Killer Mike "Killionare"

Damn. Internet goes fast.

I was out doing a day in the life type story (coming out soon)on Killer Mike on Friday and we all went by Big Oomp Records off Campbellton Road. He owed DJ Jelly a freestyle for his upcoming mixtape and he wound up giving him one that's easily worth about 5. Mike ended up rapping over Lil Wayne's "A Millie" beat. Me personally, was tired of hearing niggas rap over the beat. But whats funny is that me and Mike had a convo about the commentors out there in the blogosphere thirsting for him to hop on the beat. Wishes were granted.

In the rap Mike said that he's "bout ready to go Pimp C part 3" and he pretty much did. Really, Mike went 2Pac "Hit Em Up" on them. Making that photo I took of him rapping all but too appropriate. The question everybody is going to ask about these rhymes is "who is Mike talking to." Granted, he speaks on alot of things in the rap, but if you take it for what it is, he ain't just, solely going at other people. Dude is attacking spirits, straight up.

The next few days are going to be very interesting. Mike has a video for his song "Pressure" with Ice Cube which is surely going to ruffle some feathers while these other rappers are out here having pillow fights. Then on July 8th, his album I Pledge Allegiance To the Grind 2 drops (more on that later).

But yeah, I was saying that the internets work fast because me and Mike were going to leak it on Friday, but the internet was down where I was at, so we agreed to go ahead and just leak it first thing Monday morning with a little propaganda attached. Then like 5 minutes ago I saw Shake had got it from Southern Style DJ HotSauce...with a video included. When I saw buddy whip out the Flip, I shoulda known what was up.

Anyways, Mike killed this beat and no one after him should bother hopping on it. The beat is a carcass at this point. Seeing and hearing him spit this reminded me of Jay-Z's line on "1,2 Ya'll" when he said "no disrespect intended, but if you're offended/I can't take it back, handle your business." Seeing has how Hip Hop is full of hit hollering dogs nowadays, I wonder what's gonna be said after this freestyle spreads.

DJ Jelly & Killer Mike-"Killionare"

Related Posts:

Killer Mike Interview @ XXLMag.com

Killer Mike Interview @ Urban News Network

Wal-Mart Is Dangerous...

I'm sure I'm not saying anything new to ya'll, but damn, Wal-Mart is dangerous! I've known of how dangerous this place was since my college days, but last night, I got reminded of just how easy it is to walk into that place and spend ten times what you planned on spending.

Last night I walked in there with intentions of only getting a car freshener. You know, one of the ones that can fit inside the cup holder. That's all. Then I got overcome with something I'm going to call Wal-Martosis.

Wal-Martosis is that feeling of "might as well" that comes over you when you start walking around the store and just start picking up shit. Before you know it, you are at the register spending money on stuff you didn't even need.

After I picked up my car freshener, I walked down the aisle and saw leather seat protector spray. I figured, hey, I could use some of that, so I picked it up. I walked further down the aisle and saw UV Ray deflectors for my car, you know, those things you put in the windshield to protect the interior and keep heat out of the car. Since it's hot as hell in the A right now, I figured I could use one. Plus that along with my new leather seat protector spray would work wonders, so I picked one up. When I finally got out of the car aisle I walked past the clothes department. Eff what you heard, Wal-Mart got the V-neck T's for the lowsky wowsky. They come in an assortment of colors too, so I picked up a crayon grey and dark heather grey t-shirt. When I got out that section, I thought to myself, "hmmm, I don't eat breakfast like I should, let me go get some cereal." So, I go to the cereal aisle and get some. I already had milk at the house, but you can't have breakfast without orange juice, so I had to go get some of that.

After picking that up, I started making my way to the check out line, but before I got there, I walked past a display selling Vitamin Waters for $1. That price looked attractive because even though they weren't cold, they were still .69 cents cheaper than what they go for at the gas station. I figured I could stock up on some and save money. But then it hit me....

I ain't saving no money buying shit I don't fucking need! What kind of sense does that make? You see something that you don't need on sale for $1, but buy it anyway because it cost more elsewhere. Yeah, you saving .69 cents, but you spending a dollar. That's ass backwards. At that point, I realized I had got infected with Wal-Martosis.

Immediately, I looked at what was in my hands and saw everything BUT what I came to get in the first place.

Why in the hell did I have leather seat protector spray? Can't I just wipe the seats down with lotion? (bootleg I know, but it works)

Why did I have a UV Ray protector? Can't I just park in the shade?

Why did I have two grey t-shirts? (fugg it, I really wanted those)

Why did I have cereal when my day usually starts at lunch time?

Why did I have a whole got damn gallon of orange juice like I had a wife and kids to feed?

Why the hell was I buying room temperature Vitamin Water?


When I started asking myself those questions, I promptly started putting all of that shit back. I came into Wal-Mart expecting to spend $2, and would have wound up spending damn near $40. That's crazy.

So, I put everything back and kept the car freshener I came for and the t-shirts. Even with that, why was I buying car freshener from Wal-Mart? But, hey, fugg it.

When I finally got to the checkout line, I was standing behind a guy with two handfuls of stuff. I noticed him from when I first walked in. He ran past me going to the birthday card section. I looked like he was in a rush since he ran out of that section when he found what he needed. But here he was, standing in front of me in line damn near 30 minutes later.

