Skillz...2007 Wrap Up

You know what it is...




The video will probably drop by the time you read this. If not, then until then...



And, in case you missed 'em:

2006 Rap Up

2005 Rap Up

2004 Rap Up

2003 Rap Up

2002 Rap Up

You probably forgot about some of that stuff he mentioned, didn't you?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Somehow, it never gets old. LOL. And, it goes well with this...

If you like hip-hop or go-go...

or a crankin' azz song, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING...AND LISTEN! Then put this in your rotation....

Rhymefest ft. Talib Kweli - Never Can Say Goodbye

Off Rhymefest's Mixtape...

Some of you might be wondering why I am so siced/pumped about this, but this is a sample of my favorite Jackson 5ive song of all time and it has a go-go feel to it. Though I don't listen to go-go much anymore and haven't for the past few years, this took me back to when I used to go to Club U to see Rare Essence (LOL). Woo and W-G know that the "Cell Therapy" joint used to crank when Essence hit that. I'm all nostalgic and ish. Besides that though, 'Fest's verse is FIYAH (shot out to JAC)! And if you don't know what go-go is, drop a comment so I can put you on.

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Bonus Coverage: Michael Jackson (Kanye West on the beat) - Billie Jean Remix

Kanye should have rapped on that joint.

Family Values from Pistol Packin' P

Ironic that the video below pops up considering this guy is about to go to jail on a gun possession conviction.



I won't even comment like I want to on this foolish video. But no matter how you look at it, there's no reason you should be teaching a 7 year old kid how to shoot a gun. Maybe if this was the backwoods of America West Virginia, but even then you'd think that a 7 year old should be spending his/her time doing homework, watching TV, reading a book, playing with friends, or something else semi-productive. Not learning how to shoot weapons.

I recall Prodigy saying in a song years ago and a recent interview that his father showed him how to shoot and taught him about guns at a young age, so I guess this is his way of passing on some counter-productive family values. That's sad. Check out the song for yourself...


I'd rather see you teach your son how to box rather than shoot a gun. Stuff like this just leads to more punk-azz kids who are afraid to fight, but eager to shoot. Just what we need!

The video actually reminded me of this verse from Beans off of "Where Have You Been" on the Dynasty Album. This gives the potential flipside to Prodigy's coin.

"...I 'member that day you showed me that gat, that 9
put it in my palm when I was young
and said that would be mine, you turned me out
the reason why I hit the block
reason why I tried to hit them cops
reason why I started hittin shots
reason why I started gettin licked
and drinkin syrup and skippin court
ginger bread man never think of gettin caught
look at your hand man damn you fought
nigga you left my mom
left us with no good-bye's
you left us out to dry
you left us with no letters, notes, (nothing!) no replies
no digits numbers was unlisted
you left us with some of my loneliest night
nigga some of my hungriest nights..."

Mathematically Speaking...

Knowledge = Power

This is a track by Lupe called "Glory". Watch the video for the imagery, then watch it again and listen to what Lupe is saying. It's tight!


You've noticed by now that I'm on my Lupe ish.

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Bow Wow = Straight Sucker


Not that this is a surprise or anything, but this just makes me realize how a lot of these young dudes listen to too many rappers talking about "real talk" and all this other bowlshyt and try to act it out in real life with people that they feel they can get away with it around. For example, for whatever reason Bow Wow sees himself as superior to disrespected by Touré. When in actuality, Touré's soft-azz would probably beat the crap out of Bow Wow's softer azz (no Omar). So Bow Wow stunts on him while walking out of the room and then calls his security staff to "handle" TOURÉ. Seriously, you need security to do that? It's Touré, not 50 (who has guns the size of Lil Bow Wow). Negro please!

But, Touré was wrong for trying to bait him into that crap. LOL. He must not have known that Bow Wow ain't having that in '07. Ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

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Wearing one FREE Mike Vick shirt onfield = $10,000 in fines

22 more months of this shyt.

I understand that he is your friend or whatever, so in that regard I can understand the decision to do this. On the other hand, aren't there other ways to express your disdain with the situation? Honestly though, should they really be wearing the shirts, friend or no friend? While I don't think it's one of the worsts crimes in the world, Vick did finance a dog-killing fighting operation and helped kill dogs. Doesn't he kinda deserve to do some time?

Come on fellas, let's be real here. Save yourself a few grand and just talk about it in your post-game interviews or on local television, jeez! Those shirts are not going to get homie's sentence reduced. You should be wearing "Mike, be good in jail!" shirts so he can come home early. All these FREE [insert name] shirts should be reserved only for political prisoners.

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Michael Jackson = C-R-A-Z-Y!

