Blu released a new eleven track project called jesus on Tuesday. Most artists would have preceded such a release with months of teasers, leaks, interviews, music videos, and behind-the-scenes clips, but Blu posted a link to the project on Twitter without any explanation.
He didn’t even link directly to the album. He posted a link to a thread on the KanyeToThe.com forums which then links to a Bandcamp page where you can stream the album or download it for ten dollars. All of the text on the page is lowercase. The artist field just says “b”. The given release date is June 1, 2011 and when you try to view the lyrics for each song, there are cryptic descriptions like “lucky left e .” and “r a g g i d y.” The only concrete description is “production by alchemist, madlib, hezekiah, knxwledge, nathan & g o d lee barnes,” but it doesn’t say who produced which tracks.
It’s not entirely clear what jesus is. Is it an EP? An unreleased album? A mixtape of loose tracks? When were these songs recorded? I’m not even sure how you’re supposed to write the name. It’s annotated as “je s u s ” on Bandcamp but the cover says “jesus.” I can’t include the little triangle symbol, because WordPress keeps displaying it as a question mark.
Blu fans are used to his oddball web presence. He does stuff like this all the time. Maybe Blu thinks this discreet approach affords him a cool mystique. Maybe he’s too lazy to hype a project for three weeks before he drops it. Maybe he doesn’t care. Maybe he thinks eschewing a promo cycle emphasizes the music, which I’ve ignored for four straight paragraphs.
Rockstar Games never skimps on a soundtrack and L.A. Noire is no exception. The game features the music of Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Thelonious Monk — a suitable backdrop for a detective thriller set in 1947 Los Angeles. In addition, Rockstar partnered with Verve Records for L.A. Noire: Remixed, an EP of remixes of jazz standards by the likes of Dave Sitek and DJ Premier. Premo turned Louis Jordan’s “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” into an undeniable head-nodder. Rockstar sure knows how to please hip-hop heads.
L.A. Noire is out now. Watch the launch trailer below and listen to the rest of L.A. Noire: Remixedhere
Ron Artest, you’ve done it again. First it was Champions, on which Dr. Dre reportedly worked with him at one point telling him his verse was stupid. Now comes a new video for the single Go Loco. I find it interesting that Ron Ron would put out a song about going crazy, since well… Remember when he thanked his shrink after the Lakers won the title last year?
But what really makes this song is the guests. Fat Joe? Sure. B Real from Cypress Hill? Ok, a little old school, but nothing too bizarre. George Lopez? Que? The song premiered on the show back in March. It’s a memorable performance, only for its absurdity. Lopez has a very dubious wardrobe choice, sporting a shirt that reads, “I didn’t ask to B A Mexican, I just got lucky,” as well as a bandana, black shades, and matching black top hat. Artest has on a nice shirt as well. It simply reads “Peanut Butter.” Lucky for us the mic isn’t really working. Quality in the video is better. Check it, if you have the cajones.
They call themselves “the Texas Wu-tang” and the claim isn’t entirely without merit. There’s a wide range of talent in Austin’s League of Extraordinary G’z collective. It consists of eight guys spread across three groups: Da C.O.D, Dred Skott, and Southbound. The common thread is precise rhyming and sample-based beats, but members might rap like Big Boi, Bun B, or Phil Da Agony. Highlights include two great Jake One-produced tracks, a weeded Jackie Chain cameo, and a “Smells Like Teen Spirit” sample that surprisingly doesn’t suck. But the whole thing is great and it’s clear that these guys are just getting started.
Baroque meets dub on The Bug’s remix of The Kills’ “Satellite.” Epic intonations to fill an arena. Or a cathedral. Watch the video for the original below.
A year ago, I was the biggest Starlito fan outside of Nashville. Renaissance Gangster and Living in the Past were the work of a charismatic rhymer whose demeanor jumped between jeering and somber. He rapped with a stoned apathy, reciting the next line purely at his convenience. He was Lil Wayne without the bullshit.
I don’t remember exactly what happened next. Then there was a series of subpar mixtapes leading up to Starlito’s Way 3: Life Insurance in December, which disappointed. I was just about ready to hang up my homemade “#1 Lito Fan” t-shirt when out of nowhere, his tape from last week recaptured some of the magic.
Three tracks on @ WAR w/ myself stand out. “Felt Like Giving Up” is back-against-the-wall trap rap with Lito rapping his heart out, “Like Mike” is a DJ Burn One track about hoop dreams, and “Thinking of You” uses a trapped out version of the same Jackson 5 sample as J Dilla’s “Time: The Donut of the Heart.” Whole tape here, best tracks below.
Look at the vibrating cup of drank and the flying rubber band on the cover of Juicy J & Lex Luger’s Rubba Band Business 2 and tell me you don’t want to tell all your friends about that shit. Or the cascading c-notes on DJ Scream and DJ MLK’s Saks Fifth: The Clearance cover. They’ll keep falling as long as there’s juice in your laptop battery. This is the future of album art. Jonathan Mannion, step your game up.
Let us know if you’ve seen any more of these. And to all the rappers and DJs out there, if your next tape doesn’t have an animated cover, you’re officially falling behind.
WHO FUCKING RAPS LIKE THIS?? Ahem, pardon me. Gibbs’ flow is as expedient as ever and he paints a vivid picture of a passionate young hormonal love. He released “Way 2 Fast” in honor of Mother’s Day and said,
The song is basically a true story. I saw a lot of young females go down that path that leads to addiction, abuse and death. I always made sure that I lead my baby sister in the right direction due to the things I’ve seen in the streets. As black men we need to be more accountable for our women.
JD$wag is a freelance writer living in New York and Metal Lungies’ new sports writer. He grew up on the mean streets of the D.C. ‘burbs, and his favorite athlete is Popeye Jones. He’s still mad at that punk Jeffrey Maier for that stunt he pulled against the Orioles in Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS.
Queensbridge’s own Ron Artest isn’t the only Lakers player to have a track under his belt believe it or not. You would think maybe Pau would have a Spanish song akin to Tony Parker’s French pump-up jam “Bienvenue dans le Texas,” which features the likes of Booba. Yes, Booba. Sort of looks like a half-Senegalese Pitbull. (Note, this track is awful, but the echoing dub “Dirty dirty dirty Souf” is quite comical). No Pau, so maybe Lamar Odom would dedicate a slow jam to his bodacious boo Khloe K? I can’t dig anything up. Nope. None of them. Who does that leave? Steve Blake trying to show that he’s the next Yelawolf?
Not so fast. Kobe Bean Bryant, in fact put out a song a few years ago. Giving yet more credence to Kobe’s inflated ego, the song is titled “K.O.B.E,” and it features Tyra Banks. Have a listen. Sort of sounds like Will Smith’s Miami mixed in with a little 3LW, right? Tyra’s chorus is great: “K-O-B-E I L-O-V-E you. I believe you are very fine. If you give me one chance, I promise to love you and be with you forever more.” I wonder how his wife feels about that, especially after well..that little incident in Colorado a few years back. Kobe raps that he lives for “Basketball, beats and broads.” Let’s keep it to the first one, after all, Game Two is tonight.
