Metal Lungies

As promised! First watch Chapter 15 here. THEN read:

• Looks like the n-bombs are gonna start dropping like shit in WWII from here on out.
• Seems like Twan didn’t enjoy his 3 years huh? You’d think based on his physique, pause, that he would be running shit in jail? We need elaboration on his jail bid.
• Sending people to the moon is a threat? Aren’t people like Lance Bass (nh) willing to pay like gazillion money for that?
• Where does the skillet disappear to by the end of the chapter??
• Green screen scenes are just jaw-dropping.
• R. Kelly kinda read our mind after this chapter we too were going “Yeah. Yeah” in a serious tone.
• Oh yeah, is Twon wearing a knockoff Cubs hat? That shit doesn’t look like New Era fitted. Wearing a hat to match your outfit that’s NOT a New Era is urban fashion suicide.

PD’s Take:

Chapter 15:
Twan makes a Laverne and Shirley reference. That was unexpected.
“Bitch, don’t ‘Hey Twan’ me.”
Twan is rough, man.
“Then what? THEN WHAT?”
I don’t understand the issues with Tina and Roxanne at this point.
“Reckless endangerment.”
THE HELICOPTER! Bwaahaha.
I’m relatively sure the one cop is Principal Onyx Blackman from “Strangers with Candy.”
Oh shit. The saga just keeps dropping bombs. Twan was going to be Tina’s baby daddy. Or maybe…he is? Where’s the baby? Dammit, don’t keep me waiting another day!

Over the Years Ashanti (more her producer Irv Gotti) has ripped the beats off a good many classic rap tracks for her songs. Now, I know a lot of other artists do this too. But Ashanti does it a lot. A lot. Some examples.

Ashanti- Foolish:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAPOtmqio1k&eurl=[/youtube]

Notorious B.I.G. (One More Chance Remix):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHDRkO_UmXY&eurl=[/youtube]

Thats kind of an easy one. Lets Step it Up.

Ashanti- Baby:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMI2d4HaFRQ&eurl=[/youtube]

Scarface- Mary Jane:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB5hZUvNiVk&eurl=[/youtube]

Damn! She even jacked the video!!!! Wow. Lets Move on….

Ashanti- Rain on Me:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfXN9JCiv-M&eurl=[/youtube]

Jay-Z- Can I Live:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC7MJ8l73SQ&eurl=[/youtube]

I mention those because Irv Gotti produced both songs. Back when he produced Can I Live he was known as DJ Irv. They both sample The Look of Love by Isaac Hayes. Moving on…..

Ashanti feat. Black Child- Breakup 2 Makeup (Remix):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIjWo24wZe8&eurl=[/youtube]

Notorious B.I.G.- Dreams (Just Playin’):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4cYoDVRB9E&eurl=[/youtube]

That Ashanti video kinda started out like the Video for the Flava in Ya Ear Remix. I didn’t think you could make a sucessful RnB song with a song about raping RnB singers. And you can’t. Moving on…

Ashanti Feat. Paul Wall and Method Man- Still on It:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ity9YwE_QQI&eurl=[/youtube]

Masta Ace Inc.- Born To Roll:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjxBPZfvEdE&eurl=[/youtube]

I gotta thank MTV Jams for that last one. I knew that Ashanti song was taking a great old song, but it was on the tip of my tounge. They played these back to back and it was awesome.

So thats it for now. But Ashanti is working on a new album and that means there is plenty of room for some throwback beats.

No hate though. I would have never been listening to Masta Ace Inc. after all these years if it wasn’t for her.

I know I’ve never posted all the videos on here, I tried once but the post came out FUBARed, but I’m sure you’ve seen them all otherwise.Well, finally the masterful series is back. You can view a new episode each day all the way up to chapter 22 over at IFC.

Ch.13 Highlights:

• R. Kelly as an old man minus the unplanned golden showers.
• “you’re crazier than a fish with titties”

Ch. 14 Highlights:

• The perverted way R. Kelly says “thicker” to introduce chapter 14.
• Thankfully, R. Kelly not playing a waitress.
• Twan feeling the music a bit too much on his own.
• Trying to guess based on lips, pause, who Twan’s info connect is.

Note: does anyone buy the DVD of this? Thats like buying a DVD of youtube videos.

