ICI!

Here's an interesting article that my editor, Ian Hill, wrote on 209vibe.com.

Is Stockton hip-hop dead?
Ian Hill / 209Vibe editor Posted on ay 4

One of the best parts of my job over the past three years has been writing about Stockton rap. When I first arrived the scene was energetic and alive with young artists hungry to make it big, and they worked hard to earn the spotlight.

They took advantage of modern rap's essence as a recorded - rather than live - medium, releasing new tracks quickly on the Internet as local rock suffered due to a lack of venues for live shows.

And, best of all, Stockton rap had something important to say. It described the social inequities in the community in a direct, in-your-face manner.

Unfortunately, that sometimes brought out the worst in both local rap fans and the establishment.

Still, it was exciting and fresh to hear local artists with that message. Fans agreed, at times packing clubs for the few shows that were held. And I tried to make sure the community at large knew what was happening in the scene through my coverage of local rap.

In the last six month, however, local rap seems to have nearly disappeared. The energy I felt in the scene is gone; it's been replaced by a general malaise among musicians and fans. The calls, emails and messages I used to receive from local rappers seeking coverage have slowed. There are now even fewer shows held - and they're drawing smaller audiences.

So what happened?

I don't buy the hype in the national media that the decline in rap CD sales is a result of fan indifference. The reality is that rap fans are younger than fans of say, country or modern rock, and as a result they've been quicker to transition from CDs into digital music.

You can see it in the iTunes singles charts, which are a better indicator of young music fans' habits than the Billboard charts. Hip-hop - both in rap and R&B - remains strong on iTunes; Chris Brown, Usher, Ray J and Lil Wayne all are on that service's singles chart this morning.

I think it's more likely that, 30 years after its birth in the Bronx, rap across the country and in Stockton has stalled creatively. The music has become more about making money and being huge in the club than artistry.

It's exactly what Nas talked about in "Hip-Hop is Dead," an album that was used completely out of context by the national media.

It's also something that's happened before - in rock 'n' roll.

In the mid-1970s and early '80s - about 30 years after its birth - rock had turned into pop and stalled. The genre once described as an evil influence on America's children had become pedestrian.

Hit singles in 1975 included "Love Will Keep Us Together," "Lovin' You" and "That's the Way (I Like It)."

Of course, Led Zeppelin also peaked in 1975 with "Physical Graffiti" - but five years later they disbanded after the death of drummer John Bonham.

Fortunately for modern music, some young artists reacted to the sad state of rock by building new, exciting genres.

The Ramones, The Clash and the Sex Pistols made punk a phenomenon; Blondie helped establish new wave; and, in the Bronx, Kool Herc introduced hip-hop.

Today, rap both in Stockton and nationwide needs its own Sex Pistols - an artist or group who is going to bring a new creative fire to the genre. It could mean going back to rap's roots and focusing on verbal artistry instead whether or not a song is a club banger.

There are some good candidates for that job, including Pharoahe Monch, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, Brother Ali and Hieroglyphics. In Stockton, Icarus Jones, Neglected, DJ No Shame and Greyspace have helped bring an exciting artistry back to hip-hop.

You can check out No Shame, Greyspace and Icarus Jones when they play a free 209Vibe show at 7 p.m. May 9 in Downtown Stockton's Janet Leigh Plaza.

Show them your support - and help breathe some life back into local rap.

[via Smartenupnas)

If what they say is true and laughter is a stress reliever believe you me when you finish goofawing after you see this clip you'll be stress free until tax time comes back around next year. Hilarious.

La Sounds Like Weekend o sa fie ce-ar trebui sa fie de fapt intr-un (b)log: adnotari pe file de viata (metafora nene!)

Hip hop-ul a murit, traiasca hip hop-ul!

Daca n-ati ascultat NAS pana acum, va sfatuiesc sa o faceti. Puteti sa incepeti cu melodia care in 2007 l-a readus in prim-plan: Hip Hop Is Dead. Daca nu ma insel, chestia asta se numeste oximoron. Mister NAS striga in gura mare cum ca hip hop-ul si-a dat duhul insa ascultand melodia iti dai seama ca lucrurile nu stau chiar atat de rau. Ba mai mult, daca poate fi vorba despre moarte, atunci e una clinica, iar NAS face tot ce-i sta in putere sa resusciteze sus-numitul stil muzical. Are el ce-are cu cei care au comercializat o muzica nascuta pentru a lupta impotriva sistemului. Il inteleg.

