Cop that FREE Reflection Eternal Mixtape

to prepare the way for their upcoming LP Revolutions Per Minute, Kweli and Hi Tek (known collectively as Reflection Eternal)  dropped this mixtape The RE:Union mixed by that dude Statik Selektah on New Year's Eve. The RE:Union has a combination of classic joints, new tracks from the album, and rarities... great primer for new hip hoppers! Expect the album in February. i already slid you Just Begun, the joint with Jay Electronica, Mos and J.Cole last week, but here's the full joint and tracklist courtesy of Showoffhiphop.com & Yearoftheblacksmith.com.

1. Intro
2. Revolutions Per Minute
3. In This World ##
4. Hip-Hop (Unreleased)
5. Back Again ##
6. Wishing On A Black Star
7. Just Begun ft. Jay Electronica, J. Cole, & Mos Def ##
8. Come Around ft. Termanology & Royce da 5'9 (produced by Statik Selektah)
9. Internet Connection
10. Let It Go ft. Dion
11. Testify ft. Styles P
12. Time
13. The Thrill Is Gone ft. Styles P (produced by Statik Selektah)
14. Can We Go Back The Reflection Eternal Classics:
15. Fortified Live ft. Mos Def & Mr Man
16. Chaos ft Bahamadia
17. The Express
18. Respiration ft. Common & Mos Def
19. Definition ft. Mos Def
20. RE:Defininition ft. Mos Def
21. Move Something
22. Ghetto Afterlife ft Kool G Rap
23. The Blast RMX ft. Erykah Badu
24. Good To You (produced by Kanye West)
25. Get By REMIX ft. Jay-Z, Mos Def, Kanye West, & Busta Rhymes (produced by Kanye west)
26. Back Up Offa Me
27. Piano (Hi Tek ft. Ghostface)
28. Music is Life (Hi Tek ft. Nas)
29. Hang Ups (NEW Reflection Eternal not on album)
30. Outro

All Joints produced by Hi Tek, unless noted.

happy new year!

-samax
ghettoManga.com
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Jay Electronica + Nas = WIN

somebody threw Nas on this Exhibit C remix.  click the pic to get it free! (thanks Goldi!)
Happy New Year!!
-samax

gM Awards: Artist/Illustrator of the Year Nominees

Rob Guillory is the artist on Comicbook of the Year nominee Chew.

Billy Nunez (Biz20) is a designer, beatmaker, illustrator and muralist from Boston. (more)

Kizer is a professional illustrator who brings it raw everytime, no matter the subject. (more)

Arie Munroe is part of a wave of relatively unknown yet brilliant comics and animation artists waiting to take the world by storm (more)

Doug Harvey (Lysol Jones) is a videogame concept artist, Illustrator and all-around art phenom. (more)
voting last until the ball drops on New Year's Eve! have a happy new year!

One of my new Favorite Artists

Widescreen Music by Billy Nunez.

New Usagi Yojimbo Plushie coming in May!

According to those fine folks at Dark Horse, Stan Sakai is celebrating the 25th anniversary of everyone's favorite Rabbit Ronin with an all-new plush toy, with art direction by the creator himself!
for those who don't already know,  Usagi Yojimbo is a long-running comic set in seventeenth-century Japan, with anthropomorphic animals replacing humans, featuring the lovable rabbit ronin, Miyamoto Usagi, who wanders the land as a shugyosha (student warrior on a pilgrimage), occasionally selling his services as a yojimbo (bodyguard). Usagi Yojimbo is one of the most celebrated ongoing comics, adored by critics and fans of all ages for the last twenty-five years.

The new Yojimbo plush will stand fourteen inches tall from his carefully detailed sandals to the tips of his movable ears. Stan Sakai, who provided extensive reference art for the project, oversaw every detail in the design process.

“I have always thought that a doll of this type would be an excellent presentation of Usagi,” Sakai remarked, “and have been happy to assist as the prototype evolved with commentary and revisions. I think he came out very well indeed.”

