Hip hop life in the style ...

Kanye West - Diamonds From Sierra Leone Lyrics

2006-07-22T18:03:00.000+02:00

Not quite sure if it's correct but still here it is...

[Intro]

Diamonds are forever

They won't leave in the night

I've no fear that they might

Desert me

[Chorus]

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)

Throw your diamonds in the sky if you feel the vibe

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever, forever)

The Roc is still alive every time I rhyme.

Forever ever? Forever ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever?
Ever, ever?......

Close your eyes and imagine, feel the magic

Vegas on acid,

Seen through Yves St. Laurent glasses

And I've realized that I've arrived, cuz

It take more than a magazine to kill my Vibe does

he write his own rhymes, so sort of

I think 'em

That mean I forgot better shit than u ever thought up

Damn, is he really that caught up?

I ask if you talkin' bout classics, do my name get brought
up?

I remember I couldn't afford a Ford Escort or even a four-track
recorder

so its only right that I let the top drop on a drop-top
Porsche

- its for yourself that's important

If a stripper named Porscha and u get tips from many men

Then your fat friend her nickname is Minivan

Excuse me,

That's just the Henny, man, I smoke, I drink, I'm supposed to
stop I can't because

[Chorus]

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)

Throw your diamonds in the sky if you feel the vibe

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever, forever)

The Roc is still alive every time I rhyme.

Forever ever? Forever ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever?
Ever, ever?......

I was sick about awards

Couldn't nobody cure me

Only playa that got robbed but kept all his jewelry

Alicia Keys tried to talk some sense to them

30 minutes later seems there's no convincing them

What more can you ask for?

The international assholes nah

Who complains about what he is owed?

And throw a tantrum like he is 3 years old

You gotta love it though somebody still speaks from his soul

And wouldn't change by the change, or the game, or the fame,

When he came, in the game, he made his own lane

Now all I need is y'all to pronounce my name

Its Kanye - But some of my plaques - they still say Kane

Got family in the D, Kin-folk from Motown

Back in the Chi - them folks ain't from Motown

Life movin' too fast I need to slow down

Girl ain't give me no ass, ya need to go down

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)

My father Ben said I need Jesus

So he took me to church and let the water wash over my ceaser

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)

The preacher said we need leaders

Right then my body got still like a paraplegic

You know who you can call you gotta best believe it

The Roc stand tall and you would never believe it

Take your diamonds and throw 'em up like you bulimic

Yea the beat cold but the flow is anemic

After debris settles and the dust get swept off

Big K pick up where young Hov left off

Right when magazines wrote Kanye West off

I dropped my new shit sound like the best of

A&R's lookin' like "pssh we messed up"

Grammy night, damn right, we got dressed up

Bottle after bottle till we got messed up

In the studio, where really though, yea he next up

People askin' me if I'm gon' give my chain back

That'll be the same day I give the game back

You know the next question dog "Yo, where Dame at?"

This track the Indian dance to bring our reign back

"What's up with you and Jay, man, are y'all ok man?"

They pray for the death of our dynasty like Amen

R-r-r-right here stands a-man

With the power to make a diamond with his bare hands...

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)

Throw your diamonds in the sky if you feel the vibe

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever, forever)

The Roc is still alive every time I rhyme.

Forever ever? Forever ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever?
Ever, ever?......

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever, forever)

