bigted

Same here

DJ Kay Slay Feat. Sheek Louch, Papoose, Bun B, Busta Rhymes, Jay Rock, and Uncle Murda "Self Destruction 2010"

That's the song that "Will 2K" sampled, classic! Slick Rick "I Wanna Rock Freestyle", the ruler's back baby!!

Yeah "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" is truely a great book, I borrowed that book a few times from my public library... Now sure hip hop's been in a negative light but it's done a lot to give the youth of the ghetto a voice in society that didn't have one...

I heard about this the other day, this is some bs, the older generation needs to give hip hop it's due in history, our youth has made a mark in society: http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/03/15/texas-board-of-education-says-hip-hop-is-not-a-cultural-movement/ The Texas State Board of Education apparently doesn't believe that hip-hop should be considered a social movement in America. They also decided to remove various areas of civil rights and global politics from their curriculum, to exchange them for conservative historic figures and beliefs. After deciding that hip-hop should not be taught as a social movement, they also agreed to remove institutional racism and its presence in American society. To make matters more interesting, they chose to eliminate important references to Latino and Hispanic figures. One Republican, Don McLeroy, tried to pass an amendment that would state that the struggle for Civil Rights led to "unrealistic expectations for equal outcomes." This amendment didn't pass. I am not sure if you agree, but there are millions who believe that hip hop is certainly a relevant cultural movement and art form. There are universities that teach classes on hip hop, including Harvard University, which is a long way from Texas geographically, socially and intellectually. Hip hop has inspired social and political change, and has been a significant voice for urban America. Not only does the voice for hip hop ring throughout America, it is a global force. When I traveled to Europe, China and Africa, I saw the presence of hip hop around almost every turn. People of color, despite what they think about commercialized hip hop, should find it offensive that such a significant art form has been ignored by the state of Texas. Additionally, the absence of Latino figures from the Texas educational system is especially embarrassing, given that they represent more than 1/3 of the Texas population. The Texas Board of Education clearly has a diversity problem, and it appears to be a case of arrogance breeding ignorance. The bickering within the Texas Board of Education reminds us of one important principle: History is taught by the victors and biased by the lens of the teacher. By pinpointing various aspects of history and selectively choosing the angle with which we present the information to our youth, we are giving ourselves a license to control their minds. When it comes to education, a liberated mind is just as important as an educated one. In fact, there are some cases in which educational institutions stand in the way of being truly educated. When you educate yourself and your children, make sure they learn what they need to know. Take them outside school walls to get the knowledge they need. If you let someone else control your child's intellectual development, you are giving up an unnecessary concession on their future.

I wasn't really too much into Ice-T when I was younger as well but really as time has gone on I have more respect for him and his place in the history of hip hop, he's one of the pioneers of the game that damn sure makes more sense than a lot of rappers

Public Enemy "Revolution"

