Hip Hop Is Read: 7/1/10

Rap Round Table, Week Ending 7/30/2010

Posted by Ivan at 9:15 AM

Music Analysis & Reporting:

New York Is Begging For Your Hatred by David D.

Put Your Left Foot In: Big Boi steps out by Sasha Frere-Jones

GZA: Lyrical Genius and the Wu-Tang Clan's Raw Food Guru by Jessica Amason

21st Century Hip Hop Fan; How Close Is Too Close? by Rachel C.

Gangrene (Alchemist + Oh No) distill 'Gutter Water,' drop lead single by Jeff Weiss

8 Things I Do Because Of Outkast by David D.

Talib Kweli – Masterful Wordsmith by C-Dub

I thought Kanye was too good for Twitter? by Byron Crawford

Bloggerhouse presents 75 Backpack Bangers (1994-2000) (Dart’s Next 25 Picks) by Dart Adams

Bloggerhouse presents 75 Backpack Bangers (1994-2000) (Eric’s Next 25 Picks) by Eric

Lupe Fiasco Talks Fan Petition, Lasers Being In Limbo by Shaheem Reid

What’s Your Ratio? by C-Dub

Sach O Presents…The Bawse by Sach O

Vanilla Ice > Than Your Least Favorite Rapper – Think About It by Anslem Samuel

Can We Focus on Rapping… by C-Dub

Ear Drums Pop: July 2010...The Prince Paul Edition by DJ Sorce-1

Never Go Back © Special Ed by Dart Adams

Top 50 Rap Songs of the 2000s by Rizoh

…On The TLC Tip by DANJ!

Freddie Gibbs-”Str8 Killa No Filla” Mixtape by Jeff Weiss

Freddie Gibbs-”National Anthem (Fuck the World)” Video by Jeff Weiss

Failed careers + corrupt journalism = kaboom! by Byron Crawford

If You Wanna Buy A Sam Cooke Album, Where Would You Go ? © Prince by Dart Adams

“Make My Sh*t The Chronic…” by Danj!

1,000 times nullus by Byron Crawford

Album Reviews:

Rick Ross - Teflon Don by MZ

Rick Ross - Teflon Don by HL

Rick Ross - Teflon Don by WULU

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty by Patrick M.

Curren$y - Pilot Talk by Tom Breihan

Curren$y - Pilot Talk by Jon Caramanica

Fat Joe - The Darkside Vol. 1 by Slava Kuperstein

Slum Village - Villa Manifesto by Nate Patrin

Slum Village - Villa Manifesto by Omar Burgess

Vinnie Paz - Season of the Assassin Ali Elabbady

Killah Priest - The 3 Day Theory by Adam Figman

Tech N9ne Collabos - The Gates Mixed Plate by Sean Ryon

Dwele - W.ants W.orld W.oman by Francisco McCurry

Trek Life - Everything Changed Nothing by Amanda Bassa

Shlohmo - Camping EP by Brandon Rae

Dirty Projectors + Bjork - Mount Wittenberg Orca by Brian Hodge

Super Chron Flight Brothers - Cape Verde by Paul Christiansen

ceo - White Magic by Erik Stable

Profiles & Interviews:

Freddie Gibbs Talks Major Label Saga, “Str8 Killa,” Rapping DJs & Rick Ross by Toshitaka Kondo

Freddie Gibbs Talks Eminem's Rejection, Standing Out With "Str8 Killa" by Paul W. Arnold

Slum Village: Forever Slum by Sean Ryon

N*E*R*D: Colors by William E. Ketchum III

Chucky Smash From The Legion – The Unkut Interview by Robbie

I Want People to Know They Should Never Quit: An Interview With Trek Life by Zach Cole

The James Franco Project by Sam Anderson

WTF/Comedy:

Louis C.K. Stares at the Void: His new show, Louie, displays a fine dark humor by Troy Patterson

Politics:

I Never See War Movies. I Saw This One. by Alison Buckholtz

Freddie Gibbs - Str8 Killa No Filla [Download]

