The Return Of Mechasmack

So this year's Run Hit Wonder is being called the Run Hit Remix. I've thought this was a good marketing idea from the start, even as I've found at least one of the artists that's supposed to be a One Hit Wonder at the event is not so in my opinion. This year it's De La Soul.

I know what most (3) of you are thinking - De La Soul only had one hit song and that was way back in 1989 and I'm not even sure if they've made anything since. Well, you're right - De La had one hit single, Me, Myself, and I, back in 1989. 2 points for the first reader who can tell me what song it samples. But like a lot of one hit wonders, De La has gone on to produce more music that just hasn't reached the masses. And in my opinion, the work they've been putting in since 1989 has been so much better. De La has reinvented themselves several times over, surviving the demise of the Native Tongue movement, the big takeover of gangsta rap, and the rise of bling hop. They are one of the most influential groups in hip hop, and their longevity goes to show that you can grow up and still be relevant. As someone who has reached the age of considering most crap on the radio as just that, it's nice to hear groups like De La that keep it real by not following the trends.

So go pick up the latest album from De La Soul - The Grind Date. Actually, pick up the previous album while you're at it. Art Official Intelligence: Bionix, the second album in their AOI series, is possibly their best album ever..

Almost scary.

Sunday Afternoon Series Volume 13 is done. And not to pat myself on the back too much but I like it. I even threw in some Madonna this time. However, I realized yesterday while listening to it on the way home from work that I'm getting senile since I put 2 different versions of the same song in the same mix. tsk tsk tsk

Download and boogie!

bootytronic.com/djs/tmm

And download the rest if you haven't already.

I’m the ugliest version of passed down toxic capitalist
Rapid emcee perversion -- I’m america!
Your bleeding-heart liberal drivel gets squashed
Wash em with sterilized rhyme patriot-guided weaponry bomb
From the makers of the devious hearts -- I’m america!
You bitchy little dogs don’t even phase my basic policy
The bomb’s smarter, my ronald reagan’s crush carter
With bay of pig tactics makin young men into martyrs
(come on down!) come to my happy promised land
Smiley faced opportunity cypher
And jump on the coflow pension plan
A proletariat, crushing state of the union
Between serpentine words and mass confusion
Of media controlled blurb advertising disillusionment
Your family will love my low-rent, low-life
No-brain, reality-dagger, movement
Hop over the border for amusement; try to test the waters
That the other slaughter crews pay all the usance
You up against -- jesus freak, formin corporations in young republicans
Indelible nato force hidden agenda, puppet governments
I’m lovin it! keep the people guessin who I’m runnin with
Control the population and hide behind sacred covenants
Fuckin with me? !? ! means liberal wildlife burnin, gasoline seized
And an automagnetic third world printed with metal plates in they knees
Can’t you hear the disenchanted, hide the scream of
Gabriel’s reflected new wind instrument, a judgment played in flat c
I replace humans like robots in a gm factory (warning! warning!)
Then explore metaphors to sweat shops, cause the price is satisfactory
Your pious little cries of injustice get met with apathy (awww, shucks!)
Soak, cloak, hormone injected dairy product
And conservative right-wing anti-eroticism; the poisonous
Resevoirs and power lines in your neighborhood cause botchilism
Senseless! join the census, censorship sentences sentence
Triple-felon citizen paid pennance!
Dissension against c-f ends in, penetentiary residence
Lock em up first, then ask questions
Omniscient presence, my charm is the weapon
With cameras mics and satellites that leave privacy breathless
You don’t even know the chemicals you’ve ingested
Urine tested -- beat innocent man til he confesses

Company Flow - Patriotism

Do you think that you can hold on
When the beat get too strong
And you feel that you need help to move along

Do you think that you can hang tough
When the rhythm gets rough
And the DJ says 'I think you've had enough'

Do you think that you can digest
When I start to digress
Better get yourself a lyric-proof vest

Do you think that you can compete
When you hear the phat beat
You need stamina like an athlete

Unique
Continue the future technique
To full heat
Let the microphone burn when I speak
Alright
Now we're getting into this sound
Pick it up
Shake it up
Turn it upside down

Roni Size / Reprazent - Railing

This month's Too Much Time On Their Hands Award goes to PES, who has painstakingly taken some arcade classics and recreated them in his kitchen.

www.collegehumor.com/movies/1704980/

There was a time during and right after college where I couldn't go anywhere in the city without bumping into someone from U of I. It's just a fact that a lot of people go to U of I and those people end up living and working in Chicago after graduation. That's died down over the years as people have moved on.

One thing that happens every once in a while, though, is when you see someone you know from high school or college on the bus or train or walking toward you on the street somewhere and one or all of the following go through your head:

1. Where do I know this person from? High school or college?
2. Do I want to stop and say hello and have a little How ya doin? session?
3. Would this person even remember who I am? They didn't know who I was in high school, why should I expect them to remember me now?
4. I don't feel like talking to them today.

I saw someone from high school on the train this morning. I don't remember her name and I doubt she'd remember me at all. But I always wonder as I encounter these people from the past if they see me and are thinking the same thing as we pass each other on the street.

Then there's the other end of the spectrum. (Does this qualify as a spectrum?) Anyway, there are the other times when I see people I know that I actually would like to talk to and they don't even notice me, but I don't feel like going out of my way to say hello. Just last week I saw three people I knew that I would have gladly talked to for a minute but they didn't notice my little half-hearted wave. Oh well, maybe I need to start wearing orange more often.

I decided to watch the VMA's this year because MTV has a new hi-def channel.

Black Eyed Peas just won Best Hip Hop Video for My Humps.

Time to see what else is on.
Right after Shakira shows me the truth with her hips.