JumpinJack AJ

This is definitely a crowning moment for the forum. To think that the seed for this was planted in the mid-90's is pretty crazy. I wish there was time for more of our questions, but I'm glad he hit a few of them. I was happy to hear one of my questions asked, but I was even happier to hear it answered. He gave a great introspective answer on that. I actually inspired me with something I'm dealing with right now. ...crazy. I love that he really gets what the website and forum is all about. Tim has done an amazing job over the years and there's been dozens of amazing people who've contributed to the site and graced the message boards. This is a dope moment in the website's history.

After Earth was released on DVD today. Regardless of the bad press it got, they didn't cut corners on the DVD and Blu-Ray. Forgive me if this was already shared, but here's the special features... DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: *A Father's Legacy - Jaden and Will on and off screen *1,000 Years In 300 Seconds - On Location with the Cast and Crew *The Nature of The Future - Explore the beautiful landscapes where After Earth was filmed BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES: *Alternate Opening - A never before seen version o fthe films opening sequence, created using state-of-the-art animation *Building a World - A glimpse into the creation of After Earth universe *The Animatics of After Earth - Never-before-seen storyboards and animatics *Pre-Visualizing the Future - A newt-generation approach to action sequences TARGET has an exclusive version of the DVD + BLU-RAY combo with a third disc with an all new motion comic called "After Earth: Innocence. As you would assume, it's at good sales prices since it just came out, and it won't cheaper for a couple of years. I think the fans need to support this movie that was unfairly trashed by buying it while it's newly released!

PMD - Symphony 2013 New Business (2013)

TLC "Meant To Be" 20 (2013) Everyone, leave me alone. I'm going to listen to this song non-stop for the next week.

Here's the new TLC song that will be on the TLC "20" album that drops next Tuesday, November 15th. It's produced and penned by Ne-Yo (you can hear him join them on the hook). While I'd love to hear something a little grittier or more wild, this polished, slick R&B track is PERFECT to accompany the movie.

He's been mentioning it at the bottom of his Warrior Poet emails. Click on the link below and you'll see that he'll have new music out next month! http://warriorpoetbk.com/warriorpoet-my-squad-pt-1/

Haven't you been following him? He has new music coming soon! He's mentioned it his semi-recent emails. Which reminds me, I haven't received on from him in a while.

SMOOTH - Way Back When (self-titled) 1995 / A Thin Line Between Love and Hate Soundtrack (1994) When it comes to talent vs. success/legacy, Smooth is the most underrated female emcee ever.

Let me just say that I'm STILL lovin' this mix. I play it loud in the car and I feel like I'm in a time warp. The "Get Lucy" half is fresh and new, while hearing "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" takes me back to 16 years ago when I was driving around in this same east coast autumn weather.

I've actually wanted to create a post where we compile all of the times JJ+FP got shout outs, either on wax or in "thank yous." It happened more often in "thank yous" than it did in people's music. JJ+FP seemed pretty alienated from the rest of Jive. They stayed to themselves pretty much. Mr. Lee is the only artist on Jive I recall working with them. Imagine if JJ+FP did an album between 1994 and 1998 while on Jive. I could easily see them making good music with A Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One, Aaliyah, R. Kelly, Smooth, or Joe.

DIGITAL UNDERGROUND - Wussup Wit The Luv The Body-Hat Syndrome (1993) This is one of my favorite jams...it's been ages since I've heard it, Money B, Shock G, and 2Pac bring it. The production is FLAWLESS.

1. What is something Jeff from 2013 would tell Jeff from 1986? 2. Any chance he'll make his classic mixtapes available on his website (The Vibe I'm On, The Originals, etc)? 3. If he had the chance to make a cameo in any of Will's movies, which one would it be? What role would he want? 4. If he had a chance to work with any of Hip-Hop/R&B's deceased, who would it be?

Scyhigh, welcome back! That videos is kind of amusing. It's funny who surprises when you see unexpected JJ+FP fans showing their true colors.

