Thursday, October 29, 2009

Drunk 911 Call



Too many moments to name. Just listen for yourself if you need a good laugh. People are crazy, for real.

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys Perform "Empire State of Mind" at World Series



Are The Roots or Beanie Sigel gonna perform at Game 3...Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff maybe?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Stanza-"D.U.I."





New joint from the homie Stanza. Fortunately unfortunately I can relate to this one...just like so many of you out there. For real though, ya'll stay up on cuz. I'll admit I kinda slept on him for a second, but Stanza is one of the better conceptual rappers coming out of the city right now. I've yet to hear him make a song about rapping about rapping or rapping about nothing.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Fabo Is In College



Everybody's been asking "Where's Fabo?" for the last couple of years. He told MTV recently. Tip of the hat to you sir and good luck.

Spotted at RapRadar

Friday, October 23, 2009

Freddie Gibbs Performs "Iodine Poison" for Fader TV



"I'm Too Hard To Swallow, the son of Super Tight/Was raised on Ridin Dirty, Dirty Money off the white/Kept a couple Side Hustles 'til rapping was just a dream, lay that snap on the track like I was an Underground King"--Freddie Gibbs

Maaaan. "Iodine Poison" is probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite song (behind "Talkin Bout You" and "Still Standing" on Freddie Gibbs' Midwestgangstaboxframecaddilacmuzik mixtape. Its an ode to Pimp C that samples Mr. Butler on the hook and uses clips from his infamous "Atlanta Ain't the South" interview from a couple years ago. Gibbs had emailed me a rough of this track a while back and asked if I could pull some strings to get Bun on it. I put them in contact with each other, but obviously that wasn't able to happen in time before the mixtape was scheduled to be released but it still jams either way.

Spotted at BLVDST via DGB

Masta Ace Turns Down Tours to Coach Football



I thought this clip was kinda cool. Its an interview Media Gasface did with Masta Ace. Here he's talking about how he wound up joining the Juice Crew, but what got me was when he started talking about how he is a football coach in his spare time. None of the kids on the team were alive when he first appeared on "The Symphony" and if they go back and google him and try asking him about music, they get in trouble.

Spotted at NahRight

Bun B x Noz x NPR Interview


[photo taken August 19th 2008]

Where do you think the Dungeon Family went wrong? It seems like around the turn of the century the whole movement just kind of dissipated.

Bun B: I can’t really say because I wasn’t that involved internally. The music is still as strong today as it was then, I can’t say if it was lack of support from the record companies or if there was internal friction. I just know that hip hop is not better off because of it. We definitely lose when the Dungeon Family isn’t united. As hip hop fans and artists we all lose.


The homie Noz of CocaineBlunts caught up with Bun B recently, interviewing him for NPR about one of his favorite albums, Goodie Mob's Soul Food. As expected, it was a great read.

READ: CBRAP.com-Interview: Bun B Talks Soul Food

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Hollyweerd presents The Mandatory Mandate EPK



Never thought that the conundrum that is Hollyweerd could be confined into a mintute and 34 seconds, but this EPK does the trick.

Pill x Gibbs="Run Up To Me"



Two of my favorite rappers doing my favorite song of theirs again. Hear this song I've been going on and on about when Pill's 4075: The Refill finally drops next month.

Props to Rap Radar who has more Pill footage as well as the rest of the artists who performed at NahRight's Better Recognize showcase at CMJ in NYC.

OJ Da Juiceman Boo'ed In NYC



[I originally posted this over at Ozone]

We've been hearing about this all morning, but our internet was down up until about an hour ago, so we're just seeing this. As the "voice of Southern Hip Hop" it does feel a certain way to see NYC booing OJ. Its almost like how White people, no matter how cool they are, are never and will never be allowed to say the N-word. Same thing here. We down here in the South, I feel, are allowed to say whatever it is we want to say about OJ because we made him who he is. But people who have done nothing but hate on the guy or simply decide they didn't like his music and aren't from around these parts...eh, not really.

But on the other hand, it didn't really make much sense to have OJ on this bill in the first place. Jadakiss, Raekwon, Curren$y, Pill, Donnis...and OJ? We understand the idea of being all inclusive in Hip Hop, but somethings just don't go together. Two of those things are Wu-Tang fans and Southern artists not named Outkast or Geto Boys. Like the person who captured this video said, New York has love for OJ, he just came up on a tough crowd. In Hip Hop that happens. Plus, it probably didn't help OJ's cause to go on stage shouting random "bitch" and "fuckboy" insults before he even got into his first verse.

