The Tanning Interview with Nigel Sylvester
April 2, 2012
For my latest interview with Steve Stoute’s site The Tanning of America, I had the opportunity to talk to BMX pro Nigel Sylvester. Check the intro, a video of him biking through NYC (he’s from Jamaica, Queens), and the link to the interview below…
African-American professional BMX bike rider Nigel Sylvester is one of the premiere sensations in his rapidly growing sport. A native of Jamaica, Queens, Nigel first got put on to the pro world of BMX at age 12 while watching the X Games on television. He immediately went outside, grabbed his bike, and tried to mimic every trick he had just seen. Since then, his number one passion in life has been riding BMX bikes and embodying the culture that goes along with it. After crafting his style on the streets of New York City, he was noticed by legendary BMX rider Dave Mirra, who gave him his first sponsorship. And now, he is sponsored by enormous brands like Nike 6.0 and Gatorade, and leading the sport of BMX to the next level through his exciting, hip-hop infused videos, filmed worldwide. The catch is that he doesn’t compete anymore. He’s a pro street rider, for real.
In this in-depth interview, Nigel talks about how he handled being called “whiteboy” as a young teenager due to his interest in BMX, his run-ins with the police in New York City parks, his experiences traveling the world as a pro, and his hands on involvement in the production of his BMX videos. Plus, he discusses interracial dating, his love of hip-hop music, how he felt seeing Pharrell ride a BMX bike in N.E.R.D.’s “Provider” music video, and what exactly being a professional BMX bike rider entails for him in 2012.
Fly Females
March 31, 2012
This appeared on Egotripland yesterday as part of their new partnership with UpNorthTrips. Check it out, it came out pretty dope…
UpNorthTrips Presents The 10s | Honey Dips: 10 Classic Raps About Fly Females
March is National Women’s History Month, so to end it off, we thought we’d sneak in a fresh new edition of The 10s, dedicated to the flyest females ever immortalized on wax. Proppers to our big homies at ego trip for their brolic list of “69 Songs Dedicated To That Special Lady” (which you can find in their Book of Rap Lists), but we thought we’d narrow it down and update their list a bit for UpNorthTripspurposes. We included a handful of our favorites from their list, mixed with some post-’98 joints, all named after the the honeys they pay tribute to. From the girl who claims she’s a virgin, to the chick with the “ass so fat you can see it from the front,” we celebrate the baddest of the bad in this episode of The 10s.
1. Slick Rick — “Mona Lisa”
Album: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Year: 1988
Description: She tells Rick, “I got courage, and I don’t like porridge/ I’ve never been to college, but I’ve got crazy knowledge/ over eighteen and my eyes are green/ I wear more gold than that man on A-Team/ trim, slim, and also light skinned/ best believe Mona’s a virgin.” A virgin??!?!
Breakdown: The Rulers sees Mona Lisa in the pizza shop, and decides to push up. But his friend cock-blocks him, shoving him in a cab abruptly to go see some more “mature women,” leaving Mona Lisa singing that familiar Dionne Warwick melody, “If you see me walkin’ down the street, and I start to cry, walk on by…”
2. A Tribe Called Quest — “Bonita Applebum”
Album: People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Year: 1990
Description: “Stunning newness” with “elaborate eyes” and the perfect figure, “38-24-37.”
Breakdown: Tip is glad to meet Bonita Applebum, who is certainly appealing to him on another level. He questions his feelings, saying, “Do I love you? Do I lust for you? Am I a sinner because I do the two?” Either or, or both, Tip wants to get put on. And he’s got “crazy prophylactics” if it comes to that. Let’s hope she likes rap songs, for his sake.
3. Eric B. and Rakim — “Mahogany”
Album: Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em
Year: 1990
Description: “Almost looked Korean, but European.”
Breakdown: Rakim is cooling before a performance with Eric B. at the Palladium, when he sees Mahogany, and tells her, “I wanna get to know you better.” They dip off to take a walk before the 1 a.m. show time, and it’s clear that his ability to get inside her head has her wide open. Then, seeing the God rap on stage only magnifies her desires, and quickly they murk off together after his set, back to his condo. Now tell us he ain’t finesse Mahogany.
4. EPMD — “Jane”
Album: Strictly Business
Year: 1988
Description: “She’s fly, haircut like Anita Baker.”
Breakdown: During the first episode of the “Jane” series, Erick and Parrish introduce us to Jane. As fly as they think she is, this is actually a bit of a diss record towards her. Parrish even refers to her as a “skeezer” in the intro banter. But it seems that she’s the one doing the dissing, as she claims in her bedside note the morning after a night of gettin’ buckwild, “You have to be better, bigger, stronger, and much faster.” But this is just the beginning. The saga continues.
