JumpinJack AJ

Hip-Hop is all about the lyrics. If i can't undstand the lyrics, the track will be wasted on me. A few years ago i got my hands on some Hip-Hop CD singles from 2000ish and it waz interesting 2 hear Hip-Hop in other languages...but after one listen, i waz done.

BEYONCE - Upgrade B'Day (2006)

This post reminds me of the good old days when all the Jiggy Will Smith fans wanted everything right now. If u ask me...it's Time To Chill.

I guess i can see where she's coming from, but i hate when i hear people praising him for that comment. Like i said before, he came off like an ignorant 10 year old the way he said it. If he actually sounded educated while making a statement like that, it wouldn't bug me.

Just adding on 2 what Ted said...Beefing is weak. These petty immature beefs are embarssing and stupid. The emcee battles of the 80's were interesting and worth following. Battles and beefing are 2 different things. LL and Kool Moe Dee waz a battle....50 Cent and Ja-Rule is beefing. Back on topic, i guess them resolving things is a good thing...but like fuq said...irrelevant. Ja-Rule has been a joke for years and Ja waz never a theat 2 X...so i don't see this doing anything. I like that DMX stayed by his original statement.

I'll give the album a listen but Ludacris has never been my fav. I liked him when he 1st did his thing on Timbland's solo album. Shortly after, i lost interest. His current single isn't bad. The Neptunes laced him with the best beat his ever had for a single and his flow is better. The only think that really turns me off 2 him still is that i read how he's gonna come with relevant lyrics for once and then i hear trash like "U know i got it, if u want it, come get it, stand next 2 this money like 'ey 'ey 'ey."

MARIO VAZQUEZ - Everything I... (self-titled) (2006) This is a new track from SoulPower!!

I don't think Jermaine Dupri's influence hurt the album. Infact, i think Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are probably the blame. I actually think their stuff over the past few years has gotten weaker. JD makes trax with all kinds of different sounds. If he produced the songs by himself, i would expect quality at the same level of Mariah's and Usher's new stuff.

Exactly...what family thinks "we'll sit on our butts doing nothing"...especially after such a loss. U adjust and move on with life.

I just picked up Janet's new album...and while i've only listened 2 half of the album thro'...and skimmed thru' the whole thing twice, i gotta say this is her weakest album. To me, it's basically i watered down version of All For You and Damita-Jo. Her voice and lyrics are true 2 her style. The production is average the whole way thru.' I mean, every song is good, but there isn't anything on here that she hasn't done before...and better 4 that matter. It's just that lite R-N-B sound. If u ask me, she needs 2 get back 2 that heavier urban sound...reminiscent of 1993's janet. album. In comparison, that album had alot of different flavas and guest spots by Chuck D and MC Lyte (on a remix). This new album features wack rappers Nelly and Khia...and even worse, these new songs all have the same vibe, making the album kinda repetative. And since it's similar 2 some of the trax on her last 2 albums...it's repetative stuff that we've heard for 5 years. I love Janet, but she needs 2 regroup when it comes 2 her sound. Silky vocals and down-to-earth lyrics will only take u so far. She needs 2 get some edge back in2 her music.

It's been a rough week for Run-DMC.

I really didn't like reading that. I like the idea of the Run-DMC camp being closer 2 each others families...but that speech was very unecessary. I read years ago how Run-DMC split their money 3 equal ways, so i find it hard 2 believe that Jam Master Jay's family was struggling. I think his wife and kids would have mentioned it back in 2002 if that were the case...maybe. In a perfect world, Run-DMC would be taking care of Jay's family, but the family should be well off. I don't think they are really obligated 2 do that unless Jay's family really is in money trouble. No matter the situation, i think that speech waz just wrong. She shouldn't have tarnished the Run-DMC legacy by putting that out there like that. If they wanted help from DMC, they should have contacted him. Who says he had any idea they wanted support. After all, Jay waz his boy...not Jay's family.

LUPE FIASCO - He Say She Say Food + Liquor (2006)

Thanx 4 finding that...i'll try 2 read it 2nite. While the comment didn't bother me, i still had a feeling she shouldn't say something like that in the way the article tried 2 make it sound. p.s. Max, Lerkot hates God, the US, and all music outside of JJ+FP and OutKast...don't get offended by what he says...cuz he doesn't like much of anything.

Yeah, Left Eye dropped the artsy Supernova album in 2001 (which still isn't released in the US...tho' u can find imports fairly easy) and alot of collabos. Left Eye did a really good song with her group Eygpt (who were in the SUV with her when she had the accident). I heard the song and it's good...but their album is probably never coming out. There is also a doctored song that Raindrop (Left Eye's sister) is putting on her album. T-Boz has also done a handful of soundtrack songs and collabos with talks of a solo album. Her most recent collabo is on the YoungbloodZ new album. I don't like them, but i got the CD just 4 the track with her...she sounds good on it. Chilli has only done one song outside of TLC project and that waz with the R-N-B group Vega. They were a very talented group but their album never came out. The single "Mommie" (i think that waz the title) had a snippet of the song with Chilli on it. I, however, found a promo copy of the album with the full song and the song beautiful. After hearing about T-Boz's and Chilli's solo albums for so long, it's good 2 know that there is finally something coming out.

Yeah, it's that time of year where alot of albums are gonna be coming out non-stop thru' about March. Over the summer and early fall, there were a few weeks where there were no CDs coming out that i wanted.

TLC, JERMAINE DUPRI, + CRAIG MACK - Kick Your Game (So So Def Remix) (Unreleased) (1996)

That comment waz stupid and ignorant..but whatever. I don't really see it as racist or offensive. I still like her music...espeically that Desinty's Child stuff. She probably feels she needs 2 say stuff like that after all the pop appeal she's gotten over the years and how she's isn't as gritty as artists like Lyfe Jennings and Keshia Cole. While we are on this topic tho'...let me say that when Beyonce tries 2 come off 2 urban, it just doesn't feel right. I remember when i 1st heard Wyclef's remix of "Bug-A-Boo" and she starts off yelling on the track something about keeping it "raw"...i kinda laughed. When it comes 2 R-N-B musicians who are Hip-Hop artsits, u think of Mary J. Blige, TLC, and so on. When u think of a full on R-N-B group, u think of En Vogue and Destiny's Child.

Janet Jackson, Reduced but Not Restrained By LOLA OGUNNAIKE The New York Times LOS ANGELES (Sept. 26) — Janet Jackson is anything but the sadomasochistic, no-pain-no-gain type of exerciser she may appear to be. In fact, she admits, “I hate working out, hate it.” Ms. Jackson was talking at a downtown dance studio here, as she and her backup dancers were being led through a series of grueling drills by her longtime trainer. While she made it through the half-hour workout without breaking a sweat, the singer has no doubt been killing herself of late. She says she has lost nearly 60 pounds in six months. In a culture obsessed with the shrinking and expanding waistlines of celebrities, Ms. Jackson’s astonishing weight loss, in some circles, has become a frequent topic of conversation. Though it’s hard to tell from her recent interviews, she said she would rather discuss her new album, “20 Y.O.,” than her chiseled abs. “I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I want it to be successful,” she said of the album, which hits stores today. “I really want people to enjoy it. I want it to bring smiles to people’s faces.” Only You Can Decide Janet's Nastiest Moment: Click to Watch Ms. Jackson didn’t exactly bring smiles to people’s faces during her halftime performance with the pop singer Justin Timberlake at the 2004 Super Bowl. Before millions of viewers, Mr. Timberlake tore off part of her corset, exposing her breast, which just happened to be adorned with a silver nipple ring. The ensuing scandal not only introduced the phrase “wardrobe malfunction” into the public lexicon, but her supporters say it also crippled sales of her last album, “Damita Jo,” one of the poorest-selling of her career. Jermaine Dupri, Ms. Jackson’s boyfriend of four years, who became the president of urban music at her label, Virgin, last year, said it was a very tough time in her life. He criticized his predecessors at Virgin, saying: “They didn’t push the project. Nobody handled their business.” Even people in her own camp, he added, abandoned her. “The managers fled once the Super Bowl thing happened,” he said. “They were all nervous and couldn’t take it and got out. But that’s good because it was God’s way of letting her see who was real and who she needed to have around her.” He also said that Virgin mistakenly tried to make a woman who ruled the charts for much of the late 80’s and 90’s too pop. “She’s a black artist, and for the past three years I feel like they alienated the urban community,” he said. “That’s why I think her sales have been down.’’ Jason Flom, who took over as the chairman and chief executive of Virgin in October 2005 as part of a major executive shake-up, said he could not comment on the label’s handling of Ms. Jackson’s previous album because he was not running the label at the time. He also declined to comment on whether her deal with Virgin, which ends with the release of the new album, would be renewed. He did, however, offer that “she’s one of the few legitimate superstars in the industry, and we’re happy to have her.” Now Ms. Jackson is hoping to return to her glory years. As Mr. Dupri noted, she has not had a Top 10 hit in the last six years. One listen to “20 Y.O.,” and it quickly becomes clear that the Super Bowl fiasco has not toned down Ms. Jackson’s sex-kitten musical persona. Singing in her signature breathy, come-hither voice, she’s as nasty as ever on songs like “This Body” and “Do It 2 Me.” She volunteered that “Do It 2 Me” was about a no-strings-attached sexual encounter. In a review of the new album, Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote: “Janet is as crafty and poised as ever. Her flirtations are still a pleasure, but an overly familiar one.” And she’s no more inclined to keep her clothes on. In the video for her second single, “So Excited,” her blouse continuously disappears and reappears. Her hard-earned curves have also been on full display in various glossy magazines in recent months. She appears all too eager (and some might argue desperate) to prove that at the ripe old age of 40, she has still got it, both musically and physically. Today’s pop charts feature young women who were in preschool when Ms. Jackson was cooing about the pleasure principle. Nevertheless, she says she’s not worried about the competition. “I don’t feel I have to compete,” she said in a feather-soft voice eerily reminiscent of a dreamy 6-year-old. “I’ve done this for more than 20 years. I’ve already been where they are.” That afternoon Ms. Jackson was dressed in wide-legged black sweatpants, sneakers and a tomato red hoodie, with her hair pulled into a ponytail. She wore little makeup — eyeliner, mascara, lip balm —and had no discernible wrinkles. She could have passed for 25. As she raced through a series of complicated dance routines, she seldom missed a step. Watching the petite singer (she’s 5-foot-4, 120 pounds) move effortlessly across the room, it became increasingly difficult to believe that a scant few months ago she found tying her shoelaces difficult because she was too large. Her stomach and breasts used to get in the way, she recalled. “I always had to move them to the side,” she said, sighing heavily. She said she stopped wearing a watch and several rings because they were uncomfortable, and walking was difficult. “My joints would kill me,” she said. Ms. Jackson, who moonlights as an actress, said she packed on the pounds for a role as an aspiring country singer in “Tennessee,” a movie produced by Lee Daniels, the man behind “Monster’s Ball.” Gaining weight, she said, was not hard. “Every time I wanted a piece of cake, I had it,” she said. “Every time I wanted pasta, I had it.” Likewise, French fries and ice cream. And anytime she wanted a drink, she added, “I had it.” When filming of “Tennessee” was pushed back indefinitely, she began a regimen of exercise and healthy diet to loose the weight. “People think it’s impossible to lose this much weight, but it’s not,” she said. “Everyone can do it; you just have to be really disciplined and want it.” She’s now working on a weight loss book and DVD. Even as the numbers on her scale rose, she said, Mr. Dupri’s commitment to her was unwavering. “We’d be sleeping, and he’d grab all the extra meat on my stomach and say, ‘You’ve got to love it all, baby; it needs love, too.’ ” She giggled, and her large doe eyes grew warm. “I’m just so thankful God brought us together,” she said. “He’s a true angel.” She talked about loving his smile, his little hands, even his toenails. “I know that sounds crazy, I know, but I love everything about him,“ she said. “Everything.” More From The Times Supporters of ACLU Call for the Ouster of Its Leaders Stricter Voting Laws Carve Latest Partisan Divide Emblem of the West Is Dying, and No One Can Figure Out Why Shark Fin Trade a Threat to Species, Report Finds Anthrax Not Weapons-Grade, Official Says Her willingness to gush at length about her relationship with Mr. Dupri is surprising, given that Ms. Jackson kept her nearly decade-long marriage to Rene Elizondo Jr. a secret until the couple announced they were divorcing in 2000. But she’s a changed woman, one who is ready to bare more than just her body, she said. Whether Ms. Jackson will walk down the aisle for a third time (in the mid-80’s, she was married briefly to the R&B singer James DeBarge) is up to Mr. Dupri, she said. Ditto on the children front. “If it’s something he wants to do, I’m down,” she said. “If it’s something he never wants to even get close to, I’m down.” Even after 20 years in the music business, Ms. Jackson said, she is still passionate about performing and intends to continue touring for decades to come. “Tina Turner does it, and look at the Rolling Stones — what are they, 95?” she said. “As long as it’s still fun for me I’ll do it — unless, God forbid, I break a hip.” Copyright © 2006 The New York Times Company 2006-09-26 07:13:56

WEIRD AL - White + Nerdy Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)

Oh gosh...not this again. I don't see why's gonna act offended by it when apparently it waz part of the act that didn't pan out correctly or get rehearsed.

I gotta say i'm pretty hyped about this album. I think the gangsta rap vibe is dead and has been for a decade...but if anyone does it right...it's Snoop Dogg. I really wanna hear the stuff with Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Timbaland, B-Real, and The Neptunes. While i've been down with Snoop since shortly b4 he blew up, i never really got any of his albums until the past year (i had copies of his 1st 2 way back in the day tho').

I think that some legendary (and smart) Hip-Hop vets need 2 get 2gether and create a label where 80's and 90's artists who are responcible, positive, creative, and hard working people can go 2 be properly promoted and supported...reguardless of what the pop and commercial rap fronts are going thru.' Big labels just don't get it or don't support it when they get an artist like that.

Wow, that's awful. My prayers and thoughts definitly go out 2 the family. When u follow some entertainers so closely for so long, this kinda newz hits u pretty hard like they are your personal friends. I'm sure out of all the disappointment and pain, a follow up to the show (a special or a new season) will bring alot of positive energy for people who go thru' hard times like this. Run is not just an amazing talent...but an amazing person. My heart goes out 2 him.

I don't sweat it at all. There are over 25 emcees and groups i could come up with off the top of my head that deserve 2 be honored. Give it time. I don't think hardly any of the people who have been honored so far are "done"...many of them are still active and doin' their thing. I think it's very safe 2 say JJ+FP will be honored in the upcoming years. I'm really looking forward 2 the show. The VH-1 Hip-Hop Honors is probably the best Hip-Hop aired all year.