However, I will say that this is probably one of OJ's more energetic performances. What ever ticked him off this night, needs to happen again so that he actually looks interesting when he's on stage.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Pill Interview with DJ Jelly x CMJ Performance with Donnis



Yeah, we overdosing...fugg it.

WarrenJae feat. Playboy Tre-"Sleep"





Sorry for the tardy, but I got this joint from the homie Randy Exclusive yesterday...check it out.

Preview: Lil Boosie Interview for Ozone Magazine



I sat down with Lil Boosie a couple weekends ago while he was in town for the BET Hip Hop Awards. Can't get into why we ended up doing it at his hotel room, but it was an interesting scene to say the least. When I walked in the room, it was tense as hell and Boosie has always been one to wear his emotions on his sleeves and face. So when I see dude looking mad as hell, I can't even lie...I wasn't looking forward to doing the interview. I mean, if I had had the day he was having, on top of worrying about going to jail in a couple weeks, I'd probably be mad as hell too. But, when I cut the recorder on, dude actually lightened up...well, can't really say that...but he opened up, giving me all kinds of exclusive quotes and news on his current album and situation.

I can't give it all away before the issue hits stands, so I'm gonna be leaking out bits and pieces of the interview here and there both here and on Ozonemag.com. In this very short clip (shout out to Diwang and David of Motion Family for the photoshoot and video) Boosie reveals that he had the same judge as Mystikal and how he really feels when someone says "keep ya head up."

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Z-Ro-"Doin Just Fine"





Man, I obviously need to spend less time on twitter and some of these other sites I've been wasting my time perusing and get back to checking the real shit I'm accustomed to. I'm kind of embarassed that I'm just now hearing this new Z-Ro song "Doin Just Fine" which dropped a few days ago. I'm even more embarrased that I had absolutely no idea that Ro dropped a double-mixtape earlier this month and I knew nothing about it.

Anyways, "Doin Just Fine" will be appearing on Ro's upcoming album Cocaine (the follow up to last years Crack and I'm hearing he's naming the one after this Heroin). Cocaine is also the name of the double-mixtape but it looks like Rap-A-Lot is condensing it and repackaging it. If "Doin Just Fine" is a taste of what this album has to offer...damn, its gonna be jammin. Country Rap Tunes are still alive.

Spotted at CBRap

Monday, October 19, 2009

Vote For Pill on MTVu's Freshman videos



Pill's video for "Glass" is up for voting on MTVu's "Freshman Videos" show some support. The video with the most votes get added into regular rotation. CLICK HERE TO VOTE.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Zooz Beat x Street Lotto on CNN



The homie Street Lotto told me he hooked up with this company that he thinks about to change the way we look at music...and he wasn't lying. I'm no techy so you'd probably be better off just watching this video to get an understanding of this new technology that allows people to change and add to their favorite songs on their cell phones. Street Lotto is one of the first artists to hop on this and he appears in the clip.

Review: Black Dynamite



After seeing the trailer for Black Dynamite late last year and hearing about it from the homies at Konsole Kingz when they went to the Sundance Festival I made sure I kept an eye out for its release date. Though its been a while since then, the wait was most definitely worth it...

I planned on going out to see it tonight when it hit theatres but I was blessed with an invite to a free advanced screening (whats up Diego) last night. The film was so funny that I plan on spending money to see it again.

Now, I'm usually not one for silly, or overly dry humor for that matter. I tend to prefer "smart" humor. Black Dynamite is a combination of of silly and smart. This was a very well exectuted movie. This may sound confusing, but they made the movie bad, on purpose. I mean you'll see boom mics in some of the scenes (which are sometimes out of focus) and you'll even see characters crying tears that disappear and then reappear all in the same dialogue. To clear it up for you, the film is not supposed to be a 2009 Blaxploitation flick...its a Blaxploitation spoof. Think I'm Gonna Get You Sucka but wittier with less blatant hi-jinks.

While the movie is silly as hell, it doesn't come off as embarassing. Meaning that yeah, its cool to laugh at this movie with White folks around. This is due in large part to the movie actually having skilled actors and comedians in the cast.

