H.O.V!

Two flatmates stumbled through the door at 11 last night, and managed to drag me out to the pub. This is what I missed...:

Jay-Z - On to the next (live performance at the Jonathan Ross show)



By the way, the Jiggaman will return to the UK this summer for a number of concerts in Manchester (June 7th), Birmingham (June 9th) Newport (June 11th) and in London for the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park (July 4th). Get your tickets here.

And we're off!

Now we're done with deadlines, done with course work for a while and done with staying quiet.

This will be the start towards new heights and the start of, at least, personal success. So I thought that what would be better than to ease you in with a little bit of music from a man who is destined to find success as well?

Last year, the best mixtape released came from North Carolina born rapper J. Cole, who followed up his 2007 success The Come Up, that got him signed to Jay-Z's label Roc Nation, with The Warm Up, dropped on June 15 -09.

Since releasing The Warm Up, which was in close battle with Wale's mixtape Back To The Feature for the position as year no. 1, J.Cole has guest starred on Jay-Z's album Blueprint 3 where he joined the Brooklyn-legend on the track A Star Is Born. Recently he also featured on Talib Kweli's track Just Begun with Mos Def and Jay Electronica

Download the best mixtape of -09... HERE!

J. Cole - Show Me Something



J. Cole - Losing My Balance



J. Cole - Last Call

Important Announcement!

Okay, so let me tell you what's going on with this blog at the moment: not much. And I'm sorry for that, but a lot of things have come in between and I've had to focus on other things for a while.

HOWEVER, I've got BIG plans for this thing! By the end of January, I'll be getting back to business and get the Rubberband back to what it was last spring. It's going to be taken to a whole other level in many aspects. I will be working on a new design during the spring; get a proper domain going; improve the content, hopefully with some interviews and such; and a Twitter feed has been set up, but not yet officially started off - find it here.

To make it a bit simple: I'm gonna to make this into a brand! It's going to be a platform for Hip hop music, for the (future) packed with action empire, for you and for me. And hopefully, when we've reached that far, others will be able to join and team up.

For now, enjoy this:

Jay-Z - On to the next (feat. Swizz Beatz)



Dizzee Rascal - Dance wiv' me



Akon & David Guetta - Sexy Bitch (Littles The General Remix)



Maskinen - Bränner

Dates, release dates!

A quickie today yes?

Here's some important release dates for this autumn, so flip up that calender of yours, click your little pen and write this shit down!

October 20
Fashawn - Boy Meets World
Stat Quo - Great Depression

October 27
Tech N9ne - K.O.D.
Triple C - Custom Cars & Cycles

November 3
Shwayze - Let It Beat

November 10
Wale - Attention: Deficit
The Clipse - Till The Casket Drops
DJ Kay Slay - More Than Just A DJ

November 17
50 Cent - Before I Self Destruct

November 24
Glasses Malone - Beach Cruiser
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - The World's Enemy
Birdman - Pricele$$
E-40 - Revenue Retrievin'
Various Artists - The Ultimate Death Row Collection
Timbaland - Shock Value 2
Wiz Khalifa - Deal Or No Deal
Jay-Z - Greatest Hits

So, basically there's gonna be a busy couple of week in November. I'm especially looking forward to Wale, Clipse andfa Wiz Khalifa.

E-40's new album should be interesting too, his My Ghetto Report Card from 2006 was impressive to say the least.

50 Cent? Naaw, unless it's in the same spirit as his early G-Unit work, it wont be a hit.

Timbaland has got a lot to live up to. We all remember Shock Value with tracks like Apologize and The Way I Are right?

Also, I expect nothing but one of the best lyrics since the borth of the CD on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony new record. So please prove me right!

Here we go!

So, time to get down to business.

It has been a busy summer, but I don't really see the point in just telling you about it word for word. Where's the fun in that?

Basically, it has all been about Jay-Z. The Jiggaman has released his latest album, Blueprint 3, and all over the world people have been queuing up to praise the record which, according to the main person himself is three times as good as edition one and two.

Just watch this interview and you'll know what I'm talking about:



And I can't really argue, Blueprint 3 is the best album of the year so far, no doubt. The tracks just keep growing the more you listen to them. For example, here's Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)



...and Already Home (feat. Kid Cudi).



What else? We've got a new album from Fabolous called Loso's Way, and as mentioned in the previous post, Clipse is coming out with Til The Casket Drops in a near future and have been spitting out hits to promote the release.

Fabolous - Everything, everyday, everywhere (feat. Keri Hilson)



Clipse - Kinda like a big deal (feat. Kanye West)



Sweden? Don't know where to start there. The scene of electro/drum n' base influenced Hip hop has truly exploded, mostly thanks to My Best Friend Is My Grind. You've got new names such as Cake Boy, Pato Pooh and the list goes on, which are trying to make it big and are on their way to getting there.

Pato Pooh - Follow Me (feat. Adam Tensta)



Cake Boy - How I Roll



Well, that'll be all for now.

Catch you in a bit.

Whoop, whoop!

Now that's funny!

Let's just have some fun today and watch a little stand-up comedy. But stand-up isn't just about one-liners and making fun of politicians. It can be so much more than that. Just watch these clips of Aries Spears impersonating LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, DMX, Jay-Z and Michael Jackson.

And the winner is...!

On Sunday night, the whole film industry had there eyes on London, as the BAFTA awards took place. The music industry however, put on there tuxes, ties, shiny shoes and top hats, to attend the American Grammy awards.

Just like the BAFTA awards had one winner sweeping the floor with the competition in Slumdog Millionaire, the Grammy's had one of there own. Lil' Wayne demolished the competition by taking four Grammy's back to his crib, slaming his door in the face of the few critics that possibly could be out there. He won the categories for Best Rap Album with 'The Carter III', Best Rap Song with 'Lollipop (feat. Static Major)', Best Rap Solo Performance with 'A Milli' and Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group alongside T.I., Jay-z, Kanye West and M.I.A with their hit 'Swagga like us'.

There is really nothing to argue about in this. 2008 was Mr Carter's year. Besides releasing the brilliant album 'The Carter III', he has collaborated with pretty much every artist ever born, and probably a few who yet have not seen daylight.

Atlanta rapper T.I. is the one I can think of to have been the best challenger to Lil' Wayne. His Paper Trail would any other year have won Best Rap Album. But Weezy made record breaking 10 tracks from 'The Carter III' to my iTunes playlist, while T.I.'s Paper Trail just made 9. This pretty much says it all.

However, T.I.P. did not cry over this. Instead he at the awards teamed up with Weezy and the rest of "The Rap Pack" to tare the roof down with the Best Rap Performace By A Duo Or Group.

T.I. feat Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and M.I.A - Swagga like us

Where did he go?!

In 1999, New York rapper Memphis Bleek was a rising superstar as his debut album The Coming of Age reached place number 7 on Billboard 200, with 'Memphis Bleek is...' as the first single. But Bleek did not prove to have what it takes to make it in the big leagues. His following album The Undestanding sold gold, but after that his next two albums did not live up to the hype and failed to find its buyers.

In 2006 Bleek, who grew up in the same building as hiphop tycoon Jay-Z, planned to realease what was meant to take him to the top. The album never reached the stores shelves and it has been pretty quiet around him since.

Malik Thuston Cox, as is his birthname, nowadays focuses on being Jay-Z's eternal sidekick, as he joins his partner on stage where ever he performs.

In 2007 Memphis Bleek's work started to hit the streets again. For instance XXLmag.com posted a number of tracks with 'Hustla' as the one which created the most buzz.

However, the tune was recieved with critisism. Though it lacks the same hit feel to it as 'Like that' from the album 534, you can see clear signs of sounds resembling to 2008 hits like Lil' Wayne's 'A Milli'. Was Memphis Bleek ahead of his time?