Footage off “Biggie Smalls: Rap Phenomenon” dropping 11.27 on Gold Dust.
Now for the first time, in a celebration of his life and music, select personal video footage shot by Biggie’s own camera by his crew -uncut and uncensored will be released to the public. Take a step closer to the man, watch how he lived on-and-off the road, share his lifestyle and day-to-day antics, ride with him on his first tour. You know OSH is copping this!! So go cop yours!
Ok so in the last 24 hours I SHOULD have posted here like 12 times, bc there’s some stank comin’ from the basement, but instead I’ve been workin (for the man), grindin’ (for myself), and cookin’ up some new OSH -ish about to drop. (more on that in the weeks to come)
But first… Y must Dick’s show there tips in public? Or better yet why did happy hour cause some lumberjack wannabe, baboon to show his ass last night? Unless you OWN an place of business… you ALWAYS end up lookin’ like an ASS when you act like a caveman.
and dude I look like a caveman.
ok sorry about the PSA
But for real, and its a good segue to our next topic.
Rap Ads
What happened when they start drinkin sprite?.
I was listenin’ to a Mixtape from BlindIUseToBeForTheKids and mid way through the track list I noticed a St. Ides freestyle, this would normally not be a thing but I thought of of of my boys back in college and his unnatural love for “flavored Crooked I” so I skipped to check out the old Wu St. Ides commercial freestyle. It was short, and the sound quality sucked; but They loved that product and the verse had some fire to it. It was a refreshing break from overly produced sprite and Impala commercials of today.
So I started to do some research and talked to Rah for a bit… I found out that back in the day rappers used to rap about products that they actually used, and kick it with people in commercials they may actually be seen with. Now I don’t know if Biggie or Meth ever did a Dutchie commercial or if Slick Rick ever gave props to the dude where he got his chains. and I know for a FACT Flavor Flav never did a Timex commercial and though Run DMC did more for Adidas in one song than any ad agency could in the entire life of the brand, somehow they didn’t even cross paths in the commercial sense until 2007, after the death of Jam Master Jay when the company paid only for stock footage and the use of a song. So why aren’t rappers really reppin’ in ads what they rap about in songs.
Well come to find out the St. Ides ads caused a stir among the community and ended up making rappers look more gangster and more like “hooligans” and this did not bode well for a new genre on the rise. So according to another blog Str8 Dope heres a more in depth histor y of the commercials and the controversy .
Amazing! I then proceeded to dig around Google and I found a small blurb from 2002 from a record store:
V/A DJ Drank’s Greatest Malt Liquor Hits cd-r 11.98VERY LIMITED. And we think the blurb on the back of the cd says it best, so we’ll just quote it:Before the appropriately named Alkaholiks DJ/producer E-Swift hooked up with King Tee and DJ Pooh to work on a series of 60-second St. Ides TV and radio commercial spots that they had been commissioned to do: complete with a budget that allowed them to bring in some of the best emcees of the day. These rap commercials were really really good (they sound better than most commercial rap crap today!) and were so immensely popular at the time (early 90’s when commercial radio didn’t play nearly as much rap as today, esp. West Coast artists) that they resulted in listeners jamming radio station request lines at stations like Wild 107, San Francisco just to hear Cube or the Geto Boys rap about their favorite high-octane malt liquor. Not surprisingly with lyrics like Cube’s “Get your girl in the mood quicker, get your jimmy thicker, with St. Ides malt liquor,” it wasn’t long before controversy soon overshadowed the advertising campaign. Outraged protests followed particularly in African-American and Hispanic communities where malt-liquor billboards and posters were defaced. Additionally the St. Ides commercials were publicly criticized by the U.S. Surgeon General and the New York State Consumer Protection Commission and drew fines from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as well as the New York State Attorney General’s Office. Additionally Korean grocers boycotted St. Ides, but for a different reason, for their use of Ice Cube as their spokesperson. Their protest was based on Cube’s derogatory lyrical comments about Koreans in his album “Death Certificate.” (Note: McKenzie River, the San Francisco-based maker of St. Ides, consequently temporarily discontinued using Ice Cube.) But the biggest criticism of the St. Ides commercials was that it used hip hop/rap music, a genre most popular with teenagers at the time, to sell malt liquor directly to underage drinkers. This was further enforced when St. Ides blatantly marketed a nonalcoholic drink for kids, boldly using the St. Ides name/logo (check out the lyrics to Ice Cube’s “Crooked I For All Ages” track #30). Overall the reaction to the St. Ides ads was so intense that G. Heileman Co., the national brewer that had created the St. Ides label, disavowed any connection with St. Ides. And eventually the commercials were banned altogether and never heard/seen again.
