Nah Right

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Mos Def interviewing Al Gore. (via Spinemag)

Will the man who writes checks with the hand that don’t write remember the lyrics to RD on Sunday?

Biggie will join Ghostface and Biz Markie later this year when he gets his own action figure  

Knicks Fire Larry Brown, Thomas to take over as head coach

Two more shootings in New Orleans as The National Guard arrives to impose martial law (Reg. Req)

In this edition of my Weekly DMX Crime Rap Up:

The Arizona Republic reports:

Rapper Earl Simmons, also known as DMX, was cited for carrying a concealed handgun outside a Scottsdale nightclub, police said.

Officers near Buzz, southeast of Shea Boulevard and Scottsdale Road, stopped Simmons early Friday after they saw him remove his gun from a holster and place it beneath the front seat of his 1964 Chevrolet convertible.

Simmons, 35, was cited for a misdemeanor weapons violation for not having a permit to conceal the weapon beneath the car seat, said Scottsdale Police Detective Sam Bailey.

Simmons was not arrested.

So you’re telling me that in Arizona a black man in an expensive car can be seen hiding a pistol under their seat, in front of a club and walk away with a summons? That’s pretty sweet.

A report filed by Steven Volk for Philadephia Weekly reveals that The Boys are still a little skeptical about the circumstances surrounding Beanie Sigel’s shooting back in May.

The concern, of course, is whether Philly’s Biggie-sized rapper is telling the truth. "He’s cooperating in the sense that he’s giving us information," says [Police Capt. Joseph] O’Brien. "Whether that information is accurate remains to be seen."

O’Brien says Sigel gave various accounts of where he was at the time of the shooting, all of which put him in the same general area. But the police received no reports of gunfire in the vicinity before 7 a.m., when the rapper said he was busy being shot. They looked for shooting reports in other areas, and again found none.

The article goes on to speculate that the attack was not in fact a robbery, and offers theories from unnamed Philly detectives and an anonymous former drug dealer:

"He’s been tied into homicide investigations before," says one homicide cop. "But no one could ever charge him with anything."

According to this cop and an undercover narcotics investigator, the guys who put a bullet through Sigel’s arm either represent a rival drug organization he’s been fighting with over territory or the ghosts of drug wars past.

I don’t think anybody would be surprised if any of these theories turn out to be true, especially when you consider Sigels well publicized rep on the streets of Philly.

Meanwhile, one of Beans longtime Rocafella labelmates, Mr. Shawn Carter, is expected to remove all references to Cristal from his lyrics when he performs at Radio City this weekend.   

Fun fact: Today is the official first day of summer. The following was posted yesterday on Whoo Kid’s site, Shadyville.biz:

Damn this fucking guy is crazy . In a pro tools studio in Lebanon, Isreal yes I mean Lebanon!!! We are touring the world like crazy right now . 50 Cent created 10 freestyles for the masses. Him and Whoo Kid will be killing the streets next week with this out of left field monster . He is going at everyone on this mixtape so fans will be going crazy. I don’t know what to do anymore says Whoo Kid . The Banks cd is killing everything out there and now this 50 Cent mixtape will be overkill . So everyone one out there ,push your mixtapes back or come out this week . ps also don’t forget that the Eminem Shady cd is coming out the week after .damn y’all is all fucked up!!!! Check out Pow Radio on Hot 97 and GUNIT RADIO on Shade 45 to hear the new 50 Cent joints .
POW!!!

Someone tell that guy that Lebanon is not in Israel. I wonder if he’s gonna be starting up any new beef or if he’ll just be going after the usual suspects.

"In the hood summer time is the killing season/It’s hot out this bitch that’s a good ’nuff reason" - 50 Cent, Heat

Busta moves 209,000 units and takes the number #1 spot on the charts this week 

Outkast, Idlewild, August 22nd. Be there.  

I think we should all be applauding David Banner for his work in Mississippi following Hurrican Katrina. 

What’s good with these random Saigon features that keep popping up?

Is there anything Snoop won’t sell? 

The Lost Sidekick Case is finally resolved. The chick ended up getting locked up.  

The Miami Heat become just the third team in NBA Finals history to win a series after dropping the first two games, and the first to do it after losing Games 1 and 2 by double-digit margins.

Another one of Saddam’s lawyers abducted and killed
 

I have no idea where this is from, what it’s all about, or why it has Jay’s same verse twice…but it is what it is:

Mary J. Blige ft. Jay-Z - Turn Off The Lights 

A different beat and concept.

Lupe Fiasco - Kick Push II
 

I had to go extra hard after that last post.

*BONUS: X arrives to a show late then curses out the crowd when they boo him.

Field Mob has an album dropping soon so I guess they figured they should make some kind of semi-controversial statement to get their names on hip hop websites and blogs to get a buzz going. So fine, I’ll play the role of pawn in their little marketing ploy. But I’m still having a hard time wrapping my mind around what exactly dude meant by this statement:

"Hell yeah. Hip-hop is dead. I’mma tell you who killed hip-hop… D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz. Those are the murderers of hip-hop, in my opinion. It was already dying. They just came over and killed it"

Ok, can’t really argue with you there. But then he goes on to say:

"I love D4L and Franchize Boyz. I love ‘Laffy Taffy’ and all that shit, so don’t get it fucked up. I ain’t dissing them niggas at all. They from GA, Georgia. I’m a Georgia nigga…Me and Shawn we still make hip-hop music, but people don’t wanna accept it because it got a southern twang. Hip-hop is wordplay, saying something, metaphors. I love hip-hop. I fell in love with Mobb Deep, Nas. These are the people that influenced me. People like Bun B. He’s a hip-hop artist. MJG, Eightball, those are hip-hop southern artists. The old south is hip-hop. The new south…naaahh!" 

So I guess he means he enjoys what these two groups do musically, but he wouldn’t classify it as hip hop? Who knows. These dudes are fucking weirdos if I ever saw any. They also do a copious amount of sucking up to New York, as they should, and call it the mecca of hip hop and recognize that they’d probably be sweeping floors at Magic City if it wasn’t for The Foundation. Well, as long as ya’ll know.

A couple of points:

I’m no longer mad at Field Mob for their little comedy routine on the Raw Report DVD, however I still think they played themselves by buying into the anti-New York propaganda.

Contrary to popular opinion, I personally don’t think hip hop is dead. It sounds cool to say, and I even have the t-shirt from The Hundreds, but it isn’t true.

Even if I thought it was, I would never credit these two groups with killing it, as if they were that important.

I do, however think that mainstream hip hop is on it’s last leg. There was a time when you could actually enjoy the stuff on the radio, be it from New York, Cali or the South, and those days are pretty much over.