Metal Lungies

We don’t post much about fly sneaker/clothes around here but we know it when we see it. Given how much we’ve been posting about YO! MTV Raps’s 20th anniversary lately, I thought I’d highlight the awesome PUMA/YO! cross marketed gear that’s been coming out. This isn’t everything, just my favourites.
First, the Dre & Ed Lover kicks:

The Big Daddy Kane Puma Clyde:

The Shan sneaks:

The YO! MTV Raps hoodie:

Puma put together a nifty little flash site to promote this line of sneakers and threads. You can see more of the Puma/YO! clothing line there as well as read some bios of the rappers and DJs promoting the line. It also measures its loading percentage by “freshness”, which gets a lot of points in my book.

I’m aware some of this is old, but I still think this is pretty dope.

HM just mentioned this, well here is the schedule (hopefully it makes up for the stuff youtube doesn’t have):

MTV

Yo! MTV Raps – All month long (Tues, Weds, Thurs) at 4:30pm ET/PT

On-air on MTV’s “Sucker Free” officially becomes “Yo! MTV Raps” for the month featuring the current hip hop video countdown, as well as memorable moments from Yo!, classic videos, and well as segments from MTV News.

Yo! Countdown Shows – April 28th, 29th and 30th at 4:30pm ET/PT

For the month we will be counting down the best Yo! moments, music videos, episodes and Yo! artists Then & Now.

About the Yo! MTV Raps Countdown Specials

Yo! MTV Raps Top 20 Videos: The greatest hip-hop show of all time is back, with DJ Cipha Sounds counting down the best videos in Yo! MTV Raps history with exclusive commentary from original Yo! hosts Fab 5 Freddy, Ed Lover and Doctor Dre. See classic videos from LL Cool J, Tupac, Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre and more.

Yo! MTV Raps Top Artists Then and Now: DJ Cipha Sounds and original Yo! host Fab 5 Freddy present the 20 hip-hop stars with the most longevity, from Jay-Z to Queen Latifah to Will Smith and exclusive commentary from favorite stars of today.

Yo! MTV Raps Top 10 Episodes: DJ Cipha Sounds counts down the top 10 Yo! episodes from Yo!’s international trips, to legendary appearances from Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., N.W.A. and more. Includes behind the scenes commentary from original Yo! hosts Fab 5 Freddy, Ed Lover, Doctor Dre and T – Money.

Yo! MTV Raps Top 20 Moments: DJ Cipha Sounds and original Yo! host Fab 5 Freddy count down the top 20 moments in Yo! MTV Raps history, from the Ed Lover dance, to Run DMC’s greatest hits performance and more…

MTV2

MTV2 Sucker Free: Yo! MTV Raps – All month long (Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs) at 5pm ET/PT & 10p ET/PT

“Sucker Free” officially becomes “Yo! MTV Raps” on MTV2, as well!  The 5pm MTV2 Sucker Free block will feature current hip-hop videos and classic Yo! moments and videos, as well as segments from MTV News.  At 10p, MTV2 will run the MTV version of Sucker Free, along with another half-hour of customized Yo! videos and news segments.

Sucker Free Sunday Countdown – All month long (Sun) at 12pm ET/PT

Sunday’s edition of Sucker Free Countdown will count down the top Yo! videos, artists (Then & Now), moments, and episodes.

MTV.com

In celebration of the 20^th anniversary of “Yo! MTV Raps,” MTV.com will unveil a one-of-a-kind Yo! retrospective hub showcasing the very best of the show’s eight year history.  There fans will be able to relive the extensive history of Yo! including classic show moments, music videos, playlists, lyrics and even short form charts addressing hip hop topics and trends.  Throughout the month, MTV.com’s Sucker Free Blog will feature interviews with artists as well as Ed Lover, Fab 5 Freddy and Doctor Dre, the original “Yo! MTV Raps” hosts, along with discussions on trends, videos and hip hop news.  Finally, MTV.com’s “Mixtape Monday” feature will highlight “Yo! MTV Raps” each week, giving a historical context of Yo! and the influence it had on MTV and hip hop culture.

