Joint Contrast » – MUSIC

By now you’ve heard that former No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick JaMarcus Russell, who was cut this offseason by the Oakland Raiders, was arrested and charged with possession of codeine syrup at his home in Alabama. Something tells me there is much more to this story, but whatever. And for the record, I blame the Notre Dame Fighting Irish secondary – which gave up 332 yards to Russell on 21-of-34 pass attempts in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3, 2007 – for helping this guy get Paid In Full.

More details @ ESPN

Old School Jams… James Brown – “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” & “Soul Power” (1969-71)

J. Charles — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:52:17 +0000

Get your funky ass up and get involved… Go ahead, try to tell me this jam don’t do it for you!

Check out more from PopMatters, Back To Black Vinyl, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Soul Sides…

Versions of both tracks can be found on James Brown’s 1986 compilation album “In The Jungle Groove”…

@ PopMatters

@ Back To Black Vinyl

@ Pitchfork

@ Rolling Stone

@ Soul Sides

Elbow – “Grounds For Divorce” (2008)

J. Charles — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:28:42 +0000

I’ve been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce…

Check out more from Pitchfork, Uncut, Blogcritics, The Line Of Best Fit and Drowned In Sound…

From 2008′s “The Seldom Seen Kid” album from Elbow…

@ Pitchfork

@ Uncut

@ Blogcritics

@ The Line Of Best Fit

@ Drowned In Sound

KRS–One & Marley Marl – “Hip Hop Lives” (2007)

J. Charles — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:42:08 +0000

It’s poetry in motion…

Check out more from PopMatters, Hip Hop DX, Hip-Hop Linguistics, XXL and The Broke BBoys…

If you don’t know, maybe you should track down the album… KRS-One & Marley Marl “Hip Hop Lives”

@ Pop Matters

@ Hip Hop DX

@ Hip-Hop Linguistics

@ XXL

@ The Broke BBoys

Featuring… The Roots – “In The Music” / “Here I Come” / “Don’t Feel Right” (2006)

J. Charles — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:34:05 +0000

I said wait, cause here I come…

Check out more from Metacritic, RapReviews, Coke Machine Glow, Dusted Magazine and Bryon Crawford…

From the 2006 album “Game Theory” by The Roots…

THE JUKEBOX – Produced by Jake One

J. Charles — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:21:56 +0000

Selected by TimS –

This man is currently one of the best, yet one of the most underrated beatsmiths doing it. He dropped an amazingly dope album White Van Music last year on Rhymesayers Entertainment and has an upcoming album in the works with Freeway (that shit is gonna knock!!!!!). He has the great ability to produce for all types of artists. These are some of my favorites…

De La Soul – “Rock Co.Kane Flow”

De La Soul – Rock Co.Kane Flow

This is that shit! From one of the most criminally slept on albums of the last 10 years, De La’s 2004 The Grind Date, this song pulsates with the weird brilliance that both De La and guest MF Doom have made careers of. But the star of the song is Jake’s production.

Freeway – “Blauh”

Freeway – Blauh

Everyday last December the “Philly Freezer” murdered a beat in his Month of Madness series and the chemistry these two developed on this, and another song, led the way to the collaborative album I mentioned earlier. I don’t know if this was made for Free, but it fits perfectly. Set the tone and let him go.

The Gift of Gab – “Rat Race”

The Gift of Gab – Rat Race

To many people have never heard this song, or even the 2004 Gift of Gab album Fourth Dimensional Rocketships Going Up, for that matter. So have a listen.

Freeway & Brother Ali – “The Truth”

Jake One – The Truth

Freeway and Ali over some rock-hard Jake One production!!! This song will still be as dope 30 years from now as it is right now as it’s being played. This is hip hop – simple, straight forward and infinitely better than anything you ever thought of doing. Off of the 2008 Jake One album White Van Music.

Prodigy – “Shed Thy Blood”

Prodigy – Shed Thy Blood (w/ Un Pacino)

I’m a lyrics guy, but sometimes a beat completely makes up for lackluster rhyming. Case in point, this song from the 2008 album Product Of The 80′s. Seriously, turn this one up.

‘TILL THE CASKET DROPS’, MALICE IS ON HIS VLOG

J. Charles — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:54:35 +0000

By – Steve P.

