Album of Tha Moment

Aight, so with Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II both droppin' September 8th of this year, it's been a strong year for rap albums so far. After Eminem's Relapse failed to impress many people (myself not included), the upcoming Relapse 2 is possibly a more highly anticipated album than the first one, expected to drop sometime before the end of the year. But now that we've spoke on the past and the future, let's focus on the now in rap.

Wale's highly anticipated and long awaited debut, Attention Deficit dropped this past Tuesday, and to get straight to the point, if you're a rap fan that doesn't listen to the usual Gucci Mane and Young Money tracks, don't flock to whatever is the flavor of the month (like the whole "Jerk" movement), and is patiently waiting for real, subject based rap to resurface in the mainstream, you need to hear this album.

I been bumpin' this album faithfully (meaning at least one full play once a day) since it's drop date, and it's truly an album worth spending money on. The production is crisp from start to finish, with the exception of a couple beats that I just wasn't feelin'. Those two beats were "Mirrors" featuring Bun B, and "TV In The Radio" featuring K'Naan. That's not sayin' I don't like those songs, I just thought the beats were lackluster, and just not as sick as the rest of the album. That's personally my own gripe with the album, which isn't really a gripe because, Wale does his thing on every single track on the album.

I've read in some reviews that the large number of guest appearances (9 out of the 14 tracks have at least one guest) can be somewhat of a distraction, but that fact did not matter as much to me. I did find the Gucci Mane cameo on "Pretty Girls" questionable, but hey, if you know me, you should've expect that. For the most part, each guest appearance compliments its respective track, especially on tracks like "Shades" (featuring Chrisette Michelle) and "Diary" (featuring Marsha Ambrosius; possibly my two favorite tracks on the album); since I couldn't imagine Wale constructing his own hook to lace such beautiful songs.

The album falls right into what is the perfect length for a rap album by my personal definition (14-16 songs). Every track has a meaning, which varies heavily from track to track, a rare combination in today's rap. He goes from spittin' about a typical Hollywood girl obsessed with looking like the modern celebrity in "90210" to the differences in shades of black people in "Shades", to the diary of a young woman in "Diary"; all topics which virtually NO mainstream rapper is hitting in their music. Each track is filled with at least one memorable line like "It's ironic they call me a fresh breath no joke/ you see them boys signed me to the "Scope"/" commenting on himself being signed to Interscope.

With all that in mind, I remember stating that The Blueprint 3 was what all modern-day rap albums should sound like. After hearing Attention Deficit repeatedly, I'm convinced this is what a modern-day rap debut album should sound like. You can hear the album in full, here.

~Trufe

Music of Tha Moment

So, check it out. I think I have a somewhat moderately expansive iPod, as well as an overall moderately expansive taste in music. Also, I like sharing my interests, as well as parts of my overall life with others, seeing as how I just feel I'm an interesting person. Thankfully, you'll learn a bit more about me personally when the documentary Louder Than a Bomb drops in 2010. But this particular post, in contrast to the "Artist You Should Know" segment featured here on "Tha Moment of Trufe", is just to let you all in on what I've been diggin' lately as far as music goes. Hopefully, you like it, if not, you're prolly a Wayne fan (no lol).

First and foremost is a new track by The Game entitled, "Champion".

I don't know about you, but I get more than a lil' bit of my songs from video games, and this track is one of them. This is the opening track from NBA 2K10, and I was feelin' it from the moment the beat dropped. The Game on this track displays more lyrical creativity than we've seen from him in recent history, naming possibly every NBA team without ever speaking about basketball in the two verses. The beat itself is simple, albeit hypnotic simultaneously, and personally left me wanting to know who produced it. The only possible downside is the usage of the dreaded autotune on the hook. The autotune effect has taken a bit of a blow in terms of popularity since the release of Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)", but The Game released "I'm So Wavy", a diss track aimed at Jay-Z (for whatever reason) shortly after the release of "D.O.A.", in which he said "D.O.A. nigga? Please. I love 808s & Heartbreak, nigga "Love Lockdown"'s my shit", so I'm sure the usage of autotune was an indirect "fuck you" towards Jay. But that's a blog post for another day. Rating: 4.5 of 5. On to the next track, shall we?

MGMT- "Electric Feel"

This is another track I discovered while playing NBA 2K10 (I'm tellin' y'all, video games be havin' great music nowadays), and once again, I was hooked from the second the beat dropped. I have no clue who MGMT is, but after hearing this song, I was definitely interested in learning more about them. At first listen, I don't even know what their music would be classified as, as far as genres go, but who cares? This track is HOT! From the vocals, to the flutes, to the hook;it seems like everything just perfectly falls into place, making an aspiring artist like myself wonder what type of magic has to happen in the studio in order for a song like this to come about. If you're not familiar with Murphy's Law, it's the belief that everything that CAN go wrong, DOES go wrong, and I really feel that whatever the opposite of Murphy's Law is, that had to have taken place when this track was being composed. Rating: 5 of 5. On to the next one.

Clipse feat. Cam'ron and Pharrell- "Popular Demand (Popeyes)"

It's been a while since we've heard from Clipse, and I'm sure to the casual rap fan, they've faded to the background. To the true rap fan tho, Clipse ain't never went nowhere, and I'm personally excited to hear their new project after their last album Hell Hath No Fury" went undeservedly unnoticed. That shit was CRACK! But again, I first heard this track like a week ago, and I immediately was drawn to the classic hip-hop sound to it. If the sick Neptunes beat didn't hook you, I'm sure the verse from Pusha T did. Then came the second verse. From Cam'ron. G; what the fuck? Cam'ron?! Of all people to give a cameo to, you give it to Cam'ron?! I ain't even gone stunt, I used to like Cam, I really did. But the rap game has evolved since he dropped "Oh Boy!"and it seems like his lyrics didn't get the memo. He still does that wack shit, where he forces unreasonable amounts of syllables to rhyme, which result in bars like, "the ghetto na belt on the hip (or WHATEVER the fuck he said)/ I keep it Pharrell with the Clipse". Like, are you serious, dude? Like, you really in the booth with THAT shit on your notebook, and actually spittin' it? Hey, to each his own, I guess. Malice did just enough to stop listeners from strangling themselves following Cam's verse with his final verse, but that doesn't make up for a questionable hook from Pharrell. Rating: 4 of 5. On to the last track we go.

