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#TBT to some of your favorite rappers’ first music videos (Part 1)

Tomorrow for a special Throwback Thursday we’ve decided to look through a couple rappers’ careers and find their first music videos.

It’s always fun to see artists in their humble beginnings before the glo and money makes them look like an untouchable being.

Some of these artists hit big with their first music video and others are just here to appreciate the growth and feel better about ourselves.

That being said, here’s 8 rappers’ first music videos to celebrate Throwback Thursday:

A$AP Rocky ft. A$AP Ferg – “Get High”

Iight… this video is nothing but pure gold. In this video we have a young Rocky rocking the mean perm and Ferg looking like my favorite dope dealer. This video is a great example of my personal motto “You’re never ugly, just broke”.

Aside from the two A$AP members looking broke and silly this track actually still bumps. You can hear Rocky’s classic confident flow and melodies all over the track as well as Ferg’s animated delivery.

These guys are well past these Harlem days but that perm and the shot of Ferg in the bathtub is an iconic start for the New York stars.


Tyler, the Creator – “French”

If you’re anywhere between 18 – 22 years old Tyler, the Creator was everything to you at one point. “French” is defiance and teenage insanity compressed in a 1 minute and 40 second video.

With a lot of Odd Future members starring in the video and random cuts to different weird shit, this video is the epitome of what every teenager was into back in 2011.

Tyler is into way more intricate shit now and is on a whole new level when it comes to his videos but “French” still stands as a great representation of Tyler’s creative eye.


Earl Sweatshirt – “EARL”

I remember seeing this video and thinking “THIS N**** WILDIN!!”

As a youth I really thought these guys were out here making death juice and spitting out teeth like that shit was normal.

Earl comes through with disturbing ass visuals for his self-titled track featuring people pulling their nails off, pulling hair off their head, and bleeding nipples.

Once you got past all the blood in the video you realized Earl was spitting insane bars and he’s only gotten more intricate and oddball since.


Travi$ Scott – “LIGHTS (LOVE SICK)”

Travis Scott’s first video is actually really dope and looks really professional, so much so that I have some doubts calling this his FIRST music video but hey it’s from 2012 so fuck it.

In “LIGHTS” it’s apparent that Travis has always been a fan of the dark apocalypse style and he does it pretty damn well here.

The actual song is reminiscent of his heavy Kanye and Cudi influenced style but he backs that up with impressive visuals and intense cuts.


Chief Keef – “Bang”

Almighty Sosa definitely doesn’t get enough credit for fathering a whole genre of hip-hop and even less credit for these type of videos.

Chief Keef was about 15 when this video was released and this style is still used today in terms visuals and sound.

This era of Chief Keef is classic and was followed shortly by the hit “I Don’t Like,” which just goes to show how ahead of the game Young Sosa was when this came out.


Chance the Rapper – “Nostalgia”

Chance’s first visuals are true to the “Nostalgia” title. Released in 2011, the video features Chance rapping over a tranquil beat about his past.

Chance was only 16 around the time this video dropped and still manages to insert so much genuine emotion into the video and song.

Those who think the whole nice guy image Chance portrays is a facade can just watch this video and see, he’s always been a sweet, loving dude who’s incredibly passionate about his city and family.


Flatbush Zombies – “Thug Waffle”

I personally blame this video for opening me up to smoking more weed and eating mad waffles.

When I first discovered this video and the Zombies as a whole I was determined to be as cool as Juice.

This came out during the peak of the beast coast movement in New York and just fit the city’s aesthetic incredibly well with everyone becoming streetwear kids and wilding out in SoHo.


Kanye West – “Through the Wire”

Y’all knew I couldn’t leave this classic out.

Kanye’s first music video is a gallery of his near fatal car accident that almost left him speechless and his ability to overcome the tragedy and make history.

Everyone loves this song, this is THE song people think about when they say they miss the old Kanye.

Everything about this video is beautiful from seeing Kanye announce his pairing with Roc-A-Fella to the pictures of Kanye before surgery.

This video is a story of triumph for Mr.West and like him or not, since getting his jaw wired he’s been unbreakable.

