New Media

The interwebs were abuzz this morning with reports that Rupert Murdoch invested $70mil for a 5% share in Vice media.  Hopefully this new shareholder will provide the capitol for Vice to take their groundbreaking reporting to a whole new audience, without ruining what's become the greatest source of independent journalism to ever grow out of a snarky hipster magazine.

Kendrick done started some ish

Man, what did Big Sean do?!  This song made more noise in hip hop since anything since Exhibit C, and rightly so.  Every mediocre MC in NY and beyond caught feelings behind Kendrick's verse because he claimed "king of NY".  Definitely not going to post any of those replies, because everyone seems to be trying to see who can come up with the most corny reply (I'm looking at you Lupe).  Calling out many of his own friends and peers by name, Kendrick goes out on a limb to try and elevate the artform, painting a huge target on his back in the process.  Inviting shots from anyone who felt a certain way, Kendrick has already gotten approval or recognition from anyone in the game who matters, so the message is clear to the critics "don't be bitter, be better".  You also have to give Big Sean some credit for releasing a song where another MC calls out his name on his own track, and he didn't catch any feelings, or rewrite his verse after the fact.

Back on the scene

In an attempt to get back into this blog ish, I'm just going to post some new vids I been feeling lately.  In no particular order:

Bishop Nehru


This kid knows there's no such thing as too much of a good thing.  Case in point, syrup and bacon.  If this video needs to be explained, I can't help you.  This is obviously Aaron LaCrate's new artist.  Check the flow for a few seconds, and you can tell kid's cadence is more mature than he appears.  Definitely appealing to the Joey Badass/backpacker demographic, Bishop can spit, and doesn't rely on the typical lean/molly/weed formula that so many rappers stick to these days to make their rhymes appeal to the masses.  Although rapping about rapping can get old, nothing about his verses are stale; we'll have to wait to see what kind of substance this young spitter can deliver.  If he sticks to his strict regimen of bacon and syrup, only good things can happen in the future.

Chance the Rapper


Also known as that rapper from Chicago who's not Chief Keef, and that's a very good thing.  Definitely not the first person to write about this kid, he's been making a bit of noise lately.  Not trying to pile on the hype, but you can't deny the beat, with it's nod to Dilla's "fall in love"...clearly a headbanger.  I'm not mad at his rhyme style, but some people have described it as annoying....whatever, it's not for everyone. If you're not feeling the singing, you gotta give him credit for doing something other than straightforward rapping.  It's tough to have a positive message in hip hop without coming across as corny, but this song seems honest, with a positive message, without the saccharine sentiments some artists have to rely on to push a positive message.

Domo Genesis


While everyone is busy jocking Tyler and Earl, I've been over here talking about Domo Genesis.  I can't claim to be the first fan, but any time anyone mentions OFWGKTALMNOP, I have to point out the one dude rarely mentioned.  While Tyler and Earl used shock value rap to gain attention (not mad, it worked); Domo's laidback flow has mostly gone unnoticed outside the underground.  With nothing shocking or ironic about his style, it's easy to overlook the dude in the back who didn't just return from exile on a tropical island, and who's too busy rapping his ass off to wind up on TMZ.  After the crew is through promoting Earl's Doris project, I'm sure we can look forward to an album from Domo in the coming year.  He may never gain the attention of the Vice magazine/Coachella demographic the way his cohorts have, but if the No Idols project is any indication, more people will be talking about Domo in addition his more popular peers.    
Willie the Kid


Ok, one more fairly recent artist to mention in this group might be Willie the Kid.   His project with Alchemist is making waves now for obvious reasons.  Again, you can't find fault with the flow on this track.  The cadence and wordplay sound a bit like Raekwon to me, which is not a terrible comparison for any young artist to receive.  It's a little confusing how a kid from Grand Rapids ends up sounding like dudes from Staten Island, but if there's anyone for young MCs to be influenced or inspired by, Wu is definitely not a bad place to start.  Action Bronson couldn't avoid the Ghostface comparisons early in his career, and I'm sure this kid will outgrow the lazy writers such as myself who compare every lyrical artist to someone in WuTang, but for now I'll just enjoy the rapity rapping, and look for more variation in the future.

Vid of the Day: ASAP takeover

This might actually be the first ASAP vid that got posted here for some reason.  The Live Love mixtape has been on heavy rotation in the ride, and the singles keep coming in anticipation of the debut album.  This one's another banger, with the Screwed up voices.   Never really was a huge fan of the southern screw ish, or the Master P ish, or even the Bone Thugs ish, which is where a lot of Rocky's influences come from, but dude talks that fly ish better than pretty much anyone else these days, and above all everything seems 100% authentic.  ASAP!!!

Nerd Corner: Prometheus rising

Two nerd corners in one day?!?! I know, thrilling, dont spill your Pokemon cards.  How can you not get excited about this trailer though?  The man that recreated our collective Sci Fi psyche looks like he is about to do it again. Pointing out how much Hollywood sucks these days is redundant, so it is nice to have a silver lining around the huge cloud of garbage coming to screens this summer.  Rumors about a possible Alien tie in has nerds squirming in their britches, but we'll have to wait another month to find out...

Nerd Corner: Batmaaaaaaaan

One comic book based franchise that never disappoints...no small feat these days when studios are trying to squeeze every possible dollar out of any marginally recognizable aspect of our childhood.  It would be much easier for Nolan to follow the Michael Bay approach and just put any IP he can get his hands on through the Hollywood CGI schlock machine and pop out another multimillion dollar turd.  I guess that's why we're not on The Dark Knight Rises part 9 yet.  The fans are glad to wait, stay classy Batman...

Vid of the Day: Reality Check

Another one from Homeboy.  Forgot about this one during the move, but had to post it.  Timetravelling boombox on some Memento ish...too deep, don't sleep.  Some people will probably overlook this one cause of the somber mood but Sandman always comes with something new.  Most rappers want floss and smack asses in videos...those are cool too, but this is what's generally missing in hip hop these days.  http://stonesthrow.com/homeboysandman