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Seemless Hoodies

If you’re sick of walking down the street and running into people wearing the same jacket as you are, then here is some good news, Seemless have just dropped 4 new reversible hoodies for sale in extremely limited quantities of between 1 – 3 pieces per design. Featuring things such as Real Fur (Chinchilla Fur), an over sized zipper and top quality materials these hoodies are sure to be neck breakers, now the only set back to being so unique is that each hoodie is priced between USD $575 – USD $715 and is available now at Kazbah.

Image/Info: Kazbah

Nas – Hip Hop is Dead

Nas
Hip Hop Is Dead
[Def Jam; 2006]
Rating: 7.8

For all the youngsters and dabblers out there, hip-hop is not dead, so calm down. If anything, hip-hop is deaf. Rappers, bloggers, and fans have become so averse to criticism that the mere title of this album flung them into defensive hysterics. So, Nas’ plan worked. People are at least trying to come up with reasons why hip-hop is indeed alive instead of just stealing an album per week and dropping weird science on the internet. He wants us to care again, to think when we listen instead of simply consuming, because his career and the survival of the culture depend on it. Nas couldn’t be a pop guy, even with Puff’s help. He couldn’t write a club song if his life was at stake, which, after “Oochie Wally” it probably should have been. And he certainly isn’t going to make any money off his crew (see also: “Oochie Wally”). Nas is a writer, and he needs our attention. He needs us to read lines, between the lines, put it all together. He needs us to give a fuck about the art, the history, and the craft or we won’t get what he’s saying. Hip-hop isn’t dying because Nas hates it; it’s dying because not enough people love it. If that sounds corny or offensive, well, there’s the rub, and Hip Hop Is Dead is made for you. If you lecture on rap forums all day, post daily pics on your blog of Lil’ Wayne kissing people, wonder why we write about hip-hop on this site, or just want to know what the best rapper alive really sounds like, listen to this album.

For everyone else, the standard Nas disclaimer: Hip Hop Is Dead is not Illmatic. Nothing ever will be. Nas and I are roughly the same age, so when his debut came out in 1994, it was a humbling experience for me. I was struggling through term papers while this slightly older dude from Queensbridge was writing the great literature of our generation and collaborating with producers I considered legendary. Pete Rock, Gang Starr’s DJ Premier, Tribe’s Q-Tip, and Large Professor of Main Source had produced a dozen or more of my favorite albums by the time they worked on Illmatic, and each dropped a gem on Nas, a rookie. (The Black Album was not the dawn of Dream Team production.) AZ, the only guest, got one verse on “Life’s a Bitch”, a verse so perfect it still haunts him in the same way Illmatic’s every verse haunts Nas. It’s a flawless album, my personal favorite, and I can listen to it today and not be bored for a second. Unfortunately, every album subsequent to Illmatic contained increasingly longer stretches of boredom, mine and Nas’. Even his recent “comeback” albums (aren’t they all?), including the infamous “Ether”-ing of Jay-Z on Stillmatic, were better in theory than in practice– the go-to criticism of Nas, his poor taste in beats, holding true for every failure. But, he was also getting lazier, less-focused, saying things without thinking and probably smoking way too many blunts. It was largely a lost decade for Nasir Jones.

When Nas signed with Jay-Z’s Def Jam, I didn’t guffaw. I didn’t care. I was happy that Nas was making money, but I didn’t believe rumors of a Nas/Premier reunion or the Return of Nasty Nas. It was what it was: a business deal. Whatever that deal promised Nas, though, pays off on Hip Hop Is Dead. He is, in fact, extremely nasty on almost every track, as committed and consistent as he’s been in a long time. Beginning with the L.E.S. & Wyldfyer-produced royal rumbler, “Money Over Bullshit”, Nas leans into the mic and doesn’t fall back until he’s said his last word on the a capella “Hope”. The two tracks with Kanye West are exceptional for both artists, confirming the chemistry of Late Registration’s “We Major” and bracketing the meditative middle of the album. On either side of that soulful stretch are “Black Republicans”, the fantasy duet with Jay, and “Hustlers”, or, Make-a-Wish for the Game. Jay and Nas are so ridiculous on a track together, it’s almost depressing that it took this long to happen, and the Godfather II sample is inspired. The Game, in what should be his template, sounds great rapping on a song with the rapper whose name he is dropping, especially when it’s Nas, whom the Game most closely resembles. The closeness of their voices actually makes the Game more tolerable by osmosis.

A few of the beats are mediocre, which, again, is Nas’ Achilles Heel. But if I’m going to talk negatives, it’s really only necessary to mention one song. Will.i.am produced three on the album, and all of them, at least his contribution to them, are decent to good. However, “Who Killed It?”, Will’s odd nursery-noir beat, is the worst concept song in the history of hip-hop music. Normally, I’m with Nas any time he wants to inhabit a persona or inanimate object, but here he assumes the voice of– I shit you not– character actor Edward G. Robinson (kids: think Chief Wiggum). The first time I heard it, I was genuinely shocked. The content is irrelevant. Truly, deeply embarrassing, but that’s what the delete key is for, people. Let’s hope it was the Black Eyed Pea’s idea.