5. Ghostface Killah — “Beauty Jackson”
Album: Fish Scale
Year: 2006
Description: “Her voice was a slow jam, full length white mink/ hella fine with a beauty mark on her right cheek.”
Breakdown: So, she’s standing at the bus stop, no lollipop. Ghostface introduces himself, “Sweetie call me Tony Starks, Ghost if ya like ta,” and he lights her bogie as he admires her attributes. It’s not long before the bus comes, and he has to rush to pass off his math to Ms. Jackson, and as he does he accidentally “dropped the chrome.” Not a good look, Starks. Then again, maybe she respects heat holders.
6. Mos Def — “Ms. Fat Booty”
Album: Black on Both Sides
Year: 1999
Description: “The type of girl giving out fake cell phone and name” with her “neck and wrist laced up, very little makeup” and an “ass so fat that you could see it from the front.” Mos reveals, “She was like Jayne Kennedy, word bond, to my mother man, she was that ill.”
Breakdown: Mos meets Charise, but at first she plays him when he asks her to dance. Soon after, he sees her again, and is properly introduced to her by his boy. Turns out she was playing hard to get, but was actually feeling him, and ends up asking him to dance. Say word. After “weeks of dating and late night conversation,” he finally “smashed it like an Idaho potato.” But months into their love affair, she suddenly disappears. It isn’t long before Mos discovers Sharice is actually a bi-sexual stripper. What?!?!?
7. The Lost Boyz — “Renee”
Album: Legal Drug Money
Year: 1995
Description: “Her gear was mad phat” and “she wants to be a lawyer, in other words shorty studies Law.”
Breakdown: Mr. Cheeks, intrigued by Renee’s dope wears, approaches her on the street as she’s heading towards the train. He cops them a couple hot dogs, and as she reaches into her bag for a subway token, she drops a pack of rolling papers. Wait, Renee smokes trees?!?! Keeper! They proceed to go back to her crib to twist up and get it in. Then tragically, weeks later, after Cheeks basically wifes her up, Renee is shot and killed. Damn, son. RIP.
8. Poor Righteous Teachers — “Shakiyla [JRH]”
Album: Pure Poverty
Year: 1991
Description: Shakiyla is “no hooker, no slut, no bitch, and she listens.” She’s “civilized, and despises the drugs you sell.” Simply put, she’s a “wise, black queen.”
Breakdown: No need to flaunt your wealth around Shakiyla, and try to bag her by sending her gifts. She’s not into that type of shit. Wake up. The Earth don’t give a fuck about materialism. She respects wisdom.
9. O.C. — “Stronjay”
Album: Jewelz
Year: 1997
Description: “Five foot six, body thick, hair silky/ she could make the hardest man melt and turn milky.” Also, “bugged out shit, one eye was hazel, one was blue.” In other words, “The bizomb.”
Breakdown: O.C. sees Stronjay shopping in the city, and says to himself, “This sugar be a dime.” He invites her to have a drink, and they end up in a Sushi bar, politicking over Saki. His G must’ve been correct, because she invites him back to her penthouse suite on Park Avenue, and she’s whippin’ the 500 Benz and all that. She wastes no time, slipping off her draws in the elevator, assisting O.C. in taking off his clothes upon entering her crib, and eventually engaging in a full-on skinz session equipped with Moet, strawberries, and whip cream. Hey love.
10. Aceyalone — “Makeba”
Album: All Balls Don’t Bounce
Year: 1995
Description: “Not a young girl anymore.”
Breakdown: Aceyalone runs into his old girl Makeba after a few years, and they catch up on what’s been going on in their time apart. It seems Makeba’s been traveling, and searching, and most likely leaving every man that she’s met along the way in a tizzy. And Aceyalone’s moved on to new women, and been doing his thing with the raps. They reminisce on their days of love making and smoking cheeba together, and recall how loyal they were to each other and how they wanted to get married and have mad kids. But it seems she’s all grown up now, and has changed quite a bit during their separation. Still, there seems to be a chance that the two will re-unite, and hopefully, if it happens, she won’t leave Acey lonely again.
words by @StanIpcus / mix by @UNITEDCRATES / graphics by @CNTRBND
The 20 Best Shins Songs
March 20, 2012
To celebrate The Shins’ new album, which was released today, I put together a list over at Pigeons & Planes of the 20 Best Shins Songs. It’s not so easy to rank your favorite band’s best songs, but I gave it a whirl, and I’m pretty proud of how it came out. Props to Confusion for hooking up the pics and artwork and audio streams. Check the intro and link to the feature below…
The Shins released their fourth album today, Port of Morrow—their first in five years—led by brilliant songwriter/musician/auteur James Mercer and supported by a 2.0 version of the band. Even with a new lineup, the album has everything we love about The Shins on it. The songs are gorgeous, with enough pop sensibility to sing along to and the right touch of indie appeal to keep music snobs happy.
