Over the past 10 years an undeniable bond has emerged between hip hop and freestyle snowboarding and skiing.  From dominating the soundtracks on shred flicks to the park rat saggin his draws so low you wonder how he actually rides, hip hop is everywhere is snowboarding.   No where is the bond more visible than on the Jersey shred scene.  This past weekend our boys at BrakeFast Records told us they were heading up to Mountain Creek, NJ for 3rdRailJam.com, an event that could really harness the connection.  A rail contest,graffiti,freestyle battle, b-boys and girls breaking moves and an after party headlined by The Ruler himself , Slick Rick.  We had to go.

We showed up just in time to catch the finals of the Rail Jam and watch A-Class from Brakefast Records take the battle and win the right to open up for Slick Rick at the after party.  The energy at the after party was contagious, the DJ kept it old school and as the next song would spin the crowd would let out a collective “ooooohhhhhhhhhh”  and hands would fly as a favorite hip hop track from their pasts kept them fired up. Circles opened up into break battles.  There was an unexpected but awsome appreciation for the history of hip hop in the room.  A-class’s stand offish style brought a good contrast to the crowd and soon heads were standing militant, bobbing their heads, with hands in the air, the collective defiance that is hip hop.  As we waited for The Ruler I think we were all asking ourselves if he still had it or was he just some over the hill icon showing up for a paycheck.

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Like it says in our ‘Whos ZootPatrol’ section, we are dedicated to keeping you in the know on everything from movies, music, fashion, art, and news, so its only natural that Im going to share some new music thats been created by a good friend and true pioneer in the hip hop world. From the depths of the Maryland underground, Brake Fast Records is proud to present “Cases” – an album filled with witty lyrics, shifting stream of consciousness raps and intriguing storytelling, all backed by a dark, enthralling soundscape. With top notch production from beat extraordinaires Tom Delay, Mark Henry (Raheem Devaughn, Freeway) and Nick Tha 1da (Emilio Rojas, Ken Starr), to put it simply…the album knocks! Ive been a fan of hip hop for most of my life, and I can tell you first hand, theres nothing like bumping an album, bobbin your head, and knowing that one of your good friends created it.
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It’s been a while since we have thrown out some choice dl’s at everyone, these are all throwbacks and good tunes for a cup of coffee on a saturday morning.  Just a few songs you may or may not know and might want to download.  Enjoy.

Rogue Wave- Lake Michigan

The Notwist – One With The Freaks

Mason Jennings – Fighter Girl.

The Velvet Underground – Sweet Jane

A Mashup of Miley Cyrus’ insufferable Party in the USA and Notorious B.I.G.’s Party and Bullshit that is surprisingly catchy. I will now be bumping Hannah Montana in my Civic hatchback while driving through Newark giving the finger and puffing a bowling pin sized blunt.

Big L was and still is considered one of the most prolific hip hop artist in the history of rap. He strung together words that can only be described as amazing and his song Ebonics is widely regarded as one of the best rap songs of all time. Born in Harlem, Big L was first discovered by Lord Finesse in a record store while rhyming and was soon after featured on his 1992 hit “Party Over Here”. He later signed with the D.I.T.C Crew (Diggin In The Crate Crew) on Columbia Records and went on to release his solo debut Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, in March of 1995. From 1997-1999 Big L worked on his second release, The Big Picture, but sadly, he would never get the chance to see it completed. He was gunned down in Harlem, February 15, 1999. Big L was murdered on W138st in Harlem and was shot 9 times, twice in the face, he was 24. Gerard Woodley one L’s childhood friends, was arrested in May for the crime, but soon after released for lack of evidence. At the time of his death, L had two brothers in prison and a spokesman for the NYPD said there is a good chance L was killed for something his brothers had done, or were believed to have done.

His death remains unsolved.

This documentary gives a closer look into the legend that has grown around Big L’s amazing talent.

The flag has dropped and the Chris Brown come back has begun. Today a new Chris Brown song debuted featuring Lil Wayne called “Transformer” produced by Swizz Beatz. Whether you like it or not, you will be hearing this song all Fall of 2009, so get used to it. To be honest, if Chris Breezy keeps putting out music like this he has the green light to punch out every girl on Earth, one at a time for all I care. Chris Brown is extremely talented and has some golden pipes, now as long as he doesn’t chokeslam any ladies for a year or two he should be a regular at the top of the charts. What I want to know is do people really still not like this kid for what he did? I understand it was an awful thing to do, but are you really not going to listen to his music because of his past? Hey news flash everyone you listen to Michael Jackson(no need to inform you), Dr. Dre, Elvis Costello,and Rick James so get over it. And yes you read that correctly, Rick James kidnapped, beat, and tortured a girl for over 6 days, his career turned out O.K., Chris Breezy should be fine.

Here’s four jams you should add to your collection if you don’t have them already.  This edition has a bit of an 80′s theme but only 2 of the 4 were actually released in the 80′s.

M83 – Kim and Jessie

Great 80′s vibe though not 80′s definitely could of made the closing montage of a John Hughes film.

Romantics – Talking In Your Sleep

You won’t mistake this for 80′s, these guys have awsome hair.

The Sounds – Rock n Roll

The Sounds have started to make a bit of a mainstream move stemming from their UK roots,  look for them to be everywhere soon.   Their lead singer Maja Ivarsson is a bad ass fox that works the stage like Gwen Stefani used to before she became a pop queen.

Maja Ivarsson - The Sounds

Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place

Great jam for cold beers and a sunny day on the beach.

For the second year in a row, the organizers of All Points West put together a stacked line up and they are well on their way to making APW one of the top summer festivals around. Compared to 2008, the inaugural year, the weekend of music and art was improved by leaps and bounds. I can’t remember waiting more than a few minutes for a beer (I dont know if thats a good thing, or a bad thing) and the port-a-johns were tripled, which made everyone a little happier. They even upped the beer limit from 5 to 7. YES! The Friday show was filled with so many good bands, we almost didnt know where to start. We got a late jump on the day because of the weather, but with a little help from Mr. Goldschlager, we were ready to brave the storms. We caught the end of Fleet Foxes, who were great, and a nice way to ease into the day. It was just getting sunny, so we decided to explore the beer garden before checking out Ra Ra Riot. With a few beers in us, we made our way to Riot, and let me tell you, if you get the chance to see them live, DO IT! “The lead singers voice is so good it sounds fake”, direct quote from my partner in crime, Lanie. She wasnt lying though, I was seriously amazed. Next we saw Vampire Weekend, who I personally am not too crazy about, but we checked them out anyway (from the beer garden fence). They sounded good. Not great, but good. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were on around 7:30pm, and their set was great. They even had these 2 giant eye balls as props, which made their way into the crowd. That got everyone going and gave me flashbacks of last years GirlTalk set.

Up to this point, the day had gone amazing. It started off humid, sticky, and hot, then it rained, and then it rained some more. The entire crowd was so excited about the music and the party, that no one even cared that they were dirty and wet. It was nice to see that many people come together and get along, even if it was only for one day. I didnt see one confrontation, one argument, or one fight. With everyones spirits high, it was time for the main event. HOVE! The Friday show had been advertised with the Beastie Boys headlining the show, but with the recent news of Adam “MCA” Yauch’s throat cancer, Jay Z stepped in to save the day. Words can not described how well Mr. Carter performed that night. He opened with No Sleep Till Brooklyn, which got the audience to level 10, and he didnt look back. Hit after hit after hit, with a live band that only upped the energy. Check out some of the pics, and if your really interested in how well the bands performed, check them out on youtube.

A little pick me up (not my hands)

How cool is this program?

My Ride or Die chick

A backdrop like no other.

It was like this most of the day

Ra Ra Riot

English dude we met drinking beers.

R.I.P. Slipons

Vampire Weekend.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the eye

The eye is on the loose!

HOVE

Cute girls from the JayZ show. (You, in the middle, email me)

HOVA HOVA HOVA

We stood in this the whole show. No one cared and it made it more fun.

My hands were stuck in the diamond pose all night long.

A few jams you should add to your collection if you don’t have them already.  Nothing brand new but all good music that you might not have.

The Rakes – Strasbourg

Binary Star – Master’s of the Universe

Black Kids – Hurricane Jane (The Twelves Remix)

The Felice Brothers – Frankie’s Gun

-Disregard this toolbag in the video, only version of the song I could find.