Cool Hip-Hop Honors programming

“VH1 ROCK DOCS: FADE TO BLACK” & “CLASSIC ALBUMS: JAY-Z” PREMIERES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3 STARTING AT AT 8:30 PM*

Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) has been one of the most influential figures in black American music since the mid-nineties. "Fade To Black" reveals the multiple Grammy Award winning artist as never before, from his background and rise to fame to the recording of his last album. The film chronicles his legendary concert at Madison Square Garden in November 2003 that featured guest performances by Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, Foxy Brown, Pharrell, and Questlove and The Illadelphonics along with appearances by hip hop icons Damon Dash, Rick Rubin, Slick Rick, P. Diddy and many others. Viewers get the rare glimpse into Jay-Z's creative process as he searches for inspiration, poetry, and perfection in his songs. Narrated by Jay-Z himself, his account of the night takes on reflections of his entire musical career and his journey that led to this one astounding, fabled evening--rightfully called "Fade To Black."


“THE SALT -N- PEPA SHOW” PREMIERES MONDAY, OCTOBER 15 STARTING AT 10 PM*

“The Salt -N- Pepa Show,” will follow the ladies as they attempt to reunite on and off the stage in this funny, often touching reality series. They soon discover however, that achieving this is easier said than done since most of their past issues are still unresolved. Salt is angry about being unappreciated when they were together and Pepa blames Salt for breaking up the group. Their lifestyles are also polar opposites: Salt is a devout Christian and is living a quiet life in Long Island with her husband, while Pepa is still the party girl and desperately wants to re-capture the glamour of Salt ‘N Pepa’s glory days. Can they overcome their differences long enough to heal their friendship and perform again?


ON Vh1 Soul
“New Jack Swing Weekend” Beginning Monday, Oct 1 at 6 AM*

In conjunction with the fourth annual VH1 Hip Hop Honors show, VH1 Soul will pay homage to New Jack Swing, the hip hop genre created by two of this year’s VH1 Hip Hop Honors honorees, Teddy Riley and Andre Harrell. New Jack Swing rose in popularity in the 1980’s when R&B/Hip hop artist and producer Teddy Riley integrated hip hop rhythms, samples and production techniques with the urban sound of R&B. To celebrate the impact of this hip hop genre, VH1 Soul presents “New Jack Swing Weekend,” a special weekend full of signature programming to celebrate the New Jack Swing era of hip hop music, including:

· New Jack Swing A to Z, a video marathon of every New Jack Swing video in alphabetical order starting from After 7 to Zhane

· Teddy Riley's Top 10: Best in Soul, an hour-long block hosted by Teddy Riley, featuring his Top 10 favorite "New Jack Swing" videos

· The BBC original documentary, “Urban Soul: Stories on the Making of Modern R&B” on Saturday, October 6 at 8PM*.

Notes From the C Train

- do college girls look better now than when I was in college or is just me

-took the train back home last night after a few drinks. Sucked. I can't do that anymore. I done gone soft.

-Kids I know you love Kanye but it is too hot for the polo sweater. Even if the sleeves are rolled up.

-Why the hell is David Banner on the cover of The Source

-and he (Banner) was terrible at those hearings

-so the home run ball is headed to Cooperstown with an asterisk. You proud of yourself Senor Ecko?

-Now Vick is saying he took one for the team. Is he the new poster boy for Stop Snitching?

-Joe Torre almost in tears was dope

-Parent/Teacher Day today. I love being a dad

-This just in: Lil Wayne still sucks

-Late Registration is better than Graduation

-75 and 79 percent drop for Ye and Fif. Not good

The good, the bad, the ugly

Some thoughts on...Hip-Hop

1. The good - Funkmaster Flex 90's at 9 om Hot 97. I know we are all supposed to hate Flex but have you listened to this show? It's frikkin awesome, dude.
You see Flex is more like us (whatever that means) than you think. He was raised by Chuck Chillout back when a mix show on Kiss was more like Stretch and Bob. He has broken records from Cash Money to J-A-Y to Jeru. He has been on the front lines for better or worse for a dozen years. So when he trashes Lil Wayne like he did last week, pay attention.

