Rather see the above links in your inbox or feed reader?
Subscribe to our Links for hand-picked items from around the web
t.w.i.b. 3/2/07 · by Rafi Kam
T.W.I.B. = The Week In Blogging
Feel free to add any great posts you think were missed or comment on best/worst piece(s) in here.
Some things are here just because I have something to say about them. Some for the quality of the material. Sometimes both.
Daleks is more than just an old video game for the Mac
Some years back I saw Dalek open for Paul Barman and Prince Paul at a club in New Haven. My impression of them from that evening was that they pretty much were terrible.
Either they’ve improved a great deal, sound way better on record or I just don’t know what the hell I’m talking about because apparently they are totally awesome. These people agree.
I should mention that one of those links mentions “Funky Cold Medina”. And the Stylus one refers to Dilla as “a dead guy”. True as that may be, it seems a weird way to reference him even given the point being made (the lack of lyrics on Donuts). It’s a phrase I somehow doubt we will ever find in a Dilla review at the same site.
I suppose I’ll give their new album a listen and not hold their performance from years ago against them too much.
Who Rock’d it Better?
Both TAN and Slushy Gutter Summer show up to the blogosphere today with posts about DWYCK. How embarassing!
(Photo and W.R.I.B. courtesy of Concrete Loop)
Scott Storch is funny – but not “ha ha funny”. Oh wait, yes he’s that kind of funny too.
Talk about ephemera! Scott Storch tries to play Internets Celebrity by releasing this totally generic video for his lame rap dis of Timbaland.
Breihanic
I’ve been enjoying Status Ain’t Hood quite a bit recently. Nevertheless, I have to pass on this awesome comic created by Dustinland and linked to by Rizoh.
We’d already gotten a peek at the strangely tall Village Voice writer earlier in the week courtesy of Dallas Penn’s post on the White Rapper Show wrap-up party. Look at that photo! Dallas is sorta tall to begin with (to me).
We’re white guys and we take no crap. When we get mad we do the … white rap!
Of course the White Rapper show’s finale was Monday which means now Hip-Hop is Dead Again like Kenneth Branagh.
I can sort of understand Sage Francis’ point of view on the show. If I was a white rapper that took myself seriously I probably wouldn’t like the show either. Fortunately (for me, my loved ones and the world) I’m not a white rapper so I’m free to enjoy a productive life and also this funny tv show.
I also really enjoyed the blog coverage of the show. From the aforementioned SAH and XXL to bloggers like Jamie and Brandon who were able to find new readers (like me) through their efforts reporting on the WRS.
Also check out this interview with John Brown at HipHopDX.
And the rest…
Making Strides Great writing and photos.
This fake Gucci ad prankster story is great.
Consumerist’s guide to Secret Menu Items. This is the kind of thing I had in mind when I bought FastFoodRemix.com after the success of Ghetto Big Mac.... I still haven’t done anything with it though.
Rap That Edumicates P.S.A. rap from Unkut. Don’t Copy That Floppy is gold.
Tony Bones Interview also at Unkut
Snack Serendipity… Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito list infinite snacks at the opening of this 1997 show... Meanwhile in the future (1997’s future – our present), a “snack culture” meme spreads across the internets.
A Rhymefest interview at TSOYA
Oliver Wang on Welcome to the Slaughtahouse
I’m loving Steinski’s blog.
Two Kings in a Cipher includes video on the making of the “Where I’m From” beat
Lil Wayne publicly apologizes to Jay-Z for stepping on toes. Then he puts out a video with Juelz over the “Black Republicans” beat. Confused?
Why New Balance failed “We tried to be all things to all people”
The interesting and humorously self-important story behind the “Democracy and Hip-Hop” blog. When they call a 2006 David Drake Stylus magazine piece “the second best piece on hip-hop ever” is the implication that their own “The Dialectics of Hip-Hop” is #1?
Smalls P introduces us to some fine UK hip-hop:
Comments for "t.w.i.b. 3/2/07"
Scott Storch could play Truman Capote if ever a third studio wants to adapt his work.
— Sach Mar 2, 06:30 PM
Good lookin’ out, Rafi. I made it two weeks in a row now. Thanks for including a link to my blog on the page as well, I appreciate it.
One.
— Dart Adams Mar 2, 08:19 PM
Breihan is retarded tall
— Janet Jackson's Titty Ring Mar 2, 09:52 PM
That’s surprising but not that surprising that Dalek weren’t that good live. They certainly rely on studio tricks a good deal. However, having listened to their early stuff only after hearing this new album, I think its pretty safe to say that they’ve improved a great deal. This new one is way more accessible and less self-consciously weird than the other stuff. Reminds me a lot of Cold Vein. Not sure if you were into that one, but if you aren’t a Can Ox fan they still might be grating.
— Jeff Mar 3, 12:18 AM
I was definitely into Cold Vein. Great album. Like I said, I’ll give the new one a listen.
— rafi Mar 3, 12:24 AM
Thanks for the linkage, Scott Storch can’t rhyme for peanuts
— Jaz Mar 3, 01:04 AM
Oh shit. That Sir J Wellington performance is great. When dude just throws the mic down at the end and leaves the stage is too funny
— Jay B Mar 3, 01:40 AM
What am I the only nerd?
EX-TER-MI-NATE!
— ysm Mar 3, 06:16 PM
i saw dalek open for the melvins and the ten minutes i saw were beyond horrible. i can only imagine how paul barmn would exasperate that experience.
— noz Mar 3, 08:34 PM
Pre-ESPN there used to be a syndicated show called This Week in Baseball. It was narrated by one of those voice-over guys (Harry Calas, I think). At the end of the show they’d have a wrap-up section called “Twib Notes,” which was my favorite because they used the word “twib.”
Thanks for the link.
— raafi Mar 4, 11:57 AM
Yup, that’s the reference raafi.
ESPN’s nearly 30 years old by the way.
Also I think TWIB is still on cable during the season. I caught an episode sometime last year.
— rafi Mar 4, 03:30 PM
Yeah, I guess the Democracy and Hip-Hop post does smell of self importance. That statement, however, was very subjective and based in our own experience, not necessarily in objective experience.
Its like if I said that an ICP album is the best hip-hop album ever. To me, that would be true, but weighed against general opinion, it would be completely dismissed.
Thanks for the link, though. I guess bad pub is better than no pub.
Maybe you’ll critique the ideas next time?
Peace.
Krisna
— Krisna Best Mar 5, 02:30 AM
I wouldn’t even call it bad pub. I liked reading what your blog is all about because I had been curious about its origins.
That statement about the two greatest pieces ever written on hip-hop gave me pause though. Feel free to elaborate on it if you’d like…. What makes them the greatest?
And yeah maybe I will critique the ideas in a future post…
Unfortunately critiquing ideas (the old OhWord way) requires much work for little reward. Whereas talking smack (the American way) requires hardly any work for much reward.
— rafi Mar 5, 09:48 AM
Again, it appears as self-important, but I was talking about it in light of our own development. The Dialectics of Hip-Hop was instrumental to my development as a thinker and writer and so, in that context, it was the best piece on hip-hop. David Drake’s piece was the second most influential, but the way I said it made it seem as though there was some universal measure by which these pieces are above the rest.
This is not so. No one is more clearly aware of our marginality and insignificance than us and we view the blog as an avenue by which we might be a voice, however marginal, in opposition to the dominant conservative view of the hip-hop intellectual.
Thanks again for the plug, bro. And I understand your candor. Peace.
K
— Krisna Best Mar 6, 12:27 AM