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A couple hours ago, Asher P. Roth appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s nightly gig and performed “Be By Myself,” backed by house band, The Roots. Sans the baritone, I swear Tyriq, Black Thought could pass for a modern day Lou Rawls!

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Didn’t think Ricky would ever show his mug again after receiving that cease and desist from Louis V earlier this week. Nontheless, he’s making his rounds and last night appeared with the milk man Magazeen on Letterman to perform a cut off Deeper Than Rap.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/4653107]

At a recent show in San Fran, Sai Giddy performed one of my favorites. The bonus track from the much-heralded XXL Raps compilation, “Come Again.” That last sentence was typed with tongue placed firmly in cheek. Oh well one day, YN will EP (Executive Producer) an album again. Ha!

Seen!!!!: 2DB via Always Hustle

Although my light-skinned brother, DJ Drama reps the ATL to the fullest, my favorite jawn (Philly style) is the last track on GG2 featuring N’awlins finest. Who needs Wayne, when we have his fellow Hot Boys B.G. and Juve? Plus, a posthumous verse from Soulja Slim. How real is that? 

{mp3}13 gotta get it featuring b.g juvenile and soulja slim{/mp3}

See ya at Best Buy on Tuesday, you bastards!

In case you ain’t figured it out yet, I’m bumpin’ that new Meth and Red. And despite my disgust of underwhelming Wu saturation, there’s indeed some heat on here. You young hip-hoppers on Twitter were right. YN’s gonna cop this one too on Tuesday.

You can’t go wrong with a good intro.

{mp3}01 bo2 intro{/mp3} 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVJlTS3kjTI]

Embarrassed to admit, I don’t own this album.

Thanks Hip-Hop Is Read for making me feel like a loser. Ha!

With all the controversy around the latest VIBE magazine issue with Eminem on the cover, one important thing has gotten lost in the sauce. That’s right, YN’s return to print with the extremely rare freelance byline. Ha! Yup, in a package of the great rap albums of 1998, I reflected on two of the biggest: Jay-Z’s breakthrough Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life and DMX’s rap game-changing It’s Dark and Hell is Hot. I chose the one on the dog to share since it has the crazy personal backstory of me gettin’ to know a gentlemen named Irving Lorenzo. That’s guy’s always been loud. No Monopoly games.

Sidebar: Oh for all you list fanatics, VIBE got another one in the issue to piss you off. They ranked the Top 50 albums of 1998. And surprisingly, the Dog got the bronze medal. I’ll let you guess what two are above him. Or get off your ass and get to a newsstand. A boost counts as a sale. But you didn’t hear it from me.

Well if you were lost on the Special Ed post, you might wanna skip this one too. OK. Up in the Bronx where the people are still fresh, was a group called the Ultramagnetic MC’s—Kool Keith, Ced Gee, TR Love and Moe Love. Long story short, they were kinda a big deal. One of the most influential groups of the 80’s/early 90’s. If you haven’t heard their classic debut, 1988’s Critical Breakdown don’t make eye contact with me when you see me on the street. Ha!

Anyways, the one that started it all was their second 12 inch vinyl which features “Ego Trippin’,” the song that currently serves as the backbone of Amerie’s new banger. After seeing so many kids screwing up the info of who the author of this song (Fearless Four?) was and the title (There’s another song called “Funky”), I felt compelled to share a smidgen of my infinite knowledge. Also included is the “Substitution” break from which they helped craft this gem. Yup everything comes from something.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LliFimOlO0I] 

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Here’s the trailer for Marshall’s Relapse video game dropping this Tuesday, exclusively on iTunes. How’s that for cross promotion? Ha!

Relapse in stores May 19th!

According to MTV, “We Made You” co-producer Doc Ish (no Dre) claims he played Em’s first single for another MC first. Here’s a hint: What Else?

“He [Doc Ish] originally shopped the record — with the same hook, sung by Charmagne Tripp — to Red Café, before D12 member Bizarre picked it up.

But after writing his own version of ‘We Made You,’ Bizarre called Doc Ish with news that Eminem wanted the record. Because Bizarre is such a jokester, though, Doc didn’t believe him. So he hung up on him.

He called me at a bad time, so when he was like, ‘Marshall wants the record,’ I was like, ‘Yeah, right,’  Doc told MTV News. ‘He was like, ‘No, seriously, I’m not playing.’ And Bizarre is a comical dude, so it’s hard to know if he’s playing or not. I didn’t have time that day; I was busy mixing a record for Saigon. So I basically hung up on him. So he called me back with his cousin, Gambino, from Hartford, and he’s who I know Biz through. And [Gambino] was like, ‘Ish, he’s for real, he’s not playing.’ So they put me in touch with [Eminem’s] management. I was still like, ‘OK,’ ’cause Bizarre plays jokes on people. But within five minutes, his management called, and they said they wanted the song. I believed in that song, but I didn’t know it would make it to where it did.” 

Guess one man’s ceiling is still another man’s floor.