Beets, Rhymes, & Life: April 2009

kanye's new video amazing off of 808s and Heartbreak. and a little interview afterwards too

I do not smoke weed, but I love the music that is about or inspired by it. So here are some songs to celebrate 4/20.

Every year there is an unofficial holiday to celebrate the independent record store community. With the rise of digital music, record stores are starting to fail. To help get people back buying from independent record stores, people instituted record store day. My friends and I attended went to BG's local independent reocord store, Finders, and to our surprise it was Record Store Day.

I decided to buy one of my favorite albums of all time, The COllege Dropout, on vinyl.

Here are all of the free CDs I got for coming to Finders on Record Store Day.

This is A Piece of Strange by the Cunninlynguists. It has been discontinued and being sold for $49.99 on Amazon.com, and i found it in the used/discounted section for 6.99 there were 2 copies, I may go back and sell it on ebay or something.

The folder to put all of our free music into.

the sticker given to the people who went to the record store that day.

#40 Bone Thungs-N-Harmony "E. 1999 Eternal"

Best Verse: Bizzy Bone on "1st of the Month"
Best Beat: "1st of the Month"
Best Song: "Crossroad"

#39 Thom Yorke "The Eraser"

Best Song: "And It Rained All Night"

#38 Talib Kweli "Quality"

Best Verse:"Won't You Stay" Verse 1
Best Beat: "Get By"
Best Song: "Get By"

#37 Bright "Cassadega"

Best Song: "Lime Tree"

#36 A Tribe Called Quest "The Low End Theory"

Best Verse: "Excursions" Q-Tip
Best Beat: "Scenario"
Best Song: "Check the Rhime"

#35 Scarface "The Fix"

Best Verse: Verse 1 on "My Block"
Best Beat:"Guess Who's Back"
Best Song: "In Between Us"

#34 Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon"

Best Song "Time"
Best Instrumental: "Great Gig in the Sky"

#33 Mos Def "Black on Both Sides"

Best Verse: Verse 1 "Brooklyn"
Best Beat: "Mathematics"
Best Song: "Ms. Fat Booty"

#32 Goodie Mob "Soul Food"

Best Verse: Cee-Lo on "I Didnt Ask to Come"
Best Beat: "The Day After"
Best Song: "The Day After"

#31 Masta Ace "Disposable Arts"

Best Verse: "Too Long"
Best Beat: "Acknowledge"
Best Song: "Hold U"

1. Wind (turns out BG is a lot more windy than he thought)
2. No Helmet (mmmm)
3. Cars aren't too friendly here
4. He's out of shape and he can't ride against the wind
5. What was he thinking?

(c) text message from Jason D*M*rc*(censored for securrrity reasons)

- the phrase "FML"
- my crap top
- bad grammar
- BGSU internet connection
- Dell computers
- the waitress at Frickers
- dry wings at Frickers
- Ohio weather
- BG floods
- the state of Michigan

http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=42841

The legendary Roots crew will deliver their ninth studio album, How I Got Over, in June, as revealed by Black Thought to XXLMag.com prior to the band’s jam session at New York’s Highline Ballroom last night (April 6).

“The new record is well underway—right now, it’s about completed,” said Black Thought. Arriving amidst the band’s touring hiatus, How I Got Over will reflect The Roots ascension in the mainstream as house band on NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. “It’s a more celebratory album—the story of triumph and the rise of the brand that is ‘The Roots,’ and how we kept our heads above water consistently for so many years in the game without taking a hiatus, maintaining some love and relevancy for all this time,” said The Roots’ lead MC. “And it refers to the gospel song by Mahalia Jackson. That’s the initial inspiration for the title of this joint. It’s like a moving performance of her rendition of that song.”

The recording process for the album was made difficult by The Roots’ current commitment to Late Night, involving 16-hour days Monday through Friday—due in part to the band’s commute everyday from their home base in Philly to the New York set. “We recorded some stuff right there on set, working in our little dressing room or whatever—just getting it in where we fit in, so to speak,” he said. “We record sometimes after we tape a show for the night—we just hit the studio.”

And on the nights in New York when the band isn’t in the studio, they can be found at the Highline Ballroom, playing a run of jam sessions, the last of their live dates before their touring hiatus. Last night’s show featured guests such as Joell Ortiz, Jesse Boykins III, Blitz The Ambassador, and Roots’ extended family member Dice Raw, among others, to aid in the high-energy improvisation. The shows, set to include a total of 12 dates, have all sold out thus far. Says Black Thought, “It adds on to the understanding of The Roots having arrived.”

As for whether the band envisions keeping this up for the next five years, the length of their contract with Late Night, Black Thought is optimistic. “It’s definitely a possibility as long as we’re able to maintain the same sort of maneuverability.” He insists, “No problems have arisen thus far. - Devin Chanda

... 3 albums in 3 years is a really good look for The Roots, hopefully its on the level of 2007's Game Theory instead of the weak 2008's Rising Down.

Brought to BRL by: Lauren T*nn*r (Censored for security purposes)

I recieved the Cunninlynguists new (techniquely a mixtape) CD thing. It is not a full-length album because it consists of 3 remixes of old songs, 3 songs by artists not in the group, and a live performance of a song from their first album. But with that being said, this is so much better than a mixtape. Strange Journey vol 1 plays on a loose concept, the intro the group steals a broken down green van, which is prominently spoken about throughout this mixtape cd thing. The Strange Journey is simply about the life on the road, touring. The 'lynguists bring a more feel-good, fun approach to this project, which is great because they are so damn funny (see the skit, "White Guy Mindtricks"), its just they are so damn great at making serious, introspective music. Also this mixtape/CD boasts the biggest collaborations in the history of the group, which hopefully lead to a bigger fanbase. The remixes of "KKKY" and "Georgia" feature Nappy Roots and Killer Mike with Khujo Goodie from Goodie Mob respectively. My only complaint is that Deacon, Natti, and Kno do not appear on those two tracks, which is a little disappointing. But the most notable feature is "Dont Leave (When Winter Comes)" featuring Slug from Atmosphere, and there is no disappointment, it is quite possibly my favorite Cunninlynguists track. The mixCD closes with another standout track, "Broken Van" featuring Mac Leathal which talks about the aforementioned van that broke down, and in the outro they buy an Imperial which will lead into Vol 2 which will be released in September.

Eminem released his new single yesterday "We Made You" featuring the girl who sang on super man, drug ballad, and cum on everbody from previous albums. But as far singles Eminem has continued his trend of cheesy lead singles dating back to his debut in 1999. I personally was hoping he'd switch up his direction for his upcoming album, "The Relapse" which comes out May 15, and come with a more mature approach. Well without further adu I give you the first single from Eminem's first album in 5 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIkzQYns61Q
(for some reason i cant embed this video)

BRL apologizes for having not updated in a few days. It has been rather hectic the past few days, but i will mark this as my come back.

Another great video from one of my favorite songs from the best album from 2008, which was released exactly a year ago 2 weeks from now. This album has been in constant rotation since getting the album, but once again here is another excellent video from Sean and Anthony.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Rhymes: Kanye West - Amazing (video)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Rhymes: Songs About .... (4/20 Post)

Life: Record Store Day (Saturday April 18)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Rhymes: #40-31 Greatest Albums of All Time

Jason DMrc*'s 5 Reasons Not To Bike in BG

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

From Dwight Schrute's Beet Farm: Things That Don't Sit Too Well With Me Vol. #3

From Nora's MUCT Notebook: Top 5 Lists

Thursday, April 9, 2009

From Dwight Schrute's Beet Farm: Kanye West - Gay Fish (South Park

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

From Dwight Schrute's Beet Farm...

Rhymes: The Roots New Album in June

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

From Dwight Schrute's Beet Farm: Snuggies

Rhymes: Strange Journey Vol #1

Rhymes: Don't Call It a Comeback (Seriously, Don't)

Its been a long time, I shouldnt have left you, with no dope beets to step to...

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Rhymes: Atmosphere "Your Glass House" (Music Video)