Sayin'?

What up world. Sorry for being neglectful, I spent the last few nights drinking to the end of my undergraduate career at Mount Allison, I must say it is bittersweet. Obviously at a small place like Mount A you meet so many people and feel super connected to everyone and pretty much every aspect of that small town life, I'm definitely going to miss that.

I just got home a few hours ago to find that my room is actually completely demolished. In the words of my good friend Jared Walsh my room got "dummied." So I'm going to be spending some of my first nights of the summer sleeping on a sofa - like sleeping on a futon all year wasn't bad enough.

There really isn't a point to all of this. I am home now, have $200, no job, a shit load of stuff to unpack with no room to unload all of this garbage - should be an interesting first few days back.

On the music front. I feel bad for not writing or touching up more on the passing of Guru, as you can imagine it is quite an important moment in hip-hop. He truly was "one of the best yet." I've been bumping some Gang Starr and solo Guru to tribute the man. I've also been really into Consequence's GOOD Music track (thanks to my boy Chris Clements for the link).

I guess that is all for now. I hope you all have a good summer and to my friends from Mount A that I might not see for a while: Have a great summer and good luck either finishing up school and all the best in the future. Bye boys.

R.I.P. Guru

I posted a month and half back that Guru, half of Gang Starr, feel into a cardiac arrest. It was announced today that Guru passed away from cancer yesterday (April 19).

Rest in Peace to one of the best.

Girls, Girls, Girls

I'm pretty sure that everyone can relate to this: there are some songs you can listen to over and over, for years, know all the words, and never, ever get sick of it. For me, one of those songs are "Girls, Girls, Girls" by Jay-Z, from the Blueprint album. Other than the fact the track has a nice, mellow beat and a nice sample, the lyrics are just incredibly entertaining. There are, of course, a lot of stereotypes, but what else is new in hip-hop? If you've been living under a rock, or just never paid attention to this one, peep it, and pay attention to the lyrics... it just might be the most genius song ever.

I got this Spanish chica, she don't like me to roam
So she call me cabron plus marricon
Said she likes to cook rice so she likes me home
I'm like, "Un momento" mami, slow up your tempo
I got this black chick, she don't know how to act
Always talkin out her neck, makin her fingers snap
She like "Listen Jigga Man, I don't care if you rap
You better "R-E-S-P-E-C-T me"
I got this French chick that love to french kiss
She thinks she's Bo Derek, wear her hair in a twist
My, cherie amor, tu est belle
Merci, you fine as fuck but you givin me hell
I got this Indian squaw the day that I met her
Asked her what tribe she with, red dot or feather
She said all you need to know is I'm not a ho
And to get with me you better be Chief Lots-a-Dough
Now that's Spanish chick, French chick, Indian and black
That's fried chicken, curry chicken, damn I'm gettin fat
Arroz con pollo, french fries and crepe
An appetitite for destruction but I scrape the plate
I love

[Tip] Girls, girls, girls, girls (uh-huh)
Girls, I do adore
[Jay] Yo put your number on this paper cause I would love to date ya
Holla at ya when I come off tour
[Tip] I love girls, girls, girls, girls
Girls all over the globe
[Jay] I come scoop you in that Coupe, sittin on deuce-zeroes
Fix your hair in the mirror, let's roll - c'mon

I got this young chick, she so immature
She like, "Why you don't buy me Reeboks no more?"
Like to show out in public, throw tantrums on the floor
Gotta toss a couple dollars, just to shut up her holla
Got a project chick, that plays her part
And if it goes down y'all that's my heart
Baby girl so thorough she been with me from the start
Hid my drugs from the NARCs, hid my guns by the parts
I got this model chick that don't cook or clean
But she dress her ass off and her walk is mean
Only thing wrong with ma she's always on the scene
God damn she's fine but she parties all the time
I get frequent flier mileage from my stewardess chick
She look right in that tight blue dress, she's thick
She gives me extra pillows and seat back love
So I had to introduce her to the Mile High Club
Now that's young chick, stewardess, project and model
That means I fly rough early, plus I know Tahoe
That means I'm new school, pop pills and stay in beef
But I never have a problem with my first class seat
I love

[Rick] Girls, girls, girls, girls
Girls, I do adore
[Jay] Yo put your number on this paper cause I would love to date ya
Holla at ya when I come off tour
[Rick] I love girls, girls, girls, girls
Girls all over the globe
[Jay] I come scoop you in that Coupe, sittin on deuce-zeroes
Fix your hair in the mirror, let's roll

I got this paranoid chick, she's scared to come to the house
A hypochondriac who says ouch before I whip it out
Got a chick from Peru, that sniff Peru
She got a cousin at customs that get shit through
Got this weedhead chick, she always catch me doin shit
Crazy girl wanna leave me but she always forgets
Got this Chinese chick, had to leave her quick'
Cause she kept bootleggin my shit - man
I got this African chick with Eddie Murphy on her skull
She like, "Jigga Man, why you treat me like animal?"
I'm like excuse me Ms. Fufu, but when I met your ass
you was dead broke and naked, and now you want half
I got this ho that after twelve million sold
Mami's a narcolyptic, always sleepin on Hov'
Gotta tie the back of her head like Deuce Bigalow
I got so many girls across the globe..

[Biz] I love girls, girls, girls, girls
Girls, I do adore
[Jay] Yo put your number on this paper cause I would love to date ya
Holla at ya when I come off tour
[Tip] I love girls, girls, girls, girls
Girls all over the globe
[Jay] I come scoop you in that Coupe, sittin on deuce-zeroes
Fix your hair in the mirror, let's roll
[Rick] I love girls, girls, girls, girls
Girls, I do adore
[Jay] Yo put your number on this paper cause I would love to date ya
Holla at ya when I come off tour

I love girls, girls, girls, girls
Girls, girls...

I'm a Sad, Sad Man

I've pretty much lost all faith in humanity.

Well, not really. I'm sure you Canadians out there have heard of this wonderful sports betting lottery called Pro Line. You basically have to select a minimum of three games (maybe it's two now?), and choose who is going to win, or tie. The odds are put right in front of you, but in the wonderful world of sports, you sometimes need to go with your gut feeling.

Now, I used to play Pro Line a few years back with my buddies Lorne and Skylar during the 2006 World Cup in soccer. I spent roughly $30 in total and probably broke even with some rookie ass bets. Whatever. Took a nice long breather from the gambling world where I spent my money on finer things: clothes, food, skateboards, CDs, traveling and so on and so forth.

The other day my friends, who will remain nameless because I'm not sure how public or private this need be, won a nice sum of money. Nice enough to make me want to take part in this good ol' gambling process again. So myself, Skylar, and my room mate Nic set out to our local convenience store to buy a Pro Line. We are all avid Basketball fans so we figured we would place some bets. The lineup was bleak that night. No real tight games, the odds were pretty balanced for a certain team in every single game. No biggie, I just wanted to come up a few bucks since I'm a poor ass college student. We all chip in $5 each and choose our teams: Miami over Philly, Orlando over Indiana, Charlotte over New Jersey and finally Atlanta over Milwaukee. Not bad. No real surprises, maybe a close Hawks/Bucks game, but nothing to fret. We're off. Ticket paid. Our payout is roughly $300.00 if these teams win. I was confident. Why wouldn't I be, none of those games would be upsets, and there was a $300 payout! Damn, son.

Fast forward me being at the library studying, but unable to focus due to excitement of watching basketball all night and more than likely coming up victorious. I am home, games are all in progress. All are going right except the Miami/Philly game. It's a little close. In fact, tied with 24 seconds left. I am frantically refreshing the TSN.ca scores page. Finally, its done. Miami 107, Philly 105. I've officially won all my games that I bet on. How nice. Oh, wait a second. Pro Line's rules are so fucky that you need to win a basketball game by more than five points in order to for to count as a "Pro Line win." All of the other games met this five point criteria, but not Miami. Why? Why did you fail me Dwayne Wade, after all the times I said "You are the fucking man!" or "You see that? That's why he is the best in the NBA!". Wade put up 30, very nice, why couldn't you have put up 34? Why couldn't Arroyo, Beasley, Haslem or O'Neal toss up a few extra or made all their free throws. Oh the endless excuses and "Whys????"

So basically, the moral of this story is don't get your hopes up, there are countless upsets every day, and, obviously, that Pro Lines fly by night rules suck (and are virtually unknown until you're caught with your dick out at the convenience store, thinking you won but come to find out your "winning" ticket is an epic fail). I had to call my mother today to ask for some money to buy groceries because I spent my last $20 gambling in the past few days. The opposite of dignity. I didn't win once - I've come close, but close isn't worth shit.

Two of my room mates are back at it tonight. I have decided to sit this play out.

Check Out: People Under The Stairs

I've been a strong advocate for these guys since I first heard them in a 411 Video Magazine (skateboard video) around ten years ago. My boy Kellen Barrett recently had an interview with none other than Del Tha Funky Homosapien and asked him a question about his popularity amongst the "extreme sport" crowd. This immediately made me realize that People Under The Stairs are a similar case - well respected amongst fellow skateboarders, but virtually unknown by a lot of my hip-hop loving friends. So, for your pleasure, I introduce you to one of hip-hops best kept secrets.

Hailing from the city of angels, People Under the Stairs, or P.U.T.S. for short, is Thes One and Double K, not only talented on the microphone but also renowned in the underground for their DJing/production skills, which favour jazz and soul sampling for its breaks.

Their first album is titled The Next Step (1998), which is personally one of my favorites because of its laid back beats (which is actually not an exclusive feature to this album) like on tracks like San Francisco Knights, which pretty much sounds like acid hip-hop, and of course the albums most popular track The Next Step II, which was features in a Tony Hawk game... can't remember which one.

P.U.T.S. have stayed true to their roots, spittin' over mellow tracks about anything from girls to brown baggin' and smoking splifs. The group is easily relatable to both the underground hip-hop community and urban street hop teenagers living a more lax lifestyle - not only because of lyrical content, but the overall sound and approach of the group.

The group is still active, having released an album titled Carried Away last year. I cannot recommend these guys enough. Seriously. You can listen to them in any mood, but I recommend on a nice summer night, sittin' on a porch with a brew - that's what I'll be doing this summer.

"Check it out people I'm so glad you're here, I want my peoples in the front, my peoples in the rear, to let go of your troubles, grab a chair and cool out, turn up the stereo light up the blunt and crack the Guinness stout."

Check out some tracks:

Youth Explosion

We'll Be There

The L.A. Song

The Wiz

Easter Playlist

I unfortunately don't have much to update with today. Had a busy Easter weekend, enjoyed some nice ass weather and got to see some family from far far away. I guess one thing I can do, since I feel bad that Kellen has been updating at a nice pace lately and I clearly have not, is post my favorite playlist from the drives I took to get from point A to point B this weekend.

Check it (and click to enlarge)

That is all for now. Give me a break schools almost over!

PS. Don't mind the play count there. These songs have been tossed around on random playlists, or not at all, so its kind of inaccurate.