There are already well-received Usagi Yojimbo AME statues, so fans can look forward to adding to their collection of Usagi t'ings! The upcoming Usagi Yojimbo plush toy hits Diamond’s Previews this month, with an on-sale date of May 2010, so you can pre-order from your comic shop, or on Amazon.com.
holla!
-samax
ghettoManga.com
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Sean Price + Black Milk + Guilty Simpson = 2010 will be DOPE!

Monster Babies by Random Axe (Sean Price, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson)... 

Yep.   Once again, Black Milk, MegaSean, and Guilty Simpson are getting their collab on under the moniker Random Axe. the word is the album is in the home stretch, expected to drop from Duck Down Records in the spring of 2010.  Guilty already had the trio together on the track Run from his album Ode To the Ghetto in 2008, and I guess they felt the magic happen! I'm looking forward to it because besides being one of Detroit's unheralded spitters, Black Milk is one of the best producers on the planet, and he's supplying the full plate for Random Axe.

According to Milk, the name "Random Axe" came from the song Run. "Guilty Simpson's first line was, 'Random axe in a jam with macks / Quick to let 'em clap like hands to dap' or something like that. I think [Black Milk's manager] Hex was like, 'Yo, why don't we name the group Random Axe?' And we was like, 'Yo, that's kind of raw, that's kind of dirty-sounding. Yeah, that's some hip-hop shit. Let's do it.' So yeah, we named the group Random Axe, and we're naming the album Random Axe." if it's gonna be an album full of songs like Run and Monster Babies, this self-titled joint is gonna be dope!

gM Webcomic of the Year nominees

the nominees for Webcomic of the Year are:
Best! Supervillain! ever! that dude Stephen Lindsay (Jesus Hates Zombies, Lincoln Hates Werewolves) has dipped into his fertile mind and pulled out another winner! he's teamed up with Jim McMunn (The Mighty Sullivan) to create The Frightful Fetus, a new webcomic about a vengeful fetus in an alien robot body bent on world domination and bloody vengeance on the people who tried to abort him! Lindsay is meticulously spinning a tale that chronicles the Fetus' rise from common crook to criminal mastermind in a delightful combination of superhero parody and head-scratching train wreck. Lindsay is so good at absurd comedy and WTF moments that he will sucker-punch you with poignancy when you're not looking! click the pic to sample the pro-life goodness...

if you're in the mood for a romantic comedy that's heavier on the comedy than the romance, check out a hilarious comic called The Dog Years! when Trey, a twenty something toy designer, suffers a catastrophic break-up from his slightly overbearing (and more than slightly hot) fiance, his boys swoop in, determined to stop the pity-party before it even starts... the cool thing about this comic is that it isn't a typical comic about typical "comic book" things, and yet it is easy to get into because it comes off like a good raunchy date movie or cable sitcom. Click the pic to read it online.

there aren't too many people reading this blog who wouldn't enjoy Ramon Perez's cooky contemporary fantasy comic Kukuburi, the whimsical story of a fly hipster delivery girl who stumbles into another dimension on what she thought was a routine delivery. Perez is a master illustrator spinning a fun yarn with beautiful art and sublime situations. the cast of characters is so varied and fantastical that it would be disorienting if the main character were not so down-to-earth and easy to relate to. Click the pic to read it online, and if you're like me, you will want to take your time to absorb and appreciate the work that Perez is putting into this strip!

