Ever since the first needle dropped on a break beat over 30 years ago there has been one ongoing argument in hip hop — Who’s the best MC to ever put it down on the microphone?
Well there’s a site dedicated to designing t-shirts for you to rep your top 5! Here’s what they have to say…
My friends and I have had many heated debates over the years on who spits the best lyrics. Is it Rakim or Common. Fabolous or Redman. Is Tupac really the best rapper and why? These and many other related questions seem to have no definitive answer. So I came up with this crazy idea and I decided to design and produce a tee shirt that let’s all true hip hop fans represent the top 5 mc’s they feel are the illest in the game. Imagine wearing a tee shirt with the names and pics of your favorite mc’s. Each shirt is custom made with exactly the top 5 mc’s you chose. If it’s Scarface, Andre 3000, BlackThought, Biggie and L.L. Cool J then those are the names who will be on your tee. One thing I have come to find out is everyone has a different opinion. Some people like Busta Rhymes for his voice, Some people like Ludacris for his cleverness, Some people like Twista for his flow. It really doesn’t matter who you chose as your top 5 mc’s your right and everyone else is wrong. So why not prove to them they’re wrong by purchasing a limited edition My Top 5 Mc’s Tee Shirt Today!!!
The t-shirts come in both red and blue lettering. I’ve already ordered mine. Here’s my top 5…
Jay-Z
Rakim
Biggie
Common
Big Daddy Kane
These are all just personal favorites. You can pick anyone you want.
No it has not been confirmed and you can blast me now for starting the rumors. But mark my words… Jay-Z will release a new album 4th quarter of this year. Will it be called Blueprint 3? Very possible. If the video above ain’t enough to convince you, just look at Jay’s track record…
In My Lifetime, Vol 1 - November 1997
Vol 2… Hard Knock Life - September 1998
Vol 3… Life & Times of S. Carter - December 1999
The Dynasty: Roc la Familia - October 2000
The Blueprint - September 2001
The Blueprint 2 - November 2002
The Black Album - November 2003
RETIREMENT
Kingdom Come - November 2006
American Gangster - November 2007
Blueprint 3 - November 2008 [my prediction]
Rumors of Blueprint 3 started at the beginning of the year when DJ Clue shouted “Blueprint 3!” all over what turned out to be an old Jay/Timbo track (”Ain’t I”). Then, just a month ago, Timabland announced to MTV that he would be producing Hov’s next album. Jay later denounced those rumors stating that the music will decide if Timbaland produces the whole album or not and said everyone, from Kanye to Just Blaze, has a shoot at a fully produced album.
Enter the above video… it speaks for itself. Blueprint 3 in 4th quarter ‘08? I’d bet money on it.
Same Plate and Hidden City Entertainment Present AZ’s N.4.L. Mixtape Release Party:
Just a few months since the release of Undeniable, AZ is getting ready to celebrate the release of his new mixtape, N.4.L., with a rare live performance at Manhattans’ own Knitting Factory. On Thursday August 7th, be there as one of the greatest rappers ever to bless the mic hits the stage with brand new material from the highly controversial mixtape hosted by DJ Absolut. AZ had the following to say about the much anticipated project, ‘I was inspired by the message behind [Nas’] movement. I’m just adding to the concept because the message is so powerful. It’s about our culture and our people.”
Other performances include Sadat X of Brand Nubian, Don Cerino, J The S, Emilio Rojas, Silent Knight and DXA. There will be a special performances by DJ Absolut, who helped mix and produce the album, as well as Fokis, with DJIngs spinning all night The event will be hosted by fellow Brooklyn emcee Sha Stimuli, who was most recently noted for his promise to release one mixtape a month for a whole year.
New single from Don Cerino! Featuring Silent Knight & Emilio Rojas; produced by ReaLson. Don’t forget to catch Cerino live tomorrow night along with Emilio Rojas and a ton of others at the AZ Mixtape Release Party!
If you’re in NY this Friday, don’t miss the release party for 100dBs‘ new album, Brenner’s Breaks 2! We got a sneak preview of the new joint right here, courtesy of dBs himself. And if you’re a beatmaker/producer, don’t forget to stop by his new forum to take part in the remix contest we have going on. Lot’s of great stuff going on at 100dbs.com!
Starring: Dave Chappelle and plenty of Hip Hop Acts.
Directed by: Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind)
The movie opens with a man having difficulty starting up his car and getting help from Dave and another man. Behind him, a band (The Brooklyn Steppers) is playing “Overnight Celebrity” in such a beautiful manner. It should give any hip hop fan chills. There is so much more where it comes from.
The premise is that Dave wants to throw a block party in Brooklyn, but not just any block party, he wants to get some of hip hop’s biggest acts to join him with no price attached. It really is a dream concert consisting of acts like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Common, The Roots, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Dead Prez, The Fugees (who provide the greatest climax because they reunited just for this) and more that I’m probably missing. The documentary also consists of Dave handing out golden tickets (similar to that of Willy Wonka) to unsuspecting people to come to the free show (yeah, I forgot to mention that the show was free).
Hot new mixtape from Torae spotted over at OkayPlayer.com! The tracklist on this joint looks amazing. The tape is 23 tracks deep with new (unreleased) material, classic freestyles, and collabo songs Tor’s done over the years. It features production from Khrysis, 9th Wonder, Madlib, Marco Polo, Illmind and more.
Hey all you beatmakers, producers, and remixers! Looking for another remix contest to show off your beats? Well we’re teaming up with 100dBs for a brand new remix contest hosted on his site!
100dBs just set up a brand new forum where he’s looking to gather beatmakers all across the globe to hang out, talk about music, and share techniques. He’ll even be available for some Q&A sessions! To kick things off right, dBs wanted to see what you all got and invite you all over to remix some of his joints. He’s been so impressed with the level of musicianship right here on this site, that he wanted to extend the invitation to you all first.
He already has an acapella posted on the board for you all to start. First prize will be a package including limited edition copies of Brenner’s Breaks 1 + 2 and the Scott Free Soul Mix, along with your remix posted on the website! The deadline for submissions is August 17th.
Brenner’s Breaks 2 will be officially released this Friday, August 8th. This pressing will be very limited.. the only place to get the real album will be at the release party itself, from this contest, or if you are one of the first few people to buy the download version.
So what are you waiting for? Head on over there now, register with the site and get started! I’ll be stopping by dBs’ forum now and then to see how you guys are doing. Good luck!
Fokis hit me up today with the first single from his new project coming out at the end of the month with Focus of Aftermath Entertainment. The track is called “What It Do” and features Mistah F.A.B. & Young Dre. The whole EP, called 20/20, is produced by Focus and is tentatively scheduled for release on August 20th. We’ll be sitting down with Fokis later this week, so you can be sure to get the inside scoop right here!
Buff1’s sophomore album, There’s Only One, is set to drop next Tuesday, August 12th and we’ve got the inside scoop! He already has a classic debut behind him, successful National and European tours under his belt, and deafening buzz from the blog-o-sphere. Buff1’s commanding presence on and off stage has earned him a die-hard fan-base ready to beat their speakers up with his latest release. Whether rocking a party anthem, a political burner or a soulful banger, one thing is certain - Buff consistently delivers. If you think there’s another Buff1 in the game, keep searching…There’s Only One.
Buff1 sat down with me to tell us a little about the album, about himself, and what else he has coming up this year.
Heltah Skeltah is the legendary rap duo comprised of Rock and Sean Price, a.k.a Ruck. The duo is most know for their debut album, Nocturnal, which produced such hits as “Operation Lockdown,” “Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka,” and “Therapy.” Heltah Skeltah is also an intricate part of the mighty Boot Camp Clik, who over the past several years have released projects such as “The Last Stand,” and “Casualties of War.”