To celebrate The Shins’ latest opus, we gathered our picks for the 20 Best Shins Songs in their discography. From the song that Natalie Portman insisted would “change your life” in Garden State, to a B-side off one of their early 7 inch record releases, to their awesome Squeeze cover, we considered them all. Find out the stories and meanings behind their most celebrated records (via quotes by James Mercer), what song off Port of Morrow cracked our Top 5, and of course, the melancholy masterpiece we crowned #1.
The 20 Best Shins Songs | Pigeons & Planes
This is probably the last of The Shins wave of posts here at Westcheddar, so I hope you enjoyed them. But hey, you never know, their may just be another one around the bend! Now go cop the album. Thanks for reading…
*Bonus*
Sermon Stories
March 14, 2012
I had the absolute pleasure of spending an evening at Erick Sermon’s home studio a couple weeks ago, talking with him about all his classic records for a Complex Magazine feature (check the pic of us above). We went through his whole catalog, from the early EPMD days all the way up to his involvement with Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. 2, and everything in between. Dude has so many bangers it’s not even funny. Between all the shit he did for Redman and Keith Murray, to his solo songs, to the tracks he did for Busta and LL Cool J and Jay-Z, to the endless EPMD hits, his name HAS TO be brought up in G.O.A.T. producer discussions. Read both parts below…
Erick Sermon Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records:
Thanks to Erick Sermon for a great interview! And shout to Complex for continuing to kill it in 2012. Nice to be down with winners. Cheah.
The Check-In with Jadakiss
February 29, 2012
Harrison meets Yonkers as the Rosenthal brothers from ItsTheReal interview Jadakiss over NBA All-Star Weekend in Orlando. This is a true Westcheddar connection…
via MTV
More NBA All-Star Weekend The Check-In interviews with everyone from Dwight Howard to comedian Kevin Hart HERE. And for those missed it, peep my Westcheddar interview with the Rosenthals, and my Complex interview feature with Jadakiss. Ahaa!
The Tanning Interview with Big Sean
February 28, 2012
Big Sean is a big deal. When I told the high school kids I work with that I was interviewing him, they were like, “Word?!?!!?” I first heard him on Kanye’s Can’t Tell Me Nothing mixtape, and I thought his song “Get’cha Some” was dope. Kanye kind of snuck it on at the end of the tape to give his new artist some shine. Who knew five years later he would be named one of MTV’s Top 10 Hottest MCs in the Game for 2011. Check the summary and link to the interview below:
In this revealing interview, Big Sean talks about his unique upbringing in Detroit and how it shaped his perspective on the world, the lessons Kanye West taught him about making music, the tanning moment he had watching a mostly all-white crowd jam out to “Dance (A$$),” and the love he’s gotten from megastars like Chris Brown and the NBA’s 2011 MVP, Derrick Rose. He also shares his thoughts about the buzz surrounding the emergence of another NBA star, Asian sensation, Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks, and making MTV’s “Top 10 Hottest MCs in the Game” list.
The Tanning Interview with Big Sean
Cheah.
Electric Energy
February 28, 2012
I had the pleasure of interviewing my favorite new band, Electric Guest, for Pigeons & Planes. These dudes are dope, and Danger Mouse produced their entire debut album Mondo, which drops in April. Plus, their lead singer/songwriter Asa Taccone (above left) is from Berkeley, California, my original hometown (I moved to White Plains, New York when I was five). Here’s a little synopsis, and the link to the interview is below:
We got on the horn with the duo behind Electric Guest, Asa Taccone and Matthew Compton, to talk about their musical roots, their artist/producer relationship with Danger Mouse, their home-grown recording process, and the development of their live show. We also discussed the concept behind their disturbing video for “American Daydream” (it was directed by Asa’s older brother Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island), how local radio helped build their buzz, and how they plan to not compromise their integrity for the sake of success. These are the trials and tribulations of a hard-working new band, led by two extremely passionate musicians with solid industry backing, just trying to be heard by doing the one thing they know how to do best: be themselves.
Interview: Electric Guest | Pigeons & Planes
Cop their album when they drop it. I got an advanced copy, and it’s got some dope tracks on it. Uno.