Nota lu` Alex: 8.50 (opt-cincizeci)

Anarhie organizata

Mai intai a fost Wyclef. Apoi a venit Serj Tankian de la System Of a Down. Si impreuna au organizat Revolta. Pe ritm de hip si rock. O alaturare deloc ciudata dupa ce in ultimii ani am ascultat tot felul de featuring-uri, unele mai reusite, altele… De la Fugees in `90 Wyclef a experimentat cat pentru o viata de om, sau cat pentru 20 de vieti de boysband. Serj este la fel de mistic si alternative ca intotdeauna. Dar cireasa de pe tort nu vine de la niciunul dinte ei.

Unde`s trei este musique à trois. Al treilea e Sizzla. Parerea mea de nespecialist e ca “face” toata melodia, iar ritmul imprimat e criminal. RIOT!

Nota lu` Alex: 8.45 (opt-patruzecisicinci)

Are you still not having fun?

p.s.: daca observi erori in acest text, anunta-ma; postul e scris pe telefon.

Nas: Taking The Bullet:

Most recently known for the criticism he received on "The O' Reilly Factor" and for making an album called "Hip-Hop Is Dead", Nas has been taking the public forum of all debate regarding rap music. Since the release of "Hip-Hop Is Dead", Nas has been making his rounds making his presence felt. Performing at Virginia Tech despite what Bill O'Reilly wanted:

Nas is now making the finishing touches on his next album, "N****r". Although Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are quick to criticize Nas for his choice of album title, Nas continues with it delaying the release for a good number of months to perfect one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Nas is public enemy #1 in the eyes of Fox News and when they were able to get Jesse Jackson and members of the NAACP to say that they disapprove of what Nas is doing, Nas only had one thing to say;
"I'm a street disciple," Nas responded, quoting one of his earlier album titles. "I'm talking to the streets. Stay out of our business. You ain't got no business worrying about what the word 'nigger' is or acting like you know what my album is about without talking to me. Whether you in the NAACP or you Jesse Jackson. I respect all of them ... I just want them to know: Never fall victim to Fox. Never fall victim to the sh-- they do. What they do is try to hurry up and get you on the phone and try to get you to talk about something you might not know about yet. "

"If Cornel West was making an album called Nigger, they would know he's got something intellectual to say," Nas continued. "To think I'm gonna say something that's not intellectual is calling me a nigger, and to be called a nigger by Jesse Jackson and the NAACP is counterproductive, counter-revolutionary."

No statements were received from Jesse Jackson after this quote. Nas has continued to publicize his album in interviews explaining how in the midst of everything that has happened he wants to take control. Nas had shined the light on hip-hop two years ago with his last album and now he is taking the spotlight and shining it on the rest of the world. Don Imus can be said to be the person who sparked all of the recent racial tensions and that can be agreed on but Nas says that it was win-win for Imus because it was handled badly and by that he means that everytime something like that happens Al Sharpton and the same old crowd are out marching about and that he should send him a new pair of gators since his are probably worn out from all the marching. Found here.

With that statement alone I feel like Nas does have alot to say on his next album. He is getting frowned upon by so-called leaders of his own community for trying to take on one of the most sensitive subject matters in the world. In that last statement he says the old way doesn't work anymore, marching is not a way to solve anything in modern society. Nas hopes to take his music, which has always had something to talk about in it, and set the bar where he thinks the discussion of the state of racism and the state of hip-hop should be. If you look back ten and more years ago the same discussions about mysogyny and violence in rap were happening and they are only being repeated now with no solution. Racism is exactly where it was ten years ago if not tracked back even further by the displays of nooses all over the country. Nas aims to take these topics and lay them out and say "work from here, follow the line, stay out of the circle".

