Positive or negative, nothing about the past can be altered.
That’s what’s peculiar about nostalgia. Regardless of what happens, the question of the unknown always lingers. Rarely does this happen anywhere more often than with sports. In an environment that thrives on the never-ending wheeling and dealings of trades, releases and free agency, complacency will never assume itself as characteristic familiar with those who call themselves “fans.” The NBA is a league which creates dynasties as quickly as it destroys them, so the mere impact of one decision can effectively make or break a franchise.
But what about the aborted decisions? À la Pau Gasol to Cleveland in early ’07 or Durant to Portland #1 overall. The ones which never spawned into reality, and the ones that don’t even seem reasonable given the way the following sequence of events played out. Over the past twenty years, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have arguably been the sport’s most competitive forces. They have combined for 11 championships, six regular season MVP’s, eight Finals MVP’s, 26 All Star Game appearances and countless number of game winners. Yeah, for the most part, history has treated the two favorably.
Basking in their glory is fine, but wondering “what if?” is even better. Jadakiss even made a song about it. You see, His Airness – through the unintentional influence of Scottie Pippen – and The Mamba were involved in quite possibly the two greatest missed opportunities in NBA recent memory. Read the rest of this entry »
Hit the jump to check out the video. Make sure you request this joint wherever you listen to music, radio, clubs, MTV Jams, 106 & Park, etc. This Jake One produced track bang and the B.I.G sample makes it that much better. Oh and make note of the Jazzy Jeff appearance. As you know from my previous post I been On My Philly Sh*t so I already know Philly is behind him heavy Read the rest of this entry »
Well there’s not much to be said here, Lloyd has been annihilating every instrumental compilation he “lays” his vocals down on (pun intended). Having a December 2010 expected release of his next album King of Hearts Lloyd is already set to produce a spectacular album. With a number of other tracks such as Get It In ft. 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks’ Any Girl sporting Young Goldie’s and looming today’s music waves on permanent cycle. Well here’s the new visual so you can check out his fresh cut as well.
It’s no secret that ever since I came back to the tri-state I’ve spent a large majority of time in Philly, partying, promoting, planning, hanging, etc. The culture of Philadelphia, as is the culture of any other major city in the world, has its own flavor and completely different feel. Most people think, “oh yeah, Philly” as though it’s just over there in PA, doing its own thing and when they get to it, they get to it. The important thing is, when they get to it…. Read the rest of this entry »
Philadelphia’s Freeway is definitely back to work. His previous compilation Stimulus Package didn’t get too much of a push, but nonetheless it was still a quality album once I put it in for a spin. With features from artists such as Raekwon, Birdman, Bun B., and the Philly Phamilia Omillio Sparks, Beanie Siegel, and Young Chris the album was definitely worth the listen and you on that “Phila Music”!
Now Freeway is working on his new album which should definitely be getting the attention it deserves. We all know and enjoy Freeway’s music; time and time again his classics bring us back to some memory and he delivers us that feeling. You know the feeling I’m talkin about, Read the rest of this entry »
As a LeBron James fan, it’s been a rough summer. The critics, the analysis, the Comic Sans font, the old heads. Pretty much, the guy has seen his image go from Barack in ’08 to Kat Stacks in 2010 in one offseason. Throughout the summer, I’ve found myself in a countless number of debates defending LBJ and the fact he’s still arguably the best player on the planet. That’s about the time when the wolves come out in defense of Kobe Bryant. True #24 supporters are a different breed of fans, you see.
From the moment it leaked, talk of who had the best verse on “So Appalled” rang loud. Some say Pusha. Others petitioned for CyHi. Myself, I was on the Hov bandwagon. There’s not many artists better in the history of rap music than an angry and sharp Shawn Carter. When he’s in such a zone, lyrical casualties are normally the result and this time was no different. To the chagrin of no one, the man who made parachute pants poppin’ – MC Hammer – fell for the bait in the form of the said bars.
“And Hammer went broke so you know I’m more focused
I lost 30 mil so I spent another 30
Cause unlike Hammer 30 million can’t hurt me.”
Hammer then took to his near two million Twitter follower audience to let folks know he was none too pleased with the shot. On one hand, being called out sucks. On the other, everyone and their publicist knows Hammer is known as the antagonist for money management. So while it may be a diss, there’s also a lot of truth in Jay’s allusion as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Documentaries are very common in this day and age. Good documentaries however, are very hard to come by. Ever since the Wu-Tang Clan‘s rise to national fame in ’94; dozens of video footage that chronicled the group has emerged… some good, some bad. The clip above is a trailer from the upcoming Wu-Tang documentary, and the fact that the group’s own GZA produced it makes it significant from the others. Supposedly set for release in early 2000, some legal setbacks prevented it from seeing the light of day for about a decade.
I’m looking forward to seeing your favorite group’s favorit group from the viewpoint of someone on the inside looking out. Look out for brief narratives from Method Man, the RZA and Ghostface Killah among others. Oh, congratulations to The Chef for finalizing that collaboration with Kanye West and Justin Beiber.
Yes…It is indeed 2010 and over 300 + years later, this one little word with one big meaning, and apparently several different uses has managed to cause some controversy, again.
‘Nigger.’
‘Nigga.’
‘Ninja.’
‘Nephew.’ [Okay, Snoop Dogg, This is exclusively your term…but you all get the point…]
In the event that you haven’t heard about it, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a famous talk radio show host, who is educated and more than old enough to know better, feels as if it is okay for a person of non-black descent to use the N-word, regardless of its intent, because of the way that the people of black descent throw the word around. [She references how black comics as well as rappers use the word ever-so-freely.]
CALLER: Is it OK to say that word? Is it ever OK to say that word?
DR. LAURA: It depends how it’s said. Black guys talking to each other seem to think it’s ok.
CALLER: But you’re not black, they’re not black, my husband is white.
DR. LAURA: Oh, I see, so a word is restricted to race. Got it. Can’t do much about that.
CALLER: I can’t believe someone like you is on the radio spewing out the n***** word, and I hope everybody heard it.
DR. LAURA: I didn’t spew out the n***** word!
CALLER: You said “n*****, n*****, n*****” and I hope everybody heard it.
DR. LAURA: Yes they did, and I’ll say it again: n*****, n*****, n***** is what you hear on HBO.
[Crosstalk]
DR. LAURA: Why don’t you let me finish a sentence? Don’t take things out of context. Don’t NAACP me, leave them in context.
One of her callers, who is in an interracial relationship wanted to know how to handle her Anglo-Saxon in-laws and friends when they use the N-word while around her, because it makes her uncomfortable. Instead of this talk radio host, who is well aware of proper radio etiquette, giving the caller much needed advice, she went on a rant, using the N-word more than eleven times in a five minute span…Tell me that’s not out of control…BUT don’t take my word for it…listen for yourselves…
Now, as salty as I can be that I wasn’t a part of this video, I still gotta show love and give credit where credit is due. This guy Keyz, aka FutureIsKeyz is definitely beginning to set himself apart, and has hit the track running on this game called Hip-Hop.
His most recent mixtape, The Advantange was definitely a success as he teamed up with DJ Big Mike, and was able to shine some light on the Trenton, NJ native’s abilities as an artist. Now almost an entire year later and a whole lot of “Leaks” inbetween, Keyz has been in the lab, pen and pad before him, reeking havoc on beats.
Take a gander at this visual for “Apparently I’m Crazy” off his upcoming mixtape- Let The Black Burn, hosted by DJ Ill Will. Make sure you stay tuned for August 18th (just next week) for the official release of Let The Black Burn.
Grade A Certified 