Consequence feat. Kanye West and John Legend- "Whatever You Want"

This track actually dropped a while ago, but the video was just shot a little over a month ago. Still, this track is not getting the airplay it deserves. Most of you may not know who Consequence even is, but simply put, to me, he's an underground emcee striving to be mainstream. Which means he has more lyrical talent than most mainstream rappers, and that's why you don't know who he is. But the Cons is taking on a different sound with this track, and I must say, it works. The Kanye West produced beat is yet another snare-less beat, similar to "Homecoming" and "Love Lockdown", which somehow, never seems to fail Kanye. Over the course of the track, Kanye and Consequence alternate, each spitting four bars in between a four bar hook, which only repeats the phrase "whatever you want, want, want...", etc. Then comes John Legend with a bridge offering soul that only John Legend can deliver; all of which is delivered over an intoxicating beat, which I feel is IMPOSSIBLE to not dance to. My only "con" with the track is its length, or lack thereof; the song is only 2:37. This is understandable, to a certain extent, taking into account the short verses and the fact that you never want to give too much of a good thing, but I'm sure fans of good music will have this track on repeat, resulting in astronomical amounts of plays in their iTunes library. Rating: 4.5 of 5.

That is all, my Trufe-seekers. Till next time, PEACE!!

~Trufe

Who's Real? Who's Fake?

So, check it out. The world today, or at least the current generation, relies HEAVILY on trends. If somebody else ain't doin' some shit, most people ain't gone do it. I don't even know if most people even realize this fact; possibly becuz they themselves are too busy following trends to notice. But anyway, one of the biggest trends of today, and about-- I'd say-- the last four to five years, has been social networking websites.

First, it was Tagged, remember that shit? That was poppington in like, '05, don't stunt. At least, it was at Steinmetz. Then, came the dreaded MySpace, which EVERYBODY had or still has one of. And nowadays, I'd say the most popular site is Facebook. There were a few others that were kinda popular for a minute, like BlackPlanet and Hoverspot, but never gained the popularity of MySpace and Facebook. And of course, you can never forget about Twitter, which I feel is the dumbest shit ever created, BUT, with the idea of following trends being so trendy, a lotta people are starting to grab one. Once people find out about Google Wave, I'm sure that'll be the new craze also; just remember where you heard about Google Wave first, niglettes.

Getting straight to the point, I'm a frequent Facebook user, like a lotta people I know, and I have had Facebook for a while now. I joined Facebook in December of 2006, after getting invited MONTHS earlier, but declining to join since I didn't know what it was at the time. So, it's safe to say I KINDA SORTA followed a trend by joining, since I didn't actually join till I heard a little buzz about it, but keep in mind, in December of '06, MySpace was all the rave, so I was still being an individual in my own way. Point being, I've seen this site go through a lotta phases; from being an invite-only college site, to an invite-only high school and college site (when I joined) to being a site for ANYONE.

Nowadays, I use it to keep in touch with people slightly outside my immediate friend circle, as well as old friends (like grammar school and high school buddies), but I really think that most people are only on Facebook becuz the current social networking site trend is "MySpace is lame, Facebook is where it's at", or something along those lines. Basically, I'm starting to see a lotta the same people and trends that prompted me to stray away from MySpace popping up on Facebook, and it's really making me want to write a social networking website poem (a la Shannon Matesky's "My Space", albeit, an updated version) at the very least, and this blog post is pretty much nothing more than a brainstorm for that.

Simply put, social networking sites are a trip. If I had a dollar for every "ThIngZ dHat PisZ mE oFf oN FacEbOok" note I came across, I'd uh... have a few dollars in my pocket. If I slapped a bitch for every status similar to "I HATE FUCKIN FAKE ASS PEOPLE" that I've read, I'd have slapped more bitches than a lil' bit at this point. It's gotten to a point that a lotta people use these sites as an excuse to be someone that face-to-face interaction prohibits. I mean, I once read a status that said "man, people just upload anything to Facebook nowadays" or somethin' along those lines, and I could not believe that person was serious. It's crazy how some people only upload pics or type statuses for the approval of others, and it's crazier that it's gotten to the point that people are shocked, or think it's immoral when people upload things becuz THEY want to. I mean, that shows that that person portrays a persona online in which they don't have to be his or herself, yet these are, in most cases, the same people screaming that they hate fake people. Crazy when you actually think about it, right?

Maybe it's just the type of friends that have added me in the past that are like this. Maybe I should take into account the age of these people and realize that most of them are fresh off of MySpace, where posing in front of a camera and coming up with a screen name meant that online, you were that somebody you wish you could be in real life. What I do know, is that I have 874 friends on Facebook, which I have maybe added 1/4 of myself, meaning that similar to MySpace, people add people on Facebook just for the hell of it, or for the sake of a large number of friends. But the fact of the matter is, I joined Facebook becuz back then, people would really be themselves, since they used their real name, and didn't dress up their profile with a bunch of quotes that they don't even really live by. Nowadays, people settle for make-believe middle names, since Facebook in MOST, not all, cases doesn't allow fake first and last names cuz it's pretty much the closest they can get to not being themselves online. My only question is, when will we be comfortable enough with ourselves to BE ourselves? That is all. Poem coming soon (hopefully).

~Trufe

Sign The Damn Papers Already!

So, I was listenin' to WGCi earlier, right? And you know on Sundays they have some thing called "Throwback Sunday" or some shit like that, where they be playin' ol' school music for the majority of the day. And you know that's my ish right there, I got a bunch of ol' school music on my iPod. But do you know them ninjas had the nerve to play "I Wanna Rock" by Uncle Luke today?! They went Orange County with that one, true ish (btw, "Orange County" is my new saying for "O.C.", which originally means "out of control", but yeah, don't steal it).

