The Black Bar Mitzvah, or: The Death of Rick Ross

First things first: I don’t give a flying jack about Rozay having been a C.O. in the past. Everybody get on their grind while they have to. No matter what that might be. As long as you’re not snitching on your people, it’s cool with me.
Also – I love Ross for what he’s done so far. He’s put out some QUALITY music over the past years. But, let’s keep it 100: he’s gotten lazy. The bigger his status got, the lazier he’s gotten. God forgives, I don’t was…mjeeeeh…aight… But what’s up with this The Black Bar Mitzvah-thing?!
Let’s put all the ridiculous-artwork and title-stuff aside. Let’s focus STRAIGHT on the music. Let’s call it how we see it: it’s lame. Word is bond.

I’ve seldomly heard a project as monotone and uninteresting as The Black Bar Mitzvah. Almost EVERY song sounds the same, with heavy (808) basslines, sped-up hi hats and a gruntling Rick Ross, assisted by occasional guest appearances.
Tales of coke snorting, drug trafficking, hoe banging and bottle popping – the MMG-magic formula – repeated during 18 tracks of musical monotony and lyrical, artistical, pseudo-made man-jibberish!

That was the first spin. I really wanted to like this mixtape, so I gave it a second try. Nope. Still the same. While young cats like Kendrick Lamar or A$AP Rocky push the envelope and try to advance into new spheres of an old fashioned aesthetic, Ross seems too settled in his ways.

It feels like the hustler persona he’s established over the years, got chubby and moved to Miami (no pun intended).
Where there was pure game and hustle-antics in the past, you now have blueprint-ish, predictable, exchangeable verses of identical subject matter, with almost no „swag“ at all.

When Tony Montana went off with a tremendous ending, being shot for being too greedy and paranoid, the rap-version of Freeway Ricky Ross seems to die in cold silence, due to the fact of being too self-righteous and modest with his original hustle…

R.I.P. – Rick Ross, a hustler we used to love.

Frank Ocean – Blue Whale (Audio)

R&B-Phenomenon Frank Ocean just dropped a new song on his Tumblr and…it’s all rap! Plain rap. FUCKING GOOD rap! Luv it! You’ll too!

God bless the dead: Hip Hop’s obsession with Death Part 1: Seagram – Man of Honor

It’s obvious: death is the superior way to stardom for every artist. But there’s no culture that’s as obsessed with death and tragedy as Hip Hop. People love rappers. They love producers and executives. But they worship martyrs. And no matter if they died fighting for their beliefs or not: any Hip Hop casualty turns into instant hero.

Let’s sum up the real tragic deaths Hip Hop had to suffer from, in a series starting with:

 

1. Seagram – Man of Honor

 

Rap has always involved tons of braggadocio on honor, respect and all those values we’ve learned from watching Goodfellas, The Godfather and Scarface. But when the chips are down – most cats simply fold. Seagram Miller didn’t. Seag was signed to Rap-A-Lot Records, back in the days. A label that was known to clown around. But his street cred ran way deeper than that.
His signing to Rap-A-Lot was due to a friendship with Houston-OG Ganksta NIP, who was infatuated with the realness Seagram brought to the table. Not only as a rapper – but as a person. He was one of those guys, nobody would have thought to be as deep in the streets as he was. Member of the 69 Street Villains, an East Oakland gang that was infamous all over town, he’d seen it all. And he displayed it within his raps. And even more: his lifestyle. When he and his comrade Gangsta P where at the Oakland Twomps-area in the early morning hours, on July 31st, 1996, a stranger opened fire on the two. Seag then jumped in the line of fire, protecting his long-time friend from the bullets, being shot numerous times – fatally.

It’s haunting, he got killed in the same Dark Roads he named his first album after. And even more tragic, he set exampled for manhood and honor by living his lyrics. Not by being gangster, but by reflecting the downward spiral of street life and gang affiliation.

Throwback Thursday: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – Creepin On Ah Come Up

When Biggie’s Ready To Die was the best debut-album in rap-history, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Creepin‘ On Ah Come Up easily is the best debut EP to ever have been released by a rap crew, period! Yeah, there was Faces Of Death, but it wasn’t until this extended play, dropping on Eazy-E‘s Ruthless Records in 1994, that the world was introduced to the unique and contagious style of the four (originally five, but Flesh-N-Bone’s run-ins with the law made this a quartet most of the time) Clevelandians, which was somewhat of a mixture of gospel-singing, ragga-toasting and hardcore Midwest-Tongue-Twistin‘ Rap.