Roger Goodell says he’s ‘not a football expert’ when asked about Kaepernick

Since August 14, 2016 Colin Kaepernick has been branded a villain for choosing to kneel during the pre-game national anthem.

The former 49ers QB has been one of the few athletes to directly speak out on police brutality against people of color and has made many contributions to the cause such as his Million Dollar Pledge, which entails donating $100,000 a month for 10 months, as well as sending all the proceeds from his 2016 jersey sales to various organizations in oppressed communities.

Since sitting out the national anthem in protest of the violence unjustly committed by the police, Kaepernick has received backlash from those who believe he was disrespecting the country and its flag. He’s been called a cry baby and unpatriotic for his actions all the while keeping composure and continuing to push his message.

Since the end of the 2016 NFL season, Kaepernick has been unemployed. No NFL team seems to have interest in the quarterback although his colleagues firmly believe he is a better player than many starting quarterbacks and should absolutely be on a team.

Today, Roger Goodell, the NFL’s commissioner of 11 years appeared on the sports show First Things First to talk about everything football, including the Colin Kaepernick situation. Goodell has been the head of the NFL world for 11 years now, he should have a great viewpoint on whether or not Kaepernick should be playing this season, right?

Nope. 

When asked if, based on his previous season, Kaepernick good enough to make an NFL roster, the COMMISSIONER OF THE NFL responded,

“One thing I do as a commissioner is, I don’t make those decisions. I’m not a football expert.”

This side-stepping response from Roger Goodell is a perfect example of how political racial issues will continue to be seen in big business like the NFL.

For the NFL commissioner to say that he isn’t a football person when approached with challenging issues regarding race just goes to show that Kaepernick’s woes will continue to go unanswered until it directly affects those in power.

It’s clear that after 11 years working in the NFL you’d be able to know if a player was good or not and dodging the question by feigning ignorance as an excuse isn’t acceptable on this side.

I will continue to support Collin Kaepernick and his fight for equality and education.

Visit his website kaepernick7.com for details on how much he’s done for the cause and how he plans to continue challenging the status quo.

What if your favorite NFL players were legendary music artists instead?

The line between athletes and musicians has always been a thin one.

From the days of Kobe and Shaq dropping actual hip-hop tracks, athletes continue to be intertwined within the same space of fame that many musicians occupy.

We have stars like Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert appearing in the great ass (pun obviously intended) video to Kanye’s “Fade” and Steelers tailback Le’Veon Bell dropping whole (pretty fire) mixtapes on Soundcloud.

To actually see how easy the bridge is to gap you can look straight to Dave East who was a Division I ball player playing with the likes of Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley before flying out to OKC to work on music in KD’s home studio.

Over at The Checkdown on NFL.com they’ve put together a series of famous album covers replaced by NFL stars further thinning the line between sports and music fame.

Check out the dope album covers like Michael Jackson’s Thriller accurately being replaced with Odell Beckham Jr. and Atlanta Hawks coach Dan Quinn being put on Kendrick’s DAMN. cover.

Odell Beckham Jr. as Michael Jackson’s Thriller

This is a pretty accurate comparison if you consider just how outgoing OBJ actually is. His hair, dance moves, and eccentric personality make him just about the best athlete to compare to the King of Pop. Beckham also immortalized the late Jackson by tattooing the singer on his body a few months ago.


Dan Quinn as Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN.

DAN. Original Album: DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar Release Date: 4/14/2017 Coach Featured: Dan Quinn

A post shared by The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) on

The parallel to the mood Kendrick emits on DAMN. and Dan Quinn’s salty stare as his team became the victim of Tom Brady’s record-breaking comeback is amazing.

After the Super Bowl, many Falcon fans could only say “Damn” after everything was over. I’m sure head coach Dan Quinn wishes he could hit the rewind button like Kendrick did at the end of his album.

Peep the rest of the hilarious album cover conversions and try to make your own connections between the artist and athlete.


Peyton Manning as Kanye’s The Life of Pablo


Rob Gronkowski as The Clash’s London Calling 


Devonta Freeman as Devo’s Freedom of Choice 

Freeman, DEVOnta Original Album: Freedom of Choice by Devo Release Date: 5/16/1980 Player Featured: Devonta Freeman

A post shared by The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) on


Dak Prescott as J. Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only 

4 My Receivers Only Original Album: 4 Your Eyez Only by J. Cole Release Date: 12/9/2016 Player Featured: Dak Prescott

A post shared by The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) on

(I feel like this should’ve been reserved for Colin Kaepernick but whatever).


