Iggy Azalea – My World (HIT-A-LIK REMIX)
ERIN CHRISTINE – USE SOMEBODY (COVER)
D-DUCE / OMARION
Omarion appeared on BET today to announce his signing to Rick Ross’s Maybach Music Group.
This video of Omarion and Hit-A-Lik’s own Flowboy D-Duce was shot by C-Hust at Chelsea Piers over the summer.
@FLOWBOYDUCE
ALBUM REVIEW: THE PRICE IZ RIGHT – SPOT x DJ DRAMA
SPOT
The Price Iz Right
Grand Hustle/Rubicon
*****
(5 out of 5)
SPOT has been a highly underrated artist for many years. He has two official mix-tapes (The Good Son, A Dollar & A Dream) and one unofficial street album (A Breath Away) all of which pre-date his latest all original effort The Price Iz Right.
Prior to linking up with DJ Drama for The Price Iz Right SPOT’s collabratuers have included Gucci Mane, Lil Kim, Shawn Pen and R. Kelly. SPOT is also the nephew of embattled Music Mogul and current federal inmate James Rosemond (a.k.a. “Jimmy Henchmen.”) SPOT is of Guyanese and Jamaican descent, he was raised in (Brooklyn) New York and moved to Atlanta in approximately 2005.
As far as sound quality on The Price Iz Right you couldn’t ask for more. The mix and master on these records is as good as I’ve heard in the digital era. It matches if not supersedes any and everything out on the radio from a sonic perspective.
SPOT has always been a special case. It was 2005 when The Good Son delivered us this classic punchline:
“your fantasy rhymes, talking ’bout Fed Time when you’re still moving nicks (Knicks) like Isaiah at the deadline.”
– SPOT The Throne (King Day Ent. circa 2005.)
Isaiah Thomas was (at that time) the GM of The New York Knicks. He was doing a horrible job and was shipping players in and out in what rapidly became a desperate/ongoing attempt to save his job. If that was six years ago, where would SPOT go now?
Not to be outdone (even by his past self) SPOT wastes no time getting to the money on The Price Iz Right’s title track Respect A Check (prod. by Metro.) The tone of Respect A Check starts appropriately aggressive.
Some of my favorite lyrics from The Price Iz Right include (but are not limited to)
“Jimmy told me be a boss you gotta play your role…” – SPOT Respect A Check.
“conspiracy charge in my stash box…keep my room in my Auntie house padlocked…”
– Forget if you’ve hustled drugs. Anyone who has ever had anything to hide can identify with this line. I can personally identify because I had a room in my “Auntie’s” house on Long Island when I first moved to New York in 2004. Did I keep it padlocked? No, I did not but I can totally identify with SPOT’s paranoia.
Speez Auntie allowing him to keep a padlock on a room in her house reminded me of a cultural expression as well. Indeed; I spent two years living in Brooklyn off Flatbush and East 23rd street (after being expelled from SUNY Purchase) and I personally witnessed a certain sort of support that periodically included some plausible deniability by many West Indian women (be they girlfriends, mother’s or aunts) in support of my West Indian homeboys and myself. In my opinion this reference is as subtle as it is telling. Auntie’s show love. **PAY ATTENTION**
Perhaps my favorite record on The Price Iz Right is “For My Dogs.” A street-ballad written (I presume) to/for SPOT’s fallen (or perhaps jailed) homies produced By Best Kept Secret.
“hit the strip club throw a couple hundred, crackin’ jokes over dinner out in London, drivin’ to the airport gettin’ blunted, we done done everything that we wanted.” – SPOT (For My Dogs)
“chasin millions by the several with our pedal to the metal but we never thought to slow down…
…would you still be straight if you took another way I say we’ll never know now…” – SPOT (For My Dogs)
“runnin’ through bitches like a n*gga I know, puttin’ on like the n*ggaz I know” – SPOT (For My Dogs)
– This line actually moved me to tear the other night. Though it doesn’t necessarily allude to anything specific it is the ambient vagueness that allowed me to empathize and apply it to the people I’ve known who are no longer around. This was perhaps the most compelling moment on the Album for me.
“I wonder if Heaven got a place, for somebody had to stay up late, makin’ dolla after dolla, after dolla, after dolla after Dolla, after Dolla makin’ sure we straight” – SPOT (For My Dogs)
– This lyric is a very crafty tribute to SPOT’s friend Shine Dolla who was brutally murdered on the west side of Manhattan last year. Of course anyone not privy to that situation would only assume SPOT was referring to making dollar after dollar. He is but he’s also referring to making dollar after dollar after Dolla (Shine Dolla was murdered.) A telling testament to the pain and confusion SPOT must have dealt with (and may still be dealing with) after Shine Dolla’s murder. Wondering if Heaven has a place and speculating about the prospect of the afterlife are questions whose depth are outdone only by their validity.
The Price Iz Right is by far the most advanced project SPOT has ever released. It covers everything it has to from publicity (DJ Drama), features (Jose Guapo, Sonny Digital, Troy Ave and Koke) to production (Lex Luger and Droop-E.) Everything on The Price Iz Right is there for a reason. I personally will state that The Price Iz Right contains (at least) three classic records: For My Dogs, Celebration and Respect A Check.
ANTHONY STARR – I WILL (LIVE IN L.A.)
Anthony Starr is a CMG affiliate and Hit-A-Lik collaborator who is rumored to be responsible for alerting Hit-A-Lik CEO Charles Buko to the existence of La Bella Soul. On a recent trip out west Starr shut-down the “iCandi” stage appearing courtesy of the homie M-I-C.
