Complex Mag gives Rick Ross a 1,2 on Photoshop. I'm trying to stay away from this tabloid news, but this shit was too funny to NOT post. Shout out to Cesar for the heads up!
You can check out the rest of the pics on Complex's Blog.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Oh Really? (17th Edition)
Hi Hater Remix
Everyone in my circle hates this song, I love it. I guess they don't have none. Anyway...
This is the remix to it featuring TI, Swizz Beatz, Flies...excuse me - Plies, Jadakiss, and Fabolous.
Maino ft. TI, Swizz Beatz, Plies, Jadakiss, Faboulous - Hi Hater Remix
Listing LAX
01. State of Emergency (Feat. Ice Cube) (Produced By Jonathan “J.R.” Rothem)
02. Bulletproof Diaries (Feat. Raekwon) (Produced By Jelly Roll)
03. Cali Sunshine (Feat. Bilal) (Produced By Nottz)
04. Game’s Pain (Feat. Keysha Cole) (Produced By Knobody)
05. My Life (Feat. Lil’ Wayne) (Produced By Cool & Dre)
06. Angel (Feat. Common) (Produced By Kanye West)
07. Camera Phone (Feat. Ne-Yo) (Produced By Cool & Dre)
08. A Thug And A Gentleman (Feat. Ne-Yo) (Produced By Jonathan “J.R.” Rothem)
09. Us Live (Feat. Chrisette Michelle) (Produced By Scott Storch)
10. Put Ya Hands Up (Feat. Busta Rhymes) (Produced By Scott Storch)
11. Dope Boys (Feat. Travis Barker) (Produced By 1500 or Nothin’)
12. Touchdown (Feat. Raheem DeVaughn) (Produced By Nottz)
13. Ya Heard (Feat. Ludacris) (Produced By Nottz)
14. Nice (Produced By Irv Gotti)
15. House Of Pain (Produced By DJ Toomp)
16. Letter To The King (Produced By Hi-Tek)
Damn that's a lot of guest appearances. In fact, the first solo track doesn't come in until track 14.
Plus Game ft. Gangsta rapper Common? This album looks very very interesting to say the least.
Mono Yapp: Sequencing
Now that we've discussed what it takes to do what I do - internally, let's get down to the nitty gritty. The rugged work.
Like with anything in life, you have to work within the confines of an agenda. It's like when they say you can't construct a building without a floorplan. Same situation. When I started getting into music, I was pretty much freelance and did what I pleased but no matter how hot you're record is you have to be able to work with sequencing your track for the artist's benefit.
A lot of times (and I mean A LOT!) I create the craziest most bizurk record you have ever heard but in the end I think to myself was it really worth it when numerous artists are telling you that there's too much going on. This is the tricky part...
You have to capture the essence of how you're record is sounding but at the same time leave some room for the artist to drop in. Think of it like gridlock traffic in NY. Let's say you're in 350K Lambo and you're stuck on the freeway. Sure you're vehicle is the hottest thing around but when you're stuck in gridlock traffic, you can't show off what you have on the roadway because there's too much around you. That's the same case with the artist!
Give 'em room to breathe. So then in that case, yes - less is more.
So that's something to always keep in mind when sequencing.
Now breaks is probably one of the most important necessities in music whether you're doing Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, etc. It's that moment when you know the track is going to go through a transition. Breaks are huge and have to be absolutely executed correctly. If at all it sounds awkward, it most likely is. Breaks have to sound natural, almost as if the listener knows how it will sound beforehand.
A smooth transition is key in that it keeps the listener tuned in and not bored with a simultaneous 16 bar loop. Also, don't place breaks on every 2 bars, it will get repetitive and it's too much of a hassle for the artist to switch up so quickly. I like to hit a break or transition every 8 bars out of 16. That's my personal preference.
Last thing to know about the basics of sequencing, know what you are doing folks...
Know how many bars belong in what genre.
If you want to really learn the fundamentals on sequencing I suggest composing a R&B track. There's a lot of transitions that have to take place, various instruments, FX, breaks, all that. It's good old practice and practice makes...well you know the rest.
Still keeping 'em Plugged,
A.
Esco Let's Go
Nas - What it Is (Prod. By DJ Khalil)
I've been itching for a good quality of this song.
This should have been on the album. Oh well....
Probably sample propaganda.
Where Ya'll At?
Prodigy - Jail House Call
QB! What's Good!
So P supposedly squashed things with Nas now (I can see eskay calling him Patchup P haha.) Which is definitely a good move and direction.
Mobb Deep and Nas collabos were some of the most potent music in Rap period, I don't care who tells me what. At the end of the day, this is all just music - why have petty competition rivals when there's more to be gained than lost.
