March 31, 2008 | Tags: none

    After staring at my T-mobile Dash for like 5 or 6 minutes straight, playing with it, checking the features, etc. etc., I realized I was tired of it. I began trying to pick a new phone. Instead of just getting a Sidekick LX like most people on T-mobile already have, I decided to consider the possibility of getting a phone from another provider and getting it unlocked. As I ran the search to find a spot nearby to get an unlocked phone I found a million spots to cop some phone (some known and popular, some unknown and even more feature packed) I'm not supposed to have on T-mobile that will still work with my SIM card. Thank god I live in Southern California. I mean, sure I'd be able to get an unlocked HTC Touch in any major city or any big state, but seriously, what's fucking with Cali overall??


     Nothing against anywhere else, but NOWHERE is fucking with California. Really, I could just speak on So Cal, but add in Nor Cal (San Fran, The Town, Sac) which is 4-5 hours away, and we damn near don't need the rest of the country. No, literally we don't. California is the 8th biggest economy in THE WORLD. No not the country, THE WORLD! The money we rake in is equal to that of France. We get money. One out of every eight Americans lives in California. That's just the documented muthafuckas, we have a WHOLE lot of undocumented people who put in major work to make not only California, but this country the place that it is. We got the people. Sure, we probably get most of our vegetables from the heartland, but we have a lot of our meat products raised right here in Southern California. (My girl used to live in Ontario, CA right next to Foster Farms). The biggest factor to consider is the fact that the 1st and 2nd biggest harbors in damn near every category created are right here in Long Beach, and Los Angeles. Our ports bring in all that good shit from Asia. So yea, we don't get the Benzes like Boston's harbor, but we get a lot more important shit, and a lot more shit in general. What DOESN'T come from Asia that's imported? What's the point of us even affiliating with the rest of the US? Shit, if we legalize marijuana and tax that, then send the Terminator to go "negotiate" OUR oil prices, California would rule the world!


     No seriously though, what more could I ask for? What more do you need that California lacks? Sneaker fiends have two of the biggest shoe spots in the country with Undefeated in Los Angeles, and Proper in Long Beach. The hip hop scene?? Please. Not only does California have some of the dopest emcees from Cali, it also has the dopest emcees from everywhere else. Talib Kweli damn near lives here (he's always here), Dead Prez damn near lives in San Fran, Kidz in the Hall have relocated to Southern Cali, don't make me list the emcees who already resided here. Don't have me bring up the legendary late great emcee that WASN'T from here, yet penned TWO dedications to this wonderful area. California leads in ALL forms of entertainment, music (and that includes other than hip hop), big screen and small screen. Wait....I'll give New York their due...they got the Broadway plays....but who gives a fuck?


     Sports? Come on man, be real. Ain't no other state fucking with us in sports whether it be Pro, Collegiate, or High School. WE have the best high school football. I don't care how many movies they make about Texas, the only reason high school football gets more attention in Texas than it does in California is because they don't really have anything else going on. We won more of those Cali-Texas all-star matchups, and to top it off, no high school sent more players pro than Long Beach Poly, who has often found themselves ranked 3rd in the state behind Concorde De La Salle (in Nor Cal) and Mater Dei. High School Basketball...I'd put a team of Cali alum against New York and Chi-Town alum any day. NY has produced a lot of guards, but Cali is a lot more well rounded. Chi-town is known for its tough players, but with the exception of D Wade, most of them lack all-around skill. College Sports...really, don't compare us to nobody. The only reason Los Angeles doesn't have a pro football team is because we have USC...which is damn near a pro-football team. USC, UCLA alone make us better in College sports than any other state, don't include Cal, Long Beach State (baseball champs, girls Volleyball Champs, normally NCAA men’s Basketball tournament team) or any other Cali school. Pros...get real. We got the Lakers, one of the best teams in all sports. the Dodgers, the Chargers, the 49ers, the Raiders (who I know are garbage now, but they got history and maybe a future...sike), the Angels, the Kings (basketball), the Kings (hockey), The A's, The SF baseball Giants...do I really have to list them all (because I haven't yet)? We got sports on lock, and that's without a pro-football team in Los Angeles.


     Sure the cost of living is expensive, but you get what you pay for. San Francisco is the 3rd most expensive place to live in the world for a good reason. The sites there knock damn near everything out the box as far as scenery goes. Add in the mountains all through Cali, the beaches in the O.C. and San Diego along with so many other things, (like all the ladies at the clubs for all you single muthafuckas) and it's definitely the best LOOKING place also.


     It's cool, I understand you hold your hometown close to your heart. I'm sure you're used to the snow storms and all that also. By now, the hurricanes don't bother you. Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, but don't let the media and stereotypical rappers fool you, don’t get it fucked up, the west is more than marijuana, low riders, gang bangers, and palm trees...and the REAL reality from out west is that there's no better place than California. They say if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere, If you've made it in California, you've already made it everywhere else.


     Due to the fact Las Vegas is in the middle of fucking nowhere (Nevada), it's only 4 hours away from L.A. (another benefit for us), and so many of HHDX staff find themselves in the city of Sin, you guys can be Californians too (without having to pay state tax).

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Let's Start The Show....Again

March 25, 2008 | Tags: none

I spent the majority of this past weekend out listening to (not always enjoying) live music as I said I would last week. Originally I was hella excited, but I have to admit, right before the weekend started, like an hour or two before I got off work, I sort of didn't want to go. Paid Dues Festival is one of those all-day concert things, and afterwards I'm normally dead tired, and that's on days where I've a had a full night’s sleep. Going to a show like that after being at another show the night before? Needless to say I expected to be extremely fatigued. After a couple of hours of pretending to work and much thinking, I figured that this would be the first of many weekends to come in which sleeping to 1PM wouldn't be an option, so I better soldier it out and get used to it. After several phone calls to see if my peoples were going too, throwing up an awfully late "Free Ticket Give Away" blog, getting fresh and getting directions and I was off.

So garbage I should slap the shit outta you

So after getting lost in Beverly Hills, I finally arrived at the Key Club. I got up with Somobe's manager and got in early enough to get a drink before they went on. I don't have to say they did their thing, cuz by now that should be known. I checked the cats that were there and seen the heads nodding, a clear sign of crowd approval. After they finished doing their thing I chopped it up with Jon D for a hot second. He informed me that several other acts were performing before the Liks.....WORD? For those of you that have been checking my spot for awhile you know I used to do the "West Coast Future Fridays" thing. Well, Somobe was one of the acts I was completely blown away by. Them, the Native Guns, and other acts, however....there were other cats I never would have wasted my time on. Not to say everybody I didn't write about was garbage, some of them I debated back and forth about. Some of them were cool, just not what I was looking for. Some of them however, there was no debate necessary. Garbalocious. Some of these cats were even worse.

I can assume this Sean Healy cat didn't put this show together strictly based off talent. Guessing how everybody in the crowd was either a rapper getting ready to go on stage, or a friend of the rapper on stage, I'm assuming he let anybody perform that could sell tickets. Everyone can't rap...somebody has to be fans. One guy even asked me during a garbage performance "This isn't the Liks is it?" After I told him no, he asked me how many people were in the Liks. Wow! This isn't the first time I've been at show out here with dope artist (in this case, Somobe, The Liks) only to be embarrassed by the other people at the show. I remember at a Zune Concert it took like 10 different people before somebody could get onstage and name all members of Wu-Tang Clan for a free Zune. Back on Topic, these one cats got on the stage...I swear to you they brought their whole hood. There was like 20 cats (no lie, I may be underestimating the number). I thought they were supposed to be some ill clique or something, come to find out only one of them spit (if you can even call it that). Why did these niggas (yes, I'm calling them that) have like 3 bottles of champagne among all 20+ of them? The rap nigga starts babbling about all sorts of BS:

"It's my nigga's C-Day today"
"I'm tryna be a Billionaire in this bitch"
"Ay niggas, pop them bottles"

then after 10 minutes of intro, he finally starts drooling out his garbage bars. When the were told their time was up and the next act got on stage, they started complaining (I guess dude forgot all that time he wasted), then they basically hijacked the stage for one more song. Out comes the little rap nigga with no shirt on, and his gangsta clone ass homies dancing all over the stage. This wasn't the worst of the night though. Of this whole weekend I only have 1 video (I'm not really feeling my camera), and that my friends belongs to these Malibu's most wanted A alikes.

yea, so as you can see, cat's was awfully garbage. When the Liks finally came out the night finally got back on some real shit. Not only did Tash, J-ro, and E-swift rip the stage like this was 10 years ago, they brought out King Tee (who probably wished it was 10 years ago, when he was 45), Xzibit came through and tore it up, shit Even Sean P and Rock (who were gonna be at the show the next day) came through and spit some shit. Defari was in the house, the Likwit Crew was definitely in the building. All we needed was Phil The Agony, and shit they probably would have had to shut the place down. Unfortunately after all the garbage rap, I was extremely exhausted. I left towards what I figured as the end of the show. The show started great and ended great, the only problem was I didn't leave early enough to cop some Hennessey for my AppleYac (C). Sleep I did for the next show.

Like I said in the comment section of the last blog, I apologize for coming so late with the free ticket. As I network with other people, I'll have more free shit, next time I'll announce stuff way ahead of time.

Who the fuck died and left you as the closer?

I lied. I damn near woke up at 1PM on Saturday. I woke up around 12ish, rushed to get ready and off I went to the middle of nowhere Southern Cali, San Bernadino.

Much props to the Goddamn Editor, J-23, and Allen (who I believe is down with Guerilla Union) for holding me didown.

So I got into Paid Dues just in time for the people I didn't really care to see. The crazy thing is I normally love to catch the opening acts, cuz a lot of times there the dopest cats, and it gives me new music to "acquire", however after the night before, I didn't really care to see anybody I didn't know. This gave me time to kick it at the HipHopDx booth. I like kicking it at the HipHopDx booth at shows cuz you get to see the people that check the site out. One dude came and complained stated his opinion about the sites reviews. Truthfully, the reviews on this site are the whole reason I got down with the site. When I asked him about the sites blogs, he said he "Yea I read them sometimes, I read that one about Kanye being the most overrated"...score! He said he agreed with some parts of it....but once he went on to praise 50 and say "Curtis" was better than "Graduation" he sort of lost me. I'm sorry dude, I'm seriously gonna give that album a listen...one day. Much props to The Malcontent for coming out to check out real music, I ran into him over in the VIP section.

As far as the acts go, my favorites had to be P.O.S and Hiero. I've never caught either of these acts before, so that might have given them the edge over acts like Dilated and Little Brother, yet and still, those cats killed it. I had barely heard much of P.O.S. prior to the show. One of my friends said he was dope, but his description of dudes music + the one or two songs I heard from him sort of kept me at a distance. Once I heard him onstage, I couldn't wait to leave the show I search for his album "Audition". If you haven't heard dude before, check him out. He's down with Rhymesayers, and to me, he sort of sounds like a Slug/Brother Ali/Rockish hybrid. He killed the performance. Hiero also did their thing. Funny shit; Hiero had Musab come out and spit before the whole crew came onstage and performed. He spit a bunch of bullshit. The funny thing is, you could hear all of the Hiero crew, there mics were on. During Musab's "performance" you could hear the anger in their voice as they said amongst themselves "Let's go on NOW", then they told Musab "Stop it, it's a wrap". He walked off the stage trying to hide the embarrassment. Hiero was without Del, who was out in ATL entertaining everybody at the A3C festival. They still did their thing. They performance, like Tha Liks the night before, seemed like this was like 10 years ago. These cats are 10+ years deep in the game, still in their performance prime. They spit bars flawlessly while constantly moving. Shit sounded just like it did on their CD's, except live. Not everybody can do that, and truthfully I understand. It's alot different rapping into a mic in a booth, and rapping on a hot ass stage, while moving. Shit, have you ever tried talking while jogging back in PE class? Shit doesn't sound the same as it did when you were doing your stretching out minutes prior to running.

Everybody pretty much did their thing. I wish Boot Camp would have had more time. SuperNatural came out in the middle of the show kicking a freestyle. He would reach into the crowd, grab things from people, and throw that into rhyme. I thought that was pretty dope. The real shocker of the show was the closer.....Sage Francis. Truthfully, I haven't really listened to enough of Sage Francis albums to really diss him too much, I just know I seen him before and he was cool, but not somebody I would wait to see at the end of the show. Add in the fact Murs isn’t the biggest Sage fan either, and it's really puzzling. Somebody suggested maybe Murs wanted Sage to go last so everybody can walk out on his show, and he can feel like an idiot. Somebody else told me it wasn't really Murs' call who went last. Who knows, maybe Murs and Sage are doing Felt 3 together instead of Slug and Murs and they performed together...I sure as hell don't know, cuz I left. Sure I understand I could have possibly missed something really crazy like the year I left Rock the Bells early cuz Wu took too long to perform and Lauryn Hill came out and performed...but shit, I was tired. I'm sure Murs probably performed at the end (even though he wasn't listed as performing) but I've seen Murs perform a billion times, and will probably catch him perform a billion more times, I could afford to miss it once. Plus...I was trying to get my AppleYac (C) so I had to go after Little Brother got off stage (right before Sage Francis). I wasn't the only person who left. Truthfully, some people left after Dilated Peoples performed (before Little Brother) but nowhere near as many who left after LB. Who knows, maybe the Sage fans were waiting outside, I sure as hell don't cuz I bounced.

So what did we learn kiddies?

Don't put Sage on at the end of the show
Rapping isn't for everybody, some of ya'll need to stop playing and flip them damn burgers
Brillyance is addicted to AppleYac like Lil Wayne is to Sizzurp (no dipset)

I'll probably be at the Street Sounds concert (is it Street Sounds, or Science...?) with Kweli, Krs, Strong Arm Steady, Planet Asia, Evidence, and others. Until then, just keep reading the blogs.

PS. No Rock the Bells lineup. Word on the street is it should be out soon (How soon? I'll never tell!)

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

In the Club for the "Phree"

March 21, 2008 | Tags: none

I don't know why I didn't think of this yesterday. I'm sure most of the people checking the site don't check this shit Friday Evening, but oh well, might as well try. First Cat that hits me up either with a private message, @ my email brillyancestar@yahoo.com, or on my myspace gets in the club tonight for free. The show is at the Key Club in Los Angeles on Sunset. It's the Liks and Somobe, hit me up and get a free ticket to the show. Real live Hip Hop for FREE! You can't beat that. So hit me up, and thank the good folks at GoHomeHipHop for bringing this to you. Peace!!!!!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Pick Up Sticks......

