Saturday, December 31, 2011

Before 2012 via Astro Boy

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http://darr3n.tumblr.com/post/15004730849

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

2Chainz & Coast 2 Coast Live in Miami | Official Release Party for Coast 2 Coast Vol. 189

Monday, December 26, 2011

DERRICK ROSE #BecomingALegend

January 5th 2012 Rocmore presents "DOSE OF REALITY"

"DOSE OF REALITY" Chicago Hip Hop Event, w/ DJs: SHON ROKA REAL ONE and EQ. Special Performances

Friday, December 23, 2011

CHI-TOWN FINEST BREAKERS w/ COMMON in L.A. @ House Of Blues

On the agenda for SHON ROKA

More to come...stay in tune...

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Common The Dreamer The Believer

Just went to Target and copped the lastest Common Album The Dreamer/The Believer! Must have and much appreciated album from a Hip Hop icon I have always followed and respected!

Common The Dreamer/The Believer, Common The Dreamer/The Believe @ShonRoka on Twitter

I wish I had all my stuff unpacked so I can break out all the Common stuff I have...I'll pick that up tomorrow just to continue the celebration of the release and post it. Anyhow, I remember how Soul By Pound, I Used To Love H.E.R., Watermelon, Resurrection and many of Com classics made me feel. I remember when I bought that I Used To Love H.E.R. single on vinyl. Just holding it made me feel good. Really a song of great hip hop history. I'm probably not much of a blogger and am so busy up that ass that I had to take time to show you some more of what I love. Anyhow I found this article to some up some history on Common and what he has been on...Read Below

Common The Dreamer/The Believe, Common The Dreamer/The Believe @ShonRoka on Twitter

Common has been making hip hop for nearly two decades now, and even though he’s responsible for a handful of good-to-great albums, as well as one of the genre’s most notorious screeds, “I Used to Love H.E.R.,” he lacks the lauded-veteran status he probably deserves. That’s partially due to the fact that two of Common’s most high profile albums were flops – 2002’s neo-soul opus Electric Circus and 2008’s club-inspired Universal Mind Control. Plus, the Chicagoan has recently gone from moonlighting thespian to full-fledged working actor, starring in the Queen Latifah rom-com Just Wright and the AMC Western series Hell on Wheels. Considering that Common has been a severe critic of hip hop nearly from the start and that lately he has seemed more interested in doing anything but make music (not only acting but starting a clothing line, advocating for PETA, writing a memoir) one sometimes gets the feeling that Common has never felt fully comfortable with hip hop, and that hip hop has never felt fully comfortable with Common.

Common The Dreamer/The Believe, Common The Dreamer/The Believe @ShonRoka on Twitter


Explain it as another curveball in an already surprising career or the sudden unearthing of a long-buried cache of creative gold, but Common’s new album The Dreamer, The Believer is the best thing he’s done in a while. Aided by richly textured production from No I.D. that seems both excitingly innovative and respectfully indebted to classic Premier-style boombap, Common unleashes a torrent of rhymes covering romance, religion, life in the hood and life at the top, and he doesn’t waste a single line. Gone are the unconvincingly debauched come-ons of Universal Mind Control, the celebrity in-jokes of Finding Forever. Common seems content to give hip-hop heads their ideal album, an album that is positive without being corny as well as free of trendy R&B filler and unnecessary guest stars (Nas has the lone guest verse), and his listeners will likely be more than content, grateful in fact, to have this album in their possession.

The Nas collaboration “Ghetto Dreams” was the first leak off The Dreamer, The Believer, and it serves as a fitting thesis statement and introduction to the album. Judging by the title and the song’s propulsive, soul-sampling beat, which would sound at home on Supreme Clientele, you might expect a hardboiled tale of criminality and scraping by. But Common and Nas use their verses to praise their women – and these aren’t the dead-eyed model girls of Kanye West’s visions, but females who could actually be real. “We got out our own handshake, her titties aren’t fake,” raps Common, and he later explains how she gets snappy when he forgets to close the kitchen cabinets. Nas takes his girl from the projects to a world of flashing lights and designer bags, but he really wants to be in the “crib raising kids, Labrador behind the white fence.” In bestowing epic drama on the details of domesticity, the song offers a remarkable thwarting of expectations.

As evidenced by “Ghetto Dreams” and some of its other songs, The Dreamer, The Believer has a unique perspective on women given its traditional aesthetics. Even though it has no “strictly-for-the-ladies” tracks, the album is as emotionally well-rounded and romantically conscious as Take Care. As a break-up song, “Lovin I Lost” serves as a boombap “Marvin’s Room,” as Common takes pictures off the wall and wonders about how having an absent father has affected his intimacy issues, all while an aching Curtis Mayfield sample sings along, “I loved and I lost.” “The Cloth” employs a bittersweet melody and an extended metaphor to illustrate a spiritual connection with a woman. It’s the sort of song that you can only fully comprehend after a few listens, or rather readings, a poem that requires unpacking.

But The Dreamer, The Believer is hardly just an opportunity for Common to go back in time and recreate his old “Common Sense” man-of-the-people persona. Common doesn’t apologize for who he has become, even if he describes his luxury lifestyle with depth and heart. Cut to another swelling, gorgeous No I.D. beat, “Gold” mixes Robin Leach opulence and religious prophecy, one of rap’s oldest and most potent oxymorons -- “These are adventures of young black millionaires / I am the voice of the meek and underprivileged /The smell of success, I want y'all to get a whiff of this” -- and Common admits with wariness via the song’s hook that he’s proud to have made into the world of money and power without losing his soul. “Raw (How You Like It)” recounts a night at a ritzy club; when someone accuses Com of being “Hollywood,” he responds by saying, “Nah, I’m Chicago,” and breaking a bottle over their head. Here and elsewhere Common finds that particularly hip-hop sweet spot of moneyed swagger, sexual aggression, and social conscience.

It’s kind of unnerving how easily Common can slip into the guise of the heroic, world-swallowing MC, when in the past he’s seemed so content to be bland. One suspects that he treats it like any other role, a character to master. And No I.D.’s production on The Dreamer, The Believer is nothing short of an auteur’s career statement. It’s hard to imagine any rapper worth his salt encountering these beats and not wanting to go ham. So Common could be simply rising to the occasion. However you want to explain its origins, The Dreamer, The Believer reestablishes Common’s place in the upper echelon of hip hop.

Review by Wilson McBee from Prefixmag

Saturday, December 17, 2011

DJ Skee on the XI White/Black Concord Retro Review and Unboxing

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Common - 5 Minute Freestyle (I'm still a fan)

5 minute FREESTYLE on the "EZ STREET SHOW"

THE DREAMER / THE BELIVER (ALBUM) in stores DECEMBER 20!



Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The True Role Of A DJ (A Note From "JREALTHEDJ"

JREALTHEDJ, "JREALTHEDJ"

Early today this was posted by "JREALTHEDJ" someone who I deeply respect and honor on the turntables. It truly made my day. Happy Holidays to all! (Read Below)

The true role of a DJ is not to be a superstar, you ain't shit but someone who plays the music of the artists people want to dance to. DJ means Disc Jockey which is a shuffler of music. Get it through your heads.
When djing first started out way back when you were someone who played records, RECORDS, not cds. Yes technology has evolved but the true idea and meaning and mental perception of a dj has always stayed constant. One who is on 2 technic 1200's and is spinning those records, not someone who is putting in cds to cd players and just standing there.
Now there are talented djs out there, do not get me wrong, a few examples are Dj Shon Roka, Dj sin,Dj scend, Dj trilogy, Dj clash titan, to name a few locals and then more staples in the hip-hop community, dj craze, klever, atrak, GM Roc Raida(R.I.P) , Qbert, Mista Sinista, Rob Swift, and the rest of the Executioners. Well the lists can go on and on, but what do all the DJ's I just named have in COMMON, their TURNTABLISTS. Thats a whole nother breed of djing. I am from that background to. We create music from the music created by others. Their is scratching involved and tricks and it becomes a beautiful array of eye and ear candy.
These are people who deserve to be on the cover of flyers, cause they draw crowds, and can entertain as well as give the crowd their just due of good music. Even your nicest producers come from a TURNTABLIST Background. DJ premier, Dj Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, etc........
People the reason for this note is not to piss you so-called serato djs off, it is to give you a deeper understanding that our role is to be entertainers again. Not just request takers. Stop letting club promoters handcuff you and tell you that they only want this type of music played. You a FUCKEN dj, you know what good music is or else hang up your headphones and put away your labtops!!
People trust your judgement, So GIVE EM WHAT THEY NEED, NOT WHAT THEY WANT
TAKE THE TABLES BACK AND RESTORE ORDER
KNOW YOUR ROLE AS A FUCKEN DJ!!!!!!
That is all from "jrealthedj"
http://www.facebook.com/jrealthedj
www.jrealthedj.com (COMING SOON!)
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Monday, December 12, 2011

Behind The Scenes w/ COMMON "Raw (How You Like It)"

Common is getting ready to release his ninth studio album, The Dreamer/The Believer on December 20. In preparation for the big day Com is already filming his fourth video.

Check out the behind the scenes footage of "Raw (How You Like It)."

50 Cent Getting into anything and everything...New Workout Book



50 Cent is once again working on a new book. This new publication is a workout book titled Formula 50: A 6-Week Total Body Transformation Plan, the name being similar to his Vitamin Water drink. According to the press release, the book focuses on metabolic resistance training (MRT), a medium between cardio and muscle building.
The book is currently scheduled to come out in January, 2013. Below is his statement about Formula 50:
“I am delighted to work with the Penguin Group USA again. I had a strong desire to write this book because is very important to me to help people make positive changes and take charge of their overall health. FORMULA 50 is a radical six week mind-body transformation plan geared to help readers develop mental toughness to achieve optimum results while offering a nutrition component.”
via http://www.mp3waxx.com/

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Adidas Bboy MEGA Commercial

Haven't wore a pair of Adidas in a minute. Adidas use to be the only thing I ever rocked but now I'm older and my mind is more open to a lot of different things. Anyhow, I thought this was on point the other day. Had to post in the infamous blog for some bboy diet.

Friday, December 2, 2011

KRS-One - Just Like That (Prod. by Mad Lion)

I played this on November 26th at "BATTLE RANKS" it was the second song to start my set. I know people was feeling that ish! JUST LIKE THAT...Here it is....

KRS-One's First Official Single Release, JUST LIKE THAT Directed By MAD LION off of KRS-Ones 20th Studio Album Entitled JUST LIKE THAT Produced By MAD LION Dropping 1st Quarter 2012 ,on Killahpride Records
Video Edit and Special Effects by Charles Armstrong of Paradox Films.
Support REAL HIPHOP PURCHASE HERE!! http://shop.killahpride.com/