Who?

Dame Dash loves The Black Keys. Loves ‘em. Like a rap kid loves breaks. So he decided “Fuck it, let’s see if they’ll make a hip-hop album.” The Back Keys were open to the idea, so Blakroc was formed. Next, Dame needed rappers.

So Dame went and got Ludacris, Billay Danze (of M.O.P. fame), Jim Jones, NOE, Mos Def, Nicole Wray, Ol’ Dirty Bastard (Well, kind of, because, you know, he’s dead and shit), Pharoahe Monch, Q-Tip, RZA, and Raekwon to help him make it.

Blakroc

Judging from the guest list, it’s pretty easy to see that this is a quintessential New York hip-hop album, and the sound from The Black Keys really extrapolates that idea. I can hear this thing being huge with New Yorkers, and I don’t know shit about New Yorkers.

As far as the music itself, three of the rappers really separated themselves from the rest of the guests: NOE, Mos Def and Jim Jones. All three are present on multiple tracks, and it’s pretty obvious why, because their songs are definitely the best of the bunch.

NOE sounds like a carbon copy of Jay-Z sonically, like someone Xerox’d Jigga’s voice. It’s a gift and a curse I suppose, but it’s really eerie how similar they sound. Irony, Dame? Mos Def showcases his flexibility as a rapper and a singer (and has thrust himself to the top of the list of “The best singing rappers”), but Jim Jones really showed something that I was blown away by.

In “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)”, he raps abotu some real shit, and his delivery complements his words and the music perfectly. Literally perfectly. Take this little nugget: “And when you get the cash that only shows you how to sin / Like when you gettin’ fast money and you blow it in the wind”. It’s shows a refreshing, introspective side to someone that most people only know as “that guy that hangs out with Juelz Santana”.

“Love, I bruised one of her rose petals / She was from the concrete and came up out the cold ghetto”. I dig it. The idea of hurting a girl you loved by saying you bruised her petals? That’s good rapping right there.

“Being humble’s a hard quality to achieve / when you’re ego’s crazy with no modesty”. Some people might say that’s a standard rap line, one where the emcees is simply stating he can’t be humble. But when Jim Jones did it, he made it sound like he wished he was humble. Again, refreshing. I’ve never been a Jim Jones fan, but he did work on this one.

So What Now?

Blakroc proved that hip-hop and rock can not only coexist together, they can thrive together. Sure it’s not the first time we’ve seen this type of success — Jay-Z and Linkin Park pulled it off, KiD CuDi claims his next album will be with Ratatat — but this might be the most genuine example. This wasn’t a mash-up, this was a collaboration in every sense of the word.

Let’s hope when rock and rap do decide to integrate, it sounds more like this and less like Weezer and Lil Wayne.

Blakroc – Blakroc

1. Coochie (feat. Ludacris & Ol’ Dirty Bastard) – ★★★
2. On the Vista (feat. Mos Def) – ★★★
3. Hard Times (feat. NOE) – ★★★
4. Dollaz and Sense (feat. Pharoahe Monch & RZA) – ★★★
5. Why Can’t I Forget Him? (feat. Nicole Wray) – ★★★
6. Stay off the Fuckin’ Flowers (feat. Raekwon) – ★★★
7. Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) (feat. Mos Def & Jim Jones) – ★★★★
8. Hope Your Happy (feat. Billy Danze, Nicole Wray & Q-Tip) – ★★★
9. Telling Me Things (feat. RZA) -
10. What You Do to Me (feat. Billy Danze, Jim Jones & Nicole Wray) – ★★★
11. Done Did it – (feat. NOE & Nicole Wray) – ★★★

Blakroc Total ★: 31
Blakroc ★ Ratio: 2.81

This one combines a whole bunch of my favorite things : vegetable labels, whales, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. I thought that Mr. Dalton could appreciate it fully.