DeAndre Hopkins as Dr. Dre’s The Chronic 

The Nuk, DEANDRE Original Album: The Chronic by Dr. Dre Release Date: 12/15/1992 Player Featured: DeAndre Hopkins

A post shared by The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) on


Cam Newton as Chance’s Coloring Book

Coloring Book Original Album: Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper Release Date: 5/13/2016 Player Featured: Cam Newton

A post shared by The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) on


Marshawn Lynch as Bob Marley’s Legend, The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers

Why Netflix’s ‘Death Note’ is lit for people who don’t watch anime

Death Note has always been something I would notice from time to time that looked really aesthetically interesting. The big demon with pins on its back looked cool as hell and from what I loosely gathered together, the idea of the Death Note was gangsta.

There was every reason for me to watch the show but one thing always stopped me, my dislike of anime.

Shit sounds blasphemous (especially on the internet) to say that anime in general is just a dub but honestly aside from Dragon Ball Z I’ve never been able to get into the genre.

Death Note GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

When Netflix announced that they’d be making an adaptation of Death Note I was immediately excited. I personally can’t do anime because of how long the shows run, but a 90 minute movie I can do.

When the movie was finally released on August 25th I sat down to watch Death Note for the first time ever.

Death Note, directed by Adam Wingard, is about an emotional high school teen named Light who is magically granted a book called the Death Note.

The Death Note comes paired with a death God named Ryuk who explains that with just a name and a face Light can write anyone’s name in the Death Note and cause their death.

Death Note GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Light decides to first kill his high school bully and then goes after a bunch of evil people doing evil things.

Throughout the movie Light goes through some teenage drama with other high schoolers concerning the Death Note all while playing cat and mouse with a wacky and genius detective named L.

This being the only medium I’ve ever seen the story of Death Note I thought the movie was pretty okay. It didn’t amaze me but I don’t think it’s as bad as the internet is making it out to be.

https://twitter.com/CrankThatFrank/status/905170719176359939

The general plot of the movie was fun to see and Willem Dafoe as Ryuk was exciting every time he was on screen. Not going in with high expectations and more as an outside observer, I think the movie did everything it wanted to do.

Being adapted not only to a new medium but to an entire audience, you’re guaranteed to lose some things in translation.

Death Note as an anime is 37 episodes long and centered in a Japanese market, the movie is condensed to just 90 minutes and was made to target the general American audience.

In America we like seeing shit explode and people getting fucked up, it’s a sad truth but generally our market gravitates more to huge aesthetics rather than deep plot. The death scenes were cool as fuck and the cast wasn’t too bad either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOArGRyXYeI

The characters were all really animated almost in a Scott Pilgrim vs. the World way but worse.

Overall I sincerely believe this movie was made exactly how it was meant to be made. Director Adam Wingard managed to set a great tone for the movie and sharpened it up with beautiful shots and stunning visuals.

The story never seemed rushed and I had fun watching it unfold. Sure it’s not as deep as a 37-episode anime but that’s what we have the anime for, this film adaptation stands firmly on its own, and at the very least it’s a pretty entertaining movie.

Watch Death Note now streaming on Netflix.

Two years later Travis Scott’s ‘Rodeo’ is still his defining project

September 4th, 2017 marked the 2-year anniversary of Travis Scott’s debut album Rodeo and it still bumps heavily.

This album is classic as fuck, with T.I. narrating the album throughout, paired with Travis’ new type of melodic rap and aggressive experimental instrumentation, it’s clear to see exactly why this album has stood the test of time.

When you throw this album on, you can immediately hear all his influences ranging from Kid Cudi’s moans to Atlanta’s trap instrumentation and that’s what makes young La Flame such an amazing artist.

Since Rodeo dropped, Travis has evolved into a huge star, leading the way for melodic rap and having clear influences on artists like Quavo, Young Thug, Kanye West, and Drake.

Travis Scott Sky Walker GIF by Miguel - Find & Share on GIPHY

When Rodeo first dropped I hated on it based of my dislike for a previous Travis project Owl Pharaoh while Rodeo‘s breakout single “Antidote” didn’t really impress me even though it managed to be stuck in my head everyday.

When I finally decided to sit down and actually accept the music to be heard, my opinion of Rodeo was immediately switched on its head. The vibe the album gives off is consistent throughout the whole project, it remains eerie and turnt the fuck up at the same time while bringing something new to mainstream hip-hop.

Every song can stand on its own but is amazing as a cohesive project and never gives you a dull moment.

To celebrate the musical masterpiece that is Rodeo I’ve decided to describe the most impactful points during the album that make it such an iconic body of work.

When “Pornography” comes on you’re introduced to a monologue spoken by T.I. introducing Travis Scott as an unconformable rebel who chose to fuck this shit up.

A couple seconds in, deep instrumentation starts playing behind T.I’s voice setting the tone for the rest of the album. This track is still so impactful just because of how well it introduces Travis to anyone unfamiliar with him.

“Pornography surrounding me, you get high with me, you come down with me that’s all I need in my fantasy”

Travis’ first presence on the album starts around 45 seconds in as he blesses the track with eerie harmonies backed up by heavy ass 808s and a shredding guitar. This song screams rebellion as loud as it can, then that switch up comes.

That switch up easily makes this one of the goat Travis songs, giving room for him to showcase his moody melodies next to his aggressive rapping style almost making it sound like “Travis Scott ft La Flame.”

Travis’ music usually sounds like it’s alive with him during a song, where other rappers lay lyrics over a beat, Travis sounds intertwined with his instrumentation and switches up alongside the beat. “Oh My Dis Side” is the epitome of this style.

I’m a very visual person and the best way I can describe this song’s sound is a dark cave that keeps spinning around until you reach the garden deep inside that you’ve been waiting your whole life to get to.

The restless and nightmarish sound in the beginning, coupled with painful lyrics about popping pills and sleeping on a couch, transitions into a beautiful and warm harmony that sounds like it can be a Chance song.

This time paired with nostalgic lyrics and appreciation of a hard past Travis gives us growth in audio format.

This is one of those songs that’s really polarizing. No one kind of likes this song, it’s either this is your shit or this is shit.

All that being said, I see this as one of Travis Scott’s most important songs in his discography. Being Kanye’s protege, hearing them both spaz on a track like this, layered with a live band and distorted sounds is insane.

The pair’s boisterous lines like “I use your face as a urinal” and “Kamikaze over commas” give off an energy that only can be brought out by them.

This isn’t a long song nor is it complex but it’s raw emotion from the master and his student, which is amazing in itself.

La Flame’s biggest hook (pun intended) on everyone in the rap game is his ability to make something catchy as fuck using his unique melodic cadence, “Antidote” is where he’s able to showcase that talent in the most spectacular way possible.

As always, he’s paired with a moody beat that sounds like it belongs exactly where the lyrics say he is… at the night show. This song is one of the catchiest songs ever and was one of the first (besides Cudi… chill y’all) of this new age of melodic dark ass lyrics.

I know a lot of young cats don’t like to admit it but I believe this is one of the songs directly responsible for something like “XO Tour Lyfe.” We all know this song and this shit still goes crazy, anything can happen at the night show.

Ok, so this song isn’t on Spotify, I don’t know why but I had to drop the YouTube version because this song deserves every listen.

Before I address the actual song can we just appreciate the fact that Travis Scott ft. Young Thug and Justin Bieber even exists? That shit just looks good on paper and sounds even better executed. For awhile this song was the anthem me and my friends would play when it was time to get real fucked up.

Travis Scott wailing to Maria while Thug dances all over the track is an intoxicating sound. It feels like a downward spiral that you love every minute of.

This is my personal favorite Travis Scott track he’s dropped by far and it doesn’t look like it’ll be replaced anytime soon.

The best part about Madden 18 might deadass be the glitches

Y’all know what time it is, summer almost over so that means Madden season is upon us and it wouldn’t be a new Madden release if we didn’t have a whole bunch of new glitches to go along with the updated roster.

