RZA Presents: The Man With The Iron Fists

 So the RZA has been quietly working on his directorial debut for a while now and this trailer and poster are the first signs of what can be expected from his upcoming film. Teaming with Eli Roth (of Hostel fame) and Quentin Tarantino, its seems like the film has the potential to rank among the classics of the kill/gore/action movies in the genre. Glad to see some accomplished actors were attached to the project and not just RZA and his buddies. Hopefully, it will live up to the previews and fan the flame of the legend of Wu-Tang even more.

Fine Art Friday: June 29, 2012

THE KILLER 3D SKETCHBOOKS OF NAGAI HIDEYUKI

Japanese artist Nagai Hideyuki shows off his sketchbooks, where he creates a 3D effect using charcoal pencils and an eraser that is both simple and exciting. His style is illustrative and the subject matter seems random, but the special optical effects of his stacked sketchbooks can launch your imagination, especially as a graf writer. Check it out!

(via mymodernmet x juxtapoz)


ASHKAN HONARVAR : FACE 5 COLLECTION

Photographer Ashkan Honarvar has created this series called "Faces 5", where he has created a mutilated face and replaced the blood and injury with frosting, candy sprinkles, and what appears to be candy canes. Ashkan has had a long history of working with manipulation and mutilation, but this is the first time he has worked with dessert items to make his point.

As Western societies have grown more and more distant from actual war atrocities, perhaps a cake is the perfect symobolism of the abstract nature of war. They are graphic but the candy approach lessens the blow. However it is easy to imagine the gore of the scenes if they were taken from the battlefield.

(via juxtapoz)



LITTLE FRIENDS OF PRINTMAKING

An odd backstory for this one, but I went to school at the same time with the couple known as Little Friends of Printmaking. They continue to thrive in the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) art scene and turn out dynamic music venue posters and editions of prints for bands, movies, festivals and personal work. I am always impressed with the quality and range of the work, a mixture of textures, geometric shapes, and digital enhancements. Check out their website for a back catalog of their work and support the arts!

Video: REKS - Unlearn

I've been a long time supporter of REKS and am glad to see him being so hella productive over the last few years. Here is a new video for the song "Unlearn" to promote his upcoming album REBELutionary coming July 24, 2012.

The video is directed by Prime Cut Films. See if you can catch the neighborhood images of the same block that Dave Chappelle used as a back drop in the Block Party movie.

Video: Caine's Arcade

Check out this video of Caine Monroy, the 9 year old mini-Michel Gondry, hustling adults with imagination and creativity from his cardboard palace. You can donate to his college fund and read his story at cainesarcade.com.

While there is an element of what Teju Cole and many others refer to as the "White Savior Industrial Complex" to the back story of this video, the little kid at the heart of this story is admirable for literally making something out of nothing; a video game arcade from discarded cardboard boxes.

It can be inspiring to watch a little kid create his own environment from boxes and gadgets and the overwhelming response to his "college funds" is a testament to the power of the internet. However, it is always hard for me to digest a "feel good" story when it is treated as a spectacle. Watch for yourself and decide. Perhaps it will inspire you to give small kids garbage to play with instead of the latest Justin Bieber action figure....another more soul-damaging type of garbage.

"I deeply respect American sentimentality, the way one respects a wounded hippo. You must keep an eye on it, for you know it is deadly." ---Teju Cole


For more on Teju Cole, check out the NPR article on him here or his twitter @tejucole

Video: Large Professor - Key to The City

I am always glad to see some of the more talented OG's of the Golden Era still making music. Large Professor never tries to act like he is the most lyrical producer on the mic and he even lets instrumentals ride without him on his newest album Professor @ Large. 


The video above showcases one of the tracks off the new album. It may not be aimed at the current commercial radio, but for anybody who is into more mellow "grown man" content, you should check the album out. If he's good enough for ILLMATIC, he's good enough for you.

