Verse of the Day 5/26

Today's Verse comes from Andre 3000, on the Outkast classic track "Elevators", off of their ATLiens album. Respect that man...

Got stopped at the mall the other day
Heard a call from the other way
that I just came from, some nigga was sayin somethin
talkin bout "Hey man, you remember me from school?" smoke some
Naw not really but he kept smilin like a clown
facial expression lookin silly
And he kept askin me, what kind of car you drive, I know you paid
I know y'all got buku of hoes from all them songs that y'all done made
And I replied that I had been goin through tha same thing that he had
True I got more fans than the average man but not enough loot to last me
to the end of the week, I live by the beat like you live check to check
If you don't move yo' foot then I don't eat, so we like neck to neck
Yes we done come a long way like them Slim ass cigarettes
from Virginia, this ain't gon stop so we just gonna continue

-Andre 3000

Album Reviews

The people said Kyle, you need to do an actual post and stop bullshitting'....so here I am. I told y'all i would talk about a lot of things. I'm just finding it hard not to steal from McCoy's Blog. So I will try to have quicker updates...with just random shit I think during the day. For right now I'm going to review two albums. The first two albums Def Jam has released since Jay-Z became president of the company...Memphis Bleek's "534", and the Young Guns' "Brothers From Another".

Memphis Bleek
534

The 534 for Bleeks album is his apartment number from Brooklyn's Marcy Projects, where he lived a few floors underneath his Sugar Daddy...um I mean mentor, Jay-Z. However, dont get confused this new album isn't an ode to his home, but much rather just another carbon copy album from an average rapper. For anyone who has followed Memphis Bleeks career, you pretty much know what you are getting before you unwrap the CD. Overdone braggodocio, stereotypical status references, tough guy posturing etc. This CD is no different.

The album starts off as most Memphis Bleek albums do, The Intro/title track is a hyped up 2:42 where Bleek tries to get the listener excited about the album. His aggressive flow fits well on this track but the song isn't saying anything new and the scratches and cuts on the hook are eerily similar to the intro for one of his previous albums "The Understanding". From this track the album goes into one of its few highlights and fortunately (or unfortunately if you are Bleek fan), it has absolutely nothing to do with Memphis Bleek. The next track on the album is the much ancticipated "Dear Summer" featuring Jay-Z. However this isn't really a feature as Bleek has no appearances on the track. It would be easy to say this is the best track on the album and while that statement probably isn't fair to Bleek, its the gods honest truth. After this jewel of a track comes lead single "Like That" featuring an above average beat from Swizz Beatz. This track is your typical club fare, nothing to see here. Bleek screams all over the hook and says nothing you need to take time remembering.

After these first initial 3 tracks the album takes a turn most other Bleek albums have taken, the cliche songs for the ladies. He's done it on his 3 previous albums. This time around its a song called "Infatuated" featuring Boxie. I'd comment on this, but theres nothing to say. I'll sum it up like this...If I was a girl, I'd be insulted that someone would think I would like something like that. He sticks with this "rapping for the girls" formula for a few more songs only to be saved by M.O.P. on the banger "First, Last and Only". On every album Bleek seems to enlist the help of the most hardcore rappers he can find to try to solidfy his place in the streets. On this album and years "M.A.D.E." he's called M.O.P. to help him out. And each time they have rapped circles around him, nonetheless this is still a quality track especially for those who are fans of M.O.P.

I wish I could say that there were more bright spots on this album, but the production isn't anything really extraordinary. The rest of the album is filled with...well...filler. The requisite Bleek track with a member of his Get Low Records label. One word, Yawn. There's a 'posse' cut with Young Guns and then the requisite 'Bleek talks about his struggles track' with the lone bright spot for the rest of the album being "Alright" a track that up and coming beat mastermind 9th Wonder produced. A very soulful track with better than average lyrics from Bleek. All in all this is another album that you could probably put in your cd player and forget its on, which is a double edged sword. Theres nothing on it that catches your ear, nor is there anything that makes you want to turn it off.


