The Breezy Effect Blog: Where REAL HIP-HOP Lives, and That Other Shyt Gets Clowned!

News: The National Museum Of Hip-Hop Unveils Plans For 2010

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The National Museum Of Hip-Hop is gearing up for their annual 2010 Hall Of Hip-Hop Awards. This is where icons and legends are inducted into the organization's Hall Of Fame. This year, the event will be televised and is looking to honor all of the areas of Hip-Hop culture. This includes the areas of: emceeing, djaying, graffiti, and b-boying. Additional honors will cover the areas of: production, film making, and fashion. The purpose of the event is to give props to the people who paved the way. The President of The National Museum Of Hip-Hop, doesn't feel like the other major award shows do justice when honoring Hip-Hop pioneers. The President also stated that The National Museum Of Hip-Hop has created a board of experienced people, to handle the whole induction process. That board contains members such as: Andre Harrell, Bob Santelli, and Terry Stewart. On another note, KRS-One and Chuck D will host The National Museum Of Hip-Hop's "Hip-Hop Immortal" event on April 6, 2010. It will be an invitation only affair that will feature: a special DJ set from Grandmaster Flash, a silent auction, VIP gift bags, a raffle, and live performances. No more specifics have been released regarding the awards as of yet. If anything such as a date or broadcast info becomes available, I'll do an update. 

I want to know when this comes on. I agree that the other awards don't show the proper appreciation for Hip-Hop. I mean I love Jay Z and all those guys, but there are a lot of people who aren't so mainstream, that deserve some love too. And the event with KRS sounds pretty cool too. Good to see some big moves being made within the Hip-Hop community. -MinM

News: The X-Clan Celebrates A 20 Year Legacy

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Hip-Hop legends X-Clan are gearing up to celebrate their 20 years in the game. They broke into the industry around the year 1990. Leading members Jason "Grand Verbalizer Funkin-Lesson Brother J" Hunter and Paradise "The Architect" Gray have stated that the group is working on three new projects.

Rakim F/ Maino - "Walk These Streets" Behind The Scenes

This song leaked a while back, at which time, I did a full review for it. It turned out to be a nice banger and is now officially a single. The single can be found on Rakim's current album The Seventh Seal, which is in stores now. Rakim and Maino have gotten together and began working on the video for the new hood track. The video is directed by Will C and Brendan Cochrane, with production by Street Heat. Check out the behind the scenes action below.

This video looks alright, seems like your typical hood city joint. Which fits the theme of the song perfectly, but it would be nice if the fellas could come up with something to make the video pop. Some type of element to make it stand out a bit, make it original, and not so been there done that. But this was just a teaser and not the full thing. So maybe there is a little more to it. If you want to see the entire video, you don't have long to wait. It reportedly drops in full on New Year's Day (January 1, 2010). So you can peep it, while you nurse your hangover from ringing in the new year with your people, lol. -MinM

Jam Master Jay Documentary Clip

Fans who bought 50 Cent's new album Before I Self Destruct, were rewarded with a special documentary about Jam Master Jay. The documentary is titled 2 Turntables And A Microphone. If you don't have the album, take a peek at the documentary below.

This documentary seems very informative. But I get into documentaries and stuff anyways. Has anybody seen this in it's entirety? If so, any thoughts to share? Hit up the comments section and let us know something. -MinM

Happy 30th Anniversary "Rapper's Delight!"

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The Sugarhill Gang is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their majorly successful and historic single, "Rapper's Delight." The single is noted as the first hip-hop single to reach cross over success. The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and Museum will be acknowledging this accomplishment in an upcoming concert. The concert is called, The Past, Present, And Future Of Hip-Hop Tribute Concert and will take place in January 2010 in Cleveland, Ohio. The concert event will feature an exclusive weekend as well. There will be an invite only party with the big timers in the game, a tribute to Mr. Magic, and a finale concert with The Sugarhill Gang themselves. The single also made VH1's Greatest Hip-Hop Songs list at number two and is being sampled by 50 Cent on a track called "Gangsta's Delight," for his upcoming album, Before I Self Destruct. And to date the single has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. The single has quite the impressive stats behind it.

I'm happy for the members of The Sugarhill Gang. It's always a good look to acknowledge those that paved the way in the hip-hop community. And the whole event sounds like it's going to be a good time. So congrats to them and much love/respect for what they did with their "Rapper's Delight" single. -MinM

DJ Premier: Mos Def, Black Thought, & Eminem (2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher #3)

I didn't bother to watch this year's BET Hip-Hop Awards as I have found the network's specials this year to be a waste of time. However, I caught this online and had to post. All three rappers went in, can't even call a favorite, it's just that good. So check it out.

Haven't heard much about the awards, so they must not have been all that. But all the cyphers were respectable though. This one just happens to be my favorite. Anyone want to share their thoughts on the cyphers or the show itself? Feel free to leave comments, thanks. -MinM

DJ Spinderella Gets Honored at Black Girls Rock! Awards (10.17.09)

Wassup Everybody!

 

Y’all have to excuse my excitement for a few, but I figure I’m going to be on this kick for awhile. Last night, I got the opportunity to attend the 4^th Annual Black Girls Rock! Awards, held at the New York Times Center. For those of you who don’t know, Black Girls Rock! is an non-profit organization that was created by model-turned-celebrity DJ Beverly Bond in response to the images of women that cluttered urban media and brainwashed young girls. She then went on to create programs for young girls to participate in order to give them a creative outlet, invest in their futures and build upon their self-esteem. (NOTE: I actually had the privilege of speaking with Ms. Bond about the organization, the interview transcription will be posted at a later date).

 

It was such an honor to be in the presence of such great, Black women who paved the way for me to be woman that my proud, Black parents pushed me to be, including Dr. Sonia Sanchez (who received the “Legend” Award), Dr. Iyanla Vanzant (recipient of the “Shot Caller” award – and yes, I actually got to chop it up with her on the red carpet!),  to women in my shared age demographic such as Janelle Monae (“Who Got Next” Award) Raven- Symone (“Young, Gifted and Black” Award) and White House Fellow and AIDS activist Dr. Mehret Mandefro (“Community Activist” Award) that showed me that it’s time to STEP MY GAME UP… WAY UP! (::smile::)

 

 

I wrote an event recap to be posted on Rap-Up ‘s website Monday morning (I will shoot the link to this also) but I want to take a minute a two, to give much respect to, a woman who’s made a difference in the hip-hop world! The BGR!’s give out an award every year to an acknowledgeable female DJ, dubbed the “DJ Jazzy Joyce” Award. The pioneering lady DJ was on hand (along with DJ Cocoa Chanel) to present the award in person to this year’s recipient… DJ SPINDERELLA! 

 

Check the footage below of her entire awards acceptance speech. 

Rakim F/ Maino - "Walk These Streets"

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Download Rakim ft. Maino - Walk These Streets - MP3WAXX

The production here is hot, heavy hitting. There is a strong bass, a strong clapping sound, some light instruments, and a very hood vibe going on. The hook is on point too, the vocals are smooth. Puts me in the mind of something that Akon would be on. Probably, my favorite part of the whole track. "I walk these streets, with my mind on my plan. It's alright if you don't understand. I walk these streets, think like I got a gun in my hand. Cause hating is the nature of man. Sometimes I wanna sock the cameras. Just pop the hammer, box the innocent bystander and his man up. I walk these streets, think like I got a gun in my hand. It's alright if you don't understand. Just stay out my way," that's just gutter right? Got to love that street ish. The verses are good, I feel that both Rakim and Maino delivered well. Rakim starts things off, Maino follows with the next verse, and then we go back to Rakim. I think the lyrics were well written and put together. Both rappers definitely came with some of their best work. Overall, I'd say this is definitely a must hear. So treat your ears to something nice and click that link. -MinM

VH1 2009 Hip-Hop Honors Preview

This year's VH1 Hip-Hop honors is highly anticipated. As it is a tribute to the legacy of the biggest hip-hop label ever, Def Jam. Hate it or love it, you can't deny what the company has done for the genre of hip-hop. Like with all great tributes, there is a good number of performances scheduled to go down. Check out a clip of the one for "Rock The Bells" below. 

Eminem

This looks pretty hot to me. And this is definitely going down as a big night for hip-hop. And I love the fact that Eminem got in on this. Speaks volumes as to how far he has come in his career and in the hip-hop community. If you want to see the full performance or just catch the tribute period, it airs on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 on VH1 at 9/8 central. Comedian Tracy Morgan is hosting, hence all of his recent Def Jam commercial skits. Anyone plan on tuning in? I might but I think it's running during something else I watch, so I'm not sure. Plus, you know VH1 will replay the damn thing right into the ground, like they do with all specials, lol. -MinM

The Roots - "How I Got Over" (Trailer)

For those of you who are worried that The Roots are going to neglect their music for house band duties, have no fear. I ran across this trailer for an upcoming video and heard a rumor that they will be dropping an album soon too.

This video looks decent, seems like it's one for the people. Would like to have gotten a better feel for the theme though, but I guess that's why they call it a trailer, huh? The entire video is supposed to drop before this weekend is out. This will be their first single off of their upcoming album. That album will also be titled, How I Got Over, and it supposedly hits the streets on November 17, 2009. Keep in mind the date is not official yet, that's just the word on the project at the moment. Anyone excited? Do we have any Roots fans out there? I know they get a lot of praise for their work on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. I have yet to catch a show myself. Leave some comments, let's do some discussing. -MinM