Friday, November 10, 2006

Freeky Furahiday: Sehemu ya Sita

So Donald Rumsfeld is out and ex-CIA chief (deputy director for intelligence) Robert Gates is in. Don't trust Bush to pick a squeaky clean official as Defense Secretary. Mr Gates is linked to the Iran-Contra scandal.

Meanwhile the revised civilian death count in Iraq since the war started is 150,000.


Last Furahiday Edition I spoke on Afro-Soul artist Sam Oendo. His website is finally up. Slide thru.

Also check out Shidamingi Crew, with a few brand new songs up for display on (where else) hewaspace. One of them, Blind Wuns, is a potent collaboration featuring your favorite Nairobi hip-hop proponents, Mwafrika and Muki Garang.

It's been one of the biggest rumors of the year in rap. The alleged very public coziness between two grown New Orleans male rappers and Cash Money Records moguls Birdman aka Baby, and his adopted son and current southern rap darling, Lil Wayne. They also had the number three album in the US this week.

Juvenile spoke on it, Gillie the Kid spoke on it, but they were disgruntled ex- Cash Money associates and it may have been explained as them being vengeful. But recently Lil Wayne tried to address the allegations on New York radio as it being like a mafioso thing. You know.....men....expressing.....let me stop. I guess it wasn't that much of a tall tale...


I love the looks on west coast crooner TQ (jamaa with the flute glass) and the supa black dude with the white headband.....priceless. And the other two are looking away trying to act like it's not going down like that. Then there is homie in the background in the sky blue looking dead-on like he was wishing he was in on it....

Naah...he just can't look away unlike his friends.

Maybe they need to get hands laid upon them.



Morale.


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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

WENT SHOPLIFTING THIS WEEKEND Vol. 2

From Musikland on Moi Ave to a Sam Goody in Omaha his prowess is unmatched. I'm proud to welcome again my sticky fingered compadre with a bad music habit, Shop Liftah, here to give us the deal on a few new cds he umm...acquired... recently.



It's almost time for a Styles P record. Consistently spitting that hardcoreness, Lox and D-Block frontman Styles P embodies the grittyness and bleakness of the New York concrete jungle. PCutta and DNA compile together newer and older tracks in the run up to the release of Styles' second lp Time is Money. Close to the Concrete, Aint Buying What U Sellin' and 914 are stellar examples of that bangout music Styles P is beloved for. Fewer people get consistent attention on mixtapes. Every other week some DJ has a best of Styles compilation or something similar out. This joint could've been better but until he brings his new album or an all new music mixtape to the table, I guess we have to deal with the scraps.




Undoubtedly one of New York's finest, of all time, delivers his 6th piece independently and that means the greater masses of ears in need of something more quality get to miss out. I Am the Truth, is just that as Az makes his case. Sit Em Back with fellow Brooklynites MOP is a raucous stomp-em-out heater and Little Brother show up for a marvellous collaboration on Rise and Fall. If the Nas-Az project never sees the light of day then may we take this opportunity to lobby for a DJ Premier-Az opus, as the duo reunite with good results on the title track. Az doesn't play out of pocket. It's mainly introspective hood philosophy and street storytelling told with that flawless flow over soul themed beats. Get High and Doing That should have been replaced, although they are minor shortcomings. This album may go over the Snap and Hyphy set but Allah be praised that The Aziatic is back.



It must be a New Jersey thing. Like Jahiem, the one time Teddy Riley understudy and Jersey City native Shareefa delivers sung performances with a real tight street appeal on her debut album Point of No Return. Since her appearance on the second DTP compilation last year it was apparent that she was not afraid to write about something other than love, which R&B's worst ailment currently, and sing with a realness that is hard to ignore. The Intro starts with a rock bottom moment, as she's sent to prision. And then Rodney Jerkins helps her get closure from a bad relationship on Cry No More. Another key ingredient to this piece is gogo maestro turned R&B wunderkid, Rich Harrison, who matches her street sensibility with soundscapes that recall the boom-bap driven soul of the mid 90's. No One Said lifts a sample popularized by Biggie Smalls on his first album, How Good Love Feels sounds like something Mary J. Blige would have done for her second album. Phony touches upon a betrayal by a girlfriend, not over a man, but some undisclosed situation that actually saw Shareefa behind bars for a stint. The tail end of the album slows down. DTP compatriot Bobby Valentino drops in for a bump-n-grind session on Hey Babe, Eye Wonder is a cheating-with-him episode, while Fever explores a crush. She may have only moved 30k on her first week but this is easily one of the finer all-around R&B performances of 2006.


Round Two is always a watershed phase, and for the New Millenium Nate Dogg his second album is probably his best chance to solidify his Konvict Music movement. From the jump Shakedown is that gangsta crooning that Akon is making his own. Styles P returns for Blown Away, another street bandit two step anthem. Never Took the Time, Dont Matter and I Can't Wait offer a different look as Akon does the love song thing. Akon still shines with the street conscious music, on Gringo, he's a drug dealer making a pitch, and on Tired of Running he's a street hustler done with ducking the Law. Then there's Mama Africa, a reggae joint in tribute to his roots. Overall, Konvicted stays true to what Akon does well, with a few radio songs (Smack That and I Wanna Love You) thrown in to cement the traffic to the music store.



Another year another album. Jim Jones is definitely a prime example of how the constant grind of keeping your name out in the street whether it's albums back to back, umpteen mixtapes, being on the red carpet at the VMA's and still doing club appearances in the roughest locales in the East Coast can do to boost your profile. Stylistically, what do you expect. More thuglife, hustler tales, and floss bossman rants from Jones and Dipset Byrdgang expressed over slicked out synths and drums. Emotionless, Pin the Tail and Weatherman are notables although they all have guests on them. More people have Jim Jones' name in their heads this year than last and there is a feeling in the northeast that there is a need for their own new star instead of all the mainstays or out of town boys and Jones is well placed to feed off that. Judging by his current buzz off the runaway hit We Fly High, this will be one of the hood soundtracks of choice for many this winter.


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Friday, November 03, 2006

Freeky Furahiday Part Ngovo


Bidding himself as the 'new sound of Afro-Urban Soul,' California based Sam Oendo is readying the release of his debut album in conjunction with Zambian outfit Malabath Music. Najitahidi stood out to me. You can listen to it as well as a few other hewas on his myspace page.



And after myspace comes niggaspace. Some people are heated about it too.

Movie rant: Avoid
Borat at all costs. That dude, Tom Green and the cast of Jackass need to share the same padded cell. Or be sold to slavery in a Zambian copper mine.


There has been some buzz about Christianity and sex on the blog ring thanks to Future Diplomat and others, and this story shows the two-facedness of the chest thumping puritans. The head of the U.S. National Association of Evangelicals resigned on Thursday November 2nd after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a male escort. And this dude is all about banning gay marriage too, lol. Republicans. Ted Haggard is George Bush's spiritual advisor and talks weekly to the main man behind the Republican Machine Karl Rove.


Maybe some folks need to be real and keep it freaky.

Rest in Peace: Comedian Nyundo Wa Komeo (Francis Abina Madieka) who is being buried in Budalangi, Busia District this weekend. He appeared on national tv shows like Kinyonga, Vitimbi and Wingu la Moto.




Morale, Freaks.

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