Seeing is Believing: New Busta Ryhmes, EPMD, Scarface, Wale & Jay-z Vids!

On today's edition of SiB...

Busta & Ron Browz are gettin "Arab Money", EPMD wants you to "Listen Up", Scarface "Can't Get Right", Wale still has his "Nike Boots", and Jay-z's "Brooklyn" Video Goes Hard!

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Busta Rhymes feat. Ron Browz - Arab Money

I must admit I wasn't feeling this one at first, but it's hella catchy. Rik Cordero directs this Arabic inspired video featuring cameos from Juelz, Jim Jones, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and more. This is the fourth video off of Busta's fourthcoming album B.O.M.B. (Back on my Bullshit)scheduled to release March 10th.

EPMD feat. Teddy Riley - Listen Up

EPMD are back in business with their first single "Listen Up", off of their upcoming We Mean Business album. After 20 years in the game, We Mean Business is the duo's first album in almost 10 years. It features Method Man, Raekwon, and frequent collaborators Redman and Keith Murray. We Mean Business hits shelves December 9th.

Scarface feat. Bilal - Can't Get Right

New joint off Scarface's current album Emeritus . Emeritus is rumored to be Face's final album and it's in stores today!

Wale - Nike Boots

Newcomer Wale drops his video for "Nike Boots". This joint has been out for a minute and if you haven't heard Wale's Seinfeld inspired Mixtape About Nothing, you are definitely sleepin'!

Jay-z feat. Santogold - Brooklyn (Go Hard)

You know you got a sick track when a track premiers and the next day there's already a fan made video. Director Evan Roth for (RED)WIRE wastes no time creating his interpretation of the Jay track off the upcoming Notorious Soundtrack. Check this out!

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Old Generation Vs. New Generation

XXL's December issue features Hip Hop's new generation. There are three different covers including newcomers Charles Hamilton, Wale, Asher Roth, B.O.B., and many more.





This cover is reminiscent to The Source's outstanding June 1998 cover that featured raps new generation at the time. The cover was a three page fold out, and unfortunately I can only find the first page of it.

Other artists that made the cover were: Big Pun, Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, Cam'Ron, Noreaga, and Canibus. Let's evaluate where these artists are now...Click the full story to continue reading.

Big Pun - Big Pun dropped arguably an classic lyrical LP, and followed up with a solid sophomore album. He also brought out him and Fat Joe's crew the Terror Squad. Unfortunately, Big Pun passed away of a heart attack in February 2000. R.I.P Big Punisher.
Cam'Ron - Received recognition from his second single "Horse and Carriage" which featured fellow Harlem native Ma$e. Cam then went on to form The Diplomats, which launched the careers of Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, JR Writer, and many more. Cam is preparing his upcoming album Crime Pays, which is now set to drop in 2009.
Noreaga - Noreaga made a name for himself in the duo Capone-n-Noreaga, but while Capone was locked up, Noreaga (who changed his name to N.O.R.E.) had to hold it down on his own for the two. He dropped three solo albums, signed to Def Jam, and when Capone was free, they reunited to create the slept on Reunion album. Shortly after, Nore went reggaeton for a minute, and is rumored to be hard at work on his new album coming soon.
Canibus - Lyrical mastermind Canibus emerged in the 90's and gained attention for his advanced wordplay and beef with LL (click here if to find out why). The beef spawned the popular diss track "Second Round K.O." which featured Mike Tyson. His debut LP Can-I-Bus, didn't do as well as expected, but Canibus went on to drop numerous underground LP's afterwards.
Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz - One of the most popular 90's hits was "Deja Vu" by this uptown duo. Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz dropped their album, but it turned out to be a flop for the two. Ironically, Peter Gunz' son Cory Gunz graces the cover of this decades next generation. Like father, like son.
DMX - The most successful out of the new generation cover, DMX dropped a classic album It's Dark and Hell is Hot. Filled with hardcore street anthems and devilsh tracks, DMX's distinctive voice and style was like non ever heard. He dropped numerous successful albums, had leading roles in films, and introduced the world to Ruff Ryders. DMX also built a criminal record for drug possession and many other bizarre activities. He plans on releasing his two new albums on the same day, one titled "Walk With Me Now" and the other "You'll Fly With Me Later".
Kurupt - Westcoast heavyweight was one half of the popular duo Tha Dogg Pound. Kurupt then made plenty of solo albums, with his debut being Kuruption, a two disc set that was both East and West coast themed. His feud with East coast MC's DMX and Ja Rule over Foxy Brown (his girl at the time) created a buzz for his sophomore solo disk "Streetz is a Mutha". Kurupt is still working with Daz Dillinger, but is also working on project with DJ Quik, DJ Premeir, and Pete Rock.
Silkk The Shocker - In the mid to early 2000's, No Limit Records were a huge stable of Southern artists. Some of their biggest talents were Master P, Mystikal, C-Murder, Snoop Dogg, and Silkk The Shocker. Being Master P's younger brother, P kept it in the family by signing his sibling. Silkk went on to release five solo albums, with a sixth one in the works. Some of Silkk's biggest hits were "It Ain't My Fault", "We Like Dem Girls", and "That's Cool" with Trina.

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Rock The Bells 2008 Recap

The Rock the Bells concert took place on August 9th in San Bernardino, CA at the Glen Helen Pavilion. Despite the heat, it was an amazing show and definitely worth it. Peep the full story to get a breakdown of the acts.

Main Stage:
Wale - A good way to kick off Rock The Bells. Wale (pronounced Wah-Lay) is a newcomer from DC. He performed tracks off his Mixtape About Nothing, and his most known track W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.
Dead Prez - Dead Prez hit the stage to perform joints off Revolutionary But Gangsta and also tracks off of their debut LP Let's Get Free including the classic "Hip Hop".
Murs - Rock The Bells was my first time hearing from Murs and he's kinda nice. Murs surprised the crowd by bringing out West Coast pioneer Dj Quik. Unfortunately Dj Quik only performed two songs, it was still a dope surprise appearance.
Immortal Technique - Immortal Technique brought out underground mc Chino XL onto stage as he preached to the crowd. Immortal Technique dropped dope, sophisticated rhymes filled with knowledge and aggression.
Rakim - I would hate to say this about the God MC, but his performance was a bit lethargic. The music was dope as always, but he could've hyped it up a bit.
De La Soul - Unfortunately I missed a majority of their performance trying to grab something to eat. I did catch it from "Oooh" and the classic "Buddy" by the Native Tongues, and a couple of others.
Raekwon & Ghostface Killah - Two of my favorite mc's in and outside of the Wu graced the stage at Rock The Bells to perform tracks from the classic Only Built For Cuban Linx, Supreme Clientele, 36 Chambers, and other albums from the Wu-Tang catalog. The highlight of the performance was "Triumph". Raekwon also announced that Only Built For Cuban Linx 2 will be out in February of 2009.
Method Man & Redman - Meth & Red had the crowd hyped from start to finish. The set started with Redman on a solo tip with Method Man making a late and exciting entrance. The set ended with "Da Rockwilder" and Meth & Red doing stage dives. They also announced they will be dropping the sequel to the Blackout album this year!
Surprise Guests - The surprise guest turned out to be the Black Eyed Peas minus Fergie. They were the only performers to use a live band to supply the music.
The Pharcyde - The Pharcyde had a nice set reuniting all four members. The Pharcyde started their performance off with "Runnin" and ended it on a nostalgic note with "Passin' Me By"
Mos Def - Mos Def put on a great show performing joints off Black on Both Sides, and True Magic.
Nas - Hands down the highlight of the show. Nas started off doing joints from his current album Untitled, and then took the crowd down memory lane through Nas' discography. From Illmatic to Stillmatic, to God's Son, Nas performed numerous tracks with high energy and charisma. Nas also said Fuck Bill O'Rielly and Fuck Fox News.
A Tribe Called Quest- The second best performance of Rock The Bells. The set started with Q-Tip performing tracks off his upcoming album and the slept-on Amplified album. He also had Mos Def with him to hype up the crowd. Later on, the rest of the members of A Tribe Called Quest to perform hits such as "Bonita Applebum", "Can I Kick It", "Electric Relaxation", "Award Tour", and many others.
Second stage:
The second stage had other acts such as The Cool Kids, Kidz in The Hall, The Pack, Tyga, MF Doom and others. The only two that I got a chance to see were Tyga and The Pack. I wish I could've seen the performance of an supposed imposter MF Doom that wrapped up the second stage, which led to angry fans throwing things and booing the impostor. Check the video below:

I heard a rumor that MF Doom is preparing a new album titled DOOMposter where the theme of the album is him addressing an MF Doom impostor who's been posing as MF Doom at shows like the video shown above. Hopefully he can redeem himself with that idea.

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