Kanye West - Diamonds from Sierra Leone

2006-07-22T17:59:00.000+02:00

Post posvećen masi koja je bila na debatnom 'kampu' u Požegi. E da post posebno posvećen Dinu i Cerovcu, jer oni znaju zašto (a i vi ostali nagadjate) ;) Valjevcani, Beogradjani, Tijana (kao jedan od predstavnike iz Subotice koje je cula pesmu) evo zasto ima ta pesma: (nije mi se dalo prevoditi, lenj sam MaXiMalNo)
When Raquel Cepeda first learned of the conflict in Sierra Leone back in 2001, she was working as the editor in chief of Russell Simmons' now-defunct One World magazine. In keeping with the publication's theme, she would find places around the globe where hip-hop had taken a foothold, and Sierra Leone's burgeoning scene grabbed her attention.But almost immediately, she knew a mere magazine article would not do the country's story justice. After all, this was a nation just emerging from a savage 11-year civil war — a conflict fueled by the diamond trade — and was in the early stages of recovery, picking through the rubble and trying to rebuild.And seemingly no one was paying attention."I felt that Sierra Leone was more than an article, because I saw these fascinating parallels," Cepeda said. "It was formed by freed slaves, and just at the time hip-hop started to become commercially successful here in the United States — in 1991 — [the Los Angeles district] Watts was burning, and this bloody civil war was beginning in Sierra Leone. So as the conflict was ending, and the aftermath was everywhere, I felt like it would be an interesting social experiment to have some rappers go there as goodwill ambassadors. Because hip-hop has affected every crevice of the world, and I wanted rappers to know that."And so Cepeda decided to make a documentary that would do just that: show rappers — and hip-hop fans — the connections between hip-hop and the Sierra Leone conflict.While her film does focus on the role music has played in the country's recovery — there's a vibrant hip-hop scene in the capital city of Freetown, highlighted by artists like Daddy Saj and Jimmy B — it's more concerned with the implications that came with the genre's bling obsession. She decided to call the film "Bling: A Planet Rock," because the insatiable thirst for diamonds was indirectly affecting the war in Sierra Leone."It's important to have it out there that the very uncivil war in Sierra Leone was not started over diamonds," Cepeda said. "It was fueled by them."In early 1991, a militant group called the Revolutionary United Front launched an insurgence against the government in Sierra Leone, attacking villages and committing unspeakable acts of barbarism against women and children. The militants hoped to throw the nation into a state of chaos, taking over the nation's diamond mines and using their riches to purchase drugs and weapons from neighboring nations. These diamonds became known as "conflict diamonds" — or blood diamonds — the same rocks Kanye West raps about in his song "Diamonds From Sierra Leone.""The film is not intended to make people stop wearing diamonds, because if we boycotted them, it would impair the fragile economy of Sierra Leone and would end up hurting these people," Cepeda said. "It's nobody's fault — the rappers, anyone — if they don't know they're wearing conflict diamonds. So we wanted to raise awareness about the whole issue. We wanted people to bling responsibly. We want rappers to rap about how it's cool to wear cruelty-free diamonds. And Kanye helped with that."West is interviewed in the film, as is Jadakiss, though neither artist was able to make the trip with Cepeda to Sierra Leone due to scheduling conflicts. But thanks to funds secured from the United Nations and VH1, she was able to secure three other hip-hop figureheads that knew very little about the country but were willing to learn: Paul Wall, Raekwon and reggaetón star Tego Calderón."Raekwon really bonded with everyone he met," Cepeda said. "He didn't know what to say at some points, because what he saw in Freetown or in the amputee villages left him speechless. Tego was amazed by what he saw, and Paul was literally walking around with his eyes wide open."Wall — who's gained acclaim not just for his rapping but for his diamond-encrusted grill — said he was amazed by what he saw, and he hopes the film will raise awareness about the past, present and future of Sierra Leone."Up until I heard Kanye's song 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone,' I had never even heard of the country," Wall said. "But once I did, I wanted to find out more, and I wanted to try to help out. So we went to Sierra Leone — me, Raekwon and Tego Calderón — and it changed our lives. We saw the diamond mines and the amputee camps, and it was hard to believe that especially in 2006, people can be living like this."When we were over there, it shocked and kind of embarrassed us as jewel wearers, but the people over there told us not to stop wearing them," he continued. "The thing is, that's how people eat. Even to this day, there's a large percentage of illicit diamonds in the marketplace, even though the conflict in Sierra Leone is over. So you want to be careful and get them through the proper channels. I know I'm trying to do that now."Cepeda will wrap production on "Bling" later this year, and she hopes to make the festival rounds in the winter.

Hip hop honeys – featuring Ciara

2006-05-31T15:32:00.000+02:00

This young girl was born on October 25, in 1985. Swooping around to find her bio everything starts with "Her father was in military, so she traveled a lot" well... Uhm nice... Military MAN! So from her early years she wanted to be a professional singer. So guess what? - She joined a girl group (wow...) called Hearsay, worked on her songwriting, eventually left the group, and of course as the story goes - she got herself a publishing deal.

So Ciara (BTW when you read it correctly it sounds like Sierra) - have you heard of her before?
Her single - "Goodies" was a hit. It was a hit world wide (including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Sweden and... A yeah - New Zealand). Her first album was called Goodies (guess by her first song). On this album you can find ppl like Pha, Garrett, and Lil Jon and this one sold over 2mil copies just in the US. Her next song - "1, 2 step" was done with Missy Elliott and - it was a hit (again). Next single she did was with Ludacris called "Oh", and you can find her DVD with stuff from that time called "Goodies: The Videos & More" (here are some behind the scenes stuff, comments and you know, stuff...).

And then blah blah single with Bow Wow ("like you") and blah blah Gwen Stefani blah blah, Oh - her forth single was poorly rated (for a change ;) )

In the end of 2005 Ciara went on a tour with Bow Wow (wow...) and Chris Brown at some jam. This was her biggest live performance.

Oh BTW she ended up in Michael Jackson's charity single - "I have a dream" (not sure what kind of dreams he has, but he's not the point of this article) which will be released somewhere in 2006.

On February 8, 2006 Ciara got her first Grammy with Missy Elliott for Best Short Form Music Video. She did a duo with that dude from Maroon 5 - a tribute to legendary R&B musician Sly Stone.

She is working on her next album that will be "much deeper and more personal" and from stuff read between the lines she says it will be a good one (let's hope so).

Oh and to you fans out there - she broke up with Bow Wow :)

Music man...

2006-05-24T15:50:00.000+02:00

If you listen to rap... And you just don't know what music to get? Read on...

So you actually don't know what to listen to? Have serious problems choosing music to listen to? Seek no more -> former audioscrobbler now last.fm is a choice for you! It analyzes your music style through a winamp plugin and recommends you fresh new artists and songs...

Grab you audioscrobbler now...

Hip hop jewelry? WTF?

2006-05-19T18:09:00.000+02:00

So hip hop jewelry… What’s that? Actually it’s quite strange to be considered jewelry but if it’s fine with you I don’t care…

Let’s get to the point – What’s hip hop jewelry?

Do you consider stuff on the pictures in this post to be "hip hop jewelry" - well maybe those chains are, but most of them are not - most of them are just simple ornaments that can NOT be considered as any part of hip hop style... I mean COME ON people - steering-wheel is just too much... If you're a hopper you not a sailor...

You can consider hip hop "jewelry" to be stuff that you wear hip hop style. As simple as that. Not anything fancy, not anything that makes you feel that you look stupid, not something that you wear because some salesman said that it is “hip hop jewelry”… I mean come on, they would sell their soul just to make sales, so writing “hip hop jewelry” on anything doesn’t look so bad, does it?

Somthing that is Bling Bling (like Ali G's 'movie') doesn't have to be cool... And it's the same stuff that can be found anywhere else, just cheeper. So remember - Bling Bling is not a way to go. Get it?

So what can be considered as a part of your style (not just jewelry)? Well practically anything that you see fit. Get it? Try getting lost in those skate shops, they have nice stuff, I mean be creative and don’t be naïve. Don’t over-pay stuff and improvise… Oh and don't let them sell you ideas that something that is obviously fancy...

That’s my piece of advice…

Hip hop honeys – featuring Faith Evans

2006-05-13T20:01:00.000+02:00

Have you seen the Coach Carter movie? If you have than you definitely know the song by Twista and Faith Evans called Hope. So here are few things about this lady.

Born in Florida, her parents were a kind of mix - Italian-American father and African-American mother. She was raised by her mother and aunt in Newark in New Jersey. She always loved singing and sang in church. She dropped out of college to star a singing career.

She started with the Bad Boy records and she stayed with them till 2003. Then she moved to Capitol records in 2005 and is still there. She met her husband to be Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie at Bad Boy's photo shoot and they got married only 10 days later after they met. Nice...

Her first album called Faith was released 1995. The hit songs were "Soon as I Get Home", "You used to love me" and "Ain't nobody". This album has gone platinum with 903000 sold copies. It's notable to mention that 2pac said that he slept with her but they just were recording a song together (yeah right :) ). 2pac was gunned down in September 1996 and there were speculations that Biggie was involved. Well, Biggie was gunned down in march 1997. To get over her husband's death Puff Daddy did a song with her - I'll be missing you.

Second album "Keep the Faith & Faithfully" is a change - to a nicer optimistic attitude. The famous songs from this album are “Love like this", "All night long" with P. Diddy, and "Never gonna let you go". This album went platinum also (with 925000 copies sold), nice...

For her third album Faith lost over fifty pounds, way to go baby... The album was called Faithfully, and in videos for this album you can see Faith in much sexier appearance. Again turned platinum... With 'just' 837000 copies...
Her forth album called "The first lady" came after the Hope duo with Twista. Song "Again" was the hit from her album... (oh it's biographical stuff) ... Not platinum, but gold :)

Songs to hear: (except those above mentioned)
DMX ft. Faith Evans - I Miss You
DMX ft. Faith Evans - How's It Going Down There
Eve ft. Faith Evans - Love is Blind
G. Dep ft. Faith Evans - You Get No Love (Remix)
FatMan Scoop ft. Faith Evans - Be Faithful
Jay Z ft. Faith Evans - It Was All A dream (this one you have to hear :) )
Scarface ft. Faith Evans - Someday

Hip hop clothing

2006-05-11T17:54:00.000+02:00

A.K.A. your style... Do you wear those fancy tight shirts? Or jeans that match you number? Or hood-less jackets?
If at least one answer is yes then another question - do you consider yourself a hopper?
If the answer is yes (again), I have another question - WHY THE HECK DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A HOPPER?

