Let’s talk about some vodka drinks. In 1930, the release of The Savoy Cocktail Book signified the first time vodka recipes were brought to the United States.

First known as the “Russian” , the recipe included vodka,gin and creme de cacao.

In 1949 out of Brussels came the “Black Russian” a delightful mix of vodka and coffee liqueur.

In 1963 the “Russian Bear” consisted of vodka, creme de cacao, creme and sugar. The incarnation we are all familiar with shows up in Oakland, California circa 1965.  If you add a splash of Coke to the recipe you get my favorite version the “.357″ also known as a “Colorado Bulldog”

The White Russian 

White Russian

served in a rocks glass over ice

1 1/2 oz. Vodka

1/2 oz. Kahlua

Splash of Cream

ENJOY!

P.S. Let’s all thank The Big Lebowski for bringing this back.

“That’s one hell of a caucasian” The Dude.

The Find Magazine is an international publication contributed to by music lovers all over the world interested in hip hop, jazz, funk & soul, like crate digging journalists looking for that real traditional sound, and reporting on it wherever on the planet it happens to be.

One such contributor is Melbourne based writer Mladen Luketin, the latest to give Melanin 9′s new album Magna Carta (out 3rd December) the once over.

There’s been links between the British and Australian hip hop scenes for many years, so between that and the focus of the magazine, its no surprise that the album is well received.

“UK emcee Melanin 9′s official debut album Magna Carta delivers a mature and serious sound“

Read the whole review HERE

Melanin 9 draws many of his influences from the Golden Era of hip hop, but in this album has also mixed the game up with some experimental contemporary sounds which is a large part of the reason he’s had such a huge range of media interest, combined with his skilled lyricism, wordplay and subject matter

CD versions of the album are available now and can be bought by mail order via http://m9ether.bandcamp.com as can the 12″ vinyl of his single “White Russian” featuring Roc Marciano

Look out for much more media coverage in the weeks ahead from the UK, Europe and United States. Any further media, press or radio enquiries about the release can be addressed to UrbanElite PR HERE

Follow him on twitter @Melanin_9 and connect with the guys over at @thefindmag

UrbanElite Promotions
www.urbanelitepr.com
T : @urbanelitepr

Podgy Smith hailing Rison, Arkansas just released his video for “White Russian” from his upcoming mixtape, Bright Nights & Dark Days: Tears of Gold.  This Little Rock resident does not mind spitting from his heart as he contemplates with a drink.  The video directed by Veshun Philms captivates “truth” with the black and white imagery.

“So raise your glass high, although they count you out.  You still made it and they couldn’t figure your whereabouts.  Nothing but algorithms, it’s never true or false. Stand on your own now, that’s when you’re better off.”

“White Russian” is a conscious rap that reasons the wants in life. The video doesn’t necessarily depicts his words, but focuses on Podgy Smith, so viewers are more likely to concentrate on what he is saying. I had to play the song a few times to grasp it all. So click play, to watch the video above.

Known internationally as one of the leading music magazines for many years, the UK’s MOJO is the latest to review Melanin 9′s album “Magna Carta” which releases on Monday 3rd December.

Their end of year edition includes Andy Cowan’s new hip hop column, which as well as featuring Melanin 9′s debut album, also includes Main Attrakionz, Stones Throw’s Homeboy Sandman, and Rhymesayers’ P.O.S. The magazine is available to buy now from various stores

You can hear Melanin 9 live on Bang FM in London tonight from 10pm GMT,(5pm EST), with Mr 13 and DJ Bones via http://www.wearebang.com

Having just launched his new video & single “White Russian” featuring Roc Marciano which was featured on The Source, Nah Right, 2 Dope Boys, Hip Hop DX and Complex Magazine, he is busy filming a new video which will be launched over the next few weeks.

Look out for more coverage coming shortly on this release. You can buy CD versions of the album HERE

Any further media enquiries about this release can be addressed to UrbanElite PR HERE

You can follow the artist on twitter @Melanin_9 and the magazine @MOJOMagazine

UrbanElite Promotions
www.urbanelitepr.com
T : @urbanelitepr

            The Coen brother’s 1998 film beautifully layers everyday ordinary interactions with extraordinary complex characters for a cinematic cocktail about friendship, apathy, and doing the right thing. 

            The Dude, played brilliantly by Jeff Bridges, represents the attitude of dissatisfied and unfulfilled American men.  Lazy, out of shape, and apathetic The Dude’s character shows a generation out of place, more concerned about sliding by than fitting in with the “square community”.  The Dude’s clever, nonchalant dialogue endears him with the audience who can relate or admire qualities of The Dude they wish they had in their own life.

            The Dude’s companions Walter and Donny have their own interesting tendencies.  Walter is aggressive, confrontational and impulsive; almost a polar opposite of The Dude.  Walter being as offensive and disruptive as he can be, balances The Dude’s personality like it’s some kind of eastern thing.  Donald “Donny” Kerabatsos is Walter and The Dude’s De facto best friend, though they treat him as if he is a third wheel.  He tags along where ever the gang goes even if he doesn’t understand why.  Donny will do anything it takes to fit in and gain approval from his friends.  Donny’s character represents trusting or gullible individuals who follow without questioning or understanding, much like people who bounce from fad to fad.

            The movie is set in Los Angeles in the early 90’s, I believe the Coens chose this location to take advantage of the typical Californian stereotypes: lazy, self-centered, eccentric, shallow, and materialistic, the things honest people being honest with themselves can relate to their own lives.  L.A has a mythical reputation for having the opportunity to realize of all ones dreams by getting discovered by a talent agents or big shot movie producer.  The 90’s were a time of high hopes for the possibilities of the future thanks to developing technology. In reality, very few rise to stardom, technology was out of reach for all but a privileged few and the majority of people living there have to work normal jobs and have normal lives.

            The Dude and the other Jeff “Big” Lebowski represent a duality that can be experienced by anyone that struggle to define themselves to a role.  The Dude symbolizes freedom, honestly and independence while at the same personifying negative qualities of underachievement and laziness.  The Big Lebowski, however, is well liked and respected in the community for his philanthropy and success despite being bound to a wheelchair.  He appears as a wealthy businessman with a luxurious home, and appearing to be very wealthy.  As the story progresses the gilded veil is pulled back and his vanity, greed and deceit are brought to light.

            The entire foundation of the movie is that The Dude is mistaken for The Big Lebowski, though they are clearly unique characters, the characters’ shared name suggest they represent conflicting feelings an individual may have when choosing between their own desires and the expectations society has placed on them.

            Throughout the film The Dude’s misadventures turn the mundane into the fantastic in his attempt to solve Bunny Lebowski’s apparent kidnapping, only to conclude with the entire mystery solving itself.  The Coens are representing the inevitability of normal life; no matter what lengths The Dude went to solve the kidnapping, eventually Bunny returned home with no help from The Dude.

            The Big Lebowski has enjoyed a rise to cult classic status because of how well the Coens know their audience.  The film wasn’t well received by critics, however through word of mouth and the rise of DVD home entertainment, it has taken its place among the most successful films in contemporary American cinema through relating many of the hopes and fears of a generation into a two hour film about everything, and nothing… reminding us all, The Dude abides.

As the name suggests, BritishHipHop.Com have been one of the long standing supporters of UK hip hop, but have also covered a wide variety of international artists.

Andy Fletcher from the magazine sat down with London’s Melanin 9 recently ahead of the release of his new album “Magna Carta”, due out on 3rd December.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the talented emcee, freestyle performances for SBTV being featured on The Source in the United States, the launch of his single & video this week for “White Russian” featuring Roc Marciano, premiered by Nah Right and covered by many top international onlines including Hip Hop DX and 2 Dope Boys, and the preparation for his launch event tonight, Friday 23rd November upstairs at The Vibe Bar, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 (8pm – 1am, entry £5) where he’ll be joined by DJ 279, Genesis Elijah, Iron Braydz, Rewd Adams, Cyrus Malachi, Phoenix da Icefire, Skriblah Dangogh and Logic.