These Are Our Heroes: Ice-T March 15, 2010 12:00:00 AM CDT by Jake Paine InterviewsThese Are Our Heroes: Ice-TMarch 15, 2010 12:00:00 AM CDT | by Jake PaineShare If anybody was born to rap, it's Ice-T. In television and in film, the way the almost 30-year Rap veteran delivers his lines, it's still rooted in cadence and conviction. The same is true when you interview him. More than most, Ice-T is a listener. He tells a mean story, but he always touches on to each facet of a question, even if it's 10 minutes later. The same appears true of Ice-T's career. As seen in Law & Order: SVU and his relationship with Coco, the O.G. is continuously evolving, but if conversation allows, he shows that he's remembered every mile in the road that brought him here. The same man who made the cassette tapes that I had to hide from my mother, now entertains her through a multi-network syndicated television show. The Home Invasion prophecy has been fulfilled, as T has achieved true and lasting Power. It might not be rhyme that pays these days, but Ice-T tells HipHopDX about new music with Immortal Technique and Canibus. He asserts that he's a Mobb Deep fanatic, and although Dr. Dre and Ice may frequently break bread together at the dinner-table, T explains why friendship is always thicker than collaboration. Although many love him for so many reasons, we forever champion this man for his risk-taking rhymes and topical, vividly-optical style. Ice-T, one of our heroes. HipHopDX: I woke up this morning and was listening to one of your early records, "Reckless." I wanted to ask you, between 1982 and 1985, you made a lot of raps to Electro beats. We can talk about your influence in Gangsta Rap in a second, but I'm curious to know what goes through Ice-T's mind when he hears this Electro resurgence on records from Black Eyed Peas and others, especially as a forefather in that movement... Ice-T: The cool thing about about Black Eyed Peas, I can't go in on them, 'cause [will.i.am] is old school, from L.A., he was originally signed to Ruthless [Records], Eazy's label. He's really from that era. Thank God that they've blown up and they're still making music now. Will's a G, he's been around - he ain't new. If you say you was signed to Ruthless, that lets you know somethin', back in the day. It's funny you mention "Reckless" and Black Eyed Peas, 'cause I was at an award show a while ago, maybe about three years ago. will.i.am walked up to me and started rappin' "Reckless"! He walked up to me and said [rhyming], "Once upon a time..." Another thing, Eminem - I've known Eminem since back in the days when he was on Warped Tour when he first started out. He told me that "Reckless" was the first Rap record he ever heard. So it meant something. I think the west coast, before it had a Hip Hop scene, it had a Techno scene. The people who were really makin' music first, out of L.A., were Uncle Jamm's Army and Egyptian Lover - those were our early-type music, before we actually started to rap like New York rappers. So you can't front on that. I spent many nights at Uncle Jamm's Army, doing the Freak to that ****. [Laughs] Gettin' it on! That whole Techno sound really started with [Afrika] Bambaataa, taking ["Trans Europe Express" by] Kraftwerk and twistin' it back. It was, basically, one of the original forms of Hip Hop - that whole Techno-Funk sound. I think Common brought it back too [with Universal Mind Control]. It is part of Hip Hop, truly. You can't get more Hip Hop than Bam and them, to front on that is to front on Soulsonic Force, and that's impossible. DX: I much prefer Electro-Pop to some of the "ringtone" Rap that has made the mainstream... Ice-T: Well, [Electro] has true origins. Hip Hop has origins in Reggae, it has origins in that Techno-Funk, but I think really, people are not so upset with the musical content as [they are] with the lyrical content. I think that's the problem. The content of Hip Hop always had something to do with life, it always had something to do with the struggle, it had something to do with the realness. Now, it's just kinda become Disco, and it's very based around "I got money." That, first off is delusional. If you listened to the records, you'd swear to God there was a Bentley on every corner, which there's not. A lot of the people rappin' about it aren't even old enough to get in the club. They're singin' about clubbin' [too]. It just misses the guts. When you start talkin' about stuff like Gang Starr, and start talkin' about [Rakim] and Big Daddy Kane and things like that, there was a soul to it. [Hip Hop today] is missing the soul. Even with Black Eyed Peas, it's great Dance music, it's great Pop, but every once in a while, they have the ability to do Soul records. They can make deep records if they want to, 'cause they've done it. You gotta show that in order to get my respect, personally. DX: I'm glad you mention Gang Starr and Rakim... one of the things Hip Hop fans love to do is argue about albums within a catalog. For instance, for years, I've argued that De La Soul Is Dead is better than 3 Feet High & Rising, or guys today might do it with T.I.'s catalog. A good debate is within your own catalog, your first album Rhyme Pays versus Power. Both of those albums did so much, and although it's your first and second LP, they're so different. What's your take on that debate? Ice-T: I think O.G. (Original Gangster) is the best. DX: Really? What makes you say that? Ice-T: Yeah. O.G. was a different type of record. Rhyme Pays was me not really believing in Rap. I was rappin', but I didn't really believe you could paid. You gotta remember, nobody had ever bought a car off Rap at that time. So I was kinda makin' the record, but I didn't really believe I'd be accepted. Nobody had ever blown from the west coast. I wasn't arrogant enough to think that I was gonna blow. I just made a record, and I just did my thing. I was kinda overwhelmed with the success of Rhyme Pays. So my focus wasn't power. Power was me saying, "Oh wow, people are listenin' to this ****." That's where the whole concept of Power came [from]. If you listen to Rhyme Pays, you've got interesting records on it. You've got crime-rhymes like "Drama," "6 In The Mornin'," but still, I wasn't paid, I did have my street money, but I didn't have that arrogance that you need to be a real powerful rapper. To rap, you've gotta think you're the **** - I mean, "I don't give a ****!" [Laughs] By Power, I came back and was like, "Yo, you motha****as are listening. So let me drop some knowledge." But when I went to O.G., that album was meant to be the first Rap double album - 25 songs. Before that, all Rap albums had 10 songs. But Warner [brothers] wouldn't let me release it as a double album, so I had to kinda compress it and make it into one really thick single album. I think O.G. has all the best of Ice-T. It has the political, it has the gangsta, it has the stories, the sex ****, it's got all my best vibes. You get the full picture of me on that album. DX: It's funny, because let's step away from the music for a second. Of all rappers in history, you probably have the most interesting and provocative cover art. O.G. might be your favorite album, but it has arguably your least interesting cover... Ice-T: The trip to the O.G. album [cover] is, you might see me as this thug, or you might see me as this guy in a tux - they're both me. Kinda like right now today. Okay, I'm on Law & Order, and you see me as this other guy. But I'm that dude in them shackles [as seen on O.G.], regardless. So it's like, don't get the images twisted. It's me saying, "Regardless of how I look, I'm the same person." The Power album cover, the concept of that was: you have three powers. You have the power of sex: which is the first thing you see - Darlene in the bathing suit. Then you have the power of weapons. Then, the final power is the power of deception. If you read The Art of War, that's the ultimate power. The fact that we had guns [hidden, as revealed on on the back cover], and you were worrying about [Darlene on the front cover]. I grew up buying George Clinton albums and stuff, and you would look at the album cover while you listened to the record. It would be an experience. You're reading the liner notes. Back in the day, rappers used to put "Special Thanks" on their records and name every motha****a. Every rapper would go to the other rapper's record to see if he got shouted out. One of my biggest things that ever happened to me was Big Daddy Kane, on his Long Live The Kane album, I got the first "Special Thanks" because me and Kane had been hangin' tough that year, travelin' and tourin', doin' promotion. I got in his head and he respected that. I was like, "Wow! Kane gave me special thanks, first!" I still talk about that ****! [Laughs] It meant something. Now, in the days of iTunes, and the bull****, nobody cares about the ****in' album covers. It's Pen & Pixel bull****. They don't really mean nothing. DX: I'm a little younger, so though it's not one of your more popular albums, the first record of yours I bought was Ice-T VI: Return of the Real. You might not hear it about that album much, but **** changed my life. Ice-T: The record you're talking about Ice-T VI: Return of the Real, was meant to look like a novel. Everybody said, "Oh, your ****'s so theatrical. It's like a book." So if you put that on a paperback cover, the Roman numerals with the bullet-holes in 'em, that's what it was meant to look like. DX: As you talk about covers, can you settle a bet I had with some of my colleagues. Your most recent Gangsta Rap album cover - and I genuinely liked that album regardless of what anybody says, was that cover at all inspired by the famous John Lennon and Yoko Ono photograph of them in bed? Ice-T: Nah, never saw that. DX: Damn. I lost the bet. Ice-T: I never saw Yoko Ono's picture. I heard about it afterwards. That was inspired by me, actually laying in my bed and just saying, "I'm a fly motha****a!" [bursts out laughing] On some real-talk ****! If you notice, I've got the pistol on the counter. The pistol isn't on the counter, but it's in that dresser. That's really my bed. I was kinda thinkin' to myself, "Really, what's more gangsta?" Going back to the Superfly movies and **** - you've got your bad bitch, you laid up in the bed, butt-naked with your pistol. Bam. **** standing in front of cars. Nigga, that's the end of the game! That's the final level, [the name of my company]. That's where you're trying to be. Coco was like, "**** it. Let's do it." A lot of people take pictures sittin' on the toilet. I was like, "Aiight, I'ma take one in the bed, like I gives a ****." DX: It certainly worked. Recently, I watched WC's DVD Bandanna Swangin' and there was a really cool sequence of you and him talking about the Rhyme Syndicate/Low Profile days. When you look at WC or Everlast or even King T, your