At least Nas is trying again, though. He’s pushing himself, and that’s what his appeal has always been. He’s a virtuoso MC, but it has never been about style over substance or dazzling technique. Don’t get me wrong, there are verses on Hip Hop in which he rattles off minute-long torrents with more internal rhymes than Rick Ross had rhymes in toto on his album. But Nas is telling stories again and attacking the mic, and that is what is important. While his successors might impress with intricate wordplay, too often they’re just saying what’s on their minds instead of getting something off their chests. Maybe that’s what Nas means by Hip Hop Is Dead, that the art of rhyme is lost, but he also must accept some of the blame that he liberally places on others. It was his lack of effort, after all, that created a vacuum for others to fill with emptiness.

In the end, Hip Hop Is Dead is the album I’ll give to people in 20 years when they ask who Nas was. More than Illmatic, it represents the real Nas– not the ideal– the MC with all the skill, all the rhymes, and all the insight who sabotaged himself with bad decisions. There aren’t too many here, which is why I’ll recommend it. Whether he will revive hip-hop or not is for history to decide; I’m not sure it needs reviving. The need for Nas to play a vital role in whatever happens, though, is something I am sure of, so I’m glad he’s back with the living.

Image/Info: Pitchforkmedia

Jumpman23.com Update

Jumpman23.com has been updated to include images and release dates for several of 2007’s offerings including the “Black/Metallic” Vs, “Fire Red” IIIs, “Cool Grey” IIIs, and the WMNS “Harbor Blue” IIIs. The new info is as follows:
Air Jordan Retro IV Black/Metallic – 1/20/07

Air Jordan Retro III Fire Red – 2/24/07

Air Jordan Retro III Cool Grey LS – 3/24/07

Air Jordan Retro III WMNS Harbor Blue – 3/24/07

Images/Info: [KixandtheCity]

Jordan Cool Grey III’s

Here are some new images of the Cool Grey Jordan III’s courtesy of ISS. Notice how cleanly the Elephant Print matches with the grey suede. The III’s are scheduled for release next year. For all future release dates you can check out Niketalk.

Image: Nemesis @ ISS

Ghostface Killah X Swagger X Frank 151 – New Era Fitted

Here pictured above is the latest collaboration New Era Fitted by Ghost Face Killah X Swagger X Frank 151 which features the Wu Tang logo on the front and the collaborators logos on the back. So if you’re looking to land this cap for yourself be sure to hit up Franks Chop Shop on the 17th of November to pick one up while stocks last.

Image/Info: Frank 151

Jay-Z Announces Tracklist, One Day Tour

Sued over Black Album samples
It’s old news to those of you who were waiting slavishly by your computers this weekend, checking torrent and p2p sites every half hour for one of the big name fourth-quarter rap albums to leak (and pretty much all of them did), but Jay-Z‘s Kingdom Come (out November 21 on Def Jam) now has a tracklist.

Just Blaze, Kanye West, Dr. Dre, the Neptunes, and Swizz Beatz all produced tracks on the album, and featured guests include Beyonce, Usher, Pharrell, Ne-Yo, John Legend, and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who produced the track on which he is featured, album closer “Beach Chair”.

According to various reports, Jay will literally phone it in on November 18 as he teams with Cingular Music for “The Jay-Z Hangar Tour”, a 17-hour jaunt via G5 jet to the airports of Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas (where the tour will end). He will perform for radio contest winners in these cities, and Cingular customers with video capability will be able to watch the performances on their phones.

As previously reported, MTV will air “Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life”– the special documenting Jay’s recent world tour to raise awareness of the world’s water crisis– on November 24.

Finally, Bridgeport Music– the publishers who successfully halted sales of Ready to Die over sample clearance issues– have brought a lawsuit against Jay for uncleared samples on The Black Album‘s “Justify My Thug”. The amount for which they are suing him has not been disclosed.

