As promised, here is the recap of the epic night where the rap and hockey worlds collided.
If you’ve followed along or read the replay of the CoveritLive live blog (which was oh so finely moderated by KnobbzXL), I’ll try my best to avoid overlap. Also be sure to check DC Sports Bog’s take on the evening, written much more eloquently.
When I arrived to the Verizon Center press entrance, I stood outside waiting for Wale and his friend Jay Promo to arrive. The start of the game came and went. Soon I was surrounded by the Verizon Center concession workers who were on their smoke breaks. When I wasn’t disappointing the employees by my lack of matches or a lighter, I was wondering if I was being punk’d. Soon enough, Wale & Jay came walking across the street, and we walked into the arena. As we were walking through the concourse, we heard the crowd making noise as a scrum broke out during the game. Not wanting to miss a moment more, surely one of the most diverse trios to ever grace the Verizon Center proceeded to sprint like Usain Bolt through the concourse.
When we arrived at our seats, it was safe to claim that we were “outchea”. Right off the bat, Wale & Jay were impressed by the amount of people in the crowd and the energy as they started to snap photos on their respective phones. Wale was such a fan of the action on the ice that he wished the 20 minute intermission would be shorter so the game would return quicker. I suggested he protest to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (or at the very least mention it in a song).
Nearing the end of the game, Jay predicted that Carolina was going to get back into it and the Capitals were in danger of having to go for the “swindle”. Thankfully, although Carolina tied up the game and took it to shootout (not before a 2 minute penalty for the Caps in overtime which we all agreed seemed to be the 2 longest minutes of our lives), the Caps were able to prevail. Come overtime & shootout, all three of us were standing, yelling, and giving daps to one another as Ovechkin scored to win the shootout. Afterward, Wale asked if he was the only one whose heart was racing. I’m willing to bet he was one of thousands in the building with the short-term ailment.
JR&PH7 are a German production duo who are coming out with, you guessed it, a compilation album. Producer-albums are a dime a dozen and usually not very good, but these two tracks are solid. “Top Rank” has those irresistible hard knocking Detroit drums and you can’t go wrong with Guilty Simpson.
JR&PH7’s debut album The Standard comes out April 7.
Good music out of New York is scarce nowadays, so anything from the underground trio Tanya Morgan is much appreciated. Tell a friend to tell a friend. Off Brooklynati, I presume.
Saudi Arabia recently saw the release of its first ever rap album by Saudi singer Clash, but apparently, some aren’t very happy about it:
Ali Al-Omari, the director of an online forum for youth, stated that it is an expression of educational and social failure and that Western music provides fertile ground for the development of cynicism and nihilism.
I have no doubt that even the filthiest western music has already made its way into Saudi Arabia by way of bootlegs and the Internet. All media legally sold in the country must be government approved and you can bet Saudis don’t tolerate that shit.
Islamic fundamentalists the world over need to learn that you can censor and sanction media all you want, but the people are going to get their music, movies and games somehow. They also need to realize that this is better than this.
ML has gotten 6 (!) visits from Saudi Arabia this month.
Another one from Mulatto Patriot, off J. Illa’s Revenge of The Back Packs mixtape. This song’s hook and eastern melody have been stuck in my head all week.
I think Chicago would get more recognition if it had a more distinct sound, like Detroit. But as you can see by looking at the Fake Shore Drive homepage, the Chicago sound is not easily defined.
ML is back at the live blogging thing, but we’re kicking it up a notch. Ever since hearing Wale dub himself Wale Ovechkin on Back In the Go Go , we wondered how perfect it would be to document Wale’s experience at a Washington Capitals game. With major assists from elitaste, dcsports bog and Nate with the Washington Capitals, we are gonna make it happen. Right before Wale goes into his crazy busy week, join us right here at a little before 7pm as Wale, DMV legend Jay Promo, and myself live blog Wale Ovechkin’s first Capitals game, followed by meeting Capitals Superstars Alex Ovechkin & Mike Green after the game. Using our coveritlive widget you’ll be able to interact, ask questions, and follow this whole experience. If you’ll be at the game be sure to say what up!
Video / Photos will be posted up after the game, so be sure to check back for those as well!
I can’t believe I missed this. On February 27th, Revive Da Live put on a show dubbed Hip Hop 1942 at Le Poisson Rouge, which is part of a series of concerts aimed at melding jazz and hip-hop. Phonte showed up and joined John Robinson and Raydar Ellis for a Dilla medley backed by a live band. They performed “The Official” and “Fall In Love” as well as the original sample for both, “Diana In The Autumn Wind.” The crowd goes wild when Phonte drops this bracelet:
Smack the fuck out they mouth, Chris Brown y’all niggas
The audio in the video is hardly satisfactory, but you can download a much cleaner recording here.
As a bonus, All The Way Live also dropped this amazing gem last week: CL Smooth performing “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” with a live band in Berlin in 2007. Both audio and video after the jump.
File under: R&B we fuck with. Chrisette’s last album was a bit uneven, mostly because of the cruddy production. But I dig this a lot. Girl’s got an amazing voice and a lot of character in her singing. Cameo by Drake. According to 2dbz, Her new album comes out on May 19th.
She also nailed the hook on “Can’t Forget About You” on some 40s jazz steez:
