JumpinJack AJ

That's awesome! I've never been into collecting plaques. They are so pricey and just sit there...but this makes it all worth it!

Okay, this is throwing me off a bit. "Xscape" is available for streaming and this polished version isn't as good as the original. That's not really surprising. The thing is the point of remixing it should be to make it better...at least make it sound fresh. The original sounds very 1999ish and this version sounds just as dated, but not as good. I'm looking forward to getting the deluxe version with the origionals. Check it the remixed version of "Xscape" here. http://www.okayplayer.com/news/michael-jackson-xscape-mp3.html

I love the random banter in between the info...LOL

I love how candid she was with her answers.

LITTLE MIX - Case Closed DNA (2013) I gotta say, Little Mix is one of the few newish acts I care about. I miss having some R-N-Bish Pop groups that aren't doing top 40 dance music. They take me back to the late 90's/early 2000's groups.

I previously posted this on my Facebook. I'm so happy something new is coming out! I'm also really happy they are releasing the remixed/re-polished versions along with the originals. Nearly every 2Pac original was better than the doctored versions...especially as more albums were released. I would kill to have the chance to have mastered versions of his originals. I have a feeling that both the originals and remixed songs are going to be great. I got Xscape (which was originally spelled correctly) yeeeeeears ago. The leaked version was great quality, so I'm glad to see it getting a proper release. I liked the Micheal album, but it definitely didn't feel like an album when you listened to it straight though. Hopefully this one flows a little better. This is my first time hearing of the project, so I love that the wait isn't too long.

I just listened to it from start to finish last week. They album has aged well. It doesn't sound dated in the least. I couldn't find an official thread about the album being released, but if you go back about 50 some pages, you'll find a TON of posts we made about it. Here's the post I made about going out to get it at Walmart so that I could get it at midnight...lol... '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>

Prepare yourself for pure dopeness. De La Soul just released a mixtape with Jay Dee/J Dilla beats! I've only got to preview it, but I'm already in love with it. Download it here... http://www.wearedelasoul.com/

IDINA MENZEL - Let It Go (Dave Aude Club Mix) (2014)

I agree with all you said, except I can deal with Mark being chosen over FP. Mark hasn't taken breaks like FP has. Also, while Mark has movies that seem written for him (Italian Job, Four Brothers, Shooter, etc), he has taken on a wider variety of movies with a variety of budgets. I think that's the edge he had on him for the list.

I cracked up that the first line is "Will Smizzle n' Jazzy Jeff have dominated beatz, pornos n' televizzle fo' over 28 years." I'm not sure how I feel about them dominating pornos...lol

If you aren't already familiar with www.Gizoogle.net, it works just like Google. However, it takes the website you access, and flips its text around to be comically, overly ghetto fabulous. Anyways, I was bored and accessed this website thought it and thought the rest of you would find it to be funny too. This link should take you directly to the home page of www.jazzyjefffreshprince.com after being Gizoogled. http://www.gizoogle.net/xfer.php?link=http://www.jazzyjefffreshprince.com/&sa=U&ei=OSUlU5XIEIzL0AWDwoHQDQ&ved=0CDwQFjAI&usg=AFQjCNHvjLy2E1ajiQEA0E_0KBYCE5zcCg