ear for enduring talent rivals that of any rapper that ever had a label. Can you speak on how you look back at those years and your ear for that that? Ice-T: The Hip Hop in L.A. comes from a small tree. It's either the [Rhyme] Syndicate or N.W.A. or Delicious Vinyl [Records]. So if you're part of N.W.A., that's Snoop [Dogg] and that's Daz [Dillinger] and all that which came. [ice] Cube is part of N.W.A., so the people that branched out from him, Mack 10 and all them. Then you've got Delicious Vinyl, which is basically Tone-Loc and Young MC. Then you've got Syndicate, who actually had [DJ] Muggs, who was in 7A3, who ended up being Cypress Hill. One of the kids from T.D.F., off the [Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through] album is Tim Story, he directed The Fantastic Four and [Rise of the] Silver Surfer and all that. The Syndicate was basically Zulu Nation west coast. I took the philosophy that Bam gave me, which was "We all goin' in the same direction, so we shouldn't compete," - unless one of us is a bitch. Let's all help each other. So before it all becomes a war, let's start organizations within organizations. The trick with the Syndicate is, I was not the leader, I was the founder. All those groups had their bosses. Whether it was Low Profile with Dub and [DJ] Aladdin or whether it was T.D.F. or whether it was Everlast. I was not Everlast's boss, but we agreed to sit at a table and talk versus beef. That's all it was. You can tell who's talented. Everlast was a motha****a. When I first met him, Divine Styler was connected to Everlast. Divine Styler's a beast, and he was connected through Bilal [bashir]. I was the first rapper on in L.A., one of 'em, and people would come to [me]. I'd say, "I'll help you. I'll do what I can." I just told everybody, "Just be yourself. Don't sound like nobody else." When I met Everlast, he kinda sounded like Rakim. I was like, "Yeah. Yeah. That's okay, but don't sound like him. Sound like you. You sound good." People don't tend to like their own voice. He went on to do his thing. Peace to House of Pain; I just seen La Coka Nostra out there. DX: And I want to talk to you about King Tee, another of my heroes. Ice-T: He was [Notorious B.I.G.'s] favorite ****in' emcee! Let's go there. Biggie said, when he came to L.A. They're very similar. [Laughs] DX: King T, besides Spoonie Gee's "cheeba, cheeba, y'all" is one of the first emcees to rhyme about smokin' weed. Ice-T: He had a thing he used to make rhymes, he called it the "drunk technique." He had to be the right amount of drunk to get on the mic. If he got too drunk, he couldn't spit. If he wasn't drunk enough, it wouldn't came out. Sometimes it would take days to get to the right focus point. [Laughing] How I met Teela was, my first record that I made outside of "Reckless" was on a label called Techno-Hop. That was owned by Unknown DJ. When we was gettin' ready to make records, I had made records with ElectroBeat or some bull****-ass garage record, but then I started ****in' with Unknown. Unknown had a studio in his crib. At the time, Unknown had King T and Compton's Most Wanted. So all of them was in the same camp. I didn't get to meet [MC] Eiht till later, but since Teela had the same initial, we just became friends. That's my style. If we're gonna be on the same label, we might as well click-up. We had mutual friends. At one point, ask Teela, we lived in the same apartment building. That nigga was doing St. Ide's commercials. I had an apartment full of furniture and a girl, my **** was laid [out]. Teela's house had nothin' but a refrigerator full of St. Ide's. And Xzibit, the whole Alkaholiks, Tash, Phil Da Agony, all of 'em, they'd be laid out on the floor of his house. That's where The Alkaholiks were born, right there. 'Cause E. Swift was doin' all the deejaying for King T, and **** was like a flop-house. **** was crazy. [Laughs] DX: When I speak to Marc Live, Smooth The Hustler or Grand Daddy I.U. over the years, artists really champion both your loyalty and your friendship --- Ice-T: You know what it is, dude? I'ma tell you. I've always been able to get my own money. So I don't angle you for money. So if me and you become friends, you either gonna be my friend or not. I don't hang around cats that I don't like [in hopes] that I'll make a record with 'em or somethin'. If you look at my catalog, I've never made a record with any big artists on my albums. I always used cats that were around me, unknown cats. I never said, "Ooh, he's hot. Let me run over here, have somebody call him, I want to perform with him." That's corny to me. I rather **** with people I **** with. With me, friendship is first. If we're not gonna be friends, I ain't ****in' with ya. At all. I don't get around a lot of guys who lie on records either. That's why I'm cool with Smoothe [Da Hustler], or Kool Keith, who really is insane. [Laughs] I know Smoothe and Trigga [The Gambler], I know how they get down, so we not goin' in there lyin'. I can't go sit up with a bunch of guys talkin' about bustin' guns and they don't do it. I try to **** with just the real cats. I have friendships with Dr. Dre, Shaquille O'Neal, Wesley Snipes, Quincy Jones, all these people that are doing things...and people say, "Why don't you ever ask Dre [for a beat]?" I say, nah. That ain't our friendship. I can go out with Cube and have dinner. We don't have to talk about Rap. DX: It's cool to know though, when you go on tour, and fans go to an Ice-T show, from the first act to the last, it's only artists you truly like, admire and believe in. I wish that more people in your position were doing the same thing. Ice-T: Motha****as is tryin' to get paid. So they'll do whatever. They'll ask their manager, "Who's the hottest? I want to be on the song with them." I worked with Slayer, but that was that a project [after they expressed interest] in working with me. You God damned right I'm goin' to get down with Slayer. My thing is, I can make a ****in' Rap record by myself. I don't need to be on a record with somebody I don't like. There's people I've just recently worked with. I've worked with Immortal Technique. I'm a record with Canibus. Those are people I admire. Then again, I have friends I admire that I've never recorded with, like Busta Rhymes, and I never recorded with Mobb Deep. I'm the biggest Mobb Deep fan in the world. I just did a record with M.O.P., well really, just me and Billy Danze. To me, music is supposed to be fun. I look at it like old Jazz musicians in a room jammin'. The only people allowed in that room is cool motha****as. You don't just come and pick up the horn. DX: You talked about King T. I always said that you and him had the coolest cars of any rapper. He had the old school Impalas and Cadillacs, you had - what was that, a Ferrari Mondial on one joint. Of all the cars you've owned, what was the one car you wish you never got rid of? Ice-T: [Laughs] Damn! I don't know. I had a feeling about cars. It's like, you get your fun out of them, then you move on. Probably my Bentley. I had bought a Rolls [Royce], and then I traded the Rolls in for a Bentley. I remember when Jay-Z came to L.A., I took Jay-Z for a ride in it. That might've been his first Bentley. It was a bi-turbo with the red piping and all that, that **** was hard. People didn't understand it. They used to come to my Bentley and say, "What's the matter with your Rolls? It got a 'B' on it." Niggas couldn't get it; they thought I had a fake Rolls. I always try to stay ahead of the curve, maybe 'cause I was lil' older, or maybe 'cause I was comin' from whole 'nother culture of players and hustlers that always wanted to have something that nobody else had. That was our whole thing - to be up on some different clothes or some different watch. "Aw man, what is that?" "Oh, you've never seen this before, have you?" Then would I'd turn you onto it and somebody else asked you, you'd say, "Oh, Ice introduced me to that. I know about that now." Players love to give compliments, man. We're not haters. I want to tell you how fly you look, how them sneakers is lookin' good, and I might have to get some of them, man. I like how you wearin' that. That's always been my philosophy of being a player. As a gangsta, you can turn the P into a G. Quick. But the thing of it is, what makes a gangster is the peace that the player seeks. The player wants peace. And the worst person you can **** with is a man that's trying to be peaceful. Really, my gangster is based on your actions. I'm not a thug. I'm not gonna push up on you. We can kick back and have fine foods and drinks and talk **** and yell at hoes or whatever, but if drama occurs, I got that too. [Laughs] That's what it is. I don't miss cars. I still got cars on my list I want to get. I want a Bugatti. But I need a livingroom I can park it in. [Laughs] DX: Pre-Internet, I heard a bootleg tape of you and Tupac Shakur doing a parody duet of Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond's "You Don't Send Me Flowers." It was filmed in the last year of his life. Obviously, it's a light-hearted moment, but it's something I still watch again. How do you look back on that? Ice-T: [Laughs] That was funny, right? The thing of it is, I have a different relationship with Tupac than most of these people do. A lot of people, you talk about 'Pac, it's like talking about Jesus. They have such reverance for 'Pac. I'd known him since he was in Digital Underground. I remember when he used to carry records for Shock G. So I know 'Pac, the little homie. I rapped on ["Last Wordz" from Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.]. His rise was incredible. He was like, "I'm gonna rap" to "I'm tryin' to rap" to "rap" to "like Jesus." He just shot over me into this other stratosphere. See, he could go deep. That's the key to rappin' is to be able to go deep. Anyway, we were both scheduled to be on [The Roseanne Barr Show] and we knew it was a comedy show. We were booked separately. [There's] another skit too, where this lady talks about hittin' us with the water-hose. It's funny as hell. So it's like when you go on Mad TV, you know you're gonna be asked to do comedy skits. I think the fact that 'Pac knew me, it was okay. Do you understand? I think if he didn't know me and I was another rapper, I don't think he'd have been able to shed the skin and have fun. We had a good time, we laughed and ****. The homies laughed. It was fun. Plus, we're both actors. We know it's a gag, we know the role: two thugs singin' "You Don't Send Me Flowers." [Laughs] It was just so stupid. But I didn't realize how important it was gonna be to see my dude. I went through a lot stuff with 'Pac, when he was going at Biggie, and me tryin' to chill him out and calm him down, all that kinda ****. It's interesting to see that [footage]. He's a very interesting guy, very multi-dimensional. I think he was