The Young Guns
Brothers from Another

This is the second offering from Philadelphia's Young Guns. An offshoot of the popular State Property crew that was once under the tutelage of Beanie Sigel, via Rocafella Records. A few years back Jay-Z discovered them and immediately fell in love with their cocky style. He thought it reminded him of a younger version of himself. Well those thoughts have yet to come to fruition, however the Young Gun's are no slouches. I will readily admit, I slept on last years "Tough Luv", it was a better than decent album with very good production and quality guest appearances, from Jay, Cam, Free and Beans. It had two radio friendly singles and showed a lot of promise. Unfortunately, just like in sports (ahem...Kwame Brown), promise doesn't always equal immediate success.

One of the problems the Young Guns have had in the past is a tendency to sound very lazy on their soungs. Part of it is their delivery, but at times they think their talent outreaches their need to actually work on their songs. The album intro starts with an average beat from in house Philly beatsmith Chad "West" Hamilton. Again, like the Bleek album, nothing to see here. The album is then rescued by the Swizz Beatz (sensing a pattern here) banger "Set It Off". Definitely club hit potential, and will probably end up being the saving grace for this extremely short album.

They follow up with the 112 assisted snoozer "Don't Keep Me Waiting". Two words. Sucks ass. Nothing of redeeming value comes out of this track. They then decide its appropriate to go back to the west side, and they seem to do very well on the Daz assisted "Tonight", featuring a very solid beat from Chad West. Not the greatest song ever created, but a definite bright spot on the album. After sifting through some more album filler comes the banger from David Banner "Same Shit Different Day", nothing incredibly lyrical from the duo here, but Banner gave them a crazy track to work with.

Kanye West makes an appearance soon after on the track "Grown Man pt. 2" also featuring John Legend. Unfortunately Kanye has done much better beats and the beat here kills the song. It's boring and uninspired. Also the song doesn't sound like anything the Young Guns should be on. From this point the album is littered with filler tracks. "Beef" has a solid beat, but they are treading on the same territory everyone else has, and havent added anything to it. There are two appearances from Pooda Brown (???) on the next few tracks, and then the album ends aburptly. Way too short of an album to have so many filler tracks. Hopefully Jay can point them in the right direction next time.

All in all, two average albums from the New Rocafella Records, whose new slogan is "We Get Busy". It sounds like something the WNBA would use to attract new fans, but whatever guess I gotta trust Jay on that one.

Final Reviews

Memphis Bleek (534): 3 out of 5, I couldn't honestly tell anyone to buy this album but, i don't think i could clown anyone for listening to it.

The Young Guns (Brothers From Another): 2.5 out of 5, A definite step down from their previous album, with not much to really carry it through.

The Ultimate Actor Battle...Pacino vs. DeNiro

The question has come up many times throughout my adult life...and it comes in different forms, i.e: "Who's the better clutch shooter?", "Which QB would you pick for one game?" etc, etc. Well the topic can also be applied to movies and or actors/actresses. There are no larger cult figure actors than Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. So the question is...Who's better? I was going to go into a long diatribe about why i thought what, giving different detail from different movies. However, since I'm a lazy bastard, and one of my favorite writers, Bill Simmons aka "The Sports Guy" from ESPN.com has already written it, I decided i would just use his answer to the question. Hes a good writer and feels almost the same way I do, although we differ on the final answer. Either way here it is, feel free to comment on this post or whatever. . . Peace......................

P.S.: the saddest part about this is that I've seen the majority of the movies he references in this piece.

SG: I'll be honest ... this question sat in my "Potential Mailbag Questions" file for an entire summer. I was afraid to answer it. Wouldn't you be afraid? Pacino vs. De Niro? The two most famous, influential actors of the past 30 years? I feel like I'm about to walk on Mars ... I probably won't return safely, but I can't resist. All right, let's break this down, Dr. Jack-style:

	Robert De Niro became Jake LaMotta, but he couldn't knock out Al Pacino's Michael Corleone.

Breakthrough performance -- Pacino with Michael Corleone in "The Godfather"; De Niro with Young Vito Corleone in "Godfather II." Yikes. Pacino's part was more important, only because Michael evolved as a character from "good-hearted, wide-eyed pup" to "evil mob boss" in the span of three hours, and the scene where he kills Solazzo and McCloskey at Louis' Ristorante has to rank among the most difficult scenes to pull off. If Pacino choked with that part, "Godfather I" would have failed miserably. As for De Niro, his performance in "Godfather II" was incredible -- he actually made you believe that he was the young Marlon Brando playing the young Vito Corleone. Read that sentence again. But it was a supporting part ... the movie could have survived without a home run performance from him. And remember, Coppola auditioned both Pacino and De Niro for Michael's part when he was casting "The Godfather," with Pacino winning out. That's just enough to give him the nod. EDGE: PACINO.

Defining performance -- "Godfather II" for Pacino, "Raging Bull" for De Niro (the two most important performances by a male actor in the past 30 years). De Niro learned how to box, he gained 60 pounds ... I mean, he became Jake LaMotta. But I'm still going with Pacino here, only because that's the one movie where I always think to myself, "Good God, he is absolutely amazing in this" every time I watch it. Just an electric performance from start to finish, like watching Pedro at his peak: Four pitches working, 98 mph fastball, everything for strikes. The scene where Diane Keaton tells him about her abortion, and Pacino's face starts to shake ... that's an absolute acting clinic. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. SLIGHT EDGE: PACINO.

Consistency -- Pacino's prime lasted from 1972 ("The Godfather") through 1983 ("Serpico," "Godfather II," "Dog Day Afternoon," "And Justice For All," "Cruising," "Scarface"), with a resurgence for most of the '90s ("Godfather III," "Scent of a Woman," "Carlito's Way," "Heat," "The Insider," "Any Given Sunday"). I always thought that "Scent of a Woman"'s success was the worst thing that could have happened to him -- after he won the Oscar, he basically played the "Scent of a Woman" guy in every movie after that. Hoo-hah!!!!! De Niro's prime lasted much longer -- initially from 1974 ("Godfather II") through 1980 ("Taxi Driver," "The Deer Hunter," "Raging Bull"), with a resurgence in the late-'80s ("The Untouchables," "Midnight Run," "Awakenings," "Goodfellas," "Cape Fear," "This Boy's Life," "Bronx Tale," "Casino," "Heat"), and then another resurgence in the late-'90s when he started doing comedies ("Analyze This," "Meet the Parents"). Just a more interesting, consistent, complete body of work, capped off by his improbable comedy success over these last few years (much like Barry Bonds improbably finishing his 30s by belting 73 homers one season and hitting .375 the next).

	Over-the-Top Pacino was past his prime in "Any Given Sunday."

Put it this way: If you were trapped on a desert island and could import all of De Niro's movies or all of Pacino's movies, you'd probably pick De Niro (unless you couldn't live without "Scarface" and "Godfather I"). Just more to choose from. EDGE: De NIRO.

Believability as a cop -- Pacino was more believable as a detective; De Niro was more believable as a cop. So why didn't somebody write a movie where Pacino (as a detective) and De Niro (as a cop) banded together to solve a crime? Frankly, I have no idea. EDGE: TIE.

Most admirable misfire -- De Niro as a stalker comedian in "King of Comedy" (he just couldn't pull it off); Pacino as a Cuban drug dealer in "Scarface" (you forget, that movie absolutely bombed when it came out). Which movie will you remember 20 years from now? BIG EDGE: PACINO. Range -- De Niro in a walk, mainly because he could throw anything at you -- Funny De Niro, Deadpan De Niro, Scary Mobster De Niro, Quiet Cop De Niro, Intense De Niro, Crazy Cop De Niro, Just Plain Crazy De Niro, Athletic De Niro, Killer De Niro, Quirky De Niro, Kindhearted DeNiro and so on. Pacino could only offer Quiet Cop Pacino, Abrasive Cop Pacino, Brooding Pacino, Crazy Pacino, Intense Pacino, Scary Pacino and Over-the-Top Pacino. There was never really Funny Pacino, unless we're talking in the Unintentional Comedy sense. Ironically enough, neither of them could pull off Romantic Pacino or Romantic De Niro (it always felt uncomfortable). Four performances from the latter part of De Niro's career really set him apart: 1) "Midnight Run" (genuinely funny, genuinely likable, carried the movie on sheer personality, his most underrated performance), 2) "This Boy's Life" (as the meanspirited stepfather), 3) "Bronx Tale" (as the likable bus driver), and 4) "Heat" (without having much to work with -- that bank robber was a blank slate). I'm not sure Pacino could have pulled off any of those roles. EDGE: De NIRO. (And that reminds me ...) The

Switch -- If you switched their careers and had Pacino play all of De Niro's parts, and vice-versa, who would have done a better job? De Niro wouldn't have nailed any of Pacino's over-the-top parts ("Scent of a Woman," "Heat," "And Justice For All"), and I can't imagine him pulling off the quiet, conflicted-about-possibly-being-gay police officer infiltrating the Manhattan gay scene in "Cruising" (it would have played like an "SNL" skit). He definitely would have taken Tony Montana and Michael Corleone somewhere (maybe not the same heights, but somewhere). And I think he matches anything else. But Pacino with De Niro's parts? None of the comedy roles would have worked. "Cape Fear" and "Raging Bull" wouldn't have worked. He couldn't have played the young Vito Corleone. He probably could have handled the mob parts and most of the cop parts, and the only movie he would have improved was "King of Comedy." It just wouldn't have worked as well as De Niro with Pacino's career. EDGE: De NIRO.

Ability to avoid unintentional comedy -- Pacino takes the cake here. Ellen Barkin groping him in "Sea of Love," the dancing scenes in "Cruising" and "Scarface," the "She's got a great ass!" scene in Heat ... the list is endless. De Niro never made you laugh unless it was intentional. EDGE: De NIRO.

Most improbable character that somehow worked -- "Cape Fear" was one of those movies that you only watched once (a little too disturbing, a little too disorienting), but De Niro transformed himself for the role of Max Cady -- ripped body, long hair, Southern accent, tattoos, the works. Ten minutes into the movie, you didn't even remember that it was him. I got you now! As for Pacino, he was handed one of the most impossible parts ever -- play a swaggering drug dealer with no redeeming qualities, adopt a Cuban accent, say everything from the side of your mouth, drop F-bombs every few minutes, have your character slowly become a coked-up maniac as the movie drags along, carry every single scene you're in, do everything in the most over-the-top fashion possible, and somehow keep the audience rooting for you in the final 20 minutes -- and somehow pulled it off, singlehandedly making "Scarface" one of the signature pop culture movies of the past 20 years. And if you don't like it ... well, (bleep) you, how's that? EDGE: PACINO.

Shamelessness about selling out -- Hey, it's not like Pacino hasn't taken a few roles just for cash ("The Devil's Advocate," "Godfather III," "Simone" and "Dick Tracy," to name four). But he always picked his spots, at least until recently, and every Pacino movie always managed to feel like an event, even if it sucked. Not De Niro. The way he sold out over the past 15 years has almost been jarring: "15 Minutes," "Rocky and Bullwinkle," "Showtime," "The Fan," "Frankenstein," "Marvin's Room," "Great Expectations" and "Backdraft," as well as a number of below-average films that he inexplicably accepted ("Stanley and Iris," "Mad Dog and Glory," "Guilty By Suspicion," "Night and the City," "We're No Angels"). Bob, feel free to say no every once in a while. It's okay. BIG EDGE: PACINO.

Most influential line on pop culture -- De Niro has "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?"; Pacino has "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." Which one do you use more? I thought so. EDGE: PACINO.

Wild card -- My buddy Gus (who's legally changing his name to "My Buddy Gus" next month) pointed this one out: In Pacino's movies, there's always a definitive scene that you remember, one of those Pacino Scenes where he basically tells the director, "When I'm finished with this take, we'll just send it right to the Oscar committee" (like the "I woulda taken a FLAME THROWER to this place!" from "Scent of a Woman,' or the final locker room speech in "Any Given Sunday"). No matter how bad the movie, Pacino always has that one memorable scene (even in "Devil's Advocate," which may have been the worst two hours of my life). De Niro just isn't that type of actor; he's always better in understated scenes (like the scene in "Midnight Run" when he goes to borrow money from his ex-wife). If they were pitchers, De Niro would be Greg Maddux (steady and brilliant) and Pacino would be Randy Johnson (you never know what he's capable of next). Whatever the case, I think Pacino gets a small edge here, only because a collage of his best scenes would be more fun to watch than a collage of De Niro's best scenes. EDGE: PACINO.

Head-to-head matchup -- As we all know, Pacino and DeNiro shared one major scene together, the diner scene in "Heat," one of the five or six most exciting moments of my life as a movie fan (I still remember seeing it for the first time, thinking to myself, "Good God, is this really happening?"). That's also one of those rare scenes in a movie where you're flicking channels, you know it's coming up soon, and you'll hang around for 15 minutes just until it comes on ... and after watching that scene roughly 73,456 times on cable over the last seven years, I'm giving De Niro a slight edge. Here's why ... It was dead-even right until the end. Pacino did his "Brotha, you are going down" routine. De Niro did his "There's a flip side to that coin ... what if I have to take you down?" routine. And it was a dead heat. Both of them hit it out of the park. Except right at the end, Pacino broke into a slight smile, almost like he couldn't handle the moment -- either it was too intense, or he couldn't believe the scene just happened. Either way, it's always bothered me. His character never would have smiled in that scene at that particular moment. It didn't add up. And it was just enough to give De Niro the win. SLIGHT EDGE: De NIRO.

NBA Season Rankings

These rankings are strictly my opinion and aren't neccessarily based on statistics, I'll throw some comments in after somethings I feel people wont agree with, which is whatever cause if you dont agree with me...chances are you are just stupid anyway...haha. Feel free to respond with your own comments or bring up another topic.

Top 5 By Position:

PG:
1. Steve Nash
2. Dwyane Wade (jesus thats a dumb way to spell a name)
3. Gilbert Arenas
4. Jason Kidd
5. Mike Bibby

...I don't care how many assists Iverson has, he's a shooting guard so he doesn't count here. And anyone that feels that clown Starbury should be here go elsewhere, he's never made any team hes been on better. Honorable mention to T. Parker.

SG:
1. Allen Iverson
2. Ray Allen
3. Vince Carter (Stabbed Toronto in the back, and then put up All Star Numbers in Jerz)
4. Kobe Bryant (I hate Kobe, but even I cant deny those numbers)
5. Larry Hughes (Homer pick sure, but he led the league in steals and missed 20+ games)

...If there was a #6 it would be going to MANU, not Paul Pierce. Pierce always looks like hes not having any fun while hes playing...screw him.

SF:
1. LeBron James
2. Tracy McGrady
3. Shawn Marion (The numbers just dont lie, and he does it every year out of position)
4. Rashard Lewis (He has completely disappeared in the playoffs, and I'm not really surprised)
5. Joe Johnson/Quentin Richardson/Peja Stojakovic (Toss up, I couldn't decide...make your own choice)

...Honorable Mentions would go to Bobby Simmons and Antawn Jamison.

PF:
1. Kevin Garnett
2. Amare Stoudemire (Young Shawn Kemp, not sure if that is good or bad though)
3. Dirk Nowitzki
4. Tim Duncan (Yawn, watching him play ball is like watching paint dry)
5. Elton Brand

...Had AK47 played this year Brand probably would have been bumped off. Same with Maine O' Neal.

C:
1. Shaquille O' Neal
2. Yao Ming
3. Brad Miller
4. Zydrunas Ilgauskas
5. Ben Wallace

...No comments, i dont care about anyone who played that position outside of Shaq, and to be honest i dont think any of you do either.

MVP Ballot: (Man I wish they let me vote in these things)
1. Steve Nash
2. Allen Iverson
3. LeBron James
4. Shaquille O' Neal
5. Dirk Nowitzki

...Yeah I didn't have Shaq up there, and I'm a Shaq fan. Steve or AI deserved it, end of story.

Most Improved Player:
1. Grant Hill
2. Bobby Simmons

...watching Grant play was nice to see, and Bobby Simmons played in the D League at one point, thats worse than playing overseas.

Most Improved Player (In a Contract Year):
1. Ray Allen
2. Larry Hughes

...Man, nothing drives a person like money does it. Let someone dangle 70-90 Million Dollars in front of me, I'd do practically anything they asked. Wouldn't you?

Next Years Most Valuable Player who wont win it:
Ron Artest

...shit, if you dont think hes going to come out and set the NBA on fire, you dont know Ron.

Players I love to hate:
1. Chris Webber (Sorry Dub, you better hope Scoop's prediction works out)
2. Allan Houston (I'll just lay this number on you, $17,531,520, thats what he got paid this year)
3. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (One word: Useless)


That's Pretty much it for now, if I left anything out you can post it up or respond, or whatever. Hope you enjoyed...Peace

More Updates coming soon...

My first post got a real positive response, so I'm going to do more. But I'll need a little time, i'll have my posting everyday moments and my no posts for 3-4 moments. So if you bear with me I'll try to keep it updated and funny. There will be an actual post up tomorrow....PEACE