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Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Azealia Banks Reignites Beef With Iggy Azalea (@AzealiaBanks @IggyAzalea)
With Azealia Banks on her way to making a comeback, the rapper shared her thoughts on the lack of authenticity in hip hop, pointing out her past rival, Iggy Azalea.
Nicki Minaj Calls Out Eric Bellinger Over Single Production Credit (@NickiMinaj @EricBellinger)
As fans wait for Nicki Minaj's new single "Anaconda" to drop next week, the rapper took to her Twitter page to call out producer, Eric Bellinger for taking credit of her single.
Kaylin Garcia Shares Photo of Her Bare Body Dripping in Pearls (@kaylin_garcia)
Kaylin Garcia knows how to get attention online, and the famed model had her Instagram followers glued to her profile after she posted an extremely sexy photo.
Exclusive! Sean Kingston Did Not Have His Lambo Repo'd (@seankingston)
Sean Kingston is denying claims that his third car, a white Lamborghini, was repossessed in Los Angeles.
Exclusive! Sean Kingston Denies Having His Lamborghini Repo'd (@seankingston)
Sean Kingston is denying claims that his third car, a white Lamborghini, was repossessed in Los Angeles.
Stephen A. Smith Suspended After Comments on Domestic Violence (@StephenASmith @)
ESPN has decided to suspend Stephen A.
KOTD BOLA 5 Battle: Charlie Clips vs. Daylyt (@CHARLIECLIPS @DAYLYT2K)
This style clash put Charlie Clips vs.
Miss Jackson Thanks Nelly for "Incredible" Birthday Weekend (@nelly_mo @)
While Shantel Jackson had a long past with Floyd Mayweather, the demise of their relationship played out for all to see on Instagram, as Mayweather blasted Miss Jackson for terminating a pregnancy around the same time she moved on to rapper Nelly.
All In the Family: Kim Kardashian Kissed Stepbrother Brandon Jenner (@kimkardashian)
The Kardashian clan are without a doubt a close-knit family, but one revelation on last night's episode of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" has fans scratching their heads.
Photoshopped Pics of Nicki Minaj's Anaconda Cover Go Wild Online (@nickiminaj)
Nicki Minaj's cover for her new Anaconda album has taken over Hip-Hop, largely due to the YMCMB showing off her incredible body in not much other than a pink g-string.
QOTR "No Holds Barred" Battle: E Hart vs. Young Gattas (@YoungGattas @DEBO_QOTR)
The latest battle to be released from QOTR's most recent "No Holds Barred" battle event was the highly anticipated clash between E Hart vs.
Exclusive! Daylyt Addresses Allegations That Math Was Set Up (@DAYLYT2K @MATHHOFFA)
In this clip from his exclusive interview with VladTV Battle Rap Journalist Michael Hughes, Daylyt addressed the many rumors that Math Hoffa was set up by Dizaster and his affiliates, following the KOTD fight between Math and Dizaster at BOLA 5.
Melyssa Ford Believes She Provoked a Man to Hit Her (@MissMelyssaFord)
Melyssa Ford recently sat down with Charlamagne tha God and Andrew Schultz's The Brilliant Idiot's podcast, where she shared a story about being hit by a man after throwing a Walkman in his face.
Exclusive! K-Shine to JC: If You Lost in Person You Lost on Footage (@_kay_shine @ThekidJ_c)
K-Shine was coming off of a strong performance in his UW "Annihilation" battle vs.
50 Cent Claps Back at Follower Questioning His Parenting Skills (@50cent)
50 Cent has been known to stir up controversy on Instagram, but the tables were turned after a follower got at the Queens rapper over his parenting skills.
Exclusive! Royce Da 5'9: "Nobody Is Gonna Beat Eminem" (@RoyceDa59 @Eminem)
At the July 27th UW "Annihilation" battle event, VladTV Battle Rap Journalist Michael Hughes caught up with Slaughterhouse member Royce Da 5'9 for an exclusive interview.
Did Floyd Mayweather Cop Bugatti Veyrons for His TMT Girls? (@floydmayweather)
It appears that Floyd Mayweather may have recently gone above and beyond while spoiling the women of The Money Team by copping three tricked out Bugatti Veyron sports cars, and his Instagram post showing off the vehicles seems to imply they were purchased as gifts for three very important women in his life: one for his current girl Doralie Medina, one for his baby mama Melissa Brim, and another for model Liza Hernandez.
Beyonce Reportedly Looking at $21.5M Home Amid Divorce Rumors (@beyonce, @s_c_)
Rumors have been swirling that power couple Jay Z & Beyonce are headed towards divorce, and a recent article from the New York Post isn't helping matters, as they recently reported that Beyonce is looking into a 21.
Kaylin Garcia Dons a Thong to Expose Her Hypnotizing Cakes on IG (@Kaylin_Garcia)
Kaylin Garcia woke up feeling extra sexy today, July 28th, and decided to share her good looks with her many Instagram followers by posting a few very steamy pics of herself wearing nothing but a small t-shirt and thong.