But that ain't the point, I was listenin' to the radio, when they mentioned the song "Papers", which was the basis for my last blog, and then, they played this:

Are you serious right now?! Tameka, cut the man some slack! He done damn near lost his ma-muh. He done been through so much dra-muh. He don't turned into the man that he never thought he would! And now you wanna key his shit?!

But on a serious note, I really don't know if this is serious anymore. Personally, it's not even a big deal to me; I'm sure domestic disputes like this happen ALL the time. But Usher should already know, the media is gone eat him ALIVE for this one, and that's why I'm questioning this incident's credibility.

Maybe he's tryna generate buzz for his upcoming album, Raymond vs. Raymond, which is slated for a December 8th release as of now. Hell, maybe he tryna get him and Tameka a reality show, who knows? EVERYBODY got a reality show these days, and most of them don't have half the drama that's been surrounding these two as of late. Maybe, that woman done watched A Thin Line Between Love and Hate one too many times, hell I don't know! But whatever the case may be, I still wish the best for these two souls.

But please, Usher, I'm saying this to you as a true fan of your music. Whether it be divorce papers, or a restraining order, please my dude, sign the damn papers.

~Trufe

P.S. if you're reading this via Facebook, you must visit my blog to see the video/hear the phone conversation with 911.

http://thamomentoftrufe.blogspot.com

Ready To Sign Them Papers

So, I've come to realize that I'm one of the few people of today who still listen to the radio. But, I do. I have a radio/alarm clock, so when I wake up in the morning, instead of just shutting off the alarm, I just turn it down to a normal volume, and continue listening.

While doing this about a week ago, I caught what was announced as the world premier of Usher's new single, entitled "Papers" (WGCi said it was the world premier, but they are known for playing "new" music well after other urban stations like Power92 have already done so).

At first listen, it sounds like the typical Usher ballad; it kind of sounds like "Burn", which kind of sounded like "You Got it Bad". Yeah, along those lines. But, after the track ended, the DJ stated that the track was supposedly about Usher's soon to be ex-wife Tameka Foster. Then, I decided to look up the track, and really listen to the lyrics.

After doing that, it's easy to know that it's about her. I personally appreciated the extremely personal aspect of the track; myself being a poet. Not a lot of singers make music as personal as this track appears to be. Hell, not a lot of urban music artists make music about shit that actually happens in their life at all. But, my opinion of the track differs from most.

A lot of people find the track, "funny", and not in a good way. I mean, I've heard people actually laugh at this track, and at Usher for expressing his truest feelings through his gift of music. I personally don't see what's funny about that but, hey, to each his own. I've read comments on YouTube along the lines of "this song is too personal", etc. I personally don't think anything an artist creates can be TOO personal; with the lone exception of Eminem saying, "listen girly/ surely you don't want me to talk about how I nutted early/ cuz I ejaculated prematurely" in "The Warning", the diss track to Mariah Carey. THAT'S being too personal. Especially when it's only for the purpose of embarrassing someone else. I'mma chalk that up as a case of "When Keepin' It Real Goes Wrong".

But anyway, in the midst of all the naysayers, I did come across an intelligent YouTube commenter, who stated, "No one can make you miserable. Blame yourself for allowing someone to effect you this way. Don't blame her for almost losing your momma or giving all that you had..you did it to yourself. To usher and them fellas talking about they feel where is he coming from. I hope the ex-wifey keeps her head up and dismiss the haters."

Shouts to BlaqueQueenSha for the wise words, which I totally agree with. That's my only gripe with the track, is that he's trying to blame Tameka for everything that's gone wrong in his life being the way it is. Damn Usher, was the nookie THAT good, that you couldn't notice everything else around you collapsing based on your decisions? For the sake of their two kids, and, I guess the 1200 she had before marrying Usher, I wish the best for them and their future.

~Trufe

Taking off The Madea Costume, For Real

So, check it out. I'm a fan of Tyler Perry. I respect his grind, how he came from nothing and became something; I'm a fan of his plays and the majority of his movies (even though most of them do have relatively the same plot); but most of all, I respect what he does for black people.

I know a lot of people (mostly black people) who also are Tyler Perry fans. I know a lot of people (mostly black people) who are not fans of Tyler Perry, and I'm cool with that. Opponents say that every movie he makes plays deeply into black stereotypes, and I understand that, but I look at it as Perry trying to connect with black people on a level that most will understand. And when he makes a movie he has one goal in mind: make people leave the theater feeling good and with a smile on their face. If you don't leave a Tyler Perry movie feeling this way, then his movies are not for you.

With that being said, when I went to see I Can Do Bad All By Myself about a month ago, I caught a preview of the upcoming movie, Precious, a movie which Perry has some ties into of which I am currently unclear. I personally felt the movie took a more angry approach than the typical Tyler Perry movie, tackling things such as child abuse, rape, etc. In the wake of this film gaining publicity, Tyler Perry reportedly sent an email to fans Monday revealing previously unknown facts about his childhood:

"In an email to fans that has Perry's admirers buzzing, he recounts various examples of terrible childhood mistreatment - from his father beating him senseless to a neighbor woman molesting him at age 10.

Even his grandmother, the mother of his hated father, became a threat when she objected to his weekly allergy shot, he recalls."

"I'm tired of holding this in. I don't know what to do with it anymore, so, I've decided to give some of it away," he wrote in Saturday's email, which was also posted on his website.

He recounted being beaten by his father for reading books and filching cookies.

"He got the vacuum cleaner extension cord and trapped me in a room and beat me until the skin was coming off my back. To this day, I don't know what would make a person do something like that to a child," Perry wrote.

I don't know about you, but hearing and reading this for myself helped me understand why Perry's films and plays focus so much on perseverance. People say so much to writers to simply "write what you know" and this shows that Perry knows a lot about trials and tribulations leading to triumph... and apparently millions of dollars. Tyler Perry's highest grossing film to date, Madea Goes To Jail grossed over $109 million. Even his lowest grossing film to date, Daddy's Little Girls grossed over $31 million.

