bigted

Happy B-Day Wildchild, Enjoy It Bro! :wickedwisdom:

Well I'm personally not gonna stop being a fan of Will but that doesn't mean I have to like everything he does either, time will tell what's gonna happen

Shaq's not on the level of KRS or Will but I'd personally rather hear from him than a lot of other rappers out on the radio, his raps are fun, Kobe sucks anyway so I think he deserved it too.

:yeahthat: There are a lot of great musicians who do music at age 70 and beyond, the true artists don't stop what they love to do... Besides "Lost and Found" did very well for record sales these days and anytime really, how many other artists could go platinum or gold with every single album, that's very hard to do, not many do that, if 30 million record sales over 20+ years ain't good enough then what the hell is, for him to disregard his rapping career like that is a slap to us music fans and that's why we're mad, I want him to clarify that statement myself, it pisses me off really... I agree with Tim's point about how Will could do both effectively if he wanted to, he could put out the top album and movie of the year in the same year, it's been done in '93 so why can't it be done again, Will's great at both rapping and acting so why should he have to stop either

Shaq got at Kobe hard there, way to kick him while he's down :stickpoke:

This song's great, Saigon is the truth

This song is fire, check it http://allhiphop.com/stories/multimedia__m...3/20196502.aspx

Producer wraps life lessons into music Thursday, June 19, 2008 BY JEFFERY C. MAYS Star-Ledger Staff In a small recording studio in a Newark public housing community center, hip-hop legend Eric Barrier advises an aspiring performer how to improve the verse of a song. When nothing had changed by the fourth take, his 19-year-old student, Rahman Henderson, grew frustrated. Barrier, a record producer who is half of the duo Eric B & Rakim, picked up a set of headphones and walked into the booth. "When you make records you gotta think about what's going to be happening at the concert," Barrier told Henderson. Later, he said he was less concerned with Henderson's verse than teaching lessons about following directions, learning from others and pushing yourself to make good into great. "Kids have this resistance to listening to adults and authority, period. He didn't understand all the ins and outs of recording, but he thought he knew everything. He was hard-headed," Barrier said about Henderson. "I'm out to teach more life lessons than recording." Barrier, 40, hopes to impart those lessons through the studio program he's running with the Newark Housing Authority. Operating out of The Clubhouse on Irvine Turner Boulevard, the studio is equipped with professional equipment. In addition to singers, rappers and producers, the free program is looking for Newark students and housing authority residents ages 13 to 19 who want to learn all aspects of the music industry. "We are using this as a trap to get them off the streets and to go to school and college," Barrier said. Before his hip-hop career took off, and while working as a disc jockey at a local radio station, Barrier, a native of Queens, New York, would sneak into LaGuardia Community College to sit in on classes. "I was just trying to learn," said Barrier, who wanted to be a dentist. Barrier's ability to sample and scratch old James Brown beats and Rakim's intricate rhymes gained him recognition as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Then came the international stardom associated with hits like "Eric B for President" and "Paid in Full." Eric B & Rakim traveled the world, from Frankfurt and Russia to Japan and Dubai. Though Barrier, a father of five, never made it to college, he calls his years of traveling and learning the music business a first-hand education The duo produced four successful albums before they split in 1993. There are no plans for a reunion. Barrier said he regrets some of the time he didn't get to spend with his kids. "This is what I'm doing now and it feels good," said Barrier who owns a home in Essex County. Despite his status, some of the kids Barrier works with aren't sure who he is. They look him up on the internet or ask their parents, who often come to the studio in half disbelief. "Then they think I'm important," he said. The idea for the program gelled a couple of years ago when he was talking to Keith Sheppard, a former homicide detective with the Newark Police Department, who now works for the Inspector General's office. The pair knew one another from Sheppard's days as security for Newark native, rapper and actress Queen Latifah. Barrier heard about the authority's plan for a studio through Rahaman Muhammad, president of Service Employees International Union Local 617. Muhammad suggested Barrier to Newark Housing Authority Executive Director Keith Kinard. "Our thought was we wanted to do something creative and challenging because not everyone wants to play basketball or box," Kinard said. "Eric B understands the music business from every angle and he also understands this isn't just about music, but being successful in life and making positive choices." Barrier decided to name the program the Keith Sheppard Studios to honor the source of his inspiration. "It blew me away. I almost fainted," Sheppard said. "It's amazing that a guy like Eric B that can be anywhere with his experience is here to give back." Barrier said he has the connections to help the talented kids he finds through the program. There are already a few who have real musical potential, but his focus is on getting kids to consider college and the business side of music. "You might not be the greatest rapper or singer, but the businessman always outlasts the talent. That's what I teach them," said Barrier, who hopes to expand his program to other cities after it is fully established in Newark. Noah Lynch, a 21 year-old sound producer and engineer, is working with Barrier on the program. A graduate of Arts High School, Lynch earned a bachelor's degree in business entertainment from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, where he learned how to operate a studio and other business skills. Top notch engineers can earn $150 per hour. "I tell kids you can go anywhere in the country and use your credentials," Lynch said. "You can do this for as long as you want." After ending his first session in a professional studio, Henderson appreciated Barrier's efforts. "It's like someone trying to direct and mold you," he said.

