Hymn Strings

I thought these movies both had a similar feel and handled relatively unchartered subject matter, so which do u think is better? My choice is Chuck and Larry, saw it last night and it rocked the house. I'm trying to take into account that I saw it on opening night and the theatre was packed- definitely enhancing the experience- while I saw Knocked Up to a scattered audience 3 weeks after it came out. Knocked Up is a pretty profane R, while Chuck and Larry seems to transcend the mediocrity of most PG-13 comedies.

That's sample's been around a lot of songs. Nevertheless, one of my favorite tracks. Such a dope beat for '91 and a good concept with the lyrics too!

I don't wanna write off their whole careers because of how the controversally got their start, because they've lasted long enough to prove that they're not a gimmick. Their music is alright I guess, definitely worse Hiphop out there. I just think it should be known how exactly they got their start and what influenced them. Eazy-E founded this group, right, and Myka 9 of the Freestyle Fellowship did some ghost-writing for Eazy-E (while in NWA), so put 2 and 2 together.

If it weren't for Akon on the track, nobody would mess with these old azz Freestyle Fellowhsip rip-offs.

Anyone else cop Pharoahe Monch's new cd? This is one I think jjfp fans would generally go for. I haven't listened to it enough to rate it yet. I bought it for 10 bucks at Best Buy and it came with a bonus track. What did everyone else think?

First F4 was wack IMO. I don't care for the actor who played Reed. Too many FX channel stars in it for me.

Well yeah...I went to Circuit City the day after it hit the shelves, and they only had one or two in stock. It was hard to find too, I had to get help and he digged a little. It's not like they were featuring it on their new releases. I don't think they shipped enough to the stories, or at least that's my theory. Plus, people don't really buy cd's anymore.

50 Cent has been impressing me of late. I never really knew how well-spoken he is, and he does do charity work and I like that he promotes things like Vitamin Water rather than liquor. There was a clip where he was at a press conference and really defending Hip Hop well, even making light of the concerned questions that were thrown at him by the press. He had 'em laughing too. Now's to be seen if he will ever impress me musically as well...

Yeah, I wasn't too excited to see it after the second one, but this one is better. I was surprised with the first one when I saw it and how good it was. This one is a little "darker" and the special effects are through-the-roof. I had to roll my eyes at some of the scenes tho: e.g. the way they married each other, when Calypso grew all big and then disentegrated into crabs, the multiple Jack Sparrows. I had no idea where these scenes were going. I had trouble following their objective but most of it made sense by the end. Still, I don't think I'll be overly interested if there is a fourth one.

Should be the album of the year, Com making his case for G.O.A.T. He's also the most accomplished of the now 4 headed-rapping creature from the Chi: with Kanye, Lupe Fiasco, and Rhymefest.

All I Know! then Jeff N Fess, Let Me See U Clap, & Run That Back (hon. mention to She Was So Flyy) and Soul Ain't For Sale for the R&B mention

Although on the surface, the sound isn't all that pleasant, but Biz actually has some serious subject matter mixed with a humorous way of projecting it. His off-key singing is reminiscent of "Just A Friend." I like the jazzy beat behind him. The track's kinda good, I think it woulda added some variety to the final cd.

