Random As Rhyme

This weekend I had a chance to take in the movie  Notorious. This movie is probably the first ‘hip hop’ movie seen in theaters (skipped hustle & flow can’t remember any others). It’s also the first biopic I have seen at the cineplex.

Going in to the movie I was fairly neutral, I hoped for the best but was prepared for the worst.

The theater was packed, which is generally a good sign, one that meant good or bad this movie was going to make money (opened 4th in the box office at $24,000,000).

The movie itself obviously follows a straight forward story arc: Biggie goes to school where he is a good student, grows up sells drugs and starts rapping, does a bid, has adult relationships with his baby Mamma, Lil Kim and Faith, meets Puff, sells a lot of records, becomes friends with Tupac, then enimies with Tupac, gets in a car accident, makes moves to spend more time with his family and friends and work on a new album,  gets shot in LA. The end.

If you are going into this movie expecting more information than what’s already out on the internet about the life and times of Christopher Wallace, don’t.

Most things are where they should be (although a few people are absent) and the ending is wrapped up into a nice little package.

Most of the movie is spent on his love triangle (Faith, Kim Biggie) and build up and break down of the relationship with Tupac which lead to the rise of the West coast East coast rivalry. Outside of musical relationships the movie also does a good job of establishing the solid relationship Big had with his mother, and his friend D-Nice.

The actors playing the big roles in this movie did their homework and the portrayal of Little Kim and Puff being pretty well bang on.

Angela Bassett and Jamal Woolard also do a great job of being a believable mother and son.

The set crew for this movie also did a great job in making it period correct. The cars, clothes, gear and music were all period correct. (I had completely forgot about Mecca Clothing! There was also an e30 in the movie which is always good.)

My only gripe with the movie would be the clean gloss over one Sean Combs. Puffy comes off as someone who could do no wrong and was a guiding light in Biggies life.

A person who helped him turn it around for the better. Maybe this was indeed the case but I find it hard to believe that in their time together they didn’t have one rift in the relationship or not see eye to eye on an issue. A lot of people have been saying Diddy used Big, and that he is career poision so with Diddy having a heavy hand in this movie I suppose I should have known he would come out glistening.

All in all the move was enjoyable and I do recommend it to Biggie fans and non Biggie fans alike.

I didn’t feel it was a waste of time or money and it was great to get a little bit more insight into the life of Biggie Smalls.

Slightly more emceeing couldn’t have hurt though.

If you have not yet, find this, its dope:

Hip hop, I love it, but the people who put the music out are, more often than not, completely crazy and get caught acting a fool quite often. As 2008 comes to a close, I figured I should put up my list of hip hop fuckery foolery out before Skillz does another rap up .

(My list’s are now equipped with numbers, since ‘unnumbered lists = sorta fail’)

1. Remy Ma + Jail + Papoose = Jail Break Foolery.

This year Remy quickly followed in the footsteps of Little Kim, and Foxy Brown by getting sent up for 8 long years. Shortly after her sentencing she announced her relationship with fellow rapper Papoose. Then the whole mess ran afoul when Papoose tried to bust her out of jail and got caught. To make this all a little better (or worse) this was on their in jail wedding day. Cute.

Papoose tries to break Remy out, wedding off – Nahright

2. DMX + Arrest + Arrest + Crack + Arrest = More Arrest Foolery

It’s hard out here for a DMX fan these days, I am almost embarrassed to say I ever liked his music. I think he got arrested about 5 times this year. I hope he pulls himself together because until then he just keeps slippin, fallin, he can’t get up.

DMX Arrested list – Bossip

3. 50 Cent + Reality TV + Donald Trumps Prediction = Reality show fail foolery
Donald Trump had this to say about 50’s reality show:

“it will fail because he’s not Trump, but he’s actually a nice guy.”

50 said Donald is full of bad hair, I mean hot air, and went on with it anyway. But no one cared and the show got canceled. I watched 1.5 episodes and it was terrible.

50s show gets axxe - Bossip

4. Diddy + Blog + Orange Juice + Fruitloops = Diddy Crazy Foolery

Orange Juice in cereal? Custom Jeeps with under glow? I don’t even know, Puff has lost mind, but it’s funny to watch him just stare at the camera.

5. Lil Wayne + Tons of Drugs + Tour Bus+ DEA = Border Foolery.

Lil Wayne got snatched up by the DEA for having a mess of drugs on his tour bus. 105 grams of marijuana, 29 grams of cocaine, and 41 grams of ecstasy to be exact, oh and a pistol just for street cred. No doubt some lean was also present but they didn’t mention it since that’s always on him.

Rappers should just get their weed carriers a vehicle of their own and just have them follow behind the tour bus. It could be a Bosokou car or something.

Lil Wayne Arrested for Drug Possession - MTV News

6. T.I. + BET Awards Show + Snitching = Gun Charge Foolery

T.I. got arrested this year for trying to purchase nine or so Machine guns. I somewhat understand the need for rappers feeling that they have to carry weapons to protect themselves, but nine machine guns is a bit much.

Federal agents show guns in T.I. case – Ajc.com

7. Souja Boy + Ice T + Beef = 32 Year Age Difference Foolery

I am not sure who took the first blow (although I think it was Ice T) but either way an 18 year old and a 50 year old should not be fighting. Imagine walking up to a 50 year old and chirping at them? Or better yet one chirping at you?

I’m afraid to skate too fast past the old guys in hockey for fear they will crumble to dust, I shudder to think at making them mad.

Soulja Boy vs Ice T – BET

8. Yung Berg + Transformers + Detroit = Chain Snatch Foolery

Yung Berg has had a transformers chain, which would have looked better on me, but he went to Detroit with it and it got ganked. From what I can tell Berg is about my size so what he was doing in a club in the D with that chain around his neck talking business is anyone’s guess, he got roughed up pretty good but is lucky he didn’t end up worse. Now Trick Trick and his entourage are taking the chain on tour. Hilarious.

Yung Berg, Beat Down, Chain Snatched – Hip Hop News

9. Suge Knight + Dudes Fist + Floor = Bloody Knock Out Foolery

I can’t believe this happened, the very large, very intimidating (well before this) Suge Knight got popped by a smaller man. The dude in the death row chair just got up and did the Ickey Shuffle.

Suge Knight Knockout Gallery – TMZ

10. Kanye + Vodocoder + Scruffy + Funny Clothes = 808s & Heartbreak Foolery

Some or lots of you won’t agree but meh, my blog, my opinion. Kanye cool for doing something new and creative, but I am not feeling it, and I have tried on several occasions. Watch your sodium up on that podium there fella.

808s and Hearbreak Reveiw - Spin

Update: Skillz did his wrap up and seems like I forgot a lot of wild stuff that happened. So for a further recap take a listen

Check out Can’t Slow Down for the link.

The year was 2002, I was 17 and in grade 11 or 12, I was cursing the block in my BMW with two 10s in the trunk fighting to keep up with the volume I listened to my music at.

This was when single tracks were downloaded from Kazza and only Twenty or so tracks of questionable material could fit on a cd. Most of these Cd’s never got labeled anything more than than “Mix Cd”, however I found a case to one that I made and surprisingly I had penned out all the tracks, according to my chicken scratches this is was what I was listening to at the time:

Cam’ron feat Juelz Santana Oh Boy
Everyone probably remembers this track. Depending on your opinion the beat was either super annoying or really great. Since I had two versions of this song on this CD and I am still a fan of the production work of Just Blaze I would be the later of the two. I was never really a big Cam fan though, and I don’t care about his pool.

Nappy Roots – Aww Naw
I liked a few Nappy Roots songs honestly but never listened to an entire album. After giving this song a quick re listen its no doubt the main reason I liked this one is because it has tons of bass. This was my first system and I pretty much murdered those 10s. Quite a few songs on this cd got picked for bass no doubt.

Rob Jackson & Lady May Boom Boom Boom
Another song I liked cause of the bass, I had never heard of these two before this, and I am pretty sure I never listened to a song by them again, oh well. I can’t believe the say Lady May and Rob Jackson “Aristocrat’n.”

Big Tymers – I’m Still Fly
At this point I was still washing dishes at Montanas, but I was still Fly.

Busta Rhymes ft the Flip Mode Squad
Another heavy bass track. I still listened to this song in my last vehicle with a system cause I loved looking at cars in a blurry haze in the rear view mirror, those days are over though thanks to scummy thieves.

Ruff Ryders Ft JadaKiss and Bubba Sparxx
I didn’t even remember this song when I read it. Once the you tube started playing I had a very vague recollection but I can’t imagine why I would burn it on to a cd. Maybe just so I could say ‘Collipark Bubba Sparxx’.

Jermaine Dupri feat Too Short – Jazzy Hoes
Bass and Too Short canceled out the downsides of JD.
Too short baby don’t need to trick!

