Doggumentary Flies Air New Zealand [Album Listen-A-Long]

In preparation of listening to this not yet released album, I suggest you bring two things: some weed (obvs) and an extremely open mind regarding the plight/development of Snoop D Double Gizzle. This album is Snoop’s 11th studio album, which is a congratulatory achievement, however, hold your applause for this album. This album was supposed to be titled Doggystyle 2, which I would have preferred, primarily because it is likely that he would have had to pay some tribute to the first album and fans from that era, whereas this album appears to be another stab at maintaining contemporary relevance. Listen, and if you disagree, feel free to buy the album starting March 29th.

Toyz N Da Hood Ft. Bootsy Collins

The Way Life Used To Be

My Own Way Ft. Mr. Porter

Wonder What I Do Ft. Uncle Chucc

My Fucn House Ft. Young Jeezy And E-40

Tracks 1-5: Well, track 3, a classic west coast beat, ride to S-L-O bumping this shit, classic modern Snoop. Track 4, back to that old school shit, the album is too flip floppy already for me, this song screams 1994. Track 5, pure Jeezy, not a Snoop track, he sounds forced on this one, and yes, a little old.

In a collaboration with Air New Zealand’s mascot, Rico, Snoop has decided to take his promotional tour for the album to one of the smallest markets in the world, hmmm, sensible?

Listen to the rest of the album, post JUMP! Oh, and my favorite tracks are 3, 16-19.

Snoop versus LL Cool J: Halo Reach [Video]

Halo Reach: Snoop v. LL

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My homie James keeps telling me that he’s going to cop Halo Reach, the newest edition of the epic Halo series of video games on XBOX. Having come up in the late 90′s and early 2000′s, you can’t mess with my Halo and Halo 2 gangsta, it’s simply the shit. But when it comes to this new Halo investment, I can’t hold a torch to the excitement of the masses, unlike James, I’m plain over it. Well James ain’t alone, on the first day XBOX sold 200 million dollars worth of the product! Global week sales topped 300 million.

So if you want to be down like Snoop, LL Cool J, my homie James, or perhaps millions of other earthlings, reach for Reach.

Fun and sad fact: The Halo series has grossed nearly $2 billion in sales over its lifetime. The game is made by Bungie and Microsoft owns the rights to the franchise.

Rock The Bells, lines, lines and more lines…

We just did a massive Lollapallooza write up and Yvettita has given her take on this past weekend’s Rock The Bells festivities in SoCal. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about how they spend their time, here’s a quick rundown on my thoughts from Rock The Bells 2010.

The Good

1. The stage was centrally located with plenty of space to move pretty close to the acts.
2. A Tribe Called Quest killed it! Q-Tip had a superior performance to his UCLA Jazz Reggae act, and Fife looks like he’d been practicing.
3. Moment of the night for me was when Tribe brought out Busta Rhymes and Spliff Starr as surprise guests and proceeded to do a bunch of Violator tracks circa 1999.
4. Wu-Tang was fully in attendance with ODB’s son holding it down as well. I have never seen the full collective and frankly it was an honor and a special moment for me to watch them perform “Enter The 36″
5. Both Wu-Tang and Snoop strayed from their respective albums, which was all good, because we got to see WU perform “Triumph, Method Man perform “Da Rockwilder”, and Snoop put down some classic shit like “Next Episode” and “Murder Was The Case”.
6. Hosing the crowd with water at key moments on account of unbearable San Bernardino heat.

The Bad

1. The parking was overbooked and the lots were closed by the fire marshal, this forced many (including me) to find random, crazy, street parking.
2. When entering the concert grounds, security confiscated cigarette packs (but no single smokes), lighters and bottles of WATER! (including Nalgene) from ticket holders.
3. The indoor venue acted as a second stage, the airplane hanger-esque building was lacking sun, fun, and people. Bust.
4. There was no grass, the entire outdoor venue is on asphalt, basically a huge parking lot. That prevented most (not all) from being able to lie, sit or give their legs a respite.
5. The food vendors were limited and pricey. The Jamaican Jerk sauce was weak, and the lemonade was sour.
6. We arrived at 4PM and they had already pushed a lot of artists on the stage. In just 4 hours we had missed Rakim, Slick Rick, DJ Premier, and a slew of young cats.

The Ugly

1. There were lines to EVERYTHING.
2. There was a line to enter.
3. There was a line to get ID checked so you could wear a Heineken bracelet.
4. There was line to buy “event cards” which were prepaid amounts to spend for food and drink.
5. There were lines to get food and drink.
6. The COLD WATER tent ran out of water. So did the bar.
7. It was about 102 degrees for the majority of the day.
8. LAURYN HILL. Man she sounded like Whitney, post -2009, just cracked out.

