The Audacity of Dope

Alright, I’ve been slacking on my crossfit posts, but I swear I’ve been killing the workouts lately.  One of the best parts about crossfit is that it’s really easy to see your improvement and I’ve been increasing damn near all my scores lately.  Saturday’s “Rainstorm” over at Foundation CrossFit started with 200m walking lunges to get our legs nice and jelly-like before we got into “Tabata This.”  From the CrossFit FAQ:

“Tabata Intervals ( 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times) is applied in turn to the Squat, Rower, Pullups, Sit-ups, and Push-ups with a one minute rotation break between exercises. Each exercise is scored by the weakest number of reps (calories on the rower) in each of the eight intervals. During the one minute rotation time allowed the clock is not stopped but kept running. The score is the total of the scores from the five stations.”

Relatively simple, right?  20 seconds on, 10 seconds off…for 8 times…at each of those 5 exercises…and count only your lowest round.  I got my PR of 47 with 6 pull ups, 12 sit ups, 6 calories on the row, 12 squats, and 11 push ups.  Seeing as how I was able to knock out 8 calories on my last round of row and 15 push ups on the final round there, I’m guessing I didn’t quite push myself as hard as possible.  Next time I’m shooting for (at least) 7, 13, 7, 14, and 13.  Let’s get it.

You know that old saying, “when you’re not busy, that’s when you need to worry?”  Well, thankfully, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be worrying anytime soon.  The downside of being [Zoolander] ridiculously good looking [/Zoolander] busy is that I end up getting way behind on all the dopeness that’s sent to me.

My man M.O.S. from Crew54 hit me with this new EP from his partner in rhyme G-Christ, and I was finally able to peep it today.  If you’re sleeping on the Crew, they’re some really dope artists from Texas making earnest, boom bap, soulful ish.  I really recommend you check them out.  You can start here, then make sure you peep their group work as well:

1. Intro – prod. by Kingverse
2. Living Big – prod. by Reeplay
3. Forsake His Love ft. Alpha 20/20 – prod. by Alpha 20/20
4. Kcuf G-Christ (Skit)
5. Put It Down ft. DDC prod. by The Fiyamen
6. Losing Control – prod. by Zaire of the Sole Vibe
7. Going – prod. by G-Christ
8. Damage Is Done

Download here.  (right click, save as)

Damn, Ali spit better off the dome than most rappers do with their writtens.  Well, wait…maybe they aren’t even writing and that’s the problem.  Anyway, Ali [hip-hop talk] gets it in [/corny] with Mr. Peter Parker on B96 in Minneapolis over a medley of beats.  His problem with “Grindin'” is funny, cause that’s exactly the issue the Clipse have every time they drop that song in concert.  Something about the way it comes in just isn’t right.  Anyway, Ali ripped this.  Seattle people: remember Ali will be at Jake One’s release party at the War Room on October 6th.  Be there.

Swiped from Nah Right.

Soon = Sunday Night Sound Session late tomorrow.  Tune in.

Someone was confused why every WLotD lately has been one from Lil’ Wayne, so I’ll remind y’all.  Thanks to an epic Jeezy vs. Weezy showdown, Wayne’s prize was an entire month of wack lyric posts.  Once September is over, we’ll go back to spreading the wackness around.  Ice Cube and LL Cool J should be happy they dropped albums this month…

Today’s WLotD isn’t even a lyric.  It’s a quote from a XXL interview with Wayne:

“I don’t read a damn thing. That’s why I don’t write music. I’m too cool to be reading and writing…”
–Lil’ Wayne, XXL, October 2008

These are our heroes?

With White Van Music scheduled to drop on October 7th but already circulating (in clean form) on the net, Jake has decided to post the demo version of one of the standout tracks, “Glow.”  This edition is slightly different than the final track, plus it includes a 3rd verse from Elzhi and no appearance from Royce The 5’9”.  Whichever way you slice it, this joint is classic.

Jake One ft. Elzhi – “Glow (Demo Version)”

Stay up to date with the man himself on Jake’s new blog and be sure to tune in to Sound Session on October 5th to hear more behind the scenes stories about the album.

Take some time and educate yourself @ BarackObama.com/plan.  It’s hilarious that people still have the audacity to suggest Barack hasn’t laid out what “change” means, and doubly as offensive when McCain’s answer to our economic problems is to simply create a commission to review the issue.  His campaign also said it wasn’t necessary to explain exactly what they would do in response to our economic crisis and he says our “economy is strong” on a daily basis.  This is a joke, right?

In related news, that ether:

Please make sure you and your friends are registered to vote.  This election is too important to sit out or vote from an uninformed perspective.  You have a responsibility.

“I peel off in the Lamborgh-eeen, like a tangerine/
Got the engine straight shaking like a tambourine”
–Lil’ Wayne, “Upgrade U Freestyle”

Another dope shirt for us Obamaniacs, this time courtesy of the Peoples Republic of Clothing.  If you don’t recognize the pic, it’s from Barack’s high school basketball days…classic.  They also have it in white, ladies cuts, and a dope “Pandana” jawn too.  Y’all know how I’m partial to pandas.

Cop ’em here and enter the promo code “NICKB” for 10% off.  Shout to young Nicholas for the heads up.

I posted up Notion’s tape yesterday, and as promised, here’s the rest of the new material from my new Australian homies, Cee & Bekah.  Again, if you’re unfamiliar, check their interviews with Kevin Nottingham and Travis @ Wake Your Daughter Up to get the scoop. Basically, Cee is the MC of the group and Bekah provides the soul with her singing.  The result is some dope, head nodding, boom bap with some real emotion and feeling put into the music.  Just like with Notion, this stuff is ill, but also be on the lookout for their upcoming material with some of the dopest people in our American underground scene.  Big things to come.

Download here.