Video: House Shoes ft. Big Tone - "Time"

I'm glad to see House Shoes finally release some of his heat rocks on a CD and do it official with some videos. I remember checking for his little beat samples on Myspace years ago and wondering how I could get a copy without asking him directly. Now, all of those songs, plus instrumentals and other gems from the House Shoes collection are getting the exposure they deserve. If you liked any of the Beat Junkies releases by Babu and Vinroc, which is what this mostly reminds me of, you will like this. Hopefully, people will now know House Shoes for something other than shutting down Charles Hamilton's career and understand why he reps Dilla and the Detroit scene so hard. Good to see Big Tone getting some exposure as well.

Check out more at djhouseshoes.com

See if you recognize the same samples that Dilla flipped from Donuts "My people" and Fantastic Vol. 2 "Climax". Dopeness!

Fine Art Friday: June 22, 2012

ORI TOOR: The Gelatinous Animated Blobs of Color
Made up entirely out of digital forms pushing and pulling each other in balanced and symmetrical blobs, the video work of Ori Toor reminds me of watching a man o' war jellyfish suspended in the water and waiting for it to slowly strangle something with it tentacles. These can be hypnotizing and sort of feel like TV ads will be this entrancing on day, with just a logo hovering above it. Creepy but cool!





DUANE HANSON
I have seen Hanson's work for years in various settings and they are always creepy but incredible to see in person. His "so life like it's crazy" resin sculptures study the concept of the human existence and all of the drab details of consumerism, tourism and other "sad but true" factors about life in general. Hanson died a few years ago, but his sculptures are still very present in museums around the world.

Here are 2 of my favorites: Dish Washer and Janitor

RECYCLE EVERYTHING

I saw these giant glowing fish made of recycled water bottles and thought of all the old ladies in NYC who I see scouring the garbage cans for recycled cans and bottles everyday. I instantly thought that maybe they are actually artists who do amazing things with wasted materials like this. Probably not, but it would be awesome to see something like this all over the city to remind people how wasteful we all can be....and how resourceful we can be at the same time.

Props to the artists from Rio de Janiero and the UN Conference of Sustainable Development (Rio+20)

New York is Red Hot!

Not much to say on this. The heat index is 95+ today in NYC and this is exactly what it feels like!

Video: Slum Village - Reppin'

It is hard for me to even call this a Slum Village song, but I am glad to see T3 still making music. Given how many versions of the group there have been, the new lineup is sufficient to keep the underground sound of the D alive.

Illa J seems to be the rap equivalent of Sam Worthington in Avatar, a sub for his famous brother, trying to make his own lane in a field dominated by veterans. It makes me miss Dilla that much more and the verbal gymnastics of Elzhi too, as T3 and Illa J and the mystery man hold their own, but seem to be lacking on any real stand out verses. 


Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what they are doing, but it is a little like watching the Tupac hologram earlier this year.....you know the skills are there but it is not the same thing as hearing SV for the first time in all the glory of Fantastic Vol.2.

More like "Slum Villagers" then the real SV, but any positive tunes coming out of the D is a good thing. On to the next one!

Brother Ali x Jake One

Brother Ali has hooked up with Jake One for a full length album, Ali's fourth, entitled Mourning in America and dreaming in color. Both of these cats always bring quality music to the table, so I am sure it will be dope. I am hoping that Jake One will hook up all the Rhymesayers crew members with full lengths at some point, since the Freeway/Jake One album Stimulus Package was so well executed a few years ago.

Check out the Rhymesayers website for more info, but I will keep you posted as it gets closer to the August 21 release date.

To get an idea of what to expect, check the quote from Brother Ali himself:

“This is not just a new album, but a new chapter. There’s a kind of democratic reawakening in people at this point in time. I was really looking to take these topics and really hit them hard. To try to open ears and hearts and invite people to take some action and feel empowered. To be engaged and take some agency and responsibility for what’s going on in the world.”


Should be dope. Stay Tuned!

yU - I Believe (Oddisee Remix)

I'm a big fan of the yU sound coming out of the DMV (D.C. - Maryland - Virginia) area. He has been a part of the Diamond District "modern throwback" vibe and much more self-conscious hip hop coming out of the nations capital since the early 90's. He reminds me of Resurrection-era Common with a Southern drawl and links up with Oddisee, Kev Brown, Dunc (of DTMD), Apollo Brown and other torch-bearers of true school rap production from the hip-hop underground with regularity.

