Nas Least Greatest Hits

So if you ask anybody that knows me, I'm Nas #1 fan (I'll spare you the photo I have of him and me AND the autographed copy of Illmatic). However, I'm also the first to admit he has released some shitty songs over the years...particularly the years 97-99.

I'm guessing there has to be some inspiration and fan base for these mediocre (at best) songs. Which gets me to thinking...is there a parallel universe of fans out there for whom every Nas track that I hate, they love?

In honor of this idea, I present this compilation as a gesture of friendship to the Nas fans in the parallel universe:

Nas - Least Greatest Hits

1. Money is my bitch
   Do I even need to talk about this one?
2. The Making of the perfect bitch
   Note to studio engineer: If Nas ever thinks of making another song with "bitch" in the title (Life's A Bitch excepted), don't bother recording it.
   
3. Oochie Wally
   Wow this song sucked...and the worst part about it was that it was so popular. You were forced to hear your favorite artist at his lowest point, in front of everyone...repeatedly.
   
4. Small World
   ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Oh, I'm sorry. Was I doing something?
   
5. Dr. Knockboots
   This song was the beginning of the end for about 10 years for many Nas fans. I remember when it came out though many rap nerds were defending it.
   
6. Life Is What You Make It
   This song has a great positively uplifting title...just make sure you don't listen to it. The beat is absolutely horrible and the DMX feature only adds to the pain.
   
7. Big Things
   Nas trying out his double-time flow...while being very inebriated. I think he may have just rapped some crappy flow at regular tempo and then the studio engineer went back and sped it up after the fact. Great idea!
   
8. Shoot 'em Up
   This song we can all remember from Bill O'Lielly using it to make his point why Nas was an asshole. Scary, but I can side with Bill on this one (although not for the same reasons): this song should have never been made.
   
9. Last Words
   I think we're all very happy these weren't his last words.
   
10. God Love Us
    I think someone fell asleep with their head on the keyboard...and Nas just kept rapping.
    
11. Quiet Niggas
    Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! You don't want to wake him, he might make more horrible songs like this.
    
12. Big Girl
    I think this would make a great country song title about loving big women. Unfortunately Nas doesn't sing country and this song isn't about that.
    
13. You Owe Me
    This was the cry heard across the globe as fans listened to this song.
    
14. Who Killed It?
    If I had to point any fingers I would say the beat did.
    
15. Zone Out
    Recorded live during a game of lazer tag between Nas and the Bravehearts.
    
16. Braveheart Party
    Nope, I didn't forget this one - even though Nas yanked this from the subsequent versions of Stillmatic...I can still smell the stench.
17. Suicide Bounce
    From the sound of this song and its "futuristic" production I think the producers were envisioning a future universe filled with people that no longer had rhythm or ears that could discern pleasing sounds and rhymes. All they are left with is the ability to hear sharp keyboard twangs. Or maybe the song was meant as a call for people to commit mass suicide by trying to listen?!?
    

Take a listen.

Is there really any debate here? Really?

I already have my DVR set to record the presidential debate tonight. It should be a complete roast of McCain, but who really knows. It seems like a such an absolutely clear choice, but then again, I am fully aware of the "san francisco democrat" bubble I dwell in. I was thinking yesterday about how people could possibly still back McBush and basically it's for the same reasons they always have. The republicans represent a brand: Republican. The Republican brand has been so well defined that it doesn't really matter what's really going. Supporters see the Republican branding and will believe whatever is fed to them (Iraq, immigration, economic relief, tax cuts). They simply trust the establishment so whatever line McBush feeds them they will believe. Kind of reminds me of religion.

Economics and Annoying Smart Guys

WABOO...

Guest columnist Dime $ack:

Well, this is good news for the govt, cause now the FDIC won't have to pony up for the deposits. JPMorgan bought all those from the govt, along with WM's crappy mortgage portfolio. They immediately wrote the mortgage portfolio down 20%. So they are not expecting many of those mortgages to get repaid.

