Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Weekendsrealbig... like, 7XL big.

Wow, where to begin. Best weekend I've had since I can remember. Friday, I got home from work and this sweater had arrived via UPS along with this 7" record and this EP. I put the sweater on (tryina start the weekend off on the steezy tip) and went out to Hunter's to rehearse for the Block Party. After a great rehearsal, I went back downtown to Ben's house (he was having the MUSC post-test party, which was winding down by the time I got there.) I just chilled there with Ben, Will, Brittany, Brittany, Molly, Leah, Panda, RoBo, Mel, TJ, and Faisal. That was lots of fun, plus... it was nice to get a relaxing evening in after all the frantic preparation Hunter and I had been going through to get our routines ready for the D'Allesandro's Block Party. I ended up riding my bike over to Katie and Palmer's late night to chill, and I fell asleep on their fouton almost immediately after getting there (I was extra tired.)

I woke up in their living room on Saturday with Hunter calling me so we could start rehearsing. We practiced from 10 till 2, then packed up and got to D'Als around 3:30. After getting set up and warming up, we chilled out with our friends that had gotten their early (big shouts to Rebecca) and I tried to stay calm and not get nervous. Our sets went over really well (especially the last one, where we concentrated on breaks and hip-hop classics... really got the dance floor moving.) All the bands were cool, Dave killed it on the deep house tip on my turntables, and a bunch of us went to the Recovery Room to unwind after. R.O.B was in town from Clemson, and it was great to see him (and some PB Crew members.) Ended up at Blind Tiger with Lindsey somehow, but she was nice enough to give me a ride home, and I definetly needed it after all the exhaustion/drinking/sweating/dancing/dehydration/lack of food in the belly.

Sunday started with brunch at AC's with Tyner, Panda, Schrader, and Palmer (sorry I forgot to call you, Mel). I hadn't had chicken and waffles for breakfast in a while, and it hit the spot. Later on, I met Mel and Ben at the Recovery Room to watch the AC Milan vs. Inter Milan game. AC won on a ridiculous cross from Kaka to Ronaldinho, who scored on an insane header in the upper 90. Then Ben, Mel, Brittany and I bike mobbed our way to the Green Fest on Marion Square. After that, Brittany, Ben and I went to the Battery game with Bochet. After getting back downtown, I met up with Lindsey for drinks, and rode my bike back home.

Monday, all that activity and exhaustion finally caught up with me, and I was feeling extra sick in the stomach. I stayed home and ate soup all day while trying to get hydrated. I feel kinda shitty for calling in sick on a Monday when I have the 9 am desk shift, but I don't regret doing it so big this weekend that I couldn't work. I haven't stopped smiling in two days. It's starting to strain my face muscles.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday Jams (Eventually, I'll post the whole De La Catalog Edition)

As the title of this post suggests, I'm still jamming De La Soul almost exclusively (with the exception of the Def Jux marathon this past weekend). My favorite song from Stakes Is High would be very hard to pick out, but I'm wide opin over Betta Listen. No youtube video, so you'll have to peep for yourself. I love when Dave says "Tried to enter in her shit, she had locks on the session. Tellin me how her last man taught her ass a lesson. Damn, well, not the mayor. I take care of my dimes, but I excluded I had nickels addin' up to her kind." So damn fly, but not as fly as when Posdnous says "Man, the flag was lowered, so my wood was raised. Followed a shielding of my building to protect me from the blaze. This granted access to southern parts of her borders. Did you have her comin?Like the new world order."

Enough quoting, here's some stuff to jam to. Peep out Jay-Z's Heart of the City from the Unplugged album. Jaguar Wright kills the "take em to church" breakdown. Peep:

Here's a pre-pubescent Michael Jackson singing the Bill Withers classic Ain't No Sunshine. Extra fly drums. Like, 7xl fly. Peep it out:

Finally, a song that should be the very definition of weekendsrealbig... De La Soul's Stone Age:

Big Ups to Bochet... check out how famous I am!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Some Of My Favorites From The Weekend

Every weekend seems to have a musical theme for me. This past weekend, I listened to Def Jux artists almost exclusively. First, I finally bought Aesop Rock's None Shall Pass on vinyl this weekend. Can't wait to play Citronella out. It's gonna kill the backpack headnod crowd. Peep:

My favorite song from the record is Catacomb Kids. Such a killer beat, lyrics are on point, the hook always brings it back to somewhat catchy (at least for Aes), and the ride out will break your neck... or at least put a dent in your car's headrest:

I also rediscovered Company Flow's dis track aimed at Sole from Anticon records. Check how El-P samples Sole trying to squash their beef over the phone and uses it against him for the aptly titled Linda Trip (snitchin on yourself over the phone, not knowing you're being taped... I see you, Monica Lewinsky):

Be sure to read the lyrics to Linda Trip while listening. El's flow is crazy dense, and his hundred bars a minute style is SO suited for battle rap. El's always so pissed, but rarely has a specific outlet to aim his anger at. I feel bad for Sole. Shouldn't ever have released Dear Elpee. Bad move. Also, it's a bad move to sound like a bitch-made dick rider when trying to squash beef that you started with an underground king/auteur/indelible MC. At least when Esoteric battled El, he truly battled, not just released a record to get his name out and then backpeddle when he realized he would get a response from a superior talent.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Friday Jams (De La Soul Is Dead Edition)

Since my De La SB Dunks are making their first appearance on my feet today; I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone reading this to purchase De La Soul's sophomore album, De La Soul Is Dead. All I'll say is, best hip-hop group ever. It shouldn't matter after that. Every album is classic in its own right. De La Soul Is Dead will flip your brain over tho.

Peep Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa:

The beat samples an ill guitar lick by Eddie Hazel from Funkadelic's I'll Stay (Standing on the Verge of Getting It On), and the opening vocal snippet from George Clinton comes from Funkadelic's Mommy, What's a Funkadelic (self-titled album). Also, if you dig I'll Stay, check out D'Angelo and Roy Hargrove's cover.

If anyone ever fronts like Pease Porridge isn't one of the funkiest, catchiest, neck-snapping beats ever produced; we'll have problems. Big ups to Prince Paul for this one... top 10 beats of all time. It's not even debateable. Peep:

And since no one has uploaded Afro Connections at a Hi-5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum) to youtube yet, I'll hit you off with a jam from AOI: Bionix... Trying People. Peep:

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Stuff I Dig On TV Right Now

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia starts back up tonight. I'm looking forward to that despite the fact that I don't have cable. If you're like me (you have high-speed internet but not cable), you might be interested to check out hulu.com. It's a great site where you can watch just about any show on basic cable (or network TV) for free with very limited commercial and underwriting advertisements. You have to sign up for an account if you want to watch things that are rated TV-MA, but it only takes a minute. Plus, you get all the free cable TV shows you want. Check out this link to peep full episodes for free, and/or check out a cool clip of Charlie from It's Always Sunny singing his original song Night Man:

Also, my favorite new show of the season so far is called Sons of Anarchy. It's from the creator of The Shield, and it's just as edgy and cool as that show. It's about a motorcycle club (commonly mistaken as a biker gang) and has a great cast. Definitely worth checking out. Peep the hulu link here to watch full episodes online for free.

big ups.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Friday Jams (Gettin over a Bad Mood Edition)

Here are some jams that can get you out of any bad mood... pull you out of any funk. I can't be touched when this first one comes on. Can't nothin bother me when I hear De La Soul's Sunshine:

Speaking of Sunshine, RAMP's Everybody Loves the Sunshine will smooth out any mood you could find yourself in. Peep:

And finally, check out Big L's Day One Live from Amsterdam. Now that's being hard. No acting there. Peep:

weekendsrealbig... housepartieswithdjsrealbig

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Kanye Rumors Abound

Big ups to Eddie (always on that new shit, once again).

Rumors of a new Kanye West album are poppin off. The alleged title is "808's and Heartbreak." And already, speculation is bubbling about how much the Louis Vuitton Don is gonna use the auto tune/vocoder effect to do that robot croon he's been using lately on all these hard ass 808 beats. Don't know what I'm talkin bout?

Peep Jeezy's I Put On For My City:

Sidenote: big ups to Jeezy for "inside fish sticks outside tarter sauce," but Kanye's "Lemme see what we have tonight, I'm high as a satellite" has gotten every dance floor in the country wide opin. I haven't seen more dudes singin off key with their eyes closed since Jay's I Just Wanna Love You.

Also, on the 808 and auto tune steez, how bout the Lollipop Remix?

I'm not worried about it. I know most people hate on the vocoder singing, but I see why everybody's doing it. Lemme tell you, in hip-hop, it's a good idea to make a club banger that sounds like another club banger. That may seem counterintuitive for these creative producers and MCs, but for lazy DJ's (as in, most of the cats you hear live on the radio here in Charleston or see sippin vodka drinks with a sweater on while everyone else is dancing) it's easy to play I Put On For My City followed by Lil Wayne's You Ain't Got Nothin because of the similarities in the use of the vocoder and the hard drums.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Blueprint III Update

You may remember from this post that Jay-Z is working on The Blueprint III to be released in the near future (let's hope it's still the winter's turn). Since we already know about Jockin Jay-Z/Dope Boy Fresh, I figured I would follow the story and post the newest jam to get leaked from the album; Swagger Like Us. The beat is by Kanye (who also has the lead verse) and samples M.I.A.'s Paper Planes. After Kanye, you get Hov, Wayne, and T.I. Every verse is better than the previous, but I especially like when Wayne says "I got stripes, A-Di-Das." Also, this is the best fan-made video I've seen for a song this commercial in a long time. Peep:

Seriously, these four cats on one song? And everyone on-upping each other's verse? It's crazy. Apparently, this song will be on T.I.'s Paper Trail album, but there are reports that it will also be on Blueprint III. I'm opin either way.

I found out about this song via a conversation with Eddie (always up on that new new shit), Mel, and Will. Eddie said that it was a good look for T.I., who had admitted to slacking off and freestyling on album cuts lately. That may be true, but I think he was dumbing down to hit that wide audience. Really, listen to his vocab on that last verse. Also, check the lyrics out via the direct link. Lots of four and five syllable words, which you don't hear to much in hip-hop. Also, I dig Wayne's line "my jew-els, blue and yellow. Type a shit that make em call you Carmelo." Clever, sir.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

(Early) Friday Jams: De La Hurricane Edition

The library is closed tomorrow due to the impending storm, so I figured I'd hit you off with the usual steezy Friday jams post a day earlier than usual (I only write blog posts while at work to pass the time).

I'm all about De La Soul right now. So much so, that I just purchased some very rare De La Dunks online. They should be on my feet in time for next Friday. Peep:

Also, peep out a great intro to the De La mentality... the press kit for their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising where they were being pigeon-holed into being "hippie-hop":
And check out some of my favorite jams... such as In the Woods:
And The Bizness ft. Common:
And finally, the War sampling Potholes in My Lawn:
weekendsrealruddy... do it big