I refuse to post this shyt on my blog, so please visit Babes, Bling, and Booze for Michael Jackson's latest surgery recovery.

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Batman: Dark Knight = (probably gonna be) DOPE

Soon you'll understand...

I was thinking, if I was loopy and somehow always found myself in the middle of a fiasco, I'd hope Chilly would sit me down and give me some cool for thought. He's made some mistakes, so listening to him would probably do me some good. Maybe that'd break down those walls in my mind and set me free. Help me realize that even the coolest can't always act like a superstar. It doesn't matter if you've been lucky enough to fall asleep in Paris and wake up in Tokyo and you have all the fame in the world, that gold watch you love to wear doesn't define you. You are who you are, on the inside. After that ephiphany, I might take a look at the things that helped shape my life, even in the most infintesimal ways and see that hip-hop may have saved not only my life, but saved your life. Weary of those untrustworthy intruders who enter your life and try to take you back to that loopy fiasco you were in from the start, you realize that it's not about any one thing that's helped shaped you, but your body of work as a whole. It's the album - the soundtrack of your life - that scores the story of who you are and how you became the person you are.

I'm 73% Hussein

Barack Hussein Obama that is.

I took a test to see who I should vote for in the 2008 election and it appears that Obama and I stand pretty close to one-another on most issues. According to this particular test anyway. My results are below (by the way, who is Bill Richardson? LOL):

You match up well with...

Barack Obama - 73% match

"You must be ambitious and idealistic, like Barack Obama. Obama is a liberal democrat who, unlike his rivals, opposed the Iraq war from the start. With only 8 years in the Senate, his inexperience worries some and sometimes reveals itself in the debates, but he also has the charisma and popular support that the others lack."

Bill Richardson - 67% match

"You're looking for a moderate Democrat like Bill Richardson. Experienced in state, national, and international politics, Richardson has been a Congressman, an ambassador to the United Nations Security Council, and is now the governor of New Mexico. He is pro-choice, strongly favors rights for the LGBT population, advocates for affirmative action in government contracts, and even championed the idea that Congress should revoke the original authority it gave to go to war with Iraq. Richardson also supports the death penalty and gun ownership rights."

Hillary Clinton - 65% match

"Hillary Clinton is a liberal democrat who is unpopular among conservatives for advocating universal health care, abortion rights, and civil unions. She is resented in the anti-war crowd for having authorized a military strike in Iraq and not apologizing since. People see her as power-hungry and willing to do anything to get to the top, even stay with her unfaithful husband. However, Clinton has 8 years of experience in the White House, 25 years in national politics and is currently serving her second term as a popular New York senator. She knows how to make and deliver policy which puts her ahead of the inexperienced presidential hopefuls."

Summing it all up, I guess I'm looking for a candidate with Barack's charisma, Bill's experience, and Hillary's marital resources (LOL).

Take the test for yourself.

Floyd Mayweather: Lb. 4 Lb. the Best to Ever Lace 'Em Up

You might not like Floyd's arrogance and flamboyance outside the ring. You might not like that he's all about M-O-N-E-Y! You might not like his fighting style over the past couple of fights. But, if you don't believe this guy is pound-for-pound the best fighter ever, just ask Ricky Hatton!

Roy Jones used to be regarded as the best fighter pound-for-pound until he got knocked out (multiple times). I hope Floyd goes out on top and (like he said) "retires from boxing" because I don't want to see boxing retire him. He's got his uncle to look at as a testament to that. Roger Mayweather is off his rocker (LOL).

To recap the fight, here are the main points...

Defense. CHECK!
Speed. CHECK!
Accuracy. CHECK!
Savvy. CHECK!
Hook. CHECK!

Oh my bad, I mean Check Hook. Or should we call it a chin check? Either way, it was checkmate.

R. Kelly channels one of his ménage partners. Guess who?

Opening credits...Post inspired by Honorable Media

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R Kelly and Ursher were dating the same girl so obviously R. Kelly should be the one to give Ursher marital advice. These guys obviously work well together. Just like Johnny Gill and Eddie Murphy. Except neither one of these guys owns an island (that we know of), though I'm sure sometimes they both might feel as if they live on one, alone.

After listening to Crazy, by Kellz, I realized that it would not surprise me one bit if Kellz, Ursher, and Mrs. Ursher were in some sort of twisted bi-sexual love triangle. I swear R. Kelly came up with that Trapped in the Closet ish from his actual life. Tell me you'd put it past him. Tell me you'd put the bi-sexual love triangle thing past Usher's "put that on errything" azz.

In "Crazy", you'll get a chance to hear Kellz jack Ursher's singing style while speaking on Usher's relationship situation. Allegedly. This all sounds like it could be 100% true considering how much people specu-hate on Usher's relationship decisions. Otherwise, why would Kellz even make the song? This song will draw some attention (from people like me) I'm sure and it wouldn't be half as entertaining if Kellz were singing about two people who were never in the middle of relationship controversy. But, I am going to go out on a limb (no Mike Jack) and say that I don't think Kellz would spill these particular beans: 1) Without permission from Usher, or 2) unless it's all fabricated to sound like truth.

But with this guy, you really never know.

Regardless of whether it's partially true, completely true, or completely fabricated, I think it's quite an entertaining and interesting song. I'm sure lots of people will hate, but it kept my attention for a few minutes. Besides, this is probably just the beginning to some twisted sexual experiment that'll become known as The Horniest of Both Worlds or some ish like that. It'll be filled with super-freaky ish that Kellz has perfected and random relationship-based stuff that Curious George Usher has gone through. It'll probably be a helluva entertaining CD I might add. Not that I'm going to buy it if it actually happens. But it's better to see Kellz working with Usher than making craptastic songs with Beanie Sigel. Okay, it's not complete crap. I would listen to this in the club. But still, it isn't good either.

Whether it's collabo's, sextapes, or multiple-personality songs, R. Kelly never ceases to entertain.

Now it makes sense...

A few weeks ago I questioned whether Ron Mexico was stupid or suicidal. Well now it appears he's neither and I was short-sighted in writing that post. Yes, I said it.

Today I just found out that he's only going to do 23 months in jail. Yes, ONLY 23 months. Or maybe I just know too many people who were locked up for like 5-10 years? My sentencing barometer could be off I guess. For all the hoopla and the destruction of his "reputation"/name it turns out this guy is only going to do roughly 2 years in jail. And considering he turned himself in a month ago (just about), he'll only really be doing 22 months in jail. Knowing a little about how the prison system works, it would not surprise me if he were out in a year and a couple months or after he's served 75% of that sentence.

So Vick's move to go "in" early was probably prompted by knowing that he wouldn't be doing as much time as most of us probably thought he would. He could only have been sentenced up to five years anyway (wow). But I'm sure his lawyers had an idea of how much time he'd get or a they had a deal in the works. One thing I found interesting was that the prosecutors recommended only 12-18 months in the bing for Vick. But the judge (shot out to the Virgina judicial system) decided he needed to dodge anal rape for a bit longer than that.

In hindsight it could be considered ironic and perhaps effed the eff up that Ookie's Mike Vick's reputation and career have been ruined because he bankrolled Bad Newz Kennels and murked (or assisted in murking) some doggies. Crimes that we now learn will only get him 23 months in the slammer. From all the media coverage, you'd have thought they were going to electrocute him the way they electrocuted those dogs at Bad Newz Kennels. Granted, I've never been a big fan of dogs (not to say they should die, however) and I've been a huge fan of Mike Vick (on the field) so maybe I'm just biased. So what! My point is that even if I was not biased this man's reputation has been shat upon continuously since the story broke and now he's doing less time than someone who got caught with an illegal firearm in the state of MD (click the link, read the last paragraph). This reminds me that we should pray for Tippord.

Sidebar: Also note in the last paragraph via the link how "dealing" firearms will get you 5 years but being caught with an illegal firearm will get you 10 years. Interesting. If you think about that along racial and/or economic lines, who will be dealing the firearms and who will be possessing an illegal firearm? You do the math. Now I'd continue to rant about how sentencing laws for cocaine possession vs crack possession are based on similar mathematics, but that's not the point of this post.

Back to Vick. To be honest I am glad to see that he isn't getting the book thrown at him even if the judge did give him more time than the prosecution suggested. Although I think what he did was wrong and that he should be punished, I thought that the media's coverage was unfair and so much damage has been done to this man's reputation that even after serving his "debt to society" he'll find it hard to achieve success again in anything he does. It's like Dave Chappelle said, once you're famous you can't become un-famous, but you can become infamous. And for Mike Vick, that may prove to take more away from his life than a couple years in jail.

The Shiddy City Report: Detroit and BodyMore

Disclaimer: I live in Baltimore. That either means I have some idea of what I'm talking about, or I'm a transplant from P.G. County who just happens to live here. Or both. I've never been to Detroit. And from the looks of things, I won't be visiting Rock City anytime soon.

Detroit: Cheap idiot's plot to kill thwarted by a 7 year old

Well, not so much thwarted as much as she served as a human shield. Nevertheless, she saved her mom's life and she is still alive and (shockingly) in stable condition. Let me explain...

