I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Ye’s one of the few emcees left that still get $100,000 video budgets. The man just doesn’t know how to make a wack video.

See also:
“Homecoming” vs. “Coming Home”

The sagging U.S. economy has everyone down, including some of your favorite rappers. Capone of CNN (Capone-N-Noreaga, for dummies) is now charging an unspecified amount for any random Tom in need of 16 bars. If you’re interested, send your serious requests to digimixcast@gmail.com.

Don’t worry, Capone, you’re in good company.

::The Real - Please Be Our Facebook Friend, DJ Drama

>>B.a.g.i. feat Kool G Rap & P.A.- Hood Fellaz [mp3]

>>Woman slain at late rapper’s memorial [SOHH]

>>Hip-hop and educational empowerment go hand in hand after all [FoxBusiness]

>>Joel Ortiz has a message for Obama [Nahright]

>>It’s hard to believe, but people are still signing to Bad Boy [Marketwire]

Brand new clip from The Last Hour, starring Crackhead X.

[Props to Ryan @ Thinktank]

A.C. - New Soul

AC’s “New Soul,” which samples music from Apple’s Macbook Air commercial, is a new favorite of mine. The sample is ingenious. The pop references are creative.

Pure proof that you can still inject freshness to the game without using a vocoder.

[Props to yaboy]

Wildahead Portibeast feat 6th Sense - Machine Gun

Some clever rapping from Wildabeast and 6th Sense over a Portishead beat.
There’s a Rap Up shoutout right around 1:25. We major.

P.S: This has to be the #1 song on T.I.’s playlist.

[click to enlarge]

I’ve been in Austin all weekend and I’m so ready to head back to H-Town. I have to admit that Austin has better live music culture than Houston, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the hippie band that entertained us at Salt Lick BBQ last night. I’ll just take solace in the fact that we have better music overall.

The drive is anywhere from 2.5 - 3 hours depending on traffic, so I’ve strewn together a 2-hour, 32-song playlist of mostly new music to make the journey worthwhile.

What do you think of my playlist? Feel free to holla if you need any of the tracks on the list.

Really Doe feat Kanye - Plastic | Really Doe - The Love

Two new joints from GOOD Music artist Really Doe (of “We Major” fame).
In case you haven’t noticed, Kanye has the rare ability to enhance every song he appears on.

5 mins, 11 secs, and it’s not even the longest track on H.N.I.C. 2.

Featuring D.C. whiz kid Wale and Def Jam songbird Chrisette Michele.

Definitely better than “Birthday Girl,” but I don’t know if it’ll work as a single.

Photo © Ginny Suss