different to different people, I think that's what it was. To me, he was always very humble and cool. I was the big homie. I always had that. DX: When it comes to lyrics about hustling, you are the pioneer. Recently, I've been listening to a lot of Young Jeezy. His lyrics can be extremely simple, but there's so much inspirational wisdom and truth there. That's something you gave us, with a much more competitive, sophisticated lyrical approach in the '80s. The Rap community embraces Jeezy as "the realest," but I'm sure you were shunned for doing and saying a lot of those same things, then. Can you speak on that? Ice-T: I like [Young] Jeezy. When I first heard him say, in ["Soul Survivor"], "Oh God, please don't let me go to jail tonight," I felt it! The invincible **** don't work. Like I say in "The O.G.," "I throw ya in the joint, you'll be comin' out feet-first." That humbleness to the streets, that "I can get got, anything can happen" that, to me, is realism. I heard that in Jeezy's voice. He's struggling with the streets. Now he's struggling with being famous in the streets, which is even another dilemna. I'm writing a book about that, which is called Transitions, which the life of somebody comin' from a straight street life, street values to the legitimate world, which is sometimes even more cut-throat. When I first came up, I was too hard. I was cursing. [DJ] Kool Herc didn't like the fact that I cursed. In New York, they didn't have the hardcore ****. When I started doing the gangsta ****, nobody was doin' it. The only person in New York, they had a group called Mob Style, with a kid named Pretty Tony. They were the first New York rappers to go hard, to go into gangsta ****. Later on, Big and everybody followed suit. It was kinda like not-Hip Hop. Bam had based Hip Hop on so much peace and unity and you had to rap about partyin'. Then I kinda added the guns and the drugs [and] there was some raised eyebrows. Like, "Is this okay?" My explanation, "I can't rap about that, 'cause I'm from L.A. L.A. doesn't have a Hip Hop culture, we got a gang culture, and I can only rap about my own life." If you listen to the words of "O.G.," that's the story. [Rhymes] "Ten years ago, I used to listen to rappers flow / Talk about the way they rocked the mic at the disco / I liked how that **** was goin' down / Dreamt about rippin' the mic with my own sound / So I tried to write rhymes, somethin' like them / My boys said 'That ain't you Ice, you just sound like them.' / So I sat back / Thought up a new track / Didn't fantasize, kicked the pure facts / Motha****as got scared / 'Cause they was unprepared / Who would tell it how it really was, who dared? / A young nigga from the west coast, L.A. / South Central, fool, where the Crips and the Bloods play / When I wrote it at parties, it didn't fit / '6 In The Mornin',' that was the real ****." That's the story. Also, on The Seventh Deadly Sin, there's a record called "God Forgive Me," and it's about the invention of Gangsta Rap. It's me about me begging God to forgive me, like the Devil is taking me to Hell for it. [Laughs] It's me, Poppa LQ, and SLEDJ on there. DX: As you recite these rhymes verbatim, you have a lot in your discography. With all that you have going on now in acting, books, etc., when you go on tour, and there's a kid in the front row screaming for something, say a deep cut. Do you usually know the lyrics? Ice-T: Uh,...no. [Laughs] I can remember the ones I perform at my show. I still do spot-gigs. If it's in my set, I know 'em. Some of the songs I haven't done in years. What I'll do is, I'll take the CD, if we're gonna add it to the set and I'll rehearse. Like anybody else, you rehearse, you practice. Remember it. Even right before I go on stage, I have a CD with every song I'm gonna perform that night. I'll be in the hotel room, gettin' ready, and I'll put the CD on and I'll rap the whole show - just to have the words correctly. You're a rapper, you can't **** up! You can't **** up! You'll draw a blank on "Colors." There's people on stage sprayin' champagne, people slippin', slidin', bitches jumpin' on stage. You'll just draw a blank. You know what I do? Here's my trick: there's always a kid in the front that knows every word to your record. DX: Put the mic in his face. Ice-T: Yeah, or he's a human tele-prompter. [Laughs] I'll lip-read him and I'll get back on track. It doesn't happen often, but if it does happen, the next show it won't. You'll be so pissed. Sometimes, I'll alternate verses. I could be performing ["Girls L.G.B.N.A.F."] and [i'll confuse] the third verse with the first verse. There's too much goin' on. [Laughs] I try to keep that to a minimum. DX: Last question, as we talk about verses. What's your proudest verse? Not favorite. Proudest Ice-T: Wow. That's hard. I'm actually doing a movie called The Art of Rap, these sound like some of my questions. [Pauses] I don't really know. ****. In "Power," I have a rhyme that explains my style absolutely to the tee. I always bring that up. The first verse. [Rhymes] "I'm livin' large as possible / Posse's unstoppable / My style is topical / Vividly optical / Listen, you'll see 'em / Sometimes I'll be 'em / Cops, critics and punks never, ever want to me in power." That's about the simplest breakdown of the Ice-T style. [Repeats verse] "Sometimes I'll be 'em," that's "Cop Killer." That wasn't me, I played that person. That's the breakdown of the Ice-T technique.

