Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Iron Man: Aerial Assault For The iphone and ipod Touch



Click Here To Download

*Must have itunes

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Marsha Ambrosius - Yours Truly



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Torae & Skyzoo - Get It Done [Live Performance]

I've been bangin' a ton of Skyzoo & Torae, lately. I recently rediscovered Sky's City's Favorite Mixtape. So that in combination with running his Greatest Flow On Earth tape into the ground, I've kinda been on Sky overload. lol Torae and Skyzoo make a great team.

The second verse of each of theirs is a tribute to DJ Premier. The way Sky works in titles from Primo songs, while Torae works in the names of artist that he's worked with is priceles! They are definitely 2 of my favorite verses in a long time.



The track appears on Skyzoo's Corner Store Classic Mixtape as well as Torae's album, Daily Conversation. I highly recommend copping that.

Na'Tee - Heavy Is The Head That Wears The Crown



Monday, December 29, 2008

Music Social Networks Get A Network, Kinda.


As you may know, I'm a huge fan of music as well as social networking. Discovering Last.fm was the best of both worlds for me. I get to find new people who are interested in many of the same artists as I am. I swear I spend way too much time on that site. lol But, anyway I recently stumbled upon SonicLiving.com. Basically, the way the site works is that if you are on either Lala.com, Pandora or Last.fm Sonic Living will scan the artists in your music libraries on those sites to give you information on when they will be performing in your town. You can search for concerts either by venue or by artist. They will even give you information on purchasing tickets.

Also, if you happen to know about an event that isn't listed you can submit the event yourself for listing. That sounds like a great feature for local promoters in your area to use.

Basically the site is a nice way to receive alerts about any of your favorite artists are in town with very little effort. You can create a calendar of events as well as connect with fellow fans of an artist as well as a particular venue.

If you're a music fan that likes to attend a show every now and then, this site might be a good look for you. If this is something you think you can get some use out of, join me. I can always use more friends. lol

To find out more about SonicLiving hit up their blog.

Adult Swim + Ghostly International = Ghostly Swim



Click Here To Download

Sunday, December 28, 2008

The RIAA Don't Play



Besides having a cool name, For Tax Reasons are hilarious!

Boaz - The Manuscript



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Friday, December 26, 2008

Skyzoo - The Greatest Flow On Earth



The Blogger Album Project

I know that I am terribly late with this, but I was tagged by everyone's favorite boho, The Bohemian Hippie Chick to list my top 7 albums of all time. That's a hell of a task. Plus, with the exception of 2 of them the other 5 may change from day to day. lol



Here are the rules:

1. Post your list of the seven best albums, the seven bloggers you will tag, a copy of these rules, and a link back to this page.
2. Each person tagged will put a URL to their Blogger Album Project post along with a list of the seven best albums in the comment section here.
3. Feel free to post the “I Contributed to the Blogger Album Project” Award Graphic on your sidebar, along with a link back to this page.
4. Post a link back to the blogger who tagged you.


Is it just me or does that seem like a hell of a lot of work? lol Anyway, on with the show. In no particular order:

Midnight Marauders is the album that made me fall in love with music. I didn't listen to a ton of music before this. I would just basically listen to whatever was on. I wasn't an active listener. I didn't seek out new music or artists until I heard this album. I kinda fell in love with Hip-Hop as a result. I listened to it before, but this album made me care.

Illmatic if you follow this blog to any extent you have already read my thoughts on this one. If not, check out Memory Lane and maybe answer the question I pose there as well. :)

Blowout Comb is a banger from start to finish. Their first album may have had the huge single, but the second album was better as a whole.

Don't Sweat The Technique has one of my favorite song of all time, Know The Ledge. But besides that, the album is a chance to catch the greatest emcee ever at the top of his game.

The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings is definitely an acquired taste. It's a lot of music, but if you are a Coltrane fan I highly recommend this set. It was recorded in four nights in November of 1961.

Hard To Earn has to be my favorite Gang Starr album. It's the best example of the greatest producer ever at work. Guru was and is one of the most underrated emcees ever He was often overshadowed by Primo's sonic genius, but he was & is great in his own right. Although this album is my favorite from the group, Moment Of Truth is probably the best example of Guru's greatness. He literally lays his life out in front of you along DJ Premier's tracks. But, Hard To Earn is my official choice. Mass Appeal alone puts this on my list. lol

Bill Withers Live At Carnegie Hall is my favorite live album that's not jazz.

