Notorious B.I.G. Abstract Art
Notorious B.I.G. is a legend in Hip-Hop music and culture; sadly, his life ended on March 9, 1997 in Los Angeles. However, through music and art, his memory lives on … Baby, baby!!
Category Archives: Hip-Hop
All things relating to hip-hop
Artists’ Emo Energy
Emotional Energy
Ever wonder why you are just attracted to a certain entertainer? Even if they have lacklustre skills? Above average skills? One of the key components that one can rock to a ‘Soulja Boy’ and a Kanye West, is the fact that these artist’ bring something more than lyrics and beats – emotional energy. Really it is emotions that is transformed into energy, that is then absorbed by the audience. When you get chills after hearing a song by Kanye or Tupac, its partly because the emotions that they breathed on the track was so energetic, potent, that it sent a chill down your body. When Soulja Boy yells ‘Youuuu’, you know that you gotta move; these artists’ energy, through songs, brings you INTO the song so that you can experience what they are saying. You get the vantage point of the artist, Tupac brings you to the Oakland blocks, Kanye takes you on an acid trip in hip-hop electro music, and Rick Ross takes you on a ride in Dade County. Once I understood the concept of emotional energy, it built my ideal that there is a reason why certain artists exceed:
Busta Rhymes
One of hip-hop’s best live performances
Papoose
Lyrically gifted; very potent MC, but will never go anywhere because his bars lack feelings
Talib Kweli
A grassroots, social minded MC, very lyrical, but lacks emotional energy.
Kanye West
Pretty much the emotional energy of a Busta Rhymes, taking down a notch, and the lyrical skills of a Talib; the Louis Vutton Don gets it in; even though he is very arrogant.
Canibus
Was very hot in the late 90’s with mindblowing lyrics, but lacked energy to sustain the masses
You know, it is kinda funny that maybe emotional energy can be tied to the overall intelligence of an audience; for example, very lyrical rappers rarely make it to superstar status because it takes a higher intellect to understand their lyrics. Yes, you may be saying that Lupe and Kanye are the exception, but these artists only broke the fold with emotionally charged singles – Lupe’s ‘Superstar’, and Kanye’s ‘Jesus Walks’.
.:: LiBM ::.
Ironies in Hip-Hop
Image source by: http://godelite.deviantart.com/
Ironies in Hip-Hop
An ‘Irony‘ is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity or discordance between what one says or does and what one means or what is generally understood. Irony is a mode of expression that calls attention to the character’s knowledge and that of the audience; it can be said that hip-hop music uses many literary devices as rappers use vivid and colorful language to paint a canvas; the brush used is a combination of blunt dialogue, metaphors, simile’s, syllabic rhyming, and cross textuality references. However, the culture itself – the artists behind the music, and the lifestyle, presents some interesting irony; everything from lines in songs, to certain artists making business decisions, to events that have transpired. Hip-Hop definitely presents some interesting ironies such as:
Tupac dying while being signed to Death Row Records
Notorious B.I.G. making a song on his last album called ‘Going back to Cali’
Lil Wayne being the biggest artist in the game
50 Cent being very rich
Eminem being White (there are no white M&M’s)
OutKast having commercial success
T.I. (really T.I.P.) got arrested and convicted because of a tip to the authorities
.:: LiBM ::.
Chris Brown Arrest Picture
Mock: Chris Brown Arrest Picture
Too funny – this picture is circulating around the net and showcases some really good Photoshop skills to include batterer Chris Brown, Officer Rick Ross, and Fat Joe. The funniest aspect of this mock up though is the ‘We Arrest’ (play off ‘We the best’ by DJ Khaled) Music Group … something tells me that 50 Cent and the thisis50.com boys are at it again. These Internet Soldiers are working overtime to globally disgrace people … welcome to the new age of hip-hop beef.
.:: LiBM ::.
Kangol Kid & Black Partridge Family
Kangol Kid & his Black Partridge Fam
Taking it as I got a haircut that looks like I am in the 80’s, came across a super dope fresh video of a breaking crew from the 80’s called “Kangol”. This documentary-style video takes a look at Kangol’s rise in the 80’s and 90’s, and also takes a look at his son, T-Shaun.
