hello? google?

wow youtube is really taking their sweet time getting back online. at least the videos on this site still work.

video filtering

youtube is down yet again and i just read a news article about how google is set to apply filters on youtube and crack down on copyrighted material. so i'm thinking thats probably what all this downtime is about. the article mentioned that youtube could lose popularity because of this as people will post videos to other sites based out france or denmark or something. possible. i dont give a shit where videos are posted but if you can embed on your site as easily as youtube allows you to do then thats good enough.

today i'd just like to send another big fuck you out to viacom and news corp. and nbc universal and everyone else who is bitching about copyright infringement and demanding that youtube remove certain videos. there was a quote in the article i mentioned about how these companies are reacting to googles promise to filter content with skepticism.

"'YouTube and Google have been promising filtering tools for many, many months, while the damage to copyright owners continues,' a spokesman for Viacom said."

i'd like to know exactly what this "damage to copyright owners" is. if i had the kind of money that i'm sure that viacom asshole has, which he has made from copyrights of material created by actual artists (ie other people), you can bet i'd find better things to do with my time then bitch and whine about youtube filtering their videos. i'd be on vacation for the rest of my life and youtube would probably be the last thing on my mind. yes, viacom can suck a dick.

2pac - keep ya head up

youtube was down for maintenance last night and it was kinda scary to imagine the web without it. there are videos on like millions of websites thanks to youtube. i'm glad its back. i remember seeing this video back when it was on mtv and thinking "huh, this guy is pretty cool - i really like his shirt"

pete rock & cl smooth - the creator

i dont really know what the deal is with the guy dressed in colonial attire but this video is pretty sweet. pete rock knows how to compose a beat. usually he doesnt rap but he does it pretty well here. like he says "I usually bust scratches with my man, c.l. smooth, but I decided to get wreck on this groove."

i'm going to lift some info from one of the youtube comments that the rhymes were penned by grand puba. which i dont feel like googling to confirm but i believe it. check out the hot ladies just kicking back, lounging in the boiler room of the ship or wherever that is. seriously, is it just me or are rap videos nowhere near this awesome lately? i would love to see this on tv.

gza - liquid swords

uh oh - i took a bit of a break there. so i gotta come back strong with one of the best from one of the greatest records ever, gza's liquid swords. no bullshit in this video either, unless you count the lip syncing but thats all videos. just rapping on a giant clock. and throwing lps against the wall. why not? maybe throw in some shots of chess pieces. the video quality isnt the best but whatever, the bass is THUMPIN!

notorious b.i.g. - juicy

definitely one of biggie's best songs. lots of pop culture and hip hop references and one of my favorite lines, "super nintendo, sega genesis..." and this came out around the time i was pretty into sonic the hedgehog. but hey, i never had a super nintendo either. i bet he'd feel better knowing that. now if only puff daddy could keep his fucking mouth shut instead of muttering "yeah...", "bad boy...", "check it...", "thats right..." every three seconds. what a dipshit.

organized konfusion - fudge pudge

last two days its been all about the sexy beats and videos featuring lots of hot girls gettin their groove on. today its just three mcs kickin old school rhymes and hmm did they just sing "ooooh and i like it" too? one thing i love about hip hop is all the references to other artists, old songs, reusing samples. some of the lyrics on this track are kinda cheesy, like "tricky in a joust, plus i'm down with mickey mouse". huh? but overall these guys know what theyre doing. no gimmicks, nothing fancy, can it be that it was all so simple then?

ps. sorry the sound is kinda low so turn it up.

grand puba - i like it

what is the concept behind this video? is he doing a webcast? the album this is on is called 2000 so i wonder if this is supposed to be a preview of the advanced technology people will be using then. regardless, grand puba is masterful on the mic as usual and the beat is tight. i like it! his girl looks pretty annoyed at first but she changes her tune pretty quick.

a tribe called quest - find a way

i love a tribe called quest and this is one my favorite tracks. its all about that sexual and social tension between the guys and the girls thats so fun and romantic but also so frustrating. its hard to believe this is almost ten years old. but it will always be relevant from now til infinity. btw q-tip is the ultimate dork - i think i dance better than him. anyway happy valentines day! one love!

common - i used to love h.e.r.

