the maurice richard of hip hop

This Sunday I saw NOTORIOUS with my homegirl Margaux. If you have followed the blog a bit you know I am huuuuuuuuge biggie fan. The first rapper I got into as a youngin (grade 6) he had accessible singles that appealed to me as a child but it was also his image that gave me a lot of confidence as an overweight kid. I know it sounds cheesy but he inspired me to have pride in the way I look and not take shit from nobody. As I grew older I started to get more into hip hop and started to analyze the lyrics as well as notice that newer hip hop while good could not hold a candle to the perfection that was biggie. As an ultra fan I gotta say that I was really happy with the movie. Jamal "Gravy" Woolard nails the role and it almost made me feel like he was alive again which was pretty cool. He should drop rapping and try to act for a living I think (although he will probably get type casted pretty bad). The music blasted through the theatre surround sound was great and I was lip syncing the lyrics the whole time. One thing that bummed me out though was this it was a true story and that he had to die again which reminds me a lot of reading history books about New France. No matter how many times you experience the story the ending is always the same, we lose. Not gonna lie, I had tears in my eyes at least twice. One scene between Big and his mom talking on the phone from jail and the funeral procession. He died at age 24. Such a young age to die but at the same time it made me think what the fuck have I accomplished in my life? If a guy with all the chips stacked against him since birth can follow his dreams it would be a crime for a relatively well off kid like myself to not at least try. Hopefully in 2010 I will be in another country trying to give it a real go. Check the movie out.

She's got her own motivation

One meal a day is working amazing not only in terms of me feeling awesome but the hatred it garners. People will trip out about a single meal more than they will about important issues in today's A.I.G.-less world. In my everlasting me against the world mentality I will dedicate this post to punk/hardcore bands with singers that rarely wear shirts and could beat the shit out of me, a very elite club my friends. If these knuckles good talk.

First up let's go classic. BLACK FLAG. People generally love this band more than anything from that era which always perplexed me. I guess it's the logo, the fact they toured like motherfuckers and their sound is less screamy. Another thing I find funny about fans of this band is they always like to make the point that Henry Rollins isn't their favorite Black Flag frontman. Sure he becomes more and more of a parody of himself as the years go on but come on, he's the coolest frontman. Accept this. The song is called TV PARTY and its one of their catchiest. Shout out to Monday Night Football!



Now we go from L.A. to N.Y.C. to one of my favorite HC bands in the entire world. MADBALL. Now they really differ from a lot of NYHC probably because they were born and raised in NYC and didn't just move there. They are way tougher and don't care at all about vegetarianism or straight edge. That being said they are political when it comes to immigration issues in the states as many members are latin american. Their sound is a bit more slowed down as well. I saw them last summer for the second time and when I came out I had blood on my tshirt that wasn't mine. As I was chilling infront of Babylon with Josée Business and Jayhu we saw hoya (the huge latino bass player), I walked to him and gave him a now legendary pound. Check out DOWN BY LAW and see what I'm talking about.



Finally we go to Toronto (yack). I figure I have to showcase this band for those who don't know what I'm talking about when I mention them all the time, FUCKED UP. They are taking hardcore in a really interesting generation. Although I love their collections of singles (epic in minutes) their their 2 most recent releases have been really cool trippy mind fucks and not in a dumb way. I feel like they really "get it". Their singer Pink Eyes aka Father Damian is a king publicity guy which is good. Hardcore shuns marketing too much. Anyways they have no music videos that I know of(which is surprising). On many of their live videos the sound isn't too good but hey what can you do. They are fucking crazy live, I am thinking about going to see them this Halloween in Toronto which would be huge for me (i.e. not going to Halloween hardcore in ottawa). check out BAITING THE PUBLIC!



BONUS!

DIDDY has an online song with T.I's swagger like us beat (but modified). The song is called SWAGGER LIKE PUFF. I must say its kinda cool. Fun to see Puff Daddy back to trying to be a rapper. He's got some pretty good lines in this. The video is another of his ridiculous youtube clips which it makes it oh so much better. Trucks with no doors, wtf. Bad Boy record por la vida.