@_AnthonyStarr
J_MAUL – VERRAZANO UPPER LEVEL
J_MAUL – VERRAZANO UPPER LEVEL
Iggy Azalea – My World (HIT-A-LIK REMIX)
A Tale Of Two Whitneys: Dubb Davis Not So Torn In Ironic 1st Round Tourney Match-Up
When I saw Michigan drew Ohio in the 1st round of this year’s NCAA Tournament I immediately thought of (and text messaged) Whitney Davis. Our classmate at Ann Arbor Pioneer – Whitney, carried the torch (passed to him by Ryan Sidney) as the best basketball player in his class.
I wondered who Whit would root for and I also flashed back to deep resentment towards Michigan Administration (and more specifically, toward Tommy Amaker) for not recruiting Whitney.
The more I thought about it, Amaker not recruiting Whit is the ultimate violation, and Karma took his (Amaker’s) job for it. It’s NOT like it was the Fab Five Era. Why not take a chance on the home. town. kid.
Whit went on to play, well – and in the NCAA tournament at Ohio and if I am not mistaken he is still the school’s all-time leader in minutes played (for a single season.) You’re telling me the Ohio Bobcats all-time leader in minutes played couldn’t have done a decent job? In a role with the with ’04-’05 Michigan Wolverines?
Do you even remember the result of Michigan’s season in 2005?
I would kill Jim Tressel with my bare hands and I can’t even tell you what Mich hoops did in 2005.
sidenote: in the ’04-’05 season (a.k.a. “the era in question”) The Michigan Wolverines didn’t even make the NIT. While the Bobcats? Well…
the Bobcats were dancing.
Stenograph Transcript:
Phone Conversation: Whitney Davis
3/14/12 6:38pm
So my initial feeling when I saw this was it was definitely a crazy situation for you.
Right.
But then I thought about it and I felt like if I were you, I would be rooting for Ohio. No question.
Yeah, that’s a definite.
Michigan didn’t recruit you. I recall being confused and angered by this in 2003, (your senior year.)
I look at as it as Amaker didn’t recruit me. I guarantee if I was doing what I was doing (statistically on the court) in high school then, right now that Beilein would be there.
So this decision wasn’t really as tough as it might have initially seemed?
At first glance I was hype. The 2 schools I actually root for and have passion for. I really love both schools, always have/always will but to get to straight to the point? I didn’t go to Mich, because they didn’t recruit me. I had blood sweat and tears at Ohio. I won a (MAC) championship there and played in the (NCAA) tournament myself. I still hold a record at Ohio. If Ohio gets this to couple with beating Georgetown in 2010? (as seen on ESPN’s Top 10 Tournament Upsets segment this past week) That’s going to be huge for the program. Bet, I’m rollin’ with OU.
sidenote: When Whit said “Bet, I’m rollin’ with OU” in this interview
it reminded me deja-vu verbatim of when Nate Dogg said
“no question, sign with Death Row.” in the MTV Death Row Documentary.
And that’s entirely fair. In fact I have half a mind to root for OU myself. I was telling Johnny the other day about having acid flashbacks to resenting Mich for not recruiting you.
Again, I look at it as Amaker, not Mich. Not only did he pass on me he passed on Sidney too. Regardless, I was not even that mad about it. Izzo sent me a lot of material. They (State) have a great program and he is a great coach. That’s someone you can learn a lot from, on and off the court. I ain’t need Mich for validation I got that from State, Purdue, etc. I gotta keep it movin’ I got hoops to hit, n*ggaz to cross.
This is coming from a lifelong Michigan Basketball fan who idolized Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Steve Fischer
go. bobcats.
Revenge Of The Zeke: Isaiah Haunts Jordan From Beyond The Grave
- -3 Reasons Isaiah Locked Jordan Out Of The ’85 All-Star
This past weekend Kobe Bryant surpassed Michael Jordan as the all-time points leader in NBA All-Star Games. Most importantly (for our purposes) Kobe surpassed Jordan’s point total in an equal number of games (13 each.)
It occurred to me that Kobe would not have broken this record, specifically not in an equal number of games had Michael Jordan not been frozen out of the 1985 NBA All-Star Game by Isaiah Thomas.
3 Reasons Isaiah Locked Jordan Out Of The ’85 All-Star
1) Isaiah was furious about Jordan’s Nike endorsements.
2) Because he could.
3) Bitch. I’m Isaiah Thomas. I don’t have to explain shit.
4) When Isaiah Thomas was accused of sexual harassment not only did he proclaim his innocence. He flatly stated he was “very innocent.”
4 Reasons Jeremy Lin Will Play For China In The 2012 Summer Olympics
Lin will play for China. Here’s why:
1) He’s NOT playing for the US:
USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo confirmed unequivocally this week that Lin will not play for USA, saying “you have to pay your dues first.”
2) He’s NOT playing for Taiwan:
Taiwan (a.k.a. Chinese Taipei) did not qualify for the Summer Games. Even if Lin wanted to play for them he couldn’t, they’re not eligible.
3) He’s too famous not to play:
Money talks. To leave Linception out of the Olympics is to leave him off the television. To leave him off TV means millions of lost viewers (Asian and non-Asian) worldwide. Effectively leaving millions of dollars on the table.
4) He talks to Yao Ming after every game:
Linception may be balling now but it wasn’t long ago he was on the verge of being cut by the Knicks and out of the NBA. Had he been cut by the Knicks where might he have landed? You guessed it: The Shanghai Sharks. Yao had the contract ready. Don’t believe me? Just ask him…
His maternal grandmother is Chinese:
According to The New York Times Lin’s Maternal Grandmother fled China in the 1940’s. According to The Dan Patrick Show if China granted him citizenship he’d be eligible to play. I could go on about how the 2008 Spanish team doing “chinky eyes” in their team photo at the Beijing Olympics also plays a huge role in this. You think Lin isn’t aware of who was on that team? (Gasol, Calderon, Rubio, etc.)
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