Let me tell ya'll what this dude had in his hands:

The birthday card he ran inside for

A bag of lettuce

A blanket

A pair of shoes

Odor Eaters

A pair of jeans

and get this...

A big ass Atlas Map


Where the hell do you find an Atlas Map in Wal-Mart? Shied, you'd need a map for that alone.

Standing behind him, I noticed he had a familiar look on his face. It was the same look I had on mines minutes ago. He realized that he had succumbed to Wal-Martosis. He started looking at the stuff in his hands like "why the fuck do I have all of this stuff?"

Unfortunately, he was already in line and he didn't want to lose his spot, so he couldn't go back and put some of the stuff back. But, he damn sure tried to lay some of it on the candy stand. Especially that Atlas Map. He tried to sit it on top of the boxes of Nerds and M&Ms, but it wouldn't stay in place, it kept sliding down. After while, he just said fugg it and held on to it. Damn, he got Wal-Martosis and could do nothing about it.

As the cashier rang up his stuff and his total got higher, his face sunk lower and lower as each item was swiped. Finally, he wound up swiping his card and paying damn near $80 on shit he obviously didn't really need.

When I saw that, I started looking around at the other folks in line and saw that everybody had handfuls of stuff, that I assume, they didn't really need. I mean, next time you go to Wal-Mart, just look at what stuff have with them when they are standing in line. None of it goes together.

See, when you're at the grocery store, you usually have a goal in mind and what's in your shopping cart reflects that goal.

If you are planning on cooking breakfast, you will have eggs, bacon, grits, juice.

If you are planning on baking a cake, you will have cake mix, milk and whatever else.

Man, Wal-Mart, you just in there buying shit.

The girl behind me in line had a bottle of Ajax, a box of Capri Sun and some flip flops. Another person had a straw hat, Flavor of Love Season 3 DVD, batteries and some got damn green socks. The hell?

Seeing that, I felt good knowing that I had put all that crap back in its proper place and came out spending under $10. Granted I came to spend $2 and spent like $7, my Wal-Martosis gap was only $5. That dude in front of me and these other folks was gonna be double, triple and even 4 times as much as that.

Do ya'll feel me on this one? Have any of ya'll ever been infected with this disease? If you have even been infected with Wal-Martosis and overcome, please share your experiences. If you still suffer from its symptoms, please share those experiences as well. I know I'm not the only one with this story/problem. Together, we can help each other fight this.

Totally Crossed Out

Ladies and gents, meet Jason Otter. He is a point guard trainer/coach. If you follow his advice, this instructional video will give you immediate results. However, if you want the best results possible, you have to include the grunts, just like Jason. You will also have to instruct your opponent to stand completly still, just like the chairs.

Black Women Are Beautiful

This was easily the best part of the BET Awards last night. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not a star gazer, but shit...at this point, I'm not ashamed to say I'm infatuated with Alicia Keys. She just keeps getting finer and finer. And I love the fact that speaks on issues and stands for causes when she gets the chance.

Her performance where she brought out SWV, En Vogue (who are still fine too, I saw them live at the MAZE concert two weekends ago) and TLC was great. A much needed shot of estrogen and classy women in the show. If you missed it, I posted the video for you to marvel at.

I was gonna do a semi-breakdown of the rest of the show, but I didn't want to sully this post with all that.

She Plays Like A Girl

So I was reading ESPN today and came across this story. Honestly, I haven't even read the whole story, I got caught up in watching the video that's embedded in it. This is by far some of the craziest shit I've ever seen. This chick, Britney Griner of Texas, plays, talks, dunks and damn near looks like a dude. If I was a parent of a kid on the other team, I'd demand some doctor's records to see if there's some unfair advantage going on. This chick looks like she's gonna be the truth, I'm talking some ol Carmelo Anthony shit. I'm not at a loss for words, I'm just at a loss of how to say them.

The Return of Shaq Fu

Via Nah Right

Shaq is rapping again.

Biggie (R.I.P.) wasn't around to write his rhymes this time, but seeing how Shaq kept name dropping him in this freestyle, he must have been there in spirit. But yeah, keypoints in this video are when he disses Kobe for not being able to win a championship without him and ratting him about about his extramarital affairs, funny stuff.

I reminds me of when I used to cover the Hawks and have access to the locker rooms after the games. I used to wait for all the other reporters to get their questions in so I could have the player to myself and ask him about shit other than stats.

When the Heat came to town back around 2005, Shaq was new to the team. This was also around the time when he and his dude Corey Gunz (Peter Gunz' son, who is nice by the way) were actually entangled in a word of words with Skillz, and get this, Ben Wallace. Yeah, that Ben Wallace.

So I asked him about that, and he was just said he wasn't gonna be involved in it too much longer "ima just sic my little nigga on him." Then I asked him about Kobe and every bit of New Jersey came out of him when he said "I don't fucks with Kobe dawg. Fuck that nigga man. That nigga, pppppssssh." Man, ESPN and all those other outlets would have killed for that quote, but I had it.

Unfortunately my place of employment at the time saw no use for it. And then on top of that, I think I was still using tape recorders for my interviews, and I had not yet got fully introduced to the wonders of the blog world where you could upload audio from home and blast that shit to world. Too bad.

He's Baaaaaack

Just in case it slid past you, Don Imus returned to radio last November. Today, after keeping a relatively low profile, he got back to his old tricks again.