March 21, 2008 | Tags: none

With rap shit going pretty slow pre-concert weekend, I figured I'd talk about one of my other loves...gaming. Truthfully, there hasn't been any amazingly huge things going on there either, but I'd figure I might as well run through some shit I've been playing/news I've seen and drop my opinions.

1. Burnout Paradise...Overrated

Yea, I said it. They fucked up a great game. First of all, when they said they were going to some open world shit...I was nervous. How do you do Burnout in an open world environment? The right answer would be YOU DON'T, however if you are gonna do it you better work extra hard on in race directions, or just jack somebody else's method of showing routes. Midnight Club Dub edition ran with the plain and simple arrow showing which way you go, and it worked. I've never raced in that game and got lost like so many have in Burnout. I mean, I've done races perfectly fine (especially offline) but every now and then I find myself smoking everybody online, then all of a sudden, I'm in last place. Bullshit. Don't forget they took out Crash mode...what the hell where they thinking. That show time shit is uber whack.

2. Devil May Cry 4....ehhhh

I remember I was super amped waiting for this shit, only for it to come and....whatever. I got my "special" Xbox 360, so I had it a day or two early...only for it to sit around and collect dust. Don't get me wrong, it's cool, but remember Devil May Cry was a huge franchise? Remember when Playstation lost the exclusive everybody was like "Ohhhh, they fucked up now..X360 pwns!"? Yea, big deal. Devil May Cry 4 Dropped on both systems for the first time this year, but PS3 has been leading REAL next-gen console (PS3 and Xbox 360) sales for January and February.

3. Uber Smash Bros featuring everybody and they mama

Have I ever mentioned how much I think Wii is garbage? Stephen Garbanovich to be exact. Graphics...Trash., Gimmicky Controller...Trash. 75 percent of games released PS2 remakes....super garbage. 3rd party support....huh? With all that being said, man due I wish I could play Smash Bros. Me being the hustler I am, I had a couple of Wiis for sale. Instead of charging people $350 (when they cost $250 +tax in stores) and getting that money, I really wanted to keep one and go get Smash Bros. Look at all the characters in the game...no, try and name someone NOT in the game. Sure the online is all fucked up, (How the hell do you let the online to your biggest game be fucked up?) but does that even matter? I wasn't looking forward to abusing all the little kids on the system Pied Pisser style anyways. Shit, A Wii, 4 Gamecube controllers, Smash Bros, and some homies anxious to get their ass kicked by Me, Snake, and Pikachu=Priceless.

4. PSP still has games coming...word?

Yea, I'm not really a huge fan of PSP either. I used to be on it simply because it was a handheld console with great graphics for a handheld and it didn't rely on a gimmick (DS..fuck that). Since then (I had one at launch, got rid of it later, got another one, then got rid of that too) They dropped a Metal Gear game (awhile ago), They recently dropped a God of War game (that I'm sure was FIRE, you can't go wrong with that shit), and they got Final Fantasy Crisis Core now (which has gotten good reviews). I'm truthfully considering getting another one, this time for the last time. I'd probably roll with the Silver slim one, since Grey is one of my favorite colors. I'm definitely not waiting around for the newer model with Kratos face on the back. No thanks, I like my systems another-dudes-face-free.

5. Xbox 360...ehhhhh

I told you guys a long time ago PS3 was better. Apparently more and more people are believing me, considering PS3 is selling more than Xbox 360 as of late. 360 came heavy at the end of the year last year, and now they have....nothing. No, really they have GTA next month, which is coming out on PS3 also, but Xbox 360 will have extra episodic content. That's dope, but really, this is GTA. If you have the choice, you'd take extra content. But for a fee, would you pay for extra missions in GTA....do you need extra missions in GTA? GTA games are normally a decent size anyway, add in hours of popping cops and fleeing the scene, and now ALSO add in hours of multiplayer....come on. Originally I was gonna buy the game for XBOX 360, but with my "special" system I'll probably get a "special" copy for Xbox 360 and buy the limited edition for PS3. X360 also has Ninja Gaiden coming in June....eehhhhhh, sure. Add in Fable dropping in 2020 (Peter Molyneax or however you spell it never drops shit on time) and it seems to be a pretty dead you for X360. X360 fans don't fret, if you don't get the three lights of doom you can always cop that HD-DVD add-on and watch you HD-DVDs...what, HD-DVD is dead you say? Say word? I'm sure fanboys will have you believe digital distribution of videos is better anyway, but if you have your choice of buying a 1080p blu-ray, or downloading (waiting for it to Dl first of all) a RENTAL of a fake ass HD movie, what are you gonna roll with? It's about the games though right? Well, you guys can always cop that Metal Gear when it's no longer exclusive...GTFOH. They can barely fit that shit on a Blu-Ray disc, good luck getting it on 3 DVDs.