Ohhh...and Jay-Z is still a "bitch ass nigga. " <---Prodigy's words, not mine.
Marketing
Peace to MTV, VH1, Apple, and Sirius for holding us down as far as advertising and things of that nature. We're working hand in hand as partners. So you can always follow the links to their site and see what's good with them, browse around, whatever. They have a lot to offer as far merchandise, DVDs, CDs, and bargain deals.
Note: I don't plan to go extreme with the advertising on the blog, because I know it's a bitch and cuts down on bandwidth/loading times. Not only that, but I also like to keep a close tight knit community with the readers of this blog. So the most ads you'll ever see is what I like to call the Hightop and Sideburns. Plus, you will never see Text Link Ads in the middle of my posts! I HATE THAT WITH A PASSION!
They've seen the vision, do you? If anyone is interested in advertising on this blog email me at amedproductions@yahoo.com for further information and rates.
Keep 'em Plugged,
A.
Joell Blogs...
Anyone who has followed Joell Ortiz's career as a fan knows that JO has had some of the most comprehensive blogs around even before the one he recently started up independently.
He talks about a wide range of subject matter from his "dropped" situation, to cameo appearances, and day to day talk.
Shout out to Mr. Ortiz. You know we holding you down on the Blog Steam Roll.
Timbaland Stomped
Jay shoots Timbo down quicker than Cheney with a rifle.
“You know I love Timbaland, he is like a brother to me, but until the music is done it’s premature,” Jay said. “I’m a person that works off music. If Timbaland makes 10 great tracks then he produces the album, if Kanye West makes 10 great tracks then he produces the album; if he makes three, I’ll take three. I let the music dictate the direction.”
To say the least, I am still very intrigued about which way he'll venture with his RocNation debut album. Read the rest of the article here.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
...II
You should know what comes before the 3 points by now. Rae discusses the content matter on his forthcoming album Only Built for Cuban Linx...2 (which is by the way not mythical as most people believe by now.) Also notes that there's a special gust appearance on the album, but I'll let you watch it to find out who it is.
Here's Part 2 on Part 2
Shout out to Chelsea for hitting me off with the invoice.
I'd Be Offended
What's up with Hov rapping about puttin' on Nas onto Def Jam, puttin' Fab back on top of the charts, puttin' Prodigy on that Summer Jam screen...?
If I was either of those dudes, I'd honestly feel insulted. Someone's bound to get upset.
Young Jeezy ft. Jay-Z - Put On (Remix)
Nasty Nas
gets it in with a 255 note streak and 95% expertise level.
That's pretty solid, you can tell this is not his first time getting to work on Rock Band.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Video: Nas/Myspace Concert
NAS Myspace Release Show in Hollywood: 07/18/08
Kudos to the band, my god...when you hear Hero, One Mic, and If I Ruled the World play - the live instruments really brought those records ALIVE. Of course nothing will ever beat Nas' Central Park Concert.
Mecca & the Soul Bro.
It's amazing, add a few wrinkles to the face, and CL looks exactly the same.
Great find from the The Meaning of Dope.
MP4 Update
Just finished uploading Jay-Z's Vol. 2...Hardknock Life videography. You can also check out and download all of his other videos here. I'm still in the process of uploading all his other albums.
Next up: Vol. 3...Life and Times of S. Carter
Oh and this so happens to be the blog's 400th post. Salute!
Turbanized!
First it was Jay, now Snoop...
Making a music video for the theme song of the upcoming movie Singh is Kinng staring Akshay Kumar.
That's so HOOD!
Old footage of RZA and ODB performing as youngsters at a talent show.
Daps to SAGE for the rare find!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
187
That's right! Your boy Nas sold 187,000 copies in first week sales.
Damn my estimate was right on. I called it 200k.
Sure he did double that with Hip Hop is Dead but you have to realize that was in '06. It's a different market now.
More on BBDD
Yes, I'm now calling the Beats By Dr. Dre headphones - Double B Double D. Anyway here's an interesting video I found about them as they unwrap the box and whatnot.
The more I watch this video, the more I think that this is more of a Monster product than Dr. Dre. They just had to tag his name onto it to move units. But still the design actually looks pretty sleek. As opposed to when I thought they looked disgusting.
Winter Detox
So Dre's $350 headset (Beats by Dr. Dre - corny ass name) is going on sale this Friday huh.
To say the least, I'm somewhat interested in what it has to offer, but they have give us more specs if they want me to shell out that much.
Oh yea...and Dre has given a timetable for Detox's release this winter...
