Small Eyez feat. Jaspects - "Soak It Up"

I've had beers, smokes, hamburgers and plenty of conversations with the homie Small Eyez, but he swore I didn't mess with his music anymore. CMON MAN!

But anyways, he sent me this new joint he has with Jaspects last night. He says we should relish it as the last song of the summer. Damn, its ending too too soon. Be sure to peep Eyez' blog ChesingTheCool when you get a chance too.

Senor Kaos-"Automatic Classic" video

"A Black man dies its nothing...a white girl get kidnapped, its on the news EVERYDAY!"

The homie Senor Kaos just dropped a video for his single "Automatic Classic." I was out at the shoot that day and I must give this wise man props for shooting it early in the morning to beat the heat. Its directed by my dude Mike Moore who talked me into making my first video cameo, if you want to call it that. Its towards the end, but if you blink, you'll miss it, haha.

Real talk though, Kaos gonna have to come up off that 'Nique hat. For real.

"Ain't That A Bitch"-Vick Critic's Dog Dies After 4 Hours In Car

Check this out:

Taken from WSB-TV

RICHMOND, Va. -- A prosecutor said no charges are planned against an executive for an anti-animal cruelty group whose 16-year-old blind and deaf dog died after accidentally being left in a hot car for four hours.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Tracy Thorne-Begland said Wednesday charges are not planned against Robin Starr, CEO of the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Starr says she didn't realize "Louie" was in the car until noon. Starr's husband, Ed, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch he put the dog in her car's cargo area as she got ready for work Aug. 19 but forgot to tell her. She often took the dog to work with her.

Robin Starr took the dog to two clinics, but he died of kidney failure.

The National Weather Service says the temperature had reached 91 degrees by noon that day.

Starr has been a vocal critic of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick who was released from federal custody July 20 after serving 18 months of a 23-month sentence for his role in running a dogfighting ring.

When Vick was reinstated to the NFL Starr said "The action of the NFL commissioner to reinstate Michael Vick is both premature and unwise. Vick has not yet demonstrated that his remorse is sincere or that his irresponsible, cruel and criminal behaviors are likely to change. The NFL and its leadership apparently lack the integrity to require civilized behavior from their players. This would reflect poorly on any team that adds Vick to its roster."

Wonder if PETA is going to pull out all of the stops to attack one of "their own" for such a travesty.

Props to Jayforce

The Foreign Exchange-"House of Cards"

Jacinta Howard just put me onto this video. Dope but tragic at the same time.

On a way more positive (and probably needed) note, today is my parents 32nd Anniversary..."thank God for Mom and Dad for sticking too together, 'cause we don't know how."

Freddie Gibbs: midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik (mixtape)

Ever since I heard the two preview tracks from this mixtape I've been anticipating this project something serious. This is one of the rare times that I'm posting something without listening to it first, becuase I trust that its going to be dope. Plus, if the Smoking Section's comments board is any indication, its pretty damn good.

From looking at the tracklisting it doesn't look like the jammin' ass Pimp C tribute song he emailed me made the cut. But I could be wrong, because like I said, I haven't listened yet. Anyways, feel free to download it, and tell me what you think when you finish.

DOWNLOAD: DJ Skee x The Smoking Section present: Freddie Gibbs-midwestgangstaboxframecaddillacmuzik

Tracklisting after the jump...

GrindTube: Killer Mike Interviews MC Lyte

In the latest episode of Don't Kill the Messenger, Killer Mike sat down with MC Lyte and picked her brain and gave her her much deserved roses as an MC. They spoke on everything from how its difficult to raise daughters on Hip Hop these days to the missing chin-check role that female MC once provided.

My guy asks better questions than most "Hip Hop journalists" out here.

Shouts out to UNN

UPDATE: Peep part 2 of the conversation after the jump.

Mikkey Halsted-"Frozen" preview

The second installment of Mikkey and the homie Decatur Dan's Chicago: The Photo Album preview series.

Fat Joe Speaks on His Sneaker Line

The homie G-Roc of TheShoeGame.com sat down with Fat Joe to talk about his new sneaker line with Protege. This is a good look, dude is trying to give back to his community while at the same time doing something he loves...unlike some rappers who ask damn near a luxury car note for a pair of their shoes.

Pill Interview: "Its a portrait of poverty"

The homie Pill has been making the rounds up in NYC and during his latest trip he did an interview with Hip Hop @ Lunch. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this just might be the first interview Pill has actually done since the now "Trap Goin' Ham" video came out. We've heard what everybody has to say about it, but him. So, here it is...

Oh yeah, be on the lookout for his next video "Glass." Shot in the same areas as "Trap Goin' Ham" but through Zach Wolfe's lens and with a different perspective.

Spotted at Rap Radar

Previously: "Trap Goin Ham" video shoot photos

Pics and Recap: Leaders of the Cool at Lenny's

Aight so...



This past Saturday I fell through Lenny's to check out Leaders of the New Cool...a traveling artist showcase that made its debut in Atlanta about a month or so ago. I missed the last one and wasn't really sure of what to expect since I heard as much good as I did bad about it. I've been to quite a few showcases and the usual complaint is that there are too many opening acts, sets go too long and the shows start too late. While LOTNC didn't crank up until around 11pm I can say that I enjoyed all of the music...



{warning you now, this is a long ass post}







The first cat to hit the stage was Big Chad Famous (who insisted that I take this pic in efforts to get him some sponsorship from PBR). Dude looked very relaxed on the stage...like, I just got out the bed relaxed. But dude's music was pretty jamming. He rapped, sang, etc. His mypace page says his music is "Alternative/Hip Hop/Indie" and yeah, that pretty much describes it. I was pleasantly surprised. This was the first time I actually heard of dude, but evidently he's a star around these parts. The song that stood out to me was "Alone In Space" which come to find out seems to be one of the main songs he's pushing.



















Next up was the homie Stanza. I was glad to see he was on the bill, because it kinda seemed like ever since he went on Wild Out Wednesdays on 106 & Park he kinda fell back on performing around the city. But he did his thing as usual. He's pretty much known for his song "A.T.L." which is pretty much everybody's city anthem that the "masses" haven't caught on to yet. But me personally, my favorite part of the show is when he does "A Million Dollars" which is probably my favorite song by him.





Stanza-"A Million Dollars"













After him the homie Haziq fell throught right quick and did a couple songs from his "Business Is Good" album. Ya'll should give it a listen. I've known dude for a minute but ya'll may know him from his affilation to Tabi Bonney. But Haziq is truly on some real "get money" shit. But not the illegal way, all legit. My favorite song from him is "Hussla."









One artist in particular I wanted to check out was Ms. Brown. For whatever reasons I've never been able to make it to any of her performances or events. I did listen to her music a couple times and thought it was cool. But after seeing her perform and look like she meant what she was saying, I dug it more. Her's some video of her doing her song "No Strings Attatched":







You can peep her Under The Influence mixtape here.



{still going}







The show was also somewhat of a homecoming for the homie Spree Wilson as he was performing in Atlanta for the first time since he moved up to NYC a couple months ago. I told him that he done messed around and learned some new tricks since he left. He was playing guitar behind his head, on the ground...







standing on chairs and shit, hahah. But for real he did his thing and you can tell the change in environment has rejuvinated him. Here's some footage of him playing guitar and performing "Word."













The headliners for the show were Jeff B. and Mr. DJ better known as Mama's Mustache. I've been hep to their music for some months and this was my second time seeing them perform. Me personally, I think the shit is jamming. I dig how they are going from the ground up too. I mean, both of these dudes have been doing their thing for a minute and could easily shuffle into the music industry door from the top floor, but they're hitting all the spots where independent music flourishes first, so kudos to them.







Overall, the Leaders of the New Cool show was pretty good. Don't really have any complaints. I didn't realize how long I was in there until I left. Probably because I enjoyed all of the artists and they kept their sets short and to the point. The show was genuienly all about the music. But yeah, I took a gang of photos and would love for you to check them out and let me know what you think of them. Peace.

Goodie Mob x Khujo x Sept 19th

Here is the second promo spot for the Goodie Mob reunion show on September 19th. Crazy thing is, without me even knowing that this was the next spot to run...I was actually just on twitter last night talking about how Khujo had the hardest verse on "Fighting."

If you want to stay updated on the show keep stopping by here...or you can follow the twitter page dedicated to the show, www.twitter.com/shamelessmob. Get your tickets HERE.



Previously: Goodie Mob x Big Gipp x Sept 19th

Yo Gotti Cover Story for Ozone Magazine

I wrote Yo Gotti's Ozone cover story this month. You can check it out there.

Photos and Recap: Heineken Red Star Soul feat. Big Boi, Mickey Factz and Kevin Hart

Last night I fell through the Velvet Room for the first time (I DO NOT MESS WITH THAT PLACE AT ALL) for Heiniken's Red Star Soul concert series where you pretty much get to drink free Heiniken and hear good music. No complaints there. Anyway Mickey Facts and Big Boi were the featured performers and I must say I enjoyed both...







I never really got into Mickey's music but from what I heard tonight, I kinda mess with it. Dude was dancing, having a good time, the whole nine. Not comparing him to Kane, but it kinda reminded me of seeing BDK rap and dance at the same time, and do both of them well. Can't say the rest of the crowd felt the same way though. While he may have had a couple fans in the audience, it was obvious that alot of them didn't know who he was...which once again is because of Atlanta radio and DJ's failing to broaden the scope of music the play for "the masses."









As for Big Boi, you already know. Dude rips it everytime he hits the stage. And each time he does it get you more and more angrier with Dre. Not on no personal shit, but just like, damn dude? When you gonna join the party again? But yeah, Big Boi did his thing and even did a couple new tracks from the fie ass Sir Lucious Leftfoot: Son of Chico Dusty album he let me hear earlier this week. As usual him and Blackowned C-Bone put on a good show together. But I ain't gonna lie, since Killer Mike was in the building too, I thought they might've brought him out to do the hook to "Kryptonite" but no haps.

















Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Kevin Hart did a good job hosting the event and keeping everone laughing. He was giving some no-name rapper and his sunglasses wearing security guard the bizness for 7 minutes straight. I recorded it on my Flip cam, I'll put it up later though. He also got down for a minute when Big Boi did "B.O.B."











And oh yeah, I have to post this pic of Big Boi in his red Jordans. Ever since the Lucious Leftoot fiasco he makes sure I see that his footwork is proper. haha.







Over all the show was pretty good. While a couple of my friends (whaddup Kaos, I feel ya brah, believe me I do) got turned away because they didn't fit the dress code, it was still a pretty cool night. I got a chance to run into Janelle Monae who I haven't seen since forever and of course the homies from Hollyweerd and Kei of LLSC was in the building as well. You can peep the rest of the pictures I took here:

Random Jam: Triple Six Mafia-"Where's Da Bud" (1996)

After hearing Tony Yayo completely desecrate this beat earlier today, I felt it was my duty as a Southerner to post the original, just because. Back when I was a chiefer this was one of my favorite songs to smoke to. Still sounds good to this day, to me at least.

Future note to New York rappers, stay off our shit if you're not going to at least attempt to make it better. All parties involved with that Yayo song should be adamnshamed of themselves.

Mikkey Halsted-"Rebel To America" [preview]

Shouts out to Decatur Dan for sending this over. For the next few weeks Dan is teaming up with Chicago's Uncrowned King, Mikkey Halsted to give you some sneak peeks and listens to his upcoming “Chicago: The Photo Album” project. "Rebel To America" is the first shot from the series, dope ish.

And oh yeah, just because I can, I'm re-posting one of my all time favorite songs ever...Mikkey's "Liquor Store" after the jump. Deal with it.

