R.I.P. Sugarhill

Just saw this bit of info sitting in Creative Loafing Music Editor Rodney Charmichael's Gchat status message. Sugarhill is closing. DAMM!

I'm very dissapointed and damn near speechless right now. This was a very cool spot to hang and hear good music. One of the last chill spots left in Atlanta. Damn. Here is the story verbatim from Creative Loafing's website:

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Next Tuesday will be the last night for Sugarhill — Atlanta’s premier destination for live soul and progressive urban music.

It’s a stunning announcement — but maybe not too surprising considering the obstacles the venue has faced since its inception.

Much of the onus for the club’s closing lies with “Underground [Atlanta] mismanagement,” according to co-owner Richard Dunn, who partnered with Jason Carter (Sol Fusion promoter), Freddy Luster (former co-owner of Yin Yang Café), and Rival Entertainment/Center Stage co-owners Josh Antenucci and Tom Cook to open the venue in September 2006.

When Sugarhill opened nearly three years ago, it was the only bright spot in the city’s attempt to remake the touristy wasteland Underground Atlanta into a hub for Atlanta nightlife. City officials even went so far as to designate Underground as the only place within Atlanta city limits permitted to serve alcohol past the 2:30 a.m. pouring curfew instituted near the height of Buckhead’s sprawling bar and party scene.

Yet, Underground still seemed to attract a motley crowd at best with its random mix of urban-oriented clubs (Motion, Frequency, the House).

“It’s hard to get our clientele to cut through that environment,” Dunn says, admitting that unless they booked big draws it was hard to pull the kind of consistent crowd necessary to sustain operations. “It basically became a destination spot.”

Such was the case two Saturdays ago when indie soul heavyweight Eric Roberson headlined the monthly Harmony in Life showcase. By 10:30 p.m., a standing-room only crowd had packed Sugarhill’s lower level and the balcony was overflowing.

But for a clientele of grown folk ranging in age from mid-20s to 30-something, such a night on the town was often more hassle than it was worth.

Consider this.

Most trips to Underground Atlanta require patrons to pay $3 for parking. Add to that the $2 cash-only fee required to enter Underground at 9 p.m. or later on weekends — plus the long walk from parking garage to UA entrance to closest ATM (if you happen to have no cash on hand) back to UA entrance — and the average working-class, live music fan is already spent before paying the cover and buying a couple of drinks at the bar.

“That $2 thing didn’t help it,” admits Dunn, referring to the aforementioned admission fee Underground started charging weekend revelers about a year ago. It boiled down to a nightlife tax put in place to capitalize on the swelling, college-aged crowds. But it only hurt business for Sugarhill, which caters to a different audience altogether.

While Dunn is “99 percent sure” that Tuesday night will be the last night of business for Sugarhill, he says the owners hope to find a new location for the venue “sooner than later.” He plans to make the announcement of the closing official next week. That provokes a larger question — where will Atlanta’s progressive urban/soul scene migrate to next?

Dres the Beatnik just moved his hip-hop night to the venue in early ’09 after severing ties with Apaché Cafe last year and trying out a short run at the Masquerade. And soul incubator Harmony in Life has blossomed into a local label since housing its popular monthlies at Sugarhill over the last two years.

On it’s last scheduled night of operation — Tues., May 5 — Sugarhill will host a birthday bash for Atlanta soul singer Phillipia. This Saturday, May 2, the venue features ever-popular Philly soulster Bilal. Expect the house to be packed.
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I'm still at a state of disbelief behind this news. Rodney just told me that the co-owner Richard Dunn just called him out of the blue today and broke the news. Damn. i agree with the homie Richard though, that bullshit $2 entry fee to go to clubs at Underground is the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life. Very petty. They damn near begging like the bums that be at Underground.

This is really making me think about skipping out on that Drake show at the Loft to go see Bilal at Sugarhill this Saturday. I'm sorry that's just the truth. This really sucks. Where else am I gonna be able to look at Joi's fine ass?

Is Bun B in Your Fave 5?

As I've said time and time before, I don't really get engaged in Top 5, 10, Ever arguments when it comes to rappers. My mind can change tomorrow. But, even in that there are usually at least 1 or 2 mainstays in everyone's lists. They're usually Pac, B.I.G., Jay-Z and Nas. To me Pac and B.I.G. should be retired from all "Top" discussions, they are givens at this point. And I've noticed that most people that say Jay-Z and Nas just be saying it just because.