Michael Jai White (writer and director of the movie), Salli Richardson, Bookeem Woodbine, Tommy Davidson, Aresnio Hall, Kym Whitley, Mykelti Williamson, Cedric Yarbrough, Miguel Nunez, Chris Spencer and alot of other familiar faces will be found in this film. Hell, even John Salley and Brian McKnight are in it. So you know that even though the film is meant to be silly...serious talent was involved in pulling it off.

If you've been keeping up with the trailers and internet clips promoting the film, you'd know that alot of work was put into making this film an actual experience and that's what it felt like watching it. Everybody in the theatre was rolling and the "Cinemaphonic Quadrovision" filter that they added to the film actually made it look like it was made in the 1970's.

I really don't know what else I can say about the movie without spoiling it or getting the jokes wrong. Plus, I'm going off of straight memory since I couldn't take notes in my cell phone (they asked me to put it away, might have thought I was recording?). But the film is pretty much about what all Blaxplotation films are about...sticking it to "the man."

The movie starts fast and doesn't slow down anywhere. Each scene payed attention to detail through intricate wardrobe and writing. Of course the score/soundtrack played a part in the feel of the film too. All of the songs were funky as hell and equally funny at times. Just like the soundtracks of Blaxploitation flicks of the past, there was a song for damn near every scene. So if Black Dynamite was walking into the room...then dammit, the song sung "Black Dynamite is walking in the rooooooom."

The only drawback about the film is probably something that was done on purpose...which is the confusing plot twists towards the end and the lagging final fight scenes.

Really, all I can do is just encourage you to go see it for yourself if you are looking for a good laugh. The movie opens today in Atlanta, NYC, LA, Chicago, Philly and Seattle.

Leave the kids at home though, there's titties and alot of cursing in it.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Lil Boosie-"Mind of a Maniac"



Latest video of many from Boosie's Superbad album. This one is shot by Motion Family. Stay tuned for my feature on Boosie in the next issue of Ozone.

Juelz Santana feat. Yelawolf-"Mixing Up The Medicine"





The homie J.Dot told me about this track the day after they recorded it and said that Yela was on some "Bob Dylan shit" and he wasn't lying. This track came out dope. Slim Thug and now Juelz know whats up...lets see who else catches on.

Dictionary for Women and Men's English


[click to enlarge]

Saw this floating around on Twitter and I had to share it. Hilariously true.

Josh Smith adidas Commercial



I'm a lifelong Hawks fan, Josh Smith is from the A and my closet is full of blue boxes with 3 stripes on them, so I had to post this commercial. Its a part of adidas' newest ITS ON ME campaign that also features commercials with Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Tim Duncan and Michael Beasley.

Josh's is easily the most entertaining out of the bunch. See that I said "entertaining" not "funny" because we all know that ball players make for terrible actors. But nah for real, the commercial is pretty cool. And it also has a "cameo appearance" from fellow adidas athlete and Atlantan Dwight Howard. I thought that was pretty cool since they're both from here and played on same AAU Atlanta Celtics team back in 2003.

Anyways, enjoy.

RELATED: Slam Online's Top 50 NBA Players: Josh Smith #40

Good Fridays at 495 Peachtree (formerly Djangos)



Ceelo Green bought the club formerly known as Django's not to long ago. I haven't been since he bought it, but I'm hearing that the Fridays have been pretty cool up in there. So, if you're looking for something to get into, here you go. The homie Moetown is DJing this Friday and he's one of the few DJs in the city who knows how to play West Coast jams (Bay Area included)...current and classic. Fall through.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

DJ Kizzy Rock's 1st Annual Freaknik Party at Minglez



The homie Jabari told me about this this past weekend and I've been debating on if I'm gonna fall through. I mean hell, I already be up in the Chit Chat and Minglez every once in a while on the cool...why not go for an actual event. Plus, since the Goodie Mob show, I've been thirsting more and more for some authentic A-Town ish. Not sure how much the spirit of Freaknik is going to be in the building (especially with this weather) but Kizzy still knows how to Rock. Ya'll fall through, Minglez is acutally a nice looking spot on the inside.

2930 Ember Dr.
Decatur, GA 30034
(Right off Candler Rd. when you get off I-20)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Freddie Gibbs-"Murda On My Mind" video



The TSS Crew just liberated this clip shot by Yours Truly of Gibbs recording "Murda On My Mind," one of the darker tracks off Midwestgangstaboxframecaddilacmuzik. If I'm reading correctly there should be more videos to come.

Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane-"Shine Blockas"





About to start calling this album Lucious LEAKfoot. But nah for real, here's another jam from Big Boi's upcoming solo album. He hosted a listening session for the album this past Sunday. I took some pics for Ozone that you can see HERE. It was a laid back affair, no VIP's, no velvet ropes, just soul food and stiff drinks. Everybody there was cool and genuine fans of the music. Which brings me into the next statement...I hardly saw any DJs or radio folks there.

Shouts out to the ones that were there, didn't know (they only did two days of promo) or just couldn't make it. But the rest of ya'll are really tripping. Especially the DJ's and radio folks who haven't shown this project any type of support what so ever. Like the homie DJ Mars was saying on Twitter yesterday, the lack of support people are giving Big Boi is pretty foul. Big Boi has been holding it down for us, ya'll and the Outkast brand period for the last 3 to 6 years and ya'll still waiting on Dre to comeback...as if Big Boi had absolutely nothing to do with the group's successes over the last 16 years. "Get off the boo boo" (c) Pimp C

But yeah, check out the song if you haven't already, shit is jammin. The version I heard a while back had Project Pat on it, but I guess something didn't work out at the end of the day, because his verse has been replaced by an extra verse from Big.

Previously: Big Boi Speaks on Sir Lucious Leftfoot: Son of Chico Dusty Album|"Shine Blockers"-Big Boi and Gucci Mane Recording at Stankonia

Monday, October 12, 2009

Random Jam: Menace Clan "What U Sayin" (1995)



Not sure what put me in this mood...might be the rain, but I've been listening to nothing but Dayton Family and Top Authority today. Now to think of it, it might be because I went to see Michael Moore's (who is from Flint, MI just like these two groups) latest documentary "Capitalism: A Love Story" this past weekend and its still fresh on my mind. Once again, Moore has succeeded in making me want to move to France.

That style of music they were making led me to going back and looking up the above gem on youtube. Menace Clan's "What U Sayin" to me at least...is one of the dopest concept records and videos I've ever seen. In it the two group memembers rap in a conversationalist stlye with one of the guys taking on the role of the cantankerous older guy who can't stand the youth of today, while the other raps from the perspective of the young hustler on the corner who feels that it was the generation before his that failed and created the "hell hole" he has to survive in. Dope ish indeed.

I remember seeing this video on Rap City back when I used to tape videos, and wishing they'd play it everyday...but they only played it about once a week. Menace Clan was from the West Coast and were signed to Rap-A-Lot and released one album that I know of simply titled Da Hood. The album caught alot of flack for being extremely anti-White and anti-music industry (think dead prez x100), but to their credit...they clarified their agenda on the album when they said: "We only trippin' on the white muthaf*ckas that's in control of the government; we ain't trippin' on you common folk cr*ckers cause y'all just cr*ckers...y'all might as well be n*ggas." Beyond that though, "What U Sayin" is truly a flash of genius.

The way this song/video documented the growing generation gap in the Black community is truly remarkable. Crazy how 14 years later the gap still exists, but moreso between 30-something year olds and teenagers. Anyways, check this joint out, I hope ya'll enjoy/appreciate it as much as I did and still do.

Konsole Kingz Host DJ Hero Launch Party In Atlanta



In what I thought was one of the better events of the BET Hip Hop Awards weekend, Konsole Kingz hosted the launch party for DJ Hero. Alot of folks came through and showed support. I took some photos for Ozone that you can see HERE.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Aisha Sekhmet-"White Man Bitch"



GAWT DAYUM SHAWTY! I just happened to see a link to this sitting in the homie and Creative Loafing music editor Rodney Charmichael's gchat message. WHEW! I've never heard of this woman, but she just did some ol Drop Squad shit on the whole rap game with this one. The video speaks for itself but Rodney did a good job talking about it over at The Loaf, peep it after the jump...



Taken from CL:

Not since N.W.A. dropped “Fuck the Police” 20 years ago has hip-hop sounded this defiant, this jaw-dropping, this groundbreaking.


Yes, Atlanta resident/New Orleans transplant Aisha Sekhmet’s song “You the White Man’s Bitch” is as radical as the title suggests. Her primary target isn’t “the man,” however, but the morally corrupt generation of rappers that have turned self-degradation and misogyny into their own capitalistic come-up — all the while justifying the means with their ever-increasing ends.

