Superstar rapper/mogul Jay-Z got rich by peