Grownheadz : For adults who love hip-hop

Just in case you’ve not heard a new version of Guitar Hero is set to be released in the fall featuring Jay-Z and Eminem called DJ Hero. Apparently it will feature a set of turntable like controllers.

Another company is also slated to release Scratch: Ultimate DJ. There line up includes Kanye West, Eric B and Rakim and Run DMC. They even released some controller pics:

Now even iPod DJs, who will spend several hours looking for the scroll wheel no doubt, can pretend like they can really DJ.

Almost Brillant. Logan Walter, a designer, felt the covers of the 21 albums from the members of the Wu-Tang Clan were pretty boring. He decided to recreate them using the Blu-Note style. Not only is it Almost brillant, I think he could probably make a business out of it.

I’ll let you decide. On the left is the composite at the time of Biggie’s killing. My only question is…why Brother Mouzone? You’re from the East Coast.

(via Kottle)

Lego recreations of Hip-hop classic album covers is making the rounds, and almost more disturbing than this NWA cover by Nina Gordon.

What’s even more disturbing is lego still dosen’t have Negro Brown as a skin color. Will someone please get Al Sharpton on the phone? (via BoingBoing)

Is Beat Street a classic? Is Beat Street a classic? Does the sun not come up everyday? Is the $1 dollar Whopper not the bomb? Is O.J. spending the next 15 years in jail, not for stealing, but for killing someone?

Of course it’s a classic and apparently grownheadz aren’t the only ones that think so. Ted Turner thinks so too.

I was browsing Turner Classic Movies, DVR’ing upcoming flicks that were hits before my parents came of age, and guess what I saw coming on in the next few days? Is there room on the shelf for Beat Street next to Fiddler on the Roof, Rear Window, Bringing Up Baby and countless other so-called classics?

Well, here’s the thing: Beat Street was really, really not that good.

It had horrible dialogue, a story with no plot, and character development that was, at best, laughable.

Using my awesome wikipedia skills: Beat Street came out in ‘84, at a time when hip hop was just finding its legs, Run DMC was some time away from crossing over, and the Beastie Boys just switching over from punk. It was the East Coast answer to Breakin’ which had come out the year before. Maybe the first feud?

Beat Street was produced by Harry Belefonte and directed by Stan Latham and featured some of Hip hop’s founders, including Kool Herc and Grand Master Melle Mel, and locations like The Roxy and The Burning Sphere. It even had a cameo from Kool Moe Dee without his glasses (I thought he a had a crazy eyeball) and Doug E. Fresh (You know that kid from down the block). And contrary to popular belief, The RZA was not the dude in the black Kangol trying out for a spot at the Roxy, although, damn, he do look just like’m.

So what makes it a classic?

It was a unique snapshot of the birthplace of hip-hop. Its cultural relevance cannot be denied. People forget how multi-cultural hip hop was, and it how it was about dancing and having a good time. I would argue that it probably preserved everything that hip hop was on film. While Krush Groove was more a vehicle for Def Jam artists, Beat Street was a little more liberal. Though the music will always be around, so will the numerous books by white guys that went to Harvard and of course VH1 and its many documentaries. The old heads that keep the oral tradition alive of what it was like aren’t getting any younger and we are losing that first person perspective fast.

Beat Street keeps that moment in hip hop alive to a certain extent. I applaud Turn Classic Network for recognizing that.