another tribute to hip hop today but from a different angle than the "fluff" of hip hop hooray. some cool breakdancing in this video too, which is always entertaining. commons lyrics often have a little more substance than the guns and weed you hear about all the time. and here hes on about the decline of hip hop since the old school days. and this was only in 1994. although if hip hop never blew up like it did and got all commercialized around this time, would someone like me ever have gotten into it? of course, now any time you walk into the Gap you see common plastered all over the wall in turtlenecks and shit so, whatever thats about.

naughty by nature - hip hop hooray

naughty by nature keeps it pretty nice and radio friendly here, bridging gaps in the community getting everyone involved with the arm motions, shouting lines like "I love black women always and disrespect ain't the way. let's start a family today! hip hop hooray!" did you think there was gonna be a fight at the end of the video? super soakers!! the groove is infectious, you just have to bob your head. one thing i love about this music is how totally acceptable it is to have an entire song just be about how cool hip hop is. not to mention in the vast majority of songs mcs brag how great they are on the mic compared to everyone else. i would love to hear a band like oasis, for example, if they think they are all that, write a song about how sweet they are and call other bands out instead of saving it all for interviews. hip hop hooray for sure, thats where its at.

souls of mischief - 93 til infinity

if west coast rap is all about the parties, then this is the ultimate party jam. to me this song just feels like perpetual summertime, chillin outside in the nice weather. and thats only reinforced by the video i guess. hard not to feel good when this is on. seriously how good was music back in 93? tribe released midnight marauders. black moon's enta da stage. first album from wu-tang. this song. the list could go much longer but they aren't lying cuz even though this is almost 15 years old, its just as good as it was then. maybe even better since we know the kind of shit that gets released now. i'm happy listening to this from now til infinity, whatever. timeless.

hum - stars

so i do love hip hop, and there will be plenty more of it on here, but i think i can broaden my scope a little bit. after all, i'm no hip hop expert. just a white kid from illinois into things like math and playing guitar. probably not too different from the guys in hum (also from illinois). this video would be much cooler without the occasional shots of some weird looking old dude so typical of early 90s "alternative" videos. but if stars isn't the awesomest song ever recorded, a claim that i have indeed made before, then its pretty close.

de la soul - me myself and i

ok i'm sick of people being down on hip hop. i was hanging out tonight and people were like "ugh what is this?". come on! i'm feeling this video tonight because seriously rap music needs to get more respect. some de la seems appropriate right now because they never stop talking (whining?) about how different they are and about whats wrong with the music scene. but seriously i'm sick of going to parties where people just want to listen to ac/dc or the stooges or some suicidal neutral milk hotel or whatever. come on, thats not a party. not to put down other peoples music, i dont care what you listen to.

and btw the best songs and artists are never played out in the top 40 or whatever no matter what the genre or era so i'm sick of people saying things like "real hip hop r.i.p. 1988-1993". fuck that. the best shit wasnt on the radio all the time then either. i had to listen to someone tonight talking bout how hip hop is a dead art that had its day but no one can do it anymore and how no one really likes it nowadays anyway. complete crap. anyway enough of this meaningless rant, lets go old school and check out some seriously good hairstyles. and of course words of wisdom from my man prince paul.

das efx - mic checka

i used to have this album recorded on an unlabeled tape back when i was in 8th grade. and back then i thought this was the ultimate in rap music. i remember we went on a class field trip one time to some fish hatchery or something... and while other people on the bus were rocking a boom box with guns n roses and ice t's body count, i had my headphones and walkman on chillin to my diggity das efx. those were the days. and now this is on my ipod so... look how far i've come.

anyway whats he look so pissed about? hes hanging out in the sewers with alligators and breaking glass. come on thats what living is about.

black moon - how many mc's

nice - mtv back in '93. i love the shots towards the end of evil dee scratching while hanging upside down from the wall. youtube is the greatest thing ever if i can find shit like this in like 15 seconds or less. its gonna be hard not to blow my load all in one night and post like 50 videos right now. i'll just watch this a few times and ponder...how many mcs must get dissed?

ghostface - daytona 500

honestly watching this feels like i'm listening to the song on my stereo while watching a cartoon edited in such a way that makes no sense with the sound down. maybe i need to watch it over and over again and i'll figure out the story but i doubt it. and yet, i still like it.