The Game - Walk Wit Me (produced by Moss):
A poignant reminder that Game could come across as a serious emcee when he manages to leave that other B.S. in the trunk. Marching keys. Anthemic kicks. Soul-tinged loops. The best thing I’ve heard from Mr. Taylor since he started rocking the now-covered-up butterfly tat.

Pimp C - Pouring Up (from his upcoming album, Pimpalation):
An underrated factor in Pimp C’s rap profile is his voice. Your rap voice/tone can add remarkable flavor to your rhymes. Go ask Q-Tip, Slick Rick, Tone Def, and Jadakiss.
Suffice to say, no one would ever hear Bun B’s Trill the same now that Pimp is out. And, what about all those “Free Pimp C” gears?

While at Best Buy today to pick up a copy of Fishscale, I observed a mind-boggling trend. Despite the record being dubbed a potential “Album of The Year” by folks everywhere, there was little or no turnout in favor of Shaolin’s Strongest - the artist formerly known as Ghostface Killah. Many of the buyers I ran into (at least 7 peeps) picked up both T.I.’s King and Ghost’s Fishscale (geniusly displayed side-by-side by Best Buy), pondered for about 30 seconds before making the ultimate decision - that popularity is King over superiority.

No doubt, T.I.’s latest entry is a solid joint, and since this is Houston Tx, T.I. - a southern artist wins almost by default.

I beg to differ.

Fishscale is everything King isn’t: a crisp, crucial and convoluted musical journey. Plus, $6.99 for a potential classic sounds like a bargain to me!

‘Brooklyn Nets’, B.I.G, Snoop, etc: Jay-Z Breaks It Down on Centerstage
Great Joe Budden Interview
Cam’ron’s music video for “Touch It or Not/Wet Wipes” (Jay-Z Diss)
Funny Andy Milonakis Episode Starring Paul Wall
R.I.P. Death Row Records?
Talib Kweli’s blog
MC Hammer is back…and blogging away
Top 10 Essential Hip-Hop Albums
Rakim’s New Album, Seventh Seal, Drops This Summer!

Dave Chappelle, the only man left who still cares about Black People, is giving you an opportunity to win a 60GB iPod. They provide you with the poster kit, logos, and all.
For all you artistic heads, the deadline is April 15th and 10 finalists will be announced 2 weeks after that.

I’ll keep my ideas to myself until the day they start giving out iPod Videos, brand new Technics turntables, and apple laptops as prizes.

The Soundtrack is a doozy, no doubt. A review is in the works and will be up soon.

In case you’re wondering, the chappelle theory site is still up.

I know, I know…posts have been quite sporadic lately. Blame it on the new gig. I’m all settled in now, so things can only get better.

Blue Collar has always been on top my anticipated albums list, but I’m now further convinced that Rhymefest is the next big thing out of Chicago. He’s up there with Lupe Fiasco. My interview with ‘Fest will be up on the new site later this week (if I’m not too lazy to transcribe, that is). Seeing that there are three other un-transcribed interviews sitting in the queue, it might not go up till the weekend. I put my money on Saturday, so mark your calendar kids!

Many artists have been trained to stay tight-lipped during interviews, not Rhymefest. You’ll always walk away feeling enlightened and refreshed after listening to his enthralling spiel. He says things that most rappers would rather leave unsaid, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because the only way to truly bond with your fans is by opening up and letting them into your world as an artist. You’ll find out what I’m talking about come Saturday.

For those of you who’re still unsure, I’ll leave you with some Rhymefest joints to dowse your doubts.

Rhymefest - Devil’s Pie (From A Star Is Born vol..1)

Rhymefest - More (From Blue Collar)

“Dynomite” is still available for a free download on Itunes, I think.

All press is good press, right? So it turns out Bubba Sparxx has caught some bad press lately for exploiting, not black music this time, but phat booty’s. Crazy, right. Said crime reports has it that Mr. Sparxxx, who severed ties with Timbaland to go camp at Big Boi’s Purple Ribbon All Stars, has been exploiting not only “junks-in-the-trunk” but underraged girls as well.

Sparxxx’s website for his latest single Ms. New Booty - msnewbooty.com encourages females to enter a contest which requires them to take pictures of their backyard, for a chance to feature in his next video.

But that’s not the problem, (for the three of you that already clicked on the site but somehow came back to read the rest of the article), as you probably know by now, the site also features a direct link to the Girls Gone Wild website.

The likes of Paul Porter of IndustryEars.com and Lisa Fager are concerned that underraged kids might stumble on the link and eventualy get to see the forbidden fruit. I mean it’s not likely that these kids are going to respond “NO” to the “Are You Over 18″ security question.

Obie Trice ft. Akon - Snitch
What is the first thing you do after you get shot in the head? Record a song about snitches. Come on dawg, where’s the 50 Cent spirit? Besides, Scarface already got that whole snitch arena on lock with jawns like “Snitch N***a”, “The G-Code“, “Never Snitch” and “Never Snitch (Rmx).” Regardless, Obie Trice and the ubiquitous Akon (aka the new Nate) are surprisingly a fluent combination.

Nas & Nashawn - Level 7
The lyrical chemistry between NaS and AZ is threatened by Esco and Nashawn’s seamless back-and-forth here. Strangely enough, the beat is lean and stripped down relinquishing the spotlight to the vocals. Quite reminiscent of Kanye’s “We Major.” Anyone know who produced this? Holla.

The Fugees - Foxy
It’s about time we heard some new Fugees. It’s interesting that Pras has finally realized that people view him as the weakest link (if there’s really any such thing in a dope crew like Fugees), but still gets the least mic time. The song is like a throwback Fugees with an updated sonic. Slightly chaotic. Slightly soulful. Not vintage Fugees, but just enough to hold me over till the next full length in 2010.

Related
Previously on Soundbites: The Game + Pimp C
Top 10 Songs of 2005

Waist Deep trailer (Windows Media Player)

If you liked Brokeback Mountain, then you’ll probably like Waist Deep. Just kidding, but seriously, that’s a scary title.

Waist Deep.

Marinate on that for ten seconds.

Anyhow, this movie features uber thug- Jayceon Taylor, sanga-ternt-rappa - Tyrese Gibson, and the volumptous former 50 Cent collaborator on “21 Questions” - Meagan Good. That last one is good enough reason to see this one. Yes?

Juvenile - Get Ya Hustle On Video

The gulf coast’s maiden response to the Katrina debacle. Thank you Juvy! Just like the song, this video is retarded. Shot in New Orleans 9th ward, in all its glory.