Best of 2008: Part 3

The Top 10 Hip Hop joints of 2008:

10. Rick Ross-”The Boss” (feat. T-Pain) (from the album Trilla; Produced by J.R. Rotem):

Say this about Rawwsss: I respect his hustle.  He hit the mixtapes hard after the first album to build anticipation.  And then he hit us with “The Boss,” which ruled hip hop in the first quarter.  This was probably T-Pain’s most hardcore track that he did a hook on.  And JR Rotem positioned himself as the next Dre producer of the moment.

9. Nas-”Hero” (featuring Keri Hilson) (from the album Untitled; Produced by Polow Da Don):

This one struck hard.  It wasn’t anything like Nas’ recent jazz-tinged singles.  It was a full-fledged banger with a full drum-line, and futuristic sounds effects via Polow Da Don.  And it felt monumental, like the God of the flow had returned.  And in turn, he dropped a very superior album.

8. Lil’ Wayne-”Mr. Carter” (featuring Jay-Z) (from the album The Carter 3; Produced by Infamous & Drew Correa):

There was a lot of Wayne dickriding going on in 2008.  Of course, it was helped in no small part by the 1.1 millie he sold in his first week and the 3+ mill he’s sold in the states alone.  And while I have to admit I liked all his singles, none were particularly stand-outs.  Let’s get some realness out of the way here: “Lollipop” was annoying and too pop, “A Millie” was a re-hash of “Go DJ” and “Money On My Mind” – a bunch of silly wordplay and clever one-liners.  “Mrs. Officer” and “Got Money” were both made-for-radio without any lyrical content.  But “Mr. Carter,” and “Dr. Carter” were the joints for the real headz.  And it featured a passing-of-the-torch between Wayne and Hov.

7. Kanye West-”Flashing Lights” (feat. Dwele) (from the album Graduation; Produced by Kanye West & Eric Hudson):

Kanye capped off the smash promotion of his third album with a crossover smash that slowed the electro-sound he used on “Stronger” down but kept the bassline at the same speed.  It was quite a year fo ‘ye, with both the ending promotion of his third album and the release of his fourth in the 12 months.  I still think “Flashing Lights” would’ve been helped with a real video clip to accompany it instead of the weirdness we got.

6. The Roots-”Rising Up” (featuring Chrisette Michele & Wale) (from the album Rising Down; Produced by ?uestlove & James Poyser):

Everyone loves the underdog.  And for the past 15 years, the Roots have been hip hop’s favorite underdog; ever since “Proceed” blasted through speakers in 2008.  Now they’ve gone from Hov’s backing band to the house band of a late night show.  But they’re still dropping dope music.  Oh and Wale might be the second MC ever (after Big Pun) to steal the show from Black Thought.  Of course, this go-go-influced track was more suited to him than Thought.

5. T.I.-”Live Your Life” (featuring Rihanna) (from the album Paper Trail; Produced by Just Blaze) &

4. T.I.-”No Matter What” (from the album Paper Trail; Produced by Danja):

While Weezy got most of the hype, Tip quietly dropped the heat. Despite the massive wackness that was “Whatever You Like,” his other lead singles from his project were completely on point.  Both tracks are uplifting and spiritual.  You get the feeling Tip’s almost leaning on the conscious side of the tracks. And did i mention that both beats were bananas?  It’s almost impossible to choose between the two.  “Live Your Life” was the bigger hit, but also the more poppy of the two.  “No Matter What” was better lyrically, so I gave it the edge.  Plus Tip was doing his trademark hand signals in the video.

3. Scarface-”Can’t Get Right” (feat. Bilal) (from the album Emeritus; Produced by Nottz)

The late charger got all the way to #3 before bowing out to the two titans of this category.  Lyrically, Face is shittin on everyone in the game on this track.  Bilal adds that perfect touch of soul on top.  This year Face lashed out at “bubble gum rap.”  Said Emeritus is his last solo album and that, among other things, he wants to do groups with both Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z, and Nas and Ice Cube.  He also said he’s tired of the game and that the “Scarface” name was too limiting.  Whatever.  Dude is top 5 all-time, he can do what he wants.

2. Young Jeezy-”Put On” (featuring Kanye West) (from the album The Recession; Produced by Drumma Boy)

I would say that “Put On” is that career-defining crossover record for the hardcore hip hop street artist.  But Jeezy already had that record in “Soul Survivor.”  So maybe this one is just the frosting?  But to be fair, Kanye West steals the show and (strangely?) drops one of the most memorable autotunes verses in recent years.  “Put On” was the biggest rap record of the year.  Yes, the biggest, but not quite the best.

1. Lupe Fiasco-”Hip Hop Saved My Life” (feat. Nikki Jean) (from the album The Cool) (Produced by Soundtrakk)

This was probably expected.  Lupe is that next.  The Cool was the best album of last year, and Nikki Jean is my new love.  The memorable video helped as well.  Damn, this is still the jam!

Best of 2008: Part 2

The Top 10 Neo-Soul/Alt. R&B Songs of 2008:

10. Gnarls Barkley-”Going On” (from the album The Odd Couple; Produced by Danger Mouse):

Gnarles’ whole album was pretty knockin’, but this was really the jam. Though the soul of “Who’s Gonna Save Your Soul” is a close second.  “Run” was quite catchy on its’ own as well.  But on the real, Cee-Lo is dope in every project he appears on.  He also had one of the best song’s on Estelle’s album (“Pretty Please”) and Common’s album (“Make My Day”).

9. N.E.R.D.-”Spazz” (from the album Seeing Sounds; Produced by The Neptunes):

N.E.R.D. dropped their best album yet, unfortunately it got lost in the shuffle.  They just happened to come out the same week Lil Wayne moved 1.1 millies.  But it’s all good.  The Beatles-ish sound that permeated the last album survives on this one, but its’ the louder songs that are the highlights, led by “Spazz.”

8. Erykah Badu-”The Healer” (from the album Nu AmErykah Part 1: 4th World War; Produced by Madlib):

Erykah came back in a big way, taking us on a fonky Dilla-inspired ride.  The highlight was “The Healer,” a chilled-out tribute to the power of hip-hop.  I’m beginning to think that we love her more because she’s weird, instead of despite it.  She has this very charming old southern way about her.  The single “Honey” or the super-fonky “The Cell” could’ve easily made the list as well.

7. Foreign Exchange-”Daykeeper” (from the album Leave It All Behind; Produced by Nicolay):

Phonte and Nicolay teamed back up but went completely on the soul side.  Mostly singing, no real rapping.  But it sure was dope.  “Daykeeper” was the standout lead single that led us to the project.  I can’t front, you have to be in the right mood to listen to this shit.  It’s very slow and monotonous if you’re over-energetic.  But its’ cool pace music if you’re just chillin out.

6. Solange Knowles-”Sandcastle Disco” (from the album Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams; Produced by Soulshock & Karlin):

In a year full of throwback records, Solange’s brought back the 60’s like none other.  After making some brief noise with her sister-inspired debut, Solange took some time off and kid a kid.  She decided to return and go exactly the opposite way of Beyonce.  And it worked.  She’s churned out three hit singles, despite not getting any marketing push at all.

5. Alicia Keys-”Teenage Love Affair” (from the album As I Am; Produced by Alicia Keys & Jack Splash):

Ahh…mi amor.  The third single from her album was the best song on the surprisingly low replay value cd, it also featured a pretty catchy Slick Rick-sampled remix – but the OG is where its’ at.  With another throwback groove and a School Daze-inspired vid, this is the jam.  And of course, she might be the most gorgeous woman on the planet.

4. Anthony Hamilton-”Cool” (featuring David Banner) (From the Album The Point Of It All; Produced by Kelvin Wooten, David Banner, & Ramon Montgomery)

That sample is off the hook.  It kinda sounds like a door that’s off the hinges.  Anyway, the song is that ishhhh.  You had to know that after the little success he had with the more uptempo “Sista Big Bones,” that he was gonna come back with something more contemporary.  But this is still way too soulful for urban radio.  And that’s just the way I like it.  David Banner provides a humorous cameo verse, and A. Hamilton once again does his thing.  Still diggin the album as well.

3. M.I.A.-”Paper Planes (Diplo Remix)” (featuring Bun B & Rich Boy)(from the album Kala; Produced by Diplo):

Of the three million versions and renditions and samples of this track, I prefer the Diplo Remix which actually circulated in late ‘07.  Of course the song was brought to popularity with its’ inclusion in the TV adds for Pineapple Express. But hey, whatever it takes to get good music out, right?  Both Bun B and Rich Boy prove their worth on this remix, each adding to M.I.A.’s original point of the song.  And each leaving with memorable endings to their verses.

Bun: “It sounds like a verse, but it’s more like a plan/get your Robin Hood on, put some pressure on the man.”

Rich Boy: “Excuse me, let me introduce my lady/her name is Baretta and she muthafuckin crazy!”

2. Raphael Saadiq-”Oh Girl” (from the album The Way I See It; Produced by Raphael Saadiq):

As much as I’m a Jigga fan, I prefer the Hov-less version of this track.  It’s not that Hov has a bad verse, but I much prefer the full instrumentation of the track.  It’s just that jammin.  But of course, we should come to expect that from Ray Ray at this point.

1. Jazmine Sullivan-”I Need You Bad” (from the album Fearless; Produced by Missy Elliott):

Of course, this was a banner year for Jazzy.  She just kinda took over the scene.  This, the lead single, led to comparisons to Lauryn, but they were premature.  Her album stands alone without having to lean on the L-Boogie comparisons.  Besides, she has some elements of L, but also some of Mary and others as well.  But this is still the jam and hasn’t gotten me sick of it yet.

Best of 2008: Part 1

The 10 Pop/Contemp. R&B tunes of 2008:

10. Estelle-”American Boy” (feat. Kanye West) (from the album Shine; Produced by will.i.am):

Estelle was one of my only favorite newcomers this year.  Shine was a dope album that was heavily slept-on.  The production on that joint was top-notch and will.i.am re-treaded a beat from his overlooked solo album to deliver Estelle to the American audience.  While I admit she isn’t the most talented individual (she raps and sings – doing neither particularly well), she brings a sort of charm and charisma to her music that shows her soul.  I will definitely be keeping an eye on her in the future.  Especially now that her teeth are fixed.

9. Usher-”Love In The Club” (featuring Young Jeezy)(from the album Here I Stand; Produced by Polow Da Don):

While Here I Stand was ass, the first single was pretty hot.  Polow had a killer year on the pop/R&B-tip and this was one of the signature cuts.  Ersh’s album, however, did not fare as well as the lead single.  The disasterous album sales are leading him to release a new joint in 2009.  Hopefully we can get a few more pop tunes instead of his boring version of R&B.  Usually I’m more for the R&B stuff than the pop stuff, but let’s be real – Ursh can’t do the R&B thing, he needs the pop stuff.

8. Lyfe Jennings-”Cops Up” (from the album Change; Produced by Lyfe Jennings ):

It was a very strange year for Mr. Jennings.   He did return to the scene with his triumphant third album Change. But the neo-soul/urban adult contemporary stuff was disbanded for a shot at some auto-tune-flavored pop.  And to be fair, it was really good.  Easily the catchiest track of his career, Lyfe took quite a good stab at the T-Pain sound, but did it with more soul – resulting in a personal fave from the beginning of the year.  But Lyfe fans needed not to be afraid, he was his same ol’ self for the rest of the album.

7. the-dream-”I Luv Your Girl” (feat. Young Jeezy) (from the album Love/Hate; Produced by Tricky Stewart & the-dream):

The-american-dream had quite a year as well.  He ended last year on tour with Hova and Mary to support his flopping album and tanking single for “Shawty Is A Ten.”  But things sure turned around fast for Terrius, as his follow up, “Falsetto,” was a huge smash and the third single even bigger.  Featuring a wordy verse from Young Jeezy about absolutely nothing (yet completely necessary), the-dream boasts of having another man’s (reportedly Lil Wayne’s) woman all over him, and how he wants her bad too.  The highlight of this song from my point of view, is when this song comes on in the clubs and all the girls point at whoever in the room they’ve ever dated just to sing “fuck that nigga” along with the chorus.  Thanks, Dream….thanks a lot…..

6. Chris Brown-”With You” (from the album Exclusive; Produced by Stargate):

Seems weird to say, but on the pop tip: Chris Brown ran 2008.  Stargate had a very nice year as well.  Together they made the year’s cheesiest, most unavoidable love song.  Yet no one could stay away from it.  Sometimes you just gotta admit your wrong; and I was wrong about Chris Breezy.  It looks like the cat’s here to stay – at least for now.

5. J. Holiday-”Bed” (from the album Back Of My Lac; Produced by Tricky Stewart):

The Dream and Tricky were on fire at this point.  It was when they went to the ladies that things got screwed up.  But J.Holiday basically owes his career to them.  The singer who tried to look like a rapper had only moderate levels of emphasis on his vocals.  That’s a really fancy way of saying he’s not a great singer.  But the tracks and production did most of the leg work.  The track really darts on the Trey Songz remix.

4. Trey Songz-”Can’t Help But Wait” (from the album Trey Day; Produced by Stargate):

Now originally this beat was supposed to go to Mario, but Trey killed it and Mario never got to release his version.  Now I’m not sure who Trey pissed off to have to second-hand these tracks, but when he does get them he kills ‘em.  His agent, his manger, someone gotta get up on that hype, cuz Trey is too talented not to be in that upper tier of R&B/Pop stars.  Honorable Mention to his song “The Last Time” as well.

3. Keyshia Cole-”Heaven Sent” (from the album Just Like You; Produced by The Ghostwriterz):

Keyshia is so hot right now, she just released a third album with almost no promotion and no real lead single….and did 300k in her first week.  She had 3 high charting singles this year from her second album, including the Ghostwriterz’ “Heaven Sent,” which featured a video that really took the imagery of the song to another level.  Even though it was a pretty cut-and-dry beach scene, the video does its’ job of visually capturing the song – the best on the album.

2. Kanye West-”Love Lockdown” (from the album 808’s & Heartbreaks; Produced by Kanye West):

My first opinion of this track was that he was attempting to go so far left that he would certainly gain everyone’s attention.  But the track is just completely irresistable.  And his album was very hit-or-miss, as he took a lot of chances – either coming through completely unexpectedly (“Street Lights”; “Welcome To Heartbreak”) or failing miserably (“Paranoid”; “Bad News”), but every song is well designed.  It’s comparable to Andre 3000’s The Love Below, more than any other album.

1. Chris Brown-”Forever” (from the album Exclusive: The Forever Edition; Produced by Polow Da Don):

Unfortunately for Kanye, C-Breezy’s song was a little more irresistable.  No one could avoid this song.  Polow ran the pop/R&B world this year on the production tip, Chris Breezy ran it on the vocal tip – together they created the best pop tune of the year, by far.  Whether it was the bass line or the trancy synth’s, this was the jam.  And the Polow remix tranced it out a little more.

Damn Yankees

Those effin Yanks are at it again.  They are the new owners of a brand new Mark Texiera, a C.C. Sabbathia, and a AJ Burnett.  Now I have to admit, I was not too impressed with the Burnett signing, and I’ve always thought Sabathia should stay in the NL where he hasn’t been figured out yet.  But Texiera??! Plus they might get Manny??!!

It is very possible that the Yanks could be rolling out a lineup of the following:

1. Robinson Cano, 2B

2. Derek Jeter, SS

3. Manny Ramirez, LF

4. Mark Texiera, 1B

5. Alex Rodriguez, 3B

6. Xavier Nady, RF

7. Hideki Matsui, DH

8. Nick Swisher, CF

9. Jorge Posada, C

That would be one helluva lineup.  But didn’t they just have an all-star lineup in 07?  Things will definitely be interesting in Yankee-land.

The Worst of the Year

These are my top 5 songs i hated the most in 2008:

5. Mariah Carey-”Touch My Body” (from the album E=MC2; produced by Tricky Williams):

While E=MC2 was actually not a bad album (aside from the generic first two singles – don’t sleep on the Jeezy/Storch track! “Side Effects”!), but the lead single was terrible.  As much hype as the project had, this one sucked all the life out of it.  The Dream and Tricky Stewart were on such a roll, they gave a “sure thing” fluffy cupcake song to Mariah, and she did her thing.  But the “sure thing” was just terrible.  The worst part was when the Dream did a remix and added his own auto-tuned-ness to the track.  Which made it even worse.  Thank God you can watch music videos on mute!

4. T.I.-”Whatever You Like” (from the album Paper Trail; produced by Jim Jonsin):

Not sure what brought this one about.  Off of Tip’s second best album, one that put him securely back to the A-List, he led the project with a “Lollipop” rip-off that was just as successful as it was terrible.  “Lollipop” itself was no work of art.  But the fact was that Wayne had spent much of his career attempting to keep up with Tip.  And now Tip was running off of Wayne’s jock.  Nevertheless, “Whatever You Like” was the jump-off of the project, and while incredibly successful in its own right, the peak was the follow-up “Live Your Life,” which was just as good as “Whatever” was bad.  So he made up for the terrible Wayne re-hash Jim Jonsin track, with an irresistible Rihanna-fueled, Just Blaze provided pop track with a good message.  Plus he delivered one of the year’s best albums, so we’ll give him some slack on this one.

3. Maino-”Hi Hater” (from the upcoming unreleased album If Tomorrow Comes; produced by Mista Raja)

 I didn’t quite get the appeal of this one.  Was it the three trillionth sample of “Dollar Dollar Bill Yall”?  Was it that NY was starving so bad for some action that they took this crap?  Or was it the marketing campaign with the “Hi Hater” stickers.  Whatever it was, Maino was hot for a couple of milliseconds before the rap world went back to Tip/Weezy-mania in 2008.  The label probably should’ve just dropped an album when this song was hot, ‘cuz that Soul II Soul-rip off second single flopped.

2. Jim Jones featuring Juelz Santana & Ron Browz-”Pop Champagne” (from the upcoming album Pray IV Reign; produced by Ron Browz)

Ron Browz has some answering to do.  He actually was able to hit NY off with two huge songs right here at the end of the year – this and Busta’s “Arab Money.”  But it’s just weird how the producer of “Ether” can become a T-Pain rip-off just 8 years later.  As for Jim Jones, we already know he sucks.  We also know that Juelz is prone to some bad decision that we let slide since Jim’s his homie.  But the worst part about this song?  It’s extending Jim’s 15 minutes just a bit longer…..

1. Beyonce-”Put A Ring On It” (from the album I Am…Sasha Fierce; produced by Tricky Stewart)

Beyonce is so oversaturated that we don’t even talk about her being hot anymore.  She’s just there, and we’ve learned to live with it.  On the other hand, after a banner year for The Dream and Tricky Stewart, they were bound to have some duds.  Neither this nor the Mariah song was really a dud, but they both sucked.  This one even moreso.  It’s not just that this song sounds like an attempt to re-hash most of her singles on her first two albums.  It’s more that it’s significantly worse than any of those songs, plus the fact that the song’s message is just incredibly silly.  Beyonce obviously lives in a fantasy world that all of the rest of us are not included into.  A man is not going to “put a ring on” everything he likes.  The whole idea is just silly.  Plus the beat structure is predictible, bland, and boring.  Her attempt at artistry is commendable, but the actual results of such attempt are just garbage.  Really, there were a couple ballads that were worthwhile, but the rest of the album is garbage.  What’s scary for Beyonce is that, that’s exactly what we expected from this album anyway.

Tryin not to Jinx

when it comes down to it, Ben is an elite qb in the NFL

I’m doing my best not to jinx my team. If there’s any sports team I’m most passionate about, its the Pittsburgh Steelers.  DJ Gallo at ESPN claims we have the third best defense ever.  (On a side-note, how typical Steeler-fan am I, when the only thing i really checked on that list is how we ranked against the 2000 Ravens?).  And yes, it’s tough to argue that point.  When everyone is healthy we have 6 or 7 guys who should be Pro Bowlers every year in NT Casey Hampton, DE Aaron Smith, ILB James Farrior, OLB James Harrison, OLB Lamar Woodley, SS Troy Polamalu and maybe CB Ike Taylor.  But what really sets this team apart from the recent teams is Ben’s maturity.

Our QB is an elite QB in the NFL.  I don’t care what anyone says.  There’s only three QB’s are better: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees.  And I can give you an argument that he’s better than Brees.  Romo?  Puh-leeze, win a game in the snow before we even think about it.  Warner?  He’s had a nice ride this year, but he also stinks in the winter.  Phillip Rivers?  He’s good, but I’d say he’s a year or two behind Ben.  His season this year reminds me of Ben’s 2006 when we were 8-8.  Same thing with Jay Cutler, although he’s more talented.  Carson Palmer? Don’t make me laugh.

While he had a much better stats year last season, (his numbers were very close to Daunte Culpepper’s then-historic 2004 season.  Of course it happened during Brady’s even-more-spectacular season, so it was lost in the translation).  But I still didn’t know if he’d make the key play at the key moment.  Even more questionable was Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians’ play-calling.  But with the weapons we have this season, I almost get the feeling that the Silver and Gold can make any play work at this point.  Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes give us one of the best WR duos inthe game.  Santonio, who was drafted to essentially replace Plaxico Burress, has actually fit in better than Plax ever did.  Plax was well-liked in the locker room, but had a habit of dropping passes and complaining about not getting the ball enough.  Now mind you, all of this is warranted for someone of his ability and talent.  Especially considering that we were only throwing 15 passes a game then, as he only played one season with Ben.  But Santonio doesn’t drop as many passes, proves perfectly willing to go over the middle, and is willing to defer to Hines when needed.  Santonio seemed questionable when he got a DUI right after being drafted, but he’s been a perfect fit in Pittsburgh.  He’s the perfect speed receiver to compliment Hines’ tough-as-nails, perfect route running.  He’s fit in developing a solid protege role to Hines, and a partner-in-crime role with star RB Willie Parker.  And while he didn’t have the breakout fantasy season that owners were hoping for, he has developed into an elite-level WR.

The Steelers have found a player in Santonio

The offense as a whole is much younger than the veteran D.  Ben, Santonio, Fast Willie, stud TE Heath Miller, and this year’s picks WR Linas Sweed and RB Rashard Mendenhall are all fairly young.  In their run since 2002, the Steelers have done a very good job of upgrading their talent through the draft and making the most of their early draft picks.  In fact their last first round brick was 1999’s selection of WR Troy Edwards.  But even in that draft they made up for it by grabbing Colorado State LB Joey Porter in the third and North Colorado DE Smith in the fifth.  Since then the team’s first round picks: Plax in 2000, Hampton in 2001, G Kendall Simmons in 2002, Polamalu in 2003, Ben in 2004, Miller in 2005, Santonio in 2006, LB Lawrence Timmons in 2007, and Mendenhall this year.  The book is still out on Timmons, who is currently splitting time with ILB Larry Foote, and Mendenhall whose season ended early with an injury, but the rest of that lineup features five pro bowlers and Holmes, who should be one soon, and Simmons, who started all but 4 games in his first 5 seasons.

Something that separates the recent Steelers from those in the past is the spectacular plays of SS Troy Polamalu.  He’s so good it almost helps you forget how well Joey Porter is playing in the M.I.A.  Polamalu is living up to his reputation of the best safety in the league this season.  Perhaps the most exciting defensive player in the game, Polamalu is the Steelers’ unquestioned leader on defense with Porter gone.  He’s got 7 picks this year and a number of bone-crunching hits.  He’s easily looking at a fifth straight Pro Bowl, and should get an easy second first team all pro nod.  In fact, he’s among the 4 or 5 best defensive players in football this season, and his main competition for Defensive Player of the Year is coming from familiar faces: old friend Porter and teammate Woodley.

We have a big game with Tennessee next week that will decide home field for the playoffs.  I’ve stopped trying not to jinx the Steelers, and have begun just enjoying it.  Whether we get another ring or not is almost frivolous at this point.  When we won it all in 2005, I couldn’t watch the Colts playoff game because it made me so nervous.  I won’t make that mistake again.  I’m going to enjoy the ride, win or lose.  And I’m fairly confident that this team, as it stands now, is the best team in the NFL.

Crash…..

When the entourages of rappers and ballers meet, the result isn’t always good

It's safe to say that Bassy Telfair is much better known off the court than on it

We often make the comparisons of rappers and ballers. They often co-exist. In fact this site is mainly devoted to both. They run in similar circles, often close friends like Lebron and Hova. Or C-Webb and Nas. Or the Glove and Too Short. Often times they are from the same hometown. UGK and Stephen Jackson are the only people of note from Port Arthur, Texas and they often shout each other out. The Glove is the most legendary Oakland baller of at least this generation, and $hort was the same as a rapper. Stephon Marbury is an official Terror Squad member. Lebron likewise with the Roc. Lil Wayne is known to be good friends with LeBron, Chris Paul, and Kobe. Sometimes the worlds even intersect. Hov owns part of the Nets, Nelly owns part of the Bobcats, and Usher owns part of the Cavs. But every once in a while, these intersections don’t go quite as well.

Now I am going to preface this by saying that it’s difficult to say with certainty what happened, but from the info that’s leaked it’s not hard to put together.

But sometime at Justin’s (Diddy’s club/soul food restaurant in Manhattan), Sebastian Telfair was robbed and had a gun held to him by two unknown chain thieves. Now by most people’s account, these two were almost certainly members of Fabolous’ entourage. How they were affiliated with them is a point of question. There are some accounts that say that they were just crew-members. The Hip Hop Cops claim that Fab’s Street Family label is mainly associated with a Brooklyn gang of the same name from Fab’s neighborhood of the Brevoort Projects in Brooklyn. There is speculation of whether these two men were from Fab’s label or the gang, but most people seem to conclude they were affiliated with both. With both of these two men’s history of gun possession, it is safe to say Bassy decided, “I know another Brooklyn cat ain’t jackin me!” And if you’ve watched Through The Fire, the documentary on Bassy’s final year of High School ball, you’d know that he’s a local legend. And that there would be a line of people willing to do dirt for him. Bassy, as many of us know, is from Coney Island, another project neighborhood in Brooklyn. Both Fab and Bassy are local legends and have huge amounts of loyalists in their neighborhoods. Both neighborhoods are gang and crime-infested.

Anyhow, Bassy is seen whipping out a cell-phone right after the chain snatching and making a phone call. It is speculated that Bassy saw the same two men that robbed him right after in the club itself. Twenty minutes later, Fab is shot in the leg in the parking lot.

Since neither entourage is cooperating with police (big surprise there, no one likes talking to cops), neither crime was ever solved. It is worth noting that police don’t believe Fab was the intended target. This leads one to believe that the chain snatchers were probably were outside talking to Fab in the parking lot but were lucky enough to miss the bullet.

The Local Media has made Fab into some sort of crime boss

To summarize, Bassy’s going into Justin’s with his fiance, when he has his chain snatched at gunpoint by two men.  He then follows them into the club section where he sees them laughing and joking with Fabolous and his entourage.  Bassy goes back outside and makes a phone call, the shooters come looking.  They see the two thieves chillin’ with Fab while he’s waiting for his car to get pulled out and shoot.  Instead of hitting the thieves they happen to hit the other celebrity involved, Fabolous.  Something about that doesn’t seem right.

How do you “accidentally” hit a celeb?  It seems to me, these cats were goin for Fab to send a point.  They were sayin, if you jackin Bassy, we can get Fab. Or maybe Bassy believed the hype, that Fab really is this Godfather of BK.

I’m thinkin Telfair told his crew to get the chain back and they saw Fab and saw an opportunity to make a point.  This doesn’t necessarily clear Fab of any wrong-doing.  He very well might have been the one to order the jacking of Bassy’s chain in the first place.  You have to remember, no matter how much street cred you might have, or how much work you might be putting in, the cats with the spotlight are still the shot-callers.  For the most part. Add in Fab’s supposed ties to the Black Mafia Family (the crew’s rapper Bleu Davinci, name-checked Fab as an affiliate rapper before getting locked up) and you might be looking at Fab as a very misled soul himself.

No one knows for sure what happened that night, but what’s clear is how the two men’s careers have gone after.  At the time, Fab had just gotten traded (!) from Atlantic to Def Jam, and dropped two massive singles to throw his IDJMG debut into another platinum plaque.  Bassy’s career, it’s safe to say, hasn’t been as bright.  He was eventually traded to Minnesota in the KG trade and is currently the third string PG there.  Needless to say, he never quite became as good as he was supposed to.  The comparisons to his cousin, Starbury, are pretty safely over.

Now I’m not sayin that being shot in the leg was good for Mr. Alphabet’s career.  But perhaps it was something that led to him straightening out his entourage.  He also was in the center of controversy a year later, when his childhood friend was killed in a botched chain-snatching.  After that particular incident, Fab was quoted as saying “Most of the people that are around me work in association with what I do in the music business.  I don’t have any hangers-on. I can’t really afford them.”  This is sorta comical when compared to his boasts in his raps.  But four platinum albums in 8 years doesn’t necessarily net you as much money as you might think.  Nevertheless his crew’s been linked to numerous robberys from Zab Judah, to Bassy, to rappers like Foxy Brown and Busta Rhymes.  It doesn’t help his story that Fab’s own brother, Paul Cain, was shot reportedly from another botched robbery.  This past March, Freck Billionaire, an artist on Fab’s Street Fam’s label was also arrested on drug charges.

Now the media portrays that Street Fam is 20 former drug dealers that rob celebrities, “the bigger the better.”  The target of black celebrities exist because they are less likely to report the robbery.  To them, it is an admission of guilt to their street cred to be robbed.  The theory is that Fab’s old homies use his celebrity status to gain access to industry functions where they can target their victims.  It’s interesting that Fab maintains there is no robbery link, when every incident involving the crew is tied by the media to a robbery.  Perhaps the media jumps on this because of the street tale of RGS, a gang which robbed many-a-celeb in the 90’s.  Police  believe this gang turned into Street Fam when Fab became famous.

The truth is probably somewhere in between.  If these cats were robbing celebs, some of whom Fab may be associated with, they might not tell Fab.  Fab’s got money, but not THAT much money.  I’m sure most of these rappers aren’t getting paid.  So maybe they are jackin chains.  No one knows for sure.  And that is the paradigm that exists with Fab in Brooklyn.

Kill that Noise!

MC Shan told you about Chris Bosh!

First of all, let me say this: Chris Bosh is NOT an MVP candidate currently.  Stop giving him so much credit.  He’s probably 11th in the league right now.  Right behind Dirk and right ahead of Vince Carter.  So in the immortal words of MC Shan, “Kill that Noise!”

“So Jason, then who are MVP candidates?”

Glad you asked.  I’m going to give you the top 20 players in the NBA (statistically speaking) and the 10 worst in the NBA this season, so far.  Then, I’m going to give you my early All-Star picks.

(*Applaude*)

The 10 Worst Players in the NBA so far in 2008-09:

10. Dahntay Jones, DEN: To think that this guy’s started 14 of their 17 games is pretty outlandish.  This is the same guy who couldn’t make the Kings’ roster last year, and they sucked.  Homeboy can jump out of the gym, that’s for sure, but he’s not a solid NBA player.  The guy shoots 43% from the floor and averages more than three times as many turnovers to assists.  But with George Karl’s grudge against JR Smith still in place, Jones starts.  And they wonder why Denver’s under-achieved so greatly under Karl.  At some point, you can’t blame AI or ‘Melo, you have to look at the coach too.  But Denver’s been red hot with Billups running the point, so that may be a moot point for now.

9. Bobby Simmons, NJN: This guy had two good years, but after getting hurt two years ago, he’s completely fallen out of favor with the basketball Gods.  He plays for a significantly over-achieving Nets team, but can’t seem to keep up.  The scary part: he, like Jones, starts.  He’s basically their replacement for Richard Jefferson.  I say slide Vince to the 3, and start CDR (my favorite college player from last year)!

Even the most advanced statistical studies can't show everything Bruce Bowen does for you on the court

8. Bruce Bowen, SAS: Bowen always scores low on statistical tests because his one-on-one defense doesn’t really show up in stats.  And he’s not really good for anything else.  There was one point where you could count on his three-point shooting, but that age has gone far away.  Plus the Spurs looked pretty terrible to tip off the season, especially when Tony Parker went down.  But the good thing about that injury is that Coach Pop was forced to play bench guys.  They’ve put together quite a little rotation now with George Hill and Roger Mason, who will come off the bench with Ginobili and Parker healthy.  I still think they need one more big to really compete with the elite of the Conference, but they’re much better off than I’d thought they’d be.  But then again, why doubt the Spurs?

7. Tyus Thomas, CHI: To call this guy a bust is probably an understatement at this point.  He’s joining the Michael Olowokandi/Kwame Brown/Darko Milicic group soon.  Let’s just face it: Thomas got too much credit for LSU’s Final Four run that year, when really Big Baby was the center of that team.  Thomas’ upside at this point is maybe Hakim Warrick.  Maybe.  And considering Warrick’s a below-average NBA player, that’s pretty bad for a guy who was essentially a number two pick in the draft.  Even with a stud point guard, this guy can’t score.  Ouch.

6. Jason Kapono, TOR: I’ve always thought this guy was overrated.  He’s supposedly the best shooter in the league (and he does shoot 52% from behind the arc), but he can’t stay on the court because his defense is so bad.  I don’t know how I left him off my list of the top 10 worst defenders in the league.  But let’s just call a spade a spade: Kapono is terrible.  He does more things to hurt your team (defense) than he can make up with his one skill (shooting 3’s).  Also to be noted is that he can’t create his own shot and is a completely straight-up catch-and-shoot guy.

5. Nick Collison, OKC: This is a guy who doesn’t belong here.  He’s an average NBA starter, but he must be hurt or something.  His rebounding numbers are half of his career average.  His shooting percentage is way down and all of his defensive numbers are way down.  I’m thinking he’s hurt.  He’s normally a very good hustle-work guy in the Jeff Foster-mode.  I’m not sure what’s going on here.

4. Ronnie Price, UTH: You can’t see it, but I smiled while typing that name.  When he was with the Kings I told anyone that would listen; don’t be fooled, he’s not good enough to be in the NBA.  He’s too small to defend anyone, and not quick enough to stay in front.  He’s also not especially athletic and takes terrible shots.  But he would put up such solid garbage-time numbers that all my fellow Kings fans wanted to bring him back.  But he’s garbage.  He sucks.  He’s someone you’d want to root for, but he’s just not good enough.

Last year Deshawn couldn't feel his face, this year he can't feel his jumper

3. Deshawn Stevenson, WAS: This one hurts.  Deshawn had become one of my favorite players in the league after last year’s run-ins with LeBron.  And after two years of very solid player, has gone into the tank this year.  He’s currently in a season-long shooting slump, and his Defense has slipped drastically.  Though I think he’ll get it together, you have to wonder if the past two years were simply him playing over his head.  In which case, he didn’t take the step forward that I’d thought he’d taken.  But if you’re looking for reasons Washington has been so horrible this season, Deshawn’s probably reason #1.  #2 would be Andray Blatche and the center position, which has been almost as horrible.  And #3 is Tough Juice’s defense has slipped.  But I’m a big Wiz fan and I’m rooting for them to turn it around.

2. Earl Watson, OKC: Watson has been in the bottom five for at least 3 years now.  The fact the Sonics-turned-Thunder keep bringing him back is more indicative of how bad their point guard situation is than how good he isn’t.  It’s pretty impressive that he keeps finding jobs though.  He must be a great practice player.

Mr. Triple Double is having a down year

1. Ricky Davis, MIA: Ahhh Ricky.  I have to admit, I didn’t think he’d be this bad.  It’s quite well-documented that he’s never on a good team (usually not a coincidence), but at least he gets ‘buckets’ right?  Well he has the worst +/- in the league, and has the lowest PER of players with enough minutes to qualify.  In fact, he’s so far having the worst season since i began checking these stats two years ago.  He’s shooting 27% from the field and averaging 4.3 points per game.  And he’s a scoring-specialist.

Now for a turn for the better:

The 20 Best NBA Players this year so far:

20. Andrew Bynum, LAL: Lost in the Gasol/Kobe hype is that Bynum is having quite a year as third wheel.  He’s actually having a better season than Gasol or Odom, and is third on the team on this list.  (The second is going to surprise you.)  But 12.4 and 9.1 while shooting 53% fromt he field will do that for you.  Not to mention he’s shooting 72% from the line.  Did i mention that he got off to a slow start and his stats sure to race up as his averages catch up?  It’s going to be a long year for everyone in the West trying to catch the Lakers.

19. Chauncey Billups, DEN: It should be no real surprise that Chauncey’s Denver’s top player thus far, or that he was easily Detroit’s.  He’s been in the top 10-15 every year since the ‘04 title year.  Especially given how slow ‘Melo’s started statistically.  Chauncey’s actually been the third best PG this year, ahead of such luminaries as Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, and Jose Calderon.  It should also surprise no one that Denver caught fire once Billups was acquired.  They look like a legit threat to take down the Lakers and/or the Rockets, if they ever get theirselves together in Houston.  Talent-wise, there’s these three in the West, and then everyone else.  We’ll have to see how things work out in May and June though, as both Denver and Houston have histories of under-achieving.

18. Marcus Camby, LAC: Stat-heads are always crazy over Camby.  Because he gets outrageous amounts of Rebounds and Blocks without being a real viable option on offense.  He  litterally only seems to care about the team’s well-being.  Unfortunately, he went from an average club in Denver to a terrible club in LA.  But he’s still scoring 10 pts, grabbing 10 boards, and over 2.5 blocks/game.  What’s strange is that Denver has actually become a better defensive team without the former Defensive Player of the Year.

Ray Ray's rejuvenation

17. Ray Allen, BOS: I have to admit, I thought RayRay was done.  Sure he can be a fourth or fifth wheel on the Celtics and they can win a title, but his days of Jesus Shuttlesworth saving his team were long gone.  But he’s proving me wrong…..again.  17.7 Points, 4 boards and a new committment to defense say Ray Ray’s still got it.  His three-point percentage is down a bit, but overall Allen’s been the defending champs’ best player thus far through the season.

16. Trevor Ariza, LAL: The second Laker on the list is probably the biggest surprise of the group.  Though I can admit there are a couple other surprises coming up, Ariza isn’t even a starter, and he’s statistically the second best player on the best team in the NBA.  Ten points and 5 boards in 23 minutes/game isn’t that impressive.  But 1.73 steals per game in that time looks good.  Plus the kid rarely turns it over and has a really high FG% (50%) for a guy who can’t shoot (as his 32% from behind the arc and 62% from the line will tell you).  I’m not sure anyone saw this coming.  Last year when the Celtics won the title, Lakers fans said “wait til we get Bynum and Ariza back.”  We all kind of snickered at Ariza’s name being included in that claim.  We were wrong.

15. Danny Granger, IND: Anyone who thinks this one is a surprise does NOT watch enough basketball.  Granger has played at an all-star level for the past two years, and is sixth in the league in scoring this year.  What?  You thought Indiana was over-achieving because of Mike Dunleavy??! The fact that he’s continuing to improve should surprise absolutely no one.  This kid was the reason they felt Artest was expendable in the first place.  24 points and 5 boards is nice, but they’re even nicer when they come on 47% shooting.  What’s great about him is he’s also a lock-down defender.  His rebounds and 3 point shooting are down from his career averages, but if they come back out this Pacers team could be in the playoffs and you’ll know why.

14. Tim Duncan, SAS: He’s still 20/10 with 52%.  Though no longer THE dominant four in the league, he’s still very close to the top.  And with the early injuries to Ginobili and Parker, the Spurs have had to rely on Duncan even more than normal.  And now they are getting healthy again with Duncan having held down the fort.  Tim Duncan, despite his 20/10’s will always be underappreciated based on numbers alone.  He has been the dominant PF of this generation and is one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Brandon Roy is a superstar, officially now

13. Brandon Roy, POR: Last year he became a new poster-child for the NBA, as we all thrust him into the spotlight.  He had praise given to him that he wasn’t quite deserving of yet, sort of like Deron Williams.  Except he wasn an all-star, Williams was not.  Roy got most of the credit for the Blazers’ surprising first half success last year, when really it should have been doled out equally between he and LaMarcus Aldridge.  This year is another story.  This year it’s all him.  He’s gone from borderline star with superstar potential, to flat out superstar.  21 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and stellar defense for the franchise player who is, unofficially, their point guard.

12. Vince Carter, NJN: Big rebound year for Vince.  While he played well with Jason Kidd, he’s playing even better now.  It could be argued that he’s playing the best ball of his career this year.  And even then, he’s not the best player on his team.  Jersey is the surprise team of the NBA this season, and Vince-sanity is a major reason why.  He’s dropping 24 points on 48% shooting for the Nets.  It’s tough to say this about Vince, since he’s pretty much universally hated, but he’s having one helluva year so far.

11. Chris Bosh, TOR: Here is where I have the most overrated player in the league so far.  Yes, he’s third in the league in scoring.  Yes he dominated the Olympics.  It looked like he had gained the edge in the constant battle with Dwight Howard.  But since they returned to the states, he’s looked a distant second in that competition.  Howard continues to put up rediculous stats, while Bosh’s numbers are just as good – maybe better.  How about 27 & 10?  How about 54% shooting?  But the downfall here is that the intangibles are just not coming Bosh’s way.  He has a fairly low +/-, and usually that has to do with defense.  With Jermaine O’Neal now in the low post, Bosh has struggled to find his role in the defense.  The team as a whole doesn’t have enough talent to compete with the big boys in Cleveland and Boston anyway.  Hopefully they figure something out or Bosh might really be New York-bound in a couple years.

10. Dirk Nowitzki, DAL: Dirk has accomplished a lot in the NBA.  He’s won MVP, been to the NBA Finals, and been universally praised.  In my book, his best season was 2005-06, when I had him as the second best player in the league.  But this year may prove to be his biggest challenge.  With Kidd still productive, but on the downside of his career, and defenses able to key more on Josh Howard, Dirk has to carry more of the load than ever.  It doesn’t help that Jerry Stackhouse has been all but left for dead by Coach Carlisle, or that no one outside fo the Dirk/Kidd/Howard/Jason Terry group is even playing like an average NBA player.  Dirk is the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, so obviously he got something going.  He’s going to have to step up his game a bunch if the Mavs are actually going to compete.

