I guess at this point, we are all basking in the gawd-awfulness that has been the month of February thus far. Chris Brown channeled his inner Goldy and showed Miss Ri Ri what happens when you get out of pocket, allegedly. DMX learned exactly how dark it really is when he was tossed into the hole with a pack of day old hamburger buns, a canteen and some state issued pink drawers. Suge Knight gets beaten up and sent to the hospital – AGAIN. And Rick Ross took his war of gangsterism with 50 Cent way out into left field with the most creepy h######### cartoon I think I’ve ever seen. Scratch that. The only one I’ve ever seen and now I know why. February has been loud and obnoxious. But if we lower the volume for just a moment, we can probably hear our ancestor’s praying for our drama hungry a#### and asking for a bit of attention. Yes, we are going to take a brief respite from the shock theatre known as urban music and recognize Black History Month. I recently read something, somewhere, sometime about the possibility of Black History Month being canceled considering we are all part of this post-racial America I keep hearing about. I find that term, post-racial, amusing in itself. Like I’m going to wake up tomorrow and American will be a race instead of a Nationality. But that’s neither here nor there. Nor is it a good explanation of what we should be moving towards. Considering most people tend to be reminded of Black History Month when those George Washington Carver tribute commercials pop up between Cops Marathon episodes; I think the way we recognize the month needs the drop, not the celebration itself. Hearing about how lucky we are to have peanut butter (no salmonella) pales in comparison to the media tweaked vision of Black youth running amok in the inner cities for some, I’m sure. In that study of opposites, it’s likely the point of the 30-second history lesson will be lost during bathroom breaks and trips to the kitchen. No disrespect to the usual suspects we are reminded of every year, but what about Black History Month, the Remix? It’s not a question of relevance, as knowing the first heart surgeon was a Black man will always be a signal to Black children that achievement at that level is possible. Why don’t we have a little forethought with our recollection though? Not only some reflection, but some creation as well? Figure out ways to remind ourselves that not only should we learn our history; we should be our history. Save a dollar for everyday of the month. Go to your little cousin’s t-ball game instead of hanging out with your friends one Saturday. Plant a tree. You don’t think these small contributions are historic? That $27.00 could lead you to a path of retirement comfort. Your little cousin might continue to a college scholarship just because his favorite big cuz believed in him. And that tree might one day serve as the greatest tree house ever; not to mention could do its small part to kick out clean air for the inhabitants little lungs. Yes, every action we take as individuals is documented as our personal history. And all of those actions combined create community history. There are so many things that define us as a group. And yes, I know many of you are not black. However, as Hip Hop continues to cross any and all lines of demarcation, the fans are adopted into the nation and exposed to everything that makes us… us. That includes the past, present and future contributions of Black Americans; not only to Hip Hop, but to the world. So there you go. Get up. Get out and get something. Do something. Create something. Well, except more of those G-Unit work out cartoons. I don’t think I can take any more of those.

  Developer/Publisher: Rockstar NorthPlatform: XBOX 360 (Exclusive) Players: 1-16 (Online)Release Date: 2/17/09 Rating: A-   Grand Theft Auto IV The Lost And Damned (Rockstar North) is a downloadable episode developed exclusively for the Xbox 360 gaming console. While it may not break as much ground as its predecessor, this expansion pack gives GTA IV new life with a drastic change in plot, leading character, and accompanying missions.   Traditionally most expansions offer a couple of new levels and one or two tweaks to the game play if you are lucky. Where Lost And Damned succeeds is that you play as an entirely different character with Johnny Klebitz. Our boy Johnny is a high ranking member in a Liberty City biker gang The Lost; hence the title. Johnny has been in charge while the outfit’s official boss Billy Grey sobered up in rehab. Now Billy is home and wants to put the murder game down; a total opposite of Johnny’s rationale.     While Lost uses the same engine, the game plays out different. With GTA IV, there was some serious character development with its protagonist Niko Bellic and his story. In the case of Johnny who made some brief appearances in the previous title, you are immediately thrown into serious action after the first and very violent cut screen as you and your crew chases down a rival gang on bikes with a shotgun in tow. The storyline moves quickly often intertwining with the original.   In regards to the scenery, Liberty City remains pretty much in tact which takes away some of this game’s draw. What does change is that certain areas and buildings that were previously inaccessible in IV are now open (i.e. The Lost’s headquarters). Also instead of working your way through missions to visit new territories, everything is unlocked since you already got the tour with Niko.   In terms of noticeable additions, Rockstar stepped it up in a couple of areas. An assortment of new weapons are available for players to cause havoc with including automatic 9mm, pipe bombs, sawed off shotguns and a grenade launcher to top it off.       The rides get an update as well. With a biker gang motif, we get seventeen new motorcycles to compliment the improved bike handling mechanics. The online gaming also gets expanded with new modes of play (“Witness Protection”, “Race”, “Own The City”). To keep everything fresh sonically, new songs are injected into all the stations. Funkmaster Flex and Statik Selektah host new shows on The Beat 102.7 as well.   Overall The Lost And Damned brings even more replay value to an already addictive title. While this might not be an entirely new show, the stellar gameplay remains intact. This episode will quell the stomach pains of die hard GTA junkies craving a new installment in the series.   Grand Theft Auto IV “The Lost And Damned” Trailer  

The hockey mask wearing serial killer Jason Voorhees is back in the latest Friday the 13th film.   However this is not just another installment in the Friday the 13th film series but a complete reworking of the storyline. The film keeps many elements of the original series, while at the same time being surprising and scary. Everyone who is familiar with the original Friday the 13th film series already knows the basic storyline: deformed boy drowns, his mother goes crazy and becomes a murderer and is ultimately killed, boy returns from the dead and seeks revenge on all camp counselors. But this new film gives a bit of a twist that the original film never hinted on which was what if Jason had never been dead in the first place.   In the new version of Friday the 13th Jason is introduced as a character in a myth, a story that was thought to be created to scare camp counselors. However that myth seems to be more real than they expected when the character comes to life and wreaks havoc so to speak, as Jason begins killing them off one by one. Then some time passes and another group of intruders roam along Jason’s territory Camp Crystal Lake, and are murdered one by one as one of the intruders searches for his missing sister, where she was last spotted, not knowing that he too will have to face the wrath of Jason.   The film lets the viewer see how Jason becomes Jason so to speak, and gives us some clues about how he was able to survive so to speak. From what drove Jason to become a serial killer to how Jason lived to why he started wearing his trademark mask are all explained to some degree in the film. Hence the film becomes one of revenge, and protecting what one feels is rightfully there’s, and trying to unlock the clues of the unknown. However like the original film series Jason never says a word and remains the silent monster stalking his victims. also in this film Jason does not just kill his victims with his trademark machete but uses other methods and weapons to accomplish his task.   I must mention this is not a remake of the original remake. As everyone may already be aware in the original Friday the 13th film Jason Voorhees was not the killer, his mother was and in fact, Jason appeared as a figment of the main character’s imagination. The character of Jason wasn’t introduced until the second film, and did not wear his trademark hockey mask until the third film in the Friday the 13th series. What this film does is combine the sequence of the first four films, and adds it’s own spin.   I would highly recommend this film, especially to anyone who was a fan of the original Friday the 13th series. Not only does it have plenty of suspense, fear factor, but it gives all the characters personality especially Jason who in the original film was sort of like a mindless beast. In this film Jason uses clever tactics, and traps to get his victims.   Bottom line you mess with Jason you better watch out.

“Instead of broadcasting how we smokin’ trees, on the radio, we need to hear more local MC’s/ Where you at? Come on where you at? This is the difference between MC’ing and rap/ Rappers spit rhymes that are mostly illegal, MC’s spit rhymes to uplift they people/ Peace, love, unity, and havin’ fun—these are the lyrics of KRS One/” –          KRS-One, “Classic (Better Than I’ve Ever Been),” 2007   In a recent exchange—packaged for Grammy Awards special—between CBS host, Katie Couric and New Orleans-raised rapper, Lil’ Wayne, something unprecedented, and truly disappointing, happened. Asked by Couric what questions, about the handling of Hurricane Katrina, he would like to ask the out-gone President Bush—if he could—he responded that as “a gangster,” he can’t, because “gangsters don’t ask questions.” Surely, this was meant comically, but on a deeper note, perhaps the rapper who lost family and friends to the 2005 storm, and the criminal ineptitude which followed it, should have exuded more political courage than that. The bloods of the more than 2,000 killed, and exterminated, would insist on a less-stereotypical response than that Wayne afforded. With Dr. Condoleezza Rice’s recent “I was appalled” tour, anyone sincerely concerned about the plight of those displaced and bankrolled should be reinvigorated in their fight for a right of return for Katrina’s ejected low-income victims. Rice, who claimed to be “angry” at the “implication that some people made that President Bush allowed this to happen because these people were black,” refused to entertain the charges lobbed at her “friend,” because nobody “at any level of government” was “prepared for something of Katrina’s size and scope..” Dr. Rice also noted that Katrina was devastation on many levels, because of its exposure of “an America that we sometimes don’t see—people who are trapped in poverty.” Rice is, of course, in a moral position to defend the federal government’s response, as one who was shelling a few thousand bucks on the latest footwear at Ferragamo (an Italian fashion store in New York), while her people were drowning in the oceans of neglect and apathy. Lil Wayne, a multi-platinum artist, could have easily grabbed the opportunity by its horns and lambasted the former Secretary of State for willfully evading unearthed truths about the National Hurricane Center’s warnings, to the federal government, before Katrina’s landfall. Unfortunately, this expectancy might be far-fetched, given the circumstances on the ground.. In the Hip-Hop industry, the old saying that “Money talks B.S. walks” is validated in perpetuity. Lil Wayne has been, for the last one year, the top grossing rapper, and the commercial constraints of such prestigious post are an impediment to any political expressions that fall outside of the mainstream (white) discourse. Artists like Lil Wayne have very little liberty to decide what is conducive to the marketed images packaged by industry executives and A&R directors. At the signing of their contracts, they lose all claims to the decision-making process, and have no say over what complements their corporate sponsorship and what doesn’t. Rappers are brands, and thus, marketed with a specific intention—to make money, at all costs. When they venture outside of the commercial realm, to make political statements that might offend white listeners—commercial Hip-Hop’s major patrons—such artists are reprimanded (Young Buck), and sometimes, punished (The Clipse). With studies suggesting a 64% difference in the views of Blacks and Whites, vis-à-vis the racial politics of Katrina, it’s quite easy to see why the successful rapper would rather be muted, at the height of his popularity, than speak up for the voiceless and defenseless. Very few listeners are aware that most commercial artists are not as free or independent as they are depicted in music videos, or portrayed on wax. The intentionality of big-money industries’ fixation on the Hip-Hop world cannot be mistaken. They have found worthy accomplices, in commercial artists, to carry out their nefarious agenda. The surge of beer and liquor companies into the Hip-Hop community is an example of the completion of a long-sought agenda to paralyze the political cord of Hip-Hop music. With Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s The Message, released in 1982, a significant portion of society got introduced to the righteous rage of Black and Brown youth—who had been rendered invincible by a dominant society. The revelation of a reality which consisted of human beings “livin’ in a bag,” and “eating out of garbage piles,” was a shock to many who considered themselves well-learned and educated about the world they existed in. They couldn’t comprehend a community whose heroes—for lack of employment opportunities—had become “smugglers, scrambles, burglars, gamblers Pickpockets, peddlers and even pan-handlers.” Sadly enough, the ‘90s would usher in an era of “Gangster rappers”—a terminology devised by those uneducated about the Black and Brown youth experience—with which came a great decline of political impulse in Hip-Hop music. The explosion of Ni**az Wit Attitude (NWA), and a few other groups, classified as “gangster” in their interpretation of the socio-political climates, helped arrest the development of social-consciousness in the Hip-Hop community. Though conscionable voices like Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Brand Nubian, Gang Starr, Lauryn Hill, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, MC Lyte, Poor Righteous Teachers, Lakim Shabazz, and Tupac prevailed, the age of conscientious Hip-Hop music seemed to be nearing its death rattles. Ever since, the new millennium has been anything but encouraging for listeners with an appetite for multi-dimensional, creative, enriching, and thought-provoking content. Safe for a few dedicated craftsmen and craftswomen, the bling-bling generation is, thanks to commercial Hip-Hop, likeable to a lost cause. Bombarded with an overload of misogyny, materialism, opulence, egoism, and indifference, the upcoming generation has been reduced, by avaricious corporations, to money-bearing ATM machines. Their usefulness now lies solely in the ability to buy, buy, and buy, from the companies their favorite artists promote. This is why Lil Wayne, who recently signed a deal with liquor specialists, Straight Up Brands, cannot be expected to think, speak, or act outside the commercial box. Whether mainstream Hip-Hop acts are willing to muster their […]

Darychinyan Scores Dominant 11th Round TKO For over 3 years, Vic Darchinyan has promised to destroy Jorge Arce. On Saturday (February 7), he delivered. In front of a mostly pro-Mexican crowd, unified super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KOs) retained his crown with a brutal TKO corner stoppage of Jorge Arce (51-5-1, 39 KOs). Round 1 immediately showed the fight pattern that would be Arce’s downfall. Darchinyan kept the fight in ring center and mostly at mid-range. Here, the much slower and lunging Arce was abused via sharp counter straight lefts and stinging uppercuts. Vic’s awkward punching angles confused Arce, who returned to his corner already cut by his right eye courtesy of the numerous bombs. In the 2nd, Darchinyan continued to bounce Arce around the ring with counter lefts. The repeated bombs made the normally aggressive Arce tentative to apply pressure. At mid-range, the colorful Mexican remained a sitting duck and was stunned by a hard right jab, straight left combo to close out another dominant Darchinyan round. By the 3rd, Arce seemed to have finally found a rhythm. After starting off by absorbing more abuse from Darchinyan’s left hand, Arce broke through with several hard body shots followed a wild overhand hook to Vic’s head. The champion was briefly wobbled and stunned by the assault, causing a brief brawl to break out. However, the unified champ responded well via a neck snapping left uppercut and hook to the body, which backed off the game challenger. Arce continued to apply pressure despite the danger of Darchinyan’s vicious counters. An errant left hook to the head wobbled Vic, who fired back with an uppercut to the solar plexus. Arce bravely tried to weather the storm to remain inside, but was badly hurt by another huge left uppercut. By the sixth, Arce still had not found a chance to mount a sustained offense on the inside, and continued to be dismantled on the outside with power shots. Darchinyan started the stanza with another powerful straight left that snapped back Arce’s head. Now a open book, the champion unleashed several counter right hooks and a lead uppercut. The near whitewash round was ended with another punishing straight left to Arce’s face. For the next 3 rounds, Darchinyan continued the same merciless pounding of Arce, who could do nothing but show off a phenomenal chin as shot after shot rained in. Even when he appeared on the verge of going down, Arce would gamely hold on or charge forward to smother Darchinyan’ s debilitating offense. At the start of the 11th, a visibly dejected Arce was bleeding from cuts over his right eye, his ear, and one on the back of his head. Seeking to close the show, Darchinyan strafed the hopeless challenger to the body with left hooks. Amazingly, Arce stubbornly continued coming forward despite receiving frightening 3 and 4 punch head-snapping combinations that staggered him around the ring. Now, there were audible murmurings from the crowd on if the outmatched Mexican could survive another beating in the final round. Before the 11th, the ringside physician took several looks at the battered Arce and decided the challenger had enough. With the emphatic win, Vic Darchinyan continues his rampage through the best of his division. “He surprised me. I didn’t expect him to fight like he did. He’s tough and a good fighter,” Darchinyan admitted about the rival he’s disparaged for the last 3 years. “He proved to me that he was tough and a good fighter. I hit him with some good shots and he kept fighting back. I would have liked to have knocked him out cold. If the fight goes on, maybe I knock him out. But it’s ok the way it ended.” While Darchinyan stated he would like to avenge his lone defeat to Nonito Donaire, his promoter Gary Shaw stated he would like to match his fighter against Fernando Montiel, or possibly Rafael Marquez or Israel Vazquez. For Jorge Arce, at press time the brave fighter has been hospitalized as a precautionary measure since he had trouble breathing and walking after the fight. On the undercard, rising lightweight Antonio DeMarco (21-1-1, 15 KOs) broke down the tough Kid Diamond, aka Almazbek Raiymkulov, (27-2-1, 15 KOs) in a 9 round shootout. Diamond quit after suffering a broken nose and deep cuts in his mouth.   Joe Calzaghe Retires Undefeated Light heavyweight champ Joe Calzaghe has ended the rumors on whether he would take the challenge of breaking Rocky Marciano’s record. This past weekend, the Welshman announced his retirement from professional boxing with an unblemished record of 46-0, 32 KOs. The Pride of Wales leaves the ring as a champion who reigned for over 10 years in the super-middleweight division. After enduring criticisms for his lack of elite competition over the course of his career, Calzaghe finally started proving the naysayers wrong in 2006 with a master-class win over then heir apparent Jeff Lacy. From there, Calzaghe went on to rack up more legacy wins against undefeated Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins, and Roy Jones, Jr. Before the retirement, Calzaghe had one last potential challenger in Chad Dawson. Although the fight would be a great test and legacy enhancer for the Welshman, Calzaghe likely passed on it due to Dawson’s low-profile outside of hardcore fans. Even without Dawson and a few missed fights for various reasons (Sven Ottke, Glen Johnson, Steve Collins), Calzaghe has more than proven his ability as an all-time great and as the most accomplished super-middleweight in boxing history. However, let’s not rule out Calzaghe-Dawson yet. Pending a spectacular showing from Bad Chad in his rematch with Antonio Tarver next month, Calzaghe may just have a change of heart. Joe Calzaghe Career Highlights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y38lLg0ZLDA   Margarito Judgment Day Set for February 10   This Tuesday (February 10) Antonio Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo will face the California State Athletic Commission to answer charges of allegedly trying to use “plaster-like” material in the hand wraps for the […]

With the economy spiraling out of control, and unemployment rising at an alarming rate, people are tightening their belts everywhere to be wiser with their money. The more well off are not immune to these times as most recently illustrated by the Bernie Madoff scandal which involved literally hundreds of rich and well off people being taken on a ponzi-fueled ride to financial crisis. One would think that Hip-Hop, which often reflects the world around it would also be affected. In recent months we’ve seen a rise in chain snatchings and rappers being accosted, with Soulja Boy Tellem and Yung Berg being the most famous examples but not the only victims. In these trying times you wonder will we finally see the death of bling? From the first golden era with legends like Slick Rick and Eric B. to the shiny suit era of Jesus pieces that “even got rocks in the beards and mustaches and “rocks on the stage looking like blue laser,” onto the Ca$h Money era of “Bling Bling” rappers have always rocked ostentatious and at times almost offensively decadent pieces of jewelry even during the hardest hitting economic times. As recession becomes possible depression, how has that affected the bling? We asked Chris Hernandez (Jacob The Jeweler is presently indisposed), Director of Marketing at ItsHot.com for his observations regarding the current ice market. AllHipHop.com: What are the current trends in jewelry buying? Between rappers and your regular customers, how has the market moved recently? Chris Hernandez (ItsHot.com): In general even with sales and prices slashing, retail Jewelry sales are declining but the direct pricing market remains strong. When money is tight good customer service can make a difference in retaining your regular buyers. AllHipHop.com: But what about the big pieces, like the Ghostface eagle bracelet, or the Terror squad iced out pendant? Have you seen a decline in the sale of the ridiculous pieces? Ghostface: The Eagle Has Landed Chris Hernandez (ItsHot.com): Surprisingly, large piece purchase sales remain about the same, but the consumer is more demanding that they get exactly what they want. They are paying more attention to what they are buying. There have been rumors on the streets that some of these chains are made with industrial diamonds and less than stellar quality materials, not to throw anyone under the bus. They are paying more attention to the quality now. AllHipHop.com: Has the decline in sales involved moving to smaller pieces or just to less buying altogether? Chris Hernandez (ItsHot.com): There are more purchases, but our average ticket price is down slightly. We’ve seen expansion into the less than $500 market. AllHipHop.com: What do you see as the future trending in hip hop related jewelry? Slick Rick: Ice King Chris Hernandez (ItsHot.com): We see classier designs using better quality diamonds. No more pieces with a thousand wack gems that look crazy. Tight, well designed construction withwell-chosen jewels.Paul Wall: Still Smiling Pharrell: Ice Ice, Baby! Lil’ Wayne: What’s A Goon To A Goblin?LL Cool J: 4-Fingered Rings

Fact is the recession is the cornerstone of everything we are here in America at this moment. The economic crisis likely gave Barack Obama that last minute edge he needed to decisively win the United States presidential election. Young Jeezy benefited by naming his album after it. All of the news networks have scared the mess out of us by talking about this calamity for the last year or so nonstop. With the recession being all the rage, it is full time to make the apocalypse work for you! Enter: the Recession Diet. America needs avoid sulking about how bad things are and focus on the positive sides of life, however scarce they may appear to be. Being scared and worrying uncontrollably will do absolutely nothing for you. I, illseed, have determined that I will lose mad weight until this recession is over. Here is how I plan to do it. (Note: this “diet” has no medical validity or otherwise, but it is something I am implementing right now. Take it as entertainment and opinion.) 1) I will not eat unless absolutely necessary. Not eating doesn’t mean you will immediately lose weight. In fact, you might gain – initially. But, after a while, your body will have gnawed away at its own fat in such a way that you lose a lot of pounds. An alternative is to eat so you are in a constant state of hunger. This is going to hurt a bit, because your stomach is going to constrict in ways you didn’t think possible. The remedy is plenty of water, fruit and veggies from you local super market. Those will give you a healthy alternative to all the hormone-injected meats we typically consume. When you need more: add hot sauce to anything that’s not sweet. It makes anything taste “flavory.” 2) Moving along, during this recessionary period it is going to be a mental strain to exercise physically. Notice I said mental strain…When you exercise, you are typically in a zone with nothing but your thoughts. When you are only with your thoughts, you think about the guy that just killed his family of six over his money woes. “No bueno.” Exercise and working out is really a mental activity that uses your body to achieve a goal. What happens when you can’t quite get over that mental hurdle? You supplement your diet is the “Every Day I’m Hustling” exercise regiment (Shout out to Rick Ross!). This work out regiment involves chasing checks, going on job interviews at a relentless rate or networking every night possible. What this running out does is twofold. First, it allows you to keep your mind proactive, but it also keeps your body moving as well. Your body is actually burning a lot of calories as it runs around the streets in search of opportunity. 3) The final aspect of the Recession Diet is the inevitable: STRESS. From the rich to the poor, stress is going to be a foe that you must make a friend. You must allow stress to take its course on your body, but you have to manage it carefully. So, as the stress goes to work, you will begin to lose weight fast, but if you succumb to it, you will lose an unhealthy amount of pounds. America is already a nation of overweight people, but that can all change in these truly lean times. Don’t listen to me, because you should listen to you doctor. This is just one way of coping with the times that has actually worked for this person. “The Recession Diet” 1) Don’t eat until you must. 2) Exercise by running the streets. 3) Embrace stress

Picture yourself in a nice nightclub. All the industry’s elite is in the building, having a good time catching up. You’re an up-and-coming hustler from your perspective but a nobody to them. How do you even begin to network? There’s no one right answer for this question. Make it short and sweet though. You only got 140 characters to say what you have to say. And chances are, they won’t even respond. Picturing this scenario may help you to conceptualize Twitter as an easy-to-use networking tool. The new site that’s taking the worldwide web by storm is only two years old. It’s the lethal uppercut to MySpace. It’s slowly making Facebook the second site you pull up. Here are a few tips, strategies, and updates to have you twittin’ correctly. Welcome to TwittaLand… Following Vs. Followers Unless someone’s profile is private, you can add people as you please. This means that you can be updated with all the haps on the people you follow. A&R assistants, producers, artists, managers, musicians, groupies, and regular down-to-earth supporters are networking daily. Business folks are there to maintain and make even more money! Major producers are trading twits with major artists on the regular. Watch your following vs. follower count though. You don’t want to have 500 following and 4 followers. Not a good look. What to Twitter? * Encouraging quotes, thoughts of the day, or spiritual upliftment. It’s like singing “We Fall Down” on amateur night at the Apollo. No matter how whack your twit is, you’re still going to get love because of it’s positive impact. * Interesting new stories that the common person wouldn’t know about. People usually don’t have enough time but they are interested and concerned about the world around them. Include a link of the news story. * Interesting video clips. Seeing believes with people. There are great video clips all over the net of old artists’ videos, water balloons getting popped in super 80x slow motion, or the one of the lion charging and drop kicking a hunter. Hilarious! * Updates about all the moves you are making across your hood, city, and/or the world out there. Dj Jelly was just in Germany. Quest Love of the Roots just got back from Japan. Erykah Badu and Jay Electronica just got a beautiful baby live on Twitter! People are genuinely interested in what their contemporaries are doing in their personal/business lives. What Not to Twitter? The website’s first question, “What are you doing?” is definitely rhetorical! The majority of people aren’t concerned if you’re “…on the toilet”, “smoking dat good”, or “recording a hot hit that you can check out later tonight at _____________ (insert MySpace page). Here are some major don’ts that will get you “unfollowed’ in quick click of a mouse. * Rappers! Don’t promote your newest mix tape single every time you leave a twit. That’s the very reason people are ditching MySpace! That’s one of the quickest ways to get dropped by even one of your most loyal followers. People are on Twitter to get away from annoyances. * Don’t get upset if someone doesn’t respond to your @! Just like walking up on someone in the club, a person will judge your approach. If you are over-eager, cocky, or down-right desperate you will rarely get a response. * Have your facts together when you speak of someone or to someone. Your not about to score points with Shaq if you tell him, “congrats on the Magic win last night.” Fool, that was 15 yrs. ago! Did you just get out the pen?! * Don’t crowd a person. You might be cool but networking takes time. AllHipHop’s Twitter-ers (I need to copyright that.) AllHipHop.com – http://twitter.com/allhiphopcom Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur – http://twitter.com/chuckcreekmur Grouchy Greg Watkins – http://twitter.com/grouchygreg Illseed – http://twitter.com/illseed Kathy Iandoli – http://twitter.com/kAHHthy Alvin Blanco – http://twitter.com/AquaAHH Notable Twitter-ers to Follow Ludacris- ludajuice Shaquille O’Neal- THE_REAL_SHAQ Quest Love of the Roots- qoolquest TJsDJs- TJsDJs Erykah Badu- fatbellybella *Honorary Pick* Maya Angelou- mayaangelou Stay tuned to TwittaLand #2 to get updates of Notable Twitter-ers: The DJ “Add”ition

When Big Pun died, it was a dark day in Hip-Hop. Frankly, it was probably darker than most fans realized. Pun was a member of an innovative and elite group of MC’s that reclaimed the art of lyricism. Influenced by Kool G Rap, he lead a renaissance with acts like Canibus, DMX, the Goodie Mob and connected with the acts of the early-to-mid 90’s. When he died, we lost a general in that movement. Pun is consistently remembered for his rhymes, wit and swagger even nine years since his sudden death. Here is a collection of my favorite collaborations to recall one of the most exciting artists in Hip-Hop history. The list pairs Pun with a vast supporting cast that includes Black Thoughts, Fat Joe, Cuban Link and The Notorious B.I.G. The inventory isn’t meant to be perfect, because I’d like to swap favorites with other Pun fans. If you miss Big Pun, offer your favorite songs and collaborations from the big man. Christopher Rios (November 9, 1971 – February 7, 2000) “Twinz (Deep Cover ’98)” – Big Pun Feat. Fat Joe Every time I listen to this song, it’s like listening to it for the first time. It gave us one of the best one-liners ever. Pun says, “Dead in the middle of Little Italy, little did we know that we riddled two middle men who didn’t do diddly.” Whoa. This remix stretched Dre and Snoop’s shoes. Period. “Blow For Blow” – Big Pun and Cuban Link Without question, this is my favorite Big Pun mixtape song. An amazing display of lyricism by both men – “Hit you with so many rights, you’re gonna beg for a left.” I quit. “New York Giants” – Big Pun and M.O.P. Unfortunately, a lot of people (fans and sideliners alike) wrote off Yeeeah Baby, Pun’s second CD. Not me. I loved that album, but realize it was impossible to top the classic Capital Punishment. “I bring death to your door like an escort from hell.” “We Run New York” – Big L, Big Pun and Biggie Smalls This song is special, because it aligns three rappers that have died on one boom bap track. “Super Lyrical” – Big Pun and Black Thought At the time, Black Thought had yet to be properly recognized as somebody that could spit side by side with a harder edged rapper like Pun. The two met in the middle stylistically and the results are a wonder to the ear. “John Blaze” – Big Pun, Fat Joe, Nas, Jadakiss and Raekwon This is the remix of this song. On the original, Nas rhymed different lyrics. Rumor has it, Big Pun is the reason for that change. “You Came Up” – Big Pun and Nore This was a happy, Latin-flavored song. Not forced and effectively articulated Big Pun’s travels from the bottom to the top. “Latins going platinum was destined to come.” Yes indeed. Finally – a classic interview with Big Pun, Canibus, DMX, Mos Def, Mic Geronimo, and John Forte.

Despite a struggling economy that has mercilessly hit all sides of the music industry, from magazines to music stores, the 2009 winter NAMM show brought close to 86,000 attendees to the Anaheim Convention Center on January 14 – 18, and plenty of new gear was on display.       Whether your preference is songwriting, performing, DJ’ing or producing, there was something for everyone at the show. In this two-part series, we’ll overview some of the products that were introduced and demoed.      When it comes to producing and mixing, the pros turn to SSL (www.solid-state-logic.com). Timbaland has the Matrix SuperAnalogue™ console in his tour bus and X-Racks in his stage setup. Matrix, a 16-channel, 40-input mixing console, is unique in that it has no mic pre’s or EQ’s on the board. From the analog side, Matrix is purely a mix bus, with inbuilt signal router and multi-layer digital workstation control.      Mega-producer Tricky Stewart’s Triangle Sound Studios houses the SSL AWS 900+ SE consoles. That’s Stewart and his SSL’s behind hits for Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx, Usher, Jesse McCartney, Janet Jackson, Rihanna and Beyoncé.      Most of us aren’t in the financial bracket to own a Matrix or AWS, but that doesn’t mean SSL is out of your league. The Duende Plug-in collection brings the sounds of an SSL to you at a price point you can handle. Duende Mini and Duende PCIe hardware are new cost-effective bundles that include the DSP and Bus Compressor Plug-in Upgrade for Mini and/or the complete SSL Plug-in Collection.      You have a studio. Maybe you have a room, or even a venue, where ambiance is paramount to creativity. You want it to look as sharp as it sounds. Auralex Acoustics (www.auralex.com) can help.SonicPrint Acoustic Panels are custom-printed, artistic ProPanels that are fabric-covered and designed as artwork. They allow printing in high resolution to customize anything from a band name to a logo. Choose from hundreds of colors and designs, or create your own. The options are endless.      SonoLux ELiTE Fiber optic acoustical panels aren’t cheap ($1975 – $3000), but they incorporate Auralex’s best-selling ProPanels with iSky’s fiber optic lighting. Choose from three different kits: six 24×24, six 30×30 or two 48×48. Simply plug and play, and watch these LED-based, midnight-blue panels glimmer like the night sky. Good for 70,000 hours of continuous use.      EcoTech brand acoustic panels make it easy to “go green” and reduce your environmental footprint with your acoustics. Made of 65 percent recycled polyester, they are devoid of harmful Chlorofluorocarbons and offer the next step in Auralex’s innovative environmental products, following their 2008 introduction of the first “green” acoustical foam product on the market, Eco-Friendly StudioFoam.       The Room Analysis Kit ($299) takes all the guesswork out of trying to sweep the room yourself, as well as saving you time and money. The user-friendly kit includes a Behringer ECM8000 omni-directional measurement microphone, USB drive featuring swept sine signals, and a complete instructional guide for acoustic analysis. Room Analysis Plus is an included service that allows you to record the sweep, e-mail the file and analysis form to Auralex, and they’ll send you a professional acoustic analysis and any necessary solutions within three to five business days.        You love the beats, but you want something different. EastWest (www.soundsonline.com), a leader in virtual instrument software development, has new percussion libraries that you’ll want to consider.      Quantum Leap SD2 – The Next Generation Upgrade ($199) delivers 2.5 gigs of percussive sounds featuring a variety of strike and brush solos and ensemble recordings. Chinese Lion Drums, a Middle Earth Ensemble, Persian Battle Drums and Trailer Toms are among the featured rhythms. The pre-mixed MIDI performances, created with Roland V-Drums and Zendrum percussion controllers, allow complete user customization.      Quantum Leap SILK – The Virtual (software) Instrument ($595) features a collection of historic and unique string and woodwind instruments from China, Persia and India. All are multi-sampled with extreme attention to detail, and also allow user adaptation and micro-tunings for control.      PLAY 2.0 features editing capabilities using the same software that programs PLAY-powered virtual instrument collections. PLAY 2.0 is available as a paid download from the company’s website, www.soundsonline.com and www.soundsonline-europe.com, and offers a user-friendly, standard interface.From Denon DJ (www.denondj.com) comes the new DN-S3700 Digital Media Turntable, a hybrid digital/analog design with USB and MIDI control with Sound Card for Mac or PC software. A built-in authentic vinyl record for surface control is driven by Denon DJ’s High Torque Direct Drive Motor, providing users with the feel of true vinyl. New features include three Auto loops with real-time loop length adjust and loop trim capabilities, and an easy-to-read display providing information on hot start, auto loop and break point data.   The DN-S3700’s 9-inch platter, mounted with real vinyl, is constructed with an ultra high-resolution pulse sensor mechanism to accurately reproduce the subtlest or swiftest scratching movements made by the human hand. The platter can perform pitch bending, frame searching and quick file navigation from external USB devices. An illuminated Slot-In CD Player offers support through CD, CD-R, CD-RW and CD-TEXT. The External USB Device Support connects to an iPod, USB drive and large hard drives.     Hercules’ (www.hercules.com) new DJ Control Steel for Mac and PC ($299, including carrying case) is a professional controller and dual deck mixer with EQ and volume controls. Bundled with Virtual DJ 5 for PC and Mac, and compatible with other software, it’s the perfect out-of-the-box solution for mobile DJs. New features include three kill switches, mic input, and headphone input on the tops and side of the console. The central steel plate is removable and can be customized.      Note: The bundled version Virtual DJ is 3.3, which is locked to the controller. The latest (unlocked) version, 5.2.1, is available for a $100 upgrade.      Stanton (www.stantondj.com) is shipping their new SCS.1d motorized turntable system ($999 deck, $699 SCS.1m mixer). The digital SCS1 features a 10-inch motorized platter, assignable encoders and trigger pads, and no tone […]

I don’t know about yall, but I’m finding this little issue that has emerged between Rick Ross and 50 Cent really amusing.  First of all, it seems to be set at hyper-speed.  It’s like 6 months of back and fourth in 4 hours.  Folks are setting beef deadlines; finding themselves in the document catacombs pulling out 2nd grade report cards.  I mean, seriously.  How far is this going to go?  At the rate it’s moving, we should know in about 12 hours. Also, I can’t recall Ross having any real issues with other emcees until Jake-Gate.  Well, except with Cuban Link but we all know CL was just mad because Ross and Fat Joe were down in Miami playing the Weather Boys as his beef with Don Cartagena, his only claim to fame, got stale. Oh, and that thing with T.I., but I guess the huge differences in physical proportions just weren’t good for rap beef.  So The Boss is definitely jumping into the deep end of the pool. And then it’s just strange.  We know what to expect from 50, but Rick Ross I don’t pay attention to all that often.  I have Port of Miami, but I have never really listened to that album.  I heard his voice, but damn if I can repeat any of the lyrics.  So if his writing has always been a bit odd, forgive me for not knowing until now. So Mafia Music is a diss record right?  I couldn’t really tell at first.  Suggesting that you would totally trick off with someone’s baby momma doesn’t seem all that harsh to me; especially when the person you are targeting doesn’t even like their baby momma and is responsible for her finances.  50 was probably planning on penning a thank you note until someone explained that Ross was trying to call him out.  Then there was the obligatory Hammer quote?  He’s too legit to quit?  I’m still tickled.  I can’t imagine Ross with one of those permed-out Gumby’s, but you never know. You know, all of this reminds me of that dude interviewing Ross for True Magazine almost a year ago when he was promoting Trilla.  I don’t think most of us saw the video until late last year, but he did ask Ross about a beef with 50.  The question angered Ross into a conniption as he attempted to give the interviewer some remedial journalism tips, but now it looks like he wasn’t shocked that Mr. Tate asked a frivolous question. It looks like maybe the reporter everyone bashed got his hands on a memo he shouldn’t have seen. Or he was psychic. Then there is that horrifying response from 50.  Not the song really because the way he has taken to drawing out his words makes his average lyric incomprehensible to me. The whole song normally comes out sounding like one long word, kinda like those dudes who talk with their mouths closed with wooden dummies on their laps.  (I know there is a Yayo joke in there somewhere, but I’m going to let it go.)  I did get the shout to Lil Wayne though, but we know he’s not going to answer that because gangstas don’t answer questions. Or was that ask questions?  Either way, those couple of seconds on Katie Couric’s couch could be another post all in itself. But I digress. Seriously though, he’s going to fluck Ross’ life up for fun.  For fun?  And he won’t stop? I know everyone is thinking this is just some pre-album release banter; a little verbal sparring to up the ante on some first quarter cash, but I do remember Ja Rule.  I’m just saying.  Mr. Ross might want to watch his back before he’s cast into that Hip Hop netherworld that 50 sends his conquests to.  And Ross, when you and Khaled get there tell Ja and Buck and ‘nem I said what’s up. So is this going to come to some kind of boil anytime soon?  Yes, probably around the same time whoever gets to i-tunes first sells their maiden album. Until then, I’m going to sit back and enjoy this show.  It’s definitely better than watching some scraggly wannabes duke it out via youtube and 3rd rate photo-shops.  I mean we have the Mayor of G-Unitville against Noriega’s spades partner.  Yup, that’s deeper than rap.

“There are times when someone like a cousin dies and it is not a matter of shedding tears. But we may hear of someone who lived fifty or a hundred years ago, of whom we know nothing and who has no family ties with us whatever ever, and yet from a sense of giri [honor/respect] we shed tears.” – Hagakure The Legacy of the Great Helio Gracie.Starring: DJ Johnny Juice Rosado of Public Enemy fameRakaa from Dilated PeoplesHerb Dean, Ultimate Fighting Championship referee and Hip-HopThe global martial arts community suffered a great loss in recent days. Grand Master Helio Gracie, passed away January 29th 2009. Helio was founder of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu martial arts system. His system was developed in the 1930’s. It innovated new approaches on traditional Japanese Jiu Jitsu. He understood that if a smaller person took a bigger guy down to the ground, he had a much easier chance of winning a fight. Building an intricate system of pins, joint locks and choke holds, Helio would change combat forever. He put his own life on the line fighting all comers, irrespective of size or weight or style. Even boxing legend Joe Louis declined a chance to tangle with the Gracies. Once asked exactly what his art was about, he replied “What the samurai’s did with their swords, we do with our hands.” [Helio Gracie fight Japans Best, Kimura] Helio and his brothers took the art from a relatively unknown status and change the history of the world with their wisdom, courage and compassion. Helios sons, Rorion, Rickson, Royler, Rolker, Relson, Robin and Royce Gracie would become household names proving the art on the streets of Brazil and America in the 1980’s. Their cousins Ralph, Renzo, Ryan and Charles would carry the family banner to the shores of America as well with devastating fashion. Their arrival to the U.S. changed the course of American martial arts like no other family. The Gracies stand alone as the first family of modern martial arts. Helio not only promoted self-defense. He taught people to embrace clean living, a good diet and encouraged family values and using your mind to avoid physical confrontations. Be crystal clear on this fact: There is no UFC, without the Helio Gracie. There is no Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn, no Rashad Evans, no movies like “Never Back Down” or “Red Belt,” no TapOut clothing. With many people, their greatness cannot be measured. But the influence of Helio Gracie can be traced with great accuracy from Brazil, to Los Angeles, to the Bay to New York to Hawaii and the rest of the world. It can even be traced to Hip-Hop. Its hard to think about Hip-Hop’s love of the battle – think the influence of Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do – on b-boys and DJ’s and MC’s and not see what fertile ground this was for Helio’s teachings. On the track “Kublai Khan,” Vinnie Paz from Jedi Mind Tricks spits “My mother raised me alone, you can’t break me/My hearts pumpin the blood of Royce Gracie.” In the track 7 Pounds GZA says “They still cage matching MC’s thats scrapping/Not the UFC, but my opponent is tapping.” Alcoholics, Dilated Peoples, Heltah Skeltah and many others have mentioned the Gracies in their music. Even Notorious B.I.G spoke of the art in “Hope You N***s Sleep” saying he’d use “Jujitsu, when I hit you then I split you.” Today AllHipHop.com is going to talk to DJ Johnny Juice Rosado, DJ for Public Enemy (known worldwide for his Night of the Living Baseheads remix) and life long martial artist, Rakaa from Dilated Peoples (he holds a purple belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu and trains with Helios grandsons) and Ultimate Fighting Championship referee and old school Pasadena rapper Herb Dean. Here they discuss the impact of Helio’s work in martial arts and the world around them. AllHipHop.com: How did you learn about Gracie Jiu Jitsu? Johnny Juice: In the late 80’s I went through a certain type of training in the military. This was late 1988 and ’89. There was an emphasis on ground fighting, because he had to have the ability to fight in the sand. Its very hard to fight on sand fighting upright. We did Japanese Jiu Jitsu, but it was not the same obviously as the Gracies. We had some Brazilians come in and teach us. The first thing I thought of when I saw it was the end of the first “Lethal Weapon,” where Mel Gibson chokes out Gary Busey with a triangle choke. When I saw the movie I was like, “That don’t look like it’ll work.” I later learned that one of the Gracies choreographed that fight scene. I was like “This is kinda weird”. Then I got choked by one of my fellow service members [laughs]. I was like “Oh s**t”! It worked!” [Mel Gibson using a triangle choke in Lethal Weapon] AllHipHop.com: When did you first learn of Gracie Jiu Jitsu? Rakaa: Like almost everyone else by watching Royce Gracie in the first UFC. A friend of mine began training not too long after that. I was impressed enough to accept an invitation to an introductory class. I’ve been training ever since, though, touring makes it hard to train as much as I’d like. [Helios son, Royce Gracie’s warpath in UFC 1] AllHipHop.com: Do you remember the first and last time you spoke with Helio? Rakaa: The first time would was a total surprise. It was years ago at the old Academy location and I was still a white belt, and we somehow ended up walking towards each other down the hallway. I felt like a little kid. I was very happy when Rorion stepped in and introduced us! The last time was at the opening reception of the new Torrance Academy location on Artesia, CA. I believe that was in June 2007. In those years, I was blessed to be in his presence numerous times, including two […]

“Supersonic (Chucky Cheese)” First of all, this whole thing between me and Chucky Cheese (Charles Hamilton) began last Halloween when I invited him on stage to a cipher for a show at Madison College where he was my opening act. He grabs the mic, turns to me and challenges me to a battle in front of my fans. Then his guys come on stage with cameras trying to get a YouTube moment or something. He obviously didn’t understand the dynamite he was playing with. Long story short, I humiliated him. Even though I KNEW at this point those tapes would NOT be released, y’all know me. No need to ruin his career so early. So to show that there were no hard feelings, I reached out to him the next day and asked if he would like to be on my El Che Manual mixtape. This offer was out of sheer ‘damn, Rhymefest is a cool a** ni**aness’. However, he declined. No hard feelings! THEN…I see a video of him ethering himself, saying how him losing to me somehow equates him to Eminem. (Sidebar: Charles, I know Eminem. Trust me, you are NO Eminem). STILL I chilled. Let’s fast forward to SOB’s. I was actually there to support my man Scram Jones and his group Two Face. I waited around for Chuck to grace the stage so I could see what was really up. The crowd had thinned out because they were there to see the earlier act. About 40 people were left in the venue, and I’m like WTF? Chucky comes on telling us all how he just left LA and the wonderful weather, and how New York sucks. I’m like OK…get to the raps n***a. He runs through about two songs before I start hearing light boos and seeing thumbs down from at least 15 of the 40 people in the crowd. This is NEW YORK n####!! You can’t hold your own city down?? I’m like man this s**t is wack so I head for the door. No sooner than I left, I’m getting calls that he had my name in his mouth YET AGAIN!! As he was losing to another battle proven artist, he has the audacity to imply that he beat ME and now he’s going to beat Serius Jones! “Two old a** n***as that wanna come back and battle”. So as you can see, I’m not picking on Charles for no reason. Charles just f***ed with the wrong n***a. By the way, Charles Hamilton just called me and tried to lightweight threaten me that I didn’t want to take it to the streets. Huh? EL Che coming soon! Peace, Rhymefest a/k/a EL CHE

Antoine “Wave” Garnier was a pioneering French Hip-Hop critic and documentarian who also served as an ambassador of American Hip-Hop to France. He even helped to introduce French rappers like MC Solaar to America, an effort that ripples today.Sadly, Antoine died of a heart attack in Montreal, Canada on January 20, 2009. He was 43 years old. Of Guadeloupian descent, Antoine grew up in Paris. As a youth, he came to admire not just African-American music and television, but what he could glean of African-Americans themselves, who struck him as more truly free than people of African descent in France. A sociology student who majored in “American civilization,” Antoine first came to America in 1986. He stayed here, on and off, for the next 10 years, during which time he made it his business to meet many of New York Hip-Hop’s movers and shakers. Among them was DJ Chuck Chillout. “Antoine used to come to KISS and wait for me outside the radio station,” Chuck recalls. Struck by Antoine’s clothing, which did not conform to standard American b-boy fashion, and by his super-serious demeanor, Chuck asked him, “Where you from, b?” The pair quickly became friends. In recent years, when Chuck toured Paris in the company of Tha Alkaholiks, Antoine toured him around the city for a week. Antoine returned to Paris in 1996 and commenced writing about Hip-Hop for such publications as L’Affiche and Da Noiuz, as well as for American outlets like The Source and Vibe. Eventually, he was named editor-in-chief of Radikal, an influential French Hip-Hop monthly. An intellectual who never neglected the sociological underpinnings of Hip-Hop, Antoine also began producing Hip-Hop programming for both radio (“Fun Radio”) and television (“Camera Graffiti”). In 1998 Antoine published the first of his books. Entitled “Comprendre Le Rap,” it is a compact encyclopedia of American rap from “A” (A Tribe Called Quest) to “W” (Wu-Tang Clan). It also includes a lexicon of rap slang. Antoine’s second book is an ambitious two-volume memoir/critique entitled “Souffle: Au Coeur de la Generation Hip-Hop,” published in 2003. The first volume is comprised of tales of Antoine’s New York sojourn, 1986-1996. The second volume covers the French scene from 1996 through 2003. Herve Mbouguen, reviewing “Souffle” for grioo.com, praised Antoine’s “militant passion for black culture.” According to Chuck Chillout, Antoine grew less tolerant of French racism, and moved from France to Montreal several years ago. In 2006 he self-published his third book, “Les Supremes: La Revolution Vibracultic.” Although it focuses on Motown in the Sixties, it is reminiscent of his other titles in its tracking of the influence of African-American culture on the world (including its French author). Antoine married a woman from Quebec in December of 2007. Their son Alexandre, was born in February of last year. “Antoine was a nice dude. He always showed me love,” says Chuck Chillout. “He will be missed.” Here are people reading Antoine’s “Comprendre Le Rap,” the encyclopedia of American rap music. ##

Mosley Shocks Margarito In Dominating TKO Win If you ever doubted Shane Mosley’s merits for wearing the “Sugar” moniker, that skepticism was dispelled this past Saturday (January 25). With shocking ease, Shane Mosley outpunched, outboxed, bullied, and grinded down Antonio Margarito to secure his second welterweight title. With a divorce and the BALCO fallout laboring on his mind, a stone-faced Mosley was greeted with boos from the pro-Margarito crowd at the Staples Center. The Tijuana Tornado, brimming with the confidence only the title can bring, stalked to the ring assured that he would deliver a memorable performance in his first defense. In round one, Mosley kept a snappy, consistent jab to Margarito’s head and the pit of his stomach. Determined to gain early respect, it was Mosley who came forward with several flush, hard overhand rights and left hooks to the body. Margarito was coming forward through the punches, but ran into a brick wall as Mosley held and mauled him around the ring. Despite this, Margarito was able to land a few stiff jabs to end the round. Round two saw Sugar Shane focus his jab more to the body. The punch kept Margarito stationary long enough for Mosley to rip multiple crushing right hooks off Margarito’s chin. The champion attempted to bully forward through the assault, but Mosley would not give ground and surprisingly controlled the larger Antonio in the clinches. A glancing right from Margarito briefly got the crowd back into it before a lethal Mosley left hook elicited “ohhs” from the crowd. Although the pro-Mexican crowd did not care for Shane’s “shock ‘em and lock ‘em” strategy, they were equally frustrated with Margarito’s inability to mount a significant offense once he got close. In a small reprieve, Margarito was able to land several glancing albeit scoring uppercuts on the inside as the round ended. Mosley began round three with a thudding jab-straight right to Margarito’s skull. Now desperate to get on board, Margarito began to get more reckless in hopes of escaping Shane’s holding tactics. The strategy enabled Margarito to land an uppercut. However, Mosley fired back with a six-punch shoeshine combo punctuated by a debilitating hard right. The assault was followed by left-right hook combo, causing Margarito to smile. That smile soon disappeared when Mosley fired a cracking right hook to the body. The round did end on a somewhat hopeful note for the champion, as Margarito was finally able to land a clean overhand right on Mosley. After losing a jab battle early into the fourth, Margarito found range on Mosley’s temple with a short left hook. The challenger immediately retaliated with a left hook to the body, followed by two blistering overhand counter rights. Margarito’s attempt in the last 30 seconds to bullying Mosley into the ropes only resulted in the champion absorbing more combinations, each being punctuated with jolting right hands. After another one-sided fifth round, Margarito was now woefully behind on the scorecards going into the sixth. Sugar Shane started the stanza with a crisp jab-straight right to the head, followed by two more damaging overhand rights. Margarito, befuddled by Mosley’s speed and power, could show nothing but his famed chin as his 37 year-old opponent careened several more rights off his face. For the first time, Mosley was now the aggressor and backing up Margarito. After bullying the champ into the ropes, Shane proceeded to distort his foe’s neck to odd angles with three flush rights. In desperation, Margarito attempted to roll off the ropes and exchange. Mosley, with his superior handspeed, welcomed the exchanges and brutalized Margarito with two more reverberating overhand rights to the head. With the Tijuana native knocked back into the ropes, Mosley gave Margarito a taste of his own medicine courtesy of clubbing body hooks. The seventh continued the methodical beating. As usual, Mosley paced himself early behind his jab, and rained down haymaker left and right hooks at will. Briefly, Margarito got the crowd behind him with a cluster of glancing hooks that pushed Mosley to the ropes. However, Shane wisely tied up the champion, and made sure to end the round with his umpteenth hook combination to leave no doubt who was still in command. Round eight saw both men initiate hard exchanges of hooks. Margarito seemed to be gaining some traction, courtesy of a several long right hands from the outside. Never one to back down, Mosley immediately returned fire with hooks on his own. With 35 seconds remaining, Margarito fell off balance courtesy of a failed right hand. Although Mosley missed with his first uppercut counter, he connected squarely on the champion’s jaw with a leaping hook. Margarito was badly stunned and within 2 seconds was further hurt by two punishing right hooks. Mosley mercilessly continued the assault, beating the fading champ across the ring with clusters of hooks before dropping him seconds before the bell. A shaky Margarito slowly made it to his feet as the bell sounded and saved him from a sure knockout. Impressed, Mosley went over and touched gloves with foe before awaiting the deciding round. Margarito’s cornermen nearly stopped the fight, but Margarito pleaded for another round. Relenting, his corner sent the brave champ out to meet his fate. Mosley made short work of Margarito in the ninth, blistering him against the ropes with successive hooks to secure the TKO stoppage with 2:17 remaining. Now back atop the welterweight heap, Mosley credited his early body attack, speed, and power in the dominating win. “The big left hook I throw very well. I got Fernando Vargas with it and Ricardo Mayorga,” Mosley stated to HBO’s Larry Merchant. “I softened him up with the body shots. He was throwing some good body shots as well [and] we were both catching each other with good body shots. I’m a big welterweight too. I have great handspeed and hitting power. Not everyone can stand up to it. It was very exciting.” This was a master-class performance from Shane Mosley. At […]

So Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller were not happy with some of Jeezy and Jay-Z’s “rants” during a performance in DC over inaugural weekend. I’m sure you have seen the video.  Jeezy thanked the journalist who launched the Stacey Adams bombs at the former President as well as the moving crew who got all his s### of out the White House. Jay said he’s putting the puddy on pause because he’s not interested in any more Bush.   The response from the Fox peanut gallery was par for their normal course. Jeezy and Jay were called offensive and low class. I watched that short clip they played over and over again on Fox attempting to discover the source of the pair’s angst.  It couldn’t have been the profanity because O’Reilly and Miller did not call them p#### mouths. It couldn’t have been the sexual connotations.  We have all seen the transcripts from O’Reilly’s sexual harassment suit.  He’d be ill advised to chastise anyone for sprinkling their metaphors with female anatomy references.  So what was it? Dennis Miller said The Inauguration should have helped them ratchet down the hate.  So I guess it was the Bush disdain that caught the ire, as if somehow the communities further disenfranchised by his policy have no right to dislike him.  We should accept.  We should accept the lies, the war, the treatment of New Orleans and all the other Bush decisions that set our communities deeper into the tank and keep it moving.  Expressing your dislike for being treated as if you have no worth is hate. Now, I am not blaming Dubya for every ill the country faces; especially in the black community as we have more culpability than we would like to admit.  But most understand that he did his damnedest to lead plenty of folks down the road to ruin. Even if you don’t agree, how can you say Jay and Jeezy aren’t entitled to their opinions?  And how is purposefully forgetting or mispronouncing someone’s name not just as disrespectful?  (Miller referred to Jeezy as emphysema.) How is mocking a culture not disrespectful.  How is single-handedly making Monday Night Football the lamest show on earth for two damn years not disrespectful? (Don’t tell me you don’t remember Miller from Monday Night Football.) O’Reilly said Jeezy and Jay missed the memo of the country coming together; but when looking at Bush’s approval rating, it looks like the country had been together for some time.  And that memo, Mr. O’Reilly missed. What I hear when I listen is ignorance; ignorance to who those two men on the stage were; ignorance to how they represent themselves and the Hip Hop culture and ignorance to the mixed bag of expression that has always been found in the black community. You see, those comments were made during a Hip-Hop show at which Hip-Hop fans were in attendance.  Yes, it was a public place, but the community involved appreciates and accepts to colorful lingo and hard core expression used by its artists.  Would the pair have spoken the same words with the same intensity at a mixed meeting?  Of course not.  It is very easy for Bill O’Reilly to remove a conversation from the Hip Hop context and hold it up to the public PC standards and say, “Look how hateful they are.”  It is extra easy when you refuse to acknowledge the source of the harsh words; the catalyst of the pain that leads to the reprimand. In public, O’Reilly has referred to lynching parties when talking about Michelle Obama. He has admitted his astonishment when visiting a black restaurant and not seeing angry black people screaming and cursing all about. Yes, he said he was shocked we could make it through a night out without calling someone a motherf****r. Miller is no better.  He suggested a while back in jest that the disenfranchisement of the Vice President was way worse than anything Black folks in this country have gone through.  And yes, that s### was supposed to be funny. Look, I’m not here to weigh in on the appropriateness of what Jay and Jeezy said.  However, I would think while you are hurling aspersions at folks who you deem offensive and low class, you would attempt to do so while taking the high road. Unfortunately Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Miller were unable to do so.  To me that renders their opinions irrelevant and their behavior, for lack of better words, offensive and low class.**To Get The Latest In AllHipHop Editorial, Follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/allhiphopcom**

Yo, stop sippin’ the Kool-Aid, please. Quick history lesson #1, for those that don’t know: Jim Jones—the kooky cult leader, not the Dipset Capo and alleged Ne-Yo snuffer—had a compound in Jonestown, Guyana, where on Nov. 18, 1978 he and over 900 of his followers performed a mass suicide by ingesting poison flavored with Flavor-Aid. Hence the aforementioned, though slightly altered, term used to describe rapt followers, “drinking the Kool-Aid.”   The point of this clipped history is too many of you are gushing over the Kanye West designed Louis Vuitton kicks. LV teams with the rapper turned pop artiste to drop some couture footwear. Joy. They drop in June and will likely cost a couple of paychecks to us common folk. However, said kicks (above) look like a pair of glorified 5411 Reeboks. Quick history lesson #2: The Reebok freestyles (pic below)—go-to pair of sneaker attire for hip ladies in the hood in the 90’s—were dubbed 5411’s due to their $49.99 tag, which when adding NYC’s then .0825% sales tax, meant $54.11 would get you a pair. A message from kwest on Vimeo. Not that he cares what I think, nor should he, but ‘Ye was better off when co-signing his Air Yeezy’s (1st pic above). Just my opinion folks. And as far as his call me MLK Jr. rambling in the video above, what do YOU think? I will say a grown man rocking a ‘Frullet in ’09 cannot be ignored in this equation. West designed five shoes in all and in the pic to the left, jacked from his blog, is another design.   Speaking of Nike, the last month or so must have been straight orgasmic for Air Jordan fiends, with a number of Jordan Brand affiliated kicks dropping. Including…   The Air Jordan 2009. What, you really thought they were going to stop making new pairs at #23? The shoe features Advanced Propulsion Technology (APT), carbon fiber tech and a whole bunch of other things you might not care about since they looks so good. They launch nationwide Valentine’s Day and will run you back $190 bones.      More colors on the Jordan 6 Rings.  They go for $160 beans.You won’t find these unless you literally run with Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby of the Atlanta Hawks, or if you catch them at a House of Hoops. These player exclusive of versions of the Air Jordan Pure Pressure are an ode to Obama’s inauguration. Props to OSneaker.com  AJF 6’s. Don’t usually feel these, pause, but ain’t mad at the colorway.  

I know.  It’s late as hell.  Damn imeem for they slow uploading today (or those a##holes at Time Warner), but never let it be said I didn’t deliver.  It’s too late for words so I’m just gonna give you the raw. For those that asked, at the end of this is Main Ingredient Vs. Hard To Earn.  Let’s go.  Carlito Rossi Ft. D12,Freeway,Roccett & Cashis – Hater In The Club Remix A whole gang of MC’s from both sides of the country get up on this bi-partisan banger. Philly Freeway takes the cake on this one.     Jay-z -Brooklyn Go Hard Remix Green Lantern mans up this Jay-z joint.  What a difference a beat makes.  Original burial. Soundbwai rules.      Eastwood Feat. Young Noble and Crooked I-After Inauguration  Since you’re prolly Black Presidented out even by the remix, we taking it to the west side.  It’s a bit different and better lyrically if not with less hype.  Solid.     Bobby Creekwater- She’s Dead Well  this guy certainly has a strong team.  He’s on myspace, Facebook, the AllHipHop Ill Community and prolly every other grounp trying to get some shine. Consider him shone. “She’s Dead” but the song is semi live.     Raje Feat. Lil Wayne & Tyga- Loser When he’s not autotuning Wayne is really one of the stronger mainstream rappers out. Period.  This joint is not bad at all even though Raje sounds like Wayne Lite on this.  Bitten flow and style.  All in all though  bumpable     Nikki-Any Day Now Beat supposedly produced by Dre. (Is anyone reaaally waiting for Detox at this point?) This unsigned new comer is nothing revolutionary or even evolutionary at this stage but it doesn’t suck, which is unfortunately more than I can say for some of this other R& B crap.   Roccet- Give You Some Game We’ve heard this kind of song before but this is well done by the West Coast homie.  We arranged and well executed.  Solid middle of the album dong.  Dope.   **************************************************** Okay, yesterday we compared Daily Operation with Mecca & The Soul Brother.  The vote was pretty close and since I like punishing you Hip-Hop lovers out there I’m gonna give you another King Solomon choice.  These two groups came head to head a couple years later with a more mature sound each.  You know the drill. Hard To Earn Vs. Main Ingredient.  Hold That. Peace.   Poll Answers

Berto Beats Collazo in Barnburner With his back against the wall, undefeated WBC champ Andre Berto (24-0, 19 KOs) dug deep to escape with a controversial decision win over tough contender Luis Collazo (29-4, 14 KOs) this past Saturday (January 17). A feel out first round was broke wide open when Brooklyn’s Collazo stunned Berto with a hammering straight left. The blow knocked the champ clean across the ring, and the challenger immediately attempted to pounce with short hooks on the inside. But Berto showed true poise from the early test by surprising Collazo with a sneaky counter right hand on the lunging Brooklynite. Collazo, remembering past title chances that have escaped him, remained defiant and closed the round with two left hand shots. In the second stanza, Berto utilized his superior hand-speed advantage to get off first with hook combinations. However, Collazo easily slipped away from most of the punches and patiently countered with a straight left and hook when Berto’s momentum put him off balance. When Berto would step back and give himself space on the outside, his longer arms proved successful to strafe Collazo with uppercuts and overhand rights. Realizing Berto’s mid and long range offensive strategy, Collazo came back in the third by consistently pressuring the champ to the body on the inside. Berto’s leaky in-close defense was exposed badly as the champ would repeatedly square up and get clipped with short hooks to the head and body. In the round’s second half, a Collazo left-right combo again stunned Berto, causing the young champion to stumble into the ropes. Although Berto would immediately fire back with quick albeit wild combinations, it was Collazo who was landing the clean and more effective punches. At the round’s conclusion, Andre Berto was warned for excessive holding. By the fifth round Berto was still unwisely languishing on the inside and allowing the shorter-armed Collazo to outwork him. Even with his normally effective speed advantage, Collazo was finding success timing his foe with rhythm-disrupting jabs and consistent body-punching in the clinches. To compound Berto’s problems, an accidental headbutt opened a cut above the champ’s right eye. Even though both men were guilty of spells of mauling, the referee saw fit to deduct a point from Berto for holding. In rounds six through eight, Collazo’s success pressuring Berto diminished as the WBC champ began to finally circle and carry the fight at with lateral movement, snappy jabs, and shoeshine combinations. Even though Collazo would occasionally get inside, it was Berto who maintained his fight in most of these rounds. By the end of the eighth, a slashing Berto’s left hand opened a cut above Collazo’s left eye. Perhaps remembering his controversial loss to Ricky Hatton, Collazo stormed out in the ninth and tenth rounds. Focusing on inside body work, Collazo again put Berto on the defensive and took away the champ’s previous punching advantages at long range. Here, Berto appeared to get outworked, especially when Berto would attempt to clinch and slow down the action. After impassioned speeches by each corner before the twelfth, it was Berto who came out with guns blazing. The young champion kept busy with flashy combinations throughout the round, while Collazo, perhaps due to fatigue, seemed reluctant to let his offense hang out in this deciding round. While Berto was not landing many clean shots, his activity was allowing him to carry the round and possibly steal a close decision. However, it turns out that at least one judge did not see a close fight. Scorecards for the bout read 116-111, and 114-113 twice, all for Berto by unanimous decision. In a fight that could’ve gone either way, both men were very gracious.  And in a rare statement by a champion after a tough challenge, Berto wholeheartedly welcomed a rematch. “Luis Collazo is a monster. He caught me with some clean shots,” Berto stated in the post-fight interview. “I’d love to give him a rematch. This was two tough, young guys going at it in the toughest division in the sport. It’s definitely a wonderful way to start the 2009 boxing season.” Indeed it was, and look for Berto’s management to further test their undefeated charge against the Margarito-Mosley winner, Miguel Cotto, or possibly Paul Williams. Margarito-Molsey Is Must-See TV TonightJust one month into 2009, the Fight of the Year has likely already been decided. This Saturday, reigning welterweight champ Antonio Margarito and former pound for pound #1 Shane Mosley will engage in a guaranteed punishing slugfest with large implications for boxing’s best division. Weighing his options, Antonio Margarito has been dormant since his career-defining TKO of Miguel Cotta last July. Despite potential fights with Joshua Clottey and Paul Williams, the Tijuana Tornado’s promoter Bob Arum has remained patient  in looking for the best fight to raise Antonio’s profile and line his pockets. On the other hand, Shane Mosley has never been concerned with anything other than fighting the best possible opponents out there, even when it went against his financial best interests. When no one else would touch them, Mosley sought out fights with dangerous contenders Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright. And even after suffering decisive defeats, he jumped at immediate rematches. Now in the twilight on his career at 37, Mosley hopes to topple a seemingly impossible hurdle in the younger, pressure heavy Margarito. A win not only allows Shane to reclaim the welterweight crown he lost seven years ago, but leaves him as one of the last men standing from the 90s era of boxing stars. Conventional wisdom has most experts advocating Mosley’s best strategy being an attempt to blueprint Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey’s early round successes against Margarito over twelve rounds. The problem is that Mosley has never been a disciplined boxer. He can be easily dragged into brawls, but most of the time he has been victorious due to his hand-speed and solid power.  And defensively, Mosley’s offense has always been his defense. Against Margarito, Mosley will be facing his strongest […]

“WHEN I CATCH YOU ON THE CREEP/ I’ll LIFT THE GROUND RIGHT FROM UP UNDER YOUR FEET!” -Billy Danze of M.O.P. Hip-hop has always professed its awareness. Since it’s conception, the culture of what is “now”, has bragged and boasted it’s all knowing knowingness. The collective has always proclaimed itself as the cursor for where the hip are and where the unhip are headed. Simply because WE knew it. Our dress, our swagger our speech and train of thought never considered itself anything less than right and true, proper and perfect. Whether heroes, villains, victims or perpetrators hip-hop has never once considered that it was not all that there was, and if there were anything else, it was of little or no consequence. Simply because WE knew it. In our own words, WE ARE THE S**T! I propose to my generation that a shift has come and we are all not in the same gear. Today our 44th President was sworn into office ushering in a new era on the planet. He has become a shining example of what can be accomplished if one just believes and holds on to the thought. He is a culmination of the dreams of slaves and their decedents thus far. He is a perfect example of the “idea” of America. He is the harmony after the discord. He is where Motown soul meets hip-hop swagger. Cool, calm and collected, he has been dubbed No Drama Obama. I suggest to anyone reading that he knows more than us. I suggest to anyone reading that he knows he is much more than THE S**T! I believe Barack Hussein Obama represents a force on the planet that has grown and taken shape on our watch that we were mostly unaware of. I believe Barack is the physical embodiment of a cosmic truth. His “cool” suggests a knowing that most of us don’t know. His “calm” suggests an inner peace far greater than our knowledge of self. His “collected” suggests an everything’s gonna be all right attitude that is mostly seen in deities and messiahs. Watching him I get a sense of truth incarnate. I get a feeling of perfect imperfection. I get a sense of God and Man for Man’s sake. I feel that Barack Obama is a wonderful expression of God expressing himself/herself/itself. This leader in this time, I believe, is akin to the things legends are made of. Legends, that hundreds and/or thousands of years later become pillars in man’s understanding of himself. I believe Barack, regardless of what happens during his administration, will come to symbolize a greater greatness. I believe that we are witnesses to a paradigm shift towards a world order that that can only be understood fully as it actually takes shape. To understand what I mean, we only need to look at his swearing in ceremony and see the complexities of a simple thought. He swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, a constitution that was founded on truth. A constitution, however, that was written without him or his kind in mind. A constitution, that at its time of inception, allowed for its white authors to dodge truth for their misunderstandings and fears, and count blacks and women as something less than human. He is now the guardian of that set of ideas. He is now the Commander in Chief, given the task of defending the truth that is America. On the surface it’s simply is what is. But, below the surface this is the stuff that schools of thought, philosophies and religions are based upon. Am I saying that Barack is the new Jesus? No. I am saying that Barack is the new Barack. I am saying that Barack represents a man past petty things such as race. I am saying he knows he is unbound by the laws that govern swagger and hip-ness. I am saying he is where we are, or should be, headed. I am saying that Barack Obama and all that he represents is far greater than most of what we have come to express with two turntables and a microphone. Our brags and boast seem a little childish. Our gangster tales seem mostly foolish. Our better than you s**t seems a little like rubbish. As he said in his inaugural speech, “ We are a young nation but it’s time to do away wit childish things.” Our evolution as humankind is happening all the time and we mostly take it for granted. Not taking time to stop and observe ever so often leaves one behind. All over the planet a new understanding is emerging. Here in America, we have the privilege of putting the new understanding into practice, but most of us seldom do. On a small scale we can see in hip-hop, with the emergence of artist like Lupe, BOB and Andre3K, a manifestation of something greater. In spiritual circles, with the emergence of Michael Beckwith and Deepak Chopra, we can see a manifestation of something greater. And now with the worlds sweeping endorsement of Barack Hussein Obama we can see in politics and power a manifestation of something greater. We can see a paradigm shift that lifts the ground right from under our feet. LET’S MOVE FORWARD. Cleezy