I think Kev hit it on the nail there, Will's gonna be more honest with the fans than he's gonna be with the media, I'm more optimistic that he's gonna release somethin' new now that he told Kev's he's gonna

Father MC is one of the more underrated rappers, he got a smooth flow, Nas shouted him out on "Where Are They Now?", that song's like a rap history lesson

Now LL's the defination of consistancy, like I was trying to explain in that Lil' Wayne platinum thread is that the difference between him and rappers like Lil' Wayne is evident, it don't matter how much the garbage rappers sell or how long they've rapped they'll never match LL's quality

LL has proved everyone wrong once again, he took his time with getting everything ready, putting out a great mixtape that's gonna lead to another great album, props for posting this video, this is real heat

Cool pics sounds like y'all had fun

I'm bumping this up now 'cause I just listened to the whole mixtape and I gotta say this is some of the best stuff that I've heard in quite a while, LL's really giving it to all the haters and sucka mcs :fencing: , this is that real hip hop :yeahthat:

Who really gives a damn how much he sold, he's garbage, he won't be around much longer to have a 20+ year career like Will, KRS, LL, Rakim, and the legends

Bumping this up so nobody misses it, it's a great read from the legendary mc

I was just listening to the tracks that Turntable posted I have to say I'm definately hyped for this album now! :wickedwisdom:

http://allhiphop.com/stories/features/arch...7/20137911.aspx Blastmaster KRS-One: Flow Forever Published Tuesday, June 17, 2008 2:30 PM By Matthew Kantor KRS-One is arguably the most powerful voice ever heard in Hip-Hop, as far as both his literal voice and in his ability to move people. For evidence, check him out while he shouts “Jesus was an African” on the 1991 Boogie Down Productions release Live Hardcore Worldwide amidst a slew of the hardest BDP anthems. Still a busy man, KRS recently dropped Maximum Strength 2008 on Koch and has revived the Stop the Violence movement. In celebration of the movement’s 20th anniversary, the teacher is coming around with lectures, an updated all star anthem called “Self Construction,” and a series of concerts highlighted by an appearance at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop festival on July 12th and the Stop the Violence Movement No Crime Day Fundraising Concert at Madison Square Garden on August 26th . AllHipHop spoke to KRS about Stop the Violence and ended up getting spiritually minded, and more. AllHipHop.com: You’re bringing back the Stop the Violence movement, which started twenty years ago. Violence continues to affect our communities, quite often amongst youth. What do you see as the cause of youth violence? KRS-One: Violence is human nature. Violence is a part of the reptilian brain. Why is there an escalation of violence, why are we wilin’ out, these are 10,000, 20,000 year old questions. The issue here is this. Why are our children so angry? Why are people so hostile, why are adults so hostile, why are they so depressed? Why are people suffering the way they are? You ask what causes violence. The UN says poverty causes violence. Stanford University says illiteracy causes violence. I say boredom causes violence, boredom not just in having nothing to do, but where you have a purpose and you know what you wanna do but you can’t do it. And that’s where you hit poverty—I don’t have the money to do what I want to do—and finally you start getting angry and restless and a violent situation occurs. The Stop the Violence movement also deals not only with homicide but suicide. These too are acts of violence. AllHipHop.com: Why is Hip-Hop equipped to address these issues? KRS-One: Hip-Hop rules the world whether you like it or not. We’re not begging we’re not pleading we’re not asking. When you come to the inner city, this is the s**t right here. Every inner city around the world, the urban life is governed by Hip-Hop and that is a huge responsibility. Not just a privilege and a power but a responsibility because you can lose that power. Those that claim to lead Hip-Hop have to start thinking about that our kids are bringing guns to school, our society is depressed and angered, war is going on across the sea. Like Run-DMC said, war going on across the sea [starts rapping “It’s Like That”], kids killing the elderly, whatever happened to unity? All of that is going on right now. So I can’t sit back. Like I said, I am Hip-Hop. When it comes to Hip-Hop, we have a voice in the inner city, we can explicitly influence young people and working people to consider peace over revenge, forgiveness over revenge. We’ve got the loudest voice. AllHipHop.com: But when you talk about influence, you’ve reached out to 50 Cent, the most successful rapper with violent content ever, and the Game, who brags on the Internet about how he knocked Ras Kass out in a club. Does having rappers with explicitly violent lyrics or who have had violent incidents dilute the message at all? “I’m not gonna call no names but I called everybody to come out, conscious rappers included. You know what the conscious community said? “Oh KRS again, stop the violence, he needs to just retire, why is he still rhyming?” But the thugs, the gangsters, the pimps and the hoes are putting real money down, real rhyme skills down, and are showing up.” KRS-One: No, it would dilute the message if it was just a record but it’s a movement. The goal of the movement is not to get Common or Talib or even KRS to say “stop the violence,” it’s to get 50, Fat Joe, and Game to say stop the violence. If we’re really gonna stop the violence, it’s Game who has to rhyme on the record or take a pledge for the movement. You’re not gonna cure a person overnight. Game has entered the rehabilitation center. So, okay, he had a relapse, he knocked Ras Kass out or fought with Ras Kass. That doesn’t contradict the movement. He still committed to the movement and when we called on him to rhyme for peace he showed up. I know exactly what you’re talking about, like it looks that way, why would these guys be on a peace record, they’re not even pushing peace. But the real truth is that they are. 50 Cent is a father, he don’t want guns going off every five minutes, he wants [an end to violence]. Game-same way. Game is an intelligent black man period. And when the call went out he was there. Now let me tell you this—I’m not gonna call no names but I called everybody to come out, conscious rappers included. You know what the conscious community said? “Oh KRS again, stop the violence, he needs to just retire, why is he still rhyming?” That’s what I’m getting from the conscious community. But the thugs, the gangsters, the pimps and the hos are putting real money down, real rhyme skills down, and are showing up at the Garden. These people on the record, I want the most aggressive artists to be involved. I need 50 Cent and Fat Joe to come together, that’s what I need. AllHipHop.com: Earlier you mentioned having a purpose and not being able to fulfill it. You have a well known back story in Hip-Hop as far as going from homelessness to actualizing your dreams. When you look back, what characteristics or actions allowed you to go from sleeping in Prospect Park or a homeless shelter to being where you are now? KRS-One: Go with the flow. My wife has an acronym-Follow Life’s Outcomes Willingly. The other side of it is don’t follow life’s outcomes worrying. Go with the flow. I don’t take credit for anything I’m doing. I can’t. I know there might be some atheists reading this but I have no choice to believe that God exists or that some force that has the power to manipulate life’s circumstances is working with me. I don’t know that everyone else has that experience. If you do, more power to you. I know that in my life there is a force, a power, that I’m trying to stay in line with. What is the character of that? What is the way of that? It’s that I didn’t do anything really, I followed what was already being done. I did the obvious. And we’re all called by the obvious. When you see a man in the street begging for food, we are all called to his suffering. The question is do you respond to the call. Now for me, I didn’t intend to be a leader, a role model, I didn’t intend to be that. But my nature is that because I’m not gonna walk down the street yelling motherf***er, motherf***er, f**k that, like a six year old. I can’t say that because my nature appears to be that of a leader, a role model, which is my normal being, that somehow I can transfer that to someone else or say here’s what you can do and you will receive these effects. The only thing I will say is that my nature is what you see me doing. I was born on August 20, 1965, months after the assassination of Malcolm X and on the anniversary of the first 20 Africans in the United States. I was born a revolutionary. I can’t blame others if they’re not, if they just wanna enjoy their lives, if they just wanna stay plugged up to the matrix like I don’t wanna remember nothing, drink my brew, smoke my herb, be with her. I’m not mad at that, it’s just that it’s not who I am. “In 1972 I was in Cedar Park listening to Kool Herc, I don’t know why I’m there, I was just seven years old and he lived at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue and I lived the building over at 1600 Sedgwick Avenue. I don’t know why I was there, I was just there.” AllHipHop.com: In the book Check The Technique, you talked about watching the New York City blackout in 1977 from your mom’s apartment and how that’s the first time you wanted your voice to be heard. Is that the first time you heard “the obvious,” as you say, calling you and is that an experience that still grounds you? KRS-One: That was the first moment that I can remember. That’s the first vivid moment that I remember, I really wish I could scream out this window on the second floor and just so you know it was apartment 2B, I’m right there I wanted to yell out the window at the people [on the street]. I wanted to say something and I couldn’t at the time and I wanted to say something to inspire them. That was the first time I remember. But you know, I lived in Harlem in the 70s. My mother used to take us to a place called the Tree of Life bookstore, all the old Harlemers know what’s up with the Tree of Life bookstore, it was the center of revolutionary thought in New York at the time and this is the 60s, ‘68, ‘69, Dr. King had just gotten assassinated, the city still smells like smoke form burning for months, everyone meeting at the Tree of Life bookstore, I was like six, seven, eight, I grew up there but I don’t know why I was there. You go back to that force again. In 1972 I was in Cedar Park listening to Kool Herc, I don’t know why I’m there, I was just seven years old and he lived at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue and I lived the building over at 1600 Sedgwick Avenue. I was just there. Then I became a graffiti writer. Then I’m an MC, I’m a DJ, I just went with the flow in that sense. AllHipHop.com: Is there one memory that stands out to you, be it positive or negative, which offers something definitive about KRS-One? Or one moment that someone could look back on that encapsulates your experience? KRS-One: There are so many little incidences where I [am] like what the hell was that. There’s so many, there’s positive and negative, there’s the battle with Melle Mel, which was a surreal experience. There was the death of Kwame Toure, Stokely Carmichael, when he was on his deathbed, he was dying, the last civil rights leader, he passed that sprit onto me right there, that was surreal. Wow. I could go on and on. There was a time in Philly when I was fighting a guy with a gun, he tried a couple times to shoot this gun and it wouldn’t go off and he kept pointing it at me and shootin’ it and the gun would not go off and so he hit me in the head with it and I have the mark on my head to this day. That was surreal. These have been things that tell me about me. One thing we didn’t get into, I’m a very mystical person. I consider myself a mystic, on the side of philosophy, no doubt, a metaphysician. I live a mystical life, there’s a lotta weird things that go down from day to day, sometimes you gotta look back and go, “Wow, that was crazy.” For example, the day before yesterday I was in front of New York City Hall and we’re outside protesting violence, stop the violence, love your life, this sort of thing, and the day started slow, not that many press showed up but we had our own camera so we filmed ourselves. Guess who walks up? Mayor Bloomberg gets out of his car just as we’re protesting [saying] stop the violence. He’s waking into city hall. We threw up a chant, Mr. Mayor our children are dying, Mr. Mayor, our children are dying, we chanted him down right into city hall, just like that, a once in a lifetime opportunity. And I will refer you to two films to really see it—to really answer your question, I will refer you to not only The Matrix, the first Matrix, but I will refer you to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where he has to step off of a cliff and he doesn’t see the ground under him but he has to move on faith. So he sticks his foot out and steps out on faith and it’s an illusion because there is a rock bridge leading him to the other side. I would also point you to X-Men 2, where maybe it’s Magneto, he’s in a jail and what happens is he’s walking on air but he’s using his mind to bring metal plates under his feet. The road that he’s walking is not there until he walks it and this is the greatest of lessons to learn so far in my life, in my journey on earth, the greatest lesson which will sum up KRS as well, is self creation. You will not see a way until you start walking that way. When you start walking in a direction that you want to go, you will notice that the road will make itself under your feet. And if I can teach people that, and teach people the techniques of that, I think I can save the United States from depression and from the bad knowledge we got from the past. Self creation is the seat of enlightenment. AllHipHop.com: To switch up gears for a second, do you have a favorite BDP or KRS joint of all time and why? KRS-One: “False Pride” on Sneak Attack. That’s my greatest writing. I really got down on that. No one else would know that but you’re asking me. That’s my deal with that. So you know, it’s not even a song but the story which is a Biblical story, actually from the Torah, as well as the rhyme writing, I consider that one of my better works. AllHipHop.com: You mention Sneak Attack rather than the early albums. You’re always moving forward even though you’re married to a certain golden era. Are you ever concerned about becoming a nostalgia act? And how is it that you keep moving forward; do you wake up everyday with new ideas? KRS-One: Hell yeah, hell yeah. A lot of vitamin C, you can’t stop it. Relish it. A lot of artists that claim to be old school or of a certain era, they try to rely on that, oh you gotta respect me because if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be here, or if it wasn’t for what we did in the past, you wouldn’t be here. I find that argument bulls**t at the end of the day. We’re not supposed to respect any artist or any person just because of their history. For me I have a rich history in Hip-Hop, one that people do respect but I would never say you gotta respect me becase I’m doing the Stop The Violence movement or in this case because I did the Stop the Violence Movement, not at all. If I’m not working in 2008, 2009, you have no reason to respect me. You have a reason to admire me, maybe my past work, but really I’m on my gig today. To Hip-Hop, I’ve gotta show the younger generation that you can rhyme, that you can rip a party at 50 years old, at 60 years old, you can actually get a party up, you can get a thousand people up on their feet, that’s what I’m trying to show the Hip-Hop community.

