Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Dj Premier speaks with Peter Rosenberg.
on Nas is Like.
on BIG and Puff
on Porn, Producers, MCs a and Q&A
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
I love when skate videos use tracks I'm into
SK8MAFIA Saturday Nov 29, 2008
Whitest Boy Alive - Burning
Finals Week Rant: Hip Hop died because of Us.
Just kidding.
I don't think Hip Hop died.
I started thinking yesterday when I saw a video of Lupe interviewing Common Sense about his latest album Universal Mind Control. Common said that he noticed that his deejay, Dummy, never played any of his records in clubs so he wanted to make an album that was "club-worthy." I realized that everytime I go to clubs I end up hearing the generic mainstream of today and those classic old tracks such Tony!Toni!Tone!'s "Feel Good". Then an epiphany hit me that many of these underground "good" rappers did more harm than god to Hip Hop by "saying true."
Hip Hop, as a culture, was around before there was rapping. Go figure. Back then, Hip Hop was about having fun. Listen to Herbie Hancock's "Rock It" and tell me that the lyrics were so "true to the world." But you can't, you know why? There are none. Then Sugar Hill Gang came around and added a syncopated vocals which became what rapping is today. Their music has dance-able and had a lot of positivity and truth in the lyrics. Then years later, certain "good" lyricists such as Atmosphere, Living Legends, and Supernatural to name a few decided that lyrics were more important than the music. They gave up the B-Boy aspect of Hip Hop which was very crucial to its existence. Soon enough, people started to proclaim "Hip Hop is Dead" just because the artists they were into weren't popular in the mainstream but instead were wack MCs such as Soulja Boy, Ying Yang Twins and that crunktastic man Lil Jon.
I personally couldn't distinguish who is "more Hip Hop." On one side there is a rapper that still cares about having fun and the dance aspect of the music while the other side is mainly concerned with preaching the positivity message seen in the earlier stages of the music. If anything it it just as much the good rapper's fault. They wanted to turn Hip Hop into this preachy form of expression which I could care less about when I'm in a club. Maybe if they decided to use more dance-friendly beats, the mainstream would like it more. Hip Hop is suppose to be for everyone, not just intellectual. Hip Hop started with the music, not the lyrics.
The Hip Hop afficianados always try to points fingers at these new MCs because of their generic lyrics and self-glorification but I don't see underground rappers doing any better in trying to keep Hip Hop alive. They're trapped into this belief that Hip Hop is all about sharing knowledge but that's not necessarily true. Pioneer Afrika Bambaataa said Hip Hop was about "peace, unity, love, and having fun." "Good" rappers, realize that. Hip Hop is alive. Just separated.
I don't think Hip Hop died.
I started thinking yesterday when I saw a video of Lupe interviewing Common Sense about his latest album Universal Mind Control. Common said that he noticed that his deejay, Dummy, never played any of his records in clubs so he wanted to make an album that was "club-worthy." I realized that everytime I go to clubs I end up hearing the generic mainstream of today and those classic old tracks such Tony!Toni!Tone!'s "Feel Good". Then an epiphany hit me that many of these underground "good" rappers did more harm than god to Hip Hop by "saying true."
Hip Hop, as a culture, was around before there was rapping. Go figure. Back then, Hip Hop was about having fun. Listen to Herbie Hancock's "Rock It" and tell me that the lyrics were so "true to the world." But you can't, you know why? There are none. Then Sugar Hill Gang came around and added a syncopated vocals which became what rapping is today. Their music has dance-able and had a lot of positivity and truth in the lyrics. Then years later, certain "good" lyricists such as Atmosphere, Living Legends, and Supernatural to name a few decided that lyrics were more important than the music. They gave up the B-Boy aspect of Hip Hop which was very crucial to its existence. Soon enough, people started to proclaim "Hip Hop is Dead" just because the artists they were into weren't popular in the mainstream but instead were wack MCs such as Soulja Boy, Ying Yang Twins and that crunktastic man Lil Jon.
I personally couldn't distinguish who is "more Hip Hop." On one side there is a rapper that still cares about having fun and the dance aspect of the music while the other side is mainly concerned with preaching the positivity message seen in the earlier stages of the music. If anything it it just as much the good rapper's fault. They wanted to turn Hip Hop into this preachy form of expression which I could care less about when I'm in a club. Maybe if they decided to use more dance-friendly beats, the mainstream would like it more. Hip Hop is suppose to be for everyone, not just intellectual. Hip Hop started with the music, not the lyrics.