Sports games are usually cursed with a bunch of dumb ass glitches when they come out, probably due to the rush to put out a new iteration of the game every 365 days.

This year, Madden is offering some good reasons for the upgrade coming with a brand new story mode letting you take control of a washed up high school football star in his road to redemption showcased on the Frostbite engine, which is used for games like Battlefield 1 and Star Wars Battlefront.

Basically the game looks sexy as hell but with these revamps come a whole new group of glitches to make you want to throw you’re controller at the TV.

There’s an array of glitches like these goofy instances of players getting spun on their headtop and defying gravity:

https://twitter.com/DreSmithJr/status/904814571252092928

Those glitches aren’t that bad, but then you have game changing glitches that will fuck up your whole game leaving no one but yourself to blame for losing a $25 bet that you made knowing you ain’t have no money on you.

https://twitter.com/cvazquez08/status/903482709770514432

I can feel the frustration from the last one…

As these glitches keep getting dumber and dumber, the videos keep getting funnier. YouTuber Chiseled Adonis put up commentary over a compilation of the worst (best?) glitches and it is drop dead funny.

Even sitting here writing this I’m laughing at his accurate exaggerations of how we ALL react to when Madden hits us with some bullshit, “Yo I hate this game I can’t play this game, aight I just caught a touchdown with the Rams” gold.

Watch his video by our homie Chiseled Adonis and cop Madden 18 now for PS4 and Xbox One.

On Queen Beyonce’s 36th bday, famous friends recreate ‘Formation’ video

Yesterday was Labor day but more importantly Beyonce celebrated her 36th birthday!

In normal ‘drop some fly shit quietly’ fashion, Beyonce posted a gallery of her friends and family, each dawning the iconic look from her 2016 “Formation” music video.

Friends from Kelly Rowland to Serena Williams and family alike all posed individually in a series of black and white photos celebrating Beyonce and her contribution to art.

Kelly Rowland


Serena Williams

Beyonce.com

Most notable of the pictures is Mrs. Michelle Obama, whose photo sits smack dab in the middle of the gallery looking as elegant and strong as ever.

We all know the Obamas and Carters have been close for a while now, remember when Jay said he “running through the White House in a mink like that shit was his house going through the halls like a mall”? Yeah, me too.

Michelle Obama

Beyonce.com

Blue Ivy Carter

Beyonce.com

There has always been a lot of respect exchanged between the two power couples and it’s great to see Michelle continue that tradition.

The gallery seemed to serve more of a purpose than just a celebration though as a donation link stood at the top of the page leading to help Beyonce’s hometown of Houston as they continue to recover from the recent impact of Hurricane Harvey.

The city’s favorite daughter has pledged to help as much as possible with her BeyGood team and reportedly has already given $7 million.

Michelle Williams

Beyonce.com

Ms. Gloria Carter

Beyonce.com

Her Houston pastor Rev. Rudy Rasmus told TMZ that Beyonce isn’t the flashy type and always shows out for Houston behind the scenes so that $7 million check probably isn’t getting confirmed anytime soon.

Peep the gallery at Beyonce.com and use the donation link at the top if you want to show your support for Houston during these trying times.

Ms. Tina Knowles Lawson

Beyonce.com

This UK comedian has created the internet’s best meme right now

Last week UK comedian Michael Dapaah hit up Charlie Sloth’s BBC Radio Show Fire in the Booth to drop some bars as his alias MC Quakez.

The show is pretty big over in the UK and has been a legitimate platform for many grime artist like Giggs and Stormy but MC Quakez pulled up to the booth and created a hit that has the internet going crazy.

The entire 22-minute video is pure jokes with Michael Dapaah, aka MC Shakez, flubbing over not catching the beat on time and making fun of the radio station’s name.

Obviously this was easy for the internet to latch on to because it’s just hilarious but the main meme from the video is becoming the “the ting goes skrrraaaa” part where Shakez goes on with a bunch of goofy ass gun ad-libs.

https://twitter.com/DavidDTSS/status/904893149792935937

One of my favorite moments that’s getting kind of slept on was the “Girl told me take off the jacket, I said babes mans not hot” part which was just so aggressive and dumb at the same time.