.:: LiBM ::.
Saigon Pushing Buddens
Pushing Buddens
The beef between Joe Buddens and Saigon may be getting hot, after Saigon’s weak entry, and Buddens hard diss track, Saigon delivers a scathing diss record.
Biggie Smalls Influence: Formula & Posse Syndrome
Picture source: Lowrider Art
Biggie Smalls Influence: Formula & Posse Syndrome
As with the launch of the movie ‘Notorious’, a tale of Notorious B.I.G.’s life and times, let us take time to reflect on not only his great talent, but on the impact that he had on the game.
A rundown of his accomplishments:
Ready to Die
Released 1994
RIAA citified 4x Platinum
Life After Death
Released 1997
RIAA certified Diamond (10x Platinum)
Born Again
Released 1999
RIAA certified 2x Platinum
Duets: The Final Chapter
Released 2005
RIAA certified Platinum
Greatest Hits
Released 2007
RIAA certified Gold
No wonder Bad Boy is still eating, you got to really take a look at what Life After Death did, because it was dropped as a double disc (so it was priced higher than a single CD), and it sold 10 million worldwide. In terms of the influence, Ready to Die and Life After Death both changed the direction of Hip-Hop by mastering the art of creating a ‘crossover’ hit (mixing hardcore lyrics with an R&B singer on the chorus), and it laid the groundwork of how to maintain ‘keeping it real’. Before an album was released, Biggie was wise to work the mixtape DJ market – that would involve leaking tracks to DJ’s with national distribution, and giving certain DJ’s exclusive freestyles. All of this was for the goal that when the album dropped, those in the underground would be attracted to Biggie’s lyrical ability, and the general market would be taken in by the crossover appeal. This formula has since been copied exponentially by the likes of Jay-Z, Nas, 50 Cent, Eminem, and the like.
Bring the Posse Syndrome
Another pervasive influence that Biggie had on the hip-hop genre was the ‘bring the posse syndrome’, that is, once you get successful, create a label, and have your friends release albums and songs under your new label. Biggie only had a chance to try this out with now defunct group Junior M.A.F.I.A., that had a successful album (going Gold) and spawned the careers of Lil’ Cease and the infamous Lil’ Kim. Biggie had an understanding of how the music industry game worked; similar to the Pimp trade or a Pyramid scheme – the higher you are at the top, the more you can make off of others. Well, in the music game, it works that if you can sign them to your label, you can get a piece of their recording and publishing deals. Current circa, every rapper that is somewhat successful has copied this blueprint, from:
Dr. Dre
> Eminem
>> D- 12
>> 50 Cent
>>> G-Unit
>>> Llyod Banks, Young Buck, Tony Yayo
Nelly
> St. Lunatics
> Murphy Lee
Jay-Z
> Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, Freeway
> Kanye West
>>Jon Legend
** Every Bold name has a label **
As you can see, some of these worked out very well in the cases of Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Eminem, and 50 Cent, and not so well as with the case of Nelly, Snoop, and others.
Trying to figure out a witty way to end this piece, but I will just end it by saying the demise of Biggie and Tupac taught us what REAL beef is, and what can happen – and I don’t think that none of these Internet Gangsters want to see that. Biggie will always be remembered, and his influence lives on in the current generation of hip-hop and beyond.
.:: LiBM ::.
Biggie on Martin
Notorious B.I.G. and Diddy on Martin
A classic clip of Biggie and Puff on the Martin show.
Notorious the movie
Notorious
The Notorious movie is about the life & times of Notorious B.I.G., the popular rapper that rose to stardom in the mid 90’s, but was murdered in 1997 in Los Angeles California. B.I.G. was a great rapper that has sold millions of records, and is a trailblazer, and has influenced the entire hip-hop game. This movie, supported by Sean Diddy Combs, and Loretta Wallace (B.I.G.’s mother), and is being brought to us by Fox Searchlight Films. My only concern that this movie does B.I.G.’s legacy justice by telling an accurate and compelling story of Christopher Wallace’s life & times. I hope its not one of the typical urban films that have weak/limited story lines, already, many people that known B.I.G. such as Lil Kim and Easy Mo Bee (one of B.I.G.’s original producers) are already crying foul that the film is missing some key elements – they could be crying foul because they were not consulted when the movie was being made, but that is another story.
