Rap may have a bad rap for being negative but there are lots of positive raps out there including ones about diet and healthy living: the latest of which is the song/video above - "80 Bites" by Sam Stomach in which the cartoon character encourages healthy eating habits while wisely suggesting limiting ones intake to the amount of bites on a daily basis. "80 Bites, 80 Bites, 80 Bites" repeats Sam in his advice rap on only eating 80 bites of food throughout the day, and thereby retraining your stomach container to return to its original size which in turn will lead to fewer cravings for food / calories. "Puff said it's all about the Benjamins. He was wrong. It's all about the bites my friend," raps Sam who disses most diets. However he instead encourages downloading the "80 Bites" App and signing up for the new diet (at a $50 membership no less!). So really the video/song is just an ad. But still it's coming from a good place and it got me thinking about hip-hop and healthy eating. Beyond movements like the kids oriented Healthy Hip-Hop organization and individuals like "The Hip-Hop Chef - Cooking Tyrone"  who cross-pollinate hip-hop with cooking and who endorses vegan diet and healthy cooking/living, there are numerous hip-hop tracks that rap about diet.

       
2) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis The Heist (Macklemore LLC)

3) 2 Chainz Based On A T.R.U. Story (Def Jam)

3) Moe Pope & Rain Let The Right Ones In (Brick Records)

5) Mixed Blood Majority S/T (Mixed Blood Majority)

Special shout-out to E-Lit from Amoeba Berkeley who, despite being under the weather with a nasty cold, took time to do the above video of the detailed run-down of what's new in hip-hop at Amoeba and supplying the latest top five chart. Topping the chart (no surprise) is the hotly anticipated new A$AP Rocky official debut release following the hella hyped Harlem rapper's mixtape. Note that A$AP's major label outing, care of RCA, comes in regular CD version of  Long.Live. A$AP plus DeLuxe CD version, as well as the vinyl LP version. Other new chart entries include the brand new self-titled release from power trio Mixed Blood Majority that is made up of Crescent Moon of Kill The Vultures, Joe Horton of No Bird Sing, and Doomtree producer Lazerbeak.
Other new releases (non chart entries) mentioned by E-Lit include MF Grimm's Good Morning Vietnam
and The Dag Savage EP - both vinyl releases. Be sure to check out E-Lit's two KALX shows this weekend when he will be playing some of the aforementioned new releases. On Friday, Jan 25th, he will be doing a best of 2012 show on the UC Berkeley station from 9am to noon and then on Sunday night (Jan 27th) at midnight for the one-hour Yo! KALX Raps show he will be playing the best of 2013 so far. Tune into KALX on the radio dial if you are in the Bay Area on 90.7FM or online at kalx.berkeley.edu

     

For this week's installment of the New York State of Mind Amoeblog I interview East Bay to NY transplant and old friend of Amoeba Music Jamie McCormick of renowned East Village coffee mecca Abraço Espresso (including some of Jamie's top five music lists and picks), discuss the new documentary Koch on former NYC mayor Ed Koch, take a look at a transit themed exhibit inside Grand Central Terminal which turns 100 years old in two weeks, and a quick rundown of some of the shows and events in the week ahead in the city of New York. These include the free, all ages NYC Parks Winter Jam this Saturday, Jan 26th from 11am to 3pm in the Bandshell area of Central Park. More info here.

Although her track record for concerts has  been sketchy to put it nicely Cat Power has left all that erratic behavior behind her nowadays reportedly. And the artist born Chan Marshall plays Terminal 5 at 610 W 56th St. next Tuesday (1/29), in support of her current highly recommended album Sun. Angel Haze is the opening act. 8pm show. All ages. Tickets $25. More info.

Meanwhile on 125th Street in the heart of Harlem the Studio Museum, always offers some wonderfully engaging exhibits with an emphasis on art and artists of African descent,  currently on exhibit is the excellent photo show: Gordon Parks: A Harlem Family 1967 that follows one family around on their daily grind and features such shots as the one below. Note that Sundays is free day at the Studio Museum.

In addition to all the exciting new releases listed by Billy Gil in the Albums Out Jan 22nd Amoeblog (immediately below this) there is also a new vinyl release by alt-metal kings the Deftones (pictured left) being released today. It is a vinyl version of the longtime hard rocking NorCal band's current Koi No Yokan album that dropped a couple of months ago on CD and, most agree, is a return to form for the band that ruled things in their sphere of metal back in the 90's.

The new vinyl format of Koi No Yokan, being released by Warner Brothers, is a limited edition (3,000 units) pressing in 140-gram black vinyl. There are some other exclusive pressings too including an international edition (import) of the record that is being pressed up a on 180-gram vinyl configuration. The CD version of Koi No Yokan is still readily available at Amoeba and worth picking up. The Sacramento band's seventh studio album, it debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Top 200 chart when it was released November 13th and was equally popular at Amoeba for such songs as its first single "Tempest" (lyrics video below). In support of Koi No Yokan the Deftones are currently gearing up for a spring headlining tour of the East Coast, the South, and Canada that spans the whole month of March. No West Coast dates announced as of yet but check out the Deftones' official band website for updates on that.

Was today's important victory over the Atlanta Falcons for the Niners one of the better games played by the San Francisco team? No it certainly wasn't as any San Francisco 49ers fan will readily admit after watching today's game with that nail-biting first half when the Falcons held a 17-0 lead and the 49ers defense looked far from strong.

In that stressful first half many SF fans secretly feared that today's game just might end up being a replay of last year when the 49ers fell a game short of the Super Bowl with a stunning loss to the NY Giants. But all ended well today with the Niners beating the Falcons with a 28-24 victory which means, for the first time in almost two full decades that the San Francisco 49ers will go to the Super Bowl when, on Feb 3rd in New Orleans, they will face the Baltimore Ravens (who defeated the New England Patriots 28-13 today) in Super Bowl XLVII.

In celebration of today's victory by the 49ers here are some Niners rap songs/videos to salute the Bay Area team and wish them the best in New Orleans next month. They range from the 1986 "49ers Rap," when team members including Jerry Rice got on the mic to spit some fly old school verses, up to the brand new "Niner Nation" rap by 5 year old Niners fan Sarah Redden. Also included are three rap songs from last year when hopes were high for the team. These include "City Of The Niners" by Rappin 4 Tay, San Quinn, and Tony Tag, the ever popular "Who's Got It Better Than Us?" by Bailey, and the J-Def produced "Faithfully" by Equipto, Baldhead Rick, Shag Nasty, Curt Sak, Ike Plump, and Sellassie. These are just a handful of the numerous rap songs about the Niners recorded over the years. And you can bet, in the two weeks ahead leading up to the big game, that there will be a slew of even more new rap songs about the San Francisco 49ers being recorded. GO NINERS!