The Veteran and The Rookie: Bun B with Donny Goines

Donny Goines - Inspiration 2007 [Download]

This blog game can get tricky at times. If you’re a blogger and you’ve ever found yourself at a crossroad between giving the people what they want vs. what they need, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. In the spirit of keeping it balanced The Rap Up style-A, here’s a ridiculously enjoyable track from a ridiculously underappreciated MC.

If you like what you hear, head over to MySpace and pre-order Donny’s new CD, The Excerpt Pg. 1, narrated by Bishop Lamont. Tracklist below: (more…)

“Brick by brick, 50 Cent was blown down (no homo).”

The guys at Real Recognize Real have been dropping classic videos for a second now. Their latest installment highlights the fake Curtis vs. Graduation battle slated to go down on 9/11.

T.I., Dallas Austin (who strikes an uncomfortably close resemblance with Ludacris), and Diddy chillin’ at the VMAs (more…)

Ever since I first blogged about the Jena 6 incident two months ago I’ve kept my ears to the streets to see if any rapper would lend his weight to the issue. But no. Rappers are too busy engaging in faux feuds to bother with something as grievous as Jena 6. When it comes time to sell CDs, silly rappers devise the illest publicity strategies, hire the most aggressive street teams, and do just about anything to make that paper for their corporate pimps. But when some of those kids that they’d normally sell CDs to need them to lend their resources to a worthy cause, same rappers simply turn their backs. Sure, Mos Def mentioned it briefly on Bill Maher’s show(see above video) and some bloggers have been pounding on the issue for a minute, but whatever happened to all the rappers who claim to be the Black CNN? Whatever happened to being the Voice of the streets, the so-called purveyors of harsh realities? Here’s a harsh reality check: some 17-year old kid is about to spend 22 years in prison for exercising his right to sit under a tree.

Make no mistakes, I’m not delusional at all. I’m aware that no one’s about to stop buying rap records just because Rizoh said so. Hell, even if ‘Pac came back from Cuba and said “boycott hip-hop,” not many will be willing to heed his call. In fact, one million+ rap CDs are about to exchange hands as we speak.

Regardless, I’m on a personal mission to shun all hip-hop CDs (yeah, I belong to that small population of CD buyers, the hundreds of press copies that land in my mailbox every week notwithstanding). Bottom line: I won’t buy another rap CD until I see more rappers take an active stand on the Jena 6 issue.

I’d like to thank Lee L. Mercer Jr. for inspiring the content of this post. After learning about Mercer’s presidential bid under the Random Word Association Party platform, it dawned on me that some of my favorite rappers may even have a fair shot at this White House thing. With a bit of optimism and just the right amount of scrilla the possibilities are endless. And I’m not trying to knock LLMJ’s hustle. In fact, I think Mercer and Miss. Teen South Carolina would make a winning combination.

But, Mercer has already lost mad points on originality. One of his campaign objectives–”To prove The Klu Klux Klan and the Communist Party are gangsters and organize crime in Business and Commerce”–has already been established by Ras Kass, Talib Kweli, and others.

So, here’s a question for you: If you could nominate one hip-hop artist for President, who would you pick?

::”Diddy tempts wannabes with visions of topless blondes” (Vidrap.com)

>>Jena 6 Update: Charges reduced. *Sigh* It’s still not good enough. [Yahoo]

>>Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua joins Columbia Records. [Urban Network]

>>Lil Wayne fans demand refund after canceled concert. [KSLA]

>>Not even an alcohol-monitoring bracelet can stop Eve from partying it up. [TMZ]

>>Concert for Virginia Tech: Nas-1 Bill O’Reilly-0 [ABC 13]

“Superstar,” the first single from Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, reaffirms that Lupe is anything but. Let’s face it, real rap superstars don’t rhyme this good anymore.

::I’ll hand it to Universal Music Group, those guys are beyond smart. The entertainment industry thrives on perception, so this ploy will yield some strong dividends for Doug, Jimmy, and ‘em.

In case you had any doubts whatsoever, Luda was indeed going at T.I.P. on that “I Get Money” freestyle [Video]

>>Speaking of Cris, it looks like he’s about to get the Nas treatment in Springfield, Mass. [Mass Live]

>>Smoking Session with Aesop Rock. [The Smoking Section]

>>Q just dropped 9th Wonder’s Top 5 Producers over at Street Census. [S.C.]

>>Jigga, watch your girl. [BET]

>>Rumor: Jim Jones to put the final nail in Cam’s coffin. [Prohiphop, Allhiphop]

>>Kanyeezy: “People say that I’m cocky because of the sh*t I say, if you can imagine the sh*t that I think.” [VBS]

>>And here’s Boo Boo saying he’s going to do 8 million scans and that people should buy Curtis because of the producers on it. [VBS]