About a month ago, my homegirl Starr from over @ GangstarrGirl.com got to interview Black Milk, one of Detroit's emerging homegrown innovators of masterful beats and rhythms. XXLmag.com finally put the feature up, so check it out:
Black Milk: Respect DueChristmas is a little early here @ Write For Freedom, thanks to Chop Steak down in Austin, TX. After taking a year off, he's back with his annual Christmas mixtape of songs that jammed hard throughout the year.
Check out his blog to download the mixtape. Also, see the track listing below:
It's amazing how a song with a fairly simple message can take on so much meaning and significance when it is placed into context with a situation or event. Right now, N*E*R*D's "Sooner or Later" could be the anthem for the economic turmoil the nation is facing, the collapse of Wall St. and the Big 3 in the auto industry, the real estate crisis - take your pick.
Ominous implications aside, "Sooner or Later" is a great song. I can't even begin to try to explain how and why this song pisses excellence. I guess you can start with the face melting guitar riffs that completely take over the 2nd half of the song, and the clashing of the instrumentation which seems to match the "crashing down" that comprises the hook and go from there. I'm glad that they're not only releasing it as their 3rd single from Seeing Sounds but they've filmed a what looks to be a dope video for it. A real video this time, not...well this or this. Check out what it looks like behind-the-scenes to see what we're in for (via We Yow!zers):
Marsha Ambrosius a.k.a "The Singer Chick" from Floetry has been doing alright for herself since ditching the duo to pursue solo endeavors that favored hip hop over the sultry neo soul sound that made her famous. After singing infectious hooks on some of hip hop's most anticipated releases in recent years like Hip Hop Is Dead, The Big Bang, Hi-Teknology 2 and The Documentary she's turned her focus to solo endeavors like her upcoming mixtape Yours Truly which is slated to drop later this month. Check out "Sunshine" featuring Little Brother:
Voting became cool and trendy in 2008. Not only that, we all witnessed firsthand that every vote truly does count. Just ask Minnesota and Georgia - their senate races were so close, they're STILL recounting the votes and it's almost 2009.
That being said, you should really check out URB.com's Best of 2008 Readers Survey:
Vote for your favorite song, new artists, videos, DJs, movies and more. It's been just a week and already 15,000 votes have been cast. You've got 2 more weeks to vote before the polls close and the results are revealed on December 23. While you're at it, check out URB & Friends Best of 2008:
With a new list each day of the month, URB and their homies bring you their insights on what came out on top in 2008. Good times. Yezzur! © Pharrell.
It's back to the grind after an extended holiday weekend, making Mondays like today especially hard. Early this morning, Mother Nature gave Chicago her idea of an early Christmas present: SNOW >_<
I shouldn't complain, because what we have now is like Springtime compared to what I know we're capable of getting - but I'm never happy to see ANY snow ever, so BLAH. On top of that, I can't brain today - I have Teh Dumb :( My brain still thinks it's the holiday weekend, so this week's Manic Music Monday post over @ GangstarrGirl.com is pretty skimpy - nonetheless it's amusing, so check me out. Don't worry, I've got some goodies coming soon. In the meantime...
FYI - Jugrnaut is a "high-end streetwear lifestyle store" located in the South Loop @ 427 S. Dearborn St. If you're ever in the area or if you want to take a field trip for a couple of hours, definitely check them out and show some love. If you're not in the area but you want to see what they're about, check out their blog and their MySpace page and make it a stop on your next tour of the Chi. In the meantime, if you're as ecstatic about this as I am then make sure you RSVP to get the time of the event sent to you via e-mail the day before.
Yezzurr! © Pharrell
Another Thanksgiving is fast approaching - so give thanks for the short work week and the long weekend, then go check out some of the artists that I'm thankful for this year. And if you haven't already, check out that new isht from Jazzanova - it's quite loverly, I'm sure you'll agree:
Kev Clark is back this week with his recap of that fateful Election Night 2 weeks ago. Barack Obama is gettin' brothas play like never before. Who knew? Or maybe some people just know both how and when to capitalize on a sweet opportunity when it comes their way:
Obama Mama! By Kevin L. Clark
The hype for the 2008 presidential elections was unprecedented, understandable and undoubtedly the most powerful thing that we’ve seen in awhile. Once the votes were tallied and our 44th President of the United States was declared, Barack Obama did more to help out the dating game than most would give credit for – and I’ll tell you why!
Q-Tip manages to throw these pretty dope parties at NYC club Santos Party House, and with all the excitement building up to a fevered pitch, people took to the streets to get ready for the New York celebration. Yours truly was trapped at the plantation for a while, but I got my freedom papers in the form of being the guy known for partying. While the rest of my comrades finished our legendary (if not to be seen) video documenting the November 4th election, I headed over to check out what all the fuss was about up the block from the 9-to-5.
The line outside was packed and the electricity could be felt in the air. It was probably how people felt when Joe Louis was declared the heavyweight champion of the world… of the world, Craig! Ladies were coming out looking their Saturday night best on a Tuesday, and the smiles weren’t just relegated for the stars and industry insiders – the everyday man was getting love too!
Word broke out that Obama won, and the game was just beautiful. Black love – hell… universal love! – was on front page and with that, the game decidedly shifted back to the light-skin brothas’ lane. With everyone hi-fivin’, huggin’ and sharing their tears of happiness for the former Chicago senator, this cutie with some slightly chinky eyes was burning a hole through ya boy.
Clockin’ in at 5′3″, 135 lbs, this girl had that whole Cassie/Lauren London vibe and was rockin’ an ill Obama tee. She walks up to me and gives me a huge hug. Almost on cue, Diddy walks in and the pace picks up about five notches. Something about Sean Combs makes people feel giddy, and the girl who shall remain nameless planted a juicy kiss on my cheeks and says, “Obama-riffic!” Cheesy, I know… But hell, she’s cute; what can you say?
Check out the rest here.
Another Monday is upon us, which means it's Manic Music Monday over @ GangstarrGirl.com! Check me out, especially since I had a couple of weeks off due to personal conflicts. But I'm back like AZ circa 2002...
The latest from my Detroit bredren Black Milk:
In all of the madness of the elections last week, I completely forgot to do the weekly syndication of Kev Clark's blog "The Single Guy" over @ Hello Beautiful. This week he ponders the message his ever-present facial scruff is sending to potential targets, er, dates:
Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness
By Kevin L. Clark November 10, 2008 12:33 pm
That phrase seemingly hasn’t hurt my dating life as much as I thought it would by living in trendy New York. Surrounded by tastemakers and fashionistas, it wasn’t until a wholesome Christian girl knocked some hellfire and brimstone from my arse that I learned how close to God I could’ve been.
I wouldn’t think that I’m the most attractive looking man in New York. I may get a few looks in Bed-Stuy, but that’s because the rough look is never out of style there. And, no… I don’t suffer from low self-esteem, it’s just that I’ve had facial hair since 13 and shaving gets to be low on the totem pole of things to do when your nickname in the office is Kunta Kinte or Hey, Mon!
Plus, the scruff factor serves as a truth teller amongst women. I know you guys have the up-and-down glance made into a science - with a checklist in your head just to keep things you like in order. But with me, you get to see my personality shine through the good, the bad, the ugly and jacked-up hair days.
Amid all this college kid angst enters Kennedy, a 23-year-old grad student who attended Columbia as a Psych major. She could honestly have any man she wanted with her bubbly personality, sexy lips, 1000-watt mile and poofy hair that’d make Maxwell jealous. I tried to earn this girl’s attention every Thursday when we’d both be at Cody’s Grill for lunch.
I was attracted, yet she had no clue who I was. Contrary to my homie Carl’s belief, I don’t chase girls - I jog. And as fate would have it, she had just come back from a run and wanted a drink. I, with two lunchtime Coronas in my hand, sensed the urgency and inquired if she wanted one. She gave me the “look” and her face slightly turned smug.
My smile was my shield from judgment and, reluctantly, she took the beer and invited me to sit down. Eventually, we discussed how familiar it was to see each other here every Thursday, talked about the places we partied at and how much a Columbia education costs. When we touched on the subject of dating and being single, she blurts out, “You’ve probably been single for a couple of years now, huh?”
“Four, actually,” I replied and her beautiful eyes lit up. “You know why, right?” she asks. I shake my head no and she answers with, “…all the scruff and gruff - the girls probably don’t like it.” I rebuttal with, “You keep smiling,” and she says, “Only to keep from laughing!” Ouch. Base! My feelings were tinged, but not burnt. But she turned up the heat when she managed to clown my hairline, my Old Navy hoodie and my Bo Jackson sneakers all in a 15-minute time span.
In all that she finally broke it down to me:
“A lady doesn’t really care if you have the washboard abs and the silver tongue to make all the girls come. But when you make absolute NO attempt at trying to get her attention, then you’re failing yourself. Simply put, cleanliness is next to Godliness.”
And with that said…
Ladies… Can a man with personality and wit outshine the dude who wears Dolce & Gabbana with a NY fitted hat and some Timbs? Or are we slaves to personal preferences? Speak on it!
Check out last week's entry, "I'm Through With Dating Black Girls" here.Back during the summer when I first started this blog, I asked my dear friend Kevin J from over at 410 Scrolls to grace Write For Freedom's presence with a guest post, because he's an awesome writer and stoopid funny. It took him a while, but he's finally come around with his latest stroke of literary genius: an overview of the clusterfuck that is the video game 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.