6. Home? More like homeless

So everybody is waiting for PS3's free online community feature to smack the shit out of Xbox Live. Keep waiting. It was leaked in an article that Home won't be dropping until July. WOW! A lot of lames are waiting for Home so they can get a virtual life (since they lack a real one) and harass chicks like they do on Xbox. 360. People are extremely disappointed the service keeps getting pushed back. Hold on to your pocket protectors Poindexter, it's coming (eventually). While arguing with Fanboys over why Home is gonna be dope, they said "It's just a distraction, that has nothing to do with games,". Well, Sony recently announced some of the newer features of home. In the Warhawk Room, players will be able to meet up with friends and look over maps from Warhawk and strategize for upcoming matches. Word? That ain't got shit to do with games, what do we need that for? Add in extra mini-games for other games like Uncharted, and I may now slightly care about Home. None of this matters until the shit actually drops though.

7. EA continues to try and buy the world.

So EA has made a huge offer to purchase Take-Two. Of course Take-Two turned them down, but now EA is offering to buy stockholders stock at $26 a share (I heard the stock is at about $23 a share now, but that's only because of the possibility of the EA buyout). If EA does this, they could then buy the majority of Take-Two's stock, and own Take-Two anyway. I heard Take-Two stockholders are talking about suing Take-Two for not taking the buyout. So what does this all mean? What if EA takes over Take-Two? Does this mean no more 2k Sports? Well whining crybabies all over the net are afraid EA is taking over Take-Two to kill 2k Sports. Get real! Do you really think EA will spend that much money ($2,000,000,000, it looks a lot bigger with all the zeros) just to kill 2k sports? I'll tell you what this is about...GTA. If EA buys out Take-Two, it would get Rockstar, the home of Grand Theft Auto. This would be like buying a company in possession of Halo. Truthfully, if EA bought out Take-two, they'd probably keep the best of the 2k sports workers, and there's the possibility they could produce the BEST sports games ever. You'd have the best of both worlds. Ea bought Criterion and Burnout turned out fine (until recently). Another thing you can be assured about if EA bought Take-Two, Bioshock 2 wouldn't be exclusive anymore. Word on the street is that Mass Effect 2 (made by Bioware, another company EA owns) will only be exclusive temporarily. I could care less, cuz to me Mass Effect was awfully overrated.

I'll stop it at 7, the god number, for no apparent reason other than the fact I'm tired. The Key Club 2morrow night peoples.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Snooze......

March 20, 2008 | Tags: none

What the hell is a blogger to talk about? Jimmy Henchmen responsible for 'Pac getting shot the first time? NO FUCKING kidding me. Anybody who skimmed through "Queens Reigns Supreme" already knew this. The Los Angeles Times really should leave hip hop alone..cuz there always hella late, or hella wrong.

So, what to say, what to say......PAID DUES FESTIVAL SATURDAY!!!

THe Liks and Somobe at the Key Club in Los Angeles Friday!!!!!

Too bad Prodigy is going to jail....if he wasn't maybe HE could write another blog (oh that was terrible), and I could talk about how much of an idiot he is. Did u guys all see that? Yea, neither did I, I just heard about it, there's no way in hell I'd be checking up on Prodigy. Last time I seen him he was falling backwards after being punched in the face by Saigon. Speaking of which...WHEN THE HELL ARE WE GONNA GET THAT SAIGON ALBUM? I need that shit right now, unlike everybody else here I'm getting sort of tired of all these mixtapes. I've banged "Geniuses Need Love" to death (which I got from the one and only "2dopeboyz"...well really I didn't, I got it from somewhere else, only to see that it was jacked from Meka and Shake....stop biting my niggas shit). In the abscence of my focus, I guess i'll just hit ya'll with some questions and see what people say.

Q1. Where the hell do all the hip hop heads work at?

I'm tired of muthafuckas turning to me as the end all be all expert of hip hop at work because I know songs that weren't played on the radio. No Diddy's line "Don't worry if I write rhymes, I write checks" wasn't dope, and he probably didn't write that line.

Q2. What blended drink is fucking with Hennesy and Apple Juice?

I'll go ahead and answer this...none. Way back when I was 16 me and one of my peoples had some Hennesy we had aquired, but it wasn't much. Wondering how to stretch the yac out, we rummaged through my friends freezer. We came across some Frozen Apple juice concentrate. After blending that with ice, we were straaaaaaaight. If your an Al Key like me, the more Hen the better.

Q3. Why the hell are emcees redoing dope tracks for Heinaken?

I seen the Tribe track in our music section. I was like...DOPE, until I found out it was a beer advertisment. Now Common redid "The Light"...WTF. If you redo some tracks, it better be for Sprite or some shit.

