early Funkadelic. Not the happy, upbeat, poppy stuff the group produced as the 1970s drew to a close, but the dirty, LSD-drenched, rock and blues soaked funk from the early part of that decade. The common theme being that early Funkadelic was a revolutionary and subversive as hip-hop can be at its best. In-between snippets of the Parliament-Funkadelic PBS documentary that aired back in 2005, Blueprint does his best to free the listeners mind, hoping their asses will follow suit.

Best of the Rest:

Here’s another 14 that had a shot of cracking my top 10 list:

Heltah Skeltah – D.I.R.T.
EMC – The Show
Johnson and Jonson – Johnson and Jonson
Count Bass D – L7
Murs – Murs 4 President
J-Live – Then What Happened
GZA – Pro Tools
Brooklyn Academy – Bored of Education
Devin the Dude - Landing Gear
The Grouch - Show You the World
Kidz N the Hall – The In-Crowd
Jedi Mind Tricks – History of Violence
Esoteric - Esoteric Vs. Japan
Doom Tree – Doom Tree

And here are another five albums that can be included in the list of 14 above, but just had flaws that I felt the need to comment on:

Ludacris – Theater of the Mind
Ludacris is a consummate shit-talker on record. I’d even say he’s fairly underrated among hip-hop heads at writing braggadocio punchline rhymes. Tracks featuring this particular talent bookend the album, and as a result Theater of the Mind starts and ends strong. “Undisputed,” “Wish You Would,” “MVP,” and “I Do it For Hip-Hop” are all just as good as anything in Luda’s catalogue. However, the middle of the album severely sags when he gets into the syrupy “for the ladies” tracks, which Luda has NEVER been good at making. Tracks featuring Chris Brown and Jamie Foxx are as corny and forgettable as the low-points of Luda’s catalogue (think the 2003 clunker “Splash Waterfalls”). I’m aware I’m being pretty hard on what’s only a three-song stretch, but the sequence kills the album’s momentum, and prevents Theater of the Mind from being great.

Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold
Not a bad album, but being Atmosphere is one of my favorite groups making music, this album fell short of expectations. I understand what Slug and Ant were trying to go for, by making a “quieter” album, and this album is suitably quiet, and as a result, sometimes painfully lacking in oomph. Slug still has mad skills as storyteller, and successfully walks the line between genuine and emo. But if you put together Atmosphere for “seasonal” Sad Clown EPs that preceded When Life Gives You Lemons… you’d have a better album. The free Strictly Leakage Atmosphere released via free download at the end of 2007 was a better album. I respect the effort, but the next time please don’t forget the bass.

Q-Tip – Renaissance
Speaking of albums that needed a little more oomph, Q-Tip’s grand return after a prolonged hiatus is generally a good album, but it’s, for lack of a better term, too soft. First, the good: he can still rap and can put together a technically proficient beat. I don’t take the former for granted, seeing as many the rhyming skills of many of Q-Tip’s contemporaries have evaporated; lyrical longevity is nothing to be scoffed at. But this album has its fair share of flaws. Too often the drums, basslines, scratches, etc. all sound too weak. And Q-Tip still can’t sing. Now, he this lack of ability had it’s own charm on some old Tribe Called Quest tracks, but it’s done without any irony here. I’m aware I’m giving the impression that I don’t like Renaissance, but that isn’t true. It’s just that this isn’t revelation that many are making it out to be.

Elzhi – The Preface
I wanted to like this album more than I actually did like it. I’ve been a fan of Elzhi (yet another Detroit MC) since the beginning of this century. I’ve enjoyed his guest appearances on other artists’ projects and his work as a member of Slum Village. Heck, I even enjoy the work of the producers involved; the aforementioned Black Milk handles the great majority of the production duties. But The Preface never quite gels together, and it’s frankly kind of boring. There are some interesting concepts on The Preface, such as “Guessing Game,” “Colors,” and “D.E.M.O.N.S.”, but it fails to achieve it’s potential.

88 Keys – The Death of Adam
If producer 88 Keys had just decided to make this a regular old compilation instead of a concept album, everything would have been gravy. His own vocal stylings are entertaining in an off-key sort of way, and tracks featuring artists like Redman, Kanye West (sans auto-tune), J*Davey, Phonte, Kid Cudi, and Bilal are all entertaining. But he had to fuck around and make the whole album a “story,” complete with a corny, pointless, running narration. And the point of story, you ask? Thinking with your dick and not using a condom when having sex can lead to bad things. Thanks dude, but I’m not in 8th grade anymore.

More good albums

And just for good measure, here’s another 30 albums that I rather enjoyed, but I don’t think I could consider among the best of the year.

Large Professor – Main Source
The Knux - Remind Me in 3 Days
C.R.A.C. Knuckles – The Piece Talks
Murs and 9th Wonder – Sweet Lord
Substantial – Sacrifice
tRebleFree - Return of the Dirty Cymbals
Lyrics Born – Everything at Once
Buff-1 – There’s Only One
Median – Relief
Nappy Roots – The Humdinger
Invizzibil Men – The Unveiling
Sadat X – Generation X
Cool Kids – Bake Sale EP
Tanya Morgan – The Bridge EP
Dumhi - Yoga At Home EP
Kirby Dominant – Prostitute EP
Vordhul Mega – Mega Graphitti
Ill Bill – The Hour of Reprisal
Jean Grae and 9th Wonder – Jeanius
Giant Panda – Electric Laser
Statik Selektah - Stick to the Script
Sadat X - Generation X
DJ Babu - Duck Season 3
Nabo Rawk - Teched Out Neanderthals
14kt - The Golden Hour
Mighty Joseph - Empire State
Ice Cube – Raw Footage
Butta Verses - Reality B.V.
C-Rayz Walz - The Dropping
Paris – Acid Reflex

Oh, and special mention goes to Freeway for his Month of Madness series, where he released a song a day from his vaults for free download throughout the month of December. It wasn’t perfect, but there’s enough quality in there to raise my respect for Freeway as an MC.

Most Disappointing albums:

These aren’t necessarily the worst albums of the year, but they’re albums by artists that I expected a lot better from.

1. EPMD – We Mean Business
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. When I was growing up, EPMD represented everything that was good about hip-hop to me: the lyrics, the beats, the scratching, the pass-the-mic-back-and-forth wordplay, the attitude, etc. We Mean Business is the antithesis of all of that. It’s almost worse that the album is dull and forgettable that outright wack. Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith are lyrically outshined by almost every other rapper that makes an appearance on this album, from Redman to KRS-One to Keith Murray to Raekwon to Method Man. These guest verses create the few moments of interest throughout the entire album. The beats, handled almost completely by Erick and Parrish, are as bland as the duo’s lyrics. It was probably better for E & P to stay out of business.

2. Kool Keith – Dr. Dooom 2
Oh how the mighty have fallen, pt. 2. This album demonstrates why Kool Keith never should burn his bridges. One of Kool Keith best and most critically acclaimed albums was First Come, First Served, an album he released 1998 under the name Dr. Dooom, featuring production by Kutmasta Kurt. It was the first of three albums that he collaborated with Kurt over a three-year period. Somewhere along the line, the two fell out, with Keith claiming that he did all the real work in the collabos. Keith has released somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 albums since his split with Kurt, and I’ll be generous in saying two were any good at all. So after realizing that they never should split up in the first place, the two reunited to try to recapture the magic with Dr. Doom 2. Yeah, well, in this case, you can’t go home again. Keith was once the shining example of a rapper that could record new music past his “prime” and still be as good as anyone out there. Now he just sounds old, disinterested, and uninspired He’s become a caricature rather than a character. And the beats are boring too.

3. Common – Universal Mind Control
Rappers simplifying their style to become more accessible is so late 1990s. To call Universal Mind Control a genuine disappointment is kind of a stretch, because Common has moving this direction since at least 2007’s Finding Forever. This used to be one the better concept and punchline rappers in the biz. Now he routinely dumb down his style to double his dollars, but mostly just sounds dumb. I enjoy the electro/”Planet Rock”-esque throwback title track and the Kanye West (sans auto-tune) collabo “Punch Drunk Love.” But it’s a sad day when his “lyrical” track on the album is “Gladiator,” where what passes powerful punchlines is something like, “At any moment opponents will drop out like college.” Dude was clearly spending more time prepping for his role in the fourth Terminator movie when recording this album. Ah well, at least he tries harder than Mos Def.

4. Nas – Untitled
I’ve given up on spending too much time being disappointed in Nas’ output. Untitled is the same as just about very post-Illmatic Nas album: poetic lyrics that hampered by half-baked concepts and, moreover, Nas’ tin-ear for beats and desire to make songs that will appeal to as many people as possible. And the results are pretty much the same too: a poetic but unspectacular album. Untitled falls somewhere in the middle of his catalogue: not as good as Stillmatic or It Was Written, not as bad as Nastradamus or I Am…. However, in 2009 I shouldn’t still be making so many excuses for Mr. Nasir Jones, a guy who really should be the greatest.

5. Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak
Another case where I can’t even be disappointed, because I wasn’t really expecting much. I don’t even think it’s THAT bad, but it’s certainly not nearly as good as the three Kanye albums that preceded it. That being said, I expect new albums by artists I enjoy to be at least comparable in quality to their previous releases, no matter if they’re “going in different direction.” Different is fine, I just want it to be dope, and 808’s and Heartbreak definitely isn’t dope. I’ve listened to it four or five times, and I still can’t remember anything about the majority of it.

Other genres

Finally, I spent a lot of 2008 listening to new music that wasn’t hip-hop. This is the first year in my life that I’ve ever done that. So, I figured I’d put together a top lists for 2008’s R&B/Soul and Rock, electronica albums. I’m not going to include reviews, but I honestly don’t know if I possess the right musical vocabulary to describe why I like them. But I will say that I enjoyed the respective numbers #1’s in soul and rock just as much as Fun-DMC. Never thought I’d ever see the day where I liked the year’s best rock and soul records as much as I liked the year’s best hip-hop album.

R&B/Soul
1. Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It
2. Al Green – Lay it Down
3. Foreign Exchange – Leave it All Behind
4. John Legend – Evolver
5. Gnarls Barkeley – The Odd Couple
6. Zo! and Tigallo - Zo! and Tigallo Love the '80s
7. Solange Knowles – Sol Angel and Hadley Street Dreams
8. Menahan Street Band - Make the Road By Walking
9. Santogold - Santogold
10. Thicke - Something Else

Rock
1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
2. Ry Cooder - I, Flathead
2. Radiohead – In Rainbows
3. TV on the Radio – Dear Science
4. The Black Keys – Attack and Release
5. Mars Volta – Bedlam in Goliath

Electronica
1. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles
2. Lone – Lemuria
3. Heliocentrics – Out There

The misery has ended: 2008 Oakland A’s Post-Mortem

2008-09-29T23:37:00.000-07:00

Well, at least they didn’t lose 90 games.

Finally, the A’s 2008 season of misery has come to an end. Even though we ended the season with fewer wins (and just as many losses) as 2007, this felt like most miserable season since 1997, when they came close to dropping 100 games, and I seriously considered giving up baseball. This year wasn’t as bad as that, but this is the first time in many years that I actually avoided opportunities to go to the ballpark and catch a game. And I must say, just about every time it paid off, as I saved myself from witnessing at least four more humiliating losses that I would have had to endure otherwise.

As evidenced by the record, the A’s weren’t very good this year. There are no good 75-86 teams. No team that started Jack Cust in 148 and Jack Hannahan in 143 games can ever be any good. Despite their obvious deficiencies, the A’s messed around and made me optimistic for a respectable finish somewhere around the middle of the season. When they got excruciatingly awful post All-Star Break, they made me feel like a moron. And just when it looked like they were go some life in early September, and looked like they were going to finish the season with a lil’ bit of dignity, they fall flat on their faces again. The A’s completely boned their chances of finishing the season in distant second in the AL West by dropping two out of three to Texas, and then finished the season by getting swept by the worst team in baseball. Not exactly an inspirational showing by a plucky young team.

But it was readily apparent by the weekend before the All-Star Break this season was all about setting up for the next few years. And I’m still not convinced that this is like the 1998 season, the last time it looked like we were awful, but had the potential to do eventually do something. I won’t rehash too much who should stay or go (I’ve done that like four times this season on here), but I think an outfield of Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Sweeney, and Cliff Pennington, is probably, well, something. Kurt Suzuki is just as good as most catchers starting in the AL. On the pitching, Greg Smith and Dana Eveland obviously hit their rookie walls, but the former won’t lose 16 games again, and the later looked pretty good when he got back from the minors. And while Gio Gonzalez didn’t look nearly as good as advertised, the much-maligned Dallas Braden looked markedly improved. With a healthy Duchscherer, the starting staff might be good next year.

As for needs, well, it’s obvious a right-handed power hitter would be really nice, but the don’t exactly grow on trees, and I don’t think we’ve got the pieces or the inclination to trade for one. There’s a lot of talk of bringing the obviously left-handed Jason Giambi back, which is fine I guess. I’ll take anyone who doesn’t strike out close to 200 times a season.

Which bring me to the A’s greatest need: their need not to bring back Jack Cust as an everyday player. Please, for the love of all things holy, just let this putz go away. Even with his 33 HRs this year, he couldn’t carry Rob Deer’s jock-strap in a suitcase. I’d bring back injury-prone Big Frank over Cust. Hell, I’d bring Mike Sweeney out of retirement before giving Cust a chance to make more money off the team via arbitration.

While this was not a fun season by any definition, at least it’s over. Though I wouldn’t ever say I’m optimistic about the future, I can say with some confidence that I don’t think next year we’ll be as bad as we were this year.

Politics from the Inside

2008-09-04T23:53:00.000-07:00

There are many, many things I do not like about Republicans running for national office, especially the highest two offices in the land. In general, they’re a smarmy, smug, hypocritical, lying, and outright evil bunch. It should probably say something that as politically, morally, and intellectually deficient as I find John McCain and Sarah Palin to be, they're probably the second least annoying of the Republican Presidential tickets I've seen in my lifetime (Bob Dole and Jack Kemp were slightly less insipid). Yet, like every other Republican jack-ass that’s aspired to be or has been the president or vice-president, McCain and Palin position themselves as the “OUTSIDERS,” untouched and unspoiled by the “Washington Elite.”

It’s complete Bush League bullshit. And it is always untrue. There are NO outsiders that get elected to anything, anywhere in this country, on any level of politics, be it national, statewide, or local. I’ve known and been friends with a few elected officials in my life, even some Republicans, and not one was an “outsider.” They were deeply involved in the town, city, or region where they were running for office, and were well connected to people and organization all over the state. They were ambitious, intelligent folks who were well-aware of how things worked inside and outside their region. And I’m not talking about having their hands in the pockets of every developer that came along: they knew how to work the political system in order to best serve their communities in their way they knew how.

Which is why I feel strangling someone every time I hear some Republican Presidential candidate glibly spew his or her outsider credentials. It’s an outright lie. There is no way to get elected to the U.S. Senate, much less serve for 26 years, and still be a MAVERICK. And there’s certainly no way to run for President, much less earn the votes to be at the top of ticket. What, you think the RNC would get behind someone who’s served almost three decades as a Senator and been an outsider their entire career? That would mean they literally accomplished zilch during their time in office, being a complete and total outsider and all. And MCain assures as all of his long and distinguished record of service as a Senator. Sorry Abe (as in Simpson), you can’t have it both ways.

And Governor Sarah Palin can go shit in a hat with her continued her nonsense. George W. Bush spent his 2000 campaign railing that while Al Gore was “for and of Washington,” while he, as a Governor, had no meaningful political connection to the city. This is from a guy whose father was also President of the United States. Let me reiterate you do not get elected to be Governor of any state without being well-connected to Washington D.C. And that includes Alaska. I guarantee you that even when Palin was elected to be the mayor of Moose Fuck, Alaska, population 9,000, she was well-connected to everyone who was anyone in that state. So miss me with all this outsider bullshit.

I’ve also known a few, real, genuine outsiders that have run for elected office, and all, save one, were completely worthless as candidates. Just about all were clueless as to how things really worked in their cities or communities, and lacked basic understanding of what it meant to be a council-person, mayor, representative or whatever. I have serious suspicions that one of these "outsiders" was actually mentally challenged. Not one was fit to hold an elected office. And the voters recognized this in every instance. Why people continue to fall for the okey-doke on the national level is beyond my understanding. But what I do understand is a “political outsider” is a synonym for “amateur.”

Album Review: Ice Cube - Raw Footage

2008-08-26T23:54:00.000-07:00

Grade: B

The last time I drove home from the record store, I did something I hadn’t done in a very long time: I opened up a CD I just bought and immediately put it in my deck to listen to on the way home. There’s very little material that comes out these days that can excite me like that. What was even more surprising to me is that the album that inspired me was Raw Footage by Ice Cube. At one time my favorite rapper, Cube is someone who I hadn't cared about musically since I was in college. The best thing he's has his name on the past 15 years with Three Kings. And while the album isn’t a throwback to Cube’s golden age, it’s better than I ever realistically could have hoped it would be, and probably as good as he could be expected to have released.

It’s no secret that hip-hop artists do not age well. Ice Cube is no exception. Twenty years ago (damn, did I just type that?), Ice Cube was undoubtedly one of the baddest motherfuckas on the planet. Now, as The Boondocks cartoon noted, he’s mostly known as the guy who does family films. Bad ones at that. Not so coincidentally, his latest one bombed over the weekend. The last time I bought a full-length album of original material by my once favorite rapper was 15 years ago (damn, did I just type that?). Sadly, Cube hadn’t much in the way of good music between then and now: a pair of concept albums (War and Peace), two ill-conceived albums with the “super-group” Westside Connection, one aborted N.W.A. reunion, and one uneven independent album, Laugh Now, Cry Later.

But Cube has bucked the odds, and creates a solid album with Raw Footage. Is it outstanding? No. Does it make you forget about the bullshit that he pumped out for the last decade or so? No. But it does show that Cube still has the ability to craft dope songs, a cohesive album, and be a different sort of bad motherfucka, all while staying “raw as a dirty needle.”

One reason Raw Footage is successful is because Cube lyrically doesn’t try too hard to remake himself to be “relevant” to 16-yea-olds. There’s little more painful to watch these days than rappers in their late thirties or early forties trying to be young and hip. As one of the few rappers that has actually achieved lasting success inside and outside hip-hop, Cube doesn’t spend Raw Footage bragging about his riches. He spends much of the album saying how unimpressed he is with the crop of “bling” rappers flossing on Cribs and making jackasses of themselves.

There are moments of Raw Footage where Cube’s progression over the last 20 year is crystal clear. Cube spits fire on “It Takes a Nation,” “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It,” and “Here He Come,” where Cube damn near recaptures his golden age magic. “Get Used To It,” featuring WC and The Game, is another winner; the track is remarkable in the sense that The Game doesn’t came off like a whiny bitch. Cube also spends time rapping about hope, closing the album with the fairly inspiring “Stand Tall” and “Take Me Away,” and are only minimal in their heavy-handedness (a Hilary Clinton dis is unnecessary at this point).

The album isn’t perfect. The album actually begins on a sour note with “I Got My Locs On,” a dull track featuring Young Jeezy. Another is “Why Me?” featuring the vocal stylings of Musiq Soulchild. I’m sorry, but songs with R&B crooners, much less neo-soul singers, have NO place on an Ice Cube album. The production is also a weak spot, as too many tracks lay on thick layers of heavy keyboards and synths. It’s not offensively bad, but it’s pretty generic fare, best suited for rappers with “Lil’” or “Yung” in front of their names. There’s also an inordinate amount of Don Imus references, which seem really dated after only a year or so.

In a perfect world, Raw Footage would been a complete return to form for a revitalized Ice Cube, once again ready to put his foot squarely in the collective asses of the American power structure. And while I’m aware this isn’t a perfect world, it puts a smile on my face that Cube still has the ability to make good music and kick a little ass when he wants too. And in this world of lowered expectations, I’m happy enough with my once favorite rapper releasing something respectable 15 years past his prime.

He wasn't scared of you motherf@#$as...

2008-08-12T00:39:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. Mr. Mac

In a great moment in the documentary/concert film King of Comedy, Bernie Mac looks right into the camera and says he’s tired of white America fucking with him, proclaiming he’s lived clean all his life and still doesn’t have a television show. He adds that Hollywood probably won’t ever give him a show because they’re scared of him and scared he’s going to “say something.” Without breaking his gaze, he chuckles and adds, “Ya motherafuckin’ right. Think I won’t say something?” Then, with this just the slightest change in expression and a break in his voice, he pleads, “White folks, I didn’t mean that, I’m just playing. If you give me a chance…”

It pretty much encapsulated the brilliance of Bernie Mac’s stand-up (even though it takes place during an interlude with him shooting the shit with the other Kings of Comedy). It showcased everything the recently deceased comedian did best: talk a gang of shit, but still manage to be self-effacing. Mac was a monster at stand-up, and was the funniest part of a hilarious Kings of Comedy film. I remember almost falling out my seat in the theater laughing watching his riff on a child with a stutter, as wrong as that sounds. He had a pitch-perfect comic presence on stage, and an immense amount of talent that few properly harvested when he was on a set.

Most people are going to remember Mac for the Bernie Mac Show, which he earned based on the success of the Kings of Comedy stand-up tour and film. The show was based on an extended routine in his about him taking care of his sister’s kid, and it did a very good job at showing highly sanitized, but still pretty funny version of Bernie Mac. The show was initially pretty funny, and puttered along for six seasons, overstaying it’s welcome for about a season or two. Even though the show did a good job at showing the essentially wholesome guy underneath the biting wit and swagger, the comedic edge rapidly dulled, and it didn’t show how funny Mac could be.

Of the Def Comedy Jam alumni, in terms of sheer stand-up skill, Mac sat comfortably in the upper echelon in the upper-echelon. In fact, I’d probably rank him or #2 or #3, and #1, Dave Chappelle, didn’t get really good until years later. Regardless, Mac’s first appearance on Def Comedy Jam is one of the best routines ever broadcast on the show. Everyone who watched the routine and saw Mac in his Cross Color jacket and airbrushed-pants glory, probably agreed that he was a star in the making, and it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling.

And like most stand-up comedians that make it big, Mac began his film career doing time in a mish-mash of lousy comedies that gave him a chance to do his schtick. His track record during this initial phase was better than guys like Lewis Black and Dane Cook, but that’s not saying much. Still, he was hilarious as Uncle Vester in the atrocious House Party 3. He had a great scene as Officer Self Hatred in The Wayans Brothers’ Don’t Be a Menace (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip_gVSl46xI&feature=related). And he was the only thing remotely watchable in stinkers like Player’s Club and How to Be a Player. Friday and Life were the only of these comedies that were any good. Oddly enough, early in his career Mac also had small parts of dramas like Walking Dead, Above the Rim, Get on the Bus, and the Only in America TV movie. The later two were pretty good, but, again, he was interesting in all of them.

The overall quality of films that Mac had roles in increased post Kings of Comedy, but few of these films did anything to capitalize on his talent. Bad Santa was a clear winner, a very funny film that he was very funny in. The Ocean’s trilogy were all good movies (fuck what y’all think, I like Ocean’s 12), but only the first one used Mac’s talents in any meaningful way. However, the less said about stuff like Head of State and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, the better. However, I am interested in seeing how Soul Men, which he stars in with Samuel L. Jackson, turns out.

What made Mac funny was a combination of manic energy and supreme focus (witness the “motherfucka” speech that caps off Kings of Comedy), all with an underlying rock-solid sincerity. Prime time T.V. captured the latter, but Hollywood never found a way to harness the other two. Truth is the attitude of Mac’s comedy was probably never going to translate well into the sitcom or conventional film medium.

I’m not one that believes stand-up comedians should toil in obscurity or live on the road for years in order to make ends meet. These guys gotta take whatever opportunities they get from Hollywood, and that’s fine by me. I’d just be happy if Mac was remembered more for what he was really good at that for what Hollywood tried to make him into. He was as talented of a stand-up comedian that been around in the past 20 years, and that’s a damn good legacy to have.

Got some partners I can count on...

2008-07-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

Normally I hate "check out this cool YouTube video!!!! It's so clever and ironic!!!!1!!" posts, but in this case, I'll make an exception.

I remember first watching this on Sesame Street almost 30 years ago. When YouTube first debuted, it was one of the first things I looked for, but to no avail. I finally stumbled across it after seeing one of those YouTube splice jobs showing Bert and Erine singing M.O.P,'s "Ante Up." This is better.

If you want to see what made me happy when I was four or five years old, watch the clip. The whole thing is great to me, but the real money shot comes at 0:46.

COME ON! THEY'RE TAP-DANCING!!!

The first time I watched this was the pinnacle of my TV watching experience at the time, and it filled me with such complete joy. I really can't describe how funny my four or five-year-old self found this sketch.

I have no idea of this objectively stands up today, because I'm pretty biased. This is my favorite clip from Sesame Street of all time. Hands down. The Yip-Yip aliens come close, Bert "doing the Pigeon" is classic, and Captain Vegetable is brilliantly surreal. But this trumps them all. This clip literally had me watching Sesame Street for another year or so, in hopes that I would catch it again. I don't think I ever did.

And, to get into Uncle Jesse mode once again, I look forward to the day I can show this clip to my nephew. Hopefully when Jonah is old enough to watch and understand Sesame Street, he'll think it's as funny as I did. But if he doesn't, I may never speak to him again.

Oakland A’s a lil’ over halfway report

2008-07-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

I was planning on writing this earlier in the week, closer to the actual half-way point of the Oakland A’s season, but losing back-to-back series against the Giants and the Angels left a bad taste in my mouth. Now, with a split with the White Sox, I’m feeling slightly less downbeat, despite their lame showing against the Pale Hose the last two games. As things stand right now, the team is 47-41, six games in back of the Angels for the division, and three and a half games in back of the Red Sox for the Wild Card. And Justin Duchscherer just got named to his second All-Star.

I feel fairly safe in saying I was a complete moron when I stated before the season started that the A’s were a sure bet for last place in the division and if they won 70 games, they should be happy. They aren’t going to lose more than the Mariners, and barring a pretty big meltdown, should not lose 92 games. However, a month or two into the season, I adjusted by predictions that this team could well go .500. And even though the A’s are playing above-0.500 ball, I’m not ready to continue to project upward.

This is still a pretty flawed team, particularly on the offensive side. Jack Cust is still playing everyday, despite going through one of his extended “I’m one of the worst players in the majors” periods during the season. He’s good for at least two of these. The reason he’s still playing everyday despite an extended slump is because our two other DHs, Frank Thomas and Mike Sweeney, are hurt and won’t be back until some indeterminate term after the all-star break, giving a severe lack of right-handed power. Daric Barton, who I hoped would hit at least 15 home runs, has so far hit three, and is hitting .227 to boot. Jack Hannahan still gets regular playing time and even hit lead-of for an extended period this season. There are some bright spots with the young talent in the form of Carlos Gonzalez and Kurt Suzuki. Meanwhile, is showing some decent power Mark Ellis and Bobby Crosby seems fully healthy. But I still wouldn’t put any confidence in the consistency of our offense.

The starting pitching looks more promising, as Duchscherer is having a great year and Harden looks really solid since coming back the DL. But even though Dana Eveland and Greg Smith continue to impress, they’ll likely hit their wall by August. I also have no hope for the A’s giving Blanton any sort of run support. Things continue like this, and I’m giving him a serious shot at hitting 20 losses, and dude really deserves better. The relief pitching is all over the place. I cringe whenever Keith Foulke and Alan Embree enter the game, and wish in vain that Santiago Casilla, Andrew Brown, and Joey Devine could all be healthy at the same time.

This isn’t a play-off team, or at least one that wouldn’t get blown out by any Division Leader in the League. One thing I can take heart in that with the team being competitive, Harden won’t be traded, and Beane might even shoot for a late July trade, just to stay in the mix. At least we won’t finish the season in the cellar.

My 100 favorite movies from the past 25 years

2008-06-28T02:28:00.000-07:00

So there’s been a good amount of chatter since Entertainment Weekly released its list issue, featuring the best of everything entertainment related in the past 25 years. Much like Paul Wall, it indeed has the whole Internet going nuts. And much like the short-lived “People’s Champ,” it’s largely stupid. The merits of the lists have been argued in deep philosophical fashion by many. My buddy over at Check the FIen Print wrote about the "Best 100 films of the best 25 years" quite eloquently.

I don’t do eloquence, unless it’s particularly self-serving. However, I do have an affinity for lists, so I made my own, for no other reason than to spend time to do something else when I should be studying technical editing.

For this list, I didn’t base the rankings on any great importance and impact on the history of film since 1983. These are just based on what I enjoyed.

So, Jesse Ducker's 100 favorite films from the last 25 years:

1. Goodfellas
2. Do the Right Thing
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Miller’s Crossing
6. Midnight Run
7. Shawshank Redemption
8. Three Kings
9. City of God
10. Back to the Future
11. Ran
12. Dark City
13. Blood Simple
14. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
15. Hoop Dreams
16. Fresh
17. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
18. City of Hope
19. Princess Monoke
20. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
21. Schindler’s List
22. Dazed and Confused
23. Before Sunrise
24. Quiz Show
25. Reservoir Dogs
26. Platoon
27. LA Confidential
28. Lone Star
29. Deep Cover
30. Se7en
31. Raising Arizona
32. Untouchables
33. Menace to Society
34. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
35. Memento
36. Big Lebowski
37. Ghostbusters
38. Saving Private Ryan
39. Crimes and Misdemeanors
40. The Usual Suspects
41. Finding Nemo
42. The Incredibles
43. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
44. This is Spinal Tap
45. Casino
46. Children of Men
47. In the Name of the Father
48. A Fish Called Wanda
49. Short Cuts
50. Toy Story
51. The Lion King
52. Kingpin
53. Out of Sight
54. Searching For Bobby Fischer
55. True Romance
56. Beverly Hills Cop
57. Bullets Over Broadway
58. Coming to America
59. Malcolm X
60. Heat
61. Monsters Inc.
62. Aliens
63. Fight Club
64. Say Anything
65. Black Hawk Down
66. No Country For Old Men
67. Unforgiven
68. Boogie Nights
69. Full Metal Jacket
70. Terminator 2
71. Pan’s Labrynth
72. Terminator
73. Princess Bride
74. Silence of the Lambs
75. Rushmore
76. Toy Story 2
77. Royal Tennenbaums
78. The Departed
79. Trading Places
80. Purple Rain
81. Trainspotting
82. Traffic
83. The Fugitive
84. The Big Night
85. The Limey
86. Fletch
87. Carlito’s Way
88. Donnie Brasco
89. Collateral
90. Batman Begins
91. 28 Days Later
92. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
93. Amelie
94. Heavenly Creatures
95. Die Hard
96. Old Boy
97. Dead Man Walking
98. Jackie Brown
99. Master and Commander
100. Silverado

And here’s another 20 movies I couldn’t fit it but felt like listing anyway, in no particular order.

Nixon
Being John Malkovich
Ghost World
Casualties of War
Minority Report
Good Will Hunting
Sixteen Candles
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Big Trouble in Little China
Breakfast Club
Hunt for Red October
Crimson Tide
Unbreakable
Sexy Beast
Bring Out the Dead
Bugsy
JFK
Layer Cake
The Inside Man
Battle Royale
Infernal Affairs

Sign of the Times

2008-06-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back I bitched about feeling old when I went to concerts. That was mostly because my legs hurt like Hell and most of the people that attend them are born after 1983. Well, now I feel too old for an entirely different reason: I can’t stay awake.

In about two days I’m going to turn 33 years old. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not really that old, but I sure feel otherwise. I’m sitting here, now, typing this, even though just an hour ago I was out in San Francisco at concert. A concert I left just as it was starting, because I was about to pass out from exhaustion.

Some background: this Monday I started a new job as a tech writer at a Bay Area pharmaceutical company, which requires 8 to 5 shifts every day. So it goes. But a few weeks ago, before I had the job, I said agreed interview Dilated Peoples for STASH Magazine at a concert they were doing in San Francisco. Now, this week has been inordinately busy for me, with a night class on Monday and an A’s game last night, and as a result I’m a hair away from burn out before I can even bother celebrating my this weekend. But I knew I had to be a responsible adult and interview Dilated. Besides, I’ve met them once or twice, and they’re genuine cool people.

So I drive out to SF after coming back from work and briefly relaxing on my living room futon, zoning out while the NBA draft plays out on ESPN (Anthony Randolph is probably a decent pick, but he needs to gain like 100 pounds). After getting to the venue, I hook up with my editors and the photographers, and do the interview. That works out peachy: Dilated are really cool and the interview goes well, despite (or because of) the fact that Evidence spends a lot time trying to bullshit me with tales of how they’re going to sign with Jay-Z and be on Roc-A-La-Familia 3 album. On a side note, I find that rappers are always excellent at lying with a straight face. After the interview is over, Nino and Arlene, editors/publishers of STASH, ask me if I’m going to stay for the show, and I pause for a sec. I’ve got work in the morning, complete with an 8 a.m. conference call with someone on the east coast. Only ten years ago though, this would have a no-brainer: I would have decided In an instant that I could stay for the entire show, get a max of four hours of sleep, and been chipper as Hell for the early morning call. Now I’m not so sure.

I decide to give it a shot, and hang around for a lil’ bit. But as soon as the first ac hits the stage, any remnants of energy I may possess leave me body. And it has nothing to do with the act that was on stage: I was just fricking exhausted. I could barely keep my eyes open. Shoot, I can barely keep my eyes open now typing this blog entry.

I knew this was coming: many people I’ve known tell me that the first thing to go with age is ability to stay up late. A part of people is annoyed with myself for not sticking around, and laments that I’m not still in S.F. right now watching Dilated Peoples and Aceyalone perform instead of typing t this. But a larger part of me really needs the sleep.

Summer Music Madness

2008-06-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Summer officially begins tomorrow, although just about every state in the Union has already been suffering through stifling heat. In music there’s always been an obsession with summer albums and summer tours, and in hip-hop, there’s always been a strange obsession with a “summer banger,” a universally loved song that comes out near the beginning of each summer that can presumably be heard in every car throughout June, July, and August. The idea never made that much sense to me, to tell you the truth. I’m a man of habit who likes to return to old standards and tradition. There are a few albums that I always associate with summer that I also try to come back to when June rolls around. And wile the list of these albums grows each year, there are always some albums that I have to play.

So, below are a few examples of stuff I listen to when the weather gets hot. I tried to stay away from obviously stuff or albums with obvious titles. And most of these albums are still in print and readily available should you choose to check them out.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth – Mecca and the Soul Brother
This one is sort of obvious, but it epitomizes summer music for me. I remember going to the sadly departed Leopold’s Records early on a Wednesday morning and buying this before I had to take my Art History final, the last final of my junior year. Considering how much I tried to stay focused about taking my finals, it shows how much I felt I NEEDED this album that I went to buy before my final started. Despite the fact that side-trip to the record store required me to park pretty far from my high school, the distance likely leading to some asshole breaking one of my car’s windows (only to steal absolutely nothing), it was worth it. After sliding that tape into my car stereo that June afternoon, I don’t think it left the deck until July. I’d compulsively listen to Side A, flip it, throw on Side B, rinse, repeat.

There was a time I knew every note of that 87-minute album, from “Return of the Mecca” (still my favorite song on the album) to “Skinz,” and all the interludes in-between. It’s the perfect marriage of one MC and one producer: CL Smooth sounds perfect rhyming over Pete Rock’s beats, and Pete Rock’s beats sound like they were creating perfectly for CL’s lyrics. It’s among my ten favorite albums ever, and as soon as I see I cloudless sky in late May, Mecca and the Soul Brother gets played.

The Studio One and Trojan Records collections
It’s probably the association with the tropical island of Jamaica that makes these collections sounds so good during the summer months. For those who don’t know, Studio One and Trojan Records were two of the preeminent record labels, for Jamaican music, pioneers in the realms of reggae, dancehall, ska, and dub. Studio One, founded by “Coxsone” Dodd and considered by some as the Motown Records of Jamaica. Trojan Records was actually a British record label that specialized in distributing reggae, dancehall, ska, and the like across the pond. Both are best known today for reissuing collections of their music, which was mostly made and originally released during the 1970s.

For the last week or so, I’ve begun my annual revisiting of the Studio One albums, listening to them on my iPod while driving from place to place. I bought the first one, Studio One: Rockers, back in 2001; the album served as kind of a “sampler” for what the label had released in its hey day, with subsequent compilations are loosely built around a theme or “style,” like say, “DJs,” or “Roots” or “Scorcher,” etc. Regardless of the “style,” there’s still something about the rumbling bass and the skanking grooves the make songs like The Brentford All-Stars “Greedy G” ideal for rolling down the highway on a sunny day. Studio One still reissues compilations, but the prices seem to be increasing. I remember the first batch cost the same as a regular CD, the newer ones seem to be selling for more than $20. Frickin' imports.

With Trojan Records’ compilations, I never have to worry about consistency price: the three CD, 50-song “box-sets” consistently cost around $17.99. But at the same time, you get what you pay: a hastily thrown together collection of 50 tracks even more loosely based around a “theme,” with shoddy packaging and little effort thrown into their production. Personally, I don’t make care about the shoddy production and album “construction.” I’ve loaded 12 of these box-sets into my 200-CD player, and on a lazy summer weekend afternoon, I push play on my CD player, lay down on my futon with a glass of lemonade, and pretend I’m listening to commercial free Jamaican radio.

Johnny Five – Summer
I said I was going to TRY to avoid choices with obvious names; I made no guarantees. I have no idea who the hell Johnny Five, the hip-hop artist, is. I don’t’ know, what, if anything, he’s done before or since this album dropped in 2004. Sure, I just know he’s likely not the talking robot that starred in two movies with Fisher Stevens doing glorified blackface.

I vaguely remember getting Summer sent to me by some publicist. I also remember sweating out the hot afternoons in my second floor room of a shared apartment in San Jose, during the misbegotten period of my life when I lived in the South Bay, listening to this album. I probably also can’t tell you why I like it so much; Johnny Five is not a very good rapper. He’s pretty corny to tell you the truth. It’s probably the beats that makes this sucker such a winner, with the mellow vibes the songs create set my adrift on memory bliss.

Bone Thug N Harmony – E. 1999 Eternal
I know people stereotype summer music is “light” or “airy” or happy in some way, and E. 1999 is exactly the opposite of all that: It’s dark, creepy, and filled with gun talk and homicide. Still, I can’t remember the last time I listened to this album when the calendar didn’t read June, July, or August. The heavy murkiness of tracks like “Down 71,” “No Shorts, No Losses,” “Die Die Die,” “Mo’ Murda” are aural versions of the oppressive summer heat, while “Budsmokaz Only,” “Mr. Bill Collector,” “Buddah Lovaz,” and the once-ubiquitous “First of the Month” all have an odd ethereal quality. And the whole thing sounds damn good when driving wherever during the small hours of the night.

The “middle” period BBE albums: DJ Spinna – Here to There, DJ Jazzy Jeff – The Magnificent, King Britt – Adventures in Lo-Fi.
These are a set of albums I associate with my misbegotten years I spent in the South Bay, particular the summer of 2003. A year before I heard Summer, I spent many a July night sweating in my west-facing room in the apartment. West-faced room plus heat rising = a lousy combination. Still, these three albums particularly Here to There, frequently relaxed me.

The basic behind these albums released by BBE (Barely Breaking Even) Records was to showcase hip-hop producers. The label would give them relative carte blanche to put together an album showcasing their production skills, and let them pair up with MCs, singer, vocalists, etc. the felt like working with. The first two releases in the series, J Dilla and Pete Rock, were honestly pretty boring. Which was disappointing for me, considering those are two of my favorite producers ever. But when the second wave of albums hit in 2003, they really found their groove. All three albums were a strange brew of hip-hop, neo-soul, electronica, and house. And considering I tend to hate the later three of those genres, it’s amazing I like these three albums so much. All three producers created music that sounded great when MCs like Bahamida, Last Emperor, Freddie Foxxx, Quasimoto, and Apani B. Fly MC were rapping over it, and just as good when soul singer Jill Scott was doing spoken word to it. These were a good combination.

All hail Jonah

2008-06-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

See this little guy? He’s my nephew, Jonah. Jonah Joaquin Netburn-Ducker, to be exact. He was born almost a month and a half ago, on April 28. Cute, ain’t he? And see how he’s giving the thumb’s up while he’s asleep? Absolutely adorable. I love him. I maintain he’s the cutest baby ever born. My father backs me up on this, and he’s a pediatrician that’s seen thousands of babies over his career. So if anyone should know, it’s him.

I don’t have any deep thoughts to share now that I’m an uncle, other than I feel sort of generally happier. I feel indifferent the odd “Uncle Jesse” pop-culture association that comes with this, via either Dukes of Hazard or Full House. But I know the next “Jesse and the Rippers” joke I get is gonna set me off. Still, I occasionally think about what “kind” of uncle I’m going to be. But regardless, I’m just happy to see the little guy whenever I can. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Cool Kids The Bake Sale EP Review

2008-06-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

Grade: B-

There’s this whole world of ’80s worshipping hipster hip-hop that I’m only now becoming aware of. It’s created by Eighties babies who were probably only vaguely aware of crews like Run-DMC and the Juice Crew while growing up, but now make music that draws heavily form the aesthetic that they created. One of the most well known of these young up and comers are the Cool Kids, a Chicago-based duo made up of Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rock. They’ve spent the better part of year bubbling on the mixtape and MySpace scene, before touring to spread the word. The Bake Sale EP is their first official release.

I’m generally all for “throwback” hip-hop that harkens back to the days of yesteryear before MTV and Sprite and ringtones. I’d hazard to say I’m even more in favor of “throwback” rap than most, but like everything else, it’s not that you do it, but how you do it. I’ll even give the Cool Kids credit: everything they do on The Bake Sale EP sounds like authentic late 1980s hip-hop. The problem is even though the crew went through great lengths to make the music and lyrics sound legit, the results often sound empty and soulless.

Well, that’s not completely fair: the beats, provided by Chuck Inglish, are quite good. The snares pop, the kicks hit, and the bass rumbles, evoking the solid boom-bap of the era they pay homage to with their music. On the EP’s opener, “What Up Man,” Chuck creates a beat “with my mouth and bell,” resulting in one of their more entertaining tracks. Chuck is good crafting the slow-as-molasses muddy-thump of the era, shown on “Gold and a Pager” and “Jingling.” The beat on “What It Is” has the energy of the 110+ BPM beats that littered 12”s put out by obscure artists from NY and NJ, while “Bassment Party” unashamedly evokes 2 Live Crew’s heyday, without the overt demands for oral sex

It’s lyrical end where the Cool Kids falter. For a pair of MCs that proclaim to be the “new Black version of the Beastie Boys,” they’re awfully boring on the mic. Their anti-hipster/swagger-jacker anthem, “A Little Bit Cooler,” really isn’t as interesting as they seem to think it is. There’s a couple of bright spots, found in the goofy-fun of the aforementioned “What Up Man” and “Bassment Party,” and a verse or two on “88,” but the majority of their lyrics disappear into a fog of Cooley High and vague old school references.

As much as I’d like to commend the Cool Kids for their good intentions, I can’t. I feel bad knocking them because they’re largely innocuous, but there’s little beyond their beats that make them interesting in any way.

It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

2008-06-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the primary season is finally over, and while it overstayed its welcome, at least the system worked. I just returned from voting in the “proper” California primary (like everyone else, we bumped up the presidential primary to be more “important”), but while I was there to vote against some sort of proposition that would limit rent control or something, the good voters of Montana and South Dakota were casting their votes for the presidential candidate of their choice. They, of course, are the final two states to so. And now, finally, it appears the Barack Obama has secured the Democratic presidential nomination. Hilary Clinton is supposed to give a speech tonight In New York, not to actually concede, but just to acknowledge that Obama has enough delegates to earn the nomination. That’s awfully big of her.

While we all know that the writing has been on the wall for at least a month or so, now with all 50 states and miscellaneous territories voting, there’s no way to explain away Barack’s victory. Some months ago, I wrote here that I was annoyed that states as inconsequential as Iowa and New Hampshire had a disproportionate amount of pull when it came to deciding who would run for president in November. Well, my wish came true. Every single state, including the one’s who’s delegates only sorta get counted, had some sort of impact in deciding who got the Democratic nomination. Even Puerto Rico, normally an afterthought, had an impact was it’s fairly anemic turnout. So never let it be said the Barack wasn’t the people’s choice.

Admittedly, the process wasn’t always pretty. There was a lot of dirt, false accusations, and other general bullshit thrown around (mostly by the Senator of NY and her supporters), and I wish people who should know better conduct themselves with a little more dignity and class, but Obama has emerged form the whole process pretty intact. Likely nothing came out during the primary process that wouldn’t have come out anyway, and the same stupid rumors linger, but I imagine he’ll get as fair a shake as African-American man with the name of Obama can expect to get to in this country. Now comes the tough part.

Sick of Standing Room Only

2008-05-23T18:29:00.000-07:00

I could feel it coming when I was 22. I was in San Francisco, walking back to my car with a group of my friends after a concert. I turned to my buddy Talib and said, “Man, my legs hurt like hell. All this damn standing. I’m going to start bringing crutches to these shows.” Then after dropping everyone off, I went home and lay down, legs aching through the night.

Over a decade later, I don’t need crutches, but it’s becoming really, really clear I’ve gotten too old for the shit. I’d say 90% of the hip-hop shows I go to these days unfold the same way. They are held take place in an overcrowded club, with standing room only. If the act is any sort of popular, the place is completely packed, with each person having maybe six inches of personal space around him/her. The ventilation sucks, yet everyone’s smoking. The sound stinks. The acts are late. The venue’s staff is disorganized. The security working the event are jerks. Everything is overpriced. And not to sound too much like a geezer, but damn everyone there was born in the mid-’80s.

The Dizzee Rascal/El-P show I went to a few nights ago encapsulated a lot of the dumb shit I have to put up with whenever I go to a show these days. First, doors opened late (at 9:30 instead of 9 p.m.; the half hour makes a difference in terms of crowd control). Then the venue’s staff and security acted like jerks. Then I found out even though I was supposed to have passes to the show, I somehow wasn’t on the list. Then the stage area of the rather crowded venue didn’t open until like 10 p.m. Once I finally positioned myself stage right near the front of the stage, I looked around I saw I was surrounded by increasingly drunk young twentysomethings who’d probably turn the show into a moshing/slam-pit extravaganza. At that point I had a moment of clarity, where I realized there was no logical reason why I needed to watch this show near the front of the stage, standing for three hours while packed in like sardines with obnoxious jerks

Even after I moved to the balcony with a couple of friends of mine I ran into while there, the show was still plagued with problems. The first act, Busdriver, didn’t go on until 11 p.m., and his set was sabotaged by sound problems. To their credit, both El-P and Dizzee Rascal rocked their respective sets, but the delays in-between acts seemed interminable. There’s no logical reason why a Wednesday night show should end after 2 a.m.

Maybe I’m just grouchy because 36 hours later, my legs still hurt and one of my good shirts wreaks of cigarette smoke. But I’m starting to have more and more lingering thoughts that I should just give up the hip-hop show game entirely. My legs will probably thank me.

Sharper the Ever: Dizzee Rascal hits the U.S.

2008-05-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

The following is an expanded version of an article I wrote for SF Weekly.

Regional scenes are the engines that drive mainstream U.S. hip-hop today. For every Kanye West, there’s 20 Souljah Boys, artists that make regional hits that have translated into financial and Billboard success. Yet American audiences have yet to really embrace many hip-hop artists from overseas. Case in point: Dizzee Rascal, a savage MC from East London who’s still unknown to many U.S. hip-hop heads.

Rascal broke out of the U.K.’s Grime/Garage scene of the early ’00s, a movement that spawned breakout artists like M.I.A., Lady Sovereign, and The Streets. Dizzee started off much like other grime artists; MCing on pirate radio stations and at raves and underground venues since he was 15. He rapped with a heavy cockney accent, and filling his rhymes with native slang, and flowing over beats that sounded like (and often were) generated from a video-game console. He first achieved acclaim in 2003 with the songs “Fix Up, Look Sharp” and “I Luv U,” and his debut album Boy in Da Corner. “Fix Up” was a Top 20 hit on the U.K. charts and Boy in the Da Corner was awarded the Mercury Prize, an annual award given to the best album released from the U.K. and Ireland. The album also earned him attention in the U.S., as Rolling Stone named Boy in Da Corner one of the 50 best albums of the year. In 2004, he released his follow-up, Showtime, which debuted on the U.K. charts at #8 and solidified himself as the star of U.K. hip-hop.

Despite Dizzee’s continued success in the U.K., his lyrical ferocity is known by a select few in the U.S. This might be due to the fact British hip-hop hasn’t always been the most user-friendly. MCs rapping at warp speed with a thick British accent sound completely unfamiliar to the average mainstream listener. Furthermore, in a climate where listeners are already inundated by hip-hop from every region of the U.S., it’s pretty easy for overseas MCs to get lost in the shuffle.

“America has the best of what the world has to offer when it comes to hip-hop,” Rascal acknowledges. If a 20-year-old from Oakland is able to identify with the sentiment behind the lyrics of a southerner like Lil’ Wayne, it’s not much of a stretch that the same person can identify with the raw reality Dizzee expresses on his albums. “People are willing to listen to something new,” he adds.

Dizzee hopes the U.S. release of his latest album, Maths and English, will put his name in the hearts of minds of American hip-hop heads. Sonically, Maths + English is much more straight-ahead hip-hop album than he’s previous releases, both musically and lyrically. “I worked a lot more on my flow, so it was easier to follow,” Dizzee says. “I still use a lot of slang, but I just slowed things down a bit so people could understand what the fuck I was saying.” He exhibits a more deliberate flow on Math’s opener “World Outside,” a mellow, introspective track where he explains why he’s has to remove himself from the London hood life to make positive moves in his life.

The production manages to sound both grimy and accessible. And while some of the songs are crafted to sound more “familiar” to American listeners, sporting traditional drum breaks and the occasion soul sample, the album still retains its British feel, as his frenetic Garage sensibilities are still apparent on songs like “Sirens” and “Temptation.” It’s a middle ground that both Dizzee and his new record label, indie hip-hop juggernaut record label Definitive Jux, hope progressive hip-hoppers will embrace.

“I think it’s a dope, new, relevant sound for America, and the shit is really edgy,” says El-P, Definitive Jux’s owner and an artist on the label. “It’s hard not to put on [Maths + English] and not want to punch someone in the face. But I make music that sounds like that, so maybe I’m biased.”

El-P says he feels the time is now right for this album. He’s known Dizzee for years, and has turned his friendship with the Brit into a musical partnership. The two are hitting the road together now as Rascal launches his first tour to the U.S. in three years.

“Working with Def Jux was the best situation take get the album out in the U.S.,” Dizzee says. “They’re at the top when it comes to putting out independent, cutting edge hip-hop.”

It took to a year for Maths + English to get a proper U.S. release on April 28. Previously XL Records had only made the album available digitally. The American version has three new tracks, including an El-P produced remix to “Where’s Da G’s?” featuring UGK. Dizzee first met Bun at the 2003 South By Southwest music festival, and the two became first friends. Bun has since completely embraced Dizzee’s efforts to blow up stateside.

El-P has nothing but glowing things to say about his experience working with Bun B. “He was so cool and knew everything about me and [Def Jux],” he says. “He’s the prototype for the open-minded mainstream MC.”

Sadly, “Pussyole (Oldskool),” one of the best songs from the original release didn’t make it to the U.S. While Dizzee was able to clear the James Brown samples in the U.K. (where sample clearance laws are different), Dizzee says the protracted dispute over Brown’s estate prevented the track from making the U.S. version of the album.

Dizzee is ready for Math + English to launch him into the American mainstream, and he’s not at all sentimental towards his years in the U.K. underground.

“Yeah, I really miss getting jerked for my money at shows, dealing with dodgy promoters, and always having to watch my back when I’m at a club,” Rascal deadpans.

The God is Back

2008-04-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

The Big Hurt is back in the building, bitch!

Yes, the God of DH’s is back in the Oakland Area. Frank Thomas, first ballot hall-of-famer, and one of the best players of my era to ever have played, just re-signed with the A’s today, and I’m happy as a clam.

Big Frank absolutely carried the offense during the A’s 2006 season, the one were they made it to the ALCS. It’s true that he’s about a year and a half older since then, and some speculate that he’s lost his swing while in Toronto. However, he’s a welcome edition to the team. He’s still got power, he still gets on base, and he’s cheap. He fits in well with the line-up, giving them the potential power right-handed hitter that they’ve always lacked, except the last time he was on the team. While Mike Sweeney still seems capable of hitting for average, his productive days for hitting jacks seem like they’re in the past. And Thomas’ presence hopefully prophesizes the end of Jack Cust’s association with the team, at least on the major league level. I’ve got no complaints here.

It caps off a weird couple of days for the days, where the team also signed Rajai Davis, who, despite going 3 for 5 today, will probably serve mostly as a pinch-runner. So we’re putting together a weird team, that despite having three DHs on the roster, also sports pinch-runners, pinch-hitters, defensive substitutions, and whatever. Hell, the A’s even stole a base and ran a hit and run last night. This season continues to be interesting.

I’m going to refrain from making wild predictions that may result from this move. This is still a team that could hit a wall in a lot of areas as the spring turns to summer. But I feel like with this $300,000 move, the A’s at least have decided that they’re not going to flee from a successful season if it comes their way.

The Diplomats: Harlem Classics

2008-04-18T17:48:00.001-07:00

Grade: B/B+

Yesterday, I took a looked at the somewhat brief history of the Dipset/Diplomats crew. In attempts to keep the crew alive, or maybe just make a little more money out of the crew’s music, Duke Da God, the former A&R/Director of Marketting of Diplomats record, has released the Harlem Classics compilation. The 74-minute album is a collection of 22 songs by various members of the crew that never saw a proper release. Most of these tracks could only be heard on mixtapes by New York-based DJs like Kay Slay or Clue, usually ruined by the self-important pair screaming “Exclusive!” or “New Shit!” all over them. Without the DJ noise, Harlem Classics is an interesting look at what could have been.

Just looking at the CD packaging points to legal problems with who can use the Dipset and Diplomats name and logo. The name “Dipset” or “Diplomats” appears no where on the CD’s packaging. The liner notes make allusions the songs on the album are from “the hottest group out of Harlem,” without ever mentioning their name. And this album is being put out by the guy who runs their website. It’s also pretty clear that Duke Da God is probably on the outs with Cam’Ron, because despite Cam appearing on the vast majority of the songs on the CD, his name also appears nowhere on the CD’s packaging. The cover boasts that Harlem Classics features Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, JR Writer, Hell Rell, SAS and “many more.” Yeah, like Cam’Ron, the guy with four gold records to his name and actually started the crew. He might be a selling point.

The actual music is pretty darn good. Throughout Harlem Classics, Dipset members flex the swagger, witty wordplay, and rhyme patterns that earned them their appeal. Cam and Santana, the most talented members of the crew (Zoolander and the Zoo Keeper, respectively, in Cam’s words), shine the brightest on the album, displaying their lyrical dexterity on tracks like “What’s Really Good,” “You’re Gonna Love Me,” “Your Way,” and “The Answer.” JR Wrtier have his moments too, shining on tracks like “Magic” and “Don’t Fool With the Dips.” On the later he drops a ruthless verse over a warped electric guitar and DJ scratches; unfortunately B-teamers like Hell Rell and 40 Cal add nothing to the song. Jim Jones is pretty uniformly awful throughout the album; he should have stuck to doing ad-libs.

Truth be told, it’s better that this album was released independently: many of the songs on Harlem Classics would have been ruined by a major label. Most would never the light of day on a major label release day to sample clearance issues alone. Tracks sample Pilot (“Magic”), the Jackson 5 (“Did You Miss Me?”), Prince (“The Slaughter”), the Coming to America soundtrack (“What’s Really Good”), and ESPN theme music (“Halftime Show”). The best song on the album, “From Bottom to Top” by Juelz Santana, featuring Styles of Beyond, Celph Titled, and Fort Minor (none are in Dipset), samples the guitar intro to Guns ‘N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine”; No way anyone hears this song on anything except a mixtape.

Maybe it was the best thing for the Dipset to remain a slight about street level crew, dropping heaters to be heard by those who were really dedicated. It’s better than where they are now, a few years removed from “Where are they now?” status.

Keep it Moving: a look back at Dipset aka The Diplomats

2008-04-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

The Diplomats aka Dipset are one of the more intriguing hip-hop crews of the rather young 21st century. The Harlem-based crew is a product of Uptown New York gang/drug dealing culture, and started making noise as a collective sometime around 2002 or 2003. Featuring MCing talents from the likes of Cam’Ron, Jim Jones, and Juelz Santana, the group had strong ties to Dame Dash, one of the founders (along with Jay-Z-) of Roc-A-Fella Records and was best known for it’s irreverent attitude and swagger. Cam’Ron and Jim Jones are both record industry vets. Cam was in the Children of the Corn crew in the early ’90s, and had three gold records to his name before Dipset was on the map. The legend is that if Biggie Smalls hadn’t have been killed in 1996, we would formed a “super-group” called “The Commission” with Cam’Ron, Jay-Z, and Charlie Baltimore.

Tracks by the Diplomats were heavy on witty rhymes, sped-up soul samples, and shit-talking. Oh, and there was always an abundance of talk about “moving the movement.” The Dipset movement that is. There’s apparently some difference between the Diplomats crew and the Dipset movement, but it’s too convoluted for me to explain or understand. Regardless, the Diplomats/Dipset put out a string of well-received mixtapes in the last five years, most notably Diplomatic Immunity and Diplomatic Immunity 2. The group earned a strong online following, with listeners from around the world embracing their witty rhymes back-to-basics approach to music.

Listening to most Dipset tracks, it’s obvious the guys were always having fun in the studio. Sure, they did corny stuff like rhyme over “They Built This City on Rock and Roll” by Starship, but their slang, swagger, ad-libs, background vocals, and general shit-talking were the stuff of legend. Aside from Cam and Juelz, none of them were really that good rappers, but they were always entertaining as Hell. The Diplomats were also notorious through rap beefs with artists like Mase and Nas, and their four-minute plus rants against them on their mixtapes of the stuff of magic. At the height of their popularity, Dipset affiliates started pooping up in Canada and England, and they even started their own skating crew. Cam’Ron’s Purple Haze album went gold and the NY Football Giants adopted Jim Jones’ “We Fly High” as its unofficial theme song during the 2006-07 season.

It’s rap beef that ultimately sunk the crew. Around 2005, as Jay-Z was named president of Def Jam records while still enjoying his “retirement,” Cam’Ron signed to Asylum Records and began to start promoting his new album, Killa Season. He simultaneously began promoting a direct-to-DVD film of the same name, which he starred in and directed. The latter wasn’t that much of a stretch: Cam’Ron had actually earned a lil’ critical acclaim with a supporting role in the film Paid in Full. So in hopes of gaining a little more publicity for the album and movie, Cam’Ron started playing up a rift between him and Jay-Z, claiming that Shawn Carter has left the hood behind from the board room and wasn’t a “real” representative of the streets. Dame Dash basically took Cam’s side, claiming Jigga had left him behind as he climbed the ladder to further success. Cam’Ron started recording dis tracks aimed at Jay-Z, started bragging that he was basically stalking Beyonce via text message, insulting Jigga for wearing sandals in public, and called him a “camel” whenever possible. The whole thing seemed orchestrated to elicit an angry response from Jay-Z, which would ultimately boost Cam’Ron’s record sales. Hey, it worked for 50 Cent. It was clear that Cam saw all this dissing as Dipset’s ticket the Big Boys Table.

The problem was, throughout all the antics, Jay-Z publicly ignored Cam’Ron. And in the end, none of Cam’Ron’s blustering connected at all with his audience. No one cared, because most of his core audience liked Jay-Z’s music, and why do they want to hear him rail against one of their favorite rappers, “retired” or not. The proof was in the sales: Killa Season sold over 110,000 units in the first week, and then completely disappeared from the public consciousness. The DVD, as expected, was an embarrassment. Jim Jones, Cam’Ron’s “capo,” made some noise with “We Fly High,” but once Jay-Z un-retired and released Kingdom Come in late 2006, (complete a few pointed disses towards Cam’Ron, without actually mentioning him by name), and it sold 680,000 units in the first week, it was pretty clear who the people had chosen.

Things went completely off the rails for Dipset during 2007. Cam’Ron apparently didn’t learn from his failed Jay-Z beef, and decided to go after 50 Cent, someone who sold just about as many records and was (at the time) just as respected on the “streets.” Unlike Jay-Z, 50 Cent was happy to oblige Cam’Ron in a rap battle; after all, similar beefs are what made 50 Cent who he is today. After a few lame rounds of battle tracks by each of them, Cam’Ron proclaimed it was going to be “a long hot summer” or 50, and then promptly disappeared from the public eye. He’s yet to resurface from seclusion; he’s apparently in Columbus, Ohio, though he released the Public Enemy #1 mixtape in late 2007/early 2008.

Now, for all intents and purposes, the Diplomats are no longer a functioning group. Jim Jones hasn’t recorded much music of note since “Ballin’,” his next album went completely un-noticed. This is likely because besides being very charismatic while talking shit, he’s actually a terrible rapper. Jones popped up in late 2007 to claim that he, not Jay-Z, should have been the one to record the unofficial “American Gangster” soundtrack, due to his Harlem roots. He recently aligned himself with 50 Cent. Juelz Santana, once signed to Def Jam Records and one of the more lyrically talented members of the group, has been quiet since his solo debut, What the Game is Missing. Diplomat b-teamers like JR Writer, Hell Rell and 40 Cal, have all released albums that few besides hardcore Dipset fans have noticed.

Mostly, the crew has been beefing with each other. There are rumors of money mismanagement, court battles over who between Cam’Ron and Jim Jones owns the Diplomats’ name and logo, and general ill will. During Cam’Ron/50 beef in 2007, Jim Jones told a New York radio personality that to say he hadn’t spoken to Cam’Ron in a year, but held him no ill will. Cam’Ron later responded that he wished Jim Jones the best, but was a little surprised that he chose to run with 50 Cent.

Personally, I’m not sure if Dipset ever could have been as big and successful commercially as, say, G-Unit, but they definitely had more talented, made better music, and were more entertaining than many of what pass hip-hop “super-crews” these days. For my next entry, I’ll take a quick look at one of their newest releases, which is actually filled with material from their salad days.

Le Bien, Le Mal

2008-04-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

It’s a bittersweet day for me as a Bay Area sports fan. The bitter is quite bitter, as the Golden State Warriors were officially eliminated from making the play-offs yesterday, despite being on track to win 49 games. We’re going to miss the play-offs despite winning 49 games. I can’t imagine a universe for the NBA where that makes any sense. Add to the facts that this team was better in damn near every way than last year’s team, which made the second round of the play-offs. While we might not have been able to do it again this year, we’d have been a tough play-off challenge for the Lakers or the Hornets or whoever ends up in first place of the conference. Mostly, the whole situation makes me want to say FUCK DAVID STERN for suspending S. Jax for the first six games of the season. I hate playing the “if” game, but if he been playing, I imagine we’d over been able to win three, two, or even one of those games, and we’d have made the play-offs.

As for the sweet, THE A’S HAVE THE BEST RECORD IN THE A.L.!!!! 9-5!!!! FIRST PLACE IN THE DVISION!!! YEAH BITCH!!!!

This is all the more bizarre when you consider the circumstances: Two-thirds of the top- of-the-rotation are on the DL, we're unable to hit a long-ball, our team’s power-hitter isn’t hitting half his weight, and our third-baseman still hasn't played a game. And yet, the Red Sox and Cliff Fucking Lee account for our only losses so far. Go figure.

Sadly, I suspect my happiness will be fleeting. This is nice and surprising team and all, but I’m not going to fool myself into thinking this team is any sort of contender to make the play-offs or seriously make things interesting down the stretch. The young pitching looks pretty damn good right now, but these guys can expect some trouble as the season goes on, the throw more innings than they ever have before, and the hitters start to figure them out. Besides, we aren’t going anywhere if Harden stays injured all year, and yeah, I’ve seen this movie before. The A’s will start to swoon in June and July, and then we’ll get into trade the veterans mode. I’ll adjust my predictions from 72 wins to say we may flirt with a 0.500 record. Beyond that, I expect my fan experience is likely to continue to be fraught with frustration and disappointment.

