04
Jan

SpeechIsMyHammer x ItsTheReal.com

By ketchums 1 Comment
Categories: And my interviews are hotter. Holla!
Tags:

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Jeff, Eric, it’s finally up. Pause.

Late this summer I did a Skype interview with Jeff and Eric Rosenthal, the brothers behind hip-hop sketch comedy web site The Real. I was going to just transcribe the interview and make it a text article per usual, but these guys were so funny, and I figured the comedy would translate best as the audio file. For the faint of ear, however, here are some standout quotes from the interview.

On why they started The Real:

Eric: “We felt that hip-hop was missing something. We felt that artists were taking themselves too seriously, and the genre too seriously. There was an element that wasn’t there for a good 10 or 12 years that we felt we could impart. What continues to this day is this feeling that we have an opinion, we look at things from a different perspective, and if we keep our ideas fresh and our perspectives different, people will be attracted to that, and they’ll keep coming back.

On Nas’ critically-lauded album, Untitled

Jeff: “My take on it is, I won’t download it then, and I won’t download it now.” … Actually, not even to make this a pun or whatever, but I was listening to “On The Real” today, which is such a good song. I’m a Nas fan, I just wasn’t feeling this record too much.”

On being real

Jeff: It’s interesting that for a genre of music and a culture that think that honesty is so valued, that people [are] assuming different identities. Like Rick Ross allegedly making up this whole gangsta persona. You don’t see that in other genres of music, or in culture. I don’t know why, but it sort of has to do with why Hip Hop has this obsession of being ultra-masculine. Like when Jay-Z is teased for wearing chancletas.
Eric: We call ourselves real because we think it’s such a malleable term. Everybody claims to be real. Kanye’s real, but so is Young Jeezy, and so is Eve.  So who’s “real,” then? What is “real?” … So we’re not angry at anyone else who’s inauthentic; it’s just not what we’re going to buy, or listen to, or support in any way.
Jeff: Although I do like Rick Ross’ music.
Eric: Yeah, I actually think that Rick Ross is really talented. And he abides by the law.
Jeff: He’s a good citizen. … You know who I think would like him? John McCain!

Yeah, it’s a great interview. I took a while to post it, but the good thing about classics is that they’re timeless. [/excuses]

Thanks again, guys. Keep up the good work. Readers/listeners, hope you enjoy it.

06
Jan

ToDo 1-6-08

By ketchums 0 Comments
Categories: todo

This weekend was pretty damn productive. Since going to the Pistons game Friday night, I wrote a shitload of new entries on my blog; put together what’s close to the final draft of my press release for Mae Day, DeWitt Moore and Mick Boogie’s Cherish The Day project; wrote a super review for Royce Da 5′9″s Bar Exam 2 as HipHopDX’s Mixtape of the Year; and posted a new feature with The Real here on SpeechIsMyHammer.

But my productivity could be better in general. And after reading the new GQ magazine’s guide to being more productive, I feel I’m ready to tackle anything. And that’s good, because I’ve got an incredible project that I’ve set my mind to do. I’m pretty pissed that I’m just now writing this at 6 A.M., because my sleep schedule is going to be even more fucked than usual throughout the day. But if I wake up in a few hours, work hard when I’m awake and just nap in between, I’ll be good. ToDo list for today, both the vital and the minimal:

  • Get started on my book proposal. The homie Danya Steele (Google her.) is working on a book proposal herself, and she’s got signs up around her place telling her to put at least an hour into that proposal every day until it’s complete. She’s got madd successful business models and work techniques (like I said. Google her.), so I’m taking her advice. At least one hour every day - but since I don’t exactly have a full-time job right now, it should be more than that. This project is my focus now, and I need to act like it.
  • Crack open a book, for once. We already know that I can write, but I need to get in my full-on book mode. I’ve been reading Black Genius pretty consistently, but I still need to read something that’s cohesive chapter to chapter, like I plan my project to be. I need to find my copy of Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. I’ll read that as a sort of business model, and I’ll listen to my audiobook of The Black List for inspiration.
  • At least begin to search for ways to finance the project. I ain’t tellin’ y’all my ideas, either.
  • Either meet up with, or at the very least, schedule some  meetings with my mentor. Get their opinion of my idea, and see how they can help.
  • Get two stories in the works for Metro Times. One of them, if approved, can be stupidly big. Pause.
  • Begin pursuit of who could be my biggest interview for HipHopDX’s Producer’s Corner, yet.
  • Dig through my contact list and see what dope MCs I know in Chi-town. PHILTHY is getting pursued by some venues in Chicago, and we need to see who he can rock with. Anybody who’s out there that’s dope, hollereth at me.
  • Set up an eye appointment. My optics been working too hard to read or make sense of the shit that’s close as fuck to my face, so that needs to be checked out. I know it’s cuz so much of my work requires me to stare at a fuckin’ computer, though.
  • Clean up my room! This shit is garbo.

But first, sleep. See y’all at 9:30 or something.

06
Jan

Danny Brown, “My Father’s Gun”

By ketchums 1 Comment
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags:

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I’ve had this on repeat for the last hour or so. Fuckin’ ridiculous. Danny Brown’s one of the best emcees in the state right now, which is saying a lot, considering all the talent we’ve got around here. DJ Dez went in on the beat, too. If this is an idea of what to expect, then I’m looking forward to this Hybrid mixtape.

CLICK HERE to hear and download the song at MichiganHipHop.com. For more info on Danny Brown, go to MiHH and search his name or CLICK HERE to go to his MySpace page.
To download his album from last year, Hot Soup, CLICK HERE to get it from the web site UniverSoul Productions.

Good looks, Hex.

06
Jan

Big Sean Launches New Site, Promises Mixtape Is Coming Soon

By ketchums 0 Comments
Categories: MichiganHipHop and tape you
Tags: ,

Big Sean just launched his new web site, and I must say, I’m impressed. UKnowBigsean.com is clean and streamlined, exactly how a web site should be - a great image, and with links to his MySpace page, his YouTube profile, and his blog. And it looks like his blog is going to be in the same vein as those of his homies Kanye West and Cliff Skighwalker - and if that’s the case, then it’s going to be something worth bookmarking and adding to your blogroll (which I have).

He’s also posted a video which you can watch above, where he says that the UKNOWBIGSEAN mixtape is finally finished, and he promises that it’s coming soon. The first two leaks from the tape, “Intro” and “Billionaires,” can be heard below. Download by clicking on the DivShare logo in the player. What do you guys think of the songs? “Billionaire” isn’t my cup of tea per se, but the beat is catchy as fuck. And I think the Intro is super dupa dope, I’ve had that one on repeat.

04
Jan

Mae Day, “Hold On”

By ketchums 0 Comments
Categories: Free.99, MichiganHipHop and Muse (ic)
Tags: , , ,

maedaycherishtheday

Here we fuckin’ go.

Mae Day has a new project with DeWitt (formerly of The Sicknotes) Mick Boogie, Cherish The Day, that should hit the Internet as a free download in the next few weeks. The album/mixtape sees DeWitt and Mae offering their own interpolations of about a dozen classic songs from the legendary Sade. Journalists/tastemakers, you’ll see a press release from me about this project pretty soon. The entire project is crazy, and I can’t wait till it finally hits.

Here’s the first leak, “Hold On.” It samples Sade’s “Nothing Can Come Between Us.”