Tracklist:

01 The Prelude
02 Oh My God
03 Kingdom Come
04 Show Me What You Got
05 Lost Ones [ft. Chrisette Michele]
06 Do U Wanna Ride [ft. John Legend]
07 30 Something
08 I Made It
09 Anything [ft. Usher and Pharrell]
10 Hollywood [ft. Beyonce]
11 Trouble
12 Dig a Hole [ft. Sterling Simms]
13 Minority Report [ft. Ne-Yo]
14 Beach Chair [ft. Chris Martin]

Stream: Jay-Z: Show Me What You Got [from the forthcoming Kingdom Come LP]

[Courtesy of Pitchforkmedia.com]

The Game – Doctor’s Advocate (Review)

The Game
Doctor’s Advocate
[Geffen; 2006]
Rating: 8.1

Game’s been busy ever since he released his gazillion-selling debut The Documentary early last year. After a very public falling out with his G-Unit crew, he’s waged an endless quixotic war against 50 Cent, hitting the mixtape circuit and unleashing torrent after torrent of deeply entertaining disses. He played an arm-slicing villain named Big Meat in the horrendous ghetto-action Tyrese vehicle Waist Deep. He got a butterfly tattooed on his face and then covered it up. He reportedly got engaged and then un-engaged. He launched a line of sneakers that I see prominently advertised every time I ride the subway, even though I’ve never actually seen anyone wearing them. He dropped former mentor Dr. Dre’s name more times than anyone could count, even though, by all indications, Dre isn’t even returning his phone calls. He got bounced around record labels like a virus. And he learned how to rap. There were a lot of great things about The Documentary, but most of the time Game wasn’t one of them. With all the album’s glimmering, widescreen big-budget beats and nagging singsong 50 Cent hooks, the rapping grandma from “America’s Got Talent” could’ve at least gone gold. A ton of money went into The Documentary, which turned out to be one of last year’s best rap albums despite the guy who actually rapped on all the songs. Game had a gruff, clumsy cadence, and he obsessively namedropped every rapper he could think of; it was embarrassing. But on mixtape tracks like the 15-minute freestyle “300 Bars N Running”, Game discovered how much fun it could be to play around with words. On The Doctor’s Advocate, Game mostly just updates the hamfisted style of the first record, still obsessively dropping names and making ill-advised proclamations about how he’s the West Coast Rakim or whatever. But those quirks have hardened into a likeably bizarre personal style, and he’s added some of the playfulness of his mixtapes. His constant self-mythologizing feels a little more convincing now that he can bring a certain vividness: “From the first clap I hurt rap; now watch the earth crack/ Bring the hearse back and take a lyrical dirtnap.”

He’s also found a much more interesting context for himself. On The Documentary, he was that new West Coast G-Unit guy. On The Doctor’s Advocate, he’s the guy who sold millions his first time out but still found himself abandoned by all the people who brought him into the world. And so he’s become an army of one, a perennial underdog with a big mouth and a lot to prove. He makes contradictory claims all over the album, dissing 50 Cent and saying that he has no beef with him on the same song. The album, after all, is named after the guy who refused to have anything to do with it. On some songs, Game talks about how down he is with Dre: “The protégé of the D.R.E./ Take a picture with him and you gotta fuck me.” On others, he casts himself as a victim of forces out of his control: “I was the Aftermath remedy till friends turned enemies.” And on the title track, he’s drunk and on the verge of tears: “Dre, I ain’t mean to turn my back on you/ But I’m a man, and sometimes a man do what he gotta do.” To make things even weirder, fellow Dre beneficiary Busta Rhymes shows up on the track to cosign Game’s pleas for attention: “You gave him something that could make or break a nigga; you should face it/ So big I don’t even think he was ready to embrace it.” It’s an expensively produced track from two star rappers, but it’s apparently intended for an audience of one, and listening to it feels like eavesdropping.

To make matters even more complicated, the actual sonics of the album feel like a further entreaty to Dre. There might not be any Dr. Dre tracks on The Doctor’s Advocate, but it sounds more like a late-period Dre album than The Documentary did. Game enlists Dre imitators like Scott Storch and Jonathan “JR” Rotem to steal Dre’s chilly guitar plucks and screaming organs and smeary synths. On “Compton”, the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am., of all people, pulls off a great little simulacra of Dre’s chunky, menacing N.W.A beats. Even the video for “Let’s Ride” is basically a remake of “Nothin’ But a G Thang”.

The whole album is like that; Game airs out his dirty laundry and hopelessly tries to work out all his issues with rap and fame and failed relationships, and we try to figure out what the hell is wrong with him. “Why You Hate the Game”, the epic nine-minute closing track, has a sparkling piano-heavy Just Blaze track and a guest appearance from an on-fire Nas (“Pro-black, I don’t pick cotton out of aspirin bottles”), and Game ends it all on a note of unresolved ambivalence: “I still think about my nigga from time to time/ Make me wanna call 50 and let him know what’s on my mind/ But I just held back cuz we ain’t beefing like that/ He ain’t Big and I ain’t Pac and we just eating off rap.” As rap music, The Doctor’s Advocate is good; as tangled psychodrama, it’s better.

[Courtesy Pitchforkmedia.com]

Downloads

 

• The Game: Let’s Ride [Video]

Beyonce Doin it Real Big

If your like me you’ve wondered what it would like to have a nice night perculatin’ with Beyonce. However, it seems like our girl, had a little too much food & liquor (sorry Lupe, no pun intended).

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