His freestyle is everyone’s favorite quotable right now and as always Twitter is here to give us every meme possible.

Like this hilarious John Wick dub over:


Or the Saving Private Ryan one:

https://twitter.com/DisabledMidget/status/903448621516980225


There’s just more and more:


The internet is literally undefeated with this:

https://twitter.com/SantanJ_/status/904411563477671936


When are y’all gonna stop?

It looks like comedian Michael Dapaah has noticed just how viral his freestyle has gone and is now planning to drop some ‘Mans not Hot’ merch along with others, presumably the other meme-able moments from the clip.

Memes definitely sell these days so I say good on him for finding a way to profit off his hilarious moment on the radio.

The merch is set to be released later on tonight on Dapaah’s website MDMERCH.co.uk, watch the full Fire in the Booth session below and find your own favorite quotable.

Lil B threatens to put curse on Lonzo Ball if he doesn’t show respect to Nas

Big Baller Lonzo could have made the ultimate goof dissing Nas and his hip-hop legacy on his new reality show “Ball in the family.

Lil B took to Twitter earlier today to warn Lonzo that if he ever disrespected Nas again he’ll be cursed in his rookie season with the Lakers.

He thought it was Lavar Ball at first, which makes sense ’cause LaVar is known for talking 24/7.


Based God went on to direct his attention towards the actual Lakers front office, telling them to get their shit together.

He addressed them by saying “Watch your team” and “Step ur PGs up,” warning to throw his infamous curse on the 19-year-old star and his team.

Lonzo is still safe for now but he’s on thin ice, Kevin Durant once held the Based Curse and didn’t win shit until Lil B graciously lifted it from his soul.

Twitter went crazy with Lil B’s threats, some pleading and begging for Lil B to forgive the young Baller and others ready for him to drop the hammer and make Lonzo pay for his actions.


https://twitter.com/lolitstristen/status/904030564709228544



The youngest member of the Ball family, LaMelo Ball, chimed in on Twitter to say his part on all the curse antics. He didn’t shut it down though, nah Lil Melo Tweeted out that Lil B was one of the hardest rappers and no one could tell him anything else.

He’s 15 so it makes sense he fucks with the Based God, we all do. Lil B appreciated the support from LaMelo and retweeted this tweet:

Immediately after Twitter started to accuse Melo that he was just jacking Lil B to go against his brother.

He immediately shut all those rumors down and tweeted out:

Who knows how this curse stuff will play out, I’m just hoping Lonzo can get in the Based God’s good graces so he can happily cook with the lakers this season.

Cam’ron lives in LA and is loving his white neighbors on Instagram live

Fashion icon, business mogul, and hip-hop legend who gave us all our best lingo, Mr. Killa Cam is no doubt one of the most entertaining figures we have in hip-hop.

Since falling back from rap a bit, Cam has earned his spot as the Instagram king with such memorable posts like being on live for almost two hours breaking down the history of Dipset or when he went off on someone from his hood for lying to their daughter claiming Cam to be her father.

He also gave us the most amazing quote in human history saying, “Tell her mother I’m a earring wearing, gold chain wearing, jet flying, Bentley driving fly motherfucker”.

Killa is back with Instagram gold as he documents his interactions with his many white neighbors at his LA home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QcEbNMlLdg

One of the videos shows a flock of friendly white people congregating in front of Cam’s porch to talk about a bunch of nothing, Cam being true to his Harlem self said to the camera what we’d all be thinking “what the hell is going on.”

I gotta give Cam credit though, we all know that uncomfortable feeling of being in a room full of white people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmH92cUCKKE

It’s a real challenge a lot of us have to overcome because whether we like it or not, there’s mad white people out here and Cam actively trying to embrace his fellow neighbors is low-key setting a great example for us all.

These adventures of Killa and the caucasians could legit be a miniseries. From running errands with his 70-year-old homegirl or just letting her tell a bunch of random stories for his followers, this is the most entertaining contrast you can ever watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu6lp3TFCnc

Seeing the Harlem bully talk to a 70-year-old white woman about her social security checks and lack of a man is really a sight to behold, watch the antics and make sure to follow Cam’ron on Instagram so you never miss a moment of it.