At my work we’ve got this 16 year old kid who loves going dumb and all that shit. A while back, shit months ago now, he gave me a cd of stuff he liked. It was mostly bay shit but there were a couple of southern joints sprinkled in. One song was this shit about doing drugs and seeing spaceships on bankhead. He didn’t know anything about the song other than that he downloaded it and I’ve never heard it outside of the cd he gave me. It’s been months and I’ve never found out what the hell the song was so I’ve decided to just post the song and see if someone knows the fucking title. I thought it might have been a D4L song but I don’t know. I don’t listen to them so it could be or I could totally be wrong. Anyways if you do know this shit post up in the comments cause it’s been bugging me for months.

Spaceships On Bankhead

WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 /PRNewswire/ — The following is a statement by President Bush:

Laura and I are saddened by the death of James Brown. For half a century, the innovative talent of the “Godfather of Soul” enriched our culture and influenced generations of musicians. An American original, his fans came from all walks of life and backgrounds. James Brown’s family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers this Christmas.

SOURCE White House Press Office

I can’t believe this shit but James Brown is dead.
Rest in peace.

A lot of people are going to say a lot of shit over the next couple weeks, and rightfully so. Hopefully this guy will get the tribute he deserves – easily one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, without question one of the foremost musicians and anyone anywhere who listens to rap music owes this guy a debt of gratitude for basically creating whatever massive percentage of the genre he directly and indirectly inspired. I mean if you’re talking 20th century musicians you’re at what – louis armstrong and the beatles and dylan and duke ellington? James Brown belongs with those guys. I know lots of people think about popular music as rising with the beatles and falling with the 70s but 70s and 80s babies have known different, the way shit changed with kraftwerk and james brown and chic and everything that shifted when DJs grabbed on to the rhythm Brown & co were working with, JB is responsible for a huge percentage of some of my favorite music, the turning point, the godfather…I donno this is terribly written and its 2:25AM christmas morning but christ james brown just died and this is fucked up. Rest in peace man.

See Afrika Bambaataa @ SmartBar next month if yr in the chicago area.

Bangs, but I’m still not won over by the chopper city boyz as rappers…. Gar is pretty good on this though. B.G.’s new look (see also the Top Back remix) is like some hip-hop Hotter than July-era Stevie Wonder (minus SW’s penchant for what the kids today would recognize as the Bape color palette)

Haha or maybe thats a stretch.

I haven’t heard the unedited version, so what does B.G. say he’s gonna put in Wayne and Baby’s mouth? Nah don’t answer this.

Here’s a classic video from Wayne and B.G.’s friendly days. What happened to Mil? I like this new Clipse album alright but why couldn’t rap bloggers bring back this dude and Philly’s Most Wanted instead? This beat&Sigel’s verse were fire

I mentioned these dudes in my last post on Chicago rap. Well I ordered their ‘underground classic,’ which showed up a week or two ago, with a note in the corner of the photocopied case that this is a ‘limited edition (100 CD’s Only)’. So you should get on this now if you get a chance, 20 bucks sucks I guess but its worth it.

As it turns out this shit is better than I expected. Its got this self-serious late-90s storyline that that takes on this dated ‘don of the clique’/mobster/’roaring 20s’/'the family’ mythology, but I have to say I’ve played it more than most of the rap that actually came out this winter, dated 90s sub-firm nonsense or not. I don’t know how much of my interest is because they’re local, but other than “North Pole Anthem” the majority of this shit isn’t about Chicago, really; some of my favorite chicago rap sounds like it could have come from anywhere. Its just really tight late 90s rap music with really focused and occasionally personal lyricism – and more proof that paranoia can inspire some of the best rap music.

Hustle Til I Die
Never Divide

To give you an idea of their range, here’s some lyrics off the more introspective cut “No Surrender,” which sounds like GZA/Killah Priest’s “BIBLE” except with better rapping.

I took advantage of the times that I had
lost my mama when I crashed,
and my father he was fatally stabbed
n***as was sad, cuz the tramp that murdered him, she was trash
n***as was mad, at my father cuz he left us the cash
it wouldn’t last a year
before my funds were exhausted, disappeared
totally clear, becoming broke was my fear
No I couldn’t, never turn to my peers
so many tears, no idea, didn’t have changin gear
livin in fear that i would be abandoned
alienated, i was trapped, i was stranded
in this society where only cash was demanded
singlehanded i planned my victory
consistency would be the key to unlockin
all of my mysteries
the misery was still inside me
right beside me
left beside me
in front of me
wherever i turned, it was behind me
trouble would find me
money would blind me when my thoughts were infernal
bleedin’ bad i needed stitches from a fence that i hurdled
runnin with drugs in my drawers, I didn’t hesitate, pause
i was determined to escape from these laws….

Ethan Padgett‘s review of the new Birdman and Lil Wayne album.

Sound Tracks | Hip Hop/Rap
Like Father, Like Son
Edition:
by Ethan Padgett

After the departure of B.G., Juvenile, Turk, and producer Mannie Fresh, Cash Money CEO Birdman probably spent a lot of time on his knees in thanks that Lil Wayne is still around. Though still a Hot Boy, after nearly a decade in the game Wayne is eager to prove that he’s far from a little squirt, regularly beating off the competition with such force that it’s understandable if he’s feeling a little testy on the duo’s new album. A rapper with this much spunk coming out his mouth doesn’t need to spend any more time boning up on his skills or trying to impress people with his stamina. Wayne effortlessly dominates Like Father, Like Son to the point that Birdman often gets the shaft….

I checked the Rock the Bells tour last night when they came through Chicago, got to see Ghostface in place of Keith Murray – GF came out for “Ice Cream,” performed “One,” and did track off his upcoming cash-in More Fish, among other shit. Smif-N-Wessun were good, Supernatural was funny, and Redman was alright too. Raekwon was the best though – I copped this Raekwon mixtape because I thought it was novel to pay too much for something I could download, and because he kind of ripped shit on stage.

There were posters for Cuban Linx II everywhere; there’s something so contrived about that shit to me. I mean, Dr. Dre’s involvement doesn’t mean the same thing it might have even a year ago – 2 of his beats on Snoop’s album were trash, and how long did it take everyone to forget about The Big Bang, about a week? – and there hasn’t been a good New York EVENT album I can think of since 50′s debut. No reason to think this will be different, another case of label dudes and rap impresarios mining New York history in the hopes that some of the past’s shine will rub off on inferior product. Never mind that Rae promised at Rock the Bells that the new album would be ‘strictly crack rap,’ which is some weird boast about when the only rapper who prolly has touched less dope in the last few years than non-ODB Wu rappers is Busta (sans the ‘roids). Either that or dudes are pushing crazy weight on the college campus tour circuit.

But then – Raekwon’s actually kind of killing it right now. He sounds focused, like lots of time spent on writing, that classique intricate NY style, carefully thought out and memorized, line by interlocking line. Straight up, Rae is just not being lazy – check the recently leaked track Da Destroyer, knocking the crown off Jay’s lazy head, “some nights I feel like stickin up exxon/ my gun game experienced, came from robbin Louis Vitton.” And then there’s this mixtape, a salute to the 70s Heroin era with a Mayfield & Mary Jane Girls funk soundtrack, the prequel to Cuban Linx 2′s 80s crack culture electro shock. Its got densely written drug talk that sounds more immediate that most anything coming from Ghost or Papoose or certainly Busta. Its like despite everything working against him – history, age, his peers falling off, the death of NY rap – Rae can shoulder the load and bring quality when it matters, with hard work and an absolute resistence to gimmickry, keep his shit focused and worth dissecting, rewinding so you can deconstruct each lyric like you did back when you first copped OB4CL. At the concert, Rae mentioned growing up in crack-era NY as his continued inspiration, the same inspiration that triggered his verse on “C.R.E.A.M.,” the first Rae verse I ever heard and connected with, the same inspiration that continues to drive him; so even though NY is post-crack, even though Cuban Linx II could inevitably disappoint, hyped beyond belief with Aftermath marketing muscle and selling off of history like classic rock radio and Lenny Kravitz CDs, Heroin Only (or any of the other 5-6 mix CDs he’s dropped recently) can slot right next to this year’s AZ album and maybe the new Prodigy mixtape as a record of well written NY classicism without the obnoxious pressure that warps yr expectations. Its no classic but its nice to see some old dudes aren’t ready to hit the beach chair.

Blood on the chef’s hatchet i’m here for the action
kill a hundred n***az with asprins and piss in they casket
4 5′s rip thru your glasses, all mines Mr. Gymnastics
give me more time or visit the blasteds
cuz i’m starvin, hungry but classy
i’m dead up ya lassies
cuz its nothin press a few buttons
see city disastors
and yo, anthrax em and axe em with cyanide acid
choke em out, left in the cold and skate thru lake placid
stop frontin
know you a pastor, you know i’m a master
i’m like 6 6′s in traffic, you n***az is taxis
hard bodies, come thru jurassics
its all about mossberg rugers
loadin them ratchets and blow em like napkins
cuz i’m elevated at the top of my floss pile
the m’ll stay young fly and rich as a rothschild
with transaction gram action n***az on the stove maxin’
throw a thousand birds off the road while my soldiers catch it
playin all the lobbies the gottis the red mazzeratis my collegues’ll blow somethin, show you karate
we know the code
pyrex and pottis the live section keep em on his toes take off them chromes and pass em to mamis
cuz federados watchin us gambi’s is everybodies laundry they huntin for we can get more if we fuckin prolly
we hang n***az bang pistols take a piece of yr finger the same whistle you better respect it cuz my name sizzles HUH

Prodigy on fire, pt. 2
n***az get mad i pop in the clip/ and pop for the symbol on they new york fit’/ with a rusty gun, but the shit still spit / rubber bands on the handle, the new york grip

No idea where this came from, it was posted on a message board

So you feel you haven’t wasted your time, check out the new post about One Gud Cide/ Twisted Black on cocaineblunts, especially “Game of Life” off the impossible-to-find Look What The Streets Made. Twisted Black has a new album coming out (check “Tru Hussla”) which should make being on the TVT mailing list almost worth dealing with 63248 Ying Yang Twins cash-in products.