The "I Believe" remix above should be proof enough to check out more of his stuff and other offerings from the Mello Music Group.

Video: evitaN ft. Sadat X - 3 Kings

evitaN (Jarobi of ATCQ and Dres of Black Sheep) are a new hip-hop "supergroup?" that have started promoting a collaborative album of grown man rap for the newbies and the aging Native Tongues fan base. The video above, called 3 Kings, is a nice visual take on the song and shows the group themselves and many hip-hop icons chilling around the NYC area.

It is somewhat odd to finally, after 20 years and a documentary on the historic group, hear Jarobi rapping. Though I know he was a force behind the power of the Native Tongues movement, he was also a silent member. To have him rapping, or starting to rap, at age 40+ feels out of place, but paired with the more experienced MC's around him, it seems to work. I am still not sure how to digest Jarobi's rhymes, flow wise. His content is on point, as expected of a more mature MC, but the flow feels like he is reading it (probably is) and seems slightly off-beat (probably is) but I am waiting to see how the entire project pans out before trying to critique it too much. Dres still sounds hungry after all this time too!

Check out the video above (look for the healthy Kool Herc cameo) and let me know what you think.

Follow the evitaN crew on Twitter @Jarobione @Dresblacksheep to stay updated on the upcoming project!


CREDITS:
Track produced by Will Tell
Photography by Adam McDaid
Directed by Emil Moller

Combat Jack X Prodigy: Quality Radio

The Combat Jack show spills on the week in news and catches up with the QB's Prodigy of Mobb Deep. Always fun to listen to with good questions and not-your-average interview style. Check otu the link before if you have 3 hours to kill!

CNN X Just Blaze = Summer Soundtrack

Though I haven't really followed either career's of CNN since the post Capone-jail-time or NORE's ill advised Reggaeton aspirations, I am always glad to see some of the Golden Era groups come together on some classic material. Though the video is filled with the endless "bitches and riches" cliches, the Just Blaze track and more mellow sound is something I appreciate in 2012. Capone and Noreaga can still make sounds that I can rock to and hopefully they can bring bringing the same quality material that made the "War Report" era so dope. 

I am by no means a thug, but I will always appreciate the grit of street life tales and bravado told to a classic, boom bappish, soundtrack. Here's hoping Mobb Deep and the rest of the QB can keep this sound alive!

RZA: Parenting Tips for Father's Day

This upcoming Father's Day, if you are in the Los Angeles area, you have the chance to be treated to the parenting insights of Robert Fitzgerald Diggs AKA Bobby Digital AKA Prince Rakeem AKA the RZA.

The RZA will be spending his Father's Day at the Los Angeles Juvenile Hall to teach inmates about fatherhood. He will be hosting a workshop on fatherhood and teaching inmates a number of skills and life lessons to help transition to adulthood and parenthood upon release.

Since I am not privileged to know all of the potential lessons RZA will bestow upon the inmates, I have taken the liberty to make up a bunch of topics I am hoping he will share with his captive audience:

1) diversify your bonds
2) be sure your kids listen to music only through Chambers Headphones by RZA
3) plant your sunflower seed on every square acre
4) assassination vaccination poor education infatuation with Satan with global nation taxation
5) change the poopy diapers
6) dress kids in the latest Wu Wear
7) no time to grab the guns, they already got your wife and children
8) protect your neck
9) you can see the weakness of a man right through his iris
10) eat lots of fruit and whole grains
11) save your receipts
12) start a 401K for yourself and a 529C for your kids future college plans
13) don't have a stupid title for an email address like crunchybig-guns69@yahoo.com if you ever have to fill out a resume online for a future job
14) Wu-Tang Forever!

I know that this is a good thing that RZA is doing, but it is comical to think that some of these cats may have no idea who he is or care about anything he has ever done. Good for you either way RZA!

Fine Art Friday: June 15, 2012

R.I.P. - STAY HIGH 149

Legendary New York graffiti writer, Wayne “Stay High 149" Roberts, passed away yesterday at the age of 61.  The artist, who began making a name for himself as early as 1971, was known for his images of a smoking stick figure and catch phrase/logo “Voice of the Ghetto” tags.

