The Foreign Exchange - House of Cards Ft. Musinah...

A "House of Cards" is bound to fall at some point, but the route that dude takes in the video is never the answer. Did I mention that I like the video? So far they're 2 for 2. I've said it before and I'm going to say it again...Get Familiar. The Group: The Foreign Exchange The Album: Leave It All Behind

Just in case you never saw it, or you did and just want to see it again, here's the video for "Take Off The Blues / Valediction".

Jay-Z Covers XXL...

In the upcoming October issue of XXL magazine Mr. Carter discusses his reign as President of Def Jam records, compares himself to The Beatles and also talks about how he'd beat Jesus in an arm wrestling match because he's God MC Jay-Hova. Oh yeah, he also responds to the criticism he's received in regards to his first single off of The Blueprint 3, "D.O.A."....

“I’m not hating on young people. Like, when people say that, I’m like, What are you talking about? It’s just stupid. I’m not hating on young people… I’m not Bill Russell, [saying] Michael Jordan ain’t shit. I’m saying Lil Wayne and Kanye are like LeBron and Kobe. My job as someone at the forefront of the game is to leave it in a better position than when I came in. Same way that Russell [Simmons] left it to me. ’Cause this thing saved my life. Literally. So I have a responsibility to it karmically. And after that it’s on you. I did my part. I made ‘D.O.A.’ I said it. I made the statement. I made the push. Here, y’all take it from here.”

I never felt like Jay was hating on young people in "D.O.A.", I actually think he was hating on one person in particular....but I'll go more into that in an upcoming post. Anywho, to read more excerpts from the interview go to XXLmag.com.

Sometimes John Legend...

....sounds just like this to me.


Okay, I lied...he sounds like that damn near every time I hear him. I haven't really been a fan of John Legend's music since his first CD...which I think happens to be his best.

Bonus:
Here are a few songs that I have in my iTunes library that weren't on any of his albums...at least I think they weren't.
John Legend - Selfish
John Legend - Just In Time

I Respect A Woman...

...but this B!#ch is crazy.

Okay, so about a month ago Kelis was awarded $55,000 per month in child and spousal support from Nas. Remember how everybody thought that was just ridiculous? Well in the words of Sticky Fingaz "But, but, but, but wait it gets worse!" Last week it was revealed that court documents were recently filed by Kelis' team of lawyers, in which they reviewed the earnings of both Nas and Kelis and decided that Nas should just remove his balls and hand them over to Kelis.

Oh yeah, they also pulled a ton of numbers out of their ass and determined the following...

1.) Nas pulls in $244,826 a month.
How I don't know...tour money must be the ish. Btw he sucked at the Rocked The Bells tour here in Chicago...I literally fell asleep for a few minutes during his performance.

2.) Kelis pulls in $13,744 a month.
How I don't know...no seriously.....I'm really trying to figure out how.

3.) Kelis should get child support totaling $17,225 a month.
Huh!?! It's a fuckin' baby! I'm a grown ass man and I don't need that much money per month to survive...if I did I would've been dead a long time ago because I damn sure don't make it.

4.) Kelis should get spousal support totaling $72,728.
No, Kelis should get a fuckin' job. You greedy low down dirty stank ass B!#ch. That is all.

5.) Nas should pay retro child support totaling $29,522.
Okay this is just getting stupid. The child was just born a few months ago...he doesn't even eat solid food yet!! His diet consist of milk. Fuckin' milk...maybe some apple sauce or other saucy form of baby food.

6.) Nas should pay retro spousal support totaling $281,571.
Now at this point she needs to hire some serious security. She's just crossed into the "I might as well kill this B!#ch" zone. I'm sure Nas is pricing out hitman right now. Damn near $300,000 in retro spousal support!?! He could have her professionally killed 3 times for that amount of money....not that I would support that.

Oh well, I guess you can add this to Kelis' playlist...
Calloway - I Wanna Be Rich
I'm sure this is the song that plays when her alarm clock goes off every morning.

New Apathy, Birdman, Estelle, Drake, Shawty Lo...

Apathy - True Love Ft. Phonte
I've never heard of Apathy before this, but I'll give anything a listen if it involves anybody from the Little Brother/Foreign Exchange/J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League crew. This features Phonte so it was a must listen for me. I'm glad I checked this out because the shit is pretty dope. Apathy's upcoming album is titled Wanna Snuggle?, that's hilarious....to me.

Birdman aka Baby - Money To Blow Ft. Drake & Lil' Wayne
Ummm this song is old. The original version came out over a year ago...before everybody set up permanent residency on Drizzy's balls. Anywho, the original was made by some guy named Jerz Y.A. and it featured Drake ------> Jerz Y.A. - Money To Blow Ft. Drake

Estelle - All Nite Long Ft. John Legend & Ludacris
I don't know what to say about this song....okay, yes I do. This song sucks. Estelle is sing-rapping, John Legend sings the tired ass chorus and Ludacris' verse just seems out of place and unnecessary. Btw I hate when people spell 'night' this way ---> nite.

Drake - Killer Ft. Nipsey Hussle
I fux wit this. I've never listened to anything with Nipsey Hussle on it before this....I just couldn't get pass the name.

Shawty Lo - A Town Ft. Ludacris, Gucci Mane & The-Dream
This is obviously supposed to be an Atlanta rap anthem....I think they could've went harder.

Jay-Z - Run This Town...

...featuring Kanye West and Rihanna.

After 3 completely unnecessary previews, the video for Jay-Z's "California Love" "Run This Town" is finally here. I thought there would've been more hype surrounding the release of the video for "D.O.A.", but everybody's been salivating over the premiere of this video...I don't get it. But just in case you're wondering, I actually like the song...and the video.

Jay-Z - Run This Town Ft. Kanye West & Rihanna

Bonus:
You should already have these...
Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune)
Jay-Z - Jockin' Jay-Z

The album cover, official tracklist and my thoughts (so far) on The Blueprint 3 can be found after the jump.



1.) I REALLY like the cover for this album. It's a complete departure from the standard "Hey I'm Jay-Z, here's a random head shot or pose" album cover he's used for the last 10 albums.

2.) I HATE that he named this album The Blueprint 3. I figured he would've left well enough alone after The Blueprint 2, but I guess not. Am I the only one that feels like there shouldn't be any sequels to classic albums?

3.) Out of the 15 tracks on this album, 11 of them have guest appearances. Go back and look at Jay's discography...his best albums, Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint and The Black Album, which are considered classics, had a very small number of songs with guest appearances. The albums that were flooded with guest appearances were good...but they weren't great. More Jay + Less Guests = Better Album

4.) Track number 5 is titled, "Empire State of Mind" and it features Alicia Keys....where in the hell is Nas?

Fat Joe Can Barely Sell Albums...

...so what in the hell makes him think that he can sell sneakers?

You probably heard about Fat Joe's plan to release a pair of cheap ass 'recession friendly' sneakers a while back and thought they'd never see the light of day. Well, it appears that the gym shoe formerly known as The Recession has been renamed The Blackout and will be available exclusively through Sears and K-Mart.

Thanks Joe, this is just what the people have been waiting for...a rapper to release a pair of 'budget friendly' sneakers. Underprivileged children across America are rejoicing because now they don't have to wear a pair of cheap ass, ugly, no-name gym shoes from K-mart. Instead, they can wear a pair of cheap ass, ugly, Fat Joe gym shoes from K-mart. All of the ridicule from children with name brand shoes will come to an end now. This is truly heaven sent. That little 'TS' symbol, which I'm assuming stands for 'Terror Squad', will without a doubt garner the same amount of respect as the Jordan logo, the Nike swoosh, the 3 stripes, The Puma, etc.

Fat Joe needs to get a clue...and a personal trainer (I could use a personal trainer too...but at least I have a clue). Hey Joe, I'm not sure if you know this, but this whole "I'm a rapper so I should drop a shoe" idea has been done before and the results haven't always been the greatest....

The Disciples (310 Motoring) - Nas
I'm pretty sure you forgot about these. Well, that's if you ever heard of them in the first place. *begin sarcasm* After making billions of dollars from his involvement with the Willie Esco clothing line, Nasir decided to venture off into the realm of footwear. The shoes were named after his hit single "Disciple" off of the multi-platinum album, Street's Disciple, which garnered critical praise and is considered a classic.*end sarcasm* Okay, so needless to say the album and the shoes were a complete failure. Word of advice to Nas and other rappers: Don't name your shoes after a song...especially if it wasn't even a popular one to begin with.