Rapping Dinosaurs are cool!

2008-04-14T19:16:00.001-07:00

Baby Loves Hip-Hop: Dino 5
Grade: Not really applicable.

Rapping Dinosaurs are cool!

Baby Loves Hip-Hop: Dino 5
Grade: Not really applicable.

When I was five years old, my favorite record was called “Dinosaurs.” It had a fairly simple premise: it featured five or six songs about different dinosaurs and their distinguishing characteristics, each song recorded in a different musical style. Traditional stuff mostly, nothing with any sort of edge to it. The b-side of the record even had instrumentals, presumably for kids to sing along too. Not that I ever did much singing: I mostly danced around my parent’s living room while listening to the record. I tended to do that a lot.

Dinosaur-based entertainment has long to been a sure-fire way to entertain and even educate kids. It can be cute, or overly cloying and obnoxious. But the kids always love it. So up steps semi-famous Baby Loves Music label, with their first foray into rap: baby Loves Hip-Hop: Dino 5. The project was created and written by a guy named Adam Hurwitz, and produced by Prince Paul, one of the five best hip-hop producers of all time. The album tells the tale of five friendly dino-kids who form a band to perform in their elementary school’s talent show. I feel a little weird reviewing a kid’s CD, but I was compelled to cop this sucker due to the involvement of Prince Paul. And I can’t say I was disappointed, despite the fact I’m 28 years too old for this album.

Prince Paul was really on top of things when he put this CD together. It’s easily digestable pre-school/kindergarten hip-hop. And while there’s no wacky Mickey Mouse or Johnny Cash samples, but Baby Loves Hip-Hop: Dino 5 sure in the heck SOUNDS like a Prince Paul record. On all of the concept albums/compilations Prince Paul has ever done, he’s always done a great job at plugging in the right MCs into the right “parts.” This album is no exception: Jurassic 5’s Chali 2nua is perfectly “cast” as MC T-Rex, while the other dino-friends are voiced by Wordsworth (who worked with Paul on his last kiddie-rap endeavor: a song on the Spongbob Squarepants Movie Soundtrack), Ladybug Mecca (formerly of the Digable Planets) and Scratch (human beat-box for the Roots). Dave and Posdnuos of De La Soul show up on a song. All of their vocal talents are all perfectly suited for a kids record; Chali has always sounded like a gentle T-Rex to me. Musically, it’s simple enough for a wee-one to follow, and gives the basics for the boom and the bap.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve listened to a kids’ record, and if course I can’t listen for four-year-old ears anymore, but content-wise, Baby Loves Hip-Hop: Dino 5 is cute and pretty innocuous. It preaches the basic lessons that parents want to teach four or five-year-olds: 1) don’t judge a book by its cover, 2) it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game, 3) wash your hands after using the bathroom. “That’s Funny” is a questionable inclusion, a pre-school ode to snapping; I’m not sure you want to teach a child that insulting people is a great source of humor. That comes along in the third grade or so. Regardless, with this Baby Loves Hip-Hop album, Hurwitz and Prince Paul have created a perfectly entertaining album that introduces hip-hop to children. If, God forbid, I ever sire any offspring, I’d play them this album.

The Grouch: a Simple Man speaks

2008-04-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

For those who don’t know, I try to work and hustle as a freelance writer. Here’s a little story of mine that was published in SF Weekly about a week ago; it’s an artist profile/record review on The Grouch, a Bay Area-born, Cali-based MC/producer. Grouch and I have known each for a while now, as I’d least heard about him through friends when I was in high school. We met and chopped it up quite a few times while he was working his way through the Bay Area underground, and are on pretty friendly terms. He’s a real cool dude who gives a real interview. Best of luck to him with his new album, Show You the World.

Here’s the link to the version published in SF Weekly:
http://music.sfweekly.com/2008-04-02/music/the-grouch-personifies-the-hip-hop-hustle/

And here’s my “extended” version, which has a little extra info that didn’t make the cut due to space constraints:

There are no free rides for hip-hop heroes who achieve worldwide acclaim. The Grouch, founding member of the internationally-known Living Legends crew, can attest that even when you sell records, pack your shows, and maintain control of your music, the headaches remain.

“I know my records aren’t in enough stores,” Grouch says. “You gotta play a bunch of games, and a lot of times I wonder if it’s all worth it. I used to put my CDs only in mom and pop stores. Now, I’m in chain-stores, and I sell more copies, but it doesn’t seem like I make any more money.”

Grouch, along with the Living Legends, built a fanbase and rep on the DIY hip-hop ethic of the mid-1990s, back when selling tapes in front of local record stores was a novel idea. Through a decade of recording and touring, Grouch has built a respectable career and carved out a comfortable existence. The Oakland native owns of home in the San Fernando Valley, where lives with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. He’s released six solo albums, two with Living Legends partner Eligh (as part of G&E), three with Living Legends, and one with Bay Area compatriot Zion I. On April 8, he’ll drop his seventh solo album, Show You the World, through the Legendary Music imprint, which he helps operate.
On Show You the World, Grouch continues his meat & potatoes approach to music. For the first time in his solo career, he hands the production reigns over to others, with Grouch behind the board on just six of the album’s 15 tracks. However, the Show You the World still maintains a cohesive feel. Some highlights include “Bay to L.A.” Grouch and Legends-homie MURS celebrate the similarities between both regions and “Pop and Mom Killer” where he laments the increasing homogenization of consumer culture. Another high-point is “Artsy,” where, over a soul flute sample and banging drums, Grouch playfully skewers people who “shop at Whole Foods in open-toed shoes” to be cool or avant-garde. “I know people are saying, ‘You’re dissing your whole fanbase with that song,’ but it’s all in good fun,” he jokes.

Hustling for his music is still an everyday part of Grouch’s existence, though. Gone are the days where all eight members of the Legends crew had to pony up $25 to rent a tour van; they’ve now set up a bank account for such expenses. But Grouch still deals with many of the indie record stores personally, while also wrangling with Best Buy to get Show You the World in their stores. He’s well aware that being unsigned and independent doesn’t carry the same currency that it used to. Being visible and readily available online is important as anything these days. “There’s so many people doing the independent thing now,” Grouch adds. “When [Living Legends] were at SXSW, there’s like 800 acts vying for people’s attention… It’s easier to get stuff on iTunes and MySpace, but it’s much harder to get noticed.”

To help promote his album, Grouch is also relying on his and every other indie artist’s bread and butter: the tour. He’s in the process of booking 10 to 15 spot dates along the West Coast during mid to late April. He’s taken steps to alleviate some of the grind that comes with touring. During the last two Living Legends mini-tours, he’s driven behind the group’s bus in his own vegetable oil-fueled truck with his wife and daughter. The second tour he brought along his wife’s cousin, who would watch their daughter sometimes to give them some time to hang out together. He said he likes the idea of taking his daughter around the country, and spend his down-time visiting a national park.

“It’s better than just sitting in the hotel room, which I’ve done many times,” Grouch says. “[Traveling with family] can make things harder, and I don’t plan on doing it every time I go on tour. But it’s good for shorter tour. I couldn’t do it on a 50 city tour.”

Grouch says he’d eventually like to spend more time as a producer; he envisions working as a production team with Eligh, selling beats to other artists outside of the immediate camp. However, he’s resigned to putting those plans on hold.

“If I’m going to focus on being a producer, I’m going to have to slow down in other areas of my life,” Grouch says. “And I feel like I should work on others things first right now.”

As Grouch knows, if you’re going to stay in control of your music and career, there’s never a shortage of work.

Keep the Candian?

2008-03-31T14:40:00.001-07:00

So, today is the Opening Day for most of the league. And since the A’s took their silly little jaunt over to Japan last week, they have the day off for an extra rest of something, even though they’ve already played three exhibition games since returning.

You may have heard that on this silly little jaunt to Japan, the A’s actually performed like a competent baseball team, take away one boneheaded HR given-up by Huston Street and one really stupid base-running error by Emil Brown, I would have been really, really happy, though it likely wouldn’t have lasted. If you flip back through previous posts in this blog, you’ll see that I wrote a fairly lengthy preview of how I believe the team would do this season. I was probably a lil’ hard on them, but I’ll stick with my assertion that the Oakland A’s should be happy if they end up with only 90 losses.

I also speculated that if key players on the team performed with any sort of respectability, they would likely be traded. Which brings me to the point of this post: should the A’s trade Rich Harden or keep him? Dude was an absolute monster in his Japan: six innings, 9 strikeouts, and one run. And if he doesn’t hang that one pitch to Manny, there’d have been no runs. Maybe Japan is like the Bizarro Canada for Harden; Rich can’t buy an out each time he pitches in his native country. As it begins every year, when the guy is healthy, he’s got Top 3 stuff in the entire majors. Of course, “stay healthy” is the key here, as in it never frickin’ happens.

Rich Harden is clearly the player on the A’s roster with the most upside; no player is as potentially good at what he does as Harden. Guys with his time of stuff only come around once every 10 or 15 years, and there’s nobody with his potential in the A’s newly-stocked farm system. All that upside is awfully tempting to teams that will likely be good this year. Sports writers and columnists have been writing since last year that the A’s should bite the bullet and trade him while they still can, before he ends like Kerry Wood (a very injury-prone closer) or Mark Prior (an injury-prone starter on another team).

It’s not like there isn’t precedent for the A’s trading or shedding pitchers with tons of upside and having it work out. Back before the 2005 season, the A’s traded Mark Mulder to the Cardinals for Dan Haren, Kiko Calero, and Daric Barton. Haren was every bit as good as Mulder during 2005 and MUCH better in 2006 & 2007 (not hard to do, because Mulder spent those seasons injured), Calero’s been a solid set-up man/middle reliever, and Barton looks like he’ll be pretty good now that he’s finally in the majors. They also let Cy Young-winning Barry Zito walk to the Giants before the start of the 2007 season, and he proceeded to start the following year, and as I type this, is in the process of being slapped around by the Dodgers (four runs in three innings thus far). In general, besides Johan Santana, pitchers with tons of upside end up breaking your heart.

And in spite of all of this, I still think the A’s should keep Harden. For one, if you try to trade him to someone like Yanks or Red Sox, you want be getting back nearly enough of value in return. Their minor leagues systems are decimated because they keep on trading all their prospects to make their July-pushes, trading to lousy teams who don’t have a plan of fielding a competitive team anytime soon. And as I said earlier, a pitcher like Harden simply won’t be coming around our way any time soon, so the team should try hold onto him if they really want to try to make this team competitive after this season. As much as I like Blanton, workhorse inning-eaters like him come around far more often. They’ve probably got a few of them in the pipeline right now. They got anyone else with a 98 mph fastball and all sorts of other nasty stuff at his disposal as well? Nope. Billy Beane needs to resist the temptation and hold onto him in hopes of him finding a way to stay healthy.

Mighty Underdog's EP review

2008-03-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

The Mighty Underdogs
The Prelude EP
Grade: B+/B

This is a fun little EP. The Mighty Underdogs are one of those reconfigurations of members the Quannum crew, with a lil’ something extra. In this case, Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious) and Lateef the Truth Speaker (of Latryx) team up with Headnotic, the producer and bassist of Bay Area stalwart’s Crown City Rockers. The title of the EP, The Prelude is pretty self-explanatory, introducing this crew to the world, before a full-length album to drop at some later date. The resulting music takes the most entertaining elements of both crews, and demonstrates that all three of them have a definite chemistry.

I’m a sucker for tracks like “U.F.C. (United Flow Champions)”: it’s an up-tempo head-nodder while Lateef and Gab spitting battling battle-oriented rhymes, and DJ Shadow providing a flurry of scratches on the chorus. “Gunfight” continues the battle-oriented, throwback vibe, with the trio doing an lyrical and musical ode to the Old West, complete with plenty of bucking down sucker MCs at High Noon. Gift of Gab hams it up on his verse, rapping in a voice that sounds like a combination of Walter Brennan and Johnny Cash. MF DOOM, a personal favorite of mine, has a guest verse, which he must have recorded over a year ago, as he’s been MIA for quite a while. Headnotic’s guitar-oriented beat, complete with sinister rolls and high-pitch squeals, adds to the track’s feel. I almost want to say it sounds like a hip-hop version of “Wanted Dead or Alive,” but sounds really corny.

Tracks like “Love Life” and “Bring Me Back” both bring an infectious party groove to the EP. “Love Life” is a mid-tempo club-oriented jam, the type of thing you could expect to hear thrown on during a “Throwback Friday” at a decent-sized Oakland club. While Lateef and Gab do some comical crooning (not sure whether it’s intentional comedy or not), Ladybug Mecca does her thing during a pair of guest verses. It’s good to see that her post-Digable Planets comeback has continues to be going strong; both of her verses are some of her best since she returned to the mic. “Bring Me Back” is another early-’90s-esque house-rocker: Gab, Lateef, and Raashan Ahmad of Crown City Rockers all flex over a keyboard sample from Central Line’s “Walking Into Sunshine” (best known from LL Cool’s “Jingling Baby remix) and scratches by DJ Platurn. I can do without the fairly cheesy singing on the chorus, but it doesn’t take that much away from the song.

I have no idea when the Mighty Underdogs will release their full-length album, allegedly titled “Dropping Science Fiction.” According to their good ol’ MySpace page, this EP should have dropped last October, setting the stage for an early 2008 for the LP. Considering the five-month delay, I don’t expect the whole album until summer at the earliest; late fall is a better bet. I certainly hope they can get it out soon. This EP does a good job at showing what the group has to offer, which is what any EP should do. The Prelude has successfully intrigued me, and I really would like to see more of the Mighty Underdogs in the future.

The Wire, Season 5, Episode 10: -30-

2008-03-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

Grade: B+

And so it ends.

The best TV drama to ever exist is over, and all I’ve got to look forward to is more David Milch dramas. Bah.

I’ll save much of waxing poetic about The Wire to others who have done it better, and earlier, than myself. I won’t whine to say it should have gotten more episodes this season (it should) or should have had more seasons (debatable). David Simon has covered a lot of this ground in a few of the interviews he’s done as of yet (particularly this really good one by TV critic extraordinaire/my former college newspaper editor Alan Sepinwall - http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2008/03/wire-david-simon-q.html). Suffice to say that the show is gone and it sucks that it’s over. MAJOR SPOILERS follow.

As for the last episode, it was very solid, but not extraordinary. In the past, the show has always hit its dramatic peak in the pen0ultimate episode, and the season finale is about the clean-up. The first four seasons have done the mop-up exceedingly well (particularly Season #3). This one seemed a bit forced and overlong, but still contained some great moments.

I was pleasantly surprised that the series finale wasn’t nearly as grim as I had thought it would be. Not everyone ended well, but I had a smile on my face for much of the final half-hour “wrap it up” portion of the show. Many of the characters get the endings the “deserve,” and sometimes it was quite moving, e.g. Bubbles finally deciding that he’s okay with being a good person and going upstairs. Not everyone gets exactly what they want, but most of the time, they’re okay with that. Of course, incompetence is rewarded, but that’s been a constant thread of the show. The fate of Duquan was heart-breaking, but it was balanced by some rotten jerks getting exactly what they deserved. I wanted to stand up and cheer when Slim Charles capped Cheese in the head. Seeing Marlo alone on a dark street corner, desperate to save his own name, unable to enjoy his ill-gotten freedom, haunted by ghosts of Omar, had a poetic ring to it as well.

The complaint that they spent too much screen-time on show how nothing ever really changes is valid. I’m not sure I needed what amounted to a half an hour of “Dukie is the new Bubbles” and “Michael is the new Omar,” etc. Anyway, I’m not sure I buy Detective Sydnor is the new McNulty. Regardless, everything just feels right.

Even though this was the worst season of the show, it was still better than any other single season of most shows that have graced TV, even the really good ones. If you had to press me, I’d say that Season 3 was the best, followed by 4, 1, 2, and 5. It really does suck that I can’t really think of a single show that I’m looking forward to in the future. Well, the only ones have Simon and Burn’s names attached to them.

Ah well, there’s always The Wire DVD sets.

Official A's Season Preview

2008-03-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

Bear witness the power of Jack Cust

In a bit of cross-blog promotion, here is the season preview for the A's that I wrote for the "Me and Pedro Down By Ballpark" blog (meandpedro.blogspot.com). My buddy Ben hit me up a few weeks back to cobble together a two to three paragraph preview of what folks can expect from the upcoming A's season. So naturally a wrote a 700 word screed. Thanks for the opportunity and patience, Ben.

If you get a chance, check out their blog. It's funny and clever, and they know their baseball.

Here's the link to the blog on their page:
http://meandpedro.blogspot.com/2008/03/know-thy-enemy-oakland-athletics.html

And here is a slightly updated version of the blog, for this site. Enjoy:

Yeah, this is a last place team.

Oakland Athletics' GM Billy Beane is world renowned for being the smartest GM in baseball. Back when Theo Epstein was parking Kevin Towers' car in San Diego, Beane was putting together a strategy for putting together winning teams on the cheap. You might have read a book about it. First, draft players out of college (not high school) that most scouts haven't heard of, and that do things like walk a lot or not throw a fastball very fast. Second, stock your roster with cast-offs from other teams that fill essential "roles." You get one or two good years out of the cast-offs and eventually replace them with your homegrown talent. And suddenly, a few years removed from looking absolutely pathetic, you're back in the playoffs. Well, generally the first round of the playoffs, but you get the point.

So this worked out pretty well for the A's between 1999 and 2006, but Beane again has gotten antsy. After merely toying with the idea of dealing from the bottom over the last few seasons, Beane decided to embrace it whole-heartedly this off-season, and commenced with the scorching of the Earth.

Beane took a wrecking ball to the roster under the guise of "going young," standard code for any GM who wants to say, "We weren't going to make the playoffs this year anyway." I mean, it's not like he could say, "We're shedding salary," because none of these guys get paid much anyway. All of this fine and dandy, except that Dan Haren and Nick Swisher, the best pitcher and hitter on the team, were already young. Mark Kotsay was the only player over 30 that the A's shipped out. Haren, Swisher, and Kotsay were traded for players who probably won't be ready until 2009 or 2010. So, for the 2008 season, the A's will be looking up at the Texas Rangers in the standings. The humanity.

The A's roster is a scary and disturbing place. The pitching rotation, under the absolute best circumstances, consists of Joe Blanton, Rich Harden (still injured), Chad Gaudin (also injured), Justin Duchscherer, and either Lenny DiNardo or Dallas Braden. Doesn't really hearken back to the 2001 or 2002 season rotations, does it? Also, if Blanton and Harden pitch with any sort of competence (and the latter stays healthy), they'll be gone by July.

The top off-season acquisitions were Mike Sweeney, Keith Foulke, and Emil Brown, all of who are decidedly not young. Sweeney hasn't played more than 125 games since 2002, but was really ahead of the Rockies' curve when it comes to loving Jesus. So he's got that going for him. He'll be better than John Jaha in 2000, but not as good Mike Piazza last year. If it wasn't for that minor thing of being part of a World Championship team, Foulke probably wishes he never left Oakland in the first place. He'll be sharing time as the set-up man with Alan Embree, who's also old and slightly useless. Brown has never hit more than 20 HRs or had more than 90 RBIs in a season, yet he'll be the starting center fielder.

As for players actually on the roster last year, Bobby Crosby is already hurt, so there will be lots of Donnie Murphy. Jersey kid Jack Cust will be spending a full year at DH, and probably be less than impressive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he hit 26 HRs last year in only 124 games. He also managed to strike out 164 times in only 124 games. Oh, and he can't field and is in all likelihood mildly retarded. Eric Chavez is still around, but still hurt, and still basically a $10 million a year glove, which he's been ever since Miguel Tejada left town. And to put a big red cherry on top, the Moneyball poster-child, Jeremy Brown (no relation to Emil), decided to retire after only racking up five games in his major league career; the A's replaced him with Matt LeCroy. Yerp.

There are a few bright spots on the roster. Left-fielder Travis Buck looks legit. He only played half a season due to injuries, but the second-year player put up respectable numbers and is good with the glove. Carlos Gonzalez, the likely starting right-fielder, has been hitting well in Spring Training so far, allbeit against guys who'll be bagging groceries in a few months. There's a chance catcher Kurt Suzuki might turn into a respectable player. Mark Ellis is still the best fielding second basemen that gets absolutely zero respect. Huston Street, if he can remain healthy, has as good stuff as most of the closers in the league. And we have finally arrived at the point where Daric Barton gets to show if he's any good. The A's got the highly touted prospect back in 2006 in a trade that brought them Milton Bradley. They've been bringing him up slowly in the minors since. The question is whether he's a 25 to 30 HR kind of guy, or a 15 to 20.

I guess we A's fans should feel somewhat lucky, as this is the first time in about a decade that you can't feel any optimism about their chances. Some teams have scrapped and rebuilt their rosters two or three times in that timespan. But unless you're a diehard fan of the Oakland Athletics, or you really want to see what Ground Zero looks like for Beane, there's nothing to see here. In 2008, the A's win 72 games and like it.

The Wire, Season Five, Episode 9 – Late Edition

2008-02-28T17:02:00.000-08:00

Grade: A

Sometimes, it’s truly beautiful to watch a plan come together. To watch great writers construct great storylines over three seasons and then bring it all together, executed with pitch-perfect performances, and have it come off perfectly is a stunning achievement. With the ninth episode of the fifth season of The Wire, every note hit perfectly. It’s the best episode of the season. Shoot, it might well be the best episode of the past two seasons.

Oh yeah, SPOILERS follow. It was a royal pain in the ass to write around the spoilers last week, so I’m not even going to attempt it this week.

This show is divided into too halves: one where everything goes right for the “good guys” and one where things finally fly off the rails. The first half deals with the fall of Marlo Stansfield. A season of maneuvering and conniving by McNulty and Lester finally pays off as the Baltimore PD finally makes it’s big bust, taking down damn near all of Stansfield’s entire crew, as well as the Greeks’ entire heroin shipment. There are bad guys in bracelets. There’s even a press conference held by the Mayor was lots of dope on the damn table (Reporter William Zorzi’s running commentary during said press conference damn near steals the show). It’s a good day for the good guys. So why does McNulty still feel miserable?

And then everything falls apart in the second half. It was obvious that the bottom would eventually fall out of McNulty’s scheme; I’ve been waiting the proverbial other shoe to drop since the end of Episode 2. But watching it unfold still had striking dramatic power, as Kima decides to spill the beans to Daniels. This not only imperils McNulty, but also the Stansfield case, as if it comes out that Lester Freamon is lying about the source of the information on Marlo, everything they’ve gathered is inadmissible. Despite the fact that it was clear that McNulty and Lester were totally out of control as the season wore on, I’m still not sure I agree with Kima’s decision to turn McNulty in. I’m not saying she did the wrong thing, but I’m really not sure it was the right thing to do either.

Things look increasingly grim for Scott as well, as Gus continues running a full court press to check if he’s been piping stories. It’s sort of interesting the Scott comes off completely unsympathetic, whereas McNulty doesn’t seem nearly as bad. I guess it’s the motives that make Scott so despicable: he’s piping stories out of ambition to improve his own career. And while stroking his own ego is a component of why McNulty started this whole mess (He doesn’t want to let Marlo win and wants to prove yet again he’s the smartest guy on the block), he’s well beyond trying to improve his standing in the police force. He has a legit desire to help cops get their jobs done.

The last 15 minutes of the episode made me want to cry both tears of joy and sorrow. Bubbles achieve gets a long-deserved measure of measure of redemption. His speech is one of the most uplifting scenes of the season. It’s good to see that he might be one of the few characters that get a happy ending. Meanwhile, things take a perilous and tragic turn for Michael and Duqan. It’s clear that Michael, despite seeming like such a natural at living the street life, really isn’t cut out for life as a gangster. Alas, he learns this too late, and there’s nowhere else for him to go. And Duquan again gets the short end of the stick. The episode’s final moments are absolutely heartbreaking.

Last week I foolishly worried that they were going to blow their dramatic wad on this episode and there would be nothing left for the series finale. Jeez, I’m a schmuck. This episode indeed raised the stakes, but left more than enough room to raise them even further. If there’s any justice, HBO has given Simon and company tow hours to wrap this up.

Akrobatik – Absolute Value

2008-02-21T00:07:00.000-08:00

Grade: B+/A-

There aren’t many MCs like Akrobatik out there these days. Most rappers decide they want to just rap about one thing. They either talk about just selling coke, or just crushing a wack MC, or just saving the world, or just ejaculating on a woman’s back and covering her with a sheet. However, Akrobatik is one of those rare genuine lyrical throwbacks to the late ’80s and early ‘90s: a balanced MC. The Boston native is just as comfortable tearing an MC’s head off as he is dealing with complex social commentary as he is talking about how much he misses his girlfriend. With Absolute Value, Akrobatik releases his second full-length album, and his first solo release in close to five years. It’s the first bonafide good album of 2008.

You can hear a passion and earnestness in Ak’s lyrics that is lacking in other mic controllers. It comes across on tracks like “Step it Up,” where he spits grade-A braggadocio over a beat inspired by “Phantom of the Opera.” Yes, “Phantom of the Opera.” He again demonstrates his passion “Front Steps Pt. 2 (Tough Love).” Whereas as part 1, featured on his last solo album, Balance, was an ode to the joys of hanging on the block, Ak flips it on the sequel, using the song to admonish those who sit around, doing nothing with their lives.

Some of the albums brightest moments come when Akrobatik keeps it short and sweet, on songs that clock in at less than three minutes in length. “Soul Glo” has a bouncy exuberance, with its elastic drums, horn and keyboard stabs, and vocal stabs popping in and out throughout the track. It’s a decidedly different feel for the Beatminerz crew, who produced the track. The J-Zone produced title track features Ak throwing more lyrical jabs and uppercuts over Zone’s trademark off-kilter keyboards. “Ak B. Nimble” is a super-hyped uptempo track produced by Baby Israel, with Ak flexing his lyrical muscles over what sounds like a 110 BPM beat box. The album ends with “Back Home to You,” a brief but touching dedication to the loved ones he leaves behind when he tours the world.

Ak also shines when he teams up with a myriad of guests. He teams with Little Brother on “Be Prepared,” where they drop a little knowledge on the lackluster state of hip-hop and the world in general. “Beast Mode” teams Ak with his Perceptionists partners, as him and Mr. Lif trade arsenic-laced verses over a Fakts One beat. “Black Hell Breaks Loose” is the album’s high-water mark. Rapping over a nasty loop that seems inspired from a gritty Blaxploitation kung-fu flick, Ak shares the spotlight with Willie Evans Jr. and Therapy of Florida’s Alias Brothers (formerly Asamov). All show and prove with a ton of panache

While Ak’s collaborations with his contemporaries are clear winners, it odd that his tracks with hip-hop legends aren’t as strong. None are wack, but few really stand out on an album dripping with quality. Album-opener “A to the K,” featuring Cypress Hill’s B-Real on the chorus, lacks the energy of the albums other battle-oriented tracks. The legendary hip-hop badass Freddie Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles sounds subdued on “If We Can’t Build.” The song isn’t bad, but it sounds like low-rent version of a late ’90s KRS-One track. “Kindred,” featuring Chuck D, is actually a strong effort, but for reasons nothing to do with the Rhyme Animal. The ode to how times haven’t changed, juxtaposing the days of slavery to post-Hurricane Katrina insanity, is both sad and beautiful. However, Chuck D’s rhetoric on the chorus doesn’t add anything to the song.

It’s good to see that Akrobatik hasn’t missed a step since his last release. It’s difficult to put together a cohesive solo album when you share mic time with some many MCs and use so many different producers. However, it all holds together, and Absolute Value pretty much bangs from beginning to end.

The Wire: Season 5, Episode 8 – Clarifications

2008-02-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

I understand that time is running out

Grade: A-

Again, I’ve been slacking on this; many apologies. But for the home stretch of the final three episodes, I’m going to be on top of things.

Things look alternately grim and hopeful, in a perverse way, in Baltimore. A major turning point for the entire series occurs in this episode. Although I’m not going to spoil it, (even though it happens a scant 20 minutes into the episode) I will say it’s executed about as well as you could expect it to be, and it demonstrates we quick things can change in the streets.

McNulty’s crackpot scheme is actually bearing fruit. He continues to successfully smokescreen the police brass and the Mayor of Baltimore with his non-existent serial kille,r while securing the funding to keep the police doing actual police work. Thanks to his scam, the Baltimore PD is back to the funding level that they were at before the massive cuts. They’re finally able to put surveillance on an increasingly sloppy Marlo, still convinced that no one is watching him. Much like Colvin in Season 3, by breaking the law, McNulty has managed to help people. Of course, it cuts both ways.. His efforts of sharing the wealth that his make-believe serial killer are undermined by the fact that a few too amny people know what’s going on, to one extent or another. Furthermore, his family life continues to deteriorate, and his conversation with Beadie towards the episode cuts to the core of his character.

Meanwhile, Omar continues to carry out his vendetta against Marlo, taking out corners and trashing Marlo’s stash and good name. Things progress on this end about the way that they have to.

There are lots of other good moments throughout the episode. The reappearance of Poot was sort of heart-warming, and shows that not all of the characters non-essential to this season have met tragic ends (e.g. Savino, dead in an alley, or Randy, a sweet kid turned hard-ass trapped in a group home). Dukie continues his efforts to extract himself from the dope game. The quick resurrection of Clay Davis is a sight to behold. Even though it’s clear that Lester isn’t about to let him off the hook. The episode also shows the further moral slippages of Mayor Carcetti, who becomes increasingly willing to compromise his principles in pursuit of a seat in the statehouse. And the McNulty and Kima’s visit to FBI headquarters is about as funny as anything on the show this season.

The only drawback I can think of that after months of me complaining that they weren’t being given enough time, it looks like their wrapping things up too early. From the looks of things, a lot of the show’s plot-threads could be tied up by the next episode. And clean-up episode for the show’s finale doesn’t sound that interesting. But that’s more perception on my part, rather than what will undoubtedly be the reality.

More Primary Silliness

2008-02-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

I just want to remind everyone how incredibly stupid and protracted the primary process has become in this country.

On this February morning, nine months before the actual general election, voters in 24 states are heading to polls. For the Democrats it’s a two-person race; for the Republicans, there’s probably three people legitimately hanging around. Just a month ago, the fields for both parties were considerably more crowded. But today a little under half the states in the nation are choosing between two or three candidates, largely because of how four to seven states voted, depending on your party.

Think about it: because of how people voted in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina voted, registered Democrats in these states essentially can either vote for Clinton or Obama. It’s slightly better for Republicans, because they’ve got Michigan, Wyoming, and Florida in the mix. But I’m uncomfortable with states like f%^&ing Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada being so instrumental in thinning the herd. Just because a candidate can’t get votes in Wyoming, Michigan, and New Hampshire doesn’t mean he or she shouldn’t get a chance to campaign in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and yes California. And it’s not fair that both races could essentially be over after today, a full month before voters in Texas and Ohio get their say.

And let me reiterate that because every state in the nation moved up their primaries so that they could “matter,” both nominations could be decided nine months before the general election. That means a woman could get knocked up tonight, carry the pregnancy to full term, and conceivably have a bouncing baby boy or girl on the morning of Election Day. That is a long f@#$ing time that this nation is going to have to deal with General Election rhetoric. And general-election rhetoric is one of the true banes of my existence. Please, someone stop the madness.

So what else could I write about?

2008-02-04T17:43:00.001-08:00

...I mean, besides the follow-up to that the Rawkus story I started a little while ago, but I’ll get to that later this week. Promise.

All of life was centered around the Superbowl yesterday, so I might as well right about that, as “late” as I may be. Even as I type this, “THE” sports story has become Bobby Knight’s resignation.

So, you may have heard the Giants won and that it was a big deal. I personally didn’t have strong feelings either way. I guess when it came down to it, I was kind of rooting for the Pats, because while I don’t like them, I dislike the Giants even more. Plus, it was the best chance I’d ever have to see an undefeated NFL season during my life, so I kind of wanted to see it happen.