After a long absence from the graf world, Stay High 149 was honored with a retrospective art show circa 2000. Even in his older age, Stay High continued to write his name in the street and influenced thousands of young graf artists and writers around the world. R.I.P. to one of the O.G.'s. Check out his website while it still exists: http://www.stayhigh149.com/



LUVJONEZ MUSIC @ PINTEREST http://pinterest.com/luvjonezmusic/

If you want to dig further into other stuff that I ramble about, Pinterest houses alot of these items that I never get a chance to post. Check it out if interested!










SOPHIE JODOIN

I came across the work of Sophie Jodoin back around 2008 and was struck and the detail of her fairly small work. Using primarily mylar sheets and black gesso, she manages to develop remarkable textures and contrast in her work that makes me super jealous of her process. She continues to put out thought-provoking work and masterful images of dramatic and sad qualities. Check out her site for more of her black and white drama! http://www.sophiejodoin.com/


BRYAN NASH GILL

Such a simple idea to ink up dead or dying tree stumps to reflect their age rings and historic development, but expertly executed to show every possible detail. I am not the biggest fan of "earth" art , but the intricate patterns and flaws in these prints are hypnotic and depressing when considering the life cycle of all things. Very Walden of me I know, but check out Nash Gill's site for more of these prints. http://www.bryannashgill.com/

WK INTERACT - New Projects

Plenty has been said bout WK Interacts work, so I won't act like this is the first time anyone has seen his work, but the image above and the video below is the result of a collaboration with the ad agency TWBA called FORTY. The video is almost pornographic in the detail or spray cans, brushed glue and dripping paint, but it is always interesting to see the creative process (even heavily edited) of a large art installation with so many textures and layers.



For more info on WK Interacts work, check out his site here: http://www.wkinteract.com/

Big K.R.I.T. - Live From The Underground : The Making Of

I realize that the internet and overall rap industry are on the Big KRIT tip right now, but I can't help but support the kid from Mississippi. He walks the line between "trunk muzik" and "introspective hip hop star" better than anyone since Goodie Mob and Outkast from the 90's. To accompany the constant buzz of his upcoming official Def Jam release "Live From The Undeground", KRIT put out this mini-doc about the making of the album. I always enjoy the inside peaks at the creative process and behind-the-scenes work that goes into any project, especially when it isn't filled with the typical "bitches and tough talk" of so much promotional material these days.

Lots of insight about the "ups and downs" of being a budding music star, watching KRIT work in the studio and some features for the album. I can't say I like everything he puts out, but more often than not, he throws mellow, grown man, soul-sample, hip hop gems on his albums to show he is not a 24 Hour Party person. Check it out above and maybe it will help show you why he is the critical darling that he is.

Props to videographer Steve-Ography for the camera work! Check out the Big KRIT website for more updates: http://bigkrit.defjam.com/

Kan Kick: The Instrumental Maestro

This post is about the continued legacy of the underground beatsmith known as KanKick. Perhaps I am biased because I know the man personally, but I have collected his albums ever since he released From Artz Unknown in 2001. Something about his ability to flip grimey, obscure samples with hypnotic crispy drums always puts me in a trance and makes me super jealous of his record collection.

KanKick is what I would call SUPER underground, as I rarely meet anyone who knows his work until I mention a Lootpack/Madlib feature from years earlier. Kan continues to put out albums of quick little gems similar to the in-between tracks, snippets that Dilla, Pete Rock and Preemo have included in many of their releases and beat tapes. He builds entire albums from these concepts that feel like the soundtrack to a beat digger's treasure trove in the basement of a dusty bomb shelter.

I had a hand in designing the Rummage To Royalty packaging and was glad to attach my name to a project with Kan earlier this year. Check out the video stream below, track down his past discography and support a true hip-hop beat master doing his best to stay alive in the Young Money infested airwaves of today.

