More evidence…

“Let’s go, Esco”

yo, is that 50 cent over there?

Jay’s attempt to channel Michael Jackson

we major

…….that’s all folks.

Bonus Picture

As you can see Nas has been rocking the same jacket since ‘94

Jay-Z and Nas officially squashed their beef last night as the former turned his “I Declare War” concert to “I declare Peace”(check your calendar again, it’s not April Fool Day). Young Hov went as far as stating that “it’s bigger than war” and officially making up with long-time nemesis, NaS. The brand new friends then performed the classic “Dead Presidents” with NaS supplying the hook, before lunging into some of his earlier cuts from the Illmatic masterpiece.

“We all in this sh*t together,” Jay-Z said. “Y’all witnessed history everybody
in this building is a part of history. All that beef sh*t is wack.”

I see how this is a typical Jay-Z plot - he figured that if he mentioned the word war, he’ll raise eyebrows and acquire everybody’s curiousity, which then allows him to surprise all. Genius.
And since, there’s going to be a second show on October 28th, I’m assuming that the “War” part of his declarations is still valid.

Everyone in the Hip Hop community thinks Jay’s bringing war to 50 Cent with the help of his new allies: NaS, The LOX, etc. Like I’ve been saying, there’s no legitimate basis for a 50 vs Jay-Z since Curtis has been shouting out Jay in interviews and vice-versa. Unless this Jay-NaS reconciliation is trying to tell me something. But if this happens eventually, then it’s, well, timely, and….innovative, oh and hypocritical two days after saying: “F..k all that beef sh..t”

According to Spinemagazine.com, this is what the tracklist for Notorious B.I.G’s Duets:Final Chapter album looks like:

01. Hold Ya Head f/Bob Marley
02. The Most Shady f/Eminem, Obie Trice & P Diddy
03. Spit Your Game f/Twista, Paul Wall & Bone Thugs
04. Whatchu Want f/Jay-Z
05. The Funk f/Nate Dogg & Redman
06. Get Your Grind On f/Big Pun, Fat Joe & Freeway
07. Living The Life f/Snoop, Ludacris & Faith Evans
08. Somethin f/The Game & Mary J Blige
09. Nasty Girl f/Diddy, Nelly, Jagged Edge & Avery Storm
10. Living in Pain f/2Pac, Mary J Blige & Nas
11. Want That Old Thing Back f/Ja Rule & Ralph Tresvant
12. Recognize a Pimp f/Too Short & Webbie
13. Three Bricks f/Raekwon & Ghostface Killah
14. What’s Beef f/50 Cent & Mobb Deep
15. Hustler’s Story f/Scarface, Akon & Big Gee of Boyz N Da Hood
16. Breakin’ Old Habits f/TI & Slim Thug
17. Mi Casa f/R. Kelly & Charlie Wilson
18. Just A Memory f/The Clipse
19. Running Your Mouth f/Snoop, Nate Dogg, Foxy Brown & Fabolous
20. I’m With Whateva - f/Lil’ Wayne, Juelz Santana & Jim Jones
21. Here We Go Go f/Q-Tip, Babs & Aasim
22. Ultimate Rush f/Missy Elliot
23. Make It Hot f/Ness & Aasim
24. Wake Up Now f/KoRn

Apparently, these posthumous releases are getting worse everytime in terms of quality and guest features.
Now we all know that the singles are forgettable but unfortunately that applies to 90% of the tracklist. #10 and #13 might end up being showstoppers if everyone puts in work, and #15 may turn out fine if Akon gets his crooning right this time. But that’s it. And maybe it’s just me, but what do Biggie and Missy Elliot have in common. I mean I know the Clipse are gonna rhyme about crack all day but Missy? Give me a break.

It’s easy to dismiss Linkin Park’s front man aka Mike Shinoda’s solo effort as a gimmick. Surprisingly, his latest is a cohesive compilation of listenable songs. Although joints like “Petrified” and “Dolla” easily remind listeners of Beastie Boys, Mike who now goes by Fort Minor refuses to get boxed in by diversifying his sound on “Respect 4 Grandma” and the unforgettable “Remember The Name”.