When the shows topic switched to NFL player Adam "Don't Call Me Pacman No'mo" Jones and his many arrests, Imus asked "What color is he?" When his co-host said "he's African American" Imus replied to the effect of "well, that explains it." You can listen for yourself here:



Ok. In hindsight of the Rutgers Women's Basketball team comments, I've heard people go from being outraged over the "nappy headed hoes" comments to actually being like "well, them broads did look kinda rough when you think about it." That may be true, but "nappy headed hoe" crossed the line. If you gonna call some chicks ugly, just call them that, ugly.

With this Pacman Jones comment, I don't really know how I feel. Its not like Imus said anything that we haven't in our own households. Think about it. When you go to work or talk with friends, and someone brings up something like "yo, did you hear on the news about that dude who {insert crazy crime here}." You'd be lying if you never responded "what color was he?" or "was it a brotha?" or "White dude wasn't it?"

Don't act like when you hear about some psycho killer who got caught stuffing his victims into Dell computer boxes or someshit, you don't assume "white dude wasn't it?" Don't act like when you hear about some cat opening fire at a pool hall on the Southside, you don't say something like "man, niggas man." Don't act like you wasn't surprised when you found out that the D.C. Sniper looked more like dude from down the street than he did the Unibomber.

So that being said, should folks really get overly upset about what Imus said this time around? I'm not siding with dude at all, but still. Was it that bad? Would folks get upset if Steve Harvey asked if Scott Peterson was White after hearing about him?

F*ck School

"F*ck School"-Convicts, Rap-A-Lot, 1991 (song seemed appropriate)

Highly touted 18-year old hoopstar Brandon Jennings is about to switch the game up on ya'll.

And you know what, I ain't mad at him, not one bit. I've had a wishy-washy opinion when it came to high school players enterting the NBA.

One part of me doesn't want to keep a young man from achieving his goal and realizing his dream of playing pro basketball. I mean, there are plenty of 18-year olds who choose to either work at Pep Boys or join the Army, and that's their dream. I mean, if you can choose to live up under cars and duck and dodge gunfire, I don't see why you can't let a nigga play basketball.

But then the other side of me, the highlight thirsty part of me, wants to see grown men on the court. I don't want to see underdeveloped tweeners spend years getting adjusted.

But man, if Jennings decides to stick it to the man like that, man, you're about to see alot of young brothas start getting passports.

I'm all for education, so I'm hoping Jennings will take some classes of some sort while out there or later in life. But, I don't really agree with the NBA and NCAA drafting up rules essentially forcing these kids into slavery, er, college basketball.

Do you like this potential move? I think the author of this article, Mr. Rhoden made a good point in saying that traveling overseas, being groomed by older gentlemen, being exposed to new cultures and perhaps learning a new language is a better "education" than going to college for one year and hardly going to class.

Shied, I love Fort Valley and all, but if I had the choice to either go to France, Spain or Fort Valley at age 18...shied, most of ya'll woundn't even know me.

In Memory of Young Buck

Well, in case you haven't heard, Young Buck is the laughing stock of rap world because of his highly emotional call to his pimp, er, boss 50 Cent. Sad shit indeed. I wanted to speak on this at length, but something told me to hurry up and just post this classic Dave Chappelle routine. Man, this shit is soooo appropriate. Maybe Buck should apply Dave's advise to his own life.

Sorry Ya'll...

I know its been a week since I've posted something. It's not because I don't have anything to say. Please believe, I've got plenty. I just haven't had the time. I got work to do. So...enjoy this Kool Moe Dee in my absence. I'll be back on it sooner than you think.

The Real John McCain

This video compilation shows that John McCain is a got damn liar, in case you didn't know already. I'm not sure how many McCain supporters visit this site, so me posting this may be like preaching to the choir. But, if you know any McCain supporters (who aren't got damn liars theirdamnselves), please show them this. That said, I don't think I even know any McCain supporters, that may be problem. I need to find out where they hang in the streets and on the web so I can start spreading this gospel. The end of this video says send this to one person and tell them to send it to ten others so....make it do what it do.

WEEZYWATCH!

Pam Anderson wishes she got as much attention is Wayne is right now.



Well, the day has finally came. Lil Wayne's highly-anticipated and over-hyped The Carter 3 album is finally coming out. Hopefully this means the end of the 24/7 coverage we've been seeing on this guy. I understand you got to give the people what they want but GOT DAMN! We need to find some more people, surely the entire world doesn't want to ONLY read and hear about Lil' Wayne.

I myself was never a big Lil Wayne fan, Juvi and B.G. were my favorite Hot Boyz (pause?), but I always respected Wayne's flow, especially when he used to have to stretch his vocab as a youngin' because he couldn't curse.

My younger brother would always try to put me up on his stuff during the Squad Up days, and I'll admit, some of that stuff was dope, hell, it was better than most if not all of his album material. But I was accustomed to listening to what I was already bumping around that time, so Weezy wasn't really a listening priority for me.

I enjoyed most of the The Carter, it was dope. But I think what made me really start paying attention to dude was that first Dedication. I really must have liked that CD because I remember where I bought it (R.I.P VIBE's in Downtown Decatur) and I remember listening to it on repeat that following weekend down in Miami when me and some friends (whaddup D.K. and L.L.) painted the town red.