I've been very blessed in my life, but looking at that type of money kind of makes me wish I had a rougher childhood. Kind of. Precious drops November 6.

You can read the entire article about Tyler Perry here.

~Trufe

The Week In Review, 9/27-10/3

What a crazy week it has been, huh? Especially for the city of Chicago. The week started off decent, with the Bears pullin' out a tough 25-19 win against a beat-up Seattle Seahawks team in a game that never should have been that close early Sunday. Only to be followed by the Fox News report bearing the bad news about Derrion Albert's death following Thursday's fiasco at Fenger High School.

There wasn't a day that went by this week in which Albert's death wasn't the talk of the town. Rapper Nas even issued a letter that was first broadcast through Chicago radio station WGCi addressed to the young males in Chicago on Tuesday, which raised questions from Chicagoans along the lines of "Why didn't a Common or a Kanye West issue this letter? Why did Nas, a New Yorker, have to be the one to take this step?", etc.

Speaking of Kanye West, his upcoming "Fame Kills" tour with Lady GaGa was cancelled earlier this week. Various rumors concerning the sudden cancellation of what would've been one of music's hottest tours range from Kanye deciding that he needs a break from music, to Lady GaGa saying that she didn't want to work with the Chicago rapper following the infamous spat with Taylor Swift at the VMAs a few weeks ago. However, Lady GaGa did issue a statement Friday stating that the decision to cancel the tour was mutual. You can read more about the cancellation right'chea.

Going briefly back to sports, the Bulls won the first game of their preseason Friday against the Indiana Pacers, 104-95. The victory was foreshadowed however, by Chicago's elmination from the bidding for the 2016 Olympics earlier in the day. Pulling a Chicago Cubs a la 2007, Chicago was eliminated from the bidding in the first round. Hopefully, Mayor Richard M. Daley can now act like he got some sense, and try to regain some control over a city that had appeared to have been deteriorating in every way possible ever since it was announced that Chicago was a candidate city for the 2016 games. Rio de Janeiro won the Olympics, giving South America their first ever Olympic games.

So yeah... that about it. I'm horrible at ending anything, whether it be an essay, a poem, or especially a blog entry. So uh...

~Trufe

Just When You Thought...

Just when I thought the news couldn't get any more bizarre; sick; twisted. Just when I thought African-Americans couldn't do any more to lower the opinions of us. Just when I thought it was ok to return to my normal life and regular blogging. I come across this...

"A woman was arrested after her 14-year-son told authorities he escaped from a home where he’d been kept for 4 1/2 years, spending most of his time locked in a bedroom closet, police said Monday.

“He was hungry. He was dirty. He had numerous scars on his body,” Knight said. “It was very sad.”

After police interviews, officers on Saturday arrested the boy’s mother, 37-year-old LaRhonda Marie McCall, and a friend, 38-year-old Steve Vern Hamilton, on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect. Formal charges have not been filed, and both were being held on $400,000 bond, according to jail records."

Okay... why? How? This one is honestly beyond me. I could not fathom what could be going through a person's head when they make a decision to lock someone in a closet. And it gets worse...

"The teen, wearing only a pair of oversized shorts held up by a belt, walked up to a security guard at the Guard facility around 5 p.m. Friday and asked where a police station was located so he could report being abused, according to a police report.

He told police that scars on his stomach and torso were from where alcohol had been poured on him and set on fire. Other scars were from being tied up, hit with an extension cord and choked, the boy told police.

“He had scars covering most of his body,” Knight said. “They were basically from head to foot.”

The teen told police he moved to the Oklahoma City area from New Jersey about 4 1/2 years ago after his mother was released from jail. Since arriving in Oklahoma, he said, he had never been to school and spent most of his time locked in a bedroom closet."

What the fuck, people? It's-- I honestly can't explain it. It's like the world just gets crazier by the day. I'll just chalk this one up as a sign of the times...

You can read the entire article here.

~Trufe

Artist You Should Know

I like the sound of that title, "Artist You Should Know". I might make it a regular segment here on "Tha Moment of Trufe"...

Anyhow, as most people who know me already know, I'm a writer, who specializes in emceeing. As an emcee, I believe lyrics should be the main component of rap music. Unfortunately, as we all know, that's not the case. Nowadays, mainstream rap is all about swag, how much money you got, or a new dance; see the New Boyz, B. Hamp (artist behind "Do The Ricky Bobby", who's so lame he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page) and the usual suspect, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. But don't hit that panic button yet, rap fans, it's still a few artists out there who keep lyricism number one on their mainstream rap "To Do" list.

I wanna put you on game real quick. If you don't know about Slaughterhouse by now, and you are a fan of lyrics like myself, then guess what? You're not a fan of lyrics. Slaughterhouse is a supergroup composed of Joe Budden, Royce Da 5'9", Crooked I, and Joell Ortiz. Now, the casual rap fan may not know who any of these MCs are, but don't worry, this post wasn't written for you Jerkin' ass negroids.

I peeped the video for their debut single, "The One", the other day, and I must say: hot feces. The thing I like most about Slaughterhouse is that on any given track, any one of them could have the best verse, but nobody would have a wack verse. If you call yourself a fan of lyrics, they should be on your radar. If not, YouTube them dudes!

~Trufe

We Need More Rap Artists Like Nas

So, I'm sure you all have peeped the gruesome footage of former Fenger student Darrion Albert being beat to death in a brutal melee just 3 blocks from the Chicago high school. I mean, it HAS gained national attention. If you haven't, check it out here, but be forewarned, it's ugly...

Well now, rap artist, and self-made revolutionary Nas has decided to step into the mix (Lord knows some male authority figure should have a LONG time ago), releasing the following letter to WGCi, in Chicago:

Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong wars! Killing each other is definitely played out. Being hurt from the lost of a love one was never cool.

Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong war! I know that feeling, that frustration with life and needing to take it out on someone, any one. But....

We chose the dumbest things to go the hardest for. I remember seeing deaths over 8 ball jackets, Fila sneakers, and name plate chains. Deaths over "he say, she say"!!!!! "I'm from this block or I'm from that block", or "my moms n pops is f*cked up now the whole world gotta pay"!!!

