Its been a long time, I shouldnt have left you...

You like my Rakim reference in the title or you dont know who that is? Probably the latter.

Anywhooooo

It has been well over a month, almost 2, since I have last posted. I feel bad about that so I gotta let you guys know what type of time Ive been on since I was away.

BATTLE RAP

Thats right. Local battle rap. I have discovered that there are leagues set up and these guys go at it. Its Acapella (no beat), which I would rather them have to try to flow and keep to a beat because that shows a whole other level of skill, but it is what it is. I will be interviewing one or more of these guys that go at it. They meet up at a local venue. Its not in the streets, its as if they are bringing the street corner to a venue. The KBL (Krush Battle League) is taking bars off the block and putting them into bars and local hot spots. This is good on different levels because its keeping some of these guys out of the streets because they are home practicing and then performing in a place where they know they have to conduct themselves decently.

Hey Who knows...maybe this battle league will lower the crime rate???

Below is a link to watch one of the battles. Please comment and let me know what you think.


Young G vs Bliss Creed


toodles.... Fyi my opinion is that Bliss Creed edges Young G out. However, if there had been another round I think there is a good chance it could have gone the other way. There was only one round because they only had a week to prepare.

General Update

Ever walk into a place and have a how did I get here moment? Like...What did I do in my life to wind up here in this moment? lol.

Tonight I discovered that behind a local gas station where a car wash used to be there is a music studio. Real deal. Purple walls, Apple electronics, shady back entrance...etc. Same thing you would expect to see in the ATL. I know I have seen Stevie J walk out of less impressive places during episodes of  Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta. Im going to look more into what these charge for production and let you guys know. Ive heard their stuff and its good quality stuff.

Another thing is that there is a young joc show coming to salisbury this month. One of our very own local artist may be opening up for it, Ill also keep you posted on that.

Lastly, just to throw it in all of your faces....My favorite 3 on The Voice are still in it ;)

Bye for now

Fiona Apple Cancels tour to be with her sick dog

Okay. Im going to post the story for you guys but let me just express my feelings on the subject first.

Basically, Fiona Apple, cancelled an entire South American tour (millions of dollars possibly) to spend time with her dog which she says is dying. Her dog has a disease and has been sick for years but it now seems more ill to her so she thinks she is dying. No medical professional of the animal variety has actually stated that the dog is dying. So my main question is ...what if the dog is still alive this time next year? Are there going to be more cancelled tours?

Another question that I would like to raise is why doesnt she just take the dog with her on tour? Wouldnt that be the easier and more logical solution? Im sure she has the means to make sure that her pet travels comfortably and is well cared for while on the road. That way she could see her pet every night after the show. On her last tour she left the dog home and didnt see her at all.

Lastly I just get a weird vibe by how she refers to this dog as her mother and her daughter and all of this stuff. I get the daughter part sort of , but the mother part is odd and makes me wonder about the mental stability of Fiona Apple. I love animals but this just seems a tad off putting. And...who names a dog Janet? lol jk

Atleast she bothered to write a letter to fans.

Fiona Apple Cancels Tour To Be With Her Dying Dog

'I just can't leave her now, please understand,' Apple writes about the declining health of her dog in an open letter to fans.

By James Montgomery (@positivnegativ)

