The Audacity of Dope

(LOL @ this picture getting watermarked twice.  shameless.)

WLotD was on hiatus for a minute, but it’s back with a vengeance today.  After all this Rick Ross f**kery that’s been all over the net the past week, today’s wack lyric is simply:

Every overexaggerated, faux gangster related word Rick Ross ever spit.

I’ve seen a lot of people wonder why anyone cares about this story, since we all know rappers lie virtually every time they open up their mouths.  Well, the wack ones do.  The thing is, you’d be surprised how many people don’t realize this, especially kids.  Anyone who happened to be at a certain concert in the NW this past weekend can probably attest to that.  So yeah…all of us messageboard/blog geeks never thought Rawwwws knew “the real Noriega,” but a frighteningly large size of the rap audience did.  You can thank our piss poor educational system for that.

A word of advice for the next generation: if you want to lie in your music, you may not want to take it to such extremes.  Of course, if you lie in your art, you’re losing from the jump.  Honest expression is key, take it from Bruce:

“It is easy for me to put on a show and be cocky.  But to express one’s self honestly…that, my friend, is very hard to do.”

Demand yourself to be better.

Murs stops by G4 TV‘s Freestyle 101 and drops an ill video game inspired verse from off the dome.  Too many people these days think a “freestyle” is just a random verse.  I suppose the definition has changed enough that it can be, but I still maintain the true essence of it is to actually go off the top.  More MC’s need to remember how to do that.  My man Eddie would love the nerdiness of this video, but unfortunately he’s scared to death of the 8th Wonder of the World, aka Murs’ hair.

Swiped from 2 Dope Boyz.

The homey 6th Sense put together this project with Mick Boogie for their trip to Nike’s HQ down in the PDX.  Your friendly neighborhood Hyphen helped hook up track 5.  Tracklisting, download link, and a video recap of their trip after the jump!

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The 3rd of 4 ‘webisodes’ documenting the Roots Picnic from June 7th just dropped, this one featuring Esperanza Spalding.  She’s dope.  Thankfully, the performance audio is way better than that for the Cool Kids clip, so you can actually hear her.

Swiped from OKP.

“Yuuuuup.”  More dopeness from Los Angeles with the release of Shawn Jackson‘s 2nd video off First of All.  If you haven’t checked out the album, definitely do so.  L.A. is killin’ it right now.  For some reason, I never posted his first video so “Feelin’ Jack” is after the jump.

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I wanted to post this a few days ago when Jay Smooth initially tossed it up, but [Inspectah Deck] life is hectic [/Deck].  It’s a pretty interesting take on an old subject.  Peep it.  Of course you can also just hit people with the classic:

Man, it’s so ill to see the homies Tunji and Toby making moves. Here’s a new video of Inverse‘s VIMBY showcase, where you can see a little interview and live performance. Random tidbit: I DJ’d that 2002 performance at the UC-Irvine Chili Cook-Off hahaha. Those were the days…

If you haven’t downloaded Inverse’s So Far…The Collection project, do it now. It’s one of the best releases of the year and you can grab it here. Also be sure to check their blog, Inverse Hip-Hop.

My dad sent this over after seeing it on the Huffington Post and it’s definitely blog-worthy. Written by Seth Grahame-Smith.

John McCain is having such a bad July that writing about his collective woes would require the patience and talent of David McCullough. Since I have neither, I turned (as I often do) to the wisdom of Jay-Z, and listed the first 99 that came to mind:

