By shelz.

The not so shocking truth is that the female form, dressed or otherwise, has been used to sell everything that is up for purchase.  T&A has infiltrated the marketing schemes of all commodities from art to cars to food.  Even if the object for sale has nothing to do with women, T or A, she is shoved front and center to garner attention while the wonders of whatever product she is standing next to are extolled.

It’s a bait and switch for the psyche that obviously works and whatever works goes.  The more appealing the woman is, the better the chances are that you will stop what you are doing, drop your jaw and actually ponder running to the store to pick up whatever it is her body parts are hawking.

However, as we mosey deeper and deeper into all digitized everything and produce more powerful tools to create the perfect lady body (that God didn’t give most ladies), it raises a genuine question for those men who are peering from the outside in.  Is all this marketing madness giving young men, especially virgins, a not so realistic vision of what women are supposed to look like?

Ass is everywhere.  It’s in magazines, on billboards, on websites.  It’s inescapable, but most men who have been around the block or two (or at least next door) know a photoshopped booty when they see one.  They understand the average chick has physical flaws and those imperfections are whisked away by simple strokes of a mouse when her assets are splattered all over a magazine cover.  These poor young souls who haven’t seen ass except in HD however, are on their way to a really sad and unnecessary revelation.  Very few women look like that.

The funny thing is, when on the net, these virgin boys will pick a young lady apart for being human.  Her thighs are too big, her booty is too jiggly and her tatas hang too low.  Well, Andy Stitzer, I hate to break it to you, but the women in those sticky pages of your favorite magazine have been altered. Those photos are almost as much fantasy as they are reality and that same girl you believe to be a perfect ten probably isn’t, at least not for your high standards.

Now I’m not saying women like that don’t exist.  There are plenty of chicks out there who through a lucky roll of the genetic dice, plus a lot of self maintenance have been able to sort of photo shop themselves into that physical reality.  They are few and far between though and the chances of you running into her and then making her your gal even just for the night are pretty slim. Not saying that you aren’t great, but know the percentages are not in your favor.  So when that finally happens and you get to use a condom for more than water balloon toss, know that when that cutie strips down there may be a dimple or a stretch mark under there.  We would hate for you to ruin your first chance at nookie and blow the moment up like it was a scene from I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.

Fantasy has its place, but when roaming in reality’s realm you should probably try to think well.. realistically. No one is saying you aren’t entitled to your personal preferences.  Everyone is, but if your taste runs to the improbable or if your general experience with naked women is relegated to seeing them on a screen, in a book or on TV then you have to acquiesce to those who have encountered the fairer sex in 3D form and I’m sure most of them will tell you ole girl on page ten has had some work done. So hold your head and get ready, the dimple will not harm you, but the owner of it may if you act like you haven’t seen one before.

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By Odeisel

Dame Dash and friends have been creating more than a few waves with the coming of the 24 hour Karate School. While rap continues to drift closer to the business end than the artistic end of the spectrum, Dame has seemingly abandoned the recklessness that plagued his earlier run to the top for a more subdued approach that seems to be much more condusive to the temperment of familial growth.

One of the young up and comers associated with this next is Stalley. We at Planet Ill were first introduced to young Stalley last year at one of our many concerts. He was on the undercard of a larger show and to be honest we didn’t really know how to spell his name.  Well he’s gained enough momentum that eyes are on him and this is the latest salvo. 

Ski is back at it, removing all reasonable doubt as to whether he can still bring heat behind the boards. The beat is tough with enough grit to knock speakers in both cars and cribs. Stalley rocks it effortlessly, managing a commanding presence without fighting for attention.

Really dope vid, high on creativity and energy (dig the girl who does the karate kick). Here’s to more rappers and creators getting the chance to be seen and bringing new ideas to the form. Enjoy.

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By Malice Intended

Menace II Society (1993)
Caine Lawson (Tyrin Turner) is a high school graduate whose prospects are unbelievably bleak.  While some of his friends move on to college, he opts to remain in the brutal streets of South Central Los Angeles.  He and his sociopathic younger buddy O-Dog (Larenz Tate) live out an existence that consists of hand to hand crack sales, car theft, and murder.  As such activities become the increasingly routine; Caine becomes ever more apathetic about his chances for survival.