Fiona Apple is canceling her upcoming South American tour due to the declining health of her dog, Janet.
No, we're not kidding ... and no, we don't have any problem with her decision, especially given the heartfelt letter she penned to fans and posted on her Facebook page Tuesday (November 20), in which she calls her beloved dog "My best friend and my mother and my daughter, my benefactor" and "the one who taught me what love is."
"I got her when she was four months old, I was 21 then, an adult officially, and she was my child ... Janet has been the most consistent relationship of my adult life, and that is just a fact," Apple wrote. "She slept in bed with me, her head on the pillow, and she accepted my hysterical, tearful face into her chest, with her paws around me, every time I was heartbroken, or spirit-broken, or just lost, and as years went by, she let me take the role of her child, as I fell asleep, with her chin resting above my head."
Apple added that Janet suffers from Addison's disease, a rare endocrine disorder in which the adrenal glands do not produce sufficient steroid hormones, and needs frequent Cortisol injections to deal with the condition. Janet had been coping for years, but when Apple returned from the most recent leg of her U.S. tour in support of the The Idler Wheel ... album, she noticed a marked difference in the dog's health ... and now, she fears she can't leave her "best friend's side."
"If I go away again, I'm afraid she'll die and I won't have the honor of singing her to sleep, of escorting her out. Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes to pick which socks to wear to bed. But this decision is instant," she wrote. "I will not be the woman who puts her career ahead of love and friendship ... I just can't leave her now, please understand."
Apple recently posed with a portrait of Janet in a New York Times profile, and has taken a cut-out of the dog onstage during Idler Wheel shows. Her South American tour was set to kick off on November 27 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. At press time, there has been no word on when those dates will be rescheduled, but Apple promises she'll make them up, closing the letter with a solemn "I'll be seeing you."
Do you support Apple's decision to spend time with her ailing pooch? Let us know in the comments below.

Cee Lo Green accused of sexual assault!

Well I will tell you the story then I will post my opinion on how it went down....

Cee Lo Accuser
He Slipped Me Ecstasy
And Had Sex with Me

EXCLUSIVE

The woman who filed a police report accusing Cee Lo of sexual battery secretly recorded a conversation with the singer, and sources involved in the case tell TMZ ... Cee Lo admitted slipping her a drug and then having sex with her -- something the singer denies.

The woman has told cops ... Cee Lo took her to a downtown L.A. restaurant in July. They had a drink and she says she remembers nothing after that. The woman claims the next thing she knew she was lying naked in a bed and Cee Lo was in the room.

We're told the woman, who does not live in California, almost immediately went to her local law enforcement agency and reported the incident. The matter was eventually referred to the LAPD.

Sources tell us ... LAPD detectives had the woman make a "pretext call" -- a call in which someone baits the other party into acknowledging a crime or other misdeed -- and it was recorded.

Sources involved in the case represent to TMZ ... Cee Lo is on tape, repeatedly apologizing and referencing MDMA (Ecstasy) -- though he does not specifically say he put it in her drink. Sources say Cee Lo told her he thought the drug would help them have an exciting time together. For the record, MDMA generally does not render people unconscious.

Sources connected with Cee Lo scoff at the claim, saying if the tape contained such admissions Cee Lo would already be under arrest.

As we first reported ... detectives went to the restaurant last week to determine if employees saw anything unusual between Cee Lo and the woman.

And we're told ... LAPD detectives will refer the matter to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office when the investigation is completed.

Sources connected to Cee Lo tell us ... the accuser went to a civil lawyer BEFORE going to police and demanded money from the singer to make the whole thing go away. Other sources tell us a different story -- that her lawyer called Cee Lo's manager to find out if the singer had any communicable diseases and never made any money demands.

Our Cee Lo sources say the manager shut the lawyer down and that's when she went to cops. Other sources say she called the cops BEFORE her lawyer called Cee Lo's manager.

 

 

 

 

Well I think this is bullshit. I would be willing to bet money that the girl took ecstacy willingly and then tried to say the next day ..oh I didnt want to sleep with you on the first date, it was the ecstacy. And that is why he is heard on the recording saying ..oh my bad I thought it would improve our evening. He is clearly not admitting to slipping her drugs. She just wants money. That is why she hired a civil lawyer first and they approached him for money. Only after he refused to pay her did she file a police report. If she was really assaulted she would have called the police in the first place..not asked for money. Get the fuck out of here. If this hurts his career at all that would be disgusting. I hope the voice atleast keeps him on for the rest of the season. Word on the street was that this is his last season anyway.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2012/11/01/cee-lo-drug-sex-ecstasy-recording-lapd-restaurant/#ixzz2BKfpEoPa

The Voice/ Nicholas David

Okay so this year I finally succumbed and started watching the show The Voice. I never watched it before because I felt like it was a rip off of American Idol, but it is actually quite different and it has some real talent on it. I will watch anything where I can see some raw talent for the first time.

