NBA Round-up

During my sick week I spent a lot of time watching basketball and playing NBA Live 10 on the Xbox 360. I've been staying pretty up to date with a lot of teams and checked stats quite often so I figured lets do a basketball post.

We are only two weeks and two days into the NBA season but there is a lot to be hopeful for if you are a Celtics or Suns fan. The two teams are at an impressive 8-1, the leagues highest win percentages meanwhile the New Jersey Nets are winless in 8... ha! The Celtics only loss was actually to the Suns over the weekend with a seven point differential. Boston showing solid defense for the most part as they have outscored their opponents by at least ten points in six of their nine games meanwhile on offense the entire starter squad averages over 10.7 PPG. Rondo, or as I like to call him Soulja Boy, also averages 9.2 assists per game, 4th in the league, almost averaging a double-double each game, but only has three so far this year... I feel like a sports columnist for the Boston Globe or something...

Some random stats:

-Kobe is leading the league in points per game at 33.6.

-Steve Nash leading in assists with 12.6 per game.

-Chris Bosh is 100% at the 3-Point line, he is 6/6, aside from Bosh, Chris Paul leads the league after a significant number of 3-Pointers taken. He is 19/29, a percentage of .655.

-Dwight Howard leads in field goal percentage at .647.

-Washington's Randy Foye is 100% on foul shots, 13/13.

Bye Bye Banks

Though this is a hip-hop blog I do have other interests. One of those being skateboarding. I have been skateboarding for almost half my life now, which now that I think of it is pretty crazy. What got me started was my addiction to Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2. Skateboarding looked so fun I had to try it. In the game one of the best spots to skate is in New York City called the Brooklyn Banks. Anybody that skateboards knows of the Banks. There are competitions there every year, the most famous titled Back to the Banks (which I was actually in NYC for last year, but did not make it to the competition). Recently the city of New York decided to close down the world famous skate spot immediately for storage of equipment used to reconstruct the Brooklyn Bridge. There are a few interviews and other media in circulation because of this. This is pretty big news to the skate industry, the Banks have been a key spot in New York City that attracted skaters from all over the east coast.

Vice magazine has an interview with Steve Rodriguez, a well known New York City local.

Also, watch this clip of Skateboarder magazine's coverage of the Back to the Banks that happened in 2009. Amazing talent in NY and surrounding areas.

Boombox, V7

How we doing now? I've been at home for a few days with that nice H1N1 bug doing nothing but surfing the net, listening to tunes and playing NBA Live 10, which is awesome by the way. I found a few more hidden gems on my iTunes (as for the Mat & Kim track, thats from NBA Live 10) that I thought I'd share with you guys.

It goes like this:

The Fugees - Nappy Heads

Mat & Kim - Daylight Remix Feat. De La Soul

Mint Royale - Show Me Feat. De La Soul

Nas - Affirmative Action Feat. AZ & Foxy Brown

Jurassic 5 - End Up Like This

Greatest Hits, V1: OutKast

The concept of this is simple. I am basically compiling a list of tracks that I would consider the groups/artists best tracks. Nothing to do with commercial success, all my personal faves.

The first installment is OutKast.

1. Return of the "G"

2. Roses

3. Bombs Over Baghdad

4. Southernplayalistcadillacmusik

5. So Fresh So Clean

6. Hollywood Divorce (Feat. Lil' Wayne)

7. Ghetto Muzik

8. Flip Flop Rock (Feat. Killer Mike & Jay-Z)

9. Ms. Jackson

10. Two Dope Boyz (In a Cadillac)

11. Ain't No Thang

12. Player's Ball

Remember Remember the 4th of November

On this day last year Barrack Obama was elected as the first black president of the United States (elected, but not immediately put in office). Even before this Obama has had a huge impact on hip-hop. A number of artists made tracks surrounding this subject. Here are a few:

Asher Roth, B.O.B. & Charles Hamilton - Change Gone Come

Young Jeezy - My President Feat. Nas

Nas - Black President Feat. Johnny Polygon

Joell Ortiz - Letter to Obama Feat. Dante Hawkins

This isn't the complete list, just a few I know off the top of my head. I'm also not mentioning the quick one liners that involve Obama, which are by the thousands.

