Metal Lungies

The summer’s about to get hot on the movie front, with Transformers and Live Free or Die Hard amongst the most anticipated, but it’s never too early to look ahead to the end of the year. Due out in November, Denzel Washington will star in American Gangster, portraying Frank Lucas, a ’70s N.Y. drug kingpin who, according to his Wikipedia page (and Wikipedia don’t lie), masterminded a scheme in which “coffins of dead American servicemen being returned from Vietnam also include a dozen or so kilos of 98% pure heroin.” Can’t say I’ve ever heard some shit like that in a rap song. Russell Crowe also stars as the detective in pursuit of Lucas, and Ridley Scott is directing the film (the two of them having previously worked together on Gladiator).

Check out the trailer here, and you’ll spot a couple of rappers’/actors’ familiar faces, each of whom have a highly-anticipated album set to be released this year. I don’t expect either album to flop, but in case they do, at least both of these guys will have another career to fall back on.

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While Three Six Mafia clearly have their limits, squashing beef is not beyond those limits. Back in ’99, Krazyie Bone, of former 3-6 rivals Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, and Project Pat did a song together. Recently, DJ Paul and Juicy J were rumored to be contributing a beat to Bone’s latest album, Strength & Loyalty, though that never did come about as planned… I’m guessing that, with Last 2 Walk being an oft-delayed work-in-progress, 3-6’s schedule just didn’t allow that to happen.

The since-ended beef between Bone and 3-6 has been rarely discussed, certainly because it didn’t result in as many record sales (or as many deaths) as that other beef that was going on around the same time. Though I wouldn’t go as far as to call the Bone/3-6 beef “friendly” competition, it most definitely wasn’t on some “You shot my man” or “You fucked my girl” type shit — it was some straight up, “You rap too much like I rap and I don’t like you for it” type shit. Whoever really came up first with the style that was heard so often in Bone’s and 3-6’s records — rapping melodically, frequently switching up speeds and breaking away from the then-traditional “every 2 bars ending in the same word” style — is sort of a moot point now, and that’s probably for the best considering that it’s tough to really prove who the originator was.

On one end, Bone was the first to put the masses on to this style of rapping with ’94’s Creepin’ On Ah Come Up — which featured the classic singles “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” and “Foe Tha Love Of Money (feat. Eazy-E)” — preceding Three Six Mafia’s ’95 debut Mystic Stylez. However, both groups have material that pre-dates their debut albums, so the difference of 1 year between ’em isn’t much of an indicator as to who came first. On the other end, 3-6 were the first to put out a diss record — “Live By Yo Rep (B.O.N.E. Dis)” off Mystic Stylez. Maybe 3-6 felt slighted by Bone using a style so similar to theirs, or maybe 3-6 were the real biters and just wanted to come out on the defensive. Or perhaps 3-6 could’ve just been looking to get some recognition off of battling an at-the-time more successful crew. Bone answered back on their ’97 album The Art Of War, not only responding to 3-6’s accusations, but also going at the likes of other “fast rappers” like Chicago natives Twista, Do Or Die and Crucial Conflict, all of whom had dissed Bone for alleged style-jacking… but none of whom had dissed 3-6. Interesting.

Listening to some of 3-6’s records from their early years (a few of which are linked below, as well as some other tracks relevant to this post), and listening to some of their more recent records, it’s crazy to think that this is the same group who once accused, of all people, Bone Thugs of jacking their style. Of course, back when Three Six Mafia actually had six members, it was mainly Lord Infamous and Koopsta Knicca (both of whom are no longer with 3-6) who sounded the most similar to Bone; meanwhile, DJ Paul and Juicy J, the only current members of 3-6, probably rapped the least like Bone out of the original Mafia members.

Download: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – “Thuggish Ruggish Bone”

Download: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony featuring Eazy-E – “Foe Tha Love Of Money”

Download: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – “U Ain’t Bone”

Download: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony featuring 2Pac – “Thug Luv”

Download: Notorious B.I.G. featuring Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – “Notorious Thugs”

Download: Three Six Mafia – “Da Summa”

Download: Three Six Mafia – “Live By Yo Rep (B.O.N.E. Dis)”

Download: Three Six Mafia – “Late Nite Tip”

Download: Crucial Conflict – “Hay”

Download: Do Or Die featuring Twista – “Po Pimp”

[Kind of off topic, but I always enjoyed the response Three Six Mafia would give when people accused them of encouraging Satanism and devil worshipping because of their name. Their explanation of the “3-6” name was always something along the lines of, “We started out with three members, then we added three more, and ended up with six.” It’s a good thing they chose to stop at that point, otherwise their name might now be Three Six Four Three Two Mafia — definitely not as catchy, though it would’ve helped put Castleberry, Alabama on the map.] Sphere: Related Content

When I heard the Stronger snippet off Ye’s Mixtape. I played it a few times but wasn’t hooked, well fast forward to today. I copped a full length radio rip and have been playing on loop off and on, disregarding the numerous Mark Ronson drops all over it (for which he even apologizes, probably a DJ first) from nahright. The track samples Daft Punk with the French electronic duo’s single Harder, better, faster, stronger. It will be a monster once it hits the club, maybe the biggest one of the summer. Now Kanye isn’t the first to sample a Daft Punk record, as Swizz Beatz did that with Touch It. He isn’t even the first producer to use the track, the Neptunes remixed the track about 7 years ago. That remix I thoroughly enjoyed at the same time, the Neptunes added their melodic touch to an already dope electronic song. But what Kanye did is add a sick bass line, and some synths to make a track that you can’t help but nod your head grind with fine ladies to.

Check it:

Kanye West-Stronger DJ Free Version

Daft Punk-Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Neptunes Remix)

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In order to ensure yourself a fun, safe experience at whatever summer music festival you may be attending…

#1 – Don’t throw shit at T.I.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPl64pr0vzI[/youtube]

#2 – Don’t throw shit at Akon.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-ZNh9MKA7Y[/youtube] [The years of my youth spent as a wrestling fan allow me to add that the technical name for Akon’s maneuver is a Fireman’s-Carry-into-a-Faceplant.] Sphere: Related Content

You guys must have been offered a lot of different projects. Was there anything in particular that you refused to work on?

Juicy J: The only thing we turned down was some porn.

DJ Paul: That’s the only thing we have turned down so far. Would you do porn?

I can’t see myself doing porn, so probably not. I guess for the most part the offers have been up your alley?

Juicy J: Yeah, if they talking about the right money. We have turned down a bunch of shit where they weren’t talking the right money.

DJ Paul: Other than the porn shit, we turned plenty of shit that didn’t have the money right.

Juicy J: You got to have your money right!

Seems like the crew from Memphis is real serious about the money. Read the rest here. I hope it works out better than their local pro basketball team. It remains to be seen, in their show Adventures of Hollyhood, their label was stressing about getting them out first quarter. The show which was probably filmed 3-4 months before airing led you to think they were on track for that with Doe Boy Fresh, but that track has not caught on at all. Now we are closing out the 2nd quarter and there has been some talk of them dropping late July, but a little birdie told me it might not be till late 2007.

Enjoy some new 3 Six to provide a soundtrack for your readings;

Like Money (Might be the new single.)

Suga Daddy Ft. Diamond & Princess of Crime Mobb

Whatcha Starin At? Ft. Project Pat & Lil Jon (This might be the single for Project Pat’s project, I find it humorous that they used a concept made their assistants as a joke for a major label release?)

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If the city of Beverly Hills, California has ever been mentioned following the phrase “the mean streets of,” then it’d likely in reference to the attitude of women there. Having worked in and around the area for several years, the only time I’ve ever crossed paths with a rapper is if they’re shopping or visiting their lawyer. Yet Al “Alchemist” Maman emerged from the area, after a failed rap career along side Scott Caan (son of James Caan, who played Sonny Corleone in The Godfather), to become one of hip hop’s most sought-after producers in recent memory, especially amongst the realms of gangsta rap (or whatever’s left of it). A true craftsmen, his discography presents a wide range of MCs — backpackers to gun busters, underground to overground, L.A. to N.Y., flipping beats that are rugged and dusty, or clean and smooth.

