May 2010 Archives

Did you know our web guy is also a talented author, can dunk a basketball and is a delicate craftsman with respects to segueing a mean playlist? Well, Jeremy Hurd, said web guy, is a maestro. Thankfully, he's on his New Jack Swing tip and made us a brilliant mixtape for that drive outta town. I'll let him elaborate, though he egregiously left out the Bobby Brown cut from "Ghostbusters 2."


I was inspired tonight by a series of YouTube videos bearing the same name. This is a collection (can't really call it a mix because it's only in alphabetical order) I made paying tribute to what I sincerely believe is one of the best genres of music ever. This is by no means meant as a comprehensive retrospective of the genre, but I think it's an essential compilation for anyone who feels the same affection I do for the late 80s/early 90s. 26 fantastic gems from some of New Jack Swing's finest artists. From the not so obscure (Bobby Brown, SWV, R. Kelly) to the almost completely obscure (Me 2 U, James Williams, Michael Cooper) and beyond.

Hope you appreciate it. Hope you love it.


Tracklist + link, you know, after the jump and shit. Have a safe start to summer. Make sure you got some marquee hip-hop. Drive safely.

Front court starters Raekwon, T.I. and Rick Ross earned their three-day weekends by unsheathing respective, promised mixtapes Friday morning. Get them after the jump.

Kanye West featuring Dwele - Power

What's been the best Thank Me Later leak thus far? How many units will this move when it drops June 15?
Does Drake know what he's doing?

I'll say "Miss Me," 500,000 and yes.


1. Fireworks (Feat. Alicia Keys) [Produced by Crada, 40]
2. Karaoke [Produced by Francis and the Lights]
3. The Resistance  [Produced by 40]
4. Over [Produced by Boi-1 da]
5. Show Me A Good Time [Produced by Kanye West]
6. Up All Night (Feat. Nicki Minaj)  [Produced by Boi-1 da]
7. Fancy (Feat. TI and Swizz Beatz)  [Produced by Swizz Beatz]
8. Shut It Down (Feat. The Dream) [Produced by Omen, 40]
9. Unforgettable (Feat. Young Jeezy) [Produced by Boi-1 da, 40]
10. Light Up (Feat. Jay-Z) [Produced by Tone Mason, 40]
11. Miss Me (Feat. Lil Wayne) [Produced by Boi-1 da, 40]
12. Cece's Interlude [Produced by 40]
13. Find Your Love [Produced by Kanye West, Jeff Basker, No I.D.]
14. Thank Me Now [Produced by Timbaland]

Eminem's latest enjoys two covers. Hit the jump for the alternate.

Brilliant comic David Cross, prepping a new comedy CD/DVD slated for May 25, delved into hip-hop with Pitchfork in a Friday interview:

Pitchfork: Do you remember any examples of not liking an album everyone else did?

DC: I can't think of one off the top of my head, although I do think Biggie Smalls is overrated. I just don't think he's as good a lyricist as people say he is.

Pitchfork: You'd prefer a Jay-Z maybe?

DC: Yes. I love a good Jay-Z. I love a Kanye, I love a Lupe Fiasco.


It's a fair opinion. Biggie's catalog isn't deep enough for him to be considered the greatest ever, but his iconography is untouchable.

Cross also accuses Dane Cook of stealing material. Which is totally true. Read the whole thing here.

You floated the river, studied and rode through the Wendy's drive thru to the last one, and with summer basically here (especially in the south where spring is but a ten day bridge to miserable heat), ATG maximizes its brand with a sequel.

For the uninitiated, the concept is fairly straight-forward: a rundown of the best hip-hop songs we've been enjoying during the opening months of the year. No politics. No favors. No DJs. No drops. No scrubs.

First Quarter Face-Off II ups the ante by splitting the jams down the Mason Dixon: the two-part volume is broken up by North and South sides. We thought this would be especially timely given recent, redundant north/south jabs from the rap world. ATG will elaborate on the petty squabbles later, but suffice it to say we think most regions (specifically New York, Texas, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, D.C., the Carolinas, Hunstville, Memphis) are producing quality rap, and we've divided FQFOII geographically primarily to showcase individual strengths.

Disc 1 represents soldiers of the North: Lloyd Banks, Fabolous, Freeway, Drake, Styles P, Nas, Lupe Fiasco etc. Disc 2 brings it home with the South's proudest sons: Big Boi, Little Brother, Young Jeezy, G-Side, Bun B, Big K.R.I.T. Jay Electronica and many more. Both sides bang. As for a winner? That's for you to judge.   

It looks like a cover. It's a nice cover story. It has Vibe's influential name attached.

What's the issue? Take a close look: It's a Vibe.com cover story. Vibe won't be releasing a proper issue for two months so for the interim, they are playing with Photoshop and making it seem as if J.Cole is a bankable cover icon, even though he's not and they'd never actually wage advertiser's money on a Cole cover. Not in May of 2010.

Here's Vibe's lame qualifier. Note that they basically say, "this was all Jay-Z's idea."

*We know, we know--two months is too long to wait for VIBE to hit your local newstand. So as a supplement, we'll highlight a celebrity making an impact as the VIBE.com cover story every Tuesday. We're going with Hov's choice for our first cover subject: Roc Nation's flagship rookie J. Cole. Check out the exclusive interview below as well as photos and an essential playlist.*

The other two parts after the jump. Peace to Yardie.