The Hip Hop afficianados always try to points fingers at these new MCs because of their generic lyrics and self-glorification but I don't see underground rappers doing any better in trying to keep Hip Hop alive. They're trapped into this belief that Hip Hop is all about sharing knowledge but that's not necessarily true. Pioneer Afrika Bambaataa said Hip Hop was about "peace, unity, love, and having fun." "Good" rappers, realize that. Hip Hop is alive. Just separated.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
MACAFRAMA
Los Angeles Premiere
DECEMBER 13th 8PM & 10PM
251 S. Main Street, Los Angeles 90012
FREE ADMISSION
RSVP
blends@earthlink.net
www.downtownindependent.com
Saturday, December 6, 2008
More Kanye... Dang it...
kanye talks about his love for music, fashion, and porn...
on that note, AVNs are coming January 10, 2009 hosted by none other than Jenna Haze.
It's open to the public this year.
They're back!!!
The duo will headline New Year's Nation's Los Angeles New Year's Eve Party at the Lot in West Hollywood, California.
Source: MTV
Song: Eve: Tambourine (a real banger indeed)
Guess what, Daft Punk Samples?!? No Way!?!
A tiny exploration into their sampling abilities.
Not only do they sample, they usually don't reference the original artist in the linear notes.
Go Figure.
Friday, December 5, 2008
EVERY KANYE SAMPLE EVER
Why I love kanye. The ego is extra. If you're truly "Hip Hop", you should understand that the best beats came from sampling. If you think it's stealing, than maybe you shouldn't listen to Hip Hop cause I can guarantee you that at least 90 percent of your favorite classics were. I'm sick of people that hate on him cause he sampled Ray Charles (RIP) in "Gold Digger".
Week 10 Series: My Heroes and S*** list
(American Pimp, check out the full documentary)
John D. Rockefeller
The richest man in history.
Rockefeller was the first to make an empire out of our greed for oil. He became one of few robber barons that dominated the industrial age. Despite of walking all over his competition, he still managed a philenthropic model by donating 10% to charity.
James Jebbia
Founder of highly respected Union, Supreme and Stussy in New York.
JJ turned a skateboard label into a highly sought underground prize where kids, including myself, are willing to fork out $150 on ebay for a simple box logo tee. He understands his market and continues to produce timeless pieces unlike another familiar brand around Irvine with a lot of generic foil graphics. *Hint Hint*
Mark Zuckerberg
Founder of Facebook, Harvard Drop-out.
Despite criticism from the university, MZ said fuck it and continued on developing his social networking website even if it entailed leaving the prestiguous university. In 2006, MZ was scheduled for a conference call with Microsoft at 8:00 AM but said he couldn't make it cause he wouldn't be awake. Legit. (Please note: don't try to pull this shit at your job cause you'll get fired and become a nobody)
Pimps.
Real ones.
These guys should become businessmen. I don't understand how any man can have an army of 50 women combing the streets solely for their pockets. The bitches never see the money they make and do everything just for his "protection" and approval. Haha.
Mark Cuban
Entrepreneur, Owner of the Dallas mavericks.
Apparently, MC matches the fines from his NBA antics with charitable donations of equal amounts. Also, he has "criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy queen." When Dairy Queen management took offense, Cuban worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks." Talk about taking responsibilities for actions. True Hero.
Honorable mentions.
Eli Porter - Spits venom even after a mind block.
Gary Dahl - Realized people are stupid, and made $1 Million in the half-year fad of the "pet rock"
Bill Gates - Dropped out of school, stole an idea, became richer than ever.
Edison Chen - Has proof he sleeps with celebrities.
Nigerian scammers - took $400,000 from some greedy lady. She lost everything. Another proof that people are stupid or gullible.
Oscar Pistorius (poor lil tink tink) - beats people on the track without legs, literally.
S*** list.
Michael Phelps - Best swimmer, no doubt, but no matter what his agents try to do, he still hasn't become marketable. You have no steez son. (Ex. SNL)
Brahs, Guidos - stop it with the Affliction, Ed hardy, nor-cal stars, and flared jeans. DGAF is kinda cool though
Ingrid Newkirk (founder of PETA) - doesn't believe in animal testing while uses medicine from developed from it. Hypocrite.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck - You're hot and stupid. Stop ruining women's image.
Honorable mentions.
Eli Porter - Spits venom even after a mind block.
Gary Dahl - Realized people are stupid, and made $1 Million in the half-year fad of the "pet rock"
Bill Gates - Dropped out of school, stole an idea, became richer than ever.