Since then though, I only paid attention to Wayne just to stay aware. I can't say that I've just throughly enjoyed everything he's put out since then. Mainly because its been on overload. Anyone who knows me will tell you, I usually don't like shit that comes in abundance. I mean, I think I might have been the only nigga in my crew to not go goo-goo gaa-gaa over J.Lo when she was the hot shit. Yeah, I was feeling her when she would pop up every once in a while, but when I started seeing her more than the McDonald's arches, I kinda lost interest. Same goes for Beyonce.

Don't get me wrong, I know that Wayne still drops some hot shit, but I think most of the music listeners out there like dude only because he's always there. Weezy's music is like celery at a BBQ. You don't go to the BBQ just to eat celery, but 9 times out of 10, that's what's gonna be there the most. So, when nigga eat up all the chicken and ribs, you just start eating the celery because its there for you. Weezy's music is always there, so niggas eat it up, even if they don't really want to.

That said, I think folk love Wayne so much because really (correct me if I'm wrong), him and 50 Cent are two rappers that blew up around the same time that the internet really started having an impact on the record business. I mean yeah, Outkast, Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, Nelly, etc where all there too, but they was there a little bit before the internet put a chokehold on the game. So folks was still accustomed to having to buy what those guys put out.

An artist like Wayne came at a time when folks was starting to find random shit on Napster, Morpheus, Limewire and obscure music forums. Plus, most of his fanbase is either his age or younger, meaning they are that "information overload" generation I've talked about in the past. Just like their favorite rapper who once said "feed me rappers or feed me beats"...all they know is CONSUME CONSUME CONSUME CONSUME CONSUME...whether its media, food or "nigga technology" like ringtones and shit.

Another reason I think the world is on WeezyWatch is because dude is the first rapper we've seen grow from being a talented child into an adult superstar. His fans feel like they've been a part of his entire life, thus, they feel like they actually know him. Most child rappers fall off by the time they become adults. That or they just get lame as hell. So Wayne is a rarity in that regard.

Can you name the last entertainer we saw grow from a child prodigy into an adult phenomenon?



Which brings me to my next thought. Do you think Wayne is gonna end up like Mike? I'm not asking if you think he gonna start hanging out with monkeys and old women and touching on little boys. But I am saying that Wayne's erratic behavior through interviews and what we read about in the news is kinda similar to how Mike manages to keep himself in the public eye.

Think about it, through the course of his career our conversations about Mike have changed drastically. I went from "yo, you heard that new Michael Jackson song? You seen the video?" to "yo...what the fuck is up with Mike, that nigga is trippin' dawg."

The same shit is going on with Wayne. Niggas used to be like "man, you heard that new Weezy? No, not that one. No not that one. No not that one. Yeah, that one." to "man, what the fuck do this nigga be talking about? The fuck is this nigga doing? He need to lay off that shit. That nigga is crazy."

But yeah, thats about it. I don't write about Lil Wayne often. I actually make a concious effort not to. Its enough other folks writing about him that one more voice really isn't needed. But I just had to go ahead and get this out of my system. Anyways, enjoy the rest of Weezy day/week/month/season/year. Because even though the album is finally here, something tells me WeezyWatch is about to kick into overdrive, which I really didn't think was possible.

The Man Behind the Madness

Early this morning word broke out about a controversial art exhibit entitled "The Assassination of Barack Obama." Here is text from the news story:

A controversial art exhibit was raided and shut down before it could be viewed in NYC yesterday.

According to the NY Times blog: Cityroom, Boston-born performance artist, Yazmany Arboleda, tried to set up a provocative art exhibition in a vacant storefront on West 40th Street in Midtown Manhattan with the title, "The Assassination of Hillary Clinton/The Assassination of Barack Obama".

The artist thought his racist views were protected under the Constitution because he was expressing himself through his art. Wrong.

Not 30 minutes after Arboleda set up the gallery across the street from the New York Times building, police, feds and secret service swooped in to shut the art exhibit down. While police covered the offensive storefront window with brown paper, Arboleda was led away in handcuffs to be "interrogated".

Arboleda, 27, learned the hard way that freedom has its limits. Later, in an interview, he said: "It's art. It's not supposed to be harmful. It's about character assassination — about how Obama and Hillary have been portrayed by the media." He added, "It's about the media."


Here some pictures from it:













Hmmmm. What do I think about this? In fairness to dude, he also had an exhibit called "The Assassination of Hilary Clinton" as well, so both of them caught it. But of course, the Obama one is gonna catch the most flack.

I mean, I'm not an artist, well, yes I am in a way. Either way, I have an appreciation of artistic expression and license. When I heard about this display, I thought I was going to be appalled. Especially judging from how people were reacting on the Warren Ballentine show and blog today. Then when I saw the pics, I wasn't as enraged as I thought I would be.

Call me crazy, but...I kinda see where buddy was trying to go with this. After all, its been the media putting the idea out there that something might happen to Obama if he's elected. Its been the media promoting the "is he black or black enough" ideologies since he declared. As far as the Black penis pictures go, I want to say that ol' boy might be trying to show that most White Americans are scared to death of the thought of a Black man running the country. Much like prejudiced whites in the past were scared to death of crazed, overtly sexual, well endowed Black men wanting their women and raping them of their "pureness."

As far as the "Nappy Headed Hoes" picture. Yeah, that's done in poor taste, he should not have used a picure of Barack's daughters for that. At the same time though, I'd like to think that the artist was trying to show that Don Imus' remarks and view of Black women is shared by many. In addition to that, "the media" which includes any company with the capital and reach to influence through mass marketing, has been very instrumental in bombarding young Black girls with derogatory images of themselves, leading many of them to think that its ok to grow up and become a "nappy headed hoe."

