Not really much to say...Enjoy...Shout out to JJ from 3Sidez

Jay-Z gave a world premiere of his new video "D.O.A." the lead single off of his Blueprint 3 album last night after the BET awards and he did not disappoint. Although I've already covered the message and history behind this record in the "48 laws of hip hop", I still wanted to address the video....and it is tough! This is the Jay we all know and love. Super cool, crazy video, bravado on a Billie. Enjoy.

The Hypocrisy of a Nation: The Power of Media

As the world mourns the King of Pop, and music television stations have Michael Jackson tribute shows on repeat, all I can do is shake my head at the hypocrisy of this country. For the last ten years of Michael’s life he endured extreme character assassination. Michael was slandered by American media for years. He was persecuted and ridiculed for his extensive nose jobs, questionable sexuality, skin color, and being an alleged child molester. I was listening to the 98.7 Kiss FM today while writing this and the DJ said, “he was a giant and we should honor him for all time.” Where was the honor when he was in times of despair? Where was his praise then? The most sentient and controversial moments of Michael’s life became the butt of every comedians joke and the blueprint for innumerable sketch comedy shows, but now that he's dead...we're sorry? Michael has said time and time again that he's a perfectionist, and nothing is every perfect enough. So is it possible that Michael tore his body apart to fit into the perfect mold he thought his fans wanted? Is it worth it to dedicate your life to millions of people whom didn't have your best interest at heart? Michael may have been the King of Pop and sold 100 million records, but he died a lonely man. I guess that's the price of fame. The good Michael did heavily out weigh any questionable "bad" and that is what he should be remembered for. Michael is among a handful of artists whose music was powered by an energy that was bigger than them and served a bigger purpose. Michael Jackson wasn’t, R&B, or Pop, or Rock n Roll, or Hip Hop. He was Music. The media was able to destroy this man, like they do so many other people. Again, lets remember not only what Michael has done as an artist, but as a humanitarian.

Dr. Cornell West has said time and time again that, “There can be no calling without a recalling, and there can be no vocation without an invocation.” These words stand true but have a much abbreviated duality. I personally believe what Dr. West is trying to say is that to be who “you” are, you have to go back and find out where “you” came from. People of all colors and creeds have benefitted and suffered from the rights and wrongs of the people that came before them. Many preach the ideology that the secure understanding of your history brings you to a more complete understanding of self: a minor echoing Ghanaian proverb “Sankofa”. Dr. West says that it is beneficial to you and your people to delve deep into your past to find your voice, but I feel it is just as important for people of the past to make it their obligation to help shape the tender minds of the future. The black community has been labeled as having a “crabs in a barrel” mentality where in direct contrast Jews and Italians “take care of there own”. Hopefully one day the “take care of you own” mantra will break past racial barriers and turn into an altruistic social standard. Reaching down from high places of achievement to help the next young person succeed is the catalyst that will spark maturation of an entire people. Mentorship is key. Helping to shape the paths of the future is something we all can do by tapping into the lives of other people. So as Dr. West urges the youth to learn their history, we as the youth should encourage and invite the past to come and help shape the present.

During the election, Sen. John McCain threw out the notion that, then, Sen. Barack Obama was a celebrity, comparing him to the likes of Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears. The senator's remarks were seen as childish and were met with some "poopooing" and backlash. However, now, five months since his election in January, Present Obama has been more of a high-profile celebrity and low-profile politician; not mention his recent "Cribs" special on NBC.

I thought only rappers and actors and other "celebrities" were featured on that show. I thought 50 Cent was doing it when he had an entire hour of MTV Cribs to himself; but Obama eclipsed that by having his own White House tour special on NBC for TWO HOURS! The only thing he didn't show us was what was in his fridge! Which probably had in it: some old leftover "yellow cake" [think: Dave Chappelle]; maybe a bottle of Cristal; and of course, John McCain's lunch! I don't think there was ever a President--except maybe Ronald Reagan--with this much celebrity and exposure. Who is this guy? Who does he think he is?