This idiot to your right, Calvin Tillie (or Captain Calvin as I like to refer to him, explanation later), tried to kill Alexis Goggins' mother on Saturday. He apparently forced Alexis' mother, Seliethia, as well as Alexis into a car that Seliethia's friend was driving. All this at gunpoint. What caught my attention aside from the fact that this young lady was shot in "the eye, left temple, chin, cheek, chest and right arm" and that her mother was shot in the side of the head and bicep, was that this fool was tricked into taking the three women to a gas station. On top of that, Captain Calvin gave the driver a $10 bill and told her to put $5 worth of gas in the car. Seriously Calvin? You must still work at McDonalds! Calvin, McDonalds. Get it? ... Anyway. $5 in a Ford Expedition probably isn't going to get you too far, buddy. I'm sure gas in the "motor city" is probably $3/gallon like it is everywhere else in the country. So considering that an Expedition probably gets somewhere around, say, 10 miles a gallon (city driving, of course), you probably didn't think through the funding for your abduction "adventure" very well. But then again, none of this fiasco seems very well thought out (no Lupe, he obviously thinks a lot). And did you really think the driver wouldn't call the police on her cellphone when she got out to go pump the gas? Come on man, think! Then again, it may be your saving grace that you didn't pre-meditate this entire thing like Rae Carruth some white-collar felon who'd have just hired some hitmen. Your lack of thought might end up sparing you a double life sentence and only get you a single one. There's a win.

Once Captain Calvin (they give all the slow kids important nicknames, ya'll know that) figured out the driver was stalling, what does he do? He starts letting off shots into innocent people like Blackwater. Without hesitation, he shot this young girl 6 times. Man! I'm not necessarily in-favor of the death penalty, but I can imagine there will be some talk of lethal injection, electrocution, stoning, impalement, and other sick shyt. I'm sure a psychological evaluation is in order as well as an investigation into drug use or a possible history of drug use on Captain Calvin's part. But d@mn, did he really have to dump off in a 7 year old girl like that (no Johnnycakes)?

Oh yeah, kudos to Detroit's police department who, once contacted by the driver, hung up on her once (allegedly). And upon the second call, (allegedly) told her there were no units to send. This after she told them a man was holding her two others hostage WITH A GUN! Let me find out there were more police in the movie 8 Mile than there currently are in Detroit.

For the full story from a second-rate source, click here.

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Baltimore BONUS COVERAGE: Take that seat and get a free knuckle sandwich!

As a bonus for those of you who (like me) got caught up in the JENA 6 cause, here's another group of young Blacks that might catch your attention pretty soon. I like to call them the BodyMore 9. After you read the article (if you care) and you think about it, you'll probably realize that the JENA 6 put in similar "work" before they got locked up. Remember, they did jump a kid. They didn't just do jail time for nothing. Of course, the BodyMore 9 probably won't get the old-South style judicial treatment like the Jena 6, but if this was my sister, I wouldn't be mad if they did get the old-South treatment. Anyway, here's an excerpt that pretty much sums up how East Baltimore the BodyMore 9 rolls

"As Sarah Kreager, 26, tried to sit down on a Baltimore City bus Tuesday, police say, a middle-schooler told her she couldn't. When she attempted to take another seat, a middle-schooler wouldn’t let her. Finally, according to police, Kreager just sat down.

She was 'immediately attacked' by nine students — three females and six males — from Robert Poole Middle School. They punched and kicked her"

It's a shame that teens do stuff like this and then other kids their age will be perceived as violent threats. I believe that these kids should be punished for this, but a lot of times these are misguided youth who can eventually mature into respectable adults. I know my friends and I came close to making huge, stupid mistakes when we were young that could have put us in a similar position. We were lucky. But for kids who aren't as lucky, an event like this could make or break the possibility of them being able to grow and mature in the "right way" or lead them down a path to more negativity. Hopefully justice is served, but people shouldn't forget that they're still just children and they should not just be punished, but rehabilitated taught better.

Or, do you guys think it's too late?

I'm not one to give up on kids. I'll give up on adults in a minute though (LOL) because once you're old and so-called set in your ways, it's harder to change and it usually has to start from within. But as a youth, you are still impressionable up to a certain age and I believe that means there's hope that others can influence you in a positive way. But maybe I'm just optimistic. Nevertheless, I can't help but think that this could have been me, you, or anyone we know just trying to get a seat on the bus. Then BAM! Eye-jammy.

Rosa Parks (RIP) would not condone this shyt. She's probably rolling over in her grave.

Hello? Is this thing still on?

