Manglide...no homo

This one's both for and courtesy of Thrizz...

After discussing the art of 'mangliding' in a recent studio session, Theory decided to Google it and came across this splendid product. Check the description...

"Astroglide's new Manglide Sex lube is a lubricant that’s sure to please. Astroglide Manglide lubricant is water based & water soluble, petroleum free, light, odorless, colorless, tasteless, non-staining, long lasting, contains no spermicide and won’t harm your condoms! What more could you ask for in a sex lube?"

Word.

Blu & Exile Live at SXSW - Dancing In The Rain

Blu & Exile - "Dancing in the Rain" snippet (tall) from gregthedude on Vimeo.

Kutiman YouTube Cut Up

I've been silent so far on this blog but you guys are gonna dig this if you haven't seen it already. Kutiman has taken a bunch of random clips off YouTube and produced something simply incredible. The guy is actually an Israeli musician who fronts a large jazz/funk orchestra. I must have bumped this track at least 20 times in a row. Check this out, and then check the dudes other work.

Pce!

T.I. sentenced to a year on weapons charges

An Atlanta judge has sentenced T.I. to one year and a day behind bars on federal weapons charges.

He will have between 30 and 60 days to report to prison. He already has completed about 1,000 hours of community service and has warned youths about the pitfalls of guns, drugs, violence. He will need to complete 470 more hours. Damn.



T.I. pleaded guilty last March after he was arrested in 2007, attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers. The arrest happened blocks away from where he was to headline the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta hours later.

Here's what T.I. said about the sentence:

"It brings me great pleasure and honor to say to you today that I have begun to close this chapter in my life with, of course, the help and blessings of the U.S. attorneys and the courts of the U.S. government.

Although I am not thrilled about my next year and a day, I am pleased that I am beginning the process of putting this all behind me. Thank you and I apologize to my family, to the young men, young women that I mentor. I hope that I can keep at least one, if not a million or more, from going down a similar path. I just want to say thank you."



Damn man, an entertainer of his stature with that many, and those type of guns, musta been into some shit. Nice one Clifford. But somehow I think he'll be makin' millions whilst he's in there. Lucky muhhfucka.

Justine Lai - Join Or Die

I caught this on one of my Facebook friend's status tonight, and thought it was interesting enough to post about.

Justine Lai is an artist, who paints herself having sex with the various Presidents of the United States. Here's the statement from her website:

"In Join Or Die, I paint myself having sex with the Presidents of the United States in chronological order. I am interested in humanizing and demythologizing the Presidents by addressing their public legacies and private lives. The presidency itself is a seemingly immortal and impenetrable institution; by inserting myself in its timeline, I attempt to locate something intimate and mortal. I use this intimacy to subvert authority, but it demands that I make myself vulnerable along with the Presidents. A power lies in rendering these patriarchal figures the possible object of shame, ridicule and desire, but it is a power that is constantly negotiated.

I approach the spectacle of sex and politics with a certain playfulness. It would be easy to let the images slide into territory that's strictly pornographic—the lurid and hardcore, the predictably "controversial." One could also imagine a series preoccupied with wearing its "Fuck the Man" symbolism on its sleeve. But I wish to move beyond these things and make something playful and tender and maybe a little ambiguous, but exuberantly so. This, I feel, is the most humanizing act I can do."

Check out the gallery on Justine Lai's website.

Yamakazi - The Craziest Guys on the Planet!!!!

These guys are off the chain. Check out the video and you be the judge.

It's Gonna Be A Big Nut Bust!

The Movement Fam will NOT be matched in the YouTube randomness game.

We got this on lock.

Public Service Announcement from The Movement Fam

DJ Grain Ear to the Streets Weekly Hip Hop News Wrap Up - March 21st 2009

What it do, people? Ya boy Grain is back yet again with another week of Hip Hop news.



Kid Cudi has called off his retirement. Last week Cudi said he was hanging up the mic to focus on his acting career. Man, he hasn't even dropped his first album yet!!!



Memphis Bleek has officially left Roc-A-Fella Records. He said that Jay gave everybody an opportunity when it came to rhyming. Bleek said that he saw the breakup of the label coming. Also, he stated that money changes folks and it definitely strained the relationship between him and Dame Dash.



Kanye West and his manager have been charged with misdemeanor battery, grand theft, and vandalism. If convicted, they could each face up to 2 1/2 years in jail.



Rap beef is going to far these days. People are starting to go after folks' mothers, children, baby mamas; enough is enough. Man, this stuff is getting wild!!!



We have a little audio from Rhymefest about his feelings on Hip Hop, Charles Hamilton and life in general (peep the clip below).

Until next week folks,
Grain.

Wax and Malicious

Once again, the homie Kev just don't stop. Got another couple of dope thangs for ya that we blatantly stole from K-Nott, yet again.

First up, Kev's producer G.C. has laced another banger, this time for Canadian MC Malicious aka Mr. Malish, called 'My Calling', the first leak off Malish's upcoming mixtape, and it's a heater.

Download Malicious - My Calling (produced by G.C.)

Next up, here's a couple cats that I'm vibin' off lately. Producer Nobody Famous (you'll be hearing a LOT more about dude and The Fam very soon) and Wax (from the Wax & EOM project) are two of the most talented cats out right now, and they've linked up to bang out a joint for Nobody Famous's new album, Order Up! Vol. 3 (Chicken & Waffles) called 'Rowdy'. Peep the video. Also, you can check out the first leak from the album, 'Mary'.

Ciara featuring Justin Timberlake - Love Sex Magic

Jesus Christ. Every dickhead who said Ciara is a dude is fucked in the head. Hottest video of the year, thus far. Plus the song is cool, too.

The Obama Deception - Full Video

I posted a trailer for this a few weeks back and now the full length has been released. Check it out, it's a longun, goes for almost 2 hours, but it's worth it. Some very interesting information, and as I said, keep an open mind. Comment with your thoughts.

Oh and look out for dope commentary from legendary Hip Hop artists KRS One and Professor Griff (Public Enemy).

Die Jerm Die Remix Competition

No, this ain't got nothing to do with murdering innocent mispelled germs.

Just wanted to let the folks know about another dope remix competition the homies over at www.KevinNottingham.com are running at the moment. Fresh off of The Movement Fam and Trav Williams remix competitions, the next one for budding producers out there is for the homie Jermiside, for his upcoming Die Jerm Die mixtape, mixed by DJ Low Key.

There's two joints to remix for Die Jerm Die volumes 1 and 2 - 'Never Seen A Thing' and 'Crisis Times'. The former will feature on Vol 1 and the latter on Vol 2. So you have two chances to make the cut. This should be interesting...click the image to get the info.

Model Mondays Feature: Jasmine Santiago

This week I am prod to present to you all the Latin beauty Ms. Jasmine Santiago. She hails from the Boogie Down Bronx, but now lives in the MIA. For those of you all have never been to Miami, I swear it is hard to find a person that is not in shape. Every where you go everyone looks like a model or potential actor. Ms. Santiago took a minute out of her busy schedule to drop some info on the industry from her point of view. Check out the interview below...and stay tuned this week because we are dropping two features for y'all!!!





DJ Grain: Where are you from?
Jasmine: Born and raised in the Bronx, NYC.



DJ Grain: How many years have you been modeling?
Jasmine: This is my first year.



DJ Grain: What are the misconceptions people commonly have about models that are untrue?
Jasmine: That we are idiots! On the contrary, I am a very intelligent woman.

DJ Grain: What shows, videos, magazines, etc. have you been featured in?
Jasmine: None at the moment, I am new the modeling world!



DJ Grain: What photographers have you worked with?
Jasmine: I have worked with Mohawk J a.k.a MJ and Tori T from Eyecandy Modeling.

DJ Grain: What photographers would you like to work with?
Jasmine: I would love to work with Benhur, Unique "MAICOL" and Derrick G to name a few.



DJ Grain: Can you describe the grind of a model trying to break into the industry?
Jasmine: Well, to start I get no sleep, I always find myself at events, conferences, video/photo shoots etc., whatever I can do to meet new folks to network with and also do anything to put my name out there.

DJ Grain: Any words for the ladies out there that have aspirations of entering the modeling industry?
Jasmine: Go hard or go home!



DJ Grain: How can people contact you for booking?
Jasmine: You can contact me several ways either through MySpace: Imperial Dollz or Jasmine Santiago, and for booking and info you can call 786-544-0443.

All In A Days Work - Saigon & Statik Selektah

Supposedly created within 24 hours as the title suggests. This is very short, inconsistent, unfinished DOPENESS from Saigon. One can only wait and hope to see an album some time in the near future!

Download Saigon & Statik Selektah's 'All In A Days Work'

David Dallas - Indulge Me

Big ups to D. Dallas on getting his video on 'On Smash', which apparently ain't all that easy. Info after the jump.

"The official music video for David Dallas' "Indulge Me" featuring Devolo from the forthcoming album Something Awesome.

Directed by Joel Kefali for Special Problems."

Rick Ross's Baby's Mama?

Alright, we normally wouldn't put this sorta stuff on our esteemed blog, but this shit is funny as hell. 50 done took the whole Rick Ross beef to another level. I ain't even gonna speak on it, just watch the video.

Disclaimer: This video has a strong R/X rating, so view with discretion. It's awesome.

TV Shows...

Yeah, it's been a while since I've contributed but you could say I've been researching my blog bits...



TV shows... OK, now I'm a massive fan of TV shows. They can be used for all sorts of things - to entertain us, which is kind of a really broad term that could mean anything from making us laugh, cry, become mad, feel emapathy; we can use it as therapy to help us get through the day or something that we are going through; it also helps fill in the time.



Often we resonate with certain characters and emulate their ways - be it style, catch phrases, or quote them ad nauseum (I’m guilty of all the above, yep those who know me will vouch). They also allow us to laugh at topics that are somewhat taboo but we all think about anyone who watched Family Guy knows what I mean.



But lately I’ve stumbled onto Robot Chicken (yeah I know it's late) but they do some crazy ish. The Star Wars episode had me in stitches and it's perfect for those with low attention spans. But it got me thinking, what are the best shows in their respective genres and how do we qualify them?



Hmmmmm that in itself could be an entirely new post...

Saigon and Kool G. Rap - P (produced by Just Blaze)

This one's for the real heads. Sai and G Rap go hard as fuck on this one. Big ups to the homie Leegit for the hook up!

The Understudies CC3 Tour Video Blog #1

That's right, the homies The Understudies are back with a dope video blog covering their latest Left Coast tour. Peep game.

Jay-Z speaks on his personal success

It's a beautiful day when the arguably most successful MC/businessman in Hip Hop speaks on how he got where he is.

Big ups to Kevin Nottingham who posted about this. Interview is amazing, very inspiring, and not just to those in the Hip Hop industry.

Read Jay-Z's interview with with Best Life.

Jadakiss Updates...

Apparently Jadakiss' album got pushed back to April 7 and Jada says he went back to the studio to record more songs and collabos. Dope!



"I just went back in," 'Kiss told MTV. "I did two joints with Swizz [Beatz]. I got one from [DJ] Khaled by [producers] the Inkredibles [Rick Ross' 'Mafia Music,' Young Jeezy's 'Vacation,' Fat Joe's 'One']. I got Mary [J. Blige] on it. I got another Pharrell joint. You know what it is. As long as they make me keep working and push the date back, I'm going in the studio making more music for the people. Whatever don't go on the album, you definitely gonna get it on the mixtape."



Jada also talked about other singles:
“I told you I got that joint from Khaled that has Mary on it,” Jada said. “I think it’s a big, huge record. [I think it's called] ‘Grind Hard.’ … Then I have ‘What If?’ with Nas. That’s like an uppercut.” ‘Kiss said the theme of the Nas featured record is self-explanatory. “Just a bunch of ‘what ifs’ ” Jada said. “Bunch of realistic, current events and past things. I just asked, ‘What if?’ I reached out to Esco, and he nailed it. When I say he nailed it, he nailed it!”

If that dont get ya excited... you aint real. Period.

Nosh dog.

Rapper Big Pooh's New Album's??!! Dope!

