Pac performing Troublesome at the House of Blues in LA. He disses Nas, Mobb Deep, and Bad Boy at the beginning.

Thousands of mourners show up for Proof’s wake

It took Kanye 50 hours to recreate the Theme from Mission Impossible 

50 years later Alabama pardons Rosa Parks 

ABC News got to look at the Duke party photos

The White House shakeup continues as Mclellan resigns and Rove steps away from policy development. For some strange reason, Donald Rumsfeld still has a job though.

Here’s a clip of Lupe Fiasco talking about the leak of Food and Liquor and thanking whoever is responsible.

You should also peep Illseed’s editorial about the situation over at AHH and Hashim from SOHH’s take on his Media Chin Check Blog.

Last week MTV, like they always do about this time, sparked a huge, futile debate within the internet hip hop pundit community when they released their 10 Greatest M.C.’s of All Time list.

They also asked several hip hop greats who they considered as their own personal G.O.A.T.’s and the answers are now up at MTV.com for all to see.

Here are some of the more interesting highlights:

• Jay and Nas both have each other on their lists. Awwwwhhh…isn’t that cute.
• Rakim mentioned Sadat X and Eminem
• Mary J’s list included Black Moon. Who knew?
• Not surprisingly, Nas’s list includes 2 M.C.s he didn’t get along with when they were alive, Biggie and Tupac. He also mentioned Jadakiss and Grand Puba among his favorites.
• Lloyd Banks’ list includes 50 Cent. Awwwwhhh…wasn’t that sweet of him.
• The first name Big Daddy Kane mentioned was Bumpy Knuckles (Freddie Foxx)?!
• DMX and Jay-Z made Ice Cube’s list
• 50 Cent said and I quote: "Everything about [Rakim], his whole swagger — he gave birth to Nas, damn near. Nas is dope, [too]."

Rakim was easily the most mentioned name by all the artists they spoke to, for obvious reasons. KRS was right behind him and Kane, Chuck D, Biggie, Nas and Jay-Z also did pretty good on all of the lists.

Man Alllegedly Shot by Proof Dies

Legal Controversy over Tupac T-Shirts

2 Duke Lacrosse Players Arrested and Charged with Rape 

Tom Crusie to Eat Katie Holmes Placenta 

So apparently today is my F.R.O.A.T.’s birthday and not only didn’t I know it, but I didn’t have a chance to get him anything or plan out a suitable Birthday post. You may have noticed that the Redman coverage on this site has been pretty much nonexistent from the get go, which if you know me, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense seeing as the EPMD and Redman albums provided the soundtrack for a good part of my life beginning around 1990. Of course all of the blame doesn’t just fall on me, you can also thank a certain Maybach riding, Nets owning CEO for allowing my boy to completely fall off the face of the earth just because some non rapping ex-drug dealer got lucky with a single.

But whatever. I love Red and all, but I’m guessing he’ll probably never outdo what he did on records like Muddy Waters and Dare Iz A Darkside. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear him try.

Anyway, seeing as it’s the Funk Doc’s born day I’d like to take this oppurtunity to share all of the goodness that 5 minutes of searching Youtube has turned up. Above is the video for Red’s classic single, Time 4 Sum Aksion, from his solo debut, What? Thee Album. 

More Redman Youtube goodness:

Parts 1 and 2 of his segment on SMACK DVD Vol 9.

His groundbreaking appearance on MTV Cribs.

The video for Rush The Security the lead single from his album Red Gone Wild that unexplainably fell off everybody at Def Jam’s radar at some point last year

The video for Tonight’s Da Night

I have a great story about the time I met Red in Harlem, but it definitely calls for its own dedicated post. Hopefully I can get around to it soon.

SOHH reports that Comedy Central will finishing up production on the 3rd season of Chappelle’s Show over the next couple of days:

They will be taping the live studio audience segments of four episodes. In place of Chappelle, who used to introduce all the skits, the last episodes will be co-hosted by "Chappelle’s Show" co-creator Neal Brennan, and cast members Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings. 

I know Dave fell out with Brennan after he took his little vacation, but I wonder how he feels about Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings contributing to this season? He made it pretty clear in his recent interview with Toure on BET that he wasn’t at all pleased with the idea of them airing the partially completed season:

TOURE: Because they see you as more human?

DAVE CHAPPELLE: So much of our culture’s based on celebrity worship that it’s hard to remember that celebrities are just people, I think.

TOURE: What do you think about Comedy Central airing season three?

DAVE CHAPPELLE: I didn’t want it to be aired, obviously, or I wouldn’t have left in the first place. I feel like I’m being disciplined or perhaps bullied.  And if people don’t watch it, I’d be more than happy.  I’m not gonna say to boycott it.  But if people don’t watch it, I’d be more than happy.

Here’s the trailer for the upcoming documentary Rock The Bells. The film chronicles producer Chang Weisberg’s battle to bring together all 9 members of the Wu for a historic reunion concert.

Rock The Bells will be playing at the Tribecca Film Festival April 28th and 30th, and May 1st and 2nd.

Halftimeonline.com has a new interview with the Gza up. One of the subjects that comes up is the rumored battle him and Jay had back in Brooklyn way back before the Wu and Rocafella Dynasties ever got off the ground.

Halftime: I want to talk about back in the days when you used to go around town just battling cats. There was a rumor that you and Jay-Z battled one time. Is there any truth to that and if so what was the outcome of that one?

GZA: Yea, that’s true. It wasn’t like a battle but we came across each other’s paths. Actually it was me and Dirty. We ran into Jay-Z in Bushwick. We used to go to Ansar Ru Allah community, it was this whole community of Muslims, to go buy the wheat pizza and they used to have this talent show every week. We weren’t performing against each other but we happened to run into him one time out there. We were like yea we emcee and he was like he emcee and we went back and forth with a couple of darts and that was that. He was very arrogant at the time….

Halftime: At the time? haha

GZA: Aiight, he still is. He was very cocky. We weren’t as cocky but we were just as confident. So we both had the vibe like yea you ain’t do nothing to me. We had the same type of attitude but it was all cool. He was rhyming much much faster, you remember how he used to rhyme. He was super fast back then. He’s a clever emcee, he’s always got it and he’s still nice. I’ll give it to him. He put his work in. But that was that it wasn’t no Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee situation. We just went back and forth with a few verses and that was that. He was asked about it on MTV. Sway asked him like, ‘You battled GZA, you beat Genius?’ and Jay-Z was like c’mon man.

Everybody knows I’m a huge Jay fan, but I can totally see GZA eating him in a battle, especially back when he was rhyming like Chip Fu.  

As the NBA season comes to an end and the playoffs begin, the NBA hands out numerous awards from 6th man to NBA MVP. They also put together all NBA teams, All Rookie Teams and All Defensive teams.  Of course I will voice my opinion on who should and who should not recieve these awards but I can’t stop there. I will hand out my own various awards from week to week ranging from Most Overpaid player to Best Bench Player Disguised as a Cheerleader and my favorite All Caucasian Team. 

I will start off today on a serious note with my All Clutch Team.  Any player can score points in the first 47 minutes of a NBA game but its what you do in the final minute when the pressure is on that determines the heart and character of a player. Pressure can bust pipes or make diamonds.  Here are the 6 players that (5 starters + 1 bench) make diamonds for their teams on the regular.

G – Chauncy Billups, Detroit Pistons - If your nickname is Mr. Bigshot, chances are you make some big baskets. Not only does he look like Sean "Puffy" Combs and plays for a team once labeled the "BadBoys" but he got that "Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop" mentality.  I wonder if people forget that Chauncy was originally the #3 pick by the Boston Celtics and labeled a bust as he bounced form team to team till having a solid season in Minnesota in the 2001-02 season which earned him his contract from Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons.  Personal Favorite Clutch Moment for me was the half court buzzer beating 3 pointer in game 5 against NJ to tie the game and send it into overtime.

G- Ben Gordan, Chicago Bulls – I will admit, I thought he was going to be a bust in the league after the first few months of his rookie season.  He looked lost. Well throw those months down the incinerator at your local housing project. This kid is a problem. One of the most underated shooters in the league and has hit numerous game winners for the last 2 years (about 3 of them have come against my beloved NY Knicks, dammit man!) Do I need to mention he went 9 for 9 from beyond the arc two days ago against the Wizards. He’s the reason the Bulls locked up that 8th spot (sorry Philly and Allen Cryverson) Favorite Clutch Moment is the formentioned NBA tying 9 for 9 3 point performance.

G/F- Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers - Really, is an explanation needed? He is the most clutch player in the league.  This dude really stole some of MJ’s DNA and inserted it in himself.  He got the look, the swagger and the game winning abilities. Favorite Clutch Moment was last year against the Portland Trailblazers, KB8 gets the ball with less than a second left and shoots a 3 point jumshot from a foot in from midcourt, cash money marvelous. Game tied, overtime, repeat previous sentence, only this time the shot was for the win, cash money marvelous.

F – Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets – Has hit more game winners than any player in the league this year.  Remove Kobe Bryant from the league and Melo might be the most clutch player in the league,  From highschool, to college, now in the pro’s.  His nickname is "The Winner" and with good reason.  Even rappers know whassup, example. "I’m like Melo when it comes to them game winners’ -Jadakiss. Favorite Clutch Moment was his rookie year with a playoff birth on the line against the Portland Trailblazers, guarded by Ruben Patterson, down 2.  Melo pulls off for the game tying fade away bucket and goes on to roast in overtime and secure a playoff spot for his team.  All of this, as a rookie!

F/C – Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks – Is it me or is this guy a freak of nature? I swear if you think he’s hard to cover in real life, try picking up the PS2 controller on NBA Live and stop him.  He might flop in the playoffs again but this year he has been excellent, especially in the clutch.  I’m reserved on a favorite clutch moment but that might change once the playoffs start.

6th man / G – Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat - Flash, Wade In Full, Wade Wonder, whatever you want to call him.  Remember in NBA Jam where they had the sweet spots for each player it was basically impossible to miss from? Well, look at the free throw line extended and move to the left just a bit, thats his can’t miss spot.  Game after game I watch him size up that one spot on the court, get to it, pull-up, score, smile, and go home with a W.  Favorite Clutch Moment was this year against the Detroit Pistons, put Miami on his back and scored the final 17 points of the game including the game winning basket.