I'm Homeless...

...at least until some time after the new year. Besides the fact that it's the holiday season, this is part of the reason I haven't been blogging and why I won't be blogging for the next week or so. I'm actually messing around with the design/layout of the site during this off time, so things might be slightly different after the new year (or not because I might be too busy drinking over the next week to touch a computer).

I'll be making my triumphant return after the holidays on Monday January 4, 2010...so make sure you visit the site then. Oh yeah, you're probably wondering how I ended up homeless? If you follow me on twitter, then you know a water pipe in my ceiling busted and flooded my place a little over two weeks ago. I'll go into more detail about what happened in one of the many post I'll have up after the new year.

For the most part, my damn near 30 year-old ass will be staying with my mom until my place is restored back to its pre-flooded state (Awww I'm a temporary loser). So I'll be spending my nights/days trying not to slide off my mom's leather couch while I sleep because I'm sweating profusely from the intense amount of heat she has "all the way turnt up" . Couple that with her inhuman ability to watch Lifetime movies around the clock and I'm living life as if I never graduated from college and I don't work 40hrs a week.

Anywho, thanks to all of you who've visited the site and told others about it throughout 2009. I promise that 2010 will be bigger, better and "all the way turnt up" <---(I feel so in touch with the youth when I reference popular, yet meaningless music). See you all in 2010....be safe, party hard, drink harder and enjoy the holidays. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and write my name on the orange juice in my mama's fridge....

New Sade, Alicia Keys, Joell Ortiz, Vinnie Paz...

Sade - Soldier of Love

Her 1st single in 8 years. No extra commentary here...the name Sade speaks for itself.

Alicia Keys - Unthinkable Ft. Drake

Nope, Drake's not rapping on this....he's just singing background vocals. Am I the only one that finds it funny that Alicia Keys went and got Drake to sing background on one of her songs?

Joell Ortiz - Make It Without You

Joell's grandmother passed away the other day and he raps about it over Alicia's "Tryin' To Sleep With A Broken Heart". Since none of my grandparents are around anymore, I definitely know where he's coming from on this song.

Vinnie Paz - Street Wars Ft. Clipse

I have no clue who Vinnie Paz is. So it should make it obvious that I posted this song because it features the Clipse.

Random Quote: Hurricane Chris...

I'm rarely at a loss for words... but Tropical Storm Terrence... I mean Hurricane Chris has brought me to that point. He was recently interviewed (for some odd reason) by SoJones.com and he talked about his upcoming album Unleashed, which he says is made up of mostly freestyles (yesss!), his sequel to the song "Halle Berry" that will be named after a popular R&B chick (more fire!) and then he went and said this....

"I'm the best rapper alive, put a mic in front of me and you gon' see what's up! You know they duckin' me they dodging me; I'm that new kid on the block they're scared of, that they know is gettin' all the girls! But they be like 'oh him?' (laughs). But you know it's hurting your feelings every time I get on the freestyle and wreck it till they can't even listen to an instrumental no more. We got a lot of cats who say they freestyling, and you turn on the radio and you hear the same thing that they said they was freestyling a minute ago, you hear that wrote down, you know? A lot of these clowns is just what I said: clowns."

*sigh* Look, I don't care if you're sober, drunk, high or being waterboarded there's no excuse for this type of rhetoric. There's so many reasons why his comments border on the edge on delusional and good ol' fashion insanity, but here's four right off the top...


1.) Prior to even hearing him rap one word, his rap name alone disqualifies him from even being mentioned in the same breath as "the best rapper alive".

2.) His only 2 "hit" singles are "A Bay, Bay" and "Halle Berry (She's Fine)". I really shouldn't have to go into any details regarding either song and how they don't even put him in the same stratosphere as someone who should be considered "the best rapper alive".

3.) Look at the picture of Hurricane Chris above......he looks like he could be Da Brat's fraternal twin sister. I'm sorry, but if you're a man and you look like a woman, who looks like she's trying to look like a man....I just can't take you serious.

Bonus:
Da Brat - B-Side Ft. Notorious B.I.G.
I think a lot of people forgot about this song.