This is a short, vague list that leaves out a few people, but it's still worth a glance. http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/best-rappers-turned-actors?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_147647 Hollywood's 8 Best Rappers-Turned-Actors By Barry Michael Cooper on January 17, 2014 As hip-hop prepares to invade Hollywood once again, with this week's nationwide release of the buddy-cop comedy Ride Along, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, it is important to note that both industries share the same birthplace. The ghetto. Young visionaries like Louis B. Mayer, Adolph Zukor, and Harry Cohn — emigres from Eastern Europe's bleakest 'hoods — created Hollywood at last century's dawn, as a means of assimilation. The movies were a way to create "an empire in the image of America," according to Neal Gabler's instructive An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood (1988). The same can be said of rap's cinematic pioneers like Charlie Ahern, Fred "Fab Five Freddy" Braithwaite, Russell Simmons, and the late, great George Jackson. This quartet transformed the spontaneous combustion of Bronx clubs like the T-Connection and Disco Fever, and the narco-glam soirees of Harlem World and Broadway International, into the box-office dynamite of Wild Style (1983) and Krush Groove (1985). Hip-hop was the ticket to the celluloid excursions of Spike Lee, the Hudlin and Hughes brothers, John Singleton, Mario Van Peebles, and F. Gary Gray. Def Jam, Death Row, Priority, and Bad Boy became the new Actors Studio. So what's next? Macklemore and Ryan Lewis in a remake of The Servant? Why not? Rap is trying to be all that it can imitate. In ascending order of greatness, here are seven of hip-hop's own who have lit up the silver screen in truly memorable performances: 8. Cameron "Cam'ron" Giles Back in 1998, I worked on a few early drafts of Charles Stone III's indelible Harlem 2002 drug epic, Paid in Full (adapted from the harrowing cautionary tale of former cocaine pusher Azie "AZ" Faison). After viewing the finished product, I felt that Cam'ron had channeled Brando. Emboldened by Stone's nuanced direction and the rich performances of Mekhi Phifer and Wood Harris, he almost steals the entire film. Watching the main characters' success with a dagger-like intensity, Cam'ron transforms his Rico into the Iago of St. Nicholas Avenue, a level of playa-hatin' that becomes Shakespearean. By the time he wheelies his Suzuki down an entire city block after killing a treacherous stick-up kid, the audience knows that Cam'ron's green-eyed monster does indeed "mock the meat it feeds on." 7. Chris "Ludacris" Bridges: Fast & Furious notwithstanding, Ludacris made his presence known in several feature films — The Wash (2001), Crash (2004), Hustle and Flow (2005) — before landing the career-defining role of Darius Parker on Law & Order: SVU. His portrayal of a smiling psychopath in two episodes ("Venom" in 2006, and "Screwed" in 2007) was poignantly frightening. Like someone begging you for a hug, and then stabbing you several times, just because he felt like it. It takes serious acting chops to pull that off. 6. Sean "Diddy" Combs: Though he got mixed reviews in the 2008 ABC telecast of Raisin in the Sun, the multi-millionaire mogul and devout multi-tasker unveiled a strong comic performance as the megalomaniacal Sergio in Nicholas Stoller's 2010 Get Him to the Greek. Playing an outsize version of himself in this rock fable, Diddy managed to upstage the marquee players, Russell Brand and Jonah Hill. His hilarious physicality (Combs's foot chase of Brand and Hill's speeding automobile is reminiscent of both Jerry Lewis and Martin Lawrence) was balanced with impeccable comic timing. ("Sergio gonna be fine. Fk a recession. I own twenty Koo Koo Roos!") His role in Ivan Reitman's Draft Day (starring Kevin Costner and slated for an April 2014 release) is smaller, but don't be surprised if hip-hop's Bad Boy for Life proves to Hollywood once and for all that he ain't goin' nowhere. 5. Dana "Queen Latifah" Owens: In addition to wielding rap's sharpest pen of the '90s, Flavor Unit's First Lady has been honing her stagecraft for more than two decades. Her wildly popular '90s sitcom Living Single proved she was just as adept at slapstick as she was at sobering drama, evidenced by her strong and emotionally vulnerable dom Cleo in F. Gary Gray's poetic heist film Set If Off (1996). Latifah's quiet courage as the AIDS activist Ana in Nelson George's soaring and emotional HBO drama Life Support (2007) evoked Simone Signoret's hushed dignity in Jack Clayton's Room at the Top (1959). Latifah's portrayal was so good, many critics thought she had been robbed of an Emmy nomination. Either way, the talk show host and film producer might want to begin preparations for an acceptance speech in the near future. 3-4. O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson and Dante "Mos Def" Smith If the father of the UK's "Angry Young Man" theater, John Osborne, were still alive, he might be working with one — if not both — of these fiery emcees. Like Richard Burton and Albert Finnery, Cube and Def are adept at sculpting rage into thespian gold. Though Mos (a.k.a. Yasiin Bey) has been acting since he was a kid (The Cosby Mysteries), his politically conscious persona (with rhyme partner Talib Kweli) was just as influential on his stellar, 2004 Emmy-nominated performance in the HBO medical drama Something the Lord Made. Ice Cube parlayed his rep as the most revered West Coast lyricist into becoming a savvy producer of the Crenshaw-flavored, Cheech and Chong-ish Friday trilogy. Thriving in action comedies like All About the Benjamins (co-starring the insane Mike Epps, written by Ron Lang, and directed by '90s rap-vid wunderkind Kevin Bray in 2007), and the latest Ride Along, Ice Cube is still capable of tremendous dramatic range, as when he played the profoundly doomed Doughboy in John Singleton's superb Boyz n the Hood (1991). 2. Will "Fresh Prince" Smith: Gabriele Muccino's 2006 Pursuit of Happyness revealed that Will Smith was the most dynamic actor in Hollywood. His psychological conflation of anger/grief/pathos/joy was an exploration into his Chris Gardener's wounded soul. His rapid ascent began when the innocuous Fresh Prince sitcom (based on the life of manager extraordinaire Benny Media, and whose co-creator Jeff Pollack and co-star James Avery recently passed) became one of NBC's biggest hits of the '90s. His New Jack Swing-y "Parents Just Don't Understand" was one of rap's first recipients of a Grammy. Will Smith was a dude from 'round the way driving films like Independence Day (1996) and Men In Black (1997/2002/2012) to billion-dollar box-office receipts. Rakim was right: it ain't where ya from, it's where ya at. 1. Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg: Yeah, I know: Y'all forgot all about Dorchester's own Funky Bunch and their "Good Vibrations." Wahlberg has been on his grind so ferociously, it's easy to be impacted by that kind of hip-hop amnesia. Not that Wahlberg was a wack emcee. On the contrary, his chiseled physique and and the constant licking of his lips were actually his first acting gig as the white L.L. Cool J. But Wahlberg's vocation involved a lot more than just spitting 16 bars of magma and being a Teen Beat cover boy. Mark Wahlberg was a man aiming for Hollywood prepotency. His epiphanous performances in P.T. Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997), Scorsese's The Departed (2006), and David O. Russell's The Fighter (2010), in addition to becoming HBO's hottest producer — Entourage (2004-2010), In Treatment (2008-2010), and Boardwalk Empire (2010-) — places him in rarefied Hollywood air. Wahlberg — like Burt Lancaster, Kirk and Michael Douglas, Robert Evans, Sidney Pollack, Robert Redford, and Robert DeNiro — was an actor who became a producer with clout. A line reader who became shot caller. True, George Clooney and Brad Pitt are in that club, too, but I don't think either one of them can uprock to a house-music jawn clocking at 127 BPM, either. Right now, Mark Wahlberg got Hollywood on lock. Posthumous Honor: Tupac Amaru Shakur After watching Tupac in Ernest Dickerson's examination of the fragility of young black manhood, Juice (1992), I was convinced I had just seen hip-hop's James Dean and Montgomery Clift. I was in Cali, hunkered down at the infamous Nikko Hotel, working on a draft of Skeezer (released in 1994 as Sugar Hill). I ordered the film — written by Gerald Brown — three more times. What made Tupac one of the greatest American actors that ever lived — despite his short life span — was his total immersion into each role, including "2Pac," the character he played until the very end. What enshrines him alongside Dean and Clift was Tupac's willingness to excavate that dark shadow inside of himself — that dark shadow in all of us — and place it center stage. Actors are paid large sums of filthy lucre to live as someone else. A chosen few pay a much higher price, as they allow us to watch them live as themselves. Those are the actors who endure long after the fini. You were the best that ever did it, 'Pac. God rest your soul. (Thanks to my sons for their help and research.) Follow The Culture Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQCulture.