2. The Bad. the problem with Hip-Hop is the lack of rhyme books. If rapppers actually took the time to write well conceived songs the world would be a better place. Most rappers are like the dude in Anchorman who just looked around the room and said 'I love Lamp'. They go to the studio and just spit out whatever they see. Every rapper must have gold leafed rhyme books like my man J-Live. Or else you don't get an MC card.

3. The ugly. Rappers who think they can build a career off of a dance song. I see the Souljah Boy revolution and it reminds me of the Chicken Noodle Soup revolution and the Lean With It Rock With It revolution and the Pee Wee Dance revolution. As Flex so eloquently put it last week. You can be hot, you can make a ton of $ but when the history book is written you will be a footnote. Ask Joeski Love, Cassonava Rud and the dude who wrote 'The Wop'.
During the Kanye 50 hype someone said they were lucky Souljah Boy didn't drop that day b/c he would beat them both. mmmmm, yeah.

Illmatic EPK

thank god for the Hip-Hop nerd who posted this

More on cheating ass Bill

if it wasn't for boarding school we wouldn't have yours truly, Talib Kweli, Mr. Lif, John Forte, or god bless him Damon Dash

Great piece on NPR by Frank Deford about the shame of Bill Bellichick

And Ecko got roasted on PTI yesterday. I love those guys
I beleive the word Wilbon used was 'dope'

And The Bodega will be featured on BET's The 5ive today. aiiiiight

Hooray for boarding school. the rich get richer

Marc Ecko - where for art thou?

and I, Marc Ecko, shall now decide on other baseball matters including the all star game deciding who gets home field

The story that Mark Ecko bought the Barry Bonds ball is a truly ridiculous news piece. I thought it was a joke when I first saw the Allhiphop alert. There are several things that bother me. Wrote a post about it, wanna read it, here it go.

1. To be fair there are three options. Not two as widely reported. Option 1 - send it to the hall of fame. Option 2 - send it to the HOF with an asterisk branded on it. Option 3 - launch it into outerspace. At first I thought there were only options 1 and 2.

2. Ecko paid over $750k for the ball. Is he some crazy baseball fan that we never knew about? Where the hell did this come from? I didn't know he was a baseball enthusiast but I know he has portrayed himself as a fan of the Rhino and a supporter of the art of graffiti.
Isn't there a Rhino somewhere that could use that cheese. Those Rhinos were important at one point. So important you were charging $50 tickets last summer.
And I know there are several graf artists coughing up spray paint that could use it.

3. As a white man who has built an empire on Hip-Hop culture I would think you would have been more sensitive to the racial divide over Barry Bonds. Whether Bonds is right or wrong many Black folks think he is being unfairly persecuted. These are the same folks that drive the culture that earned you that extra 700 g's. This flagrant display makes me think this racial divide is irrelevant to you. And that concerns me.

4. How arrogant is it that you have decided to frame this argument. The issue is much more complex than the 3 choices. And the idea that Mark Ecko will decide how Barry Bonds is remembered is a shame. And concerns me again (see above).

5. After you vote on what to do with the ball you are re-directed to a slice of ecko.com. Hmmmm

Now Ecko has supported us over the years and I'm not hating. The whole story just bugs me out.

Beatnuts-No Equal

i have never seen this.
Beatnuts were so dope

Jungle Brothers- Straight out the Jungle

can't love the NT's without showing respect to the JB's

'Ye spazzes out

just in case you haven't seen this

I want Belichick's whole paycheck

this whole piece will be on The Bodega next week

This piece is for all my sports fans. All you had to do was catch a moment of SportsCenter this week to hear about the Patriots spying scandal. Well the punishment was finally handed down and it is not only laughable but insulting. For me it goes further than football, it speaks to the sickness that infects this country. I am talking about racism.

