If you consider yourself a hip hop head then I shouldn't really need any type of introduction to this group. Pete Rock and Cl smooth and "They Reminisce Over You" should be automatic.
Peter Phillips and Corey Penn hailing for Mount Vernon, New York made their debut on the rap world in 1991 with "All Souled Out". It did good enough to have Elektra Records clear the way
for their second LP in 1992 "Mecca and the Soul Brother". Then in the year where albums from legendary now but fairly new then where cropping. They Released "The Main Ingredient". Despite
the effort and recognition the group failed to go gold on any of their own releases. They separated in 1995.

The albums they released where:

1. All Souled Out
2. Mecca and the Soul Brother
3. The Main Ingredient

I provided the link or video to "They reminisce over you"

So he designed a laptop sleeve...

They made it for us... see?:

"Curated by Arkitip" is a project designed for Incase, aimed at delivering artistically embellished Apple© products to users who have an appreciation for the creative arts and technology. All artists are carefully chosen by Arkitip for dedication to their respective art forms and unique points of view. Enjoy with great enthusiasm.

Watch Video.

Available for MacBook 13 In. and MacBook Pro 15 In.

"Written by the CL, produced by the PR."

It finally happened. After five years of finishing in the money, the dynasty is over.
The Jon has accepted that The Jon aka The Greatness will not make the playoffs this season.
It is time for reminiscing.
A calming of the mind if you will ... aw screw it, this sucks.

Take a look at that again. Five seasons straight. Two championships. The memories are all The Jon will have left from now on. A moment of silence, now.

OK, that's somewhat better, let's talk baseball, shall we?

Welcome to TheBaseballStar

The Jon goes on vacation and his peers ... no , not peers since they are all going to the playoffs, don't write squat.

FreeSanJose has like a 30 game lead. He should be bragging. Saying how he does it. Which players have been his heroes Nope. Nothing.

Newspaperman is too busy pitching tents on his baseball card blog. He must be feeling emasculated.

PoiDog is still learning to write. Apparently he is all out of clichés.

The Oz ... wait, who is he?

The Jon hates all of you.

So how did this happen?

This season's team is probably the best offense The Jon has assembled ... on paper. Here take a look.

Russell Martin: He has been solid, but unspectacular. He has lost his speed, but 10 steals is still good. What hurts him is there are a lot of other good catchers this season such as Benjie Molina and Ryan Doumit.
Grade: B

Adrian Gonzalez: Started out hot and then became a reliable mediocre hitter that doesn't get a lot of RBI. Typifies The Jon's team. Still he is a reliable option at first base without the wow factor.
Grade: B

Placido Polanco: Hits. Does nothing else. When he doesn't hit, is nothing himself.
Grade: D+

Rafael Furcal: Let's just stop here. Replaced by JJ Hardy who has been steady at best. His streakiness kills H2H leagues.
Grade Furcal (before injury): A+
Grade Hardy: C

Chipper Jones: Led The Jon to the top of the standings in the first month. Then played the game: Me Chipper. Get hurt. On Sunday. Play. Maybe. Maybe not. Throw. Dice. Lost all power. After hammy injury.
Grade: D

Vladimir Guerrero and Ichiro Suzuki: This really hurts. This was the secret to The Jon's dominance. There were no two better players to have in a H2H format. Both loaded up on hits and runs. Ichiro takes care of hits by himself. If he had an off week, Vladimir was there to pick up the slack while providing RBI and homers. Both have had down seasons and are the main reason why The Jon is where The Jon is.
Grades: F

Magglio Ordonez: Has been steady, but has been hampered by injuries and lack of power.
Grade: C+

Ryan Braun: The future hasn't disappointed. He is in the top 5 in homers and top 15 in RBI. Combined with high hit guys and he is the force The Jon has envisioned.
Grade: A-

So how did this happen again?

Well you see, The Jon has always been an H2H player that runs up against hot teams. It usually happens in the beginning of the season and turns around in the second half where The Jon is the hottest team in the league. Hasn't happened this season.

Two weeks ago, The Jon had 72 hits, 10 homers and 42 RBI. That would have been a easy 10-4 win last year. This season? Try 10-3. That's the breaks.

The positives

The Jon no longer has follow the ESPN sportsticker like the bible it is. Don't see The Jon's players being highlighted on the stats? Big deal.

The Jon can actually enjoy watching baseball again ...

