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The Rap Map

Ever wondered about all those places, people, and events that are referenced in that new Cam’ron joint? Well, don’t bust your dome thinking too hard because there is The Rap Map to solve all those hard to figure references.

The, uh … geniuses over at Rap Geniuses, a site which “explains rap lyrics”, have devised the Rap Map to further help the listener find out exactly what/where the fuck Lil Wayne (et al) are talking about. The map includes the cities of New York, LA, The Chi, New Orleans, Detroit, and a handful of others … each place or event is marked by a handgun (how sad) … 2pac’s elementary school? That’s there … Lil Wayne’s boyhood home? That’s there too … as well as a shitload of other useless information, but holy shit, is this site addicting! It’s like a thug nasty version of googlemaps.

"Mapping the Gangsta Terrain of the Planet"

I might have to start listening to terrible hip hop just so I can use the resources available to me at Rap Geniuses … but then again, maybe I should just stick to, you know, awesome shit. And there’s always Girl Talk.

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your emcee dream team.

Who would be in your emcee dream team?

I recently watched a video on YouTube featuring an interview in which Mos Def talked about an idea he had to raise money for charity by having an epic hip hop battle. In said battle, the masters of Hip Hop culture, in its varied forms, would be crowned by actual competition as opposed to vague and baseless bragging, or by trademarking yourself as “The Greatest Rapper Alive.”

The showdown would have a battle of marching bands, followed by a battle of the breakers, a battle of the DJs, and then a battle of the beats (Kanye anyone?). The finale would be a Battle Royale in which two emcee dream teams competed to see which team was the best.

Since the idea was also a way to call out Lil’ Wayne, Mos said he would captain one team and Wayne would captain the other, with each captain being able to assemble the team out of whoever he chose. Mos Def said the other four members of his team would be Doom, Nas, Jay Electronica, and Black Thought.

This got me to thinking, it would be fun to see who people came up with for their own dream teams.

If you had the chance to win a million dollars if the team you formed could defeat all comers, who would be your five emcees? I’m really hoping to get feedback on this, I really want to see who everyone picks.

My dream team is as follows, in no particular order (I know, it is really close to Mos Def’s, but that is part of what got me so excited watching the video. Brian and I instantly mentioned Doom and Black Thought the moment Mos said “Dream Team”):

1. Mos Def

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2. Doom (aka, MF Doom, aka, Mad Villain, etc.)

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3. Black Thought

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4. Q-Tip

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5. Childish Gambino

This is clearly the most controversial pick. I very well may regret it, being that Gambino has been on the scene all of ten minutes, and his inclusion on the list means leaving off guys like KRS-One and Nas.

Yet, for now, I stand by the pick. It’s always good to have new blood on the team, and I have never been as impressed, as quickly, and as early in an emcee’s career as I am with the young Mr. Glover. He hearkens back to when Hip Hop was supposed to make you smile. I laugh out loud at his turns of phrase consistently, even though he isn’t some sort of novelty act, he’s just really clever. See that, there I go singing his praises, that should be saved for another post.

So, there’s mine, who is on your team?!?

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freestyle: mos def vs. lil' wayne. [hot spit.]

I’ll probably write a whole post about this soon, but for now, in the words Zach Galifianakis wrote for Natalie Portman, “I’ve got something I need to get off my chest.”

lil’ Wayne is NOT talented. You like dancing to his music, fine, that’s cool, but that’s a producer, not lil’ Wayne. I may dedicate my life to proving this. Normally, I’m not a guy who likes to hate on stuff in print. Yet, I’m just tired of people fawning over lil’ Wayne, calling him buuuulllshit like “best rapper ever,” when guys like Mos Def can write and freestyle circles around him. Have you heard The Ecstatic?!?! Not only does Mos actually speak of love, unity and faith while Wayne raps about nothing but crime, money and sex, but the Boogie Man sounds great doing it, while Weezie sounds like a drunk, self-conscious 12 year old trying to impress his big brother.

So, here is some freestyling from the gentlemen in question:

There are definitely a few clever turns of phrase in there, unfortunately they are separated by huge portions of inane nonsense that doesn’t actually mean anything.

It is normal to take breaks between thoughts, that is when you clutch. Clutching is when you use common rhyming schemes and patterns to fill space while you enter your next flow so you can keep freestyling without awkward gaps. Weezy seems completely unable to clutch, he also doesn’t have any extended flows but merely isolated phrases. The result is… annoying.

Now, time for one of the best freestyling emcees on the planet. Mos Def is a poet. Period.

Not really any clutching there either, but that’s because his brain seems to work really fucking fast and he doesn’t need to.

And, in case you thought Mos can’t do it every time:

Or, if you prefer stuff they actually wrote down:

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