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Negroclash!

The Grand Theft Auto IV Soundtrack is Fierce

Gil Scott Heron - New York City

Femi Kuti - Water Get No Enemy (Live)

I loves me some Grand Theft Auto. There’s nothing like coming home from a long day at work and….well, you know what goes down. However, I’ll have a new reason to pick up Grand Theft this weekend. The soundtrack is off the chain.

If you don’t know, GTA has always pioneered the use of music in video games. Every car you enter has the ability to listen to different radio stations based on genre. Such acts like Agullah and Royce Da 5′9 started off the trend in GTA III, but the latest installment carries the largest video games soundtrack ever with over 200 songs. Most notably though, are the inclusion of more left field and below the radar artists in the playlist.

Case in point: Afrobeat artist Femi Kuti is hosting his own station, IF99, featuring music from himself and his father Fela, as well as Mandrill, Gil Scott Heron, and The Meters. Also featured in the game are such artists as Jill Scott, Milles Davis, Roy Ayers (who also hosts his own station), and Grover Washington, Jr. just to name a few. And lets not forget the Old School Hip-Hop station featuring MC Lyte, Marley Marl, and Special Ed as well as well as an exclusive track from Nas titled “War is Necessary.”

The most compelling thing about this playlist may not be the songs, but the fact that players can actually buy the music that they hear in the game by “marking” it with an in-game cell phone, which will send an email to your inbox with a link to download the song at Amazon.com. This is major. GTA IV in on track to be the biggest selling video game of all time, and these tracks will be pumped repeatedly to gamers all over the world. Forget someone like Kanye, who has millions of marketing dollars behind them. An artist like Femi Kuti or Gil Scott Heron just might as well be introduced to the national stage thanks to a video game.

Technology is a beautiful thing.

Tags: Femi Kuti, Gil Scott Heron, Grand Theft Auto, Mandrill

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Get thru your Monday…

with Musiq and Movies…

just don’t get caught with anything on that work computer.

Tags: Mandrill

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Get Busy Y’all…

Enough Dilla links to really start your weekend off proper are here. I’m a fiend for OG samples, just seeing how people flip them and what not sparks my own creativity. Definitely some great business here.

These cats seem to be real heavy on the g.ive a.way tip so save em to your favorites and check em out as often as they drop heat.

Tags: Mandrill

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Random Ish: Merry Christmas Edition

Christmas with MF Doom. Im there. (spotted at Oh Word)

I’m off on the Georgia Tour this Christmas: Augusta, Atlanta, Savannah, and Columbia, SC in four days. Good lawd that’s a lot of travelling. At least I’ll get some genuine sweet tea while I’m down there.

Since I will be out of town I will have limited or no access to internet and email until Wednesday. If you send me an email via the gmail or the MySpace, expect a response sometime late next week. Have a Happy Holiday….

Oh, and we have a crazy new Podcast on deck too.

Tags: Mandrill

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Straight Up Menace

UGK - Pocket Full of Stones

Has to be tied for one of the best songs on the Menace II Society soundtrack (which would be the best soundtrack ever if it weren’t for Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case) and definitely stood as a proper introduction for UGK to the west coast. Featured with songs from Spice 1, MC Eiht, and a host of west coast mainstays, “Pocket Full of Stones” banged on its own, if not for the southern twang of Bun B and Pimp C (there was no mention of mark ass busters from what I can remember in the song), but also for the rawness of the subject matter, which no one was checking for from the south at the time.

Whatever attracts you to hte song it still bangs in ‘06 like it was ‘93 so get it while the link is good, throw it in the ipod, and throw on your VHS copy of Menace II Society.

Tags: Mandrill

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Say It Ain’y So Esco

Smarten Up Nas????

And Capo status was at his birthday party? Aww hell nah!!

Tags: Mandrill

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The Return of FNF Radio

DJ Hyphen, out of Seattle, hosts a weekly radio show on Sundaynights. Recently Hyphen had Lupe and his homeboy Bishop G on there and they took over the show and used it for FNF Radio. They cover hella topics from Lupes album cover (ehh) to Tupac and even Chomsky.

Listen to FNF Radio feat Lupe, Bishop G, and DJ Hyphen…its wild and quite negroish.

Tags: Mandrill

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Throw Ya Rags Up Like North Carolinans Do…

Dude has to be one of the top guys doing it right now. His spit game has improved greatly over the past 2 years to the point where you HAVE to respect his steez. The “Face Of LA” freestyle is crack people…get on this.

Face Of L.A.

Tags: Mandrill

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Get Low Bus

Busta Rhymes feat Nas Don’tGet Carried Away (prod Dr Dre)

I don’tknow if Dr. Dre really produced this, but the beat is heem. Nas verse was ok, but the is a good look.

Tags: Mandrill

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Hip Hop Hatin': Is Rap’s Dominance Coming to an End?

Clyde over at Pro Hip Hop noted that this week’s Billboard top ten doesn’tfeature any rap acts. I don’thave any facts on this, but I'm pretty sure that this might be the first time in say…10 years…that this has happened.

I've been gunning for rap’s demise from the mainstream for a while now, and I'm glad to see that its finally happening. Why would I rally against the progression of my brothers and sisters and deprive them of their deserved “paper?” Am I a hater?

Yes. Okay, not really. Although I would love to that new Bentley Continental droptop. But seriously, I have stressed for a while that its time for rap to get back to its roots, (Yeah, I'm one of those people who prefer Native Tongues hip-hop to snap music, so bite me), and the only way to do that is to get it out of the mainstream.

It’s not that I don’tlike mainstream rap. I mean, we all need music to get drunk to, dance to, and hook up to. But damn, the repetitive nature of the crap that’s being produced today has made me run away from radio completely. (My high school readers remember the radio mix tapes I used to make in 9th grade. I loved the radio back then.)

So anyway, what I'm trying to say is, if a rapper sees that he can’tget instantly rich off of his music, then maybe he'll rap about what he wants to say, rather than what he’s being forced to say. Ya dig?

Tags: Mandrill

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