Q4. Where the hell is the Rock the Bells Lineup?

Don't even trip, check my blog Sunday morning, if I don't post anything else from Paid Dues till Tuesday, I'll at least have the Rock The Bells lineup, cuz I'm already knowing it will be at the show.

I'll be back with something a little more focused 2morrow (hopefully). The Key Club on Friday bitches!!!!!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

New Pic, New Shit

March 14, 2008 | Tags: none

First and foremost check the new pic....It's "The End of The Beginning"...Yes, yes

Not much to say. I've let this week slip by me, however I can't let next week slip past because it's going to be extremely busy. I'm gonna be at two shows next weekend, and I believe most of the cats from HHDX will be at another. So if you're going to a show next weekend chances are you'll see somebody from the Best Damn Hip Hop Site Period. First of all Friday I'm gonna be at the Key Club here in Los Angeles. My dudes Somobe are gonna be in the LAC, they'll be performing with the Liks. $20 bucks gets you in for a clash of Lyricism smoothed out on the Jazz tip, and the amped up party crashing Liks. If you don't know who the Alkaholiks are, you either;

A. Don't live in Los Angeles anywayz
B. Aren't Hip Hop

You seen the videos of Somobe when I hit the show in Vegas. What other emcee do you know will stop spitting to catch wreck on the sax? Come on man, you can't miss this. I'll be there, drunk, cuz I mean it is a Likwit Crew function.

The next day (post-hangover) it's out to the middle of nowhere, San Bernadino CA, for Paid Dues Festival. The crazy thing is, this time last year, I was at Paid Dues repping another site.(which, with the departure of the only cat doing his thing over there, shall remain nameless) After seeing HHDX banners everywhere and hollering at J-23, BAM, I'm down with the baddest mfers on the net. After a year of having other sites bite my shit, having my shit posted on message boards all over the net, meeting dope artists, and actually hollering at some of my favorite lyricists out, I'm even more amped up. The Paid Dues Line-Up is:

Sage Francis
Little Brother
Jedi Mind Tricks
Living Legends
Dilated Peoples
Boot Camp Clik with Black Moon
Kool Keith
Heiroglyphics
Fat Lip and Omni
POS
A Team
Mac Lethal
Visionaires
Yak Ballz
B Dolan
Isiah
and of course Murs

I'm trying to see if anybody else from the site will be there to wreak havoc with me, but a lot of the cats from the site will be holding it down at another show, A3C, which will feature the following acts:

The Re-Up Gang
Del the Funky Homosapien
Blu and Ta'Raac are C.R.A.C
MUTHAFUCKIN TANYA MORGAN (extra emphasis added for good reason)
Guilty Simpson
Wale
Little Brother
Jeru The Damaja
Aceyalone
Akrobatik
Hanger 18
etc. etc.

This will be taking place all weekend out there in the ATL in the CW Midtown Complex, so if you're down there check that out. I'd say the line-ups are even, but if I could trade Sage Francis and Jedi Mind Tricks for Blu and Tanya Morgan...I'd win by a mile.

My second year here you can expect

1. Me to finally get the new blog editor down
2. Me to call your favorite artists either garbage or overrated
3. Me to Plug more West Coast Artists (hit my myspace)
4. Me to get mad at BET for some reason or another and bring "Stop Cooning" back
5. Me at more shows
6. Me to get the MF Doom Dunks
7. Me to get be disappointed by at least one of my favorite artist (ala Jay-Z last year)
8. Me Biggie more props than I did my 1st year here (I can't give him any less)
9. Me to give Lil Wayne less props than I did my first year here (if that 1st single is any sign....yuck)
10. Me to keep it real
11. A Podcast

Love peace and nappiness

(Hit the Myspace for any suggestions/West Coast artists)
http://www.myspace.com/bruceisdope

or hit the email brillyancestar@yahoo
or hit the AIM:Longbeachzking21

Expect my info on this page to be updated, and expect me to take advantage of those other pages also.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

If she won't, can't, or don't....I ain't fucking with her

March 12, 2008 | Tags: none

Shake what's good with my pic? I can't put album art up? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to change it......

Yea, so amazingly I'm one of the several people somehow involved in this site who has the handcuffs on them. It's not as bad as some make it seem, it's actually great as others say it is, however, you have to know that you are no longer the same as everybody else. You can't do everything everybody else does, cuz you have to (are supposed to) be respectful or your spouse, baby mama, fuck buddy, whatever you choose to call them. I've been off the market almost as long as the Knicks have been garbage (which is a very long time) and I'm proud of it. Not only because I'm blessed to have connected with my Beautiful One and Only, but also because I don't have to deal with some of ya'll uber whack ass females out there. Not to say that all females are bad, (we have some decent ones on this page...j/k they're all great) but I just can't deal with some of this shit. Not to say that I'm perfect either, I know I'm not Denzel, and I wouldn't expect Halle to throw the panties at me (I was quite shocked when she did last year, but sorry sweetheart, you lost in my Sweet 16), but I do have some rules...wanna hear them, here they go.

