I am actually a couple days late on this one, only because it has been a busy week but the radio has been turned off(aside from NPR on occasion) and the classic material remains heavy in my ears. Tuesday/Wednesday’s album was Goodie Mob’s debut, Soul Food, which remains one of my favorite albums to date. I remember seeing the video for Cell Therapy and being BLOWN away(no homo). Goodie Mob has always had a sound and style like no one else and for them to be a part of the Dungeon Family, is unbelievable. The whole album is incredible, front to back. The way that this shit starts with Cee Lo singing on the intro is perfect. This is another album that really shaped my music taste. Check out the videos for Cell Therapy, Soul Food and Dirty South. All classic songs and video from one of hip hop’s illest groups.
A few days ago, I got my hands on a mixtape compiled of some of the highlights from The Roots performances on Jimmy Fallon Late Night. Everyone knows by now that The Roots are the house band for Jimmy Fallon and have performed lives with artists like Raekwon, Goodie Mob, Ludacris, Clipse, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Public Enemy, Ghostface, etc….Some savvy person put together a mixtape of some of these performances. Although this is not an official Roots project, it is still the shit. Some of the sound quality isn’t perfect but it stills sounds really dope. I have been posting several of these live performances in the past and now it is only fair I post the whole mixtape. I have considered trying to post everyone of these videos but that might take too long. If I get a free hour at home, I might just do that but in the meantime, download the mixtape Late Night With The Roots and enjoy some ill, live music from (insert artist name) featuring The Roots. Take notice to Black Though ripping several of these performances.
01 The Roots – How I Got Over (Live)
02 Ludacris – I Do It For Hip Hop / Last Of A Dying Breed (Live)
03 Mos Def – Casa Bey (Live)
04 Beastie Boys – So Whatcha Want (Live)
05 Black Star – History (Live)
06 Snoop Dogg – I Wanna Rock (Live)
07 Ghostface – Baby f. Raheem DeVauaghn (Live)
08 Wale – Pretty Girls (Live)
09 Raekwon – Catalina (Live)
10 50 Cent – Baby By Me / Do You Think About Me (Live)
11 Clipse – Popular Demand f. Black Thought (Live)
12 Clipse – Grindin’ f. Black Thought (Live)
13 Q-Tip – Barely In Love (Live)
14 Goodie Mob – Soul Food (Live)
15 Public Enemy – Bring the Noise (Live)
Shout out to 2dopeboyz for the link. Here are a few of my favorite performances.
I have been trying to figure out how to post the video on here since I saw Goodie Mob live on Jimmy Kimmel perform their classic cut, Soul Food with The Roots. FINALLY, I got it to work. For those of you who missed this performance, it was really dope. Goodie Mob STILL sounds incredible and of course The Roots absolutely kills this song. Goodie Mob also performed Cell Therapy at the BET Hip Hop Awards a month or two ago and did a great job as well. Check out both performances. These are both must have in your lives.
I’m not one to just post random interviews with rappers BUT today is a beautiful day. There has been talk and delays and more talk about new material from Outkast but Big Boi has confirmed that work on the new Outkast album has been started and both he and Dre will release their projects soon. Imagine what life would be like with 3 new Outkast projects. Oh yea, new album from Goodie Mob as well as a new Cee-Lo album. Hopefully all this happens. My fingers are crossed!!!!!!!
It’s the middle of the week, I just got paid so I’m feeling like “Everyday is a holiday, another muthafuckin dollar day!!!!!!!!” I had to listen to one of the dopest money-making anthems of all time(in my opinion), Holiday by the Dungeon Family’s Witchdoctor. It’s been a LONG, LONG time since I have listened to his album, A S.W.A.T. Healin Ritual, so I figured today was the perfect day. Of course Holiday is dope but the rest of the album is really good too. I think Witchdoctor is an acquired taste but if you are a fan of the DF, then you will definitely enjoy his album. It’s pretty dark and spiritual but it’s well produced and Witchdoctor is a talented emcee. Conceptually his records are dope too. I highly suggest his album. You can also catch him on ATLiens, Soul Food and Still Standing as well as Dungeon Family’s album Even In Darkness. Apparently, he has several other albums but the only one that I have heard is The Diary of an American Witchdoctor, which was actually heavily promoted on Comedy Central(kinda strange). I don’t remember much of the album so I got to revisit that one but in the meantime, check out Holiday and his debut album, A S.W.A.T. Healin Ritual.
