Can You Give It

MSTRKRFT - Heartbreaker (Video)

MSTRKRFT – Featuring John Legend from vincent haycock on Vimeo.

One of the biggest disappointments of the year was the MSTRKRFT album. After really enjoying the first one with its French house touches, the second one was all Frat-house (read: simplistic) electro party. That unrelenting banging, 100 miles an hour sound. The sound described in the Justice DVD as the new punk rock. I don’t enjoy it, I love Proxy but I can’t stand the others, especially with the proliferation of them on Hype Machine.

Anyway, after MSTRKRFT produced an alluring remix of Green Light (their manipulation of the piano keys was better than the whole original), John Legend returns the favour by singing on Heartbreaker. Unlike the other songs on the album (the Lil Mo ones being the worst) this manages to balance the two worlds of R and B and Electro.

This video reminds me that I need to buy a pinanta.

Credit is Due

Sometimes great writing is great writing.

This Week in Ice

Due to the success of the Kanye Jesus piece post, I’m going to be posting a different picture of rappers jewellery each week. Now kids, lets not use this as an excuse to blame the excess of capitalism and potentially a catalyst of the whole economic crisis. That would be reaching. This week California's Nipsey Hussle. I like that he went with Malcolm X instead of Martin Luther King.

I ain't Tha 1

All The Above

All the way to dc and I end up watching old episodes of Eastenders.

Valley of Death

Listening to Rick Ross. Is like buying an expensive steak. Delicious for about 30 minutes, then you regret spending that amount of money on food. Either way some of the beats on the album are fantastic. The best ones sound like an off cut of the Thunderball (word to Sean Connery) soundtrack. Cigar Music which isn’t even on the album is my favourite. These videos lead me and brothers having conversations wondering if Rick Ross really gets the ladies. “Money always attracts the needy”.

Pela'o

I love food, who doesn’t? Here are some pics of the delights I had in DC. Including Filet mignon, steak diane, slurpee, Ben’s Chilli Bowl and Mole Chicken. The mole chicken is the best because it is sounds like a fat man’s dream. Chocolate chicken, instead its actually quite sophisticated and with plantains and rice it’s easily a winner.

Animal

I just got back from a weekend in Washington Dc. It was my sisters graduation and in between her ceremonies and family dinners I managed to catch a decent snapshot of the city. So the next few posts are a combination of the sights, sounds and meals that I had whilst over there.

First of all, Friday night. It’s around 11.30pm people are strolling up and down U street trying to find the best bar for the night. And you stumble across five dudes rhyming outside of a hip hop bar. The whole city has this interesting musical subplot. Duke Ellington grew up in DC. You walk past bars who play live jazz and go–go whilst downstairs they are bumping ludacris, loud. Dafna (aka Lady Glock aka Dc’s premiere tastemaker) showed me the vast soundscape of DC in that one night. U street is intriguing it’s like brick lane without the pretentiousness and the middle aged banker tourists. Real people of diverse ethnicities and economic situations gathered together for a night out. Plus any place that has two people playing a violin and a tambourine to the instrumental of Big Poppa is a winner in my book.

Trani

Wale "Nike Boots" video (Directed by Chris Robinson) from Elitaste on Vimeo.

Just got back from a mad weekend in DC. Many , many posts coming from that trip. In the meantime the DMV’s rap hero, Wale, in fine form.

Time Is Money

Like getting a good brekkie with extra portion of chips. The Joel Ortiz Covers the Classics mixtape is a gem upon a gem. First of all it features probably one of the best Mc’s in the game right now 28 year old former UPS worker Joell Ortiz. Then it has 33 of the craziest beats of all time. As a fan of those old school sets the beats on this will make you want to slap your older brother, mother, sister, cousin or whoever for just listening to that when they were your age.Standout track is Bk Get Money (So what he took a leak right around the corner/ What you want homes to do he couldnt hold it any longer/ So what he running the dough and forgot he owe/ when you approach him he like 'fam why you stressing me for). Best thing you will download this week, including the Cassie and Rihanna video. Maybe not the Hoopz sex tape, always had a thing for hood rat chicks.

Download it here.

Mr Sandman

This blog’s in love.

[street carnage]

Diskodine

EPk Wednesday, this week chocolate boy wonder Pete Rock. Creator of the best hip hop song of all time, T.R.O.Y. This album is actually quite good and features the song that made me respect Jim Jones. Either way Pete Rock has remained a true great over time.

Multiply

Wow. Joe Pesci rapping. That’s all I’m going to say.

Game Over Man Game Over

Dafna is killing it.

Billionaires

Midas Reversed

Note to self – need to do this shoot in real life.

[spotted at kanye’s]

Excalibur

I feel a bit iffy about posting this video. Not because the dude has no legs and is pretending to be a gangster. It’s just that I know the 310 area pretty well and I will get pangs of homesickness for the next three hours.

[spotted at videogum]

Little Lies

This film looks pretty good. Medicine for Melancholy starring Wynatt Cynac, aka the best Daily Show correspondent, it is the story of a boy and girl reconnecting with each other after a one night stand. Set in San Francisco where the black population is almost negligible, it highlights the struggles being a minority within a minority (black Goths, punks or danceheads).

Happy Up Here

I have been a GLC fan since Drive Slow and Chi State of Mind (produced by A-Trak). On a sidenote has Kanye made 5 videos in the past 3 weeks? Two Keri Hilson’s , two of his own (Paranoid and Robocop) and 88 Keys.

The song is fine. Not a patch on this quote from drive slow.

"My Car's like a movie, My cars like a crib / I got more tv's in here than where i live"