Grownheadz : For adults who love hip-hop

DAMN!!!!! lee daniels won’t leave!!!!…i guess he believes CPT
9:58 PM Feb 26th

“Lastly I wanna thank the precious girls everywhere! This is for you.” Gabourey Sidibe we love you!!
9:54 PM Feb 26th

Van Jones: “I love you” Glenn Beck? Good, you can peel the rest of us off him when he takes the wrong exit and winds up in the hood.
9:48 PM Feb 26th

Tarantino’s ghetto pass just got knocked down to a learner’s permit.
9:37 PM Feb 26th in reply to jmerriman

And John Mayer is performing the next musical selection.
9:34 PM Feb 26th

Oh heeeeellllllllllll naw! Who else “Heard Dat?!” Tarantino just got entirely too common with Black folks. I’ve been sayin it for years yall
9:31 PM Feb 26th

Monique gets an image award for portraying a sexually, physically abusive she-beast of a mother? Or am I missing the point of the honor? -RA
9:29 PM Feb 26th

DJ ASEE still feels weird checking out Tatiana Ali.
9:27 PM Feb 26th

Everybody rolls out their funkiest music for Image Award commercials. Home Depot got a dam house mix!
9:24 PM Feb 26th

FreedomReeves – For the record, I admire Tyler Perry’s hustle. But I always thought Image Awards were given for not embarrassing black people.
9:17 PM Feb 26th
Retweeted by you and 2 others

Tyler is preaching up there! But they playing the Wrap it Up music on him.
9:05 PM Feb 26th

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Well now that Valentine’s Day is over our roundtable discusses do we really need love songs in hip hop.  What do you think?

Periodically, we need to check credentials to weed out the spies, posers, and undercover gangsters (reformed gangsters are fine) and make sure you are a real grownhead. Soooooo, you truly are a grownhead IF….

78)…you spend more on “dress” shoes than gym shoes.
79)…you and your friends tried to form a break dancing crew
80)…you remember where you were when the Challenger exploded
81)…you and Theo from the Cosby Show graduated college the same year
82)…you remember when you could see a good cartoon without having cable
83)…you remember when beatboxing was a skill
84)…you ever sported a Georgetown University starter or wanted to

from live cypha.com

I have concerns… And my concerns are for the culture in which I was raised. I’m not speaking about the state of black America nor am I speaking of the state of the black union; it’s bigger than that. You see, I have had concerns for a long time, and have never voiced them, assuming things would get better, but they didn’t. My concerns are now becoming worries because I’m now hearing reports that the culture that once raised me is either dead or dying, so this is my state of the hip hop union address.

Hip hop, as I once knew it, was an urban style of music and culture that was birthed with intentions of getting the urban voice heard creatively. It was similar to an artistic protest. The theme of most songs concentrated on social issues, and discussed the harsh realities of inner-city living. Hip hop gave us an innovative way to poetically vent, protest, and express ourselves. It was also the voice that provided other cultures and social classes with an understanding, to some extent, of what inner-city living was like. Songs like Grand Master Flash’s “The Message,” KRS-1’s “Love’s Gonna Get’cha,” or Tupac’s “Brenda’s got a Baby” took us on a journey through some interesting stories that were either true or not far from it. These were issues emcees dealt with and they earned the respect and praise of fans world-wide for sharing their lives and experiences.

 This is the culture that raised me…

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY CLICK HERE

Born in 1988, Fashawn grew up in a virtually parentless home. His father was incarcerated, while his mom battled a drug addiction – a combination that caused a boy to become a man quicker than most. Placed in a group home by child services at the age of 12, Fashawn found solace in music, and began writing rhymes to escape the less than desirable hand he had been dealt so early in life.

Eventually taken in by his uncle, Fashawn spent his teenage years calling Fresno, California his home. Here is where he would find skating, the distractions of the streets, and the pursuance of his music career to be more rewarding than school. Yet, he had a constant thirst for knowledge that extended beyond the streets, so he became an avid reader with an affinity towards non-fiction and motivational books.

In 2006, Fashawn released his first mixtape, “Grizzly City”. Catching the attention of fellow Fresno emcee, Planet Asia, Fashawn was invited to go on the road with him. Knowing this was a chance of a lifetime; the then 17-year-old emcee dropped out of school to follow his dreams and has never looked back.

In 2009 Fashawn released his debut album Boy Meets World
(from Wikipedia.org which we here at grownheadz think he wrote himself but that’s aight, somebody gotta do it)

ANYway, just a reminder: these are not the complete songs, just 90-second clips so you can get a feel for the music. If you like what you hear, buy the CD. If we want good hip hop to flourish, we’ve gotta support the artists.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

from nerbanite.com

Since 2006 Fashawn has released six mixtapes and has hip hop fans anticpitating the release of his debut album later this year. Gaining the respect of hip hop legends Mick Boogie, Terry Urban and Planet Asia, whilst also being supported by Orisue, OnSMASH and NahRight. This West Coast rapper is set to help bring life to a new generation of Hip Hop. Here is our exclusive Q&A with Fashawn.

Born Santiago Leyva, in Fresno, California. What was life like growing up?
Growing up in Fresno was rough, but i loved my childhood. Reality was handed to me very early in life. I guess that’s why I started writing heavily at the age of twelve. By then I felt like I had seen it all already. There’s no place in the world like Fresno. Trust me! (laughs)

What inspired you to start writing lyrics for the first time?
My older brother bought this Goodie Mob cassette home back in 96′ and it had an instrumental on it. He would always write raps and leave them around the house. I would pick them up and try to rap them. It sounded like garbage, but eventually i would start writing my own rhymes. I’ve written a few songs since then.

You grew up with The Golden Age of Hip Hop, which artists do you feel have influenced you the most?
Tupac Shakur as far as content and subject matter. Nas and Big L as far as word play and metaphors. Chuck D, Rakim, Krupt, Black Star, Black Moon, Black Thought… the list goes on. That’s the era i come from. The Golden Era.

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY CLICK HERE

Since its Black History Month I figure all this month I’ll name my mixes after a part of Black History that  I personally have always liked.  As a child (and adult) I was always fascinated with the Buffalo Soldiers.  Maybe cause i never saw too many black cowboys in the movie or I don’t know, they just sounded cool.  I even like that line from Will Smith for his remake (sorta, kinda) of Wild Wild West for the movie Wild Wild West ” Buffalo Soldier yo I thought I told ya” ANYway check here for more info and enjoy the mix. 

Remember you can open another window and minimize this one while the music plays.

If you do the math you’ll get the title. Anyhoo some things we’ve been meaning to get out of the “interweb” storage.

8 hip hop songs that could be movies (we guess).

13 over the top hip hop money moments for you to peruse.

18 rappers that went to college AKA 18 rappers that might be frontin

January is winding down and we here at GrownHeadz realize that everybody else has already published their lists of hopes, dreams and ‘can’t-wait-for’s for 2010. But missing firsties has never stopped us before.
Our Christmas cards routinely arrive around Martin Luther King Day — we buy afrocentric ones to hedge our bets (they’re going out this weekend, mom, promise). So embracing the spirit of procrastination, we proudly present the last post to welcome in the New Year:

Hip Hop Wishlist for 2010

5. Real Death of Auto-Tune
We remember a time, not so long ago, when a rapper would get his boy from the block who can “sang” to do the hook on his song. Think TJ Swann with the Juice Crew, or the man who took it to the next level, spawning multiple hits and an imitator or two, Nate Dogg. No gimmicks, no hook ups, just one man, one mic and usually, only one note but we aren’t getting into that right now.

With the popularization of Auto-Tune, EVERYBODY is unleashing their inner Al B. Sure (not even close to being a compliment). Enough is enough. We’re not saying we want to see T-Pain’s kids in the poor house or anything, but we’ve been checking our clocks and that trend should be hitting the 15-minute mark any time now.


4. Positive Paradigm Shift
Alright let me get my grownhead, grown up rant on for a second. Can some rapper somewhere please, PUH-leeeze have a huge street/radio hit talking about something positive? Better yet, can two or three artists have big street/radio hits on some non-gangsta, non-clubbin, non-materialistic subject matter?
It doesn’t have to be an anthem, just be something we can really feel. Let it blow big enough that the labels and powers that be run out and try to find more rappers like that. And that the artists have good lawyers.


3. Adult Hip Hop Radio Station
All the kids who used to bump Run-DMC, the Fatboys and Whodini and now have kids of their own, stand up.
Alright, sit your big ass down, but I made my point: Us grownheads are all growed up now and in a prime demographic that advertisers like. Once some smart radio jock figures this out and spins hip hop from 1984 to 1996 exclusively, they will rule the adult urban market in their city.


2. Dope Female MC Catches Fire
We’re not asking for much, just for a female emcee to bust above ground who’s so brolic she’s undeniable. You know, like the first time you heard Em and thought, damn, whiteboy can flow. It’s been a long time since a dope female had a hit.
Back in ’92, there were actually enough female emcees to have their own concert festival. You may recall ‘Sisters In The Name of Rap,’ hosted by Dee Barnes and featuring Yo-yo, Lyte, Latifah, Salt N Pepa, Roxanne Shante, and about 20 other lesser-known rappers. Our own Resident Alien won a copy from Black Beat. But now? They can’t get enough ladies together onstage to give away a Grammy. The culture is suffering from the lack of female perspectives, and young girls need lyrical champions, too.


1. Strong MC from the Freshman Class
B.O.B, Kid Cudi, Asher Roth, Wale, Drake, Jay Electronica. Throughout 2009, this was the shortlist circulating on the interwebs for the Next Big Thing: the few, the proud, the fresh who would carry hip hop into a new age.
Several of the gents, like Asher and Cudi, dropped B- projects; the albums were decent, but their success rested mainly on one hot song. Wale and B.O.B. promise more brilliance than they actually deliver, and half of Drake’s appeal is just from being so out of left field. C’mon, ‘Degrassi Jr. High?’ Only Jay Electronica hits that heart, despite no major release.
We understand that it’s hard to live up to the hype, but when talking about game changers, WE think names like Rakim, Snoop Dog, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy. Things weren’t the same once they dropped, and their songs became classics.
The new cats got a few nice songs, but we can’t really picture a 20th anniversary release of “Day and Night.” But I guess we shouldn’t judge too harshly. On the strength of their first releases, we might have misgauged PE, BDP and the Fugees’ skills, too. Keep hope alive.

Surreal is the rapper, The Sound Providers, well they supply the sound (they’re the producers silly). The Sound Providers hail from Cali while Surreal is from FLA. The came together and BAM! While not a review we will say that this is definately some laid back hip hop to chill to.

Don’t forget, these are not the complete songs—just 90-second clips so you can get a feel for the music. If you like what you hear, go out and buy the CD. Quality hip hop grows when we support the artists

Music Playlist at MixPod.com