Hanna is Not a Boy's Name is a relatively new addition to my online reading list. I discovered the 22 year old writer/artist Tessa Stone and her quirky webcomic on DevianArt.com, and was immediately impressed with her drawing skills and dry humor. the comic is about Hanna Cross, a hapless yet inappropriately upbeat paranormal investigator flanked at all times by the nameless zombie who serves as his right-hand man and narrator of the comic. Since his zombie pal can't remember his pre-death name, Hanna just calls him a different name everytime. If this sounds really stupid, it's only because I'm not as funny as Tessa is (the drawings help too). click the pic and give Hanna and company a look!
voting open until the ball drops on New Year's Eve!
holla...
-samax
ghettoManga.com
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gM Awards: Hip Hop Group Nominees

the nominees for Hip Hop/Rap group of the Year are:


Greenhouse (aka Blueprint and Illogic) of Weightless Records.

She The Hard Way (Female emcee supergroup StaHHr, Sa-Roc, Rita J,Boog Brown & Khalilah Ali)

Slaughterhouse (Joe Budden, Crooked I, Royce Da 5-9, and Joell Ortiz)

Strong Arm Steady (aka Stoney Jackson w/Madlib on beats!)
voting open until the ball drops on New Year's Eve!
holla...
-samax
ghettoManga.com
comics.hipHop.news.art.culture

Cartoonist of the Year Nominees

There aren't nearly enough comics in the romantic comedy genre being made in the united states, and of those not many writer/artists are making them with the style and humor that Drayonis, creator of The Dog Years, pulls off almost flawlessly. I often refer to it as 'your girlfriend's next favorite graphic novel' (and if you let her read it, you'll know why) but it's actually got that battle of the sexes vibe that men and women respond to. mark my words, fam: dude is onto something... (more)

Brandon Graham's (King City, Escalator, Pillow Fight, Multiple Warhedz) comics feel like a tagged up mural came off the wall and became a comicbook story. in King City (click the pic for a preview), this recovering graf writer combines all the best elements of fantasy, hip hop and science fiction in a comic that feels like it's in full color, even though it's in black and white. Brandon got his start in porn comics, and his playful and meticulous style has been described as "Children's comics for adults". He brings a wealth of diverse influences to his comics, and wears them all on his sleeve. (more)

If Charlie 'Fab' Goubile's hip hop martial arts vigilante comic Blackbird was my only exposure to his work, I would STILL nominate him for Cartoonist of the Year. But as it turns out, his fly evolving drawing style keeps showing up all over the place. In addition to completing the 3 issue Blackbird:Growing Pains story arc solo, He's dropped leaks of new comics collabos for the long-awaited Jaycen Wise project and a new joint called The Players which will come out in 2010. (more)

Like breakdancing, the Clintons and LL Cool J, Blaxploitation never really went anywhere, it's just under the radar. this year saw Black Dynamite hit theaters in limited release, creating a wide range of reviews (since it didn't open in Dallas, I didn't write any of them), and there are many comics (good and bad) devoted to the genre. as it is, I don't think there is anybody on the web repping it any better than Jay Potts, author of the Web's #1 blaxploitation joint, World of Hurt. Like CGI-haters flocked to Kill Bill for its rejection of post-Matrix computer-enhanced fight scenes, old-school aficionados need to bow down at the altar of Jay's prototypical badass, Isaiah 'Pastor' Hurt, who can fix any problem if you can pay the price. Jay's smooth lines and fresh dialogue are doing their part to keep the genre alive and in style. just don't call it a comeback... (more)

don't look now, but if you call yourself a "self-publisher" there's a good chance John Aston is making you look bad. In case you're new around here, John is the writer, artist, colorist, letterer, and publisher of OldeTowneComix titles Abusilum and Rachel Rage. He has mastered the art of the indy comic, smashing more sex, violence, gratuitous cursing and gun clapping into every issue of his books than I would have thought possible. If it was up to me, his latest graphic novel Rachel Rage: Heartland would be in every comic shop and bookstore in America, so people could remember what it was like to read a comic made without corporate bean counters looking over the artist's shoulder. but it's not up to me. just another example of how the world would be better if I ran this joint! (more)

gM Awards: Video of the Year Nominees

here are the nominees for Video of the Year.

