Another 2005 Review list

Being that I was pretty broke this past year (the period of unemployment after graduation made me highly financially unstable), I wasn't able to pick up a bunch of music that I probably would have picked up if my student loans were still coming in. And since I can't connect to I2Hub anymore since I ain't a UCSD student, I don't have that access to "borrow" music from other students at ridiculously high speeds, I had to just let a bunch of music sit on the store shelves and wait for them to hit my nonexistent car stereo when my cabbage flow became suitable. So, to continue with the never ending crop of year end music lists that pop up in the blogsphere around this time of year, I come with my list of albums from 2005 that I still need to check out (again, in no particular hierarchy):

1. Emanon - Waiting Room
2. Esthero - Wikked Lil' Grrrls
3. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall
4. Edan - Beauty and the Beat
5. Lil Wayne - The Carter II
6. Slim Thug - Already Platinum
7. Beck - Guero
8. Leela James - A Change Is Gonna Come
9. Ellay Khule - Califormula
10. Dwele - Some Kinda...
11. B. Legit - Block Movement

Now, an album that could be something to look forward to for next year: an album by Mr. Farnsworth Bentley. Check out "Laid Back", produced by Kanye.

Speaking of Kanye, this song should have been on the US release of "Late Registration": Kanye and friends - We Can Make It Better

And... this will likely be my last post of the year, so... Have a Hyphy New Year!!!

Year in Music Review

Aight, so I was pretty broke this year, and there are plenty of albums that I did not have the opportunity to check out that I wanted to peep. But since its that time of the year here's my short lists for the year:

The lists are in no particular order

Top 5 LP's of 2005:
1. MIA - Arular (White hipsters will agree with me that this was one of the most amazing albums to come out this year.)
2. Juelz Santana - What the Games Been Missing! (Camron may be the Dipset frontman, but this was the year for Juelz. Coming hotter than cooked crack, the bandana crown wearing emcee blessed us with a raw follow up to his debut album, "From Me to U", as well as getting all my high school students whistling and yelling "Aye! Aye! Aye!".
3. Mistah FAB - Son of a PIMP (While the Nation of Thizzlam had numerous slappin' albums this year, it was the debut from Fabbie Davis that broke through and put him in the cream of the Bay Area crop this year, using a fine blend of thizz and hyphy aesthetics.
4. Kanye West - Late Registration (Haters can hate all they want. While there might be a few throw away tracks (*cough-Brandy track-cought), Kanyeezy surpassed any expectations I had of what he could create after the solid release of "College Dropout".)
5. Damien Marley - Welcome to Jamrock (Junior Gong showed American pop audiences how to acheive crossover reggae success without having to waterdown content.)

Top 5 singles "released in 2005":
1. Keak da Sneak - Super Hyphy
2. Juelz Santana - Mic Check
3. Damien Marley - Welcome to Jamrock
4. Common - The Corners
5. 3 Six Mafia - Stay Fly

RIP, Richard Pryor

Comedian, Richard Pryor dies at 65

He pushed the comedic envelope and paved the way for African-American comedians such as Eddie Murphy and Dave Chapelle. I am not old enough to have seen the stand up acts he had during the height of his career, but seeing archive footage, it amazes me how ahead of his time he was. His legacy will never be forgotten.

Beyond the Squared Ring

Back in October, I saw a lot of hate on the Keak da Sneak and DJ Shadow song, "3 Freaks," on many a message board and blogs. My guess was that close minded backpackers were unwilling to recognize the importance of the bridge that is being created among "backpack" bay area rappers and their hyphy counterparts. But hip hop elitists beware, your revered dj/producer will once again be reaching beyond the usual suspects of backpack rappers and collaborate with David Banner.

And, I have begun to accept John Cena's wrestling capabilities and his stage presence, while still acknowledging his use of minstrelsy for his persona, but I definitely have to shake my head at this. I mean, even with the problematic racial stereotypes that become presented in the world of "professional" wrestling, I still get sucked in to the soap operatics (I wonder if that's even a word) that the wrestling storylines tell. Hell, I was and still am furious whenever I see Mohammad Assad's character being used to fuel jingoistic sentiments. (While he is still frequents the squared ring, atleast WWE was put in check for its antics.) I don't want to come off all self-righteously politically correct, but McMahon needs to realize that this shit ain't proper.

Lastly, I just discovered this Pandora thing a while ago, but shit's pretty ill son. Bong, bong!

Chappelle's Show returns.....

This news isn't exactly what I was hoping for, but atleast we'll be seeing some newer episodes of Chappelle's Show.