The Hurricane (310 Motoring) - The Game
You already know how I feel about this guy. He's such a lame, leave it up to Jayceon to design a pair of shoes in 2005 that look like they came out in 1985. It would be different if that was the look he was going for, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case. These basically look like a pair of generic British Knights. Just like his albums after The Documentary, he should've included 50 Cent in the creative/design process....they would've sold more.



Birdman (Lugz) - Baby
I really don't have much to say about these...I mean look at em. They look like those orthopedic shoes that old people wear...except these have a fuckin' bird on them. Hell, he might as well have added Velcro straps, a pair of Dr. Scholl's foot cushions (Are you gellin'?) and a coupon for a discount on over the counter medication.



P. Miller Sneakers - Master P
I know what your thinking....*sings softly in Vanessa William's voice* "You go and save the best for last".

As ugly as these shoes are, this is just one model from the infamous line of Master P sneakers. The fact that Percy thought that anybody wanted to wear a pair of sneakers designed by him baffles me. I guess it had something to do with the fact that he was quite influential on urban fashion in the mid to late 90's. Don't think so? Did you forget that he is solely responsible for making fatigues (camouflage) a staple in the ghetto. Remember when fatigues were mostly worn by "hip-hop" people and "backpackers"? Then Percy came along and that all changed. It got to the point where you'd see a 25yr old mother of 7, named Mercedes Maserati Jenkins, standing at the bus stop with her kids and a fresh head of finger waves....and all of them would have on fatigues. Then to add injury to insult, Percy decided that when it came to fatigues, every color was fair game and as a result we started seeing fatigues in black and well, pick a color: Red, Pink, Purple, Orange, Lime Green, etc.

*sigh*

See Fat Joe, does that sound like a club that you want to be a member of? Well, I guarantee that if you release those shoes you'll gain membership quicker than you can say "AARP". I know, I know....you also have the other club. The one where rappers have been fairly successful with their venture into the world of sneakers...

50 Cent - G-Unit Sneakers (Reebok)
Jay-Z - S. Carters (Reebok)
Kanye West - Air Yeezys (Nike) & his line of Louis Voutton Sneakers

...but then again, they're 100x more popular than you will ever be, so you make the call.

The New Redesigned PS3...

...was unveiled yesterday during Sony's press conference at GamesCom.

The new slimmer version of the PS3 is scheduled to be released September 1st in North America and Europe and will retail for $300. The new version is smaller and lighter, has a 120GB HDD and has all of the same features of its chunkier conterpart all while consuming 34% less power and taking up 32% less space.

This version of the PS3 has a few new features including BRAVIA Sync, which allows you to control the PS3 XMB over HDMI through your Sony BRAVIA TV remote, and System Standby to shut off the PS3 when the BRAVIA TV is off. Sony also claims this new machine will run more quietly than existing PS3 systems.

Specifications, comparison pic and link to additional information after the jump.



Specifications:
* Product name: PlayStation 3
* Product code: CECH-2000A (Charcoal Black)
* CPU: Cell Broadband Engine™
* GPU: RSX
* Audio output: LPCM 7.1ch, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC.
* Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
* Hard disk: 120GB 2.5" Serial ATA
* USB 2.0 ports: 2
* Networking: Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T), IEEE 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (+EDR)
* Controller: Wireless Controller (Bluetooth) x 1
* AV outputs: HDMI x 1, AV MULTI OUT x 1, Digital out (optical) x 1
* Resolutions: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i (for PAL 576p, 576i)
* BD / DVD / CD drive (read only): BD × 2 (BD-ROM), DVD × 8 (DVD-ROM), CD × 24 (CD-ROM)
* Power: AC 220 – 240, 50/60Hz
* Power consumption: Approx. 250W
* External dimensions (excluding maximum projecting part): Approx. 290 × 65 × 290 mm (width × height × length)
* Mass: Approx. 3.2kg
* Included in box: PlayStation 3 system × 1, Wireless Controller (DUALSHOCK 3) × 1, AC power cord × 1, AV cable × 1, USB cable × 1

For more information and pictures head over to Engadget.com.

