got a strong ass grip, but my name ain’t money grip

liked Gladys better when she sang with the Pips

today’s flick provided by the good people at Urban Samurai, doing the grassroot clothing line thing the way it should be done.

as I’m sure the 3 of you who regularly check this shit (for more than just leech all the Jay Electronica stuff I put up) have noticed, I’m not really big on hyping up whatever’s “hot” at the moment. still, after witnessing the advertising frenzy that is T.I.’s newest album, I started thinking about how an artists best work is hardly ever chosen objectively. take Clifford Harris for example, who was underrapreciated by the masses till around the time when he dropped the Jay-Z sampling ‘Bring ‘Em Out‘ in 2005. oddly enough, I’d say that’s right after T.I. reached his zenith as an MC. Trap Muzik, his second album, still stands to me as his best, most rawest, most southern sounding album. he still hasn’t made anything that bangs as much as 24’s and Rubberband Man besides 2006’s Top Back; Be Better Than Me and I Still Luv You are still the most effective introspective tracks I’ve heard from the man without getting all soft and bitch-like; and he did a better job of executing his alter-ego theme with the T.I. vs T.I.P. track than with his entire new album.

Jay Electronica – Bitches and Drugs

Re Ups : Jay Electronica – Victory Is In My Clutches & Jay Electronica – So What You Sayin’ (prod. by Jay Dilla)

I don’t know if I can think of anything else to say about this guy. oh yeah, I’m pretty sure the Victory beat is also produced by Dilla, but after I got a straightening out from the man himself about the Thom Yorke producing Uzi rumor from last time, I won’t say something officially unless I’m 100%.

Talib Kweli – Electrify (prod. by Pete Rock)

one of my favorite MC’s is back at it in a real good way. the hype is real, the hate is not; Ear Drum is official, please support.

Freestyle Fellowship – Inner City Boundaries

“I gotta be righteous, I gotta be me,

I gotta be conscious, I gotta be free”

classic from a brick-laying L.A. underground group that never get their just due. from P.E.A.C.E. to Mikah 9 to the now-bitter Aceyalone, Freestyle Fellowship laid the foundation for so many others. what? you thought today’s picture was just for show?