How important are women to hip hop? Our women are very important to hip hop; they are not “bitches”, “tricks” or “hoes”… they are our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters and they have a voice that will always be an important part of hip hop. If it wasn’t for women there would be no men in hip hop… you feel me?
I attended this panel discussion after the film documentary ”Say My Name” at the Words, Beats and Life Bootleg Festival this past Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. This was a good way to closeout the festival with a very important topic that is effecting hip hop . Thanks to Dr. Jared Ball the founder of FreeMix Radio for the mp3 hookup as well as the information he provided me. Also check out his site FreeMix Radio for more topics that effects the artform we love called “Hip-Hop”.
I attended this panel debate at the Words, Beats and Life Bootleg Festival this past Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009. This was a good way to kick off the festival with a topic that is effecting hip-hop . Thanks to Dr. Jared Ball the founder of FreeMix Radio for the mp3 hookup as well as the information he provided me. Also check out his site FreeMix Radio for more topics that effects the artform we love called “Hip-Hop”.
What began as an exploration into the role, function and impact of intellectual property rights, copyright as part of this week’s Words, Beats and Life, Inc.’s Bootleg Festival panel Radio Retaliation: Intellectual Property and Hip-Hop Subversion became a powerful debate over who suffers most from bootlegging, or “illegally” distributing copyrighted materials. The panelists included: Nick Schonberger (scholar/curator), Michelle Smith a.k.a. Noodles (On-air host, WPFW/Cookiewear) and Naji Mujahid (emcee), Kenzo Hakuta (Dir., City of God’s Son) and Dr. Jared A. Ball (professor/founder of Freemix Radio). The discussion’s moderator was Bomani “D’Mite” Armah, “Poet with a hip-hop style.”
Yeah, I do glance over my email from time to time. If I’m not in the middle of something, I may just check it out. The above video, from a 2007 Def Poetry show, caught my attention. The dude, Sciryl (that’s lyrics spelled backwards), wants to hit me up with some music to post. What do you think? You interested in hearing more from this cat?
He sent me one of his older joints which you can grab after the cut. I haven’t heard it yet, but I think I’ll be hittin him back for his latest stuff.
Yes, you read the title right, Dr. Dre has given (another) tentative release date for his 3rd studio album, Detox. He has this to say about the up-coming cd, ”I’m just now — over the last couple of months — starting to feel that it’s going to be right and it’s something I can be proud of, and everybody is going to love it. In a perfect world, I’m shooting for a November or December release.” Dr. Dre mentioned Jay-Z, NaS and Lil’ Wayne as artists that will appear on Detox and said that once it is out, he will promote it and return to teh studio exclusivly as a producer. Original interview seen over at rapbasement.com.
*Props to Hetal for this quick info
So… what do y’all think? We all know that release dates have been mentioned and we have all heard that Detox will be dropping “this” year. Having seen Relapse and news of Relapse 2, is this the year we finally get Detox!?
We all know that sneaks and hip hop go hand in hand. So when I saw the new K-Swiss ads rotating on the site, I had to go see what their new ad campaign was all about. I rock a lot of different shoes, but you can’t get any more classic than the K-Swiss classic white sneaks.
This year, K-Swiss is apparently revamping their Classic line by going back to the original look from 1966, but giving us the comfort of today. I’ve been rocking K-Swiss since 1985 and can tell you that I’ll definitely picking up these new sneaks.
I wanna hear from you though… what are you wearing and what was your first pair of sneaks? I know there are a lot of fashioin gurus on the site, so tell me… aside from Run-DMC’s “My Adidas”, how have sneakers played a role in hip hop?
The Queen of Hip Hop/Soul is singing in Autotune? Not sure why? Really don’t understand it. The imperfections in her voice is what has made her speical. She doesn’t need Autotune. As a long time Mary fan I’m not sure how to take this. Hit the cut for the link and sound off on the track…
About a year and a half ago, the one thing that helped this blog make a name for itself was the Amercan Gangster Remix. It’s pretty much all we posted for two months straight [see here]. Well it’s a year and a half later and people are still remixing Jay-Z’s American Gangster. Just recently I got submissions from two resident Nottinghammers — Isbjerg and Young K, both reppin’ their native countries with Danish Gangster and Canadian Gangster respectively. We decided to put these two remix albums up head to head to see who has the best overall remix album. So if you will, download the remix albums after the cut and tell us what you think. Feel free to compare individual remixes in the comments.
This came to my attention last week. Thomas, Kevin, and myself read it and we kinda scoffed… it really didn’t matter. After all, we all saw the “Vibe Best Rapper” Competition [view here]. Obviously, Joe Budden wasn’t impressed. After sitting back and thinking about it… I’m gonna have to go Joe Budden on this list myself, regardless of the repercussions. I mean, the logical answer would be that “no one knows about KevinNottingham.com,” but be real here, we get about 12,000-15,000 hits a day, plenty of new viewers each day… worldwide. Byron Crawford, who is a hugely amusing blogger (albeit, he hates just about everything, but eh, he’s good at what he does) knows about us, YN of Rap Radar knows about us, countless emcees and producers know about us, so why not? In retrospect, I just didn’t understand why we aren’t one of the better 50 blogs out there, and I have plenty of reasons to think why we should be on there. In case you didn’t see the list… here it is.
I just recently upgraded my cassette tape of AZ’s stellar debut album Doe or Die to CD. When the finances allow I do this from time to time. After giving the album a few spins and “refreshing my memory” a few things jump out.
This video has been floating around the internet for about a day so I’m late. Joe Budden along with Joell Ortiz are discussing Vibe’s newest list (The Best Rapper Ever). I think its safe to say that Joey doesn’t like the list….at one point calling some inclusions (and exclusions) on the list blasphemous.
Ok, you all have seen the pics. This poll is for my dawgs out there… let me apologize in advance to the ladies on the site. Anyway, who’s your pick? Personally, I gotta give it up for Cassie. I hear everybody raving over the Rihanna pics, be that girl just don’t do anything for me. I didn’t get too excited over these though, cuz neither one of these hold a torch to the pics Thomas sent me last night! lol What do you think? Sound off after the cut…
Here you have it, one of my favourite emcees of all time completely succumbing to industry pressure and displaying one of the most confusing, frustrating, and irritating listens in recent memory. His distinctive voice is one of the many reasons why I grew to love the art I now passionately write about. Remember, “Cause MC’s have used up extended warranties/ While real MC’s and DJ’s are a minority/ But right about now, I use my authority/ Cause I’m like the Wizard and you look lost like Dorothy” on “You Know My Steez”? I sure do, which is why this new track of his, “Fastlane,” an auto-tone fueled crap-fest that has Guru talking about those same suckers he wanted to body on the aforementioned “Steez,” is one of the most cringe-worthy moments in recent hip hop; and that’s saying a hell of a lot.
We all know the 50 Cent song “Ayo Technology” that Timbaland produced for him and Justin Timberlake. As much as Tim is one of my favorite producers, I really didn’t like this song. It sounded like Tim sampled a video game or something — oh, wait, maybe he DID sample a video game!
Keen Geniuz just sent this over to me claiming that he found the sample to “Ayo Technology” — the Commodore 64 Batman game. After a quick listen, it very well could be. Check it out and compare it to “Ayo Technology” and tell us what you think…
Some people have blasted us for not giving JD Era any shine on the site, so here you go. The homie Young K was at the GZA concert in Toronto recently where JD opened up and grabbed a little footage. Fast forward to the 1:30 marks. Not bad. I need to get a hold of a JD Era mixtape though. Let’s let the floodgates open…. JD Era — yea or nea? Sound off after the cut…
There’s loads of talent still coming out of the West these days. Some are coming under the radar and some are working with the biggest names in hip hop. Regardless, they all have talent. Who do you think has the skills to be the best of the best of the new crop of emcees out of the West coast? Discuss why you think they are the best or about to be the best or have potential to be the best in the comments section.
