Hip-hop self-help via Derick G Like the best self-help hucksters, many rappers peddle the idea that you can simply daydream your way to prosperity. Look no further than the endless array of MCs with songs titled “Million Dollar Dreams”. There’s Kirko Bangz, Bruce Leroy, Jimmy Boi feat. Sen P and T-Double, Fed X & The Jacka, J Raines, Boogz Boogetz, MDotl, Scotty Dreama, J Cole, Wallet… Lil’ Wayne was 15 when he featured on “Millionaire’s Dream”. “Pull up in my Lexus sipping Dom P”, he proclaimed, though he wasn’t even old enough to have a driving license. “All my life eating steak and potatoes,” added the boy who grew up fatherless in the crime-ridden Hollygrove division of New Orleans, and shot himself in the chest ... Continue reading →
Brian O’Driscoll and Michaela Morley, age 6, from Co. Mayo, at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Dublin, yesterday. Mmf. (Fennell Photography via LeinsterRugby.ie) Thanks PT and Celticon This entry was posted in Misc and tagged Brian O'Driscoll, Leinster by Chompsky. Bookmark the permalink. Continue reading →
When the French folk-pop singer Mina Tindle supported fellow Gallic artist Camille at the Barbican recently, you could tell the lesser known musician had fairly slayed the audience, when before her final song, someone shouted out for Tindle to introduce herself (it may have been a savvy employee of her record label, mind you, but still...). With an air of mild embarrassment she did indeed tell the audience her name - they cheered loudly; job done. And she’ll likely be met with the same sort of approval following the release of her debut album Taranta - which arrives on the French label Believe next week. Listen to a preview stream of it in the box on the left. Following in the line of artful leftfield ... Continue reading →
Hip-hop loves a rivalry. True to form, the protracted all-Brooklyn feud between Jay-Z and Nas at the turn of the millennium did little to disappoint, providing all the high-profile, hyperbolic slander for which the rap scene is unmatched. The two have since put their differences aside, though they might have found common ground across the early-to-mid 90s in their mutual contribution to what's now nostalgically seen as a golden age for the genre. As Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre were finding their voices on the west coast, then novices Jay-Z and Nas threw their hats into the ring, with Reasonable Doubt and Illmatic respectively, as part of a fertile New York scene led by the Notorious BIG.Since their debuts the two have enjoyed different ... Continue reading →