Robot by KRS ONE & Buckshot

Simba by J.Cole

Bulletproof by Raheem Devaughn f/Ludacris

Give It To Me by Rhymefest

Proper Aim by Souls of Mischief 

-gM

For all you Wrestling Fans (ADMIT IT... you KNOW you love it!)

Everyone loves a good underdog story...SO LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE! BAMN gets its title from its embittered main character. the surly, washed-up former pro-wrestler Bamn has spent the dying years of his career throwing up in bars. He lives out of his car and uses stolen credit cards to pay for beer. A chance encounter with a pair of local High Schoolers, Art and Ian, brings him to the FWF. A "Backyard Wrestling Federation" ran by the two young fans. When the local High School Wrestling Squad shows up to bully the Backyarders, Bamn steps in. In a rare moment of clarity, he promises all the Backyard kids that he s going to teach them the most important thing they will ever learn...HOW TO FIGHT BACK AND LOOK GOOD DOING IT!
BAMN #1 and #2 by Troy Jeffrey Allen David Dean and Jay Payne are both available now on ComixPress, but you can preview 'em both FREE on IndyComicBookWeek.com right now!

Start the Day off RIGHT--------> (or, Amerca's craving some DOOM!)

Lactose And Lecithin by Viktor Vaughn

gM Awards: Movie of The Year Nominees

here's the nominees for Movie of the Year

for the record, Astro Boy is loosely based on the archetypal manga and anime character of the same name created by the so-called "god of manga" Osamu Tezuka. the plot of the film takes place in the futuristic floating city/state Metro City, whose citizens live a fairly idyllic existence as they are waited on hand-and-foot by a race of robots of every conceivable shape size and function, while the city's refuse is dumped on the planet's ruined surface. Created to replace the dead son of Metro City's greatest scientist, Astro goes through a soul-searching journey worthy of comics' greatest heroes. The film's story balances complex ideas and shows a respect for its viewers that's uncommon for a kids' film. (read full review here)

Neill Blomkamp's sci-fi mockumentary-style sci-fi joint District 9 is one of these films that seems to be pretty galvanizing. From what I can tell, people have tended to either love it or hate it (if you have trouble guessing which one I am, go here for my review). the film takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa where an alien ship has been hovering for twenty years, and the shiftless aliens inside have been relocated from the dormant ship to the alien superghetto, District 9. the South African corporation MNU has designs on the aliens' technology, which will not work for humans, but as the documentary framing sequence foreshadows, something goes horribly wrong.

I was not excited to hear about a reboot of the Star Trek franchise. in fact, i technically never went to see it. I walked in on it at the sneakeasy after watching another of the nominees.  As it turns out, the movie is freaking AWESOME! Uhura is fine as hell. Spock is the shit. Kirk taps a green chick. Sulu kicks ass with his futuristic wu-tang sword style. scotty makes the impossible happen. Bones is a doctor, dammit! what more can you ask!?!

also nominated is the Disney/Pixar joint Up. despite my penchant for socio-political rambling and bad language, i'm really a big kid at heart. as such, a company like Pixar is a dream come true. they have mastered the art of the 'fun for the whole family' kid's movie, and in Up, they've cranked out another classic.

 Watchmen (directed by 300's Zack Snyder) does a great job of shifting between the storylines of the venerated comic's many characters, which I was  originally very concerned about. Snyder had the daunting job of cutting the fat out of one of the most highly celebrated stories in all of comicdom, and handled it admirably. Rorschach, the most popular character in the story, is handled perfectly without losing the other characters in the shuffle. in fact, the love triangle between Nite Owl, Silk Specter and Dr. Manhattan is handled better than i expected as well. (read my full review here)


anyways, that's the nominees for now. feel free to suggest more nominees via email or in comments, as this post will be updated. voting starts Wednesday, December 30 and ends New Years Eve at 11:59pm. for a complete list of gMA categories, go here.
-samax
ghettoManga.com
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