To be honest, I'm a tad dissappointed so far, but I've only listened about twice through. I guess my expectations are kinda screwing up my reception, since I was kinda hoping for more clean hip hop (since my collection sorta lacks there) and didn't really find it, but just waiting for my lofty expectations to wear off a little. The beats are almost unanamously great, but some of the guest vocals didn't uphold their end of the bargain I think. Hip Hop - I wish they would have separated the skit from the song, but oh well. Pretty decent song, I feel what he's saying. He goes on a cussing spree in the second verse, but gets serious in the third. I like the chorus too. 7/10 Let Me See You Clap - One of my favorite MC's. I wish the song were longer, and wish they did more with the chorus. I like that tamborine noise instead of a drum, makes the track memorable. One of my top 4 of the album. 8.5/10 Run That Back - Great lyrics, awesome chorus. The third verse is outstanding too, as the two MC's kinda speak at the same time. The only reason this ain't a ten is because it is a little too downbeat depending on my mood. 9/10 The Definition - I'm not too familiar with Kel. The beat is nice, and the lyrics are playful and coherent, but this song does grab me too much. It's one I'll have to listen to more. 6.5/10 Touch Me With Ur Handz - Not really my style, and you can tell this singer doesn't have much range. I think this is one that can grow on me, because it is smooth, I'll give it that. It's kinda too long though. 6/10 Jeff N Fess - Rhymefest I'm quite familiar with, and he is an up and coming MC. This seems like 3 verses of freestyles, but this is what I like about Rhymefest: a witty style, with some punchlines that are kinda meh mixed with punchlines that are poignant or hilarious ("f**k a pepperoini, what 'chu want on your tombstone"). An old-school styled track with the old-school way of freestyling. I wish there were a little more to the chorus though. One of my fav's. 9/10 Practice -Man the beat is nice on this. I like the sample of Allen Iverson too. Jeff makes it sound like A.I. meant to say this for a song, he says "practice" so smoothly. J-Live was okay, but I've heard a lot better from him, he doesn't bring a lot of charisma to the track. Perhaps the sample of the chorus limited his creative ability with this one, but the song is highly listenable. 7.5/10 Supa Jean - This was the only beat I didn't care for. I don't care if it's old-school, but it's been used time and time before. Jean actually gives a very good performance (as her style usually annoys me or turns me off) but this is a case where the chemistry wasn't quite there. It does give the album some variety however. 7/10 The Garden - Sorry to say it, but quite disappointed by BDK's appearance. He sounds tired, and the second verse is cliche-ridden as well. This may grow on me, but the song is very downbeat. While BDK proves that he can still spit it lyrically, his topics are quite tired (at least coming from an underground perspective), and the chorus is poignant, but kinda cliched too. 7/10 She Was So Flyy - Kardinal has a great rapping voice and flow. Some of his lyrics I didn't care for, but the chorus makes this one memorable. One of the more lighthearted tracks of the cd, but it works pretty well. 8/10 Hold It Down - Nice beat here, and Method Man comes with a tight flow too. The first verse was surprisingly lyrical, but the second was kinda meh, and the chorus is either good or lackluster, depending on the listener's mood. 7.5/10 All I Know - Like the opposite of "Supa Jean," this is a case where the chemistry makes the song better than the sum of its parts. I think CL gives an okay performance, but his voice just fits so damn well with the beat, making it near-classic status. The only minor gripe is that this song kinda lacks a topic. 9/10 Go See The Doctor 2K7 - I guess if I let my guard down, I might like this song a little more. The beat is pretty good, and the vocals are lighthearted and over the top. This song feels kinda awkward on the cd, and I think Cam'ron (of all people) did a better and funnier take on this topic a few years back. The ensuing skit is classic though. 6.5/10 My Soul Ain't For Sale - This is a case where the second time I listened to the song, I had the window down and was driving through a crowded shopping center parking lot when I realized the strength of the song. It is quite good, and the chemistry is evident between Raheem and Jeff. Was Raheem on Jeff's first cd "The Magnificent"? Raheem does some pseudo- spoken word/rapping near the end that is a little corny, but overall the song is great. 9/10 Come On - I like the recreation of a Marvin Gaye song. The rapping is literate and thoughful, if not kind of whiny. This song hasn't really grabbed me yet, although the elements are there to. I wish they would have played on "You're all I need to get by" theme a little more. 7/10 Peedi Peedi - Surprisingly, I've only heard the original once or twice. Jeff definitely picks up for any of Peedi's deficiencies, although Peedi's style is kinda growing on me. 8/10 Overall and so far, this falls in between a 7 and 8 rating from me. I will be listening for weeks to come, and it will probably grow on me more. The content is a little more explicit than I'm used to Jeff supplying, but at least there are no rappers advocating drugs, guns, and materialism on here. The cd goes on a more downbeat and melodic vibes, but it good for riding around at night and the mood is cohesive throughout. Peace.

Busta is supposed to be a 5%er, sometimes I think that culture (which is very similar and derives from Islam) was made up just so cats can get away with drinking and smoking.

Got a lot of respect for Chamillionaire. Maybe this profanity-free thing is a publicity stunt, but hey I welcome it. His debut album was relatively profanity free except the guest artists on there. I just don't care to hear the word b**** in the music ever, or any slang terms of woman's private parts but every other word is fair game I believe. Chamillionaire is a solid rapper, nothing revolutionary or avant garde, and even though his voice sounds a lot like 50's, he's a much better rapper.

I don't wanna come off apathetic, but in a materialist & selfish culture such as in the U.S., these things unfortunately happen sooner or later, cause many cats gettin' left behind or shoved aside. Those students definitely didn't deserve it, but were they completely innocent either, who knows? It's sad that it takes drastic incidents like these to wake people up. The real sad thing is that most of the students will be back partying and drinking and shopping and ostracising this weekend without having learned the lesson that this kid so malevolently tried to teach them.