Nas took the reigns of hip-hop and helped reshape it to push away "ringtone" rappers in a battle that is still taking place, but with less ringtone rappers. Now Nas hopes to reshape racism and Middle-America's views on rap music. To show the difference between a ringtone and a true work of hip-hop art. To bring forward what is really happening in racism, that it is still alive. It was only covered by a blanket left to smolder until it received the breath to rekindle itself.

Nas, a marketing strategy, a rebel, or a revolutionary. You can decide that on your own. Either way, Nas has stepped up the the pulpit, turning the volume up on the mic, and people are going to listen. Picking up exactly where Tupac left off in his battle against the media and rap. Say hello to the second coming of the bad guy.

Tupac ft. Nas -Thugz Mansion

See also: Premier weighs in on Nas album

Previously:
Hip-Hop vs. America
The N-Word and the Voting Rights Act
And You Think Rap is Bad

That lady looks mad uncomfortable discussing this and the guy back at CNN just sounds flabbergasted at the end. Priceless. This has actually got me considering watching the pre-show next year.

Ever had one of those nights where you are deep in sleep, minding your own business and then out of no where comes the worse pain and just like that your ass is up at 4:55am sweating like a Ewing in the 4th, then followed by natural reflexes filled with shivering chills, which leads me to the all beloved room of the apartment, my bathroom. Where I sit and bend over for hours on end to do what I somehow have lost all control over and am now just the slave of nature and how she chooses to twist and tweak my body.

Never had a night like that? Well maybe, its just me but it is definitely the steps that need to take place to land me right here on my sick day. If you are like me, then you hate being sick, you hate the feeling of inadequacy, and the helplessness. As an overly competitive person (of course all things with discretion) I find myself angry during times of illness. There are some folks who enjoy the complacent day of healing, others like the attention and false support, you know the questions of well intended care about your healing, the flowers (well i love flowers, any kind), but you smell me? I just don't enjoy the time off and the lack of activity and most importantly is the lost of control over your body's functions and natural abilities. It isn't the best feeling in the world and definitely makes me more aware of my mortality. Now on to the fun part.....

Producer/DJ Khaled

As we move on to more pressing concerns, you know things that pertain to the exterior of this Brooklyn apartment.

There is, has been and always will be a huge crisis in America. That crisis begins and starts with the rights that are taken, not appreciated and definitely abused by us citizens. More specifically I want to discuss language, the power of words and their ability to taint our people and perpetuate stereotypes in our community. It is time we stop all uses of the "N" word and I do mean "Nigga"," Nigger", "Niggah", "Dats my niggah", "who dat bitch? shes my nigga" and my personal favorite of 2007, "yo' dem jeans if fresh to death my nigga" or any other way we all have heard this word used, screamed, sang, yelled, uttered under ones breath, just any way and every way that it could be unnecessarily.

Never is it needed, and yes as contrary as it sounds, artists and different art forms do have licenses to manipulate and construct meaning, feelings and change through their discretion and fruition of their pieces. So does that mean that rappers, producers, dj's and other musical greats can make their fame on the strength of America's racial toils? Can we take all the fighting, killings, executions, lynchings, fires, I can go on and on for granted, say whatever and continue to share, teach, spread the use and evoke all the feelings that comes with certain language expressions?

I want to focus your attention for sake of the blog on Producer/DJ Khaled. Where is he from again? Palestine.

When did he gain the rights to call as in label others, his customers, purchasers of his music, Niggas? Is it not him outrightly screaming:

We the best
Who
We nigga
We the best
This the remix
The I'm so hood remix
I'm making more

on the "Im so hood" lp? Now don't get me wrong, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't rhyme to Trick's, Busta's and Luda's verses, but something struck me the other night and I had to share. Some would argue that his terminology of "we" infers that he is including himself in the group. I have beef with Dj. Khaled specifically because he is not of African descent and has absolutely no license to use any defamed words especially towards minorities. DJ Khaled is not from the hood, well not from the hoods I know: Lefrak, Linden Houses, Marcy Pj's, Pink Houses, Albany Houses, Wycoff Houses, Cypress Houses, I can go on and on) Khaled is not BLACK, YES I said it.

Now also do not confuse my intent, NO ONE should use the word without necessity. Come on now, it is a word and I do walk the path of words are words and don't hurt until....they do have centuries of historical, generational and personal day to day animosities, hatreds, ills, discrimination, prejudices, sexism, ageism ("hey boy" , "thanks gal" and violence all tied up in one.

So then who the hell is he, some musical narcissistic living large and in charge icon, sadly role model for many youths, creating music and profiting on the years and years of toil and hard work our forefathers underwent. Let me be clearer: Dj Khaled is just an example in this case of ignorant jargon that maintains to be top selling records. These life and times of 2008, if the lyrics consists of less than 10 vocabulary words spanning below 10 letters then it is a hit and everyone out here wants to rock to it. Well I like some of the top 40 and I must say it is sad what makes it in the top twenty and ten. Just in case you didn't know HIP HOP is dead and what takes place these days on the mainstream front is down right comic relief with strains of a true hip hop pulse carrying the slack. I love my music all forms, but I can feel when one genre is becoming the bad apple in the barrel and sometimes it needs to be tossed even if it is ass dropping catchy?

Well what does Dj. Khaled have to say about all of this?

"Q: You've always been very vocal about your pride in your Palestinian heritage. Why do you think so few Arab-Americans are in visible positions in Hip-Hop?

DJ Khaled: I mean, I hope that I’m opening the door for more of them to come out, but it’s about being on the grind, you know? It’s not where you’re from or what nationality you are; it’s about doing what you do and your hard work will pay off."-(Dj khaled.org)

Don't know about you, but when I read this I comprehend that it is about Palestine and not about him becoming a part of the hood as his lyrics claim when he states, "we nigga". I want to ask WE who? Like you and Jay, a black man from Brooklyn, NY or like you and Snoop another African-American from a urban city. I am just a bit confused as I want to make it clear if people who are from other nations can come to America and start using racial slurs and all is good? Let me know whats good in the hood, because coming from a chick who knows the hood well, I say F*ck that!

In other news, the weather sucks ass...Please stay dry.

In our neverending quest to bring you the most exciting, entertaining news floating around in Cyberspace we often bump into sites that offer up insight into how the rest of the world views Hip Hop.  As of lately it seems that the pundits were patiently laying in wait, counting on the demise of the genre then comes the pile on.  It kind of reminds me of the media's relationship with Hillary, when it forecasted that she was gonna loose big.  They no longer were indebted to holding their true feelings back.  It became in style to let her have it.  Well, the same can be said for Hip Hop, which is being viewed as an artform in its last days.  Peep the following excerpts below to get a glimpse of how they think about you: 

Hip hop may be too tied to old models, such as the reliance on hefty advances, to adapt to the changing times. Artists’ need to prove to their communities and others, through over-the-top displays of conspicuous consumption, their value and success, before a significant number of CDs have been sold, may complicate any possible comeback.  And regarding the music itself: when the genre went South to tap into a new talent pool, so did hip hop. Out went thoughtful, although sometimes angry, reflections on place and time, and in came thoughtless glorification of excesses of all kinds. Should we have expected something more from members of an under or uneducated populace? Probably not. All the “grinding” in the world is no substitute for education and intellect. And this observation comes from a woman who lived and taught in the South for nearly six years.  So, get out your best black outfit and let the mourning begin for the genre that once ruled the world. Yes, hip hop is dead. The cause: creative suicide.

To get the full rundown on what's being said about Hip Hop CLICK HERE

To read the original thread from The New York Times CLICK HERE 

It got me to thinking about all of the trash I wasted money on growing up where everything had to be fashioned by some high paid designer and a name brand offered an advantage over the mediocre that was conspicuous at best. But it also reminded me of how, on many different levels and different situations even outside of the drug trade, people want you to “go back” to familiar territory to offer them comfort for their struggle, so that they do not have to be alone.

It is questionable whether or not Nas has went back on his latest album “Nigger”, which evokes ideas of blaxploitation and other conspicuous ways to “take back” what was stolen from our psyche. Yet the album is rarely anything but that; instead Nas uses the psychology and dichotomy around the word nigger to address some issues that most do not really want to address, including those in the African-American community that like to sit around the water cooler or up in the barbershop and wax poetic.