99. Bush’s willingness to talk directly with Iran.
98. Bush’s new time “horizon” for troop withdrawals.
97. al-Maliki’s endorsement of Obama’s Iraq strategy.
96. Obama’s headline-dominating foreign tour.
95. His disagreement with the majority of Americans on Iraq.
94. His lack of economic expertise and policy.
93. Obama’s $52M June.
92. His $21M June.
91. 29% of the Latino vote.
90. 2% of the black vote.
89. Charles Keating (he’ll be back).
88. Vicki Iseman (she’ll be back).
87. Randy Scheunemann (he’ll be leaving).
86. His band-aid approach to energy (more drilling, more nuclear, a $300M “prize”).
85. His band-aid approach to healthcare (tax credits, more competition).
84. His band-aid.
83. Saying things like “I know how to win wars,” despite his never having won a war.
82. His wife.
81. His ex-wife.
80. The Hagee/Parsley un-endorsement debacle.
79. An uninspired base.
78. Ape rape.
77. His bff, Joe Lieberman.
76. His claim that Czechoslovakia still exists (it doesn’t).
75. His claim that Iran is training Al-Qaeda (they aren’t).
74. His claim that Iraq and Pakistan share a border (they don’t).
73. His claim that Somalia is the same place as Sudan (it isn’t).
72. His claim that Vladimir Putin is the president of Germany (he isn’t).
71. 71.
70. The images of 70,000+ screaming Democrats at Invesco Field.
69. Phil Gramm’s “nation of whiners” implosion.
68. His unwillingness to call the situation in Afghanistan “urgent.”
67. Steve Schmidt’s failure to right the ship.
66. A new generation of Evangelicals who don’t care what James Dobson thinks.
65. “C-nt.”
64. “I hate the gooks.”
63. His plan to resurrect Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security.
62. The writer’s rooms of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
61. His tarmac birthday party with Bush — as Katrina made landfall.
60. “General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed Humvee.”
59. His belief that Americans are better off than they were eight years ago.
58. His “Frankenstein on barbiturates” oratory skill.
57. His beyond-pathetic “Pump” ad, which blames Obama for $4.50 gas.
56. His “Obama Love” ad, which blames the MSM for his terribly-run campaign.
55. His computer illiteracy (c’mon…this is 2008).
54. A tax plan that doesn’t even TRY to hide the fact that it’s geared toward the wealthy.
53. Bob Barr.
52. Ron Paul.
51. Rupert Murdoch.
50. His gay adoption/marriage high wire acts.
49. His immigration high wire act.
48. His torture high wire act.
47. His drilling high wire act.
46. His tax cuts high wire act.
45. Not churchgoing enough for some evangelicals.
44. Too evangelical for some independents.
43. His temper.
42. “I know what [Iraqis] want.”
41. The starlet gap: McCain = Heidi Montag; Obama = Scarlett Johansson.
40. The Facebook gap: McCain = 173K supporters; Obama = 1.17M supporters.
39. His 1983-94 opposition to the Rev. Martin Luther King holiday.
38. His 2008 opposition to the Ledbetter Fair Pay [for women] Act.
37. His 2008 opposition to the G.I. Bill.
36. “100 years.”
35. Viagra-gate.
34. His 0% rating from Planned Parenthood.
33. His 0% attendance record for the last six Senate Afghanistan hearings.
32. “Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”
31. David Plouffe.
30. David Axelrod.
29. Republicans losing elections in traditional GOP strongholds.
28. His October 2002 insistence that victory in Iraq would be “easy.”
27. His January 2007 insistence that he never said it would be “easy.”
26. A resurgent Taliban.
25. Europe’s Obamamania.
24. Kneeling at the feet of Jerry Falwell.
23. His penchant for gaffes.
22. 80% of Americans convinced we’re on the wrong track.
21. The National Review calling his campaign strategy “likely to fail.”
20. Another terrorist attack on U.S. soil “would be a big advantage to him.”
19. Record turnout in the Democratic primaries.
18. A free Osama bin Laden.
17. “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.”
16. A campaign hierarchy dominated by lobbyists.
15. Suggesting Obama is a “Socialist.”
14. The Dow Jones down 2,000 points for the year.
13. Foreclosures soaring, banks failing, and inflation at a 17-year high.
12. Still pushing his ridiculous, Big Oil-friendly gas tax holiday.
11. Being out-raised by Obama 2:1…in West Virginia.
10. His “no” vote on SCHIP (healthcare for poor children) reauthorization.
9. His support for overturning Roe v. Wade.
8. His consistent opposition to minimum wage increases.
7. Obama’s 50-state strategy.
6. Al.
5. Bill.
4. Hillary.
3. Mitt.
2. John McCain.
1. George W. Bush.

This doesn’t even include today’s horrible gaffe concerning the timeline and history of “the surge.” This man simply is not fit to be our President, regardless of his positions on certain topics. Of course, for the most part, those are horribly askew as well.

I can’t wait for November 5th.

One more post before I pass the hell out.  I’ve been a big fan of Kardi’s for damn near a decade now (I think “U R Ghetto” was the first joint I heard back in like ’99), and it was an honor to kick it with him at the station for a few hours.  During our interview, he mentioned the video for “Set It Off” was going to leak today, and sure enough, here it is.  Good stuff.  Download the mp3 below if you need it and be sure to cop Not 4 Sale on September 9th.  Also watch for the video and audio of that interview coming soon.

Kardinal Offishall ft. the Clipse – “Set It Off”

Video courtesy of OnSmash.

It’s 2:30 in the morning and I just got home from the Wyclef/Kardinal Offishall concert, which still has my ears POUNDING.  I’m only posting up this new video for Young Jeezy’s “Put On” for 2 reasons.  One, I wanted to show y’all I managed to survive a crazy hectic few days (including our Summer Jam – watch all sorts of recaps here and find me in person for a million behind the scenes stories).  Two, Kanye’s verse is really dope.  Unfortunately, the first 3 minutes of the song are all Jeezy and filled with more wack lyrics than any other single song performance this year.  Look at it like Yin and Yang, if you will.

I’ll have (extensive) interviews with The Game, Kardinal, and Clef coming in the next week, so be on the lookout for those.  And to explain the title of this entry, me and the homey Lala registered 71 new voters at Summer Jam, 99% of which will be voting for Obama in the fall.  I put onnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…