I guess this is the part where I name the 7 people that I will tag. Well, previous run ins with tagging haven't gone too well. I was giving stuff away and couldn't get any participation. lol

mindful

Fledgling Fashionista

Canela NYC

Assertive Wit

Lazy Pen

Serenity Life

Bourgie, Esq.

T. Michelle Theus

Leather

Gang Starr Girl

Liz Burr

Stephanie

dmb5_libra

Samax

DJ Gemz

Lola Funk Android & Dena Kali

Synchronicity

TeLisa D.

The New Lisa Turtle

JKEYS

Extended Aim Profile

D.Son

The Listing Addict

Jay

digitalxsunrise

Free2Bee

Yes, I know that was well over 7 people, but I figured this way I may at least get one or two people to pass this along. I'm also interested in their choices, but yeah . . .

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry X-Mas (Rambling Man)

I think Wiz Khalifa seriously needs to look into new management. Why don't I see this cat working with better producers or on better mixtapes? It seems like his talent is being wasted. He needs to get his foot in the door in the New York & DMV scenes. I want to hear this cat on things with the likes of 9th Wonder, Joell Ortiz, Elzhi, Judah, Black Milk, Skyzoo, Wale, DJ Premier & Royce Da 5'9". Pittsburgh is a bit of a no man's land for Hip-Hop, but the good news is that you are close to places like the 2 I mentioned earlier. It doesn't seem like his management are taking advantage of his location.

Why do rappers/emcees even put out albums anymore? Why not just put out mixtapes and make your money on tours? I know nothing about the music business and I will rightly admit that, but it seems like record deals should be obsolete sooner or later. Don't most artists make their real money on tour anyway?

Apparently Gizmodo didn't think too much of Blockbuster's effort to remain relevant in the wake of Netflix partnering with Xbox Live. The one thing I don't understand is why Blockbuster didn't partner with Sony in an effort to make their content available on Sony's PS3. Seems like it would have been a nice companion to roll out with Home. Maybe they wanted to, but Sony declined? If they didn't try that was dumb on Blockbuster's part.

Murs & 50 Cent give the best interviews in music, in my opinion. Here Murs discusses his move to a major label, the music industry in general and anything else on his mind:



For the second half of this interview hit up Audacity Of Dope.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A Keith Olbermann Special Comment

The fact that it's Ben Affleck doing the impression makes it 10 times funnier with his political leanings and all. He was spot on nailing Keith's mannerisms. lol

Monday, December 22, 2008

Learn Something New Everyday



Apparently there is a Black Googlers Network. It's made up of Black Google employees that go out into the community to do charitable work on Google's behalf. In the past the group has gone down to New Orleans to help Hurricane Katrina victims rebuild as well as participated in a Walk-A-Thon for United Negro College Fund.

Many corporations make these community outreach efforts, but I just thought it was interesting that there was a group of Black employees specifically getting together for this purpose.

You can read more about them on Google's official blog Google's official blog.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Royce & Primo Talk About Shake This

I must say that I love Royce and you are more than aware of my love of Primo. When they got together for the first Bar Exam I nearly lost my damn mind! I soiled myself with excitement when I first heard it! I'm not a shamed, 8 was on Depends status.

Anyway, this song is just another example of their collective & individual excellence (side note: I LOVE the strings)! In the first clip Royce & Primo discuss the things going on in Royce's life during the making of the song and the second video is the actual video for the song.

Enjoy!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Common - Stories Told Over Remixed Years




<a href="http://ksalaamandbeatnick.bandcamp.com/album/common-s-t-o-r-y">2-0-0-9 (Beatnick &amp; K-Salaam Rmx) by Beatnick &amp; K-Salaam</a>

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

I Really Need To See This

Besides the fact I really admire dude, the trailer seems interesting and I saw him on Oprah this morning with Rosario Dawson (side note: that woman makes me weak). Some parts of the interview got ultra sappy for me, but the interview & the movie makes you think about the impact that you can have on the lives of others. Many times it may be words that have and impact. Other times in may be actions. I know there are a few women out there who have had such a profound impact on my life that I will never really have the words to express my feelings and gratitude. A few of them I have never met and very well may never meet. Anyway, here's the trailer:

Adele: (19)88

Mick Boogie and some of his friends listed below decided to do what, at least to me, seems like a interesting remix project featuring British singer Adele. Boogie & the boys put Adele's album 19 to beats of late 1980's Hip-Hop.



