On today's vids...
Plies Wants It, and Needs It with Ashanti, Lil' Cease writes a letter to B.I.G., G-Unit Will Be the Shooter, Royce Da 5'9 welcomes you to the 5'9 Zone, and Mims says "Move".
Hit up the full story to peep the vids!
Plies feat. Ashanti - Want It, Need It
Plies' collabs with Ashanti for his second single "Want It, Need It". The JR Rotem produced track appears on his third album Da REAList, which is in stores now. There's a rumor that Plies will drop another album this year titled Realer than Usual.
Lil Cease - Letter to B.I.G.
Cease puts his take on Kiss' "Letter to B.I.G." writing a personal letter to his mentor. The video features an appearance by the actor portraying Cease in the film Notorious.
G-Unit - I'll Be the Shooter
G-Unit's latest street video, I'm assuming this is off the upcoming Blood on the Sand video game scheduled to be released February 24th. Hopefully it's better than that 50 Cent Bulletproof garbage.
Royce Da 5'9 - A Part of Me
Royce Da 5'9 brings viewers into the Twilight 5'9 Zone for his latest video where he uses a storytelling track to show his perspective on club hook-ups. Royce's upcoming album Street Hop is in stores April 21st. Big ups to my boy Matt for shooting this to me via email.
Mims - Move (If You Wanna)
This isn't that bad of a track. I'm not sure if it'll catch on or not, but the beat is pretty sick.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Seeing is Believing 2/16 - New Plies, G-Unit, Lil Cease, and More Vids!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Seeing is Believing 1/29 - Kiss' Letter to B.I.G.
Jadakiss feat. Faith Evans - Letter to B.I.G.
Recently I uploaded a fan-made video for Letter to B.I.G., this time it's official. The joint appears on both the biographical Notorious and Kiss' upcoming album The Last Kiss. Unintentionally, Jada started a trend with these "letter" tracks. First Maino writes a letter to Pac, Lil Cease writes a letter to B.I.G. as well, and other artists have written letters to Big L, Pun and hip hop. One of the most funniest dedications is a "Letter to Gary Coleman" by a rapper name Don Cerino who's clearly tired of all the "Letter" tracks floating around.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Dope or Nope 1/21 - Another Letter to B.I.G.
Lil' Cease - Letter to B.I.G.
Last month Jadakiss wrote his letter to B.I.G. in a song format (click here to listen). Now, former Biggie protege' hops on the beat and expresses his thoughts to his late friend. Though Cease was closer to Big, I'm feelin' Jada's more. Thoughts?
*If you're wondering who that is pictured above, that's "supposed to be" Lil Cease in Biggie's bioflick Notorious which is in theaters now.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Mixtape Madness: Brooklyn Bullshit!
DJ Mike Nice - Brooklyn Bullshit
Brooklyn's finest Biggie Smalls, Jay-z, and Big Daddy Kane prove Brooklyn has raw talent with this mixtape. This joint features demos, unreleased materials and remixes from three of the greatest mc's. Peep the full story for a the back cover and link!
Takin' Em Back - 1/16: The Biggie Edition!
In honor of the late Notorious BIG and today's release of his autobiographical film, I'm dedicating today's throwback entry to some of my favorite Biggie videos. The movie is definitely worth checking out, so be sure that you hit up the nearest theater this weekend to see this film. Click the full story to peep 5 of my favorite Biggie videos!
Juicy
Notorious Big's debut single became an instant classic with the inspirational lyrics, clear laid back flow, and excellent use of the "Juicy Fruit" sample. The lyrics clearly guide listeners through Biggie's struggle to his success with signing to Bad Boy.
Big Poppa
"Big Poppa" was the prime example of what a club track should be. It's not overly cliched, too flashy, and overall it's a smooth track. Hip hop artists remain to make videos like these today, but unlike Big Poppa they are exaggerated.
One More Chance
Even though I'm a skinny dude, I must say Big held it down for the bigger brothas. Big had cameo's from damn near every R&B chick at the time from the late Aaliyah, Mary J. Blige, Total, and his wife Faith; all asking for one more chance. On a side note, what happened to Zhane, Patra, and Changing Faces, where are they now?
Craig Mack feat. Big, Busta, Rampage, and LL - Flava In Your Ear (Remix)
Classic to say the least. All MC's wreck this track making it one of the best posse cuts ever. Puff kicks off the joint mocking the popular Warriors scene clicking two bottles chanting "Bad Boy come out to play", then Biggie drops a hot verse. Till this day rappers make videos inspired by this signature black-and-white music video produced by the legendary Hype Williams.
Hypnotize
The last music video to feature Big and instantly became a hit. In the late 90's, Bad Boy artists made "mini movies" with their music videos, with this being the first of it's style. The video would later inspire DJ Khaled's "We Takin' Over" video with fairly similar chase scenes.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Movie Review: Notorious
Over 12 years ago hip hop lost one of its greatest artists, the Notorious B.I.G. True, Biggie Smalls only had two albums in his discography and two posthumous releases; but the content and music made him a legend. One of Big's strengths was his clear and smooth delivery, and ability to tell stories. Though the stories Big would spit were life experiences, his life prior to his Bad Boy signing still remained mysterious. Fox Searchlight Pictures drops Notorious; a biographical movie which reveals the history of B.I.G., his remarkable rap career, and his unfortunate death.
The movie opens perfectly with a young Biggie Smalls where viewers get a chance to see his early inspirations. His struggle for acceptance to his distant relationship with his Father built his foundation to his early teenage raps. Eventually he began to sell drugs and rap publicly making a name for himself. After doing time and having a daughter, Big decided to focus on making rap music as soon as he's released. B.I.G.'s crew (which later became Junior Mafia), encouraged Frank White to pursue a rap career and once he linked up with Puff, the rest was history. Viewing B.I.G.'s back story shows his fate at becoming a rising star. He was determined to use his witty rap style to make the transition from the streets to the studio, and even had his childhood friend sacrifice five years of his life to help Biggie make it. Throughout all of the changes B.I.G. encountered before he signed, it built his character and gave the audience the chance to see him from a more personal perspective that we didn't get to see while he was alive.
The question everyone had was, will Jamal Woolard aka Gravy be able to emulate Chris Wallace successfully. The portrayal of B.I.G. was on point and at times very convincing. From the charismatic personality to the rap style, Gravy did a great job at portraying the late rapper. On the other hand, there were some other portrayals that weren't as well fit as Big's and Puffs. Lil' Cease was played by a young actor who appears to be a teenager. During the early stages of the movie you assume the character will age as it progresses, but at the end, he still appears to be an adolescent. There's also Anthony Mackie who plays B.I.G.'s former friend turned for 2pac. As far as the look goes, Mackie resembled Pac but Pac has a distinctive persona that is challenging to embody. 
One role that caught me off guard was former 3LW member Naturi Naughton (featured above) as Lil' Kim. After Lil' Kim dedicated spread in KING Magazine, I thought she didn't resemble her. In the film she reenacts Kim and Big's relationship and stage presence causing me to regret my doubts.
When Notorious comes to an end, it seems a bit rushed. However, it goes a little deeper into 2pac and Biggie's feud and the negative effect the media had on it. The film leaves an excellent lasting impression and raised my respect level even higher for the late MC. For aspiring music artists like me, you will find the story inspiring seeing that anything is possible. Like Big said on "Sky's The Limit" he went from ashy to classy, and this film captures it all. There wasn't a dull moment in this film and it brought Chris Wallace's music to life. Whether you're a Biggie fan or not, you will find this film enjoyable.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Dope or Nope 12/29 - New Jadakiss
Jadakiss feat. Faith Evans - Letter to B.I.G.
Jadakiss drops this impressive track off of the Notorious OST. Like the song name, Jada raps out a letter to the late, great Biggie Smalls. The track hit the net last week, but th CD quality version is here. Be sure to check this one out.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Takin' Em Back - 11/21
Notorious BIG feat. Puffy & Ma$e - Mo Money, Mo Problems
I swear this joint brings back memories. This was when Bad Boy reached it's zenith. It even gave Puff the alias as the "Shiny Suit Man". Watching the video today it is a little cheesy, but it's one of the most memorable hip hop videos from the 90's. Speaking of Puff, he recently gave T-Pain his royalties for the auto-tune, which will be thoroughly used on his next album (sigh). Also, Bad Boy will be dropping the Notorious Soundtrack and movie in January.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Takin' Em Back - 10/24
Notorious BIG - Warning
Seeing that I just upped the trailer for "Notorious", I felt that I had to post a throwback B.I.G. video. This is one of my favorite tracks by the great Biggie Smalls off the classic Ready to Die album. "Warning" is storytelling at it's best; the lyrics, clear delivery, and that beat equal a timeless, dope track.
Notorious Official Trailer
Here's the full trailer for the Biggie biopic titled "Notorious". From the looks of it, it looks like it's going to be a good movie. It's not too much I can add from my previous blog with the teaser trailer, but go ahead and check it out. Click here to peep the blog on the teaser trailer.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Notorious Movie Trailer
New trailer for the upcoming Biggie biopic "Notorious"
What yall think, peep or sleep? If the actors really embody the people they're portraying this will be a good flick. "Notorious" will be in theatres January 16th.
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