Not a damn soul...we're going to be stepping away from the cpu for a few days to enjoy a lil R&R with the extended fam in Chi-town. Give us this break and we'll be back strong as ever. So take this last offering and catch up on all we've given you this week. Salute! Any we've had a good response to our summons for your input. Our first entry of many comes from Htowntxballa. Nowadays, very few rappers can be gifted lyrically and can sing their own hook. When somebody like this comes around, they usually blow up. In the last five or so years, Southern rap has came to the forefront of the industry. Houston rappers have followed the footsteps of N.O. and Atlanta rappers by delivering a different kind of style than the traditional West and East coast rappers. As of right now Lil Flip, Slim Thug and Mike Jones along with Paul Wall are currently getting significant radio play and significant rotation on B.E.T. and M.T.V. But there is one rapper who exceeds all of them lyrically and can lay a hook down better then most N.Y. rappers. Chamilionaire is one of the few rappers that claims not to be a gangster but just a artist trying to make it. Cham often finds himself in rap beefs because he simply does not pretend to be friends when he knows this not to be the case. He often displays his distaste for the industry and fellow Houston rappers in his songs. He does not sit by and watch “punch line rappers” continue to put out garbage and ruin Houston’s image. Because of this, in Houston, he is known as "The Mixtape Messiah" and "The Truth". Cham strives to satisfy is fans rather then promoters or the “majors”. Unlike some Houston rappers he is always giving props to the late great DJ Screw who revolutionized rap in Houston by blowing up the mixtape scene and inventing a new kind of music called "screw music". While Cham may not have the fame as Flip, Thug or Jones around the nation, he popularity in Houston is enormous, only rivaled by the popularity of UGK. This CD is not a retail CD but a CD I put together. It is cuts of Chamillionaire from songs I have collected. This CD is best to burn as is and jam because it is not the whole songs but just Chamillionaire’s part. Enjoy the next big thing and watch out for Sound of Revenge coming October. Chamillionaire Mix - Best of Cham Game's verse that was left off "Crack Music" is now circulating the net. If you thought his verse sounded funny, there's the reason why. Apparently, Kan-man didn't want no beef. Game's Lost Verse From "Crack Music" Oh yeah, Stace My Ace hooked me up with these straight. Cut & paste yo. Young Jeezy "Soul Survivor" featuring Akon video links: 1: http://www6.islanddefjam.com/www2/av_system/go.wvx?link=fQc14iL7W7ZR8Ngaz566AC78-51938 (Windows Media High) - (Video) 2: http://www6.islanddefjam.com/www2/av_system/go.wvx?link=8088Pn:PE954TSE9oBqUC3EB-51940 (Windows Media Low) - (Video) 3: http://www6.islanddefjam.com/www2/av_system/go.rm?link=28911zzt02N26q8SwC74961C-51943 (Real Media High) - (Video) 4: http://www6.islanddefjam.com/www2/av_system/go.rm?link=E8U46W6L8HS52846G4Da7D55-51945 (Real Media Low) - (Video) Mad props to Dominicanalumni from HT for letting us use these, thus giving us the night off lol...whew, it's needed. Jay-z & Linkin Park - Collison Course Fabolous - Ghetto Fabolous Slick Rick - The Ruler's Back The Diplomats Presents Dipset More Than Music Vol. 1 Big L - The Big Picture 2Pac - Makaveli (The 7 Day Theory) Tony_Yayo-Thoughts_Of_A_Predicate_Felon A Tribe Called Quest - The Love Movement Young_Jeezy-Lets_Get_It-Thug_Motivation_101 Mack 10 - Mack 10 8Ball & MJG - Living Legends Scarface - The World Is Yours Dmx - And Then There Was X DMX - The Great_Depression Jadakiss - Kiss Of Death 112 -Pleasure And Pain Clinton Sparks Presents Clipse-We Got It 4 Cheap Vol 1 I want to send a public thank you to both these cats for reaching out and hitting us off with their contributions. We do this shit for free and out of love but somedays we get tired lol. Sensing that need and heeding our call, these cats came thru in the cut which is exactly the online community vibe that we wanna see foster and grow around here. Gotty

Personally, my style is simple. Clean lines. No frills. Basic colors. Mostly the same brands. I'll buy the same jeans, hat, and shirts multiple times because once I find what I like I stick with it. But it wasn't always like that. I was once strongly influenced by the force of style that was once hip-hop. The boombox? You wasn't even official is somebody in your circle didn't have one of these. Radio Raheem was straight up art imitating life because it was commonplace to see cats with these on their shoulders everywhere. Polka dots? Already covered it in a previous post. Iceberg? Ask me why I spent $700 on a sweater and I swear I still couldn't answer it to this day except for the fact that I had the money to blow lol. Patent leather on Pluto's ears??? Fahgetaboutit. Polo? Still coppin it. Coogi? Bill Cosby would be jealous of my sweater collection back then. Avirex? Rocked the hell out those leathers. Car systems? Did hip-hop ever stop cherishing it's cars and the knock in them? In the South, we call it "wang" and there's nothin better than hearing on old Chevy with it's truck rattling from three streets over. Backpacks? lol...we used to boost them from everywhere, just to have every color under the rainbow. Raiders gear and Starter jackets? N.W.A. damn near changed the world. But I don't think anyone went back to jheri curls. Overalls with spraypaint? Michael Bivins may not be a name now but way back with Another Bad Creation, son had everybody rocking those joints. A mink coat? If Fat Joe's big ass can get in one, why can't I? Hip-hop has always been about style, even to excess, whether that meant in how you wore it or how much you paid for it (or in some of our cases, what we should've been paying lol). Everybody rocked the tags on their gear and hats. Kids still wear their New Era stickers today. Back in the day, it was all about having the flyest sneakers. Kids today have the net to get all the old shoes we coveted plus the latest SB's, Bapes and exclusive or imported AF1's. Personal listening experience? Yeah, I got an Ipod now with the earbuds but back in the day, it was all about the earmuff lookin joints. It was nothing to pay $60 for a pair but you was pissed when you effed those joints up. All because hip-hop has always been about style and always will be. And we say it loud and with flair that always makes us stand out in the crowd. So the last "Gaww-deeee!" post will be about the past. Some of it way back. Some of it not too long ago. These two albums symbolized the West Coast back in the day. People didn't know if Cube could do it solo. He slipped out this EP just to shut cats up...and silenced them. And, ATL was just hard but hardly noticed outside of the West. Truth be told, they should prolly be legends. Ice Cube - Kill At Will EP Above The Law - Livin' Like Hustlers Ahh...classic shit right here without a doubt. We've given you other late 80's/mid-90's classic but these are some of the more. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders LL Cool J - Bigger And Deffer Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx When this cassette dropped, I used to listen to it every single day on my hour drive back and forth to work for my first ever job. Ask me the lyrics to any song to this day and I bet I can recite it. After being almost drifting to the brink of being "irrelevant", Kris Parker came back strong with this album. Sharp cuts and samples, heavy dancehall influence, and the usual Blastmaster "in your face" truth...good shit. (Anybody got Live Hardcore Worldwide? I need that joint!) KRS-One - Return Of The Boom Bap Ultramagnetics will never be understood. Let's just make that clear. But they did make some funky music and paved the way for wordsmiths and beat chemists like Ghost, Doom, Prince Paul and the list goes on. They didn't break the mode. They smashed that shit into minute pieces so that it couldn't be put back together again. Ultramagnetic MC's - Critical Beatdown Ultramagnetic MC's - Four Horsemen Highly slept on but soulful. Cee-Lo - Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfection To slow it down a little, I remember when my folks copped this dude's first tape lol. Stace My Ace reminded me to look out for this joint and when it popped up, hell, I wanted it for delf. Best Of Freddie Jackson Tracklisting 1. A Little Bit More ft.Melba Moore 2. Calling 3. Don't It Feel Good 4. Look Around 5. Me & Mrs. Jones 6. Rock Me Tonight(For Old Times Sake) 7. Second Time for Love 8. Sing a Song for Love 9. Tasty Love 10. You Are My Lady When Prince dies, they're really gonna have to mention how this man changed the game with his creativity and musical abilities. This is an OLD album right here and it's rare so enjoy. Better back it up on two discs because once it's gone, it's gone. Prince - For You (1978) This is new but you need it yo. AZ deserves some long overdue credit. The advance of this joint was smokin so this should be top caliber NY hip-hop. AZ - AWOL (Retail) PW is smoked Backup Link PW is dukins Gwen Stefani - Love. Angel. Music. Baby Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley - Welcome To Jamrock DJ Kay Slay-Live On Shade45 This is nice collective featuring some old and new mixed together for a good quality mix. Hopefully, Filefront will begin cooperating some time soon. I remember always waiting on Big Ron to either get the latest shipment of Ron G, Doo Wop and Clue or when he'd come back from NY he used to bring a back full of tapes and the Tapekingz label would be all over those joints. TapeKingz - Fifteenth Anniversary Mixtape The Tracklisting Green Lantern: 1. Intro 2. Big Pun/Ghostface - Yeah Yeah Yeah (Green Mix) 3. Jadakiss/Remy Martin/Fat Joe/LL Cool J - Still Leanin (Green Mix) 4. 2Pac/Biggie - Hail Mary, Our Father (Green Mix) Dirty Harry: 5. Intro 6. East Coast Rap Figures 7. 50 Cent F/Notorious BIG - I Warned You 8. Ason Freestyle 9. Down South Rap Figures Doo Wop: 10. A Toast To Da Kingz - Doo Wop 11. Hot 97 Interlude 12. Bottom Line - Doo Wop/Jay-Z (Prod. by DJ Premier) 13. Fugitive - 50 Cent/Doo Wop 14. Sonny Handsome Freestyle Whoo Kid: 15. Game Freestyle 16. Juvenile Freestyle 17. Busta Rhymes/David Banner - Down South 18. Game Freestyle 19. Ice Cube Freestyle 20. Dr. Dre - Sunshine 21. Nas - Twilight Kay Slay: 22. Papoose Freestyle 23. Lloyd Banks/Tony Yayo - Ain't No Click 24. Jadakiss/Sheek/Swizz Beats - Real Hip Hop Pudgee P: 25. Intro 26. Buckshot & Young Buck - Buck Ain't No Joke (Pudgee-P RMX) 27. 50 Cent Verse over Craig Mack (Pudgee-P RMX) 28. Mobb Deep Verse over KRS-One (Pudgee-P RMX) 29. Eminem - A DJ Story (Prod. by Pudgee P) 30. Tha Riot Squad - Stick Up Kids (Prod. by Pudgee-P) 31. Biggie - Me & My Bitch (***Rare Live Version***) 32. Jay-Z & Audio Two - What More Can I Say (Prod. by Pudgee-P) DJ Envy: 33. Murder - M.O.P. 34. Mobb Deep Freestyle 35. Jingling Baby - Joe Budden/Coke This right here should garner some love. If it doesn't, you all ain't really feeling us like you should. This is hip-hop. Undiluted. No commercialism. The essence of what started all this. Mr.Magic & Marley Marl Radio show From 1985 Side One Side Two

(Filefront shut us down on the original content of this post but we'll be back. Don't sweat.) No...this post has nothing to do with Pharrell. I just thought his gaw-dee jewels symolized excess fairly well. Nope. This is about gaudy, as in our style, as in what we do, as in OD-ing...with music. The three day weekend is coming up and we'll be down for a few days. So, we're going to continue our super-splurge from last week and give you more. If you saw the VMA's, one of the more remarkable (read: fuckin confusing) things about it was Robert Kelly's performance. Well, if you missed it... R. Kelly - "Trapped In The Closet" Part 6 Live At The VMA's Audio Video Footage R. Kelly - "Trapped In The Closet" Part 6 Live At The VMA's Video Footage But that's not it. Today, we are going to make the next few days en fuego excess. Don't believe the hype? We'll begin here with two of Chi-town's finest. R.Kelly Common We put up Dave yesterday but it didn't work so we reupped and hopefully got it right this time. Chicago '85 The Movie PW - bj So to make up for it... Ghetto Hymns PW - hymns Usher - My Way And we are not done as there is much more to come this week. I promise you a big week.

"...remain silent and be presumed a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Anonymous I love that shit. Use it on somebody, watch it sorta seep thru their brain for a sec before they realize what you just said to them lol. But see, on here, I have to speak. I have to give you my opinion. Otherwise, why would you come here and read? I risk being ridiculed, made funny of or basically just sayin some old dumb Perot/Dubya type statement. Yeah, I know some of you bums just want the music lol. F*$kin leeches lol...j/k. But there's a small percentage that wanna hear opinions and thoughts on the music. Others want to hear me espouse truth about life because they know I'm a noble sage. I try to keep it brief. I try to keep it honest. That part is real hard at times because I'm not the most open person you'll meet. But, I've learned that honesty endears more people to you than some bs, show persona. And if don't say something, it gets boring. To quote my man, Muscle "*crickets *record skips *baby Jesus cries It's like a hooker going into a barrack full of marines and saying she's just there for the conversation." ....so I gotta speak my piece. It's nothing though. I don't mind sharing music and my thoughts with you. As always, remember our slogan (in bold for a reason) - If you like this place, tell everybody. If you don't, just tell us lol. We promised you some music early last week and despite some setbacks and the volume of music being more than we could possibly give you in one week...we're gonna try to finish it up right about here. Since Jay got such positive feedback, here's ten albums hehe. For size purposes, we had to take out some of the cd covers and such. If one of you bootleggers needs one in particular, get at us and we'll shoot it to you. Reasonable Doubt The Grey Album Roc La Familia The Blueprint The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (Two Discs) In My Lifetime Volume 1 Part One Part Two In My Lifetime Volume 2 Hard Knock Life Part One Part Two In My Lifetime Volume 3 The Black Album Part One Part Two MTV Unplugged As a little bonus, here's something stumbled upon...a link to all the various Black Album remixes. It's Geocities so if you know they're history, don't flame us if it doesn't work lol. Black Album Remixes Bob Marley & The Wailers Continued... Confrontation Natty Dread Uprising And this might be my favorite album of them all simply because he bears his sentiments on his sleeve in the title track with a lyric like "...Cause I feel like bombing a church, now/Now that you know that the preacher is lying." Talkin' Blues But this might be one of the best compilations/"best of..." albums for anyone who's a Bob novice. Truthfully, you shouldn't be at this point lol. Gold (Two Discs) Other Music This joint features "300 Shots" and take a wild guess who G-Unit is taking shots at. Did we mention that Mase, who might possibly sign with G-Unit, is on this track as well? I guess Jim Jones and Cam called it right, especially Cam when he spit ""A false profit, all profit/A Harlem hustler, I can't at all knock it/but you hard when you go in the Lord's pockets". VA-DJ_Whoo_Kid-G-Unit_Radio_(Live_On_Shade_45_0827) Jae Millz - Once Upon A Time In Harlem Pt. 1 (Hosted By DJ Enuff) DJ_Envy-We_Gets_Busy_Vol_3-Def_Jam_Mixtape-(Hosted_By_Lenny_S)

This is the lil homie MyTSharp. Son is a throwback and cool as a fan. Hopefully he's cool enough to let me use his pic lol. For real, he's, unknowingly, put me on a 90's kick recently. There's nothing better than waking up early on a Saturday morning. Smoking a few cigs and sipping on a cup of Joe. Cleaning & picking up a little, and letting some good music flow in the background. Yeah...some days it's best to keep it real simple. You've constantly read Retro speak on the day's when hip-hop was fun and simple. Well, I had De La Soul Is Dead pumping this morning and that sentiment hit me. Think about it, they named the album that because they didn't want the hype and the labels that were becoming attached to their music after 3 Feet High And Rising won critical acclaim. They wanted to keep it simple and pure...and they still do. Hip-hop was stylish as fuck too. Damn what Big said, Kwame had style with the polka dots and the tornado/swirl in his fade. His music was simple, playful and mad conceited haha. So since I'm in that mood, here's a few tracks that were mad cool back in the day. New school, take notes. Kwame - "The Rhythm" Kwame - "The Man We All Know and Love" Three Times Dope - "The Greatest Man Alive" De La Soul - "Talkin Bout Hey Love" And De La's stuck with that philosophy. I was listening to this track for the millionth time while driving downtown the other day and, for some reason, the lyrics grabbed me and meant alot more for some odd reason. De La's been De La regardless of what the industry did and so has Doom. This song is en fuego and the vibe it has will make it timeless. De La Soul feat. MF Doom - "Rock Kokane Flow" Other Music I got a request for this joint and since I hadn't put it on the Ipod I figured I'd fill the request and satisfy my own musical needs as well. Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life Disc One Disc Two Here's a little extra something that's making the music circles. Late Registration Japanese Bonus Tracks Plus, you need to just view this because the powers that be say so. It's prolly one of the best songs on Be so it's fitting it get a video. Only complaint is that he should've added a verse or something. Two minutes is simply not enough for a beat this scorching. Common - "Be" Video Bob Marley & The Wailers Continued... Bob Marley & The Wailers Live Babylon By Bus Survival Kaya

Aiight...everywhere you look, magazines are on 'Ye's jock. The cover of Time? Number one on Blender's list of the 100 most important people? Features out the ass? Yes, he's doing big things. Funny part is, I remember years ago, and I mean years, when I heard his name I told my chick that's what I wanted to name my future son because, at least then, it was a name nobody else'd heard lol. So much for that idea. Is the hype deserved? Well, view it like this. Nobody has consistently put out this much quality music in such a short period of time. Not counting anything else but albums, JLegend's joint, Common's latest and Dropout and now Registration...son is on a tear. Did his sophmore album top his first? View that like this... Nas' Illmatic is classic and people have been waiting on him to top it. He won't simply because Illmatic represents that particular point and time in son's life. Instead, he has put out a few strong albums, in particular, It Was Written, which may actually be better than Illmatic. I know that's blasphemous but you get the point. So I say judge Late Registration as Late Registration and don't try to compare or find similarities between the two. Conceptually, he's done a fairly good job. Lyrically, he's stepped it up a notch. Beat-wise...well it is Kanye. I've only casually listened to it thus far but right now, these two cuts really stand out to me. I'm sure it'll change, but for the moment, all I need is these two. Kanye West featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5 - "Heard'em Say" This might not be 'Ye but, psssh, it's on the album lol. Kanye West featuring Common - "My Way Home" These are the last of the Sade catalog considering we gave you Lover's Live a week or two ago. Hope you're enjoying this collection. Best Of Sade (1994) Lover's Rock (2000) Bob Marley & The Wailers Continued... Rastaman Vibrations Exodus Rebel Music Other Music Let's pray with these recent L.Boogie sightings and rumors that she's back in the studio that the girl comes back with some of that blissful music she was puttin out years ago. John Legend featuring Lauryn Hill - So High (Cloud 9 Remix) Dr. Dre featuring Game - "Here We Go Again" Cam & Juelz over the "Jamrock" beat...fahgetaboutit. Cam'ron and Juelz Santana - "Murder" Other Music Related Blogs And you need to hear "I'm Gone" by Saigon if you in to that misogynistic, "eff a beeyotch" shit. Slide over to CultStatus to hear the track and get a full write-up on the boy Sai. Big ups to the boy from Atlanta, Jawja for this track for real. Shit made my night and put the bright light back on hip-hop for me. Regnyouth & Friday, August 26th's post. Coldplay - Acoustic Alanis Morisette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie Lest we forget, Aaliyah died August 25, 2001. Puff can have his B.I.G. tributes but I don't think any other tribute touches the personal feel that this joint has with all the different references and memories that Jay shares. R.I.P. Jay-z - "Missing You (Remix)"

Tatoos are expression and therapy. Hear me out. I've got roughly thirteen tatoos with plans to end up with way more than that, including full arm sleeves. For many, they are a form of expression and I fit that bill. I'm not the best at expressing what I'm truly feeling or what's driving me to do most of the shit I do, be it absurd or mundane. Through the artwork displayed on my body, a person can learn alot about me though. Yes, I'm morbid at times, slightly paranoid and preoccupied with death and violence lol. I make no bones about it. It's me. It's that slight fear that keeps me driven to accomplish as much as I can every waking moment and be sure to leave my mark. So, the skulls and the dark sayings etched into my skin reveal that side of me that's been shaped by some of life's less fascinating experiences. At times, I see the life of anyone who's put in time in the streets and made it out as the life of a war vet. You've seen and done things that won't ever let you just be a "normal member of society." Even if you fool the world, in yourself, you'll always know that you're viewing the world from a different set of glasses and you'll always handle situations by a different set of mores and principles. At the same time, I'm deeply spiritual but I don't think many people know it. I mean, I'm not a church-goer. I don't run around spouting off verses and scriptures either. But, I'm constantly aware of the effects of good and evil and I feel as if good is driving me. But at the same time, I live in reality and "the devil is always workin" as the old folk would say. I'm a product of that as well as evidenced by my past. At times, I need/want reminders of my faith in a higher power because some days I have to wonder who's steering this thing really. As well, I want to profess that faith without standing on a soapbox near the local service station or selling fruit and newspapers in a suit on a hot day. And, I'm artistic (I mean we're hearing discussing music as art, and I love literature). Tats are just my homage to another element of the liberal arts and that being art itself. So, all of my tats are designed as one whole work of art set to display the different sides of my personality and beliefs. Add into the equation that I'm a Gemini (two personalities) and my "body art" turns into a masterpiece like Picasso. One side of my body is dedicated to "good" and the other to "not good" lol. And when I sit in that chair and the needle starts humming...a release happens that might only be equaled by sex. My lil homie Ruff asked me was it a sort of "cutting" ritual like the emo kids do. I don't think so. I think it's a harmless, beautiful thing and a place where I find true relaxation. Yes, I have a professional job. I wear longsleeves everyday to avoid the discussion, positive or negative. I'm a firm believer that my tats are for me and not the world so I don't feel the need to "show them off." Yes, I have a daughter and we often talk about Daddy's tatoos and what they mean. No, I don't give a fuck what they'll look like when I'm 60. Hell, I wasn't really planning on makin it to 21 so I'm enjoyin each day as an experience unto itself. I worry about 60 when it gets here. Blah blah blah....on to the music. Truth be told, only reggae music matters. It's the only genre out that praises God while making you shake your pum-pum. And no other artist brought reggae to the forefront like Robert Nesta Marley. I found Bob music just like everybody else...while I was sippin on the chalice lol. Once I found him though, I realized it was about way more than that. Politics. Social commentary. Praising a higher power. Over the next few posts, I'm going to up fourteen albums of Bob music (as his wife, Rita, calls it) and I hope you grow to enjoy Bob as much as millions of others have. We'll get the ball rolling with two early albums. Bob Marley & The Wailers Abridged Catalog - Part One Catch A Fire Burnin' We'll keep the ball rolling with what was was hastily started the other day and interrupted by computer problems... Sade Catalog - Part Two Stronger Than Pride (1988) Love Deluxe (1992) Other Music Uh...I think Beans is out and we officially have a problem with State Prop. Seems dudes ain't hold him down while he was locked in the box. Check it for yourself. Sheek Louch - Kiss Ya Ass Goobye (Remix featuring Fabolous Beanie Siegel & Jadakiss) Jody Breeze ft. 8ball - "Ballin My Life Away" Young Jeezy featuring Mase & Slick Pulla - "Agressive" Yolanda Adams - Day By Day PW - Dukins Mick Boogie-Hustle And Snow Mixtape(Hosted_By_Young_Jeezy) pw = msp Lauryn Hill - "Keep It Tight" DJ Kool Kid - I Got That Drank Pt. 2 (Hosted By Three Six Mafia) Part 1 Part 2 Pw - dank This joint had a pretty thoro tracklisting (find your own...if for nothing else but to see the pic of Buffie lol). DJ Kay Slay - Celebrity Status Vol. 1 (Hosted By Buffie The Body) DJ Kool Kid - Ridin Shotgun Pt. 2 (Hosted By Jim Jones)

The more I explore my own musical tastes here, the more I realize I'm growing increasingly tired of hip-hop. I've been on straight hiatus of dj mixtapes. They bore me at this point. I'm almost scared that I'm getting "old" but anybody who knows me knows that's not about to happen anytime soon. I haven't given up on hip-hop though. I've just returned heavily back to my roots and the tunes that brought me extreme pleasure, and in 1994, Nervous records was IT. "It" being official backpack music before that subgenre existed. These two albums...the were required headphones and Walkman material. They were what New York hip-hop was before it switched over and became glamourized - steady beats, hard but precise scratchs and samples and lyrics that explored the minds of the youth who dreamed big but faced the daily reality of struggle to achieve. I can just feel a 90's mixtape/post bubbling in my veins lol. Black Moon - Enta Da Stage FIXED Smif-N-Wessun - Da Shinin FIXED So what have I been listening to? Glad you ask. It's been all over the place and varies greatly but mostly older R&B and soul with a few doses of other genres. Here's a lady whose voice ooozes with soul. A live album was upped last week and was well recieved. So we're going to try to put up her catalog as well for you to enjoy in full. Sade Catalog - Installment One Diamond Life (1984) Promise (1985) FIXED This lady ooozes soul as well...and she's only a teenager. And oh yeah...she's white lol. She's winning critical acclaim all around though. Don't ask me how I found this joint or why I'm listening to it but all I know is you need to give her a listen. I can't even stunt....Soul Sessions , a collection of covers, is thoro. Backed by barebones, minimal production, her voice is strong and powerful and she can seemingly see yourself in a smoky room while she sits on stage belting out notes. Joss Stone - Mind, Body & Soul FIXED Joss Stone - Soul Sessions And I scoured the net this weekend looking for this album. I reached out to all of you and a few specific folk. Luckily, these specific folk, e-Junkie.net, came through in the clutch and satisfied my jones. Why did I want this album? Well, I've long stated my infatuation on locating the sources of inspiration for today's leaders, musical or not. Kanye mentioned this album and Jon Brion on his MTV special, along with Portishead's Dummy (you already know my love affair with that album). I did some research and it was called "just as dark" as Portishead's album and you know I was all in. True to form, it's just as good and it was worth the fight in finding it. A 90+ word album title? You know there's some serious work contained inside any disc with that type of title. For a full write-up, check e-Junkie.net. Fiona Apple - When The Pawn... FIXED PW - www.tha-industry.net More music... Ras_Kass-Verbal_Murder-2005 Stat Quo - Street Status (Retail)(Statlanta Prequel) DJ Drama & UTP-We On Bubble(UTP Movement) Backup Link Chamillionaire and DJ Smallz- Man On Fire Mixtape

Preface - I'm looking for some help. I want Fiona Apple's album "When The Pawn...". If you can help me out, get at me via email. Thanks in advance. This week is gonna be a good week for all of you. A few discography's to put up, some rare album and unreleased single recordings....the collection is chockful of that shit you want so make it a part of your daily routine this week to check in, grab some shit and throw up some comments. I usually try to point out one album daily as the recommended download. But I gotta say all of these come highly recommended so it's hard to single out one. Oh yeah...Pacino as Carlito Brigante has to be one of the best cinematic characters of all time. The look, the way he seemed to really delve into and bring out the character's personality and the way his character evolves over the course of the story...tremendous. So I was browsing around and found this joint. I recognized it for some reason, so I grabbed it and I must say I was impressed. Donnie - The Colored Section Recently, Regnyouth has been lacing my collection with some timeless Miles Davis, in particular recordings with his quintet. Be sure to browse there for the full write-ups on these joints. For my personal tastes, I love them because they feature Miles and Trane, along with the drums of Philly Joe Jones, Red Garland and Paul Chambers. Reading and knowing so much about these five and then hearing it is proof positive that this is quite possibly one of Miles' strongest musical periods. Miles Davis Quintet - Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet Part 1 Part 2 Miles Davis Quintet- Relaxin' With The Miles Davis Quintet Part 1 Part 2 Miles Davis Quintet - Workin' With The Miles Davis Quintet Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Miles Davis Quintet - Steamin'With The Miles Davis Quintet Part 1 Part 2 Password: numnums Right now, I'm all about acoustical albums. When I hear'em, they move me. The purity and the energy involved is raw and amazing. No exceptions here. Where D'Angelo is right now? Lord knows. Word is he's in the studio again so we'll see what he comes out with. This is D and the Soultronics doing rehearsals before their concert at the Essence Festival. The tracks were recorded in a studio. With a twelve minute version of "Lady" and a ten minute version of "Brown Sugar", all I know is this collection is worth the few minutes of your time because those two tracks online have been gettin maximum replay the past few days. D'Angelo & The Soultronics-Essence Festival Rehearsals 1998 (Studio Quality) Part 1 Part 2 For the old school effect...there was not a young chick walking for who this man wasn't a hearthrob lol. Fortunately for the young fellas, we learned over time that he made some good "panty-droppin" music which helped us to tolerate him. There was nothing like being under the covers, talkin on the phone way later than you were supposed to and having this album playin on the low. Al B. Sure - In Effect Mode

Link One Backup links just in case.... Link Two Link Three password is kanye for all links.

Thus unlamented let me die; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie." "Ode on Solitude" Alexander Pope Aiight...we've been hitting you off all week with some decent stuff so we're gonna give you a few joints to carry you thru the downtime this weekend. Nothing major, just music baby. DJ Smallz - Southern Smoke 21 Five Heartbeats Soundtrack All props go to Regnyouth for these next two. I found them there and enjoyed them and wanted to share. Be sure to check that blog out (check the listings on the side). It's one of THE best in the game right now, next to us of course lol. Nah, truthfully, it's one of my inspirations to create and keep this thing runnin and I gotta give credit where credit is due. Miles Davis - Water Babies PW-4tf Part One Part Two Part Three Pink Floyd - The Wall PW - rob Part One Part Two Since we're on Pink Floyd, here's my favorite album (I guess I'm a closet fan of sorts). I favor it because it's heavy on instrumentation. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" popped my Pink Floyd cherry about six years ago and it's been in constant rotation ever since. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here NEW SH!T (not yet reviewed) Kanye West - Late Registration password = kanye And last but not least, I wanted to share with you a photo that's been cracking me up all week. It has no relevance but it's not like the music that's up for today is related to anything so...eff it. This work is entitled... B*&^H STOLE MY FISH!

PREFACE - Let me be blunt and say if you miss this post **cough**Russ, Stace**cough** don't ask me to reup shit! This post is loaded with subtle heat. So we been slackin in a major way without a doubt. We haven't been puttin up as many new releases. So to get ourselves out the corner, consider this the payback. 456 trick! Craig_David-The_Story_Goes-2005 (Fixed) Jim Jones - Harlem: Diary of a Summer PW - smoked This Alicia Keys' song is crack! The metaphors are real slick. Give it a listen. Alicia Keys - "Unbreakable" Kanye's tracks are starting to leak so it's almost a definite that Late Registration will be droppin real real soon. This joint is Kanye and Nas (wow!) and it's def worth a listen. Kanye West feat. Nas - "We Major" Since we speaking on Chi-town, here's a new Twista and Pharell for you. I'm not as high on it as others **cough Dingle..hehe**cough** but it's a cool listen. Twista featuring Pharell - "Lavish" Remember those old BET commercials for Smooth Grooves? You wanted it but were to cheap to cop? Add me to your Xmas list please. All 4 Discs are in one file. (397 MB) You know the rules - find your own tracklistings. Smooth Grooves ~ A Sensual Collection (Volumes 1-4) Add a little variety to your collection with this joint, The Best Of Frank Sinatra Disc 1 Disc 2 After throwing up Jay's verse yesterday, a lot of cats hit me up for the full remix. Well here it is as well with Fat Joe added in for a little extra umph. Young Jeezy featuring Jay-z and Fat Joe - "Go Crazy" (Remix) And here's a Lil Jon & T.I. collabo... T.I ft. Ciara - "King & Queen" Do not miss this one if you're a Anthony Hamilton fan. I can almost guarantee you'll love this collection of songs. Anthony Hamilton - Rare Acoustical Album Finally, if we don't get some goddamn comments/props for this one (and this post period!), we quit lol! Someone requested this and I pretty much figured it was impossible. Well, the Lord works in mysterious ways I guess because this joint popped up. Roy Ayers - Coffy Soundtrack Crown me! Salute!!!

If you notice every now and then, I change up my title on the right to show various inspirations. Lately, I've had up "Cookiehead" out of respect to my brother, along part of a verse from a track that's been a favorite since it leaked, Young Jeezy's "Make'em Understand" ("Talk To' em" depending on if you familiar with advance or the retail copy). Cookiehead is trapped in the beast for the next several years and, yeah, I miss my dude just about every day. We all make choices and we pay for them. His situation is no different. But it's not only us that pays for our mistakes but also our families, friends, seeds and other loved ones. Such is life. We don't realize the effects but only in hindsight. To show the world how much my dude meant to me and to make sure his name is remembered, I've taken on his childhood nickname in various incarnations, on and offline. He's got a birthday coming up on the 17th so put one in the air or pour out a little liquor for the homie who ain't here. The other day I was bumping Maze's "Golden Time Of Day" album for the first time since I got it and came across a melody I recognized. And then I heard it. "Like a person needs his soul/Like the winter needs the cold.../like a baby needs to cry/if you go I swear I'd die..." I recognized the interpolation (I've always wanted to use that word) for Jeezy's song. The first two verses from Jeezy's track hit home for me on a few levels. They make me really think of Cookiehead and my guy ADawg who passed a few years back, God bless the dead. After hearing the original track, the lyrics to it and the context of the original sample., it only made Jeezy song that much more meaningful similar to hearing Jonny Lang's "Dying To Live" and BIG and Pac's "Running". Give'em both a listen. "fuck maintaining I'm moving ahead of the game" - Cookie Maze featuring Frankie Beverly - "I Need You" Young Jeezy - "Make'em Understand" A few other Jeezy tracks that have been buzzing around the net are Jay-z's verse on "Go Crazy" and the remix to "Mic Check" with Juelz. Really, I don't think Jay killed it like he normally does, but it's a good listen. The Juelz joint is show of versatility by both and looks like a Peruvian pure uncut convention with the "Snowman" hookin up "Human Crack In The Flesh." Shoutouts to Dingle at Am I High? for puttin me up on the last one. Watch the Pyrex bubble. Young Jeezy featuring Jay-z - "Go Crazy" (Remix) Juelz Santana featuring Young Jeezy - Mic Check" (Remix) Retro sorta sparked me to do this one after I told him about my Maze-Jeezy experience. $10 Paypal to the first person to name the recent hip-hop tracks that sampled these three*. We didn't change the titles of the mp3's so some of the titles of the og songs might give you a good hint. Easy...if you can't get this, stop here. Number One Difficult Number Two You a boss if you catch this one... Number Three * Yeah right but feel free to play along. If it works, we'll hit you off with more of this.

I had some glam write-up prepared for this because I've been wanting (read: too lazy) to put this collection up for a while. But, when I reread it, it felt too "glossy" and I wanted something more true to the nature of what this joint is. I remember when I first really "heard" Jay. It was on "Ain't No Nigga" on some Clue tape that was probably the hottest shit out at the time. I had that joint on cassette and a Walkman and I remember wearing that shit out. "Ain't no stoppin this.../No lie/Try to stay monogamous.../I try..." Jay murdered that track. Reasonable Doubt dropped and the rest is history. Honestly, I don't keep up with other genres, but I know that Jay has consistently put out hits and hit albums during the course of his career. For a rapper, that's a hard feat to accomplish because listeners are so fickle. That's where Jay excels. He's always ahead of the pack and leading it like the Pied Piper playing his flute. Can you think of more than a handful of people who don't know who Jay is? The man did recently state "I'm not a business-man, I'm a business man!" and one would have to agree. The man has consistently created hit albums and his name reaches throughout pop culture in fashion, sports, marketing and other areas. I'd damn near be willing to say he has the Midas touch. And this collection to his work. A 10-disc collection (9 discs plus a bonus disc) that's pretty thorough and covers his whole career. All the tracks assembled are his work outside of his own albums and is a nice collection to have for casual and intense listening. Yes, there's some filler material. But for the most part, you will be satisfied. The track listing is as follows: Chapter One - Just Jigga 1. H.O.V.A. 2. Early This Morning 3. La, La, La 4. Who You Wit Part I 5. People Talking 6. Don't You Know 7. Show You How 8. Ignorant Shit 9. Jigga My Nigga 10. Big Pimpin' (Extended Radio Edit) 11. Lyrical Exercise 12. People's Court 13. Stop 14. Addicted To The Game 15. Get My Shit Off Chapter Two - These are the Remixes Motherf*ckers! 1. Can't Knock The Hustle Remix 2. Hovi Baby Remix 3. Beware Of The Boys Remix (Feat. Punjabi MC) 4. PSA II 5. Holla Holla Remix (Feat. The Murderers) 6. In My Lifetime Remix 7. You Rock My World (Feat. Michael Jackson) 8. Get By Remix (Feat. Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Mos Def, Kanye West) 9. A Million and One Questions Remix 10. Hell Yeah Remix (Feat. Dead Prez) 11. Ha Remix (Feat. Juvenile) 12. Girls, Girls, Girls Remix 13. More Money, More Cash, More Hoes 14. Can't Stop, Won't Stop Remix (Feat. Young Gunz) 15. My Mind Right Remix (Feat. Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek) 16. Is That Your Chick...The Lost Verses Remix (Feat. Memphis Bleek, Twista) Chapter Three - Early Hova 1. Show and Prove (Feat. Big Daddy Kanye, Shyheim, ODB) 2. Can I Get Open 3. Da Graveyard (Feat. Big L) 4. Dead Presidents I (Original Verses) 5. In MY Lifetime (Original Version) 6. What's In a Name? 7. I Can't Get With That 8. Analyze This (Feat. Lord Tariq, Nas) 9. Foundation (Feat. Jaz-O) 10. It's That Simple 11. My Kind Of Girl 12. Originators (Feat. Jaz-O) 13. You're Only A Customer 14. Living It Up (Feat. Sauce Money) 15. This Life Forever Chapter Four - Me and My baby 1. I'll Be (Feat. Foxy Brown) 2. Queen baby Remix (Feat. Lil' Kim) 3. Mi Amor (Feat. Angie Martinez) 4. Wake Up (Feat. Missy Elliot) 5. Heard It All Before (Feat. Amil) 6. Count It Off (Feat. Ms. Jade) 7. One Minute Man Remix (Feat. Missy Elliott) 8. Bonnie and Clyde II (Feat. Foxy Brown) 9. Big Momma Thang (Feat. Lil' Kim) 10. That's Right (Feat. Amil) 11. Back In The Day (Feat. Missy Elliott) Chapter Five - Shawn's Softer Side 1. I Miss U Remix (Feat. Aaliyah) 2. That's How U Like It (Feat. Beyonce) 3. Wishing On a Star (Feat. Janet Jackson) 4. We Ride (Feat. R Kelly) 5. Love For Free (Feat. Rell) 6. Things You Do For Love (Feat. Horace Brown) 7. Best Of Me Remix (Feat. Mya) 8. Don't Wanna Be Alone Remix (Feat. Shai) 9. Rock Steady (Feat. Mary J. Blige) 10. Alone In This World (Feat. Faith Evans) 11. All Of My Days (Feat. Changing Faces, R Kelly) 12. So Many Ways (Feat. The Braxtons, JD) 13. Crazy In Love (Feat. Beyonce) 14. It's Obvious (Feat. Rell) 15. Love and Life Intro (Feat. Mary J. Blige) 16. Heartbreaker (Feat. Mariah Carey) 17. You're The One Remix (Feat. The Lost Boyz, SWV) 18. Keep It Real (Feat. Jon B, Coco) 19. Fiesta Remix (Feat. R Kelly) 20. Bring Back Your Love (Feat. Christion) 21. Storm (Feat. Lenny Kravitz) Chapter Six - A DJ's Best Friend: The Freestyles 1. Flava In Ya Ear Freestyle 2. Lookin' At My S. Dots 3. Pump It Up Freestyle 4. Superugly (Dissin' Nas) 5. 7 Minute Freestyle (Feat. Big L) 6. Get High Freestyle (Feat. The Roc Fam) 7. Post 9/11 Acapella Freestyle 8. Bump, Bump, Bump Freestyle 9. Old School Freestyle 10. Rare 1993 Freestyle 11. Warm It Up Jay 12. Young, Black, and Gifted Freestyle 13. Unreleased Nas Diss 14. Funkmaster Flex Freestyle 15. If I Can't Freestyle 16. Roc Fam Freestyle 17. Rare 1991 Freestyle (Kool G Rap's Birthday) 18. Reebok Interlude (Feat. 50 Cent) 19. Rock Star Freestyle 20. Live Freestyle (22 Two's Beat) 21. Flow 22. Who Shot Ya Freestyle 23. Murdergram Freestyle (Feat. DMX, Ja Rule) 24. Back From France Freestyle (RARE Nas Diss) 25. Outro Freestyle Chapter Seven - It's the ROC! 1. Ran and Uncut (Feat. Beanie Sigel) 2. For My Thugs (Feat. The Roc) 3. 1, 2, Ya'll (Feat. Memphis Bleek, Geda K) 4. What We Do (Feat. Freeway, Beanie Sigel) 5. Never Take Me Alive (Feat. Young Gunz) 6. Think It's A Game (Feat. Beanie Sigel) 7. Hypnotic (Feat. Memphis Bleek) 8. 4 Alarm Blaze (Feat. MOP) 9. For Da Fame (Feat. Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Amil) 10. Higher (Hai Hai) 11. Everything's A Go (Feat. Memphis Bleek) 12. Welcome To New York City (Feat. Cam'ron) 13. Still Got Love For You (Feat. Beanie Sigel) 14. What You Think Of That (Feat. Memphis Bleek) 15. You Got Me (Feat. Freeway) 16. Playa (Feat. Beanie Sigel) 17. Murda, Murda (Feat. Memphis Bleek) Chapter Eight - ...Featuring the God MC 1. Blackout (Feat. DMX, The LOX) 2. Get Out (Feat. Scarface) 3. Let's Go (Feat. Jaz-O) 4. No Love Lost (Feat. Shaq, Lord Tariq) 5. Single Life (Feat. Mic Geronimo) 6. Money Ain't A Thang (Feat. Jermaine Dupri) 7. Lollipop (Feat. Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg) 8. Cheat On You (Feat. Mase) 9. Flip Flop Rock (Feat. Outkast, Killer Mike) 10. For My Niggaz (Feat. Lil' Cease) 11. It's Murda (Feat. DMX, Ja Rule) 12. Do You Like It, Do You Want It (Feat. Puff Daddy) 13. Pre-Game (Feat. Sauce Money) 14. You Know What We Bout (Feat. Silkk The Shocker, Master P) 15. Kill 'Em All (Feat. Ja Rule) 16. Time to Build (Feat. Mic Geronimo) 17. Here We Go (Feat. Too Short) 18. When We Die (Feat. DMX, Busta Rhymes) 19. Guess Who's Back (Feat. Scarface, Beanie Sigel) Chapter Nine - How To Complete a Compilation 1. Murda Marcyville (Feat. Memphis Bleek, Geda K) 2. Girl's Best Friend 3. Behind The Ropes (Feat. Sauce Money) 4. Lobster and Scrimp (Feat. Timbaland and Magoo) 5. Road Dawgs (Feat. Da Brat, Eve, Amil) 6. Roc Army (Feat. The Roc) 7. It's On (Feat. State Property) 8. Hey Papi (Feat. Memphis Bleek) 9. 20 Bag Shorty (Feat. Boo and Gotti) 10. 8 Miles and Running (Feat. Freeway) 11. Celebration (Feat. Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money) 12. Young G's (Feat. Notorious BIG, Puff Daddy) 13. Get Your Money Right (Feat. Dr Dre, The Game) 14. What The Game Made Me (Feat. Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money) 15. Party People (Feat. Timbaland and Magoo) 16. Bedstuy to Marcy (Feat. Sauce Money) 17. Gangsta Shit (Feat. Ja Rule) 18. From Marcy To Hollywood (Feat. Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money) Chapter Ten - Bonus CD 1. All About The Bejamins Freestyle 2. Dead or Alive part 1 3. So Right (remix) 4. Put it in the air (remix) 5. Murda Marcyville (remix) 6. The Game Iz Mine 7. Hold Up 8. Face Off 2000 9. Anything 10. Dead or Alive part 2 11. Hey Papi (original) 12. Love is Love 13. I Aint Heard of That 14. Be Alone No More 15. Takeover (live) 16. Ny Finest Discs 1 & 2 Discs 3 & 4 Discs 5 & 6 FIXED Discs 7& 8 Discs 9 & 10

Yup, your boy retro signing in once again for Gotty. At least until the semester starts back up for me. So, I was watching the Last Samurai(disclaimer: yes i know Tom Cruise is a complete idiot), and Ken Watanabe's character said something profound to me. During his time with Tom Cruise's character, he states that he was on the lookout for the perfect plum blossom. "The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life." Towards the end, Watanabe's character meets his timely demise, but not before reaching an epiphany. He knew at that precise moment, that ALL of the blossoms were perfect. He had been looking for something extravagant, something extra colorful, just something that would differentiate one from the rest. But, he found perfection in simplicity. Less is more. It's the simple things in life that count, and maybe a little bit of the extravagant things. At least to folks with substance. When was the last time you REALLY stopped to take appreciate these things? With that said, this entire post was created with the intention of making our loyal readers appreciate the simple shit in life, and in music. No crazy music videos, no multimillion dollar budgets, no big named producers. Just music. In its purest form. Good. Better. Best. Onto the music... Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly - Greatest Hits Sam Cooke - Portrait Of A Legend Wild Style Soundtrack If you miss out on this Wild Style jumpoff, you need to have your head examined. That's all for now, a small update but good simple music nonetheless. Enjoy. Retro Out Additional Contributions Discography of Musiq Soulstar Juslisen Aijuswanaseing This last joint was just interesting. Here's a quote with some of the info regarding it. "It's an album with every Biggie collabo that's ever leaked onto the net or been released, but now everybody apart from Biggie has been taken off. Download this, I promise you won't be dissapointed." I wish I could post the tracklisting but it's a mix created by a group and not an actual rip. Give it a shot. The Notorious B.I.G-Filtered To Perfection PW - Notorious Online

