There seems to be no let up in the quest for what is surely one of the proudest records to hold in the Guinness Book of World Records. Well there is a lot of things more worthwhile doing but you have to take your hat off to the guys who are trying to create the world’s largest burger. I already mentioned the two previously noted record holders but Bob’s BBQ & Grill have blown them away with this colossus 78.5 pounds monster. It’s 23.62 inches wide and 13.78 inches high. The man behind it originally wanted to create a 60 pounder but it went a bit wrong, going more than double its previous record holder. I’ve always wondered how strange the people at the Guinness book job is, spending their days watching some strange people hell bent on breaking what most of the time are silly achievements. After travelling all that way I hope they gave the guy a slice…

Link

Things don't always seem to work out when an artist decides they have had enough of being in a group and decide to go solo. Just look at Wu-Tang, none of the guys have really had an impact apart from the limited success of Ghostface.

Sadly Pharrell Williams has found it's not so easy to find success as a solo star. After he made Frontin from the also disappointing Clones album, he said he would never go the solo route. He may now be wishing he kept that word.

In My Mind has been pushed back so much that it's been eight months or so since Can I Have It Like That made us think he could actually pull off this whole Skateboard P moniker. Throw in a bit more of that and I was actually looking forward to his premise of half R'n'B half Rap material.

Sadly the longer it went on and with Pharrell in a better label situation than his Virginia buddies The Clipse, it looked as though it was a case of material not being up to par - rather than label politics.

Was he finding it hard to recreate the Neptunes formula without his partner in beats Chad Hugo? Is Chad the main guy behind the success while Pharrel plays the face and croons on the records?

On listening to In My Mind I would say it misses the board work of Chad. There is a reason why the duo has been so successful with their work in the past. But without Chad to bounce ideas off of, the production lacks any decent moments. In the past you couldn't get a Neptunes beat out of your head.

Despite the bad press the album has received that has gone a little overboard with its dismissal, there are still some bright points. Although if you were to fill out a school report out for the album it would be labelled 'must try better'.

The strongest cut comes first and is already overly familar, but after Can I Have It Like That the track How Does It Feel is catchy enough to be used a future single. Angle sounds like the pop radio friendly track it was on release while sticking with the singles - is Number One a marketing ploy to re-ignite interest in a fading marketing campaign? Or were two of the greatest producers always planning on working together? It sounds like the first one and if you've seen the video then I take credit if you can hear the song again without thinking that is the campest video of all time (no phobia).

That Girl featuring Snoop Dogg is the closest production wise Pharrell goes to being anything near a good Neptunes beat and full credit goes to the eighties pop sounding and Jay-Z featuring Young Girl. Best Friend and Baby Father at least give us a different side to Pharrell as he delves into the personal, but it feels out of place.

Singing wise Pharrel needs to be supported on tracks or be throwing in his falsetto cameos, the rapping was what I was most looking forward to hearing as that Drop It Like It's Hot verse was hot. Some of the lyrics stand up but others sound silly. Even laughable if heard from an unknown.

Production wise The Neptunes are spot on. Ok every now and then a couple of the songs seem like they were made in similar bulk to send out to artists, but then they switch up their style again. See Superthug, Rock Your Body, Drop It Like It's Hot and Hollaback Girl.

As they've shown with The Clipse, Kelis and in recent years Justin Timberlake they can make albums for people. But when it comes to making one for them they don't quite seem to pull it off. Clones was no great shakes, the Nerd Fly Or Die sunk while In Search Of was credible. In My Mind will be forgotten about quite quickly. From now on the two should stick to what they do best - producing hits for other artists. Promised so much a year ago, now it's here this listener is disappointed.

The first battle of the dollsnatch is one which sees Jay-Z's woman go head to head. So how do they match up? Let's jump straight in to it. But first it's well known how much Jigga liked Biggie and we all know that when Biggie settled down with Faith, he still had L’il Kim and Charli Baltimore on the side. So Beyonce read Faith and Rihanna read queen bee or the one with the pink hair.

With Rihanna the newcomer on the scene you would think that B has this on lock but now she's already looking to settle down Jigga perhaps has cold feet and understandably so if the rumours are true and he's dipping into Rihanna. What 33 year-old wouldn't go for a slice of younger talent if he could get it?

When it comes to singing then Beyonce takes this one easy but then the dollsnatch battle doesn't take this into consideration.

While it took Beyonce years before she went from potential to 'god damn' material Rihanna managed this feat in less than a year. Check the progress from Pon De Replay to S.o.S. Impressive.

Only recently have we seen the daddy's girl roots disappear from Beyonce, just look at her in the controversal Deja Vu video - But grabbing Jay-Z's belt and pushing up on him looks as though she is trying too hard.

In the style stakes this would seem an easy one for B, as she has been around much longer than our Barbadian rookie. Yet letting your mum dress you when you're a kid may just about slide, when that shit is still going on at 24 it has to stop. I know mother Knowles has to be on the payroll doing something but couldn't she just turn up and wear T-shirts of her offspring like Allen Iverson mum does, rather than design those skanky dresses. Then again as impressive as Rihanna looks in the S.O.S vid, I can't help but think that when she is dancing by those mirrors, her haircut makes her look like that Big Brother crossdresser Kamal. Bonor-killer.

While Jay-Z has the best of both worlds (no R Kelly)and is easily the overall winner here, it's the younger model Rihanna that beats her older counterpart here. It certainly isn't a myth - an older bloke will always trade for a younger model if he can get it. Call it a mid-life crisis or something...

This is the first of depending on how arsed I am reviews of the current music videos hitting an MTV Base, Channel U, You Tube screen near you. To get things under way I thought I would start with the video that has drawn a lot of controversy since it debuted, Beyonce and Jay-Z's Deja Vu.

Here is the video for those stuck under a rock or can't afford a TV (but still have Broadband).



First observation is that as noted earlier on this site, you have to be pretty sad at venting your anger at a video to the point you feel the need to petition its pulling off air. After all it's not like someones laying on a cross now is it? (shout to Nas).

Putting a media studies qualification to the test I figured that with the song being called Deja Vu and with lyrics mentioning B sees some old acquaintance everywhere she looks, this would be why she is running around in her country bumpkin dress through some woods.

Eventually she finds her man (Jigga) who is strangely sat in some disused shed, but seems to be happy on B's arrival. From the weird dance moves Beyonce seems happy too, even going as far as kneeling over and tugging on Jay's belt. Ahem. Maybe she was listening to Me & You that day.

At this point we get to the peak of the song and the part where B goes belting out with the vocals. If I saw a girl in a club dancing like she does here, I would assume she was either crazy or had downed too much Red Bull and tart fuel (Bacardi Breezers etc. for the American readers). But as it's Beyonce doing it and not some pramface the erratic moves are pulled off.

The final outro of the song has Beyonce out at night with a few more moves, then it's over and the campaigning begun. Again putting the media studies qualification to use I would say that although the song is as upbeat as Crazy In Love, visually it doesn't match it although full credit goes to Beyonce for the acknowledging who wears the trousers in the Jayonce household with her belt tugging.

1. The days when we get hot weather - pimms o'clock (so ghetto)
2. Black music artists reaching the festivals like V, Leeds and Reading etc.
3. The start of the football season (real football, not the overpaid premiership pansies)
4. Office woman in their summer work outfits
5. That Janet Jackson cover (god damn!)

1. Stuck in the office when we get hot weather - shirt and tie is not a good look
2. The lack of solely black music festivals
3. The Media Guardian thinking Touch is the only black music mag out there when they pride themsleves on being the best at media comment
4. Being stuck on the tube in this weather
5. Office woman in their sweaty work outfits

At the informative media Guardian who thinks Touch is the only black music publication out on the newsagents rack and Hip-Hop Connection is a US publication. When will they ever learn?...

Click and scroll

Kiss FM are going to be relaunching with new DJ's and shows with the aim of taking it back to its original roots as a more dance orientated, forward moving station. These days the music it plays has got so popular that the more generic records are being played constantly on most stations around the country. It's unsure whether this move will effect Logan Sama's monday night slot, but one would assume that if they are looking to move forward with new sounds and breaking more music then this show will stay with perhaps more growth in that area.

