Jahvid shows the country "Who's Best"

The Cal running back rushed for a school record 311 yards on Saturday to close out the regular season.

In Focus: Jahvid Best vs Washington @ Rivals Video

He's finally gotten healthy the last two games and rushed for over 500 yards. I cannot wait to see him in the bowl game and next year. I'm glad he's on our team and we don't have to worry about trying to tackle him. Go Bears!!!!

We've got the Axe!!!!

Order is restored in the Bay Area college football world again cause Cal took back the Axe.

There were were a number of great plays by a finally fully healthy again Javed Best and four forced turnovers by our defense (3 of which were interceptions).

This video is pretty hilarious. The local news reports Cal winning and has an interview of the Stanfurd (yes, I refuse to spell their name w/ an "o") coach Jim Harbaugh who's answering when you can hear a Cal fan shout “YOU GOT SPANKED! AND WE GOT THE AXE!” (It's 0:37 into the video)

I know that Harbaugh wanted to hunt the fan down and beat the snot out of him, but he didn't react. As a Cal fan I love it when we lay the smack down to our arch-rivals, but find it kind of interesting that two years in a row a weak Stanfurd team has beaten the Pac-10 champion (assuming Oregon State can handle business in their Civil-War w/ Oregon). It seems like that Stanfurd team was too good a team to not have a winning record. I want them to stay as a mediocre team so they do just good enough where the coach doesn't lose his job, but not good enough to challenge us as an elite team in the Pac-10 (and country).

Marshawn "Beastmode" Lynch is a Baaaddd man!!! (Bad meaning good)

I'm glad that a national TV audience got to see what us University of California football fans got to see before he made it to the NFL last year. That Oakland's own Marshawn Lynch is a beast with that football in his hand. He's all heart. If you look at a lot of these highlights from the monday night football game against the Browns you can see that he's never gives up on a play and it usually takes more than one person to take him down.


Marshawn vs Browns on MNF from ken watanabe on Vimeo.

Gotta love that 20+ yard dump off pass that he made everyone defender miss him before he went into the endzone.

Oh, and on top of being a beast on the field he seems like a softy off of it. He's continuing his tradition of giving away turkeys before Thanksgiving to families in the Oakland area at his old high school. Ever since Barry Sanders has retired, I haven't found anyone that I've enjoyed watching as much as the man they call "Beastmode."

I'll try to find some and I'll bring 'em to ya!

This should be funny, but the sad part is that it isn't because even with showings like this there's still a very good chance that she could become the president of the United States.

Here's two Palin interviews with Katie Couric. When questioned about specific examples she had to resort to "I'll try to find some and I'll bring 'em to ya!" An even crazier thing is that she sounds even dumber in the 2nd clip. She even sounds less intelligent than George Bush Junior. Amazing...

about the nation's economic concerns and the McCain campaign's ties to lobbyists.

Watch CBS Videos Online

about the importance of bipartisanship during tough economic times

Watch CBS Videos Online

What would really make for great television is if we could have known what thoughts were going trough Katie Couric's mind when Palin was giving these ridiculous answers.

I'm guessing that if we could have heard it would have sounded a lot like Jack Cafferty of CNN like he told it on air on September 26.




Here's another great Palin impression by the beautiful and talented Tina Fey that mocks her astonishingly bad interviews with Katie Couric that have to be seen to be believed.



The following is pretty interesting list showing how the media is setting different standards when comparing McCain & Obama ticket's experiences:

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state20of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner-city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until ag e 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

Knux "Bang! Bang!" & "Cappuccino (remix)"

Speaking of good hip hop that's worth supporting here's the video for the KnuX's "Bang! Bang!" coming off of their "Remind Me In 3 Days" Coming Out On 10/28 on Interscope.

These two (real-life) brothers, Krispy Kream and Rah Al Millio, were born in the N.O. and displaced by Katrina. They have a style much different than Camp Lo, but they have that same great energy.



Their first single was Cappuccino which they also had a video for. I liked that song but was a much bigger fan of the remix.

The Lo is back! (Camp Lo, that is)

With so many in hip hop trying to do what the next person is doing the game needs more artists like Camp Lo. They are always doing their own thing whether it comes to their slang, their style of dress, or their beats.

Here's the video for their new single on SRC

Camp Lo - Lumdi



The song is now available on iTunes, so if you like the song support good hip-hop music and buy it.

You can also see the latest from them on their myspace http://www.myspace.com/therealcamplo

I'm sure that I'm not the only Camp Lo fan that feels if their first label (Profile) didn't get sold shortly after their album was released they would have been rap superstars and maybe even household names. And I'm also sure that I'm not the only one that's excited that that these guys are back. The game just needs some upbeat feel good music.



Their classic debut album "Uptown Saturday Night" gave us the classics "Coolie High" "Luchini" and "Black Nostaljack," but it was their videos that gave us a sense of their unique style.

Luchini


Coolie High


But the best one was "Black Nostaljack (AKA Come On)" starring Mr Dyno-mite! himself, Jimmy Walker.

Tina Fey Sarah Palin “Saturday Night Live” Parody

Here's the much talked about Tina Fey Sarah Palin “Saturday Night Live” Parody. It's funny, but also scary at the same time because if McCain gets elected president the real joke will be on this country.

Sarah Palin?

I've never been a fan of this guy (though a number of people have told me that I would love Goodwill Hunting), but I do agree w/ him 100% here.



I don't know what's scarier... having McCain as president or Palin. In an interview I heard McCain say that she's qualified because she was the Governor of Alaska for a couple of years. Well, Mayor McCheese has been the mayor of McDonaldLand ever since I can remember! That's got to count for something.

Well we're at it, I'd rather have the Hamburglar then Sarah Palin! At least he's not trigger happy. Ever since I was a little kid, I've never seen this guy with a gun once. And he does always wear a tie.


Okay, it's out of my system. I'm going to bed so I can get up and watch the Cal game at 9 this morning. All this thinking about hamburgers has got me hungry, but it's got to wait until tomorrow (later this morning).

Let's all hope that Obama wins and we don't have to worry about who's going to be president if the Republican party wins. I'd be like choosing between...

Jo-Jo from K-Ci & Jo Jo passes out durring performance in Sydney

This gives new meaning to the lyric "you picked me up when I was down."



(check what happens at about the 1:50 mark) It's not even really funny. It's just shocking. I hope for Jo-Jo's sake it was passing out from being drunk than the other stuff that both of them are rumored to be messing with.

Even though they might not be anywhere close to where they once were, there was a time when Jodeci was the dropping classics on the regular. The Come And Talk To Me (Hip Hop Remix) is still one of my favorite R&B songs from that era.

Hip Hop Classic: Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, & Biz Markie - Erase Racism

Here's a hip hop classic from two of the great greatest rappers to ever live, Kool G Rap & Big Daddy Kane. Here's a song from Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's classic 1990 LP "Wanted Dead or Alive." "Erase Racism" featured a slick verse each from Big Daddy Kane & Kool G Rap ballenced out with a chorus from the Flavor Flav of the Juice Crew, Biz Markie.

Biz's sining doesn't take (much) away from G Rap & Kane's powerful verses.

Even though G Rap is one of my favorite rappers ever, I think that Kane stole the show on this track:

"You better believe that I'm an asiatic descendant
And I know what's been amended and intended
So let's fulfill and get real, and try to build
a united nation, eliminate segregation
I know there's different strokes for different folks
but I've also acknowledged what hatred provokes
So don't hate me or try to underrate me
Cause I collect ends drive a Benz and live greatly
And we can all live together in harmony
Without thinkin what color is harmin me
If I'm a slave I'm a slave to the rhythm
To E-R-A-S-E the racism"

A song that currently speaks to me: James Morrison - You give me something

People close to me know that I've been going through a number of things recently. A family relative that's very dear to my heart passed away, I came to the realization that I haven't been there as much as I should have for a family member that I love very much, I was recently involved in an auto accident (which I appear to have escaped unharmed), and an amazing woman that I was getting to know is no longer a part of my life.

A song that has come to mind concerning my relationship with the amazing woman is this James Morrison song. I don't feel heartbroken or sad where I want to ball my eyes out. But I feel that I've lost a chance w/ a woman which I had a feeling that I could have wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I really didn't know her that well, but there was an unexplained comfort, happiness that I had when communicating with her, and an admiration that I had for her that made her special to me in such a short period of time.

Most of the lyrics to this song do not apply to my situation because we were in the beginning stages of a relationship, but the chorus explains perfectly how I feel inside.

You give me something
That makes me scared alright
This could be nothing
But I'm willing to give it a try
Please give me something
Because someday I might call you from my heart

But it might be a second too late
And the words that I could never say
Are gonna come out anyway

I officially have no excuse not to be a good dancer

Here's a video of a breakdance battle of a one-legged man vs a man with cerebral palsy.

Sounds kinda like a plot to a Shaw Brothers Kung-Fu flick, but it's real and you have to see it to believe it. Simply amazing....

Is this the NBA's Fixer?

With all of the news coming out about NBA refs fixing the outcome of games it just reopens old wounds of the 2002 Kings-Lakers series. Is this the face of the "company man" and playoffs fixer? I know that I for one suspected it. Anytime that Dick Bavetta reffed a Kings-Lakers game I knew that the Kings had to be 20 points better to win a 1 point decision when he had the whistle.

After being disgusted in the fixed playoff series of 2002 I wrote and sent the e-mail below to every fan of the NBA and sports paper I could find. The finals boycott lasted a couple of years. It took the joy of watching the Piston's beat the Lakers to take me out of it. I guess that my dislike for the Lakers outweighed my disgust for the NBA. Go figure...

Here's my e-mail that I wrote and I still feel pretty passionate about my words six years later:

From: "Marc Lee"
Subject: We can't allow the NBA to do this again!
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 04:21:42 +0000

The NBA and NBC got what they wanted...

The Lakers are in the NBA Finals. Game 6 of the Kings-Lakers series exposed how the NBA gets what they want. They just call every questionable call and even calls that shouldn't even be questionable for the Lakers.

As a fan I feel cheated. We were cheated from seeing the better team in the finals because the NBA wanted to increase their bottom line. Just looking at the commercials during the game you can see who the sponsors wanted to win. Wether it be a Shaq slanging candy bars or Kobe pushing burgers, having the Kings in the Finals would make some important people that sign checks very unhappy.

NBC was even showing Kobe bryant in the promos for the NBA finals with them down in the series 3-2. Do you think that maybe that they had the inside track on what was going to happen in game 6? Do you think that they were assured by someone in the NBA that there was going to be a game 7? With the NBA and NBC trying to pass game 6 as a fairly played game they are insulting the intelligence of us fans.

This is something that's scary for ALL of us fans of NBA basketball.

If you're not a Laker fan it's obvious that if the NBA has the gall to blatantly assure that the Kings would not win game 6, then they can do the same thing to you're team.

Also, if you're a Laker fan. You might be enjoying it now, but what happens when the next 2 most popular players come along and you're team is no longer the darlings of the NBA? Don't you think that the NBA would do the same thing to the Lakers to assure that this other team advances further in the playoffs?

I'm sure that there were many NBA fans that feel like I do. They feel helpless when the NBA does things like this. But maybe there is something that us fans can do to save the credibility of the game that we love...

I will not watch any of the games in the finals this year. I refuse to let people profit off of such shady actions. If enough of us do this and the ratings go down than the NBA will realize that they're destroying the credibility of the game and will not try so blatantly try to pull this stunt again.

