Yes, it’s more hyperbole, but no it’s not bullshit. Look at what respected hip-hop blog It’s All the Way Live had to say about Black Thought, the eternally underrated frontman and MC for The Roots, and the freestyle he recently spit on Shade 45 in a tribute to the late producer-extraordinaire J Dilla:

Black Thought has been considered by many to be among the best emcees of all time, but after his incredible ‘freestyles’ on the Shade 45 Dilla tribute recently, many hip-hop heads bowed down and gave him the crown as THE greatest. Even Q-Tip was at a loss for words when it came his time to grab the mic. While this has been floating around the net for a bit, here’s our exclusive mix of the session, with some of the levels raised (including bass) and mastered properly. I edited out Tony Toca (sorry pal) and everything flows perfectly. Enjoy raw emceeing at its finest over Dilla beats.

Honestly, that introduction might not even do it justice. Admittedly, it’s virtually impossible for Thought to have spit all of this off the dome, forcing us to put quotation marks around the word “freestyle,” but even if every word of it was written down it is STILL nothing short of remarkable. It’s a rare combination of extraordinary lyrics, a smooth, natural flow and a sick Dilla beat, and what you get is a showcase of the enormous talent that is Black Thought, who so often gets overlooked while surrounded by the universally-recognized brilliance of The Roots (and the charisma of his fellow bandmate, drummer ?uestlove). Here, though, you are treated to Black Thought at the top of his game, spitting in a raw, almost unrecognizably raspy voice and at a pace that literally leaves Q-Tip laughing (as you’ll hear) at its sickness. Originally this was three separate freestyles on the same radio show, but, as mentioned above, this file has been mastered into one perfectly fluid track. You can either download it below or listen to it below that; either way it’s eleven-plus minutes of rapping that will blow your mind:

Black Thought (feat. Q-Tip) - Shade 45 Dilla Tribute

Download audio file (blackthoughtdillatribute.mp3)

[MP3 courtesy of (the excellent) All The Way Live]

See the whole map of NYC at 8-Bit NYC.

[via Waxy Links]

Relatively interesting backstory from Vulture that mentions Rube Goldberg too:

A few weeks back, OK Go lead singer Damien Kulash made an impassioned plea to his record label in the op-ed section of the New York Times to please, please, PLEASE allow bloggers and other unsavory social-media types to embed their YouTube music videos. You see, the label had shortsightedly disabled the embed feature that made the band popular in the first place, which Kulash effectively argued was limiting the band’s appeal and revenue-generating ability. Well, coincidentally enough, the band just so happens to have a new(ish) LP out and, what do you know, today they released a brand-new video! And guess what? After taking a beating in the court of public opinion, their record label caved and now this newly minted “controversial” video that you’re about to see will be embedded on thousands of websites within the next twelve hours or so. Controversy aside, the band has actually done the impossible and managed to top their groundbreaking “Here It Goes Again” by developing what will no doubt go down in history as the mother of all Rube Goldberg contraptions. On top of that, we’re fairly certain that this video’s majesty will inspire Hollywood to start fast-tracking a Mouse Trap feature film by week’s end.

OK Go - “Here it Goes Again”

[via Vulture]

Courtesy of Jayson Stark, or, more appropriately, @jaysonst:

Here’s a thought that ought to warm you up out there. This was the last Sunday without a baseball game to watch until Nov. 7.

[via Balls Sticks & Stuff’s Twitter]

Also, definitely click on this picture to zoom in…

[via Online Schools]

[via Kottke for a change]

Justin Bieber - Baby (feat. Ludacris)

[via 2dopeboyz]

[via (the bomb ass) Flip Flop Fly Ball]

That is the tagline for comedian Aziz Ansari’s (Parks and Recreation, the fruit stand guy in Flight of the Conchords) upcoming hip-hop mixtape, co-produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek and featuring his alter-ego “Raaaaaaaandy,” (FYI: yes, that does link to laughyourdickoff.com, but, no, it is not a porn site; it is Raaaaaaaaandy’s site) the stand-up comedian character played by Ansari in Judd Apatow’s Funny People. Here was his announcement of the mixtape on his blog in December:

Dave Sitek and I are working on a mixtape together. That’s all we’re saying for now, but if everything we have in mind comes together, I can promise three things: 1. Y’all ain’t ready. 2. Motherfuckers need to know. 3. Get yo’ shit.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think he’s funny as shit. And yes, I realize that this is the same humor that Lonely Island tackled with “I’m on a Boat,” but, guess what, I loved “I’m on a Boat” too.

Today, he released an update on the mixtape, announcing that they need to “push that shit back,” and this is where you can really see the potential of this collaboration (and, yes, that’s really him spinning):

[via Aziz is Bored & Pitchfork]

Wow.

[via Make Magazine]