Released in the midst of the ‘Hood’ movie craze sparked by Boyz N The Hood, The Hughes Brothers succeeded in doing John Singleton’s saccharine coming of age tale one better.  Menace is neither a coming of age tale nor a heavy handed morality play.  It is essentially a crime film with undertones of social commentary.  The Hughes Brothers took the influences of De Palma and Scorcese and applied them to an early 90’s Gangsta rap sensibility.  The end result is a fearsome independent film that still retains the power to inspire shock and repulsion in its viewers.

Menace II Society illustrated the random violence of Los Angeles gang culture in a way that Boyz only hinted at.  It quickly endeared itself to rappers and Rap fans as the preferable alternative.  O-Dog became the living embodiment of “Gangsta”, with some rap lyrics shamelessly paying tribute to his destructive behavior.  17 years after it’s initial release, its raw power has yet to be matched.

King of New York (1990)
Newly released from Sing Sing prison, Kingpin Frank White (Christopher Walken) looks to reclaim his throne atop New York’s underworld. He also uses his position to become a modern day Robin Hood.  While his crew knocks off the old guard, they become the target of an equally ruthless group of cops who will stop at nothing to bring their reign of terror to an end.

Though it was eclipsed in popularity by the similarly themed New Jack City, Abel Ferrara’s hard nosed gangster opus actually predates it.  It also revels in the Uptown Drug Dealer chic of the era.  Gold cables and truck jewelry are on full display and Schooly D’s theme song growls to life on the soundtrack.  Looking back it would seem as though Ferrara was ahead of his time as this aesthetic had yet to become the norm for urban cinema.

King of New York went on to become a cult favorite.  The title of the film has since been co opted by Hip-Hop culture as a title bestowed upon whoever happens to be the most popular or influential rapper in the big apple at the moment.  The late, great Notorious B.I.G also named himself “The Black Frank White” in honor of the films main character.

New Jack City (1991)
A new drug emerges on the streets of Harlem in the 1980’s.  At the same time, a new kind of gangster emerges to exploit its power.  Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) and G Money (Allen Payne) form a clique known as the Cash Money Brothers, who lay waste to Harlem’s streets and become rich in the process.  As Nino’s reign of terror reaches epic proportions, Mario Van Peebles recruits officer Scottie Appleton (Ice-T) to head up a task force.  Their purpose: bring down the CMB and its flamboyant leader at all costs.

New Jack City is essentially a Black Exploitation picture for a generation of urban youth who were too young to have experienced that phenomenon the first time around.  The soundtrack was populated by New Jack swing instead of funk and soul, and the wardrobe and slang reflected the styles of the day.  Van Peebles borrows liberally from the De Palma play book, paying homage to both Scarface and the Untouchables.    Along with Boyz N The Hood it helped to usher in a new era of urban cinema.

Wesley Snipes career making performance as Nino Brown provides the film with a vibrant core.  He embodied the crack era in all of its decadence and self absorption.  The character is now seen as a monument to ruthless ambition much like Tony Montana in Scarface.  New Jack still holds a special place in the hearts of 30 something Hip-Hop heads who remember seeing it on the big screen amidst the controversy spurred by rioting at opening weekend screenings.

Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
In Ancient China, the ailing master of The Poison clan dispatches his pupil to disrupt the efforts of his former students, all of whom have mastered deadly Kung Fu styles based on poisonous reptiles and insects.  They seek to get their hands on the accumulated wealth of their master’s former colleague.  The pupil charged with this mission aligns himself with the more benevolent of the former students in order to stop the others.

Chang Cheh’s masterpiece had long been a cult favorite of martial Arts fans around world.  That following extends into urban communities where black youth devoured the output of Shaw Brothers studios via grind house matinees and television broadcasts.  This influence began to make itself known in the early 90’s when rap stars from all regions began to reference the film in various ways.  From New York (Wu-Tang Clan) to Florida (The Poison Clan aka The Baby 2 Live Crew) to The Bay Area (2pac) it seemed that Kung Fu Flicks had earned an unofficial spot in Hip-Hop as the cult genre of choice, right alongside Black Exploitation.

Five Deadly Venoms continues to charm viewers with its kitsch value and off beat story.  The motif of mastering a combat style to defeat an opponent fits in perfectly with the battle motifs of Hip-Hop.

