Posts Tagged ‘hip Hop’
Thursday, June 12th, 2014
by Writing Battle Rap History
YG Side 2 Cover Art
Album Rating System 4 out of 5 records
The marquis outside of 10 East 60th street in Manhattan reads “A night at the Copa with Yasiin Gaye.” Out with the Rat Pack crowd, with their black and white tuxes and Mafioso-DAs, and in with the black crowd. It’s black night at the Copa and they’re here to support brother Yasiin. Conks, fried-dyed-and-laid-to-the-side, old-fashioneds and dirty martinis – impeccably dressed men and women with thick-framed glasses, skinny ties and cocktail dresses fill up the seats to the rafters. The headliner, Yasiin Gaye steps on stage into the spotlight in a midnight blue shark skinned suit and the show begins.
Though Yasiin was never at the Copa – only as I have imagined he would be in this write-up – he effortlessly brings you the elegance of that time period. Yasiin Bey formerly known as Mos Def brings us Side Two, of his second installment of his mash-up with the late Marvin Gaye. Marvin’s legendary Motown catalogue is reconstructed in an eclectic composition that mixes funk, soul, blues, rock and hip hop. The album itself is an imaginative, cross-generational period piece that meets Marvin Gaye and Yasiin Bey at the crossroads of Bey’s nostalgia and the after life. Yasiin is sort of a Marvin Gaye incarnate. He brings to life – if but for a moment – Marvin Gaye and everything in the 60s-70s time capsule, in a surreal way. Click here to read the full review.
Tags:Album Review, All's Fair in Sports and War, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, Marvin Gaye, Mos Def, The Return, War Room Sports, Writing Battle Rap History, Yasiin Bey, Yasiin Gaye
Posted in Eddie Bailey, Entertainment, General, Hip-Hop, Music | No Comments »
Friday, May 30th, 2014
by Writing Battle Rap History
TAOC Cover Art
Album Rating System 4 out of 5 records
Imagine a cramped Brooklyn apartment walk-up – say in Bushwick, filled with Egyptian musk incense competing with clouds of kush. A cipher of gods and goddesses building, amongst decorated Turkish pillows and Ottoman poufs, and at the center sits the lotus flower. Nitty Scott, MC.
Scott’s debut studio album, TAOC is suspended in irony. On the surface the album title embodies the vanguard of everything that is cool, while the subject matter is everything but. Scott’s journey of self-discovery and her confrontation of her past with sexual abuse is periling, but her youthful charm makes her plight all the more admirable.
In the intro, Wanderlust, which features sitarist, Rajib Karmakar, is a gently plucked embrace of Scott’s retreat to Eastern philosophy. From the start you can envision the direction she’s headed, and it only gets better.
Nitty Scott, MC
Behind the exterior is a ferocious MC and someone who has reverence for the craft. In each song she carefully paragraphs her verses in expressive measure. I’m talking about bars! Meaningful content. No filler. No wasted space.
In Apex, featuring TDE artist, Ab-Soul, she spits in multi-syllabic fashion, “More dread from warheads/They want the poor dead, but I fed the universe on my forehead/And did this happen beforehand?/Now face it, they just basically erasing them glitches up in the matrix/Always thought the term Black Magic was kinda racist/And I have yet to find intelligent basis for the hatred/Attracting and deflecting a core of my star portals/Ain’t it gorgeous to be mortal?/I couldn’t be more cordial.” Click here to read the full review.
Tags:Album Review, All's Fair in Sports and War, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, MC, Nitty Scott, The Art of Chill, War Room Sports, Writing Battle Rap History
Posted in Eddie Bailey, General, Hip-Hop, Music | No Comments »
Saturday, May 24th, 2014
by Writing Battle Rap History
ATYSYC artwork
Album Rating System 3 1/2 out of 5 records
You can never really wrap your mind around creativity. Maybe because its not meant to be fully understood as opposed to being appreciated. But then, when creativity meets social awareness it becomes a statement. The Roots eleventh studio album, & Then You Shoot Your Cousin, is an intellectual posit of Hip-Hop’s downward spiral. It bleeds outside of mainstream music’s “assembly line” context, into a satirical look at millennial-Hip Hop’s nonsensical culture of debauchery and violence, and their relation to it.
The album starts off with a Nina Simone performance from Theme From The Middle Of The Night, with other complimenting interludes from jazz pianist, Mary Lou Williams, and French composer, Michel Chion, peppered throughout the album.
