the b side

Monday, April 14, 2008

diggin through the tape crates

ah the tribulations of an aging hip hop fan.

i live in an 800 square foot apartment. my wife and i just had twins. needless to say, she is not that excited that i have boxes and boxes of cassettes in my closet, under the bed, in the other closet, etc. anyways, i was going through some of my stuff and getting rid of the stuff i didn't need: old mix cds people gave me at cmj events 3 years ago, unopened lil zane cds, 2 extra copies of No Limit Top Dogg...the usual stuff that aging hip hop fans have in their cabinet (i had my brother sell the stuff at cd & game exchange, and i got all of $12 for that, some david gray albums, and miscellaneous other crap).

in the process, i came across some old gems and decided i would post them. this is a tape the dj red alert show on 98.7 Kiss FM that i recorded at my grandmother's house in rockaway in around 1989 or 1990. peter and i used to bring two boomboxes with us when we would go from md to ny, so we could record wbls and kiss simultaneously. unfortunately, i don't know what happened to all of those tapes. he might have some of them. but i will post them every now and again as i have the patience to rip them.

part 1

part 2

Sunday, April 13, 2008

this joint is coming back...

starting right now. right now i'm uploading a dj red alert tape from the bottom of my tape collection. more info when i post it today or tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

game stepped up

this dude has stepped his game up big time (ok, pun intended). the documentary was a fantastic album, but not necessarily because of him. it was the production and the songwriting. game just happened to be there. sure, on the documentary he was okay, but he definitely teetering on the verge of annoying. as every blogger/message board cat in the world pointed out, the name dropping sucked, and overall it seemed like he was trying too hard. but the production was so good that he just slid by and it was a great album despite him.

but on doctor's advocate, he's in a whole other place. the man has matured by leaps and bounds. the production doesn't even need to be as good because he can carry a song on his own. but nonetheless, its phenomenal (with will.i.am contributing the hottest joint). granted there's some name-dropping, but its not nearly as aggregious as it was on the documentary. but for the most part he's name dropping people he actually knows.

part of the reason i was turned off by game before was the whole "heir-to-nwa" schtick. but on this record he actually seems like he is hte modern day NWA. on the documentary it was all talk. now it seems like he's the real deal. it's like the experience with 50, dre aftermath, and the sheisty record business has forced him to grow. and the anger and maturity are allcoming out on this album.

to me there are a couple of weak spots. the hook on the first song is really corny. the whole bit about all stars, khakis, chronic, and locs is so cheesy. i mean can you get anymore trite when talking about how la gangster you are? that's what kids in duluth think is gangster. come with some shit i don't know......

the other thing that is a plus and minus is how much he sounds like dre (as someone on the lawn so observantly pointed out). its distracting because sometimes i think im listening to dre. its weird. but he sounds good at it so its a double-edged sword.

all and all this is the album to beat for 4th quarter 06. of course, i haven't heard the others. but nas and jay z are going to have a tough time topping this one. clipse on the other hand, i think they could top this, but it all remains to be seen......

Friday, October 13, 2006

Oddisee Presents Foot in the Door Album Release Party in NYC--Fat Baby 10/12/06

ok...here's some video and pics from my man oddisee's album release party in nyc....was a dope show. freddie foxx was there but didnt perform. plus jamalski of late 80s bdp fame was in the building. oddisee killed it. make sure you cop that cd. shit is crazy.....

J-Live Moves the Crowd

Oddisee & J-Live

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

FOX NEWS LIES!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Weird Al Saves Hip Hop

just when i couldn't take it anymore. white people everywhere ruining rap with all their racist talk about how great coke rap is. or at clubs screaming rick ross lyrics and not knowing standard 50 cent songs. or worse yet, talking about how k-rob and rammelzee were the pinacle of of hip hop (see the article about the founders of the hipster clothing brand king stampede in xlr8r this month--i swear to god i wanted to kill myself when i read about these guys).

its too much to take. wannabe white hip hop nerds running hip hop for everyone. i don't even want to be associated with this music anymore enough to make me want to go listen to alt rock.

then weird al comes along and points out how ludicrous the whole situation is. he takes the pop rap song of the year, which is a houston banger by chamillionaire and turns it into a parody of how insane hip hop is these days.

first off weird al has a better read on the state of hip hop then most hip hop writers and bloggers. yankovic has his finger on the pulse of hip hop. this record is about how not cool and not unique it is to be white and love gangster rap. while bloggers champion how cool it is to love this shit, weird al knows that this is the music that nerds listen to. and maybe its not really d&d star trek nerds in who dig it. but it is music nerds. its people who are also bugging out about clap your hands and say yeah and other shit that ive never heard of.

and unlike many of the white hipsters that listen to crack rap, this weird al isn't making fun of crack rap. he's not making fun of chamillionaire either. he's certainly not making fun of the song. how can you? its a great song. he's making fun of the listeners.

granted--that includes me. i am as white and nerdy as it gets. but i can take it. i've been white and nerdy since way before it was cool.

the short of it is this. hipsters--weird al has pulled your card.....

Monday, September 04, 2006

Kenn Starr Album Release Party at Triple Crown

i haven't written in a while. was way too busy this summer selling out by working for a big lawfirm. but now that the summer is over its on again. the insane hate is back and will rarely let up...

except for today. today im celebrating the release of my client, kenn starr's debut album, "starr status." it's an instant classic. so please go out and cop that shit.

ya know its funny. this blog is the insane rants of an aspiring rap manager and hater. yet im always talking about hate so much and rarely talking about managing. maybe its cuz i have a great client. or maybe its because i have so much hate in my veins....whatever the reason, today its going to change. today we talk about kenn starr and his fantastic album starr status....

this post is dedicated to pics of kenn's album release party at triple crown in williamsburg.

considering that this blog got its start out of my derision of williamsburg hipsters, i do recognize the irony in the fact that my artist's album release party was there. but triple crown is a cool spot. not too hipsterry. good folks and generally a nice spot. definitely check it out if you somehow wind up in hipster hell...

that said, check out the pictures and please cop starr status....