Lamont's Lists

About this project The Hip-Hop Word Count (HHWC) is a searchable ethnographic database built from the lyrics of over 40,000 Hip-Hop songs from 1979 to present day. The database is the heart of an online analysis tool that generates textual and quantified reports on searched phrases, syntax, memes and socio-political ideas. The idea to build the Hip-Hop Word Count came out of having hundreds of heated & passionate discussions about Rap music: Who was the best rapper of all time? Which rapper had the smartest songs? Which was the most popular champagne in Hip-Hop during 1999-2003? Which rapper uses the most clever metaphors? Which city's rap songs use the most monosyllabic words? Does living in higher altitudes create a natural proclivity for Gangster Rap? Tired of having these answers left up to conjecture or whoever had the loudest voice, I decided to build a tool that would help give answers by charting the culture described within Hip-Hop music. How can analyz...

via giftrapped.com

via thesmkaexperience.com

via starsandstripesproject.com

via omgmusic.com That's Major.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon - A History of Rap: Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake & The Roots - Video - NBC.com

via kissmyblackads.blogspot.com Highly Entertaining. Thanks for sending Deebeezy.

via thehiphopupdate.com I think this song has gone mainstream...

So, my 16 year old son Evan has a pretty high hip hop IQ. I mean, he's as enamored with today's lame rappers and as any other teenager, but he does have an interest in the broader culture and a healthy respect for old the school MCs who've made rap what it is today. I like his curiosity and his interest in what these guys are saying, how the music gets made, and how it impacts him and his friends. And quite frankly, he knows a whole lot more about what's going on with today's emerging hip hop scene than I do. I can name a lot of good music that he's introduced me to over the past year or so (of course it helps that he's a teenager with massive amounts of free time on his hands). Overall though, I think he has a good ear, and he definitely has some interesting observations about current events and new music. In an effort to advance his critical thinking skills and to get him to focus in long enough on one topic to actually write something down, I asked him to...

via kicksonfire.com Nice!

via forbes.com

via rockthebells.net I'm Amped Up.

Ross Serves Up Another Luxe, Mostly Pleasing Helping Of R&B Flavored Yacht Music. We may be living in times of great uncertainty but here's one thing that I know for sure: Rick Ross is very rich. He and his (also very wealthy) friends, including Diddy, Jay-Z, and Kanye West, reinforce this fact incessantly across the 11 sprawling tracks on Teflon Don . I guess I should give Rick credit for sticking to his narrative thread, but enough already, I get it...he's rolling in dough, he has lots of stuff, he's very very well off. Don't get me wrong, this is a blazing hot record that I am sure many hip hop fans will instantly slot in as their summer 2010 soundtrack. Like his last album, 2009's Deeper Than Rap , the production values here are simply off the charts. Not since Dr. Dre's early 90's G-Funk has anyone so cinematically captured the essence of what sunny, laid back gangsta music is supposed to sounds like. Teflon Don is a big, opulent and celebratory to...

It's hard not to greet the arrival of a Big Boi solo album with pangs of regret. The project itself serves as a depressing reminder that hip hop supergroup Outkast is still on hiatus, seven years removed from Speakerboxx/The Love Below (yes, I am going to pretend that Idlewild never happened). More than anything, we wish Andre would stop drifting about, dabbling in all manner of artistic pursuits, and get his ass back in the studio. The silver lining behind Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son Of Chico Dusty however is that Big Boi is given an opportunity to remind us once again that he is the real deal. After his spectacular performance on Speakerboxx , we shouldn't be surprised by this fact, but for some reason we continue not to take him seriously as a soloist. That may be about to change now. Three years in the making and full of stories about major label drama (collaborations with Andre were blocked from inclusion on the album by Jive Records after Big Boi spilt from the lab...

via thehiphopupdate.com Posted via email from lswittenberg's posterous

Heartthrob Holds Back, Sings Too Much, Comes Up Short On Hotly Anticipated Debut "Thank Me Later" was expected to be the formal unveiling of Drake as rap's newly anointed King. The official passing of the torch to the Millennial Generation's valedictorian. A hip hop golden boy with movie-star good looks, rock star swagger, and pop star accessibility; Drake was groomed on Nickelodeon, nurtured on the internet, doused with street-cred and then launched into super stardom on the strength of a phenomenal mix tape that was simply unstoppable. But somewhere along the line the coronation veered off course. Despite all the resources in the world, including big name producers and a roster of star-studded cameos, "Thank Me Later" manages to fall short of the mark, possibly weighed down by its own gravitas. The basic problem is that it's just too commercial and calculated. The whole affair lacks passion, like a big budget action thriller where the leading man mails...

Why I Can't Support Including Luther Campbell As A VH1 Hip Hop Honoree I don't want to offend my fellow hip hop fans down South again, like I've done so many times before, but I'm having a lot of trouble getting behind the honorees for this year's Dirty South edition of VH1's Hip Hop Honors. For sure, my East Coast bias is well-established. I like my hip hop with a distinctly New York aesthetic; slow, sample driven, gritty, lyrically dominant. But for the most part, I'd like to think that I have an open mind. I love Outkast as much as the next man, and have been loquacious in singing the praises of Scarface. Further, while I've never been a fan of say, Too Short, I can respect that his Freaky Tales were potent, and applauded his induction into the unofficial Hall of Fame at 2008's Hip Hop Honors ceremony. So as I perused the list of honorees for 2010, I tried to stay positive when thinking about the contributions of the chosen artists. There's no...

by Lamont Swittenberg After Two Weeks Of Living With The iPad In The Real World, The Device Proves To Be Worthy of The Hype So I’ve been living with my iPad for a little over two weeks now and to quote Justin Timberlake, “I’m lovin’ it”. For a status-seeker like myself, it feels great to be the ultimate early adopter. I haven’t felt this popular in years. The device has been with me everywhere I’ve gone over the time period and I’ve truly soaked up all of the “ooh’s and ahh’s”. Those first few days were particularly gratifying. Every time I took it out, whether on the train to work or in a bar or at my local Starbuck’s, people just wanted to strike up a conversation about it. “Is that the iPad?” they would ask. “How is it? Can I touch it?” I even noticed people out of the corner of my eye, elbowing each other and pointing — “Look hunny, that guy has an iPad”. Even my seven year old son got into the spirit. He loved carrying it around with hi...

via gracedigitalaudio.com Posted via web from lswittenberg's posterous

Geek Out: Lands’ End and L.L. Bean’s Preppy Resurgence

Where were you when you heard that Biggie had passed? I was in an airport. It was a Monday morning March 10, 1997, and I was returning home after having spent a lovely Sunday shopping and enjoying some time off with my wife. It was before the age of knowing everything instantly, so without access to a TV, I was blissfully unaware of what had happened two nights earlier. I had spent that particular Saturday night having dinner with old friends in a beautiful restaurant, laughing, swapping old stories and enjoying life. I was 28 years old with a bright future, life was good. In preparation for the trip home, I did what I always did before boarding a long flight. I grabbed a Wall Street Journal for serious news and a USA Today for the dumbed down version of things. When I opened the USA Today and saw the headline my heart sank. Disbelief doesn't begin to describe my reaction. I felt like someone had just thrown a brick through the bubble I was living in -- whacking me in...

As usual at this time of year, I begin to suffer from the pain of too much winter weather. After a while, it just gets the best of me. It’s so omnipresent, so relentless. Day after day it’s there, waiting to pounce on me every time I leave the house. I can’t take it anymore. I’m crying uncle. I’m sick of snow, especially the dirty, icy snow that lingers forever. I’m sick of coats, scarves, gloves, hats and hat hair. I’m sick of removing layers of clothing every time I enter overly warm office buildings, commuter trains and residences. I’m sick of scraping ice off the windshields of frozen cars. I’m sick of tingly fingers. I'm sick of blowing my runny nose. I’m sick of the loud, ancient, inconsistent radiator heaters in my house. And I’m sick of enduring a blast of arctic air every time I step out of the shower. Don’t get me wrong; winter has not been all bad. I’ve squeezed every bit of enjoyment out of the Winter Olympics. That Shaun White kid is amazing. Even Lindsay Vonn and Bodi...

The older I get, the more I prefer Salsa to Catsup. There is nothing that can be made better, that cannot be made better with a few drops of Texas Pete Hot Sauce. Please, take it easy with the mayo. It’s actually comical how much cream cheese bagel shops tend to slather on bagels, even when you only ask for a “smear.” My local shop tends to add enough to feed a family of 4 for a week. I’ve never tried a tuna melt. It just doesn’t make sense. Butter. Use sparingly. Margarine. Not at all. I’ve learned to tolerate wheat bread. But white still makes me happy. The best ice cream in the world is called Seventh Heaven. It comes from a dairy in Trenton, NJ called Halo Farms. This is not up for debate. If you’re going to eat a cheeseburger, make it a good one (say Five Guys). And you’ve already crossed the line, so you might as well go ahead and get the fries and Coke along with it. McDonald’s French fries. Competition is none. Best fast food sandwich. Chick-fil-A. I wish I had one right now. B...

via youtube.com Jay Electronica, Mos Def and Talib Kweli. This makes me want to push myself to go out and see more live hip hop. Posted via web from lswittenberg's posterous

via youtube.com Posted via web from lswittenberg's posterous

via nolongerempty.com Posted via web from lswittenberg's posterous

The Annoying Use Of “Dropping” As A Self-Branding Technique Let’s face it, nobody likes a name dropper. These people have been around since the beginning of time and they’ve always been a nuisance. The good news is that most of us are quick to spot name droppers and to call them out on it. Sometimes we do it to their faces: “Do you have to mention how you and Steve Jobs go way back every time someone pulls out an iphone?” And even if we are too polite to embarrass them in public, we never forfeit an opportunity to ridicule these idiots behind their backs. However, I’m struck by the fact that we too often let other “Droppers” off the hook. These individuals can be just as grating, but for some reason we put up with their blatant attempts to impress us. Like Name Droppers, these folks are opportunistic, and none-too-subtle in seeking opportunities to remind us of the places they’ve gone, the things they’ve seen, the degrees they’ve attained, and so on. In fairness, Dropping is just anoth...

via youtube.com This kid is the real deal. Posted via web from lswittenberg's posterous

via mtvmusic.com Real Hip Hop. Posted via web from lswittenberg's posterous

--> -->--> --> -->Is this the week Google (NSDQ: GOOG ) drops Nexus One, its supposedly game-changing Android mobile device? If all goes according to plan -- and by "plan," we mean endless, unconfirmed speculation -- Google will introduce Nexus One at a press conference in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday. Google hasn't confirmed as much but has told various media outlets, including ChannelWeb.com, to expect a "significant announcement." Most expect that to be the official arrival of the Nexus One, which since the rumor mill began to heat up two months ago has been touted as Google's Apple iPhone killer. The device, though manufactured by HTC, will be branded as a Google phone and run version 2.1 of Google Android. From there the actual details of the Nexus One get dicey. A number of tech news sites, including Engadget and Gizmodo, posted what appear to be leaked pictures of the Nexus One. According to those and previously leaked sp...

via 2dopeboyz.okayplayer.com Get yours while it's hot! Posted via web from lswittenberg's posterous

via gather.com "MJ at Summer Jam / Obama on the text / Yall should be afraid of what I'm gon' do next." Posted via web from lswittenberg's posterous