The video is up on youtube...Excellent. MA is one of my top 10 emcees.

I'm a little late on this news, but wow this track listing is amazing! It's up to the MC's to make this record a classic. Some of my favorites: CL, Rhymefest, BDK, Posdnous, etc. I'm sure I'm not the only one drooling over the possibilities of this cd. I heard the one with CL already...not bad. This may be the first cd I buy since January, and if not, I'm sure I can get it off eMusic (which I pay for monthly).

A trend that has been bugging me lately is the white kids with shoulder-length hair now (the Andrew Bogut style I call it). Since when did it become cool to grow your hair out like a girl? I don't care if a few random people have it, but when damn near everybody has it, something's wacky. I also don't care for the trend of drinking, but it's so common in our society no matter how much it is on some "friend jumps off a cliff you do too" s##t.

Overrated in my opinion. It's cool to see and probably worth it, but the movie has no redeeming value, and no substance. I like the style it's shot in, but like Sin City, no substance. I also didn't care for the focus on these few white Spartan soldiers being so brave and attacking mostly black Persian soldiers. I'm suprised more people haven't written off the movie as a little prejudiced. Anyways, there are some out there bound to LOVE this movie, and I thought it was OK and better than Sin City (which I really didn't care for in the first place).

*AHEM= uh...De La Soul, I think they've been together long than all of them I also would easily put Brand Nubian in that top 10 and what's up with no mention of Boot Camp Clik? Smif N Wessun is one of my favorite groups ever

Living in Arizona and knowing many people that migrated from Cali. I can understand where Wes is coming from, the amount of partying, pot, and such is ridiculous from what I've heard. Whether someone in that environment can objectively justify it...well, I don't know. How old are u man?

I saw they had guests on there such as Fat Joe, Lord Jamar, Sadat X...hope to catch those episodes at least. Prince Paul is involved in the show as well.

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and guess that the ratio is much higher of people out there that get drunk (and drive) to those who get high...especially since the latter is illegal and makes the cases a little more rare. Unfortunately, I have driven under both scenarios and for me, at least, driving drunk was relatively easier than driving high. Maybe because I'm ADD and weed was never a good thing for me in the first place, I don't know. Still, as it goes I don't advocate or recommend either. On another hand, I find it hypocritical when parents who drink (even a little bit) try to prevent and shield their teenage children from drinking and parties. Of course the child's gonna wanna try it someday, they see yo ass doing it! You think a flimsy subjective age law is gonna scare them away from trying it?

Yo I'm glad to see a serious conversation like this on this board. I personally can relate to this topic to a "T" because I've been on both sides of the issue. I used to drink like crazy and I smoked some dozen-odd times in my teenage years. Please don't say weed doesn't affect one's driving, it was way worse than being drunk for me, and I would never advocate driving while high in any form. I don't have much to say about weed, I no longer hang with anyone close to me that does it, and my outlook upon it is strictly idealism at this point. I have become more understanding of those that do however. Smoking something on one hand, is not a natural bodily process. You never have to "smoke to live" but you do have to drink water and other liquids to stay alive. In that case, someone can advocate drinking. But it's the problem of alcohol in the liquids where it gets more debatable. If the alcohol industry were to announce that everyone's favorite drinks were going to taste the same just the alcohol would be removed, how many people do you think would get pissed? Many claim they just drink for the taste, in a majority of cases I think that's bull****. Doctors say a drink or two a day can be good for the heart, so one can make a case there. This is intriguing to me because I think even if I were to follow that recommendation, I would still feel that I am supporting the alcoholic industry and saying it's okay for those who abuse alcohol and drive under influence, get in fights, rape, etc. I gotta draw the line somewhere; "Stand for something or fall for nothing!" Plus, how often do you hear someone say, "Let's meet at my house tonight. All of us will have one drink because it benefits our heart!" No. It's usually, " I'm gonna get so hammered tonight! Hell yeah!" If I hear of a drunk driver killing someone in an accident, I would have no say in condemning that driver if I drink even a drink or two a week, because I still participate in the same ordeal. Plus, saying I'm only gonna drink one a day still leaves the door open to abuse it excessively at any unforseen time. Coming from a religious standpoint that I take, I say that tampering with the god-given innate (sober) mindstate through any means is wrong, and not looked upon favorably. However, I do understand that not everybody takes this viewpoint and not everyone has the courage to rebel in this manner. Therefore, it's all love! Do what you feel, feel what you do!