4.) Back in June he was invited to rap his song "Halle Berry (She's Fine)" for the Louisiana House of Representatives (why I don't know). The best rapper alive, let alone any person with an ounce of common sense, would've graciously declined that offer due to fact that they would look like a complete ass. But nope, not Tsunami Samuel....unfortunately he proudly rose to the occasion...


...to make matters even worse, when asked how such an opportunity came along, his response was:

"Well you know that’s the spot where they do a lot of deciding for laws and regulations that’s gonna affect my people and my community. I don’t see nobody from the heart of my community that get to sit down and voice their opinions on how they feel it should be ran. So I had to give it to em’ from my point of view. A lot of dudes and a lot of women be making laws that ain’t right… so I’m comin’ in sayin’ 'nah, we may need to do this a different way!'...I’m coming from the younger generation so I kinda know how to deal with my people."

Oooohhhhh! So the song "Halle Berry" really has a deep political meaning and it was made to promote change throughout the impoverished communities of New Orleans. Okay.....now I like that song.

For more completely ridiculous quotes and to read more of Chris' hilarious interview head over to SoJones.com.

KiD CuDi - Pursuit of Happiness...

"I’m on The Pursuit Of Happiness and I know, everything that shines ain’t always gonna be gold (Yeah) I’ll be fine once I get it...I’ll be good"

Lord knows I've done that bathroom stumble wayyy too many times to count, but I've never got drunk and passed out in the bathroom of a club (shout out to D. Green). In all fairness, that's only due to the fact that I prefer the comfort of a car.

Note To My Readers:
If we ever go out to kick it (bars/clubs) and I've seemingly vanished into thin air, chances are I'm drunk and asleep in my car, or the car of whoever drove, or on some random couch in the club, or...you get the point. Basically, I'm drunk somewhere asleep and I hope you find me. Thanks. Okay, movin' on...


This is one of my favorite songs of 2009. Believe it or not, I really fux with CuDi's album...and no I'm not depressed or suicidal. I know a lot of people wrote his album off as being nothing more than a stoner's musical suicide note. I did the same thing initially, but after giving it another chance and listening to his lyrics and the entire album (from beginning to end), I discovered it's quite the opposite.

Man On The Moon, is more of a introduction to KiD CuDi the person and it chronicles his life prior to becoming a successful artist. Unlike a lot of rap/hip-hop music today, which is overtly materialistic and misogynistic, CuDi alienates that formula and chooses to cover a lot of personable topics. The death his father from cancer when he was a child, his experimentation with drugs, personal insecurities, having no sense of direction regarding life are just some of the subjects he touches on. In all honesty, one of the most "pop"ular songs on the album, "Make Her Say" throws an otherwise cohesive album completely off. In short, they should've made it a bonus track. While the album does have a somewhat melancholy feel at first listen, after thoroughly listening to it I realized it's more inspirational than anything.

I'm not too sure if I'd call it a rap/hip-hop CD though, especially when you consider the fact he's singing on about 50% of it...it's more like a combination of rap/electronic/pop. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but Man On The Moon was definitely one of the best albums to be released in 2009...looking forward to his sophomore album.

Chris Brown & Drake Cover VIBE...

...for its December relaunch issue. I'm not sure if you remember, cared or even noticed but VIBE gave the axe to it's magazine back in June. Well I guess they figure they'll have better luck the second time around....hey, only time will tell (I give it another year before it folds again).

Anywho to celebrate the return of VIBE magazine I'd like to dedicate the following song...

Shalamar - The Second Time Around

Bonus:
Chris Brown - Famous Girl
"Drake would say you're the best he ever had"....if you're wonderin' who or what he's talkin' about click here.

iLLaNOise Live @ Shrine :: What's Old Is New...

The latest mixtape from my brother from another Jay-iLLa...the press release below pretty much says it all.

Just because 2009 is about to wrap up doesn't mean that it's a wrap for good music. Chi-Town's busiest and most progressive DJ, the nightclub and mixtape marauder known as Jay Illa, is continuing to pump the people with memorable music by releasing his latest live mixtape entitled...

iLLaNOise Live @ Shrine :: What's Old is New

Rocking a live show is definitely an art form that is widely appreciated by both fans and fellow performers alike but rarely achieved by today's crop of cookie-cutter deejays.

