Clusterfunk Collective: February 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

DJ Needles: Soul Searchin' Vol. 2 (Mixtape)

Originally mixed in 2008, DJ Needles has decided to re-release the second installment in his Soul Searchin' Series. Word to Bama Love Soul for the look.

DOWNLOAD Soul Searchin' Vol. 2

HardKnockTV Interviews Blu

HardKnockTV hits up Blu to get the latest on his upcoming project with Exile, the forthcoming release NoYork, and his work with FlyLo, Dibia$e, and several other electro-hop artists.

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Wiz Khalifa: Roll Up (Video)

Wiz lets go of the first visuals from Rolling Papers, in stores March 29th.

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Saturday, February 26, 2011

City Sparks: The Wanderers (EP)

Native New Orleanian City Sparks gave us an opportunity to listen to his 7-track EP, The Wanderers, on which he smashes several soulful beats while painting a pretty vivid picture of home.

DOWNLOAD The Wanderers EP

DJ Scratch In Paris (Video)

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Consequence: Man Purses (Video)

Consequence decides to stop yapping and drop a video to support his (mediocre by comparison) Movies On Demand 2.

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Rolling Stone Interviews Mod Sun

Mod Sun is beginning to make some major moves. First he opens for Wu-Tang and now he takes Rolling Stone on a mini-tour of Bloomington? No one deserves it more. His music exudes a positivity that easily trumps the negativity of a lot of other sounds out right now.

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Anyone familiar knows we are die-hard fans of the Ticallion Stallion, so it comes as no surpise that we would post this mini-doc of the man himself taking us all on a tour of his ol' stomping grounds. Presented by Media Gasface (who have been producing consistently dope docs) the brief video gives us a glimpse into the early days of the Wu.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Flowback Fridays: Beeper Bills

You can lay back, let your paper stack, instead o'going into overkill, pay your f**king beeper bill, b*tch...

Outkast: Aquemini

Curren$y f. Nesby Phips: Prioritize (Beeper Bill)

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Nesby Phips: 3rd Side Sessions , Part 1 (Video)

The Phipster gives us all a glimpse into the making of Gots Ta Do with Ja' at Inner Recess for the 3rd Side of the Phipstape series.

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Dr. Dre f. Eminem & Skylar Grey: I Need A Doctor (Video)

They are really dangling the Detox carrot, huh?!

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Rap-Up Interviews Wiz Khalifa

Wiz discusses working with Chris Brown, mentoring from the Doggfather, and his appreciation for Amber Rose.

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UK Street Art Print Nite

The Corey Helford Gallery in LA is presenting several street artists from the UK, including D*Face (shown above) and EINE, amongst others. Th eexhibition runs from February 26 - March 12. Burn one, break out that yellow cover Dizzee Rascal and be sure to catch this showing.

Visit the Corey Helford website for more details.

The Museum Of Art & Digital Entertainment

This is a fantastic idea, and as longtime video gameaholics, we felt it extremely important to get the word out about this project. In the works is an idea for a video game museum in San Francisco, aptly named the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE). It would house not only video game history and present little known facts about obscure games, but would also introduce new forms of interactive art to highlight the genius of the interactivity in console gaming. To prepare, a Kickstarter fund has been established to help raise money for initial costs.

Learn more and donate here.

The Art of Quinn Michaels

Multimedia artist Quinn Michaels caught our eye recently. His mystical and whimsical scenes (which he refers to as Quinnland) portray not only his own intriguing characters, but also familiar faces, such as Spider Man and Bugs Bunny. The kicker is that he creates these images with an iPad. Of ocurse, we know that he is not the only artist creating with an iPad. However, he is the best that we have seen thus far.

View his entire collection here.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Nesby Phips: 3rd Side (Mixtape)

Anyone who follows this blog knows that we rep hard for our NOLA brethren, even though we do not live in the city any longer. Regardless of where you hail from, one cannot ingore the fact that Nesby Phips is a 9-year veteran, producing consistently solid and, more important, original sounds since 2003, most notably his work with the JETS and other artists affiliated with Dame Dash and his Bluroc movement.

Not to mention, dude is from the West Bank. Stand up.

BUY 3rd Side

Travis Barker: Let The Drummer Get Wicked (Mixtape)

TB drops his mixtape prelude (featuring a diverse roster of MCs) to his full-length solo debut, slated to hit shelves March 15th. Also view the video for Come-N-Get It, featuring Clipse, below the DL link.