Depositors and people who bank with WM will be fine. All I see in my crystal ball is a bunch of Wamu branches either closing or becoming Chase branches, and most of the jobs in Seattle going away. I feel bad for the employees, and feel lucky that I didn't pursue a Wamu job after school, but that company really messed up. You can blame their ex-CEO and all their VPs and other execs. They pursued a really risky strategy, ignored the risks, and lost. Very stupid. Common stock holders are already wiped - bond and preferred equity holders are about to be.

Besides that my crystal ball is useless. I was expecting the markets to really go down this morning because the bailout stalled, but I think they are basically expecting congress to get something done despite last nights shenanigans. The McCain posturing was totally counterproductive, and the republicans clearly don't understand what a complete credit meltdown could mean (who really knows if that would happen, but there's a pretty good chance the only reason it hasn't is because of this bailout). We're not really bailing out the banks at this point, we're bailing out ourselves. If credit markets completely freeze I would expect there to be a deep economic contraction with lots of job losses. Just think - no companies (big or small) could get loans to finance their operations. Imagine a small business that buys inventory for Christmas, sells it, and pays back the loan. There will be no loan for that company to get, so they won't do any business for Christmas. No hiring employees, no buying advertising, no purchases of any business services. Imagine that on a very large scale.

Right now congressmen are quibbling over equity stakes and exec comp limits. Some want insurance on the securities instead of purchasing them outright. I think some of this stuff is nonsense - and it could complicate things more. Sure, go ahead and try to limit exec comp but really this is pennies compared to 700B.

I think the congressmen are hearing from their constituents - who also have no idea what this bailout really entails - that they don't want to bail out Wall St. You can read comments on NYTimes and blogs everywhere where people are pissed. They make it sound like we're just giving 700B to a bunch of greedy bankers. We're really buying some crap securities from many banks all over the world to try and get the financial system moving and keep it from locking itself down.

Again, it's impossible to know what will happen under any scenario. All I know is having the credit markets shut down would be very bad - mostly for low income people who would probably lose their jobs, and don't have anything saved to begin with.

Dime $ack out.

Discovering the Grip Plyaz and Hollyweerd

Okay, so I just discovered this group out of ATLanta called the Grip Plyaz while listening to the Gordon Gartrell radio show aka Phonte's radio show. They are some crazy party shit. I am feeling it. A mix of hyphy sensibilities with Andre 3000 creativity. They are just doing them and it's dope. The subject matter is pretty limited to sexual escapades...the vibe is straight outer space though. LOL..."Work that thing like a Matado"

The album is available for free download off of their myspace page:
http://myspace.com/cumgitslum
or
http://www.mediafire.com/?h6wlplpjkqg


And here are their homies called Hollyweerd out of ATLanta as well. "Member's Only" is my shit! "Katie Holmes" in the spot she's choosing"! Digital Underground 2008?


The album is also free from myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/hollyweerd
or
http://www.zshare.net/download/16309140e8f40b16/%5Dhollyweerd

San Quinn intervew...discussing WE collabo

http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/sanquinn/

...hip hop and skating kinda go hand in hand especially with Frisco being diverse. I might live next door to my white partner who rides skateboards but we selling crack or playing basketball and going to church and that’s just how Frisco is.

LRG promo

Damn...hadn't heard about this one. Features Cheeks, Rob G, Rodgrigo TX and Peterson, Curtin, Karl Watson, and Adelmo jr.

Some videos

Nas - Ya'll My Ninjas
Ridiculously dope. If you don't know this already...


I Wanna Lay Your Pipe Girl
You might be familiar with this goon from the VH1 White Rapper Show. Well, he's got a pretty funny song about wanting to service Sarah Palin:


To bump the track...

Don't bail dude!