Never one to follow the crowd, Jay Illa always manages to move the crowd and turn any venue into a party, capturing the energy, excitement, diversity and pure magic of his live performances in this comprehensive mix. Effortlessly cross-fading and combining several genres of music into his set, iLLaNOise Live @ Shrine :: What's Old is New features a blend of classic artists and current favorites ranging from Beyonce and Musiq to De La Soul, Groove Theory and New Edition.

If you've ever experienced iLLaNOise live on the 1's and 2's then you already know how he gets down, but in case you don't, this mixtape is guaranteed to bring you up to speed. Check the partial playlist below to peep just a few of the gems, with the completed playlist available on www.illanoise.net, the online destination for all things Illa. Catch him on www.twitter.com/jayilla as well.

Random Pic: The Top of Birdman's Head...

Quick question...when did everybody become Bloods?

Did they just have like a huge write-in ceremony for rappers? If I was a "real" Blood I would be beyond pissed. I mean this shit has become a fad...kind of like towel coats, Pokemon and skinny jeans. I swear these rappers remind me of the lames that used to claim gangs back in college. As soon as they paid that 40 cent toll, they'd turn their hat to left or right. I guess they figured since they were 60 miles from the city they were free to claim whatever gang they wanted to without any repercussions. Don't get me wrong, gangs in general are just stupid....but claimin' a gang on a college campus, within a 100 meters of a cornfield should call for the donation of your body to science....while your still alive.

Jim Jones, Lil' Wayne, Birdman and a lot of these other rappers must've forgot that they've been around for quite some time. If they came in the rap game hollering "Blood this, soo woo that" it would be a different story. But these clowns just started doing this whole "Blood" thing a couple of years ago. Well I guess when you're touring the country, living in multi-million dollar suburban homes and driving luxury cars, you're left with no choice but to turn to the harsh realities of gang life.

Well, if you're interested in hearing what the Birdman has to say about Wayne's upcoming jail sentence, Drake's future, his own rap career and how Cash Money compares to other rap labels click here.

Side Note: I don't know who's going to get the dumbest tattoo of the year award, but it's definitely between Baby and Jermaine "Master Splinter" Dupri.

New Ludacris, Wale, Jamie Foxx, Kelis and....

...some other people. Okay, once again I'm playin' catch up, so most of these aren't new...they've just been sitting around in blog purgatory.

Ludacris - How Low Can You Go
*sigh* This song is okay for high school pom pom teams and footworkin' crews here in Chicago, but I'm gonna need Luda to go a lil' harder like he did on this. That way people just might start mentioning him when they make their best rappers list.

Consequence - Whatever You Want Remix Ft. Common, Big Sean & KiD CuDi
I fux with this, but then again the original was the ish to me. Unfortunately, I have a better chance at blowing up as a rapper than Consequence.

Wale - Beast
"You never Reggie Bush me if you've been Ray J'd" Ha ha...he made a funny. He should've put this on his album. Not that it would've helped it sell more, but I prefer this over some of his other tracks.

Jamie Foxx - Speak French Ft. Gucci Mane
I don't care for this (at the moment), but I can definitely see this goin' hard in both clubs, regular and strip. Shout out to "Bottoms Up" in St. Louis (Brooklyn, IL to be exact)....I'll be back. Change for a $100 anyone?

Kelis - Acapella
This might be a hit......in the dance/techno clubs. White lines and glow sticks all day. I'm proud of her for actually going back to work and not focusing all of her energy towards draining Nas' life force.

Nelly - She Got Me
This shit goes beyond terrible....like if terrible was Earth this song would be Pluto. This shit sounds like a mash-up of Akon, Luther Vandross and Mtume. I don't even think Nelly raps on this, which could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it.

Gucci Mane Ft. Cam’ron & Lil Wayne - Stupid Wild
Ahhh yes, this is one of those songs that reminds me of that group of guys in the club dancin' around, throwin' up gang signs and they all smell of weed, Hennessy, ignorance and failure.

Charles Hamilton - Charles Hamilton Is Back
Just when you thought he didn't have anymore rings left in him...he's back. I gotta give it to him, at this point I was expecting him to enroll in some random college, major in graphic design and give up on rap...but he's still rappin'. While I like this song, let's be honest...he's only delaying the inevitable