Mayer Hawthorne - I Wish It Would Rain

I need this MP3 in my life, please.

Kanye West!

This week has been pretty busy for Kanye material so I'm just going to throw everything into one post. Now that Kevinnottingham is back online, he's posted up the fifth and final (for now) version of Mr. West's Guest verses that I helped compile. Check out the the rest of the links below and see the post here.

Kanye West Guest Verses Vol. 3, 4 & 5!
Kanye x Clipse - Kinda Like A Big Deal
The Outfit (Kanye West, GLC, Timmy G & Arrow Starr) - 187th [Unreleased (from 1996)]
Kayne West & Malik Yusef - Magic Man f. Common & John Legend

101 Distribution is releasing the first authorized independent release from Kayne West & G.O.O.D. Music label. The 30 song double disc is called G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night and is loaded with features from KRS-1, Twista, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Bun B and of course most every G.O.O.D. Music artist.

And here's two new videos!
Amazing (ft. Young Jeezy)


Robocop (Fan video)

A Response to HipHopDX's Review of Asleep In The Bread Aisle

You can find the (2 out of 5 X's) review by Kevin Gary here, and my response below. I'm curious to see if Mr. Gary ever sees this and responds, haha.

Dear Hater,

An old cliché asks: do you listen to music, or just skim through it? From your review of Asleep In The Bread Aisle it looks like you just skimmed through it. You only reviewed seven of the twelve songs on the album, and that's not even counting the three bonus tracks, “Perfectionist,” “The Lounge,” and “Y.O.U.” Out of the seven tracks that you did review, the focus was entirely on the negative except three times, and the praise of producer Oren Yorel. I found your review to be at times – aw who am I kidding? Completely ridiculous and unfair.

Your first issue seems to be with Roth's singles “Lark On My Go Kart,” and “I Love College.” First claiming that “Roth lazily slaps words together, not caring if what he says is interesting or even if it makes any sense, . . . content to simply mention things meant to hit 20-something’s nostalgia centers, hoping that recognition of a shared memory will endear his music to them.” Oh man, how dare he try to appeal to his own age group and the kids who are like him! “Lark On My Go Kart” may seem to ramble at times, but the flow is nice, the beat is dope and he even has some nice word play in there with lines like “any Tim Duncan/spur of the moment/let the whole world know I run shit.” The man isn't a thug, hustler, or bad ass. Roth is a 20-something college kid and he stays true to his own roots on both of these singles, just a kid trying to have fun. The song is about being a lazy, partying, college kid! What else could you expect but a laid-back flow and lyrics about beer pong and passing out? Neither song is top-notch, but “I Love College” is to today's college kids as “Hustlers Muzic” is to street kids, an fun anthem. And you can't deny that.

Next up you take on Roth's more serious songs in “Sour Patch Kids,” As I Em,” “His Dream,” and “Fallin'.” Somewhat predictably, you seemed to have skimmed through these songs, too. “Sour Patch Kids” definitely isn't anything original as far as topics go and no doubt some of the lines aren't “earth shattering” but he picks it up in the second and third verses with his flow and lyrics to make a decent, granted not amazing, song. According to your review, “On 'As I Em' . . . he addresses all the Eminem comparisons, a bold and respectable move. But bizarrely, he seems to think the best way of contrasting himself with Em is to put on the Detroit rapper’s hard man persona.” In a song where Asher definitely shows some extra emotion, you discredit him because he sounds like Em? Did you miss the line, homie? “Cause we have the same complexion and similar voice inflection/its easy to see the pieces and the reach for that connection.” Yorel put together a nice background, Ash went off and the Chester French feature adds some nice finishing touches. Take another listen to his second verse: “Y'all talk all you want, never halt me from my mission/use it as ammunition, would you please keep dissin' me?/I hear it/and yeah the haters wanna hate because I made it and I'm famous/but until you take my place, you'll never know 'bout what it takes to make a record for respect/take a second to inspect/when you look like someone else then what the fuck do you expect?” Ah well, at least you gave him credit for “Fallin',” one of the top songs off the album with a sick sample from Ben Kweller.

As for the rest of the album, it's no where near as horrible as you make it sound. “La Di Da” is a great escape song that you can throw some headphones on and just vibe out to. “Be By Myself” is a catchy song featuring Cee-Lo about exactly what the title suggests that could make for one of the better singles. “She Don't Wanna Man” with Keri Hilson doesn't seem to be much but filler and is maybe the worst song on the album. However, Ash and Busta Rhymes let it rip on the track “Lion's Roar” which is laced by Yorel's band, New Kingdom. And ladies and gentlemen, with the next track, “Bad Day,” Asher manages to put together a song featuring Jazze Pha that is actually tolerable! Not an easy task considering how many songs that man has wrecked. With the bonus tracks, Roth delivers two songs that definitely would have been great for the album, “Perfectionist,” with Beanie Sigel and Rock City, along with a track off his mixtape with DJ Cannon, “The Lounge” is one of his best works. The third and final bonus track, from the UK isn't anything special but it is a fun track with a nice cameo from an old legend, Slick Rick. So give this album a full listen, because it's “Sick wit' it, game spittin' to the limits/see Asher Roth ain't no joke.”

