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Jay-Z streaming Brooklyn show live tomorrow, in a YouTube state of mind
Between the end of an eight night string of shows, the whole Brooklyn Nets thing and the launch of a new YouTube channel, Jay-Z's got plenty to celebrate. And just to show he cares, he'll be streaming the last of his shows from the Nets' own Barclays Center tomorrow at 9:30 PM ET to celebrate. Sure it's not quite like being there, but at least you don't have to deal with the post-show traffic at the Atlantic Avenue station after the show.
Smule launches AutoRap for iOS and Android, Engadget's editors drop some mad beats (video)
Sure, we're often mistaken for some of hip-hop's illest emcees in our day-to-day lives, but the sad truth is that Engadget's editorial team could use a little help with our flow. Thankfully, technology has come to the rescue, yet again -- this time in the form of AutoRap, the latest app from the people who brought you such mobile blockbusters as I am T-Pain and Songify. Those who've spent time with either of the aforementioned apps know what to expect from this latest addition to the Smule family: talk or rap into your iPhone or Android device, tap the button, and then wait for the magic. AutoRap will go to town, or as Smule puts it: "turn[ing] speech into rap and correct[ing] bad rapping." Talking and rapping are the two primary modes here. With the former, you simply speak into your phone, and the app chops your voice and buries it in a whole mess of autotuney goodness. There's a pretty broad handful of songs at present, including 30 premium tracks from the likes of Snoop Dog, the Beastie Boys, Outkast and Kid Cudi -- naturally, if you want access to those, you're gonna have to pony up some cash, or earn some credits doing things like watching instructional videos or filling out auto insurance quote forms. The free tracks mostly get the job done, however.
Joystiq Original Hip-hop: Welcome Back (To The Stage of History)
Anyone who's listened to my long, incoherent rambles on The Joystiq Show knows that I love fighting games more than most things that exist. What you may not know, however, is that my love for a good combo is rivaled only by my desire to spit sick verses over fly jams. So, when Joystiq's Alexander Sliwinski and Steven Wong suggested that I marry my two passions into one creation, how could I resist?The end result (embedded above) is a SoulCalibur 5 rap song written and performed by yours truly. The destructively sick beat was lovingly crafted by tanner4105, an incredibly talented producer and electronica artist who donated his services out of the goodness of his own heart. Full lyrics are available after the break!
Yes, someone made a SWTOR hip-hop song already
So you have the Star Wars: The Old Republic Collector's Edition, the lunchbox, the action figures, the pajamas, and the bedsheets*. The game launched 12 hours ago and you have two level 50s. What else would you possibly need to make your life complete? How about a hip-hop song based on your new obsession? Yep, there's now a hip-hop song all about SWTOR entitled Cold Republic, created by the already-established hip-hop artist Richie Branson. It seems Richie enjoys playing his Empire character Kazen on the Ven Zallow RP-PVP so much that he stopped playing just long enough to write and record a song about it. According to his website, he plans to create more SWTOR-related songs, using samples from the game itself. *Most of these items are not real. [Thanks Matt for the tip!]
Federal domain seizure raises new concerns over online censorship
It's been a little more than a year since the US government began seizing domains of music blogs, torrent meta-trackers and sports streaming sites. The copyright infringement investigation, led by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities, quickly raised eyebrows among many free speech and civil rights advocates, fueling a handful of legal challenges. Few are more compelling, or frightening than a case involving Dajaz1.com. As TechDirt reports, the popular hip-hop blog has been at the epicenter of a sinuous and seemingly dystopian dispute with the feds -- one that underscores the heightening controversy surrounding federal web regulation, and blurs the constitutional divide between free speech and intellectual property protection. Dajaz1 was initially seized under the 2008 Pro IP Act, on the strength of an affidavit that cited several published songs as evidence of copyright infringement. As it turns out, ,any of these songs were actually provided by their copyright holders themselves, but that didn't stop the government from seizing the URL anyway, and plastering a warning all over its homepage. Typically, this kind of action would be the first phase of a two-step process. Once a property is seized, US law dictates that the government has 60 days to notify its owner, who can then choose to file a request for its return. If the suspect chooses to file this request within a 35-day window, the feds must then undertake a so-called forfeiture process within 90 days. Failure to do so would require the government to return the property to its rightful owner. But that's not exactly how things played out in the case of Dajaz1. For more details on the saga, head past the break.
Sword and Sworcery LP sampled by Lil Wayne
If you're a human being with ears and a heart, we're going to assume you loved Sword and Sworcery EP just as much as you loved Sword and Sworcery LP - The Ballad of the Space Babies, its ethereal, lovely soundtrack. Know what? We're going to go out on a limb and also assume that you love Lil Wayne -- because, really, who doesn't -- and therefore will double-love his new track, "She Will," which samples a selection from the iOS gem's score. We've contacted Superbrothers to find out the terms behind this auspicious partnership. You can listen to a brief chunk of the track after the jump, provided you're in a place that doesn't mind NSFW language. (Like, you know, not-work.)