Article Link

Surprisingly there hasn't been as much opinion expressed by artists over the comments made by David Cameron in June over Radio 1 being blamed for gun voilence in this country. Although Lethal B hit back in the Guardian (must get it delivered) there hasn't been the widespread response a topic like this deserves. Although some of the points are right and some music does glorify it rather than just paint the picture, not much has come out to defend it. Rhymefest recently wrote a letter to Cameron and which can be read here. Out of all the coverage given to it he puts across the most valid viewpoint I've seen which sits in between both arguments as the most balance read on the subject. Take a look...

Finally the album is here. Over the past 18 months we've heard more than a dozen tracks from one of R'n'b's most gifted flying around. Who knows what Jive were doing in the interim period but if the handling of the Clipse and the comments Donell made in a recent Blues & Soul interview are anything to go by, then it seems not a lot.

For the first time in his career Donnell has stepped reached out to producers other than longtime collaborator Eddie F with Tim & Bob, Ryan Leslie and Mike City responsible for some of the albums bright moments.

You're always guaranteed qaulity with Donell and again this album doesn't disappoint. Although there isn't a track with the potential chart success of U Know What's Up, his biggest hit to date, the is plenty for the the r'n'b/soul fraternity to coo about. One of Ryan Leslie's best productions Better Start Talking was a club anthem towards the latter part of 2005 this still rings true now. The track Special Girl, which I reviewed last year also holds its appeal despite being around for a while now.

Other mid-tempo numbers include the I'm Gonna Be, Lust Or Love and what must be the next single, Spend The Night.

Bun B of UGK assists on If U Want and this could work well in a DJ's warm up set. When it comes to the slow and sultry numbers, Portrait Of A Woman paints a picture of women so well lyrically, it makes most love songs look cheesy.

Donell Jones is an artist that should be so much bigger than he is, I'm talking the R Kelly, Usher platform. The guy doesn't dilute his music and oozes quality. He has the females weak at the knees and the fellas can relate to the lyrics. In a genre that has gone a bit stale of late with artists trying to have their own beef and a lot of music too similar. R'n'B needs someone like Donell and Ne-Yo right now. It's just a shame while Ne-Yo's stock keeps rising, Donell isn't getting the success he deserves.

The genre of R'n'B is something that has taken a lot of knocks in recent years and there has been plenty of criticism, some warranted and some that was unfair. But now certain artists are opening it up for more criticism with their actions.

RL of Next fame and of his not so famous solo outing has been taking a Hip-Hop stance by calling out fellow R'n'B artists and aligning himself with the predominately Hip-Hop label G-Unit. DJ Whoo Kid recently assisted new G-Unit signing Kev Samples who released a mixtape full of pop shots at artists like Ne-Yo and Ray J.

The tactics have worked in the Hip-Hop arena but when people voice their concern that singers are trying too much to live up to their Hip-Hop counterparts this seems like further degrading of the genre.

Way back when it was all the rage for Hip-Hop acts to get an R'n'B singer(s) on the chorus to attract a bigger audience. The tides then turned and we were flooded with R'n'B acts chasing guest verses from rappers that can range from taking the song to a new level to an unnessecary waste of time. Now rather than the genre taking itself back to its roots it seems that people are looking at the rappers of today as an influence, rather than the repsected singers of yesteryear like Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass.
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What's becoming as big a trend as downloading music in recent years is the pushing back of artist’s albums. Normally the two are closely linked like the case of past big releases like Eminem and 50 Cent and has happened again this year with Lupe Fiasco.

But the following albums from Pharrell, The Clipse and Rhymefest have all had months of delay with no valid reason. In the case of Pharrell it could be that they couldn’t follow up the success of Can I Have It Like That because the material was of no good and so it was back to the drawing board. This could explain the inconsistent end product. But more of that in the review coming later this week.

Although I've yet to check it out myself the Blue Collar album by Rhymefest has gone down well and could become quite an underrated album when those end of year lists come around. Sadly it took eight months to get it out when it had perfect leverage with the Kanye West assisted track Brand New.

Now we are finally getting a firm date for the release of the much anticipated Clipse album, four years after Lord Willin and about two after we first heard flashes of news that one was on the way. Pusha T and Malice have now recorded the album from scratch and ditched the material that they previously sat on ahead of the October release of Hell Hath No Fury.

Are the two previous artists mentioned examples of albums being pushed back due to poor material, or does the blame lie with incompetent label heads not knowing what to do. I'm pretty sure that it's similar to when an artist puts back his album after heavy downloading; the sales are never as high as what they might have been. Now with these albums not being released after their first singles we can expect the same results. Pharrell was flogging his third single before his album saw the light and the bandwagon for that has slowed so it will be interesting to see the numbers for when the Clipse and Lupe Fiasco drop.

The long running internal feuding in the G-Unit camp seems to have come to an end now that The Game has been officially moved to another Interscope imprint, Geffen Records.

How this affects his relationship with Dre is anyone’s guess but I'm sure we'll find out in the days to come. There were rumours that The Game was keen to get off the label so not to have his latest long player released under the G-Unit Records name. It will be interesting to see whether Dre tried to stop the move but it does look as though it's actually 50 Cent and not the Dr that has the pull of Interscope head Jimmy Iovine. I'm sure The Game has his batch of Dre productions already in the hatch for the upcoming album release but if Fiddy does have all the pull then I wouldn't expect any more beats from him in the future.

Despite the stranglehold that Interscope have on the market the G-Unit/Aftermath label hasn't exaclty been firing on all cylinders of late and will be hoping people aren't tired of Fiddy when he next drops an album. With Eminem unlikely to make a Jay-Z like comeback, Busta Rhymes not doing as well as expected and albums from Tony Yayo and Mobb Deep flunking a lot will rest on the G-Unit/Aftermath heads with their eventual albums.

The tracklisting for Justin Timberlake's new album Future Sex/Love Sounds has been released, revealing some interesting collaborations. The self proclaimed King Of The South and man of the moment T.I drops by on My Love, while fellow R'n'B crooner Mario and the most surprising collaborator, neo-soul songstress India Aria teams up on Lose Your Way and Nocturn respectively. The albums main producer Timbaland and Nelly Furtado make up the collaborations. On Justified only Pusha T and Malice made guest appearences outside of the producers Timbaland and The Neptunes. The album drops 11th September.

1. Another Song
2. What Goes Around Comes Around
3. Sexyback
4. Crowd Control (feat. Nelly Furtado)
5. Lines (feat. Timbaland)
6. The One You Have Not Seen
7. Help Me Breathe
8. Lose Your Way (feat. Mario)
9. Nocturne (feat. India Arie)
10. I Walk Alone
11. No Connection
12. The Darkest Childe
13. My Love (feat. T.I)
14. Your Tongue Like The Sun In My Mouth

Words really can't describe what you are about to witness...

After wetting my appetite looking at that monster of a burger I had to go in search of what is the worlds largest one. After searching high and low (on Google) I managed to track down the 29.5-pound burger from Foxwoods Resort Casino, Fuddruckers restaurant. This one is Guiness certified and the beef itself is 29.5 pounds as apposed to the 50 pound in total one from last week on this site. This time 48 hours warning is needed and it will set you back $250. Just looking at that picture is giving me a heart attack.

Everyone and their dog has had a say about the darling of MurdochSpace, Lily Allen. After much anticipation and the number one single Smile the album Alright Still is upon us.

The tracks you're already familiar with LDN and Smile are great tracks but it shows the strength in depth of the album when these aren't the strongest songs. There are probably seven potential choices for the next single from the upbeat Wonderful Things to the plea to her lazy brother to get off his ass (Alfie).

The cheeky lyrics will have her already being compared to Mike Skinner and it is at its mot prominent on Knock Em Out and Not Big. Other highlights include the take on post pub clubbing on Friday Night and the Shame For You.

In a time where girls are trying to have the perfect figure and that celeb look down it's refreshing to hear an artist not give a shit and be herself. While Paris Hilton et al has to rely heavily on their image to sell any copies of their CD it's good that Lily is about so much more. Hearing her sing about Friday nights on the lash have her down as someone we'd want to be with on a night out. Much better than some bimbo checking out the mirror all night. Her interviews are refreshing, blogs entertaining and despite heavily being labelled as the sound of the summer, has the talent to be delighting us for years to come.