50 Cent Teases Floyd Mayweather About Ms. Jackson Dating Nelly (@50cent @floydmayweather)
50 Cent took to Instagram to tease his former best friend and champion boxer Floyd Mayweather for his ex dating Nelly.
Exclusive! Star: Is New 'Planet of the Apes' "White Propaganda"? (@STARANDBUCWILD)
Star opens up his "Live & Direct" show by announcing that it's a "Miss Me With the Bullsh*t Monday" before going into a story about retired baseball player Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas crying at his Hall of Fame ceremony.
Exclusive! Charlamagne: Iggy Won the Year, But Nicki's a Better MC (@cthagod)
Power 105 & Revolt TV's Charlemagne sat down with VladTV to give his opinion on Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" cover, whether she needs to sell sex to be successful, why he feels Iggy Azalea had a better year than Nicki, and why having "star power" is just as important as writing your own bars in Hip-Hop.
Switching Teams? Keyshia Cole Addresses Lesbian Rumors (@keyshiacole @)
Keyshia Cole recently released the new track "She" from her soon to be released album, "Point of No Return.
Exclusive! Amber Rose Talks Dealing With "Scary" Paparazzi (@darealamberrose)
In an exclusive interview with Amber Rose, the model and mom talked about her "scary" relationship with paparazzi and reveals that she actually barked on one who invaded her space while she was pregnant.
Chris Brown 'Likes' Pic of Him in Bed With Rihanna on Instagram (@chrisbrown @karrueche)
The Chris Brown and Rihanna rollercoaster is back in action, after Breezy stirred up a bit of drama by "liking" a fan-created photo of him lying in bed with Rihanna next to him.
Floyd Mayweather Cops Bugatti Veyrons for His TMT Girls (@floydmayweather)
Floyd Mayweather recently went above and beyond while spoiling the women of The Money Team by copping three tricked out Bugatti Veyron sports cars -- one for his current girl Doralie Medina, one for his baby mama Melissa Brim, and another for model Liza Hernandez.
Locked Up: Chicago's Lil Reese Arrested on Gun Charges (@lilreese300)
Last night, Chicago emcee Lil Reese was arrested for felony possession of a firearm and is being held at Cook County jail.
Kendall Jenner Spotted Flirting With Mavericks' Chandler Parsons (@kendalljenner @chandlerparsons)
According to the NY Post's Page Six, Kendall Jenner was spotted cozying up to Dallas Mavericks baller Chandler Parsons over the weekend.
Chris Brown's New Neighbor Threatens to Shoot Him If He Trespasses (@ChrisBrown)
Chris Brown's lofty new pad comes with a pool, beautiful view, and a no-nonsense neighbor.
Was The Rake Really Wack?
So I just read a kinda weird article and felt compelled to respond... Apparently AV Club has a running series where they get celebrities to trash pop songs they hate. I somehow landed on one where Steve Coogan was bashing "Lady In Red," and while pop music is really not my thing, it was fun. It's a strong and easy premise... a stand up comic will dish on a Katy Perry song, someone else does a light piece on how annoying "The 12 Days of Christmas" is, David Lynch rants about the "It's a Small World" song. You get the drift. But today they tackled their first hip-hop song. And you'd think, okay, somebody's gonna make fun of Vanilla Ice or point out how bad the rapping was in "The Superbowl Shuffle." But instead they landed on The Rake's "Street Justice" as "the one song they hate most in the world."
Wait. What?
To be fair, this week's celebrity (a cartoonist named Ed Piskor) opened up by stating he doesn't really hate any song, so this was just as close as he got. And hey, everyone's entitled to their opinion and hate whatever they hate. This post is not a "listen, that guy is some kind of jerk for not liking X" retort. I'm not going in on the guy. He seems to know his shit, and I can certainly see why younger listeners would find "Street Justice"'s style super old school and corny. I mean, I did stop reading about a halfway through when he stopped talking about the subject of his article and went on promoting his comics (come on, Lynch didn't go, "but enough about that silly song, let's talk about some DVDs I have for sale!"). But no it's actually a fine, quick read I recommend (at least the first third of) because how often do you find substantive posts about hip-hop records from 1983 these days?
But I wanted to write this after reading that because it really sells this record short and there's just more to be said about it. I mean, he does specifically say the song didn't have any impact on the culture because he can't point to anyone trying to replicate The Rake, which is... a little bit crazy.
So, for those that don't know, The Rake is a one record act, and this is it. It came out on Profile Records in 1983, well after "The Message" and right on the heals of "It's Like That" (which also on Profile, of course). And the first thing you'll notice about it is that it's really dark. It's a narrative about rape and murder in a tone on that wouldn't really come around again until The Geto Boys. Or at least Ice-T. I mean, you want to talk about the replication of The Rake? There it is. Ice-T and all the earliest roots of gangsta rap - from the violent street life tales to the slow, cold style of delivery - owe quite a lot to this record. This is like "6 In the Mornin'" three years before "6 In the Mornin'."