But that said, don't ya'll think its time we seriously start mentioning Bun B's name in these discussions?

Bun B outshining everyone on this Clipse feat. Kanye West Remix of "Kinda Of A Big Deal"


I mean he's outshined everyone from Jay-Z to Jeezy. He's been rapping consistently for going on two decades and has stayed relevant the entire time. He never fell off. He never "got wack." And above all else, he's completely loyal to the craft. I mean, I'm sure Bun has other aspirations and what not, but...he's not like the rest of these cats (my Faves included) who ran off to Hollywood or quit rapping. Hell, this man has endured seeing his rhyme partner incarcerated and dead...and he is still here doing it for us. Gets no Triller than that.

Am I just tripping right now? Does the general population consider Bun a "Top" emcee and I'm just not hearing them say it?

How You Know You're An Obama Groupie

I love it when I can start the morning off with a laugh. The homie Torrance Stephens just wrote a piece over at his spot listing the traits of an Obama groupie. Here they are:

-You accept without question all that the President proposes.

-You argue vehemently with anyone that disagrees with an approach or policy the President proffers even when one has not read the policy for themselves, and worse

-His picture hangs on the wall next to Jesus Christ in the front room of your house.

-You still have a campaign sign or bumper sticker on your car reading Obama Biden.

-It is sacrilegious for any one to criticize a suggested approach offered by the President and that those who do in your eyes, will suffer eternal damnation in hell.

-If someone’s disagrees with a particular policy, you are likely to question their blackness (just because i don't agree with giving banks that are gonna fail billions don't mean i am not as black as thou LOL).

-You feel as if the policies he proposes are written by the president himself, even on Swine flu, health care and economics, when in fact experts other than the president write these positions.

-You get mad and fuss at idiots like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and others when we already know that these lames don’t deserve our objective attention for they just plane ole hatters and sore losers (they wouldn't be down with him if he got the GOP a zillion new members).

-You take the time to read the GQ, or Vanity Fair, or Essence magazines cover stories of the first family are in but wont read his budget plain of recovery act.

-Last but not least you will not find this post funny, wont laugh and get mad.

Fortunately, I'm not guilty of any of these. Are you? Which ones?

Real Life Twitter

I swear. I always asked what the world would be like if we all just went out in public and blurted out the stuff we say on Twitter. I had this idea in my crazy head months ago but didn't think I had the resources at the time to pull it off like I wanted too. Damn you College Humor!

Spotted at the Smoking Section

Convertible Bertt In-Store @ SOLE, Thursday Night!

Tomorrow the homie D.Mapp (formerly the designer of Young Jeezy's 8732 line) is having an in-store for his own line, Convertible Bertt at SOLE downtown. Known the man for some years, cool brotha who always done his thing in the fashion world for as long as I've known him. The line is pretty fresh, its muscle car inspired. They blessed me with one of their hats recently, you might have seen these popping up around town, they are getting pretty popular:



If you're able to come down, please fall through, the're going to have food and drink for you FREE'aks out there.

Big shouts out to Lola Sims!

Photos: Grind Time and the Core DJ's Awards Show

Finally.

Aight so, the big homie Killer Mike invited me out to roll to the Core DJ's Awards Show where they were going to be giving him a "Legendary Artist" award. Nice gesture on their behalf.

Although he invited me on the cool, I figured I'd still bring my camera to capture some moments. Glad I did because I actually had a pretty good time. I usually hate sitting in VIP booths because its so cramped and pretentious. But, this time I actually had a good time, guess the experience depends on the company you're with at the time.





But sheid, you know me, I ain't stay in the corner for too too long, had to roam. The show itself was cool. It was very long, but to their credit there were no delays and lag times. It kept going...and going...and going. Of course like most shows like this, the first hour or so, hell pretty much the majority of the show featured performances by people you never heard of. Some of it was entertaining, some of it, was not.

I'm not going to talk too much about it seeing as how it happened days ago and I just now got the chance (and behaving computer) to upload the pics. But I will say that the high-point of the show was when this chick with biggest, fakest ass known to man hit the stage:



Some of ya'll may know who the chick is. I've met and seen her before, she's kinda known in the "modeling" game down South. When I say "high-point" I mean as in what got the crowd going the most. I guess the Playoffs got everybody in the mood to see bouncing basketballs.

The low-point I have to say is when they brought Bonecrusher and Killer Mike to give them their appreciation awards, the DJ cued up a couple seconds of "Neva Scared" but the show organizers didn't let them perform the song.