Big Boi Speaks on Sir Lucious Leftfoot: Son of Chico Dusty Album

Last night the homie Big Boi invited me over to Stankonia Studios to let me hear Sir Lucious Leftfoot: Son of Chico Dusty in its entirety. And I must say...the shit is fie. Twelve straight tracks of nothing but that funk. I didn't hear a song that was skipworthy. Dude really put his Leftfoot off in this album. Hell, with it being 2 years and 9 months in the making, we can't expect nothing but that fie at this point. But yeah, after the listen we chopped it up for bit and I recorded some of our conversation. He spills a couple good beans (confirmed he will be at the Goodie Mob reunion show) and bad beans (he's not signed to Def Jam?) in the video, so watch the whole thing.

Their had been a argument on Twitter recently about ATLiens ranking in the Outkast discography. Its my personal favorite but some of my peers disagreed about it being a classic. Well, Big himself said its his favorite and the favorite of most people that he comes across. That said, Sir Lucious Leftfoot reminds me of ATLiens in that while every song sounds different, it also sounds the same. Meaning that its a very cohesive body of work. Cohesive in that every person that was brought in to contribute, from the producers to the featured artists, all stayed on the same page and kept it sounding like a Big Boi album. I jotted a couple notes of what I heard in the BlackBerry, peep them after the jump...

yeah, the notes are on some stream of consciousness shit, but you should be able to follow.

Mr dj did "daddy fat sax"
"Follow us" is fie
A opera sounding song-"General Patton" fie
"Shutterbug"--fie, got a bay area feel to it...scott storch
"Turns me on" by ONP
"Tabourine" still fie has TI on it
"Terrified" has BoB on the hook
Debra killings played bass on the whole album
Erick Sermon prod. "lookin 4 ya" shit is fie...its the song with Dre verse on it and both of them will have 2 verses each, big finishing his last verse tonight.
Lil Jon and Big Boi did "waiting for this day to come " Has jamie foxx on the hook...he said he took it back to the edward j bedroom boom days with this one
George Clinton and Too Short are on "for your sorrows"--the way Big segued into $hort part is pretty dope.
"We go thru this everyday" is pretty cool too
Damn "shineblockers" don't sound shit like what was on that zach wolfe video...thats actually the "wasted" beat now to think of it. "shineblockers" sampled harold melvin and the bluenotes, shit is fie! Gucci and Project Pat on it

Goodie Mob x Big Gipp x Sept 19th

Here is the first of four promo spots for the upcoming Goodie Mob reunion show on September 19th at the Masquerade Park in Atlanta, GA. Shouts out to Shameless Plug and the Motion Family. Please $upport.

Spark Dawg-"Where There's A Spark There's A Flame"

Check out this new song from the homie Spark Dawg. Aside from being a cool dude, he's also one of the hottest rappers coming out of Texas, Killen to be exact. If his name sounds familiar you may know him from his time in Lil Scrappy's G's Up crew or more recently as a member of Scarface's group Green City.

Unfortunately he recently lost everything in a house fire and this song is a first-hand account of what happened and how he's feeling right now. Dude is in pretty good spirits right now in case you're wondering. But check for my dude though. He can really spit. I recently reviewed his Doin' What Ya'll Can't mixtape and its a pretty good listen.


Spark Dawg-"Where There's A Spark There's A Flame"

Happy 50th Birthday Magic Johnson

The best to ever do it.

"and please fellas, no colors"--(c)Magic Johnson Theatres

Young Dro Speaks on His P.O.L.O. Plans

Last week I caught up with Young Dro for a feature I'm doing on him for Ozone. We talked about everything from his current fascination with swagging and bowbow-ing and if he was aware that his core fanbase wants him to get back to rapping, for real for real. I'll be posting up a little bit of that stuff later, but ya'll gonna have to wait for the story to come out.

Anyways, if you've ever met or interviewed Dro, you know he's a character. You can ask dude one question and he's just gonna start talking and joking until you ask him to stop, which isn't a bad thing. It had been a minute since I actually chopped it up with Dro. I wrote his first ever interview/article back in '05 when "Shoulder Lean" was just starting to bubble in the clubs and on the radio (just realized I took the photo too, had to use hella aliases back then), but hadn't really sat down with dude at length since then. He's still the same Dro.

