From Compton to Consciousness: Kendrick Lamar Enters the Game

(Photo via zatoonblog.com)

When you think of West Coast hip hop, NWA and Snoop come to mind. How can we forget "Straight Outta Compton"? This song was the West's coming out party: times are tough out here and we are sick of it. Gangsta rap made it's presence felt with it's aggressive social "tell all" and the Game changed (Note: I'm not talking about the Game the rapper, but the hip hop Game to make this clear. Game the rapper thinks he's a player in the Game but he's not. He's more like a name dropping, whining water/towel boy). Dre, Snoop and Ice Cube (Sans the "Are We Wherever Yet Againing?") are synonymous with the West Coast sound, with Jay Rock coming up the ranks. But a cat from the aforementioned Compton is breaking the mold by delivering West Coast consciousness instead of aggressiveness: a potential rookie of the year in the Game, Kendrick Lamar.

Wherein Lupe Fiasco Can find No Love in this House - "Lasers" Review: the P&B BBM Chat

We here at P&B love technology. We both use Blackberry Messenger like crazy, so why not show our deep conversations to the world! This is a first in the Blogosphere (we think). Here it is: The P&B BBM Chat.

(Photo via kingsrowe.com)

Paqman: Are you feeling the new Lupe?
Turnbull aka Tza: No not at all. Disappointed actually
Paqman:  Disappointed is the right word. What the hell happened? A lot of folks out there are digging it. I don't get it.

Rdio: Uping the Game

(Photo via rdio.com)

Canadian music users and consumers are frustrated with the lack of music services available in our home and native land. Pandora disappeared years ago and might come back eventually. The whole world is still buzzing about Spotify, even though it's not available in North America. There are some services available right now, free or not, but nothing compares to what Rdio (pronounced ar-dee-o) is offering. And they are offering pretty much everything.