Edison Chen - Has proof he sleeps with celebrities.
Nigerian scammers - took $400,000 from some greedy lady. She lost everything. Another proof that people are stupid or gullible.
Oscar Pistorius (poor lil tink tink) - beats people on the track without legs, literally.
S*** list.
Michael Phelps - Best swimmer, no doubt, but no matter what his agents try to do, he still hasn't become marketable. You have no steez son. (Ex. SNL)
Brahs, Guidos - stop it with the Affliction, Ed hardy, nor-cal stars, and flared jeans. DGAF is kinda cool though
Ingrid Newkirk (founder of PETA) - doesn't believe in animal testing while uses medicine from developed from it. Hypocrite.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck - You're hot and stupid. Stop ruining women's image.
Holidays + Recession = Deals for you!
lets do the math to put this into perspective.
Diamond Supply Tee: $30-34 Retail
Diamond Supply Belt:$38 Retail.
Modest Estimate -
$30 x 8 + 38 = 278.
$278 -> $100 = roughly 75% off.
NOT TOO SHABBY if this is your thang.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Buffalo Exchange gives back to animals in a weird way.
If you didn't know, Buffalo Exchange has decided to finally allow their shoppers to bring in real fur apparel, including trims, accessories and shearling. However, the fine pieces of past life will be donated to the Human Society of the US to be used for "bedding and comfort to orphaned and injured wildlife." Talk about abnormal. Your raccoon mother leaves one day and now she comes back as a blanket for you to sleep on. STOOPS
source: http://www.buffaloexchange.com/bulletins_det.php?Bulletin_ID=884
A Bathing Ape Signing by Nigo
BAPESTORE™ LA:
Sunday Dec.7th, 2008 - 1:00 pm
323-658-5400
I wish i wasn't a responsible college student.
Week 10 Series: America: My ass all men are created equal.
Over a Chicken Dijon from Le Dip (the best shit in the University center), I discussed democracy with my pal Linda, who’s a punk and I hate her. We covered the usual topics on fashion but then followed it by how messed the country has come partially due to that sacred thing we love so much, democracy. Yeah, I fucking said it, democracy. The principle that apparently in America that is righteous and supposedly a principle that every country should be honored to have. With how wonderful it may seem that everyone has an equal voice regardless or race, gender, or social statuses, it seems pretty fucked up in my opinion.
With democracy in our society, it takes long as fuck for shit to get accomplished because there are people that won’t stray away from their current positions on anything. With democracy requires a higher level of education isn’t required in the voting process. All that is required is write-in your name and address and boom, you can mark anything you want on the ballot. The confusing ass process even offers a little tidbit of information regarding both sides of the proposition as though a paragraph response is enough to justify a vote that could potential affect millions of people. People don’t always know what the fuck they are voting for. Democracy assumes that the entire public knows what’s best for them but what the hell am I doing when I vote on legislation about crimes when I don’t really understand how the system fully works?
Despite my morose view on democracy, I love America. This “land of the free” gives people from lower social-economical status a possibility to make a name for them even if it may be harder for where they’re coming from. We need to accept the fact that perhaps not everyone is created equal. You don’t’ get to choose if you’re parents are divorced, how many limbs you have, how attractive you are. All we can do really is try to make America a level playing field for everyone, even if it includes putting handicaps on some. And let me tell ya, democracy ain't workin' dat good.
she votes.
she also fucks her cousins.
With democracy in our society, it takes long as fuck for shit to get accomplished because there are people that won’t stray away from their current positions on anything. With democracy requires a higher level of education isn’t required in the voting process. All that is required is write-in your name and address and boom, you can mark anything you want on the ballot. The confusing ass process even offers a little tidbit of information regarding both sides of the proposition as though a paragraph response is enough to justify a vote that could potential affect millions of people. People don’t always know what the fuck they are voting for. Democracy assumes that the entire public knows what’s best for them but what the hell am I doing when I vote on legislation about crimes when I don’t really understand how the system fully works?
Despite my morose view on democracy, I love America. This “land of the free” gives people from lower social-economical status a possibility to make a name for them even if it may be harder for where they’re coming from. We need to accept the fact that perhaps not everyone is created equal. You don’t’ get to choose if you’re parents are divorced, how many limbs you have, how attractive you are. All we can do really is try to make America a level playing field for everyone, even if it includes putting handicaps on some. And let me tell ya, democracy ain't workin' dat good.
she votes.
she also fucks her cousins.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Week 10 Series: Be in tune with your Star Player
This shit, this shit right here nigga, this shit right here nigga, this shits’ called REASON.
