Hype Machine Art

File this post under 'perty'.

The good folks at Hype Machine commissioned original artwork for the 50 most blogged artists of 2009.

Here are some highlights:

Royksopp artwork by Mark Silipo

Lykke Li artwork by Nitzan Ron

Kanye West artwork by Dan Meth

Bob Dylan artwork by Josh Gosfield

How many of these roads must you walk down, Bob?

Simpson-related digression:

Mother Simpson: [singing] How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?

Homer: Seven.

Lisa: No, dad, it's a rhetorical question.

Homer: OK, eight.

Lisa: Dad, do you even know what "rhetorical" means?

Homer: Do I know what "rhetorical" means?

Kid Cudi artwork by Jenny Herbert

Cudi exudes pretension, this time in triangle form.

Camera Obscura artwork by Chris Govias

Love the pulp.

LCD Soundsystem artwork by Hannah Donovan

This is hauntingly beautiful. New York, I love you, but you're bringing me down.

Click here for the full list, but please come back!

Aceyalone - Haters

Aceyalone goes in on the "Haters" joint off of Jay-Z's Blueprint 3.

I haven't heard from this guy in a minute, and it's good to hear his music again.

No hate here.

Aceyalone - Haters

Pitchfork Names "The Blueprint" as the 5th Best Album of the 2000s

Pitchfork (love 'em or hate 'em) compiled a list of the best 200 albums of the 2000s.

Known for their incredibly harsh and ultra-critical (read pretentious) reviews, the site had the common sense to give Jay-Z's 2001 masterpiece The Blueprint the number 5 spot.

Other notable hip-hop mentions were:

18. Kanye West - Late Registration (In my opinion: Graduation and College Dropout are better)




13. Outkast - Stankonia (In my opinion: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is better)




11. Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele (In my opinion: Fishscale is better)




Not bad Pitchfork, not bad. I've started compiling my list for a much more timely late December release, but then again, I have a day job.

For Pitchfork's full list, click here.

Follow me on Twitter...

Kanye West and Lady Gaga's "Fame Kills" Tour Cancelled

So that's how Live Nation can afford to give their artists so much money: they fired all their publicists and just use Twitter.

Speculation about the cancellation:

- Poor presale sales?

- Kanye wants to focus on recording and relaxing? Fame does kill, right?

- I've heard some rumblings about Lady Gaga wanting to back out.

- I'mma let you tour: the "Fame Kills" tour was interrupted by another, better tour. "Yo, Lady Gaga, I'm really happy for you, but the Glow in the Dark tour was the best tour of all time!"

- Blame it on the Goose, blame it on the Henny? Perhaps rehab is in Kanye's future?

- The fake blood and bat-shit insane fabric shortage in the U.S. put a stop to production on Lady Gaga's tour wardrobe?

Who knows?

Video: Drake featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem - Forever

OnSmash!!!

The video for Forever is finally here and the Hype Williams directed clip contains a lot of pyrotechnics mashed up with some awkward pictures of a young Lebron James before he became the most dominant player in the NBA.

Lebron > Kobe and Dwight.

Check out the clip, and be sure to go see Lebron's new movie More Than A Game when it drops on October 2nd.

Audio: Jay-Z on BBC Radio 1 with Jo Whiley

This one deals with Jay's bumbling younger brother.

Audio: Jay-Z on BBC Radio 1 with Jo Whiley

Taylor Swift vs Kanye West - VMA Belongs to me (Cookin Soul Mashup)

Cookin Soul, you opportunistic devils!

This is my last post on this shit.

Seriously.

But since Cookin Soul was so nice to send me this song and video, I had to give it a post. Thanks guys.

Taylor Swift vs Kanye West - VMA Belongs to me (Cookin Soul Mashup)

And here's the video:

Community Service Chris Brown Style

Rihanna does Madison Square Garden on Friday, then on Monday she books it down to L.A. where 20 million people see her do the series premier of the Jay Leno Show with Jay and Kanye.

Chris clears brush and picks up trash...for the next 180 days.

Pay attention kids (and grown men everywhere)!!!

Audio: President Barack Obama - Kanye is a Jackass

Wow. That's pretty awesome. I wish world leaders talked greasy all the time.

Check out the audio:

Barack Obama - Kanye is a Jackass

Kanye West x Lady Gaga = The Fame Kills Tour

I wish I had a license to print money.

Kanye West and Lady Gaga are set to share equal billing with no opener on the Fame Kills Tour which kicks off in Phoenix on November 10th.

If you're interested, tickets go on sale tomorrow, which lends credence to the conspiracy theories behind Kanye West's recent stage-crashing publicity-grabbing actions.

And way to quell those gay rumors Ye. Nothing says straight like touring with a gay icon!

Dates:

Nov. 10 – Phoenix, AZ @ US Airways Center
Nov. 11 – San Diego, CA @ Vegas Arena
Nov. 13 – Las Vegas, NV @ Madalay Bay Events Center
Nov. 15 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
Nov. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center
Nov. 18 – Sacramento, CA @ ARCO Arena
Nov. 19 – San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion
Nov. 24 – Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place
Nov. 26 – Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
Nov. 28 – Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
Nov. 29 – Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Centre
Dec. 2 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
Dec. 4 – St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center
Dec. 9 – Miami, FL @ American Airlines Arena
Dec. 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
Dec. 12 – Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum Complex
Dec. 13 – Norfolk, VA @ Scope
Dec. 16 – Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
Dec. 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Center
Dec. 19 – Baltimore, MD @ 1st Mariner Arena
Dec. 20 – Buffalo, NY @ HSBC Arena
Dec. 22 – E. Rutherford, NJ @ IZOD Center
Dec. 26 – Hartford, CT @ XL Center
Dec. 30 – Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
Jan. 3 – Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
Jan. 6 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
Jan. 8 – Kanata, ON@ Scotiabank Place
Jan. 11 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
Jan. 14 – Auburn Hills, MI @ Palace of Auburn Hills
Jan. 16 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
Jan. 19 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena
Jan. 21 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
Jan. 22 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
Jan. 24 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center

How can Kanye out-flamboyant this?

Kanye West and Lil Mama Apologize

Blame it on the Goose, blame it on the Henny...

I'm watching the new Leno show right now, and Kanye West is giving a tearful and very believable apology for last night's douchebaggery. There's something about seeing rappers cry that makes me want to forgive them for whatever they've done. Not R. Kelly though.

Anyways, I'll link that video when it becomes available, and in the meantime here's Kanye's written apology:



And here's the Leno video:



As for Lil Mama...

I think she should just jump off the Queensboro bridge and it'll put this whole stage-rushing at the MTV Awards debacle behind us.

Here's a link to Lil Mama's statement about what I believe was an unforgivable act:

Lil Mama Apologizes

And check this out for a humorous take on the Kanye West/Taylor Swift incident.

News in Brief: Congressman Joe Wilson Interrupts Taylor Swift's MTV Award Acceptance Speech

September 13th 2009

By David Sutherland for SarcasticDBag.Blogspot.com

New York - Congressman Joe Wilson from South Carolina's 2nd District rudely interrupted 19 year-old country music singer Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night.

Swift, who beat out the heavily favored pop singer Beyonce for the Best Female Video award, was about to give her acceptance speech when an angry Wilson stormed on stage and proceeded to berate the young singer calling her a liar and a cheat.

"You lie," Wilson yelled repeatedly as a team of security guards forcibly removed him from the venue.

Spokespersons for MTV had no idea how the congressman ended up at the ceremony and have since sent a formal apology to Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift's publicist played down the incident as harmless, and acknowledged that country music often inspires dumb Southerners to say outlandish shit.

This is fake news.

For more fake news, click here.

Douchebaggery 101: Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift

Awesome.

Two more incidents like this and no one will care anymore.

Review: Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

By David Sutherland for SarcasticDBag.Blogspot.com

Jay-Z's 11th album is a superbly produced record that's easy on the ears, but don't expect anything revelatory from this over-hyped wannabe opus.

On August 4th an excited Jay-Z sat down with MTV News to explain the leaked photos of The Blueprint 3's cover art. With a strong sense of nostalgia, Jay stated, "The whole thing about this album, how I approached it, is that I wanted to make a new classic to start that all over again — to go back to making classic albums like the ones we grew up listening to."

Well that seems noble enough.

In order to create a new classic, Jay stuck to the formula that worked for him before: he re-hired the man who laid the musical groundwork for the original Blueprint, recruited a bunch of A-listers as guests and then added lyrics. In a perfect world that combination should have been hip-hop pay dirt, but sadly, Jay seemed to forget that art is not science and formulas are not perennial.

The end result of this experiment is that The Blueprint 3 is far from a classic, and the only connection it has to its timeless predecessor is its unworthy moniker.

Say it ain't so, Jay.