The interview covers the early days, starting out working with Terra Firma’s Skriblah Dangogh, the meaning behind his new album Magna Carta and the emphasis on relevant subject matter playing a pivotal role in his overall approach, thoughts on the world of hip hop and the various sources and artists from which he draws inspiration, and his overall reflection on the past 6 years

Its one of the most in depth interviews he’s given for some time and can be read HERE

British Hip Hop are also the latest to give their full backing to the release in their review of the record, which can be read HERE

Although now near the year’s end, Magna Carta has become one of the biggest UK hip hop albums of 2012 making an unprecedented international impact. Look out for much more coverage in the weeks ahead, and for Melanin 9 to be making even bigger moves in 2013

CD versions of the album can be ordered via http://m9ether.bandcamp.com

Follow him on twitter @Melanin_9 and also the guys over at @BritishHipHop

Any media, press or dj enquiries about this release can be addressed to UrbanElite PR HERE

UrbanElite Promotions
www.urbanelitepr.com
T @urbanelitepr

With just over a week and a half to go until the general public release of Melanin 9′s debut album Magna Carta on 3rd December, one of the UK’s leading online specialists for hip hop & rap music, Hip Hop Kings, is the latest to give the release their endorsement.

HHK regularly present exclusive freestyle and interview filmed content, are involved with some of the live events taking place in the north of England, and of course cover reviews, latest video and single releases and more

“There’s no doubt that Magna Carta is one of the most soulful, heartfelt and honest pieces of music Ive heard in a long time” begins the review

Its this aspect of Melanin 9 as an artist, combined with his wordplay and lyricism that has established him as one of the most respected UK emcees, and has earned much media attention to this release

The review summarizes :

“The support I’ve seen M9 receive is a testament to the quality of Magna Carta, and his decision to be truthful with his music and the direction of this album. I will be using this album as a reference to U.K Hip-Hop for many years to come, as certain elements of the music are unrivalled by M9’s peers“

Read the whole review HERE

The review comes hard on the heels of the launch of his new video “White Russian” featuring Roc Marciano, produced by Anatomy, and premiered on New York’s Nah Right

This Friday also sees his album launch night upstairs at The Vibe Bar, 91 Brick Lane, London where he’ll be joined by DJ 279, Genesis Elijah, Rewd Adams, Iron Braydz,Cyrus Malachi, Logic, Phoenix da Icefire and Skrblah Dangogh. Entry is £5.00, nearest tube Aldgate East, 18 + over

You can also hear him live on Guess Radio in London from 7.30pm GMT / 2.30pm EST with DJ Sammy Jay on the Xposure show at http://www.guessradio.co.uk Thursday 22nd November.

You can order CD versions of the album via http://m9ether.bandcamp.com

Follow him on twitter @Melanin_9 and Hip Hop Kings @HHKDotCom

Any further press, media or dj / radio station enquiries about the release can be addressed to UrbanElite PR HERE

UrbanElite Promotions
www.urbanelitepr.com
T @urbanelitepr

Props to Eskay and his team at Nah Right in New York

Nah Right have today, 20th November, premiered the new official video by London’s Melanin 9 ft Roc Marciano “White Russian”, produced by Anatomy

Taken from the album Magna Carta which releases on 3rd December, with CD versions available by pre – order via http://m9ether.bandcamp.com

Its rare for a UK hip hop artist to receive this level of Stateside support, however Melanin 9 has already featured in The Source last week via his performance for SBTV’s SkooledBy series, and with coverage coming in key UK publications MOJO and Q Magazine, it’s testament to his skills as a lyricist and wordsmith, and refreshing to see it being recognized at such a wide level

Check the video on Nah Right HERE

Follow them on twitter @Melanin_9 @RocMarci and @NahRight

UrbanElite Promotions
www.urbanelitepr.com
T : @urbanelitepr

They are the latest to review Melanin 9′s new album “Magna Carta” which releases 3rd December 2012

Contributor Ben Bradford opens “Melanin 9 draws you into his deep river of words, strong, powerful and meaningful words” and analyzes the subject matter in some depth. Little surprise as the London based emcees has been regarded as one of the UK’s most skilled lyricists for some time, a long time student of the “Golden Era” now putting his own take on it for 2012.

Concluding on his involvement with Triple Darkness, he ends “Both Melanin 9 and Cyrus Malachi it seems are determined to take hip hop into a meaningful and dark world of its own. With no compromise“

You will be able to see his Triple Darkness sparring partners Cyrus Malachi and Phoenix da Icefire at his album launch party on Friday 23rd November upstairs at The Vibe Bar, 91 Brick Lane, London E1, where they will also be joined by DJ 279, iron Braydz, Genesis Elijah, Rewd Adams, Logic and Skriblah Dangogh. 8pm – 1am, £5.00 entry, an 18 + over event

You can read the whole review HERE

As debut albums go, it’s going to be a landmark release for this British emcee, already featured in The Source Magazine USA via his SkooledBy performance for SBTV, named “Album of the Month” by The Guestlist Network with more to come via MOJO, Q Magazine, Clash, and the launch of his video “White Russian” featuring Roc Marciano on 20th November, premiering on Nah Right in New York.

You can pre order CD versions of the album at http://m9ether.bandcamp.com and the full tracklist is:

1) Gene of Isis (prod by Anatomy)
2) Magna Carta (prod by Anatomy)
3) Landslide (prod by Anatomy – scratches by Evil Ed)
4) The 7 Blues (ft Madame Pepper) (prod by Hey!Zues)
5) Cosmos (prod by Parental – scratches by DJ LOD)
6) 11:08 (prod by Option Command)
7) Love’s Stencil (ft Madame Pepper) (prod by OhBliv)
8) Heartless Island (ft Triple Darkness) (prod by Jehst)
9) White Russian (ft Roc Marciano) (prod by Anatomy)
10) Red Snow (prod by Anatomy)
11) Organised Democracy (prod by Tony Mahony – scratches by DJ Madhandz)
12) No Man’s Land (ft Triple Darkness) (prod by 7th Dan)
13) Colour Blind (ft Madame Pepper) (prod by Anatomy)
14) Marble (prod by Tony Mahoney)

Follow him on twitter @Melanin_9 and the magazine @SubbaCultchaCom

All media, press & dj enquiries about this release can be addressed to UrbanElite PR HERE

UrbanElite Promotions
www.urbanelitepr.com
T @urbanelitepr

The Word Is Bond are made up of a collection of hip hop enthusiasts from all over the world, UK, USA, Japan, and have a history of supporting that traditional classic hip hop sound from wherever in the world it happens to be

Check their full review HERE

“Magna Carta” as a debut album has received an exceptional response from the media in the UK and overseas, and this week will see Melanin 9 live on Funhouse TV with DJ Chris P Cuts from 9pm GMT / 4pm EST on Tuesday 20th (Live stream HERE ), and on Thursday he will be live in the studio with DJ Sammy Jay for the Xposure show on Guess FM from 7.30pm GMT / 2.30pm EST http://www.guessradio.co.uk

On Friday his album launch party takes place from 8pm – 1am at The Vibe Bar, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 (nearest tube Aldgate East).

An 18 and over event, for £5.00 you can watch him perform assisted by Choice FM’s DJ 279, Host Iron Braydz, and further special appreaances by Genesis Elijah, Rewd Adams, Cyrus Malachi, Logic, Phoenix da Icefire and Skriblah Dangogh

Tuesday 20th November also sees the launch of his new video featuring Roc Marciano. “White Russian, produced by Anatomy, will premiere on Nah Right from 4pm GMT / 11am EST http://www.nahright.com

The album will be available to the public on iTunes from 3rd December, and CD versions can be pre-ordered HERE

Keep up to date with him on twitter @Melanin_9 and check in with the magazine @TheWordIsBond

Any further media, press or radio dj enquiries regarding this release can be addressed to UrbanElite PR HERE

UrbanElite Promotions
www.urbanelitepr.com
T @urbanelitepr

London’s Melanin 9 will be launching his new video “White Russian” featuring Roc Marciano & produced by Anatomy on Tuesday 20th November 2012

New York’s renowned online portal for rap & hip hop music Nah Right will be premiering at 4pm GMT (11am EST) www.nahright.com

Taken from his debut album “Magna Carta” which drops on 3rd December, M9 has enjoyed a lot of international media attention on the release, and his freestyle for performance for SBTV’s new SkooledBy Series went live on the internet on Monday 12th November. It was subsequently picked up by The Source Magazine in the United States

His new video interview with Blatantly Blunt has just been aired today

Currently named as The Guestlist Network’s “Album of the Month”, expect to see a lot more media coverage in the weeks ahead including MOJO and Q Magazine

Meanwhile, Roc Marciano has just released his eagerly anticipated new album Reloaded on Decon Records

The Magna Carta album launch party takes place Upstairs at The Vibe Bar, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL on Friday 23rd November. 8pm – 1am, £5 entry (18 +), nearest tube is Aldgate East. He’ll be joined by Choice FM’s DJ 279, Host for the night Iron Braydz, and there will be further performances from Genesis Elijah, Rewd Adams, Cyrus Malachi, Logic, Phoenix da Icefire & Skriblah Dangogh. There will also be live graff and Caribbean food on offer – all the details are at the FB event page HERE

The album in CD format can be pre-ordered at http://m9ether.bandcamp.com

So be sure to check it out this coming Tuesday, 20th November at 4pm GMT / 11am EST, the video launch of Melanin 9 “White Russian” featuring Roc Marciano via www.nahright.com

Artists on twitter @Melanin_9 and @RocMarci Nah Right on twitter @NahRight

For further media & press enquiries about Melanin 9′s release, contact UrbanElite PR HERE

UrbanElite Promotions
www.urbanelitepr.com
T @urbanelitepr

[Image credit: Felixco, Inc.]

Several of my friends on Facebook have been posting what they’re thankful for each day.  These posts range from appreciation of the tangibles like husbands, children, friends, deodorant and pajamas to the intangibles such as playfulness in life, God and the sunrise.  But instead of listing something each day, I stored them up:

1. Each and every one of my girlfriends who are as unique as the pattern on a butterfly’s wings (you know who you are) who build up, inspire and never let me forget I’m loved.
2. My family near and far.
3. Bikram Yoga for its healing benefits, inside and out.
4. A strong body and workout buddies to share the pain and sweat.
5. The promise of Someday.
6. Books.
7. Nut and rice crackers (gluten free!).
8. White Russians.
9. Coffee.
10. Permission to giggle.
11. Dark chocolate.
12. My new church.
13. Medical insurance.
14. Both my jobs (publishing assistant and writer).
15. Galaxy SIII.

What are 15 things you’re thankful for?

Homemade Baileys is just as easy as making your own Kahlua. But it does involve a certain alcohol that I do not keep in large quantities in my house: Jameson. Unless you plan on blacking out on some Irish car bombs, I advise you to buy a bottle that will be big enough for the recipe.

Around the holidays, I like to try new drinks. My family doesn’t really drink, and when I drink, it’s usually just two or three. So, I can essentially pick any drink that would be a bad idea if drank excessively (White Russian, Bloody Mary, etc.) and make them. And have them all to myself too. This year, I want to make White Russians, and have the ability to slightly tweak them if I want. A really great friend of mine is a bartender (score!) and she’s always telling me about new drinks. Mainly because I’m constantly asking her “Wow, that’s really good. What’s in it?” and then getting into note-taking mode. She told me about a recent spin on the White Russian involving the cookie dough vodka. Umm … sold.  Just use your favorite White Russian recipe  and replace the vodka with the cookie dough vodka. Maybe I will drink more than three this year …

So enjoy that White Russian, just don’t spill it on the rug. You know, the one that really ties the room together.

I wanted to make two fruity cocktails and two non-fruity so after asking a few people for suggestions, I decided on White Russian as one of the non-fruity ones. I don’t think I’ve ever had it before as a cocktail but it sounded good to me in cupcake form! I did a quick google search and came across a recipe on Baked Perfection. Want to sample another cocktail?

Since I’d come up with decorations for all the others, I wanted to come up with a decoration for these too. I’d already done biscuits on top of two of them so I wanted to do something different. I thought for ages and in the end decided to keep it simple and go with some chocolate squiggles. Although they were simple, they had the look I was after. I melted 50g of white chocolate and 50g dark chocolate and put them into piping bags. I then just piped the squiggles onto baking paper (I didn’t follow a template, I just zig-zagged from side to side leaving a long straight line at the end to push into the buttercream). I then left them to dry and once I’d spread some buttercream on top of each cupcake, I pushed a white and a dark chocolate squiggle into the top of each. I made way more than I needed to since they were prone to snapping and it gave me the chance to use the ones which looked the best – the left over ones got eaten, I mean, melted down again and used to decorate some other cakes.