Team Teamwork blasts the past with 'Super Nintendo Sega Genesis'
He's already turned the respective soundtracks to Final Fantasy VII and Ocarina of Time into sweeping, hip-hop masterpieces -- now video game mash-up specialist Team Teamwork has set his sights on more aged fare. Last night, he launched his latest album, the aptly titled "Super Nintendo Sega Genesis," which interested parties can now acquire on a Pay-What-You-Want basis. The album manages to take singles from artists like Kanye West, Ludacris, Childish Gambino and Ghostface Killah, and wraps them in a delicious layer of nostalgia-inducing themes from Mortal Kombat, Donkey Kong Country 2, Ristar and A Link to the Past. It may sound kitschy, but it's no joke -- the mash-up of "Shutterbug" and the theme to Super Metroid was so unbelievably fresh, we nearly fainted.
T-Pain tells Toshiba 'it ain't hardcore unless its hexacore' (video)
Judging by its most recent sales numbers, Toshiba's doing pretty well for itself in the US market, but you and we both know there are always more demographics waiting to be tapped up. Such as the hardcore hexacore lovers or those whose megagigabytes are terrorizing their... sorry, T-Pain, prosation isn't even a word. Anyway, it's a video, it's funny, and it's after the break.
Fear Of A Nerd Planet: A Hip Hop Retrospective (update)
Hip Hop has always been a conspiracy between music and technology. Turntables? Gadgets. Samplers? Ditto. From the very beginning, the music was suffused with a sort of science fiction aura, and by 1982 (when Afrika Bambaataa dropped Planet Rock) it could safely be said that "nerdliness" (the state or condition of being a nerd) was embedded in the genre's DNA. Perhaps that's the reason that gadget fans love to compose their own rap videos, celebrating everything from the trackball of the G1 to Best Buy's supremacy over CompUSA. After one popped up today celebrating the Tesla electric car we thought it was a good time to offer you a retrospective of some of our favorite rappin' nerds. Check 'em out for yourself (and annoy your co-workers in the process) after the break. Do you have any that we might have overlooked? Drop 'em into the comments!
'Dippin' In My Tesla' is the best rap song ever about a Tesla
Don't bother reading this text, just listen to the intensely awful hip-hop ode to an electric car. Elon Musk, where you at!?
Book review: How To Wreck A Nice Beach: The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop
How To Wreck A Nice Beach: The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop by Dave Tompkins (Stop Smiling Books; $35) World War II increased the rate of human innovation to a pace unseen in any other period of history. New technology from the era includes everything from synthetic rubber to the atomic bomb to magnetic audio tape, which the Germans successfully kept secret until the war's end. After the Nazis fell, Lt. Jack Mullin of the US Army Signal Corps shot footage outside of Hitler's home, grabbed one of the Fuhrer's piano strings for a souvenir, and brought two AEG Magnetophons (along with fifty reels of Farben recording tape) back with him to the states. He then sold a recorder to Bing Crosby, revolutionizing broadcasting and music-making in the process. Another device that made its debut in World War II only to be later adopted by the entertainment industry is the Vocoder. Speech synthesis was the brainchild of a Bell Labs employee named Homer Dudley. Dudley surmised that human speech consisted of two things: the carrier (the noise that your vocal cords makes) and the formant (the sound formed from the carrier by your mouth, throat, and sinuses). Dudley went on to develop something called the Voder (Voice Operator DEmonstratoR), which used a carrier tone generated by a radio valve and a formant created by hissing air to create artificial speech. Hear a demonstration (and learn about how the Vocoder was used to defeat the Axis powers) after the break.
'Those Minerals' laments Mass Effect 2 probing in a hip-hop fashion
We frequently tried to find ways to keep ourselves occupied during the days we spent probing planets for precious, precious minerals in Mass Effect 2, but largely came up empty-handed. You can only scan Uranus so many times before it loses its comedic value, you know? If only we'd followed the cue of YouTube rap sensation Kabuto the Python, who spent his mining moments crafting rhymes and beats, then combining the two into a single package which we feel comfortable calling a rap song. Check the NSFW track after the jump.
Vinyl Fantasy 7 is the freshest thing you'll hear today
We love Nobuo Uematsu's work on the musical accompaniment for the Final Fantasy franchise, but we often find ourselves wishing those games' scores were infused with a touch of Jay-Z. Maybe a light smattering of Outkast. The faintest hint of Ghostface Killah. The mixologists from Team Teamwork (creators of the similarly-spliced Ocarina of Rhyme album) have once again worked their magic on a classic video game soundtrack. This time around, it's the score from Final Fantasy VII, which has been mashed together with tracks from over a dozen hip-hop artists, as well as Tom Waits, which is just weird. You can pay whatever you want to download the cleverly-titled Vinyl Fantasy 7 -- though we're betting you'll probably settle on zero dollars. [Thanks, Mike!]