I've been saying for years that Character Assassination is the new assassination. I wasn't around in the 60's but, I highly doubt that the news was constantly talking about Martin Luther King being adulterous, John Kennedy banging Marylin Monroe or that Malcolm X ate pig feet and pork chops in his spare time. Back then, if you were a threat, you just got taken out.

Since people were alot more active back then, they would raise hell when shit like that happened. Fearful that the people might get a little too strong, the powers that be stopped killing leaders off. Instead they just got them strung out on dope or assassinated their character.

Think about it, if your leader was killed tomorrow, you'd be inclined to raise some hell afterwards. Now, if you find out that your leader was cheating on his wife and getting women pregnant, you're more prone to stop fucking with them altogether, giving up hope in them and their message altogether.

That's why I never feared anything happening to Obama. That's dumb nigger talk anyway. Niggas talking about "they gonna kill him" sound like scared slaves to me. But, you notice, they've thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Obama since he entered the presidential race. But what fucked them up is that he beat them to the dirt by putting most of it out himself. That's why they keep popping up with preachers and shit. If the media and powers that be can get enough people to not believe in him and question his character, their mission is accomplished.

Sorry, I'm rambling again. Anyway, how do ya'll feel about this exhibit? Do you think he had good intention at sparking dialogue and thought, but just fucked it up? Or do you think he's an idiot, racist or whatever you want to call him?

After visiting the artist's blog and seeing what talks about and does, he just strikes me as one of those middle of the road folks that accepts everything and criticizes it at the same time. You know, one of those "it is what it is" types that just presents information to make YOU think with out necessarily asking them what THEY think, because half the time they have no clue either.

But, in defense of the artist, he's been planning the shit for months and he thoroughly explained it last-October on his blog when he said:

The exhibits will be composed of imagery that speaks to how during the campaign trail for the presidency both Obama and Hillary have had their character 'assassinated.' The choice of words for the titles is absolutely intentional. It is through systematic consumerism that the American populace goes through celebrities and political leaders like they go through big Macs. It seems to me that we are amassing a history filled with corrupt leaders and dysfunctional celebrities, reflecting the fact a society that digests information and food in much the same way a microwave heats up food rather than cooks it. We are made hungry by a parade of empty calories through a socio-political system unwilling to trade in its capital for substance.

The work that will be created for these two exhibits is bold, unapologetic, and offensive. Each piece is made to make you feel uncomfortable. It is all very intentional.

Judging from the words people are using to express their disgust with the exhibit, I think alot of people are assuming that the "Boston-born artist" was a Nazi White Boy, thus making them feel like their misguided anger is justifiable. But, as you can see, he's far from it. What do ya'll think, I really want to hear ya'll on this.

Its the Skinny Skinny Skinny...

Kingpin Skinny Pimp feat. 3-6 Mafia-"One Life to Live"



WOW. Up until 5 minutes ago, I never knew they had a video for this song. Kingpin Skinny Pimp's King of the Playas Ball album was one of the many soundtracks of my teenaged life in 1996. It came out in the Sping of 96, perhaps my favorite year ever. I was in 10th grade, had my own money, was buying my own shit, was feeling more confident about myself, girls was calling me cute and shit. I landed a cool job at the Olympics that year too. Yeah, I really enjoyed those times.

I still own this CD, its one of the few that I never let out of my sight. I had always knew about Skinny through some of my older homeboys and a classmate who transferred to my school down from Memphis. One thing about those old school 3-6 Mafia/Underground Memphis rap fans is that they owned EVERYTHING. I rememember niggas coming to school with a bookbag full of Maxell tapes with niggas named DJ Paul, Juicy J and Da Scarecrow rapping on them. Some of that shit was tight, not all of it though.

But, one thing I always liked about those underground tapes was how Paul and J would flip a sample and throw their trademarked high hats and bass on it. Cats on the East Coast was all up on RZA's nuts for his sampling abilities like he was the only one capable of doing it. Niggas Down South was doing it too, and better sometimes, don't get it twisted brah.

Anyways, "One Life To Live" is one of my favorite songs on the King of the Playas Ball CD. Its also the first track and does a good job in setting the tone for the rest of the album. To me this was easily Skinny's best album, mainly because DJ Paul and Juicy J handled all of the production. I mean, he had some other alright albums, but Skinny always dissapointed me because he'd use the same verses on different albums, as if he figured niggas wasn't buying his shit and wouldn't know. Thats wack, but what's funny is that rappers nowadays will spit a verse on Rap City, then on a DVD, then on mixtape, then on a feature and just might still put the shit on their album...without thinking twice about it. I guess Skinny was ahead of his time.

About this video, um, isssaaight. The fact that I never saw it before is what's got me amped. As the homie Noz just told me, this shit is grimey as hell. It kinda reminds me of Snoop's "Murder Was the Case" video, but this shit is way more slummer. The edited version of the song kinda takes away from the overall feel and story in the song too.

I'm laughing at DJ Paul's perm and Juicy J's herringbone necklace. That's some Memphis shit for real. Those dudes don't even look the same anymore.

