HAPPY BIRTHDAY B.I.G.!


VIDEO:Notorious B.I.G. Birthday 05/21/93 The Arena Brooklyn N.Y.
Today, it being Christopher Wallace’s birthday, I had the urge to see that movie Notorious from last year, and that movie had me speechless in the end. To see a lot of things acted out, like Big’s conflict with Lil’ Kim and the big confrontations between BIG and Tupac were awesome. I never truly liked BIGGIE’s music. When BIGGIE’s “Ready to Die” came out, I was still stuck on Ice Cube, PE, Rakim and Nas. I though PE’s “It Takes A Nation of Millions..” and Nas’s “Illmatic” were the only rap albums worth liking. Hearing “Ready to Die”, I was like “what the.?” As much as I liked Dre’s Chronic album, I was turned off by the similarities in “Ready To Die”. The blatant lifting of the G-Funk sound, the samples of Dre, all the preoccupation with “gangsta” just turned me off. I knew what Diddy was trying to do in taking rap to the mainstream, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Despite my bias, I still enjoyed “Notorious”. It was realistic and really caught the vibe of the mid 90s hip hop and all the drama that came with it. Like all movies there was a lot left out; and you have to wonder why certain people were left out or just seen as irrelevant. But then you realize that this movie was only 2 hours long, and that they can only put so much into the movie, but what they put in is just very fresh, engaging and entertaining. Seeing BIG’s childhood acted out by his son is genius on the part of the producers. Then there is BIG running the streets, becoming the boss of his street, then the jail sentence and his subsequent rise to rap stardom and fame. The movie does really good in painting a picture of BIGGIES dark side, while portraying him as still having a heart. I imagine that for BIGGIE’s mom, and Lil’ Kim, this movie was probably hard to make, but I’m sure Miss Wallace was satisfied with the end product. Gravy, the ex rapper who play’s BIGGIE looks so much like BIGGIE, that it is unsettling. Guaranteed to become a fixture once BET gets its hands on it, I’m sure you wont miss it.

Scipts N' Screwz "The New Noise"

Scripts and Screwz is a rap group coming from East Saint Louis, Illinois. Listening to their record called “The New Noise”, I felt I was drawn to their unique sound and flows. Unlike most artists who just talk about what is popular like street life and, well, just a lot of nonsense, rapper Scripts and Loose Screwz talk about the real world, and stuff that everybody can relate too.

This frankness gives them an air of realness which doesn’t need any kind of hype. The group just lets the music do the talking. What I like the most about the group are the tracks and the subjects that they talk about in their music. Songs such as “Bright City Lights”, “Hands High” and “My First Rhyme” have that common theme of their wanting to be successful artists, dreaming about doing it and being successful at it and getting fame. The good and bad side of love and relationships is a common theme in “Fairy Tale” and “Help” which are about falling in love and the drama of relationships.

The groups got its politics but it is related to its affects on people in the real world in “The War Outside”, a bangin rock track that deals with the question of if its really worth fighting in wars for lying politicians. Most interesting is the groups emphasis on addiction and death in such songs as “Brick”, “Eastwood”, “Lonely” “Eyes Wide Shut” and “Addiction”. Rather than glorify the darker realities of the streets and the city, they tell you like it is based on what realities they have experienced.

The songs have substance, but does the music bump? Scripts and Screwz got hot beats on all the songs. Though at times the mood of the music is a little dark, it is the type of music that will sound good in any car. They got songs that you can nod your head to (like “Proceed”), and some songs (like “Brick” and “Like This”) that you can dance to. This is a breath of fresh air and an alternative to all the crap that they got playing on the radio these days. If you want some serious head music you can rock to, check out Scripts and Screwz.

CHECK OUT SCRIPTS AND SCREWZ: THEIR SITE,THEIR BLOG, AND MYSPACE!!!!!!