Taking another break from studying, I spent Tuesday afternoon kickin’ with my Armenian homie Marc. I met him a year or so and connected fast over our appreciation and understanding on the hipster culture (well, at least we THINK we understand it). We both get why bands like MGMT and other weird shit get popular but haven’t hopped on the bandwagon and dressed like those weird motherfuckers.
We decided to watch the new Justice DVD, A Cross the Universe, which I bootlegged from torrents. If anyone hasn’t seen it, I highly recommend you guys check out how these fucks want to be portrayed on a more personal level. Despite their connection with that giant glowing cross they drag through their tour, they live a very un-Christian lifestyle, i.e.: fucking virgins, getting married in Vegas, downing 151, swearing, and even breaking a beer bottle over a fan's face. Shits ridiculous. (Sorry if I spoiled the documentary for you.) With all this happening, they still manage to kiss the cross before every show, as though they were thanking God for being where they are.
This brings me to my topic of discussion for the day: Thanking God for all the good things that come in your life and discounting him for your short-comings. Flip on the tele’ to an award ceremony and almost every acceptance speech begins with, “First, I would like to thank God for where I am today.” Shit man, give yourself some mother-fucking credit. Take Justice for example: they were the ones that remixed Simian’s “Never Be Alone”, performed live through their tour, and wrote the † album. People, you are the star player! (Excuse me for my multiple references to Katt Williams. I love the man.) I firmly believe that you are the product of your destiny. Sometimes shit happens that you can’t control, like some illness like leukemia or another fucked disease that ends the human life. But it happens cause it happens. We don't need some kind of high and mighty reason for why it happened. I don’t think it would be right to blame God for why someone dies young or because you became a multi-millionaire dollar hipster act.
Taking another break from studying, I spent Tuesday afternoon kickin’ with my Armenian homie Marc. I met him a year or so and connected fast over our appreciation and understanding on the hipster culture (well, at least we THINK we understand it). We both get why bands like MGMT and other weird shit get popular but haven’t hopped on the bandwagon and dressed like those weird motherfuckers.
We decided to watch the new Justice DVD, A Cross the Universe, which I bootlegged from torrents. If anyone hasn’t seen it, I highly recommend you guys check out how these fucks want to be portrayed on a more personal level. Despite their connection with that giant glowing cross they drag through their tour, they live a very un-Christian lifestyle, i.e.: fucking virgins, getting married in Vegas, downing 151, swearing, and even breaking a beer bottle over a fan's face. Shits ridiculous. (Sorry if I spoiled the documentary for you.) With all this happening, they still manage to kiss the cross before every show, as though they were thanking God for being where they are.
This brings me to my topic of discussion for the day: Thanking God for all the good things that come in your life and discounting him for your short-comings. Flip on the tele’ to an award ceremony and almost every acceptance speech begins with, “First, I would like to thank God for where I am today.” Shit man, give yourself some mother-fucking credit. Take Justice for example: they were the ones that remixed Simian’s “Never Be Alone”, performed live through their tour, and wrote the † album. People, you are the star player! (Excuse me for my multiple references to Katt Williams. I love the man.) I firmly believe that you are the product of your destiny. Sometimes shit happens that you can’t control, like some illness like leukemia or another fucked disease that ends the human life. But it happens cause it happens. We don't need some kind of high and mighty reason for why it happened. I don’t think it would be right to blame God for why someone dies young or because you became a multi-millionaire dollar hipster act.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Week 10 Series: A fucking big bill and a generation gap.
Every month, my roommates and I fork out an average of $40 to pay for the utilities we have grown so accustomed to. I turn off the lights when I’m not using them and I try to conserve water as much as I can. But this month the bill expressed a number I couldn’t comprehend. The fucking water bill alone was $876. Somehow, Irvine Ranch Water charged our household almost 20 times more than our usual payment. It said in one month’s time, we used 95,000 gallons of water like we’re running some aquarium at our humble residency. Anyone in their right mind would their was an error to this absurdly high amount… right?
Not our fucking landlord. After telling us about the damage, he begins to question about how we’ve been using this water. He actually expects that we pony up the scrilla for this nonsense. He asks:
Did you have a party or something?
Are you serious, sir? What kind of fucking party uses 90,000 gallons of water? I think if we decided to seal off our house and turn the living room into a giant pool, it wouldn’t come near the usage that the company said we used. If anything, it frustrates me that our landlord thinks that an outrageous charge like this could be completely our fault. So this got me thinking, there is a big generation gap in our society, especially between Asian parents and their offsprings.
