There were many questions as Antonio Margarito and

Miguel Cotto made their way to the ring on Saturday July 26. Which force was

stronger, Cotto’s higher skill or Margarito’s relentless pressure? Was it

Antonio’s size or Miguel’s ability to fight off the backfoot? In the end, it

was Margarito who used all his tools to systemically break down Cotto for a

decisive and dramatic stoppage in the 11th round.

 

As many predicted, Cotto came out in round one

boxing well of the backfoot. Using quick lateral movement, the WBA champion

bounced quick hook flurries off Margarito’s head. The challenger was showing

cautious respect early, and Cotto used that and his quickness to double up left

hooks to Antonio’s head along with a hard straight right. Still, Margarito

showed signs of things to come by landing two left uppercuts.

 

Round two saw the Tijuana Tornado pick up the

pace. He walked through hook bombs to corner Cotto and strafe him with

uppercuts and hooks to the body. Seeking to gain space and respect, Cotto

immediately fired back with hooks and uppercuts of his own to the head before

backpedaling straight into a long right from Antonio. Forced to fight, Cotto cracked a hard left hook off Margarito’s head, who still pressed forward. He repeated the feat again to close out the round. Cotto paid a price for his stand, returning to his corner with a bloody nose and a cut on his left eyelid.

In round three Cotto went back to using his

superior lateral movement to counter off the ropes with hooks and then move

away. However, Margarito continued pressing, this time behind the jab to punish

Cotto against the ropes with body shots. While the punches weren’t landed flush

and flashy like Cotto’s, the challenger’s punches downstairs were landing with

heavy authority. Possibly seeking to buy time, Cotto complained twice of low

blows from Margarito, which resulted in a warning from referee Kenny Bayless.

 

Rounds four and five saw much of the same pattern.

Early on Cotto outboxed Margarito safely and scored heavy with clean counters

hooks to the head from outside.  In the

fifth, Margarito caught Cotto with an overhand right, causing the Puerto Rican

star to retaliate with an uppercut. Not done, he followed up with a short

flurry before landing a left hook and another snapping uppercut. Showing good

defense, Cotto picked off two hard shots from Margarito against the ropes

before twisting his body to dodge three successive overhand shots to conclude

the fifth.

 

Margarito’s corner chastised him for waiting too

much, and implored him to set up his shots better and not focus on the one

knockout punch. Heeding those words, the challenger started the

sixth more composed, even after getting caught early with a right-left hook combo

to the head. Bullying Cotto to the ropes, Margarito exclusively worked the body

and particularly scored with a painful left hook that was ignored by the HBO

team. Here, the effect the punches were having of each fighter became more

pronounced. Margarito remained unfazed while Cotto’s face started to show

discouragement as he continued trying to fend off the unwavering body attack.

 

Margarito smelled blood and came on even stronger in round seven. Cotto’s movement began to labor, and Magarito continued his excellent hook body attack against the ropes. Now Cotto’s hands began to drop, which allowed the challenger to badly hurt the WBA champion with three left and one right uppercut.

 

Cotto attempted to fight off his attacker like he

did so many times before against the likes of Ricardo Torres and Zab Judah, but

Margarito would not move and punished Cotto with more uppercuts and hooks to

the body. Switching southpaw, clinching and throwing sporadic combos saved

Miguel from tasting the canvas as the round ended.

 

Now bleeding from the nose and mouth, Cotto

started the eighth by boxing and staying away from Antonio’s power. With his

lateral movement returning, Cotto was very successful and snapped Margarito’s

head back with counters between Margarito’s punches. In a psychological tactic,

Margarito would gingerly trot towards Cotto after getting hit to emphasize he

wasn’t being hurt.

 

In round nine Margarito was more than happy to

trade punches, but it was Cotto who did his best to retreat and try to create

space. Tired, Cotto began going straight back allowing the Tijauna Tornado to

do more great work in the corners to Miguel’s body and head. Now, the champion

was noticeably being moved physically by the damage of punches. Sensing Cotto

was weakening, Margarito’s corner stressed to him to pick up the speed of his

punches going into the championship rounds.

