Real Hip-Hop

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Another county heard from:

A top aide to President Vladimir Putin has laughed off the sanctions imposed by the US, saying the only thing he likes about America is Tupac, and he "doesn't need a visa" to listen to rap music.

Vladislav Surkov, one of the seven Russian officials slapped with White House sanctions, told a Russian newspaper being on America's blacklist is a "big honour" for him.

He added: "The only things that interest me in the US are Tupac Shakur, Allen Ginsberg, and Jackson Pollock. I don't need a visa to access their work. I lose nothing."

[ChuckD]

Also: Ghostface Killah says hi to both of us.

Ghostface's solo stuff fell off a pretty good deal, but if you're putting him up for what he did while in Wu Tang, sure.

Black Thought says 'sup, too.

Striking this from the record. Apollo Kids and Fishscale are top notch.

[InternetApex]

Also: Ghostface Killah says hi to both of us.

Ghostface's solo stuff fell off a pretty good deal, but if you're putting him up for what he did while in Wu Tang, sure.

Black Thought says 'sup, too.

Striking this from the record. Apollo Kids and Fishscale are top notch.

Not Solo but I forgot about this too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Reasons_to_Die

Wow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USd3ay54C3g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyB3rx3-K5c

[InternetApex]

This just happened on Grantland today. I haven't read it yet.

http://grantland.com/features/wu-tang-clan-20th-anniversary-reunion-rza-gza-ghostface/

[ChuckD]

More new Jay Electron. We Made It - Ft. Jay-Z

Drake gets slapped around.

It's not listed on the Act II tracklist, but:

Apologies go out to all of my fans because they waited so patiently

Something's coming. So am I. Splooge.

[ChuckD]

It's a few months old, but I was reminded of this when I went to relisten to "Better in Tune."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKcRsZHz_6E

This beat is absolutely filthy. Both verses are sick in and of themselves, but they complement each other perfectly.

I'll admit, I give bonus points to anyone still dropping lines about Starter jackets.

Nigga, I was crack in the school zone
Two beepers on me, Starter jacket that was two toned
Four lockers, four different bitches got their mule on
Black Ferris Bueller, cutting school with his jewels on

[J. Walter Weatherman]

This just happened on Grantland today. I haven't read it yet.

http://grantland.com/features/wu-tang-clan-20th-anniversary-reunion-rza-gza-ghostface/

Why Wu-Tang Will Release Just One Copy Of Its Secret Album:

Somewhere on the outskirts of Marrakech, Morocco, inside a vault housed beneath the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, there sits an engraved silver-and-nickel box with the potential to spawn a shift in the way music is consumed and monetized.

The lustrous container was handcrafted over the course of three months by British-Moroccan artist Yahya, whose works have been commissioned by royal families and business leaders around the world. Soon, it will contain a different sort of art piece: the Wu-Tang Clan's double-album The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, recorded in secret over the past few years.

...

"We're about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before," says Robert "RZA" Diggs, the first Wu-Tang member to speak on record about Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, in an exclusive interview with FORBES. "We're about to put out a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of [modern] music.  We're making a single-sale collector's item. This is like somebody having the scepter of an Egyptian king."

Wu-Tang's aim is to use the album as a springboard for the reconsideration of music as art, hoping the approach will help restore it to a place alongside great visual works–and create a shift in the music business, not to mention earn some cash, in the process. The one-of-a-kind launch will be a separate endeavor from the group's 20th anniversary album, A Better Tomorrow, which is set for a standard commercial release this summer.

According to RZA and the album's main producer Tarik "Cilvaringz" Azzougarh, a Morocco-based part of Wu-Tang's extended family, the plan is to first take Once Upon A Time In Shaolin on a "tour" through museums, galleries, festivals and the like. Just like a high-profile exhibit at a major institution, there will be a cost to attend, likely in the $30-$50 range.

Visitors will go through heavy security to ensure that recording devices aren't smuggled in; as an extra precaution, they'll likely have to listen to the 128-minute album's 31 songs on headphones provided by the venue. As Cilvaringz puts it: "One leak of this thing nullifies the entire concept."

...

Once the album completes its excursion, Wu-Tang will make it available for purchase for a price "in the millions." Suitors could include brands willing to shell out for cool points and free publicity (just as Samsung spent $5 million to buy copies of Jay Z's latest album for its users) or major record labels hoping to launch the album through the usual channels (they're used to paying top acts seven-figure advances).

There's also the possibility that a wealthy private citizen could buy it and either keep the album or release it to the public for free in the name of democratizing a cultural artifact....

[Slaky]

Well that's quite an experiment.

Who's to say criminals aren't already plotting to find a way to steal the music and release it?

Gonna have to set up a google alert for this.

[Bort]

Well that's quite an experiment.

Who's to say criminals aren't already plotting to find a way to steal the music and release it?

Gonna have to set up a google alert for this.

I am definitely intrigued.

[InternetApex]

Well that's quite an experiment.

Who's to say criminals aren't already plotting to find a way to steal the music and release it?

Gonna have to set up a google alert for this.

I am definitely intrigued.

It's probably 31 Cappadonna/U-God tracks. I was intrigued up until I read that they are going to sell the thing for millions of dollars. Once that happens it will be all over the internet and lost among the already insanely-diluted Wu catalog. And nobody will be like, "This extremely rare Wu-Tang album was in museums, man!"

I kind of dig the concept of trying to restore music as a fine art form, but to do all that and then sell it anyway? RZA, Bobby Digital, Abbot, Bobby Steele, Prince Rakeem... who are you crappin?  

[Bort]

Well that's quite an experiment.

Who's to say criminals aren't already plotting to find a way to steal the music and release it?

Gonna have to set up a google alert for this.

I am definitely intrigued.

It's probably 31 Cappadonna/U-God tracks. I was intrigued up until I read that they are going to sell the thing for millions of dollars. Once that happens it will be all over the internet and lost among the already insanely-diluted Wu catalog. And nobody will be like, "This extremely rare Wu-Tang album was in museums, man!"

I kind of dig the concept of trying to restore music as a fine art form, but to do all that and then sell it anyway? RZA, Bobby Digital, Abbot, Bobby Steele, Prince Rakeem... who are you crappin?  

Never in all of known human history has non-liturgical fine art created for public consumption not been for sale.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Well that's quite an experiment.

Who's to say criminals aren't already plotting to find a way to steal the music and release it?

Gonna have to set up a google alert for this.

I am definitely intrigued.

It's probably 31 Cappadonna/U-God tracks. I was intrigued up until I read that they are going to sell the thing for millions of dollars. Once that happens it will be all over the internet and lost among the already insanely-diluted Wu catalog. And nobody will be like, "This extremely rare Wu-Tang album was in museums, man!"

I kind of dig the concept of trying to restore music as a fine art form, but to do all that and then sell it anyway? RZA, Bobby Digital, Abbot, Bobby Steele, Prince Rakeem... who are you crappin?  

Never in all of known human history has non-liturgical fine art created for public consumption not been for sale.

Liturgical art tended to be paid for as well. Often quite handsomely.

[InternetApex]

Well that's quite an experiment.

Who's to say criminals aren't already plotting to find a way to steal the music and release it?

Gonna have to set up a google alert for this.

I am definitely intrigued.

It's probably 31 Cappadonna/U-God tracks. I was intrigued up until I read that they are going to sell the thing for millions of dollars. Once that happens it will be all over the internet and lost among the already insanely-diluted Wu catalog. And nobody will be like, "This extremely rare Wu-Tang album was in museums, man!"

I kind of dig the concept of trying to restore music as a fine art form, but to do all that and then sell it anyway? RZA, Bobby Digital, Abbot, Bobby Steele, Prince Rakeem... who are you crappin?  

Never in all of known human history has non-liturgical fine art created for public consumption not been for sale.

Liturgical art tended to be paid for as well. Often quite handsomely.

I stand corrected. I still think this will prove to be a jerkoff of epic proportion based on the current state of the Wu Empire. Unless this was recorded sometime between 1993-96, I'll bet you it halfway sucks. I love the Wu and everything it stands for. But that franchise is the New York Knicks right now.

[Quality Start Machine]

Well that's quite an experiment.

Who's to say criminals aren't already plotting to find a way to steal the music and release it?

Gonna have to set up a google alert for this.

I am definitely intrigued.

It's probably 31 Cappadonna/U-God tracks. I was intrigued up until I read that they are going to sell the thing for millions of dollars. Once that happens it will be all over the internet and lost among the already insanely-diluted Wu catalog. And nobody will be like, "This extremely rare Wu-Tang album was in museums, man!"

I kind of dig the concept of trying to restore music as a fine art form, but to do all that and then sell it anyway? RZA, Bobby Digital, Abbot, Bobby Steele, Prince Rakeem... who are you crappin?  

Never in all of known human history has non-liturgical fine art created for public consumption not been for sale.

Liturgical art tended to be paid for as well. Often quite handsomely.

I stand corrected. I still think this will prove to be a jerkoff of epic proportion based on the current state of the Wu Empire. Unless this was recorded sometime between 1993-96, I'll bet you it halfway sucks. I love the Wu and everything it stands for. But that franchise is the New York Knicks right now.

I hope some dude in Dubai pays a fuckload for it, just so nobody ever hears it.

[ChuckD]

...