Amoeblog

Murdered Hip-Hop Star XXXTentacion Is Latest In List of Slain Rappers To Have Eerily Addressed Their Premature Deaths

Posted by Billyjam, June 20, 2018 11:59am | Post a Comment


Joining the ranks of such other murdered rap stars as 2Pac and Biggie, 20 year old South Florida hip-hop star XXXTentacion, who was shot and killed Monday afternoon, is the latest in a list of slain rap stars said to have predicted or hinted at his impending demise. The popular but controversial artist born Jahseh Onfroy, who was slain in an apparent robbery after exiting a motorsports store in Broward County,  had purportedly been turning his life around for the better of late. He'd also recently been enjoying the success of his second studio album ? (pictured left), featuring such guests as Joey Bada$$, PnB Rock and Travis Barker, that debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts upon its release.

New York State Of Mind #100 of 100

Posted by Billyjam, October 8, 2014 01:30pm | Post a Comment


Welcome to the final installment in the one hundred part weekly New York State of Mind (NYSOM) Amoeblog series that began two years ago. For this 100th Amoeblog I want to run down some events happening in the coming days/weeks ahead as well as include a random series of NYC themed music videos that I have not yet included in the many NYC music videos already posted to this Amoeblog series. Ongoing events of interest include the Greenpoint, Brooklyn weekly No Lights No Lycra (NLNL) which is happens Tuesday evenings for a little over an hour in a church basement hall is the total antithesis of the overpriced bottle-service night clubs of Manhattan. Founded in New Zealand and with satellite parities like this one in Brooklyn dotted round the globe (Chicago and San Francisco are the other two spots in the US), the rules of NLNL are simple and straightforward and posted by the door upon entry. "No watching, no cell phones, no breakdancing" is what is not allowed. What is allowed/encouraged is to make a dancing and having fun - in near darkness except for a dimly lit ceiling light show that takes your eyes a couple of minutes to adjust to.

On the night I attended NLNL the dance music played by the non-billed DJ (a guy dancing who routinely ran over to hit play for the next song off his iPhone that was plugged into the decent sound system) ranged from trap to deep house to past decades pop hits such as Dexys Midnight Runners' "Come On Eileen," Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al," Dr. Dre & 2Pac's "California Luv," Men Without Hats' "Safety Dance," and The Cardigans' "Love Fool." NLNL, NYC happens every Tuesday from 8.15pm – 9.30pm at 129 Russell St, Brooklyn, NY 11222. No alcohol. All ages. $5 donation. More info here.

Record Store Day 2014 A Big Success, And There's Still Hours Left To Shop For Exclusive Record Store Day Releases

Posted by Billyjam, April 19, 2014 05:03pm | Post a Comment

Diggin' in the Hip-Hop 12" Crates At 18 Months - Record Store Day 2014 Amoeba Berkeley
 

"It's been the busiest Record Store Day ever!" reported Amoeba Berkeley employee Gail at 4pm today during Record Store Day. People were lined up outside hours before the 10:30am opening of the Telegraph Ave. store this morning, and once those early shoppers got inside they gravitated towards the sections where they knew their desired RSD releases would be. Then they had to line up to buy them.

"Boy, there was this very long line that started in here and snaked all the way around, up and down those isles, and then on over to the cash register," said Gail, pointing all the way across the store from the world music section, not far from where DJ Inti was spinning some Afrika Bambaataa at that moment, while many shoppers were busy digging in the crates. These shoppers included the little 18 month old girl with her pops in the above video. One happy record shopper I ran into earlier had copped the special Record Store Day clear vinyl three-record set reissue of the Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death while another had picked up the RSD reissue of Sam Cooke's final album Ain't That Good News on vinyl. While many titles may already be gone there are still a lot left and several hours of shopping remain on this Record Store Day 2014. So head over to your local record store, especially if it is Amoeba. Amoeba San Francisco closes at 8pm, Amoeba Hollywood closes at 9pm, and Amoeba Berkeley closes at 10pm today.
 

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Record Store Day Countdown: Notorious B.I.G. Double LP Vinyl

Posted by Amoebite, April 11, 2013 04:18pm | Post a Comment

Record Store Day is almost here and we're previewing some of the hot exclusive releases. The classic Notorious B.I.G. album, Ready To Die, will be available on double white vinyl. A legendary record, in a numbered edition with rarely seen alternate cover art, it's just too fresh for words. At independent record stores April 20 -- see you there!

Download our menu (.pdf) of exclusive Record Store Day titles available on April 20, 2013.

See our list of events and happenings at all three stores on RSD.

 

Biggy Ready

Oakland Rapper Who Embraces Both The "N" Word and the "U" Word Is As Much An Entrepeneur As An Artist

Posted by Billyjam, September 8, 2011 05:00pm | Post a Comment

"Ugly Nigga T's (Slap Version)"
If you thought the late great Ol Dirty Bastard of Wu Tang Clan fame's name grabbed peoples' attention the moment they first heard it, watch the reaction that East Oakland rapper/promoter Ugly Nigga, who headlines for the second week in a row the Best in the Bay Talent Showcase tonight at the Black Rep in Berkeley,  gets out of people when they first see/hear his name.  "Yeah some people are shocked and accuse me of being racist," said the African American Oakland born rap entrepreneur who heartily embraces both the "N" and the "U" words and has parlayed that love into a source of income which comes mainly from T-shirt sales.  "But I get mostly positive feedback from the Ugly Nigga t-shirts," he told me recently, recalling as the best example, "There was a guy who told me it took him two months to wear the shirt after he bought if from me. He said he wanted to save it for a special occasion. So he wore it at this party and people started coming up to him and saying - Man you're not ugly. And he told me how he had a lot of personal demons and had problems with talking to people and how this changed it. He told me how his stepfather had blamed him for his mother's death and he had kept that bottled in but that night he told me, Man I just kept on talking and the shirt kept drawing attention. He said, Thank-you for making that shirt!"

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