Blogs

» Name: William E. Ketchum III
» Location: East Lansing, MI
» Member Since: 04/12/07
» Bio: For the right price, I can even make your blog tighter.
» Contact Me:
» Syndicate: RSS

50 cent • 60 minutes • ?uestlove • black milk • blackberry • cam'ron • chrisette michele • common • corinne bailey rae • dilla • dj premier • dumb it down • elzhi • guilty simpson • hip-hop • impact • imus • jay dee • jay electronica • jay-z • jill scott • kanye west • letoya luckett • lil wayne • lupe fiasco • michigan • misogyny • oprah • r&b • radio • russell simmons • sexism • snitching • soul • stereotypes • teedra moses • tha carter 3 • the cool • the roots • women

Speech Is My Hammer...

Viewing Posts Tagged "The Roots" View All

Where's The (?uest)Love?

May 05, 2008 | Tags: The Roots, ?uestlove

Damnit, ?uest!

Why are you such a fucking jinx for me?

I’ve been to three Roots concerts in Michigan, each with an opportunity to get a picture with you. Each opportunity ends up fucking up somehow.

First, I slip outside as you’re leaving, and I ask for this drunk guy to take a pic on his camera phone; but the bitch non-nigga makes a video instead of a pic. Next, I was backstage with your Tanqueray show in Pontiac. I get backstage, and I can’t even ask you any questions for my interview cuz hog bitch is dominating the time. Finally, at tonight’s afterparty, I try to leave early for the sake of my man who has to get back in early…lo and behold, parking people decided to let a crackhead take over lot supervision duties (literally), so his car is trapped until the end of the fucking thing anyway. Meanwhile, my man who stayed inside—he showed you a Dilla shirt he made, and talked about how he missed you six times—got to chop it up with you.

Maybe I’m just not destined to add your pic to my catalog with the rest of the legends I’ve met, like Primo, Nas and Jazzy Jeff.

But as much as I want to, I can’t quite hate you.

You embody this hip-hop shit more than anyone else doing it right now. Whether it’s your genuine love for the music—watching your facial expressions behind the boards when you’re playing certain songs is priceless—the fro, how you represent this culture everywhere you go, the intellect you show in interviews, or funding sites like OkayPlayer, you’re what hip-hop is all about. You even rep for the big dudes! You murdered Confidential Lounge tonight…before tonight, the last time I danced this much was in 2005, when Jazzy Jeff came through. And the album’s a monster, too.

Thanks for everything, ?uest. But fuck you.

*Picture courtesy of, well, me.

P.S.: I've got a new hustle. More details later.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Speech Is My Hammer: TransDX Express Edition

April 03, 2008 | Tags: The Roots, 50 cent, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Guilty Simpson, Black Milk, Elzhi, jay electronica, Michigan

What’s good people?

With the homie Shake hyperlinking me from his side hustle, I figure I should at least give y’all an update today. Just because I haven’t been posting for the past few weeks, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been paying attention. So here are my condensed thoughts on a few things that have happened since my last post. Look at it as a “Several blogs for the price of one” type deal. And I purposely avoided the topic of everybody in hip-hop going to prison; shit really gets me down.

The Roots:
This Roots’ song with Patrick Stump joint wasn’t as bad as some of my homies have said it was, because Black Thought still ripped, and with an album that’s obviously going to be album of the year (or at least Top 5) with songs that have leaked - “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction),” “Get Busy" (feat. Dice Raw, Peedi Crakk and DJ Jazzy Jeff) and the title track with Mos Def and Styles P - one commercial pander isn’t bad. Just as a point of comparison, every dope Eminem album had at least one mainstream blunder, but the rest of the disc was always high quality hip-hop. That said, I’m not mad at them axing “Birthday Girl” from the final cut and making it an iTunes-only selection, and this “Rising Up” joint with Wale and Chrissette Michele (which they’re apparently using as the single, now?) is perfection. See Jay's post for more, I agree with what he said (which makes sense, 'cause he has the only opinion that matters anyway).

50 Cent/G-Unit:
I really respect the fact that G-Unit’s flooding the market with mixtapes again. Even though 500,000 in the first week isn’t something to balk at, I’m glad to see that 50’s not complacent: Return of the Bodysnatchers v1 and Elephant In The Sand were both fire, and the G-Unit: Gangsta Grillz Edition with DJ Drama is sure to continue the winning streak. Fif’s mixtape game—especially last year’s G-Unit Radio 25: Sabrina’s Baby Boy—has always been on point. BTW, “The Mechanic” > The Massacre + Curtis. But get shit right with Buck, man; he's the best artist y'all have right now.

E-Beef/Blogging:
Like the homie Meka said, this ATL blogger beef shit is pretty disappointing. We’ve had our share of disagreements, but that resulted in biting accusations, name-calling and old-fashioned roasting. But gay rumors? Word? I’m not going to scold the two in question, both because it’s not my place and I don’t know what fueled it, but I’d encourage both parties to just settle their issues (sort of like me and the aforementioned Soul Brotha have) and keep on keeping on.

Speaking of blogging, I’m going to get my plug on real quick: fellow DX bloggers, go over and join TheUrbanBlogger. My homie Necole Bitchie, who’s site was recently pegged in two Top 40 lists of urban blogs on the Net, started the site as a networking opportunity for black bloggers. I love the idea, and I might even join the squad soon, but I wanted to big up the idea first.

Weezy:
I’m as much of a Lil Wayne supporter as the next man, but homie’s fuckin’ up. He's got what's possibly the most disappointing single I’ve heard in a minute (why not use "Comfortable," featuring Babyface and prod. by Kanye West?) and this Drought Is Over 5 was equally underwhelming. I’m seeing dude live this Sunday though (and Common on Thursday, great week for me), so we’ll see if I change my mind. Shout out to his latest artist, Nicki Minaj (link not safe for work, BTW) Either way, The Wam > "Lollipop."

Jay Electronica:
What do you guys think of Jay Electronica? This kid’s Internet buzz has been incredible with cosigns from the likes of Just Blaze and label head/alleged wifey Erykah Badu, and while I like what I’ve heard, I’m not ready to crown him as “The Next” and shit. Maybe I need to give it another listen, cuz my man Alias is hailing him as that dude, and he hates on everyone. Act I was pretty crazy though, esp. the “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” shit. As for the much-chastized show with Erykah and Mos the other day, hopefully he just learns from it and moves on.

Hov:
Jay’s got a $150 million deal with Live Nation? Shit! If he’s not a hustla, what you call that?

The Mitten:
My state is taking over this hip-hop shit. Black Milk & Fat Ray’s The Set Up is one of my favorite albums of ’08 so far (see “Take Control” for all the evidence you need), and Guilty Simpson’s Ode To The Ghetto was every bit as dope as the hype around it implied. And the list of projects that are in the works is overwhelming, frankly: Elzhi’s solo is on the way, Slum Village’s next LP, Buff1’s next album, Invincible’s long-awaited LP, Royce’s solo projects, Random Axe (Guilty Simpson + Sean Price + Black Milk), Cold Steel (Elzhi + Phat Kat), the Royce + Elzhi + Black Milk album (they’ve even performed tracks together!). And Eminem’s working with Primo? And he’s cool with Royce again? And I’ve got my own site about Michigan hip-hop coming soon? Oh, wait…