Umm, that's it. This really sucks.

Format change

Since The Jon is now out of the race, The Greatness will try to write every day. Shorter, but every day on the players that make fantasy baseball, fantasy baseball.

Note the word try. The work is cracking down on computer use and stuff.

You see, here at TheBaseballStar we or The Jon is committed.

If you can't beat 'em

This week it is Black Moon.
Instead of how many emcees must get dissed, how about how many baseballstar"s" must get dissed before writing.

Enjoy and good luck this week, fools.

I'm all about reflecting on one of the greatest albums of all time. Check out this review by Jordan Richardson.

Released originally on April 19, 1994, the debut album from Nas stands up as one of the classic rap recordings of the 1990s and one of the greatest albums, rap or otherwise, of all time. Illmatic was produced by Large Professor of Main Source, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, and DJ Premier.

The most striking thing about Illmatic is its content. On track after beautiful track, Nas spits fire about poverty, culture, and the hopelessness found on the streets. Just 19-years-old when Illmatic dropped, Nas shows wisdom beyond his years with his first-person tackling of the inner city plot. A voice for the disenfranchised youth left for dead after Reaganomics brutalized the world he knew, Nas, this kid, took the torch and spoke for the people in ways that few had experienced before.

[caption id="attachment_470" align="aligncenter" width="298" caption="The World is Yours"][/caption]

Nas reports violence and the authenticity of the streets without glorifying it or stagnating in it. He is a voice of optimism, but also a voice of truth. He echoes the gunshots without lionizing them, stepping beyond the hallucination of cruel splendor and into the limelight of a master raconteur.

With Illmatic, Nas became known to the world not just as a great rapper but as a stern technician of prose. His mastery over wordplay, multifarious rhyme patterns, and language helped take the record to another level. His inability to compromise gave tracks like “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)” an innate flow almost unprecedented in hip-hop and his swift release brought things to another level.

Also noteworthy is the production of Illmatic. The record is simplistically produced, which gives Nas’ lyrics a hard place to fall. This is the sound of the streets, often quite plainly, and the production fits the bill on each track with resolute devotion. The beats are severe and the scratches are never invasive. Sampling is done in moderation.

It should also be noted that Illmatic was one of the first hip-hop albums to feature such an all-star cast of producers, representing a trend that is going strong to almost-excessive lengths today.

With on-point production and stellar lyricism, it’s hard to find a better album than Illmatic. Nas’ sturdy and careless delivery smoulders all over the record, taking over classic tracks like “N.Y. State of Mind” and “Halftime” with his persistent level-headedness and lethal attention to detail.

1994 was a big year for hip-hop on the East Coast. Biggie’s classic debut Ready to Die was also dropped and the East Coast sound started to challenge the G-funk on the West Coast. It was a compelling time, to say the least, but Illmatic still stands strong as one of the greatest of that era and as one of the greatest albums of all time.

I'm a producer.

"Got a beat I made. Wanna hear it? Here it go": Lost Lands

So needless to say, I watch loads of videos like these to get charged when I'm making beats:

Nick Tha 1da on the SP303

Pete Rock on the MPC

ID 4 Windz (Scienz Of Life) on his MPC

Formal introduction coming soon. For now, I'm Moon.

p.s. If u can tell me who I'm quoting, I'll send u a copy of my seemingly extinct Facechanger mixtape.

Madlib’s long-anticipated addition to BBE’s Beat Generation series will be released on Rapster/BBE this September 30th. Fitting comfortably into a series whose previous contributors include the late J Dilla, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Pete Rock, Madlib will deliver one of his most straight forward neck snapping hip-hop albums to date. - Stones Throw Records

WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip CD/2LP
1. The New Resident - Beat Konducta
2. Blow The Horns On ‘Em - Guilty Simpson
3. The Plan Pt. 1 - Georgia Anne Muldrow
4. Tension - Beat Konducta
5. Gamble On Ya Boy - Defari
6. The Ox (805) - MED feat. Poke
7. All Virtue - Beat Konducta
8. Blinfold Test #10 (He Don’t Play) - J.Rocc
9. The Thang-Thang - Price Po
10. Heat - Madlib
11. Smoke Break - Beat Konducta
12. The Plan (Reprise) - Beat Konducta
13. Life - Karriem Riggins
14. Parklight - Beat Konducta
15. Yo Yo Affair Pt. 1 & 2 - Frezna
16. I Want It Back - The Professionals (Oh No & Madlib)
17. Disco Dance - Beat Konducta
18. What It Do - Liberation
19. Take That Money - Roc ‘C’ feat. Oh No
20. Drinks Up! - Frank N Dank
21. The Way That I Live - Stacy Epps
22. Ratrace - Murs
23. Go! - Guilty Simpson
24. Stop - Beat Konducta

www.stonesthrow.com/madlib
www.myspace.com/madlib
www.bbemusic.com

thanks to Universoul

]]> http://alimaltz.wordpress.com/?p=58 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:29:55 +0000 Ali Maltz http://alimaltz.wordpress.com/?p=58

Hard Core, Keepin Dat Sheat Underground

Hard Core, Keepin Dat Sheat Underground Hip Hop Mix
Hard Core, Keepin Dat Sheat Underground Mix-Tape, By Ali Jordana Maltz aka SoulQueen
Is my new Hip Hop Beat Mix-Tape Produced By Me Ali Jordana Maltz aka SoulQueen
Every Beat on this Mix is Produced By Me Ali Jordana Maltz aka SoulQueen, and Blended in
with Acapellas, and some of the songs were done in the studio with Hip Hop Artists Rapping to them.
The Mix starts off from My live show in Boston,, from July Fourth Weekend. I did a Turntable Show,
I was on Scratching for about an hour, but, I put in the first  Ten minutes of the of the show. The
beginning of the it starts of with Beat Scratches, then I make it sound crazy. About Three Minutes
into it. The Coolest part of the of the Scratching is like at the end three minutes.
Then I start the Mix-Tape with My Produced Tracks, with Artists like EDO G, Ghostface Killah,
Jedi Mind Tricks, Guru, From Gang Starr, Jeru The Damaja, Big L, Biggie, Wu-Tang Clan,
Big Daddy Kane, Jadakiss, Masta Killah, Redman, Kayne West, Az and Much More...
All the Beats I produced for all the songs are Blue Notes Influenced. I am a huge Blue Notes
fan. I have a huge collection. I am the number one fan of Jazz Hip Hop, which was influenced
\by my favorite Gang Starr. I worked really hard on this mix. Each Song was done By me. and I am entered
in a couple of contests. I still want to know what you all think? I am also always looking
or other artists to work with, as well as Labels, DJ's, Producers, who have or have not made it
yet. As long as I like the work you do since I am the producer. I am a huge Underground Fan, and
would rather keep it underground and make less money any day of the week, then have a one hit wonder
and have my named ruined for life. If this sounds like you, and you are very motivated
you can contact me Ali Maltz: E Mail Me
Imeem

[dailymotion id=x9yzp]

Jussumen (Remix)

Ce monument né le 19 Avril 1994 dans les projects du Queens de Long Island n'aurait jamais pu voir le jour si MC Serch des 3rd Bass, son producteur éxécutif, ainsi que Kool G Rap, n'avaient pas fait un peu de forcing pour que le jeune surdoué de 20 ans puisse signer chez Columbia. Illmatic ne serait guère non plus cette Bible Eastcoast si les producteurs renommés de la Golden Era, à savoir les légendes vivantes que sont aujourd'hui DJ Premier, Large Professor, Q-Tip, L.E.S et Pete Rock, n'y avaient pas participé à sa création. 

À sa sortie, cet album n’a pas réalisé des scores de ventes mirobolants (12e au Billboard 200), mais il a profondément marqué les rues new-yorkaises et les mentalités dans le rap de manière irréversible. Chose extraordinaire, The Source lui avait décerné suite à leur chronique un '5 mics', la note suprême pour la première fois de l'histoire du magazine rap américain. Et encore de nos jours, Illmatic demeure une référence en matière de Hip-Hop, tous les critiques et les magasines vous le diront. Personne n’imaginait à cet instant, pas même ses auteurs, que ces dix-titres allaient signifier un modèle d’art et de perfection à tous les égards.

“Street's disciple, my raps are trifle/ I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle/ Stampede the stage, I leave the microphone split/ Play Mr. Tuffy while I'm on some Pretty Tone shit [...]”

Commençons par ses rimes, tirées de sa toute première apparition officielle, sur le titre - devenu indirectement fameux par son biais - "Live at the Barbecue" des Main Source en 1991 (extrait de leur album Breaking Atoms). Il avait 17 ans à peine. AZ chille à ses côtés sur cet instru, on reconnaît aussi un extrait audio du thème de Wildstyle. Ce sont ces morceaux que l'on entend en musique fond sur l'introduction "The Genesis", les premières majuscules de l'illustre carrière de Nas.

"Rappers I monkey flip em with the funky rhythm I be kickin
Musician, inflictin composition
of pain I'm like Scarface sniffin cocaine
Holdin a M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme [...]"

Voici les quatres premières rimes de l'anthologique "NY State of Mind", la seconde piste d'Illmatic et premier morceau de l'album. Le beat produit par DJ Premier, dont la réputation à l'époque n'est plus à faire pour son travail avec Gangstarr, est magistral, imposant, avec cette boucle de piano hypnotique magnifiquement exploitée pour créer une ambiance street rarement égalée. Il suffit de fermer les yeux et d'écouter avec ses deux oreilles, une l'intru, l'autre les lyrics, pour se voir arpenter les quartiers de New York au milieu des années 90.  S’il faut citer une des chansons de Nas par excellence, ce mythe en fait bien partie tellement l'alchimie entre Primo et Nas est forte. Serch racontait à leur sujet qu'ils ont dû être séparés à la naissance.

AZ, originaire de Brooklyn, est l'unique featuring d'Illmatic. Et il lui a suffit d'un seul refrain - que l'on connaît tous par coeur - aux côtés de Nas pour qu'il soit révélé au grand jour parmi les meilleurs lyricistes de la Grande Pomme : “Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we get high/ Cause you never know when you're gonna go.” Les deux MCs font part du désespoir des habitants des banlieues pauvres en une phrase devenue célèbre dans le rap. La production signée L.E.S. apporte un côté laid-black grâce à ce sample de "Yearning for your Love" des Gap Band. Nas donne le 'la' avec son flow impressionnant, en lâchant des rimes superbement écrites, capable de décrire le quotidien des miséreux en une ligne comme par exemple : “I switched my motto/ instead of sayin fuck tommorrow/ That buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto”. Les notes de cuivres jouées à la fin du titre sont de Olu Dara Jones, le père musicien de Nas.

Autre producteur de renom, Pete Rock, nageant en plein succès avec son acolyte CL Smooth en ce temps-là, offre une touche de soul/jazz sur "The World Is Yours". C'est lui d'ailleurs qu'on entend chanter sur le refrain. Nas en place pour son homie Ill Will, son meilleur ami tué en 92. Un autre grand classique de Nas. On regrette que les deux artistes soient en froid.

"Halftime" est, de par son intitulé, judicieusement situé à mi-parcours de Illmatic. C'est une track importante dans la carrière de Nas car il s'agit de son premier maxi sorti courant de l'année 92, extrait de la bande-son de Zebrahead réalisée par MC Serch. Ce sans-faute verbal produit par Large Professor forçait déjà la comparaison avec le Dieu, Rakim. En plus d'être l'un des plus doués de sa génération, Nas était déjà un grand de ce monde. "I'm like Malcolm X catchin' Jungle Fever".

"I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners
Hennessy holders and old school niggas, then I be dissin a
Unofficial that smoke woolie thai
I dropped out of Cooley High, gassed up by a cokehead cutie pie
Jungle survivor, fuck who's the liver
My man put the battery in my back, a difference from Energizer
Sentence begins indented, with formality
My duration's infinite, money-wise or physiology
Poetry, that's a part of me, retardedly bop
I drop the ancient manifested hip-hop, straight off the block
I reminisce on park jams, my man was shot for his sheep coat
Childhood lesson made me see him drop in my weed smoke [...]"

2e symbiose exceptionnelle entre flow et instrumental avec Premier. Sur le plan des lyrics, "Memory Lane" est incontestablement l'un des plus beaux textes de Nas, très introspectif. Son talent d'écriture très rare se lit au travers de descriptions réalistes riches en métaphores. Ajoutez à ce morceau un refrain scratchant du Biz Markie, un clin d'oeil à Craig G et le compte est bon.

Après Primo et Pete Rock, au tour de Q-Tip, des Tribe Called Quest, de léguer sous sa casquette de producteur une touche Native Tongues sur "One Love". Cette track est en réalité une lettre destinée à un prisonnier, et pas n'importe lequel puisqu'on apprendra plus tard que ces paroles étaient pour Cormega, avec qui il était proche à l'époque avant de s'embrouiller à cause de la formation du groupe The Firm.

Retour aux choses sérieuses avec le mentor Large Professor. "One Time 4 Your Mind" a un beat plus martelant, deux couplets egotrips de Nas aux jeux de mots intelligents. S'ensuit "Represent" produit par DJ Premier, de nouveau une association magique. Cet avant-dernier titre de rassemblent au refrain fédérateur s'achève sur une immense dédicace. La conclusion parfaite de Illmatic est augurée par Large Professor avec "It Ain't Hard To Tell", sur un sample reconnaissable de "Human Nature" de Michael Jackson. Aucun refrain, juste un texte récité par un flow d'une justesse absolue. Nas enfonce le clou une bonne fois pour toute de cet authentique classique.

Que dire de ce concentré de talent fou... IllMatic est une oeuvre verbalement conjuguée au plus que parfait. Absolument indispensable dans toute les bonnes discothèques Hip-Hop/Rap, dans sa version originale ou alors la reédition 10th Years Anniversary de 2004 contenant des remixes signés Rockwilder et Nick Fury, "On The Real" et "Star Wars" respectivement produits par Marley Marl et Large Pro.

(chronique réécrite le 16 Juillet 2008)

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.630167&w=425&h=350&fv=p_nID%3D6926%26p_nRegionID%3D%26p_nCategoryID%3D6%26embed%3D1]

"Perfect Timing"

"All We Ever Know" / "Gorilla Pimpin" / "I Can't Help It"

"Smoke In The Air" / "Take You There"

"It's A Love Thing" / "I Got A Love" / "Heaven Is Watching You"

"Straighten It Out" / "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)"

C’est avec un enthousiasme absent que j’entame l’écoute des 19 titres. Et c’est avec le sentiment d’avoir perdu mon temps avec un disque de seconde main qu’elle se termine. Il n’y a pas grand-chose dessus qui me motive à passer d’autres prochaines écoutes, à part quelques titres. Je retiens « All I Know Is Pain » produit et avec Alchemist (et encore, c’est bien léger), « Da 80’s », la rencontre du Ghost et Ghostface Killah sur « Star of the Stage » (le son possède un côté Wu-Tang), la réunion des Lox sur « Gangster, Gangster » sur un beat de Pete Rock, et d’autres trucs dont je vais discuter ensuite. Il n’y a rien de vraiment lourd qui nous corresponde, pourtant Styles P est une bête au mic avec une bête de flow, toujours fluide et articulé, qu’il varie avec aisance selon son gré. Sa performance qui m’a le plus épatée se trouve sur « Holyday », où il pétarade avec les mots sur un instru pas forcément approprié.

J’ai l’impression d’avoir eu affaire à un album à faible budget, disposant malencontreusement de beats oscillants entre l’assez bon et le pourrave (« Look at Her », « Shoot Niggas »,...), comme s’il a conçu cet album comme un gros street-album histoire de faire ponctuellement acte de présence dans les bacs. Rien de mainstream non plus, contrairement à ce qu’on aurait pu croire en voyant les apparitions de Swizz Beatz et Akon sur respectivement « Blow Ya Mind » et « Got My Eyes On You ». Les featurings nombreux parviennent tout juste à redonner un gain d’intérêt à ce Super Gangster  (sauf Max B, Bully, Raw Bucks et Ray J), comme c'est le cas de Beanie Sigel sur « U Ain’t Ready » (produit par Dame Grease), sur lequel il enterre la hache de guerre avec les D-Block, oubliée la vieille querelle avec Jadakiss (ça date de 2001 cette affaire), et l’engagé « Cause I’m Black » avec Black Thought des Roots, un écho à « I’m Black » qui est de loin le meilleur (et le denier morceau...) de ce Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman).

Pas mieux que ses prédécesseurs, ni surenchérissant (ça aurait pu être une alternative comme une autre), beaucoup ont trouvé cet album saoulant, je comprends et partage leur opinion. Ce n’est pas la boucherie espérée, pas passionnant, pas du tout percutant, ni super, ni extraordinaire, Styles P patine dans la semoule. C’est triste à dire, mais je doute fort qu’il ait d’autres commentaires à faire à ce propos.