 

At the start of round ten Cotto looked to fight in

spurts and run out the clock, with Margarito in hot pursuit. For the majority

of the round, Cotto successfully maintained distance at mid-range to land

thudding combinations to the head of Margarito. But the challenger’s constant pressure again gave dividends at the :11 second mark when a flurry of hooks and

uppercuts again badly hurt Cotto. Only a wise clinch and the time running out

saved the champion from being stopped.

 

Now debilitated to the point where he could no

longer move, Cotto began making his last stand in the eleventh with powerful

straight rights and left hooks that Margarito barely blinked at. The challenger

continued his non-stop punching and caught Cotto with a left and right uppercut

causing him to take a knee with 1:39 remaining.

 

An absolute bloody mess, Cotto bravely rose

immediately to take an eight count and face his fate. He landed the best hooks

he could muster, and clinched when he saw once again they had no effect. Completely spent, he backed up from the pursuing Magarito and took another knee before getting hit again, prompting his corner to throw in the towel with :55 seconds remaining.

 Antonio Margarito proved many wrong, including

myself, who thought Cotto could weather the late storm to eek out a decision.

This was a great win for Antonio, who slowly broke down the former champion and

showed that his chin is absolute granite. Nothing Cotto threw all night hurt

him.

 

Margarito is already being praised on message boards for his constant pressure and non-stop punching, but he should also get credit for his great defense to the body. Cotto, a great body puncher, could find no openings to Margarito’s torso due to the new champ’s elbows being tucked

tightly and his long arms. Occasionally in the fight you saw Cotto pushed

forward looking for the body shot only to realize there weren’t any openings.

 

In the post-fight interview, Margarito called out

Oscar De La Hoya, as everyone does. While it would be a great fight, I doubt

Oscar would want such a taxing fight to end his career, especially since the

possibly of a loss would be very high. Still, the Golden Boy has taken on most

of the biggest challenges available to him, so it remains to be seen.

 

Years ago, Floyd Mayweather bluntly told Margarito

he was making smart decisions, and that the Mexican vet should follow his lead.

He also promised that if Margarito kept winning he would get a shot as the

potential fight between them would be bigger down the road.

What Floyd said made sense, but the only problem

now is that Money May is retired. Could the buzz from Margarito’s performance

be enough to entice Mayweather out of retirement? We’ll have to wait until the

PPV numbers come back.

 

And let’s not forget Paul Williams, who recently

regained his WBO title and outpointed Margarito last year. An obvious

unification bout should be a top agenda for both their promoters.

 

As for Miguel Cotto, let’s not start with the

cries of overrated and that he quit. The man fought his heart out to the best

of his boxing ability, offensively and defensively. He deserves a lot of

respect for his effort. However, the HBO team went overboard by acting is if a

funeral had just occurred. The shots of Cotto’s crying wife and son, along with

the ending montage and Jim Lampley holding back tears was a little much.

 

Lacy

Escapes with Decision, Decides to Retire

 

Last Wednesday July 23 former champion Jeff Lacy

returned for what was supposed to be an exhibition bout against journeyman

Epifanio Mendoza. Instead, the fight was a life and death war with Lacy nearly

being KO’d in the second and eighth rounds despite scoring a knockdown in the fourth.

After escaping with an unpopular majority decision, Lacy announced his

retirement due to what he considers unfair terms in a potential fight with

Jermain Taylor. For his last fight, Lacy received a purse of $550,000. For the

proposed Taylor bout, he was offered $500,000.

 

“What do I look like fighting a fight of that

caliber for $500,000 when I have more to risk that anything,” Lacy fumed to the

Tampa Tribune. “I feel like Taylor needs me more than I need him and what do I look like fighting that fight for $500,000 and risking my life in there like I did Wednesday night because the referee is not on top of this guy hitting me in the back of the head.”

 

It seems Lacy forgot to mention that it was more

so the repeated uppercuts on the inside over ten rounds that really hurt him in

that bout. Watching that fight, it’s clear the combination of the torn rotator

cuff on his left arm, the inactivity, and the Calzaghe beating have robbed the

former rising star of his abilities. His balance, punching power, and stamina

were all fell short in that fight. It’s probably best we don’t see Lacy in

there with Taylor. Watch the full fight and judge for yourself:

 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

 

Judah-Clottey

on Tap for August 2

 

This Saturday HBO has a promising matchup between

Zab Judah (36-5, 25 KOs) and Joshua Clottey (34-2, 20 KOs) for the IBF

welterweight title. Due to Zab’s documented history of fading and losing focus

in the second half of fights, Clottey will be the favorite. But, if Zab can

keep his focus he has a shot of pulling this off since he has a marked speed

advantage.

