The Audacity of Dope

Since the living legend himself came back yesterday to score a winner for Arsenal in the FA Cup versus Leeds, I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane and post this clip of some of Henry’s best. Number 7 is one of my all time favorites, but I love them all. No matter what team you root for, you have to give credit to this man. One of the greatest strikers we’ve ever seen, with a sliding stare down goal celebration so epic, they made it into a statue:

(the Tottenham fans weren’t so appreciative…)

Swag.

While we patiently wait for Mack & Ryan to release the “Irish Celebration” video, they decided to shoot some quick visuals for their recently released tribute to Seattle Mariners announcing legend, Dave Niehaus.  It’s tough to describe the impact that Niehaus had on any of us sports minded 80’s babies from the 206, but Mack does a great job.  As with all his verses, he has a knack for talking about his own experiences in a way that instantly relate them to our own.

So where were you when you heard Dave’s famous call in ’95?  I was riding in the back of a University Prep athletic van as we headed back from a soccer game (a dub, I’m sure).  We didn’t get to watch the game live but listening to Niehaus’ call was all we needed.  When I saw the highlights later, I already knew EXACTLY how it looked.

RIP Dave.

“Close The Door” live from 1979.  He will be missed.

I reeeeeeeally hope this gets done right and if the trailer is any indication, I think it’s in good hands.  Fun fact: Big L is my favorite MC of all-time…

I don’t normally enjoy today’s mixtapes, but when I saw that the homey Legend and the OnSmash team were involved, I knew I should check this out.  Sure enough, it’s dope as hell.  2 discs, packed full of great music from some of my favorite artists in the game today: Royce, Wale, B.o.B., Blu, Termanology, Fashawn, Emilio Rojas, Don Cerino, Kid Cudi, Theo, Skyzoo, and many more.  Definitely grab this:

DISC ONE

1. Emilio Rojas – Back 2 The Basics 2 (Intro)
2. Royce Da 5’9″ – Part Of Me (Produced by Carlos Broady)
3. Grafh – In Love With The Dealer
4. Johnny Polygon – I Been Runnin
5. Wale – Pot Of Gold (feat. Daniel Merriweather) (Produced by Mark Ronson)
6. B.o.B – We Drank (feat. Playboy Tre)
7. Ced Hughes – DragonBlood
8. BK Cyph – Rap 101
9. Cambatta – Voice Of God Freestyle (Produced by Scram Jones)
10. Styles P – Ride or Die (feat. Snyp Life & Bully)
11. Red Cafe – There He Go (feat. Fabolous & Paul Cain)
12. Don Cerino – Missing Element (feat. Royce Da 5′9″)
13. Hell Rell – I’m So Special
14. La The Darkman – Quiet Storm Freestyle (feat. Willie The Kid)
15. Kool G Rap – Thugs Love Story (Chapter IV)
16. Fortlive – The Come Up (Produced by Illmind)
17. Rain – Director’s Chair (Produced by RocWilder)
18. Big K.R.I.T. – Playaz Circle Freestyle
19. ESSO – New Day (Produced by Black Friday)
20. Donny Goines – The Look (Produced by Dame Grease)
21. ATM (Smoke DZA, Numbers & Cory Gunz) – Time Machine 1.0 (Produced by The Heatmakerz)
22. 1982 (Statik Selektah & Termanology) – Thugathon (feat. Lil Fame)
23. Almost September – 16, 17, 18 (feat. KRS-One & Al Be Back) (Produced by Jared Gosselin)
24. Blu & Sene – Mars
25. Rick Ross – Can It Be Freestyle

