If Kanye really is doing all the blogging himself, then he should definitely be commended on his efforts. The guy is an international celebrity, with a demanding schedule, and somehow he still finds the time to deliver several blog updates a day–you gotta respect that. However, if it’s all the work of a ghost blogger within his camp (which he denies), then it’s all pretty pathetic. Not because it’s false advertisement, but because I’d expect higher posting quality from such a person. I mean, assuming that a ghost blogger’s schedule wouldn’t be nearly as demanding as Kanye’s, I’d like to think that he/she would have a little more time on his/her hands to compose a bit more than just the one sentence, picture heavy, “oh look cool” type posts that we often see on Kanye’s blog (again, if it’s Kanye himself, he gets a pass, considering his hectic, stadium status schedule and all).
One last thing, and this is something that I’d like to explore further in a future post, I can’t understand why celebrity hip-hop blogs & fan sites feel the need to follow in the footsteps of existing hip-hop news and gossip blogs. Instead of sticking to the exclusive, behind the scenes content that you’d expect from an artist’s blog, many dish out the same news and gossip that can be found on hundreds of other hip-hop sites around the web. So disappointing, so disconnected.
From the time that I was a teen, and first became aware of the concept of a shelved album, the sheer thought of the amount of unreleased music that many record labels and artists have stashed away in their private vaults has always intrigued me. All that life and game changing material that may potentially go unheard forever is, ahh$%#@@@&!!!!!, both painful and amazing to think about.
So imagine my delight, when this past weekend, I came across a post on the popular hip hop forum, Okayplayer, that pointed me in the direction of two snippets of never-before-heard Stevie Wonder tracks from 1974 (unfortunately, the poster said that they promised whomever provided them with these tracks, they’d only post snippets).
According to legend, Stevie recorded an album in that year, and for reasons unknown, decided to shelve the project after it was all said and done. Whether or not this is true is anyone’s guess, but these snippets from the supposed shelved album are quite ridiculous, and hold up pretty well some 34 years later:
He’d probably be strolling around the streets of Bed-Stuy with one of these:
No, not the girl. The thing she’s holding in front of her.
What may appear to be a virtual pet on a leash, is actually a futuristic take on the boom box, created by Israeli industrial designer, Inbal Dayagi.
Inspired by a children’s toy found in just about every hood in America (or the world, for that matter), the hula hoop, the boom box on a wheel runs on a self supporting, rechargeable battery and best of all it supports mp3’s. One thing’s for sure, its design is definitely one of a kind. Peep the full 3-d diagram here.
Right now it appears to be just a prototype, so I don’t think we’ll be seeing it in the wild just yet.
Speaking of Radio Raheem (RIP) and his boom box, with the crazy amount of 80’s fads being resurrected these days, I wonder why the boom box hasn’t made it back yet? I’m waiting to see someone walking down the street with their ghetto blaster proudly placed atop their shoulder, blasting the sounds of a good old fashion analogue mixtape. That would be great! Maybe I just haven’t been in the right places to spot this. What about you guys?
In the meantime, peep this site that I found that pays homage to the boom box. Their future predictions on boom box technology are, well, interesting when compared to the more advanced and much smaller portable music players available today.
Or is it? I asked that question on Twitter the other day (What say you?). If nothing else I could definitely hear this track as background music in a rapid cutting “My Anti Drug” type of commercial…Ha! Either way, I’m loving the video (looks, feels really spontaneous and amateur-cool) and the track, although it took a while to grow on me. LOL @ the Lindsay Lohan cameo…talk about irony!
Finally decided to blow the dust off of my Muxtape account and put it to work. So here goes… no real order, just a simple (and very random) playlist of tracks that I’ve been amping lately: The Gureala Muxtape. Btw, feel free to favorite me!
(sidenote: Wordpress 2.5 is starting to get a little glitchy on me! Anyone else having any issues?)
So I’m watching one of the major cable news networks this morning, you know, getting my a.m. dosage of politico speak, when all of a sudden the attention shifts to the political views of none other than 50 Cent. Talk about a moment straight out of left field; one complete with the standard (non-hip hop) media pronunciation of his name, “Fiddy”. For a minute I thought it was some kind of April Fool’s joke. As it turns out, 50, who was a Hillary Clinton supporter earlier on, is now throwing his support behind Barack Obama:
I applaud 50 on the move, however, the really odd (and in some ways interesting) thing about all of this, is the amount major media attention that this story’s received–CNN, Wall Street Journal, LA Times (not to mention, the various media outlets that have mentioned the story during their on air reports). It’s pretty crazy. I wonder though, does this story matter to them because it’s 50 Cent (outspoken, controversial rapper) at the center of it all? Or because it’s 50 Cent (outspoken, controversial rapper and the establishment’s unofficial hip-hop representative) at the center of it all? You have to wonder.
Jay Smooth took a trip into his archives and brought out a series of audio clips from a 2002 interview with Q-Tip, in which Tip talks about early Tribe production techniques, shady industry execs, musical segregation and more. Take a listen.
That upcoming album that Tip is speaking of, we’ll finally get that sometime this June. Crazy, right? Pin that on the industry. He’s actually done a few projects (Kamaal The Abstract, Live At The Renaissance, Open) since his last official release (Amplified), however, they didn’t fit inside the mainstream’s little box, and never received a proper release–they’ve since leaked to the web. In the meantime, I’m hoping that this album doesn’t fall victim to any sudden label push-backs between now and June.
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