The Renaissance Man Art

There are few notable figures in history that have been as talented as Leonardo da Vinci. He wasn't just a painter although he is considered one of the best to have ever lived. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist and writer. 

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was a renaissance man. A man whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his powers of ingenuity and invention. Da Vinci painted the The Last Supper, Mona Lisa and the Vitruvian Man. The Vitruvian Man painting has become a cultural icon being reproduced on everything from the euro to text books, posters and t-shirts. He also created blueprints for a helicopter, tank, calculator and numerous military weapons that have been built and tested to function.

Dan Browns 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code explored his past involvement with secret societies. Below are some paintings and sketches by a true renaissance man whose genius and passion for creation have spawned inventions still in use today.

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Top Live MC's

I've been feeling kind of nostalgic lately, listening to older music. There is definitely a lack of substance in today's music scene. The new style focuses more on the beat and cadence like the group Travis Porter and less on lyrical content. I don't hate on this cuz it is music and introducing different styles helps the culture grow. With that said, out of the millions of rappers in the industry I only listen to a few.

Below are my Top live MC's for the moment. These catz embody what it means to be a lyricist. No matter what type of beat is playing they spit something witty and lyrically impressive so that you the listener will rewind the track and play it again. This was a tough decision cuz my opinion changes by the milli-second and catz like Kool G. Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ice-Cube, and Smif-N-Wesson were all favorites.

I based this list of MC's off music released in the last few years, including mixtapes, features and solo projects. Below are songs by Nas, Ludicris, Rakim, Twista, Sean Price and Jadakiss. All talented lyricists who have consistently dropped new material and their rhymes have substance. Take a listen.

Party Tunez

Its Saturday and I'm ready to party! In the spirit of goodwill, friendship and total inebriation I posted some party music below. Party Tunez are high energy songs you listen to when going out to a party or event. They get the adrenaline going and put the mind in a social mood. Below are tracks by Kid Cudi, Snoop Dogg, Flo Rida and Tha Alkaholiks...check 'em out. 

Remembering 2010

2011 Welcome to the New Year! Its a new year, new plans, and new ambitions. To start it off right I dedicate this post to remembering 2010 with a few highlights and failures.

Last year dance music took the U.S. by storm. Its always been big in Europe but now dance style music is being incorporated into most of the Hip-Hop and R&B released. 2010 also marked the "Death of auto-tune" only to have it return with a vengeance a few months later. Out of all the artists who use auto-tune T-Pain does it with style. Here are a few hot tracks from last year by artists MF Grimm, Brotha Lynch Hung, Wu-Tang Clan, and Wiz Khalifa.

In 2010 was the attack on Wikileaks a non-profit organization that reports news for the people by the people, and its founder Julian Assange. It also documented the privatization of the military and the rise of Black Water mercenaries being deployed in the U.S. and Iraq. Black Water has been termed the secret police working from the shadows to spread terror democracy throughout the Middle-East. Check out the clip below.

Finally, there were technological advancements in cell phones, medicine, aviation, and space exploration. Below are a few notable advancements in 2010.

AniManga: Darker Than Black

This post is for my Otaku's and Anime addicts. I just finished this series Darker than Black and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. 

An uncharted area called Hell's gate appears in Tokyo and all the stars disappear and are replaced by artificial stars.  During this time people started gaining superhuman abilities. These humans are known as Contractors. They are cold blooded murderers, smothering unnecessary emotions with logic and rationale.

Contractors are given the name because of an involuntary compulsion to "pay the price" each time their power is used, which can range from eating particular foods and completing meaningless tasks, to self-harm and having their bodies change in peculiar ways. Various nations and organizations around the world train and utilize Contractors as spies and assassins, resulting in violent battles for valuable objects and information.

The story revolves around a Chinese contractor codenamed Hei who has the ability to use electricity. He undertakes various espionage and assassination missions in Tokyo under the direction of a secret organization known as the Syndicate. 

The show is fast paced and has enough action and betrayals to make you wanna watch the sequel. I posted a clip below of Hei fighting another powerful contractor named Wei. Check it out and if you like it, tell a friend to tell a friend.

New Muzik

Happy Holidays People,

In the festive spirit of the Yule tide season I come bearing gifts. New Muzik from industry veterans and fresh faces. I call new muzik songs that have a strong beat, good lyrics, catchy chorus and  the artists image and appearance is congruent to whatever he's relaying in the song. 

First up is Pace Won. He was a member of the group "Outsidaz,” back in the 90's which included members Eminem and Bizarre before they created D12. He also did collabo’s with Flipmode Squad and the Fugees. He’s back with a hot track with Mr. Green and Rival called “My Song.”

Next is Murs and 9^th Wonder with a melodic Ode to Hip-Hop called “I used to love her again." 9th is one of the go to producers for hit records. Murs is a conscious rapper and part of groups Living Legends and Mystik Journeymen. 

Followed by Saigon, dropping conscious poems with depth on his track "Together Dear Black America." Saigon has been around for awhile steadily building a buzz over the years but due to label problems has yet to release his long anticipated album "The Greatest story never told."  Perhaps on the strength of this track and other buzz worthy singles the album will be released in the new year.

Finally Drag-On former member of heavyweight label the Ruff Ryders, along with The Lox, DMX, Eve, and Cassidy. Drag took a brief hiatus from the game after dropping his last project in 2004 and now is back bringing the heat for the winter. The track "Swine Flu" featuring Jadakiss and Trish Barnes is a return to 90's Hip-Hop with hard rhymes, beats, and delivery. Enjoy!

Canadian Hip-Hop

This post is dedicated to spitters coming from the cold. Canadian Hip-Hip started in the eighties and gradually expanded taking influences from the U.S. and Europe. 

The first Canadian rappers I heard were  Kardinal Offishall and Choclair back in the nineties. Since then I've met Maestro Wes and numerous artists from all over the country at the Midem conferences in Cannes, France. Most of the acts being represented were R & B but there were a few Hip-Hop acts that inspired me to look'em up.

Below I posted music from the Rascalz, Swollen Members, K-OS, and Rochester a.k.a Juice all talented artists coming from the cold.

Electronic Pick Pockets

Technology is moving at a frightening speed and to keep up thieves and criminals must find new and innovative ways to steal. Back in the day when you would ride the subway or bus you had to watch out for pick-pockets. Now you have to worry about electronic pick-pockets, guys that steal all your credit card information without ever taking it out of your wallet. Check out the clip below. 

Conscious Rap

I consider Conscious Rap, music made to illicit change in ones social situation, city, state or surrounding environment. Its considered a underground, sub-genre of hip hop that focuses on social issues. It is not necessarily political, but it does discuss social issues and conflicts. Themes of conscious hip hop include religion, economy,stopping violence, Black, Latino, and Asian American cultural advancement.

Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" was one of the first successful political and conscious hip hop tracks, describing the poverty, violence, and dead-end lives of the black youth of the time. Hip-Hop was once full of groups that delivered a strong message without sounding preachy. 

Groups like A Tribe Called Quest, and Blackstar (Mos Def and Talib Kweli) had mainstream success while promoting a positive message about education and change received less media attention as Hip-Hop became mainstream. 

This post is a tribute to artists and groups who have used their freedom of expression to educate and enlighten others. Below are Immortal Technique, Visionaries, The Roots, Sage Francis, and Paris check 'em out.

Wiki Leaks

For those of you who haven't been following the news. Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange have been under global attack. WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organization dedicated to bringing important news and information to the public. They provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for independent sources around the world to leak information to journalists. 

They publish material of ethical, political and historical significance while keeping the identity of the sources anonymous, thus providing a universal way for revealing suppressed and censored social injustice.

WikiLeaks released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. 

The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.

This video and the Wikileak of the Afghanistan War Logs over the summer has made the US contact its ally countries and attempt to shutdown and block the website. Here is a link to the video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0  do to its sensitive nature I can't post it below. 

Read more about Wikileaks and what YOU can do to insure information stays free by clicking on the link and taking action.