Boombox, V17

What's good? Not too much new over here. Boardertech Skateshop in Moncton had its grand opening in its new location on Saturday, which was awesome. The shop is now at 465 Main Street instead of 581 Main (it only moved a block away). I urge anyone either from Moncton, or visiting the area, to check it out. Tons of new stock, plus the place is a massive.

Also, since I don't have too much to say at the moment, let me recommend you some tracks:

French Montana - I'm On It (Feat. Nipsey Hu$$le, Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean)

Bone Thugs N Harmony - Mo' Murda

The Game - Hustler's Dream (Feat. Anthony Hamilton)

Sean Price - Bye Bye (Feat. Buckshot)

Check Out: The Originators

You know Bone Thugs N Harmony right? I definitely talk about them enough that if you've been on this blog you'd know I love 'em.

Bone Thugs hail from the Joakim Noah hated city, Cleveland, Ohio. These five thugs have been ripping into the game for nearly two decades, spitting hard, fast, and as their name claims, doing it harmoniously. After a few hiatuses and the imprisonment of Flesh Bone the group still manages to enjoy a decent amount of airtime on the radio, and certainly much playtime in my CD players and iTunes.

All of this being said, I would like to recommend to you one of my favorite albums, E. 1999 Eternal, released in 1995 under Eazy-E's Ruthless Label. The album consists of seventeen tracks, all produced by DJ Uneek while Eazy-E handled the executive direction of the album. The album was released just months after Eazy's untimely death to AIDS. This remains the group's best selling album, perhaps not surprising under the direction and influence of Eazy-E himself, combined with the unique, melodic style of lyricism and consistent, mellow beats that sound like a fusion of south meets west.

E. 1999 Eternal was well received by critics, which is quite a respectable for a horror core style album in the mid nineties. Lyrically, the album sticks to the midwest/horror core fundamentals... if you don't know what that is, I'd say it's something along the lines of Mo Murda which even has a screw hook (one of the more earlier songs with a screw hook from the midwest). There are also tons of lifestyle tracks about weed, payin' bills, getting welfare checks and being broke in the slums - what else is new in 1990's hip-hop?

There really isn't much more to say about Bone Thugs. If haven't heard them on the radio, on DJ Khaled's We The Best album, or on Chamillionaire's Ridin' Dirty then I don't know what to tell you except check out E. 1999 Eternal. I can listen to it through and through and not get bored. It's good ridin' music, it's good chillin' music, it's... just good music.

Check out:

Crossroads (Remix)

First of the Month

East 1999

Budsmokers Only

Convocation Weekend

I can now gladly say that I am a university graduate. Even though people my age had already graduated two years ago, through discipline changes and years off I can thankfully say that I finally made it through undergrad and am nothing short of satisfied with how my undergraduate "career" unfolded. Graduating is bittersweet. I definitely am not the first to say and think that, but I had to throw it out there because that was the first thing to ever come to mind after finishing my final class in mid-April. After meeting so many amazing friends in such a small, welcoming atmosphere, it is hard to think that I won't be there for next year to enjoy all of the fun and enjoy the company of the many people that made the past few years so amazing.

That being said, Convocation weekend just ended today and it was incredible to have so many friends, graduating or not, all in the same place with no agenda or schedule, just enjoying each others company over some beers (some is an understatement by the way). My room mates from last year all moved into a spot, which turned out to be one of the best houses in Sackville in my opinion. So we spent a significant amount of time either there, or at my friend Chris' house, all in good company.

On Friday night a group of us were directed to a 1990 Alumni party in Edwards House. We figured why the hell not... That is a prime example of the random and unexpected fun you can have on Con. weekend. Everybody was in good spirits, willing to chat about past experiences, catch up, and drop the good ol' "back in our day..." Basically could not have predicted that I would have had such a fun evening.

Saturday was much of the same. A group of us showed up at Chris Clements' place for a BBQ, and before you knew it there was full fledged party going on by 2PM. As you can guess, Saturday turned out to be a great evening as well. What really surprised me was how willing everyone was to continue partying on Sunday night. I honestly thought it was going to be one of those mellow nights at Ducky's pub, but it was almost as foolish as the two previous nights. But if you looked around at how people were acting, you'd know that they were worn out from the weekend.

Today felt like a collective hangover from the entire weekend, which wasn't that great since today was the actual graduation, but it wasn't too hard to stomach. The worst part was saying good bye to Sackville and a lot of friends that are moving onwards and elsewhere. I felt privileged to have such a great group of friends at Mt. A, so that was hard. The ceremony itself was amazing. Peter Mansbridge, easily one of Canada's most distinguished public figures, became Mount Allison's Chancellor. What that position fully entitles I don't know, but I got to shake the mans hand while he congratulated me in Latin, then English. I simply replied nervously with a "THANKS MAN!"