Enjoy:
I'm on Vimeo now :) If anyone has an account with them, feel free to add me. That being said, check out me and my +1 on the ticket/partner-in-crime Alex in my wobbly Flip Video Ultra clips from the Election Night rally in Grant Park:
Inside Grant Park: http://www.vimeo.com/2177804
Finally @ The Rally: http://www.vimeo.com/2177848
The Beach Ball: http://www.vimeo.com/2177848
Yes We Can! Yes We Did!: http://www.vimeo.com/2178040
I got footage of his speech, but it surpasses the upload limit for the week so I'll have to do it next Thursday when it resets. That night was so surreal - all of this is. Definitely one of the best nights of my life.
This is a time for celebration and rejoice, without a doubt...but we have a long road ahead of us. My friend Paul put it like this:
"Now the real work begins.
Holding Washington accountable and making sure that President Obama (man, I love the sound of that) lives up to the promise of candidate Obama.
Obama is not the messiah, he's still a politician. As much as I believe that we'll be on a much better course as a nation, power does things to people.
Obama is not impervious.
Let's all make a promise to each other that we wont let our government squander this incredible opportunity we've given it.
No free passes.
No blind eyes.
Don't sleep y'all. "
Word.
I saw this about 2 years ago initially, but it is one of the greatest things you will ever watch. I figure since the MJ version of "Thriller" gets just a *tad* overdone this time of year but you can't have Halloween without it, I decided to switch it up and go Indian-style:
Yet another indication that I am WAY too easily amused >_<
Happy Halloween! Go easy on the witches brew or potion or whatever it is that you end up imbibing tonight. Last time I checked, puke shouldn't ever be a part of your costume ;)
Breaking News...
The picture above pretty much sums up how I feel today for a number of reasons, but I digress. Luckily I was able to channel some of that irritation into creative fuel to put together a damn entertaining edition of Manic Music Monday for this week. Check it out here. Yezzur! © Pharrell
We've got a couple more bloggers/blogs on board for the weekly chart exchange - thanks for playing Tha 4.0 Show and Thoughts Remixed! Just to refresh your memory, the premise of this weekly chart exchange is to cross-promote blogs, politick about the music we love and network via social networks such as Last.fm (using social media to network - what a novel idea!). Anyone with a blog or website and a Last.fm profile can jump in and participate. Just be sure to cross-post, otherwise it kind of defeats the purpose of the whole endeavor. Onward to the charts! Click on the charts to view our Last.fm profiles for a more extensive look at our musical tastes:
Laya's Top Artists
Oct. 20-26
This is Will. He braved chilly weather and strong winds to spraypaint a mural of Barack Obama on a piece of a wall on Halsted in Lincoln Park:
The Presidential Elections are just 11 days away. Don't like Republicans, but you don't like the Democrats either? Are you considering voting for a 3rd party this election - more specifically the Green Party? Here's a very thought-provoking, rational, well-articulated argument for voting Blue over Green this election season. Just food for thought - it offers a clearly defined set of angles that you may not have considered before. Check it out:
Why I'm voting for Obama (and not McKinney)
By Megan K.
If you are considering voting for McKinney (Green Party candidate) AT ALL please take the time to read this.
The 2000 election was the first Presidential election I was eligible to vote in. I voted for Ralph Nader of the Green Party. I was extremely firm in my decision to vote for him, as I was already disenchanted with the two-party system and was heavy into my activist community at the time. On election night (and the days that followed), I watched in horror as George W. Bush stole won the election, with all the politicos saying that Nader, being the 3rd party candidate, was the "spoiler" for Gore...who had been tapped in the polls as the likely winner.
Now, I won't go so far as saying that I promised I'd never vote for a 3rd party candidate again, but I learned some things that year, and when I worked in politics many years later these lessons were repeated and enforced.
The fact of the matter is, America is currently under a two-party system. And I honestly believe it shouldn't be. When we hold elections there should be many names at the top of the ticket for any number of parties. HOWEVER in order for a multi-party system to work we MUST use Instant Runoff Voting instead of plurality voting, which is what we use now. There is no other way we would be able to effectively choose political leaders in a multi-party system.
Secondly, the Green Party is, at its very essence, a grassroots movement. And as a grassroots movement, it needs to be built from the ground up. That is, it needs to gain traction on the local, city and state level before they take on the national political scene, much less the Presidency. To completely ignore your local Green party, or any Green candidate that is running for city council or the school board or mayor or state representative, and then throw your vote to the Green Presidential candidate? Sorry, but I think that's back-asswards and a waste of a vote. If you REALLY believe in the Green Party platform, you have an obligation to go out and get involved in making a strong Green Party in your city or state. (Did you know that the national Green Party is simply a network of state-level Green Parties?) Without doing so you are going against exactly what the Green Party stands for, which is revolution. Don't be an armchair activist, and ESPECIALLY don't be an armchair activist who votes for the Green Party candidate only when it comes to the Presidency. No revolution has ever been accomplished by folks taking the easy way out, and this election will be no different.
Third, if Obama loses, McCain will be President. There is absolutely, positively NO chance of McKinney winning this election. I'm sorry folks, but there's not. (Not until we build a Green Party from the ground up ... see #2). So regardless of the fact that I don't agree with Obama on ALL of the issues, I certainly agree with him more than I do McCain. The United States is about to head into another Great Depression so I want a president who knows economics and has the bipartisan appeal to get things done. Upon reading the Green Party platform you might notice that Economic Stability is last on their list of issues, after "democracy", "social justice", and "ecological sustainability". On the issue of the economy, the Green Party says "We need to restore a progressive tax structure, rather than continuing to move money toward the top echelons of society while squeezing everyone else." Know what? Obama believes that, too. But that alone is not going to fix our economic problems. The Green Party also says "Foremost, the Green Party stands for community-based economics and regional trade. We believe that the only model of true economic security is for a community and area to be largely (not entirely) self-sufficient in the production of its necessities." This theory is GREAT...in theory. But wow, it would be a major change from the current economic system. I mean MAJOR. Could the American economy handle such a violent shake-up of its core values if the Green Party won the Presidency?
Finally, there's the issue of a working government. Do you think if McKinney actually won the Presidency that she would be able to work with Republicans and Democrats (not to mention foreign leaders) to get things done? No, President McKinney would veto pretty much everything that Congress put in front of her and everything would have to pass back through for a 2/3 majority. So really. Think about it. The President does not create policies or laws. That's the job of Congress. And according to most polls, we'll have a Democratic majority in Congress next year. So. Democrats write the laws, the Green Party President rejects them because they go against the Green Party ideals, the bill goes back to the House and Senate for another round of voting. That seems like an awful waste of time when Congress could be passing bills that, even if they are not perfect, are better than what we've had for the last four years (not counting this year) when Republicans controlled Congress. So if there isn't a Green Party majority in Congress, what's the point of having a Green Party President? (Again, we need to work from the ground up. See #2.)
So...in the end...while it would be really great to have a president who agrees with gay marriage and indigenous peoples' rights and environmental sustainability as much as I do, I know that at this pivotal moment in history, after our country and its laws have been raped and pillaged by the republican machine, we need a president who has the bipartisan appeal to get things done. McKinney just doesn't have that appeal. And I know that if Congress tried to pass an amendment to the US constitution saying, once and for all, that marriage is between one man and one woman, Obama would veto it. And honestly? That's enough for me because there really isn't much more that a president can do about the issue of gay marriage.
I know that change will come to America, and that one day gay marriage will be legal everywhere, and the environment will be a priority, and social justice will prevail. But I also know that social change takes time, and it takes effort. Pulling the lever for McKinney is not the solution to the problems that America is currently facing.
Unbeknownst to most, the sound behind one of the biggest hip hop records of the year derives its sample from one of hip hop's most influential and respected groups. The song is Weezy F. Baby's 808-laden, screwed vocal looping pantheon display of bravado known simply as "A Milli." Tribe comes into the picture because the "a milli-milli" that gets repeated ad nauseum comes from the super-rare Vampire Mix of "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo." While they make strange bedfellows, somehow when the forces combine it's like Captain Planet ("The power. Is YOURS!") and it becomes a purveyor of greatness. Someone on put up a comprehensive breakdown of this amalgamated anomaly on YouTube. Peep game:
Pictures are worth 1,000 words but...
Everyone's favorite office linebacker is back on the scene, but this time he's hitting the presidential campaign trail to hand out some crucial tidbits of, erm, knowledge to Sarah Palin while she chats with Katie Couric:
Even though I have the widget posted in my sidebar for your browsing pleasure, I'd been toying around with the idea of doing posts of my Weekly Top Artists on Last.fm. Then Laya suggested that I not only post my charts, but also post the charts of other bloggers who would in turn cross-post. It sounded good to me, so we're getting it crackin' today since the magical Weekly Top Artist elves @ Last.fm use their mystical powers to update charts on Sundays.
That didn't stop her from performing with N.E.R.D, Hot Chip, Franz Ferdinand, T.I. and Chaka Khan (!) at Diesel's xXx party in Brooklyn last Saturday. Check out excerpts from her pre-show interview or watch the full thing @ Pitchfork.tv:The latest track from Q-Tip from his (finally) upcoming release "The Renaissance." It's produced by J Dilla who continues to stunt on niggas from the grave. It you listen closely, you can hear the beat features a finely chopped sample of "Dancing Machine" by The Jackson 5:
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