Purple Sector…

I consider myself a pretty tech-savvy kinda fellow, I mean, come on, I run a blog. But I just now figured out WP has a mobile site. Which means no more having to be home to post ish to PSDN, which means I am officially 100 percent back like cooked crack! I hope you’re ready, interwebs! Coming later tonight: new vids, new links, new kicks, new rumors, maaaaaaaad new ish. But back to work for me, so peace, and stay classy, San Diego!

Word. I haven’t been on for a minute, family issues, ya’ll.

But Barrack got me thinking on some legitimate black pride stuff, what don’t we do best? I’m fully concinved at this point in my life that we are the best at everything and anything essential to human life and livelihood. Name it, we do it top flight. Music? Blues, Jazz, Hip-Hop, R&B, Spirituals. Athletics? I won’t get carpal tunnel listing our unmitigated dominance.  Poetry, Literature, Intelligence in general? Langston, W.E.B., Cornell, Michael Eric, Sister Souljah. Hell, even Jesus Christ was a man of color. We did it ya’ll. There’s no long ass spiel about this, but I just wanted to make that known, and I dare anyone to test me on this.

It’s a new year, and with that undoubtedly comes new year’s resolutions. Since I have a (glorious) blog here, and (sexy) people who read it on a semi-daily basis (you won’t believe how many “I think I read your blog, it’s sick” comments I get around the city), I figured I’d post my resolutions for all to see. Cuz, after all, sez me, the bar is only set if you make it plain to others.  I’m not even giving myself a year to do this half. That’s right, I’m only putting out half of my NYRs. with the other half to commence July 1st. Here is my 1/2 year list of resolutions:

Get a Wii: I’ve been clamoring for one since the day it came out. I need to play the new(est) Zelda and Smash Bros. It’s no longer a desire, it is officially a need. Plus, I just can’t stay faithful to one system, and since I got rid of my 360 and kept my PS3, I need a system on the side.

Lose 20 pounds: Anyone who knows me and is honest with me knows that I kind of let myself go in 2008. I was always a stocky kinda fellow, but I was never pudgy. And, in truth, I’m not now. I am, however, as close as I’ve ever been, and that’s scary. Pudge makes less room in these expensive, exclusive tees and jeans I so love, and we can’t have that, now can we? Besides, I actually enjoy working out and being physically fit, so, unlike for many others, the gym is a cool place for me to be.

Get a New Bike: It doesn’t have to be brand new, it only has to be new to me. Why? Because even though it’s dropped in price, gas is still a luxury, and it would certainly help me keep some loot and lose some pudge to complete this goal. I love biking, I have ever since June 23rd 1996, the day I learned to ride my bike (I was 8, late right? I was deathly afraid of falling off.) and I hate letting summers go by without biking around my neighborhood or to the beach or anywhere, really.

Drop 5 Mixtapes OR 40 songs: I’ve been more hype this year than last about music thus far, and Lee is cooking up heat, fa’-sho. Now it’s up to yours truly to get off  his blessed assurance and get in the studio, drop some heat, and put it up for the world to worship at the feet of…..or just enjoy. I’m a bit nervous, but I’m also excited to get feedback, and hell, just to say I did it. Long Weekend is the movement.

Teach Myself CS3 &4: I’m tired of going to other heads when I want something designed, it’s time consuming, and no one ever knows how it looks in my head. So why do all that and pay them when I could learn to do it myself, keep my money, and get it closer to the way it looks when I dreamed it up in the first place? Sounds like a win/win to me, doesn’t it? If this works out, some other goals may just pop up!

See More Movies: I don’t see movies, simple and plain. Dark Knight, Ironman, Hulk, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Changeling, Role Models,  Hellboy 2, Step Brothers, Harold and Kumar 2? Missed them ALL. Didn’t see a single one in theaters. I saw Wanted, but it wasn’t that great, and I was more into the person I saw it with at the time than the movie itself. Not this year. Che is coming out, and mad other good flicks, and I am seeing them in theaters. However, do NOT,waste your money on The Unborn, unless everything scares you a la my lilly-livered girlfriend.

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, Jordan Lebeau and Lee Beard Present to you:

Long Weekend!

(Cheers, deafening applause)

Seriously though, Lee, the beat king and Me, Jordan, Mr. Awesome himself, hooked up, minus the alcohol and drunken regret, and formed a duo by the name of Long Weekend. Why Long Weekend? We bounced name

Here it is, Hype Williams is at the helm, it’s very well, done. Yeezy stretches the artform yet again. I’m genuinely pumped for this album, almost as much as I am for BP3. But Ye just can’t oust Jay from the top of my list. At least not yet. Here’s the video.

Here are three tracks, Hearltess, Coldest Winter, and my favorite, Robocop.

