Metal Lungies

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Jay-Z’s stature has made dissing him very enticing, but also dangerous. A Jay-Z diss is an event and will earn an enterprising rapper plenty of attention. But if that diss is flimsy and unimpressive (Cam’Ron’s “Swagger Jacker”), nobody will take that rapper seriously. That wasn’t a problem for Cam, because nobody took him serious to begin with. He’s Cam.

Beanie Sigel, a former member of Jay-Z’s Roc-a-Rella Records, has drawn widespread attention with his Jay-Z diss, “What You Talkin Bout (I Ain’t Ya Average Cat)” On the track, Beans reveals his frustration with Jay’s handling of his career and brings to light an incident where Jay had the police remove him from a show. The problem is, Beans is too cautious. He doesn’t diss Jay so much as he bemoans him to return his calls.

The low-key diss doesn’t work for Beans. Low-key disses have to be more subtle, whereas Beans spells out his issues as if he’s writing Jay a letter. Also, the beat and Beans’ voice are far too threatening for such a toothless song. Altogether, “Average Cat” is not compelling. Beans relies too heavily on the gravity of dissing Jay-Z.

Game on the other hand, did a much better job of attacking Jay in July. True to his character, his diss “I’m So Wavy” was aggressive, reckless and at times childish. He gave a wild, ignorant answer to the mature, measured Jay-Z. Entertaining as it is, Game’s diss can also be considered a failure because it failed to provoke a response, which appeared to be the whole point of the song.

The Voodoo Experience 2009 is only one day away, so  it’s time to figure out which shows you’ll hit and which ones you’ll miss. New Orleans is home to some of the best bands and the biggest parties in the states, and if you’re going to do Halloween weekend here, you better do it right. That means the checking out the Zydepunks instead of the Black Lips on Saturday, and missing the first few Flaming Lips songs to hear all of Trombone Shorty’s set on Sunday. Here are some of this year’s Voodoo essentials, and why you’d be crazy to miss them:

Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?
3 p.m. Friday @ Bingo! Parlor
The local nine-member ensemble has more energy and more instruments than you can imagine. An accordion, a stand-up bass and a banjo make appearances in most of their songs, and the band is known around town for their bluesy, gospel-infused, funk performances at AllWays Lounge. Yet Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? can do more than play mellow shows with haunting vocals — they can also tear it up as well as any New Orleans band. The first time I saw them was at an abandoned warehouse with no sound system but plenty of gutter-punks and beer, and I expect the band to get the Voodoo crowd moving as hard as we all did that night.

The Black Keys
5:40 p.m. Friday @Billboard.com Stage
With a blues-rock sound unlike anything else produced in the past decade, The Black Keys play live shows with the same soul as they record their music. Watching drummer Patrick Carney play like his life depends on each and every beat is not something you want to miss. Never mind Dan Auerbach’s powerful voice, the intensity of his guitar will be enough to get you hooked on The Black Keys for good. So if you hate the superficiality of the most modern rock, stop by The Black Keys show for a refreshing reminder of what rock is supposed to feel like.

The Knux
7:30 p.m. Friday @ Soco/WWOZ Stage
Also hailing from the New Orleans, The Knux are a rap duo that work so well together that could almost guess that they’re brothers. Kentrell “Krispy Kreme” and Alvin “Rah Almillio” Lindsey got discovered in Houston, where they landed after Hurricane Katrina. They moved out to the Los Angeles area, and the self-produced pair has been playing their own music ever since. While The Knux made a name for themselves touring with Common and have worked with Eminem’s producer Paul Rosenberg, their original style and musical talent ensure that they’ll do just fine on their own.

Eminem + D12
9:30 p.m. Friday @ Voodoo Stage
Ten years since his debut release, Eminem is back with as much fire as ever. Not that you really need someone to encourage you to pick his show over the second half of Ween, but in case you do: Eminem is one of the greatest rapper-MCs of all time. Relapse may not be your favorite Eminem album, but the man’s energy and talent — plus D12’s own skills — doesn’t seem to have faded, and Friday night is your chance to find out for sure.