01 Chasing 1988: The Intro (Featuring 6th Sense)
02 Day Dreams [nVMe Remix]
03 Tired [6th Sense Remix]
04 First Love [Remot Remix] (Featuring Naledge)
05 My Same [Garbs Infinite Remix]
06 Melt My Heart To Stone [Kickdrums Remix] (Featuring Big Pooh)
07 Cold Shoulder [Garbs Infinite Remix]
08 Right As Rain [nVMe Remix]
09 Make You Feel My Love [Remot Remix]

Meet The Boss Of Street Fighter IV

In my opinion he's pretty underwhelming in regards to looks & name. Why in the word did they name him Seth? lol He looks like a rip off of Dural from Virtua Fighter.

Monday, December 15, 2008

What's Your Favorite Primo Beat?

This video prompted the question. I can't believe no one mentioned the Next Level [Nyte Time Remix] that he did for Showbiz & A.G. or D'Evils. Hell, D'Evils' the best song Jay-Z ever did!!! Primo seems to make anyone at least 50% better.

I put together a short play list of some of my favorite Primo tracks. You can peep those below the video.



Obama Linked To Mysterious Chicago Cop

Apparently President-Elect Obama will be making an appearance in the comic book Savage Dragon.

Here's the cover of the book which according to Geek To Me, will be hitting the stands in February of 2009.



Here's Savage Dragon congratulating Obama on his victory:

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Primo On: Nas Is Like, Biggie & Crate Diggin'

I love Peter Rosenberg he seems to truly love Hip-Hop and I can't say that for many people who are involved in the media in any capacity. Here are a couple of clips of his Inside The Actor's Studio like interview of THE GREATEST PRODUCER OF ALL TIME!



Check in periodically to Rosenberg Radio. I think he will eventually be posting the full interview. I'll definitely be blog stalking for this one.

Friday, December 12, 2008

More Street Fighter IV Details



According to Amazon.com it looks like Street Fighter IV will be released for X-Box 360 & the PS3 on February 17 2009.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Please Help Keep NPR's News & Notes On The Air

Jasmyne Cannick has started a Petition in an effort to try and keep NPR's News & Notes show alive.

Please sign it support her effort and sign it. There aren't tons of outlets for black voices in the media. We need as many places as possible to get news from a black perspective.

Hype Club Mixtape





Click Here To Download

A Winner Gets Some Ink! (Parenting After It's Over)

Deesha Philyaw of Mamalicious! recently received a little love from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in regards to the site that she runs with her ex-husband, Co-Parenting 101. On the site they try to shed some light on the issues encountered when parenting after divorce.

Civility and custody: Web sites help divorced spouses raise their children together

Wednesday, December 10, 2008
By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Interaction between divorced parents can resemble the Bruce Willis-Demi Moore blissful step-family model, the Alec Baldwin-Kim Basinger divorce-is-a-battlefield example or anywhere in between.

Deesha Philyaw and Mike Thomas have gone the Bruce and Demi route.

Since they divorced two years ago, they've tried to healthfully co-parent their two daughters. They live close to each other in Regent Square, so the children can easily split their time between their two homes and talk almost daily about what's going on with the girls, ages 5 and 9. They even socialize together with their new significant others.

Now, they're offering help to other divorced parents through the Web site Coparenting101.org, which has blog entries, articles, Web links, reader questions and other information for people trying to co-parent after divorce.

They hope the information they offer and stories they share on the site about their post-divorce relationship can serve as an example to others about what's possible.

"Most people are not in situations like ours," says Ms. Philyaw, 37.

The Web site came about because friends and family were so astonished at how sane, respectful and drama-free their post-marriage relationship has been, some joked they should write a self-help or how-to book for other divorced parents. A book proposal now is in the works, and they started the Web site, in part, as research for the book.

"Most people say they would die for their children," says Mr. Thomas, also 37. "This really challenges people to see if they would live for their kids."

Taking on the challenge of co-parenting in a healthy way forces divorced couples to make choices they selfishly might not if they were thinking only of themselves and not their children, he said.

"Once you've decided it's about something other than yourself, it puts the other things in perspective," Mr. Thomas said. "The children didn't ask for this situation ... and I owe them the best possible life that I can provide. Staying together in the marriage wasn't possible, but other things are possible."

It takes time for everyone involved to work through the pain and anger of divorce to achieve the goal of healthy co-parenting.

"From coordinating kids activities on almost a daily basis to taking a vacation as a family each year to playing cards with our respective significant others, Deesha and I had managed to forge a very good post-divorce relationship, by any account," Mr. Thomas wrote in one blog post.

