The Great Hangover Concert Recap

88 Keys

Asher Roth

KiD CuDi

Yesterday, Asher Roth and KiD CuDi brought The Great Hangover Tour to a sold out crowd in New York City's Nokia Theatre. Everyone from college kids to hood cats were in the building. After a short wait, the show started with Hot 97's Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg came out to introducing 88-Keys who is known for his production and his album The Death of Adam. He started his set with his single "Stay Up! (Viagra)," which features Kanye West. After that he brought out Colin Munroe to perform a track called "Wake Up Call."

88-Keys kept going with tracks from his album. He also played a few tracks he produced back in the day for people like Black Star and Scarface.

Once his set was over, Asher Roth was up next to bat. He started his set by coming out in a go-kart and performed his hit "Lark on My Go-Kart" followed by "Blunt Cruisin'."

Then, he performed a few more album cuts like "She Don't Wanna Man" with a bunch of young women on stage and "Be By Myself." From there, he went into his politically charged "Sour Patch Kids" and the song that separates him from Eminem "As I Em."

After that, Asher closed the show with "I Love College" featuring a special appearance from Jim Jones and "Roth Boyz" from his mixtape The Greenhouse Effect.

Jim Jones

Closing out the show was KiD CuDi. He started his set with his own theme music "National Cudder Theme" and "Down and Out" from his mixtape A KiD Named CuDi.

Then, he performed "Sky Might Fall," "Make Her Say," and many more including "Heart of A Lion" from his album. After that, he went into some of his mixtape hits including "Man on the Moon."

He ended the show with "Day N Nite."

Overall, the show was great. 88-Keys' set was a grand set up for the main acts. I was puzzled as to why Bobby Ray aka B.o.B didn't perform as it was first stated on the Nokia Theatre’s website when the tickets to the show went on sale. Asher Roth was very creative with his set. It was very funny. He was having a lot of fun on stage, as an artist should. His performance was the best I seen in a while. On the other hand, KiD CuDi wasn’t as great as Asher. His set consisted of a lot of flashing lights much like his mentor Kanye West. He didn't bring his own twist to his performance as Asher did. His music is great, but his performance didn't match up. But, all three artists together did make the show very memorable. Make sure you catch The Great Hangover Tour coming to a city near you.

88-Keys' MySpace
Asher Roth's MySpace
KiD CuDi's MySpace

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When You See Graffiti, You Go the Other Way

Frankfurt, Germany

Towards the end of last month, I went on an overseas trip, thanks to some loving people (one of them give me the idea of this post's title). I was in Germany and Switzerland for about three weeks. The trip was great. During the trip, one of the things that stood out to me was the graffiti. I lived in New York City all my life and never as much graffiti as I did overseas. I became engaged with the art form when I took the Hip Hop culture class at my school. I even did a post about it. Graffiti can be great art. It has been recognized as a great form of art by the art community. Graffiti overseas is different than graffiti in the United States.

One thing that stood out to me when I heard Chuck D speak at my school and talked to him is how the rest of the world is more advance with Hip Hop culture than the United States. I took his word for it, but it was not until I went overseas and seen the art when I seen what he said firsthand.

Geneva, Switzerland

This picture comes from a stake park. It was at this park where I came up with the idea for this post. This was the first piece that I saw.

Before I went overseas, I thought about how I would share my experience with all of you. Of course there was my Twitter where I shared my experience on a micro level, but I wanted to do something bigger. I wanted to do something Hip Hop related.

Geneva, Switzerland

This stake park amazed me. There were so many wonderful pieces. The colors and size of them is what grabbed me. I never had seen so many bright colors. I took notice of the pieces that were just name tags, but I took even more notice of the ones that had more than a name tag.

Bern, Switzerland

I learned a lot from all of this. One of the things I learned was how serious some artists are about their work. I could see their hard work and great detail when I looked at the pieces from a distance and up close. It seems that the various governments overseas are not as serious about getting rid of graffiti as the various governments and people in the United States. This non-involvement has allowed great art to form. It has given the poor who can't afford to put up huge displays a chance to shine. This experience has inspired me to check out 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center if I could get in. If you ever get the opportunity to go overseas, look at all of your surrounds because you never know what you will find.

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Pictures are courtesy of Amira Streeter. Thank you.

Fuck an Asher Roth

Who does he think he is? This guy is not what Hip Hop is all about. What makes him think he can say “nappy headed hoes?” College? Go-Karts? These are the things people who oppose Asher Roth say. I have to admit that there was a point where I didn’t like Asher myself. That was before the “Lark On My Go-Kart” video released. After I heard that record, my whole opinion about him had changed. He was really different. That record showed me that he was wasn’t an Eminem copy cat. In a few ways like wordplay, I would even say he’s better than Eminem.

I first heard of Asher when he appeared in XXL’s Freshmen 10 issue. I didn’t understand why he was there. Out of all the freshmen, he was the only one I never heard of. I wondered why give a spot in a major magazine to an unknown person when there are many other great artists out there. He remained unknown until I heard “I Love College.” At that time, I really didn’t like it. I was not impressed at all. Sure, I did relate to it, being a college student at the time, but I just couldn’t get with it. A fellow journalist was telling me that Asher was more than “I Love College,” but I didn’t believe him. He did hold more weight than anybody else I knew because he actually heard Asher’s debut album Asleep In The Bread Aisle long before it released. When XXL dropped “The Reading,” more people started to jump on the Asher Roth train except for me. I don’t think I was really paying attention to the record when I heard it. Now, I think it is a dope record.



Shortly after that song dropped, “Lark On My Go-Kart” was released. While listening to it, I just got lost. The wordplay was witty. It was like he just went in the booth with no pad (or a cell phone as some people use today) and just rapped his ass off. I heard him freestyle before, but this record really grabbed me. I instantly became a fan. But I still couldn’t listen to his Greenhouse Effect mixtape. I prefer albums over mixtapes anyway.

When I talk to people about him, they make negative assumptions about him without hearing his music. I challenge them to just download Asleep In The Bread Aisle and take a few listens. Most of them didn’t do it. When some did, if they still felt the same way about him, I would just leave them be. I think that with these people it is all of the Eminem talk that turns them away from Asher. In many interviews Asher had done, he would get asked him about sounding like Eminem. He got so tied of talking about the comparisons that he decided to end it by making the record “As I Em” for his debut album. He might have killed those comparisons, but there are people out there who still believe in those comparisons. The reasons they still do is because they refuse to listen to his music.

Asher’s personal actions are another thing that turns people away. A little while ago, he made a joke in reference to Don Imus’ famous comment “nappy headed hoes” on Twitter after he just really performed at Rutgers University. He also said something to the effect that Black rappers spend a lot of money on flashy things but don’t help the people suffering in Africa. The blogging community went on fire while the people who never liked Asher from the start brought their hate to the next level. These comments give them the ammo that they needed. They tried to convince people that Asher was not good at all.

I can understand how people can be upset by “nappy headed hoes,” but why is it OK for Black rappers to say the same thing? I’m not saying it is not OK for him to say that. I’m saying that it is not OK for anyone. As for the Black rappers comment, I agree with Asher. As I said before, I do think people in general should give back especially if they had been in poverty themselves. Overall, questioning Asher should’ve got people to question their own.

Asher is a great MC. Asleep In The Bread Aisle is nearly classic. Maybe in a few years, it would be considered classic. Who else done a record that talked about their father in a positive light (Shout out to the REAL fathers)?

Who else tried to get their own White brethren (the majority of his fans) to fight poverty?

He is the one of very few MCs who didn’t rely on features to make his album. Unlike the majority of rappers (especially White ones), his music is who he is, and he stays true to who he is.

Hot 97 Summer Jam 2009 Recap

The program produced by XXL Magazine.

Jim Jones

Jim Jones and Juelz Santana

Young Jeezy

This past Sunday was the last Hip Hop concert at Giants Stadium, Hot 97's Summer Jam, New York City's biggest Hip Hop concert of the year. History is made here. Beefs started and went to the next level here. If you were a new artist and you performed here, you knew you made it. This year's concert didn't seem like much wasn't going to happen because of the line up. I missed the Reggae acts, Jadakiss (I'm kind of upset about that), and all of the R&B acts expect for Mary J. Blige. When I finally got there, she was about to come on. Her set was great. She went back to the classics. She even brought out Method Man to perform "You're All I Need." She took a break while Method Man brought out Redman to perform a couple of their new records.