It's been a minute since my last post so hopefully you guys still visit me from time-to-time. I know how the attention span of a blog-reader is about the same as a 8 year old on Ritalin and Sour Patch Kids (one of my favorite candies) and just got finished watching some crazy azz Japanese animé. But I've been a little busy and a little uninspired on the blogpost tip so I sat back and enjoyed the rest of the InterWeb for a minute. Not to mention I have been working like crap!

During that time, Sean Taylor passed, Sweet James Jones Pimp C passed, Stephon Marbury's dad passed, and some crazy azz kid in Omaha, Nebraska prematurely ended a bunch of people's lives (including his own). Not to mention all the non-celebrity (or celebrity affiliated) people who passed that we'll never hear about.

Not that I don't feel this way normally, but I'm feeling especially blessed to be here for another day. Sean Taylor's passing was eerie in that it reminded me of my friend Sean's death earlier this year. Same name, shot in the same place. Just eerie.

Pimp's Chad's death didn't hit me as much but I've been a UGK fan for a minute now and I feel bad for Bun B. Bun held Pimp down for several years while Pimp was incarcerated. Going so far as to refuse dropping any albums until Pimp came home. That's why you heard Bun on so many other people's songs and not releasing his own album or some sort of lack-luster UGK album. Remember FREE Pimp C??? That was Bun! It was only after Pimp gave Bun the go-ahead that he released his album Trill, in 2005. Then Pimp comes home and we eventually got the double-album, Underground Kingz. We also got more outspoken comments from Pimp C, who has never been one to mince words. Just when it seemed like UGK was rising, one of them falls (reportedly from natural causes). And even though I think that somehow a lifetime of sippin' that sizzurp and other intermittent drug use might have contributed to those "natural causes", my heart goes out to Pimp C's family and to Bun B.

Changing gears...During the same period of time all of this has been going on and I've been blogpost-less, I've been to Beantown and back, went to one of the best concerts of my life (shout out to Phonte and Big Pooh), spent ThanksGiving with my family and friends, saw one of my buddies and his girlfriend bring their first-born into the world, and started brainstorming a couple entrepreneurial moves.

I can't front though, I started to put together a few blogposts but didn't really have the time to finish them so I just left them on the back-burner. In the meantime, my man 50 grand, L, started his own blog called Mental Kung Fu, which I am sure is going to be one of my favorite blogs to read. He's already got a few posts up. Read his blog, regularly. Trust me! He's one of my best friends and one of the best writers I've read. Take that with a grain of salt though since my reading is confined to hip-hop magazines and O'Reilly books. Yet-and-still, this guy helped me write my essay for graduate school so to me he's the focking Native Son Richard Wright of this new era of writers and ish.

But because I'm lazy and I don't want my reckless typing to go to waste, I'll run off some of the blogposts I started, but never finished. I guess this is how I'll be finishing them. Enjoy!

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The cover to Ray J's upcoming "album", Unkut


"Ain't that Brandy's brother?"

It's totally messed up, but I still can't help but laugh. Honestly, this chick positioned herself as a high-class ho to become popular so I don't really feel bad for her. But at the same time, any dude with integrity wouldn't take shyt this far just to sell an album. Leave it up to Ray J and DJ Kay Slay to come up with this publicity stunt of a cover.

Oddly enough, I think Ray J got a shytload of credibility within hip-hop circles because of his "dealings" with Kim Kardashian. Before her, his sister was his credibility if you ask me. Even with this newfound credibility in hip-hop circles, I'd consider it a false sense of credibility. We all know that nobody really effs with Brandy's brother when the ish hits the fan. I don't think Spliff Star would let Ray J be his weed carrier. It's just a shame that Ray-Jeezy had to go this route to get some more attention. The friggin sextape was a let down anyway! Not that I saw it or anything. Anyway, Ray J should just re-release that first album of his because ya'll can't front like you weren't feeling that Wait A Minute joint! That shyt was HOT FIRE!

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Off to BeanTown [11/26/07]


'till Thursday.

Hopefully this conference is a decent one and I don't die of hypothermia. It's cold up there in New England this time of year!

...

It turns out that I somehow contracted what seemed to be a temporary Ebola virus infection while in Boston. So that meant I was coughing, stuffy, and sneezing my entire time there. Not to mention doped up on all types of medicine. But, it didn't completely stop me from enjoying my trip. The conference was a bit of a let-down but I did get to spend time with my friend Em from college that I have not seen since (hmmmmm...) 2002. Definitely the highlight of my trip. Check out my sickly azz in the pics below. LOL.

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Video montage of prank calls to CNN

Completely hilarious!


"Hello, am I on the air? ... F*CK!"