rope chain $piller kidz: super chain herope

dl: ROPE CHAIN $PILLER KIDZ - Super Chain HeRope (Z)
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Swanzy, Margreezy, and Bishara rep for the UK with a sound they designate as a mix of "old skool garage, grime, hip-hop" with a "splash of indie, rock, pop, trance, funk". As the Rope Chain $piller Kidz, they rock a style akin to Run DMC meets Gossip Girl (with a dash of neon). I almost thought that their giant dookie chains were a little gimmicky, but then I thought to myself that the world could use a few more musical groups that could double as gangs in The Warriors. And with influences like Salt 'N Pepa, Queen Latifah, TLC, Naughty By Nature and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, it's not about gimmicks as much as taking it back to a time when hip-hop was more fun.

"Super Chain HeRope" is essentially the group's unofficial theme song, on which the three ladies bust out simple ol' skool flows over an electro-grime track. I'm not one to be lured in by British accents, yet there's something charming about the Spiller Kidz' conversational style.

The group seems relatively new, but with a track featuring Afrikan Boy (as heard on M.I.A.'s "Hussel" and Da Drought 3) they seem to be in good company. And while today they still may be fabulous and undiscovered, I can't imagine them staying underground for much longer.

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BONER TRACK: ROPE CHAIN $PILLER KIDZ f/ AFRIKAN BOY - Call Your Uncle (Z)
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- SPACE IT -

the good girls: just call me.

download: THE GOOD GIRLS- Just Call Me (YSI)
(late eighties/early nineties Motown girl group)
- buy it - wik it -

This song is a forgotten gem of the '90s. So forgotten that I don't even remember it. These girls were supposed to be the newer, sassier version of The Supremes...Apparently it didn't really work out in the end.

yo majesty: coming to a hood near you.

YO MAJESTY are no strangers to this blog. I posted about them back in June, and since then they've received attention from bigger blogs such as BIGSTEREO and stereogum. The latter blog marked the three ladies as a "band to watch" in 2007, and I can't agree more.

I've had the privilege to hear rough mixes of seven new songs not appearing on the Yo EP. With them in my ears, I have received confirmation that hip-hop is, in fact, not dead.

Sure, it doesn't seem like Yo Majesty is about to spit some socially conscious lyrics on the level of "The Message" or Public Enemy. They're no Shakespeares of the hood. However, Shon.B, Shunda-K, and Jwel B are a complete breath of fresh air. They bring the party without needing any help from Scott Storch, Pharrell, or will.i.am. They spit sexual lyrics without needing to show any skin. Quite simply, instead of just talking about the glorified early days of hip-hop, they go there musically. While the rest of the south was occupied with chopping and screwing, snapping, and pumping out mediocre crunk shit, Yo Majesty was busy perfecting their throwback Miami bass/electro-hop sound. This sound is dominant throughout the tracks currently recorded for their full-length debut. If the new track "Old School Shit" is any indication, I anticipate that the final product will be a you-can't-even-handle-it-all buffet of booty-dropping.

You'll be hearing more about Yo Majesty here at The Moneyshot. Until then, I'll leave you with two mp3s-- "Warning" and a presumably older song "Don't Fuck With Me" (courtesy of hardfeelingsuk freeform disco 1).

DOWNLOAD: YO MAJESTY- Warning
DOWNLOAD: YO MAJESTY- Don't Fuck With Me

BUY Yo EP on iTunes

HEADS UP: Perhaps I'm biased, but my pick for "artist to watch" in 2007 is Denver native Laura Goldhamer. Her upcoming albumYe Olde Leave Behind has blown my mind. I will keep you posted about the release date.

RIP: Sadly, "The Godfather of Soul" James Brown passed away this Christmas. He was an incredibly influential artist, laying the grounds for funk, disco, and hip-hop.

BLOGWATCH: Culture Bully takes a jab at Jay-Z. soul sides ponders the power behind Jennifer Hudson's "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" from the film Dreamgirls. Between Thought and Expression has a great new tune by Robyn, Diplo's remix of Justin Timberlake's "My Love", and a track that can only be described as an "electro pop update to Khia's 'My Neck, My Back'." Honorable Media gives you a taste of the new Chamillionaire mixtape.

life: you're either in or you're out.

NICK VERREOS of Project Runway 2 was literally in the same restaurant as me today. Pop Burger in NYC on 14th and 9th. I was eating with my boss. He was wearing an orange shirt...and presumably chowing down on some cheeseburgers with his boyfriend. Within the same day, my boyfriend saw last season's winner Chloe Dao outside of F.I.T. Now I ask you do EITHER of these individuals live in NYC? NO.

