Baby Is At the Saints vs. Patriots game...

Just in case you weren't aware of his exact coordinates, Birdman and his tattoo are tailgaiting at the Saints game.

GTFOH: Steven Seagal's "Lawman"

I saw this while watching First 48 and man...

This is the cruelest joke in the history of television. Steven Seagal shawty? Really brah? This how you know it doesn't pay to be a criminal anymore. They're making your getting caught sheer entertainment. Its one thing to broadcast survallience videos of The World Dumbest Criminals...its another to run up on folks with the guy from Above the Law.

I swear, folks on this show are going to have one of two reactions. They either gonna think they are being Punk'd...or they think they are about to see a slow death because of scenes like this:



And really what kind of people are they going to be pullig over? From the previews it looks like they damn near pulling over dudes for parking tickets and yelling at their wife too loud. These dudes don't look like mobsters or nunchuck-wielding goons. And he teaching cops yet another way to f*ck somebody up on these streets...this is overkill shawty.

Plus, I'm curious to see what Seagal is even able to do anymore. I interviewed him once a few years ago and he looked very out of shape. Plus, in his last couple of movies he looked like a damn penguin the way he was flapping and flailing his arms around. But hell, anybody can be deadly with a weapon I guess.

But yeah, the show debuts on Wednesday on A&E. I really feel sorry for the dudes that are about to get jammed up on this show.

Photos and Re-Cap: Big Boi x Clipse x Yelawolf at King Plow Arts Center

This past Friday, while most of Atlanta was sleeping off the itis from Thanksgiving leftovers, it was jumping at The Gallery at King Plow.

Just judging from the names on the bill, it wasn't a question of IF the show was gonna be dope...it was WHO was gonna be the dopest...





Wil May was the nights opening act. Wil May is a pretty solid entertainer, but you'd have to know his songs or be around people that know his songs to really enjoy it. Some but not all of the people in the crowd knew his songs, but...this crowd was mostly comprised of our White brothers and sisters and you already know that Alcohol + White folks + loud music = Screaming for no damn reason. So needless to say, Wil May got some love from the crowd. I am kinda dissapointed he didn't do his guaranteed party-rocker "Get Up Early" though.






Prynce was the second opening act and he was pretty solid as well. He did songs from his latest mixtape What Da DEC Been Missing Vol.2 but the only song he did from Vol.1 was "Sweet Georgia" which the crowd was very receptive to. He killed it when he did "Studder" though, that must mean people are coming to the site more often.




As usual Yelawolf killed it. He was the only performer of the night to have a live band so of course that amplified his set.


Ashanti Floyd


Matt




He did songs from off his Arena Rap and upcoming Trunk Muzik projects including "Pop The Trunk" and new fan favorites "I Wish" feat. Raekwon and "F.U." He also allowed this random white dude on stage to scream "F*** YOU!" at the top his lungs. 'Wolf later said he did someone a favor because by doing that he prevented an office shooting next week.





As usual a few folks left after Yelawolf performed but many still stuck around for Clipse. I've seen Clipse a few times now and their show is always pretty good. However, its not for those that like nostalgia. Being the "trendsetters" they are, they mainly do their most current songs with stops on memory lane coming few and far between. Of course they did "Grindin" and "What Happened To That Boy"...but most of this show was songs from Hell Hath No Fury, We Got It For Cheap pt. 3, the Play Cloths mixtape and what ever has leaked from Til The Casket Drops.





Play Cloths is fresh as hell by the way. I don't think I've seen a piece I haven't liked yet. 'Bout time a rapper(s) who actually knows how to dress a little came out with a line that people will actually wear on some everyday shit.




Last but not least Big Boi went on and killed it as usual. I didn't get good positioning for the Big Boi set so I didn't get as many pictures. But shied, if you come to this blog often you've seen plenty of Big Boi concert pics by now.


Blackowned C-Bone

Backbone


Overall the show was very good. The venue was pretty dope too and look forward to seeing more shows there. Shouts out to the Gallery Group for putting on a cool show. The sound stage was pretty impeccable.

My only gripe about the show is that it started 2 hours late, hoping more people would come in. Good thing I don't have a wife and kids at home, because I probably would have left.

Anyways, you can peep the rest of the pics in the gallery below. Tell me what you think of the pics.

