I know. I haven’t blogged in a bit. And I’m completely fine with it. Just gearing up for the summer, man. That’s a whole ‘nother blog post, though.

My man Ken Consor over at Syracuse University and the kind folks over at ‘Cuse’s University Union are throwing the Block Party 2011, featuring KiD CuDi, Nas and Damian Marley, and Tinie Tempah on April 29 (Friday), and he’s been kind enough to throw me 4 tickets to toss around to any DC to BC readers in the tri-state area that can make it up (or down, depending.) to ‘Cuse to witness four wildly talented artists jam out on the same stage.

That being said, I just need those who stay in the area to holler at me. All it takes is a @DCtoBC Twitter follow and a RT of this and you’ll be entered, as well as an e-mail to info[at]DCtoBC.com that mentions you’ve done the aforementioned. by 9pm tonight (4.28). I’ll be giving the tickets out in pairs, so there will be two winners.

Cool? Cool. Good luck!

just watch. at least the first two minutes, it’s pretty cool.

wow. you saw them recreate that rain sound with the european stomp?! shout out to my man gbenga for the find. perpetuum jazzile is a world renowned slovenian choir that can perform pretty much anything. the original is below.

DOWNLOAD: Toto – Africa

a lot of people have sampled this joint in the hip hop (xzibit, ja rule, etc.), but the most famous is probably nas’ “new world”. check it out.

DOWNLOAD: Nas – New World

wow. the boys over at ill vibes got some HD quality footage of the DC stop of guerilla union’s rock the bells super tour.

nas

the roots and skillz

last night, on j.ben.ok‘s funkadelic freestyles radio at George Washington University, Jay Promo discussed his appreciation for nas, and claimed he was a better rapper than jay-z. now is that true? i don’t know. but i do know that nas recently released the ’09 version of “if i ruled the world”, co-starring floetry‘s marsha ambrosius. check it out.

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DOWNLOAD: Nas – If I Ruled the World [feat. Marsha Ambrosius]

but the real question is how does it compare to the original, featuring lauryn hill?

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DOWNLOAD: Nas – If I Ruled the World [feat. Lauryn Hill]

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

don’t gimme an answer until you hear BOTH tracks in their entirety. hit the comment sections and discuss, please.  jay, i expect you to leave a whole lotta words since you tried to school me on him on the radio show last night.

everybody voted this year, and it’s great. i’m out here watching CNN, checking facebook statuses and away messages like a e-stalker, and i only see support for this man. i felt like nasir jones deserved to be highlighted today, as he was one of the first artists who made a sincere song about the potential future of america. shout out to my man daniel, he is one of the biggest nas fans i know, as well as a hardcore barack fan. lol so this goes out to young daniel! he also hooked me up with a free meal in the cafeteria last night. ha. also, shout out to 106 & park’s terrence j, as well as BET for getting the african-american community very involved with this election. he represented on CNN today, and held it down. i was impressed.

bump all that. record turnouts at the polls mean change. let’s get it. bump these like they’re something you jam on a victory lap.

DL: nas – black president

BONUS: jeezy feat. nas – my president is black

my man kerel linked me to this editorial from defsounds.com. i’m swagger jacking the entire thing, but i give props where props are due. cool article, but i can’t co-sign everything in it. let me know how you feel. shout out to this guy for writing it.

Nas & Jay-Z have been spoken about, compared to, and pit against each other in almost every conceivable way imaginable. However, little has been said about their fanbases.I’ll do my best to explain this as clearly as possible. I’ve been stewing on this for quite some time now, observing, and asking questions everywhere I go, and to various people I meet, and I have come to a semi conclusion on my original hypothesis. The theory is as follows:

Jay-Z fans and Nas fans follow two primarily different paths in life, one hungering for the limelight and riches, while one takes a more conservative, non materialistic approach to living. Simply saying, does the average Jay-Z fan desire a little more out of life than the average Nas fan? Before you start your rants, hear me out, you just may learn something about yourself.

Jay-Z and Nas, by all accounts, are two completely different people. While Jay has been straight-forward since 1996, aiming for the good life, women, business, and wealth, Nas on the other hand has primarily gone the conscious route, not necessarily advocating the finer things, and emphasizing a more conservative, righteous lifestyle. This leads me to believe that their fans coincide with this, and with all of my research this has generally proved to be correct.

Jay-Z fans listen to him because he signifies their goal in life- a wealthy businessman/woman from the ground up. They are motivated by his words, and his persistence, along with his arrogance, and “Fuck you, Pay me” persona. Nas may interest them as an artist, but he is far from someone whose life model they would follow. Most would view the life that the other side lives a failure.

On the flip side of the coin, Nas fans latch onto him because he is, well, everything Jay-Z is not, from a different perspective. The atypical Nas fan nearly opposes most materialism, and usually hungers for the knowledge that he expresses in his music. They are not caught up with trying to be rich and famous, they don’t care about the hot car of the moment, and the like. The simple things in life are the most important to this person, and they feel they have lived a successful life by doing this.

Which leads me to ask- What exactly defines “Success”? Is it a definite, clear-cut institution, or is it in the eye of the beholder? Is it adding massive funds to your bank account, and standing atop the social stratosphere, or is it the man with a great job, a wife, and a healthy family? Meaning, is it the Jay-Z fan, with the hot girl, and the Range Rover, or the Nas fan, in the less expensive vehicle, with the love of his life?

Just to remind you, I do not intend to create some type of Jay-Z Vs Nas debate here, because this has very little to do with them as artists, and more to do with our connection to them. This is also not me calling Nas fans “inferior” and Jay fans “superior”. This is me doing a general sweep of the goals/mindsets of them.

Take a good look at your life, and see where you fall into this theory. There are always exceptions, but if you’re able to be objective, you just might agree with what I’ve said.

i’m not really about this album. but i just felt like i should post it, and simultaneously ask those who know me personally: doesn’t the freeze frame in the beginning look like me gone wrong a little bit?

and don’t get it twisted, it’s not that i don’t care about the album, but it’s the hype that the title of the album is bringing that i’m not down with. i’ll jam it when it comes out.

and rik cordero’s cinematography is incredible. he’s all over the place. heather put me on, EARLY.