Friday Free Joints

Download: Barrington Levy-Watch Dem (Murderer) (Feat. Snoop Dogg And Mims)

Download: Cypress Hill-Carry Me Away (Feat. Mike Shinoda)

Download: Gentleman – It No Pretty [new album]

Download: Gentleman – Regardless [new album]

Download: Jadakiss-Til It All Falls Down

Download: Laws-Target Practice (Feat. Joe Budden)

Ring Ding Dong

Ever feel like you woke up into an episode of The Twilight Zone? Perhaps everything moves slowly that day, everything is a little off, not by a bunch, just a tad, but enough to disrupt your instinctual daily comfort. For me this happens when facts materialize out of thin air, and the absurd is purported to be sensible. In the case of today, I speak of the fact that Snoop Dogg rang the opening bell this morning at the New York Stock Exchange after participating in a mentoring program between CNBC and MTVU. Fellow participants include Blake Mycoskie, Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of Tom Shoes, Steven Hanson founder and president of B. R. Guest Restaurants and Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group. This is the 2nd Annual “Mentoring Madness” event hosted by Maria Bartiromo, if you’re interested in money, or smoking weed, or tapping hot Italian finance MILF ass, then visit www.nyse.com/mentoringmadness and sign up for next year.

Obell111609

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Mr Pig Face Weapon Waist

Crooked I is one twisted California swine. Not too long ago Crooked was expressing his doubts about furthering his rap career on account of being “too accessible,” more poignantly, being shot at. This week Crooked finally dropped his EP ingeniously titled “Mr Pig Face Weapon Waist.” Crooked’s new persona is a pig mask wearing, bulletproof equipped, Desert Eagle touting maniac. The EP only boasts 8 tracks, and at least 3 of them have been leaked a while back, including the Scram Jones produced so-called banger with Snoop titled “Guess Who’s Back.” Snoop is relegated to the chorus on that track, so don’t get your hopes up if you haven’t yet peeped it. Apart from the track “Freestyle Cypher” where Crooked and Royce get down with the Horseshoe Gang, this EP falls way short of expectations. Crooked sounds lost on certain beats, specifically the Frequency produced “U Shoulda Made a Phone Call.” The beat inspires visuals of a sexy night in Miami Beach, a Miami Vice throwback, yet Crooked gets lazy on it, choosing to focus on his swag at the cost of a track sans any noteworthy rhymes.

In summary, Crooked’s new EP boasts arguably the illest moniker ever and cover art to boot, but the tracks (all eight of them) fail to measure up. Considering this EP was pushed back over 5 times, the brevity and lack of substance on this EP scream of artistic apathy. And there’s nothing worse than a lazy pig. Give it a listen, I’m a vegetarian, fry your own bacon.

Crooked I- Mr Pig Face

Crooked I – U Shoulda Made A Phone Call Ft  K-young

Crooked I – Freestyle Cypher Ft  Royce Da 59 and Horseshoe G A N G

alternate artwork after the jump

Snoop Dogg is one creative homie

Snoop Dogg’s uncanny ability to stay relevant in the minds of teenagers for the past 20 some years has very little to do with Snoop, and much to do with us. Or at least Snoop’s genuine understanding of us.

Simply put, there is a very intrinsically human quality about Snoop, and this translates into empathy for others, which we recognize, and reward him for. Us common folk are not the only ones witnessing the gentility of Snoop, the big wigs over at EMI Music have made Snoop the first ever “creative chairman” of Priority Records. I assume they’re hoping to ride the Snoop gravy train right down Easy Street, bidding him to pass his proverbial baton to the future stars of the show. Priority Records will have the distinction of dropping Snoop’s 10th studio album titled Malice N Wonderland, which drops in December.

So next time you’re in your cypher, don’t be shook when a 6′ 4” hood shows up with a suitcase, just put your pound out, it’s that homie Snoop.

Streetz of L.A. : Run by Lions

Who says L.A. ain’t hard? We rarely post mixtapes because we know you can get them on every other hip hop blog out there. If not that, you could always simply search in Google “mixtape rapidshare sharebee.” However, when it comes to mixtapes that feature city specific artist rosters, there are three cities which I will copiously show love. Those cities are: L.A. , Philadelphia and Toronto, AKA home. This tape from Barack ODrama includes bangers from L.A. mainstays Snoop, Crooked I, and Kurupt, as well as L.A.’s young and restless such as Jay Rock, Nipsey Hussle, and Glasses Malone. So if you’re in the city of angels and proudly call it home, download this tape, get your L.A. killer on.

