It's Been A Long Time...(continued)

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done this but I’ve decided to post magazine issues again when I have some free time.  The past couple of years have been very hectic with school, family, and work completely monopolizing my time.  My 3 year old daughter and 8 year old son are two of the greatest joys of my life but I missed blogging as a stress outlet.  See, adults need time to do what they want, too.  It’s amazing how much I relate to songs like “Parents Just Don’t Understand” nowadays.  I never thought that would happen.  Getting older changes your whole life and perspective and you appreciate the little things more and more.   And the big 4-0 is just around the corner for me.

Questions/comments for you:

Do you have any children?  If so, what hip-hop music do you allow them to listen to in your presence?  Or to put it another way, if you’re playing hip-hop in the car with your children, what is allowed?  Wu Tang? Tribe Called Quest?  D.I.T.C.?  I’ve been experimenting with this for a while now.  I don’t play anything with profanity while my children are in the car but I hate edited versions of albums.  So I usually play 80’s hip-hop and my son now loves “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince (especially the video game song).  I try to sneak in a little BDP/KRS-One, MC Lyte, Public Enemy, L.O.N.S., Gangstarr, Run-DMC, Tribe, Main Source, Rakim, EPMD, De La Soul, Common, etc. from time to time, too.

What new music do you like these days?  I have to say, I like a few songs on the Lil Fame and Termanology album "Fizzyology" EXCEPT that I can’t stand Termanology on the album.  Can someone please find me an edited version of the album with his vocals completely removed?  “Crazy”, essentially an M.O.P. song with Termanology almost screwing it up, is hands down my favorite track.  More Billy Danze and less Termanology would have made a better overall album.  Other than that, I miss the “feeling” hip-hop music used to have in it.  It pops up here and there but rarely for an entire album.  I mean, if I were to play Gangstarr’s “Hard to Earn”, Tribe’s “Low End Theory”,  or Redman’s “Whut?” albums right now, there is something special about them that I can’t quite put my finger on.  But it is sorely missing in the mainstream today.  It reminds me of The Roots’ “Illadelph Halflife” intro track where someone discusses hip-hop music becoming a disposable art form. 

  

Since the November air is getting colder, it’s that time of the year when I constantly listen to GZA’s “Liquid Swords”, Black Moon’s “Enta Da Stage”, The D.O.C.’s “No One Can Do It Better”, Above The Law’s “Livin Like Hustlers”, O.C.’s “Word…Life”, EPMD's "Business as Usual", The Roots’ “Do You Want More?!!!??!”, and a few others.  I have no idea why I listen to certain albums more during particular seasons but it works for me.

Last, I have a newfound respect for the hip-hop heads in Europe and all other parts of the world.  They really know their hip-hop history and appreciate the essence of it all.  Since my hiatus, I have received hundreds of requests/props via email from people living in countries like the U.K., Germany, France, Poland, Russia, Netherlands, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Canada, Australia, and on and on.  I was very humbled and it’s one of the few reasons I wanted to get back into this.  I’m assuming The Source had limited worldwide distribution in its heyday so there are hip-hop heads around the world that never got the chance to read them.

That’s all for now.  Check back soon for a magazine re-up.

~Vincent~

Coming Soon

Below is just a sneak peek of the never before posted magazines that I’ll be posting over the next couple of months. A couple will be posted here and the others will be posted at The T.R.O.Y. blog.

By the way, I found some of these old Source covers at the official Source website. I can’t believe that after all these years, someone over there finally got up off their azz to post a small portion of their history. Maybe they’ve been checking out Press Rewind? And it actually looks like they a lifted a file or two from our sites but we don’t own them in the first place so what can we do. Anyway, take a moment to check out the other stuff they have posted:


5 Mic/Broken Record reviews - http://www.thesource.com/categories/126/
Other notable reviews - http://www.thesource.com/categories/128/
Various Unsigned Hype - http://www.thesource.com/categories/130/
Source Covers - http://www.thesource.com/categories/224/

And do yourself a favor and buy a used copy of that Edutainment CD, if you haven’t already. It’s more than worth the $3.99.

Rappers eat, too

Well, it’s the end of the year (but not the end of the decade as some proclaim) and I can’t believe I’m still doing this. When I started scanning magazines, I figured that it would take a year at the most but lo and behold, I haven’t even scratched the surface of my huge storage container yet. And with a wife and children steadily demanding my attention and energy, I can barely get a moment to scan these days. But I will soldier on and post mags when I have the time.

