Traxamillion - From the Hood feat. Husalah, Jacka, & San Quinn (video)

Single from The Slap Addict

Free Husalah!

Aceyalone - TweakendZ

Heading down to LA this weekend. Finna hit this up on Sunday:

You should roll too.

Click here for more info

-Ninoy Brown

It’s always good to surround yourself around talented folkers. When a homie that has skills drops a record, you’re usually given the opportunity to hear that shit first and he or she might even hook you up with the homie discount. And when a homie possesses the capacity to kick knowledge, move souls, inspire change, etc through words and lyricism (without being too irical lyrical miracle), it makes you less shameful to hit your readers off with a post pluggin a homie’s album [1].

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Vejae (also known as Vejea Jennings, a rock star spoken word poet in his own right) for a couple years now, meeting him while I was going to UCSD. In a world where 1 out of 1000 spoken word poets might actually hold your attention, Vejae always rocked and took full control of his presence on a stage. It’s been long over due for him to actually release a full length album and manifest all his experience on the spoken word circuit to hip-hop, so I was hyped to hear that he decided to go this route, especially after hearing his part on my other homie, Arash’s album [2].

Luckily, I was blessed with the opportunity to get a copy of the album, and I’m blessing y’all with the opportunity to get a couple hot tracks from his debut album titled “Order of Things”:

Vejae - Order of Things

Vejae - The Game

Vejae - Dead or Alive

“Order of Things” features a nicely flipped “T Plays It Cool” layered with added percussional arrangements and reflections of hegemony. Words of industry standards using false representations and images for marketing play well with the hard hitting drums that fade in out throughout track in “The Game”. The third track, “Dead or Alive” shows Vejae’s ability of penning rhymes that can capture pictures with detailed images like battles with temptations, hedonism, fear, and death.

The album serves a diverse platter of songs. Soul moving, thought provoking, picture painting, body grooving. I’m hoping more than a few of the readers enjoy the tracks.

Spread the word if you’re feeling them. I’ll put up a link for where to cop it when it’s up. And make sure to hit up his myspace page:

http://myspace.com/vejae

[1] Make sure to cop that, and if it’s still out of stock, hollar at the dude’s at Access and get them to order more. If you run into a guy named Norm over there, tell him to hurry up with his mixtape. And while I’m already pluggin these homies, I might as well tell everyone to pick up these two joints too: Buttascotch and the Ignant Mix

*UPDATE: Support good music. Pick up Order of Things right hurre:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/vejae

-Ninoy Brown

…your services are no longer needed in the community.

A homie directed me to this blog: ninongbrown.blogspot.com

Coincidence and just getting influenced by the same movie? Or should I do as the b-boys do, crossing my arms, and moving my ‘bows up and down in opposite directions, making a biting gesture?

Don’t know what’s more nutty, finding that, or coming across this flavor of Steven Segal energy drink:

I haven’t really been droppin’ that many Bay related posts as I used to. Since it seems like a lot folks [1]ended up spotting my blog to get their Bay fix, I might as well continue do my best to drop some mp3’s every now and then, though I don’t want this shit to be an obligation. Some of this shit is lightweight old, but just some shit that I’ve picked up from other blogs and blog comments sections that I was feelin.

Ya Boy - Holla At Ya Boy

First off, the new Ya Boy track produced by Cool and Dre. What a great concept for a self-promotional single, especially when your name is Ya Boy. The beat is heavier on the Dirty South tip, something T.I. could easily be spittin’ on. Not sure if this will be the crossover track that folks are hoping Ya Boy will blow up with, but he’s still able to come off real hungry. Clyde Carson has been gettin’ some radio play with “2 Step”, so hopefully the Black Wall Street deal with pay off for these two.

Frontline - I.M.G.

Locksmith and Left continue with their attack on haters and unnamed rappers. A lot better than their last single “What You Want”. Funny how they talk about swagger jackers when Left is known for using well-known phrases from other rappers in his verses. Frontline had been a group that I really saw as having huge potential for crossover appeal. Their buzz has faded a bit, probably cause the New Bay thing never caught on. They still have the ability to blow up, though, as they’ve been smart in not pigeon-holing themselves in making songs to fit that “hyphy” sound.

Dem Hoodstarz - Ugghh (remix) feat. E-40, Too $hort, & Beeda Weeda

Clean version, someone hook it up with the unedited track. But the remix is still pretty damn ill, with the Droop-E revamped beat going harder than the original. And speaking of Beeda Weeda:

Beeda Weeda - Turfs Up (Bay Area All Star remix)

Another remix with damn near everybody in the Bay. This track is a couple months old, but I never posted it. Decent remix for one of my favorite Bay singles of 2006 from the stunnaholic.

DJ Fresh - F–ck For Free feat. Beeda Weeda, J-Stalin, FAB, & Dem Hoodstarz

I heard this track listening to Yellow Bus Radio, and was impressed with the throwback 80’s feel, like Turf Talk did with “Do the Robot.” This another radio edit, clean joint, so again, feel free to throw the unedited version my way.

Funny thing about “F–ck For Free”. As I was searching the internets for the track, I came across some random blog called “Too Drunk to F**k”. Before I clicked the link, I was expecting it to just be another random mp3 blog, maybe one that was Bay focused. But what the fcuk do I get when I enter the site? That shit’s in Nihongo. A Japanese blog on Bay culture/rap. How dope is that? I guess this hyphy/thizz shit has become a lot more global than I had ever thought. Of course I can’t make any sense of his writing, even though I took a year of Japanese in high school.  It’s clearly expressing Bay fetishism by some Japanese person.

Oh, and if you haven’t already copped it, pick up that new Demolition Men mixtape dvd. It’s no Treal TV; I don’t think anything will ever top it. Still pretty entertaining. The Demolition Men are planning to drop these dvd’s like mixtape cd’s, so expect about one every couple of months. These cats are grindin’. A lot of exclusive freestyles and videos from the Mob Figaz, Beeda Weeda, J-Stalin, The Team, etc. Husalah Hus is a character. Free Husalah!

[1] By a lot of folks I mean four readers… that Bob dude, and maybe the Nation of Thizzlam cats every now and then.

Btw, it’s a shame that new San Quinn joint is a hot mess. It would’ve been a lot cooler if he put out a single that I would have been proud to post.

-Ninoy Brown

Biz Marke - Energy Blues

Go plant some trees, hug some trees, smoke some trees, or however you’re suppose to celebrate Earth Day.

But at least watch these movies:

An Inconvenient Truth

Who Killed the Electric Car?

By now, most have seen the classic footage of Cam’ron and Damon Dash on O’Reilly’s “No Spin Zone”. We used the clip for part of a Hip-Hop workshop, disussing Hip-Hop’s mainstream media coverage, at a Student of Color Conference at UCSD a couple years ago. The video, which shows Cam’ron sonning O’Reilly, drew an immediate round of applause, laughter, and cheer [1]. Folks lauded Killa Cam’s ability to clown the bastard known as Bill O’Reilly. Some might say Cam made a fool of himself by not being proper and all that. But what the fuck does it mean to be proper other than assimilating to elitist white expectations? It’s subjective.

Anyways, Cam’ron is known as a spewer of some of the most absurd shit. Read some of his lyrics in his satirized rhyme book (yes those were indeed some of his actual rhymes those could easily be something he would have written). So if you didn’t think he wasn’t going to make ridiculous comments on Fox News, then you need to step up your game on nonsensical Hip-Hop gossip.

Thing is, Fox News thought they knew what they were going to get when they brought Cam’ron onto their network. They were expecting to get an ignorant rapper who wouldn’t be comprehensible to their audience of old white folk and Bible-belt red-staters. God forbid they would get someone like Chuck D to speak on their channel, which makes it that much more surprising that they M-1 made it through. One has to wonder who was fired from Fox News for letting an intelligible rapper earn air time on the channel.

Now onto some new ish. Cam’ron on 60 Minutes. Cheea? He’ll be speaking on the code of the streets, specifically on snitchin’.

Eskay:

Set your Tivos, this has the potential to not only outdo Cam’s appearance on Bill O’Reilly, but to be the best 60 Minutes segment ever…

This is gonna be great, but if CBS doesn’t have a responsible representative of the hip-hop community on the show as well, then shame on them.

Ditto.

To add, I’m hoping the program at least presents this information on snitchin’:

The heart of the snitching problem lies in the secret deals that police and prosecutors make with criminals. In investigating drug offenses, police and prosecutors rely heavily—and sometimes exclusively—on criminals willing to trade information about other criminals in exchange for leniency. Many snitches avoid arrest altogether, thus continuing to use and deal drugs and commit other crimes in their neighborhoods, while providing information to the police. As drug dockets swell and police and prosecutors become increasingly dependent on snitches, high-crime communities are filling up with these active criminals who will turn in friends, family, and neighbors in order to “work off” their own crimes.

From “Bait and Snitch” Slate article

[1]This was perhaps the most hyphy I’ve ever seen students get inside one of the rooms at Center Hall.

Update: Eskay has the videos, in case you missed the segment last night.

Well, I guess we didn’t get as many quotables from Cam, like we did when he was O’Reilly. I was hoping to get at least one “U Mad”.

Cam actually brought some perspective onto the industry side and how record labels are playing the street credibility card in promoting their artists. The labels are willing to further community crippling ideals just so they can continue making their guap. No surprise there.

-Ninoy Brown

I need to cop this movie.

Bonus clip: Rap tribute to Weng Weng

-Ninoy Brown

Yo Manny,

I understand who the fight was for, and I congratulate you on your victory.

I’ve stated the possibilities of your political power. But, I’ve also issued caution regarding the dangers of stepping into the institution.

Please don’t get caught up in the shadiness and corrupt business of the current state of the Philippine’s political sphere. They plan on using you. Be careful.

-Ninoy Brown

Words that are always too familiar.

They make you think that the issue is over by the firing of Don Imus, but with the sensationalism of it all, they give something like this more coverage than the death of Sean Bell. They pick and choose their battles, choosing the battles that can easily be scapegoated.

Don Imus was fired, but not without the never ending attack on Hip-Hop. Of course this is something that would be expected from the likes of Michelle Malkin, but white liberals do their part too.

Fox News attempted to continue with their blame game but chose the wrong rapper to antagonize when they brought M-1 to be interviewed by Neil Cavuto. Apparently there is a lot missing from the transcript and video, with M-1 shutting down the machine while in the belly of the beast. Peep Davey D’s interview with M-1.

Times like this are when we should all take a minute to review the words of Bell Hooks: Misogyny, Gangsta Rap, and the Piano

*Update: Bakari Kitwana drops his $0.02 on the complex nature of words and style, something the mainstream seems to never get. (spotted at Poplicks)

-Ninoy Brown