Watch The Acclaim - Chris "Preach" Smith

Rocafella does it again.

That's the prevailing thought this Monday morning as the highly
anticipated album from Jay-Z and Kanye West dropped on iTunes.
Record stores get physical copies on Friday, but we may see a lot
of records fall in the span of four days. This is a music moment
right here, ladies and gentlemen. No, I'm not trying to pitch any
platinum Kool-Aid to you. What I've observed with Watch The Throne
may the just be the calling card of the record industry for this
century, if they choose to recognize the fact.

Take into consideration the fact that this album never leaked. Let
me repeat...THIS ALBUM NEVER LEAKED. Do you understand how
insurmountable a task that is in this day and age? Albums and artists
aren't made or broken solely by A&R's and promotional teams anymore.
Look at Lupe Fiasco. His first album, Food & Liquor, got pushed back
by Atlantic Records and then was leaked, giving the label another reason
to push it back again in an effort not to lose profits. The popularity of
that album secured Lupe's career, and it was because of the buzz the
leak generated. On the opposite end, leaks expose flaws. The fact that
Hov and Yeezy never let a track slip outside of the blockbuster that is
'Otis' reveals a very shrewd plan. Releasing it only to iTunes digitally
FIRST shows that they understand the power of the digital community.
That way, they benefit from all of the great reviews, and can stand to
make a bundle in digital sales. And best of all, they understand that
album leakage's double-edged sword is this: even if someone downloads
the song illegally, stats show that those same people BUY more than
those who don't download. So chances are they will double dip and get
more profits. This is a lesson for all of the other record labels out there
who are still traumatized by the digital age.


Another important thing to note here is that this is the first collaborative
effort for Jay-Z album-wise since his strange, dark and comical trip with
R.Kelly about eight years ago. It's not uncommon to see two musical
greats connect and create, even with albums(see:Nas+Damian Marley)
but for Kanye and Jay-Z, it still is a marvelous pairing. In truth, Kanye
has gone from student to teacher and has found himself on par with
Jay-Z now in the span of nine years. Think about that. The same cat
who got eaten alive in a radio show freestyle battle with Common way
back when is able to trade lines with one of the best AND produce at a
maestro's level. I'll admit, I was skeptical about 'Ye's talent level but
he's proven himself over the years. And as for Jay-Z...he's only gotten
better. You have to hand it to these two for basically rejuvenating the
hip-hop atmosphere on a different level and for their business skills.
I'm sure we'll all be watching the throne and they'll kick back and
watch the acclaim roll in.

5 Things To Consider for the NFL's Return - Chris "Preach" Smith

Happy days are here again now that the 132-day long NFL Lockout is
officially over. And that means there's going to be an absolute
hurricane of activity for every one of the 32 teams in the league,
let alone all the sports media personnel, fans and various bars and
restaurants who lost some sleep over football being on hiatus. So
in honor of that, here's five things to really think about now that the
preseason is beginning.


1)Get ready for the Brett Favre specualtion to go
    nuclear.

If you haven't already heard, ol' Number 4 himself has been
linked to the Philadelphia Eagles to back up Michael Vick and
linked to the Washington Redskins. All in the past 48 hours.
His agent claims it's all speculation. I beg to differ. You and I
both know somehow, some way, Favre wants to play again
despite his public statements. Just when we thought we'd
seen the last of him sliding slowly to the frozen turf up in
Minnesota last season, here he comes again. We all know
you'd rather not go through training camp and play, Brett.
What we know and you don't seem to know is, you should
hang it up. For good. There's no more bullets in the revolver,
gunslinger. But it's almost the norm to wonder if he's coming
back this time of year.


2)Donovan McNabb will play for Minnesota. And still be the
Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL.