Slum Village - Actin' Normal...

Off of Villa Manifesto, which is scheduled to drop September 22nd.

R.I.P. Baatin

Bonus:
Slum Village - Cloud 9 Ft. Marsha Ambrosius
Just in case you don't have it already.

Maker's Mark Music: The Isley Brothers - Work To Do...

Sooo it's been a minute since the first Maker's Mark Music post. Well, it's actually been a while since I've been bloggin' consistently. But lately I've been enjoying the somewhat nice weather simply because it doesn't last long here in Chicago, so you have to take advantage of it while you can.

Lastly, I've been trying to get some things together, doing a lot of thinking and figuring out what it is I'm doing with this life of mine.

One of the things that I've come to realize is that I like this whole bloggin' thing more than I ever thought I would. With that said I'm seriously going to dedicate a lot more time to the site.

So there's no background story to this Maker's Mark Music post. The song in itself is pretty simple and straight to the point....I've got work to do....a lot of work to do.

The Isley Brothers - Work To Do

This verse was always hilarious to me....

"Well I'm out here tryin' to make it woman can't you see
It takes a lot of money to make it lets talk truthfully
Keep yo love lights burning and a little food hot in my plate
You might as well get used to me coming home a little late"

Damn right Ron!....sounds like some shit one of my uncles would say. Yall better listen to Uncle Ron, this goes for anybody in a relationship...regardless of how hard you're out here grindin' to be successful, make sure you keep yo partner's love lights burnin' or somebody else will light that candle. Random Thought: This song should've been on the soundtrack for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

The Ivy League - Orientation...

It's time for you to get familiar...check out the The Ivy League's new EP Orientation which includes guest appearances from Mikkey Halsted and Jidae, and production from Tony Baines, Krytical Dyverse, and Mikey Fresh.

"Ivy League Muh-Fucka!!!" (c) NovaKane.

Download link, tracklist, video for the song "Everywhere" and The Ivy League's MTV Bio can all be found after the jump.

Ivy League - Orientation EP

Just in case you're not familiar, here's The Ivy League's MTV Bio...

Head over to www.ivyleagueil.com for more info.


The Ivy League - Everywhere (directed by Da Visionaryz)...

New Eve, Whitney Houston, Rick Ross, Eminem...

Late pass on these....I'm playin' catch up...

Eve - Me N My (Up In The Club)
Don't you just hate when actors/actresses try to rap? Oh yeah, she was a rapper first. Soooo all of the Eve fans who've been anxiously awaiting her return to rap, please make some noise!!
..........*crickets*.....................*tumbleweed rolls by*........

Whitney Houston - I Look To You
This is a beautiful song. *tear drop* I'm glad she's back....I just hope she's not referring to crack when she says "I look to you". Well, even if she's referring to crack it doesn't take away from the song. Random thought: If somebody would've told me back when Moesha was on tv that Brandy's little brother would be bussin' down Whitney Houston in the future I would've thought they were on crystal meth.

Rick Ross - Lay Back Pt. 2 Ft. Robin Thicke
Part 1 was on Deeper Than Rap....which wasn't a bad album. The only thing that changed on this version was Ricky's verses.

Eminem - Warning Ft. Mariah Carey's voicemail messages
Nick Cannon should whoop Eminem's ass. It's that simple. After all the shots that Eminem's sent at Mariah Carey over the years, she finally responds by mocking him in her song/video "Obsessed" and he comes back with an actual diss record.

"The only reason I dissed you in the first place was because you denied seeing me" - Eminem

I mean really? Because she denied seeing you? What did you expect her to do? Come out and say "Oh yeah, I was crazy about Em and I let him bust me down once." How old are you? So what she denied that you two ever "talked".....you're suppose to be a grown ass man. If you never ran around tellin' your business, she wouldn't have had anything to deny in the first place. Em go take some prescription pills...seriously.

Keri Hilson Covers Complex...

I know I'm late, but I couldn't just disregard a Keri Hilson cover. Anyway my future baby mama is in the August/September issue of Complex magazine talkin' about blah, blah, blah, blah. Movin' on....yall already know how I feel about Ms. Hilson, if only I could've been the grease guy for the photo shoot. You know...the guy who got to rub vegetable oil all over Keri's body in-between shots. *sigh*

See Keri's the type of woman I'd use good vegetable oil on. Nope, no Jewel, Kroger or Safeway store brand vegetable oil for her. She deserves the best...like Wesson or hell even Rachel Ray Extra Virgin Olive Oil, that's only if the mood is right though. Oh well, just to show her how sincere I am about me and her being together (and how classy I am), I'd like to dedicate THIS SONG to Ms. Keri Hilson.

Couple pics and a quick behind the scenes video of the photo shoot after the jump...

R.I.P. Titus "Baatin" Glover...

First Dilla and now Baatin...damn.

By now I'm sure you've heard about the passing of Baatin from Slum Village. This is really fucked up....after a few years apart, Baatin had just reunited with T-3 and Elzhi. Supposedly he'd been dealing with several issues (reportedly his mental health and drug abuse) over the past few years but had seeked help and was on the road to recovery. They had just finished recording their upcoming album Villa Manifesto (which is due out September 22nd) and were touring together. I had just seen them, about a month ago at the Rock The Bells concert here in Chicago. Afterwards, I remember tellin' Jay about their performance and how I was surprised to see Baatin there and how he didn't look too well.

While I am a huge fan of Slum Village now....I have to admit, that wasn't always the case. It wasn't that I didn't like them, I just had never taken the time to listen to them until I met Tense and Jay in college. At the time I was going through my herbal and alcohol induced ghetto phase...so "hip-hop" music was kind of on the back burner. Jay was relatively new to DJing and he was spinnin' at small parties here and there. One of the places he used to spin at quite a bit was UIC (University of Illinois - Chicago, for those of you outside of Chicago). Several people used to throw dorm room/suite house parties there and more often then not, he was the go to DJ. The crowd was what most people consider "hip-hop" so your chances of hearing "wobbly, wobbly wobbly drop it like it's hot" were non-existent.

Now these were the days before Serato took over, so Jay had like 8-10 heavy ass cases of records that we used to carry to every party. Despite the fact that he had about 1,000 records surrounding him, Jay always managed to find and play Slum Village. It was damn near like a an unspoken rule that some type of SV record had to be played at those parties. It was during that time that I actually listened to and became a fan of Slum Village. Sometimes I look back on that period of time and wonder if it was the people or the music that helped create such an enjoyable and laid back atmosphere. I've come to the conclusion that both played an important part in shaping some of my most memorable college experiences.

Life is like one big ass movie with no "cuts" or "retakes"...a lot of times we write out a script and try to follow it to the tee. More often than not shit happens and the script needs to be altered, and most of the time we just find ourselves ad-libbing. But just like every movie, every person has a soundtrack...a soundtrack full of songs that remind them of a specific places, people and periods in their life. Rest assured Baatin you're music is part of a lot people's soundtrack...to this day every time I here these songs it reminds me of some really good times...


Slum Village - Raise It Up
"Maybe you like me, maybe you don't....I don't give a fuck/ it was probably my crew that made you raise it up" - Baatin



Slum Village - Climax (Girl Shit)
"I know your hubby ain't givin' you no action/ well for one he's too damn masculine/ He need to relax...and take some lessons on givin you climax" - Baatin



Slum Village - Tainted Ft. Dwele
"Well it's the same tainted love in the music business/ people they lose they brain just to get up in this/ let's be a star for day, everything in life is just okay/ people say things they don't really wanna say/ hey, but it's okay cause your a star for the day/ people smile at you when they really wanna frown/ well uh, that's just the way tainted folk get down/ just keep it real and, we'll see, when the situation is tainted love is always free, love is always free, love is always free" - Baatin

Titus "Baatin" Glover
March 8, 1974 – July 31, 2009

Rashid Hadee - 808s & Hadee...

First, I've never heard of Rashid Hadee until now. He's from Chicago...so how I managed to be sound asleep on this guy baffles me.

Second, this shit is amazin'.