What follows is the first in a series of weekly (or, however often we can get around to it) posts here at ML, showcasing 10 of the best beats — 5 picked by the maestro Lethal, 5 by yours truly — from some of the most highly-touted producers in hip hop. Speaking on behalf of myself here, I like to think I listen to a good amount of hip hop, but I haven’t heard everything that’s out there; Alchemist may have sold the greatest beat ever made to MC Get Busy, and I wouldn’t know (in part because MC Get Busy doesn’t actually exist). So enjoy the list and links, and of course, feel free to throw your two cents into the discussion — the “Comments” section is your friend.

Read the rest of this entry »

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It looks like in between cranking out hit beats, copping about 389432 gadgets a month, Just Blaze has found time to write a blog. I’m feeling it, JB talks about anything and everything on his mind. From classic beat tapes (from age 15) to Kevorkian.

Check it out.

PS Just Blaze for consumer advocate.

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Dr. Dre has a history of releasing artists from his Aftermath Entertainment company more often than releasing albums. Hittman. Last Emperor. Rakim. Truth Hurts. Any number of artists on the soundtrack to The Wash. One can only wonder if current Aftermath artists like Stat Quo and Bishop Lamont break out into cold sweats at night, wondering if that fateful day will come when the “good doctor” stops returning their phone calls.

Regardless, Dre’s impeccable career achievements and countless classics have always kept his reputation relatively clean, despite these many failed relationships in music. Part of that is because, well, you can’t rush the creative process (unless your name is Eminem — then you can shit in a jewel case, call it Encore, and go 4x platinum). If Dre really wants to take so long to drop an album (i.e. Detox, with its scheduled release date of 2000-keep-waiting), then we can only assume that he simply wants to make it the best album it can possibly be. And if an Aftermath album never does see the light of day, maybe it’s really all for the best — as hard as it may be to imagine, perhaps a Rakim album with Dre beats just wouldn’t be as good as we’d all hope for.

Dre can, and likely will, continue to get a pass for all of this, but if Raekwon’s highly-anticipated Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II ends up meeting this same fate, then I, and probably many others like me, will be holding a grudge for a long time as a result. Tha Formula recently hooked up interviews with both Raekwon and The RZA, shedding light on the recording process to the sequel to one of the greatest hip hop albums ever. Judging by the confidence in both Rae and RZA’s words, it leads me to believe that if, somehow, Cuban Linx II does end up locked in a vault somewhere rather than on record store shelves, then it’ll only be because it didn’t live up to Dre’s standards — and if that’s the case, then maybe Dre’s standards are just too damn high for his own good (and for everyone not named Eminem or 50 Cent).

Outside of actually getting some sort of vague update on how Cuban Linx II is progressing, the most intriguing bit of info amongst all of this came from Rae’s interview:

You know what’s so crazy too? There is a beat out there flying around that I got the whole Clan on. It’s a J Dilla beat, but I guess J Dilla, he must have been shopping the beat before I snatched it. The beat is out there though. I’m seeing people playing and listening to it and I’m laughing because they don’t even know that I put the whole Clan on that beat and the shit sounds crazy… that shit is called “House Of Flying Daggers.”

Sounds to me like Rae is referring to something off of Dilla’s Donuts LP, his 31-track, instrumental, “beat tape” style album that came out just days before his untimely passing. Some of Dilla’s work on Donuts has since been used by various rappers, so it wouldn’t surprise me if one ended up on Cuban Linx II as well. Until we actually get to hear it, though, one can only guess as to which of the 31 beats on Donuts will become “House of Flying Daggers.”

Below are my three picks as to which “donut” I’d like to hear the whole Clan rhyme over, and to all y’all Dilla dogs out there, feel free to mention your choices in the “Comments” section. Of course, we won’t know which donut Rae’s been blessed with until Cuban Linx II is released/leaks, so we don’t have any prizes to give away if someone guesses correctly. But, if you do guess correctly, you may have some sort of psychic power, and, honestly, that sounds like a pretty sweet prize right there.

Download: J Dilla – “Mash”

Download: J Dilla – “One-Eleven”

Download: J Dilla – “Gobstopper”

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