Play/DL them HERE, HERE, and HERE (In the order they were listed.

I’ve been a little hard of Weezy F Baby. But my girlfriend is a diehard Birdman Jr. fan, which means I have to show him some love. So, here they are, my two favorite weezy tracks. Did it Before and his Upgrade U freestyle. Peep.

I don’t get it.

There was a time, around when I was in kingergarten, when people realized that Hip-Hop was not one large animal, but rather, a pack of them, each serving a purpose under the umbrella. Now, it seems, Hip-Hop, in the minds of many of its so-called fans, can only be one or two things. If it’s gun talk, it isn’t Hip-Hop. If it’s dance music, if it’s not Boom-Bap, if there are no James Brown Samples, if it’s “hipster”, if it’s dope music, it can’t be Hip-Hop. To be totally honest, this isn’t all our fault. There was a time when the music stations and channels were as such that if you didn’t want to hear gunplay music, you could switch from MTv to The Box, and hear some conscious, enlightened music, and vice versa. Now, certain parts of the music/culture have been so pumped up that we grow to hate on them, in spite of the fact they still do have an important role in the culture and music’s space. It’s like curling with one arm, and leaving the other alone to atrophy. Both are important, but because a lack of attention, one fails to play the role it should. Does that mean the weak arm should be cut off? Of course not. It’s not the arm’s fault its owner isn’t using it to its full potential. Instead, the owner/user should take the time to review its importance, and even out usage of both arms. That way, not only is he maximizing the weak arm, he’s going a long way to make sure he doesn’t do permanent damage to the strong arm by overuse. Get it now? All the stuff on the radio, the gunplay, the mysogyny, the beat-driven, lyric lacking dance music, the self indulgence, all have a place in Hip-Hop. They shouldn’t be hated, though we should hate the fact that we get much too much of them. The fact that corporate America is sapping them dry of their money making ability, shouldn’t take away from the fact that they still have a valuable place in the grand scheme of things. Instead, we as consumers of the Music should support projects that don’t get as much shine (Murs, Atmosphere, Killer Mike, Ice Cube, GZA, etc.) until radio catches on and brings the selection we crave. in short: Don’t hate, son! just BUY whatchu like, and if we all do, they’ll give it to us more frequently.

I was told not to spit it out by a pretty important music source. So it’s either release it early and mess up my personal/blog flow of new tracks,  or just wait like the good duck I am. I’m gonna wait, but I posted the video below. Peace!

I’ve got a lot on my plate, I was late again, but better late than never.

Valets

I went to a party this weekend, and some valet smashed the hell out of my %&^*(&^% rear fender! What the hell?! Yeah, they’re gonna take care of it, but he had to park it in an open lot, two blocks away. How do you manage to mangle a truck in, say, two minutes? It’s gonna cost me, ahem, them, about 1200 bucks to fix it. I’d put pics up but every time I see it anger wells up inside of me, and I don’t want that to happen again….

Woosa.

I’m good now. Let’s move on.

Rapper Endorsements

Remember when rapper endorsement deals were fresh, and few and far between? The sprite commercials, some Nike stuff here and there? Nothing too annoying, and they picked raw emcees to do it too. Such is no longer the case. Hurricane Chris  for the Garbage Prada lookalike shoe, The Game for 310, Mike Jones and Reebok (thought it’s funny his shoe never launched) Slim Fast even wants Eminem to endorse their stuff! GTHOH. What Next? Jim Jones for Dial Soap? Hell Rell for Crest? Soulja Boy for Leapfrog Learning toys? Don’t laugh too long, they could all happen.

US Soccer

Yeah, we qualified for the next round of the Beijing qualifiers. And yes, we have a lot of young talent. But we can’t put it together for one stream of matches. We’ve cycled through coaches, and players for the past six years, and even had a number 4 ranking before the Cup two years ago. And we all saw where that landed us. It sucks not having a leg to stand on when you friends from the UK or Italy talk about their national teams, and you can only say “Look out for Jozy Altidore.”

Politics

I Love this country, but has someone ever said anything, any single thing so rude, uninformed, or plain dumb that you wanted stomp a mudhole in said individual? Politics seems to be a common catalyst for such comments. If you want an excuse to beat someone until their white meat shows, as them how they feel about the sub-prime lending scandal, and let the adrenaline flow.

Music Critics

In general, I can count on three people whose opinions I trust in terms of music. That’s Three out of nearly infinity album reviewers and show critics. Nobody cares what your blog has to say about an album track by track. If you don’t like it and don’t want us to buy it or support the act, that’s all you have to say. Just because he’s been around the world and you can’t save enough to go to Epcot, don’t throw shade at that man’s livelihood.