Hitman Sammy Sam feat. Big Yo-"Concrete Jungle"

Sammy Sam feat. Big Yo-"Concrete Jungle"

Although I see him posted up at the Chevron on Whitehall and McDaniel from time to time, its been a hot minute since I've heard some Sammy Sam music. According to Jacinta Howard this new song pretty much sums up some of the more recent events that have gone down in his life:

...it's funny because a couple of days before this song was recorded, Sam was robbed and shot in the arm. That's not really the funny part, obviously.
It's funny, because Sam, who has no issues with holding his tongue, told the robbers that they were "ashy" and looked like some pimps in their wore out gators. He was clowning them as they told him to get on the ground and was so funny that one of the robbers couldn't help but burst out laughing. This angered his burglar friend, so he shot Sam in the arm. Good thing it was just the arm. As I said, Sam is doing swell now. Damn recession.

Anyhoo. "Concrete Jungle" is below. He even mentions the Case of the Ashy Robbers in his verse.

I'm sorry for making light of this because like Howard said, its not funny, but for real... I can really picture and hear Sam screaming "STOP! STOP! STOP!" as the robbers attack him.

Produced by Big Yo

Spotted at 4COL

Behind the Scenes Pics: Bun B x Pill x Motion Family x Bertell

Yesterday the OG Bun B was in town to shoot a video for this song "She's Bad" with Bryan-Michael Cox's artist Bertell. He hit me and invited me out just to chop it up for a sec and fall through the shoot. As expected small crowds started forming when Bun was spotted walking around and posting up. Sheid, folks was running up on Pill too.

The video was shot at Dallas Austin's ROWDY store at Lenox Mall, they actually had some ish in there that was kinda fresh. Quite snug, but fresh. The video was shot by Motion Family. Figured I'd take some pics for the cause. Hopefully I'll be using this above pic for a track that I'll get to leak in the near future...


Chris Johnson, Bun B, Pill and Whiteboy D


Bertell, Case, Bryan-Michael Cox, Bun B and Pill


Bryan-Michael Cox, Bun B and Pill


Bun B and "She's Bad"


Pill and David KA of Motion Family

www.MAURICEGARLAND.com Ticket Giveaway: Big Boi x Clipse x Yelawolf at The Gallery at King Plow (LAST PAIR!)

Wow. Ya'll really want these tickets. Yesterdays contest recieved alot of participation and everybody got the answers right, unfortunately there could only be one winner. Just for kicks, here are the correct answers. I only asked for three but as you can see there were four...upping your chances for winning.

1.) Has served in the US Armed Forces
2.) Has been nominated for a Grammy (In case you're wondering...Clipse was nominated for a Grammy with Justin Timberlake for Best Rap/Sung collaboration for "Like I Love You")
3.) Has owned a clothing line
4.) Has been Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher
5.) Has been signed to Jive/Arista Records
6.) Has recorded a song with Bun B

Anyways, here is today's trivia question:

Big Boi is known for representing Atlanta. Clipse are known for representing Virginia Beach. But neither of them were actually born there.

What are the birthplaces of both Big Boi and Clipse respectively?

Just like yesterday, the first person to answer the question correctly in the comments section gets the tickets. Make sure you leave an email or twitter name or something so I can contact you if you win. Good luck folks.

Tickets also available Gallery Group Atlanta

Prayer Request: Ex-NBA'er Maurice Lucas Hospitalized Again

Sad development coming out of Portland. Former NBA player and current Portland Trailblazer Assistant Coach Maurice Lucas has been hospitalized again due to a recurrence of bladder cancer. He was diagnosed with the cancer last season after complaining of weight loss and fatigue. He eventually had surgery to correct the problem, but it has returned unfortunately.

If you're wondering why I'm posting this its because my pops was a huge Maurice Lucas fan...so much that he actually named me after him. Plus Mr. Lucas is from my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. There's still a huge poster of him hanging in the pool room/basement at the family headquarters.

I know alot of you may not know who he is, but he was the man at one point in time. Though Bill Walton is usually considered the face of the 1976-77 Blazers championship squad...Lucas is the "enforcer" that actually made it happen.

If you or anyone you know would want to, you can send Mr. Lucas letters of encouragement to this address:

One Center Court
Suite 200
Portland, Oregon 97227

Joakim Noah vs. Derrick Rose...on Greg Oden

I noticed everyone going crazy on the internet over this Derrick Rose dunk on Greg Oden the other night. Well...it looks like nobody watched the entire game. Because if they did they'd agree with me in that Joakim Noah's dunk on Oden earlier that night trumps Rose's.



I guess Rose's looks better because he's smaller and it always looks good when guards dunk on big men. But Noah's dunk is on some straight up "ooops, I didn't see you standing there" or "don't forget we whupped that ass in the championship" ish.

Either way, Mr. Oden caught the short end of the stick twice in one night for the entire world to see. Which one do ya'll think is better?

Senor Kaos: Funeral of The Fro

So the homie Senor Kaos decided to cut off his 'Fro...

Due to the current U.S. Economic Recession Atlanta emcee Señor Kaos is forced to cut off all his hair to save money.

Welcome to the Funeral Of The Fro.

Follow along as friends share their favorite "Fro Memories" and witness as the man who's fro ruled in 09, cuts it all off.

Also Señor Kaos performs with 4-Ize the fans get the see the new hair cut live and direct for the first time. Check for Señor Kaos on the new 4-Ize project "Illuminated Animals." Also make sure you download SK's latest project "Walk Softly & Carry A Big Brick"

Well, I used to have a 'Fro of Snoop Dogg proportions from '99 to '03. For a minute folks thought I was damn Slimm Cutta Calhoun. So I know what its like to be relieved of having to actually "do" your hair in the morning. But, shood, I think I've ended up spending more money on haircuts every 2-3 weeks than I ever did on maininging a 'Fro and braids. So, good luck Mr. Kaos.

Make sure ya'll check him out when he performs with Raekwon and Capone N Noreaga on Saturday Dec 5th @ The Masquerade.

www.MAURICEGARLAND.com Ticket Giveaway: Big Boi x Clipse x Yelawolf at The Gallery at King Plow

Thanks to the wonderful folks of The Gallery Group, I'm able to giveaway two pairs of tickets to this incredible show which goes down this Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I'm letting one pair go today and another tomorrow.

As usual with my giveaways, were going to do some (simple enough) trivia:

Out of these six facts about them, name three that Big Boi and Clipse have in common:

1.) Has served in the US Armed Forces
2.) Has been nominated for a Grammy
3.) Has owned a clothing line
4.) Has been Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher
5.) Has been signed to Jive/Arista Records
6.) Has recorded a song with Bun B

First person to leave the correct answers in the comments section gets the tickets! Make sure you leave your email addy or twitter or something so that I can contact you with how to claim your prize. Good luck folks.

Tickets also available HERE

UPDATE: Contest is now closed. Check back tomorrow for the next giveaway.

Random Jam: The Pharcyde-"She Said"

This song used to jam but it seems like the only songs/singles people remember from The Pharcyde's Labcabincalifornia album are "Runnin" and "Drop." Granted both of those songs were effing great, but "She Said" is pretty jamming too.

This version that I'm posting isn't the original that appeared on the album or in the American version of the video. Rather, this more laid-back, Jay Dee (J-Dilla) produced version that I'm posting is on the Cydeways: The Best of The Pharcyde CD and is referred to as the "Amsterdam version."

Folks already thought that Tre and Fatlip were the stars of the group and their performances on this song, on top of not having Imani and Bootie Brown's high-pitched voices on it, pretty much cemented that. I always thought the way Tre could go from rapping to singing without missing a beat was dope, just like how Fatlip's ability to sound like he was talking on a track made him standout. Hated that this group wound up dissolving.

Anyways, hope you enjoy this track. I never saw this version of the video on TV back in the day though. Thanks youtube.

Prynce Performing "Studder" at Hot Beats studio in Atlanta

Last Friday night Greg Street invited me a few other folks to Hot Beats studios to check out Prynce and hear some tracks from his latest mixtape What The DEC Been Missing Vol. 2. If you've stopped by over the last couple of weeks you already know that I'm up on this tape. But I figure the purpose of this listening was to let people meet Prynce and get to know him a little. All I'll say is that dude didn't dissapoint anyone (neither did the hot wings, Ciroc and wine).

Dude can really rap his ass off if you didn't know already. He performed a couple songs in the studio and did a damn good job. He also let us hear a couple tracks from his album thats set to drop on Konvict Muzik/Def Jam sometime next year. Granted, Prynce is being backed and supported by one of the biggest radio personalities in the country, the biggest rap label in the world as well as Bu Thiam (Akon's brother) who is now VP at Def Jam...but even with all of that I'd still think that dude would make it on his very own, dude is dope. And I'm not just saying that because he reps for my side of town (hell damn near my street).

