Published Material

The Tanning Interview with Bun B

Interviews, Published Material

Check out this in-depth interview I did with legendary southern rapper Bun B of UGK for Steve Stoute’s The Tanning Of America website. Here’s the intro, link below:

Since Bun B came in the game two decades ago with the late Pimp C as part of the duo UGK (Underground Kingz), he has consistently become more popular and well-known nationally and internationally by fans of all races, no doubt aided by an appearance on Jay-Z’s smash, “Big Pimpin’,” and collaborating with fellow southern hip-hoppers, Three 6 Mafia, on “Sippin’ On Some Sizzurp.” But his insane ability to stay relevant has had just as much, if not more to do with his impervious artistic integrity and openness to collaborating with new school artists. At an age where many rappers are clinging on to careers, the 38-year-old Bun has settled in comfortably in his role as a rap OG, even taking on the responsibility of teaching a hip-hop and religion course at Rice University. In this no-holds-barred interview, Bun B takes us back to his Texas roots to recall how he used to get pulled over on his way to do shows, why UGK wouldn’t talk about Sizzurp in interviews, what racial slur Jive wouldn’t allow him to use as a nickname on wax, and tackles an ugly issue that still lurks in the wake of hip-hop’s globalization—the usage of the “N” word.

The Tanning Interview with Bun B

*BONUS*

I also had an interview feature published on Complex Magazine’s site last week with producer Emile, who has worked with legendary artists like Eminem, Ghostface Killah, and Kanye West (he co-produced “Runaway”). He had some very interesting stories to share about the making of the songs in his catalog. Definitely an interesting read, and a dude to watch out for in the years to come. Check the feature out below….

Emile Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records

One of the artists Emile is currently working with is Lana Del Rey, a new singer on the scene from Lake Placid, New York. She’s really dope, and is getting a lot of attention on the blogs and in the press. Check out her videos for “Video Games” and the Emile produced “Blue Jeans” below and see what the buzz is all about…

“Video Games”

“Blue Jeans”

She’s dope, right? Catch ya later…

UpNorthTrips Presents The 10s | 914’s Where I’m Listed: 10 Westchester County Classic Songs

Published Material

We’ve been curating a new series on UpNorthTrips called The 10s, where we put together lists of ten songs or pieces of hip hop artifacts in categories to release regularly on the site, complete with a full write-up (which I’ve been doing in addition to coming up with themes and hand picking tracks) and an official DJ mix that can be streamed and downloaded for free. To set it off, we started on 10/10 by dropping a new episode of The 10s every weekday for 10 straight work days. One of the episodes featured 10 Westchester County Classic Songs, which I figured would be perfect to showcase here at Westcheddar. Check it out…

UpNorthTrips Presents The 10s | 914’s Where I’m Listed: 10 Westchester County Classic Songs

Taking any UpNorthTrips this fall? Maybe to visit your boy locked up, hit the mall, or take your boo to go apple picking? Whatever the reason, you will most certainly be breezin’ through or stopping in Westchester County. And don’t sleep, the 914 ain’t all sweet. You think it’s upstate because you see the trees and shit from the Saw Mill and the Hutch, but get off the wrong exit and you will be back in the projects in no time. And there’s plenty of talent lurking in those hoods. In fact, some of the hottest songs in hip hop history were created by residents in the cities of Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and even White Plains. So for today’s episode of The 10s, we bring you 10 Westchester County Classic Songs. And don’t worry, we’ll supply the trees for this one. We’ve got plenty of them. 

1. Grand Puba “What Goes Around (360)”
Album: Reel to Reel
Year: 1992
Hometown: New Rochelle
Breakdown: Puba went solo after Brand Nubian’s first album, and proved he was a star with his first single. It wasn’t long after this dropped that everyone in the 914 and beyond was wearing Tommy Hilfiger shirts and Girbaud jeans.
UNT Quotable: “First batter up well here’s the pitch it’s a curve, second batter up because the first got served.” -Grand Puba