But that’s all over and done with, and a we now live in a world where Eli Manning is Superbowl MVP, Tom Coughlin looks like a super-genius, and the Pats finish the season with as many wins than any other NFL has ever recorded, but are still disappointed. So, here’s a list of the good and bad things, from my perspective, that come out of the Giants win/Pats loss:

The Good:

1. I never have to have it shoved down my throat that the 2007 Pats are the greatest team ever. Losing kills the luster.

2. The “Brady is as good as Montana” statements can cease and seckle for a little while now. It wasn’t really Brady’s fault the Pat’s lost, but the fact remains that Montana never lost a Superbowl or spent as much time on his back during key drives as Brady did. Big Joe Cool remains the Gold Standard for play-off and Superbowl QBs.

3. Strahan’s kind of a goof, but I can support him having a ring, because he’s great and what he does and almost anyone who hangs around the league long enough becomes respectable. I also like Amani Toomer, and he gets his deserved ring.

4. There’s some karmic retribution for Belichick running up the score on teams for two-thirds of the season. Always thought it was a classless move on his part, more so than the allegations of cheating. Well, now his team got held to its fewest point total all season; all is right in the world.

5. Tiki Barber looks like a moron. Dude is whining doofus and always was a whining doofus. And he looks really stupid right now. I approve.

The Bad:

1. I must deal with more Mercury Morris and the rest of the 1972 Dolphins on TV. I find the whole lot of them insufferable, Morris more than the others. Probably the biggest reason why I wanted the Pats to win was to shut them up. Now I get to watch Morris act like a bigger jackass than usual. But in all fairness, he would have remained an insufferable jackass even if the Pars won.

2. I gotta listen to people comparing Eli’s drive to Joe Montana’s drive in Superbowl 23. Um, no. Sorry. Wrong answer. Montana’s 92-yard, 11-play drive epitomized absolute flawless execution when his team needed to make its way down the field to win. Eli’s drive wasn’t NEARLY as flawless, and well, cool. Eli needed a little a scrambled and a circus catch to win. Not even close.

3. The rehabilitation of Tom Coughlin. Coughlin has always been insufferable as a coach. More than Belichick even. Dude is a consummate sour ass and excruciating to play for. He’s been a jerk and treating his players like shit at every stop he’s made. His behavior damn near got him fired for close to three straight seasons, including this one. Now, he’s a genius for out-coaching the coach who out-coaches everyone, and this win guaranteed the he’ll stick around for at least two more years. Oh goody.

4. More talk of how the Pats we’ll be back next year. They’ve got the Niners first round draft pick, and will probably be christened the odds-on favorites to win it all next year as well. And there’ll be a whole load of talk about them wanting to redeem themselves. So I’ll never be able to escape this season that wasn’t. I can find it my heart to root for the post-2002 Pats once. But twice? I don’t think so.

The Wire, Season 5, Epsiode #5, “Reaction Quotes”

2008-01-30T14:32:00.000-08:00

Grade B+/A-

Thousand pardons for skipping the episode four recap, but the weight of Prop Joe’s death weighed heavy on my soul. Or I was just pretty busy. Whichever you choose to believe. So now the season is halfway over, and they’ve safely moved past set-up made to get into the meat of the plot.

The cuts of the metaphorical prime rib, just to extend this silly metaphor, continue to be McNulty’s fictitious serial killer and Marlo’s impending war with Omar. The focus for most of the episode is on McNulty’s scheme and how it intertwines with getting more resources for the cops to go after Marlo. McNult manipulates everyone who surrounds him while they try to play their own games. Watching McNulty and lowlife reporter Scott trying to out-weasel each other was priceless, especially when it’s clear McNulty has the upper-hand as always.

As an unexpected side effect of McNulty's maneuvering (at least for me) is the reintroduction of “the Wire,” as all of the grand-standing leads to the tapping of two phones: one completely useless and the other legit. With all the “big” issues that this series covers (schools, the media, the decaying city) it’s easy to forget that the wire itself is the common thread throughout all five seasons. It shouldn't be so easy to forget, 'cause it's the name of the show, but still. Other good little bonuses are the further inclusion of Carver and Herc, as the former coninutes to be good police and the latter does something right only after getting booted from the force.

When the story turns to the impending Omar/Marlo battle royale, most of the episode centers around the waiting game. Omar and his new partner Donnie sit in a car listening to Oldies while staking out the home of Monk, one of Marlo’s lieutenants. Omar knows it’s likely a trap, but he’s a patient man. As always Michael K. Williams does an excellent job of portraying a man of singular focus, even if he spends most of his screen-time smoking Newports in a hooptie.

One area where the episode lacked was in the lack of reaction to the death of Prop Joe. I mean the man was the Kingpin of East Baltimore and probably the most powerful drug dealer in the city (in terms of influence that went beyond Marlo’s muscle). I know the Co-Op doesn’t that meet daily or anything, but you’d think they’d have some sort of reaction. Especially Slim Charles, who must thinking things look a little fishy. I know there’s time and likely budget descriptions, but this reinforces why they need 12 or 13 episodes this season. There’s so much plot, that characters like Herc, Carver, and Beatie have to wait two episodes between appearances.

Speaking of two-episode hiatuses, Bubbles is back from his, apparently spending his time off-screen scrubbing pots at the soup kitchen. This time, his story is considerably more interesting, as he’s still gripped by grief and guilt, this time convinced that he’s contracted HIV, and gets his sponsor Waylon to take him to a free clinic. The interplay between Waylon and Bubbles this time is extremely compelling, suggesting that maybe Steve Earle had a bad day on the set the last time around.

Here’s hoping next week the plot continues to thicken. And maybe Omar can spend a little less time sitting in car.

A Razor-Edge Resurrection? Pt 1: The Preface.

2008-01-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

I’ve never believed that hip-hop is dead, but I will concede that it’s kind of dull. The music has become so thoroughly in the mainstream that no one really tries anything new. You pretty know much know what you’re going to get in terms of sound and quality just by looking at the back of the CD and the production credits. During any given year, I can pretty much tell which albums I’m going to like and which ones I’m not even before they’re released. Rarely does anything come along that legitimately intrigues me, muh less excites me in any way shape or form. It didn’t used to be that way, and it might that level of interest may indeed return.

First, a little history: Back around 1996 or 1997, underground hip-hop got REALLY interesting. As the music was starting to get mainstream radio/video love as being a commercially viable, a separate counter-movement was afoot. “Unsigned” and “independent” artists rallied around the idea of making music that openly revolted against the decadent values of mainstream hip-hop. An era marked by fish-eye lensed videos and shiny suits spawned a nationwide musical resistance movement who railed against R&B singers on the choruses of the song and sampling pop-hits from the Eighties. It sounded closer to the hip-hop that I grew up listening to and loving; it sounded like how hip-hop was “supposed” to sound.

If there was any label that represented the rebellion against hip-hop’s status quo, it was Rawkus Records. After spending it’s early years specializing in drum-n-bass and house music, during the mid to late 1990s the New York-based label start dropping a slough of 12” singles by mostly New York-based artists who’d been grinding in the city’s underground making decidedly left of center music. There were other labels putting in work and releasing quality music, like Fondle ’Em, Makin Records, Guesswhile, and Raw Shack, but Rawkus was leading the charge. Rawkus’ most notable full-length releases during these salad days were by Company Flow and Black Star (the duo of Mos Def and Talib Kweli), who were the poster-children of this “Independent and Loving It” era. Other artists that dropped 12”s on Rawkus included guess like Sir Menelik, Shabaam Sahdeeq, L-Fudge, Black Attach, the Artifacts (under the name of the Brick City Kids), RA the Rugged Man, B-1, etc.

Not to sound too corny, but it was a fairly inspirational time to love independent hip-hop, and I personally swore by everything the label put out. I remember visiting the label headquarters back in 1998, as I was visiting some journalism schools, to meet some of the guys I’d been gabbing with over the phone as a writer for the now-defunct 4080 magazine. It was the first time I’d been in a record label of any sort, and, still being young and reasonably naive, I believed I was stepping into some sort of hallowed ground of independent hip-hop, along the lines of Living Legends’ “Outhouse” loft in East Oakland or Los Angeles’ Good Life Café. I remember being ecstatic that I left scoring a copy of the yet to released Lyricist Lounge compilation double CD and a cassette of what was to be Company Flow’s follow-up EP.

Sadly, Rawkus’ salad days were short-lived. Their fall has been detailed extensively by a few writers and artists, including a great piece published by XXL a few years ago (written by a friend/fellow Medill School of Journalism alumnus Adam Matthews). What appears to have killed Rawkus was after getting a taste of money, they decided to start behaving like any other label. Rather than catering to their strengths, creating left-of-center independent hip-hop, they started chasing big names and major media exposure. They stepped on a lot of toes in the process and lost the support of a lot of the artists’ that helped them build their name. After a series of buy-outs and mergers (by the likes of MCA, Geffen, and Interscope), the label folded in late 2003/early 2004.

So, fast-forward to mid-2006, and the Rawkus Records re-launches, with brand new distribution and much more low-key M.O. The label’s first slate of releases eschewed their previous NY hip-hop focus, as their roster sported artists like Kidz in the Hall (out of Chicago), Panacea (from Washington D.C.) Hezekiah (Delaware/Philadelphia), and the Procussions (Seattle). As 2007 rolled around, they added releases by artists like Blue Scholars (Seattle) and producer Marco Polo (Toronto). While these releases didn’t exactly spark the imagination like their late 1990s stuff, most if not of all these albums were interesting. Kidz N Hall’s “School is My Hustle” was among the 20 or 30 best hip-hop albums of 2006, and Marco Polo “Nostalgia,” featuring Masta Ace, is considered the best hip-hop song of 2007 by legions of bloggers and backpackers, present company included (Well, somewhere in the Top 5 for me).

But by far their most “interesting” move was the launch and execution of the “Rawkus 50” campaign by the end of 2007. Which I’ll get into the next installment.

The Wire Season 5, Episode #3

2008-01-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

Grade: A-

After an ever so slight speed-bump, The Wire is as strong as ever this week. McNulty continues his headfirst descent into oblivion. Still obsessed with forcing the department’s, city’s, and state’s hands into, you know, fighting crime, he continues to fabricate a serial killer that preys on the homeless. But it proves difficult to get the department and anyone in general to give a damn. His mission is like an alcohol-fueled version of what Colvin tried to pull off during the third season; he’s got the right motives, but his actions are a recipe for disaster. Things will end just about as well for him too. But while Colvin took the fall on his own, McNulty seems intent on taking his closest friends and family with him. Suffice to say he’s even worse than he was at the very beginning of the series, dwelling at the bottom of a bottle and having sex with random skanks in public places.

Meanwhile, Prop. Joe continues to try to “civilize” Marlo, as he shows him the finer points of money laundering (both in the metaphorical and physical sense). Yet Marlo continues to make his power grab, going behind Joe’s back to buy dope directly from the Greeks. And he sets things in motion designed to bring Omar back in town, though his motives are questionable: it will cause just as much trouble for Joe as it does for him, and Marlo gets chance to knock off the one that got away. Playing a game this dangerous can’t end well. Screwing around with the Greeks and Omar is a lot different than muscling 16-year-olds off of West Baltimore street corners.

All the other plot-lines continue to develop: The executive editor of the Sun announces that the paper’s owners have ordered another series of cutbacks, and besides cutting down their foreign coverage, they’re offering another round of buy outs, which means “take our severance package or be banished to the copy desk.” It leads to a rather poignant scene where one of the bought-out reporter commits a final act of good journalism before riding off into the sunset. At the same time, Scott continues to act like he’s piping stories and quotes to curry favor of the editors. It’s never clear whether he is, in fact, making everything up, but if nothing else he’s guilty of being a weasel supreme.

Michael, Duquan and Bug take an afternoon to actually be kids, but no good deed goes unpunished. Things look even grimmer for Chief Burrell and Clay Davis. Both of their number’s are finally up, and for both it’s been a long time coming. It’s almost pathetic watch Clay struggle with the other shoe finally dropping. He still tries to maneuver as he always does, but can’t come to grips with the fact that no one lives forever in Baltimore, even a political hack.

There are no substantial flaws with this episode, but a few noticeable omissions. Despite the fact I was disparaging the execution of the Bubbles storyline during the last week, I missed Bubbles this time around. Meanwhile, Carver, Herc, et al. have been MIA since the first episode. I’m interested in seeing what exactly Herc is up to with the crooked lawyer and Carver’s trials and tribulations as the Sergeant In Charge. But somehow I think Simon and company will make it all work out.

Killing Me Softly

2008-01-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

I’m convinced that if the 16-year-old me could see the 32-year-old me, he’d be thoroughly disgusted. If for no reason than my CD collection.

Anyone who’s known me for maybe five minutes is probably aware of my deep and abiding love of hip-hop. It started back in 1984 when I heard Run-D.M.C.’s “King of Rock.” It was on from there. I’d say probably by eighth or ninth grade, hip-hop was all I listened to. At all. I started off with stuff like Public Enemy, Ice-T, and N.W.A., but it grew into Kool G Rap, King Tee, Big Daddy Kane, and E.P.M.D.

One thing I certainly could not abide by was the R&B of the time. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that R&B was cheesy crap. I couldn’t even stomach rappers having R&B singer on the chorus of their songs, much less the idea of listening to an R&B album. Which is why I knew that my high school friends were a bunch of soft-headed, candy-ass pantywaists for raving over albums by Ralph Tresvant and Guy.

I listened to pretty much exclusively hip-hop until maybe sophomore year of college. I slowly got into soul, funk, jazz, reggae, and some rock (Bob Dylan and Jim Hendrix). I began collecting hip-hop records around the same time, and picked up non-hip-hop records somewhere along the way. I have now accumulated a few thousand vinyl albums and 12” since. And even though I’m still Hip-Hop to the bone-marrow, I’ve gained appreciation for all types of stuff I never would have thought I’d ever listen to.

The Final Frontier was late ’80s/early ’90s R&B. I blame my friends for being a bad influence on me. My friends Eddie, Jabari, and Jumma started carrying about how those albums bump in the car and their other “virtues.” I caved and decided to take a chance. Sometime last summer I broke down and copped “In Effect Mode” by Al B. Sure and both Guy albums. These albums ended up as my gateway drugs.

Since those initial purchases, I’ve bought CDs by artists like Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, Bobby Brown, Mint Condition, Ready for the World, Troop, and Jodeci. I often use late ’80s/early ’90s R&B as my soundtrack for spending my Saturday and Sunday afternoons lying on the futon in my music room, reading a book, and drinking a glass of lemonade. For God’s sake, when I got my new iPod, I crafted a 75-minute playlist made up exclusively of ballads. It’s pathetic. The 16-year-old me would think I’m such a sell-out. I doubt he’d even talk to me. I’ve sunk about as low as I can go.

Well, I haven’t QUITE hit rock-bottom. I still don’t listen into techno. If you see me listening to an album by KLF, feel free to shoot me in the head. Twice.

The Wire, Season 5, Episode 2 Review

2008-01-10T14:38:00.001-08:00

McNulty Finally Loses It

Grade: B+/B

The final season of the greatest TV show ever continues, though not quite with the same kick as the last episode. But I’ll take an okay episode of “The Wire” over just about any other episode of anything.

Things continue to progress towards inevitable doom. Marlo, realizing that the police are no longer watching him, decides to cry havoc and let slip his dogs of war. He resolves to exact revenge on his real and perceived slights to his organization and person. The two scenes of Marlo’s crew carrying out his will go from bleakly funny to chilling. The portrayal of Michael, the young-up-comer being groomed by Marlo’s right-hand man Chris Partlow, is particularly well done. Michael’s slow realization of the stupidity of Marlo’s motives and the futility of his actions is powerful.

And while his crew does the dirty work, Marlo tries to visit good ol’ Sergei of Season 2, currently locked up in prison for the rest of his life, in hopes of dealing directly with the Greeks and cutting out the rest of the Co-Op. He gets surprised by let another blast from his past, who’s wiling to help Marlo out, but at a good cost. And once he gets past that obstacle, Marlo’s greeting to Sergei when he does manage to meet him face-to-face is priceless.

