Drake: "So Far Gone" Mixtape

Sorry it's been a little while, but I've been a little busy with life kicking my ass and whatnot. Anyway, I'll be making up for lost time over the next couple of days...

Just to start it back up, I want to hit you all off with something I'm feeling right now. New Drake. Homeboy's nice. Check him out...




http://octobersveryown.blogspot.com

Support Talent!!!

-Young

Domestic Violence and The Hip- Hop Generation

Okay, so I have a small confession: When I was young, I sometimes listened to music that was totally inappropriate for children my age. Most youngsters my age was somewhere getting it in to the latest Disney Channel favorite of the moment. Me, on the other hand, had the latest CD's by Dr. Dre, Luke (yes, that Luke), Ice Cube, and one of my personal favorites, Snoop Doggy Dogg. All of these CD's had something in common: They were extremely, and unnecessarily misogynistic, among other things.

You couldn't tell me anything about those guys. I swore by everything they, and anybody remotely connected with them, put out. Some of the lyrics read,

"If ya bitches talk shit/I'll have to put the smackdown, yeah..."

"Bitches Ain't Shit but hoes and tricks"

"She started talkin' shit, what'd ya know?/Reached back like a pimp, slapped the ho."

"Now fuck around and get a five-finger handprint/straight across your face/to make sure all you bitches understand this/"

Now, I, for one, would never hit a woman, nor do I think any man should ever hit a woman. It's just wrong on so many levels, and it's just something that should never take place. Period. End of discussion.

Now, given the recent events surrounding Chris Brown and Rihanna, much can be said about domestic violence, as this has surely been an issue among American families for quite some time. What's surprising to me is that the same culture that used to embrace the behavior, to a degree, has started to change its view. People from every side of the music industry, including Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and countless others, have spoken up to denounce this behavior. But even they, in recent years, has played it up as though it was normal behavior (Jay's last verse on "Guilty Until Proven Innocent," and G-Unit's "Poppin' Them Thangs" are both perfect examples of how they "felt at the time."). The question is, is hip-hop partially to blame?

Of course the natural answer would be "no" from most people, but let's think about this for a sec. For most folks, music is an escape, from everyday life, into someone else's life, that you respect, or admire, at least for their body of work. When I was a kid, I looked up to those cats that you see above. I would know their songs verbatim. Yet, there was something that resonated louder than those "slap a ho" lyrics.

It was the image of my mother's face.

See, when someone you love is or has been, the victim of domestic violence, the shit isn't funny anymore. It's not funny watching you pops lay hands on mom dukes, only to see him hauled off to jail for the night, and your moms putting ice on her face so she can try to expedite the healing, so she can go back to work as soon as possible. When I saw that, those lyrics didn't seem so cool. Those guys didn't seem so cool anymore.

Now, I'm not blaming the music for what happened between Chris and Rihanna, or anybody for that matter. What I am saying is that I hope this is a wake-up call for the people who directly influence our youth, to the hip-hoppers everywhere. These children look to us as examples. They emulate everything we do. They dress like us, they mouth our lyrics, they walk like we walk and talk like we talk. Let's give them something better to look up to than we had.

Music to Chatter About: Ryan Leslie - Ryan Leslie The OFFICIAL REVIEW

Ryan Leslie (Self-Titled)
Release Date: Feb 10, 2009
Label: Casablanca Music, LLC/Universal Motown

You get the sense that there is a genius of sorts about Singer/Songwriter/Producer Ryan Leslie. His story is as follows: At the age of 15, he scores a 1600 on his SATs, which landed him at Harvard while everyone else his age were still trying to score prom dates. After graduating, he pursues music full-time, selling beats as a local producer in Boston. After a chance meeting with producer Young Lord, he lands an internship with him as a producer, leading to his first major label credit, "Keep Giving Your Love to Me," a song for Beyonce from the Bad Boys II soundtrack. This lead to subsequent work with Britney Spears, New Edition, Loon, Cheri Dennis, Donell Jones, and his own flagship artist Cassie. He's kept fans abreast of his developments with his self-titled debut via his YouTube page and his website. To say that the release of this album has been a long time coming is an understatement.

The album is a showcase of his songwriting and production skills, which aren't at all lacking; most of the instruments you hear here are played by Leslie himself. The album kicks off strong with "Diamond Girl," which was accompanied by a short film of the same name months ago. "Addiction (feat. Cassie and Fabolous)," another single released last year, immediately follows. Both are strong numbers to kick off the album with and get the listener engaged.

However, Leslie starts to shine after the stuff you've heard before has played. "You're Fly" is easy on the ears, coupling sleek live instrumentation and synthesizers, which proves to be a constant throughout the LP. He kicks things into high gear with "Quicksand," which as a pseudo-rock jam. Later in the album, he showcases superior production and musicianship and is at his best when he lets the songs ride out jam-session style, as evidenced on "Irina," and "Wanna Be Good."


As great as the collection of songs are, there are missteps. The soft-charm of "Valentine" comes off as a little cheesy within such a potent collection, but that's not to say it's a bad song, necessarily. It just doesn't belong on this album. At first listen, "Gibberish" comes off as just that. Smart move putting that one at the end. His vocals aren't the strongest, but at least he holds his own and doesn't rely on computer-assisted pitch correction (see my Auto-Tune post to understand my gripe). Additionally, the rapping he insisted on keeping on "You're Fly" and "Diamond Girl" should be left out of the follow up. The strength of the songwriting compensates for most of the shortcomings. Let's hope that he delves a little deeper next go round. Keeping it simple this time around was smart, but now he's ready to go all in. Either way, this is a great debut offering that I am sure will stand out among the droves of R&B releases to come out this year.

Chatterbox Rating: 4 out of 5.

I Hate My Job!!!

No...I don't really hate my job. Honestly, I kind of enjoy it. But, for those of you that do, Cam'Ron feels your pain and is speaking on your behalf. Harlem's Golden Child is back after 2006's "Killa Season" didn't yield too many bodies...

It's not even wack...it goes kinda hard...kinda.

Anyway...check it out...and please, DO NOT quit your day jobs. They are too hard to come by in 2009!

Enjoy!

SORRY - LINK IS BROKEN TO EMBED...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09s5B-EFafA

The Latest Cabbage Patch Doll!!!! This one's (BLEEPING) GOLDEN!

Look what our dear G-Rod is doing for bail money...guess he's got braggin' rights, Ghandi and MLK never got their own Cabbage Patch! Impeach that!

Now WE can buy his ass!!!

**BLEEPIN' GOLDEN!!!!**