All I'm saying is, that the crowd went wild just off that couple seconds of the intro. They were screaming for a performance. Bone and Killer were ready to crank it up...but no haps. Last time I checked the DJ is supposed to give the people what they ask for, right? So how come at the Core DJ's the people ain't get that? Just a question. I don't think it would've hurt anything.

But yeah, here are some of the pics from the night. Enjoy, share, compare. Peace.

DJ Sol Messiah's Golden Era Wu-Tang Tribute

If you need something to do tonight or if you're still coming down from the high of Raekwon's performance at Tru Skool Tuesdays at Apache Cafe last night, be sure to stop by Django's for DJ Sol Messiah's Wu-Tang Tribute. F-R-E-E before 10pm.

Murs-"The Science"

New vid from Murs. I'm wondering if any of you out there actually checked his Murs For President album out. I liked it a lot myself. This was one of my favorite songs on there but most of the people I let hear it said they weren't feeling it. Eh, oh well. But, for real, they need to drop a vid for "Time Is Now" because now is the perfect climate and weather for that song to have a vid for it.

THE CHICKEN!

So, today the nets are buzzing about a news story out of Rochester, NY about Popeye's running out of chicken. Alot of people are crying "racist" because of the way Black people in the video are made to look like they just can't live without their chicken. Boo...fuggin...hoo. We really need to get over ourselves sometimes. Ya'll know ya'll would have been cussing mad too if you drove to Popeye's expecting to get some chicken for the low and they didn't have any. Only difference here is that news cameras were on hand. I wonder who called them out there? I bet it was a Black chicken lover. Me personally, hell, it think its just one of those things. I found it more silly than I did offensive.

But like brother Chappelle said in the above video, what is it about chicken and Black folks? I mean we really go ape shit over chicken. I've seen dudes fight over the last chicken wing at Dugans. Seen family gatherings go awry if it ran out. Hell, I've seen moods completely change if the chicken wasn't seasoned right. What is it about chicken and Black folks. Do white people go this crazy over asparagus?

Better yet, what is it about Popeye's chicken? People seem to be losing their minds over this stuff, for real. Its good as hell I must say, but damn, just look at the how these folks are acting in the video below.



Sadly, Popeye's Pandemonium doesn't end there. In Jacksonville they are robbing at gun point for it.



Damn damn damn...

Another Day, Another Obama Dollar

I don't know how ya'll feel, but in Obama's First 100 he's created at least 100 jobs and put at least $100 in everybody pocket.

Blogged Live From My Phone.

Fonzworth Bentley Is Kinda Jammin'

Say what you will about this dude, he makes some pretty jammin' music. I'm not saying that I like every song that's he's made and released over the last few years, but disappointment is not frequent thing when it comes to this dude's stuff.

The first song I heard of his was "Laid Back" when it was on his myspace page back when myspace was ALL of the rage. I was very surprised that I liked it. Then I heard "A-Town Streets" and thought that was pretty cool song.

But even though I was liking some of his music, I still couldn't get over buddy. Like, he always reminded me of that too pretty dude you went to school with. You know, that dude who was always too pretty to dress out for P.E., who never hit the basketball court or the football field, but sat in the bleachers talking with the girls. Not "to the girls" but "with the girls"...there is a difference. So I guess that always kept me from liking dude music all the way and coupling that with his TV personality, I could never really take buddy seriously.

But then I saw him freestyling on this MTV special about Kanye West when he was snapping and then when I heard "C.O.L.O.U.R.S" and saw that he had Pimp C (RIP) on it, I was like, well damn, maybe he is to be taken seriously. I mess with most of what Pimp co-signs.

I guess all of that is leading up to the new song I heard today, "Greener" featuring Anthony Hamilton:



As the homie Gotty said over at Smoking Section today, songs like this make you wonder why Kanye hasn't put this man's album out. Of course over the years, I've seen that its not always the label bosses that shut stuff down. Sometimes the artists don't do what they need to be doing on their end. So, I mean, maybe Bentley been busy putting out his books and umbrellas. But still, like the homie said, Farnsworth is able to garner attention and create the music that both fits his lifestyle and appeals to others with out blog rants and media antics.

Shazammin!: Simply Red: "Still Not Over You"

Alright so...I downloaded this program called Shazam on my phone and it is crazy. Its a program that practically snatches music from out of thin air and tells you what it is. Follow me?