Check Out: New York State of Mind

Nasir Jones is true case of longevity in hip-hop music. Hailing from Queensbridge, Queens, New York City, Nas has released nine studio albums and has been the center of some controversy due to his involvement in a the Virginia Tech benefit concert, courtesy with Bill O'Reilly (fuck that guy, right?) and also due to the fact that he was going to release his latest album under the name Nigger, which was later changed to Untitled to meet industry standards. But what really put Nas on the radar was his first studio release titled Illmatic. Illmatic is acclaimed as a landmark East Coast Hip-Hop album that is easily credited for putting the East back on the map when West Coast hip-hop was dominant in the mainstream. Illmatic is also credited in the revival of the Queensbridge rap scene. At the time The Notorious B.I.G. and The Wu-Tang Clan released their first major albums, which helped bring forth the New York hip-hop renaissance, but they all represented different boroughs. The QB scene was hot in the 1980s with Marly Marl, MC Shan and Roxanne Shante, but Nas brought it all back. (For more info check out the "bridge wars" between QB and the Bronx)

Illmatic brought forward a new style to hip-hop in New York. A step away from the old school and early 90's sounds from De La Soul, Bran Nubian and so on and ventured into a more gritty style of street rap. It was essentially a renaissance because of the lyrics, beats, style and delivery.

Regardless of all this praise, Illmatic didn't just drop out of nowhere. Nas began working with some New York City heavyweights a few years before the release of Illmatic. He was featured on a track with MC Serch and was scouted out and ultimately began working with some of New York's top producers, DJ Premier being one of them. Recording began for his first studio album, collaborating with producers like Large Professor, who at the time was eighteen, L.E.S., Q-Tip and Pete Rock. In the booth Nas never ceased to impress.

Nas' lyrics, like I previously said, were a major change compared to what was being said by other rappers (with a few exceptions). His lyrics revolve around inner city issues of poverty, gangs, project housing and the street environment. Aside from his subject matter Nas also has a flawless form of delivery and word play.

What more can I say? Illmatic was an instant classic and received rave reviews by critics. His refreshing, yet real approach to hip-hop made him one of New York's most legendary rappers.

Singles from Illmatic:

Halftime

It Ain't Hard to Tell

The World Is Yours

Life's A Bitch

One Love

Exhibit A, B & C

Here are a couple of tracks from New Orlean's Jay Electronica titled Exhibit A, Exhibit B and Exhibit C. They are all grouped together in this Youtube clip for your viewing pleasure. Mos Def on Exhibit B. Great beats, Exhibit C is new and produced by Just Blaze. Enjoy.

Beanie Sigel Jay-Z Diss

Shiiit, Beans dissin' Jay on this rack titled "Average Cat." Check this shit out.

Average Cat

Boombox, V6

I'd like to start of by saying that I'm pumped on the Celtics thus far. The regular season started on Tuesday night where the Celts beat the Cavaliers by 6 then last night they blew out the Bobcats by almost 40 points. Also, the Cavs at an 0 - 2 start... not that I hate the Cavs but they have Lebron and Shaq now, I figured they would at least take the Raptors last night.

Anyway. On to some good listenin'.

Lil' Wayne - Swag Surfin'

Bun B - If I Die Tonight (Feat. Young Buck & Lyfe Jennings)

Freeway - What We Do (Feat. Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel)

MF Doom - Vaudeville Villain

Top 50 Tracks - The Unlucky 13 That Didn't Make the Cut

Again, thank you for reading my top 50 list of hip-hop tracks. Now I am gonna list off 13 tracks that just missed the cut. There are all songs that I love listening to, but by process of elimination did not make the top 50.