KanKick - Rummage 2 Royalty (full album stream)

ILLMIND: Throwblaps Vol.1

ILLMIND, of G-unit and underground hip hop fame just released some unused instrumentals for the world to use and abuse as it will. Here is a quick blurb from the man himself:

“As promised, here is the infamous Throwblaps compilation. I had this idea a long time ago, but was always reluctant to put it out. I’ve got more than 3,000 beats I made over several years, on several hard drives. I knew most of them will probably never see the light of day, until now! This edition is a collection of random beats I made between the years 2000 and 2002. It was an exciting time for me because I had ZERO placements, I had JUST copped an Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard, and I was making, like, 10 beats a day. It was crazy. I was still pretty wet behind the ears, and after hearing it, you will notice the heavy J Dilla influence (R.I.P.). Bump it on the ipod, freestyle to it, dance to it, drag it into the trash bin, do what you want with it! Enjoy!”  - !llmind


Get it while you can! THROWBLAPS LINK HERE

Tom Dice - Mike Needs Music

To help promote and support fellow instrumental hip-hop producers out there, I am sharing the most recent release by Tom Dice. Some tracks for aspiring MC's to freestyle to while riding on the train or in your car or on your Segway, depending on how you role.

Check out the Bandcamp link for more music: http://tomdice1.bandcamp.com/album/tom-dice-and-his-orchestra-mike-needs-music-instrumental

Jay-Z: The Michael Jackson Remix

Not much to say here, but celebrities over-protecting their kids by covering them with blankets is never a good sign. Dear famous folks, don't have kids if you are afraid to bring them out in public. Face it, Blue Ivy is the daughter of Jay-Z and Beyonce...the kid is gonna be flash-bulbed to death for the rest of her life, you might as well let her get used to it and chill with the MJ antics. Just sayin'. On to the next one!

The Hip-Hop Has Been: The Rise and Continued Decline of Canibus

Though I seem to rattle on and on about the old days of rap's Golden Era, the nostalgia seems to wear off any time my "used to be" favorite MC's commit an epic blow to their own legacy by trying to be way too relevant (ex: Busta Rhymes on Young Money) or embarrassing themselves on some Jose Canseco levels.

Canibus is what I like to call the Joe Charboneau of the rap world. For those of you who don't know who that is, and I doubt anybody does, Joe was a "flash in the pan" rookie for the Cleveland Indians in 1980. He led the team in home runs, had a good batting average, and showed lots of promise. He played for 2 more years and puttered out with miserable stats and wisely left baseball after realizing he wasn't cut out for the majors.

If only Canibus could learn this lesson. I have to admit that back in 1997, I thought he was going to blow up all over the rap game, after being heavily vetted by Wyclef, Common, Lost Boyz and other reputable MC's. After releasing a poorly received album, Can-i-bus, Canibus started to blame everyone around him for the lack of quality on the record. By the time he released the record, his hype was boiling over after making a diss record against LL Cool J called "2nd Round KO". He made an epic song with an intro from Mike Tyson which will forever go down as one of the best battle records of all time. However, this manner of biting the hand that fed him, LL offered him a verse of his song first, Canibus' facade started to crack.

Pretty soon, he was "box office posion" and nobody wanted to help him out, for what I can only imagine was fear of burning bridges with the rap establishment. A few remix features later and Canibus had to go underground forever. He kept releasing albums, even linking with Nottz at one point, but stories of his childish behavior, over-reactions, jealousy and anger started to be the only thing I ever heard about him.

I always checked for his stuff, but was never excited after listening to each new record as it was released. I remember him being interviewed on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio from the UK a few years ago and listening to him scream angrily about bloggers and critics not liking his music and sounded like he was having a nervous breakdown. Flash forward this last year, and he bitched about J. Cole then made a long, rambling apology on Youtube, further making him seem hopelessly, mentally unstable.

The latest news is of course his live battle rap meltdown on streaming pay per view this past week. In a battle rap main event, Canibus started stumbling over his own words, pulled out a legal pad to read "30 pages of rhymes" and started yelling at the crowd for booing him and his amateur antics and attitude (seen below).



I really was hoping that at some point in his career, Canibus would have make some good choices and redeemed his once talented self, but this last debacle will undoubtedly put the proverbial nail in his coffin. Perhaps one day, he will wise up, have someone else pick all of his beats for him, never let him appear in public unless doing a show and try to resurrect a respectable ending for this dude. Until then, he will forever be clowned as the dude who had it, lost it, tried to earn it back and blew it in the rap game.

Fine Art Fridays: Evolution Of The Art Form

This week for Fine Art Fridays, I started to notice a theme to the work I was gathering, that being the idea of evolution with the arts. It applies in both of the featured artists work in different ways, but it speaks to the ever-changing methods that creative folks use to build there craft.

SIMON BERGER
First up is the recent "light painting" work by Simon Berger. He has managed to take an artform that I thought I had seen the limitations of and transformed it into some kind of special effects looking, much more artful and controlled version of what I first saw Picasso do with it in books years ago. Picasso's work was fairly primitive in that he just kind of "banged out" some doodles in the air to capture the idea on film, which sparked many people's imagination (pictured below).

Berger takes it to an entirely new level with more controlled light and more dynamic compositions for his photos. I have no idea how we did this, as it looks like he is standing in the metal refinery from Terminator 2, getting rained on by molten steel and sparks. Who knows, but it looks awesome and shows how much a simple idea like capturing light on film can evolve over time. Check out the link for more pics. http://500px.com/SimonBerger

DOZE GREEN
Next up is Doze Green, whose work I have followed since the 80's. If you don't know his work, it has been featured on many hip-hop releases from groups in the Bay Area and NYC. My first in-depth exposure to him was the album artwork for the OM record compilation called Deep Concentration 2 in the 90's. I was so taken by the artwork that I still don't think I ever finished listening to the CD and just unfolded the artwork and put it on my wall.

Doze is known for his layered line work and what I call "alien meets indigenous shaman meets cave painting" style.  He is a storied artist in the hip hop world, being and OG member of the Rocksteady Crew, even being featured in Wild Style. He continues to pour out new ideas on canvas and other media and though he has kept his style the same, the subject matter grows with each new show and incorporates dimensional forms, multi-headed man beasts, intricate line work and bold colors. Below is some samples of his work, also seen on his website http://www.dozegreen.com/.

He currently has a show at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in NYC and I am hoping to catch it this month. For a preview of him in the studio and to see him doing his thing, check out the video below too.

The Sample Police: Evolution of the Beatmaker

Though I will never get tired of flip after flip of obscure soul samples and sample-based hip-hop records, and I mean NEVER, I completely understand when some of my favorite producers decide to avoid lawsuits and try to create new songs from scratch. I know that there are plug-ins that can mimic the OG equipment that folks used back in the day and plenty of 808 kits floating around for people to do all of this, but I will always respect the origins of the culture first.

Though it seems to only be something that people with sky-high budgets (Kanye west, etc.) can afford to do these days, part of the reason I keep checking for underground acts is because they still carry the torch for the sample-based stuff that I like.

The video above is a brief rundown of Rhymesayers artist Blueprint and his own evolution as a producer/rapper.  It is interesting to see that folks who seem to never get any shine, can still be nailed for sampling these days. I don't know that I could ever "not sample" when making my own stuff, but I try to chop sounds up so much that no one recognizes it anyway, unless it is too fresh as is.

Check it out and feel free to share your own thoughts about it.

EXHIBIT A
Danny Brown takes a beat with ill, boom-bap samples ("Get out of my life woman" drums for instance) and makes an underground classic of the "when I was a kid" type of reminisce rap. Samples will hopefully never die!

Big K.R.I.T. x Combat Jack: Quality Air Time

I have been listening to the Combat Jack show for a long time now and I am always impressed that they can keep me interested for upwards of 2 hours at a time. It feels like you are listening to your friends hang out and talk trash about grown man hip-hop concerns and it always entertains.

This past week, they had BIG KRIT on the show to talk about life and his career and I was glad to see someone with so much buzz be on a more humble grind and talk to the hip-hop fans of all backgrounds. if KRIT is only acting like a Johnny Depp "aw shucks" famous type, then he is very convincing, but he seems authentic and appreciative of all of the attention he has gotten over the last few years.

From mixtape and guest features to his high-quality free albums of the past year or so, KRIT always seems to bring a good balance to the down south style and throwback lyrical, honest, hip-hop of the golden era. So far he is like a mix of ATLiens-era Outkast and Little Brother to me and I have been a fan of most everything thus far.

