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ASAP Ferg put together a video for his first solo track he dropped way back in November. I’m still far from convinced that anybody in the ASAP Mob besides Rocky is going to establish a position in the rap game, but I liked this song for what it was back in the early winter so I figured I would post the video. I’m not knocking Ferg or anybody else in the Mob, but it’s a pretty common story line in hip-hop: artist makes it big, tries to bring his crew of rappers with him, they underwhelm, they fall off, the end. Regardless, check out the video, especially if you haven’t heard the song or if you’re like me and it’s been a while since you listened to it.
Chiddy and Xaphoon drop visuals for their feel good, Icona Pop sampling track off of Breakfast. Pretty much a perfect track for your Friday too, so go forth and enjoy children.
This is a project I didn’t intend on hopping into immediately, because Jada with hair scares me. But then I was looking through the tracklist and it proved impossibly hard to wait on a project that featured Wale, Meek Mill, Young Jeezy, Waka Flocka, 2 Chainz, Ace Hood, ASAP Rocky, Swizz Beatz, Yung Joc, Styles P, French Montana, Future, Gucci Mane, and Trae Tha Truth to name a few. I’m not by any means big fans of ALL these guys or even at all fans of at least a few of em (I see you French and Future), but you can’t deny the relevancy of a lot of those guys right now. And I’ve been a member of the Yung Joc Career Recovery Cooperative for some time now, so if listening to this tape is taking a step in helping resurrecting the dead, all the better.
Check the stream below and the back art/tracklist/download link after the jump. Make like Nike and just do it.
Chase drops visuals for The Heir Up There track. Cash, women. Nothing too new here. Here’s to short write ups.
Nas teams up with No I.D. for the next single from his June 17th album release Life Is Good. As we get closer to the release date, expect to see Nas showing up a lot. He’ll continue staying fresh in your minds with the release of the visuals for The Don tomorrow.
Cudi has apparently got back in to rapping, for at least one song, as Complex premieres a new track that Cudder himself sent over. If you were a fan of Man on the Moon II, the beat probably sounds familiar; it is just “Ghost” in reverse. Cudi also takes the moment to show off some of his latest ink, sporting his controversial wrist tattoos on the cover art. Overall, there’s a lot to ponder and discuss here, which is more or less expected from Cudi these days, so get to it.
Slaughterhouse drops the second single from their upcoming album welcome to: Our House and it features Ceelo on the hook. I’m a big fan of the group, but I gotta say, this song is not it. I’ve listened to it a numerous times now, hoping it might grow on me after a bit, but it’s just not happening. From the beat to the hook, it’s just not doing it for me. Regardless, still really looking forward to the album on June 12th; so much, in fact, that I might ask Bean if he can get in touch with his new buddy Royce Da 5’9″ and score me an early release copy (see below).
I know I wasn’t the only one looking forward to Monday willing to increase my dislike for Monday, because of it being the drop date for this first track from Rocky’s upcoming LongLiveASAP (July release). Hit-Boy producing a Rocky track? That had fire written all over it before we even heard it. I have to say this track does a pretty good job of living up to the hype. More than anything I’m happy to hear that it clearly wasn’t designed to get radio spins. I’ve got zero problems with songs getting radio play (there are some very good songs on the radio you hipsters, they just get played to death unfortunately) but I do have a strong disliking for songs that are specifically tailored for spins and sacrifice the artist’s sound to get there.
Rocky brings in his H-Town influenced sound that we all know him for, which I realize is a bit polarizing for some people. To me it is merely a reflection of the fact that music is becoming more wide spread. People in Harlem listen to and study DJ Screw. People in the Midwest listen to Kendrick Lamar. The internet has changed the times, and while some people have taken issue with that, I view it as a fairly normal progression, that hopefully with further the development of all types of hip-hop, if not music as a whole.
If you’re a fan, look for this track on iTunes come tomorrow.
There’s no way you haven’t heard about this by now. I would have had it up for you all ASAP, but as you might have heard, we ran into a bit of a hacker issue. But now all is well and I want to take a minute to sound off on this hologram.
Picture perfect, I paint a perfect picture
To begin with, this was amazing. It just was. Regardless of your positive/negative take on it, you can’t deny it’s crazy what technology can do. I had heard about the hologram a bit ago, as news of it hit the blogosphere, but I never expected it to actually be this real.
I have to assume that Coachella 2012 will be remembered as groundbreaking for this performance. Years from now, people won’t even remember that Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, and Warren G all graced the stage for one show (side note: the fact that Wiz is in that list still amazes me). The lasting impression will undoubtedly be Tupac, sporting his wheat Timbs, hollering back and forth with Dre and Snoop like we never even lost him. Ironically, it won’t be the hologram that fades to nothing, but everything else.
Now the way I see it, the hologram will be remembered for one of two reasons. The first possibility being that Pac’s performance 2012 will be the start of a new trend: holographic acts. The internet has already gotten a grasp on this, bringing up the possibility of acts ranging from Biggie to Big L. But why stop at hip-hop? When would the world be ready to see Stevie Ray Vaughan play one of his classic riffs one more time? How about Elvis swinging his hips like its still ’58? Kurt Cobain remind us who was responsible for the creation of a genre? The possibilities are endless. Yet whether this will turn into a new fad or a complete bust is near impossible to say right now.
This leads me to my next point: the other possible way Tupac at Coachella will be remembered is if it goes down as a one of a kind event. At $100,000 – $400,000 per hologram made (according to the hologram creator’s interview with MTV), holograms of every deceased artist aren’t going to start pouring out soon. Will these costs prove to be too high to make this a trend in live shows? If so, this performance would truly be remembered as a one of a kind performance.
However, how much does it cost to actually use the hologram after it’s already been created? Aside from the price of the equipment used to actually project the image, there would essentially be no additional costs. Would it be a possibility that one company could buy a hologram for $100k (which we can presumably safely estimate at this mark seeing as technology prices drastically decrease as demand increases, thereby increasing production) and then book it for performances at other shows, therefore actually making money off of it? It’s an idea, an idea that would contribute to holograms showing up at a performance near you.
What do you think? Were you blown away by the Tupac performance like I was? Did you dislike it? What’s your ethical standpoint on dead artists “performing” (and people potentially profiting off of this)? Would you pay extra to see a hologram join your favorite artist live? Would you see a show made up of solely holograms?
There are so many questions this performance has posed, I’ve merely skimmed the surface to save you from my ramblings, but I would love to hear what you think, so as always, hit me on twitter at the link below, leave a comment on this post or hit us up on our Facebook page; don’t be shy.
What goes together better than old British folks and Odd Future? Well it look’s like just about everything. OF just wrapped up their international tour yesterday, but first took time to sit down with the Brits over at BBC’s Newsnight for a quick look into their stay in London. The special focuses primarily on their pop up shop strategy, with a slew of poor jokes peppered in (“are there any washing instructions in here,” anyone?).
It’s not terribly difficult to pick up BBC’s stance on the collective, as they make an effort to include interviews with some seemingly pretty unintelligent kids waiting to get into the pop up shop. In some regards, the OF members only help contribute to this image BBC is trying to portray, as Left Brain’s dumb ass goes as far as saying on camera that they don’t pay taxes on the merchandise they sell (which Clancy so happily has to clear up after that).
A definite highlight from the interview comes at the 3:25 mark when Tyler is asked, “what about your lyrics, what are you saying in your lyrics?” and replies so eloquently with, “nothing, shit to piss old white people off like you.” I’ve seen a fair share of Tyler interviews, and I’ve realized that if there is one thing he hates, its when reporters ask the same old interview questions; seeing that a conservative 9 out of every 10 interviewers ask him to speak on his lyrics, which he has explained countless times, I can understand the frustration. Throwing out an answer like that on BBC is still hilarious though.
Oh and 100 pounds for one of those OF tie dye shirts? Hellll nawwww
