My dog Tommy Dee of The Knicks Blog had the pleasure of interviewing 90’s Knicks legend John Starks this week. Tommy’s been doing his thing recently. I keep seeing him on TV! Love it. And to think, I used to be able to get the color commentary right from our leather couch in good old apartment #503 at the University Of Maryland (we were roomies). Sounds like there’s hope for Knicks fans on the horizon. Wouldn’t it be great if we really got Lebron? Stay tuned to The Knicks Blog for all our NYK needs, and click the link below to listen to TD’s interview with John Starks…
Looking forward to another Westcheddar exclusive assessment of the upcoming Knicks season with Tommy Dee…here’s last year’s preview if you missed it…peace out…
You might recognize hollywood actor Simon Rex (above right with his homie and Westcheddar legend Andy Milonakis) as that MTV video jockey from back in the 90’s, when the station actually used to play music videos. Now, when Rex isn’t popping up in shitty movies like Scary Movie 3, he is living the life of the drugged out party boy rapper named Dirt Nasty. But before you write him off as a joke, you should check his stuff out. Because most likely, the joke’s on you jack. Let’s start with the video for his first hit song, “1980”. How funny is his backpack rapper impression in the intro? Holy cow.
The whole thing is a goof, but he’s actually a good rapper. This next one really got me. It’s called “Droppin’ Names”. Check for the line at the end of verse two, it’s my favorite….”I’m horny for beaver, give me a call Sigourney Weaver”…..HAHAHHAHAHA!!
Still not sold on his skills? Check out this freestyle, where he spits some nice raps off the dome, like rhyming “falafel” with “waffles” and “hospitals”. Something about his pronunciation and facial expressions is really funny…
Oh, wanna see Dirt Nasty talk politics? I think he’s on to something here. Very eloquent…
For more Dirt Nasty, check out his official website HERE…and if you’re interested in his acting, watch the Simon Rex TV show pilot, simply titled Rex. It’s got some cameos from Paris Hilton, Jamie Presley, and Lance Bass. The link below will take you to the full pilot, just type in the password whippedbutter…
Summer Camp officially starts tomorrow, and every year, there’s always a few crazy kids that really keep me entertained. I’ve got a couple this summer that I’m looking forward to goofing around with. But these two above were the craziest, funniest, weirdest, most off the hook campers I ever had. They attended my Teens on the Run travel camp (they started as middle schoolers) that I used to direct in the early 2000’s down in Maryland, and they made every day a blast. They were out of control in the most hilarious way. I think the picture above says it all. I mean, they dressed up like that for every trip. Legendary. Thanks for the memories fellas. Hope college is treating you well (from the looks of your Facebook, it is). The offer is still available to come visit me in New York sometime, though I don’t think my wife would be able to handle more than 5 minutes with you two lunatics. Enjoy your summer.
Where are they now? Look below…
“You two donkey dicks couldn’t get laid in a morgue.” – Chet, Weird Science
Jay-Z’s The Black Album is a hot album. I think when people discuss his discography it is often slept on. I put it up there in my top 3 Jigga LPs. Definitely. Of course, the story behind it at the time of it’s release in 2003 was that it was going to be his last album. But since, he’s released Kingdom Come, American Gangster, and he’s currently working on Blueprint 3.
There were a ton of Black Album mash ups and remix albums made, most notably Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album, which was constructed using samples from The Beatles’ The White Album. But Lt. Dan’s Black Album Remixes (cover above) was far and away my favorite of the bunch. He cleverly and carefully selected classic early 90’s hip hop beats to blend with the pre-Reasonable Doubt story lines and feel of the songs, as if to create the audio illusion of the album actually being released before 1996 (when Reasonable Doubt came out). And the blends are perfect! I really mean it. Of course there are some stand outs, and everyone will have their favorites, but from top to bottom it is an extremely well produced and conceptually tight project. Pardon the bold statement, but this is absolutely my favorite blend mixtape ever. Not to mention that Lt. Dan has the best DJ drop of all time (see Forrest Gump, “Lieutenant Dan!!!!!!!!”). Download immediately.
Jay-Z’s movie Fade to Black, which documents the making of The Black Album and his historic Madison Square Garden Concert celebrating his so-called retirement (I was there!), supposedly makes him “cringe” when he watches it now. Probably because he’s talking up his last album, which wasn’t the case, and his last concert, which wasn’t the case either. Still, it’s an ill movie. The live footage is great, with all the guests he brings out (love the part with Slick Rick and Ghostface backstage), but the real gems are behind the scenes where he’s making the album cuts with all the different legendary producers. Check the clips, featuring Timbaland (LOL), Rick Rubin, Kanye West, and Pharrell, which are especially cool because almost all of them capture the initial moment Jay-Z hears the beats used on the album for the first time, and of course they showcase his non-writing writing style…
Hope this holds you over until Blueprint 3. Peep his recent performance of his latest banger “D.O.A.” at Hot 97’s Summer Jam, and also download the song HERE. And for classic late 90’s footage of Jay-Z and the Roc performing at NYC’s The Tunnel nightclub, go HERE….oh yeah, and here’s the official “D.O.A.” video and his live performance at the BET Awards HERE!
*MJ BONUS*
For those of you still looking for a Michael Jackson fix, here’s a Lt. Dan blend of “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” b/w Justin Timeberlake’s Neptunes produced “Like I Love You”, featuring a verse from the late great Notorious B.I.G. What a combo!
More info on Lt. Dan x Michael Jackson The King of What’s Poppin’ at TREES FOR BREAKFAST. Great name for a blog, huh? They’ve got the tracklist and D/L link (RAR file) too. It’s worth checking out if you’re looking for MJ blends, though as someone who has owned the mixtape since it dropped, I must say (other than the blend above) it’s not that rad….
I just finished watching Twilight with my wife (who has a BFF that totally loves it), and I gotta say it’s a pretty cool movie. I can see why there’s so much hype surrounding it, especially with the MTV teens. But when I heard the song above come on during the final prom scene, it brought me to an even higher level of respect for the film, and for the lead actress Kristen Stewart who supposedly picked the song specifically for that part of the film. What a good look for Sam Beam aka Iron & Wine, his digital sales must be through the roof on this one! Check the track out, which is also on his awesome album The Shepard’s Dog. It’s called “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”. Beautiful.
Iron & Wine has a new double disc out now too, titled Around The Well. It’s a dope collection of demos, covers, and rarities. Cop that. Here’s a sample off it. Originally from the Garden State Soundtrack, it’s a cover of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights”. This is the first song I ever heard of his….
Did you know that Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) got his deal with Sub Pop Records after passing his demo off to Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses? True story. Want more? There’s some more stuff of his in a previous on his other label mates Fleet Foxes HERE. Holler at your boy…
My geeeeee JK at Dirty Jax sent this over to me yesterday. I’ve been telling him to put my favorite catch phrase on a shirt for a minute now, and he finally doesd it! Look for these to be available soon here at Westcheddar. Oh yeah, Dirty Jax popped up at Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg’s Juan Epstein Live podcast at the 92Y in Tribeca this week. Check the pics, then download the show, which features special appearances from Jim Jones and Buckshot of Black Moon…
Oh yeah, cop that Dirty Jaxson BAD t-shirt, which JK re-released yesterday in tribute to MJ. Link below to that (it’s available in white too) and the rest of the summer ’09 line…
I stole the beat from the classic Biz Markie song “What Comes Around Goes Around”, and used it to describe how my G used to be with the ladies back in my younger days (first verse middle school, second verse college). A nice little old school story joint, strictly for the summer. Link below…
Anyone who is from my generation was raised on Michael Jackson’s music. His catalog is phenomenal. And I’m sure everyone has a classic MJ memory from their childhood. Mine is that when the “Thriller” video came out (I was probably 4 years old and still living in California), I ran out of my neighbor’s house about 30 seconds into it, straight shook. Ha! As for his influence on hip hop, well check out this map, detailing who sampled what…
And take a listen to his various collaborations with hip hop’s greatest artists, including Biggie and Jay-Z, HERE…
Gotta show some love to my dude Sancheeze a.k.a. Mr. Sanchez, a teacher at Highlands Middle School who has been overseas since April with the U.S. Army in Iraq. Check the picture he posted on Facebook today, sending his congrats back home to his students in White Plains. Awesome. Shout out to all the students celebrating graduations this year, and all our soldiers overseas…peace and love…
Have you seen this comedian dude Aziz Ansari anywhere yet? You should have. Back in ’05, Rolling Stone put him on their HOT LIST as the “hot comedian”. He was on the MTV skit show Human Giant. Kanye West featured Ansari on his blog last year, and continues too praise his work (Ansari’s comedy tour poster was a goof on West’s Glow in the Dark Tour ads). He’s popped up in a bunch of recent movies like I Love You, Man and Observe and Report, and is also on the new NBC show Parks and Recreation (which I haven’t seen yet but really want to check out since I worked for the WP Recreation Department throughout my entire teenage experience). And now, he’s playing a stand up comedian named Raaaaaaaandy in the upcoming Judd Apatow flick Funny People, which Westcheddar has been talking about alot in the pastmonth. Check out Aziz Ansari’s recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel to get a feel for his style and a little background on Raaaaaaaandy, and then below that watch him test out his Raaaaaaaaandy character on stage at Comix comedy club in NYC. This dude is mad funny!
LOL right? And did you know he’s friends with our boy Nick Kroll? They’ve toured together, and shared the screen in I Love You, Man too. If you missed our interview with Nick, check it out below, along with Aziz Ansari’s website. Hollerrrrrrrrrrrr.
Had a great Westchester afternoon with my Dad yesterday. Went out to lunch in Yonkers together then took a walk at Pepsico Gardens in Purchase. We talked about life, family, our wives, work, friends, old times, and new plans. Then we met up with the rest of the Izo clan for dinner at Turquoise in Larchmont to celebrate Father’s Day and also my parents’ 40th anniversary. Lots of laughs. Anyway, here’s an article my father wrote for the Journal News (our local Gannett paper) about his son’s use of slang, published back when I was a senior at White Plains High School in 1996. Check it out…
Hope all the fathers out there enjoyed their holiday. Shout out to all my dudes with seeds…
My geeeeee JK at 
And take a listen to his various collaborations with hip hop’s greatest artists, including Biggie and Jay-Z, 
Westcheddar 