Someone really had too much time on their hands when they decided to start a petition against Beyonce and Columbia Records over the Deja Vu video. The reasons are that the video doesn't reflect the standard of previous projects and the interaction between her and the other half is apparently unacceptable. Here is the aforementioned video. And if you have nothing better to do or aren't so worried about things like the conflict in Israel or whether there will be a 6th series of Curb Your Enthusiasm, you can find the petition link after.



Have you got nothing better to do?

According to various reports Jay-Z will make an album after all. I'll give you a few moments to get over how much an out of the blue shock this news obviously is for you.

When he announced his retirement I thought he would have managed to refrain from releasing another album for longer than the two and a half years it's been. But I suppose with the artists on Def Jam hardly selling big the CEO is (apart from Kanye) the only A star artist who can go out and match those 50 Cent numbers.

This is a big album that will see Def Jam going for broke. If it doesn't become a critical success then people will question why Jay bothered returning, commercially if Jay doesn't sell big then expect some artists to be released to cover costs of the undoubted marketing bonanza that will be rolled out.

Artists like DMX and Camron voiced their concern when Jay took the hot seat, and I'd expect more discontent from the remaining artists who may have their releases scheduled around the same time. Since Jay retired those artists have been striving to fill the gap with the added pressure of that gap being vacated by their new boss. It could easily be taken as an indirect diss that on being unhappy with sales numbers from Ghostface and the unpredictable forecast of the upcoming Roots and Lupe Fiasco figures, Def Jam's acocunts need a long player from Jay. You can guarantee a big difference in how much these albums have and will be pushed in comparison.

Sadly with all this on the line and the news leaked that Timbaland and The Neptunes are already working on tracks for the album, it looks like the material won't stray too far from the formula of his catalogue. What I'm sure the rap world would want to see in light of the Reasonable Doubt anniversary is material to match that, or at least deliver the album we were promised when he dropped his final for the time being fling, The Black Album.

The hype surrounding the album was building up all year with the promise of 12 solid tracks - one each from 12 of the best producers around. Yet sadly all we got was an album that lacked any cohesion and apart from the singles 99 Problems and Encore was a poor way to bow out.

On Moment Of Clarity he rapped 'truth be told I'd probably be/lyrically like Talib Kweli' well this album should be that one. To come out with another album talking about Cristal (Dom P) cash, clothes and wifey, would be a disjustice to himself and Hip-Hop. Instead make the album deep down he's always wanted and maybe surprise us a bit.

If Premo can make a pop hit for Christina Aguilera, then I'm sure he can ignite the passion to make a classic Hip-Hop record for Jay. Surely Dr. Dre owes Jay a favour for all that ghost writing, Kweli is hardly going to knock going toe to toe and maybe just maybe Memphis Bleek will actually hold the weed and leave the mic alone. Rick Rubin gave Jay his hardest sounding hit for years and would surely welcome working with him again.

Sadly, I expect something more on the lines of TRL crossovers, Beyonce choruses and another 'thanks for letting me spit 16 bars in return for holding your chain' verse from Bleek.

This album has more than a need for getting five mics and platinum plaques surrounding it - it's detrimental to the future of Def Jam. A lot of people in Hip-Hop get lamented for living in the past and craving those golden era's, but maybe a trip to the past will ignite a stale scene and help towards it's future...

Buying Hip-Hop magazines that would like to lead us to believe that certain sub-standard acts are actually the future of rap stopped for me along time ago. But while buying records at the weekend and seeing Ice Cube staring at me from The Source I thought I'd give it ago. What's the worst that could happen as those Dr.Pepper adverts would like us to believe. It was their 200th issue so perhaps it would be nice to see what they would do for it. Looking at the cover while waiting to pay the early signs were encouraging, Lupe Fiasco was on the cover, Little Brother too. When I managed to flick through I realised it would only take one trip to the bathroom to get through the garbage inside. For a magazine that has been through the rough the last three years you would think they would use the 200th issue as an opportunity to reflect back on the good days while using it as a stepping stone for the future.

But ain't a damn thing changed. A guy wrote about a column he used to write many moons ago without actually revealing anything interesting from those days or give an opinion on anything like one would assume he used to. Seeing the likes of Dead Prez and the like is a good thing, but rather than giving them some valuable pages they had them instead commenting on slept on albums and songs they wished they recorded.

The mags reflection on the years of Hip-Hop in the time of The Source only made for a sad reflection of the calibre of acts they used to feature heavily (A Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde) to the the noughties (Cash Money, Nelly & Chingy).

What once was a bible for Hip-Hop has seen better days and granted is still trying to turn around the damage left from the Benzino anti-Interscope era, but there is a still a long way to go before they will ever instill that excitement into buying an issue again, especially when you can find out pretty much everything on the internet these days.

I'm a massive fan of Dave Chappelle and was gutted when he went AWOL after being unhappy with the white executives at HBO and the direction of where his show was going. Some of the hilarious sayings from the previous two shows skits had begun to nag him when everywhere he went people would be shouting them at him. Below are two skits from the lost episodes now showing in America that go along with the mixed ratings it's been receiving. One is a hilarious skit about the new Tupac song and how ahead of its time the lyrics are, the other is perhaps the skit which made Chappelle realise he'd gone too far.

When Americans aren't watching or taking part in one of their beloved sports like men’s rounders or basketball, they like to indulge in another of their favourite sports - eating. Even though Soccer (sic) has become much more popular than it was a few years ago I would still say it falls below eating as far as sports popularity is concerned. I mean take a look at the size of this burger.

That's 50 pounds of burger to be demolished. Apparently it serves 30 but going by the size of the people last time I went to America I reckon half the number could do it. The bar made this to combat a rival pub that had outdone their original record breaker. Remember if you're thinking of tackling this then give the guys 24 hours notice. I think I’ve lost my appetite.
Make reservations here

Sway is the sole black music artist in this years Mercury Prize nominations. He is unlikely to repeat the success of past winners Dizzee Rascal and Ms Dynamite as the trend of having Hip-Hop representation has slowly crept away. With the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Thom Yorke on a heavy weighted Indie presence the inclusion of Sway is a great pat on the back for the years of hard graft. Thinking of what other acts could have made it though sees me coming up short. Corinne Bailey Rae is more Radio 2 soul and Plan B's hate it or love it brand of grime may be too hardcore than innovative to win. Apart from that there isn't a lot I can think of. With albums from Yungun and Klashnekoff coming out in the next year it would be good to hear, but I feel someone like genre mashing Bugz In The Attic will fare better with their first long player.

The Boy Better Know t-shirts have been selling like hot cakes whenever they've had stock in Uptown Records, all they are is a basic t-shirt with the now imfamous saying from the camp. T-shirts of famous Rock'n'Roll bands have always been a fashion item for the indie crowd and are easily available in the high street at H&M and Topman. In urban music it's not so big as that, people don't feel as cool if they are wearing a Jay-Z or 50 Cent t-shirt (unless your 12) but there are some t-shirts that over the last few years have had people chasing up all sorts of avenues to get one. It's The Shiznit takes a look...

Billionaire Boys Club

Pharrell's clothing label and now seen on any number of people from Jay-Z to Jermaine Dupri to El Hadji Douff. Yes he of spitter fame, I was walking down to the newly opend Bape store in Soho when they actually closed the shop so he could have a nose around. Terrible. The labels clothing is made in small qauntities to combat counterfit goods but this hasn't stopped the amount of t-shirts selling on ebay even now, three years after Skateboard P wore one in the Frontin video.

Pimp Accordingly

The other t-shirt from the Frontin video was harder to track down and amounted in a lot of ebay fakes but the original was from a place called in and would set you back about. Not everyone could pull this bright yellow Playboy logo and pimp accordingly in writing off, more one of those t-shirts that looked better on someone in The Tunnel nightclub rather than some chav in Yates.

I got it for Cheap

The name of the Clipse mixtape in 2004 and could be seen on Pusha T in the Drop it Like It's Hot video. No more than a black t-shirt with white letters on saying I got It For Cheap, but was more suited for the hustlers and coke pushers out there rather than your saturday night out clubbing wear. Earlier than that the Virginia hustlers were at it with the 'Patty Cake Man' and 'I'm Your Pusha' t-shirts.

The Snowman

The T-shirt they tried to ban and a catalyst for some great free PR for Young Jeezy's marketing campaign. It took a while for the majority to know what it meant, but when they did there were calls for the sign of cocaine dealing to be banned. The snowman logo is good though, the Hip-Hop version of those illuminous smiley faces you see associated to the rave scene.

Free (insert convict here)

Considering the culture of Hip-Hop and it's birth from the more poorer areas of America, it's no surprse to read about the latest rapper that goes down for an iron vacation. Regardless of whether he was wrongly put down or not a rapper spending time behind bars isn't without his crew/weed carriers wearing a Free... t-shirt. The biggest showing of support was when Eminem wore a Free Yayo shirt for Fiddy's weed carrier at the MTV awards. Many in the audience didn't have a clue who he was then but they certainly did after and it helped push his debut single and album to gold. With all these free... t-shirts going around it's about time there was a change, and the excellent Straight Bangin blog are going the right way about it, by offering up a Reincarcerate Yayo t-shirt.

No wonder they say New York Hip-Hop is dead with these sounds coming out of the states always regarded as second best to the east and west coasts. This brand of Baltimore funk is ringing in a new era for Hip-Hop as Aaron LaCrate teams up with fellow Baltimore buddies Spank Rock and Amanda Blank (this girl has skills). Aaron is one of the first signings to the Milkcrate clothing labels new record imprint, and while this smells of something right up the hipsters street, it goes way beyond that. The artists here possess the skill that pay homage to the great lyrical flow of greats before them, but rips up the rulebook on how Hip-Hop should sound. Play this next to any Hip-Hop song on the radio now and you’ll realise just how lame the genre has become, but how refreshing these retro sounds combined with Game Boy beats are to the ear.

The second of the big hitters to come out with a hotly anticipated single this summer is Justin Timberlake. His SexyBack track has been getting mixed responses much like back in 2002 when Like I Love You first hit the airwaves. On first listen you wouldn't have even known it was Timberlake such is the switch in vocal delivery, he is said to have gone for a more rock feel to his singing and it takes a few plays before you can start to get used to it. Still the track is a winner in my book and if the vocals at first take a while to feel familiar with, the funk of the Timbaland beat runs through the speakers and will have you moving along. With The Neptunes and Jive not getting along it seems that Timbo will be having a more prominent role in the album FutureSex/LoveSounds, out in September.

In what can only be described as 'only in America' a man is suing Michael Jordan and Nike Founder Phil Knight for defamation and permenant injury after being tired of being mistaken for the ex-sportstar.

The lawsuit is for a staggering $832million and covers 15 years of anguish, "I'm constantly being accused of looking like Michael and it makes it very uncomfortable for me," Heckard reportedly said. Yet when a television crew caught him on camera they spotted him wearing Air Jordan Tennis Shoes.

The guy also claims that he gets comments from people at the gym that he 'plays like Jordan'. Those Americans, you’ve got to love them.

Full story here

Whatever happened to Koffee Brown?...

Why is L'il Wayne being talked about in the same vein as Jay-Z, Nas, Niggie et al?...

If Andre 3000 never made Hey Ya, would The Love Below have been so popular?

Was Big Boi pissed that Andre's change from rapping to singing overshadowed how great Speakerboxx was?...

How did Leo from The Streets choose Alicia Douvall over Sophie Anderton? Are you dumb?

It wouldn’t be too far fetched to call Wiley the ‘godfather’ of Grime such is his standing in the scene. His first album ‘Treddin On Thin Ice’ may have disappointed sales wise but this hasn’t stopped the anticipation from fans and labels alike for ‘Da 2nd Phaze’. Instead of taking the reputed offers from Big Dada and Mike Skinner’s label The Beats he’s gone ahead and released it on his own through the Boy Better Know start up and has seen it fly off the shelves in the underground music outlets. Whether it’s party flavours ‘Eskiboy’ & ‘I Like' to the pirate radio anthem ‘Gangsterz’ Wiley has all bases covered. It’s not all eski-dancing and gangster bravado though as the strain of 9-5, ‘Carry Out Orders’ and the uplifting plea to not be a follower, ‘Be Your Self’ shows diversity not usually associated with Grime artists, making this an essential release for the scene.

One of the most informative Hip-Hop sites around in Unkut is running a competition to find Hip-Hop’s biggest Stan. Every fan at some point has to have met an artist whether it’s their favourite or not. I remember a friend stumbling up to one of Aspects after performing and drunkenly asking how he got there rather than a more suitable how’s it going. I myself made a drunken fool of myself by telling Sway how good DJ Turkish was because when we went to see them at the Islington Academy we got lost and bumped into him who then led us to the venue. None of that is as bad or as cringe worthy as what I imagine will pop up though.

Boy Better Know at the Isle of Wight festival...
YouTube is a goldmine for the weird and wonderful and can also uncover some gems like the above link of the Boy Better Know Collective at the Isle of Wight festival from a month back. It's a preview of a documentary by Switched On Productions but at the moment there is no news on when this will see the light of day. It's definately a big look for the scene though with an appearence at a festival that is very much all about the Indie/Rock vibes.

While most of the notes I write concern this here music, I like to get my knowledge on as much as the next and have just finished reading the inciteful Fast Food Nation - What the All-American meal is doing to the world.

Now I'm sure you saw SuperSize Me and if what happened to Morgan Spurlock didn't put you off eating McDonalds, reading Fast Food Nation will put you off any kind off fast food.

The book covers more than just 'eating all this junk food will make you fat' but looks at the overall impact the fast food meal has on the rest of America, and how it's starting to spread out to Europe too. Any town or city high street looks the same wherever you are due to the influx of fast food chains and someone in Japan is eating the exact same burger from the exact same menu as someone in Germany.

The author looks at the working conditions of employees for the slaughterhouses that provide beef to the big players to how these people are exploited. There was a case where a man who have both arms severed from a machine was made to sign the companies waiver of liability form with a pen in his mouth whie waiting in the emergancy room.

Obviously McDonalds doesn't come off very well in the book as they were the first to really capatilise and push the minimal skills approach to serving food but the author doesn't so much stick the boot in but rather reveals the wrong doing that's going on in order to make your own judgement.

The proof is there but some people just can't resist to succumbing to one of those burgers as they can't resist the taste. I myself haven't been able to eat from fast food places for a while but can't deny that when I walk by one the smell is nice and throughout reading the book I was hungry for one.

But you may be surprised when you read that on visiting a factory that the smell of fresh fries and straight off the grill burgers were from a chemical formula made by scientists and sprinkled on some paper, rather than the real thing in front of him.

When I was a kid I used to look forward to being treated to a McDonalds as it was always deemed such a happy place with many of the processes used to promote the brand to children the same as that of Disney, in fact the founder of the McDonalds Corporation, Ray Kroc and Walt Disney were both from the same area.

While everyone knows that too much junk food is going to be bad for you, a trip to McDonalds every now and then isn't exactly going to kill you, but on reading this it will make you think twice upon visiting those golden arches and other such establishments.

Dave Chappelle’s block party may have only just been released in the cinemas over here but thanks to the ability of my trusty Tesco bought DVD player, I managed to watch the yanks DVD which has been out for months now.

Block Party goes back to 2004 when Chappelle gathered some of his closest buddies to put on a good old fashion knees up. Or what in America is known as a block party.

This isn’t one of those straight up concert DVD’s that seem everywhere in the Christmas build up, but more of a documentary thanks to director Michel Gondry, he of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fame.

Rather than the quick editing that makes concert DVD’s look like some flashy promo the work here gives the viewer a better impression of the action and helps you get the feeling of what it was like to be there.

Indeed it would have been great to be there as Chappelle assembles a concert line-up that rivals no other. It’s not often you get to see all in the same show Kanye West (as the opener!), Erykah Badu, Dead Prez, Common, The Roots, Jill Scott, Talib Kweli and Mos Def. Throw in the reuniting of The Fugees as well and you can’t really put a price on that ticket.

To actually get into the block party you had to be one of the lucky ones that Chappelle approached when he went back to Ohio, where he spent his school years.

These golden tickets were handed out to a host of people who you wouldn’t expect to see at a block party – an old shopkeeper, two police officers and pretty much anyone that was lucky enough to be in the area when Chappelle travelled round his old haunts.

The story of how the block party was put together is intertwined with performance footage and although the music is great, it’s the unsung heroes that steal the show with the Ohio University performing Jesus Walks with Kanye and the odd couple who live in their home made abode right by the stage.

Chappelle may have given up on creating more episodes of Chappelle Show, but his stand-up will continue to be laughed and applauded at. Here he is at his best and is as much of a draw as any of the artists on parade. This winning combination coupled with people from all walks of life combine for the community feel of a block party.

You’ve got to hand it to MTV, when they’re not promoting G-Unit as superheroes to kids they make some pretty entertaining shows. The majority may miss the point of what MTV actually stands for, in fact when was the last time you turned it on an watched a music video? But they do come up with some TV gold and at the moment the one that is killing it for me is Sweet Sixteen.

The show revolves around some spoilt rotten teen planning the party of their life, while throwing tantrums and generally showing off about what their parent’s money has done for them.

MTV has done brilliantly in making programmes that choose, whether the subject a celebrity or not, people who will come across as vein, spoilt or as embarrassing as you like. We’ve had The Osbournes (the rich equivalent of some council estate family arguing) to the IQ of 10 (between them) of the Simpson sisters, Jessica and Ashley. Amongst that there have been the interesting (Making of the Band) and those that focus on the non-celebrities like The Real World, Date My Mom and Room Raiders.

But the subjects on those shows aren’t the only ones that make you cringe; these pubescent kids have more diva like tantrums than Mariah, are spoiled more than Rooney’s missus and have egos like Kanye.

Previous sweet sixteen’s have included a self-proclaimed party animal who got his dad to rent some girls to dance at his party, but then proceeded to be ill after drinking too much Red Bull and a girl whose brothers wanted to beat her date up. The same girl also had to put up with her mum from Thailand trying to steal the show, though if she is anything like the stereotype, then she’s used to being the centre of attention (ping-pong ten dollar and all that).

Sunday’s episode was probably the biggest exploits of a kid who uses in this case his dad’s wealth to get what he wants, and the lucky bastard gets it as well.

As son of record executive LA Reid, Aaron was always going to be in for a star studded bash and not only did he get the use of Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club, but had Diddy turn up, Kanye West perform and every teenagers favourite person in the record business Jermaine Dupri (shout to Kris Kross and Bow Wow) DJ for the night.

During the show he had a temper fit when some traffic blocked his entrance at the club, handed out invites with a personally recorded message on MP3 and is perhaps the youngest guy in Hip-Hop to have his own set of weed carriers. On getting dressed for the big night he had two guys assisting him with drying his hair and general grooming, while telling the others ‘I can’t do this without compliments guys’ when trying on outfits.

It’s not proven whether he used them to spike the punch bowl, standard procedure for any American sixteenth birthday party.

A great line in the show comes from the kids at the party on how this is the best night in their lives and their probably right when you see how crazy they get when they received their invites. The kids parents in these shows must be really popular with the other folks, but again this show is a great example that MTV may not be able to play your favourite Hip-Hop video, they will at least make you laugh.

Not wanting to start a debate or any arguments but Brighton probably has the biggest scene outside of London and their commitment to the cause is very professional. There aren’t many places that have their own dedicated Hip-Hop nights but the guys in ‘London by the sea’ are spoilt for choice. Those that know will already have heard about the month long celebrations that take play and this year is no different. As I write Rodney P & Skitz are going to be doing their show live in Brighton and heading up the activities of the month comes in the shape of the live day on Brighton seafront on the 15th July. Over 5,000 people watched the 150 plus performers and the link has all the details you need. The event is free and if this heat wave keeps up then we should be in for a good time. I believe there will be a CD in this months Hip-Hop Connection showcasing the event. A bit like the one given away with Touch last year (strange I know, that’s like Blues and Soul giving away a chopped a screwed mixtape).

Common is the big American name to be added to the line-up for Europe's biggest anti-racism festival in Finsbury Park. Last year the Chicago emcee caused controversy for his comments regarding black men dating white woman in Touch magazine. The comments sparked a heat of debate and prompted a response track from Rising Son and Yungun, both of mixed raced families. For someone whose material is very thoughtful and as one of the best conscious artists around the comments were quite a shock in a time where mixed couples aren't as uncommon as they would have been say 15/20 years ago. How he will go down with the crowd will be interesting as will if he even brings the matter up. Either way the festival is a good look for the music fan as Sway, Killa Kela, The Wailers and Roy Ayers all provide the entertainment, along with the more indie/rock nature of Graham Coxon and the Buzzcocks. It's free and there is seperate poetry, DJ and comedy tents also. Even though the rise in the congestion charge probably meant they could afford to bring Common over it's still a big look and should be a good day out.

...but I still like these videos though.

Pharrell feat. Kanye West - Number One

Kanye West - Drive Slow remix

Cheri Dennis - I Love You

David Banner - Touching

and a summer classic

Early tapes of battles between Craig G and KRS One and early footage of the block parties in New York stand as early artefacts that document some of the keys moments of the Hip-Hop scene. While the grime scene may in theory only be three or four years old one thing that should always be shown when telling anyone about the scene is the landmark DVD Lord Of The Mics.

This DVD has inspired so many others that pop up in stores and included the infamous lyrical showcase of Wiley V Kano. From camera phones to You Tube this clash of the heavyweights has been seen by many and will be looked back upon as two heavyweights of the scene flexing their lyrical muscle.

The setting was an underground basement, it could be said as the UK equivalent to the Americans setting of their block parties. The crammed basement had emcees, members of their crews and onlookers all crammed in while the Kano, Wiley clash took place with them standing on the stairs to the basement.

Since the DVD came out everyone has been wondering if and when a second would be done. Well now the waiting is over with Hot Headz Productions releasing the sequel on the 28th July.

As usual their will be an accompanying CD but the clashes are what everyone is waiting for and this promises to be big with more of them than ever. The clashes are:

(Puts on Michael Buffer like voice)

Tinchy Stryder V Ears
Demon V Bashy
Skepta V De-Velopment
Plus plenty more as Logan Sama, Cameo and Cheeky provide the beats.

Roll on the 28th!!

Mediawhores...
Mediawhore – adjective (pl. mediawhores or whores) A subject with no dignity or shame that will stop at nothing to gain the attention of the public. Can normally be seen staggering out of clubs, sleeping or arguing with other media whores and if need be toss off a pig. May have some reality TV experience.

No.2 - Victoria Beckham

The word desperate is pretty much always associated with these so-called celebs as they vie for the paparazzi to take their picture or try and resurrect their flagging careers. Check Victoria Beckham. Once the mute in the successful pop act The Spice Girls she took it upon herself to punish us with her own solo material. Although I must admit I did dance a few times to that track with Dane Bowers and The Truesteppers. Hey it was catchy alright. But when she was finally dropped she went back to doing what she did best, playing the 'loving' husband to Goldenballs but really thinking ‘cameraman take my picture’. Remember when after David gave length to the pig friend Rebecca Loos she went over the top in showing her love for him. It was like watching a dog hump a tree in a park. Cringe worthy yet kinda funny. Although all celebs moan about the intrusion by the paps deep down she hankers for another moment where she can give that pout while showing off what Davids wages brought. Her biggest crime to attract attention is the pre-World Cup parties she hosts. I know some charity gets a wedge of cash but the biggest charity case there is Victoria, as the good cause is keeping her skinny frame in the papers.

This is shaping up to be one hell of a festival and I for one can't wait. A few additions have been made to line-up which you can see in full below...

NON PHIXION /USA/GURU of Gang Starr / Jazzmatazz featuring Super producer Solar & DJ Doo Wop /USA/LITTLE BROTHER /USA/DJ A-TRAK (Kanye West's DJ) /CAN/ONESELF (DJ Vadim, Blu Rum 13, Yarah Bravo, DJ Woody, Bongo Pete) /UK, USA/CALI AGENTS (Rasco & Planet Asia) /USA/M.E.D. aka MEDAPHOAR /USA/SWAY + Pyrelli /UK/HOCUS POCUS /F/KLASHNEKOFF /UK/KALIBER 44 + Czarne Złoto /PL/KONTRAFAKT /SK/PSH /CZ/INDY & WICH /CZWWO /PL/CURSE /D/O.S.T.R. /PL/GHOST / VERB T / KASHMERE aka IGUANA MAN /UK/LONA & DJ TWISTER /PL/STIEBER TWINS /D/C2C (DJ's Pfel, Atom, 20Syl, Greem) /F/PYRANJA /D/SPREAD THE MESSAGE SOUNDSYSTEM ft. Rafik, Adlib, Kut-L, Ben* (D)ROOFTOP CLIQUE /A/HOERSPIELCREW /A/

Since Jay-Z said he was boycotting Cristal and urging other rappers to do the same, there has been plenty of comments from various media outlets since the initial remark from Cristals head honcho about their association with his drink in the Economist.

Jigga's lyrics will now be Cristal free when he comes to perform at a special gig for the 10th anniversary of the Reasonable Doubt album.

After all the comments on the issue I feel that it's about time I dropped my two pence on the subject.

Who gives a f*ck if Jay-Z is banning the once favoured alcoholic beverage of choice for rappers in his establishments and is urging a rapper wide boycott.

The stuff tastes like shit, well that's what someone who can afford the stuff once told me and you can't tell me every rapper seen guzzling it down in a video generally likes the stuff. It's just a sign of wealth and something to tick off on the checklist of 'things a rapper must do when in a video' (shout to The Roots). They're not going to start swigging bottles of Budweiser like the average man going about his prey in a club.

While this will boycott will no doubt result in the profits of Cristal taking a dive in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really achieve anything.

If rappers wanted to make a difference, shouldn't they try getting people to vote or stop the amount of violence associated with them, rather than debating what the rappers choice of alcohlic brand should be. After all, don't they get that shit for free anyway?

Well they are Lethal B's words not mine. But I agree with what he's saying about someone who could potentially be our next leader of this country. Anyway I wrote an article for www.ukhh.com with regards to David 'I have The Killers on my ipod and am down with the kids' Cameron and his uneducated comments about Radio 1 promoting gun crime. I also have a look at ways in which record labels and the media can help to give our music a better rep in the eyes of joe public. Let us know what you think...

Article Link

Beyonce may be hitting a rough patch with her hubby Jay-Z, who seems to be preoccupied with answering Rihanna's SOS (genius), but the two link up to reunite the spark Crazy In Love brought three years ago with Deja Vu. The single is the lead from her second album B'Day, out in september. Beyonce is definately giving it some on the vocals with quite a powerful vocal delivery for such a mid-tempo track. Deja Vu may not have the same immediate attraction as the Rich Harrison number but this Rodney Jerkins groove is definately a grower and with the inevitable push from her record label we soon won't be able to move without hearing this blasting out of some speakers or some video station this summer. Whether Jay-Z will still be around for that filiming is another matter. And I doubt Rihanna will be making a cameo in it either.

Other tracks on rotation...

Sergio Mendes feat Black Eyed Peas - Mas Que Nada - BEP seem to have a new video on tele every week. This time they team up with Sergio Medes for a remix of his old hit Mas Que Nada in time for the World Cup, which the Brazil team dance around too in one of the 378 adverts football adverts made for the competition. Anyone seen that Pringles advert with Steven Gerrad in? 'Eh Roberto, pass us the Pringles' Classic acting by a footballer.

Donell Jones - Lust or Love - Another qaulity slab of mid-tempo soul from Mr Jones who is wetting the appetide for more of the same from his album Gemini.

Lilly Allen - Smile - Not strictly an urban act but this single with it's reggae/ska groove is the feel good hit of the summer with some fantastic lyrics. Call her pop, Corinne Bailey Rae on crack or the female Mike Skinner - Lilly Allen is real and you'll find it hard to not singalong to this summer ditty.

Busta Rhymes - I Love My Chick - With all the hype that surrounds the album this hardly shows off the new Busta. A catchy hook and Will.I.AM production adds up to the formula for another radio hit for Busta, but lets hope the hype is justified once The Big Bang drops.

Ne-Yo - Sexy Love - While America gets When Your Mad, us over the pond have Sexy Love as the next single. One of the standouts from an excellent album, Ne-Yo is the total package.

Gnarls Barkly- Smiley Faces - In the end Cee-Lo and Dangermouse had to get their record label to delete the Crazy single as they like many others were annoyed of hearing it every five minutes. In the US they have only just started to pick up a decent rotation of spins for the record but it hasn't been taken with such accord like here. The next single Smiley Faces is my favourite from the album and could easily go the way as Crazy with it's catchy chorus and upbeat tempo, that has a distinct Motown feel to it.

Rihanna - Unfaithful - Wrote by Ne-Yo, this is quite a dreary depressing track, turn the sound down for the video.

Jamie Foxx - One Night Extraganza - Actor/comedian/singer Jamie Foxx continues with his take on making R Kelly music by singing about his hangover. Bloody lightweight.

India Irie - I am not my hair - Why do people insist on having Akon on a track? This is not Video. I don't think she's trying to tell us she wears a wig.

Plan B - Mama - This is as upbeat as you're going to get from Plan B who is talented, but I doubt I can sit through a whole album of his stuff. You won't like me when I'm angry.

Clipse - Mr Me Too - Finally it looks like we'll get our hands on a Clipse album very soon. This is in similar vein to the beat for Drop It Like It's Hot and like the Snoop track Pharrell gets his Skateboard P on. Welcome back Pusha T and Malice. Now get that album out.

There comes a time in a girls life where they make that transition from the shy and innocent girl to a full on sex type shaking what her mama gave her. Some times and in particular to some I see out on the town this is a bad thing. But on the whole this is only a good thing for the fellow man and many examples of this blossoming can be seen right now in this here music game. Nelly Furtado may have sold 6 million records but she was never going to get an FHM or King cover singing about a bird. Now she has ditched the sweet and innocent for a Gwen Stefani makeover to get on radar. Sex sells in this music game and below are some other dollsnatch who have swapped their teen mag poses for full on come to bed eyes.

Christina Milian

Her breakout year came in 2004 when she ditched the poppy R'n'B tracks on her debut for something a little more grown & sexy. The schoolgirl look did it for When You Look At Me (and boy didn’t we) but when she skipped class to get her advanced paint game on in the Dip It Low video, you’d be forgiven for finding it hard to remember what the song actually sounded like. How Nick Cannon got his swerve on there we can only wonder, but I doubt it involved any of his freestyles from his Wildin Out Show. Why you’d want to cheat on her only fools know, even if she only put out once a week it’s got to be good. She now uses the word gangsta in her songs…one can only think of the possibilities…

Christina Aguilera

When Britney Spears left her teeny days behind her and the press was full of pics of her drinking, smoking and not being the best of mums around her southern roots were coming through. You can take the girl out the south and all that…Well it seems Aguilera is no different. She always came across as another typically good, eat your vitamins girl but we just knew there was something trying to get out. And it certainly did when Dirty hit, and she had clearly been taking those vitamins. It must be those South American roots, but the question remains, did Redman give her length? Cos surely that was in the bargain if he was going to feature on a track with her? Maybe Preemo can shed some light on if this sort of agreement exists?

Rihanna

One of the most sharpest of transformations that has to have Jay-Z sat back on his chair at his plush Cristal free Def Jam office in delight is the Barbadian beauty. I think it’s only been ten months since she looked like an underage clubber in Pon De Replay but in SOS it has to be the biggest evidence for Beyonce that Rihanna is sharing more than business lunches with Jigga. He maybe more interested in signing R’n’B acts than figuring out how to get Ghostface a platinum plaque, but he’s still got his player tendency. Think what he could do if the Olsen twins wanted to make music? Actually stop it.

Lord knows it's been a while since I purchased a copy of XXL, but one thing that was worth reading were their making of...specials that got together a load of people who were involved in the process of classic albums. Finally they've done one on Reasonable Doubt 10 years after its release that should now doubt swell the coffers of Elliot Wilson who has an ego as big as any of these emcees out there. Their website is worth a look with their range of columnists and articles from the magazine - some posted while the mag is still out. On second thoughts, that £3.50 could go on a pint. Does anyone remember the days of 2 drinks and change from a fiver.

The last two weeks of Logan Samas Kiss FM sets are now available to download from his blog. Last weeks guest was Scorcher while the week before that was the lads from Boy Better Know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTyihNjNZ2A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC14G6cXh0A

What if the England team were rappers?

David Beckham - Kanye West - Fancies himself a bit, always eccentric with his fashion for better or worse. Always good for a silly comment.

Rio Ferdinand - Snoop Dogg - Got to be since that cornrow free photo and is so relaxed he's probably high.

Michael Owen - Ludacris - Burst onto the world scene with an excellent debut, but has always failed to live up to expectations every two years since.

Wayne Rooney – The Game - Already a heavyweight so early in his career and could go on to be one of the greats. Been compared to those who went before him and often found in controversy either in action or extra curricular activities.

Peter Crouch – Dem Franchize Boyz – Could never be taken seriously when first breaking through but now a mainstay after a signature dance has taken the public by storm. Has critics from the purists but won’t be leaving for a while yet.

Gary Neville – Ja Rule – You either love or hate him, and more are in the latter category. Has clashed with rival players and fans.

Steven Gerrard – Guru – Been consistent from the word go and an exemplary professional.

Frank Lampard - Common - Was always overlooked when it came the applaudits but after lining up with an ego centric partner (Jose/Kanye) has started to get the commercial acclaim he deserves.

Joe Cole - Lil Wayne - Was once known as being flashy, now still likes to display the glitz and glamour but has controlled it and is now starting to progress to heavyweight status.

Ashley Cole – Nelly - Was once in the middle of a major bidding war, loves the glamour and can be found pictured with his other half who’s also in the public eye.

Paul Robinson – Lupe Fiasco – Current number 1 and already compared to some greats that held the position in the past.

John Terry – 50 Cent – Was always destined for big things but a number of off the field escapades looked liked keeping him down. Now known world wide for what he does and with his team whether you like it or not will be dominate the scene for years to come.

Don't know whether any of you caught Rio's World Cup Wind-Ups on TV but there were some cringe worthy moments. The idea behind the programme is basically the same as MTV's Punked series but it's Rio's England and Man Utd team mates who get the treatment.

Some of the pranks included:

A not very convincing copper trying to let Gary Neville off with points on his driving license in exchange for a photo.

An Oscar winning performance by Robbie Fowler who was in on setting up Peter Crouch into buying an apartment in an exotic complex shaped like a cock.

And David James getting all philisophical over some paintings in an art gallery which were done by pre-school kids - this one was actually funny when he started to sum up the paintings and some of his own.

Rio made Ashton Kutcher's whining seem funny though when after every segment he was saying straight to the camera 'Wayne Rooney, you got merked!', 'David Beckham, you got merked!' I find it cringe worthy when some random wigga in the high street says he murked someone, but Rio really took the crown with this one. While each prank was going on the camera kept going back to Rio in the control room in hysterics while unloading a barrage of gun signals and Ali G-esq hand actions.

It was bad enough and surely not thought through well enough when they tried to prank David Beckham. They were supposed to piss him off by making him late for a meeting and taking different diversions, what instead happened was after getting agitated enough he jumped out the car at the traffic lights and ran off. Whether he thought it was some suspicious kidnapping plot or not the guy could have got run over getting out that car in a panic and that's game over for his World Cup. Nice thinking there Rio, would like to have seen him explain that to Sven.

The metetarsals are doing enough to damage our World Cup chances as it is let alone Rio trying to pull off a prank that could put a player in danger.

The programme was made from Rio's production company Next Generation TV & Film and the next ground-breaking output will be an 8Mile meets X Factor reality show where Rio will be a judge alongside Wayne Rooney and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Where to begin? Are we really going to get any serious budding emcees out there really auditioning in front of these three? I can already imagine a load of people clad in chav clothing while talking about guns and jewellery after being fed on a steady diet of 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg. I'm all for footballers looking into other aspects of work as their careers are short but just because you have a bunch of US rap played in the changing rooms before games and have plenty of money to throw around doesn't mean you're suddenly a music mogul.
Programmes like the X Factor and Pop Idol rarely produce some serious artists, with the exception of Will Young and the eye candy of Girls Aloud no one has carved out what you could call a career. I don't see any change here either with the emcees entering being more of the laugh hysterically while cringe at variety, rather than the next Ty or Klashnekoff.

Whatever happens it's going to make Hip-Hop look very silly in the eyes of the general public, it's bad enough as it is when you tell someone you listen to Hip-Hop music and they think you're all 50 Cent this and bling bling that.

Digging out those summer time classics. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Arrested Development etc.
Lounging in the garden with some beers and a barbecue.
The World Cup - Football on tap every day.
Donnell Jones finally gets round to releasing his next album.
Must be time for Pimms o'clock.

Looking out of an office window on a hot summers day. Can I take my work outside please?
Hearing people moan about how hot it is. The same people that moaned it was too cold in the winter.
Rio 'Merking' David Beckham
The effect of drink in the summer making people J-Kwon very quickly.
David Cameron slamming Radio 1 for 'encouraging gun violence'.

The beautiful Claudette Ortiz was always destined to go solo as she shined in City High and after a few years away apart from that notorious King Magazine shoot, she is back. It seems she's been locked in the studio crafting out some material as the single Can't Get Enough gives us a taster of things to come. Unfortunately Mase appears at the tracks opening which takes a little of the sparkle away but on the whole we have a tailor made track suitable for the radio, the club and the mandatory summer barbecues. Whether this is likely to be a single is unkown so hunt this essential cut down immediately. Lets hope we see another one of those King shoots as well.

I don't like T.I or a lot of dirty south music for that matter but I've got to hand it to him, as the Crystal Waters sampling Why You Wanna is going to be a summer smash and could be his first hit in our singles charts. The lyrics aren't great but the irresistible sample and Q-Tip biting line (Tribe's Find A Way lyric fiends) for the chorus add up to a perfect groove for a soundtrack to what should hopefully be a long hot summer. Lord knows we've been waiting for a while after that rubbish May. Now enough of the weather report.

So I was strolling round Urban Outfitters the other day to pick up some Doug.E (Fresh) wears for the summer when I happened to take in the funky rhythms kicking out the stores speakers. After hearing some track you would expect to hear in an American diner mixed in with some De La Soul a purchase had to be made. When I played the Boca's Jukebox CD I was treated to a mix of Hip-Hop, Funk and Soul 45's with a bit of Happy Mondays thrown in for good measure. Next time you're in an Urban Outfitters hunt this down or hit up the internet to find this from the Bristol born DJ. Perfect accompaniment for a summers day barbecue.

Pharrell got to meet his idol the other day in Selfridges, he even called me brother. I felt like one of his homeboys. For a minute.

Read an interesting article about how in the midst of the Internet phenom Myspace and other ways of promoting on the net, old-fashioned PR is still essential in getting an artists music to your ears.

It goes on to name the usual subjects that have benefited from using what is now an essential way to making a name such as Arctic Monkeys, Gnarls Barkley and Lily Allen.

With the threat of downloading a real thorn in the side for the smaller music scenes artists have to look into extra ways in promoting themselves and being able make a living.

With the lack of record company support to urban music acts in this country many of our acts can take a leaf out of the above-mentioned books and some are already doing so.

Selling mixtapes is a valuable outlet to give people a chance to buy an artists record and if you take a look in Uptown Records or Rhythm Division you’ll be into the tens of the amount of artists that are adorning the walls.

They and the scene as a whole is dependent on the release of mixtapes to gain a buzz and either grow independently or attract the riches of a label.

Kano may already have a record deal and an album out through 679 but earlier this year he dropped his Beats and Bars CD to successful underground acclaim. His cohorts Demon and Ghetto have also followed suit and barely a month goes by now when you hear about a new mixtape out.

Where before in the states an artist will drop verses or whole new tracks on a few mixtapes a month that are more about making or keeping a name out there, rather than staying consistent with the output – a lot of the Grime guys are treating the releases as their album.

The latest release has come from Wiley who dropped his hotly anticipated 2nd Phaze, which is so good it’s really a follow up to his Treddin On Thin Ice album. While Skepta is going round letting you know he makes albums not mixtapes.

One artist who is releasing mixtapes and going that extra yard is Akira The Don. The colourful Welshman interacts with people via his blog which is updated daily and will cover his recordings, thoughts on the issues of the day and even to what he had for lunch. Every month or so he’ll upload his own mixtapes that are as eclectic as they are random – one release found Gnarls Barkley sharing space with Chesney Hawks.

Other artists are hitting up Myspace pages rapidly and are the first place that people without access to pirate radio are going to hear new tracks. In fact anyone whose anyone in the grime scene has their own page as artists look for any little bit extra that will help them promote their cause.

It will be intriguing to see how the avenues in which artists use develop in the next few years with the term Myspace phenom being thrown about all the time and what other ways artists will use in the future.

The internet may be viewed by some with caution due to illegal downloading, but with the right know how is an essential tool in an artists plan and shouldn’t be overlooked by artists.

Link

The Internet is home to all sorts of random pleas and currently some yank is trying to get a date with everyones favourite midget rapper Lady Sovereign after she plays in San Fransisco. Check out the link above...

Gnarls Barkley - St.Elsewhere

Thanks to that idiot Zane Lowe and his Radio 1 adverts every five minutes Crazy got more than its fair share of exposure and is still number one for like the 8th week or something. Now it’s a good song but this is exactly what happens when some alternative DJ gets behind a black music track and claims it to be some new wave, amazing orgasm on record.

Cee-Lo’s been doing his thing for a while now and you’re either a lover or hater of his nasal flow. Dangermouse is another who has been around for a while but has been getting on radar more the last few years. The two are quite eccentric characters and have been posing as various super/comic book heroes in their photo shoots and it’s reflected in the album.

Highlights of the album are: the next single Smiley faces, Feng Shui and Transformer. The rest isn’t as groundbreaking as the broadsheets and indie magazines would like to tell you, but it’s a pretty decent album.

In America the music critics at Pitchfork were going gaga over Crazy last Autumn (or Fall for you yanks reading) when the track was leaked, but overall they haven’t fallen for the hype as much as over here. I guess the guys owe Zane Lowe one. Without the advert I don’t think the single and album would have done as well as it has done.
I wonder what the rest of Goodie Mob think now Cee-Lo is lapping it up on Top Of The Pops?

Spank Rock - YoYoYo

When you discuss the current state of Hip-Hop down the pub over a few Stella’s, you usually establish the following:

Southern Hip-Hop is actually rubbish
New York Hip-Hop is dead
Being a weed carrier is a dangerous job
When is that Clipse album coming?
Stella will make you angry

Then you’ll long for something to come along that’s brand new and fresh.

Well in Spank Rock that brand new ish is here.

Hailing from Baltimore these four party boys are signed to Big Dada over here and have created a lot of anticipation on the Internet. Their debut album YoYoYo has lyrics that your girlfriend or parents will give disapproving looks to as standards in looking at woman as sexual objects goes back 20 years, while the inner b-boy in you will crave those funky beats.

Spank Rock consist of deejays Chris Rockswell and Ron Darko, producer Armani XXXchange and MC Naeem Juwan. Together they have put together an album that’s creativity blends elements of Dizzee Rascal, Missy Elliott and the Beastie Boys with lyrics that pay homage to 2 Live Crews Luke.

The opener Back Yard Betty is about an ass-shaking competition, Sweet Talk is anything but and the track Touch Me leaves little to the imagination. The standard 16 bar, verse, 16 bar formula goes out the window with tracks like IMC and the underground hit Rick Rubin changing styles constantly.

While the South are currently recycling the same old style and a bunch of average emcees fight out who is New York’s best, a group from Baltimore are running with the original Hip-Hop aesthetic of originality and while combining styles from their influences have given hope to this genre which has been stale for months.
This month’s essential purchase and a soundtrack to the summer (when it eventually, if ever, starts)

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Mike Skinner stopped off at the Southampton Guildhall with his brand of booze, birds and more booze as part of his national tour to promote his third album, The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living. The Streets are a marketing guys wet dream, as geezers draped in Fred Perry shared floor space with chavs, young girls and hipsters, while a couple of people went as far as to pay homage to Skinners Miami Vice look.

Before he could take the stage though you couldn't have asked for a better two artists to warm the crowd. Jump Off legend and newly signed to The Beats label, Professor Green came out to 'R They Rappin like Pro' and ran through a couple of numbers. Unbeknown to many in the crowd he managed to win them over with his version of the familiar When You Wasn't Famous, while the raw funk of the Skinner produced Stereotypical man ended his short but very professional set. You can expect to see a lot of the guy in the future and under Skinners wing, he'll have the perfect tutor.

If Skinner is a marketing mans dream, then Sway is a one man marketing machine. Even after the mixtape hustle he hasn't rested on his laurels now his long player is out. In between songs and at the end of his performance he was passing out album samplers, keen to catch the attention of new fans and those that may have slept on This Is My Demo.

And if they had, then they would surely be picking up a copy after a professional 40 minute set. It's evident that the man Sway has been touring for a while now and his stage presence and chemistry between DJ Turkish had that of a veteran. After his own countrywide tour and being the main support act for The Streets tour and soon to be supporting indie darlings Hard-Fi there is plenty of opportunity to pick up some more fans.

The feel good celebration of city life on Products and the comical tales of credit woe Flo Fashion had hands waving. Then when MC Hammers Can't Touch This kicked in Sway had the Guildhall doing their best karaoke rendition. Between tracks we were treated to a freestyle with inspiration thrown from the crowd and an acapella of Download. To end a set that flew by so quickly we had the anthemic Up Your Speed, complete with its own Southampton recognition. I doubt it will be long until Sway is headlining his own shows in buildings as big as the Guildhall.

With two well received warm-up acts it was onto the main event. With mug of tea in hand the former Burberry clad image was replaced with his Miami Vice chic look. The contrast in look is the same as the focus on material output now. From reciting nights down the boozer to chasing girls on his first album Original Pirate Material to the present day of life in the fast lane the response has been mixed.

Some of the newer material like Prangin Out, tonight's opener, complain about the new life in the public eye but sits well alongside earlier and well received material. The rousing Don't Mug Yourself had Skinner and the crowd running on the spot while the ska tinged Let's Push Things Forward had Skinner claiming Leo The Lion to be the 2nd best soul singer in the UK. Number 2 behind the locally born Craig David, who had performed only a few nights previously and was on the end of some banter from Skinner.

The first single from the new album When You Wasn't Famous brags about finding it hard to pull a famous girl, but he clearly enjoys the ease in which he can now pull the non-celebs with and was constantly getting his roadie to pass drinks to the girls and the crowd. By the end of the show he had enough of a collection of girls tops to start his own shop. The gig took a turn in pace with the father dedicated, new single Never Went To Church before getting back into the more appreciated Blinded By The Lights.

At the end the crowd turned in unison to the chorus of the slow Radio 2 play listed Dry your Eyes, not much of a favourite but responsible for the move from style mag exclusiveness to tabloid fodder. He ended on a high with the holiday anthem Fit But You Know It and strutted off to mass screams and shouts. His stock has risen and is now more popular than ever, but he's always been an artist who've either loved or hate. His style hasn't changed but the material has. His next move will be to see if he can maintain peoples interest in him as he moves onto future albums. On evidence of tonight, he shouldn't find it too hard finding an audience, but to what type it will be is an interesting one.

The Czech Republic isn't all about stag-dos and cheap booze. It's also about Hip-Hop and cheap booze. Hip-Hop Kemp to be precise. Now in its 4th year the festival combines local talent from the Czech Republic with acts from the rest of Europe, the US and from these shores. Set across 3 days the festival takes place on an old airport with a campsite nearby. The full line up is here but topping the bill are Little Brother, Guru, DJ A-Trak, Klashnekoff, Sway and Pyrelli. Those that have been to the Czech before know how dirt cheap it is and with camping and three days admission to the festival costing not much more than £30, there will be plenty of strong Czech beer flowing.