By the way, I've finalized my new year resolution, thanks to HoustonSoReal.


(Pic by The Afflicted Yard)

From DJ Swindle, the brain behind 80 Cent, Bobb Deep, and Em-J, comes Almatic: Nas Meets Al Green. I've had "Made U Look(Rmx)" and "Streets of NY" on repeat all evening. Now I couldn't tell you what "Oochie Wally" sounds like because I skipped right through it. No amount of mash-upping can redeem the horrendous lyrics on that song.

Get it: DJ Swindle & Frank Lyon - Almatic | Tracklist

Not his most sophisticated work but sometimes less is more.

"Freedom Writers Movie" Trailer: Windows | Real | Quicktime

(Via 33 Jones)

-Hip-Hop Man of the Year Award goes to...

-How James Brown influenced hip-hop.

-And the Hipster Album of the Year award goes to...

-The 2006 Wrap-Up by Junichi.

-Video: DJ Shadow - "This Time (I'm Gonna Try It My Way) (Via Spinemagazine.com)

-Video: Remy Ma, formerly of Terror Squad, now has a new group with Shawnna and Jacki-O.

-Nannies don't care about black people.

-A double dose of Jill Scott in 2007.

Ten rap songs you forgot about (or didn't realize existed) in 2006. Some good, some weak, some, um, forgettable. You be the judge:


Lupe Fiasco - Pop, Pop
Lupe "I Used to Hate Hip-Hop" Fiasco threatens to send "pop, pop to your car" on this 2003 single recorded on Arista. And he has the nerve to condemn Nas' Hip-Hop Is Dead for bearing too much animosity?

Jay-Z ft. Sauce Money - Dead or Alive (Pac Diss?)
This old school joint surfaced shortly after Jay-Z disclosed that he had responded to 2Pac's disses on wax.

Talib Kweli ft. J Sands - In the Mood (prod. by Kanye West)
Kweli reunites with Kanye on this soulful leakage from Ear Drum.

Clipse - On My Sh*t
This outtake from Hell Hath No Fury is more potent than some of the album cuts.

Lupe Fiasco ft. Sway - We Love You
Lupe connects with UK's finest Sway Dasafo on this leftover from the F&L sessions. Jay-Z makes a cameo at the beginning.

UGK ft. Kool G Rap & Big Daddy Kane (prod. by Marley Marl) - Up Next
Despite the legendary line-up, "Up Next" failed to build up enough buzz for UGK's forthcoming album. The album is now set for late February.

Cassidy + Mos Def - Monster Music
An unlikely collabo between Mos and Cass, produced by none other than Swizzy.

Freddie Foxxx - The King is Down (Rakim Diss)
Bumpy Knuckles tries to revitalize his career by taking thin-veiled shots at Rakim. The diss stemmed from Rakim's statements in his interview with Halftimeonline.com.

MC Lyte - Hot Damn
To remind us that she's still the GFOAT Lyte dropped this mixtape gem in the first quarter of '06.

The Game ft. Yukmouth, Erick Sermon, Stat Quo & Fatal Hussein - Across the Coast
This out-of-nowhere posse cut dropped a couple months prior to the release of Doctor's Advocate.

- Hip-hop ain't dead: Nas outsells Young Jeezy by a thousand units.

-Police nabsSean Price concertgoer via YouTube

-Lupe Fiasco chops it up with Format Mag.

-Fans pay tribute to James Brown.

-27 Rap Albums to watch in 2007

-New Gerald Levert album arrives this February.

-Top Reality Whores of 2006

-Iverson gets comfortable with his new team, leads the Nuggets to victory against Celtics.

Note to SOHH: STOP stealing my blog entries.

Happy Holidays from one King Koopa.

