Thursday, July 31, 2008

Some Typical Fox News Bullshit.



Hannity and Combs discuss Ludacris' new track in which he praises Obama.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

REGULATORS! MOUNT UP!

It appears that the city of Los Angeles will soon be placing a temporary moratorium on fast food restaurants in low-income areas. It's nice to see a governing body recognize that health issues have socio-economic causes too, but blaming this one on fast food is completely misguided.

Research suggests that childhood obesity is more a result of inactivity (i.e. videogames and TV) and lifestyle than dietary choices. Hard Chillin love the kids, but McDonald's offers a somewhat reasonable way to feed a family of four on like six-fifty. Sometimes you need a fallback like that when life gets real. Eating a double cheeseburger isn't ideal, but it's better than a mustard sandwich.

I guess you could argue that the city council is also attempting to combat the kid-oriented branding and marketing efforts that fast food restaurants are famous for, but that seems like a secondary aim of the bill. So if not the kids, then what? The adults?

The real problem with fast food isn't the fatty meats and condiments - it's the full-calorie sodas and french fries. A Double Whopper (even with cheese and mayonnaise!) has roughly 1,000 calories. A king-size fries and Coke also has 1,000 calories. At least you're getting some protein and fiber in with the burger.

I guess the real issue here is at what point paternalism becomes necessary for consumers. Banning fast food restaurants really doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless you already have a plan to establish restaurants that offer healthier options at a similar price. Until we can do that, wouldn't it make more sense to put a moratorium on Value Combos?

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

an interesting take on ROSS

Rafi Kam's thought's on Rick Ross:


rick ross’ next album should tell his true story in a cinematic way. but this time a comedy instead of an epic crime story… we meet our hero, a prison guard with an active fantasy life, like the hip-hop version of the secret life of walter mitty.. but the twist of course is that his fantasy life makes him a star… then it all falls apart at the end like a 2008 version of the jerk. maybe carl reiner does a cameo. is he still alive?

get someone like madlib or mf doom on production to capture the self-deprecation and fantasy/reality shit. if rick ross goes all masta ace meta on us to tell us the REAL story of rick ross, that’s a potential masterpiece right there.

look at baseball right now… andy pettitte and jason giambi are heroes again while palmeiro, bonds and clemens are burned as hypocrites… people will forgive anyone who cops (no pun intended!) to their fuck-ups.

wow, unleased classic Tribe

As a white, college educated dude from the suburbs that likes hip-hop, it's pretty much my duty to love tribe. This is the same way that every white college girl you meet that is into hip-hop has to like Blackstar. So it's not surprise that I became fully turgid this morning when I saw this Unreleased Demo Version of Scenario popping up on blogs.

Thanks to The Smoking Section for the file. If you're into hip-hop and don't read that blog regularly, you're missing out.

The new trailer for W.



I will probably see this with my Mom. The dude that plays Karl Rove looks creepy as fuck.

Monday, July 28, 2008

RICK ROSS = Rap's Ted Debiase



One and the same?


For pretty much anyone that follows hip-hop and has an internet connection, it’s become apparent that Rick Ross is not who he claims to be. But did we really ever think he was an international drug dealer? And does the validity of his claim even matter?

Last week reports dropped that Ricky Ross was once a prison guard in Dade County, FLA. In a the smoking gun article it was reported that pay stubs of a Dade County corrections officer displayed the social security number that was akin to that of Ross. This is essentially irrefutable evidence that Rick Ross' past wasn't what he claimed it to be.

So now that Ross has been outed as former law enforcement, his credibility as international blow slanging kingpin is shot. He’s the Milli Vanilli of coke rap. The internet is blowing up with hilarious Photoshopped pictures of Ross, but my favorite is by a video that dropped earlier today by one of my favorite sites The Real.


Rick Ross' Land of Make Believe from jeff on Vimeo.

This is quite humorous, but I really think it's quite absurd for hip-hop fans to be that outraged by this new finding about Rick Ross' past. The claims Rick Ross makes on his albums are so ridiculous and outlandish, there was no way in hell he actually had that kind of status. Did we really believe he was birthed in a crackhouse? When I listen to a dude like Joell Ortiz rap about freezing his ass off during a NYC winter trying to make chump change selling crack, I believe him. Dealing drugs is 99.9% of the time a dirt hustle, yet it seems like the only people rapping about it are claiming to be making way more money than my MBA colleagues.

I never really believed Rick Ross and therefore was not that surprised to find out he was lying, I mean, how couldn't he be lying. Ross was a fucking cartoon character, blown out of proportion to the point of absurdity, you'd have to be a completely gullible to think Ross' tale was completely sincere.

Thinking about Rick Ross reminds me a great deal of my childhood love of Pro Wrestling. The pre-WWF Attitude days were my favorite. I mean, we knew that the Million Dollar Man was not wealthy, the IRS did not major in accounting, and that Papa Shango did not possess voodoo prowess. Despite this, it was fun and I enjoyed it. I garner the same type of pleasure out of Rick Ross.

Now, as my friend Conor pointed out, comparing hip-hop to pro wrestling is a slippery slope. It is not to say I don't think many rappers are genuine, I just think this obsession with keeping it real and authenticity is quite problematic. Hip-hop should be fun, and needs to stop taking it self so seriously, Rick Ross was a hilarious concept, and I don't think its important if his back story checks out.

-Nick