Check out the interview above to hear the meeting of many minds that care about the quality of the modern hip-hop culture like few do these days.

Rage Against The Machine...Gone Wrong. The Wisconsin Recall Election.

I wish I had more hands so I could give Wisconsin's recall effort four thumbs down. 


Even Emperor Commodus agrees. Divide and conquer at its best.

You may now all bow down to the corporate overlords and Super (powerful) PAC's that will rule the US and the outcome of elections for the foreseeable future.  America, your puppet strings could not be any clearer then they are right now!


Perhaps the world could care less about the results of this midwest election, but the implications of the power and influence of money in politics was in full effect here, with out-of-state Republicans spending upwards of $60 Million, to the opposing Democrats $3 Million, to promote the sitting governor with negative attack ads for any challenger. 


This election is bigger than Wisconsin, for reasons we may not see the true results of for a decade. Money and influence can spend unlimited money to gain position, crush opposition, create laws that allow them to do so anonymously and market themselves however they want in order to get the upper hand. For anyone who ever mumbled about conspiracy theory in politics or ever felt helpless to fight against the 1%, this was your chance. 


Hopefully, the so called 99% will wake up and organize as criminally brilliant as the secret billionaires of the world. Stop waving signs around, trying to be an anonymous horde of protesters marching and rhyming about non-sense and actually get elected to effect some real change from the inside out....or else we will continue the slow slide down the drain pipe of the wealthy.  

Nicki Minaj: When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong

I never thought I would EVER do a post about Nicki Minaj here, as there is plenty of ink or HTML ink being spilled on a daily basis for her. However, as much as I am not a fan of her YMCMB run of musical theater, at one point in her history she was repping as a sort of slightly more lyrical, Queens version of Trina and promoting herself with no neon wigs, fake British accent, no alter-egos or lingerie outfits. She seemed like she might be forever underground or at least a female MC that tried to be of the Eve (Ruff Ryders) approach, a "down chick" who could rap.

 Somewhere along the line, all of her skills were transformed into the "sideshow clown" routine currently polluting the airwaves with nonsense and earning the "idiot stamp" from Pepsi to commercialize her "routine" to sell soda. The video above does have some pre-fame verses of money and tough talk, but if she earned her stripes from repping this former version of herself and turning that into her source of fame, perhaps I would be willing to not "punch the TV or turn off the radio" every time I see or hear her on it.

 I am glad to have seen Lauryn Hill in her prime and have yet to see any popular female MC ever "hold it down" like L-Boogie did. I know it has been too long for her to make a comeback, but even if her next album is 20 years from now, it will still be more honest then the current trend of "Barbie rap" floating around in 2012.

 Like Biggie said "Things Done Changed".

Music Video: El-P - The Full Retard

I was glad to see El-P make a video from one of the stand out tracks from Cancer for Cure. Though the video looks like it cost $10 to make, it seems like a fun video to shoot. The furry puppet helps the concept seem like the visual approximation of what the "rap life" cliche's would look like as a coked out, suicidal, mayhem causing rodent. Though I would have liked to see a video to the tune of something like "No Church In The Wild" for a track like this (thats how I pictured it anyway), this video takes the "crazy life" down a notch and tries not to take itself too serious. Check it out above!

Fine Art Fridays: June edition

Dutch artist Koen Hauser recently produced a body of work, no pun intended, called Modische Atlas der Anatomie, that diagrams the female form in digitally manipulated photographs. While this seems to be a popular theme, to strip away the layers of skin to show the organs (Damien Hirst, etc.), it is always interesting to see each artists approach. Among the wave of recent news stories of brain and heart eating roommates and face-eating homeless dudes, this too seems relevant.

See more at www.koenhauser.com

THE MODERN GRAF ARTIST
Graffiti has come a long way from the simple bubble letters and quick scribbles of old days, and I wanted to highlight some of the recent work by graf artists whose work I follow for the Fine Art Fridays features. Feel free to share your own, but here are some people who keep pushing the art further:

KEMR

ROIDS

DEMON 202 - this dude never disappoints

NUNCA (Brasil)

These are some of my favorite artists to follow, some I know personally, some I don't, but every time I think I know the limitations of graf, I am proved wrong.