Throwback Thursday - Will Smith aka The Fresh Prince freestyle 1989 on Tim Westwood

You can definitely tell Will Smith was ahead of his time even then. You already know from the way he spoke, his content, and his vocab that this guy had a really high IQ. It's a great look into

DMX sings Rudolph the Red-Nose reindeer

This is sooo hilarious!!!

DJ Khaled x Justice League: Making of "Hip-Hop" ft Nas & Scarface

I like some DJ Khaled's stuff but this right here puts him on a whole level of respect for me. I can definitely dig this type of song. Justice League x Nas x Scarface x DJ Premier cuttin and scratchin'? WOW! Just wow! Impeccable shit, yo. I'm really hoping this record gets the props it deserves and gets its own video. Seriously. Under the making of video, you can catch the whole track. I might have to see what this "Kiss the Ring" album is all about now. This track is just...I can't even put it into words.

Download the new Nas album "Life is Good" today!

I know the official Nas release is not until, tomorrow (17th). You can click that and order it, but I had to get the bootleg copy just because I'm that dayum excited! LOL. Trust me, I'm definitely going to support this album. You should, too! It's that dayum good! You can check out the download link here, but PLEASE support REAL Hip-Hop. I'll get into a review of a few tracks I'm really feeling. The Don - definitely one of my fav tracks because Nas is really feelin the vibe and just knows he's in echelon of his own. This is one of the last tracks you get to hear the Jamaican influence of Heavy D for the production. You Wouldn't Understand - I'm really loving the flow on this one. The production sounds like a throwback 80s. Mad smooth and you even hear Nas talk about Fila and Adidas shelltoes, so you know the vibe he's on. Back When - If you aren't familiar with the sample in the beginning, then you aren't Hip-Hop. Point. Blank. Period. As soon as I heard the MC Shan sample, I knew where this track was going. Stay - Smooth, mellow, and relaxing. Something about Nas' flow on jazz tracks just making everything seem so much clearer. I guess it's nurture because his pops, Olu Dara, was a Jazz musician. It's fitting. This is the type of track you need a nice glass of wine to listen to and really take it all in. Cherry Wine - This is a great track. When I saw an interview with Nas and he was talking about this specific song, I told myself I had to hear it. I wanted to wait until the album came out (or near there) so I could hear it in great quality. RIP to Amy Winehouse. Her voice complements this song beautifully. It's a real feel good that makes me want to chill with a beautiful woman and just enjoy life. Bye Baby - It's a good closure song for Nas. I think he was really able to let go and simply let it all out. Honesty is one of the strong things we have in music. It's a courageous thing for Nas to be able to show his validity even with his most personal items.

Interesting Infographic: Map of New York's Hip-Hop Scene

Shoutout to Fast Co Design for this infographic. I like where they are going with this, but it is pretty incomplete. When you talk about Hip-Hop, you can't just say Rap or the DJ. You have to mention the embodiment! I don't see anything correlating to any graffiti or b-boy crews. In fact, the graff writers and the b-boy crews were the most influential because no one was really getting the DJs or the emcees just yet. They understood art and writing and dancing. Well, if you want to know about B-Boying and B-Boy crews, you can check out my hub (that's still in the works) called "The Art of B-boying" To get a good idea of what I'm talking about where all of the elements are represented in one, I'll post a good video. A classic video. KRS-One - Step Into a World, Rappers Delight: The Remake, and of course - the classic Lords of the Underground track - Chief Rocka! Enjoy! Hip-Hop all day! Man, I'll even throw in the Puffy Remix to Step Into a World! LOL. Hey, it's still dope! Here are some classic albums NY albums you can purchase:

Hot 97 Summer Jam 2012 Livestream - June 3rd

Later today, we have the Hot 97 Summer Jam 2012 livestream kicking off at 2:30pm. This year's Hot 97 features headliners Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross, as well as Young Jeezy, DJ Khaled, Trey Songz, Waka Flocka Flame, hometown heroes French Montana and Maino, 2 Chainz, Tyga, Mavado, J. Cole, Wale, Big Sean and Meek Mill. There will always be a sleuth of guests and up and comers such as A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q, Big K.R.I.T., Azealia Banks, Fred the Godson, and Pusha T, from 2-6PM. The performances will take place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Live stream videos at Ustream

B-boy Miracles x Tekken Tag Tournament (Furious Styles)

This is still one of my most favorite solo clips. First off, I used to love this song during the cinemas after defeating Unknown on Tekken Tag Tournament...it's really epic and the bass is INCREDIBLE. 2nd of all, it's B-boy Miracles (who has some of the illest footwork in the game). You put that together with dope editing, musicality, and flava - you got fire. Really dope trailer for the Furious Styles 15th Anniversary. Check it out - pretty slick =):


Furious Styles 15th Anniversary DVD trailer from R Flores on Vimeo.

R.I.P. Malcolm McLaren

I'ma keep this story as short as possible.

 I remember it was roughly 2002 <---I was 15 years old. I was just getting into b-boying, and I didn't have much to go on. MTV 2 at the time was a really underground station, imho. They played some of the most underground videos, and had different specials. In fact, it was like the original MTV in certain ways that just played solely videos. I came across this special on there called Made in New York or Once Upon a Time in New York (something like that). It had old videos that were made in New York. One of them was the old Blondie video with Fab Five Freddy. You remember that one line that Debbie Harry said "Eating cars in bars." LOL.

Anyway, so I was watching it...I automatically heard this random beat. I saw a young Rock Steady Crew doing some of their famous routines. All I heard was scratching...."all that scratching is making me itch" literally. I was like whoooooaaaa...what is this song?????? What is this video???? This is the weirdest video I'd ever seen. First off, the title, Buffalo Gals (dozy do?). It was sooo weird (Let me tell y'all this is about 2 yrs before youtube really hit...and I was still on that 56k type ish....morpheus was king at the time..hahaha). So, of course, I immediately hit up my boy Tyree. We were geeking at this video, and we showed the rest of the crew. I kept watching this one part over n over when Wigz and I think it was Fabel did this pseudo locking section..(it's on the breakdown section of the song). Man, I loved that video sooo much...I think I must have replayed that video at least 10,000+ times. Haha. It just had a major impact on me. It was not just the song, the dancing, the video. It was the style, the freshness, the energy, the youth of the video that made me feel the way I felt. Mind you..that video is 27 years old. Hip-Hop was still very much in the infant stage as far as exposing itself into a worldwide phenom.

I thank McLaren for exposing me to a few key elements in Hip-Hop, and just bringing me into a further thrust of knowledge as I was in my preliminary stage of becoming a Hip-Hopper. You not only give me memories as a b-boy and hip-hopper but bring me back to my youth when my life was more carefree, and it felt soo adventurous. Thank you.

What is Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop dance?

It's a term that's been misconstrued since the exploitation era. Ok, I can go into a long, well thought out thesis. However, you will not read all that, because "humans have lack of attention span." lol. At any rate, my believe from the original coin of the term. It is b-boying *the original dance of Hip-Hop which came out of the social dances in NYC - particularly the Bronx*, graffiti *the art of Hip-Hop*, emceeing *the spoken word, the crowd controller,* the dj *the backbone....the crowd regulator that manipulates the music for everyone to get down to*, and knowledge *spreading that knowledge and culture and learning the history*. Now these 5 elements have been battered time and time again.

What I am getting into with this...mainstream "Hip-Pop" dancing. Any real practitioner of the dance knows that official dance begins with B-boying *break dancing*. However, where does that lead to all the freestyle dances. I simply say this. What is called "Hip-Hop dance" now *freestyled movements into choreography so that mainstream America can understand it or it looks presentable by so-called structured dances* is indeed the very root of the street dances that came about.

That's why I can't really fuck w/ shows like SYTCYD or even at times ABDC. I appreciate them, but at the same time...they will never get the essences of our dances. I mean, how can Nigel understand a dope ass lock into a transition at an obscure part of the song. Or a dope halo into some awkward looking thread right on the stop of the dime when a cat is really going off. Or even toprock - the basics of the dance...

I understand people need to make a living, ppl need to eat. True that. I respect the hustle. Seriously! I do...just give props where props are due.

I can go on and on about this. Just check the clip below and see what you think of when u look at dance nowadays:

Lady Pink O.G. writer interview.

Here's a nice interview with O.G. Graffiti Writer, Lady Pink..if you've seen Wild Style, she was Raymond's (Lee Quinones) girl. I believe this was from 2007. Man, her artistry has come a long way!! I love to see people advance in their art. She makes a good point, though. It can definitely be related to the mainstream crap (i mean, rap) game out there. Don't sell yourself out just for money...seriously, money making should be an objective and you do have mouths to feed, but don't come out with solely bullshit. There should be a balance. Str8 up. Anyway, here is the interview.
 Props to Koreanroc.com
Lady Pink - OG Graffiti Artist (KoreanRoc.com) from Koreanroc on Vimeo.