3 retaC

I don't normally do this but, to my complete shock Lil' Gremlin's album turned out to be a BANGER and I had to share.

Reppin' Time pt. 2 of pt. 2: Ghana

This is another Ghanaian album that's burning up my speakers. I had a friend of mine (the proverbial "cool ass chick" from the other post) do a mini review for her favorite songs on the album.

Odo - pro: simple, realistic, women love it... con- that song is too long, but it doesnt get boring


Repatriation - Relevant issue, could have done more with it though


African Lady - Which African woman doesnt like being told how great their rear is and the amazingly impossible ways in which they should move it?


Obaa Besia - Very similar to his debut hit Linda, once again a song the ladies will swoon over


Music - My fave song on there. Talks about his 'struggle' and what making music means to him


My only addition is that he Sounded like he was in some deep ass love when he wrote this album. It's more representative of popular Ghanaian music but it is a very sonically diverse album. Again, here's the eMusic link: Batman - Samini

Reppin' Time pt. 2: Ghana

King Ayisoba - I Want To See My Father


King Ayisoba - My Friend, My Friend


King Ayisoba ft. Batman Samini - Champion No Easy



I have rep'd my adopted home town so now it's time to rep my Homeland. Truth is, I was never a huge fan of Ghanaian music until I started chilling with this cool ass chick recently who somehow got me into it. This is by far the best Ghanaian album I've heard so far: It's like a cross between Ali Farka Toure and Fela Kuti (Ok, I'm hyperboling again, but it really is very good). Its sound isn't truly representative of the rest of popular Ghanaian music, but I have a strong feeling that there will be more like this as time goes on. Here's a link to the eMusic page of the album, King Ayisoba - Modern Ghanaians. I strongly suggest that if you are feeling the 3 songs above, you should cop the rest of the album off eMusic (their subscription rates are insanely cheap, considering the number of drm-free tracks you can download for $9.99 (70)). But I will be willing to send it to anyone who hits me up on my email with a funny reason why I should.

You've Gotta love how fucked up Fox News is

Things to do, People to see

I haven't been able to post much this week because of a 4-way attack on my time and attention.

1. I'm finishing up a HUGE 3 in 1 sample set that Thomas and I are working on
2. I'm finishing up my thesis and a bunch of other shit so I can graduate
2B. Trying to find a job after I graduate
3. The NBA Playoffs.
4. Prepping for a 7-hour Memorial day Djing gig I have to do later today. I will post the playlist afterwards.

UPDATE - THE SET LIST FOR MY GIG

Dying Movado 3:09
Chillin With My Bitch T.I. 3:57
How Many Times Bob Marley 3:06
Kryptonite (I'm On It) Big Boi & the Purple Ribbons Allstars 4:33
Hello Brooklyn Jay-Z and Marvin Gaye 4:20
Hey Ma (Ft. Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey & Kayslay) Cam'ron 3:41
Deport Them Sean Paul 3:08
Ruff Ryders Anthem DMX 3:32
I'm Coming Out ['Mo Money Mo Problems'] Diana Ross 5:25
Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You) Featuring Outkast UGK 4:19
Poppin My Collar Three 6 Mafia 2:57
Kinky Reggae Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:39
It's So Hard (Dirty) Big Punisher 3:27
Temperature Sean Paul 3:32
Moyen Te Awilo Longomba 4:39
A Woman's Threat ['Threat'] R. Kelly 5:49
welcome to jamrock damian marley 3:35
Weh dem a Do Movado 2:58
Wassup Jo' Kidz In The Hall 3:52
Hustlin' (Remix) (Feat. Jay-Z & Young Jeezy) Rick Ross 4:44
Killing Me Softly The Fugees 4:59
Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta Geto Boys 5:09
One Loaf of Bread Damian Marley 3:35
Follow The Leader Soca Boys 5:46
Band of D Year Patrice Roberts & Machel Montano 4:39
Madder Than That Machel Montano 3:36
Duffle Bag Boy feat. Playaz Circle Lil Wayne 2:43
Pass The Duchie Musical Youth 6:07
100 Percent Big Punisher 3:52
Trench Town Bob Marley 3:13
Mr. Me Too remix clipse_fields Clipse 3:03
These Streets Tanya Stephens 3:54
Bam Bam Sister Nancy 3:20
If I Die II Night (featuring Young Buck & Lyfe Jennings) Bun B 4:15
Damn I'm Cold (featuring Lil' Wayne) Bun B 4:31
Shaft In Africa (Addis) Johnny Pate 3:05
solid as a rock Sizzla 3:35
Iron Lion Zion Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:23
Stack My Paper Up Born With It & B.O.B 3:23
Guantanamera Buena Vista Social Club 3:06
Broadway Special Broadway Dance Band 2:46
Preacher On A Sunday Morning Fat Joe 3:29
It's Okay (One Blood) (Produced By Reefa) The Game 4:18
Under Me Sensi Barrington Levy 3:11
Haffiget de Gal Ya (Hot Gal Today) Sean Paul 3:16
Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City Bobby "Blue" Bland 3:53
Night nurse Gregory Isaacs 4:10
assassin busy signal - line fi line Assassin 2:30
U (feat. Ty & Kory) Black Milk 3:12
It's a Pity Tanya Stephens 4:15
what you know t.i. 4:34
Grindin' Clipse 4:25
You Got Me (Erykahs Version) The Roots 4:18
They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y) Pete Rock & CL Smooth 4:47
Love In This Club, Part II feat. Beyonce & Lil' Wayne Usher 5:13
Nuthin But A G Thang Dr. Dre 4:00
Ghetto Story (Rmx) feat. Akon Baby Cham 4:23
Bahia Angélique Kidjo 3:34
I Want to Be Your Man ('Hey Lady') Zapp & Roger 3:45
Last Night Movado 2:44
Dey Know Yayo Clipse & The Re-Up Gang 4:25
Cot Damn Clipse 5:01
Dipset Anthem The Diplomats 4:11
Pretty Rave Girl Princess (of Crime Mob) 2:48
Guess Who's Back (ft. Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel) Scarface 4:16
Blues Dance rain Steel Pulse 4:52
Don Dadda Supercat 3:29
African Queen 2Face Idibia 4:21
Dollar Wine Byron Lee 4:08

Kingdom Came (It wasn't all that impressive)

Jay-Z - Kingdom Come [The Samples]
(Megaupload - see of post for alternative mirror)

I only started on this a few days ago but thanks to a major assist from Thomas, it's finito. This is probably Jay's worst recieved album even though, in my opinion, it's faaaaaaar better than volume 2 and on par with volume 3 and Blueprint 2, but obviously below his best. Much of the album is played so only about half the tracks use samples, the obvious ones being the "Superfreak" sample on "Kingdom Come" and the "Shaft in Africa" sample on "Show Me..." So Between Kev, Ivan, and I, we've done sets for all of Jay's albums (unless someone is REALLY dying to hear a sample set for "Street's is Watching"). Hooray for us...or not.

Keep The Faith ['The Prelude'] 1 Mel & Tim 3:53 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
Whipping Post ['Oh My God'] 2 Genya Ravan 4:32 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
Super Freak ['Kingdom Come'] 3 Rick James 3:26 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
100 Guns ['Kingdom Come'] 4 KRS-One 3:58 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
Ode to Billy Joe ['Kingdom Come'] 5 Lou Donaldson 6:32 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
Shaft In Africa ['Show Me What You Got'] 6 Johnny Pate 3:04 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
Show Em Whatcha Got ['Show Me What You Got'] 7 Public Enemy 1:56 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
Darkest Light ['Show Me What You Got'] 8 Lafayette Afro Rock Band 6:21 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
Take Me To The Mardi Gras ['Dig A Hole'] 9 Bob James 5:51 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
Non Ti Scordar Di Me [Minority Report'] 10 Luciano Pavarotti 2:59 Kingdom Come [The Samples]
22 Two's ['44 Fours] 11 Jay-Z 3:31 Kingdom Come [The Samples]

Alternate Mirror - Use only if Megaupload link is down or Mega doesn't work in your country. Megaupload's insanely inaccurate but still useful counter helps me get a sense of which sets are most popular and thus what to do more of.

Mr. Lucky Lefty

Jay-Z - Vol, 3. The Life and Times of S. Carter [The Samples]
(Megaupload for now, I'll mirror somewhere else later)

This is another Chris Paul-David West alley-hoop from Thomas. Ivan and Kev have already done most of Jay's catalog (except "Kingdom Come", which I started on a few days ago). Since this album was made at the height of the whole early 200o's Timbo and Swizzy induced Cassio-craze there aren't as many samples as there are on a usual Jay album; But the ones here are especially serious (The two "Big Pimpin" samples are the on opposite sides of the music spectrum but are both works of immaculate beauty).

The Burining of The Midnight Lamp ['Hova Song (Intro-Outro)'] 1 Rotary Connection 4:42 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Crop Dustin' ['So Ghetto'] 2 Steve Cropper 3:05 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Sporco Ma Distinto ['So Ghetto'] 3 Ennio Morricone 1:59 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Who You Wit II ['So Ghetto'] 4 Jay-Z 4:30 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Overnight Scenario ['Let's Do It Again'] 5 Rare Essence 4:56 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Heads High ['S. Carter'] 6 Mr. Vegas 3:31 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime ['Big Pimpin'] 7 The Korgis 4:12 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Khosara ['Big Pimpin'] 8 Abdel Halim Hafez 2:16 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Murder ['There's Been a Murder'] 8 Alana Davis 5:01 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Keep It Comin' Love ['Girl's Best Friend'] 9 KC and the Sunshine Band 4:29 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Contract Man ['Come and Get Me'] 10 Bullet and Alan Tew 2:27 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
Life Could Be So Grand ['NYMP'] 11 Brian & Brenda 4:18 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]
I'd Do Anything ['Anything'] 12 Lionel Bart 3:47 Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter [The Samples]

You've Got To Love How Openely Racsist America is

Obama Faces Racism in West Virginia - The top video clips of the week are here

Return on the Mac

I'm (effectively) done with my thesis so I will be dropping sets regularly again.
As Timbo said,
"It's been a long time (not really), I shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to"

New Host

I'm thinking of a new site to host the sets on besides Megaupload (I'll continue using Mega as well). I don't know much about the rest of the file hosts out there, so if anyone has any file host that they personally recommend, hit me up in the comments. It would also be helpfull if you added a line or two about the specific advantages of said file host.

Reppin' Time: BX

Fat Joe- The Elephant in the Room [The Samples]
Fat Joe- Me, Myself & I [The Samples]
(Megaupload)

I definitely haven't been repping the Bronx enough on this blog. I'll try to make up for it with this two-fer. As I told Ivan the other day, Fat Joe, in my opinion, is the only remaining commercially relevant rapper the Bronx has going for it. I didn't always like him but his last two albums have made a believer of me. He is not the most talented rapper out there, but he's a hard worker and you can tell that he is putting in the effort, even if the result isn't always pretty. He's always had a good ear for beats and these sample sets bear that out. Some of these joints will simply blow your minds ("Fugitive From Love" and "Women of the Ghetto" especially).

A shout out goes to Thomas for his help on both sets.

UPDATE- I forgot to add the Premo scratch samples on "The White". Here it is http://www.zshare.net/download/11821137447ce99b/

Fugitive From Love ['The Fugitive'] 1 Linda Jones 3:00 The Elephant In The Room [The Samples]
Duke Of Earl ['The Crackhouse'] 2 Gene Chandler 2:28 The Elephant In The Room [The Samples]
Hand On The Pump ['The Crackhouse'] 3 Cypress Hill 4:03 The Elephant In The Room [The Samples]
Woman of The Ghetto ['KAR'] 4 Marlena shaw 6:04 The Elephant In The Room [The Samples]
300 War Scene ['300 Brolic] 5 300 0:58 The Elephant In The Room [The Samples]
Returns A King ['300 Brolic'] 6 Tyler Bates 2:25 The Elephant In The Room [The Samples]
Nasty ['The White'] 7 The Eleventh Hour 4:01 The Elephant In The Room [The Samples]


Let Me Be Your Friend ['Pandemic'] 1 The Dynamics 3:49 Me, Myself & I [The Samples]
Excursion With Complications ['Damn'] 2 Bo Hansson 3:29 Me, Myself & I [The Samples]
War ['Breath and Stop'] 3 Bob Marley 3:37 Me, Myself & I [The Samples]
Keep On Runnin' ['She's My Mama'] 4 Black Heat 5:49 Me, Myself & I [The Samples]
Medley: Monologue; You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin ['Jealousy'] 5 Isaac Hayes 15:34 Me, Myself & I [The Samples]
Jan ['Hard Not To Kill'] 6 The Intruders 4:39 Me, Myself & I [The Samples]
Maria ['Benediction Mami'] 7 The Jackson 5 3:44 Me, Myself & I [The Samples]

Dyn-O-mite

Rhymefest - Blue Collar [The Samples]
(Megaupload)

Ivan and I whipped this together last weekend. My favorite part of this set is the fact that Mark Ronson samples Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. I've always wondered why more producers don't sample them, you can damn near get them to come play it for you themselves.

This album is one of the few rap albums (about 10 -15) that actually live on my ipod in their entirety. The word underrated may be in and of itself overrated but this album perfectly fits. So if you've never heard this before, run to your nearest best buy...who am I kidding, just iTunes or rapidshare it.

Dah Samples

Smif-N-Wessen - Dah Shinin' [Dah Samples]
(Megaupload)

All thanks, again, go to Thomas for this one. This was all him.

Smif-N-Wessen, along with MOP, and to a lesser degree ONYX, brought new levels of lyricism and flair to shout-rap. Tek and Steele proved that it was possible to build entire careers around dressing like construction workers (Carhatt Jackets and Timbaland Boots) and stomping out bitchassness. This album stands as the masterpiece of the genre (though a strong argument can be made for MOP's Warriorz) and its sample set, as would be expected, is canyon-like.

Black Smif-N-Wessun ['Timz N Hood Chek'] 1 Black Moon 4:23 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Somebody To Love ['Wrektime'] 2 Barbara & Ernie 4:39 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Get Out of My Life Woman ['Wrekonize'] 3 The Mad Lads 3:07 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Just the Two of Us ['Wrekonize'] 4 Grover Washington Jr 4:01 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Dust Out a Sound Bwoy ['Sound Bwoy Bureill'] 6 Super Beagle 3:36 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Louisiana Blues ['Sound Bwoy Bureill'] 7 Climax Blues Band 5:22 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Momma Miss America ['K.I.M.'] 8 Paul McCartney 4:05 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Why Can't People Be Colors Too ['Bucktown'] 9 The Whatnauts 4:12 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Born To Be Blue ['Bucktown'] 10 Jack Bruce 4:19 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
The Sorcerer of Isis ['Bucktown'] 11 Power of Zeus 5:42 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
The Look Of Love ['Stand Strong'] 12 Issac Hayes 5:59 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
The Jam ['Shinin...Next Shit'] 13 Graham Central Station 8:14 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Harlem River Drive ['Cession at Da Doghillee'] 14 Bobbi Humphrey 7:51 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Only When I'm Dreaming ['Hellucination'] 15 Minnie Riperton 3:27 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Help Is On The Way ['Hellicuination'] 16 The Whatnauts 7:13 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
We Live in Brooklyn, Baby ['Home Sweet Home'] 17 Roy Ayers 3:46 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
You're Welcome, Stop on By ['Wipe Ya Mouf'] 18 Ahmad Jamal 1:00 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
After The Race ['Let's Git It On'] 19 Mandrill 6:29 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
North Carolina ['Let's Git It On'] 20 Les McCann 11:28 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Buffalo Girls ['Let's Git It On'] 21 Malcom MacLaren 3:39 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]
Get it Over ['P.N.C.'] 22 One Way feat Al Hudson 4:43 Dah Shinin' [The Samples]

