Metal Lungies

That’s what Eminem did… and to Michael Jackson, no less. [Pause for the customary “no homo”]

XXL reports that the “King of Pop” just purchased a portion of Eminem’s catalog, and now controls the publishing rights to some of Em’s most popular records. Jackson was first put on to purchasing publishing rights to music back in the ’80s by his buddy Paul McCartney, and he showed his appreciation to Paul by soon after purchasing much of the Beatles’ catalog, and later refusing to sell them back to Paul, greatly damaging their friendship. Last I heard, there might have been some negotiations between Jackson and McCartney to work something out, in the wake of some “legal fees” that Jackson has incurred in recent memory.

There’s lots of money to be had in publishing — money that Eminem might not need at the moment, but may be interested in several years from now. If Jackson wouldn’t mind losing a good friend over keeping his valuable Beatles’ publishing rights, I doubt that he’ll have much sympathy for Eminem — a man who dedicated an entire music video to mocking Jackson’s legacy, legal woes and lack of a certain facial feature used for smelling. [And if Jackson’s purchase means that the planet will forever be rid of that godawful song, then I applaud Michael for his actions.] Sphere: Related Content

Simply put, I don’t want Kobe to be traded, unless he wants to be traded. Put even simpler, I don’t know if Kobe wants to be traded. It seems like the turmoil from yesterday has died down significantly (… or not), so I won’t keep drawing up trade scenarios for Kobe — I’m sure the Laker haters (I know y’all are out there) are sick of this nonsense already. But all I’m saying is, if trading Kobe is in the Lakers’ future, it’s better done now than later.

The reason the Lakers got hosed so badly when they traded Shaq (besides the incompetence of their front office) was because they drew out the process way too long, and, in the end, they were left with no better offer than Lamar Odom (a solid player in his own right), Caron Butler (eventual trade bait, sadly) and Brian Grant (a massive contract). Teams saw that they didn’t have to convince the Lakers to give up Shaq, and thus, they saw the opportunity to possibly get him for a discount. If Kobe can change his mind in a matter of 6 hours, then what’s to say what tomorrow holds? The Lakers have a choice to make (and I thank all that is holy that it’s not my choice to make) — either see what’s available for Kobe now and possibly snag a franchise player (a la Paul Pierce, or perhaps Tracy McGrady or Joe Johnson) or a combination of playoff-tested veterans (see below); OR risk Kobe waking up on the wrong side of the bed next week, deciding again that he wants to be traded, and potentially set the franchise back another few seasons by having no choice but to trade Kobe for spare parts.

Last post, I brainstormed Kobe going to the New York Knicks. While that would be great for the NBA, the Knicks’ organization, Madison Square Garden, New York City, and Kobe’s wallet, it probably wouldn’t get him that much closer to that NBA championship which he so desires, even in the weaker Eastern Conference. There is a place in the Eastern Conference, however, where Kobe could play for a team that is nipping at the heels of title contention, has a solid young core of players, and has a statue outside of the greatest player to ever play basketball, and quite possibly the only man that Kobe is not better than.

There are two ways that the Chicago Bulls could go about trying to acquire Kobe from the Lakers while keeping within NBA salary rules. Their young core of Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Chris Duhon, Tyrus Thomas and whoever they select with the #9 pick in the draft — that’s 5 players total — all make something in the range of $3-4 million/year, and when Kirk Hinrich’s contract extension kicks in, he’ll be set for $11 million (!!) next season. In order to get Kobe, the Bulls would have to trade about 4 of the 5 players in that group, or Hinrich and 2 of the players in that group, to the Lakers, which would pretty much leave the Bulls with Kobe, Ben Wallace, a couple secondary guys, and a pretty barren roster afterwards.

The other way for the Bulls would be a straight-up trade of Kobe for Ben Wallace. The Bulls have pretty much accepted that they overpaid for Wallace last offseason, and while Big Ben improved their already-stellar defense, their offense remained pretty inept at times, especially against Detroit in the playoffs. However, trading Kobe for Ben Wallace straight up would be worse than the Shaq trade. No need for the Lakers to be the laughing stock of the NBA twice in the last 3 years (if that hasn’t already happened).

Read the rest of this entry »

I appreciate the honesty, Kobe. I mean, if you don’t want to be here, we don’t want you here. It was fun while it lasted, but we’re not gonna beg for you to stay. If it’s really gotten to the point that you’re not happy here, then let’s just make this work out for both of us. [I feel like this is the best approach to ending a relationship, but then again, I’ve never been in a relationship that involved $17 million dollars a year. Perhaps that makes it different?]

But seriously though, why not be upfront about it in the first place? First you want to be traded unless Jerry West comes back, then you want to be “retire a Laker,” and now you want to be traded and “nothing is gonna change your mind”… until something apparently did change your mind. Sorry, Kobe, but at this point, I just don’t care anymore. If a good deal comes along, Lakers, pull the fucking trigger.

As a Lakers fan, I can’t help but be extremely disappointed… but as an optimist, I’m a bit excited. Change is good. Sometimes. Maybe. Who knows? All I know is that Kobe might very well get traded this offseason, so we might as well start exploring possible destinations for him (ESPN’s Bill Simmons sure got off to a quick start). Here’s one that I just farted out (via ESPN’s Trade Machine, which completely ripped off RealGM’s Trade Checker (TM), but actually works better), with potentially many more to come:

Read the rest of this entry »

Swiped from nahright.

I had to post this with some notes. It’s funny that it takes 50 Cent to host Rap City to get one of the more interesting segments on, his questions weren’t that too bad like the usual ones generic asking about their history (they had the useful on screen pop-ups for that!). 50 gets bonus points for wearing the Oilers hat (nh) & the “Ja we only got 16 years” line.  I don’t think 50 needs to do anything anymore, if he wasn’t paid before VitaminWater made sure he is now. 400 mil? Maybe he can send a case over here..I’ve been addicted to the shit for 6 years.

KRS & Marl Freestyle:

Interview Pt.1

Interview Pt.2

While reading through ML’s recent interview with Kurupt (Shameless self-promotion! I’m playing my part!), I was pleased to see that Young Gotti, much like myself, is a loyal Laker fan, and the purple and gold can do no wrong in his eyes. Spoken like a real fan and not like a bandwagon jumper, this attitude epitomizes the ideal of true dedication to following a sports team. Sure, losing to the Suns in the first round for two straight seasons has been discouraging, but hey, how many teams don’t even make the playoffs? And even when the Lakers didn’t make the playoffs three seasons ago, they were able to turn their lottery draft pick into Andrew Bynum, who could become the next great big man in the NBA, or possibly be used as trade bait to help the Lakers snag a superstar (like Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett, or Jermaine O’Neal) to put next to Kobe during this offseason. Success! Kind of!

However, I can’t shield my eyes to the wrongs that the Lakers have done in recent years (and Kobe apparently feels the same way). The draft pick that was used for Brian Cook could’ve landed Leandro Barbosa or Josh Howard, and the draft pick that got Sasha Vujacic could’ve snagged Anderson Varejao or Chris Duhon. Caron Butler, who just made his first All-Star appearance this past season in Washington, was traded for Kwame Brown, who still has yet to get his shit together. I won’t even go deep into detail about the Shaq trade, because Shaq made it quite clear that he didn’t want to play for the Lakers anymore, but still… they traded Shaq. You do NOT trade Shaq.

I realize that my loyalty to the Lakers is a lot like my loyalty to a lot of the rappers I praise. I care too much about my Lakers (see how I said “my”?) to abandon ship when times get rough. Likewise, when a rapper that I faithfully support drops a dud of an album, I’m not throwing away his other CDs and boycotting his career from there on out.

However, unlike Kurupt, I can’t let my loyalty sway my opinions — the/my Lakers have made some horrible personnel decisions in recent memory, just as some of my favorite rappers have released some horrible albums in their time. The list that follows is some of those albums that I acknowledge as being godawful, not to disrespect the artist that produced it, but rather, to praise the overall quality of their careers despite these respective shortcomings.

