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more about #rap more comments → Motoko Kusanagi: I'd like to nominate "Personality Crisis" as the song that best defines NYC for me. Jay-Z is frat-boy rap. Sinatra is frat boy crooning. #jayz more » GreatOdensRaven: I dig this song a great deal, but I keep coming back to one question when asking if "Empire State of Mind" joins or replaces "New York, New York": Wha... more » maureen.p.cassidy: The woman in this picture is Bridgey Kelly, who sings the 'Empire' hook on tour - and she is way, way better than Alicia Keys. more » RachelSklar: I can't believe no one has invoked the Beastie Boys here. Compare and contrast: "Big lights will inspire you" with "Dear New York this is a love lette... more » Foster Kamer: GUYS. I know who Ty-Ty is. Come on. #jayz more » Baroness: I honestly and unironically enjoy Keys' soaring vocals on this. Fuck haters saying it's trite. She's singing of the beauty, glamour and inspiration ... more » scott.edson.nyc: I'm not entrenched in music, and think this is so called music is crap. But I was reminded by a friend that this is the voice of todays' youth much l... more » Aaron Altman: Hey, here's an idea - stop trying to define New York City with one fucking song! #jayz more » heywhat: Jay-Z is so overrated. He was lucky enough to be the last guy standing after Tupac and Biggie were murdered. I will give Jay this, he is a master at ... more » The-Ohio-Player: Ok very nice write-up. But let me hip you to the hip-talk. Ty-Ty is Jay-Zs best friend. They grew up together. When the Cavs were playing in the playo... more » JRS-One: Neon McDonald's arches are the most recognizable trademark behind Alicia Keys' piano scenes. Those big lights really will inspire you... Or at least g... more » kappakappaspankme: Erm - wasn't everyone saying the same thing about the highly overrated and much over-hyped Ryan Adams' "New York, New York" post 09.11? I couldn't gi... more » Magister: The Sinatra song is aspirational, it's about someone dreaming of going to New York to become a success, while a cursory listen to the Jay-Z rap is tha... more » randomnessish: I went to a basketball game at Columbia University once, in their dinky little high school-sized gymnasium. They lost. At the end, they played "New ... more » badasscat: You're not a real New Yorker if you think any song other than Ace Frehley's "New York Groove" is the defining song of the city. #jayz more » -
#anthems
Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
There's an entire Sunday Styles item on Jay-Z's nu-New York anthem, which has now been performed at the VMAs, the World Series, City Hall, your son's bris, and everywhere else. Should Hova step off, or should Sinatra step over? More » -
#shutupnilla
Why Does Obama Want to Pay Hip-Hoppers for Their Violent Sex Talk?
The new head of the National Endowment for the Arts says that he'd like to explore government funding for hip hop culture, including rap and graffiti. Whoa, whoa. Does he know about the hoes? More » -
#crime
Utah Authorities Nab McRappin' Teens
Alarmed employees at an American Fork, Utah McDonald's called police when they found a carload of teenagers attempting to "rap" their order in the drive-thru microphone. Authorities issued the hip-hoppers a citation, and the town is calm. For now. [Adfreak] -
#crime
Weezy Kid in Skeezy Bid
Lil Wayne will be spending a year in jail in New York for gun possession. This marks the law's biggest blow against rap since they got Foxy Brown, Remy Ma, Lil Kim, Chi Ali, Prodigy, Saigon, Shyne, TI, and Mystikal. -
#lovesongs
Ghostface Gives Example of What Could Have Inspired His New Album, Hypothetically
"I might have messed around, let the cable man come to my house, fix my cable, but two weeks later he's somewhere on my property in my guest house, screwing my wife...It's more mature; that's what I'll say." [Pitchfork] -
#andnowhesdead
Mr. Magic, Hip Hop's First Radio DJ
Legendary hip hop DJ Mr. Magic reportedly died of a heart attack this morning. He was the man who brought rap music to the radio, and some of the most famous moments in hip hop wouldn't have happened without him. More » -
#shutupnilla
Vanity Fair's Borderline-Racist Interview With Borderline-Homophobic Warren G
Regulators! Mount. Up. Warren G got interviewed by Eric Spitznagel (Read: NILLA) for Vanity Fair. Spitznagel's interviewed lots of celebrities for lots of Nilla publications (The Believer, anyone?) and is a likable writer. But he'll remember this for a while: More » -
#shutupnilla
Of Rappers and Radio Blowhards: Common Ground
Today, the New York Times asks: what's the difference between rappers and talk radio? David Segal—who admits being a huge fan of "gangsta rap"—compares Lil' Wayne to Michael Savage, Ludacris to Glenn Beck, and Jay-Z to Limbaugh. More » -
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#toys
Jay-Z's Attempt To Kill Autotune: Fail
Autotune, the technology giving guys like T-Pain, Akon, and Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak their trademark sounds, was supposedly murdered by Jay-Z. Not so much: the I AM T-PAIN iPhone app enables ordinary folk to sound just like him. More » -
#thingsweactuallylike
Roxanne's Revenge
Heartwarming story of the day: Back in the 80s, Warner Music tossed a clause in then-teenage rapper Roxanne Shante's contract saying they'd pay for her education for life. So she got a psychology Ph.D from Cornell. Cost: $217K. Ha. [NYDN] More » -
#thingsweactuallylike
Jay-Z's Epic, 'Ill' Tribute To The Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boys were forced to pull out of gigantic rock festival All Points West after Adam Yauch was revealed to have cancer. Jay-Z filled in for them, and last night, made what some are considering to be music history. More » -
#popcultureaneurysm
The Best of Racial Profiling, Pop Culture Edition
The arrest of Harvard's star African-American studies professor Henry Louis Gates has reignited national conversation about things like racial profiling! The important part of the conversation, however? What the best of pop culture has to say about it, naturally.
More »
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#theworldisphat
Thomas Friedman's Crib Is Ballin' Out Of Control, Y'All
Noted Globalization advocate, flip-floppy war monger, and all around pompous blowhard know-it-all Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, has a ballin' ass house. It leaves a big carbon footprint and it's ugly as sin. But why? More » -
#gossiproundup
Shia LaBeouf Has A Small Weiner. Has, Not Is.
Shia LaBeouf codifies a Jewish stereotype, Broadway still hates Jeremy Piven, Larry King lives on despite being 132 and not having Carrie Prejean on his show, and Alicia Keys is dating some rapper guy. More » -
#gossip
Memorial to Biggie Smalls Is Also a Paid Ad For Sweaters
Rappers have been dropping brand names in their lyrics for cash for years; it's tasteless, but widespread. But why would you turn a memorial track for your dead friend into a Coogi ad? More » -
#hoaxes
Joaquin Phoenix's Recent Craziness Is Really Performance Art
Our left coast cousin has been calling bullshit on this for months, and now Entertainment Weekly seems to agree with them: Joaquin Phoenix's supposed rap career is a total hoax. More » -
#theinternet
Critics Slam Rap Tribute By Bhutto's Daughter
It's pretty amazing that the daughter of slain Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto recorded and uploaded to YouTube a rap song about her mom, in English. Also amazing: The harsh reviews. More » -
#diversification
Cartoons Are the New Crunk
Kanye West is planning a puppet show, but he's been beaten to the punch—drowsy, dancing teenage rapper Soulja Boy has just launched an online cartoon show starring Alfonso Riberio. Hip hop is magic: More »