My man 20 Keys just hit me up with 2 new tracks from Trav Williams‘ new project called Feel Good Music. If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know that I’ve been doing nothing but raving about Trav’s album The Trickle Down. I’ve actually worn it out. If it were on cassette, that shit would be broke by now! Glad to hear Trav’s working on new stuff. Both joints produced by 20 Keys.
Alright guys, here they are… 24 hot remixes to O.C.’s “Times Up”. It’s gonna be a tough call this week. Thomas is going solo on the judging, so good luck to him!
You can check these out in the player to the right also and don’t forget to vote for your favs. As you’ve noticed, we’ve been using the poll as a guide every now and then when judging. Good luck to all the contestants!
The results are in! This week I had my man MIDIMarcstep up again to guest judge. The remixes were crazy and although we only had six to debate over, our picks were all over the place. So, this week I chose to bring in the results of the online poll as well as give more of an upper hand to our guest judge. Well let’s get on with the results!
We’re getting close to the end… only 3 weeks left! I’m feeling a little under the weather today, but I’ll try my hardest to get everything up for the contest today. Just so you guys aren’t waiting around, here’s the track to remix this week.
Oh, one more thing… we got a sponser to give the winner a prize. The winner for this week will win a t-shirt from Top 5 MC’s. These t-shirts are pretty hot, and I’ll be doing a full write up on the details soon.
You know we couldn’t do a remix contest without throwing in a track from Jay-Z. Of course, the obvious choice would be to pick something from Reasonable Doubt. But we did that last contest. This week I wanted to incorporate one of the most influential sounds from the late 90s. And that would be from the innovator known as Timbaland. This week you all will remix “Hey Papi”, one of my favorite tracks from Jay & Tim. The stakes are high… let’s see what you can do!
The cut-off to submit your remix is
Sunday, August 10, 2008 @ 3:00pm EDT.
It’s been a little while since I’ve shared my iPod playlist with you all. We weren’t gonna do it again, since the response wasn’t that big. But a few people have inquired, so I put another one together. This one got a little out of control, as I incuded 21 tracks. No real criteria as to how tracks made the list… they were just songs that I’m feeling right now. The order of the tracks is based on best sounding order. Continue on for the full tracklist and download link…
Starring: Will Farell, John C. Reilly and Richard Jenkins
Directed by: Adam McKay (Talledega Nights, Anchorman)
If the trailers didn’t have you laughing, don’t worry, there are still plenty more laughs to go around in this 90 minute laugh-fest. What you didn’t see in the trailer were some other ridiculously crude moments that provide some of the biggest laughs. The trio that made “Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” work so well are back for more as Will Farell, John C. Reilly, and director Adam McKay all have a hand in providing what could be the funniest movie you see in 2008.
One thing that I love more than dropping a new sample set on you guys, is dropping an exclusive album release. A few months ago, we brought you the premiere of Spectac & 9th Wonder’s Corner of Spec & 9th. Now, thanks to my man MIDI Marc, we have another exclusive for you — N’Telligence’s Black Boy Lost. This is a kevinnottingham.com exclusive… you got it here first!
The album itself is simple amazing and is probably up on my top ten releases so far for this year. The rhymes are inspiring and the production is tight. MIDIMarc provides quite a few beats for the album, as well as, Clokwork, the Tin Men, and a track from Nicolay. Album artwork was done by Kevin Roche. We also get to hear the lyrical premier of MIDI Marc on the mic!
After you download the album, make sure to read my interview with N’Telligence. Dude’s a great guy and has a lot of interesting things to say. Let us know what you think of the album in the comments! Read More »
"I'm S.C. King/you can crown me like two checkers/you ain't got to guess it/you can see it when I wreak it/flow is uncut/16 keys on record/and it's all there bitch/you ain't got to check it/so test me if you want/fail when it gets corrected/you ain't gotta love the flow, but you gonna respect it." - N'Telligence
"Good Morning South Carolina (Let's Go)"
N'Telligence - Black Boy Lost (2008)
.jpg)
Loading ...
