what's your bank account say? Oh, that's all?

underrated

you're just a freak... like me

Three good things about the weekend.

1. Had a show at Second City that went really well.

2. Finally got to listen to the new Joe Budden today, Mood Muzik 3. It's really good. Hova lost when he never put Budden's sophomore record out, subsequently letting Joe out of his deal. Man's mad talented.

3. The Batman trailer hit the internet today, in HD (peep the picture). I'm so excited for this movie. Summer is just too far away.

Back on my grizzle like a bear skin rug

The Cool dropped the other day. It's streaming on MTV's website I think, so you can listen there if you don't have the means of getting the retail version before it hits stores.

When it comes to Lupe I've always been rooting for dude I guess. He's different than most rappers and he wants you to know that. He's a nerd basically, anime, skateboards, stuff Project Pat ain't messing with ya know. His flow is unique and he can ride a beat well.
When Food and Liquor was coming out a version leaked that Lupe ended up scrapping. That version is held above the eventual retail copy by most listeners (yours truly included). The retail had a Hova guest spot and the dude from Linkin Park. It just didn't have the soul(for lack of a better term) that the scrapped version had.
Now he's back with The Cool. It drops after the whole Fiascogate that went down earlier this year when Lupe flubbed a few lines in a Tribe verse he performed at Hip Hop Honors (it wasn't even that serious). That incident was blogged about to death. When it comes down to it, I don't really care if he doesn't have all of Midnight Marauders or De La Soul is Dead memorized, as long as he's putting out quality rap music.
The Cool IS quality. He keeps all the beats in-house (I think) and after the first few cursory listens I don't think that's a bad choice. I'd rather hear him over a FNF producer than say Jazze Pha.
Lyrically Lupe is on point, as usual. He raps about the usual money and hood life, but hearing him spout off about these things still feels different than your everyday emcee. I think his wordplay comes off as an almost breath of fresh air because of the things that interest him (Japanese culture, skating, etc...).
The Cool is by no means a classic or better than, say the releases from this year from the likes of Hov, Little Brother (never thought I'd type that), Ghostface and The Wu, but it's entirely enjoyable and will get repeated listens.
After having a day or so with The Cool I feel more confident about purchasing it than I did when I put down my hard earned money for Food and Liquor.

I could be wealthy. With nothing to stop me.

New Hot Chip hit the internets this week. I was glad to get this after I feel like I've been listening to nothing but hip hop for the past couple of weeks, save for Mountain Goats- Tallahassee on my way to Carbondale last weekend. I wish my fictional gf would fictionally dump me so I could listen to that record for a month straight.
Hot Chip- Made in the Dark. I wasn't even looking for this record to pop up because it doesn't come out until February I'm pretty sure. I was a big fan of their last one and had pretty serious expectations for new work from the band.
Made in the Dark is a bunch of fun. Shake A Fist was one of the first tracks to leak and is one of the highlights.
After the first couple of listens I think the second half of the album is stronger than the first. The first half seems to follow the blueprint for Over and Over from the last record, whereas the second half has more of the ballad-esque work that they do really well.
It will take a little more time with this release for me to make a concrete decision about how well it stacks up to the rest of their catalog.

Is there a ghost

I slept on this record and I shouldn't have. It's nearly as good as their debut. One of the finest indie rock records to come out this year. It's a shame critics seem to be ignoring it.

I'm A West Coast Vet

DOGG POUND- They Don't Want It

This new track has been floating around the internets for a couple of days. It's hotter than I expected. Kurupt is mad underrated, that joint album he put out with J. Wells had some serious bangers on it too. Hopefully dudes come this hard on a full album.

Fifty grand on Windex kid

Nothing out of the ordinary here. Ghost spits fire over soul beats. I wasn't mad anticipating this one, since it hasn't been too long since Fishscale, but it's not getting deleted off the harddrive anytime soon. Definitely grab it.

I wonder if there a Heaven up there for real Gs

http://www.hhnlive.com/news/more/2070
http://brandonsoderberg.blogspot.com/2007/12/pimp-c-1973-2007.html

A huge loss today for the hip hop community and music in general.

RIP PIMP C

Bein' poor is a disease. Gotta hustle up a cure.