West Coast Bad Boys – Pop Lockin
Weeeeessst Coaaaast! C walkin, low lows, and Cali sunshine in the video. Snoop, WC, Master P, Silkk Da Shocker and E-40 are all on this track. Everyone except Silkk and P I would still listen to today. I still want a 64 Impala, and wish I could dance…

Lil Wayne – Fuck With Me Now
Weezy F Baby, don’t forget the F baby. Who would have figured that Wayne would be where he is now back then, or that I would still be listening to him today. When I downloaded this track I had never really heard of him, but it showed up in a search for Bass songs on a local car audio forum so I slapped it on here.

Ludacris – Saturday
“Ohh ohhh! I got a big weed stash, pocket fulla cash, just seen a big ol ass.”
I am pretty sure none of those things have happened to me at the same time ever.

Master P – Burbans and Lacs
I can’t keep writing off terrible songs because of tons of bass. So I have no excuse for this song.

Redman And Method Man – How High Part 2
Thankfully I don’t need to make an excuse for this song, its still live, apparently a how high part 3 movie is in the works. The videos worth a watch if you have not seen it in awhile, Red and Meth together are funny and apparently Method had corn rows.

Royce 5′9 – Boom
Holy shit, two good songs in a row! If you don’t already know Royce has been hot for over a minute now, and is down with DJ premiere, so this song is a banger. I didn’t know there was a video, Royce needs an excuse for that hat.

Mr Cheeks. – Lights Camera Action
This song was pretty catchy at the time, but I can’t stand it now and it ruined my streak of good songs. It’s actually the remix I have on the CD but I can’t seem to find a streaming version of it.

Royce 5′9 Danger
More Royce, this song was apparently on the GTA 3 sound track, how sick is that. Maybe I should pick that up.

Silkk Da Shocker feat Mystikal – It ain’t my fault
This song is an absolute mess, rubbish.

Dr Dre – Bad Intentions
The Doc, from ‘The Wash’ sound track I liked the beat and the verses were alright. I really wonder if De-tox is ever going to come out though.

This was the end of the track list, can’t say this list of songs is overly flattering to my musical tastes of the time, but it was six years ago, and a lot has changed since then but not my penmanship its still atrocious.

For those that don’t know the posse cut is “a popular form of song in hip hop music that involves successive verses by four or more rappers.” (wiki).

I am personally a huge fan of the Posse cut, it always makes for great hip hop. But these days with rappers being stupid, and beefing for incredibly stupid reasons the Posse cut seems to be getting rarer and rarer.

So this post is an ode to the Posse cut, perhaps the best type of hip hop cut:

Slaughterhouse – Joe Budden (feat Joel Ortiz, Nino Bless, Crooked I & Royce Da 5′9)

This is the newest track I am going to post. This track gives me hope for the posse cut. I am a big fan of everyone on this and their lyrical ability is just.. out of hand really. Jump off should I keep going?

M.O.P. Ante Up Remix – (featuring Busta Rhymes, Teflon, and Remy Martin)

The orignal version of this song is one of my favorites, and the Remix is just as wild. I bet half of you didn’t know locked up Remy has been in the game this long. “Wish I could bring Pun back…BLAOOW”

Sway & King Tech – The Anthem – (featuring DJ Revolution, RZA, Tech N9ne, Eminem, Xzibit, Pharaohe Monch, Kool G Rap, Jayo Felony, Chino XL & KRS-One)

Truth be told I didn’t even know (or forgot) that a video existed for this song. I am a big Em fan so I found this on Napster when it was the thing to use, looking for more Emimem songs. But Em aside look who else is on this track! It’s huge. Remember when Xzibit rapped? Also I always seem to forget about Chino XL. I really shouldn’t

The Symphony – The Juice Crew (Craig G, Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane)

I have a facebook avoiding friend who would kick my ass if I left this song off the list. Classic Classic Classic.

The Scenario Remix – A Tribe Called Quest/Leaders of the New School (So many people!)

RARR RARR RARR. That is all.

Triumph – Wu Tang Clan (THE W)

Simple beat with a killer bassline that allowed all of the artists to completely dumb out and set this track on fire. The videos also pretty hype as well. Wu Tang is for the children. Rest in Piece old dirty.

I might have to break this into two parts cause I have thought of a few more tracks and I am getting way to hype for a Monday morning.

Stay tuned.

Bring back that good music!