I'm slowly making the transition away from Flip cam footage but I captured some of Prynce performing what's probably my favorite song on the mixtape "Studder." If you didn't catch this song or tape when I posted it last week, here you go again.


Prynce-"Studder"

DOWNLOAD: Prynce-What The DEC Been Missing (mixtape)

PREVIOUSLY: Prynce-"Hard Way" video | INBOXication: Prynce | Prynce-"Sweet Georgia" video

Behind The Scenes: Juelz Santana feat. Yelawolf-"Mixing Up The Medicine" video

"...that niggas dope, he's a super artist."-Juelz on Yelawolf

I've been waving the flag for years but it really looks like my man Yelawolf is gonna win big in 2010. Here's some behind the scenes footage of "Mixing Up The Medicine" which will be directed by Ric Cordero. I'm curious to see how this comes out, because me personally...it seems like his behind the scenes videos be better than his actual videos. That's just me shawty.

Spotted at NR

Lost and Sound: DSGB-Til Death Do Us Part (2003)

So I had to take a road trip to Fayetteville, North Carolina this past Saturday. It wasn't nothing but a 5-hour drive but those types of drives can feel like an eternity if you don't have the right music to ride to. I didn't do the best job of getting my music ready before I hit the road, so I just grabbed a handful of naked CDs in a box that I hadn't looked in for a minute. I trusted that something good would be in there because hell, I don't listen to or keep any wack shit around.

When I got in the car and went through the CDs I was more than delighted to find this gem...

As I've stated in numerous articles I've written about him, Pastor Troy doesn't get the credit or props that he deserves as far as his contributions to Southern Hip Hop is concerned. Nor does he get recognized for the strides he's made on the independent scene. I swear this man comes out with like 3 or 4 albums a year and he's been going at that pace since he got in the game 10 years ago. But, from the times I've talked with Troy about it...he could care less about the lack of props he gets. He says that as long as he gets love from the people who genuienly fuck with, he's good.

Since he exploded on the scene back in '99, he has always been heard screaming DSGB (Down South Georgia Boyz). I can't lie, I was never able to keep up with every member of this collective. Only one I always knew of was Lil Pete because he always seemed to be the one who would appear on some of Troy's more memorable songs. But after a gang of underground albums and projects an actual major label retail DSGB album was put out in December 2003.

For a man that helped put Atlanta crunk on the map, it seemed to make sense that Troy drop a project when the genre was at its height, but for some reason, it never seemed like people quite "caught on" to this album. I don't know how, because this shit was fie.

Alot of people like to blame Crunk music's popularity for the demise of "Hip Hop." I used to agree with that to a degree, because it seemed like when cats found out that they could make a little noise and money by making songs with chants and yelling on it, they just stopped rapping. Then on top of that, cats that was actually still rapping down south started to get lumped into the "Crunk" catagory. I always thought that was some BS and hated when "crunk" music started becoming a brand. Mainly becuase the term "Southern Hip Hop" started getting erased in favor of it. No one had a name for the music that made the club go wild. It wasn't called crunk music...we just happened to get crunk to it.

Anyways, I say that to say that besides Lil Jon's Kings of Crunk album, DSGB's Til Death Do Us Part was the closest thing to "crunk" music with actual rapping and just overall dopeness. To me Pastor Troy is still one of the most underrated and underappreciated rappers and songwriters/songmakers to ever touch the microphone. I know I'm getting a little wordy, so I'm just gonna start sharing some of the songs.



"Them Devils Tryin"

First off, people thought it was strange when Malice from the Clipse hopped on Mary Mary's "God In Me" remix, saying rap and gospel just don't mix...well, it does when its done right and Pastor Troy did his thing on "Them Devils Tryin" when he borrowed the hook from Helen Baylor's "Our God" and just bucked on the devil for 4 minutes. I know some of you Holy folks may feel a certain way about a song like this, but fugg it, it was fie. I swear this song makes you double the speed limit when you're riding on the highway.



"On My Block"

Another one of my favorite songs on here was "On My Block." This song just jams, point blank period. Its got some live bass and guitar on there. Troy is just flowing and riding the beat on here for the most part, proving that he don't scream on every song.


