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:

Sampletastic: CRS/Thom Yorke

In 2006, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke put out a pseudo-solo release of the electro-rock persuasion called "The Eraser." The title track features a haunting series of looped piano chords that lay the groundwork for punchy drums and Yorke's signature eerie vocal stylings:

Thom Yorke - The Eraser.mp3

In 2007, Plain Pat put together a formidable Kanye West mixtape called "Can't Tell Me Nothing" which preempted in an attempt to get folks riled up about "Graduation" I suppose. The mixtape featured a collabo between Kanye, Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco, collectively known as CRS. The song "Us Placers" sampled "The Eraser" and all of them spit some of their best verses over that loop:

CRS - Us Placers.mp3

It was pretty brilliant even though really, it sounds more or less just rapped over the instrumental and kept Yorke's vocals intact for the chorus. But the fact that anyone would think "Hey, I should rap over a Thom Yorke song" is pretty remarkable in itself. In any event, you can definitely tell they were feeding off the mojo that was injected by Thom Yorke into the original. That same mojo made its way into the video as well - Va$htie did her damn thing and the end result was a video that pissed excellence and shat upon 96% of all rap videos ever made:

RIP 1520 Sedgwick Ave.

Via The Smoking Section @ Uproxx.com.

Tell 'em why you're mad Contra ™:

Dear Rapper/Producer/Promoter/Mogul/Entertainer,

You disappoint me.

Throughout history people have given their lives for symbols of their cultures. To this day, feuds on a global scale & cataclysmic proportions continue over territories significant to cultures and religions.

The above pictured is the birthplace of Hip-Hop.

People have given their lives for less. You all fight every day over chains and songs, contracts and beats. You didn’t even have to fight for this. Just sign a check. Make a donation.

And yet you still failed.

This building was bought by a real estate developer who has neither notable connections to Hip-Hop culture nor made contributions to it, except maybe a Sir Mix A Lot LP he bought to help a fat friend through rough times. He quite certainly had no debt to Hip-Hop.

But you who owe your lives to what began here, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Kool Herc joined the tenants of this building and pleaded for your empathy and support. You turned a cold shoulder proving once again that you have completely forgotten where you came from.

Let it be known that this is not addressed to those helping other causes, supporting other communities in substantial manners. This is for you who stood by, counted your money and walked away.

Fuck you very much, from the bottom of my heart. I hope you choke on your grill, get strangled by your chain or get run over by a Ferrari.

Sincerely,

Contra™

Brought to you by gentrification, bitchassness in the hip hop community (if there even is a community anymore) and the letter F.

Justin Nozuka @ Martyrs'

After missing him when he was in Chicago 2 previous times this year, I finally got to see my deliciously silky-voiced 1/2 azn booskie Justin Nozuka :-D I had a Flip Video Ultra camcorder on me, so I was able to capture some video of him performing my favorite songs from his CD "Holly" that came out last fall:

"After Tonight"



"Golden Train"

"Ain't No Sunshine"

(This was a cover of the Bill Withers joint - a live performance exclusive)

That last video is a scorcher. Whew.

McCain "That One" Comment Spurs Web Entrepreneurs

From Today @ PC World:

Once again the Internet has proven its ability to quickly respond to political gaffes. Less than two hours after last night's Presidential debate ended sites began popping up to support "That One" for President.

For those who might have missed the debate (and shame on you if you did), "That One" is how Senator John McCain referred to Senator Barack Obama when talking about who voted for an energy bill. In response, the Web sites ThatOne2008.com and ThatOne08.com have sprung up to exploit McCain's rather derisive choice of terms for his opponent. Instead of regarding the term as the dismissive reference that was intended, they're embracing it.

ThatOne2008.com is a simpler site, with just a video clip of McCain saying "that one" in the debate as well as links to Obama's campaign site, an Obama iPhone app, and a link to where you can buy shirts that read "I'm voting for that one."

ThatOne08 takes it a step further, rewriting Obama's biography information by replacing his name with the words "that one." It also has its own selection of shirts, as well as a link to a Facebook page for supporters of "That one 08."

While I respect the speed and creativity of the people who made these sites, it terrifies me to think about the implications of these sites. There were a lot of intelligent and meaningful things said by both candidates in last night's debate, but gaffes like this are all most people will pay attention to.

Posted by Scott Nichols on Today @ PC World.

J*Davey "Mr. Mister" (Future Screw Remix) Official Video

I'm in a J*Davey fan group on facebook called "Beauty In Distortion: J*Davey" and earlier this evening I got a note saying that they released a video for the remix of their break out hit song "Mr. Mister." This excited me a great deal, because this particular remix was one of those rare instances in which the remix was just as good, if not better than the original joint. I clicked on the YouTube link and this is what I watched:

Don't get me wrong. I lurrrrrve me some J*Davey, but I had to give this the side eye kinda hard. And it didn't help that I needed eyedrops after watching that isht. It definitely falls under the "Great Song, Wack Video" category for me, I'm disappointed. It just seemed like they were trying *too* hard to be edgy or whatever you want to call it. Hell, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm missing something entirely that's underlying - some abstract artistic expression that went over my head completely. Or maybe I'm just not cool or enough of a hipster or an art fuck or a tweaker to find a music video shot in Predator Vision entertaining. Whatever, I guess. The video for the original version was just that - original. That's what made it so great:

Coming out the gate with that, they really set the bar high for themselves, so I guess an occasional falter is to be expected. It's okay, I still ♥ them and the "Mr. Mister" remix 4 EVAH.

Manic Music Monday @ GangstarrGirl.com

Another Monday is upon us (booooooo, hiss) but hopefully Manic Music Monday over at GangstarrGirl.com can be the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down (bless yer 'ahrt Merry Boppins). Check out my entry for this week - and remember to check out Blaxploitation Friday on 10/10. Take it easy kids...

Like clockwork...

...SNL is on the ball with a parody of the VP debate, starring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (no surprise there) and Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill:

I think Tina Fey should turn down requests to appear as Sarah Palin in a parody sketch once elections are over - it's so easy to make fun of her (Sarah Palin I mean), and I can see that it could easily go into overkill and that's all she'd be known for despite all the other work she's done over the years. Unless of course John McCain wins, then she really won't have a choice but to portray Sarah Palin since she does it so well.

P.S. "And for all you Joe Sixpacks out there playin' a drinkin' game, here's one more for ya: MAVERICK" = WIN x 1000. The whole time I was thinking "People have GOT to be somewhere doing shots every time she says the word 'maverick'"...or maybe the McCain campaign has a copyright on the word and she get a royalty check every time she says it in public. If Gene Simmons can copyright the moneybags symbol and use it for his clothing line, I wouldn't put it past them to try and obtain ownership of the word "maverick" since they love it so flippin' much and insist that we love it too by ramming it down our throats every chance they get.