Carlito’s Way (1993)
Newly freed ex-con and former heroin kingpin Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) returns to his stomping grounds in Spanish Harlem a changed man.  He no longer wishes to lead a life of crime, but to escape to the islands and live out his days as a legitimate businessman.  His ambitions are constantly at odds with his street bred instincts and his loyalty to old friends, such as his sleazy lawyer Davy Kleinfeld (Sean Penn).  To make matters worse, he becomes the target of both admiration and jealousy by new school gangsters like Benny Blanco (John Leguizamo).  A truly happy ending proves more elusive than Carlito had ever dreamed.

Carlito’s Way plays like a companion piece to Scarface.  It is centered on a more sympathetic protagonist, and its maudlin sensibilities are awash in sentimentality and melodrama.  None the less, it is a more polished and endearing film than its predecessor.  More poetic in its execution and a bit more thoughtful in it’s conception.

Carlito’s Way perfectly illustrates a favorite theme of Hip-Hop:  Making the transition from a life of crime to a life of (legal) luxury.  Carlito wants to change for the better, yet his ties to the streets are simultaneously a help and a hindrance.  Sound familiar?  Jay-Z’s early albums liberally sample the films most famous lines, and the title of Fabulous latest set “Loso’s Way” is a clearly inspired by the film.

Dolemite (1975)
After being framed by the infamous Willie Green (D’Urville Martin), Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) takes to the streets to reclaim his rep.  Along the way he has to contend with corrupt cops and black militants.

Made famous in the rhymed comedy routines found on Rudy Ray Moore’s immensely popular Comedy albums, The character of Dolemite displays the alpha male posturing of Black Exploitation at its most absurd and self aware.  The fight choreography is hilariously inept, and much of dialogue is spoken in the toasting style of his comedy.  Yet and still, Rudy ray Moore’s alter ego is the consummate sh*t talker.

Though his self proclaimed status as the original rapper can be contested, his obvious influence on rap Music as a whole is pretty obvious and goes well beyond sampling.  He has been featured on songs with Big Daddy Kane and in Videos with the Rakim and Snoop Dogg.  Rappers from all regions, eras and subgenres have acknowledged the considerable influence of Mr. Moore.

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By shelz.

Moving right along, we have the 2nd half of some of the most ill-fated musical decision making the industry has to offer.  Enjoy.

Eric Stefani

This story is a bit less tragic than the rest as Eric Stefani actually managed to get a Grammy nod for co-writing “Don’t Speak,” No Doubts best selling single to date.  However, Stefani rolled out on the band he helped create right after their first album dropped, choosing to go into animation instead.  Given, he did work for The Simpsons for a while but I can’t see capturing Bart’s ongoing fight with Side Show Bob as a step above the global dominance No Doubt once possessed.  At least he got to live the experience vicariously through his sister.

Tracii Guns

Name sound familiar? Well his last name should.  The band he formed and then ditched was actually named after him.  Once Mr. Guns decided he’d rather be a member of L.A. Guns than Guns N Roses though, the band kept his name because unlike him, it was too cool to part with.  Slash replaced Mr. Guns and the rest is California rock history.  Since then Guns has continued to record with L.A. Guns as well as Brides of Destruction, but you haven’t heard of them, have you?

Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez

Mr. Lopez co-founded the E Street Band back in ’69. By ’74, the band was just getting started on their road to fame.  However, Lopez believed the little money the band was making at the time was being skimmed by the bands Manager so he proceeded to kick the Mangers brother’s ass.  After the fight, the other co-founder of the band, Bruce Springsteen, told him he had to go. Born to Run, Springsteen’s break through album came out less than a year later. I wonder of he got that nickname after he got fired.  Makes sense if he did.

Aaron Burckhard

If you play drums and lived in Seattle in the late 80’s, you are probably an ex-member of Nirvana. The number of dudes who didn’t work out hovers above 50. However, the very first was Mr. Burckhard.  Story has it that he wasn’t very easy to get along with, but that was rarely a concern since he didn’t like to come to practice. So Cobain 86’ed him and 70-11 drummers later, the band finally found a winner in Dave Grohl. Then they took over the world, reluctantly of course.

Arabian Prince

So some say it was management problems and others say the crew didn’t need him once Cube showed up.  However, Arabian Prince said he left because he wanted to move in a different direction than NWA.  Regardless of reason, he left right after the first album dropped. Arabian Prince did come up on a little success, partnering with Russ Parr and dropping that novelty song “Roaches” to the tune of Timex Social Clubs “Rumors.”  He also produced JJ Fads, “Supersonic.”  However, those two brushes with fame along with his solo albums weren’t quite enough to keep Arabian Prince from falling into the black hole of obscurity.  Maybe he just didn’t have a big enough attitude. I wonder if he’s seen MC Ren down there.