It’s in direct response to Memphis rapper Yo Gotti’s song, “Five Star Bitch,” — his term of endearment for a top-shelf female companion. Sehkmet jacks his club bounce beat and twists his premise into her own profanity-laced, anti-white supremacist diatribe targeted at black men (and women) who’ve assimilated to the point of self-hatred.

In effect, she’s labeling them race traitors. Uncle Toms. House niggers.

There’s a message in her madness, but it’s not wrapped in the kind of out-of-touch, high-minded language that’s kept many politically-conscious MCs preaching to the choir in recent years. In fact, many enlightened rap heads have already found beef with Sekhmet — a former stripper who admits to being “a product of the streets.” Her lyrics are riddled with as many contradictions as she heaps upon her adversaries. But as raw and racially-charged as she is on the mic, there’s an abrupt honesty in Sekhmet’s delivery that hasn’t been heard in rap since “keepin’ it real” went way wrong.

Since her video hit WorldStarHipHop.com a week ago, it’s garnered over 150,000 views. It even got Atlanta-based activist Kalonji Changa’s attention, so he decided to conduct the first interview with Sekhmet.

Kalonji: What made you record and release this song and what’s your target audience?

Aisha: I recorded that song because I felt a burning anger when I heard Yo Gotti’s song Five Star Bitch. I felt in my spirit that he wrote that song to get a female audience to support him, and he had to call them bitches in the process. My target audience is anyone who can learn something valuable from my message.


Back in August, CL covered the debut of Food, Clothes & Shelter: The Street Album, the hip-hop compilation released by Changa’s FTP Movement. The double-disc CD is Changa’s and FTP’s attempt to bridge the gap between progressive hip-hop and the hood. But even he admits much of Sekhmet’s content can be a hard pill to swallow. It’s kinda like meeting Malcolm X in the middle of his radical jail-house transformation from the brain-dead pimp/street hustler Detroit Red to the eventual revolutionary leader El-Hajj Malik Shabazz.

Sekhmet ironically evokes X’s name in the song’s intro when she hollers: “You know I’m lookin’ for a real nigga like Malcolm X.”

Confused?

As Sekhmet told Changa, she’s only feeding the horse the way it eats:

Aisha: I’m a product of the streets. The Black Men and Women in the Hip Hop community refer to a real nigga as a man that has his shit together, someone that isn’t a deadbeat daddy, someone intelligent, etc. etc. That’s all I meant. The streets know what I meant. And I give honor to our ancestor Malcolm X for being a real nigga and dying for us!

On one hand, it’s refreshing to hear a black female MC respond to the overuse of the word “bitch” in rap by snapping back rather than wearing it as a badge of honor the way such standard-bearers as Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and Trina have infamously attempted to do, while successfully ho’ing themselves out in the process. And Sekhmet’s certainly more ballsy than the whole shebang of male MCs who’ve ever gotten high (and rich) off shitting on women.

Still, I doubt if any of that will earn her a spot on Oprah’s couch anytime soon — unless, of course, Sekhmet’s sociopolitical sound-off can bank the kind of Benjamins that finally made Jay-Z Ms. Winfrey’s favorite rapper.

Slim Thug Talks Recession on The Daily Show



I don't watch The Daily Show as religously as I did years ago. I probably need to start back. This was funny as hell. Mainly because based off when I interviewed Thugga when the Boss Hogg Outlaw album came out, he didn't sound like he was above cutting some of them dudes off, hahaha.

Mike Bigga feat. Big Kuntry King-"Imma Fool Wit It"



People are really messing with this song right now so here's the video. It was shot in Lost Wages, Nevada and borrows its theme from The Hangover. From what I was told by parties involved...cameras didn't catch ALL of the shenanigans that went down out there.

Oh yeah...the video ain't for the kiddies.

PREVIOUSLY: Killer Mike feat. Big Kuntry King-"Imma Fool Wit It"

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Does Atlanta Have A Gang Problem?



Ok so. I'm surfing the web and decide to stop by Zach Wolfe's spot to see if he'd gotten around to posting any of the goodies I've seen him capturing over the last few weeks that I've seen him out. I didn't see any of the recent Mike Bigga, Slaughterhouse, A3C Festival performances...but I did stumble across this Jody Breeze joint he shot recently...

