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.
Tag Archives: hip-hop
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
Click to download Mixtape Torrent:
blendsfor5.torrent 31.46 KB
Whatever you like
Whatever You Like
Weird Al parodies T.I.’s smash hit ‘whatever you like’.
Usually, Weird Al is kind of corny, but this song is pretty on-point as it fits the current economic crisis that the world is going through.
.:: d.b ::.
If its NOT ‘tricking’, then what is it?
“It ain’t tricking if you got it”
Then what is it?
I gotta make this a PSA .. ‘tricking’ is ‘tricking’, regardless if you have money or not.
I don’t know when tricking was in style, and I don’t even know how it got so popular, but I write this piece as a cry for attention to the mislead youth of the hip-hop world they may actually begin to think that tricking is acceptable. It started with Lil Wayne glorifying it in ‘A Milli’, to T-Pain, T.I., and now even Ludacris – hip-hop’s top artists are slowly conditioning the masses to trick on women.
I am sure there are many definitions of ‘tricking’, but the one I subscribe to is this, tricking is an investment – a man tricks on a woman with lavish materials, fine dinning, et cetera, to ensure a reward or to ensure a repetition of such rewards. Hey, I guess we all got to do something to maintain the relationship, but what these rappers are preaching is kind of reckless, I mean to break it down:
‘It ain’t tricking, if you got it’
That implies that if you have a lot of disposable income, and you spend lots of money on your woman/women, then it is not ‘tricking’ . so what is it then? And, does that mean that if you DON’T have a lot of disposable income, and you spend lots of money on your woman/women, then is that ‘tricking’? Well, rappers are not the most logical of beings, but what this message of ‘acceptable tricking’ kind of misleads the masses; hip-hop already conditions one to be overly masculine, have a tough bravado, stunt, and maintain a confidence demeanor. So, with the ‘got it’ (money), what hip-hop aficionado wouldn’t assert that they have money? Even if they are struggling with employment, or living off their parents, a lot of the hip-hop masses will try to emulate the rapper lifestyle that they see in videos. T.I. can afford to ‘trick’, even if he does it see it like that (which he is wrong), but the average Lamar’s & Omar’s are not living like that – and playing into such a façade can be dangerous:
A) It conditions women that ‘tricking’ should be expected from men
– So you go to the club, see a fine lady, couple of days and dates past, and the woman will start to expect gifts, shopping sprees, and the like. Uh-huh baby girl, and even worse for the man, because if you can’t maintain the ‘tricking’ that she expects, she step out on you – and then the man has an expensive high-yielded investment that went awry.
B) Credit will suffer, but disposable income amongst men will rise
– Here is some good news for slumping U.S. economy, but bad news for lenders. As men are conditioned to engage in tricking, they will incur large amounts of debt, taxed on with high interest rates, creating a problem for the lenders (in recouping their money), but it will benefit the shopping and restaurant industry as the hip-hop generation of men will continue to trick on their women, in the face of mounting debt.
I know I am asking a lot, by requesting that hip-hop artists show some responsibility, but I just had to address this growing popular notion that ‘tricking’ is NOT ‘tricking’, if you have money . it is still tricking, don’t get it twisted.
.:: d.b ::.
Where the beef should lie
Where the Beef Should Lie
Rappers, misdirection, media
Rappers constantly beef with each other, of all the other musical genres, hip-hop music has to have the most animosity amongst its artists. Rappers have gained a career (a la 50 cent) by dissing and feuding with other rappers and their respective camps, and of course, some rappers have also perished of beef (R.I.P. Tupac & Biggie). The causes and reasons for beefing are self-serving at best; it can be looked at an attempt for one rapper to gain notoriety for dissing another or it can stem from a real personal beef that began before the music. Lately, it has been the former, as many rappers will diss others so that they can get heavy rotation in the rumor mill and spill cycle – this usually happens just around the time when they are releasing an album. At times though, the reason for beefing can seem silly at best, some of these beefs include:
– DFB beefing with D4L over who created the ‘Lean with it rock with it’ dance
* note: both groups are irrelevant
– Ice-T dissing Soulja Boy because he thinks he is corny
– 50 Cent dissing Ja Rule for singing on the tracks, but then 50 Cent makes a career of singing on tracks (’21 Questions’, ‘candy shop’, ‘ayo technology’)
– The rise of local/up and coming rappers jacking somewhat-established rappers (like Yung Berg), taking their jewellery, and showing such jewellery on YouTube
* note: YouTube jackings of rappers is a growing and alarming trend, rappers need to get their insurance game up!
Not one to condone beefing or dissing, but I think that rappers need to step up their game and take their dissing/beef to the next plateau; I mean verbally attacking a fellow rapper, saying that you are going to kill him, rob him, et cetera, is not that realistic – rappers should really be beefing with people that are detrimenting their community and society. Hip-Hop, in its childhood was heralded as a genre to address social issues and injustices, the classic song ‘The Message’, had a real message of how politics, media, and the government had left many inner city New York communities in perils.
Somewhere, along hip-hop’s progression, the pursuit of using music for ‘social messages’ subsided for the pursuit of material wealth. Well, if a rapper is going to ‘clap’ at anyone, it should not be his fellow brethren, it should maybe be somebody like:
Bill O’Reilly
The popular Fox News pundit has a successful show called the O’Reilly Factor, where the tagline is ‘No Spin Zone’, this guy has been described as a neo, fascist, racist, biased reporter – everything from calling Michelle Obama Barrack’s “Baby Mama”, to actually challenging rappers; O’Reilly made Ludacris lose a sponsorship deal with PepsiCo over O’Reilly’s rant of Ludacris and his questionable misogynistic lyrics.
Lou Dobbs
If I see another report on illegal immigrants from this guy, I will go crazy. Dobbs complains how jobs are being taken from Americans by migrant workers, but what he fails to realize most times that the jobs that are being ‘taken’ are the ones that average Americans will not do.
GWB
I think Kanye said it best in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but I have to give rappers credit – they have took jabs and shots at GWB, while more underground rappers have dedicated whole songs to his legacy.
Besides this list, I am sure that rappers can find other sources for beef than another rapper that may or may not have stole their dance, swag, or jewellery.
.:: d.b ::.
Irrelevant Rappers talking about others Relevance
Hip-Hop Irony
Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks from 50’s G-Unit are talking ish about various rap artists – about who is relevant, whom they have ‘Terminated on Site’, but it is really funny that these irrelevant artists are talking about others relevance – classic hip-hop irony.
.:: d.b ::.
From Ashy to Classy
Ashy to Classy
Jay-Z makes it into Vogue magazine
The August issue of Vogue magazine will feature black models and entertainers as the popular Italian magazine has came under fire in recent years for not representing black models in their magazines. Jay-Z is one of the feature articles in the magazine and it is really big that Jay-Z from the Marcy projects in Brooklyn New York can rise from the gutter to the pages of the exquisite Italian vogue magazine. Looking at the pictures, Jay-Z can be the poster child for what ‘mature hip-hop’ looks like ….
The Vogue magazine should drop sometime in July 2008 and will not only featuring Jay-Z, but Naomi Campbell, Tyson Beckford, Toccara, and other black models. Vogue gets a ‘kudos’ for at least attempting to open its doors to black models in their magazines, but lets see if they can keep it up.
.:: d.b ::.
Nas ft. Keri Hilson – Hero
Nas ft. Keri Hilson – Hero
Universal must be very happy with this song because it is a single that they can actually promote and market – not saying that the new album for Nas titled ‘Untitled’ is bad; its just too geo-political-socially charged that I have a hard time seeing Universal Music Group pushing a lot of marketing dollars behind Nas’ latest effort.
This song features Keri Hilson (Timbaland fame) and is produced by Polow Da Don – hit producer of such hits for Rich Boy, Young Buck, Young Jeezy, and others. Nas’ albums usually don’t have big time producers such as Polow as Nas likes to go for the grimier, dark, and more somber beats.
Of course we all know that Nas was suppose to name his album ‘Ni****’ but that would be too hard to get retailers such as Wal-Mart and HMV to go along with such a bold and emotionally-charged word. To check out the ‘Ni****’ mixtape though featuring some album tracks and other material, download it free here:
Nas drops ‘Untitled’ on July 15, 2008 and is no doubt to continue to spark debate and dialogue …. which hip-hop is supposed to do.