 

Then again, haven’t we been saying that for the

past couple years about Zab? Prediction here is the more durable Clottey by

decision. On Showtime, Vic Darchinyan (29-1-1, 23 KOs) will look to get back

into title contention by defeating Dimitri Kirilov (29-3-1, 9 KOs).

 

Those who create popular art often characterize their creations as being a “reflection of reality,” a mirror image that reflects the world around us. I’ve always thought that description was somewhat misleading. Popular art doesn’t so much reflect “reality” as it reflects what we as a society believe to be real – or what we think is real.  

 

When it comes to human beings, everything is based on perception. The creative minds behind our popular art forms are still human. The art an artist creates is largely informed by how he perceives the world around him. Perception often varies from person to person. We all have our own way of seeing the world. However, there are constants and similitudes. These similarities are what popular artists often zero in on.

 

Movies, in particular, have always been plugged directly into our collective Id. They don’t reflect our reality so much as they reflect what we, as a society, have on our minds, our desires and our perceptions. Most intriguing though, is what the movies reveal about how we see each other. Over the years, films like Do The Right Thing, Crash and Babel have given us an artistic glimpse of the narrow perceptions people often have of each other, and the ways we view each other in terms of labels and categories.

 

Nothing is wrong with these labels in and of themselves. The problems occur when we are unable to see past these labels and put them in their proper context. We begin to see each other as types, a set of predetermined characteristics that fit neatly into a box. No form of art reflects this tendency in human beings more than the movies.

 

It is important to note that we, as a society, tend to be selective in terms of what stereotypes we will or won’t allow. For example, Black folks tend to rail against hood flicks and rap videos that promote stereotypical images, only to applaud so-called “positive” black films and shows that also contain stereotypical images.

 

The films and plays of Tyler Perry are chock full of stereotypes and caricatures, but are given a pass because they promote “positive” and Christian messages. In my mind, a stereotype is a stereotype. They all lend themselves to limited thinking, and make it easier to place those who are different from us into a box. 

 

It’s kind of silly to get mad at our popular artists for reflecting these tendencies back to us, but I’m sure we will continue to do so. Here are a few upcoming films that are sure to offend someone in the coming months: 

 

Tropic Thunder (August 13)

 

In this action/comedy directed by Ben Stiller, three self-indulgent movie stars (Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr.) are cast in an expensive epic film about the Vietnam war. The production team decides to abandon the troublesome trio in the jungle when their diva-like behavior becomes too much to bear. The actors themselves are completely unaware of their predicament. They still think they are filming a war movie, when in fact they are in the middle of a real war. Hilarity ensues.

 

Robert Downey Jr. plays actor Kirk Lazarus. Lazarus is cast in the role of Sgt. Osiris, a character who was originally written as African-American. Being the consummate method-actor, Lazarus decides to play the role as written. He even goes so far as to dye his skin in order to play the part “convincingly.”

 

I’ll start off by admitting that I find the basic idea behind the Kirk Lazarus to be quite amusing. The guy obviously takes himself and his craft way too seriously. As described, he comes off as the very embodiment of pretense. This is the kind of thing that can go either way. It will either be the funniest performance in quite some time, or the 21st century version of Soul Man. 

 

For Robert Downey Jr.’s sake, I hope it’s the former instead of the latter. He has generated a substantial amount of goodwill via his star-making turn as Tony Stark in Iron Man. I’d really hate to see him squander that so

soon.

T######## (August 15)

 

Jasinda, a young Arab Girl, is sent to live with her strict Lebanese father in a small Texas town. This living situation forces her contend with a number of social issues that cause her personal turmoil. She is confronted with racism both inside and outside her home. Her neighbors and classmates harbor prejudices against Arabs, and her Lebanese father disapproves of her Black boyfriend. As if all of this weren’t enough, Jasinda is trying to understand her budding sexuality and raging hormones.

 

Wow! This is such a potential powder keg… I don’t know where to start. The movie has already made quite a splash at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals. This film contains a number of issues that Americans have a hard time dealing with, not the least of which is a 13-year-old girl coming to grips with her sexuality. That alone is more than enough to send the more conservative audiences into a panic.