Not cross burning, Confederate racism. Or even the psychopathic racist who tortured that woman in West Virginia. This is deep seeded, unconscious Dr. Frances Cress Welsing racism. For those who are not familiar with Dr Welsing’s book, The Isis Papers, here is the armchair synopsis. The global system of racism is based upon the genetic fear of people of color. The fear that the ‘mixing of the races’ will dilute the white race. And essentially all people will eventually be ‘colored’ on some level. That fear is manifested in a persecution of black males as they literally carry inside them the material (semen) that will cause this ‘browning’ of the world. This is why so many lynchings featured castrations. It is the basis of the game of pool (remember the scene in Boomerang). The purpose of Jim Crow laws. And on and on. Admittedly she stretches the argument but I always understood and agreed with the underlying theme. In America there has always been something about powerful Black men that triggers a bizarre response. And that response is usually to repress and silence those men. Violently or passively.

Dr. Welsing further argues that this psychosis is so deep it is now subconscious. It occurs and everywhere around us and is considered a normal modus operandi. Case in point Barry Bonds. Many people, me included, believe that if Barry bonds were white (Mark McGuire) there would be less hub-bub about his steroid investigation. Barry is not only big and Black, but unapologetic to the point of being arrogant. And America just doesn’t seem to like those types.

Another hit, Barry Bonds

So much on your boy's mind today.

-DVR's the 106th and Park from 9/11. I tried not to get suked in but the hype got me and captivated me.

Thoughts:
- why is he doing slow ass big brother. Until I saw Ye was playing his trump card. Even Miles got geeked when the S Dot came out

-I Get Money wins the battle but alas Curt lost the war

-remember the beef with 50 and Cam? I don't

- I thought it was all staged until I saw the palpable nervousness from Kanye when they were on the couch

-50 came off like a bully

-Kanye looked vulnerable

-was he about to cry when he was talking about the VMA's. You're at a 10, I could use you at a 6.

- Good Life video was hot. Remimded me of the Kweli video though

- 'google those pop artists names' whatever dud

- Yayo as Flava. Love it

- Like the Gucci warm up

- Hip-Hop rules. Country fall back

Next commentary - cheating ass Patriots and the Barry Bonds hypocrisy

"I am Ironman"

F*ck 50 and Kanye it's all about the upcoming Ironman movie starring Robert Downey Jr.

looks like no more Fif albums on the spreadsheet

From HITS via Different Kitchen Top Chef

I honestly didn't think The Don had it in him. Bad strategic move Curtis. Oh well you'll always have the Glaceau money.

Oh yeah middle finger to the country twerp. Hip-Hop is king.
----------------------------

It's way toosoon to call yet, but in early retail reports, IDJ's Kanye West is in the lead with first-week estimates at more than 700kthat haswonderers wondering ifthe rappercan do 800k. Shady/Aftermath/Interscope's 50 Cent is in the 550k range with an outside chance at 600k, whileSBMG Nashville's Kenny Chesney is headed for450k with a shot at 500k.

Fort Greene Fest quick recap

If you didn't make it out to the Fort Greene Fest on Saturday you missed out. It was great to see more programming for our demo.
Free and in the neighbourhood too.
You didn't have to troop to DUMBO like at our joint. You could walk there (with two kids, a stroller and a baby bjorn like your boy did). Hot, sweaty b@#%&h
Props to the organizers. I know how hard it was to pull off and y'all did your thing.
Miles Boogie was a dancing fool when Kweli got on.

-I still like our park (smile).
-The dirt in the middle was not that fresh but no biggie.
-Their lineup was much more acoustic and soul-like.
-They did give a lot of local guys a chance to shine which was great.
-Food was dope. And those vendors made a killing. Shout to my peoples at Jakada Juice and Smooch.

Chip Fu was a little gassed on the Fu Shnick legacy. He was pissed because he thought no one wanted to hear his new shit so he begrudgingly rocked 'La Schmoove', 'Ring The Alarm', and 'True Fushnick' which all those young bucks didn't really know. So he was stuck. I don't think he rocked one complete song. I guess his new shit is half reggae/half hip-hop. Hope it does well for him.

