Lupe Fiasco - "Go Go Gadget" [LIVE]

Everyone sounds better with a live band. Simple and plain. I'm still on the fence with Lupe as a live performer. I've seen him 3 times, and have yet to be impressed. My boy Koleeko even decided to throw a Midnight Marauders CD onstage when he was performing at USC last year. (If you don't understand why, go here, read the story, and then think about him throwing that CD on stage again). But watching this video, I was kind of impressed with his performance. Maybe he's grown in the past year, and realized the importance of a dynamic stage show. Or maybe my opening line is just the truth.

Common's First Vlog of 2009.

Something tells me that Com is still working on this whole video blog thing. Dude can't even finish eating before turning on the camera? Oh well. Hopefully his next few vlogs will be better than his last album. Zing.


Diddy Blog > Common Vlog

Artist of the Week: Common

Live from the Southside, it's one/ Hide ya gun, repping Chi-Town to the fullest...

On the day of his latest release, Universal Mind Control, we've named Common our HHO Artist of the Week. You're already familiar with name, now check out interview with the man as he talks about making music for the People, his ability to stay relevant in the ever changing hip-hop climate, and his Top 5 sexiest albums of all time, you know, for when the ladies come over.

Common Interview with HHO.


His album is in stores now, and you can cop it for $0.99 today only! Here's a taste test for you..

[BONUS] DOWNLOAD - Common - "Universal Mind Control"
[BONUS] DOWNLOAD - Common - "Punch Drunk Love" (ft. Kanye West)

[NEW] Lupe Fiasco - "Hustlers & Customers"

Fakeshore Drive dug up an old Lupe rarity that he recorded 2 years ago. Boy, I'm glad he did. This is some nice heat to keep you warm during the cold winter.

DOWNLOAD: Lupe Fiasco - "Hustlers & Customers"

[NEW] GLC (Ft. Kanye West) - "Big Screen"

I honestly don't know too much about this GLC fellow, but I'm pretty familiar with the other guy. I know he's from Chicago. I know this song is dope. What else do you know need to know?

DOWNLOAD: GLC (Ft. Kanye West) - "Big Screen"

Link courtesy of illroots.

Common Interview on Okayplayer TV

Shout out to Tunji who produced this. Common talks about his new album and the new sound, as well as reppin Chicago to the fullest.

Daily Dopeness: Hip-Hop Saved My Life

This was easily one of the stand out tracks on a very strong album from Cool Hand Lu. The message alone is enough to move you. Lupe at his finest.

DOWNLOAD: Lupe Fiasco - "Hip-Hop Saved My Life"

[NEW] Kanye West - "Heartless"

I posted the unmastered version of this song last week, but this is the officially official version straight from 808's & HeartBreak. Beware: This one is catchy as fuck.

DOWNLOAD: Kanye West - "Heartless"

Kanye is Heartless.

Well, his new single leaked track is at least. Here's the latest hotness to be floating around the internets and causing websites to shut down. Good thing traffic here stays minimal...ha. The Meek Shall Inherit the Internet.

This is the unmastered version, kinda like an escaped slave. So the quality isn't up to par with most of the stuff you hear here. Here, here. I actually like this song, a lot in fact, which is surprising to everyone including me considering I wasn't a fan on "Love Lockdown"...like at all.

DOWNLOAD: Kanye West - Heartless (Unmastered version)

The Common (Sense) Demo Tape.

This is truly a gem. This is the actual tape that got Common into the Source's Unsigned Hype column back in 1992. This has been conformed by NO I.D. himself (aka Common's producer)

DOWNLOAD: The Common (Sense) Demo Tape

[VIDEO] Common (ft. Pharrell) - "Universal Mind Control"

Pharrell played by computer animated robot guy.


I stay fresh like I'm wrapped in plastic. (c) Common.

New Love Lockdown.

Kanye says:

Your prayers have been answered!! There's a new version of love Love Lockdown coming. We used new taiko drums and I re-sung it...

Here's the newer artwork with perfected type 4 all design snobs lol...