Anyway, in the immortal words of Baby D, Summa lumma luuma sum lumma yumma. Yeeeeeaaah, that’s it.

PART 1

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By Malice Intended

Movies and rap music have more in common than people realize.  Both are forms that sample and appropriate elements from other facets of popular culture.  They swallow these elements whole and regurgitate them as something brand new, or at the very least unrecognizable.  Both rappers and filmmakers have a keen awareness of the world they live in.  That awareness informs the output of their respective forms.

Rappers have a voracious appetite for movies and are highly influenced by them.  Rap songs have sampled bits of dialogue as well as musical scores from films.  Movies and movie characters have inspired both songs, album titles, and the very names of rappers themselves. In recent decades that influence ceased to be one sided as Hollywood realized the economic and artistic potential of Hip-Hop culture and have appropriated it to keep their works relevant to younger audiences.  Rappers are now involved in almost every facet of the filmmaking process.

Planet Ill now takes a look at some of the movies that had a hand in shaping our culture.  Not “Hip-Hop” films per se, but movies that have enthralled rappers and rap fans alike.  While it is nearly impossible to narrow these selections down into single digestible list, there are certain standards and classic that warrant special mention.  Just as many of you have seen these films countless times, so have your favorite Rap artists.  It is Planet Ill’s pleasure to present to you the most influential films in Hip-Hop.

Scarface (1983)

Tony Montana (Al Pacino) and Manolo “Manny” Ribera (Steven Bauer) are displaced Cuban refugees who violently fight their way to the top of Miami’s cocaine trade in the early 1980’s.  As Tony’s appetite for money and cocaine become insatiable, his greed and delusions of grandeur threaten to swallow his empire whole.  Tony’s trophy wife Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer) stands numb in the midst of the maelstrom as Tony self destructs in the most flamboyant possible.

Though it did mediocre business at the domestic box office, Brian De Palma’s remake of the 1932 Howard Hawks classic has since gone on to become a pop culture juggernaut.    Hip-Hop has the distinction of being the first medium to acknowledge that influence.  Since the late 1980’s, Rappers from different regions and subgenres have constantly referenced the film.  Tributes have ranged from sampling bits of dialogue and the musical score to remaking songs form the soundtrack.

In the post “gangsta rap” era, that influence may seem to have waned, but rest assured that Brain De Palma’s epic dirge about greed and excess still resonates with a culture that has always been enamored by such things.  The phrase made popular by the film could easily be the mantra of every Hip-Hop entrepreneur who ever lived: “The World is Yours”

The Mack (1973)

John Mickens is a newly released ex-con.  In a bid to take over Oakland’s pimp game, he reinvents himself as “Goldy”.  With the help of his pal Slim (Richard Pryor) he evades racist cops as well as the vigilante actions of his revolutionary and militant minded brother Olinga (Robert E. Mosley).

The Mack was one of the most popular black exploitation films of its day.  It introduced the concept of the “Player’s Ball” to the general public, which has provided fodder for endless parody and homage.  Despite its budgetary limitations and lurid subject matter, its appeal endures thanks to a screenplay chock full of quotable dialogue that has been exploited by the likes of Too $hort, Ghost Face and many others.  Its impact on the Bay area rap scene in particular cannot be understated.  It was filmed on location in Oakland and has since become a part of that city’s mythology.

The Warriors (1979)

Delegates from New York City’s street gangs congregate at a war council in The Bronx.  The meeting was coordinated by Cyrus (Roger Hill) leader of New York’s most powerful gang, The Grammercy Riffs.  When Cyrus is gunned down in cold blood during a speech, The Warriors are accused of pulling the trigger.  The Warriors must now make a dangerous trek on foot from The Bronx to Coney Island.  Along the way they must do battle with every single gang along that route as The Riffs have placed a bounty on their heads.  Not to mention the swarms of uniformed cops looking to bust heads and fill paddy wagons.