Overall, the CD is a mostly fun and at times serious. The lyrics are above average and the production is sick. Asher definitely has a lot of room to grow, but he put out a solid first effort that is above a lot of stuff out today even with its missteps. I'll call it a 3.8/5.

John Berry - Late Night Hawaiian Jazz

Pretty chill, laid back jam right here from NMU's own John Berry. The song is on his myspace and is called Late Night Hawaiian Jazz.

Ye Guest Verses Vol. 4

The last volume was a few days ago, and now here's the next one that I helped throw together with Kev. This one has a lot of 'Ye's new verses including the brand new banger, "Kinda Like A Big Deal" and some older ones too! Full post here.

Direct DL Link

Tracklist
1. Clipse - Kinda Like A Big Deal (feat. Kanye West)
2. Common - Start the Show (feat. Kanye West)
3. DJ Class - I’m The Shit (Remix feat. Kanye West)
4. GLC - Flight School (feat. Kanye West & T-Pain)
5. Fonzworth Bentley - Everybody (feat. Kanye West, Sa-Ra & Andre 3000)
6. Cam’ron - Down And Out (feat. Kanye West & Syleena Johnson)
7. Infamous Syndicate - What You Do To Me (feat. Kanye West)
8. Consequence - So Soulful (feat. Kanye West)
9. Q-Tip - We Fight We Love (Remix feat Kanye West & Consequence)
10. Kanye West, KRS-One, Nas & Rakim - Classic (Better Than I’ve Ever Been) (DJ Premier Remix)
11. Common - Go (feat. John Mayer & Kanye West)
12. Alicia Keys - No One (Remix feat. Kanye West)
13. Keri Hilson - Knock You Down (feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo)
14. T-Pain - Therapy (feat. Kanye West)
15. Cassidy - My Drink ‘N My 2 Step (Remix feat. Swizz Beatz, Kanye West & Ne-Yo)
16. Consequence - Getting Out The Game (feat. Kanye West)
17. Common - Punch Drunk Love (feat. Kanye West)
18. Sophia Fresh - What It Is (feat. Kanye West)

Kanye x Clipse

It's Kinda Like A Big Deal...

Kanye West Guest Verses Vol. 3

I helped to put this together by compiling all the tracks. You can check out the post here, and be on the lookout for at least two more volumes! Shouts to Kevin Nottingham!

Here's the direct link to the download.

Tracklist
1. Talib Kweli - Guerrilla Monsoon Rap (feat. Black Thought, Kanye West & Pharoahe Monch)
2. Consequence - Don’t Forget Em (Remix feat. Kanye West)
3. Rhymefest - More (feat. Kanye West)
4. Teairra Mari - Diamonds (feat. Kanye West)
5. CHOPS - Changing Lanes (feat. Kanye West)
6. John Legend - It’s Over (feat. Kanye West)
7. Common - They Say (feat. John Legend & Kanye West)
8. Kanye West, Nas & KRS-One - Better Than I’ve Ever Been
9. Teriyaki Boyz - I Still Love H.E.R. (feat. Kanye West)
10. Fall Out Boy - This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race (Remix feat. Kanye West)
11. Consequence - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (feat. Kanye West)
12. GLC - Big Screen (feat. Kanye West)
13. Common - Corners (Remix feat. Kanye West & Mikkey Halsted)
14. Jamie Foxx - Digital Girl (feat. Kanye West & The-Dream)
15. Dwele - Hold On (Remix feat. Kanye West)
16. Carl Thomas - The Way That U Do (feat. Kanye West)

774 Free Songs From Amazon.com

No – but seriously. Check it out! And it's all legal.

At a quick glance I saw stuff from Flight of the Concords, Ted Nugent, Michael Franti, Death Cab For Cutie, Iron & Wine, N.A.S.A. and you know like 768 more artists! Article over at cnet.

Nyle - Let The Beat Build (Remix)

Reeemix baby! This is pretty sick, one shot, a bunch of live instruments and just awesome. More info over at the dude's website.

Killa Cam on College

To work for me and DukeDaGod — you gotta have a college degree . . . but I don't have a high school diploma. So what's the irony of that? And you have to take a drug test.

As funny as this is, he's got some good advice. The full article is over at MTV News.

UKNOWBIGSEAN Vol. 2

Here it is!
http://www.uknowbigsean.com/uknowbigseanvol2.zip

Flo Rida to Build Green City

From the article on cnet:

Florida Power & Light will spend $350 million to build a 75-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant at a planned city, Babcock Ranch. . .

Dammit Flo Rida, stealing all of my ideas! First the massive club hits, now green cities! Argh, back to the drawing board. More info at the cities new homepage.

Nickelus F

Alright I just discovered the guy and so far I'm liking what I hear, especially from the video above.
After doing a quick search of 2Dopeboyz, I found out the man has a few mixtapes (and a free album!) so here are some links if anyone else digs him. I know I'm checking them out after I listen to Asleep in the Bread Aisle!