I sooooo wish i could have been apart of this…

BlakRoc is The Black Keys & a stable of hip-hop vets and rookies alike, all brought together by Damon Dash.  The album was made in 11 days, contains 11 tracks and features 11 guest artists including Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Jim Jones, RZA, Mos Def, Ludacris, NOE, Pharoahe Monch, Nicole Wray, Raekwon, Q-Tip and Billy Danze.  Album drops Friday, 11/27, pick it up here.  ODB’s verse and Nicole Wray’s soul vocals are high points.  Check out two tracks below.

BlakRoc – Done Did It (feat. Nicole Wray & NOE) (removed by request)

BlakRoc – Coochie (feat. Ludacris & Ol’ Dirty Bastard) (removed by request)

Apparently they have their own line of Camaro??  I think it’s safe to say this won’t be a touring act.

Occasionally I’ll hear some piece of music from the mainstream that totally sticks in my head and obsesses me to the point where I ultimately end up in HMV buying it whilst trying to maintain an air of independent coolness that will convince the person behind the till that although I’m buying something that’s been bought by thousands and millions of kids who just don’t know music, I’m still somehow better and more knowledgeable and more hip than any old casual purchaser. Hah! Deal with that long sentence.

This record is such a case – okay, so it might not be from the complete MOR pop mainstream, but it got what I believe is known as ‘heavy rotation’ on major radio stations upon its release. Those major radio stations were the ones that polluted my ears during my working days at the time, and this song was a huge relief amongst the relentless crap every time it came on. Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s voice is so ugly, so rough, I love it – and I love the fact that such a dirty and sleazy song as this was all over Radio One for a time (even if they did have to refer to the artist as just ODB in order to fend off the inevitable flood of complaints)…

By the way – Ol’ Dirty Bastard; RIP. He seemed to live life to the full (to put it mildly).

My Wu-Tang Clan anecdote: I saw Raekwon and pals performing at an All Tomorrow’s Parties festival a couple of years ago, and a few memories stay with me:

• The total rip-off they got away with by playing snippets of Wu-Tang faves for a minute or so before playing out a huge gunshot sound, shouting at the crowd for a bit and then moving on to the next track. Then ultimately descending into nothing more than a sales drive for Wu-Tang t-shirts from the stage.
• How inappropriate the sleazy, dirty hip-hop of Wu-Tang seemed to be when played out to a room full of pasty-faced indie kids (in which group I consider myself firmly a member). The intense embarrassment of seeing flower-skirted indie girls attempting to shake their booty when invited up on stage.
• A brief, drunken conversation with a couple of Wu-Tang entourage who were stalking through the crowd during the performance, selling mix CDs. I purchased a couple, and attempted a manly slap on the back whilst informing the guys that they were ‘great sallesshmen’. What did I expect to be the outcome of this lame performance? That I would get invited to hang out with the group? That I’d become an honorary Wu-Tang? Alcohol makes you do funny things.

Nouvelle compilation posthume d’ODB sorti sous Money Maker Entertainment. Un bonus DVD est inclu.

Extrait : Ol’ Dirty Bastard – “Say NO”
- Direct Link -

Trackilst :
1. Intro
2. Reunited
3. Live On The Air Part 1
4. Dirty
5. Child Seek Em Ft: Pleaz
6. Skrilla Ft: Rza
7. Wanna Bees Ft: Pleaz
8. Black Mamba Ft: Rza & Masta Killa
9. One Shot, Two Shot Ft: Thirstin Howl The 3rd
10. Got Love For You Ft: J-Love & Meyhem Lauren
11. Interlude
12. Say NO
13. Live On The Air Part 2 Ft: Method Man
14. All Coast
15. Stomp Ft: Rza
16. Live On The Air Part 3 Ft: Rza
17. Bam Bam
18. Osirus
19. Hot Sauce FT: Timbo King
20. Fort Green Projects Ft: FreeMurder, The Rza & Shacrone
21. Destiny Ft: Lesk One

Oh my gooseness I write these posts so far apart. Aside from the fact that I have a lot of other bullshit I’m working on (since we all know anything you write besides an ISSS post is bullshit), I’m kind of running out of music here. I know I have a bunch of other albums listed on my grand list of albums, but I’m avoiding most of them for one reason or another, so PLEASE SEND ME SOME RECOMMENDATIONS. Last time I got recommendations worked out really well since I got the sleeper gem of the year, The Main Ingredient.

Alright, I guess I’ll start by saying that this album is an acquired taste. First and foremost, it’s ODB. He may or may not have been a bit of a crackhead, so the rapping on here is anything but what people are normally accustomed to. Secondly, this album consists of almost entirely Wu-handled production which turns some people off (these people also happen to be douchebags). If you read these two comments and have any qualms about starting this album, watch this video:

100 times until you think it’s awesome and then continue.

Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version Album Cover

INTRO

If you still had any questions about whether ODB was a crackhead, this pretty much erased them, especially when he talks about how he got gonorrhea and fell in love with someone within 10 minutes and then killed them. If you don’t find this funny, then I have a news flash for you: you’re probably going to hate the rest of the album. Just because it’s funny the first time, though, doesn’t mean you need to listen to it more than once.

SHIMMY SHIMMY YA (10)

Probably ODB’s most widely-known song. The repetitive piano loop is somehow both grimy while maintaining a pop-level of catchiness. This brings back memories for me of Wu-Tang concerts (because ever since his death, any concerts of the entire Wu or a solo member always feature this song as a toast to ODB). For some reason, even the repeated verse and the verse played in reverse in the middle don’t even bother me out of this high a score. Huh.

BABY C’MON (7)

The beat change here is welcome, given that the first beat is overly simplistic, and at this point ODB is not too dusted out to spit some semi-coherent flows, so this song is halfway decent.

BROOKLYN ZOO (10)

My favorite, and arguably ODB’s best, song. ODB actually has a number of SICK battle-style lines here, the instrumental (which, rumor has it, he cooked up himself) is infectious, and did I mention the video is awesome?

There’s a reason this is my ringtone.

HIPPA TO DA HOPPA (7)

Isn’t a little early in the album for you to be re-using some of your own lines, ODB? Regardless, I kind of like how the instrumental is at times a mashed up clusterfuck of ideas, and ODB’s lines that AREN’T reused are pretty funny, mainly because they deal with things like women’s feces and toe fungus.

RAW HIDE (8)

While ODB is even more all over the place than usual, he somehow manages to make it back just in time for the end of the bar. This reminds me of a joke by a comedian whose name I can’t remember who talks about how you go the park in NYC and see these old guys doing yoga and you think it’s beautiful until you get closer and realize it’s these strung out guys who come close but never fall down, but since I can’t remember the guy’s name I won’t bother to tell you the joke. Wait I just did. Regardless, ODB ends up having the worst verse, and Method Man earns bonus points for referencing Macbeth (where witches put period blood in stew).

DAMAGE (9)

Is this too much to ask for? An upbeat collaboration, and a borderline spitfest? Why can’t stuff like this happen more often? This is EXACTLY the kind of stuff I hope to find when I’m going through Wu albums.

DON’T YOU KNOW (DB)

Reuses lyrics from this:

which may or may not be infinity times more entertaining.

THE STOMP (7)

While the beat is pretty useless, ODB’s lyrics are pretty solid and actually resurface in this much better song:

To reiterate, though To iterate, though (look it up, that’s the right word), the beat is a drum loop and that’s it.

GOIN’ DOWN (8)

Even though the first 2 minutes are fairly useless, once the beat drops it is pretty sick and moody, and ODB randomly stopping to sing Over The Rainbow is actually hilarious. Also hilarious, is this video, in which a few of these lyrics appear:

DRUNK GAME (SWEET SUGAR PIE) (DB)

Somehow, ODB isn’t completely terrible at singing. I can’t believe I just said that. Also, if you don’t laugh at ODB’s fake orgasm, then you completely need to lighten up. Regardless, this isn’t worth your time. Watch this instead:

SNAKES (8)

This is the most coherent song on the album. In fact, it actually surprised me with its coherence given videos like this:

All in all, a solid song all members present spit a little somethin somethin about people who are secretly out to get you (behind your back).

BROOKLYN ZOO II (TIGER CRANE)

I can go all day with the ODB videos.

Other than that, there was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON FOR THIS TO BE 7+ MINUTES LONG, especially when ODB reuses his own lyrics from Damage.

PROTECT YA NECK II IN THE ZOO (6)

While there are still too many people on this song and the beat gets annoying after say a minute or two, I approve of this posse cut if only for the appearance of ODB’s rapping cousin, Shorty Shit Stain. I kid you not.

CUTTIN HEADZ (8)

Supposedly, this is the Clan In Da Front instrumental played in reverse, which I don’t doubt in the least. This song doesn’t overstay its welcome like the last few have, and, as such, ends up getting a better score. ODB has also returned to coherency alongside RZA, making this song a nice break from the reality of the majority of this album.

DIRTY DANCIN’ (6)

Barely passable if not for Method Man’s slickness alongside the instrumental that sounds like you’re the bad guy creeping along in a horror movie.

HARLEM WORLD (DB)

This song is kind of retarded, like showing up in a limo to collect food stamps:

Is this album worth a buy?

Well, 11 of the 17 songs are worth it, but this is definitely a polarizing album; people who aren’t complete Wu freaks may actually HATE this album, but if you build yourself up to the status of a Killa Bee, you may find yourself listening to this one day.

Did you run out of ODB videos yet?

No, actually I didn’t.

How about one more for the road?

Well it’s not technically a video in the sense of the other ones, but it does make me laugh just listening to it.

50 Cent – Before I Self Destruct (CD & DVD)

Morning all, We’ve got some quality discs dropping today. I’m especially diggin’ the new John Mayer Battle Studies and Fiddy’s Before I Self Destruct but I was surprisingly disappointed by Rakim Allah’s The Seventh Seal. I need another run-through to finalize my opinion on each, though.

The new Felt record is impressive but I’d rather hear Murs & Slug over Ant’s production than Aesop Rock’s, something just doesn’t fit. The duo sounds more natural over Ant’s backdrops but their third effort A Tribute To Rosie Perez isn’t bad at all.

Ready to support the artists? Click on the covers or text to scoop your very own copy at Amazon and listen for yourself, Enjoy!

John Mayer – Battle Studies

Felt - A Tribute To Rosie Perez

Rakim – The Seventh Seal

Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Message To The Other Side (2 CD)

Edan – Echo Party

“My man I was doing Clockers with called me, cuz he live in Staten Island, a couple of days later like ‘Yo, heard you and ODB had a little problem.  Them Wu n*ggas is tryna get at you.’”

Pride is something that can make and break a man.  While it allows a person to stand up for himself, it also is a means for a man to do something stupid strictly based off of having their pride or ego hurt.

While there have been many publicized battles and beef in Hip-Hop, there are still some chapters that have been left untold and the pages have not been looked into.

Providing another episode from his Tales of the Industry, rapper Fredro Starr spoke on an altercation between himself and the late ODB where the Staten Island rapper seemed to want to cause some type of raucous while Starr and Onyx were at the Palladium.

“We just chillin and sh*t, minding our own business, then here comes your man ODB.  He just comes up to Sticky and just starts looking the n*gga in the face, grillin the n*gga Sticky.  So him and Sticky are going face-to-face grilling each other and I’m like, ‘Yo, why the f*ck this n*gga ODB grillin my man like that?, that sh*t is kinda crazy, what the f*ck is going on?’”

Already in an off move, Starr wasn’t much for talk and felt that if something was going to happen, it needed to happen.   His pride as a man was tested by ODB once he set his sights on him.

“I’m in a no nonsense attitude, so I’m like, ‘Ya’ll n*ggas gonna sing it or ya’ll gonna bring it cuz I ain’t tryna hear none of that sh*t.’  So then your man ODB took his attention off Sticky and then he comes up to me and puts his finger in my cheek and just goes[pushes his face]  Why he do that?  Why he gonna put his hands on my face and try and mush a n*gga?  I did what any real n*gga would do and hooked off on a n*gga.”

The tussle wouldn’t last long as Dirty was taken from the club, but the residual effects of Starr’s actions were felt after some days passed by and he was informed that the Clan was on the lookout for him.