School is the same pretty much. Actually one strangely annoying thing did happen to me. I received a text message saying that I was to go to the program office at lunch because there was an issue that “strongly needed to be discussed with me.” I didn’t recognize the number, so I asked what it was regarding.

“nothing special, just your presence”

So now I’m thinking, well this person obviously doesn’t speak very good english, it’s a language barrier. When I get to the shuttle stop in the morning I was speaking with another girl from our program who received the same message, and she was told that it was a “top secret mission.” After that I realized that I need not worry. So I go to the program office at lunch, there are 10 other people in there – all completely terrified. One girl didn’t get any sleep the night before and a boy was on the trolley when he received the message, got off, and walked home because he was so distraught. I found out the message was from Anton, one of the younger employees in our program. All ten of us were from different language groups, the most responsible was picked…to take roll in class. Fucking Anton. So now I’m a ~class elder~ the word doesn’t translate into english very well. 

Last weekend I went to a bar Saturday night with a few girlfriends. I bought myself a white russian and chain smoked for the first 30 minutes. One of my girlfriends bought me a shot of vodka and another white russian. So I was feeling pretty good when a few of our other friends showed up, and brought a handsome british man with them. I told my friend that I needed to makeout with someone that night, she suggested the brit, and later she said that the other guys that came in were upset because all my attention was going to the brit. Oh well. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I kissed two different girls that night before I did anything with the brit. One girl showed me her nipple piercing, another grabbed my ass, etc. Things got a little out of hand that night, not in an unsafe way, but in a really bizarre, what the fuck happened way. 

We headed to another bar, Poison, and after a while I decided I needed to buy more cigarettes. So I had the brit walk me. On the way back we ran into another boy from my program. Okay, another side story – one kid in our program took a gypsy cab and was robbed at gunpoint. There are two kids with the same name in the program and I didn’t know who it was. So I asked the boy outside the bar if it was him, he said no. So glad it wasn’t or else I would have looked like the biggest asshole.

Anyway..when we got back to Poison our friends had disappeared. And somehow we ended up making out in the entrance of the bar. We left, and walked around/ made out around St. Petersburg until 6a.m., when he dropped me off at Drews house. Drew had to wake up at 6am and let me into his apartment. On his birthday. Oops. So the brit and I have been spending quite a bit of time together. It’s nice to have someone to be close with. Today I was telling him that I was a sociopath, he told me that he didn’t think I was..just that he thinks I’ve been alone for a really long time. Go figure. 

I love Russia. 

White Russians are gross. Let me rephrase that. White Russians are a fate worse than death. Whoever thought of combining milk and hard liquor must have been dropped on their head as a child. I will get sick 100% of the time if I drink this. I do not recommend it to anyone. But if you happen to find yourself in Providence tonight and run into some PC kids, buy em a round of White Russians. Fuckers.

PS: Milk was a bad choice

Anyway, how areeeee you all? Still sexy, I presume. Or drowned in a river of spam (and I don’t mean the canned meat–I came back after my hiatus to find a bucketload of comments and was so excited only to find they were all spammity spam spam spam). How was your weekend?

Mine was like a fire in a circus–intense. Friday was a bestie’s birthday, and I drank two cranberry vodkas at my house (with twist of lime, of course), then we went out and I had a Bahama Mama and half of the two GIANT complimentary birthday margaritas that particular establishment offered (you’re  only supposed to get one but we’re very convincing), then at one thirty we stumbled on to the next place with intentions of a free Das Boot. We both hate beer so we were going to give it to our gentlemen escorts and friends, but as it turned out, this place ALSO gave away margaritas. So naturally I had a White Russian–fine end-of-the-night-drink–half a mint-chocolate shot (don’t ask why half), and most of that even-GIANTER margarita. It probably will surprise no one that I woke up in my slutty clothes, with my purse still on, the birthday girl asleep on my bathroom floor, and three boys sprawled out in the living room (one of them snuggling his head on my 10-lb weights). 

Yesterday, I slept until 3:00 pm to kill my massive hangover (milk thistle helped), went to the movies (Taken 2–I would literally get kidnapped just to fuck Liam Neeson), and was somehow still out until one-thirty. Hope your weekend was as smashing! I promise a real post about something other than my drunken adventures soon.