Shortly after former Clipse manager, Anthony ”Geezy” Gonzalez, was charged with running a $10-million a year drug ring, one-half of “crack rap’s” dynamic duo started blessing us with the greatest video blogging (VLOG) series in the history of hip hop.

Malice, the often overlooked and completely underrated brother of the best duo in rap (yes, they’re the best until Andre 3000 is kidnapped by the Dungeon Family and forced to rap again; or Pimp C rises from the dead) began releasing these brilliant mini-movies that challenge every stereotype ever thrown at hardcore hip hop.

Intelligent and insightful, not to mention ridiculously entertaining and well-shot, these VLOG’s, as well as the Clipse music, are giving the hardcore heads cause to be proud of their genre as well as incentive to never have to listen to whiny, off-beat nerd rap again when searching for intellect in our entertainment.

If you don’t have time to watch them all, be sure to check out Episode 2, it’s insane. Also, be sure to check for Till the Casket Drops late this summer dropping on Columbia Records. Rick Rubin (co-chairman at Columbia) is rumored to have produced a few cuts for the album!

Malice Video Blog 1 from Malice of the Clipse on Vimeo.

Malice Video Blog 2 from Malice of the Clipse on Vimeo.

Malice Video Blog 3 from Malice of the Clipse on Vimeo.

Malice Video Blog 4 from Malice of the Clipse on Vimeo.

Malice Video Blog 5 from Malice of the Clipse on Vimeo.

DON’T JUDGE A COUNTRY BOY BY HIS SURNAME

J. Charles — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:40:33 +0000

By – J.C.

Didn’t know what to expect upon taking in my very first live “country music” show over the weekend. Especially once the Hispanic bouncer at the door asked if I was packing any knives as he patted me down.

But even that wasn’t as shocking as the mosh pit that broke out down front. Or that the show was so kick ass that it won’t soon be forgotten. You see, it wasn’t all that much of a “country music” show after all. Crazy drunks were jumping on stage, crowd surfing, getting thrown out after getting their asses kicked by bouncers, all in the name of a little southern-style hell raising.

Sure, Hank Williams III sounds a bit like granddaddy Hank Sr., but he’s nothing at all like father Hank Jr. This guy has a style all to his own. That showed through in the performances he put on for such a rowdy-ass crowd. There were plenty of tattoos, titties and crazy white dudes of all walks of life, which was pointed out by Hank III himself when he said something along the lines of “who else can get country folk, hillbillies, metal heads and your everyday-average-Joe all under the same roof?”

And he played a little something for everyone too this past Saturday night at Club Firestone in Orlando, where the bar ran out of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Hank III performed with all three of his bands for nearly three hours in all. There was Hank the country band (with banjo, stand-up bass, drums, fiddle, steel guitar and acoustic), then Hank the punk rock band (Hellbilly) and finally Hank’s most recent project, his death-metal band known as Assjack. The night was insane, to say the least.

Didn’t take long to realize there’s no sense in judging this book by its cover. I didn’t need another similar experience to compare it to. Truthfully, this guy hardly fits into a particular musical genre. He’s as Goddamn independent as they come in the music industry, I mean how many other “country music” albums have ever carried a warning label on them?

Got to respect the fact that he uses his life’s experiences to deliver the wild and edgy songs about booze, drugs, whores and more in tracks such as “Six Pack of Beer”, “Punch. Fight. Fuck.”, “Straight to Hell”, “Thrown Out The Bar” and “Smoke & Wine”, without turning a blind eye to the past. Let’s face it, he had to start somewhere.

That he’s a damn near spitting image of his grandfather, in appearance and tone, is an interesting back-story as even Hank Sr. had a bit of a wild streak in him before passing on at age 29. Over the weekend he was paid tribute to along with the likes of Cash, Waylon and Johnny Paycheck (who’s son happened to be in attendance that particular night.) Yet Hank III doesn’t offer much in the way of honoring his old man, thankfully from my point of view (and likely anybody else’s in attendance, for that matter.)

It was all about raising a great big middle finger to the establishment on this particular night, and I happen to be all for those types of gatherings. I have to say though, never been a part of anything like this and I can’t wait to do it again. Grandpa Hank would have been proud.