The future of music is here...today

My opinion of music is constantly changing, though I feel now that I have settled into simply wanting to hear GOOD music. It doesn't matter if it's pop or rap, rock or dance. As long as it stimulates my senses I will listen to it. These "new" artists or groups tend to have the greatest success in doing that and hopefully will achieve some form of popular success to displace the status quo. This is part 1…


1. Wale – This DC rapper caught my ear in a BIG way last summer with "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.," his remix of Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." off his 100 Miles and Running mixtape. His clever wordplay and references (Saved by the Bell, Icky Woods) made him an instant favorite of mine. This year he achieved national popularity with his Seinfeld mixtape The Mixtape About Nothing, which was about everything. He speaks on record sales and fans ("The Perfect Plan"), race ("The Kramer"), and gender ("The Manipulation"). He seems poised for success, having a deal with Mark Ronson's Allido records, appearing in ad campaigns for Levi's and LRG and an upcoming LRG-mixtape with producer 9th Wonder. Download his mixtapes at www.myspace.com/wale202 and hear the latest wale tracks at www.elitaste.com/blog.
Essential tracks: W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E., The Perfect Plan, The Opening Title Sequence



2. Rhymefest – Not really a newbie at all, he IS only one album deep and waiting for his second to drop. A Grammy winner for co-writing Kanye's "Jesus Walks" (he also found the sample), Blue Collar was an amazing debut, with topics ranging from politics to war to sex. It also excelled in simply being fun (see: "Buttercup" with the late ODB) and featured great produced from No I.D., Kanye West, Cool & Dre, and Mark Ronson as well as samples from Harry Nilsson and The Strokes. Another signee of Allido, 'fest dropped a Michael Jackon tribute mixtape in January with Mark Ronson. Featuring Jackson 5/MJ samples and appearances from Talib Kweli and Wale. El Che, his second LP, was supposed to drop this year but seems destined to be released sometime next year (fingers crossed). The songs leaked from his second LP (some can be heard at his myspace) are all solid and it should be a worthy successor to Blue Collar. Download the Man in the Mirror mixtape at www.myspace.com/rhymefest or www.myspace.com/wale202.
Essential Tracks: Bullet, Angry Black Man on an Elevator, Tell A Story



3. Charles Hamilton- The closest thing I can compare this guy to flowwise is Eminem. He's a workhorse, as he's already released FIVE mixtapes this year with another FIVE coming within the next few months as part of his ambitious Hamiltization Process. The H.P. is a virtual tour spread over 8 popular hip-hop websites (including Okayplayer and Onsmash), with each "tour stop" compromising of a brand new mixtape. The Sega/Sonic-loving Hamilton is nothing is nothing if not creative, self producing his music while sampling the Offspring, Sonic the Hedgehog, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Staind, and even the sounds from the Windows operating system (on the song "Windows Media Player"). Though his songs can sometimes shift into corny territory, there is nothing like him out there. Signed to Interscope, Hamliton's debut will be self-produced and should be one of the most interesting albums when it is released next year. Check him out at www.iamnotcharleshamilton.com and http://charleshamilton.blogspot.com.
Essential Tracks: November 10, The Honeymoon's Over, Brooklyn Girls







4. Kid Cudi- Cudi popped up on my radar after I heard a song by him on Mark Ronson's internet podcast. The "day 'n' nite (Crookers Remix)" was simply amazing and addictive. Though he hasn't flooded the net with mixtapes and remixes like others, what I've heard from him is extremely solid. His lone mixtape, Man on the Moon, takes creative leaps and manages to remain grounded in hip-hop. Check him out at www.myspace.com/kidcudi or www.kidcudi.com.
Essential Tracks: "Day n Nite (Crookers Remix)", "Man on the Moon"



5. Kid Sister- This is one of the only female emcees I look forward to hearing new stuff from. She is part of the hipster movement (alongside Wale, Lupe, the Cool Kids, Kidz In the Hall) and her image is more about fun than past female rappers like Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown. Her album, Dream Date, is due November 25 and is said to feature more raw hip-hop songs than the uptempo club songs she has become known for. You can download some of her songs for free at http://www.rcrdlbl.com/artists/Kid_Sister/music and look her up at www.myspace.com/kidsister.
Essential Tracks: Pro Nails (Remix) ft. Kanye West, Family Reunion ft. David Banner



Wale, Kid Sister, & Kid Cudi

Nas' Best Video

Yes, it is.

Sneakernight!

catchy as a mofo

The Greatest Werewolf Moments

It's no secret that werewolves are the coolest monsters around, but the reason why is for a whole other blog altogether. For now is the time to praise those great moments in entertainment (or is it reality???) that showed us all why werewolves will always be the true king of monsters. From Lon Chaney to Bender Bending Rodriguez, here is a salute to the greatest werewolf moments.

Lon Chaney as the Wolf Man

This was the grandpappy of all things werewolf today (as far as movies go). There is no more classic an image than the one above. So from here, the OG of werewolves in 1941 we jump all the way to the 70's and a pup named...

Scooby-Doo

There are four occurences (according to my research) of a werewolf in Scooby-Doo lore (probably more if you include a Pup Named Scooby-Doo and the two newer series). The first was on the classic show, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? in the episode "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Werewolf."

Let's be real for a second and admit that this wolfman looks nothing like the classic version other than his gorgeous brown mane. Once, when I was channel surfing, I saw this version and thought it was some sort of goblin before I realized it was a werewolf. However, it does make sense that this werewolf is poor looking because...it's really a man in a costume! I like how Scooby-Doo adds some reality by making the fake werewolf actually LOOK fake as opposed to looking exactly like a real werewolf. Following this appearance (a classic Scooby episode) the werewolf popped up once again in the series "Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo" in the episode "Where's the Werewolf?" This had Scooby-Doo transforming into the werewolf in comical fashion.
A werewolf's daughter would follow, in the film "Ghoul School," in which Scooby, Shaggy, and Scrappy teach the children of the most famous monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, a ghost) and must rescue them from a witch.

(that is her, the orange-haired beauty next to Scrappy)

Next up, the werewolf took a starring role in "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf" in which the original wolfman has retired from wolfing it up and Dracula decides to turn Shaggy into a new werewolf so the Monster Rally Race will have a werewolf racing in it (I know you will probably all go add this to your Netflix queue after reading such an interesting summary).

Random Werewolf: I used to have this figure and darn me for not having it anymore

It's from the Real Ghostbusters...if anybody comes across it, let me know!

With the success of Scooby-Doo, Hanna-Barbera was creating crime-solving groups of teens left and right. These included the gang from "Speed Buggy" and "Josie and the Pussycats." But none had an idea as brilliant as FANGFACE

Fangface with his little cousin, Fangpuss

Nothing beats a mystery solving werewolf that can turn back into human form simply by seeing a picture of the Sun!

Michael Jackson

Yes, my theory is true. Michael Jackson's success can be attributed to werewolves!!! Nothing is more classic than "Thriller" This video had every woman wanting to be attacked by a werewolf and every man wanting to be one!

Teen Wolf (the Saga Collection)

These movies showed the American public that it pays to be a werewolf. Who knew the easiest way to be popular in school was to turn into a werewolf?! Well, I did, for one, and that is why in high school I would constantly get attacked by wolves in hopes of being attacked by one werewolf. Ahh...no luck on that end, but at least I had some cool stories about getting attacked by hundreds of wolves.

Teen Wolf the 1st

Teen Wolf II

Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London

This song is great. Amazing really. And all the more so because it is about werewolves. Nothing else to say as this song speaks for itself!

Late Night With Conan O'Brien
The Coked-Up Werewolf

Keven Dorff as the Coked-Up Werewolf

This is the one shot I could find of the Coked-Up Werewolf, a behind the scenes shot taken with a Polaroid camera, but it will have to do. The Coked-Up Werewolf is usually dressed in a 1980's suit and sniffing like a maniac as he twitches to and fro, wiping his nose. The true genuis of this character is this:

The Coked-Up Werewolf is not a werewolf addicted to cocaine, but rather, he was an ordinary werewolf who was bitten by a cocaine addict, which in turn passed on his addiction.

Futurama
"The Honking"

Futurama's take on the werewolf, Bender is attacked by a "werecar" and becomes one himself. This episode was sharp from start to finish, having some of the best lines ("That don't sound like no golden marmoset I ever heard") and one of the great stories.

Spoiler Alert

MARVEL ZOMBIES

The ending of "Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness" was great. Why? Because Ash enters a universe populated not by Marvel Zombies...but Marvel Werewolves!

30 Rock - "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah"

This song, performed by Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Originally only seen as a 5 second clip on an episode, the full song was released by NBC online and it amazing.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Voolvif Monn
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Probably the greatest Wolfman of all, this creature is not necessarily a werewolf because he is a Shistavanen. He is not a human that turns into a wolf, but his features cause him to be referred to as a wolfman. Look how badass he looks in the picture above. Playing but a bit part in the Clone Wars saga, hopefully he will have a larger role in the upcoming TV series and/or movie.

Potential Great Werewolf Moments:

The following have the potential to be some wolfen moments, but only time will tell if they really are.

The Wolf Man (2009)
Benecio Del Toro takes on the role of Wolf Man in this update for next year.

Occult Crimes Taskforce

This time around, the comic looks at people holding dog fights, only instead of using watching dogs fight, they are watching werewolves. Interesting topic, i just wonder when the heck it is going to come out.

The Astounding Wolf-Man

This new comic is already out (I believe it is five issues deep already), but I have not yet read it. I do like the art though, I just hope the story does werewolves justice!

There you have it, the greatest werewolf moments as of now. It will be hard to top those in the future, but the werewolf is a monster that will keep on truckin'. There were some werewolves neglected ("The Werewolf of London", the werewolf in "Van Helsing") but not all are as great as those above! (Well "Fangface" wasn't really that great). I will, however, keep my eyes open for more great moments, because there will always be more!

My 25 Most Played Songs (On My Old iPod)*

Basically for no one's enjoyment but my own...the songs I listened to most on my old iPod (2004-2007). It lasted a good three years. I think this list shows that I am not like the radio - I do not listen to the same song over and over again for 5 months in a row. It also shows what a nice little variety of music I like.

1. RJD2 - Making Days Longer - 59
2. Nelly Furtado - Say It Right - 53
3. Cassie - Long Way 2 Go - 52
4. Ashley Tisdale - Headstrong - 44
5. Damian Marley ft. Nas - Road to Zion - 44
6. Mos Def - Dollar Day For New Orleans - 42
7. Black Star ft. Common - Respiration - 41
8. Cam'ron ft. Kanye West & Syleena Johnson - Down And Out - 40
9. Nelly Furtado - Maneater (Original Version-Not on LP) - 40
10. Michael Buble` ft. Nelly Furtado - Quando Quando Quando - 39
11. J-Dilla - Time: The Donut of the Heart- 37
12. Nas - Don't Body Ya' Self - 37
13. Rihanna ft. Jay-Z - Umbrella - 37
14. J-Dilla - Workinonit - 36
15. Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse - 36
16. Masta Ace - Beautiful - 36
17. Ali Vegas - Story to Tell (freestyle) - 35
18. Nas - Hip-Hop Is Dead - 35
19. Nelly Furtado - No Hay Igual - 34
20. Nelly Furtado - Crazy - 33
21. Nelly Furtado - Try- 33
22. Pharoahe Monch, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Rah Digga - Talkin' To You - 37
23. Nil Lara - Fighting for My Love - 33
24. Little Brother ft. Elzhi - Hiding Place - 33
    

*Somehow I only wrote down 24 before I gave away my ipod