The Rap Up: July 2006

Monday, July 31, 2006

Cuban Linx 7-31-06: My Blogger's Keeper

More Hip-Hop Violence
Artists Mistreated at the DUE Awards in Houston?
Houston Chronicle Profiles Hip-Hop Whiz kid Lupe Fiasco
Method Man quits Smoking
Crooked I Responds to Snoop, Names The Game K.O.T.W.
2Pac to Settle in South Africa
Prodigy is Not Dead, People. Stop It.
Kazaa Dole Out $115 Million for Your Atrocities
EMI-Warner Merger Kicked to the Curb
Beyonce's Arena Magazine Pics
Video: DJ Khaled ft. Kanye West and his Grammy Family
The Ghetto Big Mac Sucks
This Week's Hip-Hop Blog Round-Up
Blog-Hate for Pageviews is the New-New. Sad But True
Download The Game's Face of L.A. Mixtape

9:09 AM | Permalink

Lake + Cormega - My Brother's Keeper Tracklisting

Tracklisting for My Brother's Keeper

1. Intro
2. Ghetto - prod by Ski
3. The Oath - prod by Ax Tha Bull
4. Let That Thing Go (skit)
5. 30/30 f/ Uniqua Star - prod by Ben Grim (Now or Laterz)
6. Don’t Start f/ Greg Nice - prod by Cormega
7. You Know Where He’s From (Skit)
8. QU Side f/ Mr. Cheeks - prod by Cormega, J Waxx Garfield, Arnold
9. Sleezo (Skit)
10. Snitch Nigga - prod by Buckwild
11. Stress & Greed prod by Jay Boy
12. Get It - prod by Buckwild
13. Walk Through Heaven - prod by Get Large
14. Hood Legends - prod by J Waxx Garfield
15. Swallow Everything (skit)
16. Miss Everything f/ Kira - prod by J Waxx Garfield
17. No Happy Ending - prod by HotDay
18. Dirty NY f/ Fat Joe - prod by J Waxx Garfield

This looks good on paper, but I'm curious as to why it says "Lake featuring Cormega." Maybe I'm reading too much into the whole thing, but I thought it was a collaborative effort.

(Props to Dove from Tygereye for the email.)

12:19 AM | Permalink

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Kimora Lee Simmons King Pics (Updated)

Kimora Lee Simmons' not-too-good King Magazine photos...

Hey, at least they're better than the GQ spread:

7:17 PM | Permalink

Dilated Peoples Kicked off Capitol Records?

They should have anticipated it, seeing as no one was talking about their latest joint, 20/20. I never even saw a video for the "Back Again" single. Peep the Ballerstatus article:

"There's a lot of good people at Capitol," Evidence told BallerStatus.net. "But, sometimes those aren't the people that write the checks. However, I'm not bitter; I'm definitely ready to move forward."

Rakaa is currently working on his as yet untitled solo effort, while DJ Babu is putting together Duck Season Vol.3.

Evidence is readying his solo project The Weatherman, a title referencing the nickname fans gave him in his early career. The album will showcase Evidence's lyrics and production skills alongside guests such as Rakaa, Little Brother, Defari, and DJ Revolution, with additional production by The Alchemist, Jake One, and Babu, among others. It is slated for release on March 20 of 2007 on ABB Records.

Evidence is also collaborating with the Alchemist on The A&E Project, which will feature both artists on the boards and behind the mic. The album is expected to drop after The Weatherman, early next year.

Granted, 20/20 was underwhelming, but damn, this crew is like an gold mine waiting to explode. The Platform was excellent, and Neighborhood Watch was the closest they came to mainstream success. Yet, for some reason, Capitol never went beyond that Kanye single.

Little Brother, take note.

6:09 PM | Permalink

Friday, July 28, 2006

Soundbites: The Roots - Bread & Butter (Non-Game Theory Track)

The Roots - Bread & Butter
I've been saying for a while that the leaked version of Game Theory is incomplete. At least that's what I think, seeing as there's a particular dark track--where Black Thought talks about the murder of his parents--that didn't make the cut. I don't remember the song title to that one, but I recall one line: "if it brings a tear to your eyes, I apologize."

Back to "Bread and Butter," another track that won't be on the retail version of GT. But, I'm sure you already know that you can cop it from their pre-Game Theory EP on iTunes, along with 3 other joints. My gut tells me that someone left this out in order to keep Tariq from being overshadowed. I mean, "Long Time," "In the Music," "Game Theory"...Riq had to double up on this album.

12:02 PM | Permalink

Friday Flix: Beyonce, Eva Pigford, Vida Playboy Extras

Beyonce's Promotional Photos for B'Day

Top Model Winner Eva Pigford goes Topless

(nsfw)
Eva
More Eva

BONUS Flix: Vida Guerra's Playboy Outtakes
(What the magazine didn't show you)

11:25 AM | Permalink

Kelis Was Here Tracklist/Album Cover

1.Intro
2.Bossy (featuring Too $hort)
3.What's That Right There
4.Till The Wheels Fall Off
5.Living Proof
6.Blindfold Me
7.Goodbyes
8.Trilogy
9.Circus
10.Weekend (featuring Will.I.Am)
11.Like You
12.Aww S***! (featuring Smoke)
13.Lil Star (featuring Cee-Lo)
14.I Don't Think So
15.Handful
16.Appreciate Me
17.Have A Nice Day

Where's the Nas collabo?

