hiphopmusic.com:

Am I the only one who keeps thinking of Sister Souljah when Beyonce does her "rap" on Ring the Alarm?

In honor of New York’s new #1 franchise, I now present “Let’s Get Metsmerized,” featuring raps from all the 1986 Mets from Darryl Strawberry down to Tim Teufel …not to mention the ill spanglish verse from Rafael “The Original Juelz” Santana:

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(courtesy of DJ MonkOne)

On the off chance that you haven't seen it yet, Dove's "Evolution of Beauty" ad commenting on how we enforce unrealistic standards of beauty.

Jay-Z perhaps taking a page out of Prince's playbook, and boosting his soundscans a bit by throwing in his "Kingdom Come" album with Nets ticket purchases (if these get counted):

Jay-Z Offers Album Free of Charge to Ticket Purchasers
soundslam

Rapper Jay-Z has literally* taken the promotion of his return album, Kingdom Come, to the next level. As a way of rewarding those that purchase a premiere week package for the New Jersey Nets, Jay-Z, in turn, is offering each purchaser a free copy of the album, which is currently set to hit stores on November 21, 2006. In addition, Jay-Z will personally hand-sign 100 copies of the CDs, which will be randomly distributed.

* When my debut album drops, I'm giving away a free copy with every overuse of the word "literally."

Had to figure this was coming. Gotta wonder if this'll be worth $1.65 billion after all the restraints they'll inevitably put on it.

Anti-piracy monitors could hurt YouTube
By ALEX VEIGA

...While YouTube is known as the place to find almost any kind of video clip, recent agreements with high-profile content creators require YouTube to deploy an audio-signature technology that can spot a low-quality copy of a licensed music video or other content. YouTube would have to substitute an approved version of the clip or take the material down automatically. Analysts said that stepped-up monitoring by entertainment companies raises the likelihood that YouTube fans won't find what they're used to getting - and will go searching for the next online video rebel.

...YouTube, based in San Mateo, Calif., has licensing deals with CBS Corp. and three major recording companies - Warner Music Group, Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. The companies will get a cut of YouTube ad revenue each time someone views a video licensed by them...

Mediatakeout never fails to entertain (if you don't catch a seizure from their banner ad onslaught):

...In a MediaTakeOut.com exclusive, we've learned that West African thieves are most likely responsible for the leak of Jay Z's album.

MediaTakeOut.com spoke with a man who claimed to know exactly where the leak originated. According to our source, who is a recent immigrant from West Africa, thieves swiped a copy of the album while Jay Z was touring on the continent. The source told us, "Jay Z left a copy in his hotel [room] and someone took it." Minutes after the theft, our tipster claims, the album was sent via email to counterfeiters around the world.

And our source's story seems to be corroborated by evidence. Yesterday MediaTakeOut.com visited a street vendor in Brooklyn who was already selling bootlegged copies of Kingdom Come. That vendor told us that the bootlegged copies had recently arrived from Africa. And he even defended selling the stolen recordings, saying, "with the economy the way it is, you have to do what you can to make money ... besides this is America - everything is for sale here."

A little old and a little new from Emskee, a 45 minute set from last week's Underground Railroad:

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Say what you want about the guy, he knows that everyone hates him and he's rolling with it.

FEDERLINE FIGHTS WITH PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER
wenn.com

BRITNEY SPEARS' husband KEVIN FEDERLINE stepped into the ring with World Wrestling Entertainment star JOHN CENA yesterday (15OCT06), in a stunt to promote his new album PLAYING WITH FIRE. The aspiring rapper made a surprise appearance during a taping of wresting show MONDAY NIGHT RAW in Los Angeles. Federline appeared before the sold-out crowd at the Staples Center and received a rounding chorus of boos from the fans. Cena and Federline pretended to exchange words, which ended in Cena unleashing his signature move - the F-U slam on the former back-up dancer.

Big Mama Thornton ""Hound Dog" - not sure what I love more, how she works this song or how she works that hat.

Harmony "Poundcake" - "I did you like I did you cuz I thought you could take iiit..." One of my favorite BDP spinoffs, complete with intro from Ralph McDaniels. And on the topic of BDP, don't miss Unkut's stellar interviews with Kenny Parker (one of the first supporters of our radio show back in 91, even though his brother has been avoiding us all this time.)

Isis "Rebel Soul" - a.k.a. Linque, another female voice from the golden age that never got her due.

Game Gets in Fight With England's "B6 Slash" Crew - Things I don't know: What the heck they are fighting about in this video. Things I do know: there's something unsettling about hearing British dudes say "nigga" this much.

Stephen Colbert Demands His Cut from That Google/Youtube Deal - Which reminds me, where's my check??

(10/17 - Updated with new link to video from bolt.com.. is it even worth linking up to youtube anymore? all their videos self-destruct in 5 seconds now.)

Jay-Z and F Gary Gray team up for the "Show Me What You Got" video, which is fine I suppose, but basically yet another episode of "Hooray, I'm rich! Watch me do rich people things!" I've said this before and i'll say it again: Jay is smart enough to deliver more than that. I wish he'd challenge himself, and challenge the "if skills sold, truth be told" orthodoxy more than he does.

(via the mighty eskay)

Seems like yesterday hopes were so high for Lupe Fiasco.. one of our own, an okayplayer poster blowing up in Kanye's video.. seemed like he was poised to become the latest savior of "real hip-hop" and leader of the "regular guy rapper" movement.. but those hopes have fizzled quite a bit, and the always sharp Swift Chancellor is asking why.

...My theory on Lupe is that after the MTV debut of the ‘Touch The Sky’ video his project was rushed. Not so much rushed by Atlantic (you know I don’t do record label hating) but rushed by the public. We wanted him. And we wanted him now. We wanted our savior. We wanted Kanye’s heir. Why? Because there hasn’t been a real star in our world since Black Star. There was Little Brother and we will get to them later. We needed a new leader and after one verse and a video we crowned Lupe.

But I am not sure we ever asked Lupe if he wanted the job or asked if he was ready to take it. So what happened was we pushed him into the spotlight too soon. The result was boring interviews and ill prepared stage shows. And just like that the Hip-Hop police tossed him aside and now await their next victim...

Somebody please tell me where this comes from?? I need answers.

via P6:

Breast cancer deadlier for blacks
Why? Report blames racism, says mammograms, care may be inferior

rican-American women in Chicago are much more likely than white women to die of breast cancer, and the racial gap is widening, according to a new study that calls the disparity "morally wrong, medically unacceptable and reversible."

Just 10 years ago, black and white women in Chicago died at the same rate from breast cancer. But the most recent figures available, for 2003, show the mortality rate among black women was 73 percent higher, researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital's Urban Health Institute report in a study being released today. Nationwide, the gap was about half that -- 37 percent.

The disparity in death rates appears to be the result of racism, "and it appears to be institutionalized," said Alan Channing, chief executive of Sinai Health System. In Chicago, white women are diagnosed with breast cancer at a rate 15 percent higher than the rate in black women.

So why are more blacks dying from the disease?

K'Naan tells the story of his crew's abuse at the hands of cops and bouncers in Sweden's Tradgarn arena, with a little footage of the incident included in the video:

(via Del Cowie)

Check below for details from K'Naan's online petition:

Today's winner is this gem from the Lupe Fiasco post in our album release blog:

"Every one wait 1 sec. I got the answer. Lupe is the whitest black guy ive ever seen. He talks trash about smokin blunts, totin guns, topless girls, and makin money. If u dont like that then ur probably a faggot"

Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry..

Forgot to post this earlier.. does the Department of Homeland Security seriously have nothing better to do?

Rapper Slick Rick Facing Deportation Again
billboard

British-born rapper Slick Rick is fighting the U.S. government's efforts to have him deported again, according to his legal representatives. In recent years, the rapper (real name: Ricky Walters) has been twice allowed by the courts to stay in the country after the Immigration and Naturalization Service ordered him deported.

But according to his legal team, the Department of Homeland Security has renewed Rick's case and is attempting to move it to Florida's 11th Circuit Court in Miami, where he was bizarrely arrested in 2002 for "deporting himself" and "illegally re-entering the country" after performing on a Caribbean cruise ship...

Jon Stewart on Madonna's Malawi Adoption - I'm still hoping Jay-Z will balance out this trend by coming back from his tour with a white South African baby, but in the meantime I'll settle for this Daily Show analysis.

The Bar Kays "Your Place Or Mine" - Some very bad things happened in that stretch of the mid-80s when everyone wanted to be Prince. Such as the hair in this video, for example.

New Back Video: "Cell Phone's Dead" - Directed by Michel Gondry, and you pretty much can't go wrong with that. I want the giant box creature from this one to fight the box creature from DJ Shadow's new joint

Vintage "New York Hot Tracks" Footage - Real heads know the deal. Ultra-mega-rare clips from NewYork's classic 1980's music video show.

Full Force "Alice, I Want You Just For Me" - continuing the 80's theme, my favorite hit from the men who pioneered the mixture hip-hop and R&B, and the art of being producers with way too many muscles, before Timbaland took over both lanes.

Booyaca! I imagine you've got about as much chance to collect on that as I do collecting on those checks The Source owes me from '91, but congrats nonetheless.

Kim Osorio Wins Big in Source Lawsuit
Ex-Source editor gets $14.5M for firing after harass charges
daily news

The Bible of Hip Hop is out a lot of Benjamins.

A federal jury in Manhattan yesterday ruled that The Source magazine and its two founders must pay $14.5 million to a former top editor who described a raunched-out workplace where executives watched porn, smoked pot and called female employees "b------." "I feel like I've been vindicated," said Kimberly Osorio, who was canned last year. "Whether it's hip hop, rock 'n' roll or the post office, there's still laws a company needs to abide by."

The jury took just four hours to find that Osorio was fired in retaliation for complaining about sexual shenanigans at the magazine. It also found that co-owner Raymond (Benzino) Scott defamed her during a radio interview when he accused the single mom of bed-hopping with hip-hop honchos.

"This verdict shows that all women must be treated with dignity and respect, no matter what industry they work in," said Osorio's lawyer, Kenneth Thompson. In his closing argument, the former federal prosecutor told jurors that the "eyes of the hip-hop community are upon you" while urging them to hammer Scott and co-founder David Mays.

Thompson also replayed a vile telephone tirade in which Scott called a music journalist an "ugly butch pig" and a "slut monkey."

Some of our forefathers are not so happy with VH1:

VH1 Honors, Disrespecting the Pioneers? hiphopgame

"...They took it kind of Hollywood this year," agrees Jazzy Jay.

Pioneer DJ Disco Wiz is not as diplomatic. "Don't start off one year honoring four pioneers, then three and then one," he says. "The only thing you're telling me is that you're phasing us out."

VH1 may not just be phasing out Hip-Hop's pioneers on stage. This has not been the first time pioneers have had problems with getting into the event, but this year may have reached the tipping point. "We're all standing outside with our fingers up our asses waiting to get in. We shouldn't have to go through this," Joe Conzo says. "If they're doing something in the true essence of Hip-Hop, the first people you should take care of besides the honorees are the pioneers."

Apparently not all pioneers got the memo that they weren't welcome anymore. "This year was real crazy," begins Jazzy Jay. "They told DXT, 'We know who you are. The reason you didn't get any passes is because you weren't invited. How are you going to have a Hip-Hop Honors and not invite us? The first couple of years they were begging all of the pioneers to be there and be in place so it could add credibility to their function. This year you had people like Kurtis Blow, who should not have a problem at all, outside waiting to get in. Then you're watching somebody's intern from the office walk in with a laminate like they're being honored and they have clout. I thought that was an atrocity to see that happen. I had to leave people outside and tell them (VH1), 'You have people outside. You need to take care of them.' They said, 'We're trying.' I said, 'Don't try. Get these brothers and sisters in.' Sometimes the security goes overboard but it is what it is. It's like they're at this higher level now and they don't need us..."

I'm working right now on a custom version of Google, that strictly searches all of the best hip-hop sites and blogs. You can get a preview here, and anyone who wants to help build this thing can click the "volunteer" link to join the team and start adding your own favorite sites to the search. We're aiming to establish a comprehensive Google-ization of top quality hip-hop sites.

The Google Hip-Hop Engine

EDIT: On second thought, I don't think this thing is ready yet for more cooks in the kitchen, so if you have suggestions for siites to add, or other feedback, please put it in the comments!

Complex has an excellent piece from Ben Detrick on Philadelphia's hot mess of a street-DVD/battle-rap scene, made famous by that Joey Jihad youtube sucker punch:

It's always sunny in Philadelphia
complex

“I’m gonna kill you,” hisses an anonymous voice through the phone. Calls like this, from restricted numbers, come almost hourly at the home of Philadelphia rapper Darren “Chic Raw” Martin. He usually ignores them, but sometimes, out of frustration, Chic can’t help but answer.

Such threats are the price of fame in Philadelphia. Based on a few mixtapes, a little radio play, and a number of DVD appearances that feature his snarled raps, the 22-year-old MC has become a big name in the city’s underground hip-hop scene. So who’s making the threats? Chic’s best guess is that the callers are rap rivals of his Top Shottas crew, hoping to make him squirm. But he doesn’t doubt that the threats are real.

On this sunny July afternoon, the curtains are drawn in the sparse North Philly apartment Chic shares with his girlfriend. They’ve lived here two months, and it shows; the walls are bare and there is no couch, only chairs. Chic still doesn’t feel safe in the downtrodden neighborhood. Between bites of instant noodles, he gestures toward the locations of numerous shootings that have occurred nearby. Tall and lanky, Chic has thin, brown scars on his forehead and oval eyes that widen into saucers when he becomes animated. His forearms are adorned with tattoos of his rap alias, his crew, a bar code, and a pair of theatrical masks around which “Laugh Now, Cry Later” is inked.

But Chic isn’t laughing...

Or more to the point: At long last, Nas flowing over a Just Blaze beat. Get it here or here.

Technically "Why You Hate the Game" is Game's record, though with Just, Nas, and Marsha from Floetry on there, he's not even the 3rd most noteworthy presence on his own track. But credit where it's due, he does come through with his usual namedropalicious, not-stellar-but-serviceable verses.

Game is the Luc Longley of emcees: nobody's mistaking him for an all-star, but he knows how to play his role on a winning team, and he delivers his usual 10 points and 8 rebounds here.

I'm heading down to take care of some business in Lawton, Oklahoma for the next week.. hopefully blogging will continue as usual, but I'm not mainig any promises.

If anyone reading happens to be in Lawton, drop me a note (and let me know where decent food can be had).

Before I leave town, here's 60 minutes of tricks and treats from our extended fam DJ Oneman. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something Wu.. see if you can name the rare stuff:

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