Now, before I get into my little rant, I was very hesitant to even speak on or post this. One, because I found it to be pretty stupid. Two, I'm not all the way aware of what I'm watching. Three, I didn't want to feel like I was spreading ignorance, which is pretty easy to do on the internet. Because I mean really, half the dumb ish we complain about on the net grows legs because we post it, retweet it, email it, etc.

But yeah, this is a video for Jody Breeze's latest freestyle that he did over Drake's "Uptown" beat. In it he's going at Young Jeezy as well as spitting about about the things that the ATF make a living off compensating.

Dissing rappers, not new. Rapping about firearms and drugs, not new either. But what did catch my eye is all the flashing signs and flying colors in this video. Aparently the Atlanta Blood Gang (ABG) is starting to surface beyond the Southside and East Atlanta into rap music and now onto the internet.

I heard about this "gang" a while back but didn't really pay it no mind, because hell, Atlanta gangs never get payed attention anyway. They usually disappear within months, if that long. But then when I started hearing The Dirty Boyz start shouting them out on the radio as if they were the new rap crew or something, I started worrying a little bit. Well, not worrying, but moreso wondering. Did these niggas really just shout out a "gang" on the radio, during a show that targets an audience below the ages of 21-23 for the most part?

Then I started noticing how alot of the rappers and random cats in the street started wearing red all of a sudden. Gucci, Waka Flocka FLAME and the cats that run with them mainly. In seeing this I started asking myself...when the fuck did gangs become cool in Atlanta?

For as long as I've been living here, I don't recall too many times when gangs neither existed nor were cool here. The "gangs" here have always been neighborhoods or high schools. Colors? No.

Sure, everybody wanted to rock blue flannel shirts back when Snoop Dogg first came out, but were niggas really banging like that? Nah, not really. Really, only time I can remember a gang really making an impact here was when the Folks came here in around 93-94. And most of the cats that got involved in that shit got into it because it was "different." They didn't wear blue or red. Niggas liked throwing up pitchforks because it looked cool. But after enough niggas got sent to jail for banging, peoplel left it alone...the shit wasn't cool anymore.

Notice I keep saying the word "cool." Atlanta folks have always been too "cool" for "that gang shit" as we used to call it. Gangs scared girls off, fucked up the party and always carried themselves as they were too "hard." Them niggas was always mad, weren't popular and were never fresh. Nobody here wanted to be like them. Plus, there was never a gang culture here. The culture here has always been one that revolved around hustling. If you was worried about getting picked on here...you didn't join a gang. You just hit the weight room and learned how to fight or tried out for football or something.

So that brings me back to asking, when did this gang shit become "cool" in Atlanta. From the looks of this video and what I'm noticing out in the street, cats are really thinking this shit is cool now. They've found a reason to wear red bandanas, red t-shirts, red G-shock watches, sunglasses, designer jeans and red Crooks & Castle hats (which ironically have a big ass C on them, smh).

I talked to a couple friends who I thought would be able to fill me in more on this "epidemic" I'm missing out on. The consensus is pretty much that joining a "gang" in Atlanta has become convenient. I mean besides the fact that cats in Atlanta already love the color red (UGA Bulldogs, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks), it seems like associating yourself with ABG is the thing to do now.

One, because its different from the Crip influence that Jeezy and BMF brought to the city a few years back. Just like most social phenomenons, followers seek to be carbon copies of whatever is in style at the time. Jeezy and BMF wore black and blue...so dammit, we are too. Same shit as when Snoop Dogg, MC Eiht, Dogg Pound, etc were the coolest rappers walking. Wasn't nooooooobody trying to listen to or be like DJ Quik at the time. Hell, even after their popularity waned you still saw rappers rocking blue bandanas. It wasn't until Dip Set, The Game and Lil Wayne started claiming Blood affiliations (and selling records and making hot music) that you saw everyone else wanting to look like they were Bloods.

Couple their popularity with their ability to make being a Blood look fashionable (red glitter belts and such) and now you have a bunch of people wanting to look like them.

Another reason I'm guessing ABG is the thing to be down with nowadays is becuase there isn't much of an alternative. Shit, ain't no Crips around (yet) to bring any opposition, so you can just fly your colors at will with no worries.

