Brother Mouzone implicated in Notorious B.I.G.'s killing?

When The Notorious B.I.G. was shot dead in Los Angeles, a composite sketch of the shooter done shortly after the killing depicts a clean-cut black man in a suit and bow tie. Was Biggie's killer the partial basis for Brother Mouzone, the bow-tied hitman from The Wire?

At least until I hear from Mr. Mouzone's lawyer, I say: case closed! (thx, alex)

Mo' postmodernism

An appreciation of the postmodern masterpiece that is the music video for Mo' Money, Mo' Problems (Puffy, Biggie, Mase, etc.).

So there it is: a weird/powerful truism about social politics delivered in a catchy, post-modern package that uses parody, found video, and cutting-edge video techniques (and let's not sell Hype Williams short for a second -- check out the shots of Puffy and Mase in the yellow suits -- I mean, what the hell is that?!), all montaged together with an off-handed mastery (check out how some of the transitions are deliberately not on-beat) to create something that felt so like the future that it could never really be the future. Just like all videos for pop singles, it was dug, and it was forgotten. And so it goes. Somewhere out there there is a list of videos that really truly did something new, and this one belongs on that list.

(via fimoculous)

Video for Gnarls Barkley's Smiley Faces, my

Video for Gnarls Barkley's Smiley Faces, my favorite song of theirs. (Even though the mashup with the Notorious B.I.G.'s Hypontize might be better.)

Presenting the Bible's Book of Genesis in

Presenting the Bible's Book of Genesis in rap songs. For instance, the song for Genesis 21 -- which tells the story of Isaac and Ishmael -- is Big Poppa by Notorious B.I.G.