Metal Lungies

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIV1-ICkXow[/youtube]I’m sure by now everyone’s seen FamLay’s latest, “Da Beeper Record” featuring Pharrell, which hit the net late last week, and (according to The Fader‘s drop) is directed by Hype Williams. This is supposed to be the first single off of Fam’s debut album, Dat Missile. I say “supposed to be” because this’ll be Fam’s second attempt at hitting the jackpot that is official major label album release, after his scheduled-for-2004 debut Traintogo (a planned Star Trak/Def Jam joint venture), backed by the banger “Rock N Roll”, never made it out of the office. [Personally, I blame Lil’ Flip for getting on the remix of that song.]

This is just the latest in a string of shortcomings for VA’s underrated rap scene. The Clipse’s struggle to release Hell Hath No Fury could actually be seen as a “success” considering that their proper debut, Exclusive Audio Footage, was shelved permanently. (Remember “The Funeral”, featuring a pre-cornrowed Pusha T?) Ab-Liva, billed as “The Man That Will Be King” in the “Cot Damn” video, hasn’t popped up much outside of The Clipse’s albums. Timbaland’s Beat Club Records folded. Skillz was forced to make year-end “rap-up” records to keep a buzz going, and I’m hoping that Million Dollar Backpack goes somewhere other than down the tube.

Although Virginia MCs have shown talent, it seems that only the state’s superstar beatmakers can get a break commercially. Considering the currently-stale state of hip hop music, let’s hope that this changes for the better.

Download: Mad Skillz – “VA’s In The House”

Download: The Clipse – “Breakfast In Cairo” featuring Noreaga & Kurupt

Download: Timbaland & Magoo – “We At It Again” featuring Sebastian

Download: Mad Skillz – “Crew Deep (Remix)” featuring The Clipse

Download: FamLay – “Bang Bang” featuring T.I. & Scarface

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The first 2 are from the same production team that brought you the Marco Polo Nostalgia video, so you know it’s ML approved.

Bilal + Hezekiah-Looking Up

The most underrated R&B crooner (outside of D’Angelo) joins philly-based Rawkus artist Hezekiah for a track.

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Blue Scholars-Back Home

A video from the Washington underground group.

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Peedo Ft. KRS-One & Fat Joe

Can Fat Joe finally be going back to his original DITC formula, finally?!

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We were stunned at the start of the year when Disco D committed suicide. Now the Village Voice (via spinemagazine) brings us the definite Disco D write-up. It’s a must read, considering not many knew about Disco D’s life and his battles. Also, a posthumous Disco D DVD, Hustle Harder about upcoming in the music scene just came out, check the trailers:

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Hi Haters, I’m back from hiatus a little vacation. While Buhizzle goes on his own trafficking agenda, don’t doubt that I am back in full swing like Nelly in the Batter Up vid.

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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.

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

To be signed to Aftermath, no matter what, you got to be nice on the mic. Joell Ortiz is nice on the mic any time, place, or day. We caught up with the Brooklyn MC to talk about his recent KOCH project, The Brick (Bodega Chronicles), what to expect in the future with Aftermath, and most importantly his karaoke game. Oh yeah, perfectly fitting in with our recent DJ Premier beat drop, find out what Joell’s favorite Primo beat is. Read (no ctrl+f allowed)!

MetalLungies: What’s going on, man?

Joell Ortiz: I’m chilling, man. You chilling today, you good?

ML: Yeah, yeah, I’m good.

JO: All right.

ML: The first thing I want to ask you is, for those that don’t know, for those that have been sleeping, tell them, who is Joell Ortiz?

JO: Man, Joell Ortiz is a Puerto Rican dude from in front of a corner store in Brooklyn that just been grinding and doing everything it takes to be a rapper, from dropping his first twelve inch on Rawkus Records in 1999, being Source Unsigned Hype, XXL Chairman’s Choice because of his shows, and being Live ’05 freestyle battle winner. I’ve done songs with Kool G Rap, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, the OGs co-sign me.. I rapped live on Stretch Armstrong’s show in ’98 as a kid, so I’ve pretty much been in rap for the last ten years.

ML: All right, all right. When did you start rhyming, and when did you decide to make a career out of it?

JO: I started rhyming about 1991 as a kid, when I first came out my project building and seen what a cipher looked like, and how much love you got to make two words rhyme at the end of a sentence, that’s when I first started rhyming. I made it serious in about ’97 when my boy Dennis put me in the studio and I listened to myself over a beat and that was pretty much it for me, I said this is what I’m gonna do.