Based on Sol Yurick’s novel, The Warriors is a comic book fable in the purest sense of the phrase.  The surrealist color palette and over the top costumes and make up firmly place it in the land of make believe.  Though its gritty tone suggests a bid for realism, the film is anything but.  Though it is undeniably dated, it remains thoroughly enjoyable on its own terms.  Its levels of kitsch and unintended camp might make it seem like a time capsule antique that is meant to be enjoyed ironically.  However, director Walter Hill’s old fashioned storytelling sensibilities elevate it the level of myth.

The film’s most famous line “Warriors, come out to play”, has been imitated and referenced in dozens of songs, as has the war council sequence that was actually inspired by real life events.  Though the film is clearly fantasy, its visual motif mirrors the New York City gang culture that gave rise to Hip-Hop Culture as a whole.  The Warriors stands as a Hip-Hop themed film before there ever was such a thing.

Superfly (1972)

Priest (Ron O’Neal) is a successful cocaine dealer growing tired of the life.  Despite the protests of his friend and partner Eddie, he devises a plan to get out of the business.  The plan entails acquiring and dealing enough coke within a month to allow both Eddie and Priest a lavish early retirement.  However, the corrupt cops who oversee the drug trade have other ideas.  Will Priest realize his dreams of a better life, or will the streets confine him to a never ending cycle of hustling?

The central idea of the film, liberation through hustling (or hustling being used as a means to simultaneously undermine the system and emancipate oneself from it), has become a reoccurring theme in rap songs that focus the drug trade.  Curtis Mayfield’s immortal soundtrack has been sampled countless times, and Ron O Neal’s portrayal of Priest as an introspective and dashing rogue has clearly made an impression on a generation of rappers.

Not surprisingly, the film was subjected to the same sort of criticism that Gangsta rap would be decades later.  It’s portrayal of the drug trade was seen as glorification by some, realism by others.  The parallels between Gangsta Rap and Black Exploitation are innumerable.  If nothing else, Superfly is a testament to how America’s fascination with underworld antiheroes does didn’t start with the Hip-Hop generation.  As we were enamored with gangsters, so were our parents.

Goodfellas (1990)

Enter Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), an aspiring mobster whose mixed racial heritage keeps him from becoming a “made” member of La Cosa Nostra.  Though he is relegated to associate status, that does not stop him and his pals Tommy Devito (Joe Pesci) and Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) from taking down one score after the next.  Their crimes range from petty hustles to large scale heists to murder.    Henry’s wife Karen (Lorraine Braco) is initially taken aback by this lifestyle, but quickly becomes acclimated to it.  Henry’s love affair with a life of crime sends him speeding down the fast track of life.

Director Martin Scorcese’s instantly recognizable visual style has been imitated in countless rap videos.  Goodfellas was one of the first films to offer a blue collar view of mob life that stood in stark contrast to the plush upper echelon setting of The Godfather films.  The sudden, bloody violence closely mirrored the carnage that became all too routine in America’s streets during the crack era.  The film itself served as a blueprint for perhaps the best “Hood” film of them all, Menace II Society.”

Tune in tomorrow for part 2.

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By Odeisel

Welcome back,
Your dreams were your ticket out.

Welcome back,
To that same old place that you laughed about.

Well the names have all changed since you hung around,
But those dreams have remained and they’re turned around.

Who’d have thought they’d lead ya (Who’d have thought they’d lead ya)
Here where we need ya (Here where we need ya)

Yeah we tease him a lot cause we’ve got him on the spot, welcome back,
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.-John Sebastian (Theme To Welcome Back Kotter)

We aren’t talking about the former sweat hog returning as a teacher to the classrooms he once terrorized. We’re talking about T.I. returning from a prison stay and a prolonged hiatus from the music that took him from the trap to the top. He may have left as the “king” but there are a number of figures that loom large presently including young Weezy, who follows T.I. prison path as of yesterday, his phenomenon apprentice Drake, whose thunder of a leak with “Over” was a bit muted by T.I.’s return, and emperor Jay, who seemingly won’t stop rocking till he retires…and won’t retire.

Despite the hypocrisy of court mandated community service, the chicanery of a reality show, whispers of possible snitching,  and other detriments, the “king” returns in full splendor; seemingly immune to things that would have slowed the careers of a lesser personality. To a starving market of slave music rappers and dad mad glad bad sad lyricism T.I. delivers “I’m Back.”  While it isn’t anything new, it shows no signs of rust on Mr. Harris.

In I’m Back he takes rappers from the “A” to task for presumably not holding it down in his absence and in the wake of himself, Wayne, Guccu and Lil Boosie losing their freedom. But never fear he’s back to tell you how to ball and how to get it how you live.  Also take to task are the myriad posers who don’t bust their guns, have never caught a body or spent time in the trap (cue sarcasometer). He’s back to take them out the game too.

His delivery is strong but his voice is a bit muddier than usual. The rhyme scheme is similar in form and construction to songs like “Front Back.” The beat is T.I. beat X we’ve heard him rap over similar things before. In the end, “I’m Back offers us the same T.I. that we’ve grown accustomed to. After a year and change away that can be counted as a victory for him musically.  Let’s see where he goes from here, now that he’s reestablished his center.

T.I. I’m Back T.I. – I’M BACK

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By Odeisel

Hip-Hop is preoccupied by death.  An art form that began celebrating life and partying has become tethered to darkness. Whether that is coincidence or by design, I will leave to you to decide but let’s take a look at that why. Americans from the sixties can all remember what they were doing when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. They do remember what they were doing with pretty much any of those tragic murders from King to Malcolm etc. I do remember when B.I.G. was killed.

I was in college then, and March 8 was another drunken party night. There was actually a fight at the party that I managed to only watch as spectator. After a bit of parking lot pimpin’ it was a relatively early night and I was in bed by one. I got an off campus call (double ring, non booty) at 2AM.  And someone from home said Biggie got shot. I wiped the cold out my eyes and after a groggy what are you talking about, it sunk in. I didn’t feel that way when Tupac got shot, because you figured he’d get better, and come back with more records popping shit. This didn’t feel good from the beginning.

There were a lot of us back then that wondered what the hell he was doing out there anyway. We knew that there was certainly a climate that was conducive to violence and that after Tupac died there was an element out there that believed Bad Boy responsible on some level. When I got the news it just hit like a bomb; like it was family. I guess perhaps THAT was the true genius of Christopher Wallace.

In death, heroes are magnified to mythic proportions. Deified even. We forgive transgressions. We ignore faults. Like the ultimate breakup, we remember the good times with little attention to the reason why we broke up. Biggie was flawed. There is no drama in perfection; no heroism with invulnerability. Fat. Black. Husky, nasal voice. Lazy eye. And every reason in the world to be relegated to the underbelly of society. But there was a defiance. A refusal to avoid the shine. A reversal of fortune by seeming force of will. Yes black and ugly as ever, HOWEVER. I think more than a few people lived vicariously through Christopher Wallace. More than a few people were paralyzed by their shortcomings and frozen in place.

The Glass Menagerie

 Biggie was able to extol the virtue of the ruling class, complete with Bentleys, and Coogi, and Versace and a bunch of shit regular people can’t afford, yet he never drifted in earthy sensibility past the borders of Brownsville. That tightrope walk was a miraculous demonstration of Wallace’s narrative dexterity. He never let the boulevard resent the bourgeoisie in him.

In his death his elevation diminishes what he was, because to me it’s almost an indictment that his accomplishments weren’t enough. He didn’t “bring the East Coast back” as 36 Chambers, Illmatic, and a bunch of records stylistically ushered in that era beforehand. Bad Boy may have mugged more cameras due to Mr. Combs’ omnipresence, but they never outsold Death Row on an album to album basis. No matter how much we love him, nobody is the greatest rapper of all time with only 2 albums. (It’s funny that of all the shit Canibus said on the mic that phrase is the most repeated/remembered).

The real truth is that Christopher Wallace was perhaps the most superhumanly human of any rapper that ever existed. Tupac was a handsome physical specimen with otherworldly energy and charisma, and a whirlwind of drama made for media. ODB was so human it was a tragic caricature/parody of a sick yet entertaining family member. Jay-Z does not allow that emotional resonance.  You “gotta admire him from four fiends away.” There are tons of everyman “regular” rappers. Biggie, however could speak about things so far from the existence of most of his fans, yet relate them with such commonality that it was nothing.

When you think of Biggie today, you don’t have to convince yourself or anyone else that he was the greatest rapper of all time. He was someone’s son.  Someone’s father. Someone’s friend and someone’s lover. That’s enough to be missed. But behind that microphone, he was a communicator who took the world serious enough to want more from it, but not serious enough to ignore the glass menagerie of it all. “Niggas is actors, niggas deserve Oscars, me I’m critically acclaimed…” That line tells you all you need to know about the Notorious B.I.G. A tongue in cheek narrator keenly aware of his own depressed reality able to live vicariously through the images he could conjure in the minds of his listeners. The ability to change his own reality with words. There is perhaps no greater epitaph.

If you love B.I.G. you NEED this in your life http://www.jperiod.com/march909/ >J.period, who has become a best of genius has really and truly outdone himself with this collection. No gratuitous yelling and screaming his name, but masterful blends/remixes of Biggie’s catalog the hard and the pop. Much love and respect to him for this.  Enjoy. 

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By shelz.

We are all products of our decisions.  The roads we travel are littered with forks and inevitably the side we choose is either cause for celebration or a reason to mourn missed opportunity.  Sometimes you’re right, sometimes you aren’t.  However, there are some folks out there who have taken bad decisions to monumental fail status. They couldn’t have known that the choice would be the absolute worst of their entire life, but in retrospect, the shit has to hurt. A LOT.

In the realm of the super music group there have been some really bad choices made before the band hit the big time.  Some guys felt like their rising star was way too big to share the spotlight with the other members.  Some felt like the front end work involved was too much for them to handle.  Others just felt like they were wasting their time and would always be playing in their grandmother’s basement so they just gave up. But they all kicked rocks right before the world took notice.

So below we have some victims of their own decisions, apathy, or ego.  Feel bad for them if you want to, but it won’t make any difference now.  They had their chance and they blew it.  Big time. 

Timothy Gatling 

Gatling and Teddy Riley had been friends since childhood.  Their common love of music led them to founding Guy with Aaron Hall and trying to break into the industry with a new funky form of R&B called New Jack Swing.  However, before the first album came off the presses, Gatling jumped ship for a solo career.  He aptly named his solo album Help! because that’s exactly what he needed to keep up with the meteoric rise of the band he decided was too constraining for him. Unfortunately, he never got any. He’s written for a few people since then and started another group called Surreel (me neither.) However, he totally missed out on sales of over 4 million. 

Stephen Duffy 

Who could have known the second British Invasion was going to really happen?  I mean, we don’t really like the English, do we?  Well we did in the early ‘80’s when New Wave tinted pop became MTV’s mainstay and leading the charge of the Wham’s and Culture Clubs that flooded the airwaves was the quintessential 80’s British boy band, Duran Duran. Duffy was a founding member but decided, for some reason or other, he wasn’t down for the cause early in the game and left to start Obviously Five Believers. That group only managed to eek out one single while Duran Duran went on to become the most popular pop Britpop act of the ‘80’s.

Marc Nelson
He was a member of Az Yet, but try to come up with an Az Yet song. Don’t worry. I’ll wait. Anyway, while you’re thinking, know that even though he experienced some flash in the pan success with that group, the original crew he was with, Boyz II Men, did just a little bit better. Hailing from Philly, Nelson was part of the original line-up but checked out prior to the release of Cooleyhighharmony to start…you guessed it… a solo career. Given, this guy has been able to keep a job in the industry, but “End of the Road” is Motown’s highest selling single. Ever. Compare that to the Az Yet song I asked you to come up with, if you managed to do it.

Ron McGovney 

The sad story of Ron McGovney pretty much starts and stops in his garage.  He helped arrange demos, gave the band a place to practice and even helped lug all their ish around in his car before they were signed to a major and he’s repaid by allegedly being bullied and having beer poured all over his bass.  The situation affected him so deeply, he sold all of his equipment and said to hell with being a rocker before the first album took shape. However, if he would have persevered he would still be the bassist for one of the most critically respected and commercially successful metal bands of all time, Metallica. 

Metallica – The Memory Remains

Spike Savage | MySpace Video

Jaime Kelley 

Constructing the concept for a group before you have the people to fill the slots is pretty easy, but filling the slots is where the problem comes in.  However, boy band guru Maurice Starr knew the ins and outs of the process and decided he was going to construct a white counterpart to New Edition.  New Kids on the Block started with the two members who obviously didn’t want to be bothered and took leave early on only to be replaced by young men who were feeling the project. The first to leave was Mark Whalberg who we all know became Markey Mark, did some work for Calvin Klein and ended up wowing Hollywood with his acting chops.  The other was Jaime Kelly who was dismissed for having an Allen Iverson outlook on practice.  The industry hasn’t heard from him since.

PART 2.  It gets worse.

