How I Spent my Summer (Jam) Vacation...

So it's a bit late, but here's my rundown of Hot 97's 2007 Summer Jam. We rolled into Giants Stadium around 1:30, thinking that the pre-show started at 2 and the main show started at 3. Turns out the main stage wasn't scheduled to kick off until 6:30, so we ended up skipping the pre-show altogether (Does part of me regret that I still haven't seen "Lip Gloss" performed live? Maybe.) and boozed in the parking lot until it was time to head inside.

The chronology of my synopsis might be a little out of wack, given the schaefer, pbr, and nutcrackers that flowed through my bloodstream, but I do know that Mims jumped out on stage to open the show almost immediately after we made our way to the floor. I have a theory about Mims. I'm convinced that his career is one big inside joke that he's playing on the public, an Andy Kaufman-esque joke.

For a while I just thought Mims was the worst rapper of all time and nothing more. Then I noticed the line "This is why I'm hot, I don't gotta rap, I can make a mil sayin' nothin on a track." So Mims is knowingly churning out garbage, laughing himself all the way to the bank as the public eats it up. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit as an evil genius, but I think I'm right. All that being said however, I still had no interest in sitting through a whole set of him, so I could not have been more happy with what happened. He came out to his hit "This is why I'm hot" and then immediately afterwards closed the set with "This is why I'm hot (reggae remix)". Baby Cham and Junior Reid came out for the remix, which I loved, plus Mims was on stage for probably under 10 minutes. It was perfect.

Then we had T-Pain, who can ACTUALLY SING. I always assumed that since he had all those heavy vocal effects on his songs, it meant he was completely devoid of talent. Not the case, however, since he performed completely sans effects.

Ciara was pretty awesome, dancing on big white letters that spelled out her name. It kind of reminded me of something that the wonders would have appeared on TV with.

Swizz Beatz was rocking a pretty ferocious set, but I'd be a liar if I said I didn't wig out like a 12 year old girl when Kanye West walked out so they could have a "songs I've produced that are awesome" battle. The DJ spun "Takeover" first for Kanye and I don't think I would've been able to count the number of dynasty signs that got thrown up on the floor alone. Plus Lil' Wayne came out later in the set for the first of several cameos before his own set.

wheelchair rocking, like murderball

Ne-Yo was awesome, although a bit disappointing. Maybe it's just me being a Ghostface fanboy, but when Fabolous turned out to be Ne-Yo's surprise guest I was kinda let down. Fab still rocked everything rightly though, so all's well that ends well. The Ne-Yo set gradually morphed into a Fab set, then a Young Jeezy set, then a Ludacris set. All of them were enjoyable, but Ludacris really out shined the rest. I had heard from people who'd seen him in the past that he was a lackluster performer, but none of that showed last Sunday. I've never seen someone have such a strong hold on a crowd that large and Luda literally had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Then came Chris Brown. I've always grouped "Excuse Me Miss" and "Run It" as guilty pleasures, so I was looking forward to his set, but I definitely wasn't expecting him to put on half as good a show as he ended up giving. He performed with a full live band and sang and danced his fucking balls off. I read somewhere that Ne-Yo is supposedly working on the new Michael Jackson album, so there had been some jokes about Ne-Yo maybe bringing out Michael Jackson. Well when Brown threw on his red jacket and single rhinestone glove, then did "Rock with You" and some other Jackson tunes, it might have been better than the real thing. I mean, I'll take young Michael or black Michael any day, but an appearance from current Michael probably would've just been creepy.

Chris Brown's set ended with the emergence of my personal favorite dip, Juelz (A!), and the re-emergence of Lil' Wayne for the "poppin'" remix, then things went into Weezy's set. As much fun as the show was, there was a monsoon going on, and we were not prepared for the weather. It was starting to get to the point where the dance time/shivering time ratio was shifting in a negative direction, so we headed out right as "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" started. Apparently I missed seeing T.I., which is a bit of a bummer, but I'm really okay with not seeing Diddy, Akon, or Rich Boy. I actually assumed Rich Boy didn't show up, until someone told me yesterday that he closed the show. I really wouldn't have expected that Rich Boy was the headliner. I can't wait for next year.

"Buy You a Drank" remix feat. Kanye West & UGK by T-Pain

"Promise" by Ciara

"Get Down Like That" remix featuring Ghostface by Ne-Yo

"Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" by Chris Brown

"Black Republicans" Remix feat. Juelz Santana by Lil' Wayne

"Stuntin' Like My Daddy" by Birdman & Lil' Wayne

For those of you keeping score at home...

Kanye's take on "Young Folks" is not nearly as cool as his take on "Throw Some D's".

here we see him biting off the Phrenology cover...

"Young Folks Remix" by Kanye West

"Throw Some D's Remix" by Kanye West

Rhymefest gets caught Strokin' It

So I heard a track off of Rhymefest's Blue Collar album tonight, and I'm really enjoying it. One website described it as starting off with the chaos of hardcore punk, or something like that, and that was kind of a stupid description. It actually started with a chunk of the Strokes' "Someday" which then gets chopped up into the beat for the rest of the song. I could say that I enjoyed "Devil's Pie" more than anything the Strokes have done themselves since Room on Fire, but that really wouldn't be too huge of a compliment. I don't know if it's just a Chicago thing or what, but Rhymefest and Fiasco both have flows that sound heavily Kanye influenced. Either way, if it's regional or just taking a page from Mr. West's book, it's certainly not a bad thing. The part about borrowing money from Kanye is especially great. I look forward to hearing the full length album as soon as I get my hands on it.

"Devil's Pie" by Rhymefest

d.r.u.g.2.

"Angel Dust" by Gil Scott Heron



Gil Scott Heron is a poet and musician who laid the groundwork for what would become Hip-Hop. The wailing crybaby guitar along with the vocal hook make this song so irresistible, I guess kind of like addictive drugs! Scott Heron released this song in 1978, after the peak of his critical acclaim and before his politically charged Reagan-Era songs. If you're looking for one of his more seminal works, definitely check out

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott Heron

or if you're looking to hear a song that Kanye samples, then definitely check out

"Home is Where the Hatred Is" by Gil Scott Heron

peace.

An American Tale 2: Lupe Goes West

In spite of, or maybe because of, an uncanny resemblance to the kid that played the famous Jett Jackson on the Disney Channel,

Lupe Fiasco has been popping up in my headphones more and more often lately. In honor of the fact that his debut album, Food & Liquor, was supposed to drop today, we're going to be shining a spotlight on Mr. Fiasco.

Apparently, Lupe was raised muslim and continues to practice the faith. In an expression of that faith (maybe?), Fiasco recorded a remix of Kanye's "Jesus Walks" entitled "Muhammad Walks". The chorus does not contain backup singers piping out, "Muha-Mmad-Walks". Take that whichever way you'd like

"Muhammad Walks" by Lupe Fiasco



So the first time I heard this song, I thought it was great, but upon a subsequent listening, I actually paid attention and realized it's about skateboarding. Just that is cool enough for me, it's not too often that we get to hear a good hip hop song about sidewalk surfing. It's even rare to hear a bad one. Besides, who can knock the plotline of finding your one true love out doing kickflips by some picnic tables. All of my sarcasm aside, I really like this song.

"Kick, Push" by Lupe Fiasco



Fort Minor (fuck fort minor) invited Fiasco to join them on this track with one of Cigarbox's perennial favorites, Ghost... Face... Killaaaaaah

"Spraypaint & Inkpens" featuring Ghostface Killah & Lupe Fiasco by Fort Minor



The word on the street, as it were, is that Kanye borrowed some inspiration from a Lupe song entitled "Conflict Diamonds". Apparently West's reward for the work on "Diamonds are Forever" was the guest spot on "Touch the Sky", which really gave Fiasco his first big showcase. Although the new release date for his album hasn't been announced, it is being produced by Jay-Z. I'm guessing Mr. West is going to help. Not Kanye, Adam.