While we do learn morals and other “acceptable” mannerisms from our parents, a lot of what we learn and actually accept is from the bigger society we live in. My mom stumbled across my cousin’s hookah and was completely terrified of the morose potential it could have. The first time I saw a hookah I was extremely curious in exactly what it is. Elders are quicker to judge I think. We can’t hate our elders though because we wouldn’t exist without them. I just hope they would understand our differences.
Not our fucking landlord. After telling us about the damage, he begins to question about how we’ve been using this water. He actually expects that we pony up the scrilla for this nonsense. He asks:
Did you have a party or something?
Are you serious, sir? What kind of fucking party uses 90,000 gallons of water? I think if we decided to seal off our house and turn the living room into a giant pool, it wouldn’t come near the usage that the company said we used. If anything, it frustrates me that our landlord thinks that an outrageous charge like this could be completely our fault. So this got me thinking, there is a big generation gap in our society, especially between Asian parents and their offsprings.
While we do learn morals and other “acceptable” mannerisms from our parents, a lot of what we learn and actually accept is from the bigger society we live in. My mom stumbled across my cousin’s hookah and was completely terrified of the morose potential it could have. The first time I saw a hookah I was extremely curious in exactly what it is. Elders are quicker to judge I think. We can’t hate our elders though because we wouldn’t exist without them. I just hope they would understand our differences.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Week 10 Series: I wanna be like...
(I've decided to take some time everyday to free write. screw studying)
I’ve always been confused with the proverb “be yourself.” To deal with the oversaturation of outside influences in our lives, people have used the phrase as a way to help people be comfortable in all situations. By “being yourself”, it makes it give excuses for not meeting new people if you’re shy and not trying new dishes if you’ve grown accustomed to more familiar ones you’ve grown up with. So to the all the folks out there, maybe a better advice to give would be “be open.”
Lets relate this to something I’m familiar with: style and attire. By now, yours balls have dropped, your tits have grown to a size that distinguishes your attributes from the male counterpart, and you’re readily able to dress yourself every morning. You probably dress in a style that is comfortable to yourself, thus establishing your style. But rewind, and see how that style came to be. Most people, not all, dress a certain way from their influences by someone else. You see a rapper and believe you identify with him so you purchase something similar to what you’ve seen him wear. You pick and pull pieces from different influences to try to establish your own identity. Personally, I wear slim denim (taken from rock figures), skate shoes (skateboarding history), and fitted hat (the people who I’ve looked up to and now trying to emulate their style). It seems like being myself requires me to be like someone else. How can you truly establish your OWN identity? Well, I don’t think you can.
So, what the fuck should we do? Try to be open to what this tiny blue planet has to offer. We, including myself, need to step outside our comfort zone and see what is out there. We STAY STOOPS by accepting the patterns we follow everyday. Patterns make us comfortable. (Why else would be always be told try to something over and over?) For tomorrow, I say change shit up. Instead of brushing your teeth with your right hand, try your left. Take a day off showering in the morning. Try on your roommate’s undergarments. Most people are given 70-100 years to live and some never stray further than 10 miles from their city. Try that shit son. Well maybe not this week since its finals week and you usually study during Week 10…
Lets relate this to something I’m familiar with: style and attire. By now, yours balls have dropped, your tits have grown to a size that distinguishes your attributes from the male counterpart, and you’re readily able to dress yourself every morning. You probably dress in a style that is comfortable to yourself, thus establishing your style. But rewind, and see how that style came to be. Most people, not all, dress a certain way from their influences by someone else. You see a rapper and believe you identify with him so you purchase something similar to what you’ve seen him wear. You pick and pull pieces from different influences to try to establish your own identity. Personally, I wear slim denim (taken from rock figures), skate shoes (skateboarding history), and fitted hat (the people who I’ve looked up to and now trying to emulate their style). It seems like being myself requires me to be like someone else. How can you truly establish your OWN identity? Well, I don’t think you can.
So, what the fuck should we do? Try to be open to what this tiny blue planet has to offer. We, including myself, need to step outside our comfort zone and see what is out there. We STAY STOOPS by accepting the patterns we follow everyday. Patterns make us comfortable. (Why else would be always be told try to something over and over?) For tomorrow, I say change shit up. Instead of brushing your teeth with your right hand, try your left. Take a day off showering in the morning. Try on your roommate’s undergarments. Most people are given 70-100 years to live and some never stray further than 10 miles from their city. Try that shit son. Well maybe not this week since its finals week and you usually study during Week 10…
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