Metal Lungies

Raekwon knows how to create a “classic” — and if we can’t have proof in the form of an album until the summer of 2008 (Cuban Linx II‘s new tentative release date), I guess we’ll have to settle for an interview. We linked to his great interview with ThaFormula.com weeks ago, and now we have another must-read with HipHopDX.com. Rae speaks on 8 Diagrams (which does feature Ghostface now), his Ice Water side-project, Lil’ Wayne namedropping him on Ja Rule’s new single (which, in my opinion, is garbage otherwise), and, as expected, the allegations made by Superb about having written Supreme Clientele.

Since ML’s post detailing the situation was our most commented-upon and linked-to post ever at a whopping twelve comments/pingbacks (hey, you gotta crawl before you ball), we figured it was only necessary to link to Rae’s opinion on the situation, and collectively breathe a sigh of relief…

HHDX: While we’re clearing up old quotes, is there any truth to the old rumor made new again via Tony Yayo’s recent comments in Spin claiming Superb, of your pre-Ice Water crew American Cream Team, wrote all of Supreme Clientele for Ghostface?

Raekwon: He know damn well he ain’t write that fuckin’ album. I don’t even wanna get into shit like that, because it just makes me upset that muthafuckas be running they mouth all kinda ways. But at the end of the day, I think Ghost gonna have to really say what he gotta say.

HHDX: Yeah, the only reason I asked you about this is ’cause Superb came out of your crew.

Raekwon: Yeah, that’s my son. That’s my son, and trust me he ain’t write nobody’s fuckin’ album.

Although I’m sure most of us would’ve figured as much, hearing it from a trusted source (no disrespect to R.H.S. from OhWord.com, who said that he knew Superb and pretty much expressed the same opinion as Rae) can allow us to put this whole shit to rest.

And, as promised in the title, here’s an incredible 21-minute video interview with various members of the Wu discussing their upcoming album, courtesy of Bodog.TV.

[NOTE: This isn’t the album’s artwork, just a picture of the group. My promo copy didn’t come with cover art (most don’t), and I couldn’t find it on the net anywhere.]

NYGz, consisting of MCs Panchi and Shabeeno, have been down with DJ Premier and the Gang Starr Foundation for close to a decade. [By the way, can the Gang Starr Foundation still exist if Gang Starr is no longer together? Is Gang Starr no longer together?] Shabeeno first appeared on Gang Starr’s ’98 classic Moment Of Truth on “The Mall” (credited by the jiggier and goofier name, Shiggy Sha), and the duo appeared together on “Same Team, No Games” from Gang Starr’s last LP The Ownerz.

Unfortunately, the various ills of the music industry (according to their bio, their debut LP Pros & Cons was supposed to come out in 2003), in addition to a bid served by Panchi, has kept NYGz basically behind-the-scenes until now. Their street album Welcome 2 G-Dom is scheduled to hit stores on September 11th as the first album released by DJ Premier’s Year Round Records imprint, and Pros & Cons (their official debut set to be produced entirely by Primo) is set to follow soon after.

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That is, if an introduction is needed — those in and around the Chicago-area need not apply. A native of the Chi (as the cool kids call it), Pugslee Atomz has been keeping busy for some time. He hosts a show on Chicago Public Access called Hip Hop Barber Shop, which has featured interviews with the likes of Pete Rock, Brother Ali, Mr. Lif, Big Daddy Kane and Rhymefest. For 8 years now, he’s hosted a radio show on Wednesday nights from 9 p.m.-12 a.m. on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago (click here to stream). He’s a clothing designer and head of marketing for Original Afrowear, which has been featured on MTV’s Wild N’ Out, and he was recently interviewed on MTV2. And, of course, what would anybody be without a MySpace page?

Pugs has a new mixtape out called Black & Gifted, which you can download below. It’s in preparation of his forthcoming album, Conversations With A Chameleon, which is due out in August on Gravel Records, and features appearances from Dave Ghetto, Capital D (All Natural), Hall of Fame and more, as well as production from Hi-Tek (who, coincidentally, is next up in our Beat Drop series), Big D, and (introducing) Colin Response.

One thing I dig about this mixtape — other than the music itself, which is pretty dope — is that each song is labeled with the year in which it was made, ranging from ’02 to ’07. You’ll notice that Pugs has definitely improved as time has gone on, with “Out My Window” (featuring Rashid Hadee) and “Tear N My Eye”, both from ’06, as prime examples.

Download: Pugslee Atomz – Black & Gifted mixtape

Sick. You can’t say Madlib isn’t original. I loved the first Beat Konducta, can’t wait for this one.

Maybe you’ve stumbled across comedian Zach Galifianakis’ homemade video for Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and thought to yourself, “Oh great, some lame comedian trying to make a name for himself piggy-backing off of someone more famous.” Well, you’d be wrong on 2 counts.

For one thing, though it might not show too much through the video, Galifianakis is actually quite funny — he played Alan Finger on the short-lived Comedy Central vehicle Dog Bites Man (where he created a song called “Come On And Get It (Up In Dem Guts)”), and as a stand-up comic he has a great talent for goofy non-sequiturs (my personal favorite — “3 years ago, my sister was diagnosed with multiple personalities, and there’s nothing funny about that. But she phoned me the other day… and my caller ID exploded.”).

And secondly, Zach’s take on Kanye’s video — shot on Zach’s farm — is actually Kanye-approved. From an interview with Impose Magazine back in June (courtesy of The Fader):

Q: Are you into much hip hop these days?

