Metal Lungies

Oh my god! A Dipset Christmas CD! Why is the world such a wonderful place that we can get such guaranteed hilarity? I only hope this wonderful idea permeates pop culture and we start hearing people singing Purple City Carols on the corners of cities and towns everywhere.

This may prove to be the best album of the year. Maybe other rappers will catch on and we’ll get TV shows like Raekwon’s Christmas Special, or A Cash Money Christmas.

Just as long as it doesn’t overshadow the best christmas album…….

I guess some of you have decided to cop the bootleg of this album. For those of you that didn’t, dont. This is a terrible follow-up to the Black Album and, frankly, its a bad Jay-Z album in general. I won’t name specifics (besides the previously named) but this is an album full of weak production and nursery rhymes (with the exception of a few songs). It hurts me to say this because this man is one of my favorite MC’s (at one point he was my favorite). Incidentally the Black Republican joint with Nas is pretty good, guess he saved his good shit for other people’s albums. If your looking to get into Jay-Z do not choose this as your first taste. I should go buy dynasty again…………

Yesterday I copped this shit from Borders (my workplace) and to tell the truth its pretty good. There are definately some classic tracks on this and I think the whole concert is well recorded. The only problem is Ghost’s hypemen often smother the voice of the wally king. Trife was never that loud when I saw him.

Also waiting on that new Ghostface studio album More Fish. Looks like another heat rock. Add that to my wishlist.

Oh yeah official ML Hip-Hop wish-list coming soon!

done.

A photo from the cinematic masterpiece ‘Soul Plane’.

That question is simple..Can you please explain your obsession with the Airline industry/Airports/Airplanes?

We all should have seen the warning signs when he starred in Soul Plane he probably didn’t even care about how good or bad the movie was going to be (I haven’t seen it, but, I don’t think there was one positive review of it) all he wanted was to be near an airport and airplane during the filming. Then earlier this year he was caught in London’s Heathrow Airport running through with his entourage and starting a near riot after they wouldn’t let all 30 of them enter the VIP lounge (they didn’t have first-class tickets). The fun continued in the past few weeks in which he tried to bring a collapsible baton (I would’ve just picked up a broom from a janitor cleaning the bathrooms, serves the same purpose, although not as compact) through the X-Ray machines at John Wayne Airport. A felony warrant was issued, which he complied with (mugshot & post-bail autograph session here). But it turns that just before the incident at John Wayne Airport, over at Bob Hope Airport (another quick sidenote: god help us if there is ever a Nicole Ritchie or Paris Hilton Airport) he was arrested for having a gun and weed in his car.

That’s not all folks, on his new album the ‘Blue Carpet Treatment’ he has a song, drum roll please…., called ‘L.A.X.’ with Ice Cube. 

He should just step up to that John Trovolta airplane game and get himself a nice big Boeing or start Snoop Air (slogan: “Flying through a haze all across the world”).

I wonder if Katt Williams was inspired by Snoop?

Oh yeah, please give me a late pass but..check Snoop (Along with Jim Jones, Nas, T.I., Fat Joe, Lil’ Wayne, Nore, Jadakiss, Styles P, Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, Twista, Kurupt, Daz, WC, E-40, Bun B, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Young Dro, Clipse and Ja Rule) on The Game’s One Blood Remix (As always courtesy of the good folks at Spine Magazine).

Starting today I’m going to have a new feature, inspired by weekly NFL injury reports, I present you The Rapper Infirmary.

As of recently there are two east-cost MCs on the sideline;

Cassidy has well manicured nails *nh*.

Cassidy who, as I’m sure 99.9% of you know, was in a pretty bad car crash a few weeks ago. One minute he was freestylin, next minute he was flying out of his Chevy truck. He suffered a boatload of serious injuries, but now he is showing signs of improvement. (Sidenote on that link: did you HAVE to use his mugshot?)

*Rapper Cassidy recently regained consciousness after being hospitalized for injuries suffered in a car crash.      