One or two upset fans can not change the NBA's way of thinking, but if we all work together then we can. We are the ones that buy the jerseys, buy the sponsors products, and fill the stadiums. If we don't allow the NBA to profit off of us then they don't profit. Once they realize that their bottom line will be affected unless they change their business practices, they will be forced to conduct a fair league.

I put this e-mail together to speak to anyone that is worried about the credibility of a game that we once loved. Please forward this e-mail (or just copy and paste the message) to anyone that you feel might want to participate in this boycott. Thanks for reading. If we work together we can save the game...

A devoted Miami Heat fan,
Marc

Maybe it's the Berkeley in me or maybe it's the fact that I feel that everyone should have a fair chance. Either way I feel that the outcry was so loud that the NBA should have at least had to address it. The great part of this case is that the facts (and review if there ever was one) will have to come to light in the court of law.

Though this will most likely give the NBA a large black eye, in the long run it should be a great first step in cleaning up the game. The players should control the game and outcome, not the refs...

Double Talk Express

Here's a video on the Double Talk Express AKA John McCain.









This guy is such a clown. Let's hope that he's not our next president.

Stevie Wonder's touring again... And I have tickets!!!

To celebrate the great news that I'm going to be able to see one of my all-time favorite artists ever. One of the greatest songwriters of my time. A living legend. A man that has created timeless music that will still be celebrated many generations from now... Stevie Wonder.

It was too hard to pick four favorites, but here are four of many amazing songs in Stevie's catalog.

As

Here's a song that when you listen to it you would think should be called "Always." I remember when I was going to school in Berkeley and there was a movie called "Best Man" that was being advertised. They used this song in the commercial and we got so many people come into the record store that I worked at (Rasputin's) asking for "Always" when they were looking for this song. The great thing is that many people were introduced to yet another classic Stevie song, but the bad thing was that because it wasn't on the soundtrack I hate to think of all of the many people that were looking for the song and never hunted it down.

Overjoyed

Here's another beautiful classic yet elusive song for some. This was used in a nike commercial a while back. If I remember right it was Mary J Blige singing this song while Jordan was jumping for a dunk. What was crazy about the commercial to me is that even if you didn't even know that this was a Stevie Wonder song, you just kind of knew it by how classic it sounded. How someone can have a classic distinctive songwriting sound without all of his songs sounding the same is astonishing in itself.

Happy Birthday

Here's a great song that separates Stevie from the R&B songwriters of today. In addition to being able to write love songs Stevie could also craft beautiful and catchy songs about political issues. This song was a theme song for the movement to have Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday be recognized as a national holiday. We all know how that story ended because most of us get a holiday around January 15th. Has R Kelly or Ne-yo ever did anything like that for us? Not yet.

Heaven Help Us All

Last but not least here is a vastly underrated Stevie classic. Heart touching lyrics that I don't think that anybody could listen to and not be moved by. Here's the 2nd and 3rd verses of this powerful song.

Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day
Heaven help the white man if he turns back away
Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl
Heaven help us all.

Heaven help the boy who wont reach twenty-one
Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun.
Heaven help the people with their backs against the wall
Lord, heaven help us all.

DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD!

It looks like Hillary Clinton is finally done and has no reasonable shot at being the presidential nominee. Now we can all rally around our new president and pray to God that America doesn't vote another cluess clown in the white house like Bush (ie McCain).

Here's an entertaining video "the Empire Strikes Barack" that summarizes the events up to now pretty well. The Darth Clinton character is pretty classic. Almost as classic as my Hillary Nutcracker.

Is this the most racist commercial ever?

Is this the most racist commercial ever?



This looks more like a Dave Chapelle skit than a real commercial, but unfortunately it's real.

I found this commercial funny because it's so stereotypical, but in reality it is kinda sad. So, after feeling bad about it for a couple of seconds I got over it and watched and laughed even harder the second time. "Oh Yeaaaah!"

