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How J-Zone lost his Wikipedia page—and his interest in being a rapper The average musician will go through what I went through before they go through what Jay-Z went through. I wanted to show people you can be the best at what you do and work hard and believe in yourself and persevere and still not make it. And nobody wants to admit that sometimes that just doesn’t happen. Sometimes the stars just don’t align, and you have to be able to accept the level that you get to. I got to a certain level, which is more than a lot of people, but it didn’t match up with the amount of work I put in, and I got frustrated. Read more…
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How J-Zone lost his Wikipedia page—and his interest in being a rapper

The average musician will go through what I went through before they go through what Jay-Z went through. I wanted to show people you can be the best at what you do and work hard and believe in yourself and persevere and still not make it. And nobody wants to admit that sometimes that just doesn’t happen. Sometimes the stars just don’t align, and you have to be able to accept the level that you get to. I got to a certain level, which is more than a lot of people, but it didn’t match up with the amount of work I put in, and I got frustrated.

Read more…

The Sloppiest Sci-Fi Movie Science Violations Of 2012 The Avengers unites six comic superheroes from across the universe. This requires some serious suspension of disbelief to even walk into the theater, and yet there’s one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb: a flying aircraft carrier. The clandestine S.H.I.E.L.D. organization owns this stealthy airborne base, called the Helicarrier, and it looks like a Nimitz Class Carrier-sized vessel weighing about 110,000 tons. Four giant rotors — each with a diameter of about 117 feet — flank its corners and loft it into the skies. Physics professor Rhett Allain crunched the numbers to see what it would take to merely hover the machine in mid-air. Read more…
Zoom

The Sloppiest Sci-Fi Movie Science Violations Of 2012

The Avengers unites six comic superheroes from across the universe. This requires some serious suspension of disbelief to even walk into the theater, and yet there’s one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb: a flying aircraft carrier. The clandestine S.H.I.E.L.D. organization owns this stealthy airborne base, called the Helicarrier, and it looks like a Nimitz Class Carrier-sized vessel weighing about 110,000 tons. Four giant rotors — each with a diameter of about 117 feet — flank its corners and loft it into the skies.

Physics professor Rhett Allain crunched the numbers to see what it would take to merely hover the machine in mid-air.

Read more…

Why Are There so Few African-Americans in Metal? Though Latinos are common in metal, African-Americans are not. Why is that? “These are questions that need to be asked,” De Pena says, adding that although he’s never felt excluded, he’s felt “misunderstood by other black folks. You get looked at differently if you’re black and into metal. I still get that today.” He believes many listen at home but are wary of stepping into the scene either because of misconceptions about metal fans or peer pressure — hip-hop continues to reign supreme, after all. “There are tons of black kids who love metal, but they think that there won’t be any other black kids there and they won’t be accepted.” He believes their anxieties are misplaced, however. “I think if black people went to shows, they’d be stoked. It’s not like what people hear about on talk shows.” De Pena believes metalheads to be an open-minded and accepting bunch. “People come from all religious backgrounds, skin tones and hair lengths. I was more accepted because we’re all outcasts and misfits.” Read more…
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Why Are There so Few African-Americans in Metal?

Though Latinos are common in metal, African-Americans are not. Why is that?

“These are questions that need to be asked,” De Pena says, adding that although he’s never felt excluded, he’s felt “misunderstood by other black folks. You get looked at differently if you’re black and into metal. I still get that today.”

He believes many listen at home but are wary of stepping into the scene either because of misconceptions about metal fans or peer pressure — hip-hop continues to reign supreme, after all. “There are tons of black kids who love metal, but they think that there won’t be any other black kids there and they won’t be accepted.”

He believes their anxieties are misplaced, however. “I think if black people went to shows, they’d be stoked. It’s not like what people hear about on talk shows.” De Pena believes metalheads to be an open-minded and accepting bunch. “People come from all religious backgrounds, skin tones and hair lengths. I was more accepted because we’re all outcasts and misfits.”

Read more…

Could a Black director have made “Django”? In the case of “Django Unchained” — in Tarantino choosing, as Deggans says, to make a movie about “a black man mow(ing) down one white asshole after another, taking out men too venal, stupid or entitled to admit how much of their world was built on the blood and pain of black slaves” — he proactively decided to use his White Privilege to televisually attack the ugliest roots of that privilege. Read more…
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Could a Black director have made “Django”?

In the case of “Django Unchained” — in Tarantino choosing, as Deggans says, to make a movie about “a black man mow(ing) down one white asshole after another, taking out men too venal, stupid or entitled to admit how much of their world was built on the blood and pain of black slaves” — he proactively decided to use his White Privilege to televisually attack the ugliest roots of that privilege.

Read more…

From DJ Kevin Scott:

Here is DJ AM’s “The Power 106 – 12 Day of Mixmas” recording from December 29th, 2005. It’s been 7 years now since it went down and, in retrospect, this singular mix hitting the internet had a massive effect on countless DJ’s and helped move DJ’ing forward into the open format / mashup era that thrived from 2006-2009.

To help paint a picture of the times back then, this mix came along when hip hop and NOTHING BUT hip hop completely dominated the clubs and the airwaves. Open format DJ’ing had not fully re-emerged from its’ late 90s coma yet so music was very one dimensional. Also during this time, Power 106 FM in Los Angeles was a STRICTLY hip hop and R&B station, they never deviated from that playlist (even in their mixshows) so this mix was quite a shock to their regular listeners. In December 2005, Power decided to have a “club” themed day of mixes with back to back 2 hour sets from DJ AM & DJ Vice. AM did this mix live in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday for 2 solid hours.

This is the full uncut version of the mix. For more back story & never-seen-before pics, you can check out: www.djkevinscott.com/2012/12/17/remembering-dj-ams-power-106-mix-dec-2005/

Listening to this now… 15 years later, gives me chills. Cee-Lo was so RAW with it! I miss it. (My recent interview with DJ Muggs had me going back. It’ll be published soon.)

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