Hip-hop A-listers including Rick Ross, Akon and Plies were caught grossly exaggerating their gangster credentials this year. (Turns out they were painfully law-abiding. The horror!) But even if your favorite rapper wasn't caught in a lie, you can bet he or she put out a hilariously absurd record or two in 2008. Here are the most preposterous rap songs of 2008.
RICK ROSS, FEATURING T-PAIN
"The Boss"
(Def Jam)
Though Rick Ross claimed on his debut album, Port of Miami, to know Manuel Noriega, T
You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demolished by a Midwestern black man, and gender barriers were hurdled by an Arkansan and an Alaskan.Democracy has a few awesome new dance moves rolling into the Obama presidency, and it'll be a feast for
Plies, Florida's 32-year-old snarl with a rapper hidden underneath, is nothing if not a work horse. Over the last 16 months he's released three(!) full-length albums: The Real Testament ("Shawty" feat T-Pain), Definition of Real ("Bust it Baby Pt. 2"), and, most recently, Da REAList. (That's three more than Q-Tip released between 2000 and 2008, in case you're curious.) The immediate concern, then, becomes obvious: With an abundance of content created, will his message not wane in substance? The
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.
How's this for a stretch: DMX, if you'll remember, was recently incarcerated for the 93rd time for, meh, it really doesn't even matter. He was supposed to serve only a few months before being released on probation, but Mr. X thought it prudent to throw a tray of food at a correctional officer and is now loo
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.
Single of the Week: Flatline feat. Trae, "Fuckin' With Texas"
Wire To Wire
Eminem says he's the reason for the Chinese Democracy-ness of Dr. Dre's long-awaited Detox.
Slaughterhouse, an MC group made up of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce Da' 5'9", will release its album soon. One possible title: Three Guys Wh
[Note: Thursday night T-Pain, Wale and DJ MOS performed a private concert at downtown nightclub Venue. Our man Shea Serrano was on the red carpet and inside.]
Photos by Larami Culbertson"Is it true what they say about the size of a man's chain?"
9:17 p.m.: Yo, the PR camp from Heineken, that company that's putting this concert on, is extremely organized. At one point while we were getting the rundown of how the show would play out from the main PR guy, a woman standing near him placed her fin
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.
Single of the Week: "Haterz Got Me Wrong," Z-Ro feat. Gucci Mane and C-Ward
[This is another leaked single from the phantom Z-Ro album we wrote about last Friday. If this does happen to be Heroin repackaged, do not be surprised to find Ro in a dumpster somewhere very soon. J. Prince does not fuck around.]
Wire To Wire:
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.
We've got this notebook that we carry around pretty much everywhere with us. A few bullets from there before we get into the videos.
Skippy-dippy do! Jay-Z just announced new tour dates, and guess which major Texas metropolitan area landed a show? Yep. You got it: Dallas! (Oh, yeah, Houston scored a spot, too
