The Sound of Young America

“SOUTH PARK MURDERED ME LAST NIGHT AND IT’S PRETTY FUNNY. IT HURTS MY FEELINGS BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOUTH PARK! I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY EGO THOUGH. HAVING THE CRAZY EGO IS PLAYED OUT AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE AND CAREER. I USE TO USE IT TO BUILD UP MY ESTEEM WHEN NOBODY BELIEVED IN ME. NOW THAT PEOPLE DO BELIEVE AND SUPPORT MY MUSIC AND PRODUCTS THE BEST RESPONSE IS THANK YOU INSTEAD OF “I TOLD YOU SO!!!” IT’S COOL TO TALK SHIT WHEN YOU’RE RAPPING BUT NOT IN REAL LIFE. WHEN YOU MEET LITTLE WAYNE IN PERSON HE’S THE NICEST GUY FOR EXAMPLE. I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM. I NEED TO JUST GET PAST MYSELF. DROP THE BRAVADO AND JUST MAKE DOPE PRODUCT. EVERYTHING IS NOT THAT SERIOUS. AS LONG AS PEOPLE THINK I ACT LIKE A BITCH THIS TYPE OF SHIT WILL HAPPEN TO ME. I GOT A LONG ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE I’M NOT ACTUALLY A HUGE DOUCHE BUT I’M UP FOR THE CHALLENGE. I’M SURE THE WRITERS AT SOUTH PARK ARE REALLY NICE PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE. THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DRAW MY CREW. THAT WAS PRETTY FUNNY ALSO!! I’M SURE THERE’S GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THIS… THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW IT’S ME!”

And then on Friday he let everyone know that South Park wasn’t what made him realize his ego was inflated…. Savvy to discuss it on a Friday. No one will talk about it over the water cooler but seriously Kanye, move on. Bringing it up will only make it worse. Full text below:

“THE SOUTH PARK EPISODE DID NOT MAKE ME HAVE THIS EGO EPIPHANY! I ACTUALLY ONLY WATCHED A PIECE OF THE EPISODE WHICH WAS FUNNY. I’VE BEEN WORKING ON MYSELF FOR A WHILE NOW, WHICH IS HARD TO DO IN THE PUBLIC EYE. I JUST USED THIS AS A PLATFORM TO EXPRESS WHERE MY HEAD IS AT.”

It goes: “Do you like fishsticks?”

“Yeah.”

“You like putting fishdicks in your mouth?”

“Yeah”

“What are you a gay fish?”

If you’re a fan of South Park it was not a great episode by any means. Kanye’s character was lame. They got that he’s a rapper, an egomaniac, fashionable,  and a black man, but that’s about it. The episode’s portrayal of comedian Carlos Mencia was actually way funnier:”Come on man do you know what it’s like? Being a comedian but not being funny. Come on Kanye I just take jokes and repackage them with a Mexican accent…”

Kanye’s ego is equated to Cartman’s and at the end he finally realizes that his ego was getting in the way of something… His love for gay fish. It ends with a Kanye music video that sounds like something off of his “808 & Heartbreaks” album. The video is worth checking out above.

Considering Mr. West’s massive ego it should be interesting to watch his reaction to the episode. As of this post he had yet to respond on his blog butI’m sure we’ll here from him soon. My advice Kanye…don’t go after Trey Parker and Matt Stone–they’re smarter than you and have 30 minutes to cut you down while you only have a couple of bars. He should embrace it and mention fishsticks on his next album.

Peep all of Kanye’s scenes:

This week’s post is not really focused on content like it should be, it’s just damn funny. YFWB opened up my eye’s to this kid, Pruane on You Tube. Now I’m hooked. He’s like that weird kid in your 6th grade class that you never paid any attention. Then you get to college and this kid is the funniest, goofiest pot head in your apartment building. 

Anyway check out Pruane’s take on the Chris Brown, Rihana drama pt 2.

Oh and…

Rick Ross has nothing on this kid’s 50 diss.

On Project Pat’s new outro, recorded a day after the presidential election, he doesn’t get all preachy about the Obama victory–not that he ever would. Anyway check it out, it’s pretty funny. I think if the GOP ever wanted to keep a black man out of office again, they could just play this over and over. It’d stir up the base for sure.

It got me thinking too. If Project Pat made it to the white house, what changes would he make–besides painting it black, throwing in a disco ball and issuing reparations? Who would be in his cabinet?

Vice President: Juicy-J

Secretary of State: After publicly dissing the Project Pat Camp in his desperate attempt at a come back, Koopsta Knicca would kiss and make up to become the Secretary of State.

Treasury Secretary: DJ Paul

Defense Secretary: Project Pat would be his own Defense Secretary

Agriculture Secretary: Lil’ White

First order of business: Fix the current crack-market crisis brought on by unethical gangster practices, aka snitching.

Legacy: First southern gangster rapper to capture the young, middle class white male demographic.

Probably the highlight of the premiere was when Fallon read the news to a Roots slow jam while Black Thought sang goofy back up vocals. 

Lick It For 10 was an anti-climactic attempt at product placement where contestants licked a lawnmower, printer and fish bowl for 10$. It became half way funny when the roots played a slow jam for the slow-mo replay.

Then later they laid down some tracks for Justin Timberlake’s John Mayer and Michael McDonald impressions.

I thought The Roots were crazy to take the gig, and while I think the show was weak, it will get better–Fallon was pretty nervous. But the show’s best moments were when The Roots were involved. It could turn them into the stars they deserve to be with out having to record pop. A major TV network broadcast still reaches more people than anything. Conan, in the same time slot, averaged 2 million viewers per episode this season. Last week, Conan averaged 5 million viewers. Let’s face it, as of Monday more people have seen and heard the Roots in one night than ever would have been possible if they stayed on the alternative circuit.

Catch the episode online when it drops tomorrow.

This is only the latest in a bizarre behavior spree for Phoenix. Joaquin has said he is retiring from acting to pursue a hip hop career.  From what I can make out from a recent rap & fall in Las Vegas, it’s going to be a short one IF he’s serious.  You can’t be as strung out as lil wayne with out the years of experience… no, you just can’t be as strung out as lil wayne–period.

But I belong to the camp that thinks Joaquin’s recent antics are just part of a mockumentary he is making with Casey Affleck.  They say the best place to hide is in plain site.  So why not make a Borat-style film using your own celebrity as the character?

Originality is something bay area duo Zion-I (Amp Live, MC Zumbi), has never struggled with. For a decade this producer/MC team of Atlanta-transplants has been putting together funky tracks with little regard for the latest trends. Aside from collaborations with other artists, the two have mostly stayed on the sideline as the Hyphy movement swept Oakland. 

“The Takeover” marks a break with the old Zion-I. It’s the first full-length Zion I album on which MC Zion has fully committed to his alter ego, Zumbi. After nearly a decade of non-explicit lyrics, the artist formerly known as Zion drops an f-bomb just a few bars into his new album.

“Burnin incense, yeah they use to call us yoga, a couple years set to take this thing over”—Takeover. How are they going to take over? With pop (Antenna, Radio, Country Baked Yams dt. Devin The Dude, Coastin’) and catchy tracks doused in 808 kicks (Geek To The Beat, Juicy Juice) .

Zion-I albums have always turned out a cornucopia of sounds and “The Takeover” is no exception. At times it sounds like a Lil’ Wayne album of late produced by Kanye West—only Kanye also dipped into whatever Lil’ Wayne was taking before studio sessions. It’s tripped out thanks to Amp Live.

Amp Live outshines Zumbi on this album. With most songs sampling tons of sounds it’s obvious he’s been busy putting together remix tapes. Zumbi might as well have not even got out of bed to record “DJ DJ,” which Amp Live treats like a DJ session at your local nightclub.

If you’re expecting a focused indie album, forget it.  If you’re ok with 15 tracks of experimental, heavily produced party music, layered with revolutionary lyrics (“This system does not work for us.  So we must take this system over and make it work for us–Taking”) this album is going to Take Over your I-pod until spring break.

Bottom Line: Amp Live fans will love it.

Best Track: Geek To The Beat (honorable mention: Caged Bird pt. 1 ft. Brother Ali)

Due: It’s OUT! (originally scheduled for Feb. 17 release). Get It

Reviews: Pop Matters “That has been true of Zion I in the past, but Take Over finds them at their most emptily hyphy, far more style than substance…”

Vibe: “Musically, Amp draws from everywhere—merging Afrika Bamabaataa-esque, electro-rap break beats (“DJ DJ”) and pounding afro-rhythms with steel drums (“Geek To The Beat”). Zumbi’s rhymes are equally diverse.”

This Is Hip Hop: With their first release since Heroes, The Take Over sees Amp Live branch out to a variety of sounds, which turns out to be a double-edged sword.

Spin.

If you haven’t checked out B-Real’s B-Double’s blog, Your Favorite White Boy, do it!

On Monday he did a pretty good job summing up why only the poppiest hip hop songs win at the Grammys.