Anyways, if you been a Triple Six fan (notice I didn't say "three six mafia") for a minute, you'll probably appreciate this find. If you kinda got onto them post-"Sippin On Syrup" eh, you prolly won't understand.

The Quicker Fixer Upper

When I got this issue of SI at the crib some months ago I took it as the NBA and the media pretty much planting its flag in the ground and predicting not only who they wanted to see in the Finals, but fugg it, who they were sending there.

While watching last night's game, I couldn't help but to feel shafted. Well, not shafted, because this is obviously going to be a great series. I guess its better to say I felt had. This whole thing seems fixed and planned to me. Hear me out...

Ever since the "Hip Hop generation" "infiltrated" the NBA with tatoos, legal issues, baggy clothes and on-court brawls, people and random fat bastids in the media have been going on and on about how the NBA as a product is going down the tubes. I myself have never really had an issue with the NBA's image. I watch the game, not all the other shit that goes on around it.

The only problems I've had with the league in recent years is when they try to force feed me pop culture during the games, timeouts and halftimes. I like to look at the ladies as much as the next man, but got damn though...watching basketball is how I escape seeing the Eva Longoria's and Beyonce's of the world. Please leave me be. Judging from how Philly fans booed the hell out of Destiny's Child at the 2001 Finals, I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Also, the only other problem I've had is with the influx of high school players they were just letting in. I've never been on the side where I thought it was cool to tell an 18-year that he can't come in the league. I mean, if you can enlist in the Army and get shot at, got dammit, you can shoot a basketball. But as a fan of the game, I started getting tired of seeing high school players get drafted and pretty much get on-the-job training. When I tune into a game, I don't want to see teenagers learning how to play, I want to see grown ass men hooping.

But yeah, anyways...people were complaining about the product the NBA was putting on the court. That's why they hyped up Lebron, Melo and them. To try and get casual fans to realize that Michael Jordan (the good one at least), Magic and Larry Bird was not walking through that door.

Then last year, the NBA hit two major lows...

The 2007 NBA Finals was the worst ever. That shit was boring as hell. You had the slow ass Spurs going against the fluke Cavaliers. I don't care how good Lebron is, even he couldn't save that trainwreck of a series. I think they said it had the lowest television ratings ever.

Then, in the off-season, amidst the steroids hunt in baseball and the NFL's struggles with player conduct, the NBA found itself embroiled in a corrupt referee scandal. All that was gonna do was chase fans away in the same vein that baseball and now football was alienating theirs.

Horrible Finals + Corrupt Referee Scandal = OH SHIT! WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS SHIT...NOW!

What was that something?

Well, the first was that lopsided Kevin Garnett trade. The Celtics traded 5 players ranging from aight to expendable, cash and two first round draft picks to the Timberwolves for perhaps the fiercest competitor in the game. That's alot going on, hell, my brother told me when he tried to do that shit on NBA Live to update his rosters, the game wouldn't even let him do it. People tried to act like the fact that Timberwolves GM Kevin McHale and Celtics GM Danny Ainge used to be teammates didn't have anything to do with it, whatever man. If that's not back scratching, I don't know what is.

The other something was another lopsided trade. Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies to the Lakers for 4 players and two draft picks. Once again, this shit would not fly on the Xbox.

Both of these are virtually the same trade. Add that to the Celts picking up Ray Allen and the Lakers picking up Derek Fisher and you have all the makings of two superteams on a collision course to the championship. Thus, you have a Lakers vs. Celtics Finals for the first time in 21 years.

And man, let me tell you, the NBA is milking this cow until its bone dry. All season I've seen old Celtic clips of Bill Russel, Larry Bird and Bob Cousy. Shied, I even saw a "I Am A Celtic" special on ESPN halfway into the season. They also showed that Garnett Gatorade commercial on every timeout. Why did they do all of that?

I mean, if the NBA was hell bent on walking us back through the 80s, why didn't they promote the Pistons more? I mean, if they can show Garnett and Russell talking to each other, why not Chauncy Billups and Isiah Thomas or Rasheed Wallace and Rick Mahorn? I mean, I know why persay, but still. They could have made their intentions less obvious don't you think?

Then, when I was watching the game last night, they did the little Playoffs Split-Face thing with Magic and Bird. OH CMON! Can we stop with the jock-riding already. I mean, appreciate nostalgia too. But what if this turned out to be a Pistons-Spurs Finals. Do you think they would done the same with Bob Lanier and George Gervin? Hell naw.

Too make this long story short, I think this year's match-up is fixed. Re-creating a Lakers vs. Celtics Finals is just what the doctor ordered. The NBA needed a popularity boost among casual fans old enough to be at least familiar with the rivalry and baby-boomers who remember every detail of it. Those my friends are the fans with the money and power. These young whipper-snappers cheering for LeBron and Iverson don't hold any rank. Plus, people like to be reminded of the good ol' days. People are pissed off right now, they want something to remind them of better days. For some, the days of Magic vs. Bird or even the days of Russell, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, John Havlicek, conjure up images of a better life and better times.

I'm telling you, that's what the NBA is doing with this series. They've created a reality fantasy for all of those who want to enjoy the ride. And oh yeah, get money, boost sales, increase ratings and look good in the process.

Lloyd feat. Lil Wayne-"Girls Around the World"

This song jams, its been in the deck for months. I'm glad they wised up and put this out because that song and video he put out with Luda was lame as hell. Got damn that shit was lame as hell. That shit was so lame that when I went on youtube to try and find a link and prove its corniness, that shit was GONE! They yanked it from existence!

This vid is pretty cool though, even though that Mona Lisa thing Lloyd got going with his hair freaks me out a little. I've heard Mona was a man anyway, but still, shit is kinda scary.

Damon, if you out there, let me know something...niggas can still afford Hype Williams videos? Did he go down on his price?

Uncle Tom's Cabin

There are a lot more powerful, direct words, especially ones that start with "A" that I'd like to use when talking about folks like Bob Johnson and Hillary Clinton. But, the truth is, I've been hearing my phone clicking and I've been getting emails from pretty powerful people asking me "what's your phone number" and "what are you up to on {this day}". Am I getting tapped or some shit? I ain't even saying shit really, not like that.

But anyway. I just had to share the latest example of Bob Johnson's Uncle Tom Foolery. This fool, hours and probably minutes after Obama became the "presumptive" Democratic Presidential Nominee last night, stayed up and wrote a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus urging them to push Obama to select Hillary Clinton to be his Vice-President. Here is the letter addressed to to House Majority Whip James Clyburn.

Dear Jim:

Now that you have endorsed Senator Obama as the Presidential Nominee of the Democratic Party; I, as a long-time supporter of Senator Clinton and of the Democratic Party, urge you to do everything possible to unify this party to win the Presidential election in November. For me and millions of other Democrats, I believe that the most important step that you can take now is to encourage the Congressional Black Caucus to urge Senator Obama to select Senator Hillary Clinton as his Vice Presidential running mate.

As a businessman I understand the vitally important role that a Democratic President can play in establishing programs and policies throughout the government that stimulate and support economic opportunities for African Americans. As African Americans we agree that the stakes in this election are far too high to take any chances that this party will not be unified from the top to the bottom in our effort to gain control of The White House.

You know as well as I the deep affection that millions of African Americans hold for both Senator Clinton and President Clinton. You also know that Hillary Clinton has been a long-term advocate for racial and gender equality, from her early days as a lawyer with the Children Defense Fund to her prominent leadership roles on these issues as First Lady and as Senator from New York. But most important, we need to have the certainty of winning; and, I believe, without question, that Barack Obama as President and Hillary Clinton as Vice President bring that certainty to the ticket.

Jim, as the highest ranking African American in Congress, I encourage you to follow your commitment to build a unified party by helping to make this a historic election of Senators Obama and Clinton who both have demonstrated that they have the courage and the ability to inspire and lead this nation to greatness today and for years in the future.

Warm regards,

Bob Johnson

Now, I'm not hating anyone who supported Hillary during the campaign, you have a right to choose who you want. But, at this point, anyone supporting Hillary in her reluctance to fall the fuck back is just as selfish as she is. Hillary's behavior as of late is nothing more than her true White Entitlement colors and arrogance coming through. Both of the Clinton's are comfortable with Black people as long as they are above them and using them for hired help.

Sure, they will invite you to speak at their functions. They'll even come to your house and act like they are having a good time. Shied, they'll get so comfortable in your crib they'll fall asleep.

In order for this country to move forward and better its perception in the world, we have to do away with all of the old reminders, Clinton's included. If and when Obama takes office I'm sure he will do away with alot of the people that's been eating good over the last 20 years. Keeping Clinton in there will keep the door open for these fat cats to keep eating because she is one of them.

Is It Worth It To You?

Ok, all of us are getting our ass kicked at the gas pump right now. I mean, I be straight muggin' when I pump my gas now and I'm sure you're doing the same. Its so bad that bums don't even come up on you like they used to anymore. Pump my gas, hell no! How about chip in nigga?!?

Anyways, I've been trying to think of ways to be more economic when it comes to my driving and fuel usage, especially since I have to use high-grade gas. I've cut back on my trips, I'm starting to plan ahead, I don't go out as much, I cleaned out my trunk, keep my tires filled, drive slower and I do all thats in my power to avoid traffic, which is hard to do in Atlanta now. I even went to AutoZone today and bought some of that Octane stuff so that I can just buy the cheap 89 gas and then mix it in with it so that it turns into 93. A teacher schooled me on that a few years ago, I'll let you know if it works or not.

Well, all of that stuff I just named has nothing on this dude named Wayne Gerdes. He is a professional "Hypermiler." Whats that? Well after looking at this video on CNN, I think its a new word for "lunatic." This dude is literally going the extra mile to save on gas.

Here are a couple of his tactics:

***Put the car in neutral, push it out of your driveway/street and coast until you absolutely have to put it in drive. Don't put in park and then drive...go straight from N to D

***Turn the car off when at a stop or in traffic, but keep it in drive

***Don't break when making turns, just roooooool

Don't believe me, see him for yourself. He claims to double his mileage doing this crazy shit. Would you go through all of that to save some gas?

Check his website for more gas saving tips. CleanMPG.com

Kimbo Slice = Goldberg

Aight so, this weekend Mixed Martial Arts aka Legalized Street Fighting hit the mainstream and got televised on network TV. CBS is looking to cash in on America's newest form of contained violence by televising Elite XC fights. Their first telecast was this past Saturday. But anyone thats been following this from day one knew that it was nothing more than a platform for their newest star, Kimbo Slice.

