Jay-Z feat./ Alicia Keys- “Empire State of Mind” (Video)

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“The sidelines is blind with casualties/Who sipping life casually/Then gradually become worse/Dont bite the apple, Eve.”-Jay-Z on “Empire State of Mind”

AHHH!! It feels good to be from NYC. Props to YouHeardThatNew. Hype Williams definitely captured the soul of the song and placed it on a grandoise scale with these stunning visuals. Everyone knows this song and the back story, the meaning, the controversy and all that(since it’s been pounded in our heads for months). This more than lived up to the hype, this transcended it and will go down as one of the Top 5 greatest New York City tribute songs…EVER!

(DOPE)

PS- Isnt it sad that Jay and  Bey have been together for like 6 years, did a bunch of songs together and the FIRST song he does with Alicia Keys is WAYYYY better than ALL the songs he’s done with Beyonce. WIFE SWAP!

BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher 2009 (Mos Def, Black Thought, Eminem)

“I used to bomb ya like Sadam but now that I’m a little calmer/I’m a fucken cross between Osama, Dama, Obama and Dali Lama/Told Miley I’m a knight in shining armor.”-Eminem on “BET Hip Hop Cypher 2009”

“Drug paraphernalia/beware the werewolf will kill ya/That’s him in the sheep’s clothes, he just shaved his hair off, Cecilia.”-Eminem on “BET Hip Hop Cypher 2009”

“People never get the roses while they can still smell ’em.” <–THAT’S the reason why I always post EVERYTHING Eminem related and always say what he do is (DOPE). It’s because we need to start praising this man for what he REALLY is, the Greatest MC to EVER touch a microphone. Up top is the video to the BET Hip Hop Awards cypher (Known To Twitter- the only reason to watch BET, period) where this cypher lived up to what it looked like on paper. 3 of arguably the greatest MC’s of the 90’s(definitely of all time) spitting together after they’ve recently released music that got people saying they’re STILL (DOPE). MTV needs to do something like this.

PS- Do you know how Eminem is the DEFINITION of Hip Hop? Think of every rapper that is NEAR his commercial success of his career? Okay, now tell how many of those rappers still go to Tim Westwood and drop 6 minutes of freestyle, bring back rap city and freestyle there AND drop the highest selling rap album of the year. EXXXACTLY! Case Closed.

Jay-Z Live From Penn State (Video * Pics)

Jay-Z- Countdown Intro * “Run This Town” (Live)

Jay-Z- “Public Service Announcement” (Live)

Jay-Z w/ Bridgett Kelly- “Empire State of Mind” (Live)

Jay-Z w/ J. Cole- “A Star Is Born” (J. Cole Verse)(Live)

SPEECHLESS..UTTERLY SPEECHLESS. READ MORE TO PEEP THE PHOTOS. NO UNDISPUTED GREATEST WHILE JAY STILL LIVING.

Drake feat./ Trey Songz- “Successful” (Video)

Vodpod videos no longer available.“And life change for us, every single so/it’s good, but I know this ain’t the peak though.”-Drake on “Successful”

The visuals for the runner up for song of the summer (ahead of “Every Girl” and before “Best I Ever Had”, damn Drake) have arrived. Drake, Trey and Weezy and a sung verse from Mr. Songz on this “Successful” video really match the reflective, dark mood of the production. The highlight line is apt because Drake is definitely the man who does ALOT in a short amount of times. He has spurts like this past week where he had a video with a Queen, a song with a King and a song with THE God Eminem leak in the same week. Drake, listen to me. Whoever directed this video, stay with them.

PS- Original “Successful” w/ Lil Wayne >>>>> “Successful” w/o Lil Wayne

Clarion Presents “Inside the Mind” with Donny Goines (Video) *Bonus Cut: Donny Goines- China Club Performance (Video)

“Stage performances are probably one of the most critical aspects of this whole realm. Because you can not duplicate a performance. You can bootleg CD’s. You can leak an album. You can sell T-Shirts. But if people can see you. If they can touch you. If they can interact with you. If they having a great time, those things can not be duplicated.”-Donny Goines in above video

“If you dont know my name, I ain’t working hard enough.”-Donny Goines in above video

The hardest working indie artist in the game, senor Donny Goines chats it up with Clarion to discuss that art of Hip Hop, but in this video he discusses the IMMENSE importance of a (DOPE) live performance. I think now with piracy and the ease of file sharing through blogs in the past 5-6 years, artists have consciously either upgraded their live shows or performed more. Glad these artists are finally catching up to what The Roots, KRS One and others have known for over a decade. READ MORE to check out an example of one of Donny’s performance(so pissed that I missed him at BHF this year).