Found Footage: "I fell in love at the Apple Store"
Here's an earworm for you; hip-hop group FattySpins recorded a love song to ladies and to all things Apple, and filmed the video (above) at the landmark Apple Store Fifth Avenue. The song manages to not only encompass a lot of Apple products in its lyrics, but also manages to poke some good fun at Microsoft. I mean, you've gotta love lyrics like:"I know how to treat you – this ain't a reboot I'll never find the need to Control ALT Delete you I see no reason to mess with these slobs Cause they're like Bill Gates... and I'm Steve Jobs"The Apple Store Love Song was written and produced by Ray William Johnson, the likable nebbish with the glasses in the video. There's no word on whether or not Apple is going to hire him to produce catchy viral raps for future ads.[via CrunchGear]
New hip-hop avatar clothing now available
We'll admit it: The reason there isn't a lady up top is because we didn't want to delete our precious avatar. We crafted him so carefully! Either that, or we're totally lazy. No matter! As you can see (at least partially) above, new clothing -- hip-hop themed clothing, at that -- has arrived for your Xbox Live avatar.Major Nelson's blog informs us the (still free) clothing comes in the female as well as the male variety, and we've listed below what your options are. We'll just be upfront and say it -- where's the oversized men's jacket with a myriad of patches for various sports teams? And the Kanye shades? Eh? EH?! Hit the break for all the details on the new clothing, gangstas.[Thanks, Julian!]
MacBook Pro, music video star
We tweeted this last week, but it seemed worth a second mention: New York-based hip-hop artists DeScribe and Y-Love have released their video for the new single "Change," prominently featuring a trio of MacBook Pro machines. While many computers appearing in videos are idle or showing mocked-up graphics, these machines are in active use -- Y-Love is apparently busy monitoring his Twitter feed via the Adobe AIR-based client TweetDeck.For more Mac & PC appearances on film and TV, check out Starring the Computer (via Ars), a compendium of technology cameos. You can also see the first music video recorded on an iPhone and a tour of Mac OS in song via past posts... but if you love your Mac as much as this woman does, maybe you should record your own video.
'Scratch: The Ultimate DJ' announced, Numark & QD3 on board
7 Studios today made a move toward being the first studio to renew the turntable-based rhythm game, announcing partnerships with DJ equipment manufacturer Numark and hip-hop producer Quincy Jones III, along with Genius Products and Genco Interactive. Dubbed, Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, the game will be played using a turntable controller, the "Scratch Deck," designed by Numark, which promises to "allow players to re-imagine songs on the fly and add their own creativity" (no word on an MC counterpart -- or b-boy, for that matter). 7 Studios joins Activision and presumably any other company with half a brain (you listening, Konami?) as it vies for precious mindshare of the next potential gaming phenomenon.Scratch is scheduled for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next spring and features "distinctive urban environments" and "original recordings from the catalogs of many top urban artists." Are we sensing a theme here?%Gallery-33928%
Soulja Boy plays with Xbox 360 Special Edition Sidekick LX, pleads for attention on video
Why lust after a Zunephone when you can have an Xbox 360 Sidekick LX? Based on an admittedly bizarre and entirely painful-to-watch video posted up in the read link, Soulja Boy is seen spazzing out over what appears to be a special edition Sidekick LX. The unit is branded (at least in the software) with Xbox 360 logos, and there's also a copy of Resident Evil: Genesis on there that he toys with momentarily. So, the question here: is this thing legit? On one hand, Danger does have a thing for pumping out limited run Sidekicks like they're going out of style, and plus, it would probably have a hard time convincing an A-list rapper to carry a prototype Sidekick. On the other, we're really inclined to believe this is just a sad way for Soulja Boy to fill up his inbox with soulless emails. "SouljaBoyTellEm@tmail.com -- holla atcha boy!"
NBA Ballers: Chosen One gets Chuck D, Just Blaze
It's been some time since Midway's announcement of the Xbox 360 and PS3 arcade basketball sequel NBA Ballers: Chosen One, something we had since written off as a delusion brought on by eating way too much holiday turkey. Today, however, the studio snapped us back to reality, confirming the title's existence by revealing that the game will include Public Enemy frontman Carlton Ridenhour (Codename: Chuck D) and hip hop music producer Justin Smith (Codename: Just Blaze) in "prominent roles." As an aside, the Joystiq staff really needs to put that order in for our codenames as well.Chosen One, shipping this spring, will feature Chuck D as the game's announcer, while Just Blaze will produce the game's soundtrack, which interestingly will not include the typical mishmash of existing tracks. Instead, the game will include an instrumental track that will "interact with the gameplay, much like a cinematic score." While we doubt this means that we'll be takin' it to the hoop to melodies that push into a climactic epic crescendo, it's gratifying to see the game try to separate itself from the mire that was NBA Ballers: Phenom.
Today's most nerdcore video: Blizzard employee raps for community
What's the best approach for telling the community your patch isn't coming out this year? If you're Blizzard, you can try responding to a YouTube rant about an absent WarCraft III patch. And you can do it by trying to rap. We applaud the effort, but the "rhyming" verses make us cringe. Video embedded after the break.[Thanks, Medievaldragon]