Instead leaving us with crap like this,
But rest assured I’ve done the leg work and now I’m about to reopen the St. Ides vault…
(the quality is all over the place and I just have them in Alphabetical order but enjoy.)
2Pac & Snoop
Cypress Hill
DJ. Pooh
Dr. Dre
Ice Cube
Ice Cube & Geto Boys
King Tee
Mc Eiht
Meth & Red
Notorious BIG
Rakim’s radio commercia
The Wu
and finally the 8 minute mixtape, I’m lookin for an mp3 for ya’ll but just open a new tab and put this on in the back.
Red and (talkin’ about the WU) Meth have a show in San Diego on Nov. 13th. just know that.
Yeah that’s pretty demeaning, but whatever. I needed a new way to say “Hey” and since I didn’t post yesterday the “So how was your night?” doesn’t really work.
So since our blog is “Everything Urban” and clubs and parties are innately urban I thought I would give alittle love to some advertisements that we see so much we probably don’t even stop to think “Damn someone got paid for this crap?! Werd? ” Thats right I’m talking about Flyer designers.
I was going to start with a diatribe about using the same beach, big booty shots, fonts and ripped off logos but I decided to turn this post on its side and not just hate but elevate.
So class is in session, get ready for the anatomy of a flyer designer, ripped directly from the pages of Vice Magazine.
Half-way through this ohh-so informative post is the inspiration for the second part of my post today. The writer breaks every Futurist rule by telling the audience about What The Font. So in the spirit of full disclosure I would like to tell the rest of you about a few design webpages we’ve been hording for a while.
FlashKit – So ok the FlashKit interface isn’t ground breaking, and the actual site design itself looks more like something your sysadmin put together than a designer but this site is actually a treasure trove of Tutorials and Sound files for Developers and Designers. With a heavy Flash basis, Flashkit gives you the Tutorials and files to create endless animation and webapp possibilies.
Kuler – So I can see it now your reading this post going , “Damn I thought NWK was all about fresh shoes and hip hop [read Rah's post right under this for your fix] whats with this Flash developer stuff” well no fear this next site is applicable for everyone. Or at least those of us who want to match. Kuler is a community populated index of color pallets, sounds alittle wierd, well it is .But as a designer it’s useful. Ever have a client that gives you a color say Pantone 567, and tells you to match the green but don’t make it “look like a John Deer Ad,” thats where Kuler comes in. Kuler gives the user the ability to search from an ever growing database of pallets, or by using Kuler’s color matching tools allows the user to create a unique pallet of your own. You can even register and share your pallets with others, but we all know you don’t play well so that probably won’t happen.
Finally, this last sight is a GEM, and I know you’ve all probably used it once or twice but if you haven’t… Get on it.
Flickr – That’s right Flickr, the same site that houses every person you knows vacation pictures is one of the best possible tools a designer could ever use. Stock photo websites cost money, and usually after searching 3 you notice that they also have basically the same images. This is not the case with Flickr, with new images being uploaded every minute of every day, your possibilities are almost endless. Make sure to contact the person who took the picture if you plan on using it, but go nuts, look around, I bet you find at least 10x the number of beer bong or keg stand shots than on your average stock image site, and if your designing for people that aren’t on spring break, you will probably be able to find that here too.
Ok, well I hope that helps you kill some time and helps improve design. and without further adieu some EFX.
and to get u ready for Rah’s post some Bling! (well, not really, but shiny suits)
First of All…for those who don’t kno what twitter is:
Ok, so hopfully you now know what twitter is. If you don’t know who the Notorious B.I.G. is, then get off our blog….lol. Na I’m just joking,if you trully don’t know who Notorious B.I.G. AKA BIggie is click here.
These questions came from friends, fam, peepz of twitter, and of course NWK & Rah.
On with the interview:
OSH = Olde School Honour
BIggie = Biggie
OSH: What happened to Lil Cease and Junior Mafia?
Biggie: “You know, i aint gonna get into all the details of what the fuck happened with those two. what they both did was mad fucked up. that’s a situation that messes biggie up deep inside – you know, we supposed to be fam, and my homies be snitchin and draggin asses to court. but they aint never listened to poppa, ever. word, sometimes they act like i aint even talkin.”
OSH: What made you pick Faith Evans over Lil Kim?