DOWNLOAD Let The Drummer Get Wicked

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Koncept & Tranzformer: More Than Meets The Eye (EP)

Koncept sent over the link to his first EP, Playing Life, last year and not long after began talking about a project in the works with Tranzformer. Since then, we have been following his updates on Twitter with much anticipation, and now the full project, presented by DJ Booth, is available. Be sure to scoop both albums below.

DOWNLOAD More Than Meets The Eye

DOWNLOAD Playing Life

JDaVeY: Evil Christian Cop - The Great Mistapes* (EP)

It took us a minute to get with J*DaVeY. To be honest, it wasn't until we caught them live (opening for Badu in SF last year) that we realized their appeal. The sly politicism of their sound is hard to ignore. Just look at the cover art (which is dope, BTW).

DOWNLOAD Evil Christian Cop

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Paze Infinite

Driving to SF on Saturday, we were listening to some newly acquired sounds, one of which was a Window Seat remix by Paze Infinite. We enjoyed the fact that he did not completely alter the original essence of the track, opting instead to fill the slower-paced gaps with quicker beats. After visiting his Bandcamp page to listen to more of his work, we are convinced that you should too. Hit us up in the comments to let us know what you think.

Visit pazeinfinite.bandcamp.com to hear more of his work.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Kanye West f. Kid Cudi: All Of The Lights (Video)

Since we're such font whores, of course this beginning of the video appeals to our design senses. Aside from that it's nothing to write home about, especially given the success of the track.

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Moe Pope, Rain, & Headnotic: Depeche Moe (Mixtape)

Rain and Headnotic mashup Moe Pope lyrics with Depeche Mode production. Word to Potholes for the premier.

DOWNLOAD Depeche Moe

Foreign Exhange: Authenticity (Video)

The latest video from the album of the same name.

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J. Period x Lauryn Hill: The Best Of Lauryn Hill (Double Disc Mixtape)

Although this was originally released in 2005, it still bangs now. The remixes are nice, no doubt, but the unreleased tracks are the real takeaway.

DOWNLOAD The Best Of Lauryn Hill, Volume 1 (Fire)

DOWNLOAD The Best Of Lauryn Hill, Volume 2 (Water)

Clutchy Hopkins: Steamboat Willie Revisited (Video)

We are going to approach #musicmonday a little differently today, opting to highlight the music that we have been enthralled with as of late, regardless of release date. We begin with a video from Clutchy Hopkins' album The Story Teller, available now. Also, be sure to scoop Paris DJs x Clutchy Hopkins Psychedelic Hip-Hop, Funk, & Jazz EP (our personal favorite).

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Kraken: The Simulation Application for Nautical Maneuvering

We remember the night that we damn near killed that bottle o'Kraken with E-Dub and The Bois, shouting "IT'S KRAKEN!" all night long. #goodtimes

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Curren$y: Muscle Car Chronicles, Trailer #3 (Video)

The third video trailer for Muscle Car Chronicles, slated to see light in March.

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Trevor Nelson (BBC) Interviews Nicki Minaj (Video)

Nicki (on her Madonna-esque, Roman ish) sits down with Trevor Nelson to talk C.R.E.A.M.

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Radiohead: Lotus Flowers (Video)

The first visual installment from The King Of Limbs, available now.

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Adele: Someone Like You (Live Video)

Her voice is such a breath of fresh air. She possesses the soul that is missing from so much music. Her latest, 21, will be available in the US on February 22, 2011. Be sure to scoop her mixtape with Mick Boogie, 1988, below.

DOWNLOAD: 1988

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Flowback Fridays: Damn It Feels Good To Be A...

In an effort to start Fridays off right, we are introducing a weekly segment, Flowback Fridays, which will feature a video throwback and, when available, we will pair the most recent reference to the original. Can it be that it was all so simple as a sample?

Geto Boys: Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

Wiz Khalifa: Damn It Feels Good To Be A Taylor

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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Wiz Khalifa: Cabin Fever (Mixtape)

We assumed this had been tabled in favor of Rolling Papers. Apparently Not.
Taylor Gang. Taylor Gang. Taylor Gang.

DOWNLOAD Cabin Fever

Wiz Khalifa Fronts FADER

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wale: No Days Off (Documentary Video)

The first installment in a series of three, which follows Wale doing Wale.

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Rugz D. Bewler: All I Need Is 20 (Mixtape)

Muhammad McFly delivers his latest - a 2-part, 20-minute project labeled as The Lovers Rock Edition.

DOWNLOAD All I Need Is 20

Banksy In Hollywood

The graff movement in LA reminds us of NY in the 80s. Although Banksy does not hail from the City of Angels, he is damn sure painting the town.

View more at juxtapoz.com

FADER Interviews Wiz Khalifa

Wiz chats with FADER about his latest string of hits and what we can expect next.

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GFUNK In Yo Trunk: Love Of The Green

For those who do not know, I am an avid sports fan, amongst other things. I appreciate how during the course of a game, sport is an example of a perfect society. It doesn’t matter who you are - a professional or a kid playing in a summer league, a starter or reserve so far down on the depth chart you only see the field during warm-ups - the rules are the rules. They do not change from day to day, but remain the same. The rules are a constant.

The perfect society analogy comes in when you include the participants, the rules, and the refs. Everyone involved understands not just what the rules are, but also the punishment for being caught breaking those rules. Take a couple of steps without dribbling the basketball, that’s traveling. Your punishment for breaking this rule is immediately forfeiting the possession thereby turning the ball over to the other team. Sports are not like the “real world” where someone can say you did something that no one else saw and you have to defend your name. The punishments aren’t ever something that can be negotiated. The rules and the punishments for infractions are understood before the game ever begins. In my opinion, the equality and fairness of sports dictates something that the rest of the world can learn from.

With that said, I recently watched an ESPN program entitled 30 for 30. This particular episode was a one hour documentary of sorts on Ricky Williams, the infamous running back, pothead, and escape artist. I thought that I knew everything worth knowing about this man. I thought I understood that he loved the foliage and smoked it when he wanted to. Stubbornly, he continued to smoke even though he repeatedly failed drug test after drug test and received suspensions from the NFL on more than one occasion. He has retired, returned, left, come back, quit, come back, gone to Canada and played there, and came back again. I thought he was someone who loved herb more than football, and that he was probably one of the most self-sabotaging individuals in recent football memory. However, after watching the 30 for 30 segment, I realized that like everything else the media touches, I did not really know the truth.

This man is highly enlightened (no pun intended). He seems to have an understanding of life better than just about any athlete I have ever heard speak. Everyone thought he was a fool when (straight out of college) he solicited Master P, the infamous ice cream man, to represent him during his contract negotiations with the New Orleans Saints. The deal, which some found laughable, was primarily incentive based. In other words, in order for him to be paid the majority of the money he could earn he had to produce specific things for the team. The contract contained clauses that dictated how many yards he would need to rush (not a small number at all) and in turn, how much he would be paid for rushing those yards. He would have to put up big numbers in order to get paid big bucks. The media laughs at him for being so arrogant and simultaneously ignorant as to think he could produce numbers as a rookie that would rival the numbers of other great athletes in the prime of their careers. His response to why he did that (discussed during the segment) was that he did not want to be a man who did not earn his living. He did not want to be a man who had money handed to him if he did not perform. The media never mentions that part. For that, I found Ricky Williams the opposite of arrogant. In fact, I think his attitude about his trade is admirable.

He could have made $30 million dollars over the course of his career had he not run into so much self-created adversity. However, he does not apologize for not doing so. His outlook on life is not one of chasing after the money; he’s more interested in living up to his potential. He was quoted once as saying that he’d come back and play for free. For this too, the media has laughed at and mocked him, but his response is that his motivation should not be the almighty dollar but, rather, to be the best running back he could possibly be. His motivation was doing the best he could regardless of what anyone else thought of him or how much he was being paid. He was doing it for himself. This is why I find him so enlightened. He does not follow the path that society has said he must follow in order to be successful.

The popular ideal in America is to somehow live the “American Dream.” Capitalism has created a society in which we are raised and conditioned to believe that getting rich is the ultimate goal. Forget who you are as a person. Forget the necessary sacrifices to attain this dream. Your goal in life is to somehow chase the paper and catch it. We have bought into this ideal (myself included) so wholeheartedly that we never stop to ask ourselves what are we really putting in to something. How much are you actually sacrificing for the hope that one day you’ll make it big? Now, I know that this is a hip hop blog, so what does all this have to do with hip hop?

Recently Curren$y inked a deal with Warner Records. He stated on Twitter that in order to “look the monsters in the eye and subsequently cut off their heads” he needed to “leave is lair”, which is of course reference to the fact that he needed to leave the “underground” hip hop scene. I can respect someone doing his/her best to climb up through the ranks. However, my worry and fear comes from the fact that before this signing was confirmed by Curren$y, The Brain and I had a conversation. Warner was called “where artists go to die” because of their reputation of signing hip hop musicians yet never releasing any of their albums. Since the artist is under contract with the label they are not allowed to self release any music. If their work is to ever see the light of day and grace our waiting ears, the label has to be the one to give it the green light. I am a huge Curren$y fan and would seriously hate to lose what I consider to be a valued member of the culture. If he falls victim to the fates of other Warner hip hop artists it will truly be a loss. Regardless, he acted in a way that he feels is best for him, so I will continue to support him.

I still think of Ricky Williams, though. The man found demons when he started running for the money instead of just running for the end zone. The man caught hate in the media when he refused to join the ranks of the capitalists in the NFL. I sometimes think that if you are to be successful in this world, whether in hip-hop, sports or any other industry, there is no choice but to turn your back on the money and the greed that makes a few chosen white men rich and instead work for yourself. The reasoning for this belief is exemplified in a T shirt I saw once that said “hip-hop is the new cotton.” At first I was like WTF, then I realized how true it actually is. White men (slave masters) control the company (plantation) where black men break their backs (the artists) to only end up with pennies of what they produced is worth. The people truly getting rich are never the ones actually creating the product just like the ones getting exceptionally wealthy aren’t the ones running the football.

Ricky Williams was chastised by the media for refusing to play their game. He ended up an outcast when he voiced his distaste for the new rules imposed on an old game and turned his back. The same ones that love you when you’re on top will inevitably attempt to fuck you in the ass with a sandpaper condom when you somehow do not do what they desire (do the thing that makes them rich). It’s a dirty world we live in. I wish Curren$y the very best of luck and wish nothing but prosperous times in his future. He likely will not necessarily run into the same problems as Ricky Williams, seeing as how there is no drug testing policy in hip-hop. Curren$y’s well publicized love of the green is up there with my love of breathing. However, when money comes into the picture, especially big money, I must defer to Biggie on this one with his assertion of “Mo Money, Mo Problems”.

Just a little food for thought.

Put that in your trunk and thump it,

GFUNK.

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Coolroy: Charlie (Mixtape)

In association with DJ Booth, Coolroy presents Charlie. Be sure to check Lite out (Out To Lunch is still one of the more slept on projects, in our opinion).

Friday, February 11, 2011

Curren$y: Soundbombing (Video)

*holding our breath*

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J. Period x The Roots & John Legend: Wake Up Radio (Mixtape)

J. Period has once again linked up with The Roots (and John Legend) to present Wake Up Radio, a celebrataion of the album's success and the accompanying five grammy nominations.

DOWNLOAD Wake Up Radio

Thursday, February 10, 2011

J Dilla: Still Shining (Documentary)

Dilla.

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Murs & Terrace Martin: Fresh Kicks (Video)

If the video for Fresh Kicks is any indication, then Melrose is going to be one smooth collaboration.

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Nas & Damian Marley: Distant Relatives (Documentary)

And the hip-hop docs just keep on coming! There were rumors that Nas and Damian Marley were preparing to release a film documenting the making of Distant Relatives, and now (nearly a year after the album's release) the 3-part project has been made available online. View the first segment up top, and parts two and three below.

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Erykah Badu: Gone Baby Don't Be Long (Video)

Hands down one of the best tracks from New Amerykah Part 2, we're glad to see a visual for Gone Baby Don't Be Long.

SIDENOTE: The cuts that Flying Lotus has been directing have been forward-thinking , but by going backwards and referencing video styles similar to Peter Gabriel in the 80s. Food for thought.

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¡Mayday! f. N.O.R.E.: They Told Me (Video)

Damn, we heart us some ¡Mayday!

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Wale: The Break-Up Song (Video)

Fresh off the MMG announcement, Wale hits us with his latest video from More About Nothing.

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Gilbere Forte: Eyes Of Veritas (Mixtape)

Gilbere Forte links up with Don Cannon to present Eyes of Veritas, his second official mixtape (cop the first, 87 Dreams, below). Sleek cover art too.

DOWNLOAD Eyes Of Veritas

DOWNLOAD 87 Dreams

Consequence: Movies On Demand 2 (Mixtape)

Consequence drops the second installment of his Movies On Demand series, featuring Talib Kweli and Mac Miller, among others.

DOWNLOAD Movies On Demand 2

The Art of HR-FM

There is a very Dali-esque quality to the art of HR-FM. His subject's speak to big city life, illustrating scenes that are in one breath beautiful another political.

View more at eyesonwalls.com

Eminem Headlining Lollapalooza 2011

It has been confirmed that Eminem will be headlining Lollapalooza 2011. First dude gets hella shine during the Super Bowl, now this? Word to GFUNK.

Stalley: Lincoln Way Nights (Mixtape)

Stalley finally lets loose of his latest project, Lincoln Way Nights, which we believe will be one of the highlights of 2011.

DOWNLOAD Lincoln Way Nights

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Super Bowl 45

The entire Collective is rolling with Black & Yellow, and apparently, so is Madden.

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Saturday, February 5, 2011

Nottz Talks Detox

There has been a lot of discussion amongst the Collective recently as to whether or not Detox will present Dr. Dre as producer, Dr. Dre as artist, or will show the beatsmith/MC in both roles. The most recent release featuring Slim Shady and Skylar Grey, in addition to the fact that Nottz has now come forward and detailed his contribution, makes it safe to assume that it's both. Then again, there has been so much speculation around this project for so long, who knows what the end result will reflect.

Read the entire article at HipHopDX.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Insa at FIFTY24SF

Insa's first solo exhibition opened yesterday at FIFTY24SF. Presented in association with Upper Playground, the show features pieces in classic Insa style, but also illustrates the artist venturing out of bounds with objects like the vector room.

Ski Beatz: 24 Hour Karate School 2 (Trailer)

Part deux, on its way...

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Money Making Jam Boys: The Prestige: Jam Boy Magic (Mixtape)

It is assuredly better late than never on this one.

DOWNLOAD

Nodzilla: The Remix Jawn (Album)

We have been copping the singles for the last two weeks, but now Nodzilla has released the entire project for only $5. Head to nodzilla.bandcamp.com
to scoop the album.

Banksy in Los Angeles

This is the first year in a long time that we have given more than two seconds thought to the Oscars. Not surprised, it is only fitting that Banksy would create a display leading up to the event.

Obey: Rollins 50 (Art)

In celebration of Henry Rollins' 50th Birthday, Shepard Fairey has created 200 prints that will go on sale today at obeygiant.com/store.

88-Keys: Beats No More (Beat Tape)

Waking up to a dumptruck of 88-Keys beats, and all due to disc space? This is equivalent to E-Dub randomly stumbling across those old records a few months ago on Haight.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Kev Brown: Instrumentals, Vol. 1 (Album)

We have been following the rise of Kev Brown since he released The Brown Album in 2003. So of course we are excited that he has unwrapped a collection of notable instrumentals, and is offering the project on a "name your price" basis. You can always scoop it for free, but drop dude a dime, the tape is well worth it.

Hear more at kevbrown.bandcamp.com

Is That You, Mona Lisa?

Silvano Vinceti, an Italian art dealer, blew the lid off of the art world yesterday, announcing a new theory: that the mysterious model in the Mona Lisa may have been Da Vinci's male lover, Gian Giacomo Caprotti.

Read the entire article at yahoo.com.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

GFUNK In Yo Trunk: Forgot About Dre

We have solicited the opinion of our close friend and fellow head, GFUNK, in an effort to kick the hornets nest that is hip-hop. Presented on Wednesdays, keep an eye out for future editions. Until then, scroll down to read the first installment Forgot About Dre.

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Hip hop is by far one of the most beautiful, gut wrenching, ugly, wonderful, real, fake, majestic things I’ve ever had the honor of encountering. When’s the last time you actually and realistically thought about what the music means to you instead of talking about what the newest music means to hip hop? It’s easy to take something that you’ve become so accustomed to having around and discuss and dissect it, think about it, talk about it, read about it or just listen to it. It’s hip hop. It’s music. It’s wonderful.

For those hip hop heads out there who have been around for some time, tell me where you were when you heard Big Pun died. Tell me where you were when you heard that Biggie died. Tell me where you were when Tupac was shot…when he too died. Tell me when you fell in love with the music. I can remember listening to Tupac’s Life Goes On while drinking Red Kool-Aid and just feeling something more than I had ever felt from music. It hit me in my chest and my gut and my head. I loved it. Now this wasn’t the first hip hop song I had ever heard, wasn’t even close. I had been listening to the music for some time. But that is a distinctive memory I have about this art form that I reminisce on from time to time.