Check back tomorrow for Ch.15 thoughts.

(Sorry for no embeds, looks like IFC is trying to keep their shit exclusive like a mixtape dj.)

EDIT: ML Homie and more importantly self proclaimed TITC expert historian, PD will be providing his daily analysis as the rest of the chapters are unveiled. Here are his musings for chapters 13 & 14.

Chapter 13:
After a completely enlightening “Chapter 12.5” to catch everybody up, the legendary saga resumes, complete with commentary from R.
Sylvester does not appreciate Twan’s wearing his hat crooked. That’s just Twan. Don’t try to change him.
“Said you crazier than a fish wit titties” should become a well-known saying. I’ve already started using it.
I hope the Rosie the Nosy Neighbor subplot pays off, ’cause I’m just not feeling it right now. But I’m sure R. will make it work. You’ve got R. in full Eddie Murphy mode here as an old man who makes responses like “What you lookin’ at…what you lookin’ at…hmm?” (Which is pretty funny, actually.)
Classic exchange:
“I hope a pigeon fly by here and shit on your face.”
“If it do…if it do…then I’m goin’ wipe the shit on you.”

Chapter 14:
First of all, that is the craziest diner I’ve ever seen. It’s a dive and a classy joint at once.
Hold up…Sylvester going home with Kathy…was a plan? R. explained before the clip that it was going to get people thinking. Guess what? It worked.
The waitress talk is spot-on.
“Try me…Kathy? (Yes?) …Try me.”
Twan is holding it down, no doubt. Holding it down by just sitting there in the car, enjoying his music.
We’ve got another character…I’ll call him Twan’s Connect for now.
“Do I look like En Vogue?”
But damn, Twan’s Connect is quick with that info. Took him like 5 seconds, tops.
Oh shit. The infamous Tina. And Roxanne!
“We take Tae Bo classes.”
Notice how Twan has to get right down to his wifebeater as soon as he enters.

Ed. Note: failing to mention how neatly Twan places down his clothes when he enters the restaurant, unacceptable!

Here at ML, if 50 Cent didn’t do so many interviews, we’d have nothing to talk about. In this batch of outtakes from his interview in the latest issue of XXL, 50 attributes Nas’ book smarts to the fact opinion that Nas is “not hot right now” and has lost his “initial audience.”

Granted, Hip Hop Is Dead didn’t break any records with its sales, but it has been certified gold, which is more than can be said for a lot of hip hop releases in recent memory. Considering how much record sales have declined in hip hop, and that Illmatic is platinum only once over, I’d say that Nas has actually done a pretty good job of keeping his “initial” fanbase in tact — if Nas has lost anyone, it’s the people who jumped aboard after he did “Hate Me Now” with Puffy and “You Owe Me” with Ginuwine, and, if anything, that was dead weight to be lost. And as far as Nas not being hot right now, it’s true that he doesn’t have a single that’s getting hourly burn on the radio at the moment, but I wouldn’t say it’s from lack of effort — has Nas really been trying to make a radio-friendly single in past couple years? Meanwhile, 50, by my count, is 0-for-his-last-3 in “hot” singles (“Amusement Park”, “Straight To The Bank”, “I Get Money”), and Curtis has twice changed release dates as a result.

Hearing 50 say that Nas is losing his audience, and thinking back to Hip Hop Is Dead at the same time, 2 particular tracks stick out in my mind — “Who Killed It?”, which had Nas on some Dick Tracy shit, and “Blunt Ashes”. I’d say that the latter track, with its different-sounding production (provided by Chris Webber of all people) and Nas’ off-kilter flow, was largely hit-or-miss with fans. But, if you can get past those things, Nas’ lyrics on “Blunt Ashes” are a great listen — he sheds light on some of the mysterious deaths of musicians of the past who have been influential to not just hip hop, but all music in general.

I picked a couple of choice rhymes from “Blunt Ashes” and broke down in greater detail what Nas is talking about. I figure that if 50 is right and Nas is losing fans, the least I could do is try to win back some who may have been confused by the song, on Nas’ behalf. Of course, this shit ain’t rocket science — 30 minutes of Wikipedia and Google searches provided me with all of the information I’m about to share — but a lot of these details were new to me, so I can only assume they’d be new to others as well. Enjoy.