Steve Poltz: Talented independent singer/songwriter

If you've seen the great music documentary "Before the Music Dies" you might remember a charismatic singer/songwriter, Steven Joseph Joshua Poltz, that speaks about how he co-wrote Jewel's hit "You Were Meant For Me." After watching him and liking his sense-of-humor, songwriting, and love for writing and performing I wanted to hear more of his music. After googling his name I found his website and is stage name of Steve Poltz.
(Here's an interesting video of him explaining the story behind "You Were Meant For Me." It's the 1st of 3 parts. Who ever would have guessed that the longest running song in the history of the Billboard Top 100 was written during a Mexican drug bust?)


I felt good about supporting a talented musician that absolutely loves what he does and doing my little part to help him succeed. I honestly believe that by him being able to make a modest living sharing his music with the world he considers himself successful. And those are the type of talented musicians that I love to support. So, I got a number of his cds from his webpage (www.poltz.com).

I have three favorite songs that's I'm going to share in this update.

Steve Poltz - "A Street Fighter's Face" (off his 2008 cd "Traveling")

Here's a great song about a marine that goes out to war in Iraq and the stuff that he goes through. The song is upbeat and happy sounding, but gives a story of the life of a soldier that isn't usually heard. I'm not sure why a marine would be in a jeep, but it's a great song nonetheless.

Steve Poltz - "Rains (w/ AJ Croce)" (off his 2008 cd "Traveling")
Here's a song with the son of one of my favorite songwriters of all time, Jim Croce. If Jack Johnson's "Flake" could break through mainstream radio, why not this?

Steve Poltz - "You Remind Me" (off his 2003 cd "Chinese Vacation")
A good catchy song that's better than most of the stuff that they play on radio.

If you like these then please support him and spread the word about him. You can find him on myspace at www.myspace.com/stevepoltz

I gotta catch this guy next time he comes to the Bay Area...

Shove This Jay-Oh-Bee

This update is dedicated to all of my friends that work for the city of Sacramento that are either losing their job or being displaced.

This classic-to-me song is a widely hated-on song by Canibus off of the Office Space soundtrack. (Which also gave us the hood-classic "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" by the Geto Boys.) At the time this song came out (1999) Canibus was one of the most ferocious battle rappers in the rap game. He was abusing every mix-tape he was on and rapping circles around anyone he did a track with (Redman on "Beasts From the East" and Common "Making a Name For Ourselves" to name a few). He had a loyal following off of his creative and descriptive lyrics and his intricate rhyme patterns.

I feel that people hated this song for what it wasn't (a battle rap song) and didn't give it a chance to like it for what it was (a extremely funny song about a guy quitting his job). I've never quit a job on bad terms, but I can imagine if I ever do I will bust out this song and blast it cause it'll describe exactly how I feel.

Canibus gives a very descriptive and humorous tale of an office worker without sacrificing his slick wordplay. Biz Markie adds his trademark funny sing-style chorus that fits the light mood of the track perfectly. Alone the track is nothing special, but like the Bizmark chorus, it fits.



[Canibus]
People get hired
Drink coffee to stay wired
So they don't get tired, sleep late, and get fired

[Biz Markie]
You came in late, you already ate,
nowww, you wanna take a lunch break!??!

[Canibus]
Ay, yo bust it, ain't no need to discuss it
Just take this job and shove it, right between your buttocks

[Biz Markie]
Take this job and shove it
I ain't workin here no more...

If there's ever been another song to describe a typical office this perfectly I haven't heard it. Of course I'm not talking about my office. I like my office, cause my office isn't typical. Ummmmm-Yeeeeaaahhhh...

The Hillary Nutcracker!

With all of the election news lately it made me think of my favorite political collectable to come out this past year... The Hillary Nutcracker!

If just looking at this item doesn't make you smile, then maybe the commercial will...



Before you ask if you can borrow my Hillary Nutcracker, I have to take a quote from a famous infomercial and say "no my brotha, you gots ta get your own!"

Obama for president!

A documentary EVERY music fan should watch!

I just saw a documentary that every fan of music should watch. Here's a trailer for "Before the Music Dies":



Here's a example of some of the gems and insight that you get to see in this documentary.

This example shows how easy it is to "manufacture" a sexy pop star.



This example shows how corporate radio Clear Channel has affected music.



This documentary gives the same message that I gave at the end of my first post that I ever made when I gave my 6 pack of underrated songs. If we like an artist we have to support them. If we don't then we'll regret it later when there are less Stevie Wonder's and more Brittney Spears'...

How not to take a picture for myspace...

I couldn't stop laughing for about 3 minutes straight. My stomach hurts...

Ladies please before you decide to take a sexy pic for your myspace page.... Flush the biscuit!!! hahaha



What was she thinking? hahaha... Okay, I'm good now...

I guess I could have named this post "Biscuit and Lady" (instead of biscuits and gravy) or something clever like that, but with the picture hitting so instantly I thought that was more appropriate.

A great Kanye West piano tribute

David Sides does a pretty good medley of tracks from Kanye's Graduation album as a tribute for his mom (Okay I'm kinda late on this, but the clip is new to me). My favorite part is "Flashing Lights."

2007 Rap up

Now a hip-hop tradition (that started in 2002), Skillz drops his end of the year song that gives all of the significant happenings in a well-crafted, humorous, and very entertaining track. This year he goes all-out and even gives us a video.

Official "07 Rap Up" Video


"07 Rap Up" Behind the scenes video


In case you're wondering why a rapper as talented and funny as this isn't a star... This guy is probably responsible for writing hit songs for one of your favorite rappers or favorite club songs. He's a well respected ghost writter (meaning he writes songs for artists for a fee). He even has a song about it that you can listen to here. How else can the guy survive in the game for over ten years and only release one album in 1995?

2007 songs you need to hear

Here are 12 songs from 2007 that need to be heard. Some of these were bigger than others, but the one thing that they all share in common is that at one time or another in 2007 each one of these songs spent time in heavy rotation on my ipod. I didn't include songs that were parts of updates that I did through the year (Amy Macdonald, KT Tunstall, Cormega, Saigon, Vanessa Carlton, etc.), so if you're not up on those yet get familiar and check those out too.

1) "Shining Star" from Abby Dobson's debut cd "Rise Up." This song reminds me of the happy, catchy, upbeat feeling of feeling of Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words" (once the drums kick in). This is a kind of song that will go unnoticed for a year, then a sappy tv show will play it and then everyone will notice it. Well, here's your chance to be ahead of the curve and not have to get turned onto great music from cheezy TV shows. If a sappy TV show has already played it, then I wouldn't know cause I don't watch them... At times I enjoy sappy music, but tv shows is where I draw the line. That is after I stoped watching 90210. I've already said too much... "Will you Find Your Way" is another song on her album that deserves to be heard.


2) "All of the Above" ft. R. Kelly from Beanie Sigel's "The Solution." This is the perfect comeback single. A club banger, w/ a great co-star performance from Kells and Beanie comes with his usual solid lyrics & delivery.


3) "I'm From The Ghetto" (feat. The Game, Jadakiss, Trick Daddy & Dre) from DJ Khaled's "We The Best" cd. Cool & Dre bless DJ Khaled's cd with a banger for a track, Dre provides a catchy hook, and Game steals the show. Anyone who doesn't give Game his props after hearing how he rides this track is just a hater. He runs over one of the greatest living rappers (Jada). This sounds like a single to me, but Fat Joe or Lil' Wayne aren't on it so it was probably doomed from the beginning to be a terror squad single.


