Friday, February 27, 2009

Afro Samurai Ressurection



Afro Samurai is a Japanese Manga series created by Takashi Okazaki. Originally a Manga graphic novel. In 2007 Spike TV aired the first series and the sequel played in January 2009 and it's now out on DVD & Blu Ray.

American actor Samuel L. Jackson returns as the voice for Afro and Ninja-Ninja, while this time he is joined by Lucy Liu who voices Afros' enemy Sio, Mark Hamill also joins as the voice of Sio's protector and henchman Bin. Yuri Lowenthal also returns as the voice of Jinno / Kuma.

I discovered japanese animation with Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Ninja Scroll, these movies are now considered classics, pillars of the japanese animation world. I'm an animation fan but I have a special spot for Manga and Afro Samurai Ressurection quenches my thirst for bloody violence, stylistic design and great story line. Ressurections picks up right after the first installment of Afro Samurai Jinno/Kuma is back with Sio for the number 1 headband (it's not really clear how the got it) and the rest is history, A now docile Afro must go back to his old violent ways to get the number 1 back. I still prefer the fisrt afro series because it's so difficult to raise the bar when the bar is so high. Ressurection is still a fun watch all of the elements that made the 1st episodes a success are back, the animation, backgrounds and action are all better then the first series and Ninja-Ninja (Samuel L. Jackson) is more annoying then before but then again it remains very entertaining and a fun watch. One last thing that I must mention is the soundtrack, once again provided by the RZA and the music merges beautifully with the action sequences.

If you are an animation fan, you need to check this out and if you are not well it's never too late to expand your horizons.
You can GET IT on the Hip Hop universe blog

Enjoy !

Peace & I'm out

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

J.Period Presents... The [Abstract] Best



J.Period Presents... The [Abstract] Best

I was suggested that I do something special on my blog for Valentine's day and it sounded like a good idea but I wasn't about to drop some cheezy R&B mix so i reffered to my love of Hip Hop and picked a little something for ya'll.

Illrots.com is one my my favorite resources for music they always have something new, I've discovered a lot of artists through illroots. They have the Fresh Dunks series (mixtape) but the reason I'm praising them is because of their latest post: J.Period Presents... The [Abstract] Best. Fist of all who is J.Period ? This Dj / producer has a resume that includes remixes for top artist such as Lauryn Hill, The Roots, Kanye West and Mary J. Blige.

Now J.Period Presents... The [Abstract] Best is the latest bomb that he dropped. This mix tape has everything you ever wanted by Q-Tip, rare track, remixes, demos and the guests are top notch as well names like: Dres (Black Sheep), Blu, De La Soul,Busta Rhymes, Amanda Diva, Talib Kweli, Nas, Questlove and more. Q Tip, A Tribe Called Quest we're a major influence in the evolution of hip hop they never wan any grammys, never went platinum but every hip hop head knows that the abstract poetic prominent like Shakespear. The way the each song is blended with the other is magical, one nice continuos trip and the skits are funny, Bob Powers you there ?

This is another gargantuous release by J.Period and Illroots, I will keep my eyes open for new J.Period stuff. it's a free DOWNLOAD and I would of paid for that mix of over 40 songs, keep real music alive.

Peace & I'm out.

Ron

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Weedy 2008 Side Stuff Mix





Padmo's Change the channel was one of my favorite releases from 2008 and after doing a little bit of research I found out that Padmo' is from a Germany based group called 40 Winks and Weedy (the second half of the group) dropped a little mix tape called Weedy 2008 Side Stuff Mix, I was able to get it from the Laid Back web site (it's a free download) and I was as pleasantly surprised about the results. Weedy compiled some hip hop tracks and remixes that he produced for 08. All the tracks are unreleased except The Port (Format Mix).

I love this, it's short but damn sweet. I don't like the fact that it's one continuous mix, I wished it was just single mp3's. Regardless it's great, some nice smooth out, jazzy and soulful beats with some nice mc's flowin' on these tracks.

Intro
Weedy - If The Spirit Moves Ya (instrumental)
A.R.M. (krukid & m.anifest) - If The Spirit Moves Ya
Port Format - Fresh Food (Weedy remix)
Nag&Twan - Wervanda (Weedy remix)
M.anifest - The Birds & The Beats
Brazzaville - You In The Distance (Weedy remix)
Weedy - Bass In Your Face (instrumental)
M.anifest - Bass In Your Face
Brazzaville - Chappaqua (Weedy remix)
Brazzaville - You In The Distance (Weedy remix pt.2)

DOWNLOAD

Asusual comments and suggestions are welcome. Peace & i'm out.

Ron