Bill Maher recently addressed this issue on his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, saying that he would like to see less of this president in the limelight and a lot more "audacity"referring to his [Obama's] "The Audacity of Hope" book. As Bill Maher said: " 'The Audacity of Hope" part if over." I sort of understand what President Obama may be doing with all this transparency and exposure on his part. Though it's making him look good as an idol, it's making him look bad as a President--and that's what he's here to be.

The songs, the videos, the t-shirts, the A-List celebrity endorsements, the campaigning, it's all done. Now--and this is a charge to President Obama personally--we need you to be the presidential businessman we elected you to be and get the job done. Leave the "Cribs" and the other brand-building strategies to the celebrities. The road ahead--which I'm sure you know more about than any of us--looks bleak. We elected you to be the President and change this miserable condition here in America; not tickle our fancies with your special guest appearances and soothing, well-spoken speeches. Enough of being "Denzel" and more of being "The President!"

This is Washington. Not Hollywood.

Up and coming production duo "So Japan", has made their latest musical mark by producing the song "Outti" track 13 on G.O.O.D Music artist Big Sean's latest mixtape Uknowbigsean. The track also features artist Pat Piff, who was recently signed to Pharrell William's STAR TRAK record label. Courcy Magnus and Kyle "Micky Park" Edwards met in college 4 years ago and began experimenting with music. These Philly and Connecticut natives have very distinct styles individually and when they they come together they create a sonically unorthodox, genre breaking, limitless sound full of dirty drums and memorizing melodies. With Courcy currently acting as the solo artist, the impeccable production is developed by both members of the group. They most recently are focusing on Magnus's solo mixtape tenatively titled ,"TV under the bed". They are also working on some songs with the NYC based club hoppers the Retro Kidz who already have a single out entitled New Era. We really look forward to hearing more from So Japan in the future and the highly anticipated mixtape.

In the mean time we have blessed you with a few Courcy Magnus/So Japan unreleased tracks.

1.) The Streets the Runway
2.) Blazed and Confused
3.) Crunches
4.) Another Planet


Pic: Kyle "Mikey Park" Edwards, Russel Simmons, and Courcy Magnus

First and Foremost, I want to say that the new Jay-Z single “Death of Auto Tune” that has been circling the Internet for the past few days is a banger. The production by NO ID is insane. The coliseum ready drums are painted with the brush of a baseline from the 70s, and a cinematic guitar sample. With that being said, lets look beyond the bass clef under the melody into the truth of this record.

The producer of this record is NO ID, Kanye’s mentor. It’s also rumored that Kanye helped produce the track. Now, being that Kanye just recorded his genre breaking album 808s and Heartbreak in COMPLETE auto tune. One can only assume that this is emphatically a diss record and Ye is one of those on the receiving end along with T-pain, Lil Wayne, Ron Brownz, and other artists who use auto tune.

Now let’s back track. Kanye’s 2007 album release “The Graduation” was brought to a close with the track “Big Brother”, a song dedicated to the mentorship and guidance by Jay-Z. My initial reaction was that this reminded me of the first law in the 48 Laws of Power written by Robert Green, “Never outshine the master”. At this point in music, Kanye was bigger than he’d ever been and there was a buzz about him being the biggest artist on Def Jam. But to quiet down the rumors, and prevent any out lash from the Rap guru, he stokes Jay’s ego by dedicating a song a song to him. The same thing happened with Lil Wayne and his Carter III album. There was again talk about Lil Wayne saying he was better than Jay, which caused controversy in the media. What does Wayne do? He drops “Mr. Carter”, a song in honor of both of them demonstrating another “don’t outshine the master” move.

So while Robert Greene’s philosophy was being demonstrated by Wayne and Ye, Hov is applying the exact same philosophies. After Jay’s 2003 “Black Album” release Jay “retired” from Hip Hop. This was Greene’s 16th law, “Use absence to increase respect and honor”. Jay left the game when he was at the top of his career. This retirement then put Jay into a powerful business role with Def Jam. In this new found white collar position Jay exemplified, by the nature of his job, law number 11, “Learn to keep people dependent on you”. During Jay’s retirement we heard him on a few random features with some pop artists but that was it. Jay also applied law number 34, “Be royal in your own fashion, act like a king to be treated like one”. We all know that Jay is the epitome of all things fresh and behaves like he’s the air to the throne in the kingdom of “Cool”. Unfortunately it seems as of late, Jay has been undoing all of this. Simultaneously Wayne and Ye were following law number 41,”avoid stepping on a great man’s shoes.”

After the public homage paid by Ye and Wayne, by dedicating songs to Jay, and appearing in countless videos together over the years why would Jay put out a song called “Death of Auto Tune”? Ye and Wayne are of the few artists who use auto tune the most in the industry. It seems as though Jay was applying law number 3, “Conceal your intentions”. Why the public blow? Can he really put out a song like this and say it’s not a diss toward these two artists? Jay has almost UNapplied all of these successful laws. Why would Jay come out and attack the artists of today who have found some success? It’s almost childish. Isn’t Jay above something like this? I would think so. Others may feel the same way Jay does, but isn’t Jay above being the “messenger”? Or is Jay just trying to generate hype around the Blueprint III.

This may be a stretch, but this does demonstrate the calculated methodical moves done with extreme precision that artists have to follow in order to be successful.

The other day a friend said to me, “A realist is a pessimist in disguise”. I thought about it for a minute and it started to resonate. One persons fear is another person’s reality. When someone tries to talk you out of something and says, “I’m just being a realist” there secretly saying, I’m afraid to do what it s that you are trying to do. Being a “realist” puts a ceiling on natural progress. Instead of being real, be undeniable! Be purposeful and extraordinarily zealous! Live beyond the realm of comprehension in between passion and insanity. Because being a “realist” just isn’t good enough.

Inspired by Courcy D. Magnus

This past weekend I went to the sex museum in New York and had an interesting experience. For those who don't know, on the first floor are a bunch of exhibits about the sexual history of animals, while the second and third floors have human exhibits. I found the information about animals and sex to be deeply interesting and enlightening. This trip led me to some very unusual questions.

So here I am watching two lions hump each other like Peter North and Jenna Jameson and I think to my self, "wow, that man lion sure is tearing that lady up!” I bring my eyes to the caption above and it reads "Same sex with animals". Eye brows were raised. Apparently it is very common for many animals to have sex with the same sex. More than common, it is sometimes preferred. This is consistent for other animals like gorillas, baboons, snakes, and flamingos. I found this to be odd given my ignorance on the subject and the level of controversy homosexuality causes in the human world. Being gay in the animal kingdom is as common as being straight. Animals also partake heavily in the intensely taboo acts of masturbation and group sex (orgies).

As I'm reading all this animal fact on gorilla masturbation and snake orgies, all I can think to myself is, "They're just like us". We, do the same things in our sector of the food chain that they do in theirs. So if we (in the spirit of evolution) "evolved" from some "ape like" creature into the now Homo-Sapien, and seem to be mimicking and taking part in the same things that they are.....where is God in all of this? Because it is religion that tells us that these things are sinful acts punishable by burning eternally in the depths of hell. The "Bible" recites chapter and verse what is and isn't allowed sexually by man, and the "gay" phenomenon, that has become almost a paradigm shift in the 21st Cen, is heavily scrutinized in the church. Not to say that being gay wasn't going on before, but it was not nearly as heavily as publicized. Homosexuality is one of, if not thee most controversial topic socially, politically, and culturally. This never ending argument is the reason for new legislature, hate crimes, and election votes. So just the "thought" of "gay" is pretty powerful.

So let’s stick with evolution for a minute. Wouldn't the knowledge of animals engaging in the same twisted kinky sexual routines that humans do strengthen the argument of evolution vs creationism? Because if Homo Sapiens were not the "first", then the behavior had to be inherited genetically through those who came before no? So what is our connection with the animal world? Do animals have that sophisticated of a consciousness that they understand the idea of a GOD?