I remember feeling like I was the hardest "n*gga" breathing. And I couldn't wait to prove it. But let's think. What are we really proving?? And proving what to who?? Everybody knows Chicago breeds the strongest of the strong but I just feel, me, being ya brother from another state feels your pain as if I grew up with you in ya very own household.

You have the ability and mindpower to change they way we are looked at. Look who's watching us young warriors, look who's throwing us in jail constantly, look at the ignorance in the world. Look at the racist dogs who love to see us down. Loving to bury us in the ground or in jail where we continue this worthless war on one another.

Young warriors.... We are WASTING more and more time. We gotta get on our jobs and take over the world. Cuz this movie left the theaters years ago, Juice, Menace, Boys n the Hood , Blood n Blood Out, Belly!

When we see each other why do we see hatred? Why were we born in a storm, born soldiers, WARRIORS....and instead of building each other up we are at war with each other.. May the soul of this young person find peace with the almighty. I'm with you young warriors. You're me and I'm you. But trust me! you are fighting the wrong war.

Word. It's not a good time to be a Chicagoan right now, or a young black male for that matter (try being both) but hopefully a celebrity with as much influence over young adults as Nas, will have a positive effect on these kids out here.

~Trufe

The True Three-Peat

What's good, my fellow Trufe-seekers? I realize that this post is my first following another long hiatus from the blog world, and in that absence I have missed a lot of great, albeit became cliché in a matter of seconds, blogging opportunities. The most obvious of course being the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, which was the most entertaining awards show I'd seen in a while. From the overly talked about Kanye West-Taylor Swift incident to Lil' Mama invading Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' performance of "Empire State of Mind, to the bizarreness that is Lady GaGa to the incomparable beauty and grace that is Beyoncé, the '09 VMAs will stand out as one of the wildest in history. But fuck the celebrity scandal and the rest of the easy targets that most bloggers yap about, I actually blog to applaud celebrities for their efforts, with the exception of Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Keri Hilson, but hey, they had it coming.

So, I had the opportunity to listen to Jay-Z's latest album, The Blueprint 3, the third album of the Blueprint Trilogy and I must say, it does not disappoint by any stretch of imagination. Going back to my December 13, 2008 post, which previewed The Blueprint 3 based on the reviews of the tracks "Brooklyn (Go Hard)", "Jockin' Jay-Z (Dope Boy Fresh)", and arguably the hottest track of 2008, "Swagga Like Us" (none of which were on The Blueprint 3), I apparently had low expectations for The Blueprint 3. As it turns out, the three aforementioned appeared to be nothing more than refresher tracks for Hov to warm up the lyricism, seeing as how his lyrics on EVERY track on The Blueprint 3 are reminiscent of Jay-Z of the '90s.

That's not saying that you'll hear the same Jay-Z from the Reasonable Doubt days, but it seems as if Hov has FINALLY shaken off the lyrical cobwebs he accumulated during his brief retirement, spitting lyrics such as "shorty like 'Pac, me, Big Poppa/ she screamin' 'hit 'em up', I'm screamin', 'who shot ya'" on the track "Venus Vs. Mars" (which is arguably the most creative, most lyrically complex and possibly the best track on the album), as well as "Please don't bow in my presence/ how am I a legend?/ I just got ten #1 albums, maybe now eleven/ more hits than a Now! 11/ that is no reason to treat me like I'm somehow from out of Heaven" on the track "Thank You". Jay-Z appears to be trying the most complex lyrics he's delivered in recent years, and I assume it's leaving fans of lyrics (i.e. writers who also emcee, such as myself) very pleased for the first time since The Black Album.

On to the production. Hov, as always, employs beats from the top producers in the game such as Timbaland ("Off That", "Venus vs. Mars", "Reminder"), Swizz Beats ("On To The Next One"), The Neptunes ("So Ambitious"), and most notably Kanye West ("What We Talkin Bout", "Thank You", "Run This Town", "A Star Is Born", "Already Home", "Hate" which also features Kanye and "Young Forever"). Chicago producer No I.D. as usual, frequently collaborates with Kanye on the album, being listed in the credits as the fellow producer for every track Kanye receives credit for, with the exceptions of "Hate" and "Young Forever". No I.D. also produced "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" by himself, which proves his worthiness of being placed in the A-list of producers that always provide half the incredibleness of a Jay-Z album. The combination of talented producers creates the unique sound that always separates a Jay-Z album from the rest of rap's albums. The album still finds the time to sound like one album, as opposed to an album sounding differently every track due to so many different producers, which is the norm for today's mainstream rap.

Lastly, and possibly most importantly, is how, if at all, the album flows. This is a trait that's obviously overlooked by most of today's mainstream rappers, but Jay is not most of today's mainstream rappers, which is why The Blueprint 3 does just that. Every track on the album has a point, which sometimes is the point for consecutive tracks. "On To The Next One" and "Off That" both focus on how Hov is focused on what he's about to do in contrast to what he's already done, "Run This Town" and "Empire State of Mind" both address New York and, the tracks "Hate", "Reminder", and "So Ambitious" all focus on how people still hate on Jay even though he's apparently done all there is to do in rap, and how their slander only fuels him. This formula keeps the album flowing smoothly without sounding repetitive.

Overall, I agree with most of the critic reviews. While The Blueprint 3 is not perfect, it is still a much needed breath of fresh air for the mainstream rap industry. There are a few minor kinks that could've been worked out to make this a perfect album much like the first Blueprint, such as a definite conjunction between the aforementioned tracks that have the same premise, a la The-Dream, and I personally dislike when an album ends on a downer track like "Young Forever", but I'll save those, and more secrets for my album.

~Tha Trufe

BET Does It Again; Barely

So, I'm not a big fan of BET. That's not really BET's fault, however. My biggest gripe with BET is the fact that it's owned by Viacom, which is not owned by African-Americans. That in my opinion, gives BET sort of a "slave ship" feel. See Jared Paul's "Dig" for the actual "BET-slave ship" analogy.

