Sesame Street Gangsta's

I found this on YouTube and had to post it! This is a hilarious edit of the classic rap song "Ante Up" by M.O.P. from Brooklyn. You just have to watch it. Hilarious!

New Common Video - Announcement feat. Pharrell

This song has been out for a minute but this video just hit the web today. I've been a fan of Common for a while and really enjoyed all of his recent colaborations with Kanye West for his last two albums: Be and Finding Forever. I am really excited for his new album though which drops later this fall. The new album, entitled Invicible Summer, features production by Pharrell and Chad of N*E*R*D. This song and Universal Mind Control are two great examples of Pharrell and Chad's space aged sound and fit perfectly to Common's smooth lyrics. Common and N*E*R*D are going on tour this fall and making a stop at NC State to perform at the Pack Howl Homecoming Concert Friday, October 3rd. I got my tickets and I'm very excited. What a great birthday present! Enjoy the video!

Artist Profile: Wale

My new favorite artist is Washington D.C. rapper, Wale (pronounced Wha-lay). He recently signed a joint venture record deal with British DJ Mark Ronson's Allido Records and Interscope. He and his manager have put together a great website called elitaste.com (see link to the right) through which they release free songs and mixtapes as well as sell retro sneakers.

Wale also has a clothing deal with boutique clothier 10 Deep who produces signature Wale T-shirts that when purchased come with a hard copy of his mixtapes.

His most recent mixtapes are 100 Miles and Running and The Mixtape About Nothing. The former blends hip-hop with go-go music. Go-go music is a style of funk music using live instrumentation that was popular in the DC Area during the 70's & 80's. On 100 Miles and Running, Wale also remixes Lily Allen's Smile, Amy Winehouse's Rehab, and French Disco artists Justice's D.A.N.C.E. (see video below).

His other mixtape is A Mixtape About Nothing. It's a tribute to long-running tv sitcom Seinfeld. The mixtape features samples of scenes from Seinfeld in between in each song. Wale also had a featured "Single of the Week" on iTunes with the smash hit Nike Boots.

If you're not up on Wale, you need to be. This guy is the future of hip-hop. I'm a huge fan. He's also been co-signed by Mark Ronson, Jay-Z, Fat Joe, and others. Check out elitaste.com to download A Mixtape About Nothing for free.

ROC Boys in Da Building Tonight!!!

If you missed the USA Men's Basketball Team take on China in the 2008 Beijing Olympics two days ago, then you missed a ridiculous dunk by LeBron James off an alley-oop from Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, NBC is really stingy and all the Olympic highlight videos are copyright protected. I was inspired by the LeBron Dunk though, so here's a great highlight video of his best plays from the past year. The song is one of my favorites too, Jay-Z's "Roc Boys." A fitting track since Jay-Z and LeBron are tight friends.

And speaking of Jay-Z... there's been a ton of rumors floating around the internet about him working on a new album to be called "The Blueprint 3." At first, hip-hop/pop producer Timbaland said in an MTV article that he was producing the entire album. Then Jay-Z came out and said that wasn't entirely true. Recently, Kanye West brought out Jay-Z as a guest for the last show of the Glow in the Dark Tour and the two performed a song entitled "Jockin' Jay-Z" produced by Kanye that is rumored to be the lead single for the new album. The latest rumor is that Kanye West will be producing the entire album. That would basically be my dream album but I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. To tide us all over though, here's an clip of "Jockin' Jay-Z" was aired on Funk Master Flex's radio show this morning. Just click the link below and then click "free user". This will start your download. Your Welcome!!!!

Jay-Z "Jockin' Jay-Z" (produced by Kanye West)

2008 Honda Civic Si

I have an awesome Dad. He decided long ago that upon graduation of college he would buy me and my sisters cars so that we wouldn't have to start out with a car payment right out of college. He held good on his end of the deal last May when my sister, Lindsay graduated from ECU. I graduate from NC State in December so I was expecting to get a new car sometime around the new year but about a month ago Dad came up to me and said it would be better to go ahead and do it now. You see, the 2009 models all come out in September so you can usually get a better deal on the 2008 models in July and August.

I did a lot of research on what kind of car I wanted. My beautiful wife, Ashley drives a 2006 Honda Accord that her parents helped us get when she graduated from ECU back in December. We've really enjoyed her car, so getting a Honda was definitely in the forefront of my mind. I've had an SUV (see below) for the past 3 years and with the current gas prices, I was sure I wanted a car. I also knew that I wanted something with 4 doors because Ashley and I hope to have kids in the future. I also wanted something that was a little bit sporty though. I wanted to have fun while I drive. This led me to 3 cars: Lexus IS 350, Volkswagon GLI, and Honda Civic Si Sedan.

I've loved the Lexus IS for years but it was out of my price range. A lot out of my price range. So it was down to the GLI and the Civic Si. I test drove both. I read a ton of reviews and consumer reports. I decided to go with the Honda for several reasons. First, I heard a lot of people had problems with the GLI's engine, mainly that the fan makes too much noise and can cause problems. Second, I liked that the Civic was a manual transmission. My dad drives a Wrangler with a manual transmission and I always had fun driving his car. Finally, the Civic had a sportier look to it that I really fell in love with.

So I got the Civic Si. Here's a history of the car courtesy Wikipedia. I've really enjoyed it so far. It has racing style pedals and seats, 17" rims with low profile tires, navigation system (awesome!!!!), digital speedometer, "Si" detailing in the seats and on the grill, sunroof, and one of my favorite features: a digital input for my iPod. See below for the pics.

I would be remiss if I didn't pay tribute to my car for the past 3 years, the 2001 Jeep Cherokee, also known as "The Silver Bullet." What a great car! Although it guzzled gas similar to an elephant at a waterhole in the middle of Kenya, I had some really great times with that car. It was my mom's car when I was in high school. She took me to get my wisdom teeth out in that car. My parents used that car to help me move in and out of my dorm at UNC my freshman year. My parents picked me up from the airport when I came home from my mission in that car. I drove it to Greensboro countless times to hang out with my best friend, Greg and see him play basketball for UNCG. I took Ashley on our first date in that car. I also drove from Raleigh to Greenville and back to go see Ashley so many times it's unfathomable (half the time, I was probably half asleep and the Silver Bullet drove me itself). The best gift Ashley ever gave me was a sports rack for the top of the Cherokee. It brought home our first Christmas Tree. It's gotten me to and from the beach and the mountains. As a courier at my dad's law firm, it took me all over the Triangle for work. It never complained about the music I played, the jokes I made, or the prayers I've uttered while inside. For that, I'm forever in debt to you, Silver Bullet. I hope you find your new (well old actually, my dad took it back and plans to keep using it until it's last breath) home just as comforting, adventurous, and enjoyable as our past 3 years together have been.

Good NIght Sweet Prince!