Then, Young Jeezy came out and made the stage his own with records from his first major album Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 to his recent album The Recession. In the middle of his set, he shouted out the women in the crowd. Then, Drake came out to perform his smash hit "Best I Ever Had."
After Drake left, Jeezy got into a few more records before performing "Put On." Once he was done with his verse, Jay-Z appeared to do his verse and perform his new record "Death of Autotune."
While he was performing "Death of Autotune," T-Pain who was also set to perform caught him off guard by coming out. It seemed like he was embracing the record. But once he started to do his own set, it seemed like the record had effected him. He was performing records he appeared on. It took a while before he performed his own records. He did bring out his own guests, Lil Kim and Maino. Together, Maino and T-Pain performed Maino's "All the Above" from his debut album If Tomorrow Comes...
T-Pain ended his set by bringing out Ace Hood and DJ Khaled. After that, Dipset's Jim Jones and Juelz Santana came out to close the show. They performed a lot of their hits. Jim Jones shouted out Cam'ron who was not at Summer Jam. It seems that they finally made peace. Then, Jim brought out Soulja Boy to perform his hit "Turn My Swag On." At this time, there were a lot of people on the stage. Jim mocked Jay-Z for his record "Death of Autotune" while bringing out Ron Brownz to perform "Pop Champagne." I left shorty after that to beat traffic and because Dipset's performance became lame.

Overall, the concert was cool. Young Jeezy had the best set. Dipset had the worst. I couldn't believe that Hot 97 let them close again (they closed last year too). Jay-Z was the highlight. T-Pain seemed to be dead because of Jay-Z. Summer Jam might not what it used to be, but it is still one of the biggest Hip Hop concerts in New York City.

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The Roots' $10 Jam Recap

Black Thought

Captain Kirk Douglas

Craig G of the Juice Crew

Q-Tip
Last week, I went to The Roots' $10 Jam. It was kind of crazy as to how I got in. I came a hour and a half before the show started. I didn't buy a ticket online so I had to stand on the no ticket line. I didn't mind paying $12, but I was upset at myself for not paying it online when I had the chance. As it got closer to starting, there were a few men trying to sell tickets for almost $40-$60. The thing that amazed me was how they didn't step to me. They were trying to convince the man next to me that he wasn't going to get in. I watched as the line for people with tickets grew more than the line with people who didn't have tickets. Then, this one dude came up to me with his ticket. I thought that he was trying to sell it to me, but he was just giving it away. I took it and wondered as I stood on the people with tickets line if the ticket was fake. It turned it that it wasn't. I could not believe it.

As I entered the Highline Ballroom, I noticed that the place was really small and already full. At that point, I knew that I wasn't going to get in if I didn't have a ticket. I proceeded to the front of the stage and the show started with an opener. The opener was a Rock band. They had some good tunes. After they played a few songs, The Roots took the stage and proceeded to jam. Black Thought came on and the group started to do a few of their songs. Then, Black Thought introduced some guests to the stage. The first was M.O.P.

A few more guests who were new to the crowd and myself came out. Then, Black Thought brought out Craig G of the legendary Juice Crew.

After Craig G's set, Black Thought came back out and declared the jam as Jay Stay Paid night in honor of late producer J Dilla and his new album of the same name. A few more faces people knew came out came out to perform tracks from Jay Stay Paid. Black Thought even got into his own song from the album.

The highlight of the night was when Black Thought brought out Q-Tip. Together, they performed some of Q-Tip's classics.

The Roots' $10 Jam is a show that will keep the crowd on the edge of a cliff with surprises. This week's jam had Mos Def and Skillz. If you are in New York City and into dope music and live bands, attend one of these jams because you never know who you will see just for $10.

Click here to buy tickets.

The Roots' MySpace

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Reflection Eternal Concert Recap

This concert occur a month ago. I meant to do this post a month ago, but I was waiting to see what was going to happen with the interview I had with both men, and I was trying to graduate. Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek) stopped by Skidmore College to perform and promote their new album Revolutions Per Minute dropping this summer. The album is their first album in nine years. Skidmore was the site of their second concert since reuniting and last few concerts before the Rock the Bells tour. The opening act was a 1980s Pop/Rock type band brought in by Skidmore Entertainment Committee. They were weird, but interesting. Hi-Tek came on stage once his DJing stuff was set up. The crowd got excited. Then it was time for Talib Kweli to come on.

After he came out, he keep the crowd going.

He did a few old joints as well.

Then, he got Hi-Tek to play a few of records he produced.