Anyways, as I started to say; I'm not a big fan of BET but, they did it BIG with the 9th annual BET Awards. Then again, I am always amazed by their award shows.

Of course, we all got the tragic news of Michael Jackson's tragic, sudden passing Thursday afternoon, and BET actually tried to reconfigure their broadcast to center it around Michael Jackson and his legacy; all in 3 days' time. I must say, the final product wasn't completely desirable; host Jamie Foxx appeared to not even know the show had returned from commercial break a few times, there was an annoying lack of announcing the nominees for most awards, meaning the audience didn't even know who the winners were up against most of the time, and the sound crew horribly struggled to censor certain words during performances (see Young Money's HORRIBLE performance of "Every Girl"); but I do indeed applaud BET for putting together an acceptable, live show in 3 days.

There were a lot of bright spots during the awards though. A few of my favorite moments include: Jamie Foxx's opening of the show, which featured a short but hilarious (and slightly accurate) rendition of Michael Jackson's "Beat It"; his performance of his single, "Blame It", which featured T-Pain, a special appearance from Travis Barker, and a random appearance by Snoop Dogg as well; Jay-Z's "Death of Autotune"; and Ne-Yo's performances, in which he covered Jackson's "The Lady In My Life" beautifully, pulled an Alicia Keys circa 2008, and brought out Keith Sweat, Guy, and Bell Biv Devoe; and topped it off with a beautiful duet with Foxx, covering The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There". Also, the tribute to The O'Jays would've been worth much more if it wasn't in the shadow of Jackson's death. Still, Tyrese, Johnny Gill, and Trey Songz TORE THE STAGE DOWN when they performed O'Jays hits, including "Backstabbers". The O'Jays followed suit, showing they still got it performing their music, but not before Eddie Levert said the most memorable and hilarious quote of the night with, "people were dancing and shit". By the time BET's sound crew could mute the sound, it was too late.

There were additional low-lights to the show also; aside from the aforementioned lack of nominees announcements, odd sound muting, and Jamie Foxx's occasional confusion. Soulja Boy Tell 'Em gave a performance which I believe left a lot of people asking, "why is he even here?". That may be my dislike for him speaking, but on the other hand, the Young Money performance of "Every Girl" was one of the worst performances I've ever seen. Drake sat on a stool the ENTIRE time, the music was too low, there was a mysterious abundance of pre-teen girls surrounding Drake towards the end, and to top it off, who even knows who the guys rapping after Drake are?! I was so relieved when Jamie and Ne-Yo came back out to end the show, because those Young Money guys would've really ended it on the most sour note possible.

Overall, as I stated, the BET Awards deliver an entertaining show every year, and this year was no exception. Here are some of the winners.

Best Female R&B: Beyonce

Best Male R&B: Ne-Yo

Best Group: Day26

Best Male Hip Hop: Lil Wayne

Best New Artist: Keri Hilson

Best Gospel Artist: Mary Mary

Best Actress: Taraji P. Henson

Best Collaboration: Jamie Foxx and T-Pain for "Blame It"

Lifetime Achievement: The O'Jays

Humanitarian of the Year: Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean

-Trufe

Back On Keri Hilson

I mean, who hasn't been? I don't know if y'all have seen the pictures that surfaced a couple months ago of Keri performing at a concert in some, compromising positions for lack of a better term, but yeah, that's what my opening sentence was referring to.

Speaking of Keri Hilson's fearlessness of showing her sexuality in public, the singer-songwriter, who already received some flack from myself when she took shots at Beyonce for reasons unknown, apparently wrote a song for R. Kelly entitled, "Number 1 Sex" a few months back, sparking rumors of lesbianism. The reason behind these rumors probably comes from the first line, in which Keri sings, "girl I know you've been waiting for me, yeah yeah yeah".

There has been some confusion, even on my behalf, on whether or not the song was actually written for R. Kelly, or if Keri Hilson secretly wanted to come out of the closet; and this is largely due to the fact that Keri Hilson sings the entire song, save for the hook, which is sung by R. Kelly. If the track is really a blueprint for how she'd want R. Kelly to sing it, then how'd she get him to sing the hook, but not the verses?

Then there's the fact that the track was actually released. I'm sure everyone realizes that with the internet these days, it's relatively easy for artists' tracks to get leaked; I mean, Lil' Wayne released an official mixtape of leaked tracks that were supposed to make the Carter III once. But artists are figuring out a way to put an end to that; see Eminem's "Relapse" album which, to my knowledge, made it safely to its release date without so much as 3 leaked tracks. And with that being said, the popularity of "Number 1 Sex" raises the question of whether or not Keri even remotely tried to halt the leak of the song.

At the end of the day however, Keri does dispel any lesbian questions in the second verse, where she sings, "'cause when I got up in them draws you be like, 'Kelly he the boss'", indicating that the song was in fact written for R. Kelly. I'm just amazed at the fact that given the length that this track has been in circulation, nobody has taken this lyric into consideration. I mean, do people just not listen to lyrics that drastically as to not notice such an important line?

So, to the relief of millions of men worldwide, Keri Hilson's fine ass (what? I said she's in no position to feud with Beyonce, I never said she was ugly) is not a lesbian; at least to my knowledge she isn't. But, going back to the debacle with Beyonce where I challenged Keri's song-writing ability, a newer version of "Number 1 Sex" has just been released with R. Kelly covering his own vocals. Keri has a verse in the song (in which she sings to a man), and keep in mind that the lyrics Keri wrote and sang for R. Kelly were NOT used. That is all.

-Trufe

30/30: Day 5

"Individuality"

Naked, sweaty men

Still catch my eye. No homo.

I still love wrestling. 