If not, here is an example. In the midst of running errands this past Saturday morning, I stopped by Burger King for a quick breakfast. If you was following me on Twitter that morning you'd see that I was talking about how BK was playing some pretty jammin music that morning. Anyways, a song came on over the speakers that was smooth as hell, but I did not know what it was. Don't you hate when that happens?

I didn't bother asking any of the employees there what song it was, hell, them muthafuckas barely understand "no cheese, no mayo." So why would I expect them to know the answer to "what song is this you're playing?" Criminal Records this is not.

Then I remembered, I downloaded Shazam! With Shazam I can pretty much just turn the program on on my phone, hold up to the sky, sit it down, whatever...and it will snatch the song out of thin air and give me the song title, artist name, album title, release date, record label, lyrics and where to buy it. Yeah, crazy.

Anyways, the song I heard was Simply Red's "So Not Over You." Now I'm gonna admit, the song don't sound as jammin on youtube with computer speakers as it did at BK that morning, but its still a good song. Upon first listen I thought it was some ol' BK Exclusive Remy Shand or something. Simply Red never even crossed my mind because I hadn't really heard nothing from him since "Holding Back The Years" and you know how long that's been. Hell, this song really ain't even that new itself, it came off an album he released two years ago.

But yeah, that's pretty much it, next time I find another song through Shazam, I'll let you know. Peace.

Royal Flush Presents: The Mid Week Fixx

The homies Jeron and Rick of Royal Flush are bringing you some Mid Week Fixxing starting next month. Come through.

Maurice Garland is in Hollyweerd?

My morning started with a laugh when I stumbled across a post over a 2DopeBoyz.com about a new Hollyweerd song. According to the pic above (which was taken at a dope ass event called the Co-Op last year), me and the homie Gripplyaz are members of the group. With Grip, it's nothing new, people say he looks like Tuki all of the time. But me? I don't really resemble Chris from the group.

For as long as I can remember, as much as people dig Hollyweerd's music, a lot of folks still don't know who all is in the group.

Hell, when I interviewed them for Creative Loafing last year right when their buzz was starting to grow, I was confused as to who all was in the group my damn self. I thought it was just Tuki and Dreamer, but then Stagg and Chris popped up in the room and hopped on the mic. I was like got damn, how many of ya'll is it!?!

Then I remember the time when they got featured in URB when who ever was the photo editor at the time must have googled the group and snatched the first pic they saw of them and used it for the article:



As you can see, that's obviously the homie Sean Falyon to the far right, who is not in the group.

But yeah funny stuff. While you're around, you might as well check out the songs they dropped today: "Nothing To Worry About" and this other song I kinda fugg with "Hollie Ollie".

23 Book Signing/Documentary Screening Re-Cap and Photos

Last night at the Spring4th Center in downtown Atlanta author and friend A.R. Shaw debuted his book/documentary project 23: The Street History of A Shoe. For damn near the whole time I've known Amir he's either been talking about or working on this project and it was great to see it come to life. It was even more exciting to see the amount of support Amir got last night.

See, one thing about some Atlanta folks, they're not going to come out when its raining outside. Unless of course its Puff Daddy or somebody. Me and the homie Bem Joiner were talking about that and he brought up a Marc Ecko event he went to a couple years ago where Marc pretty much called Atlanta lame for not trooping in the rain to make it out to events. He paraphrased him as saying "ya'll are like L.A., thought ya'll was different" and going on to say how New Yorkers, Chicagoans, etc go out in harsh weather willingly, if not for the event, at least to show off their new boots, rain jackets, coats, etc.

I tend to agree somewhat, and I say somewhat because hell, I don't hang around too many cats that think they're too cute to go out in the rain. But in my city's defense, while I do think there are too many "cute" people walking around, I have to say, coming out in bad weather in Atlanta is a life or death decision most times because it is well documented that we lose are damn minds when any kind of precipitation falls out of the sky.

That said, I was very happy to see that the rain didn't stop people from coming out and supporting Amir. They practically packed the place out. Plus, if you know any sneaker heads, you know that if they are determined to make it to anything sneaker related, they are getting there hell or highwater. If any chairs empty, it was only because people were standing by the bar (none of the drinks were over $6, and we're talking the good stuff too). DJ Princess Cut did her thing as well, spinning some jams as well as a gang of Jordan related songs, I actually forgot how often folks rap about their Jordans.



To bring you up to speed, 23 is both a novel and a documentary. The novel revolves around Minus Hall, a kid from the South Side of Chicago who, like so many of us when we were younger, wants a pair of J's bad as hell. After scraping up the money to get some he finds that the trouble that comes with owning a pair is not worth the lofty price tag. I know how the story goes and ends, but that's all I'm telling you...buy the book, its a good read.

