movie review: the wackness (2008)

so i caught the wackness last night, and i'm completely content with it. to clear it up, the movie isn't necessarily groundbreaking or amazing, but it is definitely well-done. aside from a few cheesy lines (especially the line where the movie's title originated from, haha), there is solid dialogue.

josh peck (yes, from drake and josh) has a bright future. the only advice that i hope someone has already given him is to try not to be pigeonholed into one role and one genre, like john cho. but the transition in his roles from drake and josh to the wackness is extreme, and i feel like there should've been some sort of gap that needed to be bridged.

there was a solid cast, too. ben kingsley is awesome, aside from being extremely creepy. now, i'll save you from spoilers, but the images from one scene have forever been burned into my mind. the worst aspects of the movie were method man's god awful jamaican accent (i'm not convinced) and mary-kate olsen as a drugged out hippie. seriously.

above all, the soundtrack is incredible. any fan of old school hip-hop will be more than happy to see mentions and clips of a tribe called quest, biggie smalls, nas and biz markie among many others. aside from being historically accurate, the soundtrack was intertwined with the movie in true spike lee fashion.

oh, and pick up/find the soundtrack immediately.

grade: B-

also, i'll leave you with this creepy picture of josh peck:


-grizzly

dvd recap: jay-z - fade to black (2004)

this isn't an official review, rather just something that i decided to blog about. as a huge HOVA fan, i can't believe i hadn't purchased or watched this before yesterday. this entire DVD is the only proof you need to backup claim's of hov's greatness and his contribution to hip-hop. it's filled with cameos of some of hip-hop's finest who worship his work, both on and off stage.

throughout the documentary of his "final show," you get these snippets of him working in the studio, intertwined with his live set at MSG and the energy he has is unparalleled by most. being able to watch 100% of madison square garden lose their shit over one guy has to be one of the dopest things a fan of hip-hop could want to be a part of. it's no wonder the man's american gangster tour sold out in minutes.

if hov actually retired, this would've been the best way to go out.

i recommend buying a used copy off of amazon or something, which is what i did. best 6 bucks i've spent in a while.

-grizzly

nas - illmatic (1994)

as far as my stance on this album goes, there are very few words to describe this album. to sum it up, it's brilliant. nasir jones is one of the greatest musicians of all time. any sub-par album he ever releases will be overshadowed by the fact that he released this album at the age of 21.

basically, he puts out a revolutionary album at the age of 21, and i blog about it when i'm 21. my life sucks.

www.nasindependenceday.com

download:



-grizzmatic

puff daddy and the family - no way out (1997)

alright, alright. "diddy" doesn't put out the greatest music anymore. but this album (in my eyes, anyway) is a classic. puffy was never the greatest emcee, but his debut is full-blown proof that he is a great producer and can get enough heat on his album to make an impact. growing up, this was one of my favorite albums, and i bumped it for weeks straight after i got my hands on it.

hell up in harlem.

download:



-puff daddy and the grizzly

a tribe called quest - midnight marauders (1993)

as my contribution to roshan's "classic hip hop" posts, i'm gonna throw some love to one of my favs of all time, and one of my biggest personal influences, a tribe called quest. i remember this skateboard kid spun records and shit getting me way into these dudes when i was like 14. i'm choosing this album instead of the love movement because of the track "award tour" alone. remember when mtv used to do that x-games type shit? i remember the tribe killing it with that track. anyway, get on this album and relive a classic.

video for "award tour":


download midnight marauders:



(i forgot my external at work, so this isn't my link. i'll replace it when i get it back).

- a tribe called panda

2pac - all eyez on me (1996)

tupac was (is?) a true poet and lyrical genius and king of his craft. for the purpose of the second installment of a classic hip-hop album(s), i'm choosing his last album released before he died (excluding the makaveli album). if anything, you get two albums of solid gold.

anyway, read up on pac's wikipedia page also.

download:



disc one.

disc two.

-grizzly

the notorious b.i.g. - ready to die (1994)

ok, i was thinking about updating some essential hip-hop for quite some time. first up is christopher wallace/biggie smalls/notorious/frank white. instead of writing a novel about how dope he is, i'm gonna refer you to his wikipedia page. and yes, i'm serious.

anyway, this is one of the best hip-hop albums ever created. i remember hearing it for the first time in 7th grade and losing my shit over it.

download:



-the notorious g.r.i.z.z.