The hip-hop rumor-mill has been buzzing with talk of Jay-Z's possible plans for a quick post-retirement return to recording on a label other than Roc-A-Fella since well before he released his supposed swan-song 'The Black Album.' This week that mill has started making a little extra noise as a rumor surfaced claiming that Jigga is in fact doing his next record on Dr. Dre's Aftermath label under the psuedonym ( well, technically it's his real name ) S. Carter.

Personally I hope this is a crock of shit. After going back to his roots with 'The Blueprint' and to an even greater extent 'The Black Album' and the success of underground remix albums like Dangermouse's Beatles fueled 'The Grey Album' I think an album produced by Dr. Dre featuring guest appearances from 50 Cent, G-Unit and Eminem would be a huge step back into the dark days of Jay-Z's artistic downturn ( which unfortunately happened to coincide with his biggest financial success ). I mean, weren't the Eminem produced "Moment Of Clarity" and the DJ Quick ( another big-name West Coast producer and one-time Dr. Dre collaborator ) produced "Justify My Thug" from last year's 'The Black Album' the only two musical flops on an otherwise stellar release? It just doesn't make a lot of sense to try to work in that style, which failed him before, again. Wouldn't we all rather hear dude do a record with Rick Rubin, 9th Wonder, Dangermouse, Kanye West, Just Blaze, Timbaland, The Neptunes, The Roots, J-Dilla, Madlib, M.F. Doom, The RZA, El-P or some other left-field but much more suitable choice now that he's got the financial freedom and industry clout to do pretty much whatever he pleases? I know I would. Besides, after Dre's recent announcement that he's scrapped his long-delayed opus 'Detox' isn't the release of a Jay/Dre collaboration about as likely as Aftermath releasing an N.W.A. reunion, the 'Helter Skelter' project with Ice Cube or a record from Rakim right about now? It's not like they have the best track record when it comes to actually releasing these big projects Dre is always talking about.

Regardless though, the talk is there.

First there was DJ Whookid on the ( wackass ) Tim Westwood show spilling the beans and claiming that "Jay-Z's signing and he ain't retiring."

And then there was this site which took the news, allegedly made some calls to verify shit, and then ran with it exclaiming to their readers that "the information are true!"

Only time will tell, bad grammer withstanding, whether the information are true or not. But one thing is certain folks. "The information are true" is officially the new slang.

If you tuned into The Urban Alternative Show this week you might've heard us interview Texas based DJ & producer Nick Nack. And if you didn't tune in you can still listen to said interview in Real Audio format by looking for the link in the Audio section of this very site.

Oh, and by the way, you suck for not listening to the show.

Regardless, thanks to M.I.C.'s MySpace homie Mary (good lookin' out) we got hooked up with Nick for the interview and wound up getting put on the guest-list to see him backing up Chicago emcee Diverse on the one's & two's as a tour featuring him, alongside Automato and RJD2, stopped in Boston at The Paradise Rock Club last night.

The Paradise is always a fresh venue to see a show. It's a cool room with good sound and you can usually find a place to sit. M.I.C. and I arrived early and set up shop on one of the little balcony/lounge areas to the left of the stage. This afforded us a cool view of the proceedings until an ever growing swell of wack frat-boy types decided to stand in front of us. I attempted to ward said Caucasoids off by batting at them with the rolled up RJD2 'Since We Last Spoke' poster I pulled off the wall and shouting "get out the way yo," but eventually the tide of drunken, backward-hat-wearing youngsters became too great to fight so I gave up. Luckily this didn't happen until well into RJD2's set, at which point I stood up and started using stiff-arm tactics to keep my personal viewing space safe, so we managed to pass most of the show in relative comfort and without incident.

Inconsiderate concert-goers aside, the show was spectacular.

Opening act Automato, who we've been offering strong support to on our radio show, were incredible. Their show was really tight, with multiple members rocking different instruments, two vocalists alternately rapping and singing, and an array of cool electronic toys at their disposal. What was really impressive though was how good the sound was during their set, with everything, from vocals right on down to the electronic squeal of a miniature Casio "jam-box" sounding crystal clear. I feel the same now about Automato as I did after seeing The Rapture live, if I was impressed by the band after hearing their DFA-produced debut album, I'm even more so now that I've seen how well all their energy, emotion and electronic bells & whistles translate to the live arena. If you get the opportunity to see these guys live, please don't front, just go!

Up next was emcee Diverse who put on an energetic set. He ran through a bunch of tracks he's either released as singles or on his recent full-length 'One A.M.' and he even debuted some material from a forthcoming collaborative EP with producer Madlib. Nick Nack rocked the turntables both before Diverse took the stage and during his set, showcasing his rhythmic, virtuoso style scratch techniques and his extremely good manners. Nick also hit us off with a fresh mixtape and thanked us not only for digging his records but conducting such a sweet interview. Yay, we rule! Oh, and look out for a possible Diverse interview sometime soon.

Finally RJD2 took the stage and blew through a few whirlwind DJ sets featuring a number of his classic tracks and some new material on four turntables and an MPC, which he called "the crazy box," quoting his friend and fellow producer/DJ Diplo. This was my first time seeing RJ live. I've always wondered what exactly he does when on stage and now even after seeing it with my own two eyes I'm still not all that sure. He was a blur of sweat, hands and records. Moving back and forth between turntables, mixers and sampler/drum machine. Queuing, scratching, tapping out melodies and triggering samples. What was coming from where I don't know, but it all looked and sounded intense. Seeing his performance made me wish I was offorded a similar view of DJ Shadow during his DJ set when I saw him a few months ago. Once again, if the opportunity should arise for you to see RJD2 live, just do it, no questions.

In other weekend concert related news, the crew also checked out M.O.P. at Pearl Street in Northampton Friday night. This show was billed as a tour featuring M.O.P., Pharoahe Monch, Scratch (formerly of The Roots) and Pitch Black. When we arrived at the venue however a handwritten sign informed us that it was only going to be M.O.P. featuring Cormega, with Smiley The Ghetto Child (I know what you're thinking here ... who?) and local turntable monkey DJ Theory opening. Not fresh y'all. Not fresh at all. There were a number of angry ticket-holders at the door trying to get rid of their tickets at this point.

We on the other hand decided we'd check the show out regardless.

When we stepped in the place Theory was doing his usual "wicky-wicky-wicky" that we've seen and heard him do a billion times before. There he was on stage, dropping records with little rhyme or reason, mixing out at inopportune times and going on seeming endless scratch exhibitions as he's known to. He did drop an old party-break record that I wondered aloud how and where he might have obtained, but other than that ... yeah ... okay dude.

Then, all of a sudden, Smiley The Ghetto Child, his DJ and his hype-man all came out and jumped into their set with no warning whatsoever. Seconds into his first song Smiley tried to start a confrontation with Theory, who was trying to get his turntables off the stage, blaming Theory and his associate for the skipping of a damaged record his DJ was trying to play. What was most shocking about his performance though was the fact that he was citing an affiliation with the Gangstarr Foundation, eventually revealing he was in-fact a member of the Group Home affiliated Brain Sick Click when he dropped his verse from that crew's classic track "The Realness." Despite this affiliation with one of hip-hop's most respected acts dude basically fulfilled every hip-hop cliche there was during his thankfully short performance.

Then out came Cormega. Mega Montana looked genuinely happy to be on stage, raising the question "did he just get out of jail?" among many of the folks in attendance. He put on a cool show, performing truncated versions of a bunch of his hits, which many in the audience seemed to recognize even though I certainly didn't. Cormega has a pretty decent following and people are constantly bigging him up on message boards I frequent, but after seeing his stage show I'm left feeling exactly what I always felt about him ... he's got personality and decent production, but his lyrics and flow... I'm just not sure.

Next!

Next, and last, came M.O.P. with what just may have been the loudest live set I've ever heard in my life. The crew notorious for their screaming & yelling on record both screamed and yelled into their microphones which sounded as though they were already turned up to 10 over instrumentals which also sounded as if they were turned up to 10. They did all their classics and managed to get M.I.C., 12XU and myself amped enough to jump around and yell a little bit with their energetic, water throwing, stage-jumping, speaker-standing, antics. Then they brought out a band. What the fuck? This was when shit got extra rowdy and even louder, if that's even humanly possible. With their metal-style backing band in place they launched into a couple of rock tinged cuts, covering Sabbath's "Iron Man" and the Beastie Boys classic "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn." This had the crew headbangin' and throwing up the devil sign. Despite the overly loud and muddy sound M.O.P. ripped shit and actually had me leaving the venue satisfied despite the absence of Monch.

All in all it was a pretty full weekend of entertainment.

Pretty cool when one considers that tomorrow brings the spectacle of the annual election of the board of directors at our radio station. Wish me luck, I may actually be running for something this year.

And don't forget; tune in to our radio shows bastards!

I have Immortal Technique's 'Revolutionary Vol. 2' on in the headphones and it sparked an urge to post this ...

Immortal Technique "Cause Of Death"

Immortal Technique
Revolutionary Volume 2
Yeah, broadcastin' live, from Harlem New York
Let the truth be known

You better watch what the fuck flies outta ya mouth
Or I'mma hijack a plane and fly it into your house
Burn your apartment with your family tied to the couch
And slit your throat so when you scream only blood comes out
I doubt that there could ever be, a more wicked emcee
Cuz AIDS infested child molesters aren't sicker than me
I see the world for what it is, beyond the white and the black
The way the government down-plays historical facts
Cuz the United States sponsored the rise of the 3rd Reich
Just like the CIA trained terrorists how to fight
Build bombs and sneak box cutters onto a flight
When I was a child the Devil himself bought me a mic
But I refused the offer, cuz God sent me to strike
With skills unused like fallopian tubes on a dyke
My words'll expose George Bush and Bin Laden
As two separate parts of the same seven headed dragon
And you can't fathom the truth, so you don't hear me
You think Illuminati's just a fuckin conspiracy theory?
That's why Conservative racists are all runnin' shit
And your phone is tapped by the Federal Government
So I'm jammin' frequencies in ya brain when you speak to me
Technique'll rip a rapper to pieces indecently
Pack weapons illegally, cuz I'm never hesitant
Sniper scopin' the commission controllin' the president

Father forgive them for they don't know right from wrong
The truth'll set you free written down in the song
And the song has the Cause of Death written in code
The Word of God brought to light that'll save ya soul

Save ya soul muthafucka... save ya soul

Yeah, yeah, yeah

I hacked the Pentagon for self-incriminating evidence
Of Republican manufactured white powder pestilence
Marines Corps. flack vest, with the guns and ammo
Spittin' bars like a demon stuck inside a piano
Turn a Sambo into a soldier with just one line
So here's the truth about the system that'll fuck up your mind
They gave Al Queda 6 billion dollars in 1989, to 1992
And now the last chapters of Revelations are coming true
And I know a lot of people find it hard to swallow this
Cuz subliminal bigotry makes you hate my politics
But you act like America wouldn't destroy two buildings
In a country that was sponsoring bombs dropped on our children
I was watching the Towers, and though I wasn't the closest
I saw them crumble to the Earth like they were full of explosives
And they thought nobody noticed the news report that they did
About the bombs planted on the George Washington bridge
Four non-Arabs arrested during the emergency
And then it disappeared from the news permanently
They dubbed a tape of Osama, and they said it was proof
"Jealous of our freedom," I can't believe you bought that excuse
Rockin' a muthafuckin' flag don't make you a hero
Word to Ground Zero
The Devil crept into Heaven
God overslept on the 7th
The New World Order was born on September 11

Father forgive them for they don't know right from wrong
The truth'll set you free written down in the song
And the song has the Cause of Death written in code
The Word of God brought to light that'll save ya soul

Save ya soul muthafucka... save ya soul

And just so Conservatives don't take it to heart
I don't think Bush did it, cuz he isn't that smart
He's just a stupid puppet takin' orders on his cell phone
From the same people that sabotaged Senator Wellstone
The military industry got it poppin' and lockin'
Lookin' for a way to justify the Wolfowitz Doctrine
And as a matter of fact, Rumsfeld, now that I think back
Without 9/11, you couldn't have a war in Iraq
Or a Defense budget of world conquest proportions
Kill freedom of speech and revoke the right to abortion
Tax cut extortion, a blessing to the wealthy and wicked
But you still have to answer to the Armageddon you scripted
And Dick Cheney, you fuckin' leech, tell 'em your plans
About buildin' your pipelines through Afghanistan
And how Israeli troops trained the Taliban in Pakistan
You might have some house niggaz fooled, but I understand
Colonialism is sponsored by corporations
That's why Halliburton gets paid to rebuild nations
Tell me the truth, I don't scare into paralysis
I know the CIA saw Bin Laden on dialysis
In '98 when he was Top Ten for the FBI
Government ties is really why the Government lies
Read it yourself instead of asking the Government why
'Cuz then the Cause of Death'll cause the propaganda to die

Father... forgive them

Word up. Dude's album is fire from beginning to end. So go cop it yall.

That is all.

On The Turntable Right Now | Vast Aire feat. Karniege "Candid Cam"

Legendary soul/r&b songwriter & performer John Whitehead once sang the words "ain't no stoppin' us now." This past Tuesday, at the age of 55, two men finally stopped him, and they did so with a hail of bullets.

elketerbentzadik: do they let kanye say "jordans"?
Emeyesi: Yep
elketerbentzadik: fuck that
Emeyesi: On all of the versions
elketerbentzadik: so you can't say crack
Emeyesi: Or crackhead
Emeyesi: Or whiteman
elketerbentzadik: but you can mention a fuckin' $200 shoe brand?

Courtesy of M.I.C., it's the mystery of Kanye West's disappearing lyrics...

"Crack dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack, and the white man get paid offa all a dat" - Album version

"_____ ______ buy Jordans, _________ buy _____, and the white man get paid offa all a dat" - Radio & BET Version

"_____ ______ buy Jordans, _________ buy _____, and the _____ ___ get paid offa all a dat" - MTV version

...if he'd only join the blog like I asked him to he coulda posted this himself instead of e-mailing it to me.

"...in da club" right here in Springfield. At the Hippodrome to be exact.

Apparently you could also find him fighting with his fans and possibly even licking off shots down the block.

"What up" with that "gaangstuuuuuuuuuh?"

It reportedly took "many men" to quell the disturbance.

Reggae legend and founder of the Studio One label Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd has died in Jamaica at the age of 72.

...in the AUDIO section courtesy of your's truly.

They're called "Lonely Nights" & "Obsidian On Celuloid" and they're both in good ol' trusty Real Audio format for your quick streaming, 56k friendly, listening pleasure.

I've been on a roll of late with the soul samples. Been coming up with some decent shit. I'm hoping to keep up the output as I've had a couple of requests for tracks from a couple of emcees and I'm interested in putting out a production project of my own as well.

Anyway, listen up, and then let me know what you think.