As for the documentary, Amir goes around the country talking to rappers, comedians, models, sneaker heads and just regular people in general about the worldwide phenomenon that is the Air Jordan sneaker. It was pretty entertaining hearing the impact that these sneakers have had on people's lives. He talked to both females that say that a man in a pair of Jordan's is the sexiest thing go and to dudes who admit that they've gotten "attention" from the ladies based solely (pun intended, kinda) on them rocking some J's. He caught up with guys who camped out for day's outside of Walter's to get the last pair of Air Jordans (the 23's) and people like my man G-Roc of TheShoeGame.com who broke down the history of the shoe.

Another thing I found interesting in the documentary was the way it tied in other cultural happenings into the sneakers popularity and showed how it became a status symbol of sort on the streets of America.

As I admitted last week. I never owned a pair of Jordan's in my life up until just last weekend. My parents refused to drop $100+ on them, plus I wasn't a Jordan fan like that anyway. Also, I've had friends get jumped and robbed for their J's and heard about other dudes dying over them. That didn't sound fun at all, so I graciously wore my Reebok classics.

But yeah, it was a great event and turnout, very proud of the homie Amir. Here are some pics from the event. Oh yeah, check out a Qik talk I had with Amir on my Qik page, as of now its still the last video up in my Qik corner on the top right corner of this page, so you can view it there as well.

Also, remember, visit www.23novel.com to purchase the book/documentary. You can also read the first chapter for free there.

INBOXication: Sean Falyon-"Big City Nights"

Here's a new video from the homie and fellow PA to GA jetsetter Sean Falyon. Its the first single from his new project that dropped today, Mr. Falyon Meets SMKA, which is pretty damn jammin. I've been rocking with dude's music for a minute and he hasn't dispapointed yet. Staying true to his Philly roots Falyon rides on some of that classic Teddy P./Gamble & Huff ish with some knock provided by SMKA producer Blake 808. Think Ahmad "Back In The Day" with some bump for the trunk.

Falyon been leaking joints over the last couple of weeks to whet appitites, if you missed the jam he has with Bonecrusher and Joe Scudda, here it is:

Sean Falyon feat. Bonecrusher and Joe Scudda


Like I said, Falyon been jamming for a minute. To this day I'm kinda salty with myself that I didn't get around to showing him love on my old XXL blog last year when I was putting some shine on other artists in the untapped Atlanta music scene. They shut me down right before I was gonna do it. Anyways, spilled milk. But just to put you up on game, I'm going to link you to his Fashionably Dope Musik mixtape he did with DJ Wreckineyez last year, dope ish for real.

If you're in the A fall through the Metropolitan Lofts for Sean's EP release party at tonight's Broke & Boujee party.

Once again, if you missed the links in the paragraphs, here they are:

Sean Falyon: Mr. Falyon Meets SKMA

Sean Falyon: FashionablyDopeMusik Vol.1

Oh yeah, the video is yet another Motion Family creation.

Playboy Tre-"Liquor Store Mascot" mixtape

(instant collectors item, straight from Tre's computer)

Just in case you hadn't snatched it out the blogosphere yet, here is the new Playboy Tre album (I'm not calling this a mixtape) Liquor Store Mascot. When I say this ish is dope...man, it just may be an understatement. He might have outdone Goodbye America which ain't a album to sneeze at either.

You can pretty much let this whole thing ride without skipping. DJ Swatts, salutes to you for doing a good job sequencing these joints.

From what Tre let me hear over the last couple of months I knew the album was gonna be dope, but I'm still impressed even though I've heard most of it. I'm really optimistic for Hip Hop right now, grown man stuff is making a comeback. Speaking of which, I'm happy as hell to hear Bohagon's voice on this project too. Long over due for some new 'Hagon.

Anyway here is a download of the album for you. The physical version should be out soon. Enjoy and share with your friends.

Playboy Tre: Liquor Store Mascot

Bun B x Mike Jones x Paul Wall Show Photos and Recap

Last night I fell through the Loft for the Myspace Houston Takeover show featuring Bun B, Mike Jones and Paul Wall. I was kinda in a foul mood late in the evening and almost didn't go...but I'm very glad that I did.

