Class Video

This is just a video that I put together for a convergence project for my journalism class. Just figured I would share it, since I put it all together myself, including, filming, editing, voiceovers, the works. So check it out, I'm pretty happy with the product.

MIMS: Guilt Album Review

After seeing the video for Move (if you wanna)," the first single off of MIMS sophomore album Guilt, my interest grew a litte bit. Before hearing that song and seeing the video, all I really knew of MIMS were his hit song "This is why I'm Hot" and another song that got less attention, "Like This." Both songs were two huge examples of why mainstream hiphop has been going downhill and the main reason why MIMS got so many people calling him a ringtone rapper. I was one of those people and thought nothing of the East Coast rapper. In fact, if it weren't for that video, I probably never would have even gave the album a chance. However since "Move" had gotten my attnetion I figured I would check it out.

Before really listening to the album, I decided I would check to see the buzz around the album and see what people were saying. What I found was pretty interesting. At HipHopDX.com, a site I visit pretty much everyday, I read a review absolutely destroying the album, saying that it showed no growth and was just another flop of an album. Read the review here: (http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/reviews/id.1151/title.mims-guilt) However, on the other hand, I looked at itunes to read the reviews that listeners had posted and what do I find? A cumulative rating of 4/5 stars out of about 170 total people. I sit at my laptop and write this review to give you the deciding vote and tell you this: In my opinion, hiphopdx's review is very wrong in many many ways. I believe that this album was actually a pretty solid step forward for MIMS and with the occastional bad song, find it to be a good album with energy and variety. Let me tell you why.

The first track takes on the same title as the album itself: Guilt. The reason MIMS chose this as his title is because guilt is exactly what he is feeling. He explains in this song his view about what happened and why his first album rightfully got so much criticism. He discusses through witty comparisons how he really got caught up in the whole "rap game" and the success that came with it. The song talks about how he is guilty of lovin' the cars, clothes and money that his rap success brought and as a result, he ended up making pretty terrible music. These material possessions blinded him and caused him and his large ego to make songs like "This is Why I'm Hot," which had absolutely nothing new or innovative to offer to the already slumping rap industry. He also adds he is still extremely thankful for the things that he has and the gifts he has been given. Overall, it is a good intro to set the mood and explain the basic concept of the album.

Moving onto two of the more hyped songs off the album, "Move(If you wanna)" and "Rock 'N Rollin'." "Move" is the first single that was realeased a while ago. MIMS brings a solid lyrical performance through a short winded methodical flow. With the deep bass banging in the background the entire song, MIMS raps over a more low key beat one minute, and explodes into a louder high energy drum break the next. This combination along with lines like
"I don't undrestand how can I have so many ha-ters Knowin I'm there father like my name is Darth Va-der I can get you hemmed up while I'm bein tay-lored Then I slide off to the side like a fa-der"
make for a sick song. The song "Rock 'N Rollin" got a lot of hype because of the appearance of KC native Tech N9ne. On itunes I literally saw multiple comments saying they bought the CD purely for the appearance of Tech N9ne. The duo don't disappoint bringing a concept similar to GZA's "Labels" in which they string dozens of rock 'n roll band names through clever lines over a dark beat with a demonic like chorus. Tech N9ne does overshadow MIMS a little bit purely because his uptempo verse sounds better than MIMS who raps pretty slowly(almost like he's talking) the whole song.

Contrary to what DX, writes in their review, I was very impressed by the song, "One Last Kiss." I thought the song was a breath of fresh air with the mixture of an alternative style song combined with a synthesizer to set up a heart felt song from MIMS discussing how much he misses his mother and how he just wants to spend more time with her. I dont really see how DX could say that this was a "straight pop record that falls flat," unless they didn't actually listen to the lyrics.

Some more songs that I enjoyed off the album were "On and On," "Chasing Sunshine," "Love Rollercoaster" and "I Do." "Chasing Sunshine" gets the point accross that he was distracted from his girl by his success, and that he has realized he can have all of the cars money and material things, but without her, he can't be happy. "On and On" has a tight beat to express some more of his feelings about his guilt and how he has changed. Saying "talking bread every verse he gets/talking about head every verse he spits/But that ain’t him man, that ain’t MIMS man," Mims tries to show that he realized his faults and knows he needs to fix them. "Love Rollercoaster" featuring LeToya Luckett will probably be the next single off the album, as it is a typical song about strife between him and his girl over a simple beat and melody. "I Do" is a song made for specifically for couples. Over this catchy piano based beat, MIMS uses the marriage term "I Do" to convey the message that relationships can be difficult, but they can work out if they are meant to.