If She Don't turn off that damn "Yaaah, Yaaah" shit, she's walking...I don't care if it is her car

People complain when they ride with me cuz I don't play the radio, or I don't throw their CD in, whatever, whatever, FUCK THAT. I don't listen to garbage, I wouldn't give a fuck if Gabrielle Union wanted to listen "Ay Bay Bay"....we're listening to Murs! Jay-z is my problem solver, they might not want to listen to Felt's "A Tribute to Lisa Bonet", that's when I throw on some Jay....don't expect no Bonnie and Clyde, or Change Clothes though...your gonna listen to "D'evils" and love it.

If She Can’t cook a meal that doesn't come completely in a box, she needs to move, I don't care if she does pay half the rent.

I know times have changed. When I'm out chasing paper, I often see females running right beside me (or sometimes ahead of me). That's dope. More power to you, in Southern Cal we're gonna need both our checks and our hustle money to pay to live in an area where two people won’t get killed within a 6 ft radius of your house in 1 month. However, don't get shit twisted and think you don't have to cook anymore. I'm not gonna have you in the kitchen slaving every day or no shit like that, I can cook too, however, just because we live two blocks from In-n-Out and Chipotle doesn't mean we're gonna eat that shit all the time

If She Don't know who the hell she is, I'm not trying to know her either

Don't front for me...I'm not impressed. Don't try to act like you've been listening to Dilated since "The Platform", cuz I've been at the shows for awhile, and I haven't seen you there. I understand my musical taste isn’t the norm/popular, so if you don't fuck with the shit I fuck with, fine, be you. Don't rock J's cuz I do, don't do nothing just because I do. That's a huge problem in a lot of relationships; people try to mold themselves into who they think the other person wants them to be, then after few years, they get tired of fronting and keep it real, only to find that the other person can't stand who they really are.

If She Won't take out the trash, I'm throwing her AND the trash out.

It's funny how when it comes time to cook, you’re the new millennium chick, but when it comes time to take out the trash, that's a man's job. A man's job...what the hell is that? I have no problem taking the trash out, but don't act like your too damn good to touch the bag. Don't come to me complaining while I'm in the middle of a postseason game of NBA 2k8 about the trash, yet refuse to take it out yourself. I'll get it when I'm done, if you can't wait 36 mins, you take it.

If She Don't get that damn silver spoon out her mouth, I hope she chokes on it

I can't stand high maintenance uppity ass chicks. Whether you were born into money, or just got some recently...STFU. Don't think your special, cuz I sure don't. Realities real (that's so redundant). Don't think you got shit, and your just always gonna have shit. You’re not entitled to some Seven jeans. Only thing your promised is death, so if you’re not trying to get out there and get shit, and appreciate it when you get it, you won't get it from me. I don't care if I was rich, I still wouldn't deal with no stuck up ass chick. Fuck what Eddie Murphy said, (he likes guys anywayz) if I get cake and find myself lonely, I'm getting an African, she's gonna love everything she gets.

If She Don't respect me, she can keep it pushing.

Some of you guys are straight suckas. You get this chick that all your peoples think is a dime, then you let this hoe run all over you. Fuck that. I'll treat her like a prostitute. I love ya'll ladies, but some of ya'll need the shit shaken out of you. I wouldn't suggest hitting a chick, but it seems like some of you are begging to be. Don't respect me as a man, respect me as a PERSON. Please don't try to put your hands on me. Some of ya'll have been watching too much damn "G.I. Jane". No, you suck MY dick. Don't let Demi Moore hype you up. That's why you can't get a man, cuz you can't respect one. You let your home girls run over you, yet you try to get hard when you talk to me. GTFOH.

Those are just SOME of the rules I have. I have others, but I wouldn't want to put my girl on blast with any of my OTHER rules, cuz she fits all my rules. I think everybody should have some rules (females too), cuz if you don't let it be known, you may find out 6 months later your girl won't wash your dishes, (I don't mean cups and forks either)and of course I definitely couldn't live with that.

This blog was inspired Kidz in the Hall CD’s, grapes, and chicks at my job. PEACE!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Wake up Mr. West.....YOU are the most overrated rapper of all time

March 05, 2008 | Tags: none

Shake what's good with my pic? I figured I’d start the blog off like that...

Yea, so like I was saying, I was watching a Jimi Hendrix documentary (or was it Bob Marley...I don't remember) with my niece about a week ago, and I was like...

"Damn, people look back at people from other time periods like there damn near gods. You got your Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Muhammad Ali, 20 years from now, who are they gonna look back at as far as music?"

"Kanye West," she replied.