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By Odeisel

As its May7th release date approaches, Iron Man 2 is drumming up major momentum.  The follow up to 2008’s box office smash finds Robert Downy Jr. back in the saddle as billionaire narcissist arms dealer Tony Stark, minus a bit of that hustle and flow and adding a bit of that Don Cheadle as brother-in-arms James Rhodes.

Following the Oscars broadcast last night, we were treated to the second trailer for the Marvel Comics  juggernaut, complete with more effects, more action and more characters in cluding the femme fatale Black Widow, played by hottie Scarlet Johansen in newly red tresses and a very form fitting outfit.

Mickey Rourke’s character Whiplash is heard in full faux Russian dialect and is fleshed out in a far more menacing manner.  More explosions, more to the plot, and far more viduals than the first trailer. But don’t take my word for it.  Trailers speak louder than words. Peace.

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By Elianne Halbersberg

You’ve been there: in line at the grocery store, the waiting room in a doctor’s office, an afternoon matinee, Sunday service at church, a cross-country flight. One minute you’re minding your own business, deep in thought; the next, you’re ready to skin yourself because the screaming baby next to you WON’T SHUT UP.

In all fairness — and to avoid being labeled a heinous baby-hater — grocery stores, waiting rooms, matinees, church pews and flying metal tubes are no fun for infants,but leaving the baby with a sitter isn’t always an option, and that means consequences for uncomfortable child and heinous baby-haters alike.

It happened on a cross-country flight to the winter NAMM show in January: middle seat, last row, across from a screaming child. Make that a shrieking child. Five hours of shrieking child. And when the kid finally dozed off, along came cart service to wake her up and start the whole damn process again.

So imagine my unrestrained glee at winter NAMM when, upon asking the nice gentlemen at Ultimate Ears — vice president and general manager Philippe Depallens and director of product marketing Paul Manfrini — whether their products could noise-cancel tiny human lungs, they sent me home with a pair of Universal Fit earphones just to prove their point. Five hours of silence all the way back to the East Coast; if a baby screamed, I didn’t know it. Bliss.

Ultimate Ears, by Logitech, was born stage-side at a Van Halen concert in 1995, thanks to sound engineer Jerry Harvey, who first developed an in-ear speaker system with sound isolation for drummer Alex Van Halen. The key: dual drivers and custom-fitted shells made from impressions of Van Halen’s ears — built for comfort, durability and a crystal clear in-ear mix. Today, 75 percent of the touring music market uses these products, which Manfrini describes as “$30,000 stereo sound systems in your ears.”

Ultimate Ears are manufactured with a 100 percent acrylic outer shell. They are handmade from impressions that can be made in-office or via a worldwide network of audiologists on referral by the company. UE can turn an order around in five to seven days from receipt of impression. Customers can also submit designs and artwork for their personalized earphones.

The earphones come in two models: Custom Fit, handcrafted for touring musicians and serious audiophiles, and Universal Fit, which are available at three different prices levels with three different levels of delivery. Custom Fit models are high end, ranging in cost from $399 – $1350 for six speakers per ear, while the Universal Fit begin at retail level $49.99 – $89.99 and top off at $399.99 – $419.99 for models that come with five different tips. Some models are also iPhone-compatible.

The separation of sound comes from the armature speakers, which originated in hearing aids to capture voices. “The speakers are miniaturized into each earphone,” says Manfrini. “Each speaker receives a portion of the spectrum — low, mid and high — for precise sound and tuning. Studio engineers are often frustrated that they select the right setup and mix for their recordings and it’s eliminated by the poor quality of compression. These earphones allow the audience to appreciate their work.”

It’s interesting, and somewhat perplexing, to contemplate the items on which the general public is willing to drop serious coin. They’ll shell out crazy money for clothing that hangs in the closet, 100 television channels that they never tune in to, and jewel-encrusted watches that tell time the same way as a chain-store brand. Yet, when it comes to something as precious as their hearing — which, once it’s gone, they can’t get back — they’ll compromise with an uncomfortable, low-end product. Why not protect something as valuable as your hearing, possibly for a fraction of the cost of your latest pair of jeans or boots?

For more information, and guaranteed relief from screaming babies, visit www.ultimateears.com/_ultimateears/.

Elianne Halbersberg is a freelance writer whose work has also appeared in Mix, Premier Guitar, Electronic Musician, Audio Media, Ink 19 and many other magazines and websites.

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