Yeah enjoy yourself bro, that sounds like an adventure of a lifetime!

Eric B. & Rakim "Put Your Hands Together"

Happy B-Day Maxfly, enjoy this one!

Iverson going through ‘tough times’ Mar 9, 12:29 am EST PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Exiled Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson(notes) says he’s experiencing “tough times” a week after it was decided he would not return to the team and his wife filed for divorce. Iverson posted four messages Monday night on his Twitter account telling fans he expected to overcome the most recent obstacles in his life. Other Popular Sports StoriesObama attends brother-in-law's game Is perfect season in NFL getting easier? Ranking the decade's best World Series “To my fans: You all know that my life isn’t perfect. I am going through some very tough times right now, like I am sure that we all do from time to time,” Iverson wrote. “However, I will stand tall like always with ‘rhino’ thick skin.” Iverson had been mostly absent from the 76ers for a month, returning to Atlanta to be with his family as they deal with an undisclosed illness of his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah. Iverson and the Sixers decided last Tuesday he would not return for the rest of the season. The former NBA MVP and four-time scoring champion averaged 13.8 points in 28 games this season. He started the season with Memphis but only played three games before he announced a short-lived retirement. Tawanna Iverson filed for divorce the same day. She said their 8 1/2 -year marriage is “irretrievably broken,” in papers filed in Fulton County Superior Court. She asked for full custody of the couple’s five children, child support and alimony. The youngest child is 17 months old and the oldest is 15. Allen Iverson said on Twitter it hurt to hear stories about his personal life that aren’t true. “Even though I have become used to hearing people say things about me that aren’t true, it still hurts,” Iverson wrote. “I encourage you to continue your ongoing support and I want you to trust that this is another obstacle in my life that, with God’s help I will overcome.”

Keith Sweat "In The Rain"

LL Cool J Feat. Lyfe Jennings "Freeze"

James Brown "The Funky Drummer" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7T4v2l-PIg

Yeah I was reading about that on Yahoo.com recently, dude's life falling apart

Big Daddy Kane "The Day You're Mine" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RObOyHodMhg

It's sad to see the way that things turned out for Iverson getting released from the 76ers because his daughter has an illness, hopefully things are gonna be turning around for the better for his life

Well like Turntable originally mentioned Lil' Wayne puts out a lot of quanity but not enough quality, it reminds me of when 50 Cent shot a video for every one of his songs off that weak "The Massacre" album

I personally think Big Pun's "Capital Punishment" is a lil' better than "Endangered Species" and that Dr. Dre "The Chronic"'s more of a masterpiece than "2001", I also think "The Master"'s Rakim's worst album which tells you he's the G.O.A.T. 'cause he kills mcs when he's at his worst, I'd also mention Eric B. & Rakim "Follow The Leader" album among the classics, I've been playing that a lot lately, but what a list Turntable, you really musta been digging through your album collection there like Visqo said... I got some more classic albums that should be mentioned: Heavy D & The Boyz "Blue Funk", "Big Tyme", & "Nuttin' But Love" Slick Rick "The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick", "The Ruler's Back" & "The Art Of Storytelling" Big Daddy Kane "Long Live The Kane", "It's A Big Daddy Thing", & "Veteranz Day" MC Hammer "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em", "Too Legit To Quit", & "The Funky Headhunter" Kool Moe Dee "How Ya Like Me Now" & "Funkee Funkee Wisdom" Ice-T "Power" & "Rhyme Pays" Tribe Called Quest "The Low End Theory" & "Midnight Maurdaurers" Salt-N-Pepa "Very Necessary" & "Hot, Cool, & Vicious" Queen Latifah "Black Reign" & "Order In The Court" Naughty By Nature "Naughty By Nature" & "Poverty's Paradise" Kid-N-Play "Face The Nation" & "Kid-N-Play's Funhouse"

Joe "The Love Scene"

I'm down to do best hip hop albums, I got some to start off with: JJFP "He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper" & "Code Red" Nas "Illmatic" & "God's Son" LL Cool J "Mama Said Knock You Out" & "G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith" DMX "It's Dark & Hell Is Hot" & "And Then There Was X" Public Enemy "It Takes A Nation Of Millions" & "There's A Poison Going On" Wyclef Jean "The Carnival" & "The Masquerade" KRS ONE/Boogie Down Productions "Criminal Minded" & "Return Of The Boom Bap" NWA "Straight Outta Compton" Ice Cube "Lethal Injection" & "Laugh Now, Cry Later"

I appreciate all the birthday wishes y'all, I've been enjoying it so far, and Happy Birthday Luigie!!

Alicia Keys "Sweet Music"(music video on the "Glory Road" DVD I got for my birthday from my parents)

This is very encouraging news here, Gangstarr is shining example of a legendary hip hop group