It's disappointing that LL isn't fully promoting Authentic. It's one of my favorite albums of the last 10 years. Anyway, he's done an explicit over-sexed song for DJ Whoo Kid's next album/mixtape(?), The N-Word Bond (wack title, right?). The beat isn't terrible...it's commercial with a dash of old school. LL isn't covering any new ground here. The new song is sexed up but isn't tongue and cheek like "Doin' It." I guess it's good news that it's a single for the album though. He could have easily gone with a song by a commercial rapper. ----------------------------------------------------------------- CentricTV.com | Music | Music Articles | 2014 | 03 | 11 | LL Cool J Wants To Go 'All Night Long' LL Cool J Wants To Go 'All Night Long' LL Cool J Wants To Go 'All Night Long' The hip-hop vet gets back in the saddle with an R-rated jam Camille Travis Posted: 03/11/2014 11:30 AM EDT Filed Under New Music Music News LL Cool J The ladies love Cool James for a reason. In LL Cool J's latest release, the hip-hop vet is reminding female fans about he bedroom capabilities in "All Night Long," where he lays on the raunch quite thick. "Take your clothes off, let's have a pose-off. Put it in deep, make you curl your toes off," he spits on the DJ Whoo Kid-assisted track. The single takes from Fonda Rae's '80s hit "Touch Me (All Night Long)." The single is said to be featured on his forthcoming album The N-Word Bond Project, although a release date has yet to be announced. --------------------------------------- You can listen to the song here... http://www.centrictv.com/music/articles/2014/03/11/ll-cool-j-wants-to-go-all-night-long.html

Looks good. I couldn't dig into the content due to how busy I am, but I look forward to returning to soon.

So, NOBODY has been talking about the EP. Has the board turned their back on her? I don't get it. I'm listening to it nearly every day and even though I've had it for a month, I'm loving it more and more with each listen.

Ugh...I have to agree. I've done the musical twice and I actually love the story and the characters. I was hoping for big things, but that trailer looks very underwhelming.

Ashanti dropped a new album today independently. I'm listening to it now and getting a feel for it (Target has a version with 2 bonus trax). http://www.amazon.com/BraveHeart-Ashanti/dp/B007BS0ZTU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393994983&sr=8-1&keywords=ashanti+braveheart Here's an interview I stumbled upon (click the link at the bottom and you can watch the half hour interview)... Ashanti Stops By The Breakfast Club, Dishes on New Album, Murder, Inc. & Nelly Shenae Curry | March 4, 2014 | 0 Comments This morning Ashanti made her first ever appearance on Power 105′s The Breakfast Club with Angela Yee, C The God & DJ Envy. She initially stopped by to talk about her new album Braveheart, which is currently in stores, but of course… she was unable to escape the constant questions about her past relationship with rapper & longtime boyfriend, Nelly. The morning show trio touched topics like her past and current relationships with her old Murder Inc. family, new music, and more. Ashanti brought clarity to the ongoing rumors regarding the fall of the Murder Inc. dynasty, new label situations, and whether her and Nelly are back together or not. Though she didn’t give a direct answer on their current relationship, she did blush a lot but mentioned that they’re both “cool”. Hmm.. One of the best things about Ashanti is she always comes off as a down to earth person with a sense of humor and it shows through the interview. Check the full interview out below and catch Ashanti in concert next month at BB Kings in New York City. - Shenae Craig (@xCurry08) http://thesource.com/2014/03/04/ashanti-stops-by-the-breakfast-club-dishes-on-new-album-murder-inc-nelly/

That's a fun song...lol I just discovered this remix and I can't keep listening to it this morning. It's not on the CD single I've had for years...now I gotta track down the vinyl C+C MUSIC FACTORY w/ NICE + SMOOTH - Do You Wanna Get Funky? (The Nice & Smooth Hip-Hop Remix) Do You Wanna Get Funky (Vinyl Single) (1994)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d2s6OXMF3g After you peep it or buy it, let me know if you are loving it as much as me.

Mya just released a new EP titled With Love. While her two albums released in Japan were a little more poppy, this EP is step back into straight R&B. As of now, you can only get it digitally. Unfortunately it's a short EP, but the music is good. The song "Space" is a solid, mildly trippy, moody, mid-tempo groove. "Like A Woman" is a vulnerable and very feminine song that has her singing over a sunny guitar. It's simple and perfect. "House Party" is a Summery mid-tempo groove that has a little bit of a throwback feel it as the music builds. The sound of "Do It" has a classic Mya sound and songwriting style. While it's too short, it'll hold me over while I wait for a new record. If you love Mya or straight R&B, check it out. You can get it on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Mya/dp/B00IALI1KW/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1393643887&sr=1-1&keywords=mya+with

No way is this better than "Nightmare On My Street." The songs came out the same year and the Fat Boys' rhymes are elementary to FP's story telling and comedy. "Nightmare On My Street" is also much more polished when it comes to production. Ready Rock C also makes a better Freddy Kruger than the real Freddy Kruger...lol ARRESTED DEVLOPMENT - Truce Strong (2010)

THIS.IS.DOPE.

I watched it this morning. As always, it's fun. I just seems lacking once they do something from 2005 or later. Notice they had to take it back to the old school to make sure it had a strong finish.

I downloaded the album when it was first available, but I wanna get a few listens in before I comment on it. There's definitely some songs on here that I love. Here's an article I just found... http://ronnettecox.com/2014/02/13/indie-sound-behind-kel-spencers-new-album-lndnwud/ Indie Sound: Behind Kel Spencer’s New Album “LNDNWUD” Another part of surrounding myself with art is actively seeking out creative friends, people who inspire me, people I learn so much from. I need that! Its like air for a creative mind, so I would like to share these great people with you and I hope you receive them well! So it seems today is Hip Hop day on the site (see today’s Black History and Debate Posts ) in continuing the theme I’m excited to share dope new music with you all! (off the top some of my favorite tracks are “Blue & Green” and the tongue twisting “SANCUBROOKLYDELPHIA”) Kel Spencer, whom I’ve known for a number of years now is a really talented dude and not in the “I’m writing a blog post about him so I have to say that way” NO! If you’ve ever noticed he’s at the side of this site 24/7. I appreciate real creators, he’s not only a rapper but an actor, writer, teacher and of course self-proclaimed “warriorpoet”. A couple of weeks ago I was blessed to be among a select few to listen to Kel’s latest project LNDNWUD. Featured in the Bet Music Matters series and on MTV’s Sucker Free he’s been pretty busy but I connected with him long enough to get some questions answered. Check it out… RC: What brought on the inspiration for this project? (The moment you thought to make this a project about East New York?) KS: I’m a visual dude. And there was a time when most albums were themed around something visual. Not necesarilly a movie but a concept that could be seen, even if only by imagination. With the Barclay’s Center, and Adam Yauch Park, and The East New York Classic becoming one of the top 3 summer tournaments in the city, and more… Brooklyn has been a Hot Topic as of late. I figured, I’d add to it by inserting a theme based project focused on my part of Brooklyn, Brownsville/East New York. RC: Ok, Cool. Why the name LNDNWUD? KS: There’s a Diner in East New York called The Lindenwood Diner. It’s symbolic in many ways so I used that as the flag-ship for the movement. I actually, released a Trailer which gives a vivid description and background of the whole set up. RC: I’ve always past it but never eat there, I gotta try it. But moving on; what’s your favorite song on this Album? Collaboration? & Line? KS: My favorite song is probably “Blue & Green Ball” featuring Lydia Caesar and produced by DJ Static. But my favorite line is probably from Zone C and kinda sums up the mindset of the average East New Yorkian it goes: “Where I’m from it ain’t a whole lot of in-come so when it come-in it’s hard to ration out/ First chance we get to put that potato on the gas pedal we mashin’ out“ RC: Favorite moment of making this album? KS: The listening party. I have a blog www.WarriorPoetBK.com and the people who subscribe to it are my closest supporters. So when I had the project at about 70% done, I hosted a listening party where I invited the first 100 people to respond and I did it in 4 sessions of about 25 people per session. I fed them, gave out champagne and soft drinks and walked them through my entire process. I had them comment on songs and give feedback and so on. For example, the song “Church” now has organs in the track ONLY because someone at the listening party suggested it. That day was hands down, my favorite part of making this album. RC: I don’t remember gettin’ Champagne but…What do you hope people get from it? KS: A cleaner look at Urban Experience and Balance. We’re in a time where some people are keeping it way too real and a lot of stuff that people think are cute are really to our own detriment. In no way do I want to forget where I come from but I want to give people a view into the hood through a slightly different lens. A lens that is more balanced and without giving away too much of the project, I try to be that Balance. RC: Amen. Do You Censor Yourself? Did you write anything and then decide it was too much? KS: Nope. lol RC: Lol KS: I believe the home should be the ultimate place of censorship. Media is designed to push the limit. And they will push as far as society’s morals will let them. As long as the morals and ethics of our own homes are all over the place, then we can’t really hold The Media or the censoring powers accountable. RC: Hmm we’ll have to get back to that topic another day. For now let’s focus on the album. Why the decision to drop the album for free ? KS: Because I’m Kel Spencer and only those who care, care. There is a mixtape dropping every single day. There are 3 dozen videos being posted to WSHH [world Star Hip Hop] every single day. I’m blessed enough in my journey to be an emerging brand and not just a rapper. So I don’t mind positioning myself in the market place in an advantageous way that can allow me to give music away in lieu of selling the rest of my brand. There will also be some music coming that will have to be purchased but at the onset, I want to give people the option, especially since the market is so flooded. RC: You have a video discussing your feelings on giving up music? Talk about that a little and what brought that on and has feelings changed? etc. KS: Yeah, it’s called “A Hard 9″ Pause lol. And it pretty much speaks for itself. There’s creation of art and then there’s the business of art. There are certain frustrations that come with the business of art and I’m not so sure that I want to deal with those things for much longer. I have a plan that I will finish but while working this plan, I will make my decision on my next step. RC: Ok, I know those frustrations well! You’r keepin’ it pretty vague. What’s Next For You? KS: I think I just answered that, my dear lol!! Well, I’m looking forward to what being a BET Music Matters artist means. I want to see what this will be about. And I’ve played a couple of roles in films that will be in film festivals this year so I can’t wait to see how that will play out. And my Pens Of Power program is growing and there are some dope writers and poets and emcees coming out of that as well so I’m just Blessed and looking forward to growth. RC: So I hear you’re about to become a professor? Talk a little about that. KS: Yes. I was approached by 2 schools here in NY to teach Hip Hop Linguistics and The business of Hip Hop. That should be dope. It was the growth of my Pens Of Power program that attracted their eye and it feels good that someone at my age is respected enough by decision makers in education to play that type of role. I’m feeling good about it. Hit Here to download the entire new album LNDNWUD for free or buy the deluxe edition ►