Swagger Jacker

Half a Mil

2010-06-29T22:32:00.003-04:00

Drizzy Drake moved 460,000 units apparently. Props to the young bwa (Birdman voice). In all seriousness dude has skills; he's an excellent writer and he's a bit different from the status quo. Namely, he doesn't have "street cred" to fuel his progress yet he is still being embraced by a variety of listeners and hip hop heads. Could the tides be changing in hip-hop? Or is he an outlier? I think his affiliation with Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Young Money is only helping. His pre album work such as his "So Far Gone" mixtape and various appearances and collabs have established his pre-album popularity. The funny thing is his album "Thank Me Later" was good but not great. That's largely due to his propensity to sing on hooks, verses and anything else with a beat. It might've served him well to press a double album - one for the ladies and one to bump recklessly loud in the whip. In any event his post album releases have been fire and would have ameliorated the album considerably. Peep the links. Props to hiphopdx...

Drake - You Know You Know (prod. by Kanye West)

Drake - Greatness

Drake - 9am in Dallas

Auto

2009-06-03T23:15:00.003-04:00

Currently the baddest commercial vehicle on the road (aside from the Aston Martin DBS). The A5 is the entry model but it's bigger brother the S5 comes equipped with a 354 horsepower V8 that's suitable for speeding to work or the club in a frame that complements both activities. It's sophisticated, bold and frankly just plain ridiculous. I am a BMW fan mostly because their bodystyles fuse the socialite with the executive but I think the A5 and S5 have claimed a spot in the conversation. Enjoy the aesthetic.

Queen Rania

2009-04-19T11:43:00.003-04:00

Queen Rania is the current most attractive woman in all the land in this site's opinion. The Jordanian Queen is obviously beautiful physically but in addition to her physical gifts she has a very admirable philanthropic portfolio. She ascended to queen at the age of 28 and has used her status to champion women and children's rights across the globe. Recently she has appeared on YouTube in which she asks people to send her questions regarding Islam and the Arab world. She wanted to initiate an open forum to openly discuss and debunk popular myths and stereotypes of Muslims. The initiative was a success and she continues to work for humanitarian rights. In any case the combination of her beauty, title and most importantly altruism gives her number one draft status on this site.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T16:18:00.002-05:00

Today is Inauguration Day and I have to say that personally it is a slightly surreal experience. It is just one of those things where you're not sure what to think because it is something that you haven't seen before. In retrospect I might find the sentiment and words to articulate the occurrence but as it stands today I will just enjoy the inauguration of our 44th President. I might be a cynic in many respects but today, for this occasion, I am going to appreciate what is going on in front of me...I think everyone should...

The Clown Prince

2008-07-28T00:37:00.002-04:00

The Dark Knight broke box office records last weekend with it's debut gross of $158 million dollars and it maintained that momentum with another $75 million this weekend. It's stellar performance was expected if only because it's inherent status as a summer movie blockbuster sequel to a commercially exceptional first installment. However, after seeing the movie its accolades and praise cannot be understated because the movie is a superior piece of cinema for several reasons. Most notably The Dark Knight is provocative and indelible because of one actor's dynamic interpretation of a classic villain. Heath Ledger assumes the Joker so completely that you cannot imagine another adopting the role prior to or ever again. The film is darker than it's PG-13 rating but you must see this movie. Alright I'm done with my Ebert and Roeper bit.

A Milli

2008-06-19T00:29:00.001-04:00

Young Moolah gives thanks for selling A MILLION plus. The first since Fitty Cents Massacre in '05. Disregard the babbling. Sorry no subtitles

In Case You Are Unaware...

2008-05-06T23:04:00.003-04:00

Rihanna is the baddest chick in the game (for now atleast).

UK Standup!

2008-05-05T23:40:00.001-04:00

This is American Boy by Estelle featuring the always self-deprecating Kanye 2tha. The beats bananas, Estelle's voice compliments the track well, and ofcourse Mr. West accents the whole thing with clever lyrics.

You're welcome.

GTA IV - "Grand Theft Autonomy"

2008-05-05T23:24:00.005-04:00

If you're a fan of videogames or even pop. culture by now I'm sure you have heard of the Grand Theft Auto series and GTA IV. The latest installment was recently released on April 29th and it is expected to be one of the best selling games of all time. There is a reason for this....

The game is crack...(with apologies to crackheads).

You assume the role of Niko Bellic. An eastern european import who is persuaded to America by his cousin Roman. The main premise of the story is the canonical American Dream - that being "money, power, respect" as Lil Kim once boomed on a hook. Unfortunately the often quixotic American Dream is not what it seems as Niko soon finds out.

The story is highly engrossing and the gameplay is even moreso. The game is similar to the Sims in that it is meticulously detailed and nuanced to an almost obsessive degree. The scale and scope of GTA IV is impressive and a credit to all involved in it's production. However the experience will almost certainly destroy your actual life as you become more immersed in the complex world of GTA. I realized this when I fell asleep to watching a satirical version of MTV Cribs in the game. I was watching the protagonist Niko watching a version of MTV Cribs. The fact that I fell asleep to watching a fake tv show in a videogame for over an hour is a microcosm of the depth of the game and scariness of its addictive nature. You must play this game even if you're a passive gamer, but be warned that it may take over your life.

Back Like Cooked Crack!

2008-03-20T00:38:00.004-04:00

Not a big fan of using exclamation points but it is necessary to convey the sensational news that the blog is rolling again and the only comparable circumstances in history are maybe the return of MJ to the NBA, a baby's crowning, and ofcourse cooked cocaine and baking soda.

I am not going to detail the mystery for the sabbatical or even acknowledge it beyond the confines of this post but I am going to continue posting the hotness as if I haven't been in a coma the past 7 months or so.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111

RAW VIDEO: Kanye West's Backstage Meltdown!

2007-09-13T00:21:00.001-04:00

It was reported Kanye had a "tantrum" at the VMA's Sunday night because he was snubbed in the five categories he was nominated. Hahaha...homie it's not that serious

Travis Barker Remix Soulja Boy

2007-09-12T11:28:00.001-04:00

Travis Barker is a douchebag but he killed the drum mix to this song. Now all he needs is his own Crank Dat rock dance.

Ghetto Word O' Da Moment

2007-09-12T10:33:00.000-04:00

whoadie

Your friend, particularly someone from the same area of the city as you. Origin is from New Orleans term "ward", how the city is divided.

It began as "wassup 7th waaaar-day", "wassup 9th war-daaaay" and the sound evolved to "whoadie". Eventually people dropped the ward number and started saying "wardy" and "whoadie."

"wassup whoadie, you got that new CD?"

Courtesy of Urban Dictionary

I was never sure what "whoadie" meant when i first heard it in the Juvenile and Hot Boyz videos way back when. I just thought it was another ghetto inaudible gruntish sound from the wordsmith Juvenile. But alas, it has meaning and depth and we're all a little more cultured from this knowledge, even though it was used 8 years ago....WHOAD DEYYYYYYY!

Just DO IT

2007-09-12T08:36:00.000-04:00

Lately I've noticed that Nelly Furtado has being doing her thing. She morphed from singing about the skies and birds and flowers and shizz to some cool, funky R&B pop. She can compliment uber producer slash steroid enthusiast Timbaland for that. I'm thinking Timbaland could turn a mime into a platinum artist. A girl like Britney Spears should fall in line. Anyways, Furtado's third album, Loose, is her most commercially successful album to date. Enough with the foreplay, here's the track that prompted me to write this blurb about the white girl with a little flavor. It's called "Do it" and the beat is infectious; it might belong to the '80s though. Hot regardless...

Nelly Furtado - Do It

Fitty Cent To Retire?