In no particular order:

Slim Thug - Welcome 2 Houston - Slim Thug's second Welcome to Houston track, this one features 13 different artists including Houston heavy hitters like Chamillionaire, Paul Wall, Bun-B and Pimp C (R.I.P.). The beat goes on for nearly nine minutes, but for some reason I've never gotten sick of it. This was a dope summer jam. Shouts to Ferris Asante.

Bun-B - Draped Up Remix - Big terrible Texas! This is another Houston jam that features a number of Houston artists. This is a true Texas jam with killer bass that you could ride to.

Kanye West - The Glory - I always loved this song but it was always overshadowed by the hits off of Graduation. The Glory is a textbook Kanye track - awesome sample and boasting lyrics. "With my ego, I can stand there in a speedo and be looked at like a fuckin' hero."

DJ Drama - Makin' Money Smokin' (Willie the Kid & La the Darkman) - Barrack Odrama! Not many people like this track. I do. My friend Will who doesn't really even like rap does. But thats about it. It is not an overly complex track, it a has a solid beat to jive to and one fun as hell chorus.

N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton - This is gangsta rap. I first heard Straight Outta Compton in my hockey teams dressing room. The coaches weren't impressed but I knew that shit went hard. I think by the age of eleven I was able to recite the entire track. It was at the moment I knew I was going to hell.

UGK - International Players Anthem (I Choose You) - Featuring Outkast - Produced by Three 6 Mafia and samples Willie Hutch's "I Choose You," this is an incredibly entertaining track with an awesome first verse by Andre 3000 and of course Pimp C's classic verse that you probably heard in Girl Talk's "Play Your Part". Listen and love this track. PS. The video is pretty sweet!

Three 6 Mafia - Stay Fly - Featuring Young Buck and 8Ball & MJG - This could be one of the best feel good songs of the decade! Juicy J flows hard on this track as usual. Much emphasis by the Memphis hard hitters on smoking marijuana. The song might be called Stay Fly but the hook says "stay high, 'til I die..."

The Notorious B.I.G. - Notorious Thugs - Featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Its disgusting how bad I feel that this track isn't top 50. The beat is amazing, Biggie's verse is amazing AND harmonic, Bone Thugs kill it like they're supposed to... there is really nothing bad about this song at all. Flow ridiculous. "Armed and dangerous, ain't too many can bang with us, straight up weed no angel dust, label us notorious..." ... "Spit your game talk your shit, grab your gat call your click..."

Dr. Dre - Keep Their Heads Ringin' - Ring ding dong. Off the top of my head I have no idea if this track was ghostwritten or not, but regardless it is amazing! Classic West coast sound with great lyrics through and through. "... but I ain't no politician, no competition, sending opposition to see a mortician."

Lil' Wayne - Hustler Musik - Vibe to it y'all. This is an awesome pre-autotune era Wayne track with solid lyrics and a super-chill beat to go with it. I spent many summer nights on porches with a brew relaxing to this track.

Ludacris - Game Got Switched - Like Stay Fly by Three 6 Mafia, this is another amazing hype song in Hilarious Ludacris fashion. "'You lost your mind,' no I lost my virginity and I shot quick like that boy shot Kennedy..." AMAZING!

Mobb Deep - Animal Instinct - Featuring Ty Nitty & Gambino - This one comes off the extremely underrated Mobb Deep album titled Hell on Earth. Awesome production by Havoc of Mobb Deep provide a great East coast jam about street smarts in the QB. "Jealous ones envy hate to see me but got the nerve to wanna be me." (A Fat Joe diss right thuuuurrr)

The Roots - Long Time - Featuring Peedi Peedi & Bunny Sigler - This track has given me goosebumps on many occasions. The hook is beautifully sung, Black Thought and Peedi kill it and the beat is always nice, especially with ?uestlove's drumming.