If you do not listen to his music Zilla Rocca will invade Japan. And he will be victorious.
It’s been a long and crazy hiatus from the Beat Generation.
With all of this label shit on my mind, I just want to air out some stuff that’s pissing me off! So here we go, in no particular order whatsoever:
- I just read a nice little segment on XXL’s website where they had current rappers ask Scarface questions about his career, the current climate of the game and why Southern rappers put as much of a premium on lyrics as they do with grammar lessons. I’ve never been a big ‘Face fan—I respect him and even bought that “Smile” joint with 2pac on cassette single. And “Guess Who’s Back” is one of the dopest joints of this millennium, I just never went out of my way to buy an album. Anyhpw, after getting great questions from Saigon and Pitbull (seriously…Pitbull), I read this “question” from Soulja Boy, my personal favorite to win Best Usage of White Out on Stunna Shades at the ’08 Ozone Awards.
“How did you feel when you first heard my song ‘Crank Dat Soulja Boy?’”
Like Our Parent’s Remembering Where They Were When They Heard JFK Was Shot, We Will Remember The First Time We Heard “Crank That”
- I realize that Soulja Boy is completely disposable and will be stocking shelves at Patmark at this time next year, and that question merely proved how brain dead the kid is. Scarface has to be almost 40 years old. According to the piece, he can play nearly every instrument. He’s worked with everyone from Jay-Z to Rick Rubin to Nas. He’s been in the game over 20 years and was the only cat from down South that most purists respected as a lyricist. A message to Soulja Boy from me: GROWN, RESPECTED MC’S DON’T LISTEN TO SONGS ABOUT SUPERMANNING HOES! The only men who do that are the rich white guys paying for their daughter’s crystal meth habits thanks to your ringtone sales. Asking Scarface how he “felt” when he heard arguably the worst song of 2007 is like asking Larry David what emotional state he was in when watching the first episode of “Yo Momma.”
- I really can’t stand chicks who pretend to be interested in a guy, but really just want their ego stroked while staying with a C02 inhaling, American Eagle sporting boyfriend who treats them like shit. Women everywhere, take heed: don’t waste a man’s time by putting the word out that you want to be holla’d at, but then when dude comes around in person to doing the holla-ing, you put your head down and snub him. Not a good look.
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2: Like Chinese Democracy But With Less Coke
- Raekwon’s got a lot of balls calling out the RZA’s musical decisions one month before the new Wu album (the first in 6 years, mind you) is set to drop. Rae, last time I checked, when you were left to your own devices to make musical decisions, you made Immobilarity, probably the worst follow-up to a stone cold classic in rap history. You would think you would’ve learned your lessons after dropping that cold turd, but no….you come back with The Lex Diamond Story. I didn’t buy that record ‘cause I was still salty about wasting $14 on Immobilarity—I even tried to convince myself it was half decent for a good 3 months. Nope.
- I’m pissed at the internet mindset in general, especially when it comes to American Gangster, the movie and soundtrack. I’ve fallen victim to the “Oh shit, I can own this album/watch this movie before it comes out” attitude since back in 2000 when I bought my first bootleg CD (Canibus’ 2000 B.C.). I’m all about not wasting your hard earned money on wack material. But this movie was made by Ridley Scott. It stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. It’s based on a fascinating crime boss. It’s flooded with hip hop stars not playing typical rapper roles. The soundtrack is made by Jay-Z (the GOAT based on my science) and the score is composed by Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad. So let’s run this down:
The director of Alien, Gladiator, Blade Runner, and Black Hawk Down
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The star of Training Day, Man on Fire, Inside Man, and Malcolm X
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The star of Gladiator, L.A. Confidential, Cinderella Man, and
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Supporting roles from T.I. (multi-platinum rapper), Common (somewhat platinum rapper), RZA (multi-platinum cross-genre star) and Idris Elba (infinite hood pass as Stringer Bell on The Wire).
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True life story about a notorious mob boss, something all Americans respond to since we love crime, murder, sex, money and the eventual downfall of powerful figures
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A soundtrack inspired by the movie from the greatest MC to ever touch a mic, who was SO inspired by the movie, he went strictly into Reasonable Doubt mode SPECIFICALLY FOR THE FUCKING MOVIE (something he hadn’t done since 1996) and knocked out a cohesive, cinematic conceptual album that was his most focused work in six years.
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A score composed by Hank Shocklee, a man who helped make arguably the greatest hip hop album of all time in It Takes a Nation of Millions, someone who is so technically gifted and intelligent at his craft that he took music cues based solely on the chronological order of the movie (i.e. if the scene is set in 1969, he made music that sounded only like 1969, not 1970 or 1971).
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A thoroughly enjoyable night at the movies coupled with a wonderful ride home listening to an inspired piece of art based on the movie you just watched. I can understand watching the bootleg in advance if the movie starred John Leguizamo, Treach, Fat Joe, Denise Richards one of the goons from Sopranos—oh wait, that was Empire, a really shitty take on this same movie. Wait until the movie and CD drops and spend money on good material, my friends. Pillage and steal over priced garbage. \
Download:
MP3: Jay-Z ft. Nas-“Success”
MP3: Zilla ft. Mally from the 612-“Sunbathing Bitches”