He, no doubt, starts struggling with monotony after a while and that’s when you’re thankful for notable guest appearances by Styles of Beyond (”Bleach” and “Get It”), and Ghostface and Lupe Fiasco(”Spray Paint & Ink Pens”).
While Mike definitely attempts to break away from the Linkin Park style, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Fort Minor the rapper still has a lot of edges to roughen before making the full MC transition. For instance, basic rhyming has not existed since 1988(unless you’re counting Rev Run’s latest ear pollutant of an album). But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Regardless, some people are going to refer to FM as a breath of fresh air; the new Kanye West with a guitar, when he’s actually re-inventing what’s already been done.
Suffice to say his project will see the light of day mainly because Jay-Z is 100% behind itfor obvious reasons.
Let’s hope his full length release The Rising Tied (which drops on November 22) will help cement the solid effort showcased on this mixtape.

DJ Green Lantern + Fort Minor - We Major Mixtape (Free Download)

Fort Minor - Remember The Name video(wmv)

But with fans like these(in Europe), there’s no stopping this man.

Oh I almost forgot: Happy Halloween!

I ran into this interesting ‘Secret’ blog and thought I should share with y’all. Some of these secrets are mind-bogglin but here’s a few of the postcards from the site that caught my eye:

You can see more of these at Postsecret.com
They even got a compilation book out on Amazon for those who are into stuff like this.
(Warren, thanks for the email).

By now everyone’s heard about Cam’ron getting shot and car-jacked or should i say carjacking attempt since the robbers lost their SUV in the process of running away. Well, for those of you living in caves, once again here’s a CamSlam video (my man Eskay coined that word, I think). I’m sure someone somewhere is insinuating that Pinky shot himself as a promotion gimmick for his upcoming Killa Season album. Others think the shooting maybe beef-related.
I can imagine Cam’s next joint though:

They tried to pop me, pop me
But they was sloppy sloppy

Seriously, would you trade your life for a $250,000 lambourghini?

In some strange news update, P. Diddy is slated to release a house music CD. This is isn’t hearsy because Diddy has actually recorded a house song with Felix the HouseCat.

Evidence: Jack U(mp3) - P.Diddy [props to bigstereo.net]

I wonder who’s the genius behind this but my man LetNoManJack has more on it.

NaS denies that Neptunes gave him a 2 million dollar beat but Pharrell claims it’s true.
Hmm..which one of them is being sarcastic?

I know this isn’t rap-related but British rocker Robbie Williams really sees dead people?
(source:O-dub’s msn filter)

Ever wondered how much your neighborhood crack-slangers make on a yearly basis?
Well according to research, drug-dealers barely make minimum wage

And, this is why Tara Reid’s ass (literally) gets its own reality show on TV.

Don’t waste your time on this if you can’t stand any of the following words and phrases:
Purple
Free Pimp C
Trill
Trap
Syrup/sizzurp
Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah

But if you wanna know how we do it in the H, then this is the blueprint and road-map all rolled in one. OK, now that we got that out the way, this is not an official review of Trill, these are my irregularly-shaped thoughts while listening to the record….for the first time.

The Solid:

• The Inauguration - Why the hell does J Prince feel obligated to speak on the intro of every Rap-a-Lot record? But Bun B scores for showing us his lyrical side, and for being the first to mention New Orleans in a major release.
• Get Throwed - Thankfully, this isn’t Big Pimpin’ 2. Believe it or not, Jay-Z’s still in top form flow-wise. Pimp C’s verse is so fresh it makes you crave another UGK record. With Young Jeezy all over the track you’d think he’s getting paid extra just to say “ay” and “yeeeeaaahh” Thank God his actual verse only lasted 30 seconds.
• Draped Up - By now, everyone’s heard this joint. I imagine it would sound better in S&C. I aint mad at the voice samples either. And wit always works: “I’m looking real shiny you can see me from a mile away” This will be getting spins for a while.
• Draped up ft H-Town All Stars - This version features all the people that helped put H-Town on the map in 05(Paul Wall, Chamillionaire,Slim Thug, etc), and unfortunately that list includes Mike Jones. But we don’t need to know that Flip did his verse for free. Who cares?
• Trill Recognize Trill - It’s the creative use of southern slangs like these that make the album refreshing. Luda comes through on this one, as entertaining as ever.
• The Story - Who knew that Bun B took storytelling classes from Scarface? This is the “audiobiography” of UGK’s rise to fame via Big Pimpin’ and Jive. A few more fanfare joints like this would have made Trill a masterpiece.