 

The film also examines how foreigners sometimes take on the bigoted attitudes of Americans not out of malice, but simply out of a desire to fit in. Jasinda’s fathers’ racism is motivated by his concern for his daughter. How will she be accepted in American society if she dates a Black man?

Lakeview Terrace (September 19)

 

Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington play Chris and Lisa Mattson, an interracial couple who have just moved into their dream home. Their next door neighbor, LAPD Officer Abel Turner (Samuel L Jackson), doesn’t approve of interracial marriages. He starts harassing the Mattsons on a regular basis, and as it escalates into outright terrorism, the young couple has no choice but to retaliate.

 

Again, one cannot avoid parallels to an older film. In this case it would be 1992’s Unlawful Entry, in which Ray Liotta played a mentally disturbed cop who begins stalking a rich couple after

responding to a break in at their home. That film was something of a guilty

pleasure in its day, as essentially a well made B-movie. With the backing of Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, Lakeview Terrace looks to be very much in the same vein, only this time the antagonist is Black. Could that be considered a sign of progress? 

 

Maybe, on some level, I guess it’s good that Hollywood now sees its way clear to allow Black actors to portray villains in B-Level thrillers. The motivation of the Abel Turner character is also interesting. Now, Black villains are allowed to be just as hateful as their white counterparts.

 

The release of Soul Calibur IV is upon us this week! The game’s highly anticipated approach has taken several steps, led by critical acclaim,

commercial success and a hardcore fanbase that follows the series to its core.

 

Considering the incredible history of the Soul Calibur series, it would be a travesty if we didn’t drop

some knowledge on the subject. The most popular weapons-based fighter of all

time has had its own personal road to travel, and outside of one wrong turn, it’s

avoided the road to perdition to survive as one of the elite of the fighting

game genre.

 

Soul Edge (Blade)

Platforms: Arcade | Playstation

Release: January 1997

 

Every journey must begin with a first step, and a tale of Souls and Swords is no different. In a world where the 3d fighter was still new,

trying to find its place alongside the Street

Fighters and Samurai Showdowns of

the world, Namco had experimented and found some success emulating the former

with its Tekken Series. At that

point, they decided it was time to jump into the foray of armed combat.

 

This led to the creation of Soul Edge, localized as Soul

Blade for gamers in the west. First released in the fighters’ ultimate

battlefield, the Japanese arcade, the game swam where most sink. Namco knew

they had another star franchise under their belt, and began to put into action

the idea to port it to the most stable console of the time, and generation, the

Sony Playstation.

 

The series introduced us (and got us attached) to Mitsurugi,

Taki, Li Long, Sophitia, Rock, Seung Mina, Voldo, Hwang, and series protagonist

Seigfried. These characters’ backgrounds give them life, as you find that the

search for Soul edge isn’t just for power. Themes such as revenge,

conservatism, tradition and even safety are their ambitions.

 

Attached to the port beside the simple arcade mode was the

standard VS., Time attack, and Survival, along with the single player mode Edge

Master Mode, allowing players to work to unlock weapons.

 

The game’s main appeal was being a very stable fighting

product with weapons in the 3d arena. Even in the era before the genre

shattering eight-way run, they had an ability to jump, allowing the player to

dodge low attacks and add some diversity to the fighting lineup. A defining

feature in this game, which isn’t found in any other entry of the series, was

the weapon durability bar. It stopped characters from “turtling,” forcing them

to go weaponless, making every attack hurt that much more when blocking,

effectively making it useless. It also defined special moves, depleting itself

when characters unleashed their most powerful attacks.

 

The series of Soul’s

only entry into the Playstation library is a very effective one. Scoring high

amongst critics and garnering decent numbers, it all but guaranteed a sequel to

appear down the line.

Soul Calibur

Platforms: Arcade | Dreamcast

Release: September 1999

 

A sequel is an interesting device with an interesting history.

It has the power to push a series of any medium to a new level, or take the

priors building blocks and dash them much like the act of a divisive God. Luckily

for this series, Namco, and fans, Soul Calibur

took the foundation the first built and created a house that still stands

today.

 

The most interesting thing about this title is that it wasn’t as well received as its

predecessor in the arcades. However, when it came to the shores of the U.S. as a

part of the Sega Dreamcast launch, the title took off like a fresh rocket off

the launch pad.

 

One of the abilities of the Sega Dreamcast, which may not be

emulated as well by other consoles out on the market even today, is the near

perfect Arcade emulation that it carries. What this did was allow the

developers to work on upgrading the title, and making the most beautiful and

fun fighting games to date.

 

Another reason was the introduction of eight-way run, which

is now a main staple in 3d fighting. It allows characters to run to the left

and right, giving them the power to dodge and adds a new level of strategy.

 

This game was breathtaking, to say the least. The powerful

graphics engine still may have the ability to surprise to this day, with things

like catching blades of grass moving. It may be the most beautiful title to

come out on a console pre-millennium.

 

The series’ story adds more depth. It is assumed that once

noble Seigfried has been engulfed by the Soul Edge evil power. The Soul Calibur

is now the weapon that most are looking for, to combat the Soul Edge and defeat

Nightmare. New characters such as Ivy, M###, Kilik, Astaroth, and Xianghua now

added some more depth to the roster.

 

Also added to this game was the Mission Mode, and upgrade to

the previous Edge Master Mode. Now unlockable were costumes, artwork and video,

as well as weapons, allowing users to really get a handle on the

concepts that created this game. All of these things gave the mainstream a reason to appreciate what had previously only been known by

the hardcore.

Soul  Calibur II

Platforms: Arcade | Playstation 2 | Gamecube | Xbox

Release: August 2003

 

Why fix something that isn’t broken? That’s the main concept

behind Soul Calibur II.  After the Dreamcast’s failing, Namco found a

home for its smash hit on the other market-viable consoles at the time – the leading

Playstation 2, Nintendo’s new Gamecube, and new market player, Microsoft’s

Xbox.

 

With the new consoles came some added features, like the

upgraded Weapons Master Mode, which added some of the best features of Edge

Master Mode and Mission Mode. Also, Weapons now had their own personality, as

they now featured a back story. Characters had an Ultimate Weapon, a collection

of different effective armaments, and even for the bravest, joke weapons that

could be used to test yourself or embarrass an opponent.

 

The most distinguishing feature however, had to do with the

consoles the game appeared on. Each console had a specific character, whether

it was Playstation 2’s Heihachi, Xbox’s Spawn, or Nintendo’s Link. Each had

their specific strength and weaknesses, and added some replay ability on

different consoles.

 

Also added to the roster list were Yunsung, Talim, Raphael,

Charade and Cassandra. Each of these characters gained their own back story and

fit into the universe of Soul Calibur, whose story now revolved around the tale

of both swords, the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. One of redemption, terror,

betrayal and ultimate sacrifice, this game’s biggest achievement was giving

much more backbone to the story elements of the game, giving everything some

sort of significance.

 

With what may be the best technical game of the series, Soul Calibur II is probably the best

balanced game of the series. While Blade

may be the original, and the original Calibur

may have gotten higher scores, this is the game where the best find their

edge competitively.

Soul Calibur III

Platforms: Arcade | Playstation 2 | Gamecube | Xbox

Release: October 2005

 

With a credible system now in place, the team at Namco

decided to create a feature laden experience. What ended up being created was Soul Calibur III, now a Sony-exclusive

game.

 

At first sight, this game seemed to have it all – a

character creation mode which lets you make your own creation and inject them

into the world with the Chronicle of the Sword Mode, which injects your

characters right into the world of war. Not just that, it featured RPG as well

as strategic elements that made your character grow with you. It allows some

attachment missing from video games today.

 

The original characters tales are not stripped, as the Tale

of Souls mode allows players to keep up with the story of the original games.

It added some battle functionality as well, giving button inputs that

determined if the next battle would be fought on level ground. Failing the

button input could mean that the battle starts off with a disadvantaged

position for the character.

 

World Competition mode

resembles tournament, allowing characters to capture gold medals. Extra weapons

return, but take a bit of a shortening. Also, the Soul Arena mode doubles as

the basic arcade mode.

 

The problem with this is much like an album with amazing

production yet average lyrics. At first, it seems that you’re in the presence

of greatness. However, as you dig into it more, you realize that you’re given a

somewhat mediocre product under some decorative wrapping.

 

This game isn’t bad by any means, but by missing Online

Play, not being as balanced as Soul Calibur

II, and coming with a gang of glitches that make masterful players cringe.

Still playable and fun, but don’t be surprised if you bring this around great

players, the best will rather take it back to Soul Calibur II.

Soul Calibur Legends

Platforms: Wii

Release: November 2007

 

There always is a misstep in every series, and this happens

to be it for the team at Namco/ Project Soul. What was supposed to be a game

that featured the best of the Wii’s characteristics (i.e. motion-based

gameplay) and the story of an established franchise of Soul Calibur’s stature, this should be a layup.

 

The story is three, Seigfried is looking for redemption.

Secret characters such as Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia make an appearance.

Story seems in line with the franchise. The move lists have been transferred

over, so many of the coolest combinations can be performed by the player.

 

However, the game features stale mechanics. The user has to

basically flail their arms like a madman to perform anything. Not just that,

most combinations are essentially useless. The gameplay basically leaves you

frustrated and tired all at the same time, for no reason.

 

Luckily this was an offshoot of the series, and just a foray

into experimentation. Series that have a solid background are allowed one

misstep, and this is one of them.

Soul Calibur IV

Platform: Xbox 360 | Playstation III

Release: July 29, 2008

 

At worst, the last two games can be called growing pains for

Project Soul. Even with Soul Calibur III

and Soul Calibur Legends not being the

standard flag bearers of the series, Soul Calibur

has been able to gather the imagination of most turned off by those two

missteps.

 

More characters, from Star

Wars characters Yoda and Darth Vader, the new step into the next

generation, and the dedication the team has given to the title may not be

enough to sway old fans back into the matrix, but the gameplay videos have been

able to.

 

Features such as online play and destroyable armor have

really excited the fan base again. Character Creation has been given a facelift

as the characters can now have more of a personality, custom armor and weapons.

Finishing moves have given cool ways to destroy your characters opponent in a

fancy way. Turtling seems to be all but finished, as with armor destruction has

given the game more an offensive feel, much like the original Soul Blade.

 

When this game is released July 29, one would be remised to

not give this one a chance. Fans of the second game should find themselves at

home, and those who are new to the series should find themselves engrossed in a

tale of Soul and Swords, one like the world has never seen.

Catch up on more gaming news and discussion with Adam Thomas and the crew at www.forum.thegamerstudio.com

Welcome to another edition of Sick Sundays, back at our regularly scheduled day and time.  Trying to bring you that unorthodox illness from the past the present and the future.  Todays episode features the return of my man with the relentless rhyme flow, Freeway, riding with Skillz on video.

 

 

This song is similar in pace and construction to “What We Do” from the heyday of the Roc.  Freeway does particularly well at these free flowing songs with no chorus.  He and Skillz tagteam the mic.  Not really a fan of Skillz’ style but he more than does his thing on this.  The beat doesn’t really lend itself to normal punchline style so you gotta go hard on it.   Check out his recent interview :

https://allhiphop.com/stories/features/archive/2008/07/22/20324313.aspx#comments

 

 

“I’m Ill” Lil Wayne Feat. Tupac

The “best rapper alive” gets down with the best rapper people still think is alive as Posthumous ‘Pac and Weezy F get “Ill.”  Nice slow-screwed beat, perfectly blended with the vocals of Makavelli while Wayne does what he does.  Not amazing but it’s always good to hear a solid Pac verse, and Wayne doesn’t do anthing to hurt his place as a leading emcees

 

“Ya’ll Better Get Used To It” Ice Cube Feat. WC & Game 

Throw up your “W’s” the Wesside Connect is back again…with a noticable change.  Gone is Mac 10, in comes The Game.  Ice Cube rocks the LL “Going Back to Cali” flow (Last aped by the entire Terror Squad on “Take Me Home.” ) WC comes with the usual hardcore flows.  Few new wrinkles including a lil’ singsongy delivery but a solid performance.  The chorus incorporates the old Cool C shout from “Glamourous Life” (Shout to the Hill Top Hustlers, Philly Stand up!).  Game comes with a bigger, stronger presence on this probably to match his two counterparts on the song.  Not really his best but a cool change of pace.  If this is how the West Coast is coming, “Ya’ll Better Get Used To It.”  Yeah I did it…*hangs head.

 

“I Got Bass”  Busta Rhymes (Produced by Bangladesh)

Who said the East Coast was dead?  Busta Rhymes comes through with Bangla Bangla Bangladesh for this heater.  Busta’s last album was very good even though politically he may not be in everyone’s good graces.  The beat is pure sickness from the “A Milli” producer, who is obviously making the most of his newfound notoriety by pumping out bangers.  The erratic piano keys segue into musical mania as the wacky beat provides the perfect backdrop for Busta’s staccato off kilter flow. There ain’t much bass in this, but it’s pure fire.

 

“Crossover” EPMD Business Never Personal

Next up, a blast from the past.  Erick and Parrish Mumbling Dialogue (Just kidding fellas, shout to the Hit Squad).  One of many loved but not heeded anthems devoted to keeping it real and staying faithful to the underground, which back then didnt mean being wack to the point no one would listen to you.  Beat bottom-heavy like Buffy the Body.  Backpackers and 90s heads feel free to blackout and go ape s**t.  Young dudes take notes.  Short and sweet.

 

 

And now our weekly break for wildness.  Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails and Saul Williams  get together for this joint “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” a rather morbid title and an even more  strange video. Saul’s nome de guerre here is “Niggy Tardust” and obvious homage to Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust . The vid provides enough images for a part three of CNN meh-fest Black in America.  Take what you want from it, either it soars or it bores you, I thought it was strange enough to get some light.

 

Sunday Bloody Sunday – Niggy Tardust! aka Saul Williams

 

“Never Seen You Hustlin'” K.A.S.H.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.  We’ve all hear about our boy Rick Rauce the Bauce.  As it’s the hot issue of the moment there are the obligatory rappers lining up to kick a man while he’s down.  Kash Burrell is the author of this track “Never Seen You Hustlin,” of course to the beat of Ross’ First hit. Whether this episode is damaging to The Biggest Boss or not, this track probably will not be.   Decide for yourselves whether it’s passable or whether it’s worth holding your morning toaster strudel. This guy is kinda proud of the wrong stuff.

 

 

Sick Sunday 7/28

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BONUS COVERAGE!

 

We been running the Class of ’88 coverage the entire year.  We was the first, and the best at it.  The biters know who they are and I’ll leave it at that, but just for a trip through memory lane, here’s Volume 1 of the class of 88 mixtape.  No DJ mouthing off or yelling, straight music.  Peep the class of ’88 joints in the Review Section. Shout to the Almighty Rocksteady Crew on their 31st Anniversary.

 

AHH Class of 88 Vol. 1

I’m gonna leave you with a lil Black Panther flavor .  Peace out

What up AHH fam! Summer time is in full swing and who wants to be stuck indoors, right? Here are a couple of toys to help you be productive, or at least be entertained while on the go.Akai Professional has been setting producers free for years and the addition of XR20 is no exception. Its compact size makes it completely portable, and its list of features and capabilities empowers everyone from the basement beat maker to the major studio producer.

Features:

Backlit LCD

Bright, glowing, backlit pads that follow the beat

Microphone input and Headphone output

Pattern Play Mode – Different patterns can be triggered from individual pads

Drum Roll / Note Repeat feature for realism and expression

Battery Power capability and AC Adapter

Check the video for a full overview:

Though it’s only a prototype right now, Sharp thought it would be extremely nice to liberate us from our dependency on the electric company and get us a little sunshine. They’re working on a new 26-inch LCD TV that uses a quarter of the power of it CRT TV counterpart. 

 

 

They’re going to market this with a solar panel of about the same size, so getting your lights shut off will have no effect on your TV viewing pleasure.The residents of Akron, Ohio should love this one. The city has pledged to build a $800,000, free wireless network. The project will span the next five years and will benefit 90,000 residents and 3,100 city workers. That’s just a small part of 26-city project run by the John S. and John L. Knight Foundation. Just think, millions of people will be emancipated from Starbucks everywhere.It was fun, but it’s time for you to set yourself free, so unchain yourself from your computer and go have some fun! I’m sure there’s gotta be a party or cook out or something you could be doing. ‘Til next time.

 

Troy Gayle is the founder of Gadget-T.com