THINK MTV

Think.MTV.com, MTV’s online community for youth activism, will also celebrate “Yo! MTV Raps” with a special action page featuring the pro-social efforts of some of the biggest names in the past and present of hip hop including KRS-One, Chuck D, Common, Nelly, Ludacris and more. Also, beginning on April 1^st Think.MTV.com will auction off part of the Yo! MTV Raps set – a 12’x 15 canvas – that has been signed by artists who have recently participated on Yo! tapings. The auction will be powered by BusinessHere, Inc., and proceeds will be given to Music Has Power, a subsidiary of The Institute for Music and Neurologic Function.

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For April it looks like MTV will be reliving some classic moments from the greatest show to ever appear on their network, Yo! MTV Raps. So, before they come with theirs I have decided to post some of my favorite segments ever filmed for a show that probably would be canceled after its first week in 2008.

I have to say that this list was heavily shortened due to the fact that I was unable to post most of my favorite moments. Its not like I have old tapes of episodes of Yo! (If a genie gave me three wishes…..) and YouTube is an awful resource.

They did save the best for last. For the final episode of Yo! they took some of the superstars who had appeared on the show over the years and gathered them together for a cipher of epic proportions.

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Funny thing is, she still probably wants a photo with him.

I’ve been slacking on posting these joints, which is sorta like a crime against humanity.

Coolio is a Pirate that cooks shrimp:

Westside Tilapia:

If you’re a hip hop aficionado/casual soul music listener like myself, then it’s inevitable that your tastes in these respective genres have overlapped at some point. I, for one, can’t listen to the Isley Brothers’ “Between The Sheets” without subconsciously hearing “Big Poppa” (and, to a lesser extent, Jay-Z’s “Ignorant Shit”), nor can I listen to “Footsteps In The Dark” without subconsciously hearing Ice Cube’s “Today Was A Good Day” (and, to a lesser extent, J Dilla’s “Won’t Do”).

Though the aforementioned songs are no doubt classic, my favorite Isley Brothers song has to be “Voyage To Atlantis”. It’s just perfect in so many ways — the heart-felt lyrics, the tender delivery of Ron Isley (a.k.a. Mr. Biggs), his brother Ernie’s guitar (which I’d only be selling short if I were to attach it to a single adjective). “Voyage To Atlantis” is the type of song that you’d want to sign to the woman you plan to marry, no matter how terrible horrible godawful your singing voice may be. I was surprised that, despite the popularity of the Isleys’ catalog amongst so many sample-heavy hip hop producers, “Voyage To Atlantis” had never really been utilized (at least, not to my knowledge)… then, last week happened.

First, after finally getting around to checking out Snoop’s latest, Ego Trippin’ (I know, I know… I’ll have my late pass on your desk tomorrow morning), I was pleasantly surprised to hear the opener “Press Play”, produced by DJ Quik (who is underrated even when he gets props). I couldn’t have imagined “Voyage To Atlantis” being freaked so perfectly — the way Quik chops up Ron’s vocals would’ve made the late Dilla proud. It set quite a high bar that the rest of Ego Trippin’, unfortunately, only reached a couple of times. (Though, I must give credit where it’s due — Snoop may be the only rapper still putting out 20-song albums, even though the “quality over quantity” approach has been the norm in hip hop for several years now. Either Snoop’s the last of a dying breed, or just too stubborn to see that his albums could be that much better if only about 5 tracks shorter.)

Then, the new Outkast/Raekwon collabo came out (of nowhere), which also samples “Voyage To Atlantis”, though to a much smaller, and totally different, degree. You wouldn’t have expected to hear the snippet of Ron’s vocals until they actually pop up in the song, but, what would Outkast be if they weren’t doing something completely out of left-field, like, say, randomly throwing Ron Isley vocals in between verses? My point exactly.