I immediately thought that this was some exciting spoiler. Nick and Chloe in the same city on the same day! They must be filming an episode for season 3!

Then I thought to actually read Nick's blog. Nope. Nick was blatantly in the city for tomorrow's NYC Premiere Party and Emmett's Trunk Show. Kara Janx, Chloe, Nick, and obviously Emmett himself will all be making appearances at the events. Knowing this made me feel less special.

What's made me less special is that I didn't even have the guts to say hello to Nick. My former co-blogger interviewed him before! It's like I almost know him. However, I asked myself, "If I were famous, trying to enjoy a burger with my boyfriend, would I appreciate someone coming up to me to say nothing relevant to my life?" No. I told myself, "No".

So what's my fucking point? What does this have to do with music?

There aren't enough songs about being famous and eating cheeseburgers with your boyfriend. It's that simple. Also, I have no point. I just wanted to let the rest of America know that this happened to me.

OH, but in that interview I mentioned earlier Nick responded to one of the questions...

"In regard to 'whickety whack'--that's what I think is the correct spelling. It's something I came up with to describe something that is both tacky and 'whack'(slang for 'crazy'). For example: Tacky trim is 'whickety whack', or those over-the-top Quinciniera (Sweet Fifteen) dresses some girls wear are definitely 'whickety whack'."

This is entirely untrue. As much as I adore Nick, Kris Kross used the word "whickety-whack" back in 1992 on their hit song "Jump". Unless Nick was saying whickety-whack before the backward mack daddies, he did not come up with the term. Therefore, you should never trust Nick Verreos. But you should wear his clothes because they are cute.

DOWNLOAD: KRIS KROSS- Jump (Extended Mix)
DOWNLOAD: KRIS KROSS- I Missed the Bus

BONUS TRACK: HAROLD BAREFOOT SANDERS III- Breathe On Me
(song they play when designers get booted, so you can re-enact your fave eliminations)

BUY Totally Krossed Out

Project Runway 3 debuts tomorrow night at 10PM on Bravo, with a 9PM casting special beforehand.

BLOGWATCH: Pardom My Freedom has some new tracks by Uffie. Arjan Writes is streaming a snippet of that new song by The Killers.

lil kim: been gone for a minute.

LIL KIM was released from prison this weekend. Honestly, with that kind of news...who gives a fuck about Independence Day? Uncle Sam ain't got shit on the Queen Bee.

This Monday, she pulled out at 6am in a silver Rolls Royce with a crowd of admirers celebrating her freedom. In other words, she walked away from the slammer with style.

On a random note, my cousin told me a lovely story about her friend, who we will call Angela for the sake of storytelling. Angela was rollin' down the street while wearing a "We Love Kim" bracelet, made for my cousin Kim who was diagnosed with a rare cancer that attacks soft tissue in the body. As Angela rolls down the block, a ghettofab chick sees her bracelet and asks..."Yo, is that bracelet in support of Lil Kim?" Angela doesn't really feel like explaining the whole story, so she states, "That's right. Stay strong queen bee!" Strangely enough, I once planned to sell these bracelets in support of America's Next Top Model (Cycle 5) contestant Kim Stolz. I never really thought to rep for the streets and rock the bracelet in the name of the Queen Bee.

It may be a little late...but the bracelets are still for sale! Support whoever you want-- Lil Kim, Kim Stolz, Kim Catrall, Kim Bassinger, Kim Possible, Kimberly Stewart (she could use the support), and...um, Kimberly Locke?

If you're feeling charitable but want to donate to something bigger, check out Lil Kim Cares and see how the Queen Bee gets down with charity. If you have no time for charity, you can spend your time waiting for the second season of Countdown to Lockdown.

DOWNLOAD: NOTORIOUS B.I.G. f/ LIL KIM- Another Bitch
DOWNLOAD: LIL KIM f/ JAY-Z- Big Momma Thang

BUY The Naked Truth, BUY Hard Core

BLOGWATCH: Just like music is hooking us up with some new tracks by Jurassic 5. This time they don't involve Dave Matthews...thankfully. Obscure sound brings us two new tracks from Outkast's Idlewild that ain't no "Hey Ya", but they don't disappoint.

yo majesty: get yo ass on the flo'.

YO MAJESTY wasn't discovered by me...They found me. I don't know how these ladies knew I'd dig their hott booty-bass ol' skool sound, but I'm glad they did.