While the beats shine on The Blueprint 3, Jay's lyrics have rusted, and the emcee's hunger that fueled his longevity is nowhere to be found. This hunger, which albums like the original Blueprint had in droves with songs like "Takeover" and "U Don't Know" has been replaced with laziness disguised as confidence. Although Jay's attempt at sounding current on songs like "On to the Next One" and "Off That" is miles beyond Kingdom Come throwaways like "30 Something", they still miss their mark and make you question the emotional security of a man who spends so much time insisting that he's not insecure.

On an album where the bad moments outweigh the good, the worst song by far is the sappy and self-serving album closer "Forever Young". To paraphrase comedian Paul Mooney, the cotton candy beat and watered down rhymes on "Forever Young" makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X. This song has no place on a Jay-Z album and it will go down as one of his worst mistakes.

The most troubling aspect about The Blueprint 3 is that Jay-Z has failed to progress lyrically in both his subject matter and style. While his accomplishments in the corporate and personal world have excelled astronomically - a 150 million dollar deal with Live Nation and marriage to Beyonce to name a few - his musical career appears to be stuck in limbo, and lackluster songs like "Reminder" and "Venus vs. Mars" are the result.

The album is not all bad of course and there are some truly fantastic songs interspersed throughout the mediocre. "Empire State of Mind" is an incredibly catchy New York anthem with a guest appearance from the classy and talented Alicia Keys whose singing is a welcome change from Rihanna's warbling on "Run This Town". Kid Cudi and Jay show real chemistry on "Already Home" and on "A Star is Born", newcomer and Roc Nation signee J. Cole spits a hot verse that's reminiscent of Lupe Fiasco's introduction on Kanye West's "Touch the Sky".

The album's best song by far is the Pharrell produced and featured "So Ambitious" that details Jay's desire to succeed in the face of adversity. You'd think this familiar theme would be tired by now, but Pharrell's gifted production and infectious hook makes for a track that's quietly uplifting and a pleasure to listen to.

Despite some hints of genius, The Blueprint 3 is a sub-par effort that isn't quite bad enough to damage Jay's status as the hip-hop hegemon, but is not nearly good enough to get a pass from this die-hard fan. It's just so unfortunate that Jay's obsession with being "Off That" and "On to the Next One" caused him to forget to say anything meaningful about the present.

Strong Points:

- "Empire State of Mind", "Already Home" and "So Ambitious" are absolutely fantastic and the album's beats are above and beyond standard hip-hop production.

Notable Blemishes:

- The hook on "Reminder" is infectious, but in the gangrenous, cut your leg off below the knee with a hacksaw kind of way.

- Giving Drake the Ashanti treatment on "Off That" was a bad move. Give him a verse!

- "Forever Young" is an unforgivable musical offense.

Speakers or Headphones?

Speakers. Jay-Z's production team make beats for a reason, so bump it.

Final Verdict:

6/10

Better than Kingdom Come but a far cry from Jay's pre-retirement days.

Drake feat. Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem - Forever (prod. Boi-1da)

Here it is folks!

The 2009 "Swagger Like Us" has arrived and for the second time this week, an old Drake tune was jacked and turned into something epic.

Here's my breakdown:

Drake wins for doing the hook, having an old song turned into something new, and for having the best overall swag/delivery on the track.

Kanye West wins for having the best punchlines and cleverest rhymes. His verse also proves that he can go pound for pound with anyone in the game and will often outshine them.

Eminem wins for having the most inventive flow and impeccable wordplay.

Wayne loses for getting outshined by his protege (Drake), peer (Kanye) and secret idol (Eminem).

His verse is great and I'm a huge Wayne fan, but he came off soft on this one.

By the way, B0i-1da beats them all for having a beat he produced back in the day for peanuts turn into a sure fire hit record.

This song happens to be in support of the new Lebron James movie Forever, which all of you should see.

I just need to get my hands on Cavs vs. Raptors tickets and I'll be good.

Drake feat. Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem - Forever (prod. Boi-1da)

Jay-Z and MuchMusic on the Set of "Run this Town"

I watched this on TV the other night. It's not that great.

Jay-Z featuring Rihanna & Kanye West - Run This Town

Now you don't have to wait until 10 tonight.

Video: Jamie Foxx feat. Drake, Kanye West and The-Dream - Digital Girl

Daily Drake-related post? Check.

I'm sorry, but you can't escape him.

Hype Williams did this one.

Video: Jay-Z feat. Rihanna & Kanye West - Run This Town (1-Minute Snippet)

This song has really grown on me.

Really Doe - Marvelous

Really though, get the new Really Doe.

Hey, I can rhyme!

Really Doe's First Impressions drops Tueday August

Really Doe - Marvelous