However, despite that fact, some friends and family still wanted to know how his ex-wife reacted when he told her he was engaged.

"Clearly, despite all the evidence to the contrary, the expectation was that an 'ex' WILL lose their mind in these situations, positive relationship notwithstanding," he wrote.

She didn't. In fact, in another blog post, Ms. Philyaw interviewed her ex-husband's fiancee. When people ask her why or tell her she's a better woman than they would be in a similar situation, she asks, "Why?"

"What do you lose in positioning yourself in such a way where you're not only civil to the other woman or the first wife, depending upon which side you're on?" she said. "Children need more than civility; they need permission to like this new person.

"By having a rapport or a friendly interaction with the new person or the ex-spouse, it really gives children permission to relax and forge their own opinion and relationship with their parent's new partner without having to worry about loyalty issues, 'What does mom or dad think?' "


Click Here For The Rest Of Article

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I Need Your Help! :(

I happened to be browsing the internetS as I tend to do and I stumbled upon some startling news from Professor Tracey. My favorite radio show/podcast will be going dark in the first half of 2009. I'm sick about this on a couple levels. First, that podcast is the reason why this blog exists. NPR's New & Notes helped me discover different blogs that revolved around the black community and the blogs that I discovered through that show led me to find even more blogs. Odds are if I have visited your blog, Farai Chideya is the reason why, either directly or indirectly. Secondly, her show was my go to source for news from a Black perspective.

Can anyone out there recommend a podcast I can use to fill this void? I prefer to listen to my news & editorials. Please? Anyone?

:(

Charles Hamilton - Pink Lavalamp



Click Here To Download

Monday, December 8, 2008

BET Can't Get Anything Right *sigh*

It looks like they finally have a voice for the BET animated series, The Black Panther. According to Variety Djimon Hounsou will be the voice of the title character. Although the voice appears to be in good hands, the animation sadly, makes my eyes bleed. They couldn't have used the animators that do all of the other Marvel cartoons like Spider-Man - The Animated Series & The Invincible Iron Man?

Take a look at the trailer for yourselves. I also included a video of Reginald Hudlin discussing The Black Panther comic. It's funny just how close Weggie Rudlin's voice actually does resemble Reginald Hudlin's. I just thought Aaron McGruder was being over the top funny by giving the character that high pitched voice. lol I included a clip of that in the playlist as well.


Sunday, December 7, 2008

Jay-Z & Marvin Gaye - Brooklyn Soul



Click Here To Download

iSimpsons

I'll admit that I am a P.C., but I really don't care what others use as long as they aren't snobs about it. lol But even if you're a Mac & ipod/phone user you must admit that the satire displayed in the clips I put together was spot on.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Jon Hope - The Audacity Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks

Jon Hope released The Audacity Mixtape back in 2007. He is now dropping a deluxe edition that's the same as the first one, but including 5 bonus tracks and the video for his track Breathin' off of the first edition of the mixtape.






Click Here To Download Bonus Tracks

* Telescopes (Featuring REKS & Lucky Dice)
* The Rap Life
* Real Talk pt 2
* Alright
* Destined To Shine (Featuring Torae and Sha Stimuli)
* Breathin' Video

You can read more about Jon Hope over at GangstarrGirl.com.

More Random Geekery



If this amuses you as much as it did me you might want to head on over to AntiClothes.com and cop the t-shirt.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Video Games As Art? / Street Fighter IV (Gouken)

I originally showed you screen shots of Gouken a few weeks ago and even cats who don't play video games couldn't deny how great they looked. Truth be told, I don't even have a game system at all right now. I plan to cop a PS3 sometime in the first half of 2009. But I think games have become so advanced in regards to graphics & story lines that I think they should be considered art. Do you think there will be a day when you are buying screen shots of games as framed artwork? It's probably already done to a small extent.

I could watch someone play a video, like I watch a sporting event or movie. Now, it would have to be a really dope game, but I could. I would mind watching someone play their way through Metal Gear Solid 4. I'll often watch game play videos online.

Anyway, I went off on a tangent. Here's Gouken in action. Note how you can now use walls to trap opponents. He's uppercuts are ridiculous!!!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Jay-Z + Santogold + Kanye's Production = ???



I love how spooky & robotic Santi's voice sounds. I really need her in my life! If only I could find a way to make her my wife and impregnate her. *sigh*

Oh, yeah . . . the video is insane & Kanye & Jay-Z were ok, too.

*drifts back off into daydream*



Brooklyn Go Hard

Clipse - Road To Till The Casket Drops




Click Here For Download