This is the bottom line, we have to dissociate ideas about authenticity concerning being an African-American living in poverty; if we were “king and queens” as Nas famously suggested years ago on one of his few rap songs tailored to children, with the mantra “I know I can” then we're playing ourselves false now living out ghetto dreams of haute couture and fake jewelry when we should be helping each other out of poverty. Plus it doesn't help that the middle class is ashamed of us and always asking why we can't take advantage of the few tools that do exist to help the poor better themselves.

We were ghetto fabulous for over 30 years. It's long time that we start to adopt a different outlook before we're third world citizens in our own country on soil our ancestors died for to help make it a better place. Third world because the Hispanics and others working jobs “no one wants to do” will eventually leave us behind in the dust, if they haven't already. Also because a lot of the gains we did achieve will soon become a distant memory and a reminder of the potential that we just had; do we really need another 40 years in the wilderness to humor us?

These days hip-hop is caricatured in everything from Checker’s “rap cat” to a Smirnoff “Tea Party” which spins ideas about old-world “W.A.S.P.” New England wealth on it’s ear, funny because rap is no longer considered to be cutting edge and controversial but telling because it suggests that it’s true purpose was never realized, or isn’t anymore. I hear the garbage on the radio everyday telling me how to be a true nigger I have to be the baddest, quickest, roughest one around, an old message that used to entertain my parents when they were my age. Only these days we don’t have the NAACP trying to shut down the genre and gospel artists have adopted the art form and play it in church services. I can only imagine what the future will bring …

Classic Hip-Hop!!!

Hip Hop as a culture has always been a big part of my life.  Almost side by side, we have both grown up together being shaped & molded by the era of time we are living in.  I say living because just like me Hip Hop has a pulse.  Hip Hop has soul driven by a life force.  That force (or power if you will) is the expression of an oppressed people and Hip Hop is the voice of our community, but now it just seems like the voice for the major label in association with big corporations on a campaign to advertise to consumers and sell merchandise in a capitalist society.

Just as much as we need to blow off steam, party and have a good time, we also need to address world issues that effect our neighborhood.  So for every Africa Bambaataa/ Zulu Nation and Grand Master Flash/ Furious Five, you had a Sugar Hill Gang. I always thought that there was a proper balance of "positive uplifting" music as well as "just dance & enjoy yo self" music.  But as time goes on it seems that music that addresses real problems isn't as marketable, and is being phased out by big corporations, especially, since we can all see the buying and selling power of Hip Hop.

Now don't get me wrong...  When I was a 12 or 13 years old, I liked MC Hammer & Kid n Play.  Both known for dancing as well as their tremendous crossover appeal.  Hammer had Pepsi/ Taco Bell commercials and Kid n Play had movies and they both had cartoons that came on every Saturday morning.  Now, I'm not saying that I didn't have a KRS 1/ Boogie Down Productions tape, or that I wasn't bumping Eric B & Rakim or Public Enemy.  It’s just as a kid growing up in the suburbs, a lot of issues of that time were simply over my head.  I wanted to be young and have fun.  As I grew up and matured I realized that the needs of the inner city urban communities were not being met and there was a struggle to obtain equal opportunity for families just like mine.  2Pac spoke about this oh so well.  He could rap about police arresting him for selling drugs then turn around & tell you to Keep Yo Head Up.  He could do "Brenda's Got A Baby" & then do "I Get Around" with no problem.  He had a great balance in my opinion.  But today it seems like everything is all Dope, hoes & Crank Dat Soulja Boy.

   *DISCLAMER*

For the record, there is NOTHING wrong with Crankin Dat Soulja Boy!!! If you ever did the Humpty Dance or even know the lyrics to that song, then it is absolutely NOTHING wrong with Crankin Dat Soulja Boy.  Soulja Boy IS NOT the down fall of Hip Hop or ruining Hip Hop in any way.  I'm tired of pissed off rappers blaming Soulja Boy cuz they can't sell no records.  Soulja Boy is as smart as he is stupid for making a song called "Booty Meat," building a fan base, creating an image and having a GREAT team around him to maximize the potential of his talent...

MC Hammer was ahead of his time. MC Hammer got dissed because he did what every rapper wants to do right now today!!!  Jay Z, Ludacris, 50 Cent, P Diddy & even Ice Cube (who did indeed diss Hammer) all made a brand for themselves and sold it to the mainstream audience.  They just don't dance that much...  Well, maybe Puffy did but you get what I'm saying, right?  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Soulja Boy is ahead of his time...  Watch! So at the end of the day, I grew up in the 80's, and I started rapping in the 90's and made a business out of it in 2000.  But looking back at it all I couldn't help but wonder about the current state of Hip Hop.  Is it dead, dying or doing just fine?  You tell me...

Hip Hop as a culture has always been a big part of my life.  Almost side by side, we have both grown up together being shaped & molded by the era of time we are living in.  I say living because just like me Hip Hop has a pulse.  Hip Hop has soul driven by a life force.  That force (or power if you will) is the expression of an oppressed people and Hip Hop is the voice of our community, but now it just seems like the voice for the major label in association with big corporations on a campaign to advertise to consumers and sell merchandise in a capitalist society.

Just as much as we need to blow off steam, party and have a good time, we also need to address world issues that effect our neighborhood.  So for every Africa Bambaataa/ Zulu Nation and Grand Master Flash/ Furious Five, you had a Sugar Hill Gang. I always thought that there was a proper balance of "positive uplifting" music as well as "just dance & enjoy yo self" music.  But as time goes on it seems that music that addresses real problems isn't as marketable, and is being phased out by big corporations, especially, since we can all see the buying and selling power of Hip Hop.

Now don't get me wrong...  When I was a 12 or 13 years old, I liked MC Hammer & Kid n Play.  Both known for dancing as well as their tremendous crossover appeal.  Hammer had Pepsi/ Taco Bell commercials and Kid n Play had movies and they both had cartoons that came on every Saturday morning.  Now, I'm not saying that I didn't have a KRS 1/ Boogie Down Productions tape, or that I wasn't bumping Eric B & Rakim or Public Enemy.  It’s just as a kid growing up in the suburbs, a lot of issues of that time were simply over my head.  I wanted to be young and have fun.  As I grew up and matured I realized that the needs of the inner city urban communities were not being met and there was a struggle to obtain equal opportunity for families just like mine.  2Pac spoke about this oh so well.  He could rap about police arresting him for selling drugs then turn around & tell you to Keep Yo Head Up.  He could do "Brenda's Got A Baby" & then do "I Get Around" with no problem.  He had a great balance in my opinion.  But today it seems like everything is all Dope, hoes & Crank Dat Soulja Boy.

   *DISCLAMER*

For the record, there is NOTHING wrong with Crankin Dat Soulja Boy!!! If you ever did the Humpty Dance or even know the lyrics to that song, then it is absolutely NOTHING wrong with Crankin Dat Soulja Boy.  Soulja Boy IS NOT the down fall of Hip Hop or ruining Hip Hop in any way.  I'm tired of pissed off rappers blaming Soulja Boy cuz they can't sell no records.  Soulja Boy is as smart as he is stupid for making a song called "Booty Meat," building a fan base, creating an image and having a GREAT team around him to maximize the potential of his talent...

MC Hammer was ahead of his time. MC Hammer got dissed because he did what every rapper wants to do right now today!!!  Jay Z, Ludacris, 50 Cent, P Diddy & even Ice Cube (who did indeed diss Hammer) all made a brand for themselves and sold it to the mainstream audience.  They just don't dance that much...  Well, maybe Puffy did but you get what I'm saying, right?  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Soulja Boy is ahead of his time...  Watch! So at the end of the day, I grew up in the 80's, and I started rapping in the 90's and made a business out of it in 2000.  But looking back at it all I couldn't help but wonder about the current state of Hip Hop.  Is it dead, dying or doing just fine?  You tell me...

The ending is near, make no mistake about it...if 2006 signaled the year that Hip Hop died, then 2007 will be noted as the year that the rest of the industry followed into that shallow grave.  Like all things though, death only means new life and in this case the story of the year is the emergence of the new model of what the music industry will look like in the coming years.  MTV did a three-part series about the changing of guard called "The Year The Industry Broke."  They included a thorough time-line of the trials and travesties the industry went through this year.  Kanye West is the only exception, with him being poised to celebrate his best year ever until tragedy struck with the untimely death if his mother.  This is a must read for anyone contemplating selling their soul to get into the industry.  Sh*t, don't take our word for it, below are some notable quotes from the MTV piece: 

"Make no mistake about it, 2007 was a b-a-a-a-d year for the industry. According to Nielsen SoundScan, album sales were down 15 percent from 2006 (a trend that's continued for eight straight years now); big-name artists jumped ship in increasingly complicated — and messy — ways; and the powers-that-be seemed to get even more heartless and disconnected, thanks to a series of lawsuits, feuds and terrible decisions."

 "It's a new world now and people are thinking of new ways to reach the people, and for me that's always been my aim."

                                              -Paul McCartney on his decision to sign with Starbuck's new music label

Kanye West's Graduation sells nearly 957,000 copiesto claim the top spot on the Billboard albums chart. 50 Cent's Curtis bows at #2 with sales of more than 691,000. Both are the best first-week numbers of 2007 (besting Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight, which scanned 623,000 copies in May), and Graduation notches the biggest first week in nearly two years — beating, interestingly, West's Late Registration, which sold more than 860,000 copies when it was released in September 2005.

Click here for PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE

Editor's Note:I have to sadly report that no major Hip Hop artists are included on the list of musicians that are leading the pack and making the shift in this new digital industry.  On the contraire they are the ones holding on and holding up the plantation...without ring tone sales labels would be completely six feet under. When will we see the light?  Oh, shout out to Buddens for making the switch. 

Another day, another album. This is becoming to easy haha. This time we're dropping the complete sample collection used in Nas' last album, Hip Hop Is Dead. We're only getting started so be sure to keep this damn site bookmarked! Enjoy

Tracklist + Download link after the jump...

01 Herbie Hancock - Sly (You Can't Kill Me)
02 James Brown - Get Up, Get Into It And Get Involved (Where Are They Now?)
03 Big Daddy Kane - Set It Off (Where Are They Now?)
04 Incredible Bongo Band - Apache (Hip Hop Is Dead)
05 Incredible Bongo Band - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Hip Hop Is Dead)
06 Billy Squier - Big Beat (Hip Hop Is Dead)
07 Eric B. & Rakim - I Ain't No Joke (Who Killed It?)
08 Carmine Coppola - Marcia Religiosa (Black Republican)
09 Bill Withers - Use Me (Still Dreamin')
10 Diana Ross - The Interim (Still Dreamin')
11 Steve Miller Band - Take The Money & Run (Let There Be Light)
12 Marvin Gaye - After The Dance (Play On Playa)
13 Nat King Cole - Unforgettable (Can't Forget About You)
14 Minnie Ripperton - Rainy Day in Centerville (Where Ya'll At - Bonus)

DOWNLOAD: Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead (Samples)

I wonder why this video was never released. Dope video for a dope song. The beat for this song is freakin' discusting.

Try to dig deep in your memory's archives to 2004 when Mos Def was preparing to drop The New Danger and he had all kinds of promotional buzz after he had a controversial track over Jay's (actually, Kanye and the Doors') Takeover beat, a track called The Rape Over. He was taking shots at pretty much any and every wack entity in the music industry, but most notably Lyor Cohen, who we refer to as the tall Israeli. Once he found out Mos was throwing dirt on his name, he had the track pulled from the album.