Now that I’ve paid my appreciation to “Voyage To Atlantis”, it’s your turn to do the same…

Download: The Isley Brothers – “Voyage To Atlantis”

Download: Snoop Dogg – “Press Play”

Bonus Download: Snoop Dogg – “Buss’n Rocks” (also produced by DJ Quik)

Bonus Download: The Isley Brothers – “Between The Sheets”

Bonus Download: The Isley Brothers – “Footsteps In The Dark”

Props to Shake who hooked me up with a CD quality version of the new Outkast joint.

It’s billed as ‘Big Boi featuring Andre 3000 & Raekwon’ but fuck it, let’s be nostalgic for a second. Least we can do in these crazy times.

“You do the hokey-pokey until you turn your life around/that’s what it’s all about.” – Andre 3000

Outkast– Royal Flush (ft.Raekwon)

Outkast-Skew It On The Bar-B (ft.Raekwon)

I’ve never seen the original from last year before, and boy was I missing out. Eskay with the find like always. By the way, if Duke wins the championship ML will be shut down forever.

Pt.2

Pt.1

Via Bang The Box

How many magazines must get dissed? Duck Down Records, making light of the whole Maxim/Nas/Black Crowes review controversy, has volunteered two of their upcoming albums to be reviewed without actually being heard. A little more info:

Disclaimer:
In light of the recent allegations made against Maxim Magazine by the Black Crowes and Nas for printing LP reviews of their respective forthcoming albums without actually hearing either of them, Buckshot/9th Wonder and Kidz In the Hall gladly volunteered their upcoming albums to receive the same treatment. We would also like to invite Maxim to attend any Kidz In The Hall and Buckshot and 9th Wonder show, or any of our artists in general– attendance is of course only optional!!
These mock-ups are by in no way intended to attack Maxim Magazine’s credibility, or incriminate them in any manner; it’s all in good fun!
Kidz In the Hall and Buckshot/9th Wonder Plead With Maxim Magazine To Review Their Respective LP’s Without Hearing Them!

The mockups are too huge to embed, so I’ll give you links. Spoiler: there’s a lot of jokes about how intimidating Sean P is. This is classic material; feel free to save it for April Fools.

“The Formula” Maxim Mock Review/ “The In Crowd” Mock Review

How about previewing the albums yourself and forming your own opinion?

Buckshot & 9th Wonder ft Talib Kweli & Tyler Woods – Hold It Down

Kidz In The Hall – The Blackout

Great interview with Professor Griff over at Buffalo’s Artvoice paper. The part that really messed with me:

Griff: No, not at all. There’s a gentleman who wrote a book called Hip-Hop Decoded, and his name is The Black Dot, and it really opened my eyes. And then Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney pointed things out to me that were just mindblowing…[she] gave me documents showing that we were under surveillance, that black rap and hip-hop artists were under surveillance. I went to go look into it, thinking that, okay, I’ll find one article, maybe two. I started uncovering document after document after document, not only on myself and Public Enemy but just the average artists—hell, Chingy. Chingy? I’m like, he’s the cutest little guy in music, man. What is he threatening? You know if they’ve got a file on his ass, you know what they have on me.

Seriously—they don’t want strong black intelligent men in the industry, that’s not going to sell out, that’s actually going to do right by the people. Some white people look at this, they say, “Well, if he’s doing right and making a sacrifice by his people, we ain’t got nothing to worry about.” But there are some segments of the human family that’s not looking at it like that. They looking at this thing like, “Griff is a threat. Public Enemy is a threat. We can’t have too many Public Enemy groups out there like that.”

It goes much further than the Hip-Hop Police my friends, we would love to see someone get a hand on these files (any lawyers good with the freedom of information act out there?). Read the rest of the interview for PG’s thoughts on topics like NWA, current artists and his documentary project Turn Off Channel Zero. (Artvoice gets a pass on butchering the names of Jean Grae & Snoop Dogg (?!)).