Heathen
Thank You
Thank You Version: Pi
Website

Bulldog Radio - I'm on Air!

Alright so Bulldog radio might not be the best college station around, but I'm on it! So you should listen. We are currently lacking a FM frequency for those of you in the Big Rapids area, so you'll either have to tune in on cable channel 21 or listen online with the link in the top right corner on our homepage. My show runs every Wed. from 3-4pm, tune in! (For the next two weeks, haha.)

Currently the stream seems to only work with Winamp and VLC media players, however I think someone is fixing that, and if I end up staying here next year I'm definitely going to be looking at making some improvements to the station including making available an itunes and WMP stream.

You can download Winamp here, and VLC (which I recommend) here.

Don't Buy Asleep In The Bread Aisle

Download it online! For real though, I've listened to the whole CD and La Di Da is probably my favorite joint. Overall a good album though.

Best NBA Commercial In Awhile

Kanye + awesome highlights makes me want to watch the NBA again, crazy! Oh, and it's the playoffs, so yeah.

Chester French - Two Normal Guys

And you can download their latest mixtape here, which is a good listen if you ask me.

Chris Cooley Is My Hero

I need a picture like that above my bed when I get rich and marry a hot woman.

Life is Too $hort, Would You Agree?

You hear it all the time, "life is Too $hort . . ." to stay mad, not make the best of everything, drink cheap beer. All great pieces of advice right? I know I'm guilty of taking life granted almost everyday even though I try my best to stay positive and appreciative. But it's all relative, right? Sure I might live in America and be better off than a lot of kids my age, but I have this fucking test tomorrow, so FML. Why is it that in a world where life is so precious, where people die too young everyday, people still hate, still choose not to make the best of things, still take life for granted?

Well, like 50 told me (Not really, he said it in Many Men but I took the advice to heart. Close enough.), "Sunny days wouldn't be special, if it wasn't for rain. Joy wouldn't feel so good, if it wasn't for pain. Death gotta be easy, 'cause life is hard." So maybe that's whats up with all this hate stuff. I mean after all, how could any one thing be more joyful than another if some things didn't just plain suck balls? We all get a little overwhelmed with the troubles of life now and then, but just think. If it wasn't for the fact that your parents just don't understand, your teachers all conspire against you, and your car just broke down - again, then the good things in life just wouldn't mean anything. Like hitting the last cup in beer pong, or you know, something actually constructive like winning your March Madness bracket!

So screw all those beauty pageant girls and their speeches about world peace and hunger! Bring on the hate and I'm going to do my best to stay positive and use it as motivation and do something with my life. Of course, I wouldn't be able to stay positive if it wasn't for my good friends, family, and of course

(Reeeemix baaaby!)
Life is Too $hort, how could you not agree?
That's why I'm all about my baby like it's just her and me
Phone on silent, I can't be reached today
Out spendin' money like nothing because all my problems are far away
When I'm with her, I'm high like Kanye on Mercury
'Cause she's in my soul and system

Stressed Out

Yo I know the feelin', when you feelin' like a villain
You be havin' good thoughts but the evils be revealin'
and the stresses of life can take you off the right path

No doubt. Everyone knows the feeling when you try to be positive but it just seems like everything is against you. Even the littlest things don't go your way and get to you when you know they shouldn't. Everyone deals with it differently, whether it's Bone Thug style: "Me and my radio doin' 90 on the freeway no other the way to go . . . gimme a drank and a song and I'll be stress free kickin' it all night long," or like Phife Dawg: "Now a days I go see wifey just to cure me from stress/lay my head on her breast, sugar dumplin' knows best/explain' all my problems to her gettin' things off my chest."

For me, it's both. And they almost come together sometimes. Music can chill me out and relax me like no other, and so can just venting to my girl. Or the paper. A lot of the times that's when the best music seems to be made, when no one will listen and you just gotta get your frustrations out! That's when you get people like ATCQ, Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, 2Pac, Blu, and countless others that makethe whole world listen and relate to their words because they're hungry to be heard.

In the words of Jay-Z, we're all going through the same thing, and sometimes we need someone to lean on to make us stronger: "you ain't havin' it? Good, Me neither/ let's get together and make the whole word believers." 'Cause if you ask me, all you need is love and you better balee dat!

So what are some favorites of anyone else out there? Ya know, to just vibe out, forget, and relax to? For me, there's a few songs that always do the trick below.

ATCQ - Stressed Out
Blu - Below the Heavens (Yeah, the whole CD)
Bone Thugz - Hip Hop Baby
Fashawn - Relax (ft. Thurzday)
Jay-Z - Can't Knock The Hustle (ft. Mary J. Blidge)
Jay-Z - Can I Live
Kanye West - Never Let Me Down (ft. Jay-Z)
Kanye West - Everything I Am
Kanye West - Heard 'Em Say (ft. Adam Levine)
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liqour (CD, again)
Modest Mouse - Float On
Morphine - Buena
Motion City Soundtrack - Everything is Alright
The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy
Pacific Division - How We Chill
Pacific Division - Relax
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Especially in Michigan
TLC - Waterfalls

And that's juts getting started, haha.