I knew this would happen – Rakim Finally Gives Up on Aftermath. The project has been dragging on for too long, and Dre has a history of this. Maybe Rakim just needs to get back with Eric B. It’s funny how just a few days ago Rakim was talking about how the album was about… Continue reading Rakim & Dr. Dre Split
Category: Music
Sad Week for Cuban Music
Celia Cruz has just passed away of complications from brain cancer. She’s the second Cuban music legend to pass this week. Compay Segundo, of the incomparable Buena Vista Social Club passed on July 13th. This article, The Keeper of Cuba’s Music, has a good retrospective of his life. I’ll miss both of these incredible musicians,… Continue reading Sad Week for Cuban Music
MTV’s Backstage Pass Week
There are some shows worth checking out on MTV & MTV2 over the next week or so. They’re having a ‘Backstage Pass Week’, which means: Enjoy the best in live music from the comfort of your favorite chair as MTV, MTV2 and MTV.com team up and issue you a VIP Backstage Pass to this summer’s… Continue reading MTV’s Backstage Pass Week
My Favorite Hip-Hop Albums
I’ve been moved to do a few more music posts by some other posts I’ve seen recently. And also as a continuation of my 22 greatest MCs post. Many of those posts are on the excellent J-Notes blog, which mainly focuses on jazz and R&B (James took me back with his recent Flashback Friday on… Continue reading My Favorite Hip-Hop Albums
Rapper Eve’s Photo Controversy
AllHipHop.com is reporting on the “pictures of a nude Eve and another female in a sexual position (that) have hit the Internet“. One of the pictures crossed my path last night, and I have to say that it looks legit. Eve had this to say: “I used to strip, so it could be me or… Continue reading Rapper Eve’s Photo Controversy
Download Prince’s n.e.w.s.
MSN is selling downloads of Prince’s new ‘n.e.w.s.’ collection. According to MSN: New directions in music from Prince. This collection of xciting instrumentals recorded live at Paisley Park flow from one genre 2 another in a breathtaking 56-minute xperience. Featuring Rhonda Smith, John Blackwell, Renato Neto, Eric Leeds and Prince. Not available in stores. Download… Continue reading Download Prince’s n.e.w.s.
How Innovation Can Save Entertainment
Here’s a topic that I often write about: the state of the music industry, especially with regard to file sharing. How to Save the World has a good article examining how the entertainment industry can adapt to the wild world of P2P file sharing. Here’s a snippet: At the same time consumers have become increasingly… Continue reading How Innovation Can Save Entertainment
KaZaA Lite K++ Edition
It’s time to give up KaZaA Lite for the K++ Edition. (I hope none of you are still using plain kaZaA!) K++ adds the following to KaZaA Lite’s features: Disallow others from seeing the files on your hard drive. ‘Search More’ an unlimited number of times. Download from up to 40 sources at once. Cheat… Continue reading KaZaA Lite K++ Edition
The Sad State of Music
I second and third the emotions of two posts about music I’ve read recently. The first (Grown Folks’ Music) laments the music being played on radio these days. I gave up on radio long ago, but I remember loving to listen to radio (especially KDAY and KJLH) in Los Angeles when I was a kid.… Continue reading The Sad State of Music
Hip-Hop Intellectuals
SFGate has a very good article exploring the coming of age of hip-hop’s second generation. This pretty much sums it up for me: In fact, the current class of hip-hop intellectuals is largely fed up with what hip-hop has become — sick of rap’s minute attention span, disorganization, violence, misogyny, cynicism, self-obsession, arrogance, machismo, homophobia… Continue reading Hip-Hop Intellectuals