Crib Notes

WE THE BEST? YEAH, RIGHT.

Atlanta is top dog when it comes to hip hop cities, right? Having definitively vanquished New York, LA, and, um, Houston in recent years, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of debate on this issue. But believe it or not, folks in Miami somehow think they’re the best. DJ Khaled constantly yells out as much at the top of his lungs.

And sure, they’ve got something of a case, what with top-selling MCs like Rick Ross, Plies, T-Pain, Trick Daddy and Flo Rida residing in the general vicinity. Hell, even Lil Wayne lives in Miami Beach these days. A new disc from E-Class and Khaled — the ringleader of the bunch, even if he doesn’t really do much more than invite people to his recording studio and press record — is designed to drive this point home.

Live From the 305 features South Florida folks such as Ace Hood, Trina, Brisco, Trick, Flo and ten tons of other rappers I’ve never heard of. As a regional showcase, it closely resembles Killer Mike’s recent compilation CD, Underground Atlanta, which I liked a lot.

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Funkadelic Parliamentarian George Clinton doesn’t have any substantial Atlanta ties that I know of, but he’s been enormously influential on local artists. At least according to Dallas Austin, whom I talked to recently about his new 8Dazeaweakend project. (Its DVD, which features Clinton, just became available on iTunes, by the way.)

“He’s been instrumental to all of our careers in Atlanta, me and Outkast and everybody,” Austin says, going on to describe his exhilaration at seeing Parliament’s spaceship stage show when he was younger.

Next Thursday Austin and other Atlanta musicians will have a chance to return the favor, as they are scheduled to appear at BMI’s Urban Music Awards show in New York City, during which Clinton will be presented with an “Icon” award.

Atl types scheduled to attend the event at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall also include Keri Hilson, Soulja Boy, Polow da Don, Cee-Lo, Bobby Valentino and Big Boi. Others promised are DJ Khaled, Plies, Rick Ross and Ray J.

In fact, pretty much everybody will be there except you. There are no tickets available to the public. But your trusty correspondent has submitted a press request, so hopefully I will be able to apprise you of the goings on.

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Rick Ross can’t be serious. The Miami-based rapper has been throwing his notorious big-ness around something awful since the release of his latest album Maybach Music. I’m not a fan, though the aural tapestries produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League are rather sweet and tempting. Wait, did I say tapestries or pastries?

Anyway, his latest straight-to-Internet release is just about the corniest cake daddy rap heard in years. What’s worse, it features Sleepy Brown of Atlanta’s Organized Noize singing the hook. The song, titled “Neverland,” is actually about, well I’ll let Fader explain it:

They turned the phrase/concept “Neverland Ranch” into a prurient sexual metaphor, promising the ultimate in bedroom dream fulfilment over a sample from the beginning of “P.Y.T.”

Not sure about the “P.Y.T.” sample, but there’s definitely a prominent loop of “Don’t Disturb this Groove” by the late ’80s R&B duo the System. That used to be the player track back in middle school; but this Ross/Brown collabo almost ruins it for me. Honestly, I’m not sure if I should be mad at Sleepy Brown for this one or not. I mean, he’s just singing the hook, right? No harm, no foul. If he wrote it, on the other hand, he’s got some explaining to do.

Rather than harp on the negative, I’m going to take solace in the recent reunion of the key members of Dungeon Family. Hopefully, their promise to make new music together will inspire a return to the kind of classic Sleepy Brown material heard on Society of Soul’s Brainchild (La Face, 1996) and the funked-out 1998 release The Vinyl Room (Bang II Records) that introduced Brown as the front man of Sleepy’s Theme.

Download the entire Sleepy’s Theme album, The Vinyl Room

Listen to “Neverland” at your own risk. You’ve been forewarned.

(Photo of Sleepy Brown taken in ’06 by Joeff Davis. The Vinyl Room album cover courtesy Bang II Records)

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Many hip hop beefs — 50 Cent vs. Rick Ross, say, or T.I. vs. Shawty Lo — are all bluster. But when Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane beef, people die. That’s why it is troubling that the two are at it again.

As reported on Miss Info’s blog, Jeezy apparently took issue with a recent Gucci song and fired off a diss track, “24 23,” which take aim at Gucci and associate OJ da Juiceman. “Tell him this ain’t what he want, not the boy Snow,” Jeezy raps of Gucci. “But between me and you, I think the boy slow.”

It’s not entirely clear what Gucci song Jeezy takes issue with. Sure, his recent Big Cat Records album Murder Was The Case contains plenty of Jeezy disses, but most of that material was recorded years ago. If there’s a shot taken at Jeezy on Gucci’s latest Writing On The Wall mixtape, I can’t pick it out. Anyone?

Finally, as Miss Info notes:

Mind you, this Friday, Gucci Mane, OJ da Juiceman and Young Jeezy are booked to perform at the 102 Jamz SuperJam in Greenboro, NC.

And then on Saturday…again…Gucci Mane, OJ da Juiceman and Young Jeezy are booked to perform at the Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash in Atlanta, GA.

hmmm…let’s hope both sides respect their radio sponsors and keep the peace.

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There was much speculation about who would emerge victorious in last week’s sale’s battle between pathological fibber/former correctional officer Rick Ross and Atlanta transplant/suburban zeitgeist-capturer Asher Roth. The normally Manhattan-obsessed Gawker even weighed in on Roth, with Pitchfork’s Tom Breihan going so far as to predict Ross would move 300,000 units in his first week out and to speculate that if a second single “manages to stick, he’ll go platinum, easy.”

It doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. The results are in, and Roth’s Asleep in the Bread Aisle has debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, moving 67,449 copies. (Some have the figure closer to 62,000. Can anyone explain the differential to me?)

Ross moved about 158,000 units and hit the top spot, making Deeper Than Rap his third number one album. Not bad, but indicative of the weak sales climate and, for the record, nowhere near as many copies as his rival 50 Cent tends to sell, even on a bad outing.

Among other Atlanta artists, Keri Hilson’s In A Perfect World… continues to defy industry expectations, moving 23K this week to put it over 200,000 all told. Looks like the album’s long delay didn’t kill it after all, although who knows how high she could have flown if the thing had dropped last year. As it stands, Hip Hop DX notes its “considerable radio and video play” and calls her “Interscope’s present R&B flagship artist.”

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As the audience grew tired of waiting at the Samsung AT&T Summer Krush, a symphony of boos circulated the almost full Tabernacle on Tuesday night. Meanwhile fans ranging from young to old continued to fill the auditorium in anticipation to see the often half-naked rapper Nelly.

Just as he did on the BET awards, Nelly showcased his all-female marching band dressed in matching Apple Bottom outfits and Air Jordans to open up the show. As the ladies got the crowd hyped while dancing to Soulja Boy’s “She Gotta Donk” and other ATL favorites, the blinged-out bracelet and Army dog-tag wearing rapper appeared onstage to give the audience what they’d been longing for since the doors opened.

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