Sampletastic: Lil Wayne & A Tribe Called Quest

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:

If that didn't make your head explode, congrats. It's so simple it's mind boggling. Along the same vein, it's beyond me why they even needed a sample to create that. Bangladesh could have just as easily gotten Lil Wayne to say "a-milli" into the mic 8768437534 times and then slowed it down. It seems like it would have achieved the same result - but hey, what do I know about music production?

And while we're on the subject of Bangladesh, apparently he wasn't the only producer who worked on "A Milli" but he's getting all the credit. Chicago-bred/ATL-based producer Cha-Lo is said to have had a significant hand -as co-producer to be exact- in crafting the track, but they're straight giving him the hard, sandpapery shaft and there's nothing he can do. That's the music industry for you...

"God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes..." © Everlast

Pictures are worth 1,000 words but...
this one kinda leaves you speechless.

Free Album Download: African Swim

Major props to Adult Swim for reppin' the Motherland's latest interpretations of this ever evolving life form we call "hip hop":

[click image to download album + artwork]

Check out the African Swim page for a taste of the music you're in for, as well as exclusive videos from several of the artists featured on the album.

Terry Tate to Sarah Palin: Reading is Fundamental

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:

Normally I would balk at posting something that depicts violence against a woman in a comedic manner that diminishes the seriousness of the matter. But seeing how Sarah Palin billed sexual assault victims for the cost of the rape kits and foresnsic exams when she was mayor of Wasilla, I say it'd be karma if Terry Tate really were to PWN her via full body tackle.

But maybe that's just me. I'm a bit of an asshole, don't mind me. In any event, check out more from Terry Tate, Office Linebacker @ ReturnOfTerryTate.com. Isht is HILARIOUS.

Last.fm Chart Exchange

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.

So...check me out:

Now check her out:

If you don't know what Last.fm is all about, Laya gives an excellent breakdown of the overall premise:

"For those that don’t know, last.fm is a music sharing site. You can run a plugin to your favorite player (iTunes is my choice, natch), and it will “scrobble” all of the tracks you play. The site aggregates this date per user, and provides a widget showing your weekly or monthly “charts” by artist or track. "

Anybody else who's on Last.fm and has a blog that they're interested in promoting via cross-post exchange get at me. Thank you Laya for the "great minds think alike" moment and for all of the generous (and TOTALLY unsolicited) praise on my blog. Bawwwwwww :) Check her out at LayaDWhite.com and on Twitter and Last.fm. Yeeeaaaaah boyyeeeee © Flava Flav

Pitchfork.tv | M.I.A Part 2 of 2

M.I.A's interview with Pitchfork Media staff writer Jessica Suarez continues:

Mama M.I.A/ "Boyz" Remixes

M.I.A: "I'm creating a baby"

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:

(Part 1)

If that's not enough M.I.A for you, check out Discobelle.net for 2 remixes of "Boyz" - one with Hov and one with Wale - which originally appeared on her 2007 release "Kala."

Q-Tip - "Move"

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:

Look familiar?
Perhaps this will jog your memory:

Michael Jackson - Rock with you
Uploaded by Discodandan

Ah, greatness on all accounts. I'm seriously looking forward to this album coming out next month (Nov. 4 is the date I'm seeing. His website has the official countdown on the homepage so we'll keep our fingers crossed that there will be no delays).

Manic Music Monday @ GangstarrGirl.com

Check me out over @ GangstarrGirl.com!
Your Monday will suck significantly less if you do ;)

Dear SNL...

Please take note. This is how you do a GOOD impersonation of Barack Obama: