Editor's Pick : Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night

So I've bought a few albums lately mainly because I listen to music all day everyday, partially because I'm passionate about music and partially because its an occupational hazard in my line of work. And I don't just listen to CD's I listen to catalogs, like I'll find an artist or band I like and then find their catalog and list to every single song on every CD they've released in succession, breaking only for sustenance and the occasional bathroom break. The CD that's been in the heavy rotation lately for me has been Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night, it is by far one of the best CD's Ive picked up in the last 6-8 months, next to The-Dream's album of course. I can play this CD straight threw without skipping a song (except for "Crawl") and after extended listening sessions the replay value remains. So I recommend this album to hard core rock fans or even casual rock fans looking for something to scream along to while stuck in traffic on the 405. With a more refined evolution of a sound they've been honing for over 8 years, this album delivers like Fed-Ex and is perfectly capable of pleasing the music nerd and casual consumer alike.

Zac Farro Is The Coldest On The Drums Right Now

And dude is only 18! I'm shocked so many people are sleeping on his drum work. His drum stylings take on a life of their own in the track always changing, swinging, rolling. They are as unpredictable as the wind. He's a magician on the drums.

Kanye West Performs Stronger On VH1's Storyteller

I read an interesting article about Kanye's VH1 performance and it said that during the set Ye dissed Radiohead who snubbed him at the Grammy's and asked the audience to give Chris "Layin the Smackdown" Brown a break. VH1 somehow found the need to edit both statements out of the show along with another 30 minutes of footage. Kanye West gets CENSORED once again, no news flashes there. Back to the topic at hand, Kanye's performance was amazin' as usual. I really wasn't a fan of 808's & Heartbreak at all, but seeing Ye perform the records was actually quite entertaining. He was able to breathe new life into records I didn't even like. He's a true performer, if I ever seen one.

Check out the Ye's performance of "Stronger"

My Thoughts On Lil Wayne's "Prom Queen"

I barely care what Lil Wayne is saying in his rap songs, I sure the fuck don’t care about what he's saying in an auto-tune drunk attempt at a rock song. My friend Mr. Bandwagon tried to convince me that prom queen was a rock song. Nigga! Prom queen is NOT a rock song. It’s a rapper drunk off auto-tune and yes men rap-singing over a rock beat performed by the band Green Day. Minus Green Day’s performance there's nothing rock about the song. I’m not saying I don’t like the record, but if Wayne don’t come harder he won’t be getting a dime outta me.

Listen to Lil Wayne - “Prom Queen”

Wake Up! Lil Wayne Exposed.

Ive known about this for some time now. Now everyone knows.

"Ghostwriter and for the right price I can make your shit tighter!"

Check Out: Drake ft. Lil Wayne - Ransom and Drake Ft. Lil Wayne - I Want This Forever also.

Remember This?

This used to be my shit and remember the hilarious skit on the album before this song...

[Phone rings]
[Girl:] Hello?
[Guy:] Whose dick you sucking?
[Girl:] Don't call me with that bullshit, alright
[Guy:] You lying, you lying to me, Di
[Girl:] Yeah exactly
[Guy:] Whose dick you sucking? C'mon Di, I just heard some shit about you, some foul shit. The fucks the deal?
[Girl:] Suck my fucking dick you bitchass nigga! I don't
[Guy:] No you explain it to me bitch. You know what I'm talking about.
[Girl:] I don't know nobody up here! I don't fuck with nobody up here and I ain't been fucking with nobody up here! I don't know nobody in fucking Yonkers!
[Guy:] Lying ass bitch. You ain't shit.....Do I got to hollar his name too?
[Girl:] Who the fuck is he?!
[Guy:] Bitch you fuckin Em!
[Hangs up]

Seal : Soul : Review

Well produced, well executed and every song is solid by my estimation, he did his thing on this one but 6 records really stand out for me.

1. A Change Is Gonna Come
2. I Can't Stand The Rain
3. It's A Man's Man's Man's World
9. I'm Still In Love With You
11. Stand By Me
12. People Get Ready

10. Free (is also a good one, but Mariah's rendition of the record is just sharper and seems to stand out in my head for some reason)

Though most of these songs have been covered hundreds of times, I won’t hold that against him, I'm just going to judge this off the merit of the records themselves in the time period it was released (2008) and overall the record is solid from top to bottom.

The album starts off with the ultra soulful classic "A Change Is Gonna Come" and finishes up with another change inspired record "People Get Ready" The Impressions 1965 hit written in the year after the civil rights March on Washington, so it’s only fitting that this record dropped in the year of “Change”. The highlight of this album is how the records themselves come full circle with where we are today, because even though these songs were written decades ago their social relevance stands even till this day.

The overall theme of the album is love, freedom and change, I cant argue with that. I feel like the record is well done and well timed, like the Ultimate Soul Mix CD that just hits in the right places and the right time.

You're Losing If You Haven't Seen The New Luda Video

Ludacris Co-Staring T-Pain- One More Drink (Video)

This video is great, its vintage Luda! I just hope the rest of the album has as much style, energy and fun factor as this song and video does. I'm a Luda fan but his last album was rather boring by Ludacris standards, it just wasn't ludacris enough for me. But this video is ludacris, ridiculous and it got me ready to stand up and throw some 'bows!

New Heights! Jay-Z @ Glastonbury!

So its official my Jay-Z fandom has reached new heights. I've been a big Jigga fan for years now, I have every Jay-Z solo album known to man including dozens of freestyles and unreleased songs. And even with all that I still had my doubts about Jigga being the undisputed champ until I saw this man tear the muthafuckin roof off the Hollywood Bowl a few months back. That did it for me, that solidified in my eyes that he is still the best. Niggas can not do what Jay-Z can do, the way he memorized the crowd and delivered those songs so effortlessly was amazing. Being there you could without a doubt tell that he was born for this.

So my new found fascination with Jay-Z live performances had me dusting off the old Jay-Z: Unplugged and then I came across Jay-Z's groundbreaking performance @ Glastonbury in the UK. For those that are not in the know about the significance of the performance let me give you a little background on it. Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is one of the largest music and performing arts festivals in the world and had never had a hip-hop artist "Headline" there before Jay-Z did earlier this year. When they announced Jay-Z was going to headline the show it was met with criticism and controversy. Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher had called hip hop at Glastonbury "wrong" and traditionalists in Internet chatrooms had said they would have preferred a band like Radiohead, while critics also blamed the rapper for slow ticket sales.

Needless to say Jay-Z came, he saw and he conquered completely tearing the roof of the place. I got my hands on the MP3 of his full set and have been banging that shit ever since. So I decided to post the link to it for the Hip-Hop fans and Jay-Z enthusiast out there. I've seen Fade To Black and The Hard Knock Life Tour DVD's but this is truly a Jay-Z performance like no other Jay-Z at his best!!!! Pretty Fuckin' Awesome!!!!!!

Listen: Jay-Z Live at Glastonbury

Skillz Speaking On The Changing Of The Guard In Hip-Hop

Check out this video of Skillz discussing the changing of the guard in hip-hop or more so the lack of the changing of the guard and how thats crippling the industry. Skillz also touches on several other very relevant topics during the video.

For those that aren't in the know about Skillz he is a rapper out Detroit best known for his ghostwriting credits. He first burst on to the scene in 1995, but after an unsuccessful run as solo artist he turned to writing hits for other artists to pay the bills, Ghostwriting. He's truly one of the men behind the music in the hip-hop game.

Heavy Rotation

First of all 90 percent of music critics suck they're a bunch of lame ass pieces of shit with little or no understanding of music and a pension for player hatin'. They throw around jargon and buzz words to disguise that fact that they have no fucking idea what they are talking about. And the standard format for writing a music review was created by these same lames. So with that said I am intentionally writing these reviews as opposite from the traditional trashy music review mold as possible. Enjoy.

A slice of UK Pop Heaven… I found a reason to like just about every song on this album except for the overly cheesy single “Love Like This” featuring Sean Kingston, I just hate that song! I thank KIIS FM for that. Though many critics have criticized the album for being too happy and positive I point to the fact that the album IS called "Pocketful Of Sunshine" and thats what it is a very solid and enjoyable happy UK pop album. I been listening to this album pretty regularly for the last week or so. With 11 out of 13 songs in heavy rotation I'd have to say that’s undeniable by my standards.

With the cards stacked against him and with little help from former Dr. Dre understudy Scott Storch, Compton rapper The Game proves he is truly a student of the (rap) game delivering an impressive album. Though the album may not be choked full of catchy singles like the first album The Documentary, it is a solid effort from top to bottom and shows The Game’s growth as a MC. This album definitely has some Certified BANGERS that will be in rotation for years to come and have niggaz dusting off they're chucks and dickies in no time. It was only a few records I just couldn’t bear to sit through such as “Bullet Proof Diaries”, “Ya Heard” and the surprisingly annoying song that I want to like but just can’t “Angel”. So 13 out of 17 worth while tracks is a winner in my book any day.

The Worst Obama Song Yet!

I now present to you We 'Hood. We Votin'

Expect many more to come. Some good, some bad but all about Obama!

Some of these songs are so bad that they are actually hurting Obama, like Ludacris' Politics song which has Fox News trying to paint Obama as a radical. Nigga Please! These old minded dinosaur McCain supporters with their "If it ain't white it, it ain't right doctrine" are desperate and they'll say or do just about anything in hopes of stopping Obama's momentum.

iPod.Shuffle: Common f/ Lauren Hill- Retrospect For Life

This song came up randomly on my iPod and I felt compelled to write a little something on it. Common & Lauren Hill's Retrospect For Life is classic without a doubt, easily one of the best and most thought provoking hip-hop songs of all time. This song embodies everything that is right about hip-hop, If they played this song @ abortion clinics people would walk out. Too bad Common dropped this legacy defining song and the album One Day It'll All Make Sense during a time period when he was still somewhat underground and lacking the mainstream attention and exposure that he has today.

Common- Retrospect For Life:

"Knowin you the best part of life,
do I have the right to take yours,
Cause I created you, irresponsibly,
Subconsciously knowin the act I was a part of,
The start of somethin,
I'm not ready to bring into the world,
Had myself believin I was sterile,
I look into mother's stomach, wonder if you are a boy or a girl,
Turnin this woman's womb into a tomb,
But she and I agree, a seed we don't need,
You would've been much more than a mouth to feed,
But someone, I woulda fed this information I read to someone,
my life for you I woulda had to leave,
Instead I lead you to death,
I'm sorry for takin your first breath, first step, and first cry,
But I wasn't prepared mentally nor financially,
Havin a child shouldn't have to bring out the man in me,
Plus I wanted you to be raised within a family,
I don't wanna, go through the drama of havin a baby's momma,
Weekend visits and buyin J's ain't gone make me a father,
For a while bearing a child is somethin I never wanted to do,
For me to live forever I can only do that through you,
Nerve I got to talk about them niggaz with a gun,
must have really thought I was God to take the life of my son,
I could have sacrificed goin out,
To think my homies who did it I used to joke about,
from now on, I'ma use self control instead of birth control
Cause $315 ain't worth your soul
$315 ain't worth your soul
$315 ain't worth it"

$315 ain't worth your soul! Damn! Damn! Damn! That's something to think about.......

Joell Ortiz ft. Dante Hawkins "Letter To Obama" Video

Some Real Shit!

Woman Is The Nigger Of The World?

While listening to "America" one of the tracks off Nas' New Album Untitled (formerly known as N*gger) it was brought to my attention that Nas' perspective on womens place in todays society mirrors that of one John Lennon. In the song Nas pays homage to John Lennon's highly controversial but often forgotten 1972 song "Woman is the Nigger of the World" with these lyrics:

"Y'all don't treat women fair
She read about herself in the bible
Believing she the reason sin is here
You played her, with an apron
Like bring me my dinner, dear
She the nigger here"

In John Lennon's "Woman is the Nigger of the World" he writes:

"We insult her every day on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she's young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart, we put her down for being so dumb"

The above video is of John Lennon on the Dick Cavett Show as he offers his explanation for the controversial song. WATCH THE VIDEO. At the time when the song was released, it was banned from radio and subsequently swept under the rug by mainstream media, who maybe weren't ready to explore such such progressive concepts . The record was truly years ahead of its time. Co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus / Current Mayor of Oakland Ron Dellums’ definition of the word Nigger helped strengthen Lennon’s defense of the song:

“If you define nigger as someone whose lifestyle is defined by others, whose opportunities are defined by others, whose role in society is defined by others, then I have good news! – You don’t have to be black to be a nigger in this society. Most of the people in America are niggers”

To bring this topic full circle my friend Tony's mom (who just to put in proper context is a white woman and without a doubt one of my favorite people; kind, genuine and honest) said to me after Obama won the Democratic Nomination that Barak's nomination shows that white men (even racist southerners) would rather vote for a black man then a white women; symbolizing womens place in society. At the time I said in response, "If that was the only basis for them voting for Obama over Hillary (which it clearly wasn't) then I can definitely see where you're coming from".

From a purely race/sex standpoint the "concept" that even racist white men put black men (whom they are supposed to hate for no reason) above a white women would imply that sexism in and of itself supersedes racism. Definitely SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT whether you agree with it or not. But rather than try to make an argument for or against (and you know I could), I'm actually more curious to know, what are thoughts on the matter?

Is woman the Nigger of the world?
Does sexism supersede racism?

LEAVE A COMMENT
Let me know your thoughts on the matter.

Nas- Sly Fox Music Video!

A few blogs back I said that Nas' album is shaping up to be maybe the most relevant hip-hop album of all time and it looks as though judging by his newest video "Sly Fox" that I may be correct. In this video Nas is encouraging people to think outside the box, literally. I wont do to much analysis on this one, the song and the video pretty much speak for themselves. But I will say this, It's videos like this that hip-hop's has BEEN missing, reminds me of the good ol' Public Enemy days.

Game Speaks On The State Of Hip Hop & His Place In The Game. His Response Might Surprise You

I mean I ain't gone lie, I feel every word this nigga is saying. I have really started to feel that same way, and for some time now I've felt that Hip-Hop on a mainstream level doesn't represent what is used to and thus doesn't represent ME. This Crank That bullshit, all this Make It Rain nonsense, all these silly ass watered down Jiggaboo rap dance songs have no place in the Hip-Hop game I came up in. If this is what Hip-Hop has become maybe Joe Budden was on to something when he asked "Did we out grow ourselves, is hip-hop a kid?

Maybe I HAVE outgrown Hip-Hop, the quintessential soundtrack to my life for the past 24 years. Or maybe Hip-Hop has finally transformed into the corporate controlled monster we all fear it would (something I want no part of ). Or maybe we're ALL over thinking it. SORRY, someone had to say. But at least we still have R&B, Right???

It's Finally Here! Joe Budden - Who Pt. 2!

Damn it! Listen To This Shit! This is what Hip-Hop has lost, songs like these!

Fuck! I must say I am delighted with this Joe Budden "Who (Killed Hip-Hop)" series, this is some of the realist Hip-Hop shit a nigga heard in a minute. Music like this can breathe some life back into hip-hop. I did my own State Of The Union addressing Hip-Hop a few months back but after listening to Joey's "Who" Pt. 1 & 2 he's got me looking @ shit from a completely different perspective.

Here's a few bars that really hit me:

“(The Fans) I mean some of them are fooled so easily by whatever we say or we show em on TV, but that was part of the plan, or was it when Eminem made Stan? I swear some of these fans, they put they whole life on the line, it’s like they can’t like more than one rapper at a time…”

“If rap was alive, we be tryin to be the best rappers ever, not the best rapper alive.......”

“Or do we just think yall getting dumber, we tried to make getting old getting younger”

“Did we lose our hunger ? Something’s gotta give, did we out grow ourselves, is hip-hop a kid? If it is they turn on MTV Cribs and think that’s where these mutha fuckas really live...”

