I hope everyone had a great and safe holiday weekend that consisted of no DUI’s or any run-ins with Po-Po, no accidents, but plenty of memories and hot bitches (or women for those easily offended). Memorial Day is made for BBQ’s and lot’s of drinking for those of you overseas. Some of my most fond memories occur on Memorial Day’s of the past. This one won’t be in any scrapbooks for me, if I did that type of shit, but it was pretty “ho-hum”. Saturday consisted of a 14-hour day doing catering. The morning blew ass, sitting up tables for a 250 people person party all by myself and taking it down pretty much all by myself. The afternoon was a bit better since we did a private party with a filthy rich doctor who liked his booze. The good doctor ended up doing shots with us and it was even rumored he was taking a few tokes of the Mary Jane, although I didn’t witness that. By the time I got home and took a shower it was late enough that I blew off the BBQ I was supposed to be at. It was already late and I was beat and didn’t want to deal with the massive operation of playing catch up with the rest of the drunken assholes. So I just sat down with a 12-pack of cold CL’s and watched “Beerfest” until I could no longer keep my eyes open.
Sunday was spent recovering from basically moving 50 tables and 500 chairs from the day before. My old ass isn’t in the shape it once was. It wasn’t a bad day to go storm chasing here, but I didn’t want to do anything but sit on my ass, which is what I did. There was a few video games, sleeping on the couch watching the resurgent Rockies beat the Giants in extra innings and I caught up on some music I’ve been meaning to sit down and listen to. It was basically a lazy fucking day, which was fine by me. Today, I’m writing this on Monday, was more of the same although I swore to do something productive. I justified it in my mind by telling myself I worked 64 hours in the last seven days. Add that to the fact I told a female (it’s always tougher moving females because you know they aren’t going to help much, no offense) friend I’d help her move tomorrow after work and dammit, I deserve some R&R.
I’ve decided to “loosely” track my beer intake this summer to see how close I get to my fellow Denver blogger Commish’s “Slushy Gutter Summer” adventure of last year. He has yet to decide to pursue the mark this year and judging by his wife’s message on his blog, it looks like he might be in for a divorce if he does it this year. What this basically consists of is drinking 528 (the height of Denver, knock off the zero at the end) beers from Memorial Day to Labor Day, which roughly equals out to almost six beers a day or 42 beers a week. I’m just going to keep track and if I seem to be on pace, I might try to take a shot at the mark. The thing that worries me is that I work at 6 a.m. weekdays, so that kind of kills any monster drinking during the week, but I’ve been known to take down 30-40 beers in a good weekend, so it’s possible. Depending on when he starts “Memorial Day”, as in weekend or the actual day itself, and if “weekend” includes Friday night, I’m anywhere from 16 beers (anything containing a serving is a beer for all intended purposes) to one, depending on the actual start date. All I got to say is, if I’m going to attempt this, no more of those fucking 40oz’s. I do have a BBQ next Friday night with a 6:30 start time which gives me a good chance to hit around the 20 beers mark as long was I stay away from the hard stuff. Also, since I’m helping that friend move tomorrow, I never move sober and I don’t have to work until noon on Wednesday, so there is a chance to make-up some ground. A couple good weekend getaways/camping trips/parties over the summer and I might have a shot. I’m sure Commish himself will be along to clarify the rules for me. Who knows, we might have to get together for a WYDU vs. SGS drink off sometime over the summer ala Beerfest or some shit. Aww fuck yeah, it’s summer time.
MUSIC
Well since this is a music blog, I best be for tossing up some music for the peoples consumption. Again, no real rhyme or reason behind these particular tracks except it’s shit I like. Some I might actually be in or over my heading explaining a couple of them, but what the hell, I never said I knew everything. First off....
Some Shameless Promotion
If you've been around this blog since the beginning, and I doubt many of you have, one of our firsts posts was a review for an MC who I have a lot of respect for, my man Lex. I agree that it's easier to like someones music when you actually have some sort of connection with them, whether it be friends in the "real world" or just through message
boards and that way, but while Lex is a cool dude who have had the pleasure to deal with in the past, his music speaks for itself. I hate using labels such as this, but it's "Grown Folks" music, dealing with real life issues that us 30 somethings with kids and bills deal with. I highly suggest giving this a listen. I have yet to listen to it (I just got the link for it 5 minutes ago), but if this is half the album the "Vague Clarity" is, it's well worth the listen.