As for the music he let me hear, he's definitely snapping. I'm not all the way sure if he only played stuff that he knew I'd like or not, because I made it known I wasn't fond of the swag bow bow stuff like that. Either way, buddy was snapping on what I heard.

But yeah, this video is just a part of our sitdown. Here we talked about his obsession with Polo. In case you didn't know his upcoming album is titled P.O.L.O. (Players Only Live Once) All I asked him was if he wanted to follow in Tyson Beckford and who ever the two other Black dudes who've modeled Polo's footsteps...he pretty much took the question and ran, or galloped, with it.

RELATED: Young Dro Speaks...

Pill x Hollyweerd In the Studio

From the looks of this Pill stopped by Hollyweerd's studio out on the Eastside to cook somethings up. I've been in that room and its the size of a handicapped bathroom stall, for real. Its so cramped in there you have no choice but to make dope music up in there. Looking forward to hearing what comes of this.

Oh yeah, I got to hear some of Pill's 4075:The Refill mixtape and saw the video to "Glass" last night. Fie. Feel free to checkout some more Pill footage live from Pink City after the jump...

Anger & Ambition: The Best of Killer Mike [mixtape]

The homies over at the Smoking Section just dropped this doozie on the net a couple hours ago. While a Best of Mike mixtape could easily be a double-disc, this is a solid effort. No "Scared Straight," "Mama Said" or "M.O.B." or a couple more of my personal favs on here but its all good. Peep the tracklisting after the jump.

DOWNLOAD: Trakstar the DJ & The Smoking Section present Anger & Ambition: The Best of Killer Mike

Exclusive (Kinda?): Bobby Creekwater Leaves Shady/Aftermath Records

A week or two ago the homie Tai Saint-Louis hit me and asked me if I wanted to holler at Bobby Creekwater. I figured, shit why not, I fugg with dude. Then she told me he wanted to tell the world that he was leaving Shady/Aftermath and that I'd be the first to have it. Cool stuff. So I stopped by his new studio downtown to get the skinny.

But like I said, this was a week or two ago, the day before he took the stage at Lenny's to headline the Leaders of the New Cool show. Since then, my life and time had been in a whirlwind and never got the time to sit and edit this video. But here it is, finally. If you've already heard the news, good for you. If you assumed that Bobby had already left anyway, hey, smart guy you are. But if you had no idea of what was going on, hope you enjoy this video.

Shouts out to Bobby, Sol Messiah and the whole team. I hear they are killing their show dates in Japan right now.

Sneak Peak: Goodie Mob promo shoot stills

Yesterday I got the honor of hanging out, er "working" with Goodie Mob at Chantrelle's (that was the secret location I was tweeting about). Motion Family is shooting some promo vids for the reunion show coming up on September 19th. With this shot in particular they recreated the Soul Food album cover.

The whole day was a pretty surreal experience, no one had any idea that they were going to come decked out in Adidias gear just like how they were on the Soul Food inside art work, but they did and it looked pretty cool. I had to take a picture with these dudes because hell, I happened to be damn near dressed like them. Enjoy a couple more pics after the jump.


Photos by Diwang Valdez




For all of those still in doubt...at least let these pics reiterate that CEELO IS BACK IN THE GROUP. He will be performing on the 19th. The man told me himself. No okidokes people. Keep coming by for more info on the group and the show in the coming weeks.

Creative Loafing's "Got Hip Hop?" cover

[pictured: Amond Jackson, StaHHr, Boog Brown, Kalonji Changa, Khalilah Ali, Ekundayo, Taj Anwar, Mike Flo, Doll Daze, Rita J, Señor Kaos, and Kelly Love Jones]

Am I the only one noticing how Creative Loafing is really fugging with Hip Hop and Black folks period in Atlanta right now? There was a time when the only Black people that got on the cover of CL were criminals, crooked politicians or select Dungeon Family members. Now just within the last year or so they've had DJ Toomp, David Banner (still scratching my head on that one),Dax (RIP), Gucci Mane and now this callage of underground Hip Hop acts on the cover. Good stuff Rodney.

The story revolves around Food, Clothes, & Shelter: The Street Album that celebrates the 30-year anniversary of Black August. The homie Senor Kaos is front and center on the joint, good look man.

If you're not able to get your hands on a physical copy of the paper you can read online HERE.

Killer Mike - "In My City" Behind the Scenes

The homie Grim over at UNN just shot over these behind the scenes stills from the set of "In My City." The scenes were shot at the "Rare Breed Motorcycle Club in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Custom Bikes By Ransom Riders out of Compton, California.

Spree Wilson - Evil Angel EP

The homie Spree Wilson's Evil Angel EP hit the net today and its absolutely free. Its the prelude to his Beauty of Chaos album that will be coming your way sooner than you think.

DOWNLOAD: Spree Wilson - Evil Angel EP

Lil Wayne Backstage and Performing at Birthday Bash '09

If you were following me on twitter the day of birthday bash, then you already know my sentiments about the show. But shouts out to the Motion Family for capturing one of "memorable" moments of the night. And be sure to visit their new and improved website www.MOTIONFAMILY.com

Mama's Mustache: The Album Before The Album

In case you haven't heard yet, Mr. DJ and Jeff B. (formerly of Co-Ed) have come together to form a new duo, Mama's Mustache. They've been hitting up select spots around the city here and there on the low...kinda on some calm before the storm type ish. But check out this pre-album they leaked out a couple days ago. I had the opportunity to hear the actual album album when I was in the studio with Pretty Ken and Jeff B. happened to come by one night. All I'll say is that it was 2am and it kept me wide awake. I mean, I don't get high, but it definitely had me feeling high. Its hard to put a label on what they're doing, but they like to call it "multi-purpose music" and that close enough for me. Anyways, this is the Album Before the Album. Check out and let me know what you think.

If you like to sample and taste here a couple Mama's Mustache tracks that have been floating around for a little bit.

Mama's Mustache-"Heavy Metal"


Mama's Mustache-"Job Hunting"

Also they, as well as Spree Wilson will be performing at the Leaders of the New Cool show at Lenny's on the 22nd.

LISTEN: Mama's Mustache-The Album Before the Album (via DatPiff)

Spree Wilson - "Goodbye" feat. Novel

Here's a new bonus cut from the homie Spree Wilson's upcoming album Evil Angel EP which drops this coming Tuesday.



PREVIOUSLY: Spree Wilson-"Word" video

Innuendo Excercise: The Neckline Slimmer x The Shake Weight

Since its late and the kiddies are away from the computer (as if it matters these days) I figured I'd share some good old-fashioned seuxual innuendo humor with you folks. I found both of these vids over at the Smoking Section. The vids pretty much speak for themselves. My mind has now been perveted for the rest of the night...

*cues Gorilla Zoe*

Recap and Photos: Konsole Kingz x Madden 10 Party at The W

Last night the Konsole Kingz hosted another dope gaming event in the A. I mean, when you get to play the new Madden before it comes out, be around top notch females and drink for the free, what else could it possibly be besides dope?



If you aren't up on game (pun intended) Konsole Kingz are the premier urban marketing brand and company when it comes to gaming. I've known the founder CJ Peters for years and he's really putting a strong hold on the market.



About last night though, I had a blast. This is probably the most fun I've had working for a minute. The vibe was great the whole night, for me at least. No one was acting all crazy or hollywood. Folks were just chilling, drinking and playing Madden. Even the ladies...







As usual the Kingz brought the celebrities out and most of them were treated to a copy of the game before it comes out. Not to brag...but I got one too shawty ;-)





DJ Jaycee and Jermaine Dupri



Yung Joc and Chingy



Ike Dirty (Issac Hayes III)



Jazze Pha and Mr. Collipark



If you want to get more into what the Konsole Kingz are doing make sure you hit up their website, everyday. Here are the rest of the pics from the night.