03
Jan

The College Debt Trap

By ketchums 1 Comment
Categories: Journalism

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This is a great story that I got a hold of through somebody’s Facebook or Twitter update that talks about the way that colleges benefit from banks who use their resources to encourage students to apply for credit cards. As a recent undergrad who’s been targetted and who’s taken part, I can definitely attest to the reality of college students being targetted. What never occured to me, though, is how the colleges could benefit from it as well. And it hit even closer to home because the intro paragraph, and most of the article, is based right at the alma mater of Michigan State University. An excerpt from the article:

Hundreds of colleges have contracts with lenders. But at a time of rising concern about student debt — and overall consumer debt — the arrangements have sounded alarm bells, and some student groups are starting to push back.

The relationships are reminiscent of those uncovered two years ago between student loan companies and universities. In those, some lenders offered universities an incentive to steer potential borrowers their way.

And the State News is cited, too! I knew my artist JYoung the General (journalist name Jahshua Smith) wrote for ‘em last summer, but with the notoriety they have amongst minorities at MSU, who would’ve thought they’d drop a gem like this? Guess they covered Cedar Fest pretty well though.

via NYT

03
Jan

Easy Mo Bee Career Retrospective

By ketchums 2 Comments
Categories: Free.99 and Muse (ic)
Tags: ,

MOS is probably going to, well, hate me for this. Especially considering that we’re literally talking right now about not posting artists’ music without their permission on MichiganHipHop. But SpeechIsMyHammer is solely my baby, I figured I’d make an exception for once.

In an AllHipHop story published last month, legendary producer Easy Mo Bee expressed how upset he was that he was dismissed from his role in compiling the score for the upcoming film “Notorious” that chronicles the life of the late emcee Biggie Smalls. According to the article, he won’t even be portrayed in the film. Dude was pissed, and I can’t blame him: Easy Mo Bee was one of the first producers that Biggie hit the studio with, and their work together spawned several standout tracks from Biggie’s seminal debut Ready To Die. It’s interesting how this entire thing is coming together - Diddy and Faith Evans are credited as co-executive producers of the film, while Lil Kim and Easy Mo Bee have both expressed discomfort with how it was handled. Really reiterates how it wasn’t a black and white situation at all, and how his death affected people in so many different ways.

But I digress. Someone heard the news, and took it upon himself to scour forums and assemble a group of people to upload a lion’s share of Easy Mo Bee’s catalog with other artists. And homie’s got some classic records under his belt: he’s collaborated with 2Pac, Busta Rhymes, Big Daddy Kane, and even Miles Davis. EDIT: At the recommendation of MOS, I’m instead posting a link to dude’s discography. Not only because it could possibly put more money in Easy Mo Bee’s pocket by telling ‘em what to cop, but because a lot of these (esp. the Pac records, or the Craig Mack records) are records that you probably have anyway, but didn’t realize he did. But it’s time that someone aside from The Game and the heads on OkayPlayer get their hip-hop historian on.

Do ya research HERE

03
Jan

Muslim Family Kicked Off Of Plane

By ketchums 7 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

According to an AOL News article that I read earlier, a Muslim family was unreasonably kicked off of a Airtran plane, and refused the right to rebook their flight to Orlando, Fla., where they would visit family and attend a religious conference. Apparently, the family’s conversation - which one of the ousted customers insisted was about the safest location on the plane, but didn’t include key words like “bomb,” “terror” or “explosion” - scared other passengers on the plane. FBI officials investigated the family, cleared their names of any wrongdoing, and insisted that the family be put back on the plane. But airline officials refused to rebook a flight, and according to the family member cited earlier, they were told they can’t ever fly on any of their planes again.

As far as the family being investigated because of their Muslim faith and their conversation about the plane’s safety, I’m uncertain about how I feel. We (should) all know that the majority of Muslims aren’t terrorists, and that they’ve had to go through hell ever since the Sept. 11 attacks. Hell, President Elect Obama being rumored as a Muslim was used as reason to not vote for him. And whenever someone is accused of something like this and they’re found innocent, then it always sucks in retrospect. But I also understand that 9/11 was a situation that hurt a lot of people, and considering how the situation - and terrorism in general - was/is handled by certain media outlets and political figures, people are going to be creeped out by Muslims talking about safety on a plane. The airline’s job is to give their customers a comfortable experience, and if passengers and people on the bus found them suspicious, then they’re going to get checked out.

I don’t know if I justify the investigation, but I understand it and I treat it differently than a case of what I would consider as Jim Crow racism. But either way, if the family was checked out and found innocent of any wrongdoing, they should be able to either get back on the plane, or get another flight scheduled later on. After all, they did what they were supposed to: they copped their tickets just like everybody else, and they passed the initial security tests like everybody else.

The most telling part of the story, in my opinion, is Airtran’s response:

“AirTran Airways complied with all TSA, law enforcement and Homeland Security directives and had no discretion in the matter,” the company said in a prepared statement.

The FBI and Homeland Security offering different solutions is what makes this situation really upsetting, to me. The fact that one federal organization can give them clearance, but that the airline itself cited national law in their reaction just shows how much of a revolving door discrimination can be. Fucked up way to start off the new year. Electing Obama is a step in the right direction, but clearly, we’ve got a long way to go.

What do you guys think?

UPDATE: Apparently, AirTran has apologized to the family, refunded their tickets, and offered to fly them back to Washington for free. And the head of the family said all along that all he wanted was an apology, so I guess he came out with what he wanted, somewhat. To read the article, CLICK HERE. To read AirTran’s statement, CLICK HERE.

03
Jan

Pharrell x Men’s Style (Video)

By ketchums 0 Comments
Categories: Fly Or Die, I Remain An Art-eest Through These Blogs and tape you
Tags: ,

My homegirl Talitha posted this video on her Facebook profile a while ago, but I loved it so much that I figured I’d dig it up and post it on my own. But the reason that I like this video so much is that I respect the way that he approaches the enhancement of his appreciation for art, gadgets, etc. I don’t know if he donates to a lot of charities or causes, but if you’re not going to do that, then I feel that this is the way to be materialistic: invest in things that you love, with a flair for making it your own while still respecting what attracted it to you in the first place.

By the way, is it just me, or is Pharrell one of the more underrated hip-hop moguls? He and the Neptunes’ Star Trak label (had to hyperlink it because it’s one of the best web sites I’ve seen in a while) didn’t pop off the way that Roc-A-Fella did at its peak, but they’ve still had their share of quality releases with albums from Slim Thug, Clipse, Kenna and Robin Thicke, and their freshly-signed duo Chester French seems interesting). And BBC/Ice Cream isn’t as revered as Diddy’s Sean John label, but it’s still got its cult following, both nationally and internationally; and Pharrell is still rubbing shoulders with Nigo, whose A Bathing Ape company is one of the most influential streewear companies ever. And P also recently started a site for burgeoning artists to showcase and share their material (if anyone knows the link, leave it in a comment). It always seems like as far as artist/moguls go, peoples’ perspectives always stop after Diddy and Jay-Z. But Pharrell’s just as versatile, and I respect him for it.

EDIT: I just realized that JP, co-owner/head designer of Identical Variant, recently made a post about Pharrell as well. Great minds think alike.

03
Jan

NIKEiD Commercial feat. Kobe, DJ AM and Mike Epps

By ketchums 0 Comments
Categories: Fly Or Die and tape you
Tags: , , ,

Freshness Mag debuted this new Nike iD commercial on New Year’s Day, and I like it. It’s a funny commercial with Mike Epps’ antics, but the kicks are beautiful as well: DJ AM gives a close look at a tan/white colorway of the storied Nike Air Yeezy sneakers that Kanye rocked on the Glow In The Dark Tour, and Kobe unveils a fly customized version of his Nike Zoom Kobe IV’s. This marks the first time a signature Nike shoe can be customized w/Nike’s iD program.

If you’re gonna play me, you need ankle insurance.

Ha.

via HypeBeast

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