“So now its fuck your bars, if the hook is fly, so we look at Crooked I with a cooked eye!"

"If everythings commercial, Where the fucks the SHOW?"

“Or was it Street DVDs like SMACK that would show you how dumb your favorite rapper would act?”

“Or was it when MTV made a list of the hottest and ignored the nicest, changed the whole stee-lo. I mean the average fan never heard of a Goodie Mob or a Cee-Lo
…But they heard of Gnarls Barkley”

“Are we all killin this shit, is it a group effort?”

“And then a lot of people go and blame limewire,
I don’t think it’s downloadin’ dog, that line’s tired. Did the fans just get tired of the outcome?
One dope single, AND A BULLSHIT ALBUM.”

“Or was it master P with them ugly ass album covers?”

“Or was it when we became obsessed with the brand names, we had the kids trying to buy shit they can't name...”

“Or did it start when Puff took advantage of the sample?” I SAY YES!!!!!

“Is the game now its as bad as its ever been?
Its not ringtones, its the songs that they represent, and I heard all of 'em, Sad part is i wouldn't recognize most of these niggas if i saw 'em”

“now going gold is looked at as a failure…”

“Did we sell out just to get in demand more? Did we go against we used to stand for?” YES!!!

“We let the power of a dollar annihilate us, now the size of our chain gone validate us”

“If we ain't dead, then we just half alive maybe brain dead”

Listen: Joe Budden- Who Pt. 2

A Milli (Obama Remix)!!!

C'mon now people, you know I had to do it!!!!

Proof positive that "A Milli" is the easiest beat to rap over ever, hence its immense popularity in todays hip-hop game. Listen to how this dude flips "A Milli" into an Obama Anthem in classic Weird Al Yankovic fashion...Good Job! The best use of this beat thus far!

WOW!! Joe Budden - Who Pt. 1

WOW! That’s all I can say about this song, Joe Budden just took us on a real ride down hip hop blvd with such perspective and insight as he analyzed all the pieces and player involved in the demise of hip-hop or at least it’s fall from prominence. Joey’s proclivity to juxtapose situations and scenarios raises many important and relevant questions for both the fans and the artists in hip-hop. His candor and honesty garner a great deal of respect from me as he left no stone unturned and didn’t shy away from questioning the motives and intentions of even today’s most popular artists and producers. From the Roc-a-fella Records meltdown to everyone dick riding that funny voice shit, Joe Budden let the game have on this record.

Here’s a few excepts from the song I found especially insightful:

“A&Rs wont take risks, they wont sign niggas, the word SWAG came out and started to blind niggas”

“Did it start with the I-Pod or when rappers had to pay DJ for them to do they’re jobs?”

“All the the content is same it wont differ, everybody sold some drugs or pulled triggers”

“Was it Lil Jon when he showed you could sell without rappin?”

“DJ's / producers the ones that got us the farthest said fuck rappers and started becoming the artists”

“Was it one hit wonders changing it all along, making labels only wanna sign a dudes song. And you really don’t know shit, if you think the fans is pick the videos on 106”

“These blatant ass radio attempts sound so planned, twister kept trying to recreate slow jams”

“We send the wrong message with our slang, these broke niggas blowing they rent trying to make it rain”

“Or did it start when rappers said fuck it, sacrificed the music and started rapping they budget?”

“We buyin our own records, nobodys to blames. Are we a business we cant afford to maintain?”

"Fuckin looking for answer only time will tell, or was when Def Jam didn’t wanna resign L?”

“The more that niggas say they aint right down lyrics, the more it sound like they didn’t” “Have an opinion and they gone say that you hate”

“A few years ago we had the young kids wearing pink, I don’t blame them for not knowing a damn thang, we trained them to be this way. Training them whatever to sell with no limits, Since the early 90s sold them a false image, so when some shit come that don’t fit mold, it’s like mole, nigga you wont even go gold. They watch the videos see you on the corner with a whole bunch of niggas and think that you hood, they turn on the TV and see these video bitches and think that niggas girls really look that good.”

Listen: Joe Budden- Who Pt. 1