Rugged Man vs. Mayweather

A heated discussion between Hip Hop legend R.A. The Rugged Man and Pretty Boy Floyd Money Mayweather.

R.A. The Rugged Man vs. Floyd Mayweather

Triple Threat Triumvirate

Three great MCs in the cipher, as Mos Def, Black Thought and Eminem came up huge for the BET awards. Each MC killed it.

Mos Def, Black Thought and Eminem BET cipher 2009

A Tale of Two Cities

The World Series is about to jump off and hip hop is getting it in.

New York vs. Philadelphia.

Yankees vs. Phillies.

Broadway vs. Broad Street.

Cheesecakes vs. Cheesesteaks.

Now Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" featuring Alicia Keys has been remixed by a Philly MC named NeeKo, entitled "Ill State of Mind." If you know anything about Philly, the references are crazy.

Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind"

NeeKo "Ill State of Mind"

EXTREME PUMPKINS!!!

It's that time of year again. Time to carve faces into orange gourds. However, this year you need to step your carve game up or fall back. Extreme pumpkins. Are you ready?

WWW.EXTREMEPUMPKINS.COM

EXTREME!

The Wackness

For a long time, I have searched for hip-hop-influenced movies, but have found them few and far between. Last week, I believe I found the next great one, in the same ilk as "Kids" and "Black and White."

"The Wackness" has a very simple message: you only focus on the wackness of things, you need to focus on the dopeness. In a bizarre way, this story is relatable, despite being pretty far out there.

The setting is Manhattan, 1994. The Wu-Tang Clan and Notorious B.I.G. are breaking out in the hip hop scene. Recent high school graduate, Luke Shapiro, is enjoying his final summer before college, making money by selling weed and chasing after the girl of his dreams. The problem is the girl is the step-daughter of his psychotherapist who gives him free sessions in exchange for weed. As everyone's lives continuously fall apart, Shapiro experiences his first broken heart as the girl toys with him until it's time to leave for school.

With a killer soundtrack and cameos by Method Man and Mary-Kate Olsen, "The Wackness" brings 80s babies back to a simpler time in our youth where the memories are still so vivid.

"The Wackness" movie trailer

Cloud Gangs "The Show"

Discovery Channel recently added a new show on storm chasers. From the preview it looks like a lot of bad ass cloud gangs will be represented.
Storm Chasers

Also for more amazing pictures of cloud gangs in action check out this site.
extremeinstability

Underground Down Under

Seldom do musical groups from overseas find success in the United States, let alone from the genre of hip hop. The Hilltop Hoods, an Australian group, haven't found their success in America yet, but they have been holding down the Outback for years. In a breath of fresh air, Hilltop doesn't rap about crack, guns, violence or cars. Instead, they focus on what they know, namely going out, getting drunk and having fun with their friends. I know it sounds both hokie and remedial, but catchy accents, blended with guitar- and didgeridoo-infused beats lend themselves to easy listening. Here are a few of the favorites.

Hilltop Hoods:

"Nosebleed Section"

"Recapturing the Vibe"

"Roll On Up"

"Clown Prince"

"Breathe"

"Dumb Enough"

"What A Great Night"

"The Sentinel"

Che Guevara Eyes

On September 25thTed Loza, Ward One Councilmember Jim Graham’s Chief of Staff, was arrested on bribery charges. Reading local articles accusing Loza of taking bribes and free trips to Ethiopia really brought me back to that front desk when I used to think I was making a difference working for Graham. I remember Loza working vehemently to procure a ticket to Addis Ababa as the Council was going into their summer recess. It seemed like Graham just snapped his fingers and whatever he needed could be accomplished with brief phone calls. Former Constituent Services Director Jeff Jennings would always urge me to use the name of the office. “It’s a weapon.”
When Loza returned with Graham, his mentor joked about a woman in a sexy red dress that Ted met on his last night in Ethiopia (Graham must have been feeling extra open on this day because he also referred to me as his pet and motioned for me to sit next to him).No question Ted is a womanizer and a smarmy individual, but he learned a lot from Grahamzilla. Similar to Immigration Custom Enforcement raids, police banged on Loza’s door late in the evening waking his family and neighbors. Loza is not a U.S. citizen and is an advocate for immigrant rights. Although this is a corrupt individual working within an exploitative system, he is still a victim of racism. He took a $1,500 bribe from the taxi cab commission, while Jim Graham dishes out money from his constituent service fund for important community tasks like helping Kimberly Johnson, his former scheduler, move. If anything authorities should come to Graham’s apartment to question him about his activities in Paraguay and El Salvador and the many pictures of young boys in his home. Ask him why live GoGo can’t be played at several Ward One establishments. Ask him why Washington’s economic development strength translates to a higher poverty level than we had two years ago.
I remember being told to break out of my hip-hop mentality by Fernando Rivero, the legislative counsel at the time. I bumped into him in the street and said “Hey Shorty!”
This five foot-man looked back at me in anger and yelled “Stop acting like a low-class nigger!”
I admit what I said was insensitive, but it didn’t warrant that kind of malicious response. The next day he called me to his office for an awkward exchange. He said he only used the word 3 times in his life. I called him a liar and a racist as I walked out of his office.
I waited until Graham had a small window of time to speak with me about the matter. When he told me that I must have said something to upset him, my mouth dropped a little. He was defending the racism even though it was closeted. I explained that I didn’t mean to hurt any feelings when I jabbed him with Shorty, but calling me a nigger was just hateful. Graham continued to condescendingly congratulate me on alienating myself from everybody in the office.
During and after the talk my eyes kept darting from Graham’s to those of Che which belonged to a signed Alberto Korda portrait that hung in Graham’s office.
When I decided to write my letter of resignation I thought that Che would also have alienated himself from these people who were using the name of a public official for access to sports game tickets, trips abroad, gym memberships, free meals from some of the city’s most expensive restaurants and the list goes on. I thanked them for the opportunity and an education I couldn’t have recieved anywhere else.

Introducing David Sides

There's always something impressive about someone who can play the piano. David Sides is someone who looks classically trained, but can do piano covers of just about any rap song you've ever heard. Below are some of my favorites. He somehow manages to take the factory-like, mass produced feel out of the songs he performs and replaces it with skill. Think John Legend, just without vocals. Check it out.

David Sides covers:
Fat Joe-"Make It Rain"
Sean Paul-"We Be Burnin'"
Rihanna-"Umbrella"
T-Pain-"Buy U A Drank"
Game/Kanye West-"Wouldn't Get Far"
Drake-"Best I Ever Had"

And for an encore:
Kings of Leon-"Use Somebody"