...and not my heart." So we've been hella busy the past day or so. Unfortunately, I don't see that slowing down lol. Pardon us for slacking over the next few days. We'll try to make it up as best we can by giving you a few mixtapes with a large variety of tracks to tide you over til we can get back in pocket. You know the drill. Find your own tracklistings lol. If you don't know who Rayful Edmund is, Google his name and get back to me. P. Cutta, Rayful Edmund, & DJ Wreck -True Hustlas Vol.-3 PASSWORD = cutta DJ Scoob - "Who's The Boss?" (feat. Jadakiss and Styles P) DJ_L-Wanted_4_Murder_Volume_2 DJ Smallz and Master P - Southern Smoke 20 These cats have a lot of potential and are prolly the most slept on Dips out the whole movement. S.A.S - Who Dares Wins And, we'll be doing a little bit more about this dude because he's a living legend. He's prolly your favorite rapper's favorite rapper as everybody name drops money. For now, this should hold you over til we can give him the write-up he deserves. DJ Keyz & Scarface - Scarred For Life

Notice the similarities? They're glaringly obvious. It's simple. When I was a little kid, I wanted to be like George Jefferson. When I got older, Miles became one of those musical cats I admired. Still don't see the similarities? Let me point them out. Short. Black. Arrogant. Rich. That air of "I'll say what I want when I damn well feel like it." Who wouldn't want to be like that in all honesty? While George was a character, Miles was true life. Remember Jules' wallet in Pulp Fiction that read "Bad Motherfucker", Miles should've had that. Miles was alot of bad things. Drug habit. A few physical spats with the women in his life. And, yes, he slept with a lot of women so I guess we'd classify him as a dog. Short-tempered, at times abrasive and demanding. But he was alot of good things as well. He married or was involved with several beautiful women throughout his lifetime. He broke color barriers in music. He was indeed rich. He was, by his own account and others, very much loyal to all of his friends. Musically, he had classical training as well as the classic "live, learn, try" style. He mastered or was adept at playing several instruments. He literally spanned musical generations playing with Dizzy, Bird, Monk, Trane, and Mingus. He apprenticed so many more that came after him. As the shape of jazz changed, he changed either right in stride with it and almost one step ahead or he was leading the movement. He was driven to expand the musical canon. He created. My personal favorite album... Kind Of Blue Part 1 Part 2 Miles Davis - Nefertiti Miles Davis - Birth Of The Cool FIXED Miles Davis - Greatest Hits (Columbia) I would've naturally upped Bitches Brew but I figure most people are familiar with that already. But, if needed, it can be placed here as well. Other Contributions Etta James - At Last Etta James & Louis Armstrong DJ Envy - The People's Choice 22 (R&B) FIXED Part 1 Part 2 And to keep it totally off-balance but always fresh... The Godfather Soundtrack

Fellas, if you're reading, pay attention. Step your shoe and haircut game up. Why? Glad you ask. Women judge men by these two things first. Not your car. Not your outfit. Not your bank statement. These two things and these two things solely are the first things they look at. I promise. I've tested this out by experiment and by simple conversation. Why do they do it? I'm not 100% sure. I think their moms tell them to or something. How did I find out? An OG told me to stay "suited and booted." His catch phrase was "I'm looking like a lily in the valley, you standing over the lookin like a goat in the alley." (woo hooo now that's pimp talk if I ever heard it) What do these things mean to a woman? If a man has on a nice suit and busted shoes or a messed up hairdo, he doesn't care about the details. He may have money but he doesn't know how to handle it. Or he may have a nice car, but he's behind in the payments. He may have a nice house, but it's prolly filthy as hell. Catch my drift. To her, this means you'll forget her birthday, the day you all met, where you all spent your first day...all the unimportant stuff to us but still. However, if he has on a clean, simple outfit and has his hair freshly cut along with a nice pair of shoes, he takes care of all aspects of his life. Actually cares about them. Is it true? Well, we all front when we meet someone for the first time anyways so that's inconsequential. Once you get a job, every man should have a nice quality pair of dress shoes. Period. Not Stacey Adams or some bs pair of Giorgio Brutini's. Those are for your Easter suit when you're a young buck. Once you get a good paying gig, take a couple of nickels and buy yourself a fly pair of dress shoes. A pair that at least retails over $200 (Notice I said "retails". If you can catch a sale, by all means do so). Am I an authority on this? Hell yeah...I stay fly. Ask any broad. My shoe game is on point. I've had upwards of at least 170+ pairs of shoes in my closet at one time. I've got every color of the rainbow. Boots, hard bottoms, sneakers. Croc, alligator, ostritch, butter leather. My most expensive pair of shoes I own ran $1800. My last pair - Some navy blue Prada loafers that are shitty sharp. Navy blue. How many cats you know rockin blue shoes besides me and Elvis? My hair stays cut. Twice a week. Am I metro? Far from it. For me, a good, sharp, clean haircut gives me "an edge". I feel like my persona is speaking for me well before I say a word and it reads "here comes a suave, smooth s.o.b. who's not to be messed with." So here's a few songs for you to play real loud and get your cockiness on with while you're in the mirror gettin shitty & primpin' yourself. These songs are guaranteed to boost your swagger by 10% at least. My personal favorite... Lloyd Banks - "I'm So Fly" A prerequisite... Outkast - "So Fresh, So Clean" This is just smooth personified in song... UGK - "Belts To Match" If you need anymore tips on how to bag chicks, email me. Let me help you help yourself. While I've got your attention, let me direct you to a funny email I recieved. I was laughing my ass off. Wanna know what it's like to spend time in jail from the eyes of a regular joe? Well, my man Last Man Standing sent me this joint for me to share with his permission....

Let me tell you all about it cuzo…

Shoutouts to my man who shall now on be referred to as "Cellie" haha. More Music A requested reup... Loopless - Loopless (UK) Big_Mike_Presents-The_Big_Boy_Game_Volume_3 Proof of D12 - Searching For Jerry Garcia The last thing Alchemist touched was hot. I haven't listened to this yet but I'm expecting the same thing. Alchemist - Alchemist Productions (2005) Part 1 Part 2 Diplomats heat for you suckers (props to Dub Cee).... Kochee Presents The Best Of Hell Rell Smooth it out and take it back... SWV - The Best of SWV Maze feat. Frankie Beverly - Maze feat. Frankie Beverly Maze feat. Frankie Beverly - The Golden Time Of Day Last but not least, here's the video for "Piggybank". In case you forgot, this is the track 50 dissed everybody on. It's definitely worth a look for laughings sake. 50 Cent - "Piggybank" Video

We usually update at night so you'll have a fresh page to visit in the morning. But Thursday nite, we went to see John Legend and Lyfe perform so we're slackin. Accept our apologies. We'll try to update with some music as the day progresses. Willie Hutch - The Mack Soundtrack This clip has pretty much made the rounds on the internet but we thought we'd share anyways. Dame's a cocky asshole. So is Cam. Matter of fact, so is Bill O'Reilly. See what happens when they square off. Cam'ron and Dame Dash on The Bill O'Reilly Show There's nothing more stupendous than seeing Cam ask "You mad doggie?" haha.