1. Guess Who's Back Intro
2. Hip Hop Warning
3. Hip Hop Dead Skit
4. She Gonna Already Know
5. Let Em Know
6. Tryin To Change Me
7. Picture Me Rollin
8. Chamillionaire Speaks
9. Game Gonna Cost A Free
10. Game Gonna Cost A Free Break
11. Riding Overseas Feat. Akon
12. Show me What Ya Got Feat. Famous
13. Answer Machine 2
14. Chamillitary Radio Skit
15. International Money
16. I Run It
17. Get Ya Umbrellas Out
18. Get Ya Umbrella Break
19. Man Hold Up
20. Roll Call Reloaded
21. Outro

Mixtape Messiah 2 - Link 1 | Link 2

Now, if you will excuse me I have some chicken and shrimp to devour.

Not exactly how I had hoped to start off my Christmas.

The dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m.(Yahoo News)

R.I.P. to the Godfather of Soul and one of the true pioneers of hip-hop.

Someone just sent me an email confirming what SOHH reported earlier: Nas will reunite with erstwhile members of The Firm AZ, Foxy, Cormega (and possibly Nature) at his Nokia Theater concert tonight.

If rappers keep kissing and making up like this, us bloggers would have to resort to talking about the new Clap Your Hand Say Yeah album.

Official cover art for Messy Marv's Music fo' tha Taliban, slated for release on January 30th, 2007. From what I gather, the title is a play on current events and a blind allusion to the war zones in the Bay Area.

It feels like Halloween all over again.

Devin the Dude - "Treatin' Me Cold" (mp3)

Last night, Matt Sonzala and the chain-hang-low peops at Rap-A-Lot Records treated a bunch of media folks to an assortment of wings and drinks. Oh, and did I mention the insanely enjoyable album from the incomparable Devin the Dude? Dude can go from jester to preacher at the drop of a dime.

Here's the tracklist for Devin's Waitin' To Inhale, due out on March 13th, 2007:
1) Intro
2) Waiting to Inhale
3) I Hope I Don't Get Sick of This
4) Use Ta Be
5) Almighty $ ft. Tony Mac
6) That Boom pt. 1
7) Broccoli & Cheese (Nasty)
8) Treatin' Me Cold
9) Cut Ya Up
10) That Boom pt 2
11) Sell Me Some ft Odd Squad
12) What a Job
13) No Longer Needed Here ft GT
14) Anything (Acoustic)
15) Somebody Else
16) That Boom pt 3
17) Alone
18) Just Because
19) Little Girl Gone ft. Lil Wayne, Bun B, Tami Latrell, and Tony Mac (best cut on the album)

Labels: Devin the Dude, Tracklists

(Click to enlarge)

When I posted the "Won't Do" video a couple days ago, I intended to follow it up with this mega-nice Jay Dee giveaway, but my lazy ass got hooked on 2K7 all day. Not to worry, we'll make it up to you with a grand prize package that includes:

1 limited edition J Dilla - The Shining T-shirt
1 limited edition J Dilla - The Shining Instrumental EP
1 CD of J Dilla - The Shining

Just answer these two super easy questions:
1) J Dilla produced all but ONE of the following songs;
a) Busta Rhymes' "So Hardcore"
b) Erykah Badu's "Didn't Cha Know"
c) Keith Murray's "The Rhyme"

2) ?uestlove once said in an interview that he used to play "blind olympics"--a game which involves picking unknown records with eyes closed and creating a beat from the records in no less than five minutes--with Jay Dee. Which one of the following Dilla-produced tracks is a product of blind olympics?
a) Pharcyde - "Runnin'"
b) Common - "Doin' It"
c) De Las Soul - "Stakes is High"


Send your answers to therapup at gmail dot com. Good luck.

Update: Thanks to all the contestants. Congrats to winner Matt Nash!

-Download: Santa's Mixtape - 50 minutes of Hip-Hop Xmas tunes.

-Eskay has the new Pharoahe Monch + Clinton Sparks mixtape The Awakening. Bananas!

-This is kinda old, so what: Nas says Jim Jones is his b*tch.

-50 Cent is the mastermind behind The Game's new album.

-The Arctic Monkeys turn to hip-hop.

-Melle Mel vs. 50 Cent?

-Details on RjD2's new album The Third Hand.

-The Cube in You: 33 Jones takes a trip down memory lane with Ice Cube.

-Something about the upcoming Ego Trip's White Rapper Show cracks me up.

-Randy Exclusive accidentally gets credit for an article titled "Who's Gettin' Some Ass and Who Ain't?"

-"It's not just Sean Bell": Ian speaks on the lack of media coverage on 5 other reckless shootings.

-Doug E Fresh set to launch hip-hop cartoon series.

-Can't make this stuff up.

-Mp3: Snoop, Dre, Black Ty - "Imagine" (Rmx)

-Ed: Shout out to HHNLive.com for awarding The Rap Up a runner-up position in their Best Hip-Hop.com/Blog Site category, right behind our friend Skaybn. The folks at Still Listen also get a nod.

See the rest of HHNLive's 2006 awards.

The Source picks Game's favorite color for their new issue.

Skillz - The Rap Up 2006

Like he does every year, Skillz raps up this year's noteworthy events, trends, etc.

Bonus Rap Ups:
Skillz - The Rap Up 2002
Skillz - The Rap Up 2003
Skillz - The Rap Up 2004
Skillz - The Rap Up 2005

- Ludacris: "Hip-Hop is not dead."

-10 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2006, according to a dozen bloggers.

-Nas and Kelis make marriage seem sexy.

-Beyonce and Matthew Knowles target Houston's poor.

-DJ Shadow to release fan-made music video.

-MTV's Pimp My Ride on the move

-Trick Trick to take Hot Rod's place in G-Unit? (j/k)

With cameos by will.i.am, Common, Karriem Riggins, Talib Kweli, Black Thought, etc. The young lad who plays Dilla in the video is his younger brother, John Yancey.

R.I.P. to one of the best producers on the mike.

A T.R.U. reader named Eginnea was at this show, and said Nas treated fans to a 12-13 song performance, as opposed to the 5 or so he was originally scheduled for.

With all these fights in the NBA, basketball is gradually becoming the new soccer. Headbutts and all. Carmelo Anthony reportedly threw the first punch and is likely to face some serious punishment.

• A rundown of NBA brawls dating back to 1977

(Video via Onsmash.net)

Urban DVD Awards














Remy Ma -- Serious Jones & Stimuli












Home of the Brave Premiere

























Steve Harvey Morning Show







































Trace Magazine Party


























Rihanna performance @ Z100 Jingle Ball



























Scott Storch's Birthday Bash

Miss Jones interviews Nas on Hot 97
Nas talks about everything from the reason he says hip-hop is dead to Young Jeezy asking him to collaborate with his girlfriend. I assume the male-mouth kisser and perm-wearing rapper subliminals are aimed at Weezy and Jimmy respectively.

"50 shots, but where's 50 Cent? 50 needs to be there for Sean Bell."

Salute, MC Kool Nerd

-Lupe barely wins our Best New Artist poll.

-Industry gianiAhmet Ertegun dies of brain injury

-Video: Talib Kweli's NCAA Big Ten commercial.

-Good news: Wyclef Jean's weed carrier has been freed by the kidnappers. It's wild out there in Haiti.

-Snoop's British Airways ban has been lifted.

-Just in time for Snoop's European tour with Diddy .

-This shouldn't surprise anyone: Rick James biopic, bitch!

-Forget Obama and Clinton, here's a much better presidential candidate, says one writer.

-OMGGGG! Curtis used his real name in a movie!!!! Wowzers!!@#$!%!

Nas Freestyle


Lil' Homey (or Lyrical Lord as the DJ calls him) murders a freestyle (*cough cough*) session, before floundering midway. I have a feeling It Was Written though.

I guess this is their coming out party...(via Writer's Block)

-Video: Common & will.i.am - "A Dream" live. (Thanks, Omar)

-Evil Knievel says Kanye's "Touch the Sky" video is a worthless piece of crap. Looks like Mr. West has finally met his match.

-Good to see hip-hop well represented in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2006.

-Video: Ghostface Killah chops it up with Pete Rosenberg.

-Ok, Russell really needs to quit with all that empowering Africa bullsh*t.

-Hip-hop caucus focusses on ending violence.

-Tragedy strikes Birdman's family.

-Mixtape: Mick Boogie & The Game - The Dope Game 2