“Now it’s a beef between Onyx and Wu Tang, but nobody really knew about this sh*t, only them n*ggas knew about it and I knew about it and a couple of other n*ggas from the industry.  It wasn’t some big sh*t on the radio, Flex wasn’t talking about it, nobody was really talking about the sh*t.”

Months pass by and Starr is approached by ODB and his crew during a car show.  Thinking that something is about to pop off, Starr would find out Dirty was there to actually apologize and has actually mistaken Sticky for Kind Just.  After a handshake and a smoke break, the feud between those two was over.

Looking to end any potential beef with the rest of the members of each group, both ended up sitting down with one another and agreeing to go on tour and officially putting a close on future problems.

Peep the video below:

Exclusive photos and coverage below the cut!

Hip-hop shows always seem to be hit or miss.  Either the performer’s on point and the crowd’s loving it, or it’s a gaudy free-for-all onstage and the music just doesn’t live up to how it sounds on record.  Last night’s Ghostface Killah show at The Westcott was a little bit of both, with late appearances, brutal performances and a considerable amount of trash-talk.  But what would you expect from a Wu-Tang member anyway?

The show started with a string of local openers, beginning with Myles P, whose jagged flow and attempts at 808s and Heartbreak R&B vocals made me walk out on his set, regardless of his mystifyingly dedicated fanbase, who rocked with him for the whole show. A strangely captivating but ultimately questionable local group followed, whose name I couldn’t catch and who didn’t appear on any showbills.  They made a lot of noise about local hip-hop, but it was hard to buy.

Skyzoo followed.  His brand of beat-heavy, flow-centric rhyming was incredibly potent, winning fans over with Just Blaze and DJ Premier beats, interspersed with a few cover raps of Nas and M.O.P., paying homage to his forebears.  The crowd ate it up, bobbing heads and throwing up signs, and by the end of his set, Skyzoo had stomped the local kids before him flat.

What followed was perhaps the most bewildering set of hip-hop music I’ve experienced in a long time.  For starters, Ghostface didn’t even show on stage until 45 minutes after  Skyzoo had left.  DJ Afar covered beat duties while everyone waited.  The result was a string of wannabes and one guy from Ghost’s crew who was booed so much he could barely finish a song.  Things were getting really ugly when Ghostface, with his crew in tow, finally emerged from the smoke.

After such a delay, one would expect the show to be nothing short of spectacular.  Instead, the Wu-Tang Clan member blasted through a couple stellar solo numbers before breaking into a 15-minute rant about microphone volume.  After finally getting the volume the way he wanted, Ghost kicked off another 20 minutes of music dedicated solely to Wu-Tang tributes.

Numbers like “C.R.E.A.M.” knocked the crowd out, as did tracks in memoriam to Michael Jackson and The ODB.  A lot of it could have been excellent, but each song was limited to maybe a verse or two, and Ghost didn’t even touch the mic for half of them, leaving the rappers on either side of him to fill in the blanks. It was great when he did step up to the mic on tracks like “Da Mystery of Chess Boxin’,” but these moments of excellence were dulled by his frequent absence, and complaints about the quality of the fans in the crowd.

Ghostface ended his show with a few slow jams off his new album, which were awe-inspiring in their predictability and lacking in any sort of signature Ghostface fire.  As the show wound up, he started pulling girls up from the crowd to dance with the crew onstage, but it was obvious a lot of people weren’t feeling it.  The show could have been an statement for hip-hop, a message that among the shoddy rap albums coming out today, there’s still virility and power in the aging rap form.  Instead, we saw a blend of poor showmanship and flash. We saw an indifference to quality that meant maybe the “real hip-hop” every artist references is farther gone than anyone’s willing to admit.

– Story by Dan Creahan
– Photos by Carly Piersol

Sad news from Mars this week as NASA officials are openly questioning the future of the Spirit rover, which has been cruising the surface of the red planet for six years. It’s not out of batteries or anything. It’s just kind of, well, stuck:

In April, Spirit’s wheels broke through a hard crust on the Martian surface and encountered loosely packed fine sand beneath. Initial attempts to drive the rover out ended up with it instead sinking deeper into the trap.