.:: d.b ::.
Any correlations to Hip-Hop?? A rock perspective.
The Demise of Classic Rock from ‘Dwight K. Shrute’
When the Establishment gets involved with the music
First off, If y’all don’t know about the hit NBC show ‘The Office’, it is one of the better shows on television that is clever and witty. The U.S. version of the The Office is an adaptation of a British version with the same name. Now, Dwight K. Shrute is one of the show’s staple characters that has a funny personality; he can be described as the loyal office employee who is the ultra geek and has the brownest nose in the office. His real name is Rainn Wilson, and he provided an interesting comment on the decline of rock, and its current state …
“I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock. I loved AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, but as soon as it started to get girly, as soon as they were wearing women’s blouses, mascara and eyeliner – guy-liner I call it – as soon as it went there then it kind of lost me.”
I don’t know about you, but basically Rainn is saying that when rock music got commercialized with other elements, the music was no longer the focus, and the image become more important than the actual musical content. Relating this to hip-hop, I think that many of the older hip-hop generation (anyone 25 and older or so) can identify when hip-hop’s focus was no longer on the music, but on the actual image. Once it got commercialized, and corporations got more involved, and big music video budgets, many of the devoted hip-hop heads got turned off. In my reminiscing, this happened during the ‘Diddy years’, when P. Diddy came in with his flamboyant style and kinda changed the face of Hip-Hop as we know it … and it really has not looked back since. Remember P. Diddy and the L.O.X. with the shiny suits, the bling bling of Cash Money, the foreign cars in the videos? All this was spawned in the mid 90’s, and now in 2008, the formula is still the same, and the content in the music has gotten even dumber.
But I guess, as with Rock, Jazz, R&B, and other black-created music, once the establishment (corporations) get involved with a musical genre, the artform — the essence of the music loses something that is really, really, really hard to get back.
.:: d.b ::.
P.S. And just in case you don’t know who Rainn Wilson is, here are some clips:
El ‘Nerbano’
El Nerbano
The Nerban (nerd + urban) … best of both worlds
The Nerban (nerd + urban) … best of both worlds
The Nerban is the hybrid guy that has carefully meshed the two worlds of hip-hop/urban culture and nerd/geek isms. The Nerban can run in the streets, hang on the block, be affiliated with ‘gangstas’, and at the same time be abreast with technology, have a diverse investment portfolio, and have B.A.’s and Masters.
The Nerban is respected by hip-hop culture because of his nerdy-knowledge of technology and such; in the same breath, the nerds respect the Nerban because of his knowledge of hip-hop culture. Each group lives vicariously through the Nerban to get a glimpse into ‘the other side’; the gangsta’s get to learn about what’s poppin’ with the nerds, and the nerds get to see some urban swag and style.
With the ladies, the Nerban is the prime choice for the lady that is not looking for a gangsta, not looking for ‘poindexter’, but is looking for someone with a little bit of edge & style mixed with knowledge & ambition. Most ladies will experience a Nerban at some point in their life, but will have a tendency to disregard the Nerban because he isn’t too ‘street’ enough, and usually these ladies end up where the Nerban was lacking (i.e. the Street – out on their own, lost).
The Nerban has always lived throughout history, from:
The Goofy Nerban
Will Smith a.k.a. ‘The Fresh Prince’
~ His goofy style of rap lauded him to a Grammy and a hit TV show, he then used that to develop a successful movie career – All this from “parents just don’t understand”.
The Conscious Nerban
Common
~ The type of brother to school you with spiritual thoughts, but isn’t scared to go into battle, remember the battle with Ice Cube anyone??
The Arrogant Nerban
Kanye West
~ Do I really need to explain this???????
The Righteous Nerban
A Tribe Called Quest
~ These nerbans are about having a good time, dancing, chilling, but can get grimey when need be.
The “Odd, but can’t hate on him” Nerban
Pharell
~ Clothing and style has funky colors and patterns, social activities divert from the norm, but this Nerban can deliver in the streets or the boardroom.
.:: d.b ::.