My thoughts on Pimp a butterfly

So I was excited when I just tweeted the editor of Rap – About telling him that the new Kendrick Lamar was a classic on the same night the album day viewed. His response was like: “damn, already”.

This threw me off on how soon I was crowning this album, did I believe the hype? Or do I just have a good ear for good hiphop?

Yes I believe I have a good ear for good hiphop. However most people do. The true test is if the people that made good reviews or at least review albums by the same standard as me, agree or disagree.

Later that day I saw that plenty did. And this leads me to believe on how my hiphop flow is nowadays. Thanks to getting more people online, I jump from blog to youtube channel keeping connected to what is hot.

Ironically radio, and music channels is something I don’t know specially living outside of the mecca of hiphop. (although that has changed as well)

Getting back on the train of thought of this album, the things that I feel is that I have been impressed with the passion of the rhymes. This is some 93 Wu-Tang shit. Having the emcee rhyme with an attitude is something that has chip away from modern hiphop, even raw groups like the Wu don’t rhyme like they were mad anymore. Even their anti-racism track, you want them to be on a more “I can’t go to sleep” mood.

And this is exactly what KDot do. Kendrick, takes a lot of attitude into a surprisingly very well thought scheme of an album. From the titles, to the theme, the sentiment of expressing himself through art, not just rap, but poetry to imagery is what makes the listener get truthfully inspire.

Everything from the cover, to the track list name, to the way they are ordered, and even to the intro to every song, the album is layout down like a book. And even more, it is also inspired like a book, from track titles like “The blacker the berry”, “How to kill a Mockingjay”, this is something that are not so obscure that the listener would never catch.

I think Kendrick better himself with this album and I most say his rhymes are witty enough to earn emceen points and the production with the blend of funk and reggea are definitely welcomed. If there is something that I most nag, is that Kendrick doesn’t seem to adjust to once style, so he doesn’t really have a sound. Like Immortal Technique, Talib Kweli, his sound is very diverse, something more like a Mos Def.

I don’t know if Kendrick is the new Nas, or if this album can be compared to Illmatic, definetly have the elements, the imagery but I would still hold my judgment on the bars.

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Looking for RZA’s legendary magazine cover

I have been searching for the misterious and obscure RZA and GZA cover from back in the early 90s. Unfortunately many hiphop magazines disapeared around 98 and is hard to get any google juice on them.

The blue magazine with RZA and GZA with some knitted beanie. Hope this images on the net help me identify the right magazine, or even some historical context.

Hiphop, sea and basketball

Today, I had a very nice dream, full of strange beauty, basketball and hiphop. I don’t remember the whole dream but what I do remember is being in Cancun, with friends, while I watch my friend practicing his rhymes. One of them just go off as some girls come by and just see my friend clown around while spitting rhymes. But he starts clowining too much and the girl loose interest and start talking to me. I actually have something to say, she is interested enough till she slip her facebook on my phone and leave.

Then we end up half drunk and staring at the black sky near the beach, it’s so calm that we dont see a wave in the dark sea at night. And the reflection of some lights ont he horizon make the distance be so short that the whole sea looks like a set. No waves, big palm trees in the island and some sort of light at the horizon. Everything look very fake and cartoonish.

Then not sure why I start getting dissy and I go back to the place we are staying. Plus my friends who were really drunk kinda pass out and I think they threw one of them in the water, because he come back all pissed and soaked to his last bone.

Then we go to the basketball court playground and start playing 3 on 3. I got my Jordan white Bulls Jersey and shorts. I started playing kinda clumsy but much better than the rest, then Shaq comes out of the crew, but he doenst want to play that much, just enough passing to get his team involved. But for some reason I am always with the ball even when I shoot I miss but recover my own rebound and score. Then I start getting more loose and try to dribble more close to the ground and do crossovers. Eventually we win the 2 rounds of 3 on 3. Pleople start noticing me and cheer on me.

Then the next team comes in with Barkley in the squad, as I start thinking on ways how to take them I wake up. At least I feel good and fun about this dream.

Tical vs Mr. Mef

I was talking today about the evolution of Meth. Pretty interesting how the vintage meth image was that of a more dark synester psychopathic emcee. While later became more as a junkie emcee (with Redman). I wonder who you think it was a better meth? Or if you have a theory of your own.

His flow has also change, from the more flowing type that you heard in tracks like The What, to a more faster rhymer like Gravel Pit or Da Rockwilder.

Meth more slow, melodic flow from the 90’s.

Meth fast spittin style that came in the 2000’s.

Of course from day one Meth was known as the man with different styles. However the original Tical never really came back. Tracks like Vibin’ just never really sound again.

Ticaaaaaal

Awesome cover, Nuff said!!

Mixes y Remixes

Un excelente remix de una muy buena rola que hizo mi amigo Agresor y WK.

Excelente mezcla:

Lo que me gusta es la muy calmada atmosfera que inspira esta rola. Tambien el flow de agresor usualmente pone en sus rolas, y aunque sus versos criptica puedes ver las analogias que hablas de la vulnerabilidad ante el alcohol, las mujeres y el entretenimiento.Un tema clasico cuando se habla de rolas de hiphop en el sur.

Ambos gran exposicion de la calidad del hiphop mexicano que esta agarrando empuje como en los 90s. Beats muy buen conformados y las letras cada vez van agarrando una madurez que antes no habia.

Things to thank in 2011

So the last post of the year as I will try to look back on my personal life. My achivements and things that I think are moving for the next year.

• A whole year living in Cancun, nothing like chilling next to a beautiful beach. 
• Flying to New York and watching the Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Mobb Deep, Immortal technique etc 
• Starting the certification for OpenOffice.org as well as the Internships 
• Building a new tech community in Cancun with Tequilla Valley 
• Becoming the technical lead for OLPC Mexico and country manager for FLISOL and Software Freedom Day 
• Giving some PHD classes on free software

Some goals for new year include:

• Expand the certification project to the rest of the world 
• Moving back to Europe 
• Going to ApacheCon and representing OpenOffice 
• Consolidating a olpc group in sugar development in Cancun 
• Push better quality and development community 
• Finalize the OpenOffice guide and bring it up to par with the english version 
• Give out a course on free software processes and environment for enterprise 
• Follow the NBA and see Lebron James live game

Street dreams

No is not the Nas track, or maybe it is. Life and death al mixed in this bizarro world of my head. This morning dream put an extreme picture of the high and low class neighborhood living next to each other. While my family upper class worked on getting babies and sometimes synced ones. The other one is dominated by gangs and contractors looking for prey to assasinate just for fun. They randomly spot you on the street and is on. My assasins where only two but suriviving my assasin only make more notice me in the process. 
It all started with a family trip when we spot back the car with the gang follow us and a quick game of loosing them through cut corners and alleys was enough to survive them. However individually I wasnt so lucky and on the streets only your feet can set you free. I ran through the crowd, the abandonned warehouse and the old apartment building. Only to come across another killing. Thats where the other two guys catched up and a sudden movement prevented from being stabbed on the spot. I dash through the stairs and off to a larger field full of people. Thats where the second group tried to spot me, these were runners, and they started to launch themselves like a football tackle. I zig zag enough to avoid the first one but the second one was able to put a hand on me. However is was able to reach the end of the park and jump to the fence near the pool and got away to my neighbor hood.
But that wasnt the end, after resting in the couch of my luxury house, the couple of killers broke in and found me instantly. They start robbing everything, taking a dump in my toilet and finally beating me up. That’s when the dream ended and slowly I woke up with a lazy WTF dream went on. It wasnt until the Mobb Deep track start playing that I realize how street novel dream I had. Street Dreams.

Rock the Bells

So this is my first post after the show and have to say so far the trip has been awesome, not perfect, but awesome indeed. First of was the great GZA throwing darts after darts from the liquid swords album.
The rhymes were on point and great rhymin at the top of my longues on every song. From cold world, bible, beneath the surface and with the great Mastah Killa, Killa Priest and RZA who came to perform the 4th chamber verse.
Killa priest also rhymed some of the heavy mental tracks, Masta had some great performance. Unfortuately I couldn’t shoot a close up with my new camera. But he was around all day since he showed up for Glacier of Ice later that night.

The Cuban Linx show was a bit strange and funny with ghost getting with the staff. Saying that the mics where unbalanced and they need better lightning. Dude was so picky that even Rae asked him if he wanted a sandwich with that.
In the end however the mics did really failed with raekwon’s mic completely failing. And Ghost being beyond mad he was like, let’s just say goodbye leaving the stage for real.

Another great show was immortal technique and the dude is not only so energetic but so right when talking about people in general. He asked about drugs during peruvian cocaine, about the harlem reinassance and finally about bin laden with mos def. He also presented really great DJs like hassam and Diabolic rhyming with the crew.
Eventually the event was great, lots of walking though as the sets where pretty far from each other. After several walks we were really exahusted. My legs were killing me and even my friend was holding me for extra support during walking. But we had a great time. Loved every minute and the girls in the show were gorgeous. New York has this wild mixes of cultures and nationalities so it was seen hot asians and hot blondes and so on.
I am glad I got to do what I always wanted and can now enjoy it.

Live from the tape deck

So no this is not a review of Skyzoo, then again, is not a bad idea for a post. However this was about my latest dream, a dream about an anticipation to what I want to get done in New York at the Rock the Bells.

So first thing is that I was right there, at the very front of the crowd. Also was full of people that was passionate of hiphop as well as me. One of the great stuff was hanging out wiht them and just chill with them as we gone through tunes and tunes from the DJ playing not just classics but really great variety.

So one thing I remember was haning with Raekwon and getting into some hiphop discussion about production. Nothing serious, basically some name dropping and suggestion.

Same thing happened when a track from Boyz II Men Remix came up and we discussed about the DJ that make that remix which was pretty great. Unfortunately I doubt many people will get into that in New york but this is my dream so step off 😀

Well another thing I liked was some hiphop garment shopping, with oversized Ts and sneakers. Of course we pick up like 2 or 3 caps. So in the end we were all garment up.

So the dream was not that large and was more an image than a story unfortunately. But still fairly enjoyable dream.