(spotted via NME)

10:58 AM | Permalink

Cuban Linx - 7-28-06: No Gimmicks

Fat Joe Leaves Atlantic (Who didn't see it coming?)
The Game Leaves Aftermath (I guess 50 is really running Interscope)
Black Eyed Peas Awarded Presidential Medal...in Philippines
LL Cool J Inks 7-digit Deal with CBS

10:11 AM | Permalink

New Release Date for Clipse Album Hell Hath No Fury

Good news for crack music fans. Sez MTV:

Originally, the Virginia duo were going to fill the album with songs they'd been sitting on for years. But as more and more time passed, the brothers' attitude took a decidedly darker turn, and they wanted that to be reflected in their music.

So they scrapped most of the original record and hit the studio. The MCs feel the music is so harsh, it's only appropriate that they release it on October 31. "It's just fitting. Halloween — let the demons loose," Malice said at Battery Studio.

I'm all for battering up demons and everything, but haven't we been through this Halloween release date thing for 12 years already? Pharrell should have been more concerned with putting out Hell Hath Fury instead of wasting all that time on his listless solo project.

9:44 AM | Permalink

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Cuban Linx 7-27-06: A _ _Hole By Nature

More @ Prohiphop

A Rapper Who Likes to Let Fans See Him Suffer
Bulletproof iPod (In Case You Get Jacked)
See Even Africans Think Ja Is a Singer
OhWord.com and DallasPenn Re-invent the Ghetto Big Mac
KRS-One Finally Sells His Soul
A Very Good Review of Louis Logic & JJ Brown's Misery Loves Comedy
An Album Actually Worth Copping

11:36 AM | Permalink

What Beef?

At the O2 Exclusive Album Launch Party...

5:41 AM | Permalink

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Video: Janet Jackson & Nelly - Call on Me

Here's the cultural appreciation-stanchioned video of Janet Jack-Me & Nelly's "Call on Me"

And here's a video of Janet asking you to "puh-leeze" design her album cover.

11:01 PM | Permalink

Contest: Who Wants My Rhymefest CD?

Depending on how people respond to this one, I might start doing weekly/monthly CD giveaways.*

You can now receive a free copy of Rhymefest's Blue Collar CD by simply answering these questions in the comment section. The first person to answer both questions correctly wins the contest.

1). Prior to Blue Collar, Rhymefest had released a poorly-received underground album titled_____________
2). "Fever" is one of the singles from Blue Collar. ___________ produced "Fever"?

Update: A winner has emerged. Damn, that was faster than I expected. Jurassic 5 next week.

*Idea flagrantly jacked from Joey

11:00 PM | Permalink

Pharrell's HP Commercial

I'm really not feeling his album, but Skateboard P's execution on this commercial is flawless.

I wonder what hip-hop artist HP will court next?

1:01 PM | Permalink

Cuban Linx 7-26-06: The Documentary

Teen Arrested in Sniper Shooting
Game Hooks up with Nas and Mary J Blige on New Album
Janet Sparks Doubt Over Rumored Marriage to Jermaine
Mo'Nique Thrown Off Airplane, Pulls Race Card
Immortal Technique Weighs in on Middle East Crisis

12:17 PM | Permalink

Crumbs...LeToya's Party Pics

Check out my crazy story and amateur pictures from LeToya's album release party Monday night.
More pictures here and here.

4:48 AM | Permalink

Method Man's 4: 21...The Day After Tracklist

1. Intro
2. First Born
3. 4:21…The Day After
4. Ya Mean ft. Fat Joe & Styles P
5. Things They Say ft. Lauryn Hill
6. Muddy Tims ft. Redman
7. M.E.T.H.O.D.
8. Life and Death ft. Killa Sin
9. Stat Bwoy ft. Streetlife
10. Non Alcoholics ft. Tash
11. Rude Awakening
12. Low ft. Ghostface Killah
13. Grab Hold
14. One ft. RZA & Streetlife

That "Ya Mean" track is a-ok, nothing special. Glad to see that Red and Ghost made the cut. I mean, for some odd reason I kept thinking Bobby Brown was going to be on this. Thoughts?

Related Posts:
Nas - Hip-Hop Is Dead...The N Tracklist
The Roots - Game Theory Tracklist

4:15 AM | Permalink

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Mya's Photoshoot for Liberation

R & B--hell Black Music as a whole--is depressing right now, but I'm willing to give Mya a chance. Moodring was decent sans a few forced collabos (read: Lloyd Banks). She needs to crawl out of her hermittage and join the girl fight: Xtina vs Janet vs Beyonce vs Ciara vs LeToya...Speaking of Toya, she's the reason I'm late for today's post. I'll explain (along with photos) much later. For now, enjoy Mya's promo photos for Liberation--her new album.

Yes kids, it's true that I share my birthday with Mya Harrison.

Mas Mya Photos
M-1
M-2
M-3
M-4
M-5
M-6
M-7
M-8
M-9
M-10

4:18 PM | Permalink

Monday, July 24, 2006

Soundbites: Little Brother, Too Short, AZ

Little Brother - Step Off
I don't know what this is going to be on, but I remember Phonte mentioning on his blog that they're already working on the next album. "Step Off" sounds decent as an album track. The production is a bit sleazy, but Tay and Pooh's sharp lyrics are undeniable. It'll be interesting to see what direction they go with their next release, seeing as they've emptied the vault on The Listening and The Minstrel Show.

AZ - The Animal (produced by DJ Premier)
Anthony Cruz is nasty on this Premo beat. It also goes without saying that Premier has finally evolved, tossing out his signature drums and hi-hats for a thumping bassline and flourishing piano licks. That's what real kings do.

Bonus Cuts:
Jay Dee/J Dilla - Diamonds (from Shelved MCA Album) : Fuego!
Too Short ft. Snoop - Keep Bouncing: The ATCQ sample won me over.
Ras Kass - King of Tha West: No arguments there.

2:25 PM | Permalink