Saturday/Sunday highlights after the jump!

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Longtime New York record excec Dante Ross recalls the time LL Cool J reached out to Ol’ Dirty Bastard for a song and Dirty ended up peeing on a platinum LL plaque outside Chung King studios. Needless to say, the collab never happened.

ODB > LL Cool J by a hundred thousand trillion

via Nah Right

Another year, another BET Hip Hop Awards.  I’m not sure who the genius  behind the idea of the Cypher portion of the show is, but that mofo has had me watching BET (albeit once a year) for the last 3 years. But enough about me, let’s break down the performances:

Nicki Minaj kicked things off with a pretty hot verse. Honestly, it seems almost sacrilegious to have someone like Minaj spit bars with Preemo spinning in the background, but she actually came ahead with one of the hottest verses in this portion. Buckshot’s verse was kinda low-par compared to his usual shit, and definitely didn’t seem noteworthy (even after 3 viewings!). Maybe I missed what he was going for. Who knows? The cypher contest winner, Crown Royyal, came pretty hard on his part and I really liked his verse, despite my hatred of the word swag. But the best verse of this portion, and one of the best of the night definitely goes to Joe Budden. Joe’s verse was ridiculous! That line about Serena Williams?! I practically fell out of my damn chair.

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Whenever a major artist dies, there’s an initial media blitz where you have a ton of people talking about everything except the music. You know, those people who watch cable news for 3 hours a day. Eventually, those people find something else to talk about, usually a sex scandal or someone winning American Idol.

But even after the story’s buzz dies out, the music-lovers continue to carry the torch. Even though Michael Jackson isn’t front page news anymore, artists continue to pay tribute.

With He’s The King, I’m The DJ, DJ Jazzy Jeff runs through Jackson’s greatest moments and also throws in some rare remixes. Yes, Michael Jackson is synonymous with controversy, but take an hour to remember why his death shook the planet. He made timeless music.

via UNDRCRWN

DJ Ayres did his thing too.

Here’s another heater off Crooked I’s EP Mr. Pig Face Weapon Waist. Crooked screams impassioned verses over an epic beat.

Download: Crooked I – Mr. Pig Face (produced by 21)

via The DMV’s Front Office

One Dub Plate at a Time: A History of Soulspazm is a collection of Soulspazm tracks compiled and mixed by DJ Revolution. Says Revolution,

I always checked for the Soulspazm records in the mail because I knew they would be quality. The label consistently worked with talented artists and producers to put out great music that was in my opinion, severely slept on.

This track is from a 2001 12” and is produced by DJ Sat One. You know it’s pure hip-hop when Revolution is involved. Album drops November 17.

Download: DJ Sat One – Danger Zone (ft. Baby Blak & Outerspace)

Tracklisting after the jump

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ML consigliere Marco Polo just laced me with this track off Kam Moye’s (formerly known as Supastition) album Splitting Image (October 27).

I’m not an expert on Kam Moye, but it sounds like he’s slowed up and hardened his flow. Marco’s production production leans more toward Port Authority than Double Barrel, so less gunshots and explosions.

Download:  Kam Moye – Forever Fresh (produced by Marco Polo)

Another leak from Stoney Jackson. I wouldn’t mind hearing some of the other shit Mr. Kweli is cooking up with Madlib.

Download: Strong Arm Steady – Get Started (ft. Talib Kweli) (produced by Madlib)

Mixmaking Underground Explorers via Talib Kweli

Sean P and Royce drop equally mean verses. Off Kimbo Price: The Prelude to Mic Tyson, out this week.

Royce ends a lot of verses with lines about vaginas.

Download: Sean Price – Goodnite!!! (ft. Royce Da 5’9", Petro)