The Philadelphia-based artist, whose real name is Barry Reese, suffered a fractured skull and multiple broken bones in his face. According to Allhiphop.com, doctors have performed CAT scans and so far, have found no abnormalities with his brain activity.     

Outlook: Doing radio interviews in 2 weeks.

Matching ice grill? check.

After spending an evening at Justin’s (Diddy’s restaurant), F-a-b-o-l-o-u-s, somehow ended up in a brawl. This resulted in him getting shot in his thigh (Link Sidenote #2: Now MySpace is reliable news source??), and being whisked away by his weed carriers in a truck to the hospital. To add insult to injury, the police later pulled over the truck and found some unlicensed guns, and placed everyone under arrest.

Outlook: Album and/or single potentially pushed up to consign with the shooting. After getting patched up under some police supervision/arrest, no time on the sideline.

out.

Dmx with a dog?? WHAT???

DMX just doesn’t seem able to stop in providing us with entertaining shit. When he is not acting completely cracked out for the camera, he is either going bat crazy during a concert, proudly earning some traffic violations, or claiming he was raped.

The first part of this story I came across over at nahright where X attacked the soundman because.. well he wasn’t happy with the sound. It was one of those radio sponsored smorgasbord lineups with like 232432 artists. I’m sure its easy being a soundman for those nights, have those types of shows EVER sounded good? MTV had some more on this incident, including one of X’s weed carriers injuring a concertgoer, with a chair throw..

“A member of the audience picked up a steel folding chair and threw it onstage,” Daub explained. “It was thrown back off by a member of DMX’s entourage and it struck the victim in the head.”

Yet Jim Jones, Foxy Brown, and Funkmaster Flex who were scheduled to appear, were not allowed in by security.

About a week later X was pulled over for driving an uninspected 2001 Chevy Suburban. Of course once they ran his name they saw he didn’t have a license in NY and had a suspended registration. But I might have to side with X on this one, do you really believe he was randomly pulled over? I highly doubt they had a high alert on the 5-0 radio to be on the lookout for a Chevy Suburban with an out of date inspection.. fucking racist cops. But still, a 2001 Suburban? Shit, that’s something you can’t see on cribs.

To wrap up this X news brief comes defiantly my favorite DMX story right now (maybe ever?). It comes from my personally favorite magazine, Sister 2 Sister. In it X’s wife talks about how he had a child with another woman, but she isn’t mad cause the woman raped him. Read from WWTDD via AOL Music:

Tashera Simmons — wife to rapper DMX — stands by her man as he talks openly about recently fathering a child with a Washington, D.C., woman. “She raped me,” (DMX says). “I mean, you know, that might sound like some bullshit. No man has ever been… you know what I mean, like never? Is that the only thing nahin the world that’s not possible?” Mrs. Simmons recalled an earlier encounter with the woman. “Before the stuff hit the fan, she came up to us while we were in court and said ‘I work for kids that are sickly,’ said Tashera. “So he said ‘Give her my number.’ That’s how it goes all the time. At first, I said OK. But, then I thought she looked deranged and obsessed with him.” While his wife “blocks out” the experience to cope, DMX gained a more valuable lesson: “Turn on the light before I go to sleep,” he said

In the article, the wife claims the rape was able to occur because X passed out drunk with his “package” out after filming a video, that sounds like a typical end of work day routine to me. Well they should totally make a public service announcement to prevent from a male getting rapped by a woman is to simply turn on a light before going to bed. Some people might be curious, would this work in jail? Anyway right after this issue came out, the woman rapist didn’t like that title so now she is suing for $6 mil, god I hope this shit lands on CourtTV.

Oh the woman in question is reppin’ MD just like yours truly. Sweet.

Please don’t change DMX, please.

———————-

As you know on here were are REAL big on The Clipse *nh*. They seemed to back-peddle on their anger with their label here, but then I read this over at AAH Rumors:

CLIPSE GO HARD AT JIVE!
The Clipse have been getting rave reviews for the longest time and we haven’t even heard their album Hell Hath No Fury. Not even so much as a leak! Now, it looks like the VA boys have taken their issues with Jive Records to a new level. If you recall, Malice and Pusha said on record that they wanted to lynch the entire staff at their label. WOW. Now, they have pressed up t-shirts that say ‘F**k Jive’ on the front. The back of the shirt hurt me to my heart. “Sorry to the fans, but those crackers weren’t playing fair at Jive”. Great day in the morning! They might not know Hell Hath No Fury greater than a angry White man. (LOL) Does this mean that the album will never come out? Does this mean; they aren’t dropping ever? Say it ain’t so.

uggghhhhh.

out.

Who heard that new Jay-Z track?

Shit won’t stop playing on my local hip-hop station and I don’t mean that in a good way. Now, I am a huge Jay-Z fan. I personally believe that the man has not had a bad album yet. Shit, I even liked Volume 1. But this new track is pretty weak. Honestly, this shit sounds like some third grade nursery rhymes. “the Mike Jordan of recordin”? I remember a time when weak shit like that couldn’t even make it onto a Blueprint 2 B-side. Seriously, If this is any indication of the quality of songs on the new album I may not cop it. And that would be a first.

Hear it for Yourself 

Here’s praying that shit is just for the mixtapes……………

One of the most underrated rappers from the 90s, AZ, has a new album on the way. AZ, who many forget is actually one-half Dominican, can defiantly be filed under the hip-hop veteran category. There is a good reason for his long standing in the hip-hop game. From running side-by-side with Nas to The Firm, clearly he has already left his imprint in hip hop history. Although he has not been able to reach “mainstream” popularity levels of that of his old buddy Nas, he has one strong cult following, especially in New York. AZ drops his new album ‘The Format’ on November 7th (with a bonus DVD w/ videos & live footage). Here is the full track listing;

1). I Am The Truth (Produced by Lil Fame)
2). Sit ‘Em Back Slow f/M.O.P. (Produced by Face Defeat and Lil
Fame)
3.) Get High (Produced by Emile)
4.) Make Me! (Produced by Emile)
5). Rise & Fall f/Little Brother (Produced by J.Cardim and Phonte Coleman)
6.) Animal (Produced by Statik Selektah)
7.) Doing That (Produced by Lil Fame)
8.) This What I Do (Produced by J.Cardim)
9.) The Format (Produced by DJ Premier)
10.) Vendetta (Produced by J.Cardim)
11.) Game Of Life (Produced by Emile)                                                                             12.) Royal Salute (Produced by Emile)—Bonus Track

Opting to stay true to his hip-hop style by not getting the hot producer of the month, rather instead hooking up with DJ Premier for the title track single.

Check out the video:

Get the Mp3 for your collection here.

By the Way AZ has one of the cleanest MySpace designs of any musicans I’ve seen, check it out.

Let’s take a trip down the history of Pusha T & Malice, the brother duo that make up The Clipse. Being down with The Neptunes since 93′, they recorded their first album around 1998, which would finally see the light of the day as an internet leak dubbed ‘Exclusive Audio Footage‘ around 99’/00’. Their label at the time, Elektra, never released this as a retail album. Even though I was fan of their single ‘The Funeral’, it didn’t catch on, even though in retrospect the song hasn’t dated itself, and sounds superb to this today. But this didn’t strain their relationship with The Neptunes who brought them along on to their Star Trak imprint through Arista (Jive). They kept themselves busy, inclduing appearances on the ‘Training Day‘ soundtrack, and they enjoyed a guest spot on my personal favorite pop remix of Backstreet Boys’ ‘The Call’. Even at Arista/Star Trak things didn’t start to go smoothly for the most part. After a bunch of times being pushed back, only after the mega-monster track ‘Grindin‘ caught on with the mainstream did the album ‘Lord Willin‘ finally get a concrete date to come out, August 22, 2002. It was a success that would go on to get certified platinum. I can’t pick a track on that album that I would skip over, they all range from very solid to classic. By 2003 the brothers were back in the studio working on their follow-up ‘Hell Hath No Fury‘, it was penned to come out December 16, 2003. Shortly after this, Arista dissolved into Jive, and Star Trak went over to Geffen/Interscope sans The Clipse. Jive refused to release The Clipse and kept them on the roster, they continued working with The Neptunes, but the split from Star Trak put the album in limbo. Fast forward to late 2005, the Clipse were given the green light to finally drop their album, but worried that their songs from 2003 weren’t relevant they starting putting together the album from scratch. In early summer of this year the 1st single ‘Mr. Me Too‘ with some direct jabs at their record label came out. Even though the single caught on and was featured as the jam of the week on MTV Jams, I felt that it was getting a one and done type push from the label for them to make some money by quietly releasing the album and ridding themselves of the Clipse afterwards. When I saw them opening up for Ice Cube in mid-May (when they had the energy & material to headline but got dealt about 20 minutes of stage time) the duo announced that the album was scheduled for a late August release. As July was creeping up into August, the album was re-scheduled for a October 31st release. With the 2nd single featuring Slim Thug, ‘Wamp Wamp‘ out, I could finally start to taste the album coming very soon. That taste turned sour as the album has been pushed back intro December, making it, 3 years overdue, what a fucking shame. But there might be a light at the end of the tunnel, as it recently got a perfect XXL rating from..XXL. Hopefully this will force Jive to put out the album, right? right?? Shelving a alleged-classic will make a lot of people pissed (no one more then the brothers themselves). Recently Rolling Stone had a piece on The Clipse, and I truly feel their pain they are suffering through with their label. Read..

Lots of artists hate their record label, but the Clipse really, really, really hate their label. In a recent interview at the Manhattan offices of their, um, label, Jive Records, rappers Malice and Pusha-T did some extreme venting. As our interview with them began, Pusha snatched the recorder, looked around conspiratorially and let it out: “I hate Jive. I hate them motherfuckers. With all my heart and all the passion and my soul I hate these bitches. It’s about the lynching of every staff member up in this motherfucker.”

One sticking point? The release date of the Virginia hip-hop duo’s second album, Hell Hath No Fury, has been pushed back three times (most recently to November 28th of this year). Malice and Pusha-T also complained that Jive doesn’t know how to handle rap records, forcing the duo to hire it’s own publicity and marketing teams. “You could ask anyone in here to give you a marketing plan on Clipse and they could never do it,” says Pusha. “It’s like damn, What do you understand about hip-hop? You ain’t had nobody since Spice 1! You don’t know the fucking formula. Everybody in here’s like 50 years old!
“Just drop us,” continued Pusha, “Leave us the fuck alone so we can go where there’s plenty of people like Clipse.” “Have you ever heard anyone say that they’d be happy to get dropped” said Malice.
Pusha: “Besides fucking Prince?”

Malice: “Besides Prince.”
“And he carved his own face,” said Push, “which I won’t do. I won’t paint on my face. They ain’t going to drive me fucking loony.”

I’ve never wanted rappers to come out on top more than this. And how could you hate on rappers that send out cook aprons out as a promotional item?

out.

as a bonus check out a redonk freestyle, the video for ‘The Funeral’, and the most random Clipse clip you’ll ever see from this years VMA (probably my only highlight of that event):

This is probably the funniest video of the day for me, I guess even puppets on Sesame Street get hasseled by those boys in blue.

[wmv width=”320″ height=”240″]http://gorillamask.net/Media/muppets-nwa.wmv[/wmv]

Credit: Gorilla Mask

YN Puts on his Happy Face.

 I got this in the e-mail the other day and thought it was relevant to share on hurr. YN Talks about 2pac & him still being on XXL’s covers more than 10 years after his death, and his dealings with Interscope. Enjoy..

[youtube]oN6EJNWoyEQ[/youtube]

Part 2:

[youtube]uYqOeaAf8hk[/youtube] Sphere: Related Content