JIVE Records was dope to me. There's always a downside when you mix business with art, but JIVE let the artists really be artists. Everything from the music, to the photography and music videos, to promotion. JIVE will always be one of the greatest (maybe right after Def Jam). Before they started dipping into pop music in 1997/1998, they had the best Hip-Hop and R-N-B acts. Everything from the big names JJ+FP, R. Kelly, Tribe Called Quest, Aaliyah, Boogie Down Produtions, KRS-One, Joe, Too-Short, Whodini, Keith Murray, Schooly D, Soul of Mischief, Kool Moe Dee, E-40/The Click, (even Samantha Fox) to the underdogs Fu-Schnickens, Smooth, Shaq, D-Nice, Nuttin' Nyce, 2 Too Many, Millie Jackson, etc, they were all dope....and I'm totally forgetting some names here. While it was never the same when they branched out and got large, you can't deny Chris Brown, Jordin Sparks, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC/Justin Timberlake. They also put together some great soundtracks and compilation albums.

RAHEEM DEVAUGHN - Ridiculous A Place Called Love Land (2013) This might be the best R-N-B album of the year.

I love it! Plus you can download it for free here by clicking "Buy."

RENT (Movie Cast) - La Vie Boheme RENT Movie Soundtrack (1996/2005) This isn't the version I'm listening to, but hey...

NAS - One Love Illmatic (1994)

Club MTV was mostly people in a huge studio/club dancing to current music. It was MTV's version of Soul Train with brighter lights, more TVs, and MTV top 20 hits playing for a broader audience. Often times they'd work short clips of the music video into the program. They often had music performances and I feel like JJ+FP was on it during And In This Corner... It ran from 1985ish to 1992. It stemmed a tour featuring Paula Abdul, Tone Loc, and Milli Vanilli. Cathy Dennis dropped out of the tour when one of the guys from Milli Vanilli sexually harassed her. The show also sparked the MTV Party To Go albums. In 1992 MTV abruptly cancelled it, partly because they stopped supporting club/dance artists so strongly. The same year (and through 1997), the ran The Grind, which was essentially the same show but with one of the Real World guys hosting it and a closer focus on urban music, rather than club music. It was a bit racier than Soul Train, featuring sexier dance moves and occasionally "up skirt" shots...lol Around 2005 VH1 ran a Club MTV marathon, saying new episodes would be taped, but that never happened.

I have this on VHS somewhere when I recorded it off TV. This is one of those songs that was a legit hit at the time, but hasn't been remembered for being as big as it was.

BECKAH SHAE + MONTELL JORDAN - Hope Scripture Snacks: Volume 1 (2011) The first 2 and a half minutes is them building this song, followed by the actual song.

JESSICA SIMPSON - Loving You In This Skin (2003)

I feel that circumstance, busyness, and stress in recent years have robbed me of one of my greatest qualities. Being positive. It's a priority for me to return to state I once was at, and I other may needs to do the same, so I'm sharing this. I'm hoping it might connect with some of you. I got this from http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6106/5-Positive-Ways-to-Start-Your-Day.html. 5 Positive Ways to Start Your Day By Belinda Anderson September 13, 2012 1:00 PM EDT We go to sleep each night and wake up in the morning to a new day with new opportunities - a day filled with the power and freedom to choose. The minute we wake up, we can choose to get out of bed and make the most of our day or press the snooze button, roll over, pull the blankets over our head, and feel dread about the day ahead. This is nobody's choice but ours. Generally, the way we start our day influences how we feel for the rest of the day. Let's look at 5 ways we can start our day off on a positive note: 1. When you wake up in the morning, take a few minutes to check-in (go within). Take a few deep breaths and find something that you're grateful for (your children, partner, your health, the warm bed you are in, nature outside your window). Take this time to be thankful for all that you have in your life instead of wasting your energy on thinking about what you don't have. 2. Instead of pouncing straight out of bed, spend 5 to 10 minutes (or however long it takes) meditating. Simply observe your breath. Breathe in for a count of 4 to 5, allowing your belly and chest to expand, and breathe out also for a count of 4 to 5 allowing everything to drop away. Notice how your breath enters your body, notice how your breath leaves your body, and notice the little pause between each breath. This will allow you to create a sense of peace within and it will also help get you into a good head space before your feet touch the ground. 3. Take a few moments while in the shower and/or while eating breakfast just to be present. Feel the water on your skin, taste the different flavours in your food. It feels good and it's an amazing way to consciously set your energy and intention towards your day. 4. Before breakfast have large glass of water with half a lemon squeezed into it and you may even like to add some ginger or cayenne pepper. This will assist with digestion and is effective in body cleansing and detoxification - it will help get things moving. Follow this with a nutritious breakfast to kick-start your metabolism and fuel your body to face the day ahead. You have just had maybe ten to twelve hours of fasting - your body needs sustenance and is ready to be refuelled, so skipping breakfast is a big no, no! 5. Get clear about your intentions for the day. For example you can intend to have a productive day. You can intend to have quality time with your family and friends with no distractions. You can intend to have a fun and brilliant day. You can intend to have a calm and peaceful day. You can intend to learn something new or be helpful to someone. Whatever it is just be clear about what it is you want your day to be. In order to create, manifest, and attract it, you must first align your heart, mind, and spirit with your intention. In other words, you truly need to feel it! Many people don't understand the power of thoughts, because they live every day on autopilot, doing most things out of habit, and therefore they create their reality unconsciously, as if they’re wearing a blindfold. But whether we’re aware of it or not, we create our reality with our thoughts and behaviour - and this means we have the power to choose to be a conscious, mindful creator and change our reality to what we really want it to be. Remember, you choose your thoughts, you choose your behavior, you choose the outcome. And every choice you make determines how you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally. Now, let me ask you this: How do you start your day? Is it with gratification and happiness—or doom and gloom? A day is easily ruined if started by holding onto negativity and resentment. So when you wake tomorrow, ask yourself, do I want to think and act like I did yesterday, or do I choose to be a new me today?