The thing I love about the free shows at the Loft is that they usually start on time, the artists are always there in a timely fashion and little to no time is wasted. Tonight was no different. Everybody hit the stage when they were supposed to and the performances had no more that 4 minutes of lag between them.

As far as the performances themselves, I think everybody did well and had their moments.



Paul Wall has hits in case you forgot or didn't notice. So with his performance he didn't really have to do a whole lot because the crowd just wanted to go crazy to his songs regardless. I heard some people say that his show wasn't all that, but I'm not sure what people expect a pudgy white guy to do on stage anyway. I liked it and "Bizzy Body" jams.



Most people at the show are going to tell you the low point of the show was Mike Jones' performance. Mainly because he did a lot talking and holding the mic to the crowd for them to rap...you know that ish Steve Harvey was complaining about on Kings of Comedy. I mean, I can't sit here and say he was my favorite either, but he did go out on a good note when he ended his set with a 5-minute straight freestyle.



As for Bun's set..."you awready know." Man, I've seen Bun perform a couple times before but he was doing mostly his solo stuff and popular UGK radio songs like "Big Pimpin" and "International Players Anthem." Not that I have a problem with that at all, but I never got to see UGK live before (sad right) so I never got to go crazy while hearing my UGK classics get performed. That changed last night as Bun dug into the catalog and did "Back Front Back," "Pocket Full of Stones," and got damn "Hi Life." Dammit he even did his verse from "Trap or Die" which to me is an all-time fiest Bun verse, right up there with "Murder" in my opinion. So yeah, you should be able to tell that Bun did his damn thing.

After the show I had a talk with the homie Derek about Bun's status in the game and I think he hit the nail on the head when he said that Bun is pretty much Hip Hop's President. The man gets diplomatic immunity where he goes. Hell, he's Ali status if you ask me. And the great thing about it is that he fucks with everybody that fucks with him. I'm still blown away by the time he told me he checks my blogs out, and the time he kinda sonned Terrell Owens to say what's up to me at All-Star weekend in New Orleans last year.

But yeah, he genuinely messes with folks that supports him, hense him rocking a Standard t-shirt last night. I remember in his Ozone cover story from '05 he was talking about becoming the President of the South. Shied, he's eclipsed that if you ask me. Oh yeah, by the way, make sure ya'll check out the latest issue of Ozone Magazine with Jim Jones on the cover. I have a feature interview with Bun where talks about how he has to support all things underground if he expects to be called the Underground King (might scan it for ya'll later, we'll see).

As for now, check out the rest of the pics I took at the show. You can catch some video over at the Kaos Effect too. Let me know what ya'll think I'm really trying to step my photography game up again. Peace.

*To all of my fellow bloggers and media folks, I can make desired photos tagless and email them to you if you want to use/borrow them that way. Holler at me.

And shout out to Ms. Rivercity for actually going down to the box office and getting me a ticket and extra shouts out to DJ Jayforce for shouting out my website all night last night!

23: The Street History of a Shoe Book Signing and Screening Tonight!

In case you missed me talking about it the first time, make sure you come out and support the homie Amir Shaw as he releases his book/documentary project 23: The Diary of A Shoe.
I happened to speak with someone who's already read the book and I hear it pretty darn good. Something to buy your younger brother, cousin or whoever. Equally good for the grown folks too though.

Its going to be held at the Spring4th Center off of Spring Street downtown. Right next to the Arby's down there around the Apache Cafe. I plan on rocking that pair of J's I just came up on just to stick with the theme. So if you have some J's you want to show off tonight, fall through.

Oh yeah, bring cash if you can. After all, this is a new author in the game who is trying to eat. Support if you can.

NBA Playoffs Photo Gallery @ Rolling Out

Right quick, just wanted to share my photos from Sunday's NBA Playoff game between my Hawks and those Heat. Shout out to Jacinta Howard and Amir Shaw for getting me up through there. I'm not covering tonight's game but I may be covering Game 5. Hopefully I won't have to if we sweep these bums.

NBA Playoffs Photo Gallery @ RollingOut.com

INBOXication: Prynce

Prynce-"Georgia"


So after talking about rappers from Texas and New York the last couple of days, I'm about to just talk about a dude from my side of town, hell, around the corner actually. Which is something that I don't mind doing.

See, for as long as I could remember East Atlanta and Decatur have kinda been the bastard children of the Atlanta Hip Hop scene. When people think of Atlanta Hip Hop most of what they identify with comes from either the Southside or Westside. Not hating or complaining, just saying.

I remember when I'd go out of town to visit family they'd always ask me if I ever just saw Kriss Kross or Outkast or anyone in the Dungeon Family walking around in the neighborhood. When I'd reply with "no, but I saw Ghetto Mafia at South Dekalb Mall" or "no but me and Kizzy Rock go to the same barber shop" they'd look at me all crazy and befuddled because they had absolutely no idea who I was talking about.

Same thing applies to the last few years as really The Eastside Boys (SMH) are the only cats from my side that really got any worldwide recognition, if that shit even counts. Well, I guess you can count I-20 too, but I mean, I ain't about to sit here and act like folks didn't literally speed past I-20 to get to whatever Luda was talking about.

People slept on Da Backwudz. My nigga Noah never even came out. Baby D locked up in Ohio somewhere. But I can at least say that with B.o.B., Playboy Tre, Yung LA, Gucci Mane and OJ Da Juiceman people are paying attention to rappers from my side of town as of late.

So I say all of that to say, pay attention to this cat named Prynce. Dude is dope as hell to me and I always thought so. Yeah he went to my high school alma mater. Yeah he's from right around the damn corner. But that's not the only reason why, I genuinely like dude's music.

He used to be in this group called Hoodlum a couple years ago. They were signed to Jazze Pha's Shonuff Records. I was hired to write their bio (sup Donald) and really looked forward to their music coming out. All six of them could rap, offered different perspectives and they were very, very conceptual...even to a fault at times. But, I say that's a good problem to have.

Hoodlum put a couple records and a mixtape or two out, but pretty much disappeared. I ran into Prynce a couple times at the QuikTrip on Panola (the same one he namedrops on "Georgia") and when I'd ask him what happened he's just say they was messing with Akon now. So I guess his new mixtape with Greg Street is the first fruit of that relationship. I gave the tape a listen this morning and its pretty good. Granted it has some moments that I could do without, but that's mainly due to him rapping over other people's beats, not because he came with wack verses. As evidenced by "Georgia" and what I said about Hoodlum earlier, Prynce's conceptual game is still on par.

"Competition"


Here's another joint called "Dear Def Jam" where he briefly speaks on what happened over at Shonuff. I for one would like to know what's really good over there? They either let talent slip through their hands or just get bogarded for it. What gives?

"Dear Def Jam"


If you like what you've heard check out the rest and download his mixtape What The Dec Been Missing.

The Foreign Exchange feat. Darien Brockington-"Take Off The Blues"

Vimeo

Jelly jammin...

INBOXication: Siya

So, INBOXication got alot of positive feedback yesterday, so why not keep it going full throttle.

Right around the time I was working on yesterday's post, the homie Kei of Lavish Life Social Club hit me to get my opinion on this new artist she's working with named Siya. I'd seen a few twits about Siya here and there but never just felt compelled to investigate. I mean, who just goes exploring what other folks on Twitter are talking about all the time? Granted, the convos are on public display, but at the end of the day, it is still kinda their business.

Well, I'm kinda kicking myself for not being nosy because the songs Kei hit me with are dope. Funny thing is that Kei thought I wouldn't like the music because she's a female emcee. I'm not too too mad at that, because from what I've noticed most women assume that dudes don't like female rappers. Now, I can't speak for all male listeners, but for me...I like female rappers as much as I like male rappers. Dope is dope. Wack is wack. Annoying is annoying.

As far as female rappers go, I think I can speak for most males in saying that we just don't want to hear all of that "eat my coochie, buy me Gucci" shit. Nor do we want to hear those "positive, empowering" (for lack of a better word) female rappers where they think that just because they are NOT doing the "eat my coochie, buy me Gucci" raps that they are automatically dope. Hell, you may not like Terrell Owens attitude sometimes, but that don't mean you just walking around this b*tch rooting for Brian Finnerman simply because he just catches the ball. Hell no, you want to be entertained at the end of the day. Did ya'll follow me with that one?

But yeah, back to Siya. She pretty much fits that "she raps harder than most dudes" mold, which really, ain't that hard to do these days, but still. Its been said that that she hasn't gotten her props in the music biz because guys are intimidated by her "appearance." (yes, I'm being PC) I mean, shit. It is what is.

Its on you if you listen, like or loathe the music based on her "appearance." I myself was impressed by the way her songs were produced and executed on top of her straight spitting on them. Especially on on "Hustler." The way the dude in the hook was kinda communicating with her and actually leading into the verses sorta reminded me of how AMG and Bo$$ went back and forth during moments on "My Sister Is A Bitch." And yeah, since I brought her up, I think I like Siya because she kinda reminds me of Bo$$. Just as she does Mia X and Gangsta Boo & La Chat on their good days. Shawty is just spitting. Can't be mad at that. Anyways, here are a couple of her songs, check them out and speak on it in the comments.

