If you’re cool and you’re in NYC, you’re getting a piece of the action next week when Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt II drops. There’s not one, but two release parties.
On Tuesday, Diddy and Peter Rosenberg are hosting at Santo’s and Ghostface, Method Man, Beanie Siegel, Talib Kweli, Slick Rick, Busta Rhymes and Lyfe Jennings will be in the building.
Then on Thursday, Raekwon and Rosenberg will be at S.O.B.’s with special coverage by ML*.
(*special coverage = rushing the stage to flash the Wu-Tang tattoo that covers my chest and stomach)
The video for Double Barrel’s title track looks like a thugged out Gap commercial. Either Torae or Marco must have an eye for editing because this, the “Party Crashers” video, and even the Double Barrel Training videos were on point. Makes me wonder why other indie artists’ videos suck so much.
It sounds like I’m going to have to stop sleeping on Danny! He and Von Pea rap like your favorite rappers used to rap. Danny!’s album “Where is Danny?” is planned for September and will feature Danny Brown, Che Grand and Drake.
DJ Green Lantern provides great audio from Jay-Z’s 2006 concert in London. The first link starts with Jay doing “Where I’m From” and goes to the line, “Who’s the greatest MC, Biggie Jay-Z or—” but before he says “Nas,” the man himself comes out amid a surge of excitement from the audience and launches into “Made You Look.” His entire set lasts 14 minutes.
The second link is Jay-Z and Nas performing “Dead Presidents” with Chris Martin of Coldplay on the piano. Instead of Jay’s third verse, Nas does the first verse from “The World is Yours.” And the third is “Heart of the City,” once again assisted by Chris Martin.
Listening to “Where I’m From” and “Dead Presidents” reminds me how Jay used to rip shit.
OH SHIT. Aziz (of Human Giant/Parks & Recreation/Funny People fame) drops such a crazy hot exclusive, I had to play it 8 times in a row before my ipod died. heat rock. Download/listen/stream now.
Sidebar: I’m sorry for the lack of updates (and e-mail responses) lately (ie last 6 months), real life/9 to 5/debilitating twitter addiction have been getting in the way heavily. But you best believe your boy will overcome.
I could tell there was something off about Blueprint 3 right away and it wasn’t just the awful tracks Jay got from Timbaland or the hopelessly corny “Young Forever.” Even though Jay-Z gives his best performance in years and there are number of standout tracks, there was something deeply disappointing about Blueprint 3 that I couldn’t put my finger on.
Then Jeff Weiss pinpointed it: Blueprint 3’s problem is that Jay “relied on Kanye and Timbaland to tell him what THE FUTURE sounds like.”
We typically associate the future with space travel, infinitely useful brain-chips, and robots butlers that satisfy our every wish. Thus, when we describe music as “futuristic,” we’re usually referring to synthesizers, vocal effects and other relatively new technology/beeps and bloops.
But it’s 2009 and I still don’t have a flying car.
The fantasies we have about the future are actually very unrealistic and silly. Likewise, Blueprint 3’s “future” sound is really just pop-influenced electro-bullshit. “Future music” is not Mr. Hudson. Future music is unexpected and groundbreaking. Blueprint 3, while very entertaining at times (my picks below), is neither.
Unusually fresh production from Cool & Dre + Wale’s potent bars = palatable pop rap. From what I’ve heard, Attention Deficit is going to murder the game come October.
I must be a stan; even Game’s throwaway tracks are hot to me. I’m much more excited for The R.E.D. Album than Blueprint 3.
Sidebar: anyone else think the constant mention of Jewish lawyers is kinda sorta racist? The again, hip-hop artists aren’t known for their racial sensitivity.
