I'll be blogging at least twice daily about politics and pop culture on Global Grind's MySpace page. My first posts:
Stop through and add yourself as a friend, or at least tell your newsreader of choice to slurp down the blog's feed.
Let's show some love to the Best Hip-Hop Editors in the World. No one knows much about them because they keep their bylines behind the scenes, allowing their writing to shine. Besides, they collaborate so closely on each piece it is unfair to give any one of them more credit than the other.
The Best Hip-Hop Editors in the World are the most read and referenced writers in the hip-hop space. Though many question their authority, most fans and professionals I know use their articles as starting points whenever they are looking for info on any rapper, mainstream or obscure.
I've eavesdropped in on some discussions of this close knit yet international editorial squad. I admire their passion and devotion to properly profiling this music culture of ours. I think they've found the right mix of speed, accuracy, depth, and topical breadth.
The paid staffs at The Source, Vibe, XXL, SOHH, and Allhiphop are put to shame by these unpaid volunteers.
Myself? I'm kinda jealous. I want to be down with their crew - Wikipedia's Hip-Hop Project, the best hip-hop editors in the world.
The Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive (OHHLA) is one of my favorite rap websites, despite its flaws. However, now that the CDDB, the database that most music libraries like iTunes use to serve up album info, has cut a deal with the majors to include lyrics, OHHLA will become obsolete overnight. The official lyrics from CDDB will be more accurate and complete than OHHLA can ever hope to be.
Some time ago I paired up Chicago emcees Lupe Fiasco and Rhymefest in a Windy City showdown that left Lupe as the best new-new thing out of that town.
This week I saw that their similarities extend beyond the location/Kanye West/subject matter connection. Both artists are also blogging in promotion of their debut albums.
Lupe Fiasco guest blogs at XXL.
So who's blog is better? I'm bored by both. I'd take Diddy's surprisingly entertaining video blog over Lup' and Fest's.
Imagine how I feel today. Vibe.com, my new home where I play editor, has been trending upwards in traffic since we launched some new features, including the monster gossip blog, Vibe Confidential.
Today, I went to the traffic monitoring site Alexa and found that not only have we've blown past XXLmag.com, where I was offered a position back in January, but we've also climbed past SOHH.com, where I used to work. It feels good to be on the winning team, word to Alonzo Mourning.
Click on the chart for the full sized version:
And we did it all vegetarian style, which to me shows that there are ways to sell hip-hop, outside of the beef box we put ourselves in.
No ghetto celeb is safe.
Not to make this blog sound like a Jay-Z fanboy site, but these guys are killing it with their Young Hov series of home made videos. More videos and a "trailer" after the jump. Credits ripped from YouTube:
"Starring 13 year old Samgoma Edwards, created AND DIRECTED By his brother Samtubia Edwards and CO DIRECTED AND PRODUCED with friend Chris Alverez. "
Jay-Z is widely considered the GOAT of hip-hop, except for some nostalgic purists who still like to throw out old school names as contenders, and one editor who calls Eminem the greatetst rapper alive in order to stir up controversy. The big discussion (at least on blogs and message boards) has now shifted from "Who's the greatest", to "Which album is the greatest's greatest"?
To answer that, I created a this-or-that style poll on Ning that pairs up Jay's albums against each other. I figure his best album will be the one that can beat all the others head-to-head. It worked for Lion-O, so why not with music?
Go and vote at JayZmusic.ning.com!
So far, the top winner is Reasonable Doubt, and the worst loser is the Best of Both Worlds 2. No surprises there, yet.
The lead-up to the Radio City show is reaching silly proportions. I was searching ticket prices on Ebay and came across this: Jay-Z Cup used by jay-Z @ LA concert for Power 106 fm. Bidding starts at $3.99.
In other news, I have a spare solo ticket to the show in the Orch2 section, email me directly if you're interested.
We're not even a week deep into 2006 and already a rapper managed to get himself shot. Whether it's by driving their fancy cars through the hood, or airing out enemies on the radio, it seems hip-hop's soldiers love to live reckless lives.
So, before I do my annual hip-hop predictions (three years running...where does the time go?) let's do hip-hop a favor and send a PSA to our favorite emcees that they need to go easy by voting for who will be the next rapper dead.
Currently 50 Cent and DMX have the most votes from fans who believe their dangerous lives will be cut short. And according to many, Big Boi and Nelly are living the safe life, and should enjoy many more years.
Go and vote now. And if anyone is missing from the list, upload their photo and I'll approve it.