Here is Lex in his own words:
Peace y'all. I've just released my second CD entitled "forward movement." This is to serve as a Street Album/Mixtape style album. My main objective with this project is to show my talent and versatility on the mic as well as generate a buzz for my upcoming projects. There are 21 songs on this project and it is being released for free d/l as well as tangible purchase. If you would like to purchase a CD, you can visit my myspace page
here. Domestic sales are $5 (shipping & handling included) & foreign sales are $8 (s & h included). Paypal is my preferred method of payment.
I encourage anyone with a blog or website that enjoys the CD to post a link to the album on their page. I also encourage you to post this link, or your own on any messageboards and online communities that you may frequent. Again, my mission is to spread the word on my music and the best way to make that happen is thru word of mouth. If you support the music, please help me push it forward. Anyone who wishes to review the CD please feel free to do so and post it on your page. I ask that if you do decide to write a review that you send it over to me once it's posted. All feedback is welcome.
http://myspace.com/lexsinistahcircleLexicon718@gmail.comLex - Forward Movement http://www.diabloarcher.com/LEX_-_forward_movement.zip
1. LEX (Say The Name) prod. by Jah Freedom
2. Strut prod. by Duke Entertainment
3. Let Em Know prod. by LR Hook
4. The Fight prod. by C-Royal
5. We Here Now ft. Rich prod. by Origimoz
6. Bobby prod. by Bluntmosphere
7. Everybody prod. by Eska Hines
8. Our Day Will Come prod. by DJ Wallsauce
9. The Spotlight prod. & cuts by C-Royal
10. I Found You prod. by DJ SoulClap
11. Manage Your Fate ft. Laif & Crash prod. by Absoul85
12. Schemin prod. by Maurice Marotte
13. The Raw Deal prod. by Rashid Hadee
14. Sins (Remix) ft. Laif prod. by N1Illa
15. Enterprising (Acapella)
16. HARDCORE prod. by Mercury Waters
17. Step Up Your Game prod. by RaRa Aguilar
18. Nice Guys ft. Amen Almighty prod. by E-Noids
19. Politickin prod. by ND
20. For The Kids prod. by E-Noids
21. It’s Nothing (Remix) prod. by Suede Jury
Give it a listen, leave feedback, post it on your blogs if you like it....
Sweet N’ Lo feat Tha Alkaholiks – Excuse Me As I Rip It
Since we are discussing beer and binge drinking, we might as well post up a
track from the ultimate hip-hop drinkers, Tha Alkaholiks. This was from the Sweet N’ Lo album from . I don’t know much about them, after all I was never big on female MC’s or groups for the most part, but in my quest to track down most of Tha Liks material, I ran across this and had to have it. I believe they say in the track that it’s produced by E Swift, which I can totally see, it sounds like some E Swift beats. Swift used to be one of the most slept on producers around. As of late, he seems more focused on trying to fit in with the mainstream instead of sticking to his own signature dope sound, but it’s all good. All I know this track gets me amped for the J-Ro and Tash solo albums that are reportedly supposed to drop this summer.
The Mighty Maestro – One Man Band & Stop Selling Me Dreams
These are from a Tuff City single from ’89 that I’ve always enjoyed. I can’t remember where I originally heard them, I’m guessing I heard “One Man Band” on “Yo!” back in the day, that’s where I heard most of those obscure tracks or maybe it was a mixtape I bought back in the day. Regardless I completely forgot about “One Man Band” until Idiot Proof from Cocaine Blunts tossed them up one day. “Stop Selling Me Dreams”, which was the b-side to the single, starts off sounding almost Go-Go-ish in nature but it mellows out and follows the previous tracks formula. I don’t have much to say about the artist, I really don’t know much about him other than a few things I've read here and there. According to his Myspace page, he did some remix work for YZ and I must say, judging by the beats on his myspace, dude was nice behind the boards.
Positive K – Quarter Gram Pam
I’ve always liked Pos K, even before his “I Got A Man” which is the reasoning behind his one hit wonder label applied to him by the mainstream. I can’t remember if I first heard him on the “Nightshift” 12 inch or “I Ain’t Havin’ It” track with him and MC Lyte, but I liked both, especially the “Nightshift” single that contained both the album version and the remix version with Big Daddy Kane. Despite all of that, this track dropped way back in ’87 a good five years before the “Nightshift” single. He definitely improved from this track, which he sounds a bit uncomfortable on the mic and doesn’t have that cocky arrogance found on his only LP he released. I won’t even venture to guess who produced this joint either, but it’s nothing remarkable. He had been known to work with Big Daddy Kane, who I greatly doubt produced this since he himself was just starting out at this time. He also did some work with Jazzy Jay of the Zulu Nation fame, which is possible or maybe even one of the First Priority Family members such as Milk D or King of Chill. It sort of reminds me of LL Cool J’s “Dear Evette” or “Bristol Hotel”, which kind of deals with the same fast woman as the subject matter. The main reason I put it up is it’s early introduction to Positive K, who will always been known as “that guy who did that song “I Got A Man”. (Note: It was produced by Daddy-O, I was way off)
The Tribezmen – Who Got The Vibe
Some typical Boom-Bap Jeep music from the mid 90’s, which fine by me. I know next to nothing about this group. I think it was one of those tracks I picked up off of Vinyl Addicts during they’re heyday. It’s nothing out of the ordinary from the music that came out during this time. It sounds like something that Da King & I, Das Efx, Lords Of The Underground or any of those groups from that time could have made. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing because that’s the reason I love that era of hip-hop and if you were down with that era of hip hop, you’ll probably more than likely love this track. I wouldn’t mind hearing an album from these cats though. Good luck finding much info about them.
King Bee w/ Ultramagnetic MC’s – Cold Slammin’ (Hydro Mix)
Why the hell I haven’t put this on a WYDU Classics Volume
already I have no clue, but it should have been on one of the first ones. This shit is fucking incredible. Although, I’m not a big fan of Kool Keith on his post Ultra days, I was a big Kool Keith fan from the Ultra days and this track shows why. Again, it’s not totally different from other stuff that was coming out during this time, but it just does it so well. There is a version that appears on King Bee’s “Royal Jelly” LP that was released ’90 that isn’t as good as this one,but it’s not bad either. One of the King Bee MC's sounds like the dude from “Urban Dance Squad” which isn’t a good thing. The album, which I think a lot was done by Ced Gee isn’t all that bad and I think can be found on Bust The Facts. The track is produced by the King Bee members, All Star Fresh and BC Boy. I don't know much about them though.
Trav’s Top Spins For The Week
After not really downloading anything for almost two weeks, I finally took a day and caught up on some of the stuff I wanted to listen to. This past weekend was a good way to sit down and listen to some albums I’ve been meaning to listen to and a few things got more than one listen and here’s the list.
1. KRS-One & Marley Marl – Hip Hop Lives
I didn’t know what to expect from this when I started listening to it. I’m not going to say it’s classic or anything, because it’s not. That being said, it’s the best thing I’ve heard from KRS since “I Got Next” and that’s coming from someone who considers KRS as one of the top 3 most important figures in modern Hip Hop history. It does get a little tiring listening to Kris say the same thing over and over and over again, but he has a right to say what he’s saying. The beats aren’t as good as I was hoping, but Marley hasn’t really made anything “mind blowing” in my opinion since the Lords and one could argue that K-Def did most of that album. I found it mildly annoying that he uses the same horn lope for the third time Musika. With all that being said, I can see this growing on me. I listened to it once then for some reason I wanted to listen to it again about three hours later, which is always a good sign.
2. Big City – The City Never Sleeps
I have to admit this kind of snuck up on me. I heard about this a few months ago, but completely spaced it off, so when I saw it, I thought it was another one of those run of the mill crap albums that show their ugly faces for a few weeks only to be never seen again. I’m not sure how I finally put two and two together and got giggly as a little girl, but I had to check it out when I finally figured it out. For those of you who were living in the same bubble as I was, this is Psycho Les, Al Tariq and Problemz. Being the big Beatnuts fan that I am, I expected a lot in one way, but in another way, I was deeply disappointed in Pyscho Les’ solo offering from last year. Well, it’s better than that effort, but still not up to par with the usually consistent Beatnut releases either. It did leave me wanting to listen to it again, which in this day in age is a good thing. My favorite joint is “I Hear Ya”, which is typical Beatnuts flavor and Problemz is probably a better MC than any Beatnut, past or present. This one could really grow on me.
3. Blue Scholars – Bayani
It’s been a long time since I’ve had so many people tell me I have to hear a particular album. This album was getting a lot of buzz on the blog circuit and I’ve had some others tell me that I needed to hear it. In a way I hate hearing that, because I usually end up expecting the album to be more than it usually it is and when I first sat down to listen to this album, I had pretty high expectations. While it did disappoint me originally, it was good enough to gather a few more listens over the weekend. It’s on some mellow, smooth shit, which admittedly, I wasn’t really in the mood for when I first listened to it. The second listen I was in a mellower mood, so it meshed with me better. It seemed to get a little preachy toward the end, but it does require you to use your mind while listening, which I have no problem doing. My favorite beat was unfortunately on the “Second Chapter” which is essentially an intro. That beat is freaking amazing. Again, it’s something that I’m going to listen to some more, which is all I really ask for anymore.
