So basically, Ice T said Soulja Boy sucks, and Soulja Boy came back with a long-winded video that basically called Ice T out of touch with the modern game. But more importantly, Soulja Boy noted that the last time he saw Ice T, he was acting in an episode of Law and Order. Soujla Boys said, “How you gonna make a song called ‘Fuck Tha Police,’ and then 20 years later, you’re playing the police on TV?”
Which sounded like a really good point, until about 10 seconds later, when I remembered that Ice T didn’t make a song called “Fuck Tha Police” — Ice Cube did (with NWA, of course).
I guess they’re both out of touch with the other’s generation. Via Rex. Visit site »
Sasha Frere-Jones has a great little article in The New Yorker about Auto Tune, the effect so commonly heard in today’s pop, R&B, and hip-hop (it’s the effect T-Pain owes his entire career to). I’ve been a fan of this sound for at least 15 years or so — but when I discovered it (back in the days of Livin’ On A Prayer and California Love), it was generated by a instruments, like a vocoder or talkbox (see Peter Frampton, Roger Troutman, or Stevie Wonder). Today, a strikingly-similar effect is created in post-production using Auto Tune.
I personally have no real objection to the use of Auto Tune, and there are times I quite like it. However, I do see one glaring problem for artists like T-Pain that use it so extensively: you can’t perform live. Since Auto-Tune is a post-production effect and not something that can be done in real time (as can reverb, distortion, phasing, wah-wah, and many other effects we’re familiar with), there’s really no way to incorporate it into a live show. I once saw T-Pain sing “Buy You a Drank” on a TV talk show and it was laughable. It just sounded so wrong (and it wasn’t helped by the fact that T-Pain isn’t actually much of a singer). Visit site »
April 25th, 2008, 9:30 PM in Tacoma, WA
The Blue Scholars, Seattle’s best and most popular hip-hop act, just released their third single from the Bayani album, for the track “Loyalty.” Love it. Visit site »
My favorite rapper from back in KC, Tech N9ne, is coming to Seattle. I’ve got tickets. If you live in the SEA and enjoy mainstream-ish fast-rapping MCs with a dash of humor and another dash of vulgarity (think Eminem, Ludacris, E-40, and Twista), you might want to be there, too.
For what it’s worth, this is the guy responsible for my signature drink, the Caribou Lou, which is earning a reputation for taking out web nerds left and right at conferences and other geek events. Visit site »
April 16th, 2008, 7 PM in Seattle, WA
February 18th, 2008, 7 PM in Seattle, WA
February 12th, 2008, 8 PM in Seattle, WA
January 11th, 2008, 8 PM in Seattle, WA
November 29th, 2007, 8:30 PM in Seattle, WA
Aww yeah. Now that is what I call bringing sexy back. As if the old-school soul vibe and blaxploitation stylings on the music video weren’t enough, the Dee-oh-double-gee is rockin’ the talk box, pretty much my favorite musical sound ever since I first heard a Roger Troutman record (although, it has been a bit overused lately — I’m looking at you, T-Pain). Awesome. Love it. Thank you, S. :) Visit site »
“Having studied White People for 27 years, my authority on the topic is absolute; this list is damn near bullet proof.” Well, I’m not going to argue with him! Visit site »
Holy shit, this is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long, long time. Favorites: this is how we chill (Souls of Mischief!), what to do with a freak (DU!), three MCs and one DJ (Beastie Boys!), Amount of Obtained Ass (Nate Dogg!), and of course, the one about Caribou Lou, the drink I’m spreading across the country via web conferences (Tech N9NE!). Visit site »
Damn, I am totally hooked on this song. “Peace, Love, Unity, Havin’ Fun / These are the lyrics of KRS-One!” Great. Visit site »
I saw someone wearing this t-shirt at Bumbershoot and decided I must have it.
But…where’s Yella? Visit site »
Stupid, yes, but still quite funny. Visit site »
When Michelle told me “crunk” had been added to M-W, I was intrigued. As far as I know, not even the southern hip-hop MCs that use it regularly can agree on what it really means. The most commonly agreed-upon definition seems to be “crazy drunk,” but I’ve heard that it derives from “chronic” and “drunk” and “crack” and “drunk,” as well. One thing is for sure: it means to get f’ed up.
So I was really curious what M-W would have to say about the word. I looked it up, and found probably the lamest definition of all time: “word of fluctuating meaning used during the 1990s in lyrics of the rap groups OutKast and Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz.”
As per usual on matters such as these, The crowdsourced Urban Dictionary provides a much more satisfying result.
Seriously. “Word of fluctuating meaning.” How the hell is that a definition? Visit site »
A few people asked me what was up with the strange title for my blog post about me going to Blue Flavor. As per usual, Wikipedia explains all. Visit site »
Everything you ever wanted to know about what are possibly the sixteen most important beats in the last 30 years of popular music. As many things as are wrong with it, I love Wikpedia for this kind of stuff. Visit site »
Help the police comin’ straight from tha underground / a young chap’s got it good cuz I’m brown! Visit site »
Featuring Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc…badass. Visit site »
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit I’m biased, but I honestly believe this is one of the most impressive hip-hop albums I’ve ever heard. On technical skills alone, Tech N9ne is simply unbeatable. Not Twista nor Eminem can approach him on pure speed and flow. Reppin’ KC MO, fellas and tha ladies know! Visit site »