Sunday, June 29, 2008

Skillz Goes So Far


How busy is Skillz? He shoots a video while he gets his hair cut. The veteran spitter called in a Talib Kweli to pinch hit for Common, who appears on the album version of "So Far, So Good." I guess Common was "Wanted" elsewhere.

This the latest single from the Virginia artist's perpeturally forthcoming album "The Six Million Dollar Back Pack." The latest release date: July 22.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

It Was Spoken


"Fck that. I love Souljah Boy." - Nas (June 27,2008)

When Kanye West compared Nas to Souljah Boy recently, he brought the Queensbridge rapper in the Ice-T vs. Souljah Boy beef. From the stage of Richmond's Friday at Sunset concert series, Nas let his thoughts on the viral feud be known.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Planet Rock


Watching this old clip reminds me of one of things I miss about the good ol' days. Free T-shirts. Those oversized cotton promotional short-sleeves that came in the mail made my fashion decisions simple and showed everyone how hip I thought I was. But as the game changed and video shows didn't rate like they used to, the free shirts were the first perks to go. I still have a few in storage, but I had totally forgotten about this light blue number with the serpent-like design. It was soft and comfortable like a child's blanket. Ahhhh.

If you guessed by my digression that I wasn't a fan of this particular artist featured above, you're right. Digable Planets were a little too derivative for my tastes. I may have bobbed my head to "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)," but their work never moved me like the pioneering rap groups they borrowed their style from. Now this is purely my critical observation, based on my recollection of their sound and what was happening in hip hop back then. It has nothing to do with Lady Bug Mecca looking me dead in the eye in 1993 and saying nothing after I said hello to her before a Richmond concert. That incident is totally unrelated and nearly forgotten.

Did I mention I was wearing a Digable Planets t-shirt at the time?

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Now, What's the Meaning of Dope?



If it happened on television in 90s, and some rappers were involved, I probably have it on tape somewhere. In addition to the archive related to the failed venture that led to this blog, I have a separate collection of videotapes of things I ripped from television back in the day.

I've thought about sharing this with the rest of the world, but I didn't want to attract the wrong kind of attention on gootube. So along comes JC at the Meaning of Dope. The site is a virtual museum of hip hop footage, most of which you won't find anywhere else. This performance from The Late Show with Joan Rivers is the second clip I've uploaded to MOD, you can find the find the first one here.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

X in Mourning

Lyricist, reality show host and actor Xzibit has been on my mind lately. The rapper recently blogged about the death of his son, who was born prematurely and has begun to talk about his grieving. It's a rare moment of vulnerability in the hip hop world, that reminds us that behind the stone-faced superthug image rappers project is a human being that is as vulnerable to the uncertainties of life as we all are.

The clip above shows Xzibit, The Liks and Defari onstage at Virginia Commonwealth University's Franklin Street Gym, a few years back.

R.I.P Xavier Kingston Joyner