Engineers set up a sand box at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and positioned a sister rover inside to try to figure out a way for Spirit to free itself.

“We’ve pretty much exhausted all the possibilities, all the things that we can do on the ground,” rover project manager John Callas told Discovery News.

With the cold Martian winter on its way, the Spirit could be in danger of dying if it can’t get out of the soft sand and toward the sun — where its solar panels could collect enough energy to keep it alive during the winter. I think I speak for all robot enthusiasts when I say “Beeeep boop, brave Spirit. Beep boop beeeeeep.”

The songs:

Save us S.O.S. — Hot Hot Heat
My Little Corner of the World — Yo La Tengo
Naked as a Window — Josh Ritter
Everybody Knows that You Are Insane — Queens of the Stone Age
Hold Time — M. Ward
Bright Lights — Pete and the Pirates
Dominos — The Big Pink
How To Fight Loneliness — Wilco
Your Southern Can is Mine — The White Stripes
Let’s Not Shit Ourselves — Bright Eyes

Bonus video:

Brooklyn Zoo — Ol’ Dirty Bastard (Kind of a requiem on the 5-year anniversary of his death)

The Rules: The Friday Random 10 is exactly that — random. We open up our iTunes, set the thing on shuffle, and listen to 10 songs. We are not permitted to skip any out of embarrassment or fear of redundancy. Commenters are encouraged to post their own.

Wu-Tang (still) is for the children

R.I.P. Russell Jones a.k.a. Ol’ Dirty Bastard a.k.a. Dirt McGirt a.k.a. Big Baby Jesus a.k.a. Ason Jones a.k.a. Osiris the Father a.k.a. Joe Bananas a.k.a. Drunken Master Styles a.k.a. Ill Irving the Murderer.. Whew.

He died 5 years ago today. Wow, time flies. I saw Wu perform the February after ODB passed. It was an emotional night in Manhattan, I’ll never forget how it looked with everyone putting their lighters in the air for the fallen soldier. Moving, indeed.

For more, head over to Kevin Nottingham as they kick off their ODB tribute weekend today. Peep one of my favorite Dirt Dog videos “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” uncut as I’m sure it’s one of yours too. Enjoy!

Okej gott folk, det här är riktigt läskigt. Jag ville ha en ursäkt att posta något om Ol’ Dirty Bastard i dag, går in på hans Wikipedia-sida och ser att det är exakt fem år sedan hans dödsdag i dag! Det låter som en skröna men det är, som en annan rappare uttryckte det en berömd gång, “Realer than real deal Holyfield”. Jag måste ha ett sjätte sinne eller något. Hade jag haft en flickvän hade hon kunnat säga “My baby’s got ESP” och mena det.
I vilket fall, jag ville mest länka till en jävligt rolig historia om Ol’ Dirty, berättad av hiphopbransch-veteranen Dante Ross som jag skrivit om tidigare. Den här historien handlar om när Ol’ Dirty skulle rappa på en LL Cool J-låt – att säga att det “inte gick som planerat” är en grav underdrift… Kroppsvätskor och skjutvapen är inblandade. Hör historien berättad här.
För övrigt minns jag DNs dödsannons tillägnad Ol’ Dirty, där de pedagogiskt förklarade att han fick sitt namn för att “det inte fanns någon far till hans stil”. Är det bara jag som tycker att det är lite roligt?
Bonus Beats

Coming up on the 5 year anniversary of Ol Dirty Bastards passing means the inevitable release of some of his rare and unreleased material.  Message To The Other Side  : Osirus Part 1  is set to be released 11/17/09.  Say No appears on this upcoming collection and features vintage Dirt McGirt, he even warns the Children to Say No to drugs. Say No – Ol Dirty Bastard

May the Older God Rest In Power

“This type of pain, you couldn’t kill with midol

Fuck around and get sprayed with Lysol

In your face like a can of mace, baby

Is it burnin? Well fuck it, now you’re learnin…

Brooklyn Zoo- Ol’ Dirty Bastard

As I  sit here writing this blog, I am overwhelmed with emotion as we approach the four year anniversary of one the most beloved and charismatic rapper’s to have ever touched a microphone. Russell Jones wasn’t just your average  run of the mill MC, he was a dear friend that has left  indelible footprints in my heart.

