Straight Gangsterism

Z-Ro “God in Me” from Relvis Presley (2009)
[audio:godinme.mp3]

Now, I’m definitely not into gospel music. Outside of my ethnomusicology classes, I know very little about the genre. I must say, however, that Mary Mary’s “God In Me” is one of the hottest songs period from last year and definitely more than worthy of the Grammy it received. In fact, in an ideal world, it would have been a contender for “record of the year.” Essentially, on the well written track, the two vocalists credit the presence of god in their lives with the confidence and beauty that shines from them. Great song about the power of the Holy Spirit.

That being said, and I may go below for this, but I can’t stop listening to Z-Ro’s freestyle over this beat. Titled “God In Me” and appearing on his recent freestyle cd, Relvis Presley, this flow incorporates what makes Z-Ro an intriguing artist, the inner struggle between what he knows is right and what he knows is wrong. The struggle between Good and Evil. Though he clearly has a strong faith in the Christian God (he even mentions this in the freestyle), it seems that this God is at war with a Bling-God that exists in the form of money, jewelry, cars, etc. The Christian God acts as a vehicle for these forms of social capital, the sources for his outward confidence.  Anyways, this is really a generic freestyle, but I’m fascinated by the presence of displaced-deities in hip hop. Not to get too much into my research, but it’s a clear sign of the “death” of the relationship between traditional religion and young black men. Check out the freestyle and tell me what you think.

Peace

I’ve had a number of disappointment throughout my years as a music fan, but my nothing was worse than the failed N.W.A. reunion of the late 1990s. If you don’t know, after all tensions cooled, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, and MC Ren hit the studio with Snoop Dogg as the fifth member. These sessions resulted in two tracks, “Chin Check” from the Next Friday OST and “Hello” (Ice Cube, Dre, Ren) from Ice Cube’s War & Peace Vol 2, both bangers. The buzz behind the reunion was huge and I can remember reading a new rumor everyday on the early hip hop websites and message boards. Aside from the massive Up in Smoke Tour, the public highlight of this reunion was N.W.A’s appearance on Farmclub.com.

Farmclub.com was a tv show broadcast by USA from late 1999 to early 2000. Hosted by former DJ/VJ Matt Pinfield, the show featured live performances and interviews of some of the hottest music stars of the time. The episode featuring N.W.A. 2.0 along with Xzibit and the Eastsidaz aired on March 27, 2000. Here are clips from the two N.W.A. performances…

Although an album (Not These Niggaz Again) was planned, nothing really came from this reunion. This is unfortunate, tough, as those two songs were fierce. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s probably good that it didn’t happen. There’s no way they could have adequately made up the void left by Eazy-E. While dope, Snoop wouldn’t have been able to take Eazy’s place in that dynamic…
Deuces

Hot new video from 8ball & MJG “Ten Toes Down” off their upcoming Grand Hustle Release Ten Toes Down. The song itself is cool. It’s kind of a less grossly violent version of “You Don’t Want Drama.” The video is dope as hell, especially when MJG cracks the bottle over dudes head. Grand Hustle is already handling Ball & G way better than Bad Boy did. Cop Ten Toes Down when it comes out in April.