Don’t feel so bad because the whole world did too. Vibe Magazine is officially no more. They closed their doors after 16 years. Maybe they featured Lil Wayne just ONE too many times. If ya’ll don’t believe Lil Wayne is an alien by that picture then you all must be aliens. I can’t say that I am surprised about this or any other magazine shutting down especially with the internet. The internet is like the new Walmart. They just keep putting people out of business. Watch when journalists go out the door too because people’s attention spans are shorter than February. People don’t wanna read long, in depth articles that have a train of thought. Like music, if people don’t get it the first time, they won’t listen again. It’s a shame but it is the way of the world. I think Goodie Mob predicted it back in 98, “They Don’t Dance No Mo.” Damn shame people. Is anyone else under the belief that the world MIGHT be coming to an end? I’m pretty optomistic but crazy shit just seems to be happening more and more every day.
“Shawty he got the silky southern drawl, every tooth in my mouth got gold on em all”
One good thing about not finding a lot of new music to listen too is that it has allowed me to reinvest some time and a good listening ear to albums and music that I haven’t heard for a long time. It seems like ever since I really started paying close attention to the details of my own music, I have started doing the same with other artists music. I have found a new appreciation for a lot of artists including some that I have always been fans of. Today, I was going through a CD booklet of albums that I actually purchased and came across Cee Lo Gree and His Perfect Imperfections. I remember listening to it my senior year in high school/freshman year in college but not as keenly as I did today. I can’t say that I like the whole album but there are DEFINITELY some really ill tracks. Of course his single, Closet Freak is really dope but 2 tracks in particular stand out, Big Ole Words(Damn) and One for the Road. Bass Head Jazz is my shit too. Cee Lo even states in Big Ole Words “Don’t ever think a _____ from the south can’t rhyme.” On both joints, Cee Lo shows why he should be mentioned among the elite MCs. I have been listening to Goodie Mob since Soul Food and of course Southernplayalistic…but it is easy to forget how NICE Cee Lo is on the mic because he seems to just sing now. The majority of his solo albums and his work with Gnarles Barkely, Cee Lo RARELY spits a bar, so I think people forgot how ill Cee Lo really is as an MC. I am gonna go back and listen to his second LP, Cee Lo Green is The Soul Machine and see what old gems I can unearth. If you are not familiar with Cee Lo the MC, listen to Big Ole Words and One for the Road. I guarantee you will never take Cee Lo lightly again. I wish he would pick up the mic again and go in over some classic hip hop shit for all the nonbelievers. He could STILL shut down almost every MC in the game. I think people get it twisted because he dresses like a woman sometimes.
While I was reading the CD bookley, I thought it was funny that Cee Lo shouts out Diddy aka Sean Combs for Sean Jean for having the freshest shit out in stores. He also shouts out KRS One, Wu Tang, Rakim and ME(jk). Oh yea AND Cee Lo produced most the that album too!!!!!
so this is the first post in what will be a semi-regular topic on here. i’m gonna do little reviews on albums/songs/movies that i wish i could see or hear for the very first time again. so while thinking on this topic, this was the first album that popped into my head. The Score dropped at a really pivotal time in my life and helped shape who i am today. i was midway through my last semester at Topeka High School. i had a really great core group of friends and had also just started hanging with a few younger ones too. i met one of the coolest girls i know at this time as well. we were all drunks, loved crashing friend’s basements for impromptu parties, and basically just wilded out. so this album was getting ready to drop as all this stuff was happening around me. i seemed to be the only person around that had heard of The Fugees. i had been singing Fu-Gee-La for several weeks before anyone else took notice of The Fugees. i had tickets to a Fugees/Roots/Goodie Mob show in Lawrence, and couldn’t find anyone to go with me. i finally got my brother and his buddy to roll with me, and damn was that show bangin. the album finally dropped and most of my friends started singing along with me. shit was glorious.
the first night i got the album, i listened to it all the way through, twice. i was in a trance. wyclef crafted a perfect sonic backdrop for the creative rhymes that all 3 members brought to the table. they were playful, thoughtful, smart, and of course, Lauryn has that voice that tears at my heart. i still get goosebumps when i listen to the album. i guess i really want to hear this album with fresh ears again because of how great the first time was and all the emotions it brings back. there’s not a lot of albums these days that i can play front to back repeatedly and still be satisfied. The Score is that album.
