Certified Gangsta

I mostly like the Girls album and I mostly like the line about ...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:39:00 -0500

I mostly like the Girls album and I mostly like the line about the pizza and the bottle of wine. But let’s all just take one step backward.

This is twice. Why is Drake always looking over his shoulder in...

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:51:00 -0400

This is twice. Why is Drake always looking over his shoulder in videos? Is he checking for letter jacket thieves? Low flying planes? Is the start of every take actually just the end of him running a deep post route? WHAT IS GOING ON?

“This is what happens when you go off your meds. The legal system knows this, and presumably,...

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:31:00 -0400

“This is what happens when you go off your meds. The legal system knows this, and presumably, Delonte is a little closer to figuring it out.”

I had planned to use this space to say something terribly clever about the Delonte West arrest. Then, Bethlemhem Shoals over at Free Darko went and filtered his take on the story through his own bi-polar diagnosis. It’s short, arresting and pretty much the final word on the subject.

“Point Break” was the first R-rated movie I ever...

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:31:00 -0400

“Point Break” was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. My friend Chris had HBO and two teenage sisters. His parents were a little more laissez-faire than mine when it came to movie selection.

It is in many ways a silly film, especially when it veers into the “100-percent pure adrenaline” speak of the early 90s “extreme sports” boom. On the whole, though, Kathryn Bigelow made a movie that is just slightly greater than the sum of its parts. I still have a hard time not staring at it until the credits roll when it’s on basic cable.

All of which is to say I’m a touch more discouraged over Patrick Swayze’s death than I have any right to be. I spent the morning listening to Mark Isham’s score, which has held up remarkably well. It made for a fitting tribute.

I'ma sell to anybody in your damn family.

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:45:00 -0400

As I left my doctor’s office a few weeks ago, I walked past a handful of strung-out looking men huddled around a younger guy who was decidedly better dressed than they were. My mind immediately processed all the figures, but took a minute to do the math. The picture sharpened significantly when the dealer palmed a bill from one of his customers and handed the buyer something in return.

I’ve lived in some fairly bombed out neighborhoods in my time and listened to enough Clipse mixtapes to know the routine. As I walked away, I decided that the extra mental beat wasn’t the result of my naivete, but the details running the interference. It was 11 a.m. on a bright West Village Friday in August and we were on a fairly major street. I’m at best ambivalent about post-Giuliani New York, but something still didn’t seem quite right.

It turns out the large medical building where my doctor keeps his practice also houses a methadone clinic. Our dealer wasn’t necessarily out to terrorize the otherwise Sesame Street vibe of the block. He was just practicing that most basic principle of retail: location, location, location.

His business acumen got me thinking about the efficacy of methadone treatment. I’m not an addiction specialist and my knowledge of such maintenance programs is largely based on its more infamous pop culture references. The scene in “24 Hour Party People” in which Shaun Ryder desperately tries to lick the stuff off an airport floor comes to mind. It was enlightening, then, to find this in a 12-year-old Times piece on this very subject:

“Successful methadone users are invisible” said Dr. Edwin A. Salsitz, director of the methadone medical maintenance program at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. ”Methadone is always judged by the failures.”

A source in a similar, but much newer article in the National Journal this April put the three-month follow through on methadone at 75 percent. Of course, the latest news is that monitored heroin use might be even more effective. Given the current state of the healthcare debate that’s probably a push.

(Nevermind that the greatest propagandistic work of our time was the Matthew Barney-esque...

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:37:00 -0400

(Nevermind that the greatest propagandistic work of our time was the Matthew Barney-esque installation-art-cum-performance created by Scott Sforza, a Republican.)

The serial digressers can hang it up til Monday. Tyler Green dropped the parenthetical of the week today.

That’s it for now. Certified Gangsta relaunch coming next week. I’m going in.

And in this video, Tony Yayo boasts about being in the region...

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:57:36 -0400

And in this video, Tony Yayo boasts about being in the region where your grandfather was born in a house that probably didn’t have indoor plumbing.

Two quick thoughts on the Kanye West-directed video for...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:53:00 -0400

Two quick thoughts on the Kanye West-directed video for “Best I Ever Had.”

For a dude who spent most of his adolescence on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s payroll, Drake looks terribly uncomfortable on camera. Those stairwell scenes approach an early Snoop vibe, like when he spent half the “G Thang” shoot staring at his Chucks.

It’s kind of impressive that Kanye has kept his love of the female bosom so earnest in the face of his friendship with Takashi Murakami.

Meant to do this yesterday, but the factory where I clock my...

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:15:00 -0400

Meant to do this yesterday, but the factory where I clock my 9-5s frowns on nipple pasties. Which led to me forgetting about it last night, which means this is now probably somewhere between “meh” and “death throes” on the internet hype cycle. I’d like to think, though, that it’s gorgeous enough to wring a few extra days of life.

Please resist the urge to immediately start work on a 10,000-word essay that asks whether Basement Jaxx “works” in the “post-luxury economy.”

In re: this Mr. Hudson dude I’m suddenly supposed to know...

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:21:00 -0400

In re: this Mr. Hudson dude I’m suddenly supposed to know exists.

It is pretty blatant that Jay and Kanye — enthralled with the idea of Chris Martin, but less so with the idea of paying Chris Martin royalties — decided to grow their own hook-singing Englishman in a lab, right?

I mean homey looks like the offspring of John Mayer and Roy from “Blade Runner.

It all makes Hov’s recent gripes with more obvious rap sci-fi pretty hard to swallow.

Apparently, while I was on the couch straight DVR’ing...

Mon, 04 May 2009 23:48:00 -0400

Apparently, while I was on the couch straight DVR’ing tonight, my Twitter homepage became a sentient being and went to the Cam’ron show.

Two things.

1. If David Lynch had been tweeting updates on the weather from inside Highline, my head might have swallowed itself.

2. Of course this would have to revolve around a Killa comeback show.

I would bet I’m late to the game here — and that Twitter at something like Coachella is creating an even grander level of anxiety — but has this kind of thing happened to anyone else yet?

And, who’s going to be the first promoter to capitalize the shit out of it?

Also: @mbradylynch, if you out there.

I caught the last Pacquiao-Hatton “24/7” by chance...

Sat, 02 May 2009 18:58:00 -0400

I caught the last Pacquiao-Hatton “24/7” by chance last night. I’m under no illusion that the series is less documentary filmmaking than goosebump harvesting for commercial purposes. It has its moments though. The soundtrack supervisor who sequenced Ricky Hatton’s final training session to the washout that is the final-third of The Walkmen’s “On The Water” is inspired. I’ve been trying to convince people of how violent a band they can be since they shredded my eardrums at Webster Hall on the “Hundred Miles Off” tour. I spent three days convinced I had tinitus. It’s still, understandably, a hard sell. This should help. Hit it up On Demand.

I saw my first Swine Flu-panic-related surgical mask on the six...

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:04:00 -0400

I saw my first Swine Flu-panic-related surgical mask on the six train this morning. Given some of the pictures out of Mexico City over the weekend, it’s not too much of a stretch to think officials might suggest all Americans start covering their breathing passages with a little apocalyptic flair.

I have a small proposal should we soon be asked as a nation to adopt the Jesse James look.

Gucci Mane is from Atlanta. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are based in Atlanta. The song “Gucci Bandana” has been stuck in my head for four months. I often find myself mouthing Soulja Boy’s “Gucci BAN!-DAN!-ah” chorus and knocking my fist on my thigh for no apparent reason. It mostly happens while my mind is at its absolute emptiest, like while waiting for the light to change at a crosswalk or standing in line at the coffee shop.

This remarkable stickiness is a trait not unwelcome in marketing campaigns. Maybe the CDC could capitalize on that hometown connection and budding crossover appeal by finding some way to work it into the inevitable public service announcements.

As an added value, Gucci’s already got material that could be easily tweaked for later spots.

I suppose I should have seen this coming after the lounge...

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:53:00 -0400

I suppose I should have seen this coming after the lounge theatrics of “Maybach Music 2.” I’m still a bit amazed at the thoroughness of “Reasonable Doubt” Stannitude on “Deeper Than Rap.”

The dude has a Foxy Brown feature in 2009.

It’s actually mostly a good look for the Bawse. As the critical chorus has already sung ad nauseam, he sounds more focused and able here than he ever has. He even manages to make a song named “Yacht Club” viable in a post-“I’m On A Boat” world. No small feat.

Unfortunately for Ricky, the listener is eventually going to remember where they heard Nasir get within striking distance of that melody before.

Like, say, here.

And, yeah, it’s probably not fair comparing this year’s model Rick with the Jay of my youth. But I’m not the one who draped the scarf over my suit coat.

This new Health single is pretty good. I still can’t shake...

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:07:33 -0400

This new Health single is pretty good. I still can’t shake the feeling that I like them for their art direction more than anything else. I’m beginning to be alright with that.

via Pitchfork

I noticed this today while messing with ESPN gamecast (which...

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:52:00 -0400

I noticed this today while messing with ESPN gamecast (which after a long absence from my life is still crazy annoying to decipher).

How does this even happen? How many people at the team, the league and the WWL does this picture have to go through before it makes it to the web? And all of them were cool with it appearing as if Adam Jones patrols center field with his third eye?

Happy opening day, everyone. Let’s go Carsten Charles.

I try not to get fanboyish up in here, but, whoa. Via TSS

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:27:20 -0400

I try not to get fanboyish up in here, but, whoa.

Via TSS

Just because Idolator spoke a little sideways on this in a...

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:57:11 -0400

Just because Idolator spoke a little sideways on this in a pretty good post today (that inspired — Internet miracle — a readable and reasonable comment conversation): I am really feeling Dipset.

The movement, what’s left of it anyway, keeps moving.

The little nods to spaghetti western-type opening credits in...

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:05:00 -0400

The little nods to spaghetti western-type opening credits in this video — which start around the 1:50 mark when shit gets sepia and you’re all but waiting for a cigarillo to burn through the screen — are so perfect that I wish the whole video looked something more like this, except, you know, substituting Lacs for horses. It’s a nice wink to the song’s Morricone flourishes. It also paints the tale of Pimp and Bun as a sort of wild west thing, which my slow ass had never considered, and which makes total sense.

Something about The-Dream throwing back the hood on these jams...

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:41:27 -0400

Something about The-Dream throwing back the hood on these jams feels wrong. True, these are two bright spots on an incredibly bright album. And I am usually a fan of seeing how the gears got to be turning the way they do. But a large portion of the appeal of “Love vs. Money” lies in its sleekness and how honest-to-God flawless a lot of it feels. It’s cool to hear him sketch out the melodies that Mariah would eventually handle, but also vaguely disappointing. I’d like to continue to be able to think that The-Dream and Tricky Stewart work in a studio that looks suspiciously like the Fortress of Solitude. Now I can’t.

Via SOTC