Who is Kimbo Slice you ask? Its kind of hard to explain. But to keep it brief. Kimbo was some cock diesel ass dude who built a name for himself fighting in backyards, warehouses and parking lots throughout Florida. The fights would get recorded and put onto YouTube.

I first saw dude about 2-3 years ago. I saw him fighting some sorry ass nigga who obviously didn't know what he was getting into.



After stumbling across that video I found more and unsurprisingly, he won all of them. Of course, all humans have that innate thirst to see people fight. But we want to see a good fight. The only time we get pleasure in seeing someone getting their ass kicked is if we don't like the person receiving it. You know, we kinda feel like we are kicking their ass vicariously. So eventually, I got bored with seeing dude fight, because it looked like he was just fighting niggas that might be able to hem you up at the club, but outside of that, couldn't really do any damage. Especially to him.







Evidently, the right people saw this and decided to capitalize. So now, Elite XC signed him and they are about to start marketing dude as an unbeatable star since people are tuning into MMA more than boxing nowadays. It started on Saturday with his defeat of James “Colossus” Thompson. Keep in mind Kimbo is by no means a professional fighter. He just started training professionally months ago. So beating a seasoned fighter like Thompson (or rather, winning after the ref stopped the fight) is in someways unbelievable. So, I can understand why core MMA fans feel disrespected with what they are calling a "fixed" fight. People are already expecting him to get laid out when he faces some stiff competition.

Seeing this reminded me of someone...

GOLDBERG!!!



To all of ya'll who used to watch WCW in the late 90's, ya'll know where I'm going with this.

When Goldberg hit the scene back in '97, he came out of nowhere, but was kicking everybody's ass. I remember Goldberg starting his career with some outrageous winning streak of like 150+ wins. At first he was running through mediocre competition, so WCW, sensing that fans were wising up, started putting Goldberg against bigger names to continue his "streak." In that streak dude won like every title and even beat Hollywood Hogan in convincing fashion. After seeing that, I was convinced that Goldberg was just a gimmick. They were presenting him as an indestructible force. They did this to have a gimmick to compete with WWF. To this day, I still don't know if Goldberg ever lost, I stopped watching wrestling after while.



But both of these scenarios remind me of each other. Two leagues drafting former football players to be their new cash cows. Both of them are bald with beards and tattoos. Neither one of them have any real fighting skills, just strength. Making the following meeting of the minds even more gimmicky.



I also find it interesting that finding footage of either one of these dudes is hard to find. Like I said, I still don't know if Goldberg ever lost, so I don't even know where to begin to look.

The lone tape of Kimbo actually losing is hard to find now. You can't even find this shit on Google. You'd actually have to know that it existed and know the name of the fighter that beat him to find it on YouTube. Lucky for you, I do.



Don't get me wrong, I'm not hoping that dude loses or gets hurt. After seeing his feature on ESPN and learning about his background, you want to see dude do his thing, as barbaric as it may be. I just don't want people to get lost in the hype.

Bo Diddley (1928-2008)

"I don't like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do, update it. I don't have any idols I copied after. They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems to me that nobody can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo Diddley there."--Bo on copy cat artists

Like Mos Def so eloquently said "BO DIDDLEY IS ROCK & ROLL!!!" Don't let the history books tell you other wise.

I wish I could do a more proper send off for this icon, but I really can't. In this instance, I'm still a young buck that needs to more research before I just start speaking about a man that was making history before I even started breathing. But, I know enough about him to know that he deserves mention in every conversation pertaining to Rock music. I also know that like so many other Black musicians of yesteryear, Diddley never really got his just due (or checks) when he was in his prime. He didn't really start getting his props until later in his life. In an interview he once alluded that age ain't nothing but a number, but to be 70 years old and still be touring to support himself because he never once received a royalty check for his recordings is equally commendable and tragic.

So, with that, I guess the only thing I can encourage us to do is to go back and get very familiar with Bo's catalog and make sure that he isn't forgotten as time goes on.

I, like so many other youngsters who grew up in the 80s, got introduced to Bo through that old Nike Bo Jackson commercial. Its moments like that that I'm thankful to have had a father around to immediately give me a briefing on exactly who I was looking at, an icon.



Here is a decent send off over at The Loaf.

Lost In The 80s

With the Lakers and Celtics set to play in the NBA Finals, my suspicions have finally been confirmed. We are officially stuck back into the 80s.

Really though, look at it:


***A George Bush is in the White House.



***1980's Movies are being remade.

Transformers


Indiana Jones


G.I. Joe (yes, that is Marlon Wayans)


***Rappers Sounding and Dressing Like This.

The Cool Kids


Life The Great


***Drug Epidemics


Seeing that Doug Collins will be coaching the Chicago Bulls again, I'm predicting that the 1980's rehash will continue. I just hope good shit than bad comes back. Because something tells me when they finally get around to bringing Starter jackets back out, niggas are gonna go back to shooting for them. I also hope they keep mindless gang violence in the closet too, no need to bring that back. Oh yeah, they can also keep Jheri curls. Even though I had a couple pair of "Burger Kings" back in the day, I can't say I'm hyped about seeing them return either. Nintendo's (Wii) are back hot again, so that must mean that Atari is about to come back too.

Some of the things I hope to see return are:

$1.50 for gas
.75 cents to ride Marta
Berry Blue Kool Aid
Hawks in the Playoffs Semi-Finals
An influx of Intelligent Rap Music
Me not having to pay bills

What do ya'll think?