Hello Jukies!

And so another week begins, we start it off with a Mr. Lif 'I Heard It...' review from Abort Magazine, and its one for the vault... 

With notes from Lif on the origins and intentions of each tracks, and the full lyrics printed inside, this album is clearly a transmission of valuable information through soulful music that deserves to be heard over and over. As always, the richness of Lif’s mind has crafted a classic work that speaks ever more clearly as the voice and conscience of our times, with a compassion and over-standing so rare, yet so essential and truly Old School in it’s perspective. This is radical music - radical in it’s politics, and radical in the truest sense - coming from the roots.

Another review this week for Chin Chin is worth the peek and thanks to all who came out this Friday to Union Pool. Fun was had by all.

Despot has been spotted in the blogosphere.. under the alias 'Alec' ... odd. 

Hi everyone! my name is Alec!  I'm a world renowned rap star here to give you all a peek into one of the greatest minds in rap!  I know you are saying to yourself, "but Alec, why would anyone want to have a great mind in rap?"  I know you are also asking yourself, "Alec, if you are a famous rapper how come I didn't know that already and you keep talking about it?"  

An article in Buisnessmirror.com yesterday illuminates some of the varying and evolving uses of english in hip hop.. 

To clarify, rapping would be the mere exercise of rapidly reciting in rhymes. If one reads aloud the works of Dr. Seuss at a fast pace, this would already pass for rapping. Emceeing, on the other hand, is the creative and playful manipulation of language. It entails the mastering of aesthetics and techniques, and most important, the development and precise execution of one’s intended style. Mother Goose on uppers would be a rapper; Redman is an emcee.

Not everyone who has assumed the title of emcee is actually an emcee. Think Michael V. He may have had roots in true hip-hop, but he isn’t an emcee, especially not in his comedic rap skits. Mark Wahlberg isn’t an emcee at all, although he used to rap as Marky Mark. Then there are those like Shaq, who was and still can be an emcee, but chooses to rap more nowadays. 

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Street emcees don’t use words like “amalgamation,” while left-field hip-hop would have no qualms inserting such terms in their lyric books. The likes of Aesop Rock, El-P and MC Paul Barman will unhesitatingly test a listener’s vocabulary, while Nas, Pharaohe Monch and even Biggie (the Notorious B.I.G.) will make sure you’re listening clearly to their nuanced elocution and occasionally uncharacteristic choice of words.