I've said it a million times here - all the great ones have problems. Ras Kass is a wild dude and no exception to the rule. He did time as a juvenile for vehicular homicide. He came out with his debut album, Soul On Ice, and won critical acclaim (which basically means everybody loved but nobody bought his album). And that's been his calling card - problems and "critical acclaim". Dr. Dre has reportedly called him one of the best. I agree. How come you haven't heard from him? Well, he's always had weak production if you ask me. As well, he went thru a fierce label battle with Priority while being wanted for evading arrest for parole violations. While on the run, he took his masters to his latest recording at that time and basically stuck his tongue out na-na-boo-boo style at his label lol. End the end, he ended up doing time again and is almost off Priority if he isn't already. Musically, dude is slick. Witty metaphors and a tongue as sharp as anyone in the game, bar none. Give him a listen on these few standout tracks. "Understandable Smooth" "Goldyn Child" (Remix) "Nature Of The Threat" "The Whole City Behind Us" Freestyle A few other noteworthy finds and reups upon request. If you EVER watched Yo! MTV Raps back in the day, you'll know this off top. Let's see if you get up out of your seat and do the "Ed Lover Dance" though. DJ Mark The 45 King - "The 900 Number" A hot new AZ track off the new Slay... AZ feat. Raekwon and Ghostface Killer - "New York" A B track that hasn't been on any album that I'm aware of. Produced by Neptunes, this is a pretty decent joint. Beyonce - "My First Time" Mos caught a lot of flack for airing out the dirty laundry of the music industry with this track. It's a case of the truth hurting and a lot of execs wanting it revealed I'd assume. If you haven't heard it, now would be a good time to start. Mos Def - "The Rape Over" The Wu and the cats from Stet hooked up to make something different but good with this album. Gravediggaz - Six Feet Deep This was an excellent lp for it's time. "I Got To Have It" and "Be A Father To Your Child" were standouts but there were more gems on this album. If you ever called anyone a "bugaboo", thank this dude. Ed O.G. & The Bulldogs - Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto PW = bulldogs The next two are classics. Nuff said. Outkast - Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik Part 1 Part 2 De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead PW = dead Kem - Album II Part 1 Part 2 Alicia Keys Songs in A Minor & The Diary Of Alicia Keys New material by Lex Diamonds. Raekwon - The Vatican Mixtape Last but not least, a seemingly rare Japanese release of some unreleased work by R. Kelly. A definite must have for any fan of the R. R. Kelly - My Diary (2005 Import) Part 1 Part 2 01.Intro/Sex In The Kitchen remix [05:05] 02.How Many [04:01] 03.Hypnotic feat. Syleena Johnson & Fabolous [04:41] 04.So Sexy pt.II feat. Twista [03:57] 05.In The Closet pt.1 [03:24] 06.Sex In The Kitchen "Interlude" [00:51] 07.Sex In The Kitchen Album [03:35] 08.Baby I Love You feat. Jennifer Lopez [03:49] 09.Africa [04:09] 10.Sprite [03:48] 11.Pick Up The Phone feat. Tyrese & Ludacris [04:46] 12.You Kept My Fire Burning [04:41] 13.You Save Me (Live Version) [05:21] 14.Laundry feat. Nivea [04:18] 15.Front Line [04:29] 16.Step In The Name Of Love (Live Version) [05:03]

your boy retro signing in for Gotty today, after much procrastination. So my name on this board and instant messenger is retro inspired. Why? Because i miss the old school. I think we're all at a point in the hip hop/r&b culture that's fallen into a state of perpetual copycatting of styles. And what's worse, is that with every passing cycle, the music gets worse. Remember the good ole days? When men were men. The John Waynes, the John Shafts, the Superflys, the Steve McQueens. The Dirty Dozen. The Rat Pack. The Shaw Brothers. People who made the cool cooler, the masculine more masculine, and turned the bad into badddddd mofos. My man Curtis Mayfield? Masculine. Curtis Mayfield - Superfly" (Shoutout to the lovers of 8 tracks on this one) Pretty Ricky? Pretty Gay. Unfair comparison? Maybe. But if this is the best r&b has to offer these days (with the exception of Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, and a few others), we're headed for a dark age of an American subculture. On the flip side, it wasnt always about being serious or cool. A looooooooot of rap cats made hip hop listenable by poking fun at any and everything they could, and have a damn good time doing it. And dont forget being fresh. Allow me to take you back. Thick ass dookie chains with the adidas jackets and the fedoras. To me, that's what started the "flashy" movement in hip hop. Run DMC - Greatest Hits" HIIIIIIIIIIIGH top fades with the bright colors. That's vintage early 90s. House Party Soundtrack" Party, "feel good" hip hop. Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff - He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper And with that, I'm out. Audi 5000. Additional Contributions Some new mixtapes and advances that might be worth checking out. You can find your own tracklistings w/a little searching. Mr. Brim Presents Kanye West Back To School Mixtape From T.I.'s P$C crew... Mac Boney and AK - Glocks and Plans Lil Wayne - C-Squared (Advance) More hot material from one of QB's finest (and most underrated)... AZ - A.W.O.L. (Advance Promo) DJ Kay Slay - NYC Drama Pt. 4 Buck and one of G-Unit's latest signees... G-Unit Records Presents Death Before Dishonor (Hosted By Spider Loc and Young Buck) As well, this song is prolly one of the best this summer so perhaps you'll enjoy the video. Tennessee is finally about to get it's props! Three Six Mafia feat. Young Buck & Eightball and MJG - "Stay Fly" Video

John Coltrane was a genius. He remains one of my favorite people, not just an artist. Like all geniuses, Trane had problems. A ton of them actually. Alcohol. A heroin habit. Sporadic & moody behavior. Disappearing. But, as a jazz musician, I don't really think Trane was even touchable. Not by Miles (although close), Mingus, Dizzy, Monk, Blakey, anybody. Period. The music the man created was an "experience" to say the least. It can speed you up or slow you down. You choose. You have to picture yourself in a smokey bar during Harlem's heyday. Perhaps under a shade tree watching a sunset. Either way, you can't just listen to a Coltrane album or any work he's featured on. You have to involve yourself in it. For me, there's nothing better than Trane and a good book. Something about the combination of thoughts created by the literature and the landscape imagined by the music that sets my mind to whirl. Escapism at it's finest. I'm not even sure if Coltrane ever kicked his habits. I know in the last few years of his life, he embarked on a journey to solidify his relationship with God thru his music, in the form of A Love Supreme. This work is his most well known as it's him praising God thru the talent he was given. Music. This is my favorite song by Trane. It starts off slow in tempo and builds before finally coming down and settling before it's resolution. I dare to say it's almost sexual but that would almost defame it but the varying tempos and pace make it one of my favorite songs of all time. To me, jazz is almost like beer in that it's an acquired taste. It takes one really trying to enjoy it and having a good experience to fully appreciate it. For me, "Spiritual" was my first good buzz when it came to jazz. John Coltrane - "Spiritual" By request... "My Favorite Things" The albums featured here are all recordings from the Impulse record label, except for Lush Life. Meditations Lush Life A Love Supreme Soul Ship Expressions Part 1 Part 2 I hope you can grow to like or at least appreciate jazz, and moreso Trane, with these joints. In other music and bringing it a little more up to date... Of course, JLegend will be in the city on Thursday. And just in time for that performance, I ran across another live recording by our boy. This one seems to be a little older as they refer to him by his government name, "John Stephens". But, it's hot nonetheless. I remember it being on his website long ago but the cd was pulled once he officially signed a deal. So consider this a chance to hear it. John Legend - Live At Jimmy's Uptown And as an extra, here's a track that I stumbled across as well... John Legend - "Money Gone" And since rap is kinda stale right now as far as new material goes, here's a rare Mary album of unreleased tracks. Honestly, I've never heard of it but the spot where I found it, these cats were going nuts over it because it's apparently hard to come by. Go figure. Give it a listen anyways. Mary J. Blige - Eight Unreleased Gems Bootleg (2001) And this is the last from the DC post from yesterday. By all accounts, this is somewhat rare because it's an import so enjoy. Click the pic for a full tracklisting (and to see how much Amazon is charging for this joint lol). Beyonce - Live At Wembley (2004) And for reading material, this right here is pure comedic genius. It was pointed out to me on another board I frequent and it's just on point... College Football = Rappers Some notable comparisons... Tulsa/R. Kelly If you know what Tulsa's nickname is, this should require no further explanation. Ohio State/50 Cent True, they get results, but they also get results in a way that makes them nearly impossible to like. Have been known to cause Joey to go on hysteric-filled rants. Tennesee/Nas No matter how much they publicly embarass themselves, they've always got that one title to fall back on, ending any discussion. Usually manages to piss off everyone at some point. Florida A&M/Gucci Mane Took a sniff at going major, and then it was over before it even began.