Btw, this is not some bootleg, auto-tune filled, 808s mixtape. Rashid Hadee, who like Kanye is a rapper and producer, went and "chopped" up the songs from Kanye's auto-tuned, love sick masterpiece 808s & Heartbreaks and created some truly amazing beats. As if the production wasn't enough, Rashid does a good job delivering lyrically as well. Despite the fact that the concept and production is based on Ye's album, the sound and feel of this mixtape is totally different. Whether you loved or hated 808s & Heartbreaks, I strongly suggest that you give this a listen.

Shout out to Jay for puttin' me on and Fakeshoredrive.com for postin' this mixtape. Download link, tracklist and more info about the mixtape after the jump.


The following excerpt was taken from Fakeshoredrive:

"Known as the go to producer of Chicago when you want that good ole soulful boom bap, Rashid Hadee has decided to pay homage to the home team on the first installment of his Chopped Not Screwed mixtape series. With lyricism that has garnered as much love and respect as his production Rashid Hadee shares with you his interpretation of an album he simply feels is honest (no pun intended). If you wonder why he chose 808’s to “chop not screw” instead of one of the more openly loved releases from Kanye’s college themed trilogy, Hadee will simply tell you “because 808’s & Heartbreak is pure genius!” Most would believe he’s on an obvious hometown bias trip but the commonalities of both artists are evident as well as the struggle so as a producer/rapper Hadee feels he relates to as well as understands the mind of Mr. West. Chopped Not Screwed keeps the features to a minimum, sharing mic time with a couple of members from his Chapter 13 crew (Augustine & Melatone), Decay of The Molemen and Chicago veterans Pugs Atomz and The Primeridian. Rashid Hadee has produced entire projects for internationally respected pioneering Chicago acts Abstract Mindstate, Thaione Davis and the aforementioned Pugs Atomz as well as his own debut Neblina Records release entitled Dedication but Chopped Not Screwed Vol.1: 808’s & Hadee is about the artistic expression of the producer and the rapper. For more on Rashid Hadee, visit: www.myspace.com/rashidhadee."

Rashid Hadee - 808s & Hadee

1.) Intro (Say You Won't)
2.) Lose Control (Say You Will) feat Augustine
3.) This Far (Welcome To Heartbreak) feat Pugs Atomz
4.) Heartless (Heartless) feat The Primeridian
5.) Rhyme And Reason (Amazing)
6.) Amazing feat Augustine and Melatone
7.) (Love) Lock Down
8.) The Wrong Thangs (Paranoid)
9.) LA Girls (Robocop)
10.) Set In Stone (Street Lights)
11.) Answer The Phone (Bad News)
12.) (See You In My) Nightmares
13.) Coldest Winter feat Simeon of The Primeridian
14.) American Dream (Pinoccio Story) Part I feat Decay
15.) American Dream (Pinoccio Story) Part II feat Decay

Kelis' New Playlist...

...features a few Nas songs, that in light of recent events have become her favorites. To hell with the boys, apparently Kelis' milkshake brings large child support judgments to the yard. Everybody made a big deal about the fact that Nas was ordered to pay Kelis $55,000 a month in child and spousal support.

My question is what did everybody expect? I don't agree with it at all....but he's a celebrity and that's the type of shit that happens. He's not the first and he damn sure won't be the last guy to get hit with an absurd child support judgment.

Anywho, I'm sure Kelis has found whole new appreciation for a few Nas songs. I think the following songs are in heavy rotation on her ipod...


5.) Nothing Last Forever
So true....but 18 years of paying $55,000 a month seems like forever.
Her favorite line: "The bitch you love could start to hate you"


4.) Queens Get The Money
Well his former Black Queen will definitely be gettin' the money.
Her favorite line: "My Queen used her milkshake to bring Nas yall to the slaughterhouses"


3.) Hate Me Know
I'm pretty sure he, at the very least, hates her now.
Her favorite line: "You wanna hate me, then hate me what can I do but keep gettin' money"


2.) Money Is My Bitch
Damn right it is....and you can now add Nas to that list.
Her favorite line: "I love you (money) so much don't ever leave me, I won't let you (money) leave me"


1.) You Owe Me
This was probably the first song Kelis played on her way home from court after she was awarded her money. She should call up Ginuwine and remake this song.
Her favorite line: "Shackles on yo feet...I think you owe me somethin"

Side Note:
Eddie tried to school fellas back in the 80's...