Kweli closed and it was the best Kweli show I have seen in a loooong time. Honestly.
I think the short time he had forced him to concentrate the content which worked well for me.
Jean Grae had her time and she did well.
Kweli has mad songs. I didn't really appreciate it. He had enough joints to truly rock his 30 minutes.
Good shit cousin.

and oh yeah I know why he beat Swizz. Swizz's joint is boring.

Boiler room

It's September and this is how we are getting down

BHF 2007 MUSIC VIDEO RECAP

nice piece about our little jam

Thanks

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you who take time to read this blog. Writing it is like a mental workout for me every day (or every other). And hearing from y'all every so often makes it even better.

That 'Monie In The Middle' joint yesterday was for all my Hip-Hop parents.

Make sure you get a mental workout in today.

Be good.

Charlie Weis is a fraud and other things I'm pissed about

-the Notre Dame team that 'looked' so good these past two years is the team Tye Willingham built. He signed Brady Quinn. Weis was put in the great position of being there when Quinn and the rest finally matured. He (Weis) will be exposed this year.

And how the hell do you go into game 1 in college ball still testing out your QB's. Lose one game and you're a wrap. What the hell is Spring ball for? After GT spanks your team you reach a damn epiphany. He won't last another 2 years before ND spits him out like all the rest. And as Wilbon's replacement said on PTI, Notre Dame hasn't been relevant as national contender for 20 years. Boo!

-Nothing left to say about Michigan. As a former player I feel for those dudes. Practice must have been hell on Mon and Tues. A hell I cannot comprehend. I only played hs ball.

- anybody here Flex on Monday? He sounded genuinely excited. it was like the 4th but better. It's great that such a major player shares our passion for the Golden Era.

'That's it I'm done' - Ben Afleck in Boiler Room

Monie Love is Miles' boogey man

we heard this song on the old school channel on Music Choice last Winter. Ever since when Miles wakes up in the middle of the night he claims he is scared of 'Monie in the middle'

What did this british, Native Tounguer ever do to my boy?

Funkmaster Flex Mixing 90's Music on Hot 97 on 4th of July

busy day. no time for a real post. Flex did it again last night (Labor Day). Getting hard to hate him. I think this an interesting time. The 90's time is coming back. It's been 20 years and you know things go in cycles

'F' you. Pay me.

Was just reading through the Brooklyn Paper and saw that the GZA is playing a benefit for the Pool Parties at McCarren pool. It struck me as odd that a hip-hop act would serve as the headliner for a party known for indie rock. Is there something about GZA's brand that I missed. Is he a logical choice after a line of Billyburg faves?

I love the GZA. 'Liquid Swords' is right up there with the best Wu solos. Next to 'Ironman' and 'Cuban Linx.'

I know the guys at Jelly. We share a sponsor/benefactor/partner in the Brooklyn Brewery. I know there are some hip-hop heads in that operation. After last year I thought there would be a natural connection that for one reason or another never materialized. Their company and the Bodega both represent cutting edge creativity and free programming.

It would seem that some artist on Domino would be who you pick to earn for you.

Free programming all summer for 90 lb hipsters. New Era caps crowd - $19 please.

Got me thinking and I took a look at the pinacle of free concerts in the City, Summerstage.
They too hold benefits to offset their costs. Of the four benefits this year one was Common and Joss Stone, the other was Gnarls Barkley. Of the 20 other events I saw on their calendar there were maybe 3 events with Hip-Hop talent and that is stretching it as some of the talent stretches the definition.

Why so little focus on Hip-Hop during the course of your annual free programming. And so much focus on Hip-Hop when it's time to earn.

-Hip-Hop's undeniable power in the marketplace?

-Overpriced performance fees that prohibit a free ticket?

-A lack of respect for the culture except when you can cash in?

-A chance to make money that can't be passed up?

What do y'all think?