At first I agreed. Then, last week, I started to disagree. The more I thought about it, I started to agree again, yet I wasn't really happy with the thought of that. I am hip hop. No explanation needed. I doubt hip hop will ever truly die, however my period of hip hop will fade out and shit will change. (It seems like it's trying to already). When people look back at this time period, the fact that they'll say hip hop ruled music, (sales wise it did like 5-10 years ago. Trends wise it still does, for better or worse.) and then look to Kanye as the biggest legend of the time period is totally wrong. No way does he deserve that spot. I'm sure some of you believe he won't be THAT dude of this period, but face it, he will be. As big as Jay is now...15 years from now who will blast "Big Pimpin"? Do you think the masses will still give a fuck about "Ain't no Nigga"? Fuck no. However "Jesus Walks" is gonna be played in the background of movies, analyzed, and loved by many for years upon years to come. WHY?

When Meka used to throw shots at 'Ye, I used to always stick up for dude, but as I was listening to "Graduation" a couple of days ago, I started wondering...

"Why the hell am I drinking the Cherry Kool-Aid?"

First of all, of all the dudes who get respect as a rapper, 'Ye spits the corniest lines. Sure Fiddy loved ol girl like a fat kid loved cake...but 'Ye hates these niggas more than the Nazis. Really? She said she never saw snakes on a plane? See, the difference between 'Ye and fatso in the clouds is as many corny ass/questionable lines he spit, he (Piggy) spit some classic shit. (yet NO Classic album out of all....two of them...sorry, don't piss yourself) Then, to top off the whackness, 'Ye's biggest song "Jesus Walks" was written partially by Rhymefest, who when hip hop is talked about 15 years from now will be sadly forgotten (Even by me, shit, I forgot to mention his album when I talked about shit that dropped from mid last year, to mid 06, and I thought it was dope) and teaching young GD's at some high school on the South, South, South, Sofff, Saaa, Saaa, South side of the city. Truthfully upon further inspection and scrolls through my collection, 'Ye isn't even one of the top 5 dopest lyricist out of his city. (Lyrically, I'd put him behind Com, Lupe, Nalege, the 'oft forgotten and probably jailed Bump J, and even Twista). 'Ye knows he's not the dopest lyricist. Although he only admitted to being under the YOUNG Carter, at another time he admitted to being inspired by "One of those dudes from that group Little Brother" as I was told he said it. (He knows Phonte's name, shit, he met the dude before). Don't forget Big Brother who came through and "whooped his ass" on "Diamonds are Forever". That's just starting the list of artists he's not fucking with lyrically. Let's be real, lyrically there aren't many people he could massacre. He doesn't spit flame, nails, hot fire, retarded, sick, or even flu like.

You can't really blame 'Ye for not being the dopest lyricist, I mean, he is a producer rapper. Most producer/rappers aren't among the elite lyrically, because their focus is on the beats first and foremost. The problem is though, upon further listening, 'Ye is no longer among the elite beat smiths either. When Meka said 'Ye hadn’t don't a super dope beat since "Nothing Like It" and his madd rapper productions, I laughed it off. However, after listening to "Nothing Like It" and all of "Late Registration" (the album 'Ye focused on the beats more than the lyrics....hmpphhh) I hate to admit it, but Meka was right. 'Ye brought the "soul sample" to Jigga, since I guess Rza wouldn't do a beat for Jay no matter how much he helped Ghost get attention. (tracks with Bey, video appearances). Jay fucking with anything automatically makes it hot (even Bleek has gone Gold), so along with Just Blaze, Ye' became one of the top producers in the game. No surprise, the Neptunes had a hit record with a beat kids could and have easily reproduced with two hands and a table. In comparison to the other beat makers in the mainstreams attention I guess 'Ye was doper than most. Upon my descent into the underground, my head started nodding more frequently to Ant, and less to Yeezy, but he was still alright.
Therein lies my problem.

30 years from now when my era is given it's props, as far as hip hop is concerned the majority of it will go to Kanye. Dude is cool, however, he'll be looked at completely different than he is now. HE'LL be hip hop's Jehovah, Jayhova will be reduced to Jesus, Nas' tapes will be Lost, Pac will be a cat who died 2 young, Common....he'll be looked at as common. 30 years from now, when cat's talk about Hip Hop of the late 90's, Early 2000, it will be 'Ye and Eminem (Em for obvious reasons). Not saying they don't deserve credit, but let's be real! The more I think about this, the more I question the artists idolized from the 70's. Shit, Michael Jackson is idolized from the 80's, but let my older sister tell it, he couldn't wrap a towel around Prince's exposed butt cheeks. Oh...of course Michael Jackson was bigger than Prince, but in the future, they'll say the same thing about 'Ye when compared to Nas. Most people will ignore the remaining evidence (the music) because popular opinion will state 'Ye is the best (sort of like cat's do Biggie now).In conclusion:

Meka was right (about 'Ye)
I'm pouring the cherry Kool-Aid out of my Styrofoam cup
I'm the shit

Thank you, thank you very much.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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