Interesting interview, T.I. is very guarded and defensive throughout.

• Run-DMC has been replaced by a special set from Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface, backed by The Roots. Upgrade.
  
• Das Racist blowin' up.
  
• Fuck Vampire Weekend.

Get your tickets already.

Breath of fresh air. Noz posted some thoughts on gentrification's effect on hip-hop (cities as less real, recharging vitality of the burbs, etc.) and cited this as an early example of some suburban-repping quality rap.

The containing folder is free and mostly remarkable I'm intrigued. Odd Spring is fourth in a series of free Oddissee albums about the seasons. I think. Probably just contextualized by weather.


Oddisee - I'm From PG

Oddisee - Anticipation

I've been keeping tabs on Dallas's B. Hardy fairly regularly for a minute. He's a blue collar, go-for-the-throat punchline guy but his Texas roots afford him an ease and sensibility for navigating southern, bouncing beats. Case in point, this one-liner barrage over Gudda Gudda's "I Don't Like The Look."

Labeling an mp3/song with a hashtag in the title is a savvy bit of viral, Twitter age marketing, but Hardy's networked shout outs to rap zines (disclosure, ATG gets one at :48 secs and it's pretty awesome) and generally effortless and loose tone means it's not wise to overanalyze intentions. Shit is just nice and worth adding to mixes.

The song is from Throwaway Rhymes 7: I Am Rap-Bot 5000, which we'll be checking for May 24.

We told you how good this song was and, thankfully, MTV agrees. The first clip/single from his Str8 Killa No Filla mixtape/album. I spent 20 minutes with Gibbs in March and left taken by this man's humanity, honesty, hunger, humility.

Darkie's disappointing design took maybe five minutes. Here's seven easy steps to make your own version of Thank Me Later's shitty cover:

1. Insert pic to Photoshop
2. Select whatever was in the background (if anything) and clear it out and fill with white. place his face on a separate layer
3. Select images--> adjustments--> thresholds
4. Lazily fool around with thresholds for about 2 minutes
5. Add a colored (red) drop shadow through the blending options on the face layer
6. Go to filter --> Gaussian blur because God knows he needed to do that to make the image that much more awful
7. Finally add text, specifically Futura, maybe stretch it vertically a little bit

And you're done. You've just created Drake's retarded inverse Warhol album cover.

Love King is going to be a sexist, women-as-an-empty-vase epic. I think he's being purposefully cheeky with these messages; guy is too intelligent to believe unconditional loyalty and happiness will stem from leather handbags.


The Dream featuring T.I. - Make Up Bag

Darkie on the art for Drake's Thank Me Later. Better than the art for the Kanye song.

We think so. Coming soon, we guess? From who else?

ATG sizes it all up.

A quick salute is needed on behalf of the culture FBO the state of Arizona's stupefying, blatant, misguided outburst of overt racism. Arizona legislators and sympathizing citizens, you shells of ignorance really don't know anything. God save us. There's absolutely no way around these thin arguments for Senate Bill 1070, supported by 70% of Arizona's people, all of which are laced with xenophobia:


What they say: "It's not a race issue, it's a border enforcement issue."
What they mean: "I am ok with light-skinned, European or Canadian illegal immigrants who will absolutely not get harassed by local authorities."


What they say: "When I see my property tax bill and the amounts we pay to subsidize the county hospital, it makes me realize just another way illegal immigration directly impacts me."
What they mean: "I hate Mexicans because their hair doesn't thin at 35 and they have a higher tolerance for tequila."


What they say: "Being Hispanic, like many Americans, I have no issue with this law. Is it racial profiling? Absolutely. But when criminals change the way they break the law, you have to change the laws and the way you enforce them."
What they mean: "I'm a sellout piece of shit who likes to pretend the plight of my fathers to the United States was a righteous journey from a simpler time."


What they say: "The State of Arizona is only doing what the federal government will not do: enforce our laws!"
What they mean: "I am behind the idea of drastic, unprecedented levels of surveillance on our populous as long as it curbs the number of Mexicans selling empanadas down the street."


What they say: "I travel a bit in my job, and I always keep my passport with me. I was stationed in Germany as a GI, and was always required to show documentation whenever I crossed into a new country."
What they mean: "Nazi supermen are our superiors."


What they say: "If this is racial profiling, what is Affirmative Action? I don't hear any liberals complaining about that."
What they mean: "NON-SEQUITORS MAKE GREAT BULLET POINTS."


What they say: "Seriously though, Mexico is terrifying. Drug cartels and border kidnappings and that farmer guy who was murdered. I mean that shit is scary."
What they mean: "If we call the police station on the Mexicans waiting for day labor shifts in front of Home Depot or selling fake Steve Nash jerseys, that'll all go away."


What they say: "You're damn right classes promoting the overthrow of the U.S. Government should be banned."
What they mean: "Really, we just hate the Mexicans and this is a great excuse to rid ourselves of all their prideful, cultural bullshit. I don't want my child learning about Dia De Los Muertos. And while we're at it, let's go ahead and get rid of teachers with thick accents."

An industry leader recently went on a much-needed tirade at some conference about technology or Twitter or some shit. He puts blogs on blast and I instantly found myself agreeing with 100% of his points. Reggie not so much. We talked it out.