Posts Tagged ‘New Jersey’

Treach_Vinnie

As if Lauryn Hill getting sentenced to three months in prison on tax evasion charges wasn’t bad enough, another legendary New Jersey Hip-Hop act is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Naughty By Nature frontman Treach announced yesterday on Twitter that he was “firing” Vinnie, aka Vin Rock, from the group for undisclosed reasons, and has now released a diss record entitled “Tall Midget.”

This song is painful on several fronts. For one, these guys have been together over 20 years and should be able to handle differences behind closed doors and not like rappers still in their early 20s. Secondly, this song is bad — the chorus, beat and verbal attacks scream pure struggle. And as someone just old enough to remember Treach’s prime years (circa 1991-1995) when he was one of the genre’s best emcees, the massive drop-off in quality leaves you speechless.

Treach probably threw this together in the last 24 hours, but it’s still amazing that no one in his camp pulled him aside to flat-out tell him how wack this track is. There are only a handful of times when a diss is so comically bad that the disser comes out looking worse than the intended target. This is one of them.

Let’s thank the Hip-Hop gods that Vinnie appears to be taking the high road and won’t be penning a lyrical response.

For the younger heads, I’m sprinkling this post with some vintage Treach in case this diss is your Naughty By Nature introduction.

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MarcoPolo_Artifacts

The third entry from Marco Polo’s “Legendary Emcees” series feature New Jersey’s Artifacts. As stated before, these are tracks that previously couldn’t be cleared due to sample issues. These songs will all be featured on Polo’s upcoming Newport Authority 2 free LP.

From the 20s through the 50s, major cities were filled with boxing clubs. At the sport’s height, boxing cards were held six days a week in hotbeds like New York City. Since then, clubs have dwindled and struggled to stay open. Today, the latest casualty is Paterson, New Jersey’s Lou Costello Sportman’s Club, named after one-half of the famed comedy duo Abbott & Costello.

According to northjersey.com, the club is facing an eviction on October 1 from their leasing space at the non-profit Straight & Narrow building, located on 11 20th Ave. The building’s owners advised the boxing club organizers that the building’s new insurance provider would not cover boxing activities. An estimated 45 young kids currently work out regularly at the gym.

The Lou Costello Sportman’s Club was established in 1971 and has leased at the Straight & Narrow building since 2001. The eviction is a few months away, so let’s all keep our fingers crossed that some strings are pulled to keep the Sweet Science available to those kids in Paterson, NJ.

 

If you missed Rah Digga’s comeback Classic album last year, Newark’s First Lady of Hip-Hop is giving it further life with this remix of “You Got It.” Nottz keeps the throwback boom-bap thump and the original Rakim/Bobby Byrd sample. Torae compliments Digga’s battle-centered style, and we all know Styles comes with the standard, firearm-laced gun talk no matter who he’s collaborating with. Ms. Digga promised a new album in 2011, so hopefully this is an indicator we have more new material on the way in the coming months. 

RAH DIGGA X TORAE X STYLES P “YOU GOT IT (REMIX)”


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Jay-Z is being investigated by the NBA for potential pre-draft violations for visiting the locker room of the Kentucky Wildcats earlier this week.

The Hip-Hop mogul and stake owner in the New Jersey Nets made a surprise visit to the Wildcats locker room after their Final Four clinching victory over North Carolina. He took time to pose for pictures and shake hands with the players.

The NBA prohibits team personnel from dealing with college players who have not made themselves eligible for the draft. Jay-Z would be subject to a fine if found guilty of violating any rules.

At press time, Jay-Z has not commented on the matter. He was in attendance last night in Newark for the Nets’ home game loss to the New York Knicks, 120-116.

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Draft-scouting, Hov! Considering LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony passed on Jay’s wooing attempts, maybe he’ll have better success in the college ranks.

I’m sure Jay went there more so as a fan than anything else. He’s made locker room appearances before, most noticeably for fellow Brooklynite Zab Judah. At the same time, it would be naive to think he didn’t at least mention in passing to a few top guys he’d love to have them with the Nets, or at the very least gave them available channels to contact him if there were any future interest.

It’ll be interesting to see how the NBA rules on this. It could set a precedent.

“Hip-Hop needs an organ donor/ I’m a put my heart in it…”

Back in 2009 I interviewed Just Blaze, and asked him his opinion on New Jersey’s current rap scene. He quipped, “Does Jersey even have a rap scene, now?” In a way, you can excuse Just Blaze’s stance. Outside of Joe Budden and sporadic releases from Redman, the Garden State doesn’t get much national attention these days. But if we’ve learned anything about today’s Hip-Hop culture, it’s to never let the mainstream dictate the talent of a given region. Down in south Jersey, Camden newcomer Apollo the Great has been gradually building his name. He was featured on this week’s MTVu Best Freshman contest. His grind has resulted in him being paired with Wale for the lead single, “I Don’t Know,” off 3 Mill Production’s upcoming, self-titled compilation album.

The topics for both emcees revolve around dealing with the high and lows that come with the “fast life” of Hip-Hop. Wale indulges in the wretched excess of women and money, while Apollo reflects on the struggles of the profession (media gossip, road life, etc.). Each emcee compliments the other, and its particularly a good look for the young Apollo.

At press time, a release date for the 3 Mill Productions album hasn’t been disclosed.

3 MILL PRODUCTIONS X WALE X APOLLO THE GREAT “I DON’T KNOW”


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