[caption id=”attachment_1070” align=”alignnone” width=”430” caption=”Ninth Wonder's God's Stepson”][/caption]

For this week’s Mixtape Monday, we’re stepping back in five years time to 2003 for Ninth Wonder’s classic mixtape, called God’s Stepson. Every track on the album is a remix of a corresponding track from “God’s Son,” NaS’ seminal release from 2002.

Fans of MURS might recognize Ninth Wonder’s name, since Ninth produced beats for MURS’ 2004 LP MURS 3:15: The 9th Edition. Ninth Wonder also produced a song on the Viva La Hova mixtape, which (coincidentally) was featured on last week’s Mixtape Monday.

Like a lot of Ninth Wonder’s other releases (like “Freak these Tales,” with MURS) this album contains many samples from classic soul recordings. One of the best stand-alone samples comes at the beginning of “The Cross,” which samples “Beautiful Man of Mine” by Phyllis Hyman. All of Ninth’s samples enhance the original recordings of each song, especially the “Ether” remix, which features an amazing sample from “Hey, What’s That You Say” by Brother to Brother. The original recording of Ether (NaS’ infamous diatribe against Jay-Z) is a great song in its own right, but Ninth Wonder’s sample choice and production really transform it from a energetic battle rap into a much more nuanced assault on Jay-Z’s character and accomplishments. Many of the other tracks perform similar acts of transformation, like the upbeat Thugz Mansion that falls somewhere between the original track and the later acoustic recording from Better Dayz.

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Hey everyone, we apologize for the recent downtime experienced on Monday and today. One of our server’s hard drives completely failed on us. The datacenter had to install a new drive, which accounted for the downtime. This is usually one of the worst things that can happen to a website. Fortunately for us though, we had recent backups that allowed us to restore the site. We are going to hope and pray that another event like that doesn’t happen ever again.

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Vinyl album covers are like fine works of art. They are an expression of artistic intent. They have defined entire generations. They have reshaped the world. It’s too bad that many vinyl owners shove their LP’s into a cabinet or drawer, never to see the light of day again. There is hope, though. A new trend, aptly known as sleeveface, has begun to take the internet by storm. In order to create a great sleeveface, you simply take an album cover and position it in a way that causes an illusion. If you throw in a dash of creativity, the results can be incredible. Without further ado, here are 39 awesome examples of sleeveface.

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Now that it’s really starting to get cold (at least on the east coast), it’s time to start looking for new jackets that make a statement. For those who don’t want to just stick with the typical (and boring) Northface jackets, take a look at the various ones 55DSL are offering this season. 55DSL started off as an experimental spin-off of Diesel, but has now developed is own fun and exuberant personality. It has created a creative fusion of radical sports (surf, skate, snow) and urban culture. 55DSL wants their clothing to transition effortlessly from the sports scene, whether it be a mountainside or skate park, to the city scene. If the line’s clothing can withstand the weather and conditions of the mountainside, it should be able to withstand the toughest elements in the city.

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Late one night, I was at a small party, doing DJ duty and selecting songs on my iPod. I searched for a while, scrolled to a song, then clicked “play.” Chris Martin, of Coldplay, began to croon out his slow (medical?) ballad, “Fix You.” Initially, the crowd was not happy with this choice. “When you feel so tired that you can’t sleep,” Chris sang, slowly. “Stuck in reverse!” he whispered. Suddenly, the word “reverse” began repeating, and a bass beat started thumping. People at the party started tapping their feet. The beat built up, people started dancing, and by the time Jay-Z (aka Jazzy, Sean Carter, Jiggaman, Hova, The Roc, etc.) began rapping, the party was bumping.

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