2. Pete Rock & CL Smooth “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)”
Album: Mecca and the Soul Brother
Year: 1992
Hometown: Mount Vernon
Breakdown: With Pete Rock behind the boards (and providing ad-libs on the chorus), CL Smooth thinks back to his family life growing up, and immortalizes their fallen friend Troy Dixon on what is highly regarded as one of the greatest rap songs of all time.
UNT Quotable: “Took me from a boy to a man so I always had a father when my biological didn’t bother.” -CL Smooth

3. InI f/ Pete Rock “Fakin’ Jax”
Album: Center Of Attention
Year: 1996
Hometown: Mount Vernon
Breakdown: InI member Grap Luva grabs his brother to lace the beat and add some vocals too for this public service announcement to all those out there perpetrating the fraud. Stop it.
UNT Quotable: “Recline like a passenger seat son, relax.” -Pete Rock

4. Mary J. Blige f/ Grand Puba “What’s the 411?”
Album: What’s the 411?
Year: 1992
Hometown: Yonkers
Breakdown: On the title track of Mary’s debut album, Puba sees some skinz he likes and tries to step up and get the digits. But Mary ain’t havin’ all that, “Wham, bam, thank you ma’am,” and let’s him know what time it is with some slick lines of her own. She actually spits bars on this, and her flow is on point. Check the resume.
UNT Quotable: “I need a man who’s lookin’ out with some security, so come correct with some respect and then we will see.” -Mary J. Blige

5. Jadakiss f Styles P “We Gonna Make It”
Album: Kiss tha Game Goodbye
Year: 2001
Hometown: Yonkers
Breakdown: Kiss and Styles show leadership and uplift the hood while doing the in and out thing on this Alchemist banger. They certainly learned the game quickly. Salute.
UNT Quotable: “I’m the reason niggas got deals the past few years, sound anything like ‘Kiss then sign right here.” -Jadakiss

6. Genovese f/ Styles P “Genovese Thesis”
Album: N/A
Year: 1996
Hometown: Yonkers
Breakdown: This song first appeared on a DJ Clue?’s Show Me The Money tape and got real hot in the streets. Genovese’s mixtape buzz and LOX affiliation eventually led to a major label deal with Universal, but his album was shelved right before it was about to drop. Too bad, because this paisan had some serious skills.
UNT Quotable: “Seems like the day turn to night so quick, life passin’, the hole we in massive, Narcs knock one of us the next day come through laughin’, so we just mathin’, out the possibilities.” -Genovese

7. Brand Nubian “Slow Down”
Album: One For All
Year: 1990
Hometown: New Rochelle
Breakdown: These guys flipped bohemian babe Edie Brickell’s hit pop song “What I Am” into a rap song about girls who are straight living foul. Slow down, ma.
UNT Quotable: “A forty and a blunt, that’s all she really wants.” -Grand Puba

8. Heavy D f/ Kool G. Rap, Q-Tip, Big Daddy Kane, Grand Puba, Pete Rock, and CL Smooth “Don’t Curse”
Album: Peaceful Journey
Year: 1991
Hometown: Mount Vernon
Breakdown: Mr. Big Stuff gets props for letting his younger cousin the Chocolate Boy Wonder bless the beat and kick a verse. And how crazy is the rest of the lineup? I mean, it was enough to have the two hottest up and coming rappers in the 914 on here, Grand Puba and CL Smooth, but then to go out and get G. Rap, Q-Tip, AND Big Daddy Kane to kick verses with no curses? This is definitely one of the craziest posse cuts of all time. And they all come clean. Pause?
UNT Quotable: “I don’t have to swear, curse, or juggle, lyrics in a verse to make a party bubble. -Heavy D

9. Top Quality “Magnum Opus”
Album: Magnum Opus
Year: 1993
Hometown: White Plains
Breakdown: PMD affiliate Top Quality put WP on the rap map with this underground single. Unfortunately, we never heard much from him after this.
UNT Quotable: “It ain’t about the quantity.” -Top Quality

10. DMX “Ruff Ryders Anthem”
Album: It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot 
Year: 1998
Hometown: Yonkers
Breakdown: X tells us how his team gets down on this high powered hit. Stop, drop, and pop a wheelie to this shit.
UNT Quotable: “Oh you think it’s funny? Then you don’t know me money.” -DMX

words by @stanipcus / mix by @UNITEDCRATES / graphics by @CNTRBND

Shout out to my boy Ev Boogie, and UpNorthTrips resident DJ, The Vinylcologist, it’s been a pleasure working with you guys. Check the link at the bottom for to catch up on all episodes of The 10s in chronological order (there’s a couple pages of them), which includes today’s Nas x Salaam Remi mix that was done by my dude DJ ROZ. There’s some great lists and mixes we put together, featuring all sorts of classic hip hop songs from the 90’s and early 2000s. My favorite of them all might be the DJ Clue? freestyles episode, check it out HERE. All the rest are in the link below…

UpNorthTrips Presents The 10s (All Episodes Link)

Holler at your boy!

All The Way Live with Black Moon

Events, Interviews, Published Material

My latest All The Way Live piece for Charged.FM features legendary Brooklyn rap group Black Moon, who recently performed their classic debut album Enta Da Stage in its entirety with a live band at Southpaw in Park Slope. The show itself was excellent, as were opening performances by their Duck Down brethren Smif N Wessun and Sean Price, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Black Moon’s lead MC, Buckshot, before their set backstage (see pic below). We talked about his past performance experiences, rocking with a live band, memories of a classic cipher with Nas and Kool G. Rap, and being in the studio with Biggie. Check the link under the pic for the full review of the show, and the interview with pics and video from the night too, courtesy of Charged.FM…

All The Way Live with Black Moon

And here’s the video for Black Moon “I Got Cha Opin (RMX),” a song that instantly brings me back to my high school years. I remember thumping this in our limo on the way to the prom!

Big thanks to Duck Down generals DruHa and his brother NoHa from White Plains for helping to hook up the interview (and their publicist Matt). I’ve known those dudes for years, and DruHa actually let me open up for Smif N Wessun at The Knitting Factory back in 2005, something I will never forget. Good people. And big props to Black Moon and the rest of the Duck Down crew for putting on a great show! Real hip hop lives!

All The Way Live with Jones Street Station

Events, Interviews, Published Material

My latest All The Way Live feature for Charged.FM is with Jones Street Station, a very talented and cool folk rock band out of Brooklyn. I had the pleasure of interviewing them backstage before their show on August 4th at Bowery Ballroom, and the write up includes my sit down discussion with them about their past and present performance experiences, a review of their set, and pictures and video from the show. Check out the link below, and also a video clip from Bowery Ballroom of their wonderful cover of country singer John Hartford’s “Tall Buildings,” which was their closing number….

All The Way Live with Jones Street Station

For more on Jones Street Station, including a free download of a new song from their upcoming album, click HERE. Peace out.

Diamond In The Rough

Interviews, Published Material

When I first got the assignment from Complex Magazine to interview Diamond D for a producer feature, I was open. Diamond D was one of my favorite rappers and producers back in the 90’s. Not only was his solo album Stunts Blunts & Hip Hop a classic, but he would have these amazing guest verses on songs that I would recite in my head over and over, plus he produced some of my favorite tracks of all time (like Fat Joe and KRS-One’s duet “Bronx Tale”). I think the first time I ever heard of him was when he rapped on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Show Business,” which was one of the 40 plus songs we discussed for the interview that he produced and/or spit on. Dude was mad cool, and enthusiastic about his catalog, which made the whole process of putting this piece together one of my favorite experiences as a hip hop journalist. Lots of interesting, funny, and insightful stories to go along with two decades of amazing hip hop music made with the most legendary of artists, like Brand Nubian, Outkast, Big L, Lord Finesse, Busta Rhymes, The Pharcyde, and so many more. Enjoy…

Diamond D Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records

Oh, I have to post his video for “Best Kept Secret,” the first solo song he ever released which ended up being the lead single off his debut album. Peep New York Knicks monster Anthony Mason in the video!

And check out all the features I’ve done for Complex Magazine thus far HERE. I’m out!

All The Way Live with Matisyahu

My Dudes, Published Material, Stan Ipcus

I documented my recent appearance with Matisyahu at his Benefit Concert in NYC for a new ticketing and live entertainment site called Charged.FM, whose online magazine is being managed by my buddy Tommy Dee. Great night indeed, with Matis, Moshe, Aaron Dugan, and the rest of the gang (see pic below of heads backstage putting together the set list). I sat in for “WP” and a really dope rendition of my own song “Let’s Walk”. Read the entire story, and see pictures and video from the night, in the link below…

All The Way Live with Matisyahu: Unplugged and Personal

Thanks to my brother Matisyahu for inviting me to perform, and giving Charged.FM all exclusive access. Finger point to Tommy Dee for the assist, and shout to Johnny Ritchie for the sick photos. Here’s the video clip of “Let’s Walk”….

For all that is Matisyahu, including info on his summer tour, visit Matisyahu World. Hollerrrrr.

Chocolate Boy Wonder

Interviews, Published Material

My latest feature for Complex Magazine’s website gave me the opportunity to talk with one of my childhood idols, Mount Vernon producer Pete Rock, for over two hours about all his classic records. Man, this guy’s catalog is so crazy, I venture to say I’d put it up against any hip hop producer from this generation. Read all the stories in the link below. Enjoy…

Pete Rock Breaks Down All His Classic Records

And check out this video featuring Pete Rock recording “Tha Game” with Prodigy, Raekwon, and Ghostface, off his Soul Survivor album, which is one of the songs we talked about in the interview. Ill footage from the good old days…

Got more crazy Complex interviews coming soon. Excited to share them with you. Peace.

*UPDATE*

This just went up yesterday. A feature I did with the highly underrated Mr. Porter from Eminem and Dr. Dre’s camp. Read/listen/watch HERE.

Kiss And Tell

Interviews, Published Material

Pause on the title of this post, but my latest Complex feature with Jadakiss is now online, where he breaks down his 25 Essential Songs (similar to the interview I did with Raekwon a couple months back). I met up with Kiss at Def Jam Records, and we kicked it for a while, talking about all his classics. He was mad cool, and very funny too, and of course had dope stories to share about working with legends like Biggie, Jay-Z, Nas, DMX, Ghostface Killah, Gang Starr, Big Pun, and many more. Check it out…

Complex Magazine: Jadakiss 25 Essential Songs

Thanks to Jadakiss and Def Jam for helping to make this happen. And shout out to my dude Young Sav up there who hooked the interview up!  Ahaaaa!

Chef Stories

Interviews, Published Material

I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my all time favorite rap artists a couple weeks ago, Raekwon the Chef, for my first Complex Magazine online feature.  It was such a dope first assignment for Complex, wow.  We talked for about two hours, going through a list of his 25 essential songs that I put together for the feature.  He was completely cool and engaged, and had a bunch of crazy stories to tell about the making of his classic songs, videos, and collaborations (see Raekwon above with Mobb Deep and Nas during the creation of “Eye for an Eye”).  Lots of funny moments too, and various other behind the scenes jewels.  Plus, he signed an autograph for my son as “Uncle Chef”!!!!!  So sick.  Here’s the feature on Complex Magazine’s website…

Raekwon Breaks Down His 25 Most Essential Songs

Thanks to Raekwon and Complex Magazine for allowing me to put together this historic hip hop feature!  Peep the picture of me and the god above.  Salute!  And make sure you check out Raekwon’s new album, Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang, it’s in stores now.  Cop/preview it HERE.  Listen to one of my favorite tracks off the album “Ferry Boat Killaz” produced by The Alchemist below, it’s a banger…

Also, make sure you flip through Complex’s Top 50 Hip Hop Magazine Covers HERE.  And in memory of the late Biggie Smalls (he died on 3/9/97), read his last Source Magazine interview HERE.

*BONUS*

Rae and Ghost perform their banger “Rock N Roll” off Shaolin Vs. Wu Tang with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon…

Hollerrrr.

Boxers, Not Briefs

My Dudes, Published Material, Sports

clay

There’s a great article in today’s New York Times Magazine about my cousin Chris Isenberg at No Mas NYC aquiring the official licensing to sell his Cassius Clay shirt (see above).  The shirt, which was actually his first No Mas creation (but was off the market for some time), will be available again online and in stores this month, the legit way.  Check the article for more info…

Boxers, Not Briefs