Hip-Hop Nostalgia: Lyricist Lounge Show

I forgot all about this show. The freestyle I posted yesterday reminded me of it. I used to watch it frequently when it was on MTV back in the day. It fizzled out pretty quickly from what I recall and there’s hardly any clips from the show on YouTube. Damn shame.

Wordsworth v George W. Bush:

I wish the quality of this clip was a little better:

Here’s a clip with Cee-Lo:

Nelly, Murphy Lee, and Consequence on Rap City

Everyone comes correct, but Nelly steals the show.

Some More SMS/PRGz!

I’ve been getting feedback about the SMS/PRGz music posted over the last week and I’m glad that more people are getting hip to what those guys have been doing. Due to the positive feedback, SMS/PRGz will likely become a fixture on this site for the time being. I’ll be posting more songs, including some exclusives, in the upcoming days. Shout out to Codie G!

Todays Theme: Betta Half

Betta Half is a duo made up of two members, Roy Antonio and Dizzy. They come with a multitude of styles, so it’s hard to them in a box. The group’s album, Tha Untold, released last year is quite impressive. Below are some links to some of my favorite songs by the duo:

Betta Half – “Flickin”
A real laidback, spaced out type of beat. Both rappers ride the beat well, with whispher-type flows throughout. This is my favorite song by the group thus far. From Tha Untold

Betta Half – “Hard Times”
There’s a woman, Andrea Smith, who sings the hook and she does a great job of it. Cool storytelling by the emcees too. From Tha Untold.

Betta Half – “Relax”
The apporpriately titled “Relax” is from a cd of leftovers from the duo. How this didn’t end up on Tha Untold or any other official SMS/PRGz release still baffles me. This is a very good track, just as good anything else from any of the official releases from SMS/PRGz.

Betta Half – “I’m Straight”
Besides “Flickin,” this is my favorite song from Tha Untold. The beat change is fantastic. Check it out!

Link to Betta Half’s MySpace page.

I’ll also post songs by other up and coming rappers, mostly Southern, whose material I think has been overlooked. Be on the lookout.

That Bear Went Bear!

It’s been reported that “Rocky the Bear,” most known from the movie Semi-Pro starring Will Ferrell, killed a trainer recently.

Anyway, the event reminded me of a quote from Chris Rock’s stand up special Never Scared which came out after a tiger attacked Roy Horn from Siegfried & Roy:

“That tiger ain’t go crazy; that tiger went tiger! You know when he was really crazy? When he was riding around on a unicycle with a Hitler helmet on!”

Indeed, it could be said that the bear went crazy when he wrestling humans on camera. But I’m always skeptical of the domestication of dangerous animals in general and I’m not surprised that a bear would “go bear” and attack a human.

Here’s the Chris Rock clip from Never Scared when he said the abovementioned quote (it’s around the 1:30 mark):

SMS/PRGz Week Continued

Today’s Theme: G-Side

G-Side, a duo comprised of rappers ST 2 Lettaz 2 and Yung Clova released a couple of cds last year, most notably the debut album called Sumthin 2 Hate. The other cd released by the duo last year was a mixtape called 80z Baby. Below are some links to some of my favorite songs featuring the duo:

From Sumthin 2 Hate:
“Swagga”

“Ice Kissez”

“Alpine Tick”

From 80z Baby:
“Shift Change”

Another random track that feautures G-Side:
“Doin My Dirt”

A video by G-Side for a song called “Feel Like I Look” from Sumthin 2 Hate:

Hustlin’ Non-Stop…

Let’s get it!

New Kinds of Soldiers in the Military

I came across an article on Yahoo! News earlier today about the increased number of felons being allowed to participate in the Iraq war. Given that the USA is fighting a war on two fronts that are very unpopular and given that there won’t be a draft anytime soon (hopefully), the Army has become more open with its recruiting tactics. Various articles have talked about the growing presence of street gang members in the military as well.

Here are some other articles/links that talk about the situation regarding street gangs in the military:

Government report about gang activity in the military.

Link to a video talking about gang affiliated soldiers.

It should be noted that in December 2007, Congress passed a bill that was intended to ban members of street gangs and other unsavory organizations. It’s been called The 2008 Defense Authorization Bill and it calls for the Pentagon to put membership in a criminal street gang on the list of prohibited activities for service members.

The language of the bill prohibits membership “in any organizations that ‘espouse supremacist causes; attempt to create illegal discrimination … advocate the use of force or violence; or otherwise engage in efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights.’”

Some YouTube clips about the situation:

Slow Motion Soundz/Paper Route Recordz Week

Because my previous SMS/PRGz post has been getting a lot of hits and because I dig these guys’ music a lot, I’ll post a bunch of random songs from SMS/PRGz for the next week. Included with the links will be videos and pictures of the artists and other related links. Enjoy!

Today’s Theme: Jackie Chain

Jackie Chain, like damn near everyone from SMS/PRGz, is from Huntsville Alabama. What’s unusual about him is that he’s half white, half Korean. There’s more biographical information about him a few other publications, namely Ozone Magazine.

Here are some songs by him that I like:

Jackie Chain – “Blinded By The Light”
I bugged out when I first heard the song because of my fondness for what it samples. The beat change during the chorus is really dope. Blockbeataz hooked up Jackie quite nicely.

Bonus: Video for Manfred Man – “Blinded By The Light”

Jackie Chain & Jhi-Ali – “Rollin”
There’s another version of this song featuring Rich Boy, but this version is still my favorite.

Video for the song sampled by Rollin: Robert Miles – “Children”

Jackie Chain – “Shades(Remix)”
This is a remix of a song he did earlier with ST of G-Side. The beat is super smooth, reminds of something that Pimp C would’ve made. From his mixtape last year with DJ Burn One titled Who Am I. This is definitely some of his best work.

Here’s a link to the original “Shades” featuring ST.

Video for “Snap’n”
This is a really low budget video for a song from his mixtape last year. I’m not particularly fond of the song, but I found the video to be entertaining.

 

Seven Deadly Sins

These are some of the coolest paintings of the seven deadly sins that I’ve ever seen. I had a chance to see these paintings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York a couple of years ago, but I haven’t managed to find them online until recently.

The guy who painted them is named Paul Cadmus

Welcome to the South Cartoon

A cute and hilarious cartoon featuring miniature/kid versions of the most notable southern emcees. Among the people featured are Pimp C (R.I.P.), Bun B, T.I., Young Jeezy, Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Cash Money Millionaires, 8Ball & MJG, Webbie, Lil Boosie.