Read the rest of this entry »

You think of what you were doing at age of 19 (or what you will be doing) and chances are you weren’t releasing your third album on Def Jam. You weren’t working with hit-producer Timbaland, soulful singer-songerwriter Ne-Yo, or sexyback-bringer Justin Timberlake. You weren’t a spokesperson for Covergirl or Nike. Damn, did you even have a job at 19?

Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad, slated for release in early June on Jay-Z’s Def Jam Recordings, hits the sweet spot somewhere between a widely accessible album and showcasing the talent of Rihanna and her legion of ace collaborators. In an industry where sometimes the emphasis seems to be who can get whom to produce the hot tracks, Good Girl seems to just have a solid set of club-bumpable songs without all the hype.

Still in this up-tempo album there’s variety. “Umbrella” pays tribute to Rihanna’s undeniable Dance Hall roots, “Don’t Stop The Music” and “Breakin’ Dishes” are guaranteed to get you on dance floor (or if you are like me and have 0 moves, then looking at the dance floor). “Rehab” and “Hate That I Love You” depart from this high-synth low-bass sound, exploring a more soulful sound – but still manage to be up-tempo.

And if you didn’t have a job at 19, you’re bound to have one now, and this album is well worth your cashish.

-JP

http://www.thisisrihanna.com

Recent and Upcoming Albums
5 June 2007 – Good Girl Gone Bad
4 June 2007 – Good Girl Gone Bad [UK Digipak w/ Bonus Disc of Remixes] Sphere: Related Content

I just came back from a nasty bout of the flu and as soon as I find something newsworthy it has to be this………N*E*R*D* is no more. The Supergroup broke up after a stream of management conflicts at Virgin Records. This is a sad day in music history, N*E*R*D* was a group who broke out of the boundaries of Rock and Roll, mixing the musical genius of the Neptunes (which Chad and Pharell are also part of) with a talented band whose members looked good on paper and sounded great on wax. They could play hip hop, rock, r+b, techno, and just about anything else. The group has no animosity towards each other and do not cite personal differences as a reason for disbanding the group. On Radio1 (where the split was announced) the group said they might still release songs they record together and bootleg them to the internet. I hope they do this and show that bastard record company that the label does not control the music. Don’t get me wrong I would kill for another studio record, but if that means compromise, then fuck it. On the other hand, if no new music ever comes and I am forced to listen to “Fly or Die” and “In search of….” in a constant loop then I will claim the head of a Virgin Music Executive.

If you love producers, and I know you do, then you need to cop that upcoming Motown Remixed album. This album is basically taking 15 Motown classics and remixing them for the Hip-Hop Heads. The album will feature:

– The Randy Watson Experience: Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and James Poyser – “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (Gladys Knight & The Pips)

– DJ Green Lantern – “Mary Jane” (Rick James)

– Salaam Remi – “ABC” (Jackson 5)

– DJ Z-Trip – “I Want You Back” (Jackson 5)

– DJ Jazzy Jeff – “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” (The Temptations)

– DJ Spinna – “Keep On Truckin” (Eddie Kendricks)

– Hank Shocklee – “Smiling Faces Sometimes” (Undisputed Truth)

– Easy Mo Bee – “Just My Imagination(Running Away With Me)” (The Temptations)

– Mocean Worker AKA Adam Dorn – “I Just Want To Celebrate” (Rare Earth)

– Hotsnax AKA Full Phatt – “The Tears of A Clown” (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)

– King Britt – “War” (Edwin Starr)

– DJ Smash – “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” (Stevie Wonder)

– Da Producers, including Paul Simpson – “Let’s Get It On” (Marvin Gaye)

– Rafe Gomez and David Baron as The Groove Boutique – “Quiet Storm” (Smokey Robinson)

– Tranzition (everyANYTHING) – “My World Is Empty Without You” (Diana Ross & The Supremes)

The album, which will also be complemented by an Unmixed Version, will drop May 24th.

Speaking of producers, you also need to head over to the Priceless Productions webpage. These are some MoCo guys who make some hot beats. My Four Favorites from their new shit are: Late Night, Girl, How I Feel, and Dismatled. “Late Night” sounds like the beat for the next Dipset single, classic. Check Em’ Out and tell em’ what you think.

Track of the Day (In Memory): N*E*R*D*- Maybe