So last night my roommates called telling me they needed some toilet paper and paper towels for the crib. I was on my home but decided i would stop by Duane Reade to pick some up. For those of you who don’t live in New York Duane Reade is quite possibly the worst retail chain known to man. The Duane Reade Rant is a whole other post so I will move on. Next stop was the brand new Duane Reade on the corner of Grand Street and Broadway. This store is so big it looks like the flagship Duane Reade for New York or as my roommate put it “Duane Reade meets Bloomingdales”. I grabbed my things and went to the counter to check out the two women running the register were both reading the new XXL The 10 Freshmen issue. Just being curious I asked them if they knew who all the rappes on the three covers were. Both to my suprise said the only ones they knew were Corey Gunz and Ace Hood. I then followed up this question by asking them if anyone should have been on the cover and didn’t make it. Both women agreed Murda Mook should have been on the cover.

So what does this commentary by two Duane Reade employees says about the XXL Freshmen 10? First off from an industry perspective we all are aware of the artists on the cover for the most part and I think percieve there potential to blow based off talent as much as exposure. If you are a fan reading XXL it makes sense that you know Ace Hood becasue Khaled has him all over the place. Why would you pay attention to the other 8 guys you don’t know when Ace Hood doesn’t seem like a strong candidate to blow and he is the only one getting exposure. I also think this speaks volumes about the power of the internet. If these women were on Nah Righ everyday they would without a doubt have a different take on this cover. In fact this cover almost reads like a Nah Right post. For the two women I spoke with they were exposed to these artists via BET and XXL. The old industry standards for promotion. Out here in blog land we may think we foresee the future and we probably do to some extent but until Wale or Charles Hamilton hit the television or radio in a major way it will take some time before their names are known in households and drug stores across the country.

A quote from HipHopDX.com:

“Soulja Boy was asked by Toure which historical figure he hates most. And according to Toure’s blog, when Soulja Boy appeared to be caught off guard by the question, Toure threw out some previous answers which included Hitler, Bin Laden, and slave masters.Here is how Soulja Boy then responded to the question, “Oh wait! Hold up! Shout out to the slave masters! Without them we’d still be in Africa. We wouldn’t be here to get this ice and tattoos.”"

First this dude put out awful records.  Then, he says some ignorant garbage like this???  Please never ever ever buy this dude’s material.  Not his MP3s, not his albums, and damn for sure not his ringtones.  Can we please make him go away already?????

Apparently they are making a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.  The word is that only people in hip hop are being cast for the roles.  We have the exclusive on the breakdown of the cast.  Any suggestions to the movie’s casting director?

Donatello

Played by Ne-Yo

Michaelangelo

Played by Jadakiss

Leonardo

Played by CeeLo

Raphael

Played by Birdman

Splinter

Played by Snoop Dogg

Shredder

Played by MF Doom

This poor woman just doesn’t get it.