Unfortunately the moment I dreaded all weekend had arrived. Leaving. Con. weekend was easily one of the best weekends of my life. I'm not trying to sound like an alcoholic or anything, because what made it so amazing was the reunion of friends just having fun. And, of course, on top of that actually graduating.

I guess I'll stop there. I'm not even sure if people read my posts that aren't about hip-hop anyways. I just needed to stress how fun Con. weekend was, and will be for future grads out there. I know for a fact that I'll be up for the next one.

Check Out: Bone Thugs N Harmony - Uni5: The World's Enemy

On 4 May Bone Thugs N Harmony dropped their ninth studio album titled Uni5: The World's Enemy. I've always loved Bone Thugs - E 1999 Eternal is easily one of my favorite hip-hop albums and, arguably, Bone Thugs have not been able to rematch that kind of caliber and chemistry on tracks since that 1995 release.

The album comes over half a year after the release of the first single "See Me Shine," which I posted and often praised over the past seven-odd months. Between now and then a few other singles and leaks hit the net - some around equal quality, some not so much. "Rebirth" became the second single, which I feel obliged to praise as a solid first quarter release in 2010 hip-hop. More recently "Gone" and "Meet Me In The Sky" were released officially as singles. These two tracks, and I guess "Rebirth" are a clear step away from any old Bone Thugs ruggish thuggish horror-core rap to a more mainstream synth-pop inspired sound. Those that have followed Bone Thugs since the early nineties will most likely understand the progression and shift in style of the group, however, those banking on a classic Bone Thugs record will most likely be disappointed.

DJ Uneek handles a handful of the albums production, although not exclusively. Uneek has produced some of Bone Thugs most notorious and successful tracks, so this was obviously a nice treat to Bone Thug fans. A number of the beats, as mentioned earlier, are much different than usual for the group, however, their flow and lyricism is nothing new, maybe a little catchier than before, but now that's expected. Their style is what made them hot, why change that, right? Perhaps, you can argue, this album is more personal, in the sense that it is not as street oriented but more focused on addressing personal problems, getting rid of those devils inside, fame, recognition and what-have-you. I'm not saying this is bad. I mean, these guys have been around for over seventeen years. They don't need to bring horror-core Midwest hip-hop back. They've endeared hardship, struggle and came up in the game hard as hell, seeing jail time and putting out some of the most influential tracks in rap.

In the end, this is a good album. Nothing crazy, groundbreaking, overly influential, and I feel like Bone Thugs knew this. They put out an album filled with above par tracks, to say the least. It's no E 1999 Eternal or Creepin on ah Come Up, but it is enough to give Bone Thugs fans something fresh and new to listen to. All five members of Bone Thugs N Harmony on the same album, spittin' fast.

Skatemoncton.com

Almost six years ago I started a website called skatemoncton.com showcasing skateboard media from my friends in the Greater Moncton Area. The site was popular, at least, on a local level, and was updated quite frequently. But like a lot of things, the novelty and interest wore off and I eventually sold my camera and called it quits on the site after a five year run of constant updates. For the past year there hasn't been any real outlet displaying local skateboarding in Moncton except for the odd YouTube clip. Thankfully, two of my friends, Jeff Pineau and Dustin Seca teamed up to recreate the site with help from web designer Andre Banville. Jeff films and Dustin shoots photos, so the site is frequently updated whether it be snaps from a session or one of the weekly Hump Day clips, those boys are doing it up and keeping the scene going. So really, the point of this post is to promote the work of my friends and to congratulate them on a job well done. It always helped to tighten up the community by having some source of media on display.

Check out the all new Skatemoncton.com.

See Me Shine [Official Video]

Since I've first heard the Bone Thugs track "See Me Shine" last fall I've been pretty fond of it. It was easily one of my favorites of 2009, actually. The video was released not too long ago, but they left one of my favorite parts out! Nah, they didn't cut anyone out of the track - they got rid of the epic outro. It might have been too long on the leaked version, but this one does not do it justice at all.

Here is the video anyway:

... and here is the extended version that I'm sure will be on the album. The difference is at the end, probably around 4:20 in.

Heart and Soul of New York City

I came across this today.

Red Cafe - Heart and Soul of New York City by K1X from K1X on Vimeo.

It is a video for Red Cafe's "Heart and Soul of New York City" (read the author description of the video on that link) that will surely educate you on not only the city that never sleeps, but its street ball community. The track is produced by the legendary NY producer Pete Rock so you know it's good. Check it out for yourself.

Boombox, V16

Since I haven't done much lately, here are a few tracks to check out.

Jeru The Damaja - Me or the Papes

Black Star - Definition: RE

The Roots - The Next Movement

The Spinners - The Rubberband Man

Three 6 Mafia - Side 2 Side (Feat. Kanye West & Project Pat)