"Hustler" (prod. by Black Metaphore)


"Control" feat. Sean Falyon (prod. by The Olympicks*)


*The Olympicks are deep as hell. I suggest a central website fellas.

Jaspects The Polkadotted Stripe Album and Release Party Recap

(instant collectors item...my signed copy of The Polkadotted Stripe)

This past Saturday Jaspects had the album release party that I suggested you'd come through and judging from who I saw up in there, I'm assuming most of ya'll chose to keep it at the crib and watch the NBA Playoffs. All good. Its doubtful that you were going to fit in anyway because they had the place packed. Fortunately, I was able to get in because I got there pretty early. Almost 45 minutes to showtime actually.



Anyways as usual Jaspects did not disappoint, they really rocked. Even their minor mistakes sounded good. They performed joints from their previous releases but mainly focused on the new stuff. Compared to their other albums, TPS will go down as their most experimental album so far. I guess you could say that this is their Bitches Brew or Stankonia.

"Polkadotted Stripes"


The CD is riding. Granted, I'm not the biggest fan of their rapping, but they do at least stay on topic and I do hear improvement in their flows compared to their earlier work. Plus I respect that when they do rap they do actually talk about something, especially on the volatile "Chuck Jones" where they pretty much scream out what happening in the newspaper over some Rage Against the Machine-ish production.

But yeah, I'ma leave it up to you to go out and buy the album (it came out today) so you can form your own opinions and pick your favorite songs. As for now, here are some pics from the show.










Oh yeah, shout out to Jimi Cravity who opened for them. I copped his EP while I was there. Very dope songwriter. Singer? Jury is still out on that. But his live show was dope. Him and his band did a rendition of "Crazy" that was better than some of the times I heard Gnarles perform it themselves.



Oh yeah, his band, I almost forgot, dope. He had a female drummer that was BANGING and had this Whiteboy on guitar that was doing his thing as well.



But yeah, that's about it, check out the pics from the show and make sure you go out and buy the Jaspects new album The Polkadotted Stripe from you local retailer. Preferably the Sound Shop in the West End Mall, ask for "That Retail Chick." And thank you very much to Jeff Cohran for looking out and to Jacinta Howard for snapping some dope flicks while I was at the bar on drink break.

Corey Davis Art Show @ City of Ink

Last Friday I stopped by the City of Ink to check out artist Corey Davis' latest exhibition: The Good, The Bad and the Exceptionally Beautiful. That was a pretty accurate description of the crowd that came out to show support.

As usual the show was pretty cool. City of Ink art shows are one of the main attractions that I look forward to in the city. The art is always dope, the DJ always gets off and the drinks stay flowing for the lowesky. I think the main thing I like about is just the synergy of people that it brings. I always manage to make a new friend or associate at these shows even though I usually know half of the folks in there already. If you haven't been to a COI show yet, don't make a habit of missing anymore of them. Truly a treat.

As for Corey's art, very unique stuff. Dead serious, that's the only word I can think of right now to describe it, I'm not trying to be funny. Reminds me of anime stuff but he attacks alot of pop culture, history and religious concepts with his pieces. Dope stuff. Buy some for the crib.

I took some pics that I'd like to share with ya'll:

Nesby Phips and Lyo
If you haven't peeped Nesby's new project The Phipstape, please do so now. Its dope, to me at least.


Fabian (Occasional Superstar) and Mr. Soul (Visual Soul)
Two of the dopest artists in the city right here. They told me they plan on having a battle in the near future and I am really looking forward to that. Expect an interview with Mr. Soul on the site very soon. You have some of his art in your possession and probably don't even realize it.


DJ Wreckineyez and Tuki
Wreckineyez did his damn thing this night. I mean he went from playing Killer Mike's "2 Sides" to Ghostface's "Daytona 500" like it wasn't nothing. He's currently doing his thing as Asher Roth's tour DJ. Tuki is co-onwer of City of Ink (along with Miya Bailey) and a member of Hollyweerd who also...


...swears I didn't take any pictures of him on this night, hense this scene:


...but after you visit the galleries you will see that it was pretty much Tuki time all night.

So with that, please visit the galleries to see the rest of the pics. Peace.