M.I.A. Oscar Nomination for "Slumdog Millionaire" Song

I've seen "Slumdog Millionaire" and it's a nice movie (check out my review of "Slumdog Millionaire" and I'll probably see it again soon. But what stood out for me in the movie was the music. It really drives the movie and the music is mostly upbeat throughout the movie. That Indian vibe is killer. Love that.

So the Academy took note of the music in "Slumdog Millionaire" as well. The movie got a nod for best score. But I was hyped to know that M.I.A. got a nomination for "O Saya". It's a song driven by drums and chanting and then M.I.A. lays it down. Awesome. "O Saya" is up against another track from "Slumdog Millionaire" as well as song from "Wall-E".

O... Saya - M.I.A.

Now hip hoppers, I don't expect you to sit through the entire Oscar ceremony on Sunday, February 22, 2009, but at least check back to see if M.I.A. gets the guy. kfox.

RZA: Man of a Thousand Titles

This is not new news. No. But here it is anyway. I did mention a few posts ago that Bobby Digital is hittin the road. Folks in the know, know that BD is RZA's alter ego. Nice.

RZA manages to keep himself a bit busy these days. The Wu member is also jumpin into the eBusiness world - creating an online chess website. That's cool.

On top of that, RZA has a couple of movies on the horizon (didn't you like his bit part in "American Gangster"?).

I am just giving you a dash of info. There's an article in the New York Times - oh, and there's a vid embedded in the article. Get w/it hip hoppers or it's checkmate. kfox.

REVIEW: "Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme"

So it's 2008 and "Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme" was released in 2000 and I am just now getting around to watching it - my loss, eh? And it would have taken longer for me to see it, but here's what happened:

I had just finished watching "Michael Clayton" and I went to my Netflix queue to rearrange some things - like to move "The Savages" up, rearrange, "There Will Be Blood" as well as add "First Sunday" and "Norbit" (I have to see for myself if they are, indeed, as bad as some say they are) and I need a little comedy in my life.

So ... I've been seeing a button labeled 'play' next to a few of my selections. But one of my selections is "In Cold Blood" which is #60 on my queue and I am/was not in such a hurry to see that. But I did want to sample this "watch movies instantly" feature.

Well, my first glitch was that that feature is not supported in Mozilla's Firefox browser - shameful. However, over on the Internet Explorer browser, after a download of something and an upgrade of something else, the movie worked like a charm.

I thought that the quality of the movie might be mediocre, but no, no ... it's good looking.

So I was intending to just take a peek at "Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme" and then dip out, but since my selection was hip hop related, it grabbed my attention. I was lovin it especially since right in the beginning there is a vintage freestyle segment with my boys Black Thought and ?uestlove! Love that.

It's a nice doc; makes me wish I had seen it sooner, but it's still in my queue, so I can watch it anytime and that is cool. The uncool part is that I could not rewind - and when brothas were spitting rhymes at warp speed, I needed to trackback for a double take.

Some of the legends that make an appearance include:

• Mos Def
• Talib Kweli
• The Last Poets
• Divine Styler
• Boots (from The Coup)
• Supernatural
• Craig G
  

I could go on ... and maybe I will on another post. Meanwhile, you can check out the doc on YouTube. They even break it up into several parts for your viewing pleasure - though the quality is not as good as the Netflix version.

You gotta get your freebies the best way you can hip hoppers. kfox.

The Message is in the Movies

One of my fav hip hoppers is showing up more and more on the big screen. That would be Common. "Finding Forever" is a pretty good project, but in addition to droppin knowledge, Common is expanding his creative base.

Check out this interview on HipHopDx.com

I like the foray into acting for Common. He does what he does and he does it nicely - at least lyrically. But you know, people have to grow and challenge themselves. And what I really don't want to see is a rapper rappin at 65 years of age; no, they should not be doing that as a way of life, but acting ... yes, that is a respectable thing to be doing at 65,

Do you feel me hip hoppers? kfox

Jay-Z's "American Gangster" :: Times Three

I've been listening to three different versions of Jay-Z's "American Gangster".

The Jay-Z version is quite likeable. Good thing he did not really go into retirement, eh? I am a lover of beats and there is a barrage of that. But Hova's real skill is in the lyrics and he does not disappoint (I know that this is all old news, but ... well, I'm tardy).

The next version is from dj extraodinaire Mick Boogie. He mixed up an edition that is backed by tunes from the legendary Marvin Gaye. This is slick. I wanted to listen solely because I love Marvin Gaye and I thought the infusion of both artists would work. It does. What I like about mixtapes is how the songs are arranged in an order that is different than the original. Some of the slower Marvin Gaye beats give a sultry vibe that was absent on Jay's version. You can get a comp download of this one here.

I can't really recall how I got my hands on the Jay-Z and Chief Sneed version. I think it came by way of Oh Word. I just know that I was quick to download it and check it out. I love how each dj makes the song different yet recognizable and still likeable. In Sneed's case, he takes "Roc Boys" and makes it thinner; he removes the horns, which I really liked, but Sneed's version holds strong - or it could be Jay's lyrical presence is that much stronger. Sneed's edition just goes in a direction, that for me was, unthinkable but not in a way that makes me say, why the heck did they do this?

I like the creativity of the mixtape world. I'm glad that copyright restrictions isn't hampering this genre.

Time to get down w/the get down hip hoppers. --kfox

Don't mind the commercialism ...

Well, this is so commercial and mainstream, but I am getting so hyped about the nationwide release of the movie "American Gangster."

I am sort of drawn to the music, which was produced by Jay-Z.

Hip Hop Tribute to Virginia Tech

"Rain Rain Go Away" was produced by Jin (you might remember him from the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious). Simply put, the song is nice.