After that, Hi-Tek picked up a mic and did a few of his own records.

They "ended" the show, but the crowd wanted more. They still wanted to hear "Get By." Both men came back onto the stage and Talib did a freestyle and his verse to Kanye West's "Get 'Em High," their new record "Back Again," and "Get By."

A great way to end a great show. The concert proved that both men can still rock together. Let's just hope it can carry over to their new album.

Talib Kweli's MySpace
Hi-Tek's MySpace
Reflection Eternal's MySpace

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Pictures and videos from the concert are courtesy of Amira Streeter. Thank you.

In Search of the Best

So there is a plenty of talk going on these days about who is the best rapper, and some people have taken it upon themselves to create tournament style brackets to determine who the undisputed champ is. Some have been successful at this like MTV, but one media outlet seems to never get it right, and yes I'm talking about Vibe. Vibe is at it again with their buffoonery; they decided to create a Best Rapper Ever Tournament. It appears that they haven't learned from last year’s dreadful Best Rapper Alive tourney. There are numerous mistakes with both of these attempts to determine the best EMCEE. Vibe’s first mistake was not differentiating between “RAPPERS” and “EMCEES.” There are key differences between the two is the depth in lyrical content and as Redman put it on Ed Lover's morning show on Power 105.1fm, “emcees” can still rock a crowd acapella and have everyone actively engaged in the show, whereas “rappers” have neither one of these capabilities. To simplify this, artists should be placed into categories that reflect their abilities in the craft of Hip-Hop. Jermaine Dupri puts it best on his YouTube program called “Living the Life”:


As JD put it, “heavyweights” or “emcees” should be the premier artists or the bar that everyone else should be trying to catch. Then from there, everyone else gets placed into light heavyweight, middle weight, featherweight, and so on. Once this is established, tourneys and bracket match ups could be created. Not doing this prior to the matchups not only diminishes one’s credibility as we've seen in Vibe’s case, but the whole thing just does not make any sense. With that said, let's take a look at Vibe’s 2007-2008 Best Rapper Alive Tournament. First off, there are people that are on that list that sure as hell don’t belong there. I think Lil Mama has potential to be really good, but with one hot single and a decent couple of verses on the remix to Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” she should not be mentioned as one of the best rappers alive. Aside from the lack of strength in songs, her album Voice of the Young People was not even able to break 100,000 units. It was also unfair for Vibe to match her up against Missy Elliot who has been a lyrical force for years. This was a key instance of mis-pairings.

The one that actually had me laughing but extremely disappointed was the approval for Soulja Boy Tell'em to crack the list. He is not an emcee or a rapper. He is a performance act for his beloved slave masters. He has no lyrical talent at all. Why else would DJs play one of the many remixes to “Turn My Swag On” and cut his verse. To further my dismay, Vibe had the audacity to put him in the 2Pac category. That is like spitting in 2Pac’s face and his legacy. Along with that mistake, they matched him up against the "god emcee" Hova. This was very disrespectful on Vibe’s part because this "EMCEE" is a LEGEND. I should not have to go further, but compare the resumes and you'll agree that Vibe definitely needs to rethink these decisions before they make them. The next thing is Ludacris going to the finals. I'm a Luda fan, but he should not have gone past T.I, let alone Weezy F. Baby. Okay we can say that both Paper Trail and Tha Carter III were released after this tourney was created, but just based off their previous albums and features in 2007, they should have been easily put past Luda.

I know that most of us have seen the Joe Budden clip of him venting his frustration with Vibe about their 2008-2009 tournament The Best Rapper Ever, if not here it is:

Joe is right about the matchups being wrong, people being on the list that should not be there, and of course rankings. First off, why is Eminem the only one that gets a play in bracket? If that is the case, then 2Pac, B.I.G, and Rakim should also get play in brackets. Again, there is disrespect towards 2Pac because he is matched with Plies. This was a poor choice again by Vibe because they are not in the same weight class. 2Pac is a heavyweight and Plies is a middle weight at best. Bun B should not be ranked higher than Jadakiss. Jada's usage of metaphors and personification are superior to that of Bun B. The play in bracket is missing Mickey Factz who is lyrically better than Charles Hamilton and Bobby Ray.

All in all, Vibe should have their ability to discuss Hip-Hop and create brackets revoked. It is obvious that they lack respect for the art form and the craft. They have no clue in what they were doing in putting both of these tournament brackets together.