Of the remaining songs, "One Day," "Makin Money," "Be My Hustla," "In My Life," and "Heal Me," I really wasn't feelin' "Be My Hustla (its the same mainstream bs)," "One Day(didn't really enjoy the flow or the appearance by Ky-Mani Marley)" and "In My Life(just wasn't feelin it)." "Makin Money" I really like the beat and he has some tight metaphors, but the chorus is kind of annoying and it is the opposite of his album concept. "Heal me" is kinda slow, but is very solid lyrically.

Overall I believe the album is a very big step up for MIMS and I applaude him for realizing his flaws and making an effort to fix them. He has shown me growth and maturity in this album (with the exception of a few songs), and I largely disagree with HipHopDX's review. He stepped his game up lyrically and put them on a lot of catchy beats to make for an overall great listening experience that will bang in your headphones. I'll give him somewhere around a 7 or 8/10 stars. If he makes this much of an improvement for his next album, it should be a great one. Keep it up Shawn Mims Jr.

Barbecue Beef

After saving 3 lives today by giving a pint of my very own blood, I came back to my apartment pretty hungry. As I rifled through my cabinets looking for an idea for dinner, I began to realize I really didn't have much more than pasta, cereal, peanut butter, and ritz crackers. Then I found a pound of ground beef that I had forgetten about in my freezer and decided I could make somethin relatively easy and quick with that. That something turned out to be a very easy version of "barbecue beef." All I did was brown the beef in the pan, get rid of the excess grease and then add some barbecue sauce, ketchup, mustard, and a little bit of hot sauce. Use a majority of hot sauce, but then lesser amounts of the ketchup and mustard. It makes a pretty tasty sloppy joe style beef to put on some hamburger buns and takes relataively no effort whatsoever. Try it out!

Ask A Bodyguard

This is just somethin i had to post...Its hilarious and I miss rob and big

Tiger Tiger Woods Ya'll

Next on the list: Tiger
Fresh off of his return to the links after an operation to surgically repair his knee, Tiger Woods returned to the Bay Hill Country Club looking to defend 2008's victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Going into this tournament, there were two moments absolutely burned into everybody's memory from all of the video playbacks. #1 was of course Tiger's improbable, yet expected victory at the U.S. Open in 2008 where he came back to force a playoff against Rocco Mediate and eventually took his 14th major title in sudden death. #2 was the constant replay of Tiger sinking the tournament winning 24-foot putt on the 72nd hole at last years Arnold Palmer Invitational. With one of the great golf legends commentating a lot of the tournament, Tiger got off to a decent start. After shooting a two under 68 the first round, he was sitting 3 strokes back of the leader. In the second and third rounds, Woods shot a 69, and 71. While this was not bad, the rest of the field was starting to leave him behind. At one point Sean O'Hair was -9 somewhere in the middle of the 3rd round. After 3rd round play had concluded, Tiger saw himself staring at a 5 stroke deficit. While comebacks were nothing new to Woods, a 5 stroke comeback would tie for his largest margin ever in his career. In order for him to win it, he would need a great round and maybe a little luck...He had both. Now, going into a final round, most people would think making up 5 strokes in 18 holes would probably be out of the question. However, this was Tiger Woods we were talking about. So, pretty much everybody just expected a full and complete Tiger comeback, like always. I even found myself and my roommates saying, "nah, he's fine, he's got this," like 5 strokes was not a big deal. Well, let me tell you from experience golfing that five strokes IS A HUGE deal. As I said before, Woods would have to play solid and maybe need some luck. Well, that "luck" came from a man by the name of Sean O'Hair. I'm not talking about Woods getting luck from a ball getting a crazy good bounce or a ball sinking into the cup from 160 yards out. I am talking about a meltdown from fellow United States golfer Sean O'Hair. After shooting a very nice 67 in the first round and a ridiculous 65 in the second, O'Hair was sitting nicely above the rest of the field. However, the troubles began in the 3rd round for the 26 year old Texas native. After having just 2 bogey's in all of the first two rounds, O'Hair collected two bogey's in the front nine of the 3rd round alone. On the back nine, Sean looked like he was back on track birdying 3 of the first 4 holes, but went on to bogey 3 of the last 4 holes to end at a +1 71 round on the day. While he had some struggles, he still was atop the leaderboard. Unfortunately for Sean, with Tiger in the field, that means nothing. With Tiger lurking behind him, Sean shot a dismal 73 (comparably) making 4 bogey's and just one birdie. Sean's collapse could be attributed to many things...
1. conditions (i hear they were pretty terrible the final round),
- but everybody had those conditions too
2. getting more tired in the final rounds after playing so much golf
-wait thats not an excuse you are a god damn professional golfer, man up sir
3. He was just having an off day on the final round
-though this is very possible in golf, he is still a professional, so if this is the truth, more than likely its his fault
4. The final reason is what I truley believe is what did O'Hair in...Tiger Woods was playing with him, in his group, with all of America watching, waiting, expecting something spectacular to happen. No matter how big of a lead you have, that is a hell of a lot of pressure. With golf being probably the most mental sport there is, this is just the thing that can get into your head and change the game completely. After making a bogey on 17 to give Tiger the lead, Sean lucked out when Tiger bogeyed himself on the 17th to set up a tie going into the 18th hole. Sean didn't stand a chance. This is the stage that Tiger is built for. He has been there so many times, I doubt it even fazes him anymore. It is probably comparable to putting a ball into a coffee mug in the office for you. Like everybody knew he would Tiger sunk his 12 foot birdie putt after O'Hair missed his, allowing us to witness yet another Tiger fist pump. To be honest, I don't even know how people go up against this guy. It is hard to believe that they truley believe they have a legitimate chance at beating him, but that's just me. As for now, I will just be waiting until his next 18th hole putt to win yet another miraculous comeback. I think its safe to say that he will be on his game at the Masters.

Dust off those Dirt Cleats

I was checkin out my blog and realized somethin pretty important: There really is nothing sports oriented on here yet, which is one of the main problems I created the blog in the first place. I think its about time that I discussed some topics I think are fairly important and relevant at this point in time.



CUBS UPDATE:

I'd first like to discuss the conclusion to the Closer battle that has ensued this spring between Kevin Gregg and Carlos Marmol. After letting last year's All-Star closer Kerry Wood get away to the Indians (along with Mark DeRosa...still pissed about those two) the Cubs went out and picked up 30 year old Right handed pitcher Kevin Gregg, who saved 29 games for the lowely Florida Marlins last year. This made for a competition between him and 26 year old Marmol, who was the dominant setup man for the Cubs last year. With Marmol's blistering heat and extremely high strikeout rate last year, a lot of people thought it would be a no brainer to put the Dominican Republic native in the closer slot. However while Marmol was busy being just mediocre in the World Baseball Classic, Gregg was crusing through spring training and hasn't givin up a run the entire preseason. So, when it came to decision time, Gregg was the clear choice, at least for the beginning of the season. Gregg looked very comfortable in the closer position last year, and will begin this season with his new team the same way.

Hip-Hop Woodstock

Hip-Hop Woodstock

When people think of large music festivals, names like Bonnaroo, Woodstock, and Rothbury come to mind. These are all multiple day celebrations of tens of artists, where people can escape the real world and relax and have a good time surrounded by music and people they love. These enormous parties play host to hundreds of thousands of people who are just looking to drink, smoke, and listen to music. While these festivals have a wide array of great artists (Rothbury 2008 quite possibly had one of the bets lineups last year including, Snoop Dogg, 311, Dave Matthews, Citizen Cope, Atmosphere, Modest Mouth, and many many many more), if you are looking for a great Hip-Hop focused festival look no further than The Roots' Picnic in Philadelphia. Last year The Roots assembled a solid lineup including themselves, Gnarls Barkley, Santigold, and Diplo, but this year the lineup is Stacked. The scheduled performers for this year's concert includes The Roots, PUBLIC ENEMY, The black keys, ASHER ROTH, KID CUDI, Santigold, and the Antibalas. When I saw this I was tempted to go online and buy a ticket that second. The lineup has a mix of everything, whether it is old school hiphop, up and coming artists, live bands, or one of the truest MCs in the game. This is the second year the The Legendary have put this concert together and I hope they continue to do it for many years to come. The presale is going on right now and you can get 5 dollars off. Here is the link:

http://www.okayplayer.com/rootspicnic/

Now, one of the reasons I came accross this lineup is also in part becasue of Jimmy Fallon's excuse for a late night show. Once again (after bringing Luda to his show for a sick tandem with The Roots), Jimmy Fallon's entire show was trumped by the geusts. On this night, he brought in Public Enemy, yes Flavor Flav, Chuck D and the whole crew, to perform "Bring the Noise" for a collaboration of epic proportions. Black Thought also had a verse to further mix one of the most influential hip-hop groups with one of the most "Legendary" crews today. The live band mixed with the old school feel made for a hell of a performance. Check out the video below and see for yourself

Bring The Noise

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

bangginn beatsss

Here are some links to some new songs by artists worthy of interest:

Rhymefest Feat. Queen Latifah: Goin' In

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.7039/title.rhymefest-f-queen-latifah-goin-in

Wale Feat. Curren$y & Tre of UCB: Word play off of Back to the Feature

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.7047/title.wale-f-curren-y-tre-of-ucb-word-play

Young Chris Feat. Wale, Bun B and Quest: Searching Remix

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.7046/title.young-chris-f-wale-bun-b-quest-searching-rmx

Classified Feat. Royce Da 5"9' and B.O.B.: They Call This (Hip-Hop)

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.7041/title.classified-f-royce-da-59-b-o-b-they-call-this-hip-hop

Slaughterhouse (Crooked I, Joe Budden, Ryce Da 5'9" and Joell Ortiz) Wack MCs

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.7026/title.slaughterhouse-crooked-i-joe-budden-royce-da-59-joell-ortiz-wack-mcs

B.O.B aka Bobby Ray - Mr. Bobby

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.7033/title.b-o-b-aka-bobby-ray-mr-bobby

Asher Roth - Lark on My Go-Kart

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.7034/title.asher-roth-lark-on-my-go-kart

This group of new realeases has a wide array of artists. Whether it is The Queen outdoing Rhymefest on their song, Some Leaks of of albums from Ash Roth and Wale, or B.O.B. popping up again to make some solid new music under a new name Bobby Ray. Its also got some stuff from the Slaughterhouse group who I recently have realized spit some real good lines. I'm glad to see Asher has put up some better stuff too. Hopefully this will help shut up the people talkin shit about him until his album comes out and they see what he's really made of.
Also, Wale released so far that his album will be called Attention: Deficit and that his mixtape Back to the Feature will be coming out April 29th....too long to wait!

Opening Statements

Opening Statements

Here are a few things that are on my mind...

1. If you haven't picked up K'naan's new album, you probably should. Its got quite a few good songs on it and its somethin new with a raggae style added to hip-hop. (Not raggaeton) Its a good summer album.

2. Look for Saigon's release Tuesday. He is putting out an album with Amalgam Digital that is produced by Statik Selektah. They worked on it, produced it, and finished it all in 24 hours so that adds a cool element to the music. I have already heard "The Rules" and "So Cruel" and "My Crew" out of the 11 track playlist and they were all hot. Be sure to check that out tomorrow.

3. Don't ever watch For the love of Ray-J on MTV or VH1 whatever it is. He may have put out a couple good songs for the ladies but thats it. He is a manwhore and this show is crap.

4. CunninLynguists just put out a song "Don't Leave" called featuring Slug of Atmosphere and its fire. The song will be off of their upcoming Album Strange Journey Volume 1. They also have already put out the song "Never Come Down" and realeased the video. This song has a bunch of great one-liners and from what I've heard its a great song to get high too, which would make sense since it is all about that in the first place.

5. Also, Don't forget about Wale releasing the title of his album tonight I believe at 5 o'clock. If you want to make sure you see it first..check out his twitter...follow him at Waledc