Posted by Ivan at 2:29 AM

Am I going to a record store (huh?) on August 3rd to purchase Str8 Killa? Yes, yes I will. Did I stay up 'til 2:30 AM to download Str8 Killa No Filla? Yes, yes I did. Support! Download Str8 Killa No Filla @ XXL

They Reminisce Over You... Melvin Bliss

Posted by Ivan at 5:50 PM

BIG R.I.P. to a legend. Hip hop wouldn't be the same without Melvin Bliss' amazing breakbeat on "Synthetic Substitution." As a brief primer on the track's impact on hip hop and sampling, here's a collection of HHIR sample sets that feature "Synthetic Substitution":

And there's PLENTY more where ^that^ came from...

R.I.P. Melvin Bliss

Freddie Gibbs: In The Tape Deck

Posted by Ivan at 9:00 PM

A few months ago, as a prelude to the release of B.o.B's debut LP, I compiled a set of 36 tracks featured on The Tape Deck from '08 to '10. For this second go-round I thought I'd feature Gary, Indiana's own Freddie Gibbs, not because of his liner notes but because I promised I would, #beleedat. Gangsta Gibbs is prepped to drop his Str8 Killa EP on August 3rd. Prior to the release, XXL will also be providing fans with a promotional mixtape titled Str8 Killa No Filla, available for free download on July 29th.

But before all that, of course, we've got Freddie Gibbs: In The Tape Deck, another 36 track romp from an emcee you need to be listening to - in case you haven't been already. I myself like to adhere to the saying "don't believe the hype." It's saved me from plenty of let downs from false prophets. But though Gibbs is a darling of the blogosphere, I can't stress this enough: he reminds me of '99-'03 50 Cent, young Bun B, and above all, 2Pac - all rolled up in one. And you know me, I'm a 'Pac stan. So yeah... "believe the hype." Enjoy... and as always, turn it up!!

Rap Round Table, Week Ending 7/23/2010

Posted by Ivan at 9:40 AM

"Macbook keyboard" by alcomm

Music Analysis & Reporting:

Halftime Report: The Best Rap Albums and Songs of 2010 (So Far) by Rizoh

Bloggerhouse presents 75 Backpack Bangers (1994-2000) (Dart’s 25)

Bloggerhouse presents 75 Backpack Bangers (1994-2000, Eric’s Picks)

Bloggerhouse presents 75 Backpack Bangers (1994-2000, Trav’s Picks)

Congratulations, Rick Ross: A Nation of Music Critics Loves You Now by Amos Barshad

The Str8 Killa PSA by John Gotty

Talib Kweli and the demise of the conscious rapper by Mychal Smithy

Talib Kweli says he's not 'The Demise of the Conscious Rapper' by Talib Kweli

The new, improved Talib Kweli by Byron Crawford

How Long is Too Long to Wait? by Chris H.

Juggernaut, Wolverine, Rogue and Colossus by Danny Brown

Hip-Hop Is For The Kids by David D.

R&B – Hip Hop’s Better Half by Chris H.

Album of The Week: Poor Righteous Teachers-Holy Intellect 1990 by Jaz

The 25 Greatest Boot Camp Clik Songs Of All Time by Andrew Noz

How To Get Your Mom Into Rap: A Guide to Sharing Elderly Contemporary Hip Hop Music by TAN

Welcome to Death Row by Danj!

The D-O-Double-G by Danj!

Have we been fooled by Curren$y? by Chris H.