Even as Marlo continues to maneuver, neither McNulty nor Freamon are ready to give up on the case, looking for ways to someone, anyone, to take it seriously. Their difficulties, plus the increasing inability for anyone in the Baltimore PD to do any sort of basic police work weigh heavy on McNulty. The visual of Jimmy having to take the bus to get to a crime scene is a good touch. The hopelessness eventually culminates in McNulty going COMPLETELY off the rails, which has been a long time coming.

While these plot lines are handled as well as ever, some of the facets of the series seem a little lackluster. The Bubbles storyline has its moments, but it has built up much traction. I’m betting this one will turn around, and that Bubs will be one of the few characters to earn some measure of redemption by the end of the show. If for no other reason than he hit rock-bottom last season.

The newspaper storyline also misfired this episode. Particularly, I can’t buy that in 2007/2008, there are is any managing editor of a major metropolitan newspaper that is as clueless as the one for this fictional incarnation of The Baltimore Sun. I can understand his logic for “narrowing the focus” on the public school series/expose (writing a story on how all of society is to blame for student’s low-test scores has become cliché in itself). However, no managing editor would green-light putting a story on the front page of the paper when they don’t have a name or a picture of the subject of the story, especially in the aftermath of Jason Blair and USA Today fiascos

Another problem is that there are now so many characters that advancing the stories of nearly all of them any given week gets increasingly difficult. They’ve got four seasons of characters whose arcs David Simon and company are trying to bring to their logical conclusions. Now, by wedging in another dozen or so reporters/editors into ten episodes, all requiring their own screen-time, the stretch-marks are starting to show.

Competing for last place

2008-01-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

So it looks like the Oakland Athletics will be slugging it out with the Texas Rangers for the cellar of the AL West next season. After trading ace Dan Haren, third place still seemed reachable; but with the recent trade of first-baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher, A’s General Manager Billy Beane seems intent on snatching the last place crown from the team helmed by his former third-base coach.

Nick Swisher has indeed been traded to the White Sox for three supposedly top of the line prospects. Perhaps the only meager solace I can take is that apparently Beane wasn’t shopping him, and that Kenny Williams made Beane on offer he couldn’t refuse. Swisher bears Oakland no ill will, and knows that’s just how the game is played off the field. Which is all fine and fucking dandy, but the A’s will now REALY stink during 2008. I was cool with not being competitive for the AL West, as long as we’re respectable. This A’s team isn’t capable of finishing respectably in 2008.

Nick Swisher was not a perfect player. Despite being the A’s most successful “Moneyball” offensive player, he never hit for average, struck out a lot, and never cracked 100 RBIs. But he did his things, hit for power, and played good defense. And he was the most popular player on the A’s since Miguel Tejada and could have turned into a much less fat and ’roided version of Jason Giambi. In return for him, the A’s got a good prospect OF, and two pitchers who probably won’t be ready for the majors until 2010, possibly 2011. Beane keeps crowing that the team is getting younger, but he’s dealing all the young and cheap players with any real upside for unproven commodities.

So, without Swisher, Haren, and probably Blanton (word is he’ll be gone by mid-2008 season at the absolute latest; likely before the season starts), we’ll be left with a team of players that are really young, really injury prone (Eric Chavez and Mark Kotsay), or a combination of the two (Rich Harden and Bobby Crosby). And once Harden gets injured, the A’s starting five will be comprised of Chad Gaudin, Lenny DiNardo, Justin Duchscherer, Dallas Braden, and Joe Kennedy’s corpse. This team probably loses 90 to 95 games, and could have the worst record in the AL when the season ends.

It’s f@#$in’ Iowa

2008-01-03T11:58:00.001-08:00

I’ll keep this brief, because the breadth and depth of my knowledge of Iowa’s caucus system is limited to what I’ve picked up on the nightly news over the years and Wikipedia. But I’d figure I’d get my tow cents in before the TV spin and punditry takes over like kudzu.

The fact that a bunch of goofy white people hanging out in their Appanoose County living rooms amidst the corn and the high school wrestlers has a profound impact on the seemingly interminable Presidential Election campaign is just dumb. The fact that it will have a large role in making or breaking the presidential hopes of 90% of the candidates is silly.

Not even 3 million people live there. To my knowledge, nothing of significance has ever come out of there. It’s not a slice of the heartland of America. It’s just the state that comes after Nebraska when you’re driving on Highway 80 towards Chicago. There are a lot of rolling hills and lots of the aforementioned corn. And that’s it. So stop giving it so much political weight. Please. That type of clout belongs to states of real importance and relevance, like New Hampshire.

The Wire Season Five, Episode #1 Review

2008-01-02T21:25:00.001-08:00

Grade: A-

I firmly believe that “The Wire” is the best TV shows ever created. I’m hardly the first person to write this statement and the show’s virtues have been extolled by writers much greater and prominent than myself, but I would also like to note how few, if any, missteps this series has made. Even other “great” series, including ones without the fetters of prime time network control, have been this flawless for this long. Even during their glory days/early years, shows like “Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” and “Homicide” were never consistently good as any season of “The Wire.”

But sadly, this great show will son come to an end, with the first episode of the final season premiering on Sunday night. HBO has once again decided to make each episode available through OnDemand close to a week in advance, and I recently took advantage of this fact. The decision to do so has always struck me as odd, but whatever. So this review is only really sort of early. And of course, future episodes of the series are already available as torrents. The situation irks me to no end, because they are many idiots out there intent on spoiling the plot twists for those of us who don’t want to know. That being said, I pledge to keep my reviews as spoiler free as possible while discussing my feelings.

So, yeah, now on with the review: Season 5 shows “The Wire” is still at full strength. The first scene stands tall among the show’s best intro segments ever. Yes, it feels like it was ripped straight from David Simon’s original “Homicide” book (which it was), but it really captures what I imagine will be the theme for the entire season. As the show continues, Simon and company continue to do what they have always done with the first episode of every season: slowly re-introduce the recurring characters and let the story unfold as to what they’ve been up to for the past year. Nothing ever feels forced.

And as always, the show shifts from the law enforcement to the criminal to the political worlds effortlessly, all the while building on and inter-connecting each storyline. As the season starts, things arn’te going well in Baltimore: Crime is on the rise. The city is deep in debt. The Mayor, last seen bright-eyed and bushy tailed while promising a day new day in the city, already looks weak and ineffectual a mere year into his term. And the Baltimore PD is close to mutiny, after being promised the world, but now being held captive to a budget crunch and the Mayor’s political ambitions.

And most surprisingly, the Major Crimes Unit looks defeated and close to pathetic. After spending a year literally chasing West Side crime boss Marlo Stansfield around the city, they’re no closer to catching him than they were a year ago. The unit’s days have become a ghetto version of “Groundhog Day.” They knew everything he’s going to do and everywhere he’s going to go, but they still doggedly follow him in hopes of a break. All the while, Marlow is getting comfortable in his power and has some dangerous ambitions of his own.

And in the midst of all these swirling plot-lines, they introduce a new theme: The life and times of the Baltimore Sun newspaper. I’ll admit even as a former reporter, I was a little apprehensive about the introduction of the newspaper angle. But then again, I wasn’t initially enthusiastic about Season #4 school angle, and the plotlines that emerged were as captivating as anything they’ve done. The first episode shows a pretty decent look at the average news day in a major metropolitan newspaper, and shows how a daily act of journalism can unfold in a newsroom. No doubt things were get more complicated and prickly as the season progresses.

It saddens me that I now only have nine more new episodes of “The Wire” to enjoy. However, if the final season continues with the same quality of this first episode and the four preceding seasons, what more can I ask for beyond five seasons of consistently brilliant television?

"Charlie Wilson’s War" review

2007-12-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

Grade: B-

It is rare when I think a movie needs to be longer, especially during a season where it seems like most flicks average two and a half hours in length. However, “Charlie Wilson’s War” left me wanting more, and not in a good way. While it’s a good little 90-minute yarn, the movie screamed for a more fleshed-out perspective.

The tale of man how a politician of no importance helped drum up support for Afghanistan for a war that dealt the U.S.S.R. a humiliating defeat during some of the tensest times of the Cold War is inherently fascinating. Aaron Sorkin’s script is as sharp as one could expect; there’s a reason he made West Wing work in its early years and this material is very much within his comfort zone. Tom Hanks does an excellent job as the womanizing lout who also holds a great deal of moral conviction. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the highlight of the film playing gruff and schlumpy CIA agent who’s a lot smarter than he looks; I wouldn’t expect anything less from Hoffman at this point. Julia Roberts isn’t really anything in this movie, but she’s not really given much to do, so I guess I can’t hold that against her.

For about an hour “Charlie Wilson’s War” is thoroughly entertaining. The presentation of the hoops, obstacles, and hostility that Wilson has to navigate in order to help the Afghanis fight the Russians is pretty fascinating. But once the set-up and the initial obstacles are overcome the movie goes into autopilot. The last 15 minutes seem a jumble of stock file footage of helicopters being shot down and troops marching across Afghanistan’s barren landscape. The movie also isn’t really successful when it tries to express the point that framing the conflict is religious terms is a dangerous and slippery slope, and could have been handled better.

But the real fault of the movie lies in the fact that it barely acknowledges, or at least rushes through, the point. As most should know, after the rebels drove out the Russian army, the country was extremely unstable. And the United States, figuring all the hard work was done, moved on to the next crisis instead of helping the country rebuild itself. This idea is given five, maybe ten minutes of screen time. The movie uses those five minutes to let Wilson off the hook for the chaos and years of civil war that followed the end of Russian occupation in 1989. It’s true that things got really bad in the region as Wilson’s political career was coming to an end, but the deterioration of the situation deserved to be addressed beyond a post-script quote by Wilson just before the credits roll.

The moral of “Charlie Wilson’s War” isn’t different than any movie to come out of Hollywood about wars the U.S. has fought post-Vietnam: If we’re going to get involved with in these country’s conflicts, we’ve got to do it for the right reasons and we’ve got to be prepared to help with the heavy-lifting when the fighting is over. I guess I can understand the reasoning behind focusing the film on doing what it took to drive the Russians out of the country, considering the story of the 15-year-old and the Zen Master (it makes sense if you’ve seen the movie), but the film should have more thoroughly-explored the lack of will for doing the heavy lifting.

Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool" review

2007-12-20T17:01:00.000-08:00

Lupe Fiasco
The Cool
Grade: C+/B-

I still don’t see what’s the big deal about Lupe Fiasco. When people talk about him, he seems to inspire ridiculous praise or ridiculous hatred. He doesn’t merit either. Lupe’s a slightly above middle-of-the-road MC with a decent flow and some interesting concept songs who takes himself a tad too seriously.

I don’t like to sound like the crotchety sour-ass hip-hop head living in the past, but even 10 years ago this guy wouldn’t have distinguished himself from the hordes of other underground MCs trying to earn major label attention. Ironically, it’s only since both the mainstream and underground scenes have been dumbed down so much that Lupe is seen as a breath of fresh air. It follows that “The Cool,” Lupe’s second album in two years, doesn’t do that much distinguish itself from the other quality hip-hop releases of the year, both underground and mainstream.

To its credit, “The Cool” is never offensively bad: it’s just boring. Much of the album runs together, many of those songs sounding interchangeable. Lupe’s “Go Go Gadget Flow” (he even has a song about it) is interesting but nothing to crow about. He knows how to string together words and make them sound cool, but he lacks the mic presence and charisma to really make you care. His collaboration with Snoop Dogg, “Hi-Definition” is as boring as most Snoop collaborations these days, with Snoop phoning it in once again over a track that sounds like it was thrown away by will.i.am (it was actually produced by Aishux).

The album does contain good songs, such as “Paris, Tokyo” and “The Die.” “Gold Watch” shows he can still do straight braggadocio raps when needed, over crispy dumb and a chopped vocal sample. “Little Weapon” is poignant tale of how violence affects the reality of people across the globe, while “Fighters” contains a heartfelt dedication to Lupe’s deceased father. And, to his credit, “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” is about an accurate description of the life of a MySpace/mixtape rapper that has been recorded thus far. But these six songs don’t add up to make “The Cool” a good album, especially considering its bloated 70-minute length.

Lupe has conviction and he knows how to write a song about interesting topic, but that in itself isn’t enough to make “The Cool” to move beyond a decent listen into something truly memorable. I already feel like Talib Kweli already did this type of album, a “conscious” album with pop appeal, much better earlier this year with Eardrum. Lupe has to stop wanting to be the mainstream consciousness of hip-hop music and actually make a consistent album that can stand up to this ideal. Otherwise, despite his big dreams, he’ll be relegated to the middle of the pack.

My very first blog

2007-12-19T12:15:00.001-08:00

Greetings. This would be the first official blog entry of Hed Rush. I am Jesse Ducker, and I am of Oakland, California. Like anyone out there in massive blogosphere, I’ll use this space to riff on whatever the hell I feel like. Chances are it will center around my main interests: music, movies, sports (especially the Oakland A’s, Golden State Warriors, and the San Francisco 49ers), and TV (mostly The Wire). Possibly even comic books, which I’ll be sharing with the other blog I’m busy not contributing to, The Prep Time Posse (shout out to the crew at preptimeposse.blogspot.com). Also, given my rather large music collection and my all-consuming passion for music in general, I may also use this place to post up an mp3 or three. But that will happen once I figure out how to use my trusty new USB turntable. That could take a while.

I’ll keep the first riff music related. I was fortunate enough to get a new iPod as a gift; one those really cool 160 gig models with the brand new software and everything. I’m probably one of the few people that wouldn’t be able to fit their whole collection on one of those suckers, especially with the help of the aforementioned USB turntable. I tend to micromanage my iPods. I don’t just synch it up with the iTunes: I’m really selective about what albums go on it; I make a ridiculous amount of playlists centered around genre, style, era, and geographic location. All of this tomfoolery means that it takes me two or three days to set up the sucker before I’m ready to listen to it. And I’ve had to set up this iPod twice in a week span, since I was forced to zero it out last weekend based on my own stupidity. It’s a time-consuming pain in the ass.

So as I’m going through my iTunes, selecting what goes on the iPod, I begin to realize there’s a grip of albums on my hardrive I haven’t bothered to listen to yet. Obscure, out-of-print stuff I’ve found on other blogs and music boards and the like. Like two albums by Black Heat (sort of obscure ’70s funk group), another by the Terrorists (an early ’90s political gangsta rap group from Houston) and another by the Kings of Pressure (um, I’m not really sure who they are. Wait, discogs.com tells me they’re a late ’80s Long Island rap group with ties to the Public Enemy. Huh, who knew?). Some of these albums I downloaded a year ago and still haven’t gotten around to listening to. So I start to listen to 15 plus hours worth of music to see if it is indeed iPod worthy.

As I’m making my decisions (Black Heat makes the cut, the Terrorist don’t. Still haven’t finished the Kings of Pressure album), and I start thinking about the nature of free, downloaded music. For a little over a calendar year, I’ve been accumulating mass amounts of music from these various places, like probably 40 gigs worth (and that’s being conservative) of stuff that I: a) once owned on tape, but can’t listen to anymore, ’cause, you know, who listens to tapes? b) Didn’t buy when it came out for lack of the money, knowledge, interest, or inclination. However, it can be argued that if you can download any music you what whenever you want, does the music itself become devalued? Do those first two Black Heat albums I got for free mean less to me than the Lupe Fiasco CD I bought at Best Buy for $9.99, even though the Black Heat albums are better?

I’d like to think not. For the music love it me, it stands to reason that even if the music is free, I can appreciate its artistic value as much as its lack of cost. And a quick perusal of songs I’ve listened to the most on my iTunes show most of the songs in my Top 10 most listened to are ones I didn’t spend money on. But still, the out-of-print albums I get the most excited about finding are the ones I once owned, rather than The Terrorists.

I know I’ve expended a lot of words to come to the conclusion of “I don’t know,” but it’s not easy to evaluate how much a piece of digital music means to you. Maybe I wouldn’t let that Kings of Pressure sit unlistened to on my hardive if I’d spend some cash to get it. But maybe I’m not inclined to listen to it because I suspect it’s probably not that great and I’d rather listen to the Sugarman 3 album that I bought over the weekend.

In the meantime, I’m just going to find contentment by listening to the second Kwame album. Boy, did that guy love polka dots…