This movie drops on January 16, 2009 in North America, and let’s hope that it helps build the legacy of Brooklyn’s Finest …
.:: LiBM ::.
Joe Budden says “F**k’ NY”
Joe Budden says “F**k’ NY”
Hometown love, where has it gone?
Now, I get what Joe Budden is saying in this video – he has a qualm with cities not supporting homegrown talent. Apparently after a show that he was performing at with other New York artists, Joey felt that the crowd didn’t show love for their artists. Now the reason for that, could be varied (i.e. the artists did not perform well, etc.), but Joey concludes that the local fans does not support their artists; especially now, New York is in a transitional phase in hip-hop music where they are trying to reclaim that crown from the South. And being up here in the T Dot (Toronto), we are known for having the most haters per capita – we never show our own talent love & support; we always support the American acts when they come to our city to perform, and buy their CD’s when they drop, but when it comes to supporting our own, we never do. I see it all the time, as an event promoter putting on live music events, its very difficult to get people to come out to support their own; up here, we would rather go to a redundant club than go experience our peers performing.
However, it seems like in the South, they got it. From the mid 90’s, they have been supporting their own local acts – from Master P and his No Limit empire, to Baby and his Cash Money Records empire, for local shows in the South, hundreds of people would go and support their local acts; everything from clothing to CD’s. And now, the South pretty much runs hip-hop, some of it is not wanted though, but regardless they still run it. And I guess that Joey is looking for that Southern affection and behavior to seep up north – as it is logical to suggest that especially when New York is ‘down’, the city should rally around its promising talent to support it, nurture it, and aide in its growth (flower-like).
However, I guess on this cold, winter night, Joey felt New York didn’t represent like the days in the Boogie Down when hundreds would come out to the park, after dark, for two turntables, a mic, and a dope MC.
I feel ya pain bro.
.:: LiBM ::.
Blends for that Ass 5
Blends for that Ass 5
Tough R&B blend mixtape with throwback mixes
DJ Cashis Kay delivers a solid blend mixtape from start to finish, even throwing back some classic Gerald Levert Acapellas with some G-Unit beats. Premium blends are the The Dream’s ‘I Love Your Girl’ over Hood Hop, and Slim of 112 fame over G-Unit’s ‘I Like it how she do it’.
Full Track Listing:
01. Lloyd ft. Lil Wayne < Girls All Around The World (Blend)
02. Slim (Of 112) ft. Young Joc < So Fly (Blend)
03. G Unit < I Like The Way She Do It (Blend)
04. The Dream < I Love You Girl (Blend)
05. Kanye West ft. T Pain < Good Life (Blend)
06. Neyo < Stay With Me (Blend)
07. Keyshia Cole < Let It Go (Blend)
08. Sean Kingston ft. Juelz Santana < Theres Nothing (Blend)
09. Alicia Keys < Teenage Love Affair (Cashis Kay Mix)
10. Neyo < Go On Girl (Blend)
11. Amerie < Talkin To Me (Cashis Kay Mix)
12. Plies ft. Neyo < Bust It Baby (Blend)
13. Lil Wayne < Lollipop (Blend)
14. Usher < Love In The Club (Blend)
15. Mario < Crying Out For Me (Blend)
16. Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown < No Air (Blend)
17. Al Green < Could This Be The Love (Blend)
18. Jay Z < I Know (Blend)
19. The Notorious B.I.G. < Big Poppa (Cashis Kay 08 Mix)
20. Dennis Edwards < Dont Look Any Further (Blend)
21. Joe Tann ft. Jadakiss < One Way Or Another (Blend)
22. Allure ft. Nas < Head Over Heels (Blend)
23. Mary J Blige < Enough Crying (Blend)
24. Lloyd ft. Ludacris < How We Do It (Blend)
25. Cheri Dennis ft. Yung Joc < Portrait Of Love (Blend)
26 Snoop Doog < Sexual Seduction (Throwback Mix)
27 Neyo < Closer (Blend)
28 Outro