I’ve been teaching a blogging elective class at a local jewish high school here in Westchester. My class is made up of a small group of senior boys who kind of remind me of the crew from the movie American Pie. To their credit, they’re cooler and smarter than those guys, and really passionate about New York sports culture. So I linked them up with my boy Tommy Dee from The Knicks Blog last week, and they proceeded to throw him in The Toaster, which is an interview show they created for their blog The Bagel’s Roar (a goof on their school’s literary journal The Lion’s Roar). Watch part one of the video above, where Tommy talks about how he got started blogging and his thoughts on The Knicks this season. And below, in part two, he discusses why Lebron James should come to New York, his history with jewish girls, and what he likes on his bagel…
I also brought in another prominent sports blogger and author, Adam Zagoria of Zag’s Blog (which gets over a million hits a month), to share some knowledge with my guys from The Bagel’s Roar. And he ended up getting toasted too…
The Bagel’s Roar is just getting started. They’re less than a month old, but they’ve got some pretty good stuff up there, including a pretty insane Toaster episode with a kid who got kicked out of school and had to live in the woods for the summer, and also an interview video where they go around asking people at their school who they would hook up with. Check out their blog HERE. Shalom.
That’s a young Wedding Crashers shot right there. Stan Ipcus and Matty B. Pause. I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing! I think we’re dancing crazy for some field hockey girls (shout out to Chrissy Castro I’m pretty sure that’s her room). Anyway, I found some old footage of us performing our hard body duet “Hammer” from the first Stan Ipcus and Friends White Plains Thirsty Turtle show in November of 2006, and I finally got around to uploading it. This was a great night…
“Hammer”, which is actually a love song if you do the knowledge to it, first appeared on my mixtape Bachelor Party, which also features our other collaboration “Highlands To Hollywood”. This is my personal favorite body of work. Download it HERE. And for more Thirsty Turtle moments, CLICK HERE. Shout out to my dude Matty B!!!! And special birthday shout out to my dog Killa Kam aka K-Wet out in California!!!!
Matisyahu paid a visit to the Knicks vs. Sixers game in Philadelphia last night to perform the “Star Spangled Banner” with Philly native bandmate Aaron Dugan (above right), and also a set after the last buzzer in celebration of Jewish Heritage Night. Check the pic..
Here’s some fan footage of his National Anthem rendition…
Nate Robinson (above giving a pound to Will Ferrell last season) dropped 41 on New Year’s Day in Atlanta against the Hawks in his first game back since being benched in early December. Nice. It was an exciting performance and a big win for the Knicks. We got mad love for Nate here at Westcheddar, because he’s known to pop up and play ball at the NYSC in White Plains all the time, and he also runs a basketball camp up in Mount Kisco (where I work) for the local kids. Here’s his highlights from last night…
If you have NBA 2K10 for PS3 and you want to battle the kid online, holler at me. And if you don’t have it, go get it, because it is easily the dopest basketball video game of all time…
Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg are back with a special holiday “Snooptacular” Juan Epstein podcast featuring the legendary Snoop Dogg. Remember when he first came out and he looked like this (see above)? Well it’s almost twenty years later and he’s still the coolest cat, I mean, dog, in the rap world. This is a great interview, and they touch on everything from Snoop’s lengthy catalog to his relationships with Tupac and Biggie, and much more. Download/Stream below…
Snoop is still doing it too. His new song “I Wanna Rock” is huge right now! But I particularly like this video for his international anthem, “That Tha Homie”, which is also off his latest album (his 10th solo album!), filmed in Lebanon. You better recognize…
Nestled next to the Hudson River in Westchester County, just north of Yonkers and a bit south of the Tappan Zee Bridge, lies Dobbs Ferry. It’s a picturesque river town, with cute restaurants, some great schools, and a budding population of musicians. My friend and collaborator Marlon “Moshe” Sobol has lived there for a few years now with his wife and two daughters, and works nearby in White Plains teaching music therapy as a music therapist at the Schnurmacher Center nursing home. I’ve sat in on his music therapy sessions before with the elderly, and they are loads of fun and very inspiring too. He’s doing amazing things over there. Recently he was recognized in the Journal News for his innovative music therapy work. Check the link to the article below…
I paid Moshe a visit last week to get a behind the scenes look at how he runs his sessions. We could not film the residents, so Moshe gave us a simulated session of sorts, pulling out a ton of instruments, and showing us first hand his music therapy style. Here’s the two part video. Enjoy…
Thanks so much Moshe and keep up the good work!!!!!
JSWISS is another one of my dudes out of Dobbs Ferry. I first met JSWISS when he performed at River Ciphers this past summer, an event Moshe and I co-hosted in Dobbs Ferry at The Rec Room (a local clothing store shout out to Bahr). JSWISS came through and ripped a really nice old school type song called “Mammoth” over a slow drum beat that Moshe hooked up for him, and it was kinda ill. Turns out the two knew each other from playing one on one at the park one day, and I guess the story goes that Moshe got schooled. Ha! Check out the performance…
I.M.R.O.B.O.T. is the first mixtape from JSWISS (see cover above), and it features original production as well as him rapping over a bunch of different old school and new era beats. It’s a cool mixtape. Here’s an interview I did with him last week. Give it a read to find out more about him and his music…
IP: For those who don’t know you, where in Westchester did you grow up? And you’re a freshman in college now right?
JS: I grew up in the tiny village of Dobbs Ferry. I lived there from age 5 up until now after I moved from Yonkers. And yeah right now I’m at THE UNC-Chapel Hill, home of the national champs in basketball and I found pretty much every other sport too. I’m definitely hyped that I’ve been able to find lots of ill MCs and producers here, which is what got me motivated to do the tape.
IP: I heard you’re nice at ball. Moshe said you schooled him in one on one.
JS: Haha yeah I can’t deny it. It’s funny cuz I knew I recognized him at the River Ciphers! But yeah, basketball was my first love before music and still is. It’s been something that’s given me my highest highs and also my lowest lows, but that’s what happens with something you love that much. Right now I’m playing club basketball at UNC and I’m trying to move up and by the time my four years is up you’ll see me with the Carolina blue on TV!
IP: Nice. So the mixtape is definitely dope. I see you made some of the beats on there yourself. What type of equipment/programs do you use to produce?
JS: I used the fruity loops demo. Meaning I gotta download it again everytime I wanna make a new beat! Actually I gotta step back and say that “Mindframe” was the first beat I made when I got to college, and I did that on my suitemates Garageband before I looked into downloading fruity loops. So, I produced four songs on the mixtape, one was produced by Jae Monee, and the rest were from songs already out there. And I do have to give a shoutout to the four track tape recorder and 15+ year old drum machine and keyboard I used to use back home!
IP: You’ve got some skillful rhymes. The one where you go through the entire alphabet bar by bar is particularly impressive. Where do you write most of your stuff? Or do you even write rhymes? People seem to be typing verses now more than ever, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
JS: I used to write only in notebooks but now that I’ve had my new iPhone for about 6 months, I mix it up and write on that sometimes if I’m out and something hits me or I’m in the studio with with no pen and book. The “Alphabet Aerobics” one was written over a year ago so that was handwritten, and believe it or not that super long final track was too even though I had the iPhone at my disposal. I know people have made fun of Drake for his incident, me included, but that’s because it was
hyped up as a freestyle so…
IP: Tell me about that last track. It’s over sixteen minutes long, with you flowing over a bunch of classic beats.
JS: Yeaaa. When I rap I always try and be creative. So on “18 Years of Greatness” I decided to rhyme straight through a beat from every year of my life, 1991-2009, with no chorus. And yea it wound up being over 16 minutes and 350 bars, and it was the most fufilling and frustrating thing I’ve done musically. I first had to download each instrumental and piece them together cohesively before I even started writing, and that took forever. The frustration of never seeming to finish writing it didn’t take away from the quality though cuz I won’t allow that, but just as the lines were coming I could tell the song was gonna be so nice, but I just had to wait and wait until I finished the whole thing. But it came out just how I wanted, it’s one of my favorites, and now I can bang out a 16 like it’s nothin!
IP: Just from listening to your mixtape, I can tell that you are a student of hip hop. I mean, not many dudes your age know about Camp Lo and stuff like that. I grew up in that early 90’s era, but I know what it’s like to dig back in time looking for music. Do you spend a lot of your time doing that? What are you listening to right now?
JS: Man I pride myself on knowing my hip hop history, that’s another reason why the “18 Years of Greatness” track fit me. I’ll go back to the ’80s with you and I know some stuff from before that too! I’d have to say that before the past year, when I’ve been hipped on some of the blogs where you can discover lesser known artists out now, I rarely listened to stuff out currently. I stayed alive having A Tribe, and The Roots and some of them Big Daddy Kane songs to listen to on the computer or iPod. Now though, I like Lupe, Blu and Pac Div and U-N-I on the west coast and some others, Nas still rapping. But believe that I got a huge old school rap playlist that never ceases to satisfy.
IP: Okay, top five albums of all time. Go.
JS: Hip Hop? In no particular order: Illmatic (Nas), Midnight Marauders (ATCQ), Do You Want More?!!!?! (The Roots), People Instinctive Travels…(ATCQ), Desire (Pharoahe Monch). Overall? No order: Illmatic, Midnight Marauders, Action Figure Party
(Action Figure Party), Emergency on Planet Earth (Jamiroquai), The Brand New Heavies (The Brand New Heavies).
IP: Okay! Got some classics in there. What’s your goal with this mixtape? Do you have one?
JS: I don’t have a clear goal. It’s free, so I’m not trying to make money. I see a lot rappers get recognized when I know I bring more to the table as an MC, so I’d like to get noticed as someone who’s really doing real hip hop, and if I do get well-known off it, take the other MCs I’ve been working with and that have supported me with me. But honestly I probably would have made this tape if only me and my parents listened to it.
IP: What’s next for JSWISS? Will we see you at the next River Ciphers? We’re hoping to have one at the start of the new year.
JS: What’s next for JSWISS has already begun, and that’s just continuing to make music, and getting better at it. I’ve already started planning out new stuff from myself and working with other MCs who you will hear about. And I’ve been asking about the River Ciphers to make sure that it goes down when I’m home from NC! When I first did it I really had no quality songs, just a lot of separate verses, but I’ve got work to share now so let’s do it!
IP: Where can we find out more about you online? Let the people know son!
JS: Ah I get to plug myself haha. I have a facebook fan page for “JSWISS” which I love to get fans on who aren’t already my facebook friends. I also have a myspace page, the url is myspace.com/jswissmammoth, and my
youtube acount is youtube.com/mammoth365. Love to get those views and feedback. And check out Stan Ipcus’ “Young Professional”, and support that Westcheddar hip hop! Peace.
Happy Hanukah! And Happy Holidays to everyone out there reading this. I am embarking on something new here at Westcheddar, and it’s called Westcheddar Radio. Our first episode is entitled Hanukah Hold Up, hosted by myself and my good buddy Fitz Winkleman, who you may remember from my song “Happy Hour”. In celebration of the last night of Hanukah, Fitz and I play a bunch of songs from our favorite jewish (and half-jewish) artists. Here’s the download/stream link…
Thanks for listening!!! Stay tuned for Westcheddar Radio #2, coming soon…
*Bonus*
I was invited by Matisyahu to be on this Shade 45 Hanukah Radio show with Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg, but because the date got switched to a Friday night, we didn’t roll (because Matis faithfully observes the sabbath). Too bad, because I had a dope rhyme I was gonna spit on the air. Oh well. It motivated me to do my own show I guess and get Westcheddar Radio off the ground. Anyway, the Shade 45 Hanukah Radio show aired last night, and Paul Rosenberg’s site RapRadar.com has some highlights, including call ins from their “Jew Of The Year” Drake, and also from Jay Electronica (aka Jay Elec-Hanukah, his self proclaimed nickname from his latest classic). Check the link. I’ll post the whole show when it surfaces.
Watch a full Matisyahu live performance, from the last 2009 Festival of Light show RIGHT HERE!!!!! And here’s the interview with Matisyahu from Paul Rosenberg’s show, RIGHT HERE!!!!
My old pal Nick Kroll (above third from left), originally from Rye, New York, is really making a name for himself on the Hollywood comedy scene. He’s now starring in the new FX series The League, which is about a bunch of friends who compete against each other in fantasy football. It’s definitely entertaining, whether you like football or not, and is all about guys my age (late 20’s/early 30’s), so I can relate to a lot of the humor. Watch all the episodes by clicking the link below to Hulu…
Kroll recently finished production on two upcoming films, Date Night, opposite Steve Carrell and Tina Fey, and Get Him to the Greek opposite Jonah Hill and Russell Brand, with Judd Apatow producing. Both will be released next spring, in April and June, respectively. Other feature credits include I Love You Man and A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.
Nick is currently penning an Untitled Tracy Morgan Comedy for Paramount Pictures with John Mulaney (SNL), and his other writing work includes contributions to Chappelle’s Show, The Life and Times of Tim, Human Giant and the best selling coffee table book, Bar Mitzvah Disco, which he co-wrote.
Additionally, Kroll lends his voice to two animated series: he plays “Andrew Legustambos,” the bi-sexual drama teacher on FOX’s Sit Down, Shut Upcreated by Arrested Development’s Mitch Hurwitz; and on HBO’s The Life and Times of Tim, he plays “Stu,” Tim’s best friend. Kroll starred in ABC’sCavemen, based on the highly popular Geico advertisements, and has also made appearances on CBS’s Worst Week, VH1’s Best Week Ever and on Reno 911 as “El Chupacabra,” Reno’s only Latin radio show D.J.
He began his performing career at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre while he was a freshman at Georgetown University. As a standup, Kroll has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham and regularly tours colleges and clubs around the country. He is also well known for his characters including “Fabrice Fabrice,” the craft services coordinator for the TV show That’s So Raven, “Bobby Bottleservice,” who loves his mother very much and wears Ed Hardy head to toe and “Gil Faizon,” an upper west side, middle-aged divorcee who’s obsessed with Alan Alda, of the Oh, Hello Show which he created with John Mulaney.
Nick resides in Los Angeles. He enjoys eating pigs in a blanket and chocolate pretzels.
Last night I was watching some hour long special on Comedy Central about the top ten hottest new comics on the scene, which included Nick Kroll, and also one of Nick’s co-stars on The League Jon Lajoie (first on the right in the pic above). My boy Timmy P put me on to one of Lajoie’s videos a while back, which I see now has over 12 million views on YouTube. Thought I’d post it just in case you haven’t seen it yet because it’s great. It’s a music video for his original song “Everyday Normal Guy”…
Check The League out when you can, either online or on TV. And check out the interview I did with Nick Kroll if you missed it…
No Mas NYC has been selling The Finisher bag for a little while now, which is a gym bag made out of a vintage Starter jacket. They just put out this video last week showing how the bag is made. Sick…
My high school buddy Andrew Goldberg, who is now a writer on Family Guy, is in town for Thanksgiving with his wife, staying in his old bedroom in the house he grew up in, just south of Rosedale Avenue in White Plains. Other than the new king size bed, his room looks just like he left it when he went off to college in the fall of 1996. Andrew was kind enough to give us a tour of his room, and let us see all his vintage 80’s and 90’s stuff. Check the video above. And below, watch a bonus video of Andrew showing off his baseball card knowledge (he does it in the tour above too, but is even more impressive below)…
If you missed Andrew’s interview with Westcheddar, check it out HERE. And to see clips of the TV show we did in our White Plains High School days, Prime Time with Dan and Andrew, click HERE.
Westcheddar 