Then hell, what community organizations are there to counter it. From what I see Fraternities/Sororities rarely extend beyond the college campus anymore. Church organizations be on some "don't call us, we'll call you...after you tithe" shit. Little league sports are still here, but parents aren't. Plus I see them on the highway shoulder asking for money more than I see them actually playing. Can't remember the last time I bought a Girl Scout cookie off an actual Girl Scout. The community is losing businesses left and right so these young cats can't even get a little job like breaking down boxes at the store or sweeping hair at the barber shop.

So...what can we do for these cats before they get themselves killed either by their peer or by the police? I'm dead ass serious.

But yeah, back to this video. Honestly, I'm still perplexed as to what I watched. Of course it looks "nice" because Zach Wolfe is good at what he does. But still, what the fuck shawty? Really? Tell me if im thinking too hard but this was more than just a cool video to go along with a random freestyle to put on the net. This shit is damn near propaganda.

Its a trip how lenses and filters work. Through this lense, this "freestyle" actually kinda looks like a work of art...almost dismissing the sign flashing and color flying. But if it was on Flip cam, this shit would like like exactly what it is...some stupid shit that will get somebody hurt.

I don't know shawty. This obviously set something off in me. Like for real, gangs in 2009? Who does that besides lame ass rappers trying to look cool? Like the big homie said, if gangs aren't here to evolve into social organizations of influence like the Shriners...get the fuck on. If you're going to start a "gang" in 2009 are you going to wield a voting base in local politics? If you're joining a "gang" in 2009 are you doing it to lead it into being an effective/profitiable organization that offers anything other than destruction and rap songs?

This the thing that makes me say that Black folks need to leave gang and crime alone. We aren't good at it and we never evolve. We start gangs and they turn destructive. White folks start gangs and become organizations. Black folks do illegal shit and go to jail. White folks do illegal shit and start NASCAR.

And let me say I'm kinda dissapointed in young Jody. I just interviewed him not to long ago and it sounded like he was trying to be somewhat of a "positive" influence. He wanted me to make sure that I told readers of the intervew, specifically younger people, that all that trapping and stuff he used to rap about was for the birds and that they need to find something better to do because it only leads to death or jail. Last time I checked...gangbanging does the same thing.

But yeah, I'm kinda rambling now. If you have a comment, you know where to leave it. If you feel you can educate me as to what the hell is going on around here, feel free to do that as well. For real, how real is this ABG thing and is it something we need to handle before it gets crazy? Because for now I mean, it really just looks like a bunch of C-level rappers wearing red with a few nameless goons rolling with them. Let's "build" as the 5 Percenters like to say.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Willie The Kid-"Flying Over Your Hood"



Always been a supporter of Willie the Kid and figured I'd share this video he just dropped. Feeling the beat. Feeling the lyrics. Feeling the concept of the video. But it still feels like it could have been shot a little bit better. A filter here...a fade transition there and this would have been some really dope ish. But still, the video is pretty cool based off orignality alone. Years later this might be a real gem. There's plenty of rap video riding through Atlanta...I don't think I've ever seen one flying over it.

Friday, October 2, 2009

SLAM Online's Top 50 NBA Players: Joe Johnson #20



Although I'm still dissappointed (and kinda nervous) over the news that broke earlier this week about Joe Johnson opting to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, I still got to show some love the man that's put my beloved Hawks back on the map in the NBA.

Today SLAM magazine revealed him as the #20 player in their Top 50 ranking. I mean, yeah, sounds 'bout right. Although I think he could have cracked the mid-teens, I can see things like his questionable leadership abilities may have kept him from from being ranked higher. But hey, Top 20 ain't nothing to sneeze at. Anyways, Lang Whitaker wrote the piece, check it out.

READ: SLAM Online's Top 50 NBA Players: Joe Johnson #20

RELATED: SLAM Online's Top 50 NBA Players: Josh Smith #40

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Playboy Tre's Smoking Session with The Smoking Section



The Smoking Section caught up with Playboy Tre while he was on the road with B.o.B. in Chicago. Its a three part interview that's really worth checking out. In Part 3 he pretty much sums up how alot of folks are feeling with Andre 3000's absence from the Goodie Mob reunion.

Part 2|Part 3

They also caught up with B.o.B. too

Yelawolf Photoshoot



The homie Jason from AtlantaUrbanMix just sent over this footage of Yelawolf's photoshoot with photographer/producer Will Power. I swear this cat switches up his look every 6-8 months, but thats a good thing. In case you're still sleeping, check out the new Yela joints I posted up the other day.