Author: chatmanjay

"I love the game...I love the hustle...."

[WATCH]: “ELEMENT.” by Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar drops off another powerful visual from his fourth studio album, Damn. What do y’all think of the video?

 

Kendrick Lamar encapsulates art with every video. I’m not saying that as a fan of his work. I’m saying it because I believe it to be true.

The Damn.  rapper just released a video for “ELEMENT.” (*sings hook as I write this*) directed by Jonas Lindstroem and co-directed by The Little Homies. I literally just found via Google search that the group Little Homies consists of Kendrick and Top Dawg Entertainment president Dave Free!

With almost every Kendrick video, you have to pay attention and don’t blink..because you might miss something; however, I blame myself for gassing Kendrick and tricking myself into believing the visual was so abstract I missed something upon the first viewing of the video. 

Not gon lie though, I had to watch it again cuz you know! This particular visual may catch some of you off guard due to the slow-motion pace of the video. In the video, the balance between violence and inner-peace is contrasted as father teaches son how to fight, and Kendrick shhhhmacks the shit out a poor guy’s mouth, meanwhile he chases someone with a pool cue.

That’s pretty much how I interpret the visual. If yall have any other opinions, feel free to show some love to my comment section! Check the visual for “ELEMENT.” below.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg says 2 BILLION people use Facebook–a MONTH!

CEO Mark Zuckerberg says 2 BILLION people use Facebook–a MONTH!
On an unrelated note, 2 new posts go live @ 5 and 5:15!

In the social media age, the success of every social network you currently use is measured by one thing–its users.

On Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote a short letter on his public page revealing that his company now has 2 BILLION users. Although a huge accomplishment for Zuckerberg, he isn’t quite satisfied with the massive amount of users. He continued saying he wants to “bring the world closer together.” Read the full statement below:

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fzuck%2Fposts%2F10103831654565331&width=500

Zuckerberg’s aspirations for Facebook are a breath of fresh of air bringing attention to communities that need it the most. In a speech made in Chicago last week, he compared churches and Little Leagues to what he hopes Facebook will do in the future— help its users find a “sense of purpose and support.”

“A church doesn’t just come together. It has a pastor who cares for the well-being of their congregation, makes sure they have food and shelter. A little league team has a coach who motivates the kids and helps them hit better. Leaders set the culture, inspire us, give us a safety net, and look out for us.”

Kudos to Zuckerberg on making a splash in the world with Facebook!

Source: CNBC

Alec Baldwin Will Return to ‘SNL’ to Portray Donald Trump Yet Again

Alec Baldwin Will Return to ‘SNL’ to Portray Donald Trump Yet Again

Donald Trump will have an excuse to have “Twitter fingers” again.

alec-baldwin-donald-trump-snl

Recently, Saturday Night Live alumnus Alec Baldwin  revealed that he will return to Studio 8H (where the legendary sketch comedy series is recorded) as our current commander-in-chief  Donald Trump—blonde wig, orange bronzer, and all—for a new season of SNL.

Despite the real Trump calling Baldwin’s impression of him “unwatchable”, it was Baldwin’s Trump and Melissa McCarthy’s [White House Press Secretary] Sean Spicer impression that catapulted SNL to its most watched season in 23 years.

Are y’all looking forward to Alec Baldwin play Trump again on SNL? Or are yall over it?

Did You Catch Lavar Ball and Co. on WWE Raw?!

The Ball Family Made their “WWE Raw” debut last night–and it was epic!

For those of us not living under a rock, everyone should know by now about the first family of basketball— The Ball family.

Lavar Ball may be a bit overbearing at times, but that doesn’t stop him from keeping him and his sons Lonzo and LaMelo in the constant spotlight. The NBA clashed with WWE on Monday night.

Last night, the father and son trio made an appearance on WWE Raw which was taped at the Staples Center, a place where LaVar’s oldest son Lonzo will be spending a lot of time due to him officially being a Los Angeles Laker.

First and foremost, it was a perfect opportunity for LaVar to further promote The Big Baller Brand. Although LaVar is hated by most for his media antics, he shunned all that aside and entertained us all from the moment walked out to the wrestling ring. Clearly, it was his time to shine now.

Next thing you know, LaVar is shirtless acting a damn fool–and it’s the most entertaining thing ever.

Everything went south when LaMelo, the youngest of the Ball family, heard something that shouldn’t have been caught on the mic. In a friendly yet heated exchange in which LaVar challenges The Miz, LaMelo was heard saying, “beat that n-gga ass!” on WWE Raw— alive program by the way. Of course Twitter had a field day with it.

It was a major dub for the Ball family; however, the WWE was left to clean up the mess. A statement of apology was left saying this, “The inappropriate language used by a guest during the ‘Miz TV’ segment was not scripted nor reflects WWE’s values.”

Prodigy of Mobb Deep Passed Away at 42

Prodigy of Mobb Deep Passed Away at 42

Earlier, My Instagram notifications from all my favorite hip-hop sites had kept going off left and right. Normally I causally check them, and swipe to the left to make them disappear. However, after repeatedly seeing photos with Prodigy’s face in the notification bar, I knew something was up.

The hip-hop world just lost a legendary emcee today.

Prodigy, one-half of legendary New York rap duo Mobb Deep, passed away at age 42.

Currently, he was on the “Art of Rap” tour in Las Vegas with Ghostface Killah, Onyx, KRS-One, and other artists. Although the official cause of death hasn’t been verified, sources close to Prodigy suspect he died due to sickle cell complications, something he’s faced since birth.

A publicist for Mobb Deep sent a statement to XXL quoting this: “We would like to thank everyone for respecting the family’s privacy at this time.”

The full statement can be read here.

Fellow Queens rapper was the first one to reveal the devastating news to the world with an Instagram post saying, “QB RIP KING  P. PRODIGY FOR EVER.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVkeVHvAqEs/?taken-by=nas

Source: XXL

[ALBUM REVIEW] “True to Self” x Bryson Tiller

Check out THE ORIGINAL CHATMAN’s review of Bryson Tiller’s sophomore effort, True to Self.

This Friday (June 23rd), would mark the original release date of Bryson Tiller‘s sophomoric effort, True to Self. Bryson Tiller must really have the juice like that with his label RCA Records due to him dropping the album a whole MONTH early—May 26th to be exact.

18342467_1417999534926273_3196185578903087719_n

To be honest, I really rock with Bryson Tiller. Ever since his Fall 2015 debut with the infectious T R A P S O U L lead single “Don’t”,  I knew Tiller would stick around and continue making waves in the evolving world of R&B.

Let me begin with the album title: True to Self. After the first few full-length listens, it’s apparent Bryson is still adjusting to his newfound fame while still dealing with his rocky love life. 

Nothing new is under the sun when rappers sing; however, when singers lay down rhymes and really well at that? Priceless. Tiller has some legit bars all over on tracks such as “Self Made”, “High Stakes”, and “Before You Judge.”

Personally, I partially feel some tracks on True to Self  sound the same; however, the samples that influence the album’s best tracks (I’ll let y’all decide which songs are the best) will surprise you the most. Sample credits are included from ’90s artist like Faith Evans, Mary J. Blige, and SWV. Marsha Ambrosius and Ice Cube even make minor musical influences on the album.

Despite the various musical influences, I admit some songs have similar sounding structures which can be credited to Kentucky producer Nes. Nes produced nine of the nineteen songs from True to Self. Check out the full production and sample credits here at Complex.

What did y’all think of True to Self? Blow up my comments sections and let me know!

-♠TheOriginalChatman♠

Pro Era Records Announces Third Annual “Steez Day” Festival

Pro Era Records Announces Third Annual “Steez Day” Festival. In addition to Pro Era, A$AP Mob, XXXTentacion, Ab-Soul and others will be there. This year it’ll be back in New York. Tickets go on sale this Friday.

It’s been 5 years since we’ve lost one of the greatest emcees to ever grace this Earth.

Courtney Jamal Dewar Jr., better known as “Capital STEEZ” from the Brooklyn rap collective Pro Era, was the heart and soul of the group.

To honor his passing, Joey Badass, Kirk Knight, and the rest of the Pro Era family have thrown the “Steez Day” Festival since 2015.

Today, Pro Era announced the line-up for the third annual Steez Day which will be back in New York. Check out the flyer and line-up below.

Tickets go on sale this Friday. Will you be there?

Kendrick Lamar Returns to Twitter Praising the Success of His Fellow Peers

Kendrick Lamar returned to Twitter to praise Hov, Nipsey Hussle, and 2 Chainz on their recent power moves in the game.

Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar recently returned to Twitter yesterday (June 19th) to celebrate poer moves made by his fellow rappers.

Yesterday (June 19th) , Kendrick Lamar returned to Twitter praising all the exciting hip-hop news that happened these past few days.

First and foremost, taking a note from Hov’s Twitter, Kendrick showed love to JAY-Z (who officially stylizing his name this way according to Pitchfork) for being the first rap artist inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame last week.

Furthermore, Kendrick shouted out Nipsey Hussle for his “black business moves.” Nipsey recently cut the ribbon on his Marathon Store in Los Angeles last weekend.

Finally, Lamar didn’t mince words for Demetrius Shipp Jr.’s performance as Tupac in All Eyez on Me. Nicknaming him “Lil Meech”, Kendrick said he nailed the role as Tupac Shakur. 2 Chainz even appeared on Kendrick’s Lamar radar as he congratulated 2 Chainz for “snapping” on his new album Pretty Girls Like Trap Music.

K.Dot ended the tweet with “Rap run it 4ever!” which is pretty damn hard to argue with.

#ICYMI: Happy Belated Bornday to the Greatest Of Our Time–Kendrick Lamar!

Kendrick Lamar Just Turned 30! What are your top 5 favorite songs from his catalog and why?

I know I’ma whole day late, but I have to wish one of my favorite artists out right now a huge Happy 30th Birthday–to Kendrick Lamar! You don’t know me personally; however, I can honestly say  I’ve felt every word you put into every lyric. K.Dot…you changed the game for the better by putting everyone on their toes with this rap sh-t!

♠J.Chatman aka TheOriginalChatman♠

To celebrate Kendrick’s/K.Dot’s/Kung-Fu Kenny’s 30th birthday, here’s a list of my top 5 favorite songs by him—in no particular order, mind you.

 

Kendrick’s ode to killing your favorite rapper is a classic. It was on this particular song where he used the double-time flow he would soon perfect on various songs and other projects in the future.

 

2. “B-tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” (Section.80)

*screams “BITCH DON’T KILL MY VIBE!” excitedly and carefree in the middle of a conversation*

3. “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” (good kid, m.A.a.d. city)

A lot of his best songs are taken from personal experiences growing up in Compton, CA. Kendrick is no stranger to story telling on his albums–but this one is so important because of the perspective used to illustrate Kendrick’s childhood trauma in a dangerous environment. If you wanted to start listening to Kendrick now, I’d recommend you start with this song!

4. “m.A.a.d. city” (good kid, m.A.a.d. city)

“YAWK YAWK YAWK YAAAAWK!”

Enough said.

5. “Money Trees” (good kid, m.A.a.d. city)

The sample. The hook. The verse from fellow TDE member Jay Rock. Virtually everything about this song—following adolescent Kendrick’s pursuit of money as a means to escape poverty—captures Kendrick’s ability to translate his life story and transform it into someone else’s story.

 

Jay Z Used Twitter To Salute His Favorite Artists

Jay Z Used Twitter To Salute His Favorite Artists

 

 

 

 

Jay Z is a man of many words—with the exception of Twitter. Jay rarely uses his Twitter, so when he does, it is viewed as a special occasion.

via GIPHY

On Thursday (June 15), Hov released a string of tweets giving a huge nod to his favorite artists—new and old alike. The tweets followed his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

As a 47-year-old rapper-turned-mogul, we could all assume he has an understanding knowledge of Twitter; however, Hov admitted his thoughts were cluttered as he couldn’t figure out the reply button. He reeled us back in promising he wasn’t drunk.

Check the tweets below!

And then there’s more….

The fact that his wife, the great Queen B, and Obama both get a honorable mention as rappers…priceless!

Hov is the greatest of all time for this. Who else do yall think deserves to be inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame?