If you’d have asked us back in the ’90s when we were going to see Company Flow perform at local dives like Coney Island High if we thought we’d ever see El-P do a song on Letterman, we might have said, sure – why not… if there was enough beer involved. (Actually, truthfully there was a lot of genuine optimism back then, so maybe it wouldn’t have sounded so crazy.) Well, look what just happened on Tuesday night’s broadcast of The Late Show with David Letterman? El Producto – with support from Nick Diamonds – was digitally beamed into millions of America’s homes performing the intensely dark and brooding “Stay Down” from Cancer 4 Cure. Remarkable days we’re living in, we tells ya. Peep this landmark television moment, after the jump…
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It appears that through time we are discovering that the late children’s television host Mr. Rogers was realer than his rep would have us believe. Take for instance this episode from the 1985 season of his TV show Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood when a young breakdancer named Jermaine paid a little visit to Rog’s ‘hood, equipped with a boombox, some cardboard and breaking skills. The 12-year-old b-boy teaches the friendly McFeely how to wave and moonwalk and the nice senior citizen is more than ready to practice, albeit much too briefly. See the action after the jump…
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What we have here is… uh… ah… um…. what in the hell do we have here anyways? In the same vein as this strange Family Matters mindfuck, the following batch of weird videos created by YouTube user SALTEDHAMSUPERSHOW were picked out of over a hundred clips (each one more bizarre than the previous one). Equally totally random, odd and subversive, they combine chopped up cartoons like Jem and various Japanimation with some pretty bangin’ music (including KMD and Count Bass D) to make something that will undoubtedly leave a majority of the people who see them say WTF? But for those adventurous enough to take the risk, we can guarantee that if you watch the first two vids you will see Doom pop up out of nowhere. Take the risk after the break…if you dare…
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This previously unreleased footage of the Beasties Boys performing one of their Licensed to Ill classics for the third (and unfinished) season of Chappelle’s Show was uploaded over the weekend by Neal Brennan, co-creator of the much loved Comedy Central program, as a tribute to the late Adam Yauch, a/k/a MCA. It’s a great version of “It’s the New Style” with the Beasties sounding fresher than ever rhyming on a boat in the East River – the NYC skyline in the background – while Mixmaster Mike furiously works the wheels of steel. The part where the overhead train crossing the bridge interrupts the performance right before Dave Chappelle himself does the honors of unleashing the famous, “… DROP!” is awesome. Peep it quickly (this is a re-up after it was taken down earlier today), after the jump…
UPDATE: Vid is back…down…oh well, we tried, folks…)
UPDATE: Vid is BACK! CAN’T KEEP A GOOD VIDEO DOWN!
UPDATE: May 8 Aaaaannnd… it’s been taken down again. *sigh*
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VH1 has revamped its Biggie Behind the Music episode to include an important update: an interview with a retired L.A.P.D. detective who recently came forward and stated that he’s convinced that Suge Knight had Biggie executed and has proof. (Rumors, of course, have circulated since Big’s death in March 1997 that the Death Row rival allegedly had a hand in the killing.) Find out more by checking out the entire show — which also chronicles Christopher Wallace’s early life, his rise to fame, and that tragic night in Los Angeles — after the jump…
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If you missed last night’s broadcast of the VH1 “Rock Docs” film, Uprising: Hip-Hop & the L.A. Riots, here is the episode presented in its entirety. Directed by Mark Ford and narrated by Snoop Dogg, the film examines the frustration and anti-authoritarian rage brewing in L.A.’s Black communities in the years preceding the riots, and how hip-hop records from the era all but predicted the events of April 29th – May 1st, 1992. 20 years after the fact, the footage of the epicenter of the chaos at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Central is still affecting as ever. The film includes priceless archival interview footage of Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren, and Dr. Dre. Those newly interviewed include Rodney King (who returns to the scene of where he was beaten by LAPD officers in March ’91), Kurupt (who recalls recording sessions for Dr. Dre’s The Chronic as the riots took place), filmmakers John Singleton and Matthew McDaniel (director of Birth of a Nation 4*29*1992), and perhaps most memorably, Henry Watson – one of four men convicted in the beating of White truck driver Reginald Denny as the riots raged on. Watch it, after the jump…
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What’s that you say? You’ve seen every episode of the ’90s sitcom Family Matters? Well, even if you have, we guarantee you’ve never witnessed nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel and the Winslow kids Eddie and Laura like this. In this perfectly strange “remix,” Foreigner, breakbeats and “a motherfuckin’ robot” invade the set and for once it’s not Urkel’s fault. What the hell are we yappin’ about? We’re talking about the diabolical creation of YouTube user SvenBoogie who re-invented the usual goings-on of the Winslow household into a surreal dream that’s certified bonkers. Look what Sven did after the break…
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Can’t say we saw this one coming. Seems 50 Cent and senior citizen queen of mean humor Joan Rivers have teamed up for a Street King Energy drink campaign. As you may or may not know, SK Energy is Curtis’ power boost supplement, and in this ad he’s seen surreptitiously moving the product hand-to-hand inside a gym like he’s back on a street corner in Jamaica, Queens. Enter Joan Rivers – who proves to be more than just a window shopper. Geez, Joan. First that episode of Louie, now this. Watch what happens, after the jump…
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The following will no doubt spark some good memories of yesteryear for our British readers, but will also be enjoyed by our peoples here in the States. It’s a clip of radio DJ Tim Westwood, the long-reigning hip-hop ambassador of England, interviewing the incomparable Biz Markie on his late ’80s late night television program N-Sign Radio, which was broadcast Fridays on the UK’s ITV Network. Even with the music videos edited out, it’s still an entertaining five minutes and some seconds of the Biz demonstrating the differences between the Doug E. Fresh, the Fat Boys’ Buffy the Human Beatbox and his own style of beatboxing, explaining the real-life inspiration(s) for the you-used-to-dis-me-but-now-I’ma-play-you tune “Vapors” (“It’s more like a revenge thing,” says Biz Mark about the lyrics which are based on actual events, “Puttin’ it back in your face”), and even briefly discusses a proposed cartoon called Mouth Man, which never got beyond the pre-production stages apparently. All this, plus a quick moment of Tim awkwardly trying to give dap to the Biz after the jump…
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Just yesterday we posted about a French presidential candidate who used Watch The Throne‘s most popular (and most geographically appropriate) track in a campaign ad, and no it wasn’t “Otis.” Well, last night it was the POTUS who got into the act with a surprise appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. President Barack Obama, who has easily been the most hip-hop-friendly commander-in-chief ever (the competition is nada) stopped by the show (which was taped at the University of North Carolina) and joined the funnyman host and house band The Roots for the “Slow Jam the News” segment, speaking on student loan reform. Watch after the jump…
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