Little Brother's Rapper Big Pooh is set to release a new joint which is split up into TWO release dates..... the first version in late March, and the other in late April... marketing brilliance? Peep!



Big Pooh’s latest vehicle is a street-LP entitled, Delightful Bars, and there will be four different versions of Delightful Bars made accessible, (say what??!!) including a special iTunes only version (referred to as the Candy Apple version), which will be released on March 24th and the North American retail version of Delightful Bars (referred to as the North American Pie Version) will be released on April 24th.



The albums will feature most of the usual brilliance that is associated with the Justus League, including: Khrysis, Torae, Jake One, Illmind, 9th Wonder, Darien Brockington, and Big Treal to name a couple...! Niiiiiice!

More news to come on the other two versions!!!

DJ Grain Ear to the Streets Weekly Hip Hop News Wrap Up - March 14th 2009

What's happening folks? It's been another wild week in the world of Hip Hop. Hit the jump for audio and highlights.



Camp Lo are back in the studio working on a new album called Stone & Rob: Caught on Tape. The album is named after two characters in the movie Cooley High. Be on the lookout of the album droppin' later this year, it should be pretty dope.



No Limit artist C-Murder violated his house arrest order and has been sent back to jail. C-Murder is currently awaiting trial for the murder charges against him for the murder of a 16 year old outside of a night club in Louisiana.



The Republican Party is working hard to get young hip voters, and they are starting to reach out to the Hip Hop community and work on improving relations with groups that normally are not favorable to their party. No comment on this!!!!!



Coolio was busted at LAX with crack cocaine, after going through a security check before boarding a flight. Note from Cee: The man was also robbed of his jewelery and kicks at his recent Melbourne show. Dude is on fire.



Nick Cannon has been appointed to the position of Honorary Chair and Development Consultant for TEENick, a spinoff of Nickeloden. His job will be to work on broadening the range of the TEENick audience. Shouts to Nick for making some serious moves.

'Til next week,
Grain.

The Movement Fam @ Concert For Hope

What up folks? My bad for no post happening yesterday, that's the first time in ages. Shan't happen again.

Anyway, the reason for no post is we've been busy putting together our show for a huge bushfire benefit gig that we're playing at this coming Sunday 22nd March. Check the line up below, for those in Victoria, the details to get tickets is all there. Should be huge! Check the info:

Concert of Hope is a dance party/big day out type of event that is organized by the youth and young adults of the local area for those affected by Black Saturday - CFA included! The young people of Melbourne need to be given the opportunity to help, and to build and strengthen our truly Australian qualities of mateship and co-operation. This is that event.

Concert of Hope will hit on Sunday March 22nd, at Kilmore Racecourse. Gates open 12.30pm and the event will wrap up at 9pm. Ages 12 up welcome!

It will include bands such as A Planet in Space, Bushido, Ida Fox, Fading Hour, Rincon, Icarus , Alter Egoz and The Movement Fam. We also have DAVE JOY (Switz), Mr Timothy, Guy Lewis, Paul Zala, Hellraiser, Scott Alert, Jewlez and Dr Willis on the DJ stage. A third stage will also showcase local bands from the fire affected areas. Don’t forget Riders from the Krusty Demons of Dirt, wakeboarding displays, lots of munchies and much more!

Tickets go on sale Wednesday 18th March, through your local Ticketmaster outlet, www.ticketmaster.com.au or call 136 100.

Cost is $47.95 plus booking fee, to which you are helping support fire victims, their communities and the CFA.

Thanks so much for your support!!
www.concertofhope.com.au

Throwback Kanye leak

Ahhhh yeah. This is my muthafuckin' shit.

Big big ups to Mr. Kevin Nottingham once again for the hook up http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=908885750994611394on this.

So Kanye West's 'College Dropout' is one of the reason's The Movement Fam is making music today. And you could understand how finding a leak of a version of 'We Don't Care' (when it was called 'Drug Dealing') featuring GLC and Keisha Cole. Keisha is also my girl. Memories and shit. Love it.

Download Kanye West feat GLC & Keisha Cole - Drug Dealing

Fokis - Show Me The Money feat Mr. eXquire & E-Cashe$ (prod by G.C.)

This one is a bit of a straight up rip from Big Kev's blog, but his producer G.C. (who's dope as hell) has laced a beat for Fokis, who banged out a fresh joint called 'Show Me The Money'. Here's what Kev has to say about it:

"Back in the limelight again with the premier single from his up and coming project is the hardest working L.E.S lyricist, Fokis. Calling on acquaintances from his Walk Through MySpace project which was available for free download last year and which featured some of the brightest up and coming stars from across the US, Fokis teamed with Mr. eXquire and E-Cashe$ on his new joint “Show Me The Money”. I’m also happy to say that this is the first beat recorded to from G.C’s Freshness Sampler which we put out a few months ago.

Produced by Maryland native but the Utah residing emerging beatsmith G.C, “Show Me The Money” is about making the most of what you have during this economic battle we all find ourselves fighting. “During these hard times its important to find something to take your mind off of all the stress and try and find some joy,” explained Fokis. “So I reached out to Mr. eXquire & E-Cashe$ who are two very talented and hungry up and coming emcees and well the result was this, a joint to have a bit of fun with basically.”

“Show Me The Money” will be featured on the up and coming project from Fokis, MY NAME IS FOKIS a collection of work old and new which will be available in the coming months."

Download Fokis - Show Me The Money feat Mr. eXquire & E-Cashe$ (prod by G.C.)

New Oddisee Ish

Big ups to the homie Hezekiah for sending this one on through.

Rosenberg Radio.com posted the new Oddisee track, “HipHop’s Cool Again” from the “Mental Liberation” compilation dropping May 5th on Mello Music. Check it out (hit the links from the image or above).

Top 50 Worst Hip Hop Album Covers Of All Time

Big ups to the homie K-Real for linking me on this one.

It's a tad old, from like April last year, but this is classic.

A blog by the name of Honolulu Hip Hop put together this dope list of the Top 50 Worst Hip Hop Album Covers Of All Time. Absolutely hilarious - sometimes you tend to overlook the wackest album covers, but this brings all that to light.

Here's a classic quote from the piece:

"Master P has wrought more terrible album artwork for hip hop culture upon us than anyone else. Master P sets the bar so low that one could only aspire to create such art by smoking rock while using Paint Shop on a salvaged Packard Bell."

The Ghostface cover, below, won the Gayness Award for these reasons:

"At first glance, this album doesn’t seem to fit in with the horror that is the Top 50 Worst Hip Hop Album Covers of all time. But then you look further, and you notice Ghost is wearing a robe which is coming undone while he serves Raekwon breakfast. Is that a pancake? And please…really LOOK at Raekwon’s face (and what I believe may be a wad of cash in his hands). Big ups to our homie KnowXOne for hooking us up with this one. Bulletproof Wallets receives our Gayness Award."



Click on the Ghost pic or the link above to check it out.

Model Mondays Feature: Arkeedah McCormick

This week it is my pleasure to present Ms. Arkeedah, reppin the ATL to the fullest. She represents a different type of model that a lot of folks may not be so familiar with. Besides doing runway shows and promotional events, she is a 'hair model'. These fearless young ladies that are hair models are a unique group, they have to trust that the individual doing their hair will do a good job and not have them looking jacked up in front of audience. Ms. Arkeedah took some time out of her busy schedule to chat with me about the modeling industry and drop some knowledge for young ladies thinking of being models. Check out the interview below.



DJ Grain: Where are you from?
Arkeedah: Atlanta, GA.



DJ Grain: How many years have you been modeling?
Arkeedah: 3 years.

DJ Grain: What are the misconceptions people commonly have about models that are untrue?
Arkeedah: The most common one I deal with is people automatically assume I have an attitude, but when people get to know me, they find out I’m a pretty cool person.



DJ Grain: What shows, videos, magazines, etc. have you been featured in?
Arkeedah: Maxim, Online Bonus Babe 2007, MTV’s Yo Momma Extra 03-2007, Aanaya Couture Fashion Show July 19 2007, Bronner Brother’s FHI Heat Hair Show Technical Model 8-20-2007, Milky Way Hair Battle Model 8-04-2008, Mychael Knight Model for Fall Line Presentation 2008,Karl Kani New Face Top 20 Finalist, and Hotlanta Hair Directory Volume 5.

DJ Grain: What photographers have you worked with?
Arkeedah: Reggie Anderson, Sta'fon Shamayim, and Precise.



DJ Grain: What photographers would you like to work with?
Arkeedah: I would love to work with Derek Blanks and Leo Marshall.

DJ Grain: Can you describe the grind of a model trying to break into the industry?
Arkeedah: One word, HUSTLE. Webster definition: promote energetically and aggressive. You have to know where you want to go, and have a plan on how to get there.



DJ Grain: Any words for the ladies out there that have aspirations of entering the modeling industry?
Arkeedah: Stay motivated and if you have the drive to pursue it, then do it!

DJ Grain: How can people contact you for booking?
Arkeedah: I can be reached via email @ Arkeedah McCormick

Hezekiah - In The Wind

HEZEKIAH in the wind from hezekiah davis on Vimeo.

Aight, the homie Hezekiah has been on his grind lately. Peep the video for 'In The Wind', the new single (I think? It's only a verse and a hook so I'm not entirely sure) from his third album, Conscious Porn. Peep.

Kanye West and Foreign Exchange Live Videos

My man Kev ain't fuckin' around, as usual. In the last week or so, he posted links to download live shows from Kanye West (VH1 Storytellers) and Foreign Exchange (live at The Black Cat in Washington, D.C.).

Click the images on the links above to hit up Kev's site for all the details. Keep in mind, though, they are both in the upper hundreds of megabytes so keep that harddrive free!

Blogging about blogging...

So I was on Twitter today, and noticed @definitely_nah tweeted about 'blogging about blogging = zzzzz'. And that got me thinking.

Is 'blogging about blogging' becoming a bit of a phenomena? I'm not that into blogging, but it appears to me that you can equate this to 'rapping about rap', which is all too common in Hip Hop. Now I don't really have a problem with 'rapping about rap', as it is essentially what the culture was created upon. The MC's initial role was to big up the DJ and talk about how 'dope' and 'fresh' he is, and that merged into talking about how well the MC in question rocks said party. And rocks it right. Right?



So really, what is blogging? Is it just another forum for the masses to speak their often useless minds? It seems that pre-internet, there just wasn't as many ways for the average person to have their say. Artists and musicians and creative types generally got their views across via their various mediums, yet the mechanic down the road with a passion for left wing liberalism only chatted about it down the pub after work.



Now, with the advent of the good old interweb, social media/networking and blogging, it's all too easy for people - I mean, everyone - to have their say. Is this a good thing, though? Well, it's definitely better than the media being filled up with the views of a handful of select people, which of course, it still is. With the internet, though, you're not stuck tuning in to the same old programs and viewpoints, which are often tainted (who am I kidding? They're ALWAYS tainted).



That said, I think there needs to be more of a balance. There's more blogs than you can poke a magic wand at, these days. AND there's more rappers than you can poke a mic at. It seems that as technology advanced, it's been easier for everyone to have their say, whether the medium be blogs or music. So as much as this can be a great thing - there have been too many intelligent minds left in the cold due to the lack of mediums to get their points across - it can also be damning as now everyone thinks they're a writer or an MC, due to the ease of access. And does this mean that bloggers should blog about how good they blog? Is there 'battle blogging'? Actually, there is. Check the homie Weapon X's blog, My Blog Could Bash Your Blog.



I could possibly fit into both categories, so I'm far from judging here, although I've been rapping since I was barely a teenager, LONG before I had internet access. Or before it was even around, now I think of it. The folks my age know what I'm talking about - we had to struggle to get access to anything Hip Hop, and meeting other rappers was more difficult than logging on to MySpace. We did it the hard way and now we appreciate what this technology brings us (haha I sound like my grandfather). So I guess I don't fit into the new age MC category here, but I am fairly new to blogging in the overall scheme of things, but I think here at The Movement Fam.com, we bring a whole bunch of cool shit, as opposed to our stupid, meaningless and self-indulgent views. Which this actually is. Whatever. Blog on, blogger.