30/30: Day 4

"The Shop"

They call me "Mike Irv"

Before I began to consult "In The Cutt"

To get the newest neighborhood buzz

I had only seen, or heard about "barbershop nicknames"

In movies

TV shows

Or all of the above

I've been informed

Of my supposed resemblance to Michael Irvin before

But any statement achieves maximum credibility

Only when it enters the barbershop atmosphere

Then, it is property of the gods of gossip

The sultans of scandal

And therefore

Can never be dismissed as fiction

I stop by every Tuesday

Alternately Saturday

But that's only when there is no WordPlay later

And watch as the neighborhood

Gets the latest gossip carved into their heads

The air smells of aftershave

And rumors about who fucked that bitch

That just walked out

Explaining her acquaintance

Not every customer is in need for a shape-up

Or a cut however

Some visits are made

Because hood barbers are the smartest weed-men around

And anyone with a head full of hair

And a working brain inside

Will come "shop" with them

These hood establishments

Held together by money and hearsay

Cheddar and chit chat

Are stapled to the hood

Like flyers to bulletin boards

And subconsciously

Interlock it by its roots

All at the sound

Of a set of clippers.

30/30: Day 3

"Idiotic Idioms, Pt. 1"

"The Pot and The Kettle"

The pot turns to the kettle,

Ignorance bellowing from spout

And says,

"Yo mama so black

When she gets out of the car,

The oil light comes on".

Kettle boils over

Angrily

Whistles back,

"yo mama so black

She got her tattoo done in chalk".

Demetrius Amparan emerges

From cloud of steam

And insults

Whispers, 

"Oh my God, I think I heard 'em say a black joke"

T-Weed

of I Love New York

And I Love Money fame appears

Skin resembling shadows in the night

Becoming the new butt of their jokes

Pot and Kettle collaborate,

"His mama so black

She can leave fingerprints

On charcoal".

Demetrius hisses,

"Oooh, burn."

30/30: Day 2

"Santana, Santana, Pt. 2"

Santana, Santana,

You're pregnant. My dreams are

Even better now. 

30 Poems in 30 Days: Day 1

So yeah, for those who don't know, April is National Poetry Month. And in honor of that, poets from all around are collaborating to each write 30 poems for every day this month. I will be posting my poems both here, and on the 30/30 blog. You can check out the other blog here.

"Premature Midlife Crisis, Pt.1" 

"Life Line"

I step up to the line

As if I'm shooting a free-throw

My toes kiss the crack in the pavement

Separating the backyard

Almost in half

Head swings left

Then right

Silence felt like abandonment

To this mild Chicago night

The imaginary crowd has left the building

Replaced by grass that grew from the dirt

That used to form our court

Way back when

When this same crack was the court's sole boundary

And crossing it was life's only dilemma

It's been more than a decade since then

The crack in the ground used to seem like lifetimes from the goal

But at 20 years old

It could past for a three-point line at most

And as I'm shootin' whimsical jumpshots at nonexistent rims

I wonder if my definition of "lifetime" will continue to diminish

Like my life's time

I step up to the line as if I'm shooting a free-throw

Wishing I was

Because then, life would be frozen in time

And the whole world would be waiting

On me

But life is a constant fast break

And I'm still at the free-throw line. 

I'm Turning You Off... Literally

Don't worry, my title is not meant to be sexual, as it says, it's literal. I am no longer a fan of Keri Hilson.

So, I had the opportunity to hear the remix to the third single from her yet to be released debut album, In A Perfect World..., "Turnin' Me On" (which features T-Pain and Lil' Wayne; the original only features a guest appearance from the latter), and noticed that a particular line in her verse appeared to be a subliminal shot towards Beyoncé. Like, seriously (notice how I posted a link to Keri's Wikipedia page, just in case people out there need it; that's not the case with Beyoncé)? This totally proves that you have been in the studio with Lil' Wayne too long, his foolish pride is beginning to rub off on you.

Ok, let's backtrack really quick. As stated earlier, "Turnin' Me On" is the third single from her yet to be released debut, and I don't think too many people know that. Seriously, how many people have ever heard her first single, "Energy", or it's follow-up, "Return The Favor"? ... Oh, don't worry, I'll wait. I'm not saying she doesn't make good music, I mean I personally wouldn't know if she does or not; I'm just saying Miss Keri Baby, you don't have enough.. what's the word I'm looking for here... oh yeah, FAME to be coming at B. I mean, "how you gone be talkin' shit// you act like [Beyoncé] just got up in it// [she] been the #1 diva in this game for a minute//".

The line in question proceeds as such: "your vision cloudy if you think that you the best// you can dance you can sing but need to move it to the left, to the left//". Everyone knows the "to the left, to the left" line from the Ne-Yo written number-one single, "Irreplaceable", which is probably why Keri's line was replaced with vocals from Polow Da Don, saying "Don't do it to 'em, shawty" on many versions. Let's look at numbers for a second. "Irreplaceable" is Beyoncé's 4th number-one single out of 5 in her solo career. That's not even counting the Destiny's Child success, which poses the question; what the fuck is Keri Hilson thinking?

She must not know 'bout B, she must not know 'bout B. Keri, the music game can have another you in a minute. Matter fact, she'll be here in a minute, I guarantee it. There is only one Beyoncé Giselle Knowles, and there always will only be one Beyoncé Giselle Knowles. I can understand if this is some publicity stunt, to help boost your album sales, I mean "beef" is like, the only marketing scheme these artists can think up nowadays, but I doubt it'll help. Your music's not that desirable, you can't sing all that well and, as I said, I'm sure many people thought "Turnin' Me On" was like your only song, ever. I wanted to like you Miss Keri, I really did. Such a beautiful young lady you are. But you lost cool points by throwing Wayne on a track, showing your lack of originality as well as marketability, now you pull a stunt like this. Oh! It's also been stated that the rest of the verse was about that Nicole chick, with the really long last name from the Pussycat Dolls, but uh... who cares? It's really a shame to see an artist with all beauty, and no brains.

-Trufe

Love Vs. Money, Part 2

So, back in December I posted a blog eagerly anticipating the sophomore album from The-Dream, Love Vs. Money. I incorrectly identified "Let Me See The Booty" as the first single, when in fact the track was only released for promo; "Rockin' That Thang" was the first single. My bad. For those who don't know, the album dropped yesterday, and much like his debut album, Love Hate, was met with VERY positive reviews.

I had a chance to listen to the album via Imeem and I must say, much like the first album, I was impressed within the first three tracks. The third track on the album,"Walkin' On The Moon (feat. Kanye West)", renews the throwback Prince feeling of the first album, showing listeners that The-Dream hasn't missed a beat. The album as a whole, like the first, just flows from start to finish, showing that The-Dream, unlike other artists, actually puts a lot of work into the production of his album. My personal favorite track on the album is the current Song of Tha Moment, "Put It Down".

Overall, the album is a great listen once again, and is one of today's few albums that is actually worth buying in my opinion. Whether I'll buy it or not however, remains to be seen.

-El Trufé

Beat You Down, He Really Wants To Beat You Down

Lol, ok, that was a bad joke. But seriously, I've been slipping! This is my first post in nearly a month. Let's see, what has happened since then? Oh, yeah. The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25 in a spectacular NFC Championship game, sending them to Super Bowl XLIII (43); their first since 1949 when they were the Chicago Cardinals. The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23-14 in the AFC Championship game, sending them to the Super Bowl for the second time in four years. The Steelers would defeat the Cardinals 27-23 in an excellent game that came right down to the wire as Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes made a spectacular catch in the corner of the end zone to give the Steelers the lead with 38 seconds left. Oh, and the Pro Bowl occured. The NFC All-Stars won, 30-21. Larry Fitzgerald won the MVP.

What else happened? The Grammys took place. I didn't watch them, nor do I feel like researching them to blog about them. The BET Honors took place as well. I didn't watch them shits either.

Now that we're done catching up, on to the point of this post: this whole Chris Brown thing. I'm sure everyone has heard some variation of the story, but the common denominator is the belief that Chris Brown was arrested for assaulting girlfriend Rihanna. This has been confirmed to be true, but my whole thing is, where did all this STD talk come from? I've heard he gave her an STD, then that she burnt him, and this, that, and the other.

All I know is, I get sick of people getting so bent out of shape when celebrities prove that they're human just like the rest of us. Celebrities make mistakes like the rest of us, and nothing constitutes a man hitting a woman. So sure, I feel Chris Brown was wrong for what occurred, but damn, get off his back. Sadly, men hit women every day, and if you disagree, you're in denial, and probably either getting abused or doing the abusing. This is all too reminiscent of the whole Michael Vick dogfighting thing. Once again, dogfights occur every day, but for some reason people feel that celebrities have to follow a special code of conduct that regular people don't, and when they get into trouble, they need to be disciplined more severely than they would have had they not had the celebrity status. I'm interested in seeing how many endorsements Brown will lose, and if his record sales will suffer in the aftermath of all of this.

Music of Tha Moment

So, I don't really get a lotta time to watch TV these days, so unless I hear somethin new online, seeing as how the radio stations in Chicago don't play new shit, I'm usually late when it comes to the new music. I did however get the opportunity to hear 4 relatively new tracks this week. So, I decided to blog about them.

The first of which is my favorite of the 4 tracks, and the current Song of Tha Moment, the song "I'll be In The Sky" by Decatur, GA musician, B.o.B. If the name B.o.B sounds familiar to you, you may remember it from the late 2007 track "Haterz Everywhere", or maybe from the track "On Top of The World" by T.I., which featured B.o.B on the hook as well as a verse from Ludacris. But trust me, those tracks pale in comparison to B.o.B's musical talents, which have led me to label him as a "musician" as opposed to a rapper. "I'll Be In The Sky" delivers a breath of fresh air to the music game, especially in southern urban music, combining beautiful production, which features a piano track played by B.o.B himself, that draws comparison to the works of OutKast with a beautifully composed hook, and a topic that differentiates from basic rap music of today. Overall, it's a terrific track, but despite being the current Jam of the Week on MTVJams, I don't look for it to climb too high on any chart.

The second new track I've heard this week was the Song of Tha Moment from January 12 until January 15, "Crack a Bottle" by Eminem featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. The track definitely has a few positives going for it, one of which being the fact that Eminem appears to be returning to his old lyrical form which he assumed in the late 90s and the early 2000s. After the whole Murder Inc. beef, a very noticeable decline in Em's lyrics was apparently, but he has appeared to have shaken the dust off. Great production and a solid, Eminem-written verse by Dr. Dre add to the pros of the track. 50 Cent and his lack of lyrical ability is the one huge negative this track has, pun intended. Point blank, 50 is wack as fuck, and as they say, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so his verse unfortunately stops this track from reaching its full potential.

The third track is the Neptunes-produced track by Lil Wayne, "Yes". The best things this track has going for it is it's sick beat, and Pharrell's first verse, which is sadly, only 8 bars (half of a traditional verse). The one negative it has for it: Lil Wayne. I won't be completely biased however; Wayne does return to the flow that gained many fans, as well as elevated him into the status of "Best Rapper Alive", a much needed contrast from the auto-tune based singing he's been doing lately. Average Wayne dick-riders--oops, I mean fans will definitely eat this track up, and hang on to every elementary line that Wayne spits out, but I for one, would've loved to hear fellow Virigina-based artists Clipse, or anybody besides Wayne rip this track.

The fourth and final new track I heard this week is Jamie Foxx's latest single "Blame It", featuring T-Pain, from his new album Intuition. This track has a nice sound to it, thanks to a nice instrumental and a clever hook. The topic of the track however, getting drunk in the club and not being held accountable for your actions, has been sang about many times over, even by Foxx himself on his last album Unpredictable (see the track "Extravaganza"). "Blame It" however, features a more "modern" sound than "Extravaganza" did, which leads listeners like myself to wonder why a 41-year old man is following the formula laid out by other sings, most of which about half his age. Also, Jamie Foxx's beautiful vocals are buried by the dreaded auto-tune effect. Overall however, I think the track will be a transition track in the clubs, meaning it won't instantaneously fill the dance floor like, say "Birthday Sex" by Jeremih would, but it won't empty it either.

So yeah, these are the main songs that caught my ear this week, and if they aren't new to you, then that's too bad. -Trufe