Battle Stories
February 21, 2012
I had an interesting interview published last week on Complex with battle rap monster Iron Solomon, who told me the stories behind his Top 5 battles of all time. It’s an interesting read, and you can watch all the battles above each story in the feature. Here’s my intro, and the link is below…
You probably remember the first time you saw Iron Solomon in a rap battle. Whether it was live on the streets or online, there’s no question you were instantly captivated. Sure, he’s a white guy with glasses who can rap his ass off, but that’s not the only draw. With Iron Solomon, it’s deeper than rap, and larger than race. He has the ability to break down any opponent, on the spot, all the time, with no fear.
Iron Solomon, who grew up in Manhattan on the Upper West Side aka South Harlem (shout to ItsTheReal), started on the battle scene in his late teens by hitting up well known Manhattan-based open mics and competitions like Braggin’ Rights and End of the Weak, making a name for himself as a skilled lyricist with a knack for humorous couplets and witty punchlines.
After taking out underground legend Immortal Technique in his late teens, Iron Solomon got the taste for blood, and went on to verse anyone and everyone who presented a challenge, eventually dethroning the Asian assassinJin at New York’s premiere battleground Fight Klub with thousands of dollars on the line.
From there, Solomon was in high demand for big-time rap battles. He made an unforgettable appearance onSmack DVD at Fat Beats in New York against the roughest, toughest battler on the scene, Math Hoffa (who had literally knocked out his previous opponent with a fist to the face). He jaw jousted with 106 & Park championAvalanche in Detroit. He went toe to toe in Miami with Philly street sweeper (and MTV’s Making The Bandalumnus) E. Ness, all of which garnered hundreds of thousands of video views (his battle with E. Ness currently clocks in at 1.3 million clicks). Thanks to YouTube, we can all enjoy his various roastings endlessly.
Iron Solomon has been planning to step away from the battle scene to focus on recording for some time. Now he’s gearing up to release his debut album Monster on March 27th through Royal (Iron’s imprint) and a partnership with 3D (a subsidiary of Duck Down).
As he makes his transition from the streets to the studio, we asked him to tell the tales behind his Top 5 Battles Of All Time. From the set-up, to the comeback, to the final punchline, it’s all here.
Iron Solomon Tells All: The Stories Behind His Best 5 Rap Battles | Complex
Re-interpreting a Legend
February 19, 2012
As part of Complex’s J Dilla Tribute Week, I interviewed this dude Brian “Raydar” Ellis, a teacher at Berklee School of Music in Boston who leads the first and only J Dilla Ensemble, where students re-interpret music from Dilla’s catalog using live instrumentation. I’ve never been the hugest Dilla fan, but I certainly respect his work and what he contributed to hip-hop, and think it’s really cool that a traditional music institution like Berklee is branching out a bit and offering courses like this to its students. Raydar and I had an interesting discussion about the J Dilla Ensemble and its inception, and what goes on inside the classroom. We also talked about what sets J Dilla apart from other legendary hip-hop producers, and his contributions to A Tribe Called Quest’s catalog. This is a must read for Dilla fans, and people who may not know enough about his greatness. Take a glimpse at the future of music education, hip-hop style!
What Is The J Dilla Ensemble? | Complex
*Bonus*
Check out my boy J Swiss’ Dilla tribute song/video, “Geek Down,” off his This 1 Is 4 Dilla mixtape, which dropped the same day as the feature above. Swiss is doing his thing down at UNC-Chapel Hill, and still reppin’ Dobbs Ferry and the 914 heavy…
RIP J Dilla.
Bronx Tales
December 10, 2011
My latest Complex Magazine 25 Essential Songs online feature is with none other than Bronx legend Fat Joe, one of my favorite rappers of all time. He spits hard, has plenty of charisma, and he knows how to make hits. And he had plenty of great stories to tell about working with guys like Big Pun, Nas, Kool G. Rap, Big L, and Eminem, and even had me cracking up on the phone a few times too! Plus, he got on speaker phone when the interview was over to say what’s up to a few of my middle school kids at the BGC and show them some love. Here’s the link to the feature. Enjoy…
Fat Joe Breaks Down his 25 Essential Songs
And here’s a clip of Fat Joe I dug up (that he referred to in the interview) backstage at The Fever on Video Music Box with Ralph McDaniels before his first album dropped. And everybody is in the building with him! KRS-One, Kool DJ Red Alert, Dres from Black Sheep, Showbiz and A.G., Lord Finesse, DJ Premier, Sadat X, etc. Pretty ill…
Thanks to Macho and the god Fat Joe for making the interview happen. And special shout to my boy Kam down in Miami for the connection. Cheah!