Black Thought, as usual, leads the vocals with his raspy, educated rap. This time he brings along MCs, Greg Porn and Dice Raw to accompany his revolutionary conquests.
Thought raps in The Dark (Trinity), “The law of gravity meets the law of averages/Ain’t no sense in attempting to civilize savages/Even though I wish I could be spared my embarrassment/I’m a nxgga, other nxggas pale in comparison/We out in Paris yet but still a nxgga perishing/No idea how much time’s left, fxck trying to cherish it/A life in times unchecked, now that’s American/Inherit the wind, pressure in everything.” Click here to read the full review.
Tags:...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, Album Review, All's Fair in Sports and War, Black Thought, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, Quest Love, Savoy Media Group, The Roots, War Room Sports, Writing Battle Rap History
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Friday, May 9th, 2014
by Writing Battle Rap History
Big Krit
“Mt. Olympus” is the funky ride to the galaxy of Cadillactica, Big K.R.I.T.’s forthcoming studio album. K.R.I.T. is Ole Miss’ pride and joy, magnolia tree-gravitas and all, he graciously stakes his claim as being a cut above the rest in “Mt. Olympus.” It’s becoming more common for rappers to either refer to themselves as God, or in K.R.I.T.’s case, refer to his stature in Hip-Hop as being god-like. Southerners rarely make those kinds of bold assertions when it comes to anything closely related to higher powers. Growing up in the south old folks are quick to tell you that God will not be mocked, but K.R.I.T. is more concerned with being respected for having lyrical muscle, rather than being seen as the run of the mill, molly-popping, turn-up rapper. Click here to read the full article.
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Big Krit, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, Mt. Olympus, Savoy Media Group, War Room Sports, Writing Battle Rap History
Posted in Eddie Bailey, Entertainment, General, Hip-Hop, Music | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014
by Writing Battle History
Donald Sterling – Los Angeles Clippers franchise owner
The Donald Sterling ordeal was something else! After being surreptitiously recorded ranting his feelings about black people to his mistress, V. Stiviano, Sterling’s appallingly primitive views on race set in motion a tidal wave of disgust throughout the national media. The width of his racism was captured in his infamous quotes. Speaking of his black players, “I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses.” He continues, “I’m just saying, in your lousy fxxxing Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself walking with black people,” and “Don’t put him [Magic Johnson] on an Instagram for the world to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games.”
Though Stiviano is racially mixed, post-racial America’s charge on a boldly different perspective on race and race relations hasn’t capitulated Sterling’s D.W. Griffith-aesthetic. Because of this, NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver fined Sterling $2.5 million dollars in addition to banning him from the NBA “for life.” Among more interesting things is that the NBA is taking action to force Sterling to sell his $575 million dollar franchise, that could sell for upwards of $1 billion dollars. There are plenty of sharks roaming the shores of the LA Clippers’ franchise; filthy rich sharks, and some famed rappers are a part of this pod.
If the NBA’s board of governors can force Sterling to sell, a roll call of potential buyers are ready. With a combined net worth of over $60 billion dollars, the most likely to win a bidding war are business tycoons Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen and Larry Ellison. Guggenheim Partners, Magic Johnson, and Mark Walter are another group of bidders that have a good shot at the LA Clippers. The sharks that are least likely to win in a bidding war are rappers. Sean Combs, Dr. Dre, and Rick Ross have all publicly expressed interest but compared to the above mentioned, probably lack the capital needed to purchase a majority stake.
They can afford to be minority owners, however. Nelly is a minority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats and Jay-Z recently sold his minority stake in the Brooklyn Nets. And Drake has partnered with his hometown team, the Toronto Raptors, helping them with a variety of initiatives, including launching a clothing line in conjunction with the franchise. Click here to read the full article.
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Basketball, Donald Sterling, Dr. Dre, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, Jay-Z, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA, Nelly, Savoy Media Group, War Room Sports, Writing Battle Rap History
Posted in Eddie Bailey, Entertainment, General, Hip-Hop, NBA | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014
by Writing Battle Rap History
Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik cover art
There was a time when it wasn’t cool to be from the south. At one point, southern rap wasn’t considered a genre in Hip Hop. That fact was made apparent at the 1995 Source Awards in New York City when Atlanta duo, OutKast, accepted their award for Best New Group. Overshadowed by the ensuing East Coast-West Coast conflict that took center stage that night, OuKast were barely noticed, aside from the hail storm of boos they received when they accepted their award from an already divided audience between coastal lines. New York, the epicenter and gatekeepers of Hip Hop, weren’t ready to fully embrace southern artists. Sonically, OutKast’s debut album,Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, was out of context with New York’s traditional Boom Bap, kick-snare-kicks-and-hi hat, drum pattern, that helped define the region’s sound in the early 90′s, so the deep fried southern delicacy that OutKast cooked up was an acquired taste for most Hip Hop elitists.
Outkast 1995
“The south got something to say.”
Atlanta is literally a city in a forest. It’s unique among most major cities because of its unusual grandeur of thick forest that canopy the city’s landscape. The only thing that is penetrable above the forest ceiling is the city’s skyscrapers that peak some resemblance of urban life. Atlanta, as an unlikely place for Hip Hop became a hub for the genre, thanks to music moguls like Jermaine Dupree, Babyface and LA Reid, who established their musical roots in Atlanta’s growing market. Pioneers, Big Boi and Dre’ (now Andre’ 3000), who formed OutKast in 1992, would help to change the city’s music landscape forever when LaFace Records released Southernplayalisticadillacmuzikon April 26, 1994. Click here to read the full review.
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, Outkast, Savoy Media Group, The War Room, War Room Sports, Writing Battle Rap History
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Thursday, April 17th, 2014
by Writing Battle Rap History
Screen shot from “Bxtches Be Like” Music Video
A few days ago Rap Radar posted a music video by recording artist Rico Love from his Discrete Luxury EP, entitled Bitches Be Like (which I’ll stylize as Bxtches Be Like). Amused by the title, my first impulse was to click the link to humor myself of what I thought I was about to hear. Instead, I heard something very different. A type of twisted social commentary is what I call it.
Bxtches Be Like, for those who are not well versed in social media, is an Internet colloquialism for describing what women stereotypically do: with the word “bxtches” replacing “women” as a name that is attached to the stereotypical behavior.
On the outset the song appears to be a loving but firm discourse. Love topics particular women who chase after material possessions and meaningless relationships because they don’t know their own worth. “You were always the life of the party/But when you gonna give your life to somebody/It’s like you find more pain than pleasure/You know you can’t play that game forever/How long you gon’ carry on, carry on like this/Different city every night still looking for a nxgga who gon’ wife it.” Click here to read the full review.
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Bitches Be Like, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, R&B, Rico Love, Savoy Media Group, The War Room, War Room Sports, Writing Battle Rap History
Posted in Eddie Bailey, Entertainment, General, Hip-Hop, Music, R&B | No Comments »
Saturday, April 5th, 2014
by Eddie Bailey
The Genesis
Queensbridge Houses are the largest housing projects on the North American continent. It sits along the East River just north of the Queensborough (59th Street) Bridge that connects Manhattan to Queens. Looking down from the bridge on the 96-unit, six-story project rooftops looks like a labyrinth of Y- shaped buildings that span across a small landscape. The projects, clothed with weathered brick, gleam in the sky’s foreground like peculiar urban pillars that are definitive reminders of inner city blight.
Queensbridge Houses
These same projects that raised numerous stars like MC Shan, Roxanne Shante’, Marly Marl, Craig G, Metta World Peace and Mobb Deep, also raised one of Hip Hop’s most celebrated MCs. Nas. When MC Shan wrote his battle lyrics during The Bridge Warsagainst KRS-One, he was unwittingly prophetic when he said this about Queensbridge MCs.
This is the place where stars are born
And we are only the ones that can’t be worn out
– MC Shan, The Bridge, 1985
On April 19, 1994, Hip Hop was delivered a gift. Unwrapped of its magnetic coated, plastic film, was a cassette tape that changed the course of East Coast Hip Hop. Illmatic, Nas’ debut album, released by Columbia Records, sold an underwhelming 59,000 copies in its first week. With barely a peep of recognition outside of the East Coast upon its release,Illmatic managed to become one of the most important albums in Hip Hop history. Click here to read the full review.
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, Illmatic, Illmatic XX, Nas, Operation Battle Rap, Queensbridge, Savoy Media Group, The War Room, Writing Battle Rap History
Posted in Eddie Bailey, Entertainment, Hip-Hop, Music | No Comments »
Friday, November 9th, 2012
Tags:Chill Moody, E. Ness, hip Hop, Internet Sports Talk, Obama, Podcast, Sports Talk, The War Room, War Room Sports, War Room Sports TV
Posted in Podcast | No Comments »
