Criminology: Spit It Through 'The Wire'

-I discovered The Wire pretty late, so we are surely not the first people on the internet to call it one of the best shows of the decade. I think most viewers would agree that the show is as addictive as Barksdale's red tops.
-The Smoking Section recently ran down the list of Wire characters in an effort to find each one's rap alter ego. While I love the idea of Nas and Jay-Z as streetwise kingpin Avon Barksdale and his business partner Stringer Bell, I was dissappointed that they left Clipse off the list. It is a show about drugs, after all. more

Music Theory: Jaydiohead

-We've seen so many Black Album remixes that it's hard to be surprised when a new one drops, but here is one to get. Jaydiohead is an ambitious endeavor, mixing one of the most progressive and acclaimed rock bands with a seminal hip-hop album, but minty fresh put in the work and put out an incredibly solid mash-up. My favorite track is "Dirt Off Your Android." Get the free download here. 

-Via Hypetrak

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Music Theory: Respect Your Elders

-Here's a little bit of music beefing that's been going on lately. So you might have read earlier in the summer that Noel Gallagher (of Oasis) bitched about Jay-Z playing the Glastonbury festival in England. Gallagher said hip-hop wasn't meant to be played at outdoor festivals like that or something. So in response Jay-Z pulled out a guitar at the festival and did a rendition of Oasis' seminal hit Wonderwall (check the inevitable mash-up here), with like 50,000 people singing along, which is badass. So that was all good, and then just recently Gallagher went on a rant dissing all the young whipper snappers of today, and called out Mark Ronson, saying he only knew how to play 2 chords. That lead to Ronson posting this response on his MySpace:

“So I just wanted him to know that I’m actually taking guitar lessons from Jay-Z right now and he’s already taught me both chords to Wonderwall. In fact, it’s so much fun having Jay teach me all of Noel’s songs on the guitar (hooray!) that I’m thinking of doing an Oasis/Jay-Z remix album [like Danger Mouse's Grey Album],” Ronson continued. “Potential titles are Champagne Superhova or Definitely Jay-Z. I’ll keep you posted.”

P.P.S. Noel, I did write a song called Back To Black, which actually has seven chords in it.”

-So I've got some thoughts on this. Noel Gallagher is a rock 'n' roll legend who everyone knew was a douche ever since he said Oasis was the greatest band of all time like 15 years ago. But Definitely Maybe was the first compact disc I ever owned, and Mark Ronson is an overrated - famous only because of his family connections - hipster DJ (even worse that Steve Aoki or Danny Masterson.) I can't get mad at Jay for coming back at Gallagher, because Jay himself is a legend, but Mark Ronson needs to shut the fuck up and respect his elders, even if they hypocritically call him out on his chord progressions. And how dare he compare anything he could do to the the fucking Grey Album.
-And if you're too young to appreciate Wonderwall, check out Cartel's cover.
-via Hypretrak, and prior knowledge n stuff. more