The Legend vs. The Heir Apparent pt. 2

The Queen of rap may retiring but her Crown will be in capable hands for the next decade or so.

Jean Grae - The Legend


Lil' Mama - The Heir Apparent


Don't let her Lip Gloss fool you, She's a Spitta. A few more years of seasoning and She's going to have these male rappers running for cover. Simply for dropping this song as a single, she's shown she has more heart (was going to go with "balls" but, you know...) than 90% of these rap niggas out here.

Kwelity

Talib Kweli - Quality [The Samples]
(Megaupload)

This is one of the albums that introduced me to Hip-Hop and it has held up surprisingly well over the years. It is often cited as Kweli's definitive solo album and even as the definitive album of the whole early 2000's New York coffehouse backpack/Neo-Soul Aesthetic movement (I would personally give that badge to D'Angelo's Voodoo). Since most of the album uses live instrumentation the samples in this set are often not samples in the purest sense, but rather interpolations and resung/replayed parts. It's an eclectic mix of smooth soul (think Curtis Mayfield), hard soul (think Stax), psychadelic, jazz, reggae, and plain ol' hip-hop. The 4 sample sequence from track 6-9 are some of the most soulful 20 minutes I have ever experienced in my life.

There is one track missing from the set, Wilbur Bascomb's "Devil's Triangle" from his album "And Future Dreams". It has never been released on CD, so if anyone out there has it somewhere in their LP collection, hit me up in the comments or via email.

Sinnerman ['Get By'] 1 Nina Simone 10:20 Quality [The Samples]
Doggone ['Get By'] 2 Love 12:07 Quality [The Samples]
Diana In the Autumn Wind ['Shock Body'] 3 Gap Mangione 3:01 Quality [The Samples]
Long Hair Soulful ['Shock Body'] 4 Gap Mangione 4:39 Quality [The Samples]
Ghetto Red Hot (hip-hop mix) ['Gun Music'] 5 Super Cat 5:05 Quality [The Samples]
I Get High ['Joy'] 6 Aretha Franklin 4:12 Quality [The Samples]
Can I ['Talk To You'] 7 Nancy Wilson 3:14 Quality [The Samples]
Never Had It So Good ['Guerilla Monsoon Rap'] 8 The Chi-Lites 5:06 Quality [The Samples]
Simply Beautiful ['Good To You'] 9 Al Green 4:14 Quality [The Samples]
Strobelite Honey ['Won't You Stay'] 10 Black Sheep 3:06 Quality [The Samples]

Gabrielles's "Treatise on The State of Poor White America (Pt. 1)"

The difference between "White Trash" and "Red Neck" according to my resident expect on all things White America, Gabrielle (Gabster):

"Ok It's like this:

White trash fall into the category of rednecks. I would define white trash as someone with no class, grew up with plastic on their couches, fake nails, wears ripped denim (not expensive ripped denim), smokes a lot, dresses like cheap hooker (ripped denim shorts, fake nails, fake boobs, tatoos, lots of make up etc) and is usually ignorant/uneducated and racists.

Rednecks are very similar but red neck refers more to someone's way of life and thinking rather than their socioeconomic status. Red necks are usually from the south and "love america". Also red necks are fat while white trash is skinny. (usually)

I think a good example is Billy Ray Cyrus. NOT white trash but just a red neck. Britney spears- white trash. Bill Clinton- red neck. Justin Timberlake- white trash. Get it?"

Got it.

This post will make sense in a few hour's/Day's once I get around to posting part 2.