"Sittin On Thangs"

"Sittin On Thangs" was another jammin song on here. They sampled that old Loose Ends "Hanging On a String" and just went back and forth about riding clean.

Another thing I appreciated about this album was that Pastor Troy reached back and scooped up Wicket from Ghetto Mafia for a couple tracks "King of Hill" and "The Wrappa." That was a cool move on his part, because alot artists don't reach back to work some of the underground legends that helped pave the way for them to come through. It seems like the only veteran cats down here reach out to is Bun B and nobody else.

On the earlier songs I said Troy was proving that he didn't have to scream on every track to get his points across. That doesn't necessarily mean that I don't enjoy when he does.

I'm sure alot of ya'll aleady know of the self-titled single from the album, but there are a couple songs that blow that one out the water.


"I'm Outside Ho"

I've yet to be in a club where a DJ had the balls to play this song. Its one thing to rap about whupping ass inside the club, its a completely different thing to say you're gonna be waiting outside.


"My Pockets"

However...at the end of the day. "My Pockets" is hands down my favorite song on the whole album. The hook samples the last line from Crime Boss feat. 8Ball's "Story Goes" where CB gets right to the point and says "your pockets are filthy rich, my pockets are flat broke/I'm thinking 'bout jackin you, and thats how the story goes." Troy was on here basically going off on flossing ass rappers on behalf of havenots and jack-boys with lines like "my pockets, my pockets, my pockets are so empty/they talking 'bout their role'lees they talkin 'bout their Bentleys." Six years after this song was made, its probably more relevant now that it was then.

Anyways, I see that this post is getting pretty long, so I'll wrap it up. This DSGB album is a slept-on Southern classic that should be in your collection, especially if you are a Pastor Troy fan. The album features production from David Banner, DJ Toomp, DJ Montay and a young Drumma Boy before these fellas went on to become three of the biggest names in music. On top of all of that, the legendary Cooley C made some beats on here too.

Some other songs to look out for on this album are "In My City," "The Wrappa," "Off In This Game" and "Make Em Get That Money" which had the strip clubs on smash when it first came out. Of course around this time Troy had a beef with Hitman Sammy Sam so he has a song for him "Sam Diss," that was ironically produced by his former Big Oomp labelmate DJ Montay.

Depending on how you feel on a certain day....you can really let this album go all the way through without skipping anything.

DOWNLOAD: DSGB-Til Death Do Us Part

www.MAURICEGARLAND.com Ticket Giveaway: Big Boi x Clipse x Yelawolf at The Gallery at King Plow

Alright folks, just warning you that I will be giving away tickets to the Big Boi, Clipse and Yelawolf show coming up this Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Spread the word and keep visiting the site this week for details.

Tickets also on sale HERE

Bhang Bhang Bhangra This Saturday, November 21st at The Loft

After you hit up the Hell Up In Hotlanta Art Battle make sure you hit up The Loft for Bhang Bhang Bhangra. This is a party that will be hosted and DJ'ed by DJ Rekha, known as one of the best bhangra and Punjabi DJs in the world today. Her show fuses Bollywood with South Asian POP and Hip Hop, with sprinkles of Dancehall, Reggae and Soul. DJ Rekha uses her extensive vinyl collection to create a sound that will have people of all races dancing wildly throughout the night. So if you are actually looking for something "different" to get into on Saturday, this is the move.

Doors open at 10PM and its $10 to get in.

Small Eyez-"Sidney Poitier" (Statik Slektah freestyle)

Small Eyez-"Sidney Poitier"

The homie Small Eyez sent this over this morning. Pretty nice. This will be appearing on Eyez' next project From the Sol which will be available at SmallEyez.com on December 1st.

DJ Singh Slim x DJ Dibiase-"So Far So Gucci" mixtape

Some of ya'll may already have this by now so I apologize for posting late. DJ Singh and DJ Dibiase hooked up recently to make So Far So Gucci, a mixtape (with actual mixing and blending) that combines two of the more popular artists out right now, Drake and Gucci Mane. I usually try to stray from mentioning too much of the obviously popular people and stuff on this blog but I had to show love to Singh and Dibiase.