MPFREE: DJ Nik Bean And DJ Drama – Streetz of L.A. 9

NBA Live 2010 Tunes X Custom Covers

A few months ago I broke down a human interest piece on a NCAA athlete turned rapper that would be featured on the upcoming NBA Live 2010 video game soundtrack. Thanks to the leak master over at HIF, I’m able to share 5 tracks off the highly anticipated game. While Googling for cover art I came across the phenomenon of custom cover art for EA Sports video games. I suppose the thought that ones personal favorite baller may never have the honor of gracing the cover inspired some Dikembe Mutombo fan out there to make a custom template website. Two ironic things about this NBA live circle of events, UNC baller GQ is not included amongst the leaked tracks. And secondly, why would you want to put another player on the cover of the game? Know you not of the curse? Customizing EA Sports cover art is equitable to fondling voodoo dolls!

Peep the full track listing for the soundtrack and more custom cover art after the jump.

NBA LIVE 2010 MPREE’s:

B.o.B – I Am The Champion

De La Soul – La La La

Pete Rock – When I Need It

Mickey Factz ft. B.O.B. – Mind Blowin’

Snoop Dogg – Lodi Dadi (Live 10)

Murs – We Ballin

Random Throwback (Ottawa Edition): Senators X Belly

Throwback to the future, retro jerseys are the wave of the eventual. It has been a trend for almost a decade now for retro jerseys to be used as an alternate jersey in all 4 major U.S. sports. Now it’s getting to the point where the primary jersey for a team is either a throwback or designed with a retro perspective. The Ottawa Senators jersey above is designed by a Senators fan on a mission to get the retro look of the early 20th century squad to replace the current jersey choice. There are about 1000 signatures on a petition to make the jersey transition happen, which is so Canadian it’s not even funny. In my extensive experience I’ve found that Canadians are hella apolitical and lack passion to a certain extent. Hence, Canada lets the U.S. dictate their domestic policies, however when it comes to hockey, look out!

Ottawa rapper Belly would be all about rocking the Senators jersey, unfortunately they don’t make it in a XXXXL yet. Belly is another exhibition of Canadian misplaced passion. The rap scene in Canada can be very unique, much of that is due to the strong Carribean roots that Afro-Canadians have. Patois and Jamaican lexicon combined with a Dancehall and Soca base can lead to some dope Canuck rap. However, Belly is a sure shot example of what goes horribly wrong when Canadian MC’s attempt to co-opt the steez of their American counterparts. Not exactly balling, not exactly gangsta, not exactly lyrically talented. Belly just wears the costume and hopes for the best, talk about a worthy petition, how about a petition to replace Belly’s pens and pads with Slimfast shakes and fruit bars?

MPFREE: Belly ft. Snoop Dogg – Hot Girl

Hip Hop Vs. Dubstep: Only A Matter of Time

In addition to its vibrant Hip Hop scene, LA is apparently also America’s epicenter for Dubstep.  And the two come together on Mr. Grustle & The Russian’s Dubstep LA: Embrace the Renaissance Vol. 1, which teams LA-centric Hip Hop artists with Dubstep producers.  Until I moved out to LA, I hadn’t consciously heard anything about Dubstep, but once I attended my first show, it immediately reminded me of the early stages of Hip Hop.  As was the case with New York in the ’80s, the DJs drew the crowds, and the MCs were present mainly to hype the crowd.  The Dubstep MC’s raps were incomprehensible and yet, as would have been the case at a Hip Hop show, nobody was calling for the engineer’s head.  These guys had clearly crossed into Dubstep by way of the more DJ-oriented Drum & Bass, and it was only a matter of time before others approached from a more Hip Hop, Lyric-oriented direction.

Thus, you have Ras Kass, Murs (with Chase & Status!), Snoop Dogg Millionaire, Xzibit, U-N-I, and Grouch & Eligh embracing the budding electronica scene in their own backyards.  Oh, Eve’s (I guess Philadelphia’s got the letters “L” and “A” in it…) on a Benga joint.  You’ll notice that when the verses come in, the bass drops out a little and the glitchy elements pull back to accomodate the vocals— and it’s all about making Dubstep accessible to a wider audience.  Whether it’s for better or worse, you decide.

MPFREE: Mr.Grustle & The Russian’s Dubstep LA: Embrace the Renaissance Vol. 1

[Update: Hit the tracklist after the jump]

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME DUBSTEP? SNOOP IS!!

Finally, an easy way for me to introduce our faithful hip hop heads to the genre we be bumping and pumping right now in L.A.— DUBSTEP!

Peep Snoop do his thing on this Chase & Status banger

LionStarr is actually trying to do some colabo work with some hip hop MC’s and Dubstep producers, we’re glad to see that the big boy’s are thinking of the same thing. Get at us…

MPFREEEE:Snoop Dogg Millionaire ft. Tanvi Shah