Guest columnist Dime $ack

It's been a crazy couple of days. It's hard to say what the AIG rescue will do. It's more of an organized liquidation than a bailout. The stockholders are wiped out, and the bondholders definitely won't get all their money back. The govt will just organize the sale of assets. They were really reluctant to do it, because it sends a bad signal, it puts tax dollars at risk, and it stretches the govt. I'm more curious what the heck is going to happen to Fannie/Freddie.

I don't know what other big companies could get a bailout like AIG. The remaining big banks seem alright (Goldman, HSBC, JPMorgan, Deutsche, etc). WAMU is probably going down though if they can't find a buyer (rightfully so - they made TONS of those garbage liar loans to subprime homeowners). The main thing with AIG was the fact that they insure tons of bonds. When they do that they are substituting their own credit for the insured bond. So if a somewhat risky company issues bonds, that company can buy insurance from AIG, which lowers the premium they have to pay to bondholders. If AIG disappeared, all that insurance goes away, and tons of debt gets downgraded, which would crush the money and debt markets. This is what the Treasury and Fed were trying to avoid. Plus it's not as bad of a company as Lehman, which was levered 35 to 1. AIG has a decent insurance business. They've just got a liquidity crisis on their hands.

The big news today was The Reserve "breaking the buck". The Reserve is a huge money fund company (lots of big companies have accounts with The Reserve). Money funds never go under $1 per share, but the Reserve had to yesterday because it was holding Lehman debt in its big prime fund. So today everyone was selling money funds and all corp debt and buying treasury securities. Banks don't want to lend to each other either, so Libor went way up overnight. Many subprime loans are based on Libor, so a lot of adjustable rate mortgages could be affected if rates stay elevated.

It's a huge crisis all related to subprime and the credit crunch. I don't think either presidential candidate really understands it - much less has an idea how to fix it. McCain talks about cleaning up wall street, but that doesn't really mean anything (govt can't control wages (besides min wage)). Obama wants tighter regulation, which I'm sure we're going to get no matter who is president. It's kind of funny how totally uninvolved the current president is. I think he made a comment or two Monday after the big weekend, but not much. But Bernanke and Paulson are working their asses off. Only time will tell if they're making the right choices.

What's even MORE surprising is that McCain is doing so well. People are freaking stupid one-issue idiots. If I had a company that had been run like this country over the last 8 years everyone at the top would get fired. Even if it is all random and the president can't control all this stuff.

We'll see. Interesting times. Will be really interesting to see how the consumer reacts over the next few months. Maybe it will all blow over. Maybe not though.

Stay Out + Stop Pissing Here

So this is the nice little sign I handmade the other day in a lame attempt to stop the neighborhood bums from climbing over the fence and sleeping next to my house...and then later leaving and peeing on the side of my house.

I thought they might laugh at the ridiculousness of the sign...so far all they've done is taken it down so they could climb back over the fence again.

Seattle makes good hip hop album!

Seattle's own Jake One (producer) has put together a really, really, really, good (cue Zoolander) producer compilation/album. The production is quality and consistent throughout and the guest emcees are as eclectic as anyone could imagine (in a good way). Here goes: Keak Da Sneak, Posdonus, Little Brother, MF Doom, Young Buck, MOP, Bishop Lamont, Busta Rhymes, Freeway, Alchemist, Vitamin D, Casual, Elzi, Royce Da 5'9", Brother Ali...

Coming from Seattle myself, this hodgepodge of emcees makes perfect sense. This is exactly the kind of diversity you would've found in my walkman on a stop-n-pause mixtape back in the 90s when I used to live there...although the lineup may have been something more like: De La Soul, Lighter Shade of Brown, DJ Quik, Outkast, Nas, Extra Prolific, and The Gravediggaz.

I used to wonder what Jake One's "sound" was, but now I understand it. His beatmaking method is to tailor each beat to fit each emcee. It doesn't sound like he makes a random beat tape for artist to choose from. "Bless the Child" featuring Little Brother would fit right alongside any of the best Justus League beats (Khyrsis, 9th, etc). "I'm Coming" featuring Black Milk sounds like Jake One made this beat while hanging out in a grimy basement in Detroit with J Dilla and Black Milk. Dope.

The only complaint I have is that a few of these raps sound like they are a few years old - hear the references to G-Unit affiliation from MOP and Young Buck. Although this is understandable as Jake One was a part of the G-Unit in house producers while making this album. Oh, and here's a joke: what do you name a song produced by Jake One featuring Alchemist and Evidence? Give up? "White Man Music" aahahahahh...although Jake One opted for "White Van Music."

Check it: Jake One - White Van Music

New Q Tip worthy of getting excited for...

Here's a video for the new Q-Tip single called "Gettin' Up" produced by the late great J Dilla. This is by far the best thing I've heard from Kamaal the Abstract in the last 10 years. Dope!

Polling in 2008
Recently, I've been annoyed every time I hear that poll results show McCain getting closer to Obama. I suspect that many polls are not accurate and then their results, correct or not, are used to sway voters in one direction or the other by the media.

Here's why polls suck: the vast majority of them use telephone land-lines to contact voters. In 2008 this method is null and void because the majority of young people (35 and under) that I know do not have land lines. One article estimated that by the end of 2008, 25% of people of all ages would no longer have a landline. I would estimate that number is even larger for young people (35 and under) - say closer to 75%. And in this election, i would guess the age of the respondents makes a big difference in who they're voting for.

So although many argue that the difference between cell and landline polling is negligible - it's clearly not. What do you think?

References:

1. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1843
2. http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/November/20071113154038attocnich0.7833979.html
   

Some content

So...I have this blog, but I'm not sure what to post about. This very well could be the most random blog you will ever stumble upon. I keep wanting to create this blog, but am having a block. I often have ideas about what would be cool to write about on a blog...but then I leave it up to others. So now I will try yet again to come up with something interesting, including, but not limited to:

• skateboarding
• politics
• music
• the whole goddamn world

Skateboarding
This single activity has taken up the biggest block of my free time since the age 13 (besides work, school, eating, sleeping). I'm now going on 31 so that means 18 years of enjoyment, more or less.

Politics
Who the fuck is Sarah Palin?!? Seriously, her nomination is probably the biggest slap in the face to the Obama campaign, and U.S. citizens for that matter, ever. Period. She is the walking talking equivalent of the Republicans saying, "we have such little respect for you all that we now present the worst most least-qualified candidate in history...and...eh hem...fuck you." I just want to mail in my permanent absentee ballot now and bury my head in a hole until after November. Anybody care to join me?

Music
I am the first to admit my taste in music is somewhat narrow, but not that narrow. When I think about it, maybe it's not that limited. I have an opinion and I know what I like. I have been heavily into hip-hop beginning around 1992. My first albums included DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's Nightmare On My Street cassingle, Dr Dre "The Chronic," MC Serch, Ultramagnetic MCs, Tribe Called Quest, Nas... A pivotal moment in my music life came for my birthday in 1994 when my sister bought me 3 tapes from a mom-n-pop place in Seattle called the Little Record Mart: A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders, Pete Rock and CL Smooth The Main Ingredient, and Brand Nubian Everything Is Everything. At the time I used to ride the bus from my apartment in downtown Seattle 45 minutes each way to/from school at Ingram High. These tapes were in my walkman constantly (along with Black Moon, Nas, and Souls of Mischief). She also gave me concert tickets to see a show with De La Soul, Souls of Mischief, and A Tribe Called Quest. In 1994, is it possible to think of a better hip-hop lineup? Even in 2008 I can't. Thanks sister, I love you!

The whole goddamn world
I don't have anything especially insightful to say about the whole goddamn world other than I'd sure like to see it! So far I've only traveled internationally out of North America once (Spain) and boy did I love it! I've been trying to plan a trip back ever since (2004). I've been to Canada and Mexico a number of times. Baja, MX is the shit.