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J. Cole - A Tale of 2 Citiez (Black Friday Remix) [Feat. Kendrick Lamar]

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The man, the myth.

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Can't wait.

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"I wanted to suck the air suction out of your skull around your brain out of your head. I wanted to bring a darkness to your face and then explode lights into your pupils.. You're in the presence of something you've never been around before."

-- Nas on the creation of Illmatic ("VH1's Behind the Music")

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A$AP Rocky - "Goldie"

The first track off of Long Live A$AP. Hit-Boy provides a cold, mellodical beat over gritty snares; reminicent of a Neptunes' formula. The content is a little redundant, but it is what it is; true to Rocky's brand of trap-less trill rap. I'm actually a big fan of A$AP Rocky's ode to Houston trill rap flow--an interesting perspective from somone so disconnected from Houston roots. Hopefully more good things to come from this album.

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Kendrick Lamar - "Cartoon and Cereal" [Feat. Gunplay]

Another dope concept delivered through a raw and innovative flow -- This song is about Kendrick gaining peace through his recent success in music. A peace that was never felt since the days of watching cartoons and eating cereal as a kid. There was too much struggle and animosity around him while growing up to maintain any kind of bliss.

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NON-BELIEVERS > GODS > KINGS > MOBS

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R.I.P. Whitney Houston -- Whitney Houston passed away earlier this afternoon (February 11, 2012). She was pronounced dead in her Beverly Hills hotel after failure to resuscitate. Though it was shocking news, to many it was not surprising given her history of drug abuse. She was 48 years old.

I guess I'm coming to that age where death of musicians [though untimely] are actually meaningful to me. I grew up on artists like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. These were the artists that formed my foundation of musicical taste--as a lot of people's introduction to music is whatever it is their parents listen to.

She will be missed and remembered as an icon. A woman with an amazingly pure voice and heart-breaking personal demons. A true talent. The ideal singing voice filled with genius moments of power and control. A voice that could split open a song and show you the honestly of it's intentions.

Singing 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' and making you feel that music is a love that she wants to share. Words of conviction and passion in both intamacy and music. Singing 'Learning To Love Yourself; It Is The Greatest Love Of All' and inpiring self-empowerment by teaching you that you have to accept the person you are to be completely fullfilled. Singing the promise of 'I Will Always Love' stretched out in long enough notes that make you vulnerable and able to trust every word sung thereafter.

Quite possibly the purist voice I will here in my lifetime. Everyone has their personal battles, but inspite of negative associations with the name Whitney Houston, she will always be a legend and a true icon in music. Rest in peace.

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Nadal falls to Djokovic, yet again -- Novak Djokovica wins back-to-back Austrilian Open Championships in the longest Grand Slam Final in history (5 hours 53 minutes). He defeated Rafael Nadal in yet another Final and has won the last 7 finals meetings against Rafa. This is Nole's 5th Grand Slam title, winning 3/4 in 2011.

It was an epic battle between the two best tennis players in the world. Djokovic seemingly had the had the match won in the 4th set, but a late run by Nadal (including fighting off a triple break point) forced a 5th..

Nadal was being out-played. It's just not a good match up for Rafa--as he himself is with Federer and Murray. Rafa just dug deep and willed his 4th set tie-break win.

Rafa had his chance to close the match as he went up a break in the final set. At this point, Novak was noticably winded and exhausted after every long ralley. It reminded be of the unrefined Novak that had visible limits and quit matches in the past. It was Rafa's time to win. Unfortunately, Rafa made crucial mistakes and missed costly, game-securing shots.

Djokovic fought through his exhaustion and found his second wind. This time it was Novak who willed himself to greatness. He overcame his fatigue and wrapped up the match inspite of a valient last effort by Rafa.

Novak has reached another level of his game. The potential for him to be great was always there. He is a different player now, who refuses to give in and not let his conditioning determine an ill fate..

I have always been a huge fan of both guys and excited for future epic battles. As for the state of the game right now, it looks like Nole has Rafa's number. In a few month's Nole is going to Rafa's house in Paris, the French Open. If there was any opportunity to end this Grand Slam slump against Nole, it would be by retaining his French Open Championship and uphold his status as the King of Clay.

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"Breaking Bad: POV Compilation"

An awesome collection of Breaking Bad's signature POV shots.

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The MACHINE is back at it!

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Rick Ross - "Stay Schemin'" (Drake vs. Common)

  Essentially, I gutted out the track and left both Drake and Common's verses for easier listening. Recently, Common [Sense] himself took the proactive approach and unleashed verbal shots at Drake over Rick Ross' Stay Schemin'; a song which features a Drake verse full of subliminal warnings and insults aimed at Common. The download link below if you wish...

Personally, I think Com is just bored. He’s a certified legend with classic albums under his belt. He has nothing to prove. He doesn't need to earn the co-sign of today’s rap fan because he's earned his position in hip-hop when they were still in diapers. With Drake's growing appeal in our pop culture, it's not a stretch to say a chunk of Drake's fans don't even listen to Common or any music similar.

I myself am a big Drake fan but it looks like he’ll never be a hip-hop artist of Common’s calibre. Not that he doesn't have the potential to--it has a lot to do with our generation of music and how it has influenced popular hip-hop. Drake's a different artist than Common and has already developed tools that distance himself from a traditional hip-hop artist i.e. singing (which is one reason Common has this distaste towards him).

These days in hip-hop, beef has become something of the past; at least these two arent afraid to trade bars. Gotta miss those days where there was tension in hip-hop. Not serious, life-threatening tension, but tension through competition and the art of battle rap. This new wave of rappers seem like they're all on each other's team; I guess they don't possess the no nonsense mindset that popular rappers had when I was growing up i.e. Jay-Z, Nas, 50 Cent, The Game, Jadakiss, Ja Rule etc. Where if you do something I don't like, I'm calling you out. Maybe this generation is scared because many rappers I just mentioned careers' went cold due to their quarrels.

Even still, these emerging rappers lack the grit that was tied to the typical on-paper rapper. Kinda sucks to see the more ‘hood’ rappers stray away from mainstreams' eye, but that's just how hip-hop is changing and how this generation decided to define what's relevant.

Anyways, even though the justifications of the ‘beef’ are a little blurry, it's good to have a little sport again.

Download

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"This is the only way we could have ended it, isn't it?"

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"The Dark Knight Rises" Trailer

The final movie of Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy. It's predecessor is a very hard film to follow as it had one of the greatest villian performances of our time. I guess we'll just have to impatiently wait and see how this one fares.

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Goblins and Wizards and Kings oh my.

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The key to learning.