Clothing is a part of your style. If you wear anything that jumps out of the style - you don't have one. Get it?

So what to wear? Well...
You have a few types of hip hop clothing, but basically I divide them to fancy, underground, self-made. So what the heck does those names mean?

Fancy: anything that is commercialized, starting with eminem and his clothing wear to 50 cents wear.
Don't get me wrong - I don't have anything against these people, but to be honest people that wear this stuff often listen only to commercial rap and never heard for any artist that doesn't appear on MTV (or some music TV). I mean, yeah, this stuff looks nice, BUT it doesn't reflect you, it reflects you money - basically telling "I have enough cash to buy these stuff". These 'hoppers' are mostly beginners, and later they or evolve a bit (or to underground, or to self-made) or stop dressing hip hop style. So don't worry - it's just a phase. (don't get me wrong, I respect people wearing this kind of clothing BUT not as much as undergrounders or self-mades)...

Underground: wearing brands you probably have never heard of, mostly un-related to any rap artist. Why is this good? Well, the choice is much wider, so you can have your own 'style in style', the clothing is not that expensive (it's rather cheap) and guess what - it look better than those commercial type wears.

Self-made: I bet you never heard of them, have you? :) well why? These people buy regular clothing only a few time larger of their size. It makes a cool effect and (by my opinion) the cheapest way to dress. Don't get me wrong, but mostly these guys know what they are listening to (There are exceptions, when a newbie doesn't have enough money to get some fancy stuff so he buy stuff like this). I like people dressing this style because it is VERY close to underground style and I like these styles...

Undergrounders and self-made have very specific style, combining stuff and creating their own style, unrelated to anything that those famous people recommend. It show style, with style...

Remember: no hopper wears tight stuff, no hopper wears DIESEL, no hopper gives a damn what other people think about him - be yourself!

Of course there are always exceptions, so don't be very strict about this dressing rules :) take them as info...

History of hip hop

2006-05-10T22:01:00.000+02:00

Hip hop is often considered as consisting only of music and rapping. Well, that's not true. Hip hop is a modern cultural movement and it consists of DJing, rapping, breakdancing and graffiti making...

Hip hop and rap as a part of it carry roots from Americans of Caribbean ancestry. The most important people from the early beginnings are Herc, D.J. Hollywood, and Afrika Bambaataa.

Herc was the first to introduce scratching as a part of this music, and is considered to be the first to introduce the turntables as a musical instrument. The second more important artist from that period was inspired by tape recordings of Herc's parties - Afrika Bambaataa. These two artists often engaged in sound-system battles held in parks or local clubs. Afrika was the first to mix sounds from rock music and television shows into the style that Herc used. In the following years any type of music is considered to be usable in rap, and today you can hear music from various 80's pop artists in rap songs.

Sampling of the various songs brought copyright issue questions to top. Some rap artists were considered challenging James Brown's (folk musicians') and other musicians' right to own, control, and be compensated for the use of their intellectual creations. Some of those artists that were sampled the most (such as funk musician George Clinton) released CD's with sound bites made specifically to facilitate sampling. The effect of rap to this music is that earlier artists such as Brown and Clinton were celebrated as cultural heroes and their older recordings were reissued and repopularized.

As white musicians started embracing new style, in 1980s rap moved to the mainstream of the music industry. In those time "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" by the Beastie Boys and "Walk This Way" by Run-DMC and Aerosmith were extremely popular. The first female rap group is considered to be Salt-N-Pepa and one of their song "Push It" was among the top 20 charts.

In the late 80s the political motives has risen in rap, and groups like Public Enemy embraced this style. With the political right gangsta rap arouse. Gangsta rap attempted to depict the outlaw style of life of sex, drugs and violence. In 1988 the first more important album of gangsta rap was released: Straight Outta Compton by the rap group Niggaz With Attitude (NWA). There were some attempts to censor gangsta rap, but these attempts only helped this music to gain momentum, and helped solo artists like Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E to get started.

In 1990s many rap artists 'borrowed' music from jazz, and later this style evolved into trip-hop (main representatives of this style are Massive attack and Tricky). In these years gangsta rap gained even more momentum and pushed political rap outside. The most popular artist of gangsta rap are/were Geto Boys, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac Shakur.

Rap influenced culture in many ways, and till today it is a strong style, which is still growing.