The So-So’s:

• What I Represent - Far from vintage UGK, but the beat’ is sure to break ya neck if you try hard enough. That’s not saying a lot since the selection of beats is collectively mediocre.
• Bun - Anthemic songs that reference an artist’s name a gazillion times is usually a terrible idea (unless your name is X). Nothing special.
• I’m A ‘G’ - Since T.I. was featured here, you’d expect the song title to read “I’m a King” or something to that effect. It’s a decent song once you can get past the keyboard-generated beat.
• Pushin’ - I think they could have done without the samples on this one. Although it’s good to hear ‘Face on some new ish, but he sounds out of place on this beat. Like always, Jeezy manages to fit in but his second appearance helps drown Bun’s presence…again.

The Skippable’s:

• Hold U Down - Bun B is good at playing the odd matchmaker but this one doesn’t work as well as the others. Not to mention that one appearance by Mike Jones is way too much.
• Git It - This is Wait(Whisper Song) …part 71. Nuff said.
• Who Need A Bitch - You’d think that by now Too $hort would be tired of talking about mackin. Unfortunately, the guest manages to overstay his welcome - another disadvantage of too many features.
• Retaliation - Gritty from bar to hook but that’s if you can get past the uninspiring production.
• Late Night Creepin’ - blah…not a very nice way to end a solid album.

As I drive around town and find tons of Bun B posters everywhere sprawling from pole to pole, I imagine that UGK fans would be more excited than intrigued about Trill mainly because they had to wait damn near 10 years to get a Bun B solo. But that doesn’t make this classic UGK . It looks like Rap-a-Lot spent more of the budget on guests than on beats. Some of the guest appearances were unecessary and tend to weigh the album down; Bun B can hold down an entire LP with positive results. The good news is that this is by far the best Texas release of 2005 so far, and it’ll be in heavy rotation for a minute.

I found this over at Business Opportunities and decided to check it out. You too can find out how much your blog is worth. Mine’s worth a few car payments, plasma TV and a ballerfific sound system.

Either 50 Cent is a good a$$ business man or he’s still dealing with some childhood issues. Curtis Jackson always finds a dubious way to keep his name in the public’s mouth(no homo?) right before the release of a major project: dope or wack. He’s like the Britney Spears of Rap or something. Granted Fiddy’s not the most articulate rapper(though he can spell “murder”; Ja Rule can’t), but his PhD in “Conflict & Controversy 101″ has earned him a big chunk of change, fame, and Vivica Fox’s behind.

Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, 50 recently called Samuel L Jackson a crack head for refusing to star in the autobiographical Get Rich or Die Tryin’ movie.
But Curtis knows that the Samuel Jackson insult would only boost movie turn out by a meager 8% so he ups his gimmick game a notch by declaring on Tim Westwood that he’s willing to bite the finger that fed him: Dr. Dre (if Dre ever works with his protegee The Game).
Looks like we’re going to see a 50 vs. Dre beef sometime soon because Dre is going to work with Chuck Taylor’s project anyway.

Based on this Mel Man interview(whatever happened to him?), the friction between Dre and 50 has been brewing for a long time. I hope Eminem would get his ass off those sleeping pills and jump on Game’s album, then it’d be a wrap. I’d say 50 should make like Mario Vasquez and discharge himself honorably from the Aftermath camp.

Nasir “I Love Jay-Z” Jones is a free agent(Ill Will records is officially in the dumpster) and is considering a label deal with Def Jam.

Speaking of Def Jam, will The Carter Administration invest in the hearing aid stock market and ear insurance for artists now that Foxy Brown is deaf?

I wouldn’t wanna be in the same cell block as this arrested rap icon from the early 90’s.
Hint: A certain white rapper was intimidated by his compulsive yelling and agreed to feature him on a song.

This is where you go….Aww man, not again?

This Japanese homie possibly has a collection of every tape known to man.

In Constant Rotation:
Kids That Rich - Raekwon(mp3) Now who said the Wu was done!?