Sidebar... if you don't like autotune... too bad cause I love it and have been using it since the College Dropout!!!

[sarcasm] Great...more autotune. Just what I was hoping for.[/sarcasm]

Anyway...Kanye released a new version of his song "Love Lockdown", and I will say this: It sounds a million times better. It's mixed and mastered, and sonically much more impressive. He added more Taiko drums, and some synth sounds. The beat is pretty dope. But on the flipside, I'm still not into Kanye's singing. Even though I'm not a fan, it's much more listen-able.

DOWNLOAD: Kanye West - "Love Lockdown" (Re-mastered)

Kanye's New Album.

Will be called 808's and Heartbreak. It will be released December 16th. It will feature his new song "Love Lockdown" which he premiered on the VMAs this past Sunday. Kanye says it's his favorite song of his (which song isn't?). He said he wrote the song "a week and a half ago. It's my favorite song 2 date!! Go where your heart takes you...."

I'm still on the fence about this new song until I hear the CD quality version. And I can't stand the auto-tune effect. It needs to stop.

On a side note: I think Kanye might be depressed about Alexis or something. This song is mad emo. His album has the word "heartbreak" in the title. What's going on? I'm worried about you, Yeezy.

[VIDEO] Common Feat. Pharrell - "Announcement"

Off his new album, Invincible Summer, dropping this fall. This song is dope. Common returns to his lyrical-self and goes heavy on the word play that we Used to Love H.I.M. for back in the day. I also love the Biggie references and tribute lines to the Notorious. Good shit, Lonnie.

[BONUS] DOWNLOAD: Common Feat. Pharrell - "Announcement"

[VIDEO] Kanye West - "Champion"

Kanye + Crank Yankers + The Olympics = "Champion" video.

[NEW] Jay-Z - "Jockin' Jay-Z" (prod. by Kanye West)

Here it is...the first taste of The Blueprint 3, featuring the 2 biggest rap superstars on the planet (Sorry Weezy). It's a banging old school sounding track with a perfect Run DMC sample. You already know what Jigga does. Props to Nah Right for this gem. It's the clean version, but it'll do... UPDATE: Added the dirty version for those of you who aren't offended by foul language.


DOWNLOAD: Jay-Z - "Jockin' Jay-Z" (prod. by Kanye West)[Dirty]

DOWNLOAD: Jay-Z - "Jockin' Jay-Z" (prod. by Kanye West)[Clean]



PREVIOUSLY: Jay Z + Kanye = Blueprint 3

Jay-Z + Kanye = Blueprint 3

Originally, the word on the streets blogs was that Timbaland was going to produce Jay-Z's final Def Jam album. Now, some new details surfaced that dispel those rumors. Mick Boogie revealed the new details, and lets just say, if this is true it's going to be epically epic.

+ Kanye will indeed be producing most, if not all, of the album. Remember back in the day when an artist would do a whole album with one producer for cohesiveness? Think classic Snoop or Jeru with Primo... and fast forward it to 2008.

+ Jay will be leaking the finished version of "Jockin" as soon as he adds a new 3rd verse to the song.

+ Tracks to look for include the aforementioned "Jockin' Jay-Z" and a new track entitled "Victory" that the rumor mill says is simply amazing.

Here's a taste of what to expect...

[VIDEO] Young Jeezy (feat. Kanye West) - "Put On"

Jeezy repping for his city. Kanye repping for the auto-tuner.

"We don't need Jesse...we got Young Jeezy" (c) Nas

[NEW] Lupe Fiasco - "The Commercial"

I was supposed to interview this dude yesterday, but it didn't work out. Instead of posting an in-depth, thought provoking interview, here's a hard-to-find & unreleased Lupe rarity to start your weekend off right. This appeared on a French mixtape and has popped up a couple places, but not in this top of the line, high quality format. Get down on it.

DOWNLOAD: Lupe Fiasco - "The Commercial"

Common Interview w/ Tim Westwood (Continued).

Part 2.


Part 3.


Peep the rest of the interview with Tim Westwood.

Part 1 is here.