Complex Magazine just published The Encyclopedia of White Rappers, and guess who was included? That’s right, yours truly, Stan Ipcus. Wow, I didn’t know there were so many white rappers out there. I’ve heard of a lot of these guys (and girls), and am fans of some of them too (I’ve posted a lot of different white rapper material here on Westcheddar), but some of these people I’ve never heard of. I must say, it’s kind of fun to thumb through, and in a way I feel honored to be included. It’s funny, the two categories they put me in are “jewish” and “backpacker”. Ha! Here’s how they describe me…
Named after the titular character in The Mask, Ipcus is a childhood friend of Matisyahu who has freestyled on Hot 97 and Shade 45 and appeared on “WP” off his homie Matis’s ’06 LP, Youth. You think we’re gonna hate, but dude kicks rhymes like “I’m just a fly white boy with that real hip-hop” that we think are kinda cute, so we won’t. Cute like puppies and kittens cute, but cute nonetheless.
I actually like this description, though I wouldn’t say all my rhymes are cute. They obviously haven’t heard 99% of my material. Still, I’m glad they included me, and I appreciate the sentiment. Here’s the link to my listing (which includes the video for “My Ferris Buellers”)…
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…
Paul Barman is one of the first nerd rappers I ever knew of. My boy who went to Yale put me on to him back in the late 90’s. I think Barman was an Ivy Leaguer himself. Brown maybe? Not sure. Anyway, he always spit using ridiculous vocabulary and intricate rhyme patterns. Looks like he still does, but he has gotten far too advanced for the casual listener. So in this video, he shows us, word by word, just how complex his rap is. Totally and completely radical. And his delivery is sooooooo fun. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Barman, you’re crazy for this one. Yes!
That picture right there is me, Stanley Ipcus, about ten years ago, performing live at some outdoor Frat Party on Knox Road in College Park, Maryland, right behind where me and Pocheese used to live (HAPPY BIRTHDAY APO AND CONGRATS TO YOU AND JESS ON THE BIRTH OF SAMANTHA!!!!). Those were good times. I remember how much I loved to rap back then, whether it was recording songs or performing at shows or just freestyling with my bros. Now, ten years later, I still love it, and though I don’t perform as much or have freestyle sessions that often (we did just have a mean one the night before Thanksgiving though), I still find time to record. After finishing up The Young Professional, I decided I would revisit that College Park style and remix one of the first songs I ever recorded in a real studio, “Ippy Strut”. I was prompted to do so by my boy C Bats, who suggested I put new raps on one of my older beats, and that’s what I did. With a t-t-twist of course. Here’s the link to stream/download “Ippy Strut 2009”. Enjoy…
If you’d like to check out the original, it’s on my first album Pu Click Poetry, which you can download HERE, along with the rest of my discography. Cheah!
*BONUS*
*Check out Ogden Avenue’s own DJ Leche’s new mixtape Impeccable Grind, which features yours truly on a couple cuts, HERE.
*Thanks to Nation at NahRight for posting “Ippy Strut 2009”, peep it HERE. Nation just started a new blog of his own, ItsTheCalm.com. Definitely worth visiting…
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…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The Cool Kids are my favorite new rap group. Here’s their latest video, off their mixtape Gone Fishing. Not the song I would’ve picked to do a video for (they have way better beats on that mixtape than this), but it’s still dope. Nice house party vibe. Love the way these guys rhyme. Check it out…
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.
Lil Wayne is not my favorite rapper, but he’s nicer than the guy who is. I respect his skills, his work ethic, and his creativity. He’s got clever metaphors for days, and he can flow on any beat. His latest mixtape No Ceilings has too many quotables to list, and his verses are so long it’s almost ridiculous. And after watching the all access, behind the scenes documentary about his life, The Carter, I like his music even more. Maybe it’s because he’s so passionate about it. All he ever really wants to do is record. He does it no matter where he is. In studios of course, but also in hotel rooms, on his tour bus, and anywhere else he can set up a microphone. He’ll even push the buttons himself, and he doesn’t write any of his lyrics down. And yo, he smokes weed and drinks sizzurp out of doubled up styrofoam cups all day and night. During interviews, recording sessions, hanging out on the bus, getting tattooed, you name it. The guy loves getting fucked up. It’s kind of impressive. I really suggest checking out this documentary when you get a chance, whether you like his music or not. Here’s a preview of it. The producers of the movie leaked the first 10 minutes, which shows him out in Amsterdam, and it will give you a feel for what it’s all about…
I love watching rap battles. This one is classic. Iron Solomon vs. Avalanche, live from Detroit. Iron Solomon is a beast, and if you’ve seen him before, you know he straight murders dudes. And he’s the obvious winner here. But this guy Avalanche is hilarious! His delivery cracks me up, and he has some really funny lines, especially in his second verse. And he’s even funny when he messes up, like in the start of his third verse, which also has a couple zingers. Very entertaining battle…
Zach Galifianakis is back with another hilarious episode of his quirky talk show Between Two Ferns. This episode features special guest Conan O’Brien and appearances from Andy Richter and Andy Dick. Awesome. I totally LOL’d when I watched this…
Westcheddar 