And really, think 1983. Run DMC was just gaining a foothold in its move to push hip-hop out of the Sugarhill disco era. And what's The Rake talking about? He runs home after getting a phone call telling him that his wife was raped by three teens in the course of a brutal home invasion:
"I was not prepared for the things I saw,
When I opened up the apartment door.
The TV was in pieces; the furniture was scattered,
Mirrors were all busted up and window panes were shattered.
My kids were in the bedroom, they were beat up bad.
With tears in his eyes, my little boy said,
'We did all we could; we put up a fight;'
And I took him in my arms and told him he did right."
Yeah, this is some serious shit. It's followed by an entire verse about how his wife looked like a corpse as he watched the medics carry her out of their apartment. Nobody was writing shit like this back in 1983. Hell, you'd have a bard time finding songs written on this level in 1993.
And yeah, this song has a serious message, too, as the second part of the song invokes a "brother cop" pulling him aside at the scene of the crime and saying,
"'Brother, I'm sorry,' and he looks real sincere,
'Now dig what I'm saying; make sure you read me clear.
For all you can see is something that's terrible and cruel,
But it ain't no exception, it's more like the rule.
Go to the precinct and you know what they;ll say:
This happens here twenty-four hours a day.
No one was killed; ain't no big deal.
Some lady was raped, but her scars will heal.'"
Other classic message songs like Kurtis Blow 's "8 Million Stories" or Toddy Tee's "Batterram" would never have a gut-punching line like that, even though it's obvious they're taking direct inspiration from this. Especially the west coast artists, who also borrowed the marriage of a smooth vocal vocalist with a funky-basslined electro track.
Now if you paid attention to the title of the song, you can guess how the song ends. Our narrator takes the law into his own hands and murders the three teens. I"ll acknowledge that the song leans on the heavy0handed side and it's not all as personally written as the parts I quoted. It's a great concept song, but The Rake would've really needed some additional aid from a real rhyme-smith like Spoonie Gee to file this 'masterpiece.' And the AV Club smartly compares the song's plot to a Charles Bronson movie, which does manage to suck some of the gravitas out of the proceedings when you think of it that way.
But damn, I mean, just look at that cover! Newspaper headlines about rape and murder, plus a creepy Bible quote spayed over in red graffiti. It would be a long time before you saw a hip-hop cover as heavy as that from anybody on any label, period.
The Source magazine listed this as one of the biggest '25 Turning Points In Hip-Hop' in their 50th issue special. They didn't really break-down why (with 24 other songs to squeeze onto a 2-page spread with a big photo, each song wound up with about one sentence apiece), but hopefully this post helps make it clear at least why I think it's so pivotal.
One final point. The AV Club article makes a big deal about how this song was co-written by two white guys. The label actually credits three, who also all produced, so I'm not sure which one they're leaving out. But okay, anyway. First, I'm a little suspicious of those credits, since it was often the case where the rappers who wrote the actual raps wouldn't get writing credit alongside whoever the producers (and again, that would be themselves in this case) wanted to credit, back in the 80s... As if, for example, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were actually responsible for The Fat Boys' rhymes on their remake of "Baby I';m a Rich Man." Unfortunately, it wasn't the exception but more like the rule to screw these young, black artists out of their publishing back then. And as it happens, The Rake was actually a fairly well established song writer himself, having a hand in a number of credible Soul records in the 70s and earlier 80s, under his real name Keith Rose. So it seems unlikely he would've had no creative input himself.
And it's also worth noting that those "[three] white guys" have got several Grammy, Academy and Tony Awards between them. So I think it might be a little unfair to write them off so dismissively. That fact might have something to do with why The Rake never had a follow-up record, though, as some- or every-body involved might've seen the endeavor as a sort of one-off experiment. And that's kind of a shame, because okay, it's dated and some of the lines sound corny now. Enough so that the AV Club just dedicated a whole article to mocking it as wack. But honestly, more smooth, dark proto-gangsta NY rap records like this would've been pretty cool to have back in the 80s.
P.S. - AV, The Source, discos and other sources all universally agree that this came out in 1983. But as you can plainly see on the scan of my copy, it's got 1981 printed right there on the label. Curious, 'eh? What's up with that?
Nelly Calls Out Floyd Mayweather for Being a High School Dropout (@Nelly_Mo @FloydMayweather)
Nelly and Floyd Mayweather's issues with one another continued to boil after the rapper's latest interview on "Highly Questionable.
Nicki Minaj Pushes Back 'Anaconda' Single, Teases Another Sexy Pic (@NickiMinaj)
Nicki Minaj delivered some bad news to her fans on Sunday about her latest single, Anaconda.
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