Anyway, was any album this year better than Raekwon’s Only Built for Cuban Linx 2? I think not. You can add up every indie, mainstream, and pop album and they were all inferior to Rae’s comeback. Even the weak Dr. Dre produced songs didn’t weigh down the album too much. Overall, 2009 was a great year for music whether you value quantity or quality. Will 2010 be even better?

Crazy story. Yesterday afternoon at about 12 noon, me, wifey and the children went shopping at Whole Foods down on 20th and Callowhill. My wife was making me pick out pears and yams and as I’m strolling past the citrus juice and dairy section, here comes Black Thought whizzing by on his phone headed for the cheese section. Funny thing is that, something told me to wear my heavy duty all black Okayplayer hoodie that morning because it raining like crazy outside. So I mentioned this to my wife while she was picking out soy milk and she didn’t believe me. Little did she know that I always seem to bump into The Roots members at food establishments and this was my third or fourth time bumping into Thought. It’s uncanny. I explained to her that way back when the Okayplayer website first got started (I actually remember discussing the whole design and layout of the original website in my apartment in U. City, back in ’98, with the person who originally set it up), I bumped into Questlove, in mid ’99 I think, as he was walking out of this same market when it was named Fresh Fields. I stopped Quest cold in the parking lot with his bags in hand and his companion looking me and up and down, to debate his ‘classic’ review/rating of Mobb Deep’s The Infamous on the site because I considered it (and still do) a 4.5 out of 5. I was so upset that day, that I called him by his first name out loud in the parking lot and shocked the ish out of him. Y’all know that I can debate something I feel strongly about with no fear or hesitation. Anyway, so Black Thought was wearing a very stylish hat just like the one I was wearing (see pic above) but my wife initially saw him from the back and didn’t believe it was him because he was wearing…pajama pants!?! I couldn’t believe it either. One of my all time favorite MC’s wearing pajama pants outside? At first, I was thinking, “I must be too old or something” but I think me and Thought are the same age. But you’d never catch me wearing pajamas; much less outside! I had to actually stop myself from saying something to him about it. For real. I had an entire old man speech rant planned about how we both grew up on Kool G Rap, Public Enemy, The Krown Rulers, Boogie Down Productions, Three Times Dope, Big Daddy Kane and Rakim and that this would never happen with them. My wife distracted me while she waited until Thought stopped to buy some baked fish or chicken at the prepared foods section to get a good look and then agreed that it was him. I had planned to congratulate him on that Late Night show and all but with the pajama pants issue, the baby hanging all over me and my son begging me for apple juice, I had no energy left. Funny that I caught him peeping out the Okayplayer sweatshirt I was wearing, twice, as if he wanted one for himself.

Have any of you noticed the requests for access to this site on the Wordpress site? Leeches are very rude and selfish people. I’ve deleted and replaced about 40 people here since November because some people just don’t like to comment but love to download. Just so you know, I may be deleting your access soon, too. To avoid this, stop leeching and leave comments. Simple, right?

That’s it. Happy New Year.

Random Ish

Yeah, my little girl is getting bigger by the day. Children are amazing people. That pic was taken before she had her ears pierced and she was absolutely miserable afterwards. Women go through a lot of pain for men, huh?

I’m sure the majority of you already know that those back to back issues of The Source, featuring Biggie on the cover, are up next. I read them again over the weekend. What a shame to get taken out so young when you’re still on the rise. I took a moment to flip through the rest of the 1997 issues as well and I think we have a slight problem. I forgot that the later issues, beginning with September 1997, are packed with advertisements. I’ll experiment with the scanner but if it doesn’t work, then I’ll just post a few individual pages from the larger mags and keep it moving. I may throw up a few more XXL's and Ego Trip’s, too, if anyone wants to see them. Also, for those of you requesting re-ups of the 1991 to 1996 Source magazines, they may be posted again on a site with much more exposure. Stay tuned.

Is anyone else feeling Royce’s music this year? He was on fire with Slaughterhouse and the few joints I’ve heard from his upcoming album (Street Hop) are also pretty good. He won’t sell many units but dude can still spit with the best of them and we old folks appreciate real MC’s. On the other hand, I don’t know how any of you can stomach that Jay-Z garbage. He’s older but boring and severely overrated. Did you hear that stinky album??? Shameful! I think I told my wife that unlike Biggie, Tupac, Big Pun and Big L, I would feel absolutely nothing if I heard that he died today. He’s that wack to me. Anyway, Raekwon has the hands down best album of the year so far and I don’t think anyone will supplant him on my imaginary list. Even his throw away tracks were good. Canibus and Keith Murray also put out a good EP that few people have heard. But my sleeper album of the year is Del & Tame One’s Parallel Uni-Verses. It’s quirky, weird, abstract, and even lazy in some places. But more importantly, it was creative and obviously fun for them to create. And the production? I love it! I need somebody from the Strictly Beats crew to get those instrumentals ASAP. In the meanwhile, check out the album here: http://scarberiaoriginal.blogspot.com/2009/10/tracklisting-01.html

It’s kind of funny that most of the hip-hop I like these days is created by people who are 32 and over. I remember when it was all about the youth in the 80’s but now that the youth have grown up it’s good to see that hip-hop has matured somehow. And let's not forget the young bull holding it down, Freddie Gibbs. I think I heard his stuff via Passion of the Weiss and haven't stopped playing it since. He's oozing with talent and potential. It's rare that I big up the young cats but he's pure fire and unlike a lot of clowns (Gucci Mane, anyone?) he has a secret weapon (a brain). Can't wait for the official album. Get his mixtapes here: http://kevinnottingham.com/2009/10/17/freddie-gibbs-mixtapes/

One last thing, if you had to pick one rapper from the list below for a head to head 5 minute battle against any other rapper for one million dollars, which one would you choose?

Chino XL, Canibus, KRS-One, Xzibit, Redman, Black Thought, Big Pun, Lord Finesse, Masta Ace, Ras Kass, Biggie, Andre 3000, Pharoah Monche, Eminen, GZA, Mos Def, Casual, and LL Cool J.

That's it. Get back to work people.

It's a girl!!!

It must have been that Tribe shirt that I bought myself for Father's Day. Something told me to wear it on Tuesday and my baby girl was finally born yesterday morning after being 9 days late! And since then, I've been running around doing a million things for my wife and little girl. For those of you who have children of your own and have seen an actual birth, it's an amazing thing. I told one of my friends that after seeing the birth of my son and my daughter, that women are clearly the stronger humans on Earth. If men had to give birth, the population would be closer to 100 million as opposed to the 6.5 billion on the planet now. Anyway, let me get back to the family. For those of you who miss the magazines, I may have a little present for you soon.

Random Rambling

I’m not dead yet. But adult life is no joke people. I have a pregnant wife due to give birth sometime within the next 3 or 4 weeks and a 5 year old son who has the energy of 100,000 fire ants. In the meanwhile, I’ve been buying baby items and enjoying that Marco Polo & Torae Double Barrel album. Tanya Morgan’s Brooklynati is also very good. But please explain to me why the heck I’ve secretly been listening to Camron’s Crime Pays a lot lately? Is anyone else feeling that? My wife thinks I’m absolutely crazy for listening to Camron in the first place. I’m also going through my annual Big Pun obsession and can’t get enough of his music either. Did you know that there are some nice hip-hop related t-shirts @ MooseLimited - Hip-Hop Tshirts? I just bought a Tribe Called Quest shirt and a Wu-Tang shirt as a Father’s Day present for myself. I’m going to get the Public Enemy and Gangstarr shirts next. They have a ton of stuff you might like. Ummm….about those magazines. I have no idea if/when this blog will be updated with another Source magazine again and you may not even care. Just thought you’d like to know.

Later

Duck Down

Due to the snitches out there in the blogger world (whether RIAA or human), many Wordpress blogs, including mine were suspended or shutdown over the last few days for having music download links. And I wasn’t even posting any music that’s remotely current. It’s funny that it happened when it did because I had already been contemplating giving up the scanning of magazines entirely. I still haven’t been able to scan that December 1996 issue yet because of the ungrateful leeches out there. So from here on out, I’ll try to take it slowly. I may re-post a few magazines that I’ve already posted on Wordpress since no one has access to them any longer. If you have any specific request for something I’ve already posted, then let me know.

FYI - Before I begin posting magazines again, this blog will go private. Leave me a comment with your e-mail address if you want to continue visiting the blog.

~Vincent~