ML: All right, how old were you then?

JO: I was 17.

ML: 17, all right. You were fortunate enough to perform with the late Big Pun, right?

JO: Yes.

ML: Talk about that experience?

JO: The performance I did with Pun was a different performance and incredible because I was alive and he wasn’t. His wife called my management and wanted me to perform at his memorial and I actually rocked with his urn on stage. So he was on stage with me and that’s one thing I’ll always remember in my career, that’s one of the events that I’ll always remember and it’s an incredible feeling when you get that phone call from a pioneer’s wife because he’s a pioneer to me, and a legend, so that lets me know that I’m doing something right and I’m repping the Latino community in an ill way.

ML: I know I was reading the journal that you ran last year and you mentioned that you scrapped half of your album, right?

JO: Yes.

ML: So how many changes overall has The Brick gone through? Talk about those changes.

JO: Well, The Brick’s pretty much been through the wringer, so when new things happen and you get excited and you get new opportunities to meet new producers and new artists, new work is done, and you start beating other records, you understand?

ML: Yeah.

JO: So from beating other records to leaking some just to keep the buzz going and keep your name in people’s mouths, there’s usually a big change for the album, so you’re not gonna really hear too much that you heard, it’s gonna be a whole bunch of different things but it’s going to always remain one thing and that’s hip hop, so if you haven’t pressed the rewind button in the last five years, if you’ve haven’t been excited like I haven’t been excited, this is your excitement.

ML: You ran that journal, you have probably one of the best looking MySpaces I’ve seen, how big does the Internet play in your career?

JO: The Internet was huge in my career. Just from basically people logging on to see who I was, that was huge, but in different other ways it dominated the reason why I am who I am because it let me get one-on-ones with my fans, you know what I’m saying? I have to know who I’m targeting, who’s responding to me the strongest, and I also got a chance to let people know who I am as a person by working through the journals and telling them how my day-to-day was on the grind to try and be successful and try and have a career in rap. So it’s one thing when you hear somebody in music, but when you can read something they write, you feel like you know them better, so outside of just regular promotion it gave me a chance to get a one-on-one with your average Joe like I am, ’cause that’s all I am, I’m just your average fan with a deal. So it makes them feel like I’m no better than them, like I’m one of them.

ML: Do you check your MySpace daily?

JO: I check my MySpace here and there when I get a chance to. Every time I check it I got a load of friend requests, and I got a lot of comments on my page and it’s usually positive so I feel blessed right now and I encourage people to keep hitting me ’cause I do read it.

ML: All right, all right. I know you’re signed to Aftermath, so you’ve probably been getting dozens and dozens of questions regarding that, but how is The Brick different from the project you’re working on for Aftermath?

JO: There’s actually no difference, but the difference is that The Brick doesn’t have Dre and Aftermath will. I don’t change my format of making songs, they’ll always have that feeling. I like hard beats and I like to be an MC over them and Dre’s pretty much going to give me free realm with that. I’m happy that I’m over there because he doesn’t try to switch anyone, he just takes what you do, your art and puts it on a bigger platform, a bigger stage. So nothing’s going to change outside of production, and the phone calls that Aftermath make that Koch can’t get me in bigger places and stuff like that. But as far as the music, there won’t be a big change. I’ll always sound the way I sound.

ML: But you can expect the same high quality.

JO: Of course.

ML: All right.

JO: Of course, it’s gonna be up there.

ML: When I first heard you, you were killing a bunch of Premier beats. What is your favourite beat to ever freestyle over?

JO: *Laughs* Wow that’s ill. Well, to ever freestyle over! You wanna know something!

ML: Share.

JO: My favourite beat to ever freestyle over is a beat that I’ve never got a chance to freestyle over that I’ve always wanted to. It’s the Premier ‘Boom’ with Royce Da 5’9”.

ML: Mm-hm.

JO: I love that beat. L-O-V-E love that beat and never got a chance to get to it. That’s my word, I’m gonna get to it, I’m gonna destroy that.

ML: Right. We can expect that soon?

JO: You know what? I’m gonna do that beat. You can expect that soon. I’m gonna do that, I’m gonna put that on the Internet.

ML: All right. You heard it here first!

JO: *Laughs*

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