Right now Im into this old head that is on there. This guy Nicholas David is pretty amazing. He looks like a bum with long shaggy hair and he is like 50 years old but when he starts singing he has so much soul. His understanding of music is crazy. He is possibly the most soulful hippy ever. Nicholas David is on Cee-Lo 's team. Im also a huge Cee- lo fan , clearly he has good taste. If this guy doesnt win the whole show I am sure he will still be successful. Mark my words.

Itunes has a section with singles featured on the show. Just go on Itunes and scroll down and you will see an icon in red and says The Voice. Click on that to get to the singles. Again, the guys name is Nicholas David and he has 3 singles featured on Itunes so far I think.

Black Star / Mos Def and Talib Kweli

I marked another item off of my bucket list Saturday night. I saw Black Star perform in Atlantic City at the House of Blues. Black Star is comprised of Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Both of which are lyrical geniuses. Atlantic City actually started evacuating while I was there so the show was very intimate. Wasnt crowded at all and I got to be very close to the stage.

Neither artist has aged a day in 10 years and their show wasnt lacking at all for a couple of middle aged guys. I would rate the show right up there with Wu Tang who I saw when I was 15. They had tons of energy through the entire show and even their dj was amazing. Mos danced the whole show like a crazy person and they smiled and joked with one another. The chemistry they have is amazing. A crowd favorite of course was when they did Talibs "Get By." My favorite was when they did a track over Slick Ricks bed time story song. It was sooooo hot. Knock 'em out the park Mos , knock 'em out the park. Talib danced and mimicked swinging a bat during that segment.


PICS!!!!!

ohDanger! Interview (Jim Colliton)

I have a special treat. Its another addition to my series of local artist interviews. I interviewed a DJ out of Salisbury that goes by the name ohDanger!.

His real name is Jim Colliton. Some people may not agree that a DJ should be considered an artist or musician. I dont think it is for me to decide on that, I asked him what his opinion was on that topic. He gave me a semi cryptic response. He said "Producers are musicians. I like to think of Djs as chefs who use the ingredients made by producers to make something tasty." I can see where he is coming from with that answer. I mean a lot of the songs we hear are played for us by a dj whether it be on the radio or in a bar or club and some djs have as large of a fan base as any artist (Pauly D, Funkmaster Flex, Spinderella, etc).

ohDanger! got into music in the most unlikely of ways. Believe it or not the United States military is what led him down the path he is on musically. In 2003 shortly after he graduated high school he joined the air force. They almost immediately shipped him off to Germany. When he arrived there his main interest were classic punk and just plain rock, but after spending two years there in the services he had grown more inclined to listen to electronic music which is more main stream there than it is in the US. The album that first got him hooked on that genre was Fat Boy Slim : Live at Brighton Beach. After his two years in Germany, Jim was stationed in Hawaii. There he met a friend that got him into Drum and Bass. He fell in love with it and that is the style of music that he does sets of now.

Most people here in the US are not familiar with Drum and Bass, but dubstep has recently become popular and it could be compared to something like that.  Now that he is out of the military, Jim, resides in Salisbury, MD and djs as his hobby. He has done a few gigs here and there but is limited due to the style not being highly sought after here in the states. ohDanger! hopes to make a name for himself and is looking into making a career out of being a dj one day.

As for Jims personal life, he says he doesnt party much. I know that we all probably picture djs to rage with the best of 'em, but apparently that is not the case. We probably assume that since they provide the music that we the people rage to. He says if he is not doing a set he is probably just hanging out with a few close friends. As for girls...he says that he "enjoys the company of women."

I also asked the up and comer what album he would chose if he were limited to only one for the rest of his life to listen to and that would be Modern English: After the Snow. SOOOO Im going to link you to some of ohDanger! s music and if you like that then perhaps you should check out some of his favorites, which I will also provide links for. His one recommendation for his fans is that you should all visit Europe one day and check out the music scene there, the contrast is vast.

Favorites:

Depeche Mode :Everythings Counts

Ebony Dubsters: Ra -original sin remix

Robin S. : Show me Love



ohDanger! himself:

Above is the equipment he uses

ohDanger! Doin The Damn Thing!(mix video part 1)


***I actually watched this video and there were some parts that were fire, definately worth checking out***