Strictly hip hop news

From Anti-Records:

Iconoclastic Artist Sage Francis Teams With Unique Songwriters and Musicians on Impassioned Critique of Organized Religion

“You are going around trying to keep people out of hell, and I am going around trying to keep hell out of people.” – Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899)

Anti-Records is excited to announce the impending release of an impassioned new album Li(f)e by celebrated agent-provocateur of hip hop, Sage Francis. An underground star from his years as a battle champion, poet and founder of influential Strange Famous Records, Francis garnered even wider acclaim with his incendiary 2005 release “A Healthy Distrust,” a timely condemnation of corporate greed, war-mongering and American complacency. On his electrifying new album Li(f)e, Francis turns his keen observational skills to a culture of rampant hypocrisy and, in particular, organized religion.

This album is a marked evolution for Francis. His signature wordplay, a dazzling mix of sardonic humor and biting social commentary, is now complimented by a talented band consisting of producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine) and cohorts Jim Becker and Tim Rutili of the acclaimed Chicago outfit Califone. It proves an effective soundtrack for Francis’ riveting lyrical discourse. The record’s title Li(f)e is a deliberate amalgamation of the words life and lie. As Francis says, “What about life is a lie? What we’re told about God is a lie. What we’re told about race, gender roles, beauty, war, food, drugs, sexuality, capitalism, history, the nature of humankind…a gang of lies. I feel it in my gut, I think it in my brain, I write it with my hands and I speak it with my mouth. That’s what makes Li(f)e the general theme of this album.”

To help convey his impassioned message Francis has enlisted a cadre of uniquely talented songwriters. The album begins with a stirring Steinbeck imbued tale of prison break entitled Little Houdini’ with music written by ex Grandaddy frontman turned solo artist Jason Lytle. “We specifically sought out songwriters who had never worked with a rapper,” Francis explains. “And I didn’t want them to write music they thought they should for hip-hop. The music for ‘Little Houdini’ was a long epic instrumental piece Jason had just hanging around which I then worked my story into.” Next up is a rousing and energetic anthem entitled “Three Sheets” with music written by Chris Walla of the band Death Cab for Cutie. Subsequent songs feature compositions by Tim Fite, members of Calexico, DeVotchKa, and Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse – each interpreted by Francis and the band resulting in an entirely organic and captivating vehicle for Francis’ dramatic narratives.

Li(f)e is a thought provoking and unabashedly original album from an evolving artist with a refreshingly distinctive voice.

New Video: Wale’s new “Pretty Girls” video just debuted on 106 & Park, and now he’s fielding criticism on twitter. Why do you think? The girls look model-ish, but maybe not as flavorful as, say…in a Petey Pablo video. I’d say if anything, it’s a bit odd that there isn’t more girl in the clip overall. Especially given the title.

UPDATE: Perhaps in response, Wale posted his other new video “My Sweetie”….

Wale – My Sweetie (directed by tabi Bonney) from tabi Bonney on Vimeo.

I kinda like it…the song is like go-go samba, lol.
Moving on…Kid Cudi and Green Lantern put together a mixtape (featuring Cudi, Chromeo, Atrak’s Duck Sauce, and more) to coincide with this Sunday’s debut of Cudi’s HBO series “How To Make It In America.” (here’s the first episode)

New Mixtape: Kid Cudi x DJ Green Lantern x Broke Mogul present How to Make It In America, The Mixtape (Download link) (Thanks to Legend/OS) (Tracklisting after the jump)

And finally, Pill leaked a first song off his upcoming album 1140: The Overdose

New Music: Pill “Thoughts” (download link)

After the jump, the Kid Cudi mixtape tracklisting, and a Pill freestyle clip…

Pill freestyles for SMKA, not sure what that is. (spotted on the Smoking Section)

DJ Green Lantern, KiD CuDi & Broke Mogul – HBO Presents How To Make It In America, Mixtape Tracklist:
01. DJ Green Lantern – KiD CuDi Intro
02. Jadakiss – Searchin’ (feat. Sheek Louch)
3. Dan Black – Symphonies (Remix) (feat. Kid Cudi)
4. Nipsey Hussle – Husslas State of Mind (feat. K.C.)
5. Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar
6. Yacht – Psychic City (Classixx Remix)
7. Chromeo – Night by Night
8. Duck Sauce – Anyway
9. Freddie Gibbs – Playa (Capski Juke Remix) (feat. California Pudd)
10. Johnny Polygon – Riot Song
11. Holy Ghost! – Hold On
12. Florence & The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (The XX Remix)
13. Wave Machines – Keep the Lights On
14. Lupe Fiasco – Resurrection (feat. Kenna)
15. CyHi Da Prynce – Tired of Being Broke
16. Styles P – Send a Kite (feat. Dwayne Collins)
17. Phoenix – (Neighbors Remix) (feat. Devendra Banhart)
18. Junkie XL – Cities In Dust

Tom Warner documents the powerful beauty of lightning with an array of optical and electromagnetic sensors. He often uses a Vision Research ‘Phantom’ high-speed camera.

Warner is a Ph.D student at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, in Rapid City. He studies atmospheric sciences with a specialty in lightning research. “Lightning is one of nature’s most spectacular phenomena,” says Warner. “I want to understand how lightning behaves.”

See also:

ded/"> Feb. 9, 1870: Feds Get on Top of the Weather

“Since 2007, I have used high-speed video cameras capable of recording lightning at up to 54,000 images per second. These cameras enable us to see lightning like never before, as we can clearly see lightning propagate downward from the clouds or upward from tall objects.

The camera continuously records in a looping memory buffer. “When I see a flash take place, I trigger the camera at the end of the flash and it saves the previous 2.5 seconds of video prior to the trigger.”

He then saves the video into the camera’s memory. It is then transferred to a computer hard drive to analyze later.

Warner explains what’s in each of these six videos, and how he made them.

Above:

Near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming

The video shows a downward-propagating negatively charged, stepped leader. The lightning branches out in many different directions, causing one leader to make a connection with the ground, creating a bright return stroke.

The lightning was filmed at 7,200 images per second (139 microseconds per image). The downward leaders are traveling at a couple of hundred kilometers per second. The bright return stroke travels upward at around half the speed of light, and is too fast to capture in more than one image.

1870: President Ulysses S. Grant signs a bill creating what we now call the National Weather Service. Forecasting models were simple but generally effective.

It had been obvious for centuries that weather in North America generally moves from west to east, or southwest to northeast. But other than looking upwind, that knowledge was little help in predicting the weather until you could move weather reports downwind faster than the weather itself was moving.

The telegraph finally made that possible. The Smithsonian Institution in 1849 began supplying weather instruments to telegraph companies. Volunteer observers submitted observations to the Smithsonian, which tracked the movement of storms across the country. Several states soon established their own weather services to gather data.

Congress thought the nation needed a centralized weather office, and that the new system would be best served by military precision and discipline. Hence, the resolution signed by President Grant in 1870 required the Secretary of War:

to provide for taking meteorological observations at the military stations in the interior of the continent and at other points in the States and Territories … and for giving notice on the northern [Great] Lakes and on the seacoast by magnetic telegraph and marine signals, of the approach and force of storms.

The War Department assigned the new function to the Signal Service Corps, where Brig. Gen. Albert J. Myer matter-of-factly named the new unit the Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce.

The network went online Nov. 1, 1870. Observers at 24 stations in the eastern United States started taking synchronized readings at 7:35 a.m. and telegraphing them to the division’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Cleveland Abbe, a private forecaster who (name notwithstanding) operated out of Cincinnati, had a reputation for consolidating telegraph reports into top-notch weather maps. The Army hired him as Special Assistant to the Chief Signal Officer. Abbe began work in January 1871 and made his first official forecasts the following month. He soon exceeded public expectations with daily weather reports like this:

Synopsis for past twenty-four hours: The barometric pressure had diminished in the southern and Gulf states this morning; it has remained nearly stationary on the Lakes. A decided diminution has appeared unannounced in Missouri accompanied with a rapid rise in the thermometer which is felt as far east as Cincinnati; the barometer in Missouri is about four-tenths of an inch lower than on Erie and on the Gulf. Fresh north and west winds are prevailing in the north; southerly winds in the south.

Probabilities: It is probable that the low pressure in Missouri will make itself felt decidedly tomorrow with northerly winds and clouds on the lakes, and brisk southerly winds on the Gulf.

In 1872, Congress extended the Signal Service’s weather responsibility to include the entire country. The weather division was renamed the U.S. Weather Bureau and transferred to civilian control as part of the Agriculture Department in 1891. President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it to the Commerce Department in 1940.

The bureau was renamed the National Weather Service in 1970, when it joined the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the Commerce Department’s newly created National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Abbe served the government’s weather service in various capacities until 1916, the year of his death, and is often called the “father of the U.S. Weather Bureau.”

Source: NOAA

This article first appeared on Wired.com Feb. 9, 2009.

See Also:

• Video Gallery: Lightning Reveals Its Power in Slow Motion
• Feb. 2, 1046: There's a 400-Year Nip in the Air
• April 1, 1960: First Weather Satellite Launched
• Robo Weather Patrol: NASA Uses UAVs to Spy on Climate Patterns
• Dams Could Alter Local Weather, Cause More Rain
• Weather Geeks Champion New Armageddon-Worthy Cloud
• Get Ready for Extreme Weather
• China Leads Weather Control Race
• Feb. 9, 1969: Behemoth Aloft

In case anyone was wondering if Barbra Streisand and Kanye West could make sweet music together, they'll find out when the star-filled remake of "We Are the World" premieres Friday during the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

(Questlove spinning at J.Dilla Tribute event at The Bell House | Brooklyn NYC | Feb 6, 2010)

Mikey: Feb 7th will forever be a somber and bittersweet day in Hip-Hop. The day marks the passing of the late Big Pun and the birthday of the also deceased J-Dilla. These two Hip-Hop figures both in their own respect were responsible for influencing some many and creating their own lanes in the game. Here are a few reminders of the greatness that Big Pun and J-Dilla brought to Hip-Hop. (RIP Big Pun & J-Dilla)

New Music: Big Pun “Dream Shatterer (Cookin Soul remix)” (Download Link)

New Music: Big Pun “Resurrection” (Prod. by Sean C & LV) (thanks to Riggs)

Available for download on itunes, all proceeds will go towards Big Pun’s family.

DOWNLOAD: Cookin Soul x Big Pun x J Dilla = Big Dilla (Mixtape) (presented by 2DopeBoyz)

Link: DJ KAST ONE – FEEL GOOD SUNDAYS – BIG PUN TRIBUTE MIX.

Link: Peter Rosenberg – A Complete Big Pun Retrospective

(Combat Jack and Peter Rosenberg Discuss Big Pun  / Big Dilla mixtape cover and track listing after the jump)

(Combat Jack and Peter Rosenberg Discuss Big Pun)

Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg put together an amazing retrospective mix of Pun’s music. (RIP Christopher Lee Carlos Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000)

(Full Track Listing )

Part 1Funk Flex Vol. 1 Freestyle – Fat Joe & Big Pun
Firewater – Fat Joe
You Ain’t A Killer – Big Pun
Hot 97 Freestyle – Big Pun **
Dream Shatterer (Original) – Big Pun
Twinz – Big Pun feat. Fat Joe
I’m Not a Player – Big Pun
Angie Interview 1 Interlude
Still Not a Player – Big Pun
Wishfull Thinking – Big Pun
Beware – Big Pun
Super Lyrical – Big Pun
Angie Interview w/ Pun and NORE Interlude
You Came Up – Big Pun feat. NORE
Off the Books – The Beatnuts feat. Big Pun
Glamour Life – Big Pun
In for Life – Terror Squad
Capital Punishment (INST) – Big Pun

Part 2

Banned from TV – NORE feat. Big Pun
Fantastic 4 – DJ Clue feat. Big Pun
Shut Em Down Remix – Onyx feat. Big Pun
Drop It Heavy – Showbiz & AG feat. Big Pun
Watcha Gonna Do – Terror Squad feat. Big Pun
John Blaze – Fat Joe feat. Big Pun
Symphony 2000 – Truck Turner feat. Big Pun
Funk Flex Vol. 2 Freestyle – Funk Flex feat. Big Pun & Terror Squad
Horse & Carriage Remix – Cam’ron feat. Big Pun
Shaq, Crack, and Pun – Shaq feat. Big Pun **
Toe to Toe – Cuban Link feat. Big Pun
Verbal Murder – Pete Rock feat. Big Pun
Western Ways Remix – Delinquent Habits feat. Big Pun
Thug Brothers – Funk Flex feat. Nore & Big Pun
The Mission – Digital Underground feat. Big Pun
Who Is a Thug? – Big Pun
Deja Vu Remix – Made Men feat. Big Pun
Feelin So Good – Jennifer Lopez feat. Big Pun
100 % – Big Pun
Livin La Vida Loca Remix – Ricky Martin feat. Big Pun
Round & Round – Mary J Blige feat. Big Pun
2 Way Street Remix – Miss Jones feat. Big Pun
Top of the World Remix – Brandy feat. Big Pun
Gettin Jiggy Wit It Remix – Will Smith feat. Big Pun **
I Still Love You Remix – Next feat. Big Pun
It’s So Hard – Big Pun
Friends – NORE feat. Big Pun & Mariah Carey **
Pina Colada – Ruff Ryders feat. Big Pun
Quiet on the Set – Big Pun feat. Terror Squad
Let the Games Begin – Mack 10 feat. Big Pun
BX N***as – Big Pun **
Bring Em Back – Terror Squad feat. Big Pun
Loco Bananas – Big Pun feat. Tony Sunshine
Tres Leches – Big Pun
Watch Those – Big Pun
N***a Sh*t – Big Pun

**Not on an Official Release

Part 3

The Rain and the Sun – Big Pun
Where Ya At – DITC feat. Big Pun
Rhyme for Rhyme – Cormega feat. Big Pun
Feelin This – Terror Squad feat. Big Pun
From NO to NY – Mr. Serv On feat. Big Pun
Rudeboy Salute – Terror Squad feat. Big Pun and Buju Banton
The Foundation – Tony Touch feat. Big Pun
Terror Squadians – Terror Squad feat. Big Pun
Triple Threat – Terror Squad feat. Big Pun
I’ll Be Around – Rah’sun feat. Big Pun
Sex, Money, & Drugs – Next feat. Big Pun
Block Party (version 1) – Royal Flush feat. Big Pun and NORE
Block Party (version 2) – Royal Flush feat. Big Pun and NORE
Dramacide – The Executioners feat. Big Pun and Kool G Rap
Fast Money – Big Pun
Brave in the Heart – Big Pun feat. Terror Squad
Cross Bronx Expressway – Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz feat. Big Pun
Freestyle for Angie Martinez – Big Pun
Carribean Connection – Big Pun feat. Wyclef
My Turn – Big Pun
Mamma – Big Pun

Alice Tan Ridley, mother of Academy Award-nominated Precious star Gabourey Sidibe, has been singing her heart out in subway stations around New York City three days a week for 18 years!

A R&B/Gospel fixture in the Big Apple, Ridley worked as a nursery-school teacher and a Department of Education teacher’s aide before relocating her act to Manhattan’s train stations — she also croons in Penn Station and 14th Street/Union Square. Although most people would see her daughter as the one with the more glamorous gig, Alice refuses to accept handouts from her kid.

While Gabby, 26, could be well on her way to a life of a big spending in Hollywood, Ridley — a proud Harlem native — says she’s happy to continue hitting the high notes for straphangers.

“My name is not on Gabby’s paycheck,” Alice explained to The New York Post on Monday. “For a while, I was teaching and doing the singing, burning the candle at both ends to support my family…” Now the songstress says she makes enough money each day to “pay the bills and feed the kids.”

1969: Boeing successfully tests its new 747 jumbo jet.

As commercial air travel boomed in the 1960s, the need for a plane capable of handling more passengers than Boeing’s reliable old warhorse, the 707, became obvious. But the technology of jet-engine design was changing rapidly, too, and the feeling was that any new aircraft built using existing subsonic engines would soon be made obsolete by planes capable of supersonic flight.

So the 747 was designed to be easily convertible to hauling cargo, which Boeing believed would ensure its long-term sustainability.

Configured for commercial passenger service, the original 747-100 could carry more than twice as many passengers as the 707, between 366 and 452. It was propelled by four Pratt & Whitney high-bypass turbofan jets and designed with a number of redundancies and backup systems to ensure maximum safety of the aircraft. The first 747 entered commercial service with Pan American Airways in 1970.

In the end, commercial supersonic flight proved a bust, for various financial, environmental and technical reasons. The 747, meanwhile, expected to be obsolete after 400 were built, surpassed 1,000 aircraft in 1993 and, with several series modifications, remains in production to this day.

Source: Boeing, Wikipedia

An earlier version of this article appeared on Wired.com Feb. 9, 2007.

See Also:

• Boeing’s Biggest Bird Leaves the Nest
• We Fly Boeing's New 747-8 (Part 1)
• Boeing 747 Gets an Efficiency Makeover to Challenge A380
• 747 Flies With A Big Hole In Its Fuselage … For Science
• At Long Last, Boeing's 787 Flies
• Jan. 9, 1969: Concorde Takes to the Skies; Turbulence Ahead
• Jan. 15, 1969: White-Knuckle Ride
• Jan. 16, 1969: A Rendezvous, and a Rough Ride Home
• April 7, 1969: Birth of That Thing We Call the Internet
• June 22, 1969: Umm, the Cuyahoga River's on Fire … Again
• July 20, 1969: One Small Step … One Giant Leap …
• Feb. 9, 1870: Feds Get on Top of the Weather

Now we understand why Kim Kardashian doesn’t want to let this cheating Super Bowl champ go! New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush proves milk does a body good in the new ad from the star-studded “Body By Milk” nutritional campaign.

Michael Jackson’s personal physician has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the legendary entertainer’s death last summer.

Doctor Conrad Murray is accused of “unlawfully and without malice” giving Michael a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol last June. The Houston-based cardiologist faces up to four years behind bars if found guilty.

Murray is expected to appear in court today where he will enter a not guilty plea and be released on bail.