RIGHT!!! We all remember when the first single was supposed to drop last December. In fact, here's my post about it! LOL
Here's the full story on USA Today!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Super Corny
I just finished up reading about how Rick Ross was "exposed" for being a correctional officer and whatnot. And I did a pretty good job from refraining to post anything about it. Because
1) That shit is corny as hell.
2) A brother gotta make a living right?
But then he came back in the studio and made a response record. That's cool and all but when you start airing out bloggers that shit is mad cheesy. It's not just Rick Ross neither, it's a lot of artists dedicating songs to bloggers either praising or bashing them to the extent where some are doing whole mixtapes for blogs and shit. Lame...
All I'm saying is, that shit is corny son! I would never breath the name of any blogger on wax, nonetheless these hardbody Canadians who've never witnessed a breakdance move in person.
Some bloggers think they're God, it's not even funny yo. Actually, it's pretty sad if you ask me. Am I blogger? Yes. But I'm not your average suck your dick for a click blogger. In the words of Lil Wayne, "Get off the computer and go do something."
Nas In Your Area
Well yea...so my radio alarm rang this morning at 7 and I think it was tuned to Hot 97. First thing I hear is Halftime blaring out of my speakers. It was actually quite refreshing for those brief few seconds, then I hit the snooze button.
Yadda yadda yadda here is a SUPER VINTAGE interview of Nas, pre-Illmatic with some soon to be stars lurking in the back. Can you name them?
Hotter than July
Sha Stimuli + DJ Victorious - Hotter Than July (Mixtape)
This is a Sendspace not zShare, get it while you can.
You're Welcome.
Monday, July 21, 2008
SMH
Can Someone please tell me what exactly is wrong with Islam? What does this have anything to do with jihad or terrorism...? None of us complain about the dozens of biblical ads hovering the underground system. This is a sad, sad day for all Muslims. This is just proof of the injustice and discrimination tagged with being a Muslim in America. Now I really really want to start a rally or something - it's getting ridiculous to the point where you don't even want to be here no more.
Jeremy Olshan will be condemned by God in any religious form.Allah board!
An Islamic group plans to blitz 1,000 subway cars with advertisements this September in a campaign being promoted by a Brooklyn imam whom federal officials have linked to a plot to blow up city landmarks.
The group says its mission is to explain the true nature of Islam to non-Muslims who believe the religion is bent on acts of violence - but Siraj Wahhaj, the inflammatory imam who appears in a promotional YouTube video for the project, has defended convicted bomb-plotters and called the FBI and CIA the "real terrorists."
US Attorney Mary Jo White even named Wahhaj one of 170 unindicted co-conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the thwarted plan to blow up a slew of buildings.
"In time, this so-called democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing, and the only thing that will remain will be Islam," Wahhaj said in one of his sermons.
The stark, black-and-white ads of the Subway Project promote Islam with the goals of clearing up long-held misconceptions about the faith and reaching out to those interested in becoming Muslim, according to the Islamic Circle of North America, the group behind the campaign.
Timed to run during the month of Ramadan, the ads come in pairs, reading "Q: Prophet Muhammad?" or "Q: Islam?" and the corresponding answer is always "A: You deserve to know."
Those interested in knowing more are directed to call (877) WHY-ISLAM or to visit whyislam.org, which provide literature that teaches and proselytizes about the faith.
The group insists it is not looking to transform subway cars into the "G-had train."
"Anyone who looks at this ad objectively can see that it is not preaching anything," Azeem Khan, the group's assistant secretary general, told The Post. "There is a lot of Islamaphobia out there. We provide people with a chance to speak with an actual Muslim who is informed."
Wahhaj, imam of Al-Taqwa mosque, is a former member of the Nation of Islam and was the first Muslim to give an invocation at the House of Representatives.
Formal charges were never filed against him by White, although he did serve as a character witness for the defense in the trial of Omar Abdel-Rahman, "the blind sheik" who is now serving a life sentence for his role in plotting the 1993 WTC bombings.
In the promotional video for the Subway Project, Wahhaj is the first to speak.
"Every day in this city, some 4.9 million people ride the subways - that is a lot of people," he says. "Imagine them seeing the word Islam. Imagine them seeing the word Muhammad."
The MTA confirmed that the group has signed a contract for the ad campaign but would not comment further.
You can bombard his email with spam at
Friday, July 18, 2008
Oh Really (15th Edition)
I haven't had one of these segments in a while. Anyway, enjoy Method Man jump into the crowd that scatters, leaving him one to one with the pavement. Hip Hop fans are so whack these days.
LOL at Meth getting up like it's no biggie. Good Sportsmanship.