(Note: This is all I've been listening to this morning, I think it just took off for me)
4. Marco Polo – Port Authority
Still getting play and I’ve found a new song that I love on it. “Marquee” by OC was played about 10 times in a row the other night (I just played it five times in a row while writing this). That beat is sooooo nice. It’s a good sign if I move onto a second song on an album, it means there more reason to listen to it than just the original song that I like, which on this album was…of course…”Nostalgia”. This album has moved up into the realms of being worthy enough to purchase.
5. DJ Jazzy Jeff – The Return Of The Magnificent
Yet another producer album, but for some reason, they seem to be better than regular albums the past year or so. I was a big fan of the Oh No, Exile and Jay Dee albums last year and so far this year, two of the better albums this year are also producer albums as well. I could probably give reasons behind that, such as peoples attention spans are shorter in the digital age and are better suited to the producer albums, which are not as fluid in nature as the a traditional album is, but we’ll save that for another time. I haven’t quite gotten over the hump by declaring this worthy of purchase, but it’s getting close.
WHY?????
Why does Pharaoh Monch sound completely out of place on that “Rehab” remix by Amy Wino errr Winehouse. Don’t get me wrong, I love anything Pharaoh Monch usually puts out, but listening to him rhyme about Nicole Ritchie and Lindsey Lohan on a song that might as well be their theme song, it just all seemed a little…hmmm…contradictory?
Why couldn’t I put down the book written entirely about the making of the Beastie Boys “Paul’s Boutique”? It’s no secret that I love that album and think it’s one of the most creative albums of any genre, so reading about how it came about in a 123 page book was good enough for me to knock out 76 pages in one sitting last week. I haven’t read it since, but I’ve been busy.
Why is being a professional football player hazardous to your health? Another NFL player, Marquis Hill, passed this weekend. At least it wasn’t a Denver Bronco this time.
Why can the Tennessee Titans kiss their hopes of a good season goodbye next year? See the Madden ’08 cover. To me, they are still the Houston Oilers, so fine by me.
Why do I hate that “Throw Some D’s On It” joint so fucking much?
Why do I have no clue who this Mims dude is? Am I really that old?
Why am I really getting amped for that Royce and DJ Premier album after listening to “Hit ‘Em” over and over? (someone hook me up with a non mixtape version)
Why aren’t more people doing remixes like they did in the old days, like “Flava In Your Ear”, with a bunch of guest artists…I kind of miss that.
Why does there seem to be more quality songs this year than last year? So far this year, I could argue that “Nostalgia”, “Can’t Forget About You” and “Mr. Slow Flow” are all worthy of the top spot so far, at least in my book and all could have easily been the best last year.
Why do I just want to punch the TV screen everytime I see that fat pig Rosie O’Fat aka Rosie O’Donnell. That fat bitch just annoys the fuck out of me and shouldn’t be allowed on public TV anytime between the hours of 6 a.m. and midnight. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fairly liberal, but she’s just a fucking quack.
Why is the Hip Hop magazine an endangered species? Will they ever come back? Probably not.
Why did Miss Brazil get screwed out of the Miss Universe last night (don’t ask me why I was watching it). She could be my Miss Universe anytime.
Why are Latina’s (Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Ricans) the hottest women in the world. Don’t let my Greek girlfriend hear that.
Why do I HATE all the reality bullshit shows. Age of Love? The Bachelor? Give me a break.
Why do I feel guilty then to say I kind of like that “The Lot” show about movie directors. I originally stopped on the channel because of the hot Latina announcer it had then laughed at one of the movies and started watching it I’m not sure it’ll rope me totally, but summer TV is pretty shitty usually.
Why did I want to go Phil Helumuth on the bitch who went chasing for a flush against me last week while playing poker and why did I just get up and walk away when she caught it on the river? I flopped a set and bet it hard, this was already after raising my pockets pre-flop. This lady had nothing on the flop and had to catch runner runner anyway you looked at it when she called my bet, but still made the call. Heart on the turn and heart on the river….good night now.
Why after listening to “Hip Hop Lives” did I have a dream that KRS stole money from me?
Why would Domingo have that same dream?
Why am I just now enjoying Pack FM’s “Whutduzfmstand4?”
Why is my uhhh cracked copy of Fruity Loops not working now? Not that I’m trying to be the next Primo, but it’s fun to play around with.
Why can’t even a Primo beat on “Get It Done” save Skyzoo? He just makes me want to fall asleep.
Why did I think since I kind of liked the El-P that I should give the new Sage Francis a chance? It still sucked balls.
Why do parents let their unsupervised children play on the internet when all they really want is a hug?
And finally…..
Why can women get away with blowing off their significant other all day, but if a guy does that we are in deep shit?
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