4) "The Way I Am" from Ingrid Michaelson's "Girls and Boys" cd. I read that this song is all over the place because it was played on Greg's Anatomy. That follows my whole sappy tv show theory of songs, but I like this song even if Greg's Anatomy fans have been turned onto it. I'd rather that they listen to this then Paris Hilton's cd.


5) My Soul by Graph is a very soul-bearing track where (as the title says) Graph just shares his soul with you. You can get an idea of the sincerity, rhyme patterns, and emotion that Graph is capable of with this track. Any fan of music that wants to hear the real honest and heartfelt capabilities of rap music should listen to this track. This is an example of a rap track that I'd like a rap critic to listen to when they talk about rap just being about guns, drugs, and degrading women.


6) "Only Fooling Myself" from singer/songwriter Kate Voegele's brilliant debut cd "Don't Look Away" is a song that at first made me think that she could be the next Michelle Branch. After listening to her album I feel that she's a better singer and songwriter than Michelle Branch ever was. Any song on the cd could have been a single and none of them sound the same (It's only Life, One Way or Another, Facing Up, Wish You Were, etc.). I'm really looking forward to her next cd. I wish that labels would spend more money introducing beautiful and talented musicians like this than the less talented dancers or karaoke singers that they shove down our throats. Hopefully she'll get her due in 2008. She's going to be playing a musician named Mia for "One Tree Hill." I couldn't tell you if her episode's already aired. If you want to know the reason see #1.


7) Keith Murray's "Nobody Do It Better (ft. Tyrese)" should have been the smash rap hit of the summer. This is ten times better than Jim Jones hit "Ballin'" in every way imaginable (beat, lyrics, vibe, etc.) and seemed to have even more commercial appeal, but for some reason this instant classic joint never caught on with the masses (probably because they didn't pay enough urban radio stations to play it).


8) Masta Ace's "Nostalgia" from Marco Polo's Port Authority is a good remembering the good old days track from one of hip-hop's most underrated living legends.


9) 3rd Coast Anthem from Mojoe's "Classic Ghetto Soul" is the song that made me believe that Mojoe could be the next Outkast. They have swagger, soul, and skills on the mic and this track is a great platform for them to share it with the world. They sound like a mix of Cee-Lo & Outkast. If you're fans of either you might want to check them out.


10) Ne-yo's "Go On Girl" from his "Because of You" album sounds like a man's version of Beyonce's hit song "Irreplaceable" (which Ne-Yo also wrote). He should lose points in my book for recycling some of the same ideas that he used to steal the show in the bridge of the "Back Like That (remix)" with Ghostface & Kanye, but I still found myself listening to this song a lot in 2007. This is the 4th single from his album.


11) "Dont Act Like You Dont Know (feat. Freeway)" by Skillz sounds like "How We Do" part 2. (That's Freeway's hip-hop classic from his first album, in case you were wondering.) This track has the same energy and both Freeway & Skillz bless this heater of a track.


12) Lupe Fiasco's "Hip Hop Saved My Life (ft. Nikki Jean)" is one of my favorite story tracks to come out in a while. This is taken from Lupe's instant-classic cd "The Cool." He gives a great tale of how a rapper can come up in today's industry complete w/ the myspace reference, the family member locked up, and a baby-mamma. Lupe crafts the rhyme patterns brilliantly in this track while never taking away from the details of the story. We might now have our modern-day Slick Rick (the respected hip-hop story teller).


2008 should be a great year for music. With new albums coming from Cormega, Natalie Imbruglia, Joe Budden, Mariah, and Saigon's debut cd there's a lot of great music that I'm looking forward to hearing this year...

Happy 2008!

I'm typing this before I go to bed and I was thinking of all of the See's chocolate that I've eaten in the last three weeks and I thought of this cool video from French singer Olivia Ruiz.

Olivia Ruiz - La Femme Chocolat

The animation in this video is a cross between south park and robot chicken (but more cute than crude).

And if there's a See's candy box around and I'm coming please leave me the marzipan...