You Passed on Whaaaat!?!?!?

Skillz presents: Hip-Hop Confessions ep. 6 from Visually Inklined on Vimeo.

Here's a nice little interview with Q-tip and PB Wolf that was hosted by Skills. Wolf explains reaching out to the Beastie Boys as an eager 14 year old kid and Q-tip elaborates on a Biz Markie hip hop classic. The most interesting part of the interview was Skills telling us what Jay Dee beats he passed on. It made for an entertaining 8 minutes. I still don't get the wide variety of hats.

YES!

More Predators Videos

That was my immediate reaction after seeing the trailer to the newest Predator movie. By all accounts this looks like the best movie of the summer by far. Just look at the cast. I didn't think they could top the second Predator movie, let alone the first. The second had Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, Angels in the Outfield), Bill Paxton (Aliens, Mighty Joe Young), and Gary Busey who has acted in nearly 150 of the most obscure and unrenowned movies and television shows since the 1960's. The original Predator produced two state governors (amazing!), Carl Weathers (Rocky, Balto 3), and the bad indian from 48 Hours. The cast, story, and orgy of one liners made these some of the most beloved movies.

Then two horrible Alien V. Predator movies later, it looked like the proud Predator franchise was on it's last legs. The name had been dragged through the mud by C rate actors who had no place acting in soft core porn on Cinemax let alone represent one of the proudest movie franchises. It took Jesus three days to be resurrected, but director Nimrod Antal is not God, and it took him three years to resurrect Predator.

When I first read his name, having a director named Nimrod did not inspire much confidence until I saw the all star cast he assembled. Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Shane from The Shield, and the whimpy kid from That 70's Show. The story is as plausible as any of the others. The most elite warriors on earth are some how transported to the planet of the Predators to be used as wild game. This looks promising, but if two characters don't arm wrestle standing up while calling eachother son of a bitch when they greet eachother, this could be another dismal failure.

Unreleased Prince Paul from '95

Some grimy shit from '95. Definitely more Gravediggaz than Handsome Boy Modeling school. One question though, Prince Paul, why the hell was this never released?

This was a project that I wanted to put together with Amityville MC legend Superstar . as I thought about it more I wanted to recruit more Mcs we knew to make it diverse . Superstar already had the name “Horror City” so wen recorded under that name . This project was recorded right after the first Gravedigga album ” 6ft deep”in 1995 . I shopped the demo but unfortunately it got looked over and never got signed . I sat on this project for a while but it always had a dear place in my heart because I thought it was really good and the talent was there . I stripped some of the music from the demo and put it on ” a prince among thieves” and actually had a few of the guys perform on the ” Thieves ” album as well but to be honest I always liked these originals better . So now I have decided share these songs with all of you because holding on to them made no sense .. why not share great music . Hopefully you the listener will enjoy this project as much as I do . please share it , thats why I made this for free download . For more group info please log on to http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000981527022 for a proper bio of “Horror City “

Download

Instrumentals from Across the Pond

Here's another instrumental album and this time it comes from European producer Crookram. Here's what his good friend has to say about the record...

"...an album that has been 5 years in the making in which musical genres like soul, funk, hiphop and library music have been combined with modern downtempo beats and movie samples. his ambition is to focus on atmosphere and moody vibes, something that's become quite uncommon in modern day music. you can expect scratchy records, mysterious movie samples and a great talent for production, elements which have been praised already by many people involved in the downtempo scene."

Sounds great, but I would expect my good friend to rave about a my CD. After listening to a little of the album it sounds a lot to me like RJD2. I did like how he sampled Die Hard. If it sounds like your thing download it.

If Pixar Made The Wire Buzz Lightyear would be Stringer Bell

I was so disgusted with the Laker's first half play I decided to surf the internet to calm down. That relative calm lasted until the third quarter. The Lakers are still playing like shit, but at least I can smile at this clip. Here at TMI, just like every other hip hop blog we have come across, we absolutely love The Wire. Toy Story is cool too, but Woody is no Omar, but in this version apparently McNulty is. Toy Story 3 is coming out this summer with Mr. Potato Head playing Bunk?

Apple Juice Break...Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf

“I’m 18 years old and I’m into rap music, and I just love it.”

Charles Hicks AKA Charizma said those words nearly 20 years ago. The sincerity in his voice was undeniable and his words resonated with many young hip hop heads including myself. The young MC out of San Jose, California who had an affinity for sweets (ladies) and apple juice released one album with Chris Manak AKA Peanut Butter Wolf, Big Shots, for Hollywood Basics in 1993. Big Shots is a 16 track morsel of pure hip hop and sounds like nothing else coming out of the West Coast in that time period.
There have been many great MC/producer combinations throughout hip hop: Eric B. & Rakim, KRS-One & Scott La Rock, and DJ Premier & Guru. It is hard to put Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf in the same sentence not because of the quality of music, but the brevity of it. Charizma was shot and killed sitting at a stoplight in a robbery attempt in December of 1993 in East Palo Alto. If tragedy had not struck, there is no telling what feats Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf could have accomplished. Three years after Charizma’s passing Peanut Butter Wolf started Stones Throw Records. Charizma’s “My World Premier” was the first 12-inch Stones Throw ever released and today the label is considered one of the gold standards for new and innovative hip hop. Just like all the great MC/producer duos that came before them, Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf had undeniable chemistry. The fun loving Charizma was a little quirky and brought out the wilder side of the mild mannered Peanut Butter Wolf. Bottom line, they were two teenage friends trying to make it big in the recently popularized genre of hip hop, a genre that did not pay much attention to the Bay Area at that time.

Their album, Big Shots, is just raw unadulterated hip hop. The subject matter switches between ladies, apple juice, and hip hop and then back to apple juice. The man rapped about apple juice like Too $hort rapped about pimping, with an absolute love and knowledge of it. Devin the Dude loves weed, Mac Dre loved thizzles, and Charizma loved his Martinelli’s apple juice in a round bottle.
It is rare to come across a hip hop album with such youthful energy and exuberance. They recorded their album in a $25 an hour studio with engineer, Peter Stanley, who looked more likely to work with Guns ‘N’ Roses than two aspiring hip hop artists. This especially comes across when Stanley, who did not like the idea of sampling drums of other artists, recorded himself playing the drums that Wolf would later use on the album. Other Stones Throw artists, including Madlib, have used those same drums.
If one song was chosen to convey the entire album it would have to be “Talk About a Girl.” Charizma raps over a masterfully crafted beat with striking pianos on a subject every high school kid could relate to, girls. Coming in at only 1 minute 20 seconds it reflects his career, so brief, yet so good.

Illmatic with Some West Coast Flavor

I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Ever since I heard Fashawn rhyming over Memory Lane and heard he was coming out with a full length album of him spitting over Illmatic beats. Well here it is, Fashawn's Ode to Illmatic. Fashawn's not Nas and Fresno's not Queens Bridge, but in 2010 this is pretty damn good. Talib Kweli even plays the role of AZ (Big Ups to Blacksmith). Hope you enjoy it as much I do.

Download: Ode to Illmatic

More of that Brooklyn Bullshit

Here's a 25 track instrumental album I stumbled across by the Stuyvesants. I would describe it for you, but they already went through the trouble...

"The Stuyvesants is a collaborative effort between music producer Allan Cole (Algorythm), and record collector Darien Victor Birks (Flwrpt). Both reside in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY. The two wanted to work together on a project where they could incorporate several of their talents, related to music and design. They wanted to do this under a moniker that would pay homage to the ’70s. The collaboration allowed them to do four major things, design, beat dig, produce amazing music, and simply have fun."

These are some laid back beats that are great for the summer. The best part is that they're free.

Fat Boys & Beach Boys? Yea, it happened

Hip Hop has always collaborated with Rock & Roll. Run-DMC expanded their fan base when they released "Walk this Way" with Aerosmith and introduced themselves to a bunch of suburban kids who didn't even know what hip hop was. In '91 Public Enemy and Anthrax put out "Bring the Noise." But somewhere in between these two iconic collabos the Fat Boys got together with the Beach boys and put out "Wipe Out" in 1987. It doesn't get the attention as the other two songs, and probably didn't win over a lot of Beach Boy fans, but for me it's the most enjoyable.

Pilgrimage to Brooklyn

I just got back from six days in Brooklyn and in my opinion, with maybe the exception of Queens, the Mecca of Hip Hop. KRS would have my head for that statement, but hey that's my opinion. On my Hajj to Brooklyn I didn't drink from the natural spring of Zamzam or circle the Ka'aba seven times, instead I stuck to New York tap water and circled Myrtle and Broadway seven times. I decided to compile a Brooklyn playlist and I tried to keep it to the lesser known tracks.


New York does everything their own way. Even the way they pronounce Mario is different.


I've always thought Jemini was one of the most slept on MC's out there. This is off his EP, Scars and Pain, but check out his 2003 collaboration with Danger Mouse, Ghetto Pop Life.


As good as the original? Probably not, but Lord Digga made a fine remix. Everyone's heard the original and this gives a fresh perspective on this classic track.


I'm sure most of you have heard this one, but I absolutely love this song. The original is great, but this one gets the edge. The movie's not half bad either.

A lot of tracks got left off the list, but this was what I was listening to during my Hajj to BK.

zone out

Blue Sky Black Death - Days are Years


this song hypnotizes me

it's another one of those marvelous shits

I don't listen to a lot of Busta but the songs I do listen to I love. Both these tracks are killin it and both are dilla masterpiece beats. Everyone listens to music differently, but these sound real good when played LOUD, just sayin...

Busta Rhymes - Show me what you got


Busta Rhymes - Turn me up Some

listen you fuckers... you screwheads

Juggaknots - Clear Blue Skies


Juggaknots - Loosifa


album download

Michael Jordan Attempting to Grow Hitler Stache?

Have you checked out the most recent Hanes commercial? More importantly, have you checked out Michael Jordan's face lately? It looks like Jordan is trying to grow some facial hair reminiscent of the Fuhrer.


O and here's a rap song...

Black Sheep make it to the big time... a CAR COMMERCIAL!

spotted on reddit

first off, good song. second, hilarious commercial. i never had an inkling of respect for kia until now, or at least the guy in marketing that came up with this idea.

in other news, new madvillian single released at stonesthrow as part of some 8 singles in 8 weeks deal, i dunno

Jeru the Damaja - Me or the Papes


Original Flavor - Keep On (Searchin)

Lyrics in Court

Rap and the judicial system go together like peanut butter and jelly, or like oil and water depending on your perspective. It seems like every week you hear about a rapper being arrested or making a court appearance. But every so often there is a rare instance where an artist’s lyrics are brought to the court’s attention and are sometimes the difference between freedom or incarceration.
Lyrics and the courthouse have intertwined once again in Los Angeles at the trial of Aubrey Berry, who is on trial for the murder of up and coming rapper, Dolla, whose real name is Roderick Burton. What started as a dispute between the two men in an Atlanta nightclub resumed over two thousand miles away at the Beverly Center parking lot in Los Angeles. Berry testified Dolla and some friends confronted him at the valet counter and said, “You in my hood, you wanna die, huh?” Berry, who suffered a beating from Dolla and his friends just 11 day previously in Atlanta and was well aware of Dolla’s affiliation with the Mansfield Gangster Crips, claimed he feared for his life. Berry said Dolla reached for his back, and at that moment Berry pulled his own 9-millimeter pistol and fired a total of eight rounds. Dolla was hit four times and died. A weapon was never found on Dolla. Cold blooded murder or self defense? That is not for me to decide, nor what this article is about.

What is interesting is that Dolla’s lyrics helped his killer go free. Berry’s attorney played the jury one of Dolla’s songs, “Is You Holdin”, where Dolla claims to have a pistol on him at all times. According to his attorney those lines played in Berry’s head and justified him pulling his gun. The jury agreed and Aubrey Berry was acquitted of all crimes.
I am a firm believer rap lyrics should not be admissible in court for the simple fact that rap is entertainment and a rapper’s lyrics in court are about as valid as hearsay. It is a staple of hip hop culture just like graffiti or break dancing, to embellish and grossly exaggerate one’s accomplishments and skill whether it be with a microphone, women, or with a gun. Are we to believe that Brotha Lynch Hung actually eats baby brains and intestines?

Listen to any Geto Boy album start to finish and if you took the words at face value, there could be a decent argument on who killed more people and slept with the most women, Geto Boys or Ghengis Khan.

Imagine if CEO/entrepreneur/rapper, Jay-Z, went on trial for manslaughter. Would the prosecution play songs from Reasonable Doubt and say the defendant has a rich history of drug trafficking, kidnapping, and murder?

It is a slippery and downright dangerous path when a rapper’s lyrics are admissible in court for the simple fact that so much of it is untrue. Some of the horrific stories heard in rap songs are true. The rapper has seen, heard, or even taken part it in it. But to allow whole songs or albums in the courtroom full of jurors, most of whom would not consider themselves fans of the genre, is irresponsible and could be easily misinterpreted. Simply put, you have to be one asinine individual to rap about actual crimes you committed. As Jeru the Damaja said, “I never knew hustlas confessed on stereo.”

same sample sundays

i'd make this a weekly thing but that's some awful alliteration

Daikatamy - Ganymede memoir

download this amazing instrumental album here

MF Doom - Kon Karne

Some instrumentals...

Mil - Be the Bop

The muffled trumpet in that kills me

Damu's got a new album out, so here's some songs off his promo LP

Damu the Fudgemunk - How it Should Sound


Damu - Wonka Beat #1

ABCs of being a G

nuff said

Phy Life Cypher - ABCs


Papoose - Alphabetical Slaughter


Blackalicious - Alphabet Aerobics