Our story begins circa 1990 in Orlando Florida, we met through his cousin with whom I attended Job Corps with a year prior. We immediately became room mates and bosom buddies that shared the same interests in hip-hop, fashion, and partying. What made him unique(no pun intended), was his ability to make people laugh and smile.

There were so many nights that we used to sit back and drink cheap wine as we sung old soul classics and sat in my room listening to the latest rap albums. During those days the high top fades was still in motion and he was a self taught barber that kept our cuts looking fresh. I remember the times Ason, used to run into the local supermarket and exit the store with his pants filled with champagne bottles on any given night.

We would also spend other times hanging out at the local clubs in downtown Orlando, and even then people would treat him like a star. Most often people say that time heal all wounds, but it seems that the more he is remembered, the more I feel guilty for not trying harder to reach out to him during his most darkest hours.

Dirt spent so much time moving over the years, as well as myself we would often lose contact. After  decided to move from Orlando and his career took off, I was happy for his success but remained distant  to keep our friendship and brotherhood sacred despite his meteoric rise to  fame.

To me he was a brother, a guy that would given you his last if he had to. We both shared the same type of zany personality so it was easy to relate to him. There were times that we struggled financially living in that two bedroom apartment, but somehow we found jobs working at Hardee’s and  Universal Studios.

Having the past four years to think about the man I named my 11 year old son after(Ason), I feel cheated and angry. Its hard to believe that he was surrounded by so many people that were supposed to be there for him and letting him slip through their grasps. I realize people are responsible for making their own decisions, but now it seems like everyone is intent on making money off of his memory and talent.

I’m pissed at myself because I wasn’t tenacious enough when I found out he was getting high, the ones that I thought had his back wouldn’t even tell him that I was asking about him. When I found out that he passed away, I was shocked beyond belief. During that year I was struggling in college, lost my father in 03, and going through my own financial and personal turmoil. Also I didn’t even  have the funds to even make it to the funeral.

The last time I spoke to Dirt, was in 1998, as he was visiting a rural retreat in Ohio after getting shot and getting charged with shoplifting. He had lost a considerable amount of weight and was very happy to see me. The first words that came out of his mouth was, “I really missed you”, after we parted ways in Orlando many moons ago.

We sat reminiscing about old times, and drinking beers. He was also leery of fans taking his picture and at times used to sit in silence and stare into the sky and let out a faint laugh as if someone was talking to him. During these times I shared with him I knew that he was very unhappy. One of the songs he used to play over and over again was “Good Morning Heartache” by Billie Holiday, that he would soon parodize on his 1999 album release “Nigga Please”.

In retrospect if I would of known he would have left so soon, I probably would of done things more differently. I should have went on tour with him, I should have stayed in Orlando, and I should of just continued to reach out to him because now he’s gone and I miss him dearly. As fans, friends, and family attends his documentary screening this week, I pray that they will continue to keep this wonderful human being legacy alive, because I know I will. “Rest in Peace Dear Friend, Till We Meet Again”.

Krusher Kronkite

HHHTime is near,

If you’ve been following the updates at all, then chances are you’ve been following the webisodes from the amazing BlakRoc project that’s due out in a matter of weeks.  And on a day where I have less than 15 minutes to get a new piece up, how bout I get you caught up on all the videos and we call it even.  Deal?  Word up.

#5 Feat. NIKKI WRAY & JIM JONES

#6 Feat. NOE

#7 Feat. Q-TIP! (Q-Tip can knock you out too?!?)

#8 Feat. BILLY DANZE (FFFIIIIIREEEE!)

And I guess this wouldn’t be a true HHHT post without at least one treat.  A new unreleased track from a man who supposedly will also be featured on the BlakRoc album, there’ll never be another like him….

OL’ DIRTY BASTARD – SAY NO

Back soon!

P’s

Triple.
www.ppfhouse.com