Zach: Not really, even though strangely I’m shooting Kanye West’s new music video here at the farm. He asked me to do it. He doesn’t want to be in it, but he sent me this new song and then asked me to make a video for him here at my farm. He saw me do stand up a few weeks ago here in Los Angeles, and we chatted after the show. He had seen me do these other music videos; I did one for Fiona Apple and I did one of my own where I sing an Anita Baker song. So he saw the Anita Baker one and asked me if I would come up with something. So we’ve been going back and forth trying to figure out what I’m going to do with the song. So I’m figuring that out here at my farm.

And if you’re still thinking about calling “bullshit” after all of this, the video is viewable at Kanye’s official site. This means that, of the 3 videos that Kanye has released to promote Graduation, the most “normal” one is the one where’s basically just rapping in the middle of the desert.

Slang plays a big role in hip hop’s popularity. It keeps the genre regionally-divided, while at the same time helps maintain unity. At times it keeps the music current, while other times it brings it back to its roots. It makes sense to the listeners, and confuses the fuck out of outsiders who can’t quite fathom how hot and cool could possibly have similar meanings.

In some cases, though, it can confuse the fuck out of the listeners as well, but not to the point that it turns ’em away. Camp Lo’s ’97 debut Uptown Saturday Night is such an example — drenched in outdated Blaxploitation-era terminology (you wouldn’t call another dude “sweet daddy” nowadays without a “no homo” before and after), Sonny Cheeba’s and Geechi Suede’s lyrics rode perfectly over Ski’s smoothed-out, funk and soul sample-heavy production. Its cult-classic status has brought much praise to the Lo-ah, by hip hop nerds and bloggers (which have become one in the same) everywhere. [Guilty as charged, here’s ML’s Camp Lo praise. And you’ll be pleased to know that “Coolie High” has found it’s way back to YouTube.]

10 years since Uptown Saturday Night — we’ll ignore ’02 Let’s Do It Again, most everyone else did — Camp Lo returns with Black Hollywood. As noted in our post linked above from earlier in the year, Ski was originally supposed to produce an entire EP for Camp Lo due out in August called Another Heist; but, instead, we get a full-length Camp Lo album, released a month earlier, and still produced entirely by Ski. Furthermore, the first single from the aforementioned EP, “Ticket For 2”, is not included on Black Hollywood — could this mean multiple Camp Lo releases in ’07? Did Christmas come early this year?

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One of the motivations behind this Beat Drop series we’ve been doing is to try to shine light not only on some of the most highly-touted, but also some of the lesser-known works of hip hop’s most famed beatmakers. For example, most people who know Alchemist for his work with Mobb Deep don’t need to be reminded of how dope “Keep It Thoro” is, but they might not have heard “The Red Light”, the compilation-only track he laced for underground favorites The Smut Peddlers. And everyone knows DJ Premier‘s history with Gang Starr and many of N.Y.’s finest, but some might not have known about the tracks he made with Xzibit (which was rudely thrown on the bonus disc for Man vs. Machine) and Chi Ali (who is better remembered for killing a dude over $20).

In the case of Dr. Dre, however, there aren’t really many “sleeper” picks to choose. Dre’s fame and reputation make it impossible for one of his beats to slip under the radar. If Dre lends his talents to another artist’s album, either you’re going to find out about it through some sort of media outlet, or it’ll end up locked in a vault somewhere between Hittman’s and Rakim’s albums (sorry, had to go there). As for when Dre decides to make an album of his own… how long have we been/will we be waiting for Detox? Unlike Primo, Dre doesn’t really work with artists with less than platinum aspirations (although, in this age of music purchasing, he’ll probably settle for gold). And unlike Alchemist, Dre’s “paying dues” period — whether you consider that to be his World Class Wrecking Cru days, his N.W.A. days, or the early days of Death Row — was fairly publicized. [Granted, Dre was known almost equally known as a rapper back then.]

In a way, Dre is similar to Kobe Bryant, another popular figure in L.A. (assuming Kobe hasn’t been traded by the time this is posted). Dre’s won multiple championships in his sport, and his high self-expectations make anything less than that a disappointment — granted, there’s no real equivalent to a “championship” in hip hop, but if there were, The Chronic, Doggystyle and 2001 would certainly qualify. He expects the talent around him to give nothing less than 110%, sometimes to the point that he unfairly expects that talent to perform on the same level that he himself performs — although, while Kobe can’t kick his less-than-spectacular teammates off of the Lakers, Dre can certainly drop an artist or two (or 10) from Aftermath. And, while some may be critical of the somewhat-unorthodox approach they each take to their respective professions, just like you wouldn’t change the channel when Kobe’s on the verge of dropping 60, you likely wouldn’t fast-forward through a Dre-produced track.

Provided by Lethal, myself, and occasional ML-contributor Hangover Monkey (they tried to make him go to rehab, and he said, “No, no, no.”), here are some of Dre’s works to definitely not fast-forward through…

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After seeing the 1st part, you know you wanted to see more…

You know we’ve shown our appreciation for Ali Vegas before, so naturally I’m stoked to be hearing music off of his waaaaaayyyy overdue debut album . I’m hearing the album drops Jan 2008 on Rich Soil (owned by Lamar Odom) via Asylum. Anyways check out the new Ali Vegas:
Mp3 Link.