This has been an exciting NBA Finals this year, it looked like the Celtics were damn near gonna get another comeback win last night, they're playing with a lot of heart and are probably gonna win the series but I'd like to see the Lakers win Game 6 to force Game 7 to make this a classic series

R. Kelly's one of the greatest artists ever but he does need help

:yeahthat:

I'm feeling this, the G.O.A.T. is back! :wickedwisdom:

Much love to THE KID, definately one of my favorite players of all time, living legend

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id....g-the-times/p.1 DX: On “Where I Been” from the new album you note that you’ve been spending time of late, “In Miami doing it up with Will.” Is that Will Smith you speak of? S: Yeah, that’s a good friend of mine. He taught me a lot. The lessons that I’ve learned from him, it’s not really to where I could put it into words. He’s a real deal dude. If he says he’s gonna do something, you better believe it. DX: So should we expect Skillz in like the next Will Smith blockbuster movie or something? Like, what are you guys talking about when you’re together? S: Well I was just with him the other day. We were talking about working on some music for his movie Hancock. I went to the screening for that and hung out for awhile. And we just tossed around some ideas – me, him, Jazzy Jeff. Those guys are Hip Hop royalty to me. So for me to just be in the same room with both of them it’s amazing. I never thought a little kid from Virginia would be on a movie set with Will Smith. ... DX: I love how you can just casually drop that: “And when I was chillin’ with Will Smith yesterday... [Laughs]” S: I mean, like, dude he’s such an influential figure that between him and Jazzy Jeff, like I told you, they’re like living legends to me. I’ve watched their whole career, and I’ve watched it blossom into what they’re doing now. And just to be a part of it… Like, I helped write some stuff on his last album. And to just be a part of that is a beautiful thing because it definitely inspires you. I dare anybody to spend five minutes around Will and not get inspired.

LL should release "5 Boroughs Are Back" as the first single