Nas Reviews Lauryn Hill’s ‘The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill’ – XXL Issue 150 Aug 26th, '13 Artist: Lauryn Hill Reviewer: Nas Rating: XXL Anniversary: 15-year Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of XXL Magazine. I kept hearing about the album; there was a hype there, and when “Doo Wop” dropped, it was more than I expected. There’s always a void when it comes to the female MC world, and she went beyond that. It checked me as an MC because she was pure. There was no chains, no fancy cars, she checked us on all of that. On songs like “Superstar” and “Lost Ones” and “Doo Wop,” she talked to us, she went into who we were as men and women. And that was needed at the time and to this day. To me it was like the soul of Roberta Flack, the passion of Bob Marley, the essence of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and the essence of hip-hop wrapped up in one thing. All that was inside that album. When it starts and you hear the classroom and then they go on to talk about love, she’s teaching people what love is. It made me wonder, “How the hell does this person know about love the way she’s singing about it?” She sang about love and betrayal and hurt and rejoicing and happiness and joy like someone who’s been here longer than she had. It’s a timeless record, pure music. And that’s what we don’t hear anymore. She birthed her sound, and that’s timeless. She didn’t try to be cool, she was already cool. She didn’t have to fit in with any style, she was the new style, and it’s a positive style. It represents the time period—a serious moment in Black music, when young artists were taking charge and breaking through doors. It cleared the way for rap music to be what it is today. We demanded that the whole world pay attention, so the music had to be that dynamic, and she represents that. She was one of the soldiers in that mission. Before then, it was in its place. Beyond that, musically, the content—it’s an album that everyone today should listen to if they wanna make an album. No matter who you are—R&B, rap, rock, soul, whatever—you wanna make an album, I would say everyone should take a listen to this before you start working on yours. And then I’ll go beyond that. It’s a piece of work that’s needed in your deck, in your CD chamber, in your iPod. It’s one of those records that you need, like Legend like Bob Marley, or all those Stevie Wonder albums. See, we didn’t have that, our generation didn’t really have that. We had the soul of Mary J. Blige, but she was pretty much out there alone in terms of an artist who was giving you the music like that, where you can believe it and you feel it. It was the closest thing we have since our parents’ era. She was the other female that gave us the closest thing we had since our parents’ era, Stevie Wonder and all that music that we grew up listening to, no artist in our generation except Lauryn—Mary and Lauryn, as far as women we concerned—and she was doing that thing and gave us a feeling that our parents had, and made sure we didn’t miss out on the feeling. She had that for us. The album cover is her face scratched into the desk and she’s wearing dreadlocks, and she’s proud of who she is, and today I don’t see enough black women—there are lots of proud black women—but there’s so many that don’t really tap into their natural beauty. She tapped into hers and rapped about it. We were like, yo, this girl, we’re about to embark on a journey with this young woman, and we’re just gonna allow her to take us anywhere we want to go. -@Nas (as told to @Dan Rys) Subscribe to XXL Magazine

TAMAR BRAXTON - Where It Hurts Love And War (2013)