Download link – http://sharebee.com/c0561a6c

DISC TWO

1. Ced Hughes & Emilio Rojas- Kick In The Door (Produced by The Kickdrums)
2. Raekwon & Special Ed – Hood Story (Produced by Huu Banga)
3. Curren$y – Got It (Produced by Monsta Beatz)
4. KiD CuDi – Can I Be
5. Nipsey Hu$$le – HoodStar
6. GoDChilD – Toast 2 Life (Produced by Black Friday)
7. Sha Stimuli – Next Up (Produced by J.Cardim)
8. The Kid Daytona – Lately (Produced by Ill Bomb)
9. Theo – Roberta Flack Revisit (feat. Dolly) (Produced by Flying Lotus)
10. Killer Mike – Grinding
11. Nino Bless – Murdera
12. Kardinal Offishall – Set It Off (Remix) (feat. Dr. Dre & The Clipse) (Produced by Boi-1da)
13. Novel – Noise (Produced by Breeze The Beatmachine)
14. Chip The Ripper – Moses Freestyle
15. D-Black – Hold Up (Gangsta Sh*t) (Produced by Illmind)
16. Fashawn – Freedom (Produced by Exile)
17. Joell Ortiz – Say No
18. Mickey Factz – OnSMASH (feat. CurT@!N$)
19. The Insomniaks – Crashin Whips
20. Mikkey Halsted – Karma (Produced by No I.D.)
21. Skyzoo – Catch Up (Produced by Ski)
22. Billy Danze – Undescribable (feat. Busta Rhymes)
23. Wafleek – The Hollows
24. Harlem’s Cash – Modern Day Malcolm (feat. Santogold) (The Government Remix)
25. A.Pinks – In My Own World (Bonus)

Download link – http://sharebee.com/390cd2d4

Oh sorry, not Lauryn…Ms. Hill.  *shakes head*.  Since it’s the 10 year anniversary of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill dropping, Rolling Stone spoke to many of the people involved in making the record, including John Legend, D’Angelo, Pras, her husband Rohan Marley, and Hill herself.  If you’re as big a fan of this album as I am (top 5 dead or alive), you’ll enjoy a lot of the behind the scenes stories.  You’ll also be saddened by the outcome.  I really hope we get a legit sophomore record from Lauryn, but that still seems unlikely.  Having interviewed Clef a few times in the last year, that Fugee record doesn’t seem plausible either.  It all depends on L-Boogie and she’s just not at the right place to do this again.

Check out the article here…highly recommended.  Thanks to Eskay for the heads up.

(did I see John Legend making 2 quick cameos in there?)

Now this is the kind of single we need on the airwaves.  Saw this on OnSmash and was gonna hold off on posting because it’s got an awful hiss in the audio, but I figured I’d forget if I waited a few days.  Besides, it’s dope as hell to see this kind of message coming from top tier artists.  See Luda, that’s how you do it.  Although, I did have to chuckle at Mary as the community organizer, but it’s still cool.  You know she couldn’t wait to rhyme “drama” with “Obama” too…that’s right in her wheelhouse.

Here’s the mp3, without Drama’s completely unnecessary intro, for y’all if you need it:

Big Boi ft. Mary J. Blige – “Sumthin’ Gotta Give”

If you listened to my interview with John Legend last week, you heard us reminiscing on the College Dropout days when he toured with Kanye.  This was way before A-Trak DJ’d Kanye’s sets, so his road manager, Don C, would handle that…not always so smoothly.  John couldn’t remember the name they used to call Don in those days, but it looks like Consequence just brought it out of retirement in this clip documenting the making of N.E.R.D.’s “Everyone Nose (Remix)” video.

Sidenote: I’m a little disappointed that this video looks like it’ll be standard green screen fare.  Hopefully they have some dope aftereffects, otherwise I’m worried.

Posted on ConsTV.

The man, the myth, the John Legend, called into Sound Session this week to talk all about his upcoming Evolver album.  With D’Angelo on his seemingly endless sabbatical, I think John is officially my favorite R&B singer, so it was an honor to have him on the show for a second time.  He dropped back to back classic LP’s (garnering 5 Grammy Awards in the process) and I don’t think there’s another singer making such consistently exceptional music.  If Evolver‘s lead single, “Green Light” with Andre 3000, is any indication, it looks like he’s got another classic on his hands.

We discussed the direction of the project, what it’s like working with Kanye West, his involvement in Barack Obama’s campaign, his own charity work, future projects, and more.  I’ll be airing portions of the interview on tonight’s show, but you can check out the full conversation here:

John Legend on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?dzzz1jn4mzb
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/15217999dd8b92cf/ )

Be on the lookout for the “Green Light” video dropping in the next few weeks, and I don’t even need to tell y’all to cop Evolver later this year…

(“must be niiiiiiice” – Lyfe Jennings)

This joint was all over the web today, and it’s easily the hottest track of the week. Two of the best artists in their respective genres collaborating = instant classic.

John Legend ft. Andre3000 – “Green Light”

Absolute flames. Err…no pun :/