Read the rest of this entry »

First this, now we have Snoop hanging out courtside with young kids rocking thick ol’ gold ropes. If the Warriors made it to the next round Snoop was probably going to bring out Don Bishop for the games, it’s a shame.  PS looks like Snoop is quite the cali sports fan. Stanley Cup Prediction: Anaheim in 7.

This shit was too hot NOT to post.

Download link.

Tracklisting
01. Kanye West - Friday Morning, May 25th, 2007 (Intro)          02:17
02. Kanye West - Stronger (Snippet)                              01:23
03. CRS (Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West & Pharrell) - Us Placers        03:54
04. GLC - I Ain't Even On Yet                                    02:36
05. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothing                           04:08
06. Common feat. Kanye West - Southside (Snippet)                02:22
07. Common - The Game                                            02:30
08. Kanye West - Porno (Interlude)                               01:15
09. 88 Keys feat. Kanye West & Malik Yusef - Stay Up (Snippet)   01:50
10. Talib Kweli feat. Kanye West - In The Mood                   02:32
11. Bentley feat. Pimp C & Lil' Wayne - C.O.L.O.U.R.S.           04:35
12. Kid Sister feat. Kanye West - Pro Nails                      02:37
13. Kanye West - Young Folks                                     01:47
14. Kanye West - Interviews (Interlude)                          03:31
15. Common - The People                                          03:25
16. Big Sean - Get'cha Some                                      02:57
17. Consequence - Don't Forget Em                                02:55
18. Sa-Ra - White! (On The Floor)                                03:00
19. Ne-Yo feat. Kanye West - Because Of You (Remix)              01:35
20. T-Pain feat. Kanye West - Buy You A Drank (Remix)            02:01
21. Kanye West - Throw Some D's (Interlude)                      00:36
22. Kanye West - Throw Some D's (Remix)                          02:36
23. Tony Williams - Dreaming Of Your Love                        02:52
24. Really Doe feat. Jennifer Hudson - Magnetic Power            01:47
25. PM - Hater Family                                            03:36

You think of what you were doing at age of 19 (or what you will be doing) and chances are you weren’t releasing your third album on Def Jam. You weren’t working with hit-producer Timbaland, soulful singer-songerwriter Ne-Yo, or sexyback-bringer Justin Timberlake. You weren’t a spokesperson for Covergirl or Nike. Damn, did you even have a job at 19?

Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad, slated for release in early June on Jay-Z’s Def Jam Recordings, hits the sweet spot somewhere between a widely accessible album and showcasing the talent of Rihanna and her legion of ace collaborators. In an industry where sometimes the emphasis seems to be who can get whom to produce the hot tracks, Good Girl seems to just have a solid set of club-bumpable songs without all the hype.

Still in this up-tempo album there’s variety. “Umbrella” pays tribute to Rihanna’s undeniable Dance Hall roots, “Don’t Stop The Music” and “Breakin’ Dishes” are guaranteed to get you on dance floor (or if you are like me and have 0 moves, then looking at the dance floor). “Rehab” and “Hate That I Love You” depart from this high-synth low-bass sound, exploring a more soulful sound – but still manage to be up-tempo.

And if you didn’t have a job at 19, you’re bound to have one now, and this album is well worth your cashish.

-JP

http://www.thisisrihanna.com

Recent and Upcoming Albums
5 June 2007 – Good Girl Gone Bad
4 June 2007 – Good Girl Gone Bad [UK Digipak w/ Bonus Disc of Remixes] Sphere: Related Content

My gf (/former contributor, for you hardcore readers) tipped me off to this. That’s what the video looks like before you press play.. it scared me off so badly I wouldn’t care to view even if there was a hurricane coming.

As someone with no actual connections to the hip hop industry (other than just enjoying the music itself), I don’t get a hold of anything “exclusive” per se. But, as someone who sends most of his work day scouring hip hop websites looking for new shit to hear/watch/discuss, I can honestly say that, as far as I can tell, no one has touched upon this…

If you go to Kanye West’s official website, you can watch his new Hype Williams-directed music video for “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” which seems to be the first single off of what will be his third album, the upcoming Graduation.

And don’t say I never did nothing for y’all.