The ladies' motto is "smashing against the sonic perimeter" and I can't stop letting their voices smash against my ears. How can you resist a group that spits, "Courvoisier, Courvoisier where art thou?" and hums the beat to Salt 'N' Pepa in the background? It's simplicity. It's genuine. It's skills. It's hip-hop at it's best. Yo Majesty is to ol' skool hip-hop what The Pipettes are to Phil Spector's girl-groups. They take it back, they update the sound...and they blow my mind.

Yo Majesty consists of three ladies--- "Shon.B knocking down rhymes like toy soldiers, Shunda-K haunting us with supersonic raps, and Jwel B the songstress of the group ripping track after track." Their flow and chemistry is impeccable. Can they be my best friends? Please?

DOWNLOAD: YO MAJESTY- Club Action
DOWNLOAD: YO MAJESTY- Kryptonite Pussy

Make sure to check out two more songs, "Monkey" and "Hustle Mode", on the space. BUY their EP here.

BLOGWATCH: Living in Stereo has a great track by my favorite soul ladies' man Swamp Dogg, along with an interesting read on gay marriage and polyamory. Head over to Timedoor for Dert's Jose Gonzalez hip-hop mash-up if you haven't heard that yet. 2 Many Scenes has a tune from a great J-pop artist that is reminiscent of Kelly Clarkson power-pop. Speaking of Ms. Clarkson, ONTD has her new song "Go" which you may have heard in Ford commercials.

blast from the past: cleopatra comin' atcha.

Cleopatra's single for "Cleopatra's Theme" (1998) was the first CD that I tried to play off as being purchased ironically. My sister and I thought the music video was hilarious, so I bought this single for $1.99 in order to hop on my bed and make fun of the three braid-headed sisters. I wouldn't admit it back then, but deep inside...I loved this song. And I still love it to this day.

You see, Ms. Cleopatra Madonna Higgins actually had a huge voice for a 16 year old. Even if it was incredibly screechy and she wasn't singing about anything important, the sista had SOUL. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought this...as Madonna signed them to her record label, Maverick, and brought their music from the UK to the US. While Cleopatra scored four top five hits in a row and had their own sit-com overseas, their music failed to perform as well in the states. They weren't a complete failure though. They toured with the likes of Jessica Simpson, Next, and Brian McKnight. Later they became spokeswomen for Covergirl, as well as staples of the Disney Channel's music video line-up.

But enough about history...What really makes me love this song? Obviously, I am a sucker for self-referential songs. (This is evident in the fact that I love Kelis' mediocre single "Bossy" simply because she states, "That's right, I brought all the boys to the yard".) In "Cleopatra's Theme", the confident statement that their own group is "gonna blow the roof" is a main selling point for me. I mean, the fact that their first single is a theme song about themselves?...That's sheer brilliance! Subliminal self-promotion was clearly the future of music, and Cleopatra must have just been way ahead of the times. America wasn't ready for that until we heard Mike Jones.

WATCH: Their 2005 performance on ITV's Hit Me Baby One More Time

DOWNLOAD: CLEOPATRA- Cleopatra's Theme

NOTE: I no longer own the single. It was destroyed when I used it as a frisbee after my friend made fun of me for owning it. I was 13 at the time, so peer pressure was at an all-time high.

BUY Comin' Atcha!

BLOGWATCH: Head over to Republicum for a rarity by The Knife. Check out Beyonce's new single "Deja Vu" at Stars are Blind. Lastly, get a great remix of Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right" at childish gambino.

jesse dangerously: i ain't no halifax girl.

Jesse Dangerously's music and I discovered one another by sheer coincidence. Some might call it destiny. While browsing the Rappers Delight Club page on the space, I happened to glance at a comment left by Jesse's girlfriend stating, "My boyfriend is a rapper in Halifax and he has played you guys on the radio a few times." My curiosity got the best of me (considering I have friends hiking in Nova Scotia as we speak), so I decided to check out her man's page.

WHOA! This guy actually had some amazing beats...and his flow ain't too shabby either. Upon first listening of Jesse Dangerously, I wanted to describe him as "the product of Jurassic 5 and The Fresh Prince having a baby together". Later, I realized that this made no sense because no vaginas are included in the equation. It's a fact that you need a vagina to have a baby...Don't believe what you saw in Junior.

In any case, I wasn't that far off. Mr. Dangerously is heavily influenced by The Fresh Prince and the hip-hop era between 1988-1994. In Halifax, he's kind of a big deal on the hip-hop scene. Maybe my friends will run into him at the liquor dome.

DOWNLOAD: JESSE DANGEROUSLY- Outfox'd
DOWNLOAD: JESSE DANGEROUSLY- The Force

BUY albums at website