Plus, I heard Singh throw on the "Best Pillz I Ever Had" mix in the club last night where they put Gucci's "Pillz" acapella over Drake's "Best I Ever Had" instrumental. Sounded dope and 10 times better than Young Dro's freestyle of the same name...no hate, just saying shawty. But yeah, check this out when you get a chance its pretty dope...reminds me of DJ Jamad and Floyd the Locsmif's Outskirts.

Artwork by Fabian Williams aka Occasional Superstar (who also happened to do Outskirts cover art, go figure)

DOWNLOAD: DJ Singh Slim & DJ Dibiase present So Far Gucci mixtape

Tracklisting after the jump...

Star 94's Dating In The Dark (or the light?)

Alright, so I stumbled across this flyer over at The D Diaries just now. Apparently Star 94 is has this thing every third Thursday where they have speed dating inside the Dialog in the Dark exhibit at Atlantic Station. Basically it goes...you speed date in the dark, at the end of the night you make a match and then you go over to Strip for drinks and food with your match and you can meet the other folks that was in there with you.

Now, I've been to Dialog in the Dark and it was a (no pun intended, hell, cant be intended really) eye-opening experience. Been wanting to go back myself and I'm still encouraging others to check it out. Its dope.

So, naturally this Dating in the Dark thing really intrigues me. It really looks fun. I've never been to any of these speed dating things but they look pretty interesting. So combining it with Dialog in the Dark is sure to be an unforgettable experience...which can be good or bad.

My thing is this. Its hosted by Star 94. If my memory serves me correct, that was the country station back in the day. Now it looks like its taken the Pop route music wise. But it looks like its mainly White pop. I mean shit, I went to their website and they had got damn...Pink, Nickleback, Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkston at the top of the page. Sheid, they ain't even have Seal, Mariah Carey OR Beyonce on that mahfuggah...and EVERYBODY loves Beyonce.

So from seeing this and the pics on their website, its pretty safe to say that um, ain't no sistas gonna be at this joint. Hell, no Black people period for that matter. Really, no Asians, Latins or Eskimos either! Now, I've been the only Black dude in the room on several occasions. Concerts (I went to see Soul Live at Variety Playhouse once and I was the only brotha there other than the ones in the band), networking events, bars and lounges, bougie dinners, certain restaurants, etc. I'm good. I'm cool. I don't be feeling nervous at all, I'm good.

But this is different though, like....shit, its blantant flirting and fraternizing going on at this thing, en masse. And I can't help but think that say I mess around and meet some White girl in the dark and hit it off, then we go outside to have drinks...she looks at me like "dude." I mean, my feelings wouldn't be hurt or nothing, but still.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against White women either. Hell, some of them be cool and cute. I've hung around (in a group with friends) and have worked with a couple here and there over the last few years. I find Cameron Diaz and Charlotte from Sex in the City to be attractive, hahahah. I appreciate beauty in every color. Its just that, I myself have never dated one. Hell, I think the only time I've even been in alone in the same room with a White woman was when I was getting a suit tailored once. Don't judge me shawty...its just the path my life has taken. So yeah, I have little to no expereinece in this area and litterally (and figuratively) going in blind to it may not be the way to go.

But yeah, what ya'll think? You feel me on this one? Disagree? Have anything say/share? Are you going? (that question is for everybody btw)

This Saturday! November 21, 2009: Hell Up In Hotlanta Art Battle

I am equally excited and angry in posting this because I may not be in town to enjoy it. Anyways a new organization in town called the World Wide Arts Federation (WWAF-think wrestling for artist) will be hosting an art battle this Saturday. I've been looking forward to this since I heard Mr. Soul and Fabian Williams talking about it at an City of Ink show a while back. Now that its finally going down, I may not even be here to see it, damn!

Here's an official synopsis of whats going down:

The WWAF (World Wide Arts Federation) is a place where artists can exhibit their alter ego, flaunt their artistic abilities and determine, WHO'S THE BADDEST! It matters what you say just as much as what you create. Those with the quickest wit and paint brushes reign supreme. Imagine Bob Ross (the Joy of Painting) mixed with the colorful banter of Ric Flair. That's what its like to participate in the WWAF.

Hell Up In Hotlanta will feature pretty much ALL of my personal favorite local artists including Fabian aka Occasional Superstar, Miya Bailey aka Young Ink, Charly Palmer aka Artus, Brandon Sadler aka Lean and the homie Craig Singleton aka Flux.

For more info visit the WWAF website.

Hell Up In Hotlanta Art Battle
Stuart McClean Gallery
684 John Wesley Dobbs Ave
Atlanta, GA 30312-1680

UPDATE: The artists just uploaded some Youtube promo's on some WWF ish...

Young Ink|Flux|Lean|Occasional Superstar

I can't believe I'm missing this...

Hawks Cool Heat, Remain In First Place

Yep. Oh yeah, I can't stop watching THIS CLIP. Leave it up to ESPN to disable embedding for it.

The Plight of the Female Emcee: 3 Types of Rappers That Annoy Everyone

Fellow writer and soon to be author Jacinta Howard just posted a entertaining analysis on the state of the female rapper over at her blog. I always find it a little more trustworthy to hear about female rappers...from other females. It usually confirms what most dudes think of them unfortunately though. Which is that alot of them suck in the grand scheme of things. I've said it before amongst friends, but female rappers (all rappers on a larger scale actually) are kinda like Black quarterbacks now. There was a time when they HAD to be great at what they were doing if they wanted to be accepted and respected, but somewhere in time enough of them either got accepted or got comfortable to the point that they could afford to be wack.

Howard broke the annoying female rappers down into three catagories: The Mood Ring Emcee, The Butch Emcee and The Rapping Whore. Peep what she had to say HERE.

On a related note, I interviewed Mia X for Ozonemag.com yesterday so be on the look out for that soon.

The Making of Yelawolf's "Pop The Trunk"

Here's some video of 'Wolf and SupaHot Beats making that fie ass song I posted the other day.

Cee-Lo and the Good Time Guys-"Hello Miss"

Cee-Lo and the Good Time Guys-"Hello Miss"

Alright so...I see this track floating around on the web today, and just like many of you I'm sure, the first thing I think is "wellgiaaaaatdaamn Lo, already shawty?" Just when we were getting used to seeing the Goodie Mob back together here he comes with some left field ish right?

Well, from what I know, this Good Time Guys project has been in the making for a minute and this song is like 4 years old...If you remember Cee-Lo was working on that Happy Hour project with Jazze Pha (many of those tracks can be heard on Big Zak's Major Visibility) and the Gnarles Barkley stuff around the same time. But on top of all that he was also running around the city with Kool Ace (ya'll probably recognize him most from UGK's "Pimpin Aint No Illusion" or Erick Sermon and Too $hort's "Buy You Some" remix that also had MC Breed on it), his manager Hank and this cat named Mente calling themselves the International Good Time Guys. I don't remember hearing any music out of it, hell I think it was damn near the same thing as what he and Jazze had popping at the time. I just remember them popping up at random events in the city rocking zoot suits and shit. Obviously out of all these visions Cee-Lo was having at the time...the Gnarles Barkley stuff took off first.

So, when I saw this song floating around, I didn't get too alarmed at the thought of the Goodie Mob stuff getting postponed on being placed on the backburner that fast. One, because dude has proved that he can multi-task musically. And two because from what I know the Good Time Guys stuff is already done for the most part and is just finally leaking onto the net.

For the life of me I cannot remember where I heard this beat from though. I know I've heard this beat in the form of another song, I almost want to say I heard Big Gipp on it first because thats the voice I'm hearing in my head. I 98% sure Cee-Lo produced it too. Shied, I might just be remembering hearing it 4 years ago.

But yeah, I guess I'm making this post to calm the spirits of people thinking that the Goodie Mob reunion is already a wrap. I'm not prophesizing, I'm just letting you know what I know in case you didn't know...understand?

UPDATE: AH HAH! Now I know where I heard this beat from...Bobby Creekwater feat. Mistah FAB "Drop Top Muzik"

ANOTHER UPDATE: The homie Spree Wilson just reminded me again that the original version of this song is titled "Hello Bitch" so it looks like Bobby got his hands on it and did his thing on it years later.

Cory Mo feat. Pill, Troublesum & Mike Flo-"Beats & Lyrics"

The homie Cory Mo let me hear this beat a while back but nobody hopped on it yet. After hearing this I'll say good choices were made. Ya'll already know who Pill is by now and Mike Flo is from the DPZ camp. I'm not very familiar with Troublesum, but she kinda snapped on here.

This track will be appearing on the 10 Year Anniversary of the Beats & Lyrics Show mixtape. Whaddup Jayforce.