.(DOPE).

Joell Ortiz- “Food For Thought” (Video)

“No one’s actually met you, they just write and hope you hear it/And hope that you’re attracted to the person in their lyrics.“-Joell Ortiz on “Food For Thought”

“But not a soul’s met you face to face/ So with every word they write is where they place the faith. Proving the next line in this lyric/How can Hip Hop be dead when she’s a spirit?“-Joell Ortiz on “Food For Thought”

Same Plate Management/Hidden City Entertainment sent me this (DOPE) ass video of the Joell Ortiz joint, “Food For Thought” off of the Cookin’ Soul & Nah Right 1:00 A.M and Rising mixtape. I LOVE the play on the Twitter craze and the overall message of the song. I said it once and I’ll say it again…

JOELL ORTIZ WILL SAVE HIP HOP.

.(DOPE).

The Clipse- Live From Webster Hall (Video)

The Clipse- Kinda Like A Big Deal (Speical Appearance from Kanye West)

“Watch a nigga burn through it/Life’s a maze, you twist and you turn through it.”-Pusha T on “Kinda Like A Big Deal”

Here’s a couple videos of The Clipse performance at Webster Hall last night. Up top the Virgina slingers bring out Mr. Popular to rock his (DOPE) verse on “Kinda Like A Big Deal”. See songs like this reassure me of what I ALREADY know that The Clipse are going to make ANOTHER classic. However, songs like this make me think different. READ MORE to check out the self-proclaimed “best 2 man group ever” perform the  (DOPE)st song from Hell Hath No Fury.

.(DOPE).

Eminem- “The Warning” (Mariah Carey & Nick Cannon Diss) * Bonus Cut: Eminem’s Rap City Freestyle (Video)

Eminem- The Warning <-Preview + Download Link

“As long as that song’s getting airplay I’m dissing you/I’m a hair away from getting carried away and getting sued.”-Eminem on “The Warning”

Blame Dino Nero B, Ray M.D. and the homie Edwin for the INEXCUSABLE lateness of this (DOPE) new Eminem diss song. Niggas took ALL night to record. But onto what we all came here for. Eminem cremeates The Careys The Cannon The Odd Couple Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon on this song that makes EVERY other diss to her sondd like a compliment. Word around the internet and streets is that people are happy and disappointed that Em went off on Mariah mainly because they’re under the misconception that this is better than anything on Relapse. First of all, anyone who DOESNT think Relapse is a (DOPE) album hasnt listened to Eminem that long apparently. And second of all, havent you heard the hype around the INSANE (DOPE)NESS that will Relapse 2. Oh, you don’ t believe that? READ MORE to check him OBLITERATE the Rap City booth.

.(DOPE).

Skyzoo – The Beautiful Decay (Video)

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“Please dont believe in everything that you listen to/Everything you listen to is everything they didnt do/Everything they didnt do is everything they wanna say/Everything they wanna say is everything you wanna play. But for the beautiful, I can find the decay in it/Take the newest light bill with a pen in the basement and/use the back of the light bill the write what I’m saying and/hope that it’d keep ya lights on when you playing it.”-Skyzoo on “The Beautiful Decay”

9th Wonder behind the boards. Skyzoo behind the mic. The hood in his mind. (DOPE)ness in our ears. Director Artemis Jenkis provides the gorgeous visuals for, I supposed the 1st single from internet mainstay, underground boss, Duck Down and Jamla Records artist Skyzoo’s first and HIGHLY OVERDUE debut album, The Salvation, which is scheduled to be released September 29th. The highlight rhyme is what makes Skyzoo who he is and why people LOVE Skyzoo. Not one for crazy punchlines, or insanely intricate wordplay, just poetic realness. He’s definitely cut from the Nas and Mos Def cloth(more Nasir than Dante though).

.(DOPE).

Big Sean – Getcha Some (Video) * “Desire, Want & Need”(Audio)

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“Found a little piece of Jesus and I threw it around my neck.“-Big Sean on “Getcha Some”

This is the homie Big Sean dropping the visuals of, what I think should be the lead single for his album but is actually from his (DOPE) AS FUCK(like top 3 mixtapes of 2009) mixtape UKNOWBIGSEAN, “Getcha Some”. This dude is witty as fuck, sometimes his personality is sacrificed for his lyrics, but the dude is (DOPE). Best new artist signed on G.O.O.D. music. Apparently this was filmed a year ago. DONT SHELVE HIM , ‘Ye! READ MORE to listen to one of my favorite Big Sean songs,”Desire, Want and Need”. Another song that should’ve been a single for his debut album.