How the Looming Specter of Viral Marketing Ruins Rap Songs About Consumer Goods by Willy Staley

Bitter, old music critic goes 2 Pitchfork Festival, pans Panda Bear, questions P4k’s brand by The Alt Report Robot

Last Night: Trae Day At Northwest Mall by Rizoh

Foe tha Love of $ by Byron Crawford

Chart Watch Extra: When Pop Meets Rap by Paul Grein

Double Time and Double Talk by Jeff Weiss

Top 10 Rap Covers By Non-Rap Artists by Rizoh

Beatmakers and Trade Secrets: Shop-Talk Elevates the Beatmaking Art Form and Tradition by Amir Said

Can You Beat The Clock?: How Long It Takes to Develop a Strong Skill for Beatmaking Depends on a Number of Key Factors by Amir Said

NORE's Notable Quotables by Robbie

A Project Where An Artist Works With One Producer? Hmm by Adam Fleischer

I’ve Got The Blues… by Dallas Penn

Chronic samples: The collected source material for Dr. Dre's opus by Jeff Weiss

Chronic summer heat: It’s about that time (like we always do) to revisit Dr. Dre’s summertime joint the Chronic by Jason Keller

Album Reviews:

What’s New In Dart’s iPod #19 AKA Delayed Reaction by Dart Adams

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty by Zach Cole

Rick Ross - Teflon Don by Jeff Weiss

Rick Ross - Teflon Don by Jayson Greene

Rick Ross - Teflon Don by Edwin Ortiz

Black Sheep - From the Black Pool of Genius by Nicholas Candiotto

Rakaa - Crown of Thorns by Remco Samaun

Paul Wall - Heart of a Champion by Sean Ryon

Godfather Don - Donnie Brasco by Michael Sheehan

Stat Quo - Statlanta by Slava Kuperstein

Trina - Amazin' by TC

Kele - The Boxer by Arika Dean

Wolf Parade - Expo 86 by Brian Hodge

Stars - The Five Ghosts by Marzelle Addy

Kenan Bell - Until the Future by Paul Christiansen

Profiles & Interviews:

Speak Ya Clout: Prince Paul on Montezuma's Revenege Part 1; Part 2 by DJ SORCE-1

Interview With Exile by J to the AAP

Artist Spotlight: Emmanuel Jal by Rizoh

First Interview with LA DJ Kutmah after His Controversial Deportation by Jeff Weiss

WTF/Comedy:

How to see a pr0n chick in person for free by Byron Crawford

Sarah Palin compares herself to William Shakespeare by Blue Gal

Gizmodo’s Right: You Should Stalk a Sexy Black Girl on Twitter by Sherri L. Smith

Politics:

These Are Our Heroes by Joey

Breitbart's Back: The man behind the Shirley Sherrod shakeup by Christopher Beam

The Tape Deck '10: Volume #58

Posted by Ivan at 8:40 AM

This one features a remix/blend mixed by yours truly:

The Tape Deck '10: Volume #57

Posted by Ivan at 8:30 AM

Aliens: Mentos Commercial

Posted by Ivan at 12:03 AM

Here's something you may not know about me: I'm a fan of the Alien film franchise. Big fan. To call myself a sci-fi geek would be laughable ('cause I'm not), but there's something about those films - particularly the first two - that always intrigued me to the point of fanboy status (*holds breath until Ridley Scott's prequel hits the big screen*). I was born in 1987, so it's not like I've got some sort of childhood attachment to the film (like I do with, say, Toy Story or the Child's Play series - yeah, my mind was warped at a young age). But when I think back to that time, some of the memories I cherish most are Super Nintendo games, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nickelodeon shows, and yes, amongst many other things, those god-damned Mentos commercials. That ridiculously lame yet ridiculously catchy tune managed to burrow its way into my brain like a tick (speaking of which, The Tick was awesome, too). And I've got to be honest with you: as an adult, the humor in those commercials seems funnier than ever. The notion that Mentos can rescue you from any of life's predicaments, to me, is fucking hilarious. Still. Many companies have employed the same advertising formula for their products. None have reached Mentos' cult status. And with that, I present to you a mash-up of 80s and 90s nostalgia: "Aliens: Mentos Commercial". What compelled me to do this, you ask? Lack of rest, perhaps (try it some time - you'll be amazed by what a sleep-deprived mind can do). Truthfully, I was inspired by the following series of like-minded YouTube clips: Terminator 2 Mentos Commercial; House M.D. - Mentos; Saw - Mentos Commercial; Scarface Mentos Commercial. Enjoy!