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My Hosting Company Sucks

As ya'll may have already guessed, The Couch Sessions (as well as Article Online and Autovida) was down all day yesterday. Don't blame me, I paid my bills. Blame Surfspeedy, my hosting company, who has somehow messed up my account beyond reason.

I haven't had a problem with SurfSpeedy before now. The webspace and bandwith are great at the price they offer. But dealing with the Popcopy-esque customer service department has left a bad taste in my mouth. It took them over a DAY to figure out what the problem was (they messed up). I called them constantly throughout the day and no one had an answer. Then one of the tech reps tried to pull some attitude and almost hang the phone up on me. Then they try to blame everything on me. Time to pull a Donald Trump on their ass.

Surfspeedy: ???You???re Fired???

Needless to say, the site is back up. It might go back down in a few weeks when we move to another webhost. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Tags: Mandrill

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No Entourage. No Escalades. No Egos.
Just Hip-Hop.

Click Here to Launch the DC Radio Blog

DC doesn???t have a massive, commercial, hip hop scene and we should be thankful for that. We don't need major label fat cats from NYC trying to dictate and water down the DC scene. Ya'll can Keep 50 Cent. We have Head-Roc. Philly may have The Roots. We have Restoring Poetry in Music.

DC Hip Hop cats are some of the most down to earth people I've met in a long time. When they spit, you see the passion and emotion that they possess. Living in the center of government and injustice (as well as one of the poorest cities in the country), they have a more political edge to their rhymes. Sometimes, life isn't all about the club hit.

DC has so many good hip hop acts coming out of this area to shut up most every NYC wannabe known to man.

Check out our DC ONLY Radio Blog and see for yourself.

Click Here to Launch the DC Radio Blog

Tracklisting after the Jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Mandrill

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Nightlife

Two Years of Krunk

DJ Tittsworth and company, the purveyors of all things Krunk, are reminding ya'll to come down to Singapore Bistro this Friday for their Krunk 2 Year Anniversary party.

Cover is only $5. $5 Vodka and Red Bulls AND click on this coupon to get a free drink.

Check out Miss Hipstah's review of Krunk.

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News Update

A lot of goings on in the past week.

An Anger Management Tour bus had a serious accident last week. DJ Stat Quo, Alcemist, and other people who make up Eminem's posse, were seriouly injured when their bus overturned in Missouri.

Lauryn Hill will be headlining the Stockholm Jazz Festival. If you can read Swedish, then go to the Official Website

Ashanti's first music producer is accusing her in civil court of ditching him when he asked her for money after she became commercially successful.

Supposedly there is a video tape that links Rapper Ja Rule to a 2004 New York night club shoot out.

Kimberly Jones a.k.a Lil' Kim is suing James “Lil' Cease” Lloyd for 6 million dollars because she claims he is planning on releasing an unauthorized DVD entitled “The Chronicles of Junior M.A.F.I.A Part II: Reloaded”. Lil' Cease also happens to be one of the two men who testifyed against her in her perjury case.

Two St. Louis radio DJs were suspended from their posts because of remarks they made on air. DJ Kaos and DJ Sylli Asz were apparently giving instructions on different methods of how to disarm and injure police officers. They even discussed how to wrestle the police car radio away so that the officer could not call for assistance. This on-air discussion came very shortly after the radio station had asked its listeners to help find the person who shot and killed a police officer.

That's it for the news update…stay tuned kids!

Tags: Mandrill

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News Corp buys MySpace: Should we be Worried?

This article first appreared on BlogCritics.

Almost out of nowhere, MySpace has eclipsed Friendster and Orkut as the premier destination for the youth generation. But could corporate control ruin this runaway success?

Los Angeles-based MySpace is what's called a social networking site. Members log on, create a profile, and seek “friends” who match their interests and personalities. On MySpace, users can comment on other member pages, add pictures, and invite their internet friends to events and groups. Users also have the ability to post blogs.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (owner of Fox News amoung other entertainment sites) has bought MySpace for over $580 million dollars cash. The site will become the cornerstone of the newly created Fox Interactive Media unit.

The appeal of MySpace is simple. It's created for the people and by the people. It's not the creation of some 40 year old Madison Avenue marketing whiz as an attempted to break into the youth market. Although corporations such as Warner Music and NBC Universal have a presence on the site, the heart of MySpace is its people, who range from Afropunks to certified racists, to models. Unlike some sites, MySpace has still sought to be true to the people who are the core of their business.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Mandrill

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Writer Bios

Stone - Music has always ruled my life. I remember growing in in a small town in Alabama listening to everything from Diana Ross to The Doors. My father had a really extensive music collection.

Coincidentally, my father also barred me from listening to rap music until I was around 15 years old. However, during that time, I listened to a lot of Memphis and Motown recordings. I would tell people in elementary school about Booker T & the MG's and other Stax recording artists. And I’ll just get blank stares.

High school was interesting. I would make the 35 minute ride from my all black town to my all white high school every weekday. Of course, in my high school alternative music came with the territory. So I was exposed to a lot of britpop such as Radiohead, Oasis, and The Prodigy in addition to such bands as Soul Coughing and Geggy Tah. And yes, in the middle of redneck Alabama, there was a huge drum and bass/trip-hop scene as well.

Of course, I kept things equal on the hip hop end. Groups like Outkast, Blackstreet, Lil' John (from back in the day), Kilo, the 69Boyz, The Roots, Roni Size, made constant appearances on my CD Player.

And yes, I was a Biggie fan from day one.

My Soul revival came during my first year of college when I was exposed to Baltimore club and DC go-go. In addition, my ex-girlfriend turned me onto Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. Soul greats like Curtis Mayfield and Gil Scott Heron were big in college as well.

The evolution of my soul experience came when I lived in London. I would go to the weekly hip hop parties held in the outlying areas and I was exposed to so much new, interesting, music that I didn???t know what to do with myself. Living in London has turned me into the man that you see today. A Soul Rebel. A true seeker of underground music.

Miss Hipstah - Miss Hipstah's love for music started when her mother listened to classical music records while pregnant with her. She was told that she danced in the womb. Some of her first cassette tapes were Madonna's “Like A Prayer”, Technotronic “Pump Up The Volume”, and Duice's “Dazzey Duks” and her first CD was REM's “Monster”. That was a really long time ago and since then her music tastes have definitely changed (though she still loves Madonna).

When she is not listening to, talking about or writing on music, she
can be found studying photography and cultural studies up in
Massachusetts. Dividing her time between there, New York and
Washington DC, Miss Hipstah, a self-proclaimed “cool hunter”, is
always on the lookout for the next big thing, whether it is in music,
fashion or art. Her own art has been shown in various salon shows, the
International Center of Photography, and in Circa 2004, a collection
of young up and coming artists. She dreams of one day opening a
gallery, starting a magazine, being on the Daily Show and becoming a
boxer.

Divynthought - I'm a native of Washington and an inspiring music journalist. The most accurate way I could describe myself is to say that I'm an old soul. Sometimes I think my spirit was imported here from another time because of how our “oldies” speak to me. And this is how I know. When I was in kindergarten, I remember my favorite artist was KoKo Taylor, a raunchy blues singer from Memphis. That real, soulful music was calling to me even then.

In Philly, I've really fallen in love with the hip-hop/soul scene.
It's one of the reasons I decided to go to school there. I've met
(and written about) some awesome independent artists, whose work I
really believe in, like United Soul, Lady Alma, Anthony David, and
Kurt Chambers. They remind me of the sound I grew up listening to.

I'm also an amateur 35mm photographer and I dabble in digital
photography as well. There's a short collection of my photographs on
the website.

As far as my music is concerned, I like to keep the rotation in
constant motion. This week I've played Dwele, Sade, Joi, Bobby
Valentino, Ludacris, Rick James, Common, Cee Lo, and a mixtape of my favorite Motown hits.

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DC Go-Go……LA Style

Leave it to Sy Smith to bring DC's Go-Go to the West Coast. And of course, its at the Temple Bar.

Sy Smith with Deeznutz, plus Geno Young and E Reece. This is the jumpoff ya'll! Only $10.

Tags: Mandrill

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Quit Biting The Dapper Londoner's Style!

Some may think that Borf is the cooest graffitti artist ever. Others think he's just a snot nose kid from the burbs. Who seems to think very highly of himself:

Borf considers this his unwitting legacy: He's democratizing graffiti. People are decorating the District's streets, even if it's just to make fun of him.

What people don't seem to realize is that he is biting the style of one of the TRUE great political graffiti artists: Banksy
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Mandrill

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Eminem's Final “Encore”

Multi-platinum rapper Eminem has announced his retirement as a rap artist.

Rap superstar Eminem plans to make his last solo performance in Ireland in September, the Detroit Free Press, his hometown newspaper, said on Friday.

Citing sources close to the 33-year-old rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, the daily also said his current album “Encore” would probably be his last as he moves to full-time work as a record producer.

The final solo appearance of Mathers, the best-selling hip-hop artist ever, would be at a concert in Dublin, Ireland, on Sept. 17, the Free Press said.

His retirement comes as a bit of a surprise to some. Either way, there will be plenty of press. Many close to Eminem say that they saw it coming.

Paul Rosenberg, Eminem's longtime manager, told the Press no final decision has been made regarding Em's future plans. However, Rosenberg did say that Encore, which topped the charts when released in November, was “certainly the cap on this part of his career.” The rapper, known for his arch sense of humor, is pictured giving a final bow on the cover of the album and closes out the set with the track “Curtains Down.”

Maybe after he retires, he and Triumph the Insult Dog will go on a comedy tour.

Tags: Mandrill

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LL's Lookin' Out for the Ladies With New Film Deal

LL Cool J is looking to tap into the pockets of black female moviegoers via a multi-picture deal with Lions Gate Films.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the rapper/actor will get a producer's credit for each film, the first being what is described as an “urban remake” of the 1987 Michael Douglas hit “Fatal Attraction.”

With this and at least two other projects it plans to develop alongside the “Attraction” remake, Lion's Gate hopes to appeal to the black female market, which it sees as an often ignored segment of the movie-going population.

“We are not looking to develop gimmicks but make real movies,” says Michael Paseornek, Lion's Gate's president of production. “LL has a huge following and is very credible with women.” Paseornek also made it clear that he would ideally like to roll out two LL films a year (budgeted at $10 million) depending on marketplace response.

Naturally, LL couldn't be happier.

“This is the perfect transition for me as I can now pour all my energy and creative juices into this fresh and exciting producing venture,” he says.

Tags: Mandrill

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