The NFL makes a major move by placing a ban on Beats by Dre headphones… The recent ban is serious business… players wearing Beats during league related broadcast is an absolute no-no… see Colin Kaepernick’s $10,000 fine for wearing Beats in a post game press conference… well the reason… business… Welcome Bose to the NFL… they have become the exclusive provider of headsets for the NFL… This is nothing new for the NFL… see the Microsoft/NFL deal… like 400 mil to the NFL from Microsoft… yes the NFL are the true meaning of “pimps”… Now if they can only stop the their game announcers from calling the Microsoft product an iPad.

Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine reacted to the news of the ban… stating “What happened there, you have a tech company that’s culturally inept,” Iovine said. “There’s no one at the company that said, ‘If you ban these guys {Beats}, you’re going to look bad to the young people, and they’re going to look like superheroes even though they’re just pure capitalists—well they’re not pure capitalists, but they’re real capitalists and [they] sold that company to Apple—but you’re going to make them look like the underdog.”

Seems as if Iovine thinks this is not a good move for Bose… or just a great business deal for Beats…

This I found quite interesting… a radio station in Houston, TX deciding to change its format from all news to all Beyonce… but wait it gets even better… someone finally started thinking… hey, how long can I keep this radio station afloat with just Beyonce music… ok… my take would be… just add Destiny’s Child and Jay Z… well you would still be in trouble in say a month…

Well in comes the genius idea… according to Houston Press “A station ID gave way to an EKG flatline sound effect, then flipping-station static, then a montage that included Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray,” Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg’s “Nothin’ But a G Thang,” Lil Keke’s “Southside,” and finally landed on the Geto Boys’ “Mind Playin’ Tricks on Me.” The next song after that was Ice Cube’s “Check Yo Self,” which of course samples Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message.”… well you get the rest… the end of the Beyonce era.

Radio One announced its new permanent format, Boom 92.1 FM, a Classic Hip Hop station. It is the first major market throwback Hip Hop station of its kind in the country.  “We couldn’t be more excited about bringing Classic Hip Hop back to listeners who grew up on the lyrics, beats and rhythm of this genre of music,” said Terri Thomas, Operations Manager, Radio One of Texas.  Radio One research supports that Houston has an appetite for Classic Hip Hop.  Backspin now has competition… In Houston…

Stay tuned for features and original Hip Hop artists updates at www.boom92houston.com.

Released in 1994, Illmatic embodied hip hop… from the studios used to record… Chung King, D&D, Battery, and Unique in New York City… to the producers that brought you that real head nodding shit… Large Pro, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S, and Premier…    

When describing Illmatic what immediately comes to mind is lyrical… words that can take you to the exact place… moment in time… where Nas was…

“But just a nigga, walking with his finger on the trigger
Make enough figures until my pockets get bigger
I ain’t the type of brother made for you to start testin
Give me a Smith and Wessun I’ll have niggaz undressin”

In a new era of hip hop… where apparently… lyrical content doesn’t really matter… nor measure up to Illmatic…  Nas can still drop it like 94… he chooses now to use his abilities to speak in a mature voice but still let the heads know that he is very capable of hitting that Illmatic button…

I’ma addict for sneakers, twenties of buddah and bitches with beepers
In the streets I can greet ya, about blunts I teach ya
Inhale deep like the words of my breath
I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times
Nothing’s equivalent, to the new york state of mind

Enjoy the documentary… cause 20 years later… we still speak Illmatic…

What first started in 2003 with the release of Beg for Mercy, G-Unit, through all of the self made controversies, is back. As of June, the group reunited and with a new member, Kidd Kidd. That name doesn’t seem hard enough for the Unit.

Later this year G-Unit will release the new EP, The Beast Is G-Unit. The crew has already recorded a ton of songs and six will be released for Beast.

I am interested in knowing how long this good G-Unit vibe will last. 50 is a very busy man. And remember he needs to stay on schedule with “Power” because I’m a fan and won’t accept a delay in production. Word Up!!!