2007-09-12T08:06:00.000-04:00

I know both "Fitty" and Kanye's albums have only been out for a day, but according to some early industry estimates Kanye's Graduation is on pace to sell 700,000 units while Fifty's Curtis is projected at 500,000. Of course, this is all conjecture at this point but generally Kanye's album was predicted to outsell Fifty's prior to yesterday's release date based on pre-sale numbers in the iTunes store and other retailers. 50 cent boldly proclaimed he would never release another solo album if Kanye sold more albums than he did. Fortunately for "Fitty" premature retirement will free up more time for him to commit to his feature role in the next Planet of the Apes movie. Congrats to both musicians.

Hot Track

2007-09-06T20:30:00.000-04:00

Gucci Mane - Freaky Girl

Just to show that I am not biased to different regions of hip-hop music, this is a hot track by the always articulate Gucci Mane. It is called "Freaky Girl" and it has quickly become more addictive than "Crank Dat" by Soulja Boy - at least to me. You're Welcome in advance.

Deadly Adventure Michael Vick Special

2007-09-06T20:08:00.001-04:00

This is exclusive footage of Curtis "Fiddy Cent" Jackson admitting to Michael Vick that he was an informant in the federal case against him.

You can clearly see a detailed Vick upset with a not-so-detailed gloating Fiddy Cent.

Developing...

Hot Music

2007-09-06T05:31:00.000-04:00

Kanye West - Flashing Lights

This is a track off Kanye's new album Graduation. It's called "Flashing Lights". I'm definitely favoring Kanyeezy's album over Ferrari F50's just from the swag of this track alone. Check it out.

iBoring

2007-09-06T04:32:00.001-04:00

Alright my last entry was an attempt to add some journalistic integrity to this blog. I noticed some other blogs out there were very somber and had taken themselves very seriously. Honestly it doesn't feel natural for me. The construction of the iPod blog entry felt awkward and contrived not to mention it was wholly dull and vapid (or boring if you prefer). After publishing that entry I realized that the short term goal of this blog is to report what I deem as newsworthy and to report this news with an element that only I can add: my self-proclaimed peerless wit and ingenuity. So from this point on I not-so-dramatically declare that cool jpegs will still accompany my text but that text will be peppered with irreverence, joviality, and blunt pejoratives. In other words sometimes I will say some mean shyt. Very rarely...maybe.

Ipod Trio

2007-09-06T03:44:00.000-04:00

Apple happened to unveil three brand new iPods yesterday. The nano, classic, and most notably, the touch. The nano comes in 4gb and 8gb models for $149 and $199 respectively. The heftier classic weighs in at a ponderous 80gb and 160gb of memory for $249 and $349. Both the nano and classic will be available as soon as this weekend. Finally the iPod touch on the far left is the latest technical marvel from Apple. It is similar to the iPhone in design and function except it is actually slightly thinner (8mm) and it will be offered in 8gb and 16gb varieties. Oh, and it is equipped with WiFi and YouTube like its mobile brother. The touch will ship "worldwide in a few weeks." However if you attempt to purchase one at Apple's site it says it will ship on September 28. I think I can hear a collective whimper from the fanboys.

Change Clothes

2007-09-06T02:48:00.000-04:00

I am currently adding content to this blog. I will try and convey to you a general idea of what I want. This blog will eventually become a fully functioning site that addresses contemporary topics in top news stories, sports, hip hop, pop, gaming, technology, miscellaneous, and occasionally pornography (haha just joking - i think). In other words, shit I like. The endgame is to control the world like that weird bad media mogul guy in one of the more recent Bond films. Basically my goals are similar to Google but I am a man stating my dubious intentions rather than a search engine with clandestine motives. Also I will produce several ancillary franchises from said website a la P. Diddy, Master P, Fiddy Cent, and every other hip hop "mogul". Expect a fashion line to follow once I achieve prosperity with this blog and after that - yup you guessed it culturally biased food products and services. Cereal boxes and BBQ chips with my likeness on the front, spinning rims, pacemakers, beef jerky, cellphones, hijabs, burqas, sunglasses, shoes, thongs, condoms, douche,....right u get the point. But I must first tackle the inscrutable forces known as html, java, rss, atom, flash, etc. I am but a small boy with a big dream....or some shit.

Seacrest Out.

Antecedent Action

2007-08-15T10:50:00.000-04:00

If I had a creative outlet to plug my thoughts into or a canvas to paint my opinions on two days ago I would have responded to Roger Ebert's blog on his website (by way of Penny Arcade) where he contends that games specifically of the video variety are not and cannot be art. Often times I believe fans of particular media manifestations will absorb something but disagree with its premise - this is my way of relieving the angst caused by my contention. I will "blog" and disseminate my baseless opinions to a nonexistant audience via the mythical void that is the Internet. Granted Ebert's blog was posted over 3 months ago but who's counting. Ebert's particular blog is setup as an adversarial debate between Clive Barker, a British novelist locally known for writing and directing Hellraiser, and the film critic. Ebert, naturally, repudiates the notion that games may be art; Art meaning its classic and ostensibily pretentious form. Allusions to Monet's flawless brush stokes or Shakespeare's byzantine discourse may elicit the most reflexive images when considering what art is; However, at it's lowest common denominator art is wholly abstract and subjective. It's intrinsic value lies in the sentiment of the perceiver. Art can be popcorn. Art can be a shoelace. Even Ebert concedes that in his back-and-forth dialogue. He counters that sweeping notion by drawing a line - "High-end" art and presumably everything else. The Mercedes or platinum bling brand of art is not wholly subjective. Apparently there are absolutes or at the very least parameters. Ebert extends the courtesy of attempting to define these parameters... "the real question is, do we as their consumers become more or less complex, thoughtful, insightful, witty, empathetic, intelligent, philosophical (and so on) by experiencing them? Something may be excellent as itself, and yet be ultimately worthless." How can the adjectives in this quote be absolutely universal? Clearly the question is rhetorical - they cannot. What is "empathetic" or "insightful" to you may not be the same for your teacher, coworker,or best friend. For Ebert to suggest that all video games are incapable of being art is irresponsible and short-sighted. I am not a fan of country music but I acknowledge the genre as an art form. I may not know that much about Impressionism but I recognize its contribution as art. I submit that art is not completely subjective. Art's value can be assessed on a spectrum. That spectrum is far from lucid or quantitatively defined but there is an implicit disparity in the value of art in my opinion. My argument however is that games, the single topic of this blog, is and can be art; It adheres to a spectrum just as other forms of art do. There are poorly made games that hardly can be considered games let alone art (cough Shaq-fu). However there are significantly brilliant games such as Myst or Okami that I would qualify as digital forms of art.
The other major obstacle that Ebert proposes as to why games cannot be art is the ability to choose. The producers of games generally afford the gamer the option to decide what to do throughout his or her experience. The more choices a gamer has the more realistic the game becomes. Recent games such as Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and the yet-to-be-released Mass Effect are extolled for this by critics and gamers. Roger Ebert suggests that the option to change the outcome or story of a game precludes it from being high art not just presently but forever. He asks what if the reader had the option of changing the outcome of classics such as Romeo and Juliet to something that suited their inclinations. An option such as this debases the fundamental value of the piece. I agree with his argument with respect to literal interpretation, however, I believe the comparison is inherently egregious for the simple fact that video game production and literal compositions are very much different practices. In fact, his comparison causes me to believe that Roger Ebert is largely unaware of the appeal of games. And not just personally. He can't even indirectly appreciate how others would value the video game experience. His suggestion that choice prevents games from being art presents a paradox with respect to his argument because, as I said earlier, the more options presented in a game, the more realistic the game becomes. Generally speaking, realism is the pre-eminent goal of a game. Not always but generally. At the very least, more options equates to more entertainment for the gamer.
Contemporary games are equipped with high definition graphics, physics engines, and branching story lines which ameliorate the overall experience. I think that games as superiorly evolved forms of expression and art have not reached that point yet but I certainly believe the potential for it is overtly apparent; maybe to the point of immeasurability.