Biggie: “That’s bullshit, who told you that shit? a woman ever starts talkin that bullshit, talkin bout “make a decision,” that’s when the hooker gets dismissed. i aint gonna lie, it happens every time a big booty ho get a taste of big poppa, but shit. a nigga need variety. some bitches got titties, some bitches got ass. poppa gonna need both, so line that shit up, ladies.”
OSH: How do you feel about Shyne?
Biggie: “Word, old school! “that’s the sound of the men, workin on the chaaaain gaaaaaang…” i loved that shit. what was that, 1988? our moms knew each other, they both jamaican and they used to see each other at Al’s Roti Shop over on Fulton. damn, Shinehead. i aint heard from him in a minute.”
OSH: Who have you been kickin it with?
Biggie: “im still down with puffy, kim, cease, charli baltimore, you know, my crew. still tryin to get all up in mary j’s draws, too. lately, i’ve been lampin with jay-z – that nigga love cupcakes, on the real. i think every day about 3, he blowin up my pager, talkin bout “i need me a motherfuckin cherry cake with cherry icing, pick me up!” he got a problem with cupcakes.”
OSH: Name 3 artist you like that are currently in the game and why you like them.
Biggie: “That’s an interesting question. it’s fucked up - it’s like i woke up one day in february and the game was crazy, like nothin made sense anymore. nobody makin sample-based hip hop any more, it’s all beats. when the fuck did that happen? i got love for a bangin beat like any nigga, but what happened to those slammin breaks? i’m talkin bout isleys, fatback, grover washington, all that shit. the other day, me and puff were fuckin around with a shalamar break.
but you know, i been listenin to some shit from that turtle kid – what’s his name? Weezy. that motherfucker crazy, spittin shit about aliens and all kinda crazy shit. he on some serious shit, do he ever sleep? i like that Maino, even though he did beat cease’s ass that one time. i can’t help it, i got my homie’s back, but damn. how you gonna resist “hi hater?” that shit’s hotter than fish grease.”
OSH: (There were so many rappers to choose from Cold Crush for furious five (Grand Master) Fat boys etc.,)
Do you feel that there is a even playing field for all rappers in the industry today as it was in the pass?
Biggie: “I think it’s all goin in a big circle. once a brother like me or puffy or jay-z get to the top, we already got that money, so we need to grind a little less, or in a different way. jigga don’t need to put out albums any more, so now he runnin shit. that leaves room for the newer brothers comin up. there’s always gonna be some bitchass niggas cryin bout no “level playin field,” but they usually the ones with no game, no skills, and no Detroit gators.”
OSH: What advice would you give to the youth that wish to get into the game?
Biggie: “Freestyle, freestyle, and freestyle. oh, and get with irv gotti’s crew.
OSH: What’s your fashion game like now days?
Biggie: “I stay Coogi down to the socks.”
OSH: Does Biggie sport Ed Hardy?
Biggie: “Oh, you mean that tshirt store for white bitches on Harleys? do people outside indiana wear that shit?
OSH: What’s your favorite super Nintendo Game and Fast food?
Biggie: “word, i’m still all up in Captain Commando. and before you ask your fuckin juvenile question, Biggie keep his draws on when he play.
And i shouldn’t but i can’t stop havin those motherfuckin mcgriddles. faith keep tellin me they ain’t good for poppa, but they so sweet and salty, i order 4 at a time. fuck it, i aint never gonna fit in my white suit again anyhow.
OSH: What current tv-shows are your favorite? Biggie: “I like puffy secretary’s show – somethin about hustlas and gentleman? i like kesan, he got that hard mack napoleon complex thing locked up. and creepa – i’d call myself creepa too, if my name were some bullshit like “thaddeus.” shit. he got to work those hater blockers.
OSH: How is the family and How are you and do you have any up and coming projects you would like to plug?
Biggie: “Faith and me doin really good. i mean, we got some drama, but who don’t when they married, i guess. sometimes a wife get on a nigga’s fuckin nerves, you know. like last month, when faith didn’t talk to me for four days – she got mad at me for gettin wild at Tavern on the Green. but why the fuck can’t biggie get some chicken wings up in that motherfucker? you get between Biggie and a chicken wing, somebody gonna lose teeth, just a fact. faith need to accept how shit is. but we straight, she my girl.
up coming projects? you know, biggie got big things poppin. I got some things here and there, but nothin my lawyer says i can talk about yet.
word.”
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We here at OSH would like to thank the Notorious B.I.G. for taking time for this interview.