Let's face it, few players get crapped on like D-Nabb. It's been
like that his whole career, never mind that he's been a Pro-Bowl
caliber quarterback for his career up until last season and he's
taken a team to a Super Bowl. He still has some gas in the tank,
but not for as much money as Washington threw at him last
season before cutting him. He'll go to Minnesota only because
they need a starting QB who won't break down(like another
rumored choice, Matt Hasselbeck) and he'll be someone who'll
groom another backup, rookie Christian Ponder. The only thing
bad about this is that he may not have Sidney Rice to throw to.
And if he's still there when they move to Los Angeles, there's a
nice retirement bonus.


3)Rex Ryan will predict that the New York Jets are the best team in
the NFL. And may wind up doing something he may regret later.

Yep, Imperius Rex will make bold statements, swagger and crack
wise once again as the HC of the Jets. He's already predicted a
Super Bowl for the 3rd year in a row. But he may make a move with
the front office that will haunt him this season. The Jets have a
serious situation regarding free agents. Mainly, Santonio Holmes
and Braylon Edwards. That's a no-brainer though; keep Holmes,
get another WR on the cheap. But the D-Line will take a hit, with
Kris Jenkins retiring and Shaun Ellis all but gone. Then there's the
fact that everyone's screaming at them to pay free agent Nnamdi
Asomugha whatever he wants. Problem is, you'd have to let your
other corner, Antonio Cromartie go. I see the Jets making a move
like this but with NO backup plan. They've hyped up their fanbase
so much that they have to make Dallas Cowboys-like splashes.
And how many Super Bowls has Dallas been since the '90's? They
need to really be smart here, but I have a feeling that won't happen
here.


4)Randy Moss. Terrell Owens. Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson. All three
will see some playing time this season. Only one will have an impact.

It's almost sad to see all three of these guys who used to put fear
in the hearts of defensive backfields be nothing more than Gatorade
connoisseurs. Granted, T.O.'s coming off surgery and #84 has no team
as of yet but I think they'll all wind up seeing more time this year. My
bet is, since T.O. will be a late addition this season, he's going to go to
someone looking for that edge nearing the playoffs. In that case, look
for the Jets, Steelers and(yes, I'm going here)the Bears. Ochocinco
will toil for the Bengals, but he won't get any real shine because they
still don't know who their quarterback will be since Carson Palmer is
willing to eat potato chips and drink pale ale for the whole season
rather than play for Cincinnati again. So that leaves Randy Moss. I see
him in Minnesota. I know, it sounds crazy but what do they have to
lose? He's probably looking to find a spot to play well, and he'd have
McNabb throwing to him if that goes down which would almost be like
the days when Daunte Culpepper used to tell him to go long. And he'd
be in the NFC North, where the only team that would pose an issue in
the defensive backfield would be Green Bay. It's better than him going
to Tennessee again.


5)Troy Polamalu will reach Ronnie Lott levels of defensive intimidation.

Troy Polamalu's already one of the most dominant and dynamic
defenders in the league without question. But he was hurt for a
while last year. I see him coming back as an absolute BEAST this
season, more so since Ike Taylor will likely be gone. Troy's the
type to put the team on his back with his defense, and with the
AFC Central really being a slugfest between them and Baltimore
this season, look for him to have that same kind of impact Ronnie
Lott had with the Niners during their dynasty.

Just Another Indifferent White MC on the BART - Chris "Preach" Smith

I shouldn't be surprised.

There's been a lot of talk about this new-ish female MC, Kreayshawn. Some are
calling her the new Rebecca Black. One writer referred to her song 'Gucci Gucci'
as having feminist undertones in support of her after Lil Wayne dissed her on his
upcoming mixtape. Drake has shown the Oakland MC love recently on a radio
call-in show. For my two cents, I'm gonna say this: she's nothing more than the
next evolutionary step in the merge between hip hop and pop these days. She's
kinda like the T-X from Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines. The only thing that
makes her stand out is that she's white. And there lies a gang of problems.