9. Amare Stoudemire, PHO: Nobody appears to be happy in Phoenix, least of all Amare.  After have such a breakthrough in the second half of last year, Terry Porter’s new offense has been more centered around Shaquille O’Neal, and less around STAT.  This is a bad idea both business-wise and basketball-wise.  Business-wise, you are taking the risk of pissing off your marquee attraction for the future.  Nash and Shaq and Hill are all getting old fast.  The team is going to have to be rebuilt around Stoudemire.   But playing this game with him is risking losing him in 2010.  Even though he’s considering this a down year, he still is dropping 22 points and 8 boards a night.   He’s also shooting 57% and getting a block and a steal a night.  His defense is slowly improving, though it is still pretty bad.  Basketball-wise, you would want to get the ball in the hands of your best player, and Amare is the best player in Phoenix these days.

8. Andrei Kirilenko, UTAH: After his tiff with Jerry Sloan two years ago, Kirilenko went into the tank.  This season he’s come back rejuvenated.  Whatever he did, whatever his offseason regimen contained, he needs to stick to it because it worked quite well.  Boozer’s gotten most of the credit for holding the Jazz down during Deron’s injury, but it’s been Kirilenko doing the heavy lifting.  12.6 points and 6 rebounds a night are not outstanding numbers.  But it’s his defense and huge +/- numbers that put him among the game’s elite.

Even after all of the team's transactions, it was improvement from within that's led to Cleveland's hot start

7. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, CLE: This is probably just as big of a surprise as Ariza.  Ilgauskas has always been a plausible NBA center.  He even got to the all-star game one year by default.  But this year he looks legit.  While Lebron and Mo Williams get the credit, it’s really Big Z who, by taking his game to another level, managed to improve the team so greatly.  Zydrunas is only 16 points, 7 boards, and 54% from the field, but all of his percentages are high.  He’s shooting 87% from the line and 38% from behind the arc.  The impressive part is that he’s putting up good numbers in decreased minutes. The Cavs, smartly, want to keep him fresh for the playoffs and try to reduce risk of injury so Big Z can help them attempt to take out the Celtics.

6. Kobe Bryant, LAL: Sure last year he was MVP, but it wasn’t his best year.  And he really wasn’t the best player last year (that was Lebron).  But the argument can always be made for Kobe being the best in the league.  Even Shaq now recognizes the greatness of Mr. Kobe Bryant.  The Kobe-ster has a very quiet 25 ppg and has not needed to take over too many games this year.  With the lineup the Lakers have, he hasn’t needed to.  Must we remind ourselves just how loaded the Lakers are…..

Anyone who says they saw Devin Harris' 2008 season coming is lying.

5. Devin Harris, NJN: This guy has to be, hands-down, the biggest surprise of the year.  He’s gone completely nuts.  He’s basically turned into Gilbert Arenas.  25 points and 6 assists.  He just dropped 47 on Phoenix the other night.  He dropped 38 on Detroit.  He’s the main reason the Nets are still smack dab in the middle of the playoff race.  We always knew he could defend and get to the rim, but who knew he could score like this?! Devin Harris has Most Improved Player quite easily thus far.  And should be a dark horse in the MVP race if he keeps this up.  He’s having a completely rediculous season for the a Nets team that looked like they were going to be horrible.

4. Dwight Howard, ORL: After Harris, the rest of this list is fairly predictable.  Howard finds time, in between McDonalds Monopoly adds, to drop 24 & 14 every night, lead the league in blocks, and shoot almost 60%.  Just another day at the office for Superman.

3. Chris Paul, NOR: Statistically  he’s even better than last year, when I had him as the second best player in the league.  He’s going to lose points from MVP voters because of the Hornets’ underachieving, but that’s not his fault.  That’s more because David West’s jumpshot is in the Lost & Found somewhere.  20 points & 11 dimes are Paul’s M.O.

2. Dwayne Wade, MIA: Wade is currently second  in the league by a whisker.  Literally a one-hundredth of a point separates Wade from #1.  And to call this a bounce-back year would be a severe understatement.  The dude is single-handedly willing a  team lead by Chris Quinn into the playoffs.  Keep in mind that this is a team that has 2 of its’ best 5 players are rookies.  They have no bench and a rookie head coach.  And Wade has them currently tied for the 8th spot in the playoffs.  Flash is rediculous.  There is, however, one man playing even better (though however slight the difference may be).

1. LeBron James, CLE: Let’s clear something up: Lebron has been the best player in the league for the past two seasons.  But Wade is right on his rear tail.  Well, not even…these two are neck-and-neck.   But yes, i can admit that LeBron’s been the best player in the league thus far, which leads us to:

The Eastern Conference All Star Team

Starters:

PG Devin Harris, NJN
SG Dwayne Wade, MIA
SF LeBron James, CLE
PF Chris Bosh, TOR
C Dwight Howard, ORL

Bench:
F Danny Granger, IND
F Kevin Garnett, BOS
F Caron Butler, WAS
G Vince Carter, NJN
G Ray Allen, BOS
G Joe Johnson, ATL
C Zydrunas Ilgauskas, CLE

Here Ilgauskas gets it bad because there’s no other Centers worth mentioning for the team. Butler makes the team despite hsi lousy team, and Johnson takes the final guard spot. No surprise with Allen and KG both making the team from the Celtics, as two Nets and Cavs make it as well.  Obviously, it’d be tough for Z or Butler to make it, so you’d probably get a Piston or two in there along with Paul Pierce on the actual team.

The Western Conference All-Star Team:

Starters:

PG Chris Paul, NOR
SG Kobe Bryant, LAL
SF Andrei Kirilenko, UTA
PF Dirk Nowitzki, DAL
C Amare Stoudemire, PHO

Bench:
F Tim Duncan, SAS
F Marcus Camby, LAC
F Al Jefferson, MIN
G Brandon Roy, POR
G Trevor Ariza, LAL
G Chauncey Billups, DEN
C Andrew Bynum, LAL

Here Jefferson makes the cut as the last player on the squad.  This dude reminds me of a Elton Brand.  But he’s a number one guy, unlike Brand, and plays porous D, unlike Brand.  Here, Kirilenko, Camby, Jefferson, and Ariza would all have trouble making the squad.  You could probably replace them with Boozer, Yao, Carmelo, and T-Mac for the actual squad.