Wale's hustlin'

Wale Folarin is the hardest self-promoter in the hip-hop game, and possibly one of the unluckiest. He's been tweeting about how his debut CD, Attention Deficit, was undershipped; and despite its fairly positive reviews, it peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200 and didn't even top the Rap or R&B/Hip-Hop chart. But that's no matter for Wale; he just goes out to malls and blasts himself. All in a day's work I guess. And mad props for rockin' the Jays fitted.

Download his mixtape Back to the Feature here

Shouts to Thunderkush

KOBE! - HEDO!

Alright, last night I sat around the home enjoying the Raptors close encounter with Agent Zero, and Kobe Bryant's miraculious - and obviously reaffirming - last second three pointer to trounce D-Wade's Heat. Kobe vs D-Wade is one of those NBA tilts that draws in the fans and both stars took there teams on there back in the fourth quarter, Kobe just had the last possession - even though D-Wade's defense on that last second shot was great, Kobe just Kobe'd him.

I donno how many people out there have seen Spike Lee's documentary on Kobe Bryant, called "Kobe Doin' Work", but its one of the most detailed basketball docs I have ever seen. Spike films pre-game, halftime, and post-game, mic's up Kobe, gets into the Lakers dressing room and has Kobe do voice over work for a regular season tilt against the Spurs. The camera work is just gorgeous, Spike makes Kobe on the court look like Marv in Sin City, and Kobe explains the mental aspects of basketball perfectly and succinctly. Truly eye opening stuff - Stream of Kobe Doin' Work

Anyways to my Raptors, it was nice to see some defense last night boys, gotta carry it over tonight against the Bulls. Also Hedo showed why Colangelo invested significantly in him by doing what he does best - showing up in clutch time.

Some food for thought; Once again Jose Calderon got destroyed on defense - its very difficult for a team to continue to bailout a player who gives away dribble penetration like Calderon is prone too. So Calderon has started playing off guards and last night was a good example of what happens when you do that to highly skilled point guards - Gilbert dropped 34 by just taking open looks off screens (hitting 5 threes). Personally I've wanted Jack to start all season but Calderon's getting paid so much I understand why Triano wants him to get back to how he played two years ago. Calderon wasn't horrible on O last night tho, and he matches better against Derrick Rose, cause Rose isn't going to hit 5 threes in a night, so tonight should be less embarrasing for Jose.

Also Demar Derozan played very good ball last night, attacking at will. But he got a lot less burn in the second half, and no play in the fourth at all. I understand Triano's got a short leash on the young'in but let him play when he is on. I think Demar would have played better D on Gilbert too, in the fourth it would have been nice to see what a Jack, Dero, Hedo, Bosh, Bargs lineup would have looked like (I really wish thats what we'd start with too).

Anyways Chicago is one of those teams Toronto can usually take, so hopefully the Raps can take two on the road this weekend. Good luck boys, I'll be watchin.

Friday the 13th: A Night with the Cool Kids and Mos Def

Ever wonder what it's like to spend a day as a rap icon and/or a quickly rising up-and-coming duo? Well then watch this trailer, and check back sometime soon because hopefully I'll be able to post the whole thing. This was recorded in Dame Dash's basement studio where they recorded Blakroc and should include many of the same characters (i.e. obviously Mos, the Black Keys, maybe a Jim Jones appearance). Anyways, I'm excited for this to come out as I have a feeling it will include some pretty damn cool music. Enjoy what we have so far!

Props to High Snobiety

The Carter - Lil Wayne's Sundanced Doc' gets good reviews again

Lil wayne is one of those rappers that people either love or love to hate. Be it auto-tuned, promethazined, or incarcerated, the ex-young money CEO had a movie crew follow him around, the product of which is the documentary "The Carter". The doc got solid reviews at the Sundance movie festival, and I attached a link to the review I read on the film. I haven't given it a watch yet but it definitely looks intriguing. I mean Weezy IS the self declared martian, how boring could this film be?

Hiphopdx.com The Carter review