Now, in 2007... where people are advocating for right of speech via album (sales)... and where Jay-Z claims he stands behind Nas' Nigger album title, do you think Jay has Ether pulled from his miserable excuse of a Greatest Hits album? Seeing as it was and should be on the track list. Given, those aren't Nas' greatest songs, but I guess those are his hits. Why wouldn't Ether be on there though. Not only is it a great song, musically, lyrically, whatever whatever, but it damn near saved and resurrected his doodoo excuse of a career (which was an opportunity he then wasted on the albums that followed-I dare you to say no). Can't they just re-re-release Illmatic instead of a GH album? Wouldn't that be smarter, more lucritive and also more beneficial to NaS' career to prove that he is relevant to hip hop, instead of pulling shit schemes like calling his album Nigga, going back to the drawing board, claiming and calling it Hip Hop is Dead (not at all speaking on the subject on the album), then calling this album Niggaer. Jay and LA and whoever else is co-signing this is claiming it's some artistic shit, or some revolutionary BS, but everyone knows he won't speak on the matter, or anything important on the album. He'll do everything he always does. Says some wild shit to get some promo, drop an album that has nothing to do with the subject. And I liked Hip Hop is Dead... I just think it was unwarranted to start a shit storm for promo and then not follow up.

Yes, the album is coming out on Columbia, Nas' old record label, and Jay is not heading that music label, but Jay can still pull a few strings over at there... (so I keep one eye open like C-B-S). These rappers are not legitimate in their claims. Look at this depressed fuck. I don't know, we need a board.

Lucifer, lucifer, dawn of the morning!
I'm gonna chase you outta here...
Man I gotta get my soul right
I gotta get these Devils out my life

By now, you must have heard the new Nas track Surviving The Times. I must admit, ill track and ill piano (very reminiscent of New York State of Mind). Now, with that said... I'm kind of exhausted of rappers who feel like they aren't shit now needing to remind us of how ill they were before or how good the past was. It's alright if you dudes are depressed, but why are you trying to pass that feeling on to us. This whole trend of trying to bring the _0's back is annoying. Nas did it on the last album, but it was somewhat related to the theme of his Hip Hop is Dead attention grabber. Now that he has a Greatest Hits album, is he trying to say what I, and anybody else with a mind, have been saying... that his best work is behind him? Regardless, I'm just trying to stir up some shit, this is an ill song that I'm definitely feeling, and it's a nice segway to drop some gems. Here are pretty much all the songs you can find online that Nas made before Illmatic:

Just Another Day in the Projects

Live at the Barbecue (feat. Main Source, Large Professor & Akinyele)

Back to the Grill (feat. MC Serch)

Everything is Real

I'm a Villain

Life's Like a Dice Game

Understanding (Feat. AZ & Biz Markie)

Number One With A Bullet (Feat. Kool G Rap & White Boy)

Nas Will Prevail

Deja Vu

Note: Those last links were doo-doo... will try to re-up when I get home. Btw... SMFH @ Nas (well, Large Pro) sampling Hawaiian Sophie for Halftime. Send me whatever original versions/official remixes of Illmatic tracks you have.

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Walking very thin lines, ages seven and nine
That's the age I was on my album cover, this is the rebirth

Nas turns 34 today. Life doesn't look so bad for us when this loser is still alive, even though Pussy Killed him 34 years ago. I thought we should all rejoice for what we have, in other words what he doesn't have. I have to admit, I'm starting to warm up to little Nasir's first album, especially on the production tip. I started out by listening to the DJ Premier beats, and got carried away by the Q-Tip, Pete Rock, Large Pro beats. What I don't understand is why he spit those first few bars on Got Yourself A Gun where he says:

My first album had no famous guest appearances
the outcome, I'm was crowned the best lyricist

When he clearly had the best producers in the game (then, and arguably still right now) supporting him and thus catching the ear of numerous rap fans. Regardless, enough respect is due to the little homie that dropped one hot album, and who then lost contact with his ghostwriter.

Late in the afternoon today my buddy Tardy (a co-worker in a different division of the company) was over visiting our area.  I knew that Tardy shared a similar appreciation for hip-hop/rap, so I cued up one of my favorite tracks from 2006, Nas' "Hip Hop is Dead" from the album of the same name.  The track has an addictive hook borrowed from Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida."  You'll recognize it instantly.  I pushed play on my iTunes and what happened next can only be described as "otherworldly."  Don't take my word for it though.  See for yourself.