The alleged biggest issue is her carefree usage of the N-word. She's been called out on
it and has defended herself about as well as the Raiders' secondary without Nnamdi
Asomugha. As much as people would like this to be a non-issue, it's pretty damn
irresponsible for the daughter of Elka Zolot, one of the members of The Trashwomen,
a well-known Bay Area all female garage punk band. It's irresponsible and stupid,
but the biggest issue really is the instant celebrity she and her White Girl Mob have
gotten. And she's worked all the angles, even using her film school education by
scholarship at Berkeley Digital Film Institute. More telling, she's directed all of Lil B's
videos. Yes, THAT Lil B. Plus she was recently tapped to direct a music video for the
Red Hot Chili Peppers. Above all, the word I'd use to describe my reaction to Miss
Kreayshawn is, indifference. I don't see her in the same light as Detroit's Invincible
or Toronto's Eternia, both who more than likely could demolish her head to head.
She's only doing what a bunch of these contemporary artists are doing; get your
foot in the door, make your own waves and then people will listen. She got a deal
with Columbia Records off of the strength of that single. Outside of that I don't see
any real reason to pay more attention to her than she's getting right now. Kreayshawn
has a bit of talent, but she's also got a lot of foolishness too. It remains to be seen
which is gonna win out. Until then, I don't need to hear anything more about her.

Waka Flocka's Flame Goes Out - Chris "Preach" Smith

Last Friday, a collective shout of joy went out into the air at the
news that Waka Flocka Flame was quitting the rap game via Twitter.
I'm not gonna lie, I got happy myself. Not just because it's long overdue,
but for the fact that he cites the 'fakes' in the industry and all of the
pressure as reason for him hanging up the mic. For someone who
even managed to make a bad move while quitting(he said 'quite'
instead of 'quit' on the Tweet) Waka did the smart thing. Yes, I'm
giving him props for this. Only a little. Because he knew that the
game is over.

Waka can say he doesn't care about the critics, or the blogs. He may
even be telling the truth. But that doesn't mean that he didn't even
listen. He knew that aside from a couple of other dudes who played
microphone minstrel, he was the one you might have thought of
when you thought of how much saccharine there is in hip hop these
days. He knew that there was a target on his back the size of Decatur
wherever he went. He couldn't even do shows in Charlotte, North
Carolina anymore after two shooting attempts. He'd already been
shot in a robbery attempt and ate a left hook intended for Gucci Mane,
his mentor. All of that had to weigh on a dude who probably only
wanted to smoke more, bag more women and spend more cash and
beat the 9 to 5. So Waka, in essence, decided to stop play-acting.
He said himself he wasn't a rapper. And the funny thing is, we all
bought it. We let him pretend, and make some serious bread doing
so. Even his mom, who became his manager, did. But pretending in
hip hop only goes so far. When you realize that there are bigger fakes
than you, those who've written the book on it and write your checks,
you either change your act or give it up.

I hope that Waka, if he really is done with rap, figures out whatever
it is he's supposed to be. I hope he and his mother commit to having
their bond strengthen outside of the music. And I hope he gets a
voice teacher to take the molasses out of his mouth when he talks.

Dear Anonymous - Chris "Preach" Smith

For the past couple of months, there's been millions of angry teenagers
and adults because your group successfully took down Sony's Playstation
Network. Not only that, you had everyone scrambling once you told the
world that you bagged credit card numbers from users. Now there's some
serious questions going on as to how something like this could ever be
safe from hackers of your kind. I've only got one question for you, though:
are you satisfied with this?

I mean let's face it, targeting a video game/on-demand movie network that
size is major. But in the long run, if what you're after is fame through chaos,
aren't you playing it safe? I mean, if you really wanted to wreak havoc, why
not go for the jugular with a bigger target? Say, The Church of Scientology?
They've got acres and acres of information and money on top of it. Or how
about the Koch Brothers' private records? Do you know how much confusion
you'd bring to that bunch? Or even hack and publicize people's business like
Dominique Strauss-Kahn or Moammar Qaddafi. You might even get medals
for that.

I guess the short term is the best term outside of a prison term, huh?