The dispute over who invented the style and a legendary beef between those Thugs and Psychodrama/Twista/Speedknot Mobstaz/Do Or Die from Chicago and Three 6 Mafia/etc from Memphis will never be forgotten. But more than that, the seminal, genre-changing sound of those 8 tracks will always be remembered!

Two interludes perceed the first song, creating a diabolic, voodoo-istic and extremely mystic vibe, that leads into the legendary quote of Baptist pastor Calvin O. Butts. And when he claims „We’re not against rap. We’re not against rappers…but we ARE against those THUGS„, all Hell breaks loose. Thuggish Ruggish Bone is that classic Mid-90’s G-Funk, with whiny synthesizers, deep bass grooves and a hook sung by Shatasha Williams, that will forever stick to one’s memory.

The song introduces Bone the best way possible: kickin‘ rhymes about inner city life, drugs, violence, ghetto youth without perspective and the typical „I have no opportunities, so I’ma use them„-attitude (a.k.a. I don’t give a fuck).

And that’s only the beginning of all this mayhem. No Surrender might be the most ruthless (ha – get the hint?!) „Fuck The Police“-songs, past N.W.A. Electro pianos, creepy synths, strings and the unforgettable „…’cause I’m killin‘ all you bitches, turn them blue suits red„-line by Wish Bone. Put it in your car-stereo and find yourself parolin‘ for the 5-0…for no reason, just feelin‘ what the Bone Thugs are choppin‘ up!

The title track is especially interesting. Somebody remember The New Power Generation’s „Hallucination Rain„? Those two make a PERFECT two piece. Bump ‚em back-to-back – it will take you into a psychotic daze. Distorted synths, creepy sounds and eery lyrics all over the place…

But there’s even more to it. Forget about the excellent „Foe Tha Love of $“ sportin‘ one of Eazy-E‘s most remarkable feature-parts, forget about all the skulls and Ouija-aesthetics, forget all the single elements and focus on the picture as a whole. Focus on what Bone Thugs-N-Harmony did to the rap-game with only 5 proper tracks. They changed the face of rap forever. Just like Dr. Dre did when he introduced the whole world to G-Funk in 1992. Rapping never was the same. Kickin‘ flows, incorporating singing into rap-technique and experimenting with all kind of different styles became normal.

If it wouldn’t have been for Wish Bone, Lazy Bone, Krayzie Bone, Flesh-N-Bone and Bizzy Bone, it might’ve never come that far. Even today’s Top MCs like A$AP Rocky, SpaceGhostPurrp and Kendrick Lamar drop raps, heavily influenced by the style, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony made famous.

Legendary. Period.

A$AP Mob – Lords Never Worry (DOWNLOAD)

Alright! Finally! FINALLY! A$AP Mob drop their new mixtape/album/callitwhachuwanna Lords Never Worry. 18 songs of Mob Madness! Stop readin‘. Give it a spin! Link comes courtesy of Live Mixtapes!

DOWNLOAD: A$AP Mob – Lords Never Worry:

Choppin‘ it up with Sick Jacken & Cynic

A few weeks ago I received an eMail from the fellas of Classic Tattoo Berlin. They brought the Miami Ink-guys over to Germany and wanted us to have a lil‘ interview-thing with them at the radio station. Sure thing – why not?! The mail also mentioned some unknown Cypress Hill-vocalist they’d bring over. Mr. H.C.I.C. (Head Cracker In Charge that is) John and me were wondering. Who could that be?! Would they bring B-Real or Sen Dog? So we asked them and reply was „Mr. Psycho Rylm“ [sic]. SAY WHAT?! They’d bring Sick Jacken wit‘ them?! HELL YEAH, they did! Now THIS was a big thing for me, since I’ve been a Sick Side-listener for the past 15 years. Only a listener though. Never a soldier, which was obvious, when a non-familiar-looking guy in a blue shirt complimented me on my South Central Cartel-shirt. Little did I know it was the person I spoke about later. Jacken and me chopped it up on the chit-chat-tip when I told him „How long’s this Terror Tapes 2 been out?! I just LOVE Cynic, his voice and his flow are off the chain“ – Jacken laughed and pointed over to the guy sittin‘ on the couch „That’s my brother over there“. Ice was broken.

So we got our interview on. Jumpin‘ off with an explanation on what the whole „Sick Side“ is all about and where that came from.

This directly led us to the meaning of all this military vocabulary in the Sick Symphonies-Movement. Sick Side Soldiers/Uniforms, Street Platoons, War Story… Check out how Jacken explains all the military imagery.

Since Jacken and Cynic came to Berlin to promote their new collaborative effort Terror Tapes 2 (which, by the way, is pretty dope, so GET IT), I had to ask Cynic how it feels working with Jacken…

Next on the agenda was a question that I asked myself countless times over the years: how did that collaboration between 2Mex and Jacken happen?! It was FAR from obvious, even though both are of Mexican descent (ooooh – get the wordplay?!). Mr. Jacken shed a lil‘ light on that one.

Alright, since I had the chance to speak to Jacken, you know I would have to touch on the accident that happened to his brother Duke, destroyed Psycho Realm as a group and the most sad thing: his ability to walk and way of livin‘ the way he was used to. I really didn’t wanna go all dramatic and insightful on it though. It’s been done a billion times already. Also, it was written. By the man himself. So those that know know and those of you who don’t, READ IT UP. This easily is one of the most honest and saddest things I’ve ever come across. You think you know anything about courage, pride or manhood? You don’t know jack until your read this.
So I asked Jacken in what way it changed his take on music when Duke left. He kept it professional, touchin‘ on a very emotional topic which really impressed me.

Accidents like this one teach you to live without regrets, I guess. Which would explain Jacken’s answer when I asked him what he would have told the Young Jacken, 15 years ago, when the first Psycho Realm-LP dropped…

To wrap it up, I asked Cynic what a picture perfect morning in the life of Cynic would look like. And his answer was just as honest and humble as his rhymes are. Those dudes are real – 100.

To all of those that kept on readin‘ up until now: there’s a lottery this time. You want a signed copy of Terror Tapes 2? Of course you do! Like the facebook-page to register for the lottery and grant your chance to win a copy of the CD!

Thanks to Jacken, Cynic, Classic Tattoo, Miami Ink and anybody else I might’ve forgotten, that enabled this interview!

Choppin‘ it up with A$AP Rocky

Recently I had the chance to touch down with the hottest MC in the game right now: A$AP Rocky that is. He and his crew invaded Berlin on his European tour…and boooooy what a blast this was! Venue filled with weed smoke, fine girls everywhere and the A$AP Mob doin‘ what they do best: raisin‘ hell!

Right before the concert took place, John and me sat down with Rocky and chopped it up for 93.6 JAM FM Berlin. Talk was about Screw-Tapes, haters and stardom.

We kicked it off with the obvious: DJ Screw! The man & the myth has been referenced continously in Rocky’s music, so I grabbed my vintage 3 ‚N The Mornin‘, pulled it out the pocket and asked the Pretty Flacko what he knows about the maze!

So after the foundation was built, we got a lil‘ deeper into it, talking about how Rocky was first introduced to Screwed Music. By the way: his favorite Screw-song is „25 Lighters„. How could you not love DJ DMD, Fat Pat & Lil Keke?!

Things got a lil‘ more serious afterwards when we talked about Hip Hop’s No. 1 Topic: haters! Hear how Mr. A$AP deals with hate and how he explains hateration as a whole.

The Pretty Muthafucka seems so vivid, so graphic – it’s almost impossible to believe A$AP Rocky is a real person but more of a piece of art. Rocky breaks it down pretty simple though…

With the Rakim-reference bein‘ made, I had to ask Rocky about the interview with Angie Martinez, when she brought the God Rakim in the studio and introduced him to A$AP. Now, since it’s pretty sure to say Angie’s his favorite radio personality for that, I wanted to know WHO I had to introduce to Rocky for that new No. 1-spot.

Now, the next question is pretty strange from a retrospective, since there’s some MAJOR funk goin‘ on between Rocky’s A$AP Mob and SpaceGhostPurrp’s RVIDXR KLVN, but two weeks ago, this is what Rocky had to say about SPG and their „situation“.

Comes across pretty awkward considering all the twitter-beefin‘, the youtubin‘ and all the rah-rah goin‘ on right now between A$AP and the KLVN! Let’s just all hope the funk ain’t gonna get physical but that they’ll squash their situation and continue to produce heat like they did with Purple Swag, Pretty Flacko and all that good shit.

Nonetheless, we finished off the interview with a lil‘ insight on how stardom comes naturally to the leader of the Mob, even though it’s puzzling sometimes when you wake up in a hotel room and don’t really know where you are…

Right afterwards Rocky invited us to stay with him and the Mob to hang out and have a good time. Just after we got ourselves something so smoke, I sat down with A$AP Yams had some mad conversation about Screw tapes and hoochies and just zoned out. Mad respect at Yams for that Screw-skull on his neck and the whole Mob for all the love they where showin‘ me. Special shout out goes to Geeno for the company and his hospitality and also J Scott & Chace Infinite.

Oh…and for all of you that weren’t fortunate enough to witness the show, just peep this as a lil‘ glimpse of what went down when A$AP crashed the Festsaal Kreuzberg: