Lifting My Mind in the New Year
It’s always cool to kick off the new year with some fresh music. It’s even better when it’s some local boys! Lifted Mindz are a five man, hip hop crew that I first heard during a break of the Orange…
(Not So) Guilty Pleasure of the Moment: B.o.B. – Play the Guitar
Don’t know much about B.o.B., except I see his name on the charts or around the media in the form of “B.o.B feat. ___” or “___ feat. B.o.B.” credits we’re accustomed to seeing in modern day R&B/hip-hop. His 2010 debut…
Recap: Beats, Rhymes & Life – The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
I just finished watching the Michael Rapaport-directed Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest. Like a lot of folks around my age (early 40’s – same age as Rapaport & the Tribe), I spent a lot…
Q-Tip’s “Barely In Love”
Well, shame on me for not listening to this album when it came out September. 2009. It’s teeming with life. Live instrumentation; a funky, soulful, jazzy laid back vibe (it is Q-Tip, after all, who perfected “laid back” hip-hop twenty…
But My Good Friends Is All I Need
For the past few years, I have received many comments which basically come down to one central theme: It’s about time I started acting my age. I am 42 years old. But even when I was in my late thirties,…
Ick’s Pick: En’ A-Free-Ka
Unpredictable. Otherworldy. Fuunnky. Indescribable. The new album from Shafiq Husayn is blowing my mind. En’ A-Free-Ka is an hour long journey through strange sounds, funky Parliament-arian grooves, futuristic hip-hop soundscapes. Seriously, when I listen to this album, it feels like…
My Top 3 Hip-Hop Songs of All Time
If you had to choose your top three rap / hip-hop songs of all time, what would they be? As I got on down to my Old School Mix at the gym today, that question worked its way into my…
Wu-Tang is for the Children!
It’s undeniable that Wu-Tang Clan are one of the most influential crews in hip-hop history, but trust me you’ve not seen them like this before. It may be LEGO® but it’s still raw so despite what O.D.B. thought you may…
Something like that, right? Is that what you want?
“Daddy, what’s stream of consciousness?” My nine year old daughter was in the back seat of our minivan as we were heading home from summer day camp and laid yet another way beyond her age question on me. For a…
Motivation
So I’m in the early stages of getting back in the gym groove. With all this dying in the celebrity world lately, and all this talk about failing hearts, it was time to drag my sorry ass back into some…