I remember when Ain’t Nuthin But A G Thang dropped. I remember the video with that cute little boy boppin. I remember how Dr. Dre represented everything that was right about this thing I had come to love. I remember when he performed Forgot About Dre on SNL with Eminem several years later and he seemed to be spitting in the face of everyone, as if to say, “Yeah fools, I’m not done.” I remember the chills that I got watching, then realizing that Dre was a fucking genius and that Eminem had better breath control on stage than just about everyone performing. I loved it.
Now, tell me this: how much would you pay to buy a Tupac album from the man he would be now if he had not been taken away? Think about it. Tupac lived. He grew past 25 years old. The genius that he was…it developed. Tell me how much you would pay today to buy a current album from Biggie. He didn’t pass that day in March of 1997, but instead he lived. Fast forward almost 14 years to today. If an album came out, how excited would you be? Ask yourself the same, but substitute Big Pun. I do not know anyone who would nonchalantly say, “Oh, it’s been too long.” “Who’s waiting on that? Is anyone still waiting on that?” If you can honestly say that you would not stand in line all day and night for a fucking month just to hear what an older, wiser, and more experienced Tupac, Biggie or Pun would say, then I say you are not a true fan of this art.

With that being said, Dr. Dre has been making promises to release Detox for a while now. Drop dates have been scheduled and rescheduled like the date on a wedding invitation that never happened. It has been said that he would release an album, and some of us got excited. Now, here we are again. This time, though, is different. There has been two singles released. One of those singles, “Kush”, has a video. The other one was released yesterday entitled “I Need a Doctor”. A version of this song was leaked a few months ago, albeit an unmastered version to which Dre said not to listen. I did not listen to it until he officially released it because I didn’t want to hear a version of a song not bearing his stamp of approval. Now it has been released some 4 months later, showing that he takes his time with his songs.

Back to Detox. This time, there is progress. But, there are people out there saying, who cares?!?!? How fucking dare you? This man was the contemporary of giants, consider his resume if you disagree. He was there when Snoop released his best music to date, specifically Doggystyle. He was there when Tupac was Tupac. He was a member of NWA for crying out loud. NWA started west coast “gangsta rap” which has altered the course of hip hop as we know it. Dr. Dre just wasn’t a contemporary of giants, he was a giant himself. Who cares if it’s been 10 years? This man was a trendsetter when hip hop was a toddler. What makes anyone think that simply because he has not proven to us over recent years that he hasn’t somehow lost it, that he is still Dre, that he might not be able to meet the level of the hip hop we have become accustomed to recently? We have a genius still in our midst. He wasn’t taken away from us prematurely and permanently by violence or fate. He simply went back behind the board and decided to do something else for us, like bring us the Aftermath Record Label. He doesn’t owe hip hop fans an album to prove that he’s still got it. He’s Dre. We owe him a little bit more respect and (to treat him like the genius he is) respect his timeframe instead of being pissed off or disappointed that he hasn’t given us what we wanted in a timely manner like petulant fucking children.

Artists work on their own timetables. I don’t mean musicians, I mean those artists like Monet, Warhol, and Basquiat. They are not in control of their creativity, their creativity is in control of them. They are forced to pick up a brush or a pen and paint or draw or sketch. They have to feel that something is finished. We, as art lovers, would not dare tell Michelangelo that “The David” was fine the way it is before he finished it, demand to see it so we can dissect it and critique it, and then judge him on it before he said it was done.

Have any of you naysayers even stopped to consider that when we judge albums, and we definitely judge albums privately and publicly (XXL has a rating system of S, M, L, XL, and XXL and Vibe has their mics instead of stars rating), we are judging the artist on the content of their work. Some guys are rappers because they decided to hustle rhymes instead of other things; and, they couldn’t care less about the content of their work because they are only out for the money that comes with this territory. Dr. Dre is not that guy. He is an artist who values his body of work as any true “artist” would, again, not like poppy ass musicians but true artists. “I Need a Doctor” just proves I’m right.

We as fans bitch about the lack of quality music, yet spit in the face of a giant and genius who doesn’t want to add to the problem but wants to give us fans an album that is brilliant and well put together, an album that he himself as the artist and genius can sign off on. Sure, maybe the release dates have come and gone. Sure, maybe we’ve gotten excited only to be let down giving us hip hop blue balls. Still, this time, it’s obviously different.

So, for those of you asking is anyone still waiting on Detox, my answer is you’re fucking right I am. My question is, as a true hip hop head, why the fuck aren’t you?

Put that in your trunk and thump it,

GFUNK.

Apollo Brown: Skilled Trade (Beat Tape)

Apollo Brown released this beat tape several years ago (October 2007, to be exact), but we just stumbled across it today and felt it best to post. The soulful instrumentals tell a stories without speaking a word, and features some sick samples from Queen and many others.

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Hear more at apollobrown.bandcamp.com