"Best line on the album? 'L'chaim,' of course!"

I would like to make it clear that I am not necessarily endorsing this man. After seeing Angela Davis speak, you'd be skeptical of anyone with power, too. I just find it amazing/bizarre that he enjoyed (and publicly admitted to enjoying) "American Gangster." Could this be due to its "concept album" status? The real test would be to ask Mr. Oprah, Obama, and Eric B. how he feels about "I Gotta Dollar." However, I've also read somewhere that he might be a fan of Public Enemy and "Success" is his favorite song on AG. Who knows.

Happy belated Valentine's Day. I hope you celebrated like Raekwon, who told the NY Daily News:

It's a special day. It's a day to understand the person who means the most to you. I'm the type of dude who may be in a helicopter over the city having sex.

Hopefully, WSRN's computer will be working this week, so we can have podcasts and webcast to our adoring fanbase. If not, I may just record the shows in the studio and put them on DC++ for Patrick and myself.

And in honor of Black History Month, I'll leave you with Sister Souljah's riveting words. We're at war, that's what she told you.

Tomorrow 9-11...

We are back. It's Valentine's Day on Thursday, so it will be fun to say the least. The webcast is down right now, so you'll have to literally tune in to listen. The podcast may not go up for this one, which is a shame. Blame the management.

Honest to blog.

This picture is a little over a year old, but I just found it last night and find it hilarious. I think Luda's shirt speaks for itself, but when paired with Young Baracka Obama Taking Office, I can't help but be tickled. This also seems like a giant slap in the face to Oprah, who loves BHO but ridiculed Luva Luva on her show after "Crash" came out. I think it's pretty obvious from his expression that Ludacris is thinking the exact same thing.

I've been sick this week (103.3 degrees, to be exact), so I haven't been in the mood to write anything, so hopefully this will spark me to get some work done. After reading a lot of reviews about the "Juno" soundtrack, which range from favorable to not so kind, I started to realize that in the small world of independent film, there are very few movies that feature hip hop (or really anything that is not "indie rock") as the bulk of the soundtrack. This isn't so surprising, since a lot of rap acts aren't held in universal esteem throughout our generation and the music is still relatively young compared to other genres. There's also the problem that a lot of rappers today use the first-person in their lyrics, as well as mention their names, so it's a bit hard to set some sort of mood when you hear "First Family!!!" in the background. But, I guess "Entourage" has been able to accomplish this to some extent, but a) they only use the most recent songs and b) those songs are really only used for a party setting. If Marky Mark is the executive producer, I don't understand why he can't bring a bit more versatility to the show's soundtrack when it comes to hip hop. He did feature Saigon, I know... but he's lame, and he's a publicity hound. Sorry. There have been good hip hop soundtracks (though for bad movies), but there has yet to be the day when a compilation of all types of rap is the defining characteristic of an independent film that's a critical hit. Honestly, I am not even sure that is possible, given a probable cultural disconnect between someone like Richard Roeper and, well, me. It just strikes me as odd that this hasn't happened yet.

Supposedly, Kanye is performing Sunday. But who gives a fuck about a goddamn Grammy?

It go down like Frazier/ I ain't talkin' Kelsey Grammar

There's been a lot of talk about remixes/posse cuts of late (here, here, here, and here). Brandon Soderberg and I threw around the idea of making TS, Baby, Weezy, Jeezy and Rick Ross some giant group since they all can only last about one good verse anyway. It would be like Hell Hath No Fury on steroids; nothing but gun/crack/money talk that is so incredibly hollow and cliche that it would be hard to actively dislike it because of its outlandish nature. On No Trivia, I compared this idea of an album to a lame version of "Heat," but I think some combination of "Casino"and "Scarface" is more appropriate since these guys have such an affinity for Miami, bright colors and pretending that they are these wild outlaws who will do whatever it takes to live out their version of the "American Dream." Of course, given their egos, something like this would never work, and all the songs would use the same Vangelis/Michael Mann synthesizers to make lines like "What you talkin is irrelevent (relevent)/Shit'll leave a hole in a elephant (boom)" sound like grandiloquent boasts meant to send chills up your spine anytime you see Ross in something like the "Speedin'" video. In short, it'd be fun for a few songs, but kind of a disaster for rap music as a whole. It would also have a lot of DJ Khaled, which would only serve to remind the listener every 3 1/2 minutes how epic the album is.

Moving on, I am going to have to disagree with Noz about these guys not making posse cuts. I struggle to understand how Khaled may be calling up is famous (hardly talented) friends and getting verses in exchange from airtime is different from Marley Marl, an actual radio DJ/producer, calling up is famous (quite talented) friends and getting verses from them while they, by the simple fact of how good their songs are, get airtime. Maybe it's that these songs, by and large, are pretty terrible. While I'm inclined to agree, the fact remains that these dudes got together and made a song, and have done it enough times to look like their loosely affiliated. In my mind, that's a posse. They just mostly suck at all the basics of MCing.

There are some other points Noz has I would nitpick, like the 3 MC rule, but I don't want to sound like his entire post is baseless, plus he has a tape deck-only Scarface playlist up over at Cocaine Blunts. As soon as I figure out how to record from computer to tape, I am so on it. Anyway, I'm glad Breihan resisted the urge to enjoy any song from that camp, I know it can be difficult for him. Quick note, for those who weren't paying attention, Patrick and Breihan have many of the same speech patterns and a similar voice. Except, listening to the podcast, the Village Voice associate editor is hard to tolerate, though I guess that shouldn't be a surprise by now.

TT is back.

This is a new one: Scarface has the "Song of the Day" on NPR's website. I could see them using one of the Okayplayer usual suspects talking about positivity/"black power"/etc., but instead they chose a song against monogamy. This has caught me off guard to say the least, but I'm happy that the non-hip hop media is writing about rap as music criticism, as opposed to the recent talk of the decline of sales and its effect on the rap business. That song gets stuck in my head all the time, I should check out that album soon.

I was on vacation traveling to Texas and Chicago, and now I am back, finally. This is a bit old, but I remember reading this in my friend's room a couple years ago. Here's a choice quote about Bun's approach to rapping:

BB: Well, the first thing I do is I try to listen to whatever rapping is already on the track. I listen for cadence and melody to see how the track’s already been written, and to make sure that whatever flow or flows I decide to run with, or patterns or melodies that I decide to put into the song, that they’re not already in there. Then I try to see if there’s a different part of the subject matter that I can talk about. If there isn’t, I try to see if I can analogize it, break it down, flip it another way. If that can’t be done, the best thing I can do is pretty much out-rap the guy. And when I say out-rap the guy—say, if he uses ten syllables in a line, I’m going to use fifteen. If he uses fifteen, I’m going to use twenty, twenty-five. If he’s rhyming two or three words within two bars, I’m going to rhyme four or five words in two bars. I’m going to out-skill you.

Here's another one with ?uesto, and if you search the site, there's a lot of other great interviews. Why so few hip hop magazines don't try to get these great interviews is beyond me. Especially since the people writing the interviews in The Believer write for all of the hip hop publications.

No songs about bitches?

"Sony turned out to be phony."

He sounds focused. Or nuts.

Finally... Best of 2007

So, the majestic left-right-left Patrick beat me to the punch with his own year-end list, with categories to boot. My list has changed since I made it back at the end of November, but not much. I'll see what I can do to complement Patrick's list.

JS's songs of the year:
Peedi Peedi (pka Peedi Crakk)- Brand New Funk 2K7
Pharoahe Monch- Let's Go
Wu-Tang Clan- Take It Back
Jay-Z feat. Nas- Success
Rich Boy- Let's Get This Paper
OutKast- Da Art of Storytellin' (Pt. 4)
Ghostface Killah feat. Method Man & Raekwon- Yolanda's House
UGK feat. OutKast- International Players Anthem
Devin the Dude feat. Snoop Dogg & Andre 3000- What a Job

Blackest records of the year:
Kanye West- Can't Tell me Nothing
Jason Fox- Aunt Jackie

Tank on "E" but all drinks on me:
Foxx, Webbie & Lil Boosie- Wipe Me Down

Mazel Tov, you little yentas:
Jay-Z- Roc Boys (And the Winner Is...)
Camp Lo- Posse from the Bronx

Best Video:
Snoop Dogg- Sexual Eruption

Best Dance (because I am certain I can do it):
Shawty Lo- Dey Know

Bitch, I wish you would:
Plies feat. Pretty Ricky- Get You Wet
Riskay feat. Aviance & Real- Smell Yo Dick
R. Kelly- Real Talk