Is Lil Wayne A Real Hip Hop Artist?

I'm not too sure anymore. After watching his MTV VMA 2011 performance, it's clearly R&B and rock. It's about as hip hop as Kid Rock. I've liked Lil Wayne since he pulled up in the Expedition and they were like no, I know, I know, I know he didn't. I guess the real problem isn't that he's singing--okay that's a problem, but rapping over the rock track is cool with me. But he just wasn't that tight. Then he drops the mike like that was the best performance of the show--"Young Moola baby". Please. I just didn't feel a hip hop vibe. I felt a sell out vibe. Or a confused vibe. Or a you feel yourself way more than the people feel you vibe. What do you think? By the way, he needs some new pants. I'm just sayin'.

Girls Girls Girls...Chi Ali & Gang Starr

When you're a kid, kid rappers aren't really kids. They're your peers or if they're 3+ years older, they're grown. Chi Ali was older than me, so what he had to say mattered. I remember going to my friend's house hangin' out as a little kid. We were playing pool & video games. The only tape they had (yes, I said tape) was Chi Ali so we listened to this song like 20 times. But with ties to Black Sheep (lil brother?), this dude was cool. I thought I heard this sampled on Watch the Throne, but it's not in the credits. I'm sure some element exits. Here is the dopeness:



Here's a back up link cause I know how videos end up missing: http://youtu.be/NyJPKPYzMt4

Now, when I searched for Age Ain't Nothin But a Number, guess what else came up? My favorite Gang Starr song, Ex Girl to the Next Girl. The beat, music, flow. Both videos came out the same year too: 1992. R.I.P. Guru.

Old School, New School, No School Rules. Hip Hop is what it is. Dope is dope. This is Classic.

Marketing is Cool. Nike got Primo, Rakim, Kanye, Nas, KRS & a sick Graffiti Artist to pay homage to the Air Force One. In this life I know I should be in marketing. I wonder if I could've ever made this happen in my wildest dreams (BTW, I know this vid is 4 years old, but I have been living under a rock. School, Business, Life...but I realize that Music is Life. Common Used to Love Her...I still do):

CLASSIC - Music Video (4:3) from Thibaut de Longeville on Vimeo.

Back to Otis Again...gotta gotta

Uh...yeah. Cause the video is so damn tight. No--FLY. Yeah, it's fly. Simple but iconic. You only need to see it once to remember it, that's for sure. How much do you think the car will go for?



Is a cut up Maybach featured in a music video worth more or less than the original? BTW, who is that random dude with the sunglasses? Anybody notice him? There were 5 people in white in the beginning...so 4 models & one random dude? Maybe he was the "artist" that designed the car for real...

Back to the music. What rap duo has made an impact like this? Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh? Perhaps. I can't remember two solo artists being so hot together. Jay Z has finally found his equal stylistically, work-ethic wise, and most importantly egotistically--Kanye's "Big Brother" Jay may be the only person in the world he wouldn't ego trip on. This may actually work out. Tickets are already sold out in an arena near you. Jay's former partners didn't quite work out for a number of reasons, like R. Kelly, and Ja Rule & DMX (Didn't they have a little group called Murder Inc?). But this right here can go down in the history books. For this one moment in time, these two boys right here did it.

Why Are Rappers Blasting Off in Space All of a Sudden?

It started with Madonna saying she wanted to go to the moon for her 50th Bday. *chuckle* But then Lil Wayne says "We are not the same, I am a Martian" in 2008's Carter III. Okay. Then in 2010 came Lil Wayne's "Rebirth" and "I Am Not a Human Being". What was he reborn into? A Monster like Jay Z, Kanye & Nicki Minaj? Now everybody's takin trips to Mars & the Moon (Katy Perry talks about making love to an Alien Kanye West who states he knows a "bar out in Mars" in the song). Huh?

In Lift Off, From Jay Z & Kanye's Watch the Throne, can it get any more literal than when Beyonce belts: We gon take it to the moon/Take it to the stars.../Bout to take this whole thing to Mars?

Jay says in the song that Earth is boring to him. I can imagine so when you have everything at your disposal. Part of being ambitious is to find the next challenge. How many vacations, yachts, cars & houses can you buy as a billionaire before it gets plain boring? (Jay & Bey together are about $100K shy of a billion--boring, right?). To come from so little to so much in one lifetime is--unthinkable. The amount of ambition, drive & the rush of satisfaction must be addictive. At this point, what else is there to do in the next 20 years but to go to outer space? Why not?

I don't know, but too many people are talking about it for some reason. If it's a trend, it's wierd. If it's true, how would I know? But I'm gonna be watchin their throne to see if it blasts off. Perhaps MTV's logo isn't a moon man for nothin...

DC Doin' It

Growing up, I always wondered if Go Go could make it nationwide. Technically, you can release covered songs, but does the rest of the country get it? Do they even need to? Well, like most thought, the music would have to be modified in some way. I mean, you are listening to Go-Go under It's Love by Jill Scott, then Jill & Chuck Brown just got nominated for a Grammy (for a song I didn't like by the way, but I'm still happy for Chuck for that). Doin' the Butt, Shake Your Thing & other Salt-N-Pepa songs had a Go-Go beat.



So after years of wondering if Go-Go would make it (that generic beat stuff doesn't count...besides, it didn't feature a real Go-Go Band except E.U.), I've finally heard what I believe is a perfect mix. Wale & TCB. Bait. DC Girls can turn around and check up on it but a hip hopper will bob his head and not even know why. It's almost like the Roots being on the track. A live band doing their thing. But with a DC style. Them strong drums on every quarter beat. 1, 2, 3, 4 has bass, snare, congos, trumpets, cymbals, everything. Listen: