First off Happy Thanksgiving to those in the USA. This is a bit of a freestyle as I really didn’t have anything planned, but then I was flipping through the channels when I saw the video for this song and remembered how sick it was. Check the drum track on this song, to me it’s pretty sick how fast Tré Cool is playing them. Of course the band is Green Day and the track, “Basket Case”, came off of the the groups third record Dookie, which some people felt that the group had sold out, but you know what, WHO GIVES A FUCK. This record was dope from beginning to the end, why the fuck do people hate everytime someone that was underground hits big. Haters hate, that’s what they do best.

The visuals are pretty cool too, with the colors being super saturated and exagerated and those freaky ass masks. Green Day really opened my eyes to the genre of punk and had me going back to listen to classics such as the Ramones, The Clash and later on down the road I’d pick up Blink 182 and Rancid.

So the other day my homeboy Martinez and AJK were chilling over at my place when Martinez asked me to play him Kanye’s upcoming album 808’s & Heartbreaks. When we got to the track “Coldest Winter”, Martinez started singing the hook, while AJK and I looked at one another confused. Come to find out “Coldest Winter” isn’t an original track and samples Tears for Fears “Memories Fade”, which can be heard above. For those of you that didn’t realize, this track “Coldest Winter” is a song from Kanye to his mom, referring to her passing and such. But AJK made a great point, if your moms passed away, god forbid, wouldn’t you write something original rather then sampling another song? I know I know, Puffy did with the “I’ll Be Missing You”, but honestly what do you expect from him. Kanye is on the verge of new shit and especially with this album being such a departure from the rest you would think that he would’ve created something original, something we all seemed to agree at the time. Have a listen to his version below.

I was sitting in the doctor’s office when I caught myself humming this song as it was being played over the radio, not even realizing that I was doing it until the lady next to me giggled. Yo, all I have to say is this shit is a classic, I was merely 1 yrs old when it came out but I would hear the song over and over years down the road through moms. So fast forward to 2001 and I’m working in a Radio Shack, yes I actually remembered where I was, I heard the familiar sample and looked up on our screens and there was Destiny’s Child sampling this song for “Bootylicious”. My preference is still for the original by Stevie Nicks, which is called “Edge of Seventeen”.

From Wikipedia:

According to Nicks, the title came from a conversation she had with Tom Petty’s first wife, Jane, about the couple’s first meeting. Jane said they met “at the age of seventeen,” but her strong Southern accent made it sound like “edge of seventeen” to Nicks. The singer liked the sound of the phrase so much that she told Jane she would write a song for it and give her credit for the inspiration.

Although Nicks originally planned to use the title for a song about Tom and Jane Petty, the deaths of her uncle Johnathan and of John Lennon during the same week of December 1980 inspired a new song for which Nicks used the title. Nicks’ producer and friend Jimmy Iovine was a close friend of Lennon, and Nicks felt helpless to comfort him. Soon after, she flew home to Phoenix, Arizona, to be with her uncle Johnathan, who was dying of cancer. She remained with her uncle and his family until his passing.

Pretty interesting inspiration for the song, I’d say.

This weeks’ Throwback Thursday is a massive classic, the first 10 seconds of the song sparks thoughts of “oh shit where I have heard this before”.The group consisted of George and Louis, both of whom are brothers. Their debut album, Look Out For #1, came in 1976 and was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones. This particular song, “Strawberry Letter 23″, came off of the second album Right On Time and would go platinum. The song “Strawberry Letter 23″ is actually a remake of Shuggie Otis’s song of the same name, but the Brothers Johnson made their version more of a funk classic, but nevertheless, the sound of the original can still be clearly heard. Another neat little thing I noticed when listening to the lyrics, it actually says:

Stained window, yellow candy screen
See speakers of kite - with velvet roses diggin’ freedom flight

A present from you - Strawberry letter 22
The music plays, I sit in for a few

STRAWBERRY LETTER 22! As for the meaning and inspiration, wikipedia had this to offer:

The song describes the feelings evoked by “Strawberry Letter 22,” the title indicating the hopes of another letter. Another explanation is that the song is a reply to strawberry letter 22 and the title refers to the song being like a “strawberry letter 23” - Wikipedia

Below is Shuggie’s version.

Most recently I picked up the game Saints Row 2 and pretty much have disappeared from the world, as I am locked away trying to win back my “hoods”. One of my favorite radio stations on the game is The Mix 107.7 as it plays a handful of old school songs that bring back some pretty gnarly memories, which leads me to this weeks Throwback Thursday. One of those songs is “Pretty in Pink” from The Psychedelic Furs, off course the song was made super popular by the movie of the same name. But the original song and video, which is the one above, is a little bit of a darker version before the John Hughes film picked up the song and cleaned it up and got the band to re-record it. The song originally appeared on the 1981 album Talk Talk Talk, but was then re-released in 1986 for the above said movie Pretty in Pink.

Really who didn’t like this movie, I mean c’mon, the fashion game in this movie was on some next level ‘ish. The cast, ridic, I actually totally forgot that Jon Cryer from the TV show 2 and 1/2 men was in this movie. Hell even the language was next level:

Duckie: You know, this is a really volcanic ensemble you’re wearing. It’s really marvelous.
Andie: Volcanic?
Duckie: Well, you know. Hot, dangerous…

Makes you wanna say awwwwwwww snap!

So what inspired this week’s Throwback Thursday, you may be asking yourself. Well, truthfully, fellow KB member AJK and I were standing in line at the Chromeo concert when I saw a dude with hella thick dreads, just above shoulder length and I said “Hey look!  it’s MC Eiht”, the dude turned around and it was none other then Canadian MC K-OS, known for songs “Sunday Morning”, “Man I Used to Be” and “Musical Essence” to name a few tracks. Hell, this could’ve been a K-OS Throwback Thursday, maybe another time. When I think of MC Eiht, the track “Streiht Up Menace” immediately comes to mind as the movie Menace II Society was a staple for me growing up during the era of gangsta raps, hell he was even in the movie, playing the part of A-Wax. This man has released 17, count ‘em, 17 fuckin’ albums over the span of his career from 1990 to, well just recently in 2007, his latest efforts were released and in between all that did voice work for the character Ryder in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Now that’s longevity.

Going to see Cut Copy with The Presets tonight and am pretty amped up. I’ve been listening to some old Cut Copy stuff to brush up and came across this track “1981″. Yeah I know Cut Copy isn’t that old, but hell this track came out in 2001, that’s 7 years. Here’s a brief history lesson. Cut Copy was a side project that Dan Whitford, then a DJ and graphic designer, started and  from there released the EP, I Thought of Numbers. From there he recruited additional members Tim Hoey, Mitchell Scott and Bennett Foddy (left group in mid-’04) in 2003 and released their debut LP, Bright Like Neon Love. Then in 2008 came the release of In Ghost Colours and the eventual acceptance from mainstream media. Anyways check out the video above and hear where the sounds of Cut Copy originated and after that, go and check out our interview that we did with them earlier this year in May, here.

Remember this blast from the past? The Jets were an 8 member band and all of them were related, all brothers and sisters. Actually my dad has 17 brothers and sisters, they should’ve definitely started their own super group. Anyways jumping back on topic the family band came from Minneapolis and rocked it through the ’80s with their Pop, R&B and Dance sounds. This was one of those bands that my mom listened to back in the day and the one song that really stuck with me was “Crush on You”, which came out in the mid-80s. The group had numerous hits that made to it to the charts between the mid to late ’80s, these include: “Crush On You”, “You Got It All”, “Cross My Broken Heart”, “Rocket 2 U” and “Make it Real”. The band released about 6 - 7 studio albums along with numerous Best Of’s.

Check out video above and reminisce about the first time you heard this.

This week’s Throwback Thursday, Force M.D.’s “Tender Love”. I haven’t heard this song in a minute, like literally YEARS, so when Alicia Keys played it the other night after “Diary”, I didn’t immediately recognize it. Initially I thought it was a Janet Jackson song and I wasn’t the only one, as a few people I talked to thought it was as well. But alas the mystery was solved and it was revealed that it was Force M.D.’s “Tender Love”.

So here’s some knowledge for you. The group, from Staten Island New York, originally formed in 1983 and were signed to Tommy Boy records a year later. The M.D.’s (stands for Musical Diversity) were a vital crew in the early history of street hip-hop and one of the first groups to fuse doo-wop influenced harmonies with hip-hop. They had a few hits here and there, but “Tender Love” was the first that hit top ten. It was in the movie Krush Groove (ahhh classic) and was penned by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, which may have been the reason why I thought it was a Janet Jackson song as they produced some of her work as well. Songs that came to mind from Janet were “Again”, Let’s Wait Awhile” and “Everytime”, it’s the piano.

Anyways sit back and enjoy an oldie but goodie for the very first time again.

Fresh from the Common / N.E.R.D. concert, look for an upcoming review shortly, I heard a song that I haven’t heard in a minute. The artist Common, back then known as Common Sense, the song “I Used To Love H.E.R.”. The song was originally released back in 1994 on the album Resurrection and became one of Common’s most well known songs and produced by No I.D.

The song itself is well known as a bittersweet ode to hip-hop and uses crazy metaphors comparing a woman to hip-hop. H.E.R. stands for “Hip Hop in its Essence and Real”, but it has been thought that it could stand for “Hearing Every Rhyme”.

This song was also the catalyst in which a beef was sparked between Ice Cube and Common, as it criticized the direction that hip-hop music was taking in the mid 90’s and how it moved away from conscious and Afrocentric rap to a more grittier and violent lyrics. The beef between the two was short-lived as it was subsequently squashed in a sit-down with Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Check these lines:

I might’ve failed to mention that the shit was creative
But once the man got you well he altered the native
Told her if she got an energetic gimmick
That she could make money, and she did it like a dummy
Now I see her in commercials, shes universal
She used to only swing it with the inner-city circle
Now she be in the burbs lickin rock and dressin hip
And on some dumb shit, when she comes to the city
Talkin about poppin glocks servin rocks and hittin switches
Now shes a gangsta rollin with gangsta bitches
Always smokin blunts and gettin drunk

The whole song is deep overall and you can find a lot of hidden meanings and possible jabs at other artists that were coming out during that time frame. But this song right here, is easily one of my favorites from the man now known as Common.

Yeah fuck it. I wanted to hear this song at the Toronto Virgin Festival and it didn’t happen, so I’ve been watching it via Youtube steez. The year was ‘96, can you believe it was 12 years ago that this came out on What’s The Story Morning Glory? Anyways this song has always had a place in my heart and definitely some teenage memories associated with this song. The track was written by Noel and sung by his brother Liam, like seriously, could Noel Gallagher be one of the illest song writers in our time? So yeah this is a great song and it kinda makes me want to cry, a full-grown ass man, breaking down in tears. Anyways enjoy.

Nu Shooz, an 80’s electronic dance group consisting of husband and wife duo John Smith and Valerie Day. The group has released a total of three albums in the U.S. during the 80’s but never really hit it big, except that is for this song. The song “I Can’t Wait” and “Point of No Return” are pretty much the only songs I know from them and I’m willing to bet it’s the only song most people know from this group. The song climbed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986 and spent 15 weeks in the Top 40. Again this is one of those joints that my moms liked, which automatically made me like it. Anyways have a listen and let us know what you think.

Chilling in a steakhouse with a couple of my boys talkin’ shit and reminicing, when what do I hear coming out of the speakers, Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time”. F-U-C-K-I-N-G AMAZING! Here we are in this fancy steakhouse and out blasts this song, I had to stop the conversation and ask, “Is this Eddie Murphy?”. The song “Party All The Time” was recorded in 1985 and written as well as produced by Rick James and Kevin Johnston. The single reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and basically was the only hit off of the whole album, How Could It Be. The song holds the dubious honor of being ranked #7 in VH1’s list of “The 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever”, and #8 in Blender magazine’s list of the “50 Worst Songs Ever”. Eddie Murphy’s vocals = ill, Rick James’ hair = amazing. Even though it resides on these lists, I still feel like people always have a special place in their heart for this song. Kind of a guilty pleasure I have to say, and that’s this week’s Throwback Thursday.

Ahhhhh…I heard this on my iPod the other day and totally forgot I even had this on there.The group, Exposé, the song, “Point of No Return”. Here’s an interesting fact, the song was originally released in 1985 with Alé as the lead singer, but in 1987 when Arista released their debut album, they had the group re-record the song again, as Alé and Sandeé had left the group to pursue solo careers. The picture you see on the main feature page and below is of the original group, not the reformed version.

Growing up I definitely had a lot of love for this genre of music, Freestyle, as my folks, mainly my mom would always play this kind of stuff. My dad on the hand exposed me to acts such as Bryan Adams, Meatloaf, Randy Travis and Dolly Parton.

Anyways the song reached number one on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play back in 1985. And that folks is this weeks Throwback Thursday.

Rewind your clocks back to 1996, as I re-present to you one of the dopest albums of that year, well for me it was anyways. The group, Blahzay Blahzay, the album, Blah Blah Blah. The group only ever dropped one full-length studio album, but that one album was influential during the rest of the ’90s in Hip Hop for New York. Group members DJ PF Cuttin and MC Out Loud had worked in the game producing tracks for about 10 years for artists such as Masta Ace and Craig G. Their first single, “Danger”, featured a sample from Jeru the Damaja’s song “Come Clean”. Some of my other favorite songs on the album were “Pain I Feel”, “Good Cop/Bad Cop” and “Blah, Blah, Blah”.

Around 3rd quarter 2007, I saw Merlin Bronques’s rendition of 10cc’s Cry.  It was a nice remake with the usual party kids that you can see on Lastnightsparty.com.  A nice touch was having Xavier and Busy P making a guest appearance on the video.  But at the time, my main focus was who sang this beautiful track?  Above is the original video and song by 10CC, otherwise known as Godley and Creme. Enjoy. On a side note, the Bronques remake is no longer available online.

The Roots, easily one of my favorite Hip Hop groups of all time, have been a consistent main stay in the game. Their first album, Organix, debuted in ‘93. The album released in London and sold at their live shows, this grind helped them sell 150,000 copies and labels in the US took notice. This lead to the album Do You Want More?!!!??! and features one of my top Hip Hop songs “Proceed”. The next album was released in ‘96 and is easily top 10 - 15 on my list, Illadelph Halflife. This album helped break them into the mainstream, as they were always critically acclaimed, but never had the mainstream success. One of the all time best hip hop videos came from this album and that was for the song “What They Do”. The video was always thought of as The Roots making fun of the cliches in Hip Hop videos, but it was later revealed that the video was actually poking fun at Rock videos. The video was directed by Charles Stone, not sure who he is, well he’s the dude that did the whole “Whassup!” Budweiser commercials and director of AJK’s favorite movie of all time, that’s right Paid in Full.

Having recently seen the trailer for Quantum of Solace, I thought a Bond related Throwback Thursday would be appropriate.  And of course the first song that comes to mind is A View to a Kill, coming from the last Roger Moore Bond film of the same name.  The music video alone was a bit hard to grasp, but the track remains my favorite Bond theme song ever.

The year was 1994, the artist, a fairly unknown Nas. In celebration of him releasing his 9th studio album and our collective love for him on Killahbeez.com, we decided to dedicate this Throwback Thursday to the album that kicked it all of. The album, Illmatic, is one of the most classic Hip Hop albums to have ever been released, it received 5 mics from The Source, which back in those days actually meant something.The album featured production from Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S and Dj Premier. The album saw three singles officially released including the one above, “The World Is Yours”. If for whatever reason you don’t have this album, do yourself a favor and cop it today and hear why everybody talks about this album as THE album. Oh and if you ain’t copped Untitled, do so now.

One.