Before I tackle my albums list, here's a bunch of my favorite songs from this year. If any look appetizing, let me know and I'll send 'em your way

Akon feat. Kardinal Offishal- Graveyard
Amerie- Take Control
Andrew Bird- Imitosis
Andrew Osenga- Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates
Animal Collective- Peacebone
Arcade Fire- (Antichrist Television Blues)
B.G.- For a Minute feat. TI
B.O.B.- Haterz Everywhere (Remix) feat. Juvenile & Rick Ross
Beanie Sigel- Rain feat. Scarface
Big Kuntry King- Porsche It Out feat. Young Dro & Slick Pulla
Bloc Party- I Still Remember
Bonnie Prince Billy- I'm Loving the Street
Calvin Harris- Acceptable in the 80's
Cam'ron- Just Us
Cassidy- My Drink & My 2 Step
Chamillionare- Won't Let You Down (Texas Takeover Remix) feat. Slim Thug, 'Lil Keke, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Bun B, Pimp C, Trae, Z-Ro
Chris Brown- Hold Up feat. Big Boi
The Cool Kids- Black Mags
Crime Mob- Circles
CRS (Kanye, Lupe & Pharrel)- Us Placers
David Banner- So Special
Devin The Dude- Lil' Girl Gone feat. Lil' Wayne & Bun B
Dizzee Rascal- Where Da G's feat. UGK
DJ Drama- Da Art of Storytellin Part 4 feat. Outkast
DJ Khaled- We Takin' Over feat. TI, Akon, Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross, Baby & Fat Joe
Dolla- Who The Fuck Is That? feat. T-Pain & Akon
Dr. Dog- Weekend
The Dream- Shawty Is Da Shit
Dwight Yoakam- My Heart Skips A Beat
El-P- EMG
Fabolous- Joke's On You feat. Pusha T
Famlay- No Time 4 Nos
Feist- Brandy Alexander
Field Music- A House is Not a Home
Flo-Rida- Low feat. T-Pain
The Forms- Alpha
Freeway- When They Remember
Ghostface Killah- Yolanda's House feat. Raekwon & Method Man
Gorilla Zoe- Money Up
Grinderman- No Pussy Blues
Grit Boys- Ghetto Reality
Hi-Tek- Where It Started feat. Jadakiss, Raekwon, Talib Kweli & Papoose
Hot Chip- My Piano
I-15- Lost In Love feat. Polow Da Don
Iron & Wine- Boy With A Coin
Jay-Z- American Gangster
Jens Lekman- A Postcard to Nina
Josh Ritter- The Temptation of Ada
JR Writer- We Gettin' It Baby (Remix) feat. Lil' Wayne
Justice- DVNO
Kaiser Chiefs- Ruby
Kano- Buss It Up feat. Vybz Kartel
Kanye West- The Glory
Kanye West- Can't Tell Me Nothin'
Klaxons- Golden Skans
Kurupt & J Wells- Get It feat. Goodie Mob & Roscoe
LCD Soundsystem- All My Friends
LCD Soundsystem- Someone Great
Lil' Wayne- Gossip (Live at the BET Awards)
Lil' Wayne- I Feel Like I'm Dyin'
Lil' Wayne- Something You Forgot
Little Brother- Breakin' My Heart feat. Lil' Wayne
Ludacris- Down In Da Dirty feat. Rick Ross & Bun B
MIA- Paper Planes (Remix) feat. Bun B & Rich Boy
Maximo Park- Russian Literature
Mickey Factz- Talk Yo Shit
Miranda Lambert- Desperation
Modest Mouse- Dashboard
The National- Fake Empire
The New Pornographers- All The Old Showstoppers
Okkervil River- Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe
Panda Bear- Comfy in Nautica
Playaz Circle- Duffle Bag Boy feat. Lil' Wayne
Plies- Runnin' My Mama Crazy
Prodigy- Mac 10 Handle
Project Pat- Talkin' Smart feat. Pimp C
R. Kelly- Real Talk
R. Kelly- I'm A Flirt (Remix) feat. TI & T-Pain
Rich Boy- Let's Get This Paper
Rick Ross- Speedin' feat. R. Kelly
Rihanna- Breakin' Dishes
Rocky Votolato- Before You Were Born
Ryan Adams- Two
Ryan Bingham- Southside of Heaven
Saigon- Pain In My Life (Remix) feat. The Game & B.G.
Scarface- Boy Meets Girl
Spoon- You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
Swizz Beats- It's Me Bitches (Remix) feat. R. Kelly, Lil' Wayne & Jadakiss
T-Pain- Bartender feat. Akon
TI- Tell 'em I Said That
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists- Bottle Of Buckie
The Thrills- The Midnight Choir
Timbaland- Way I Are feat. Kerri Hilson
Trap Starz- Get It Big
UGK- International Players Anthem feat. Outkast
Vampire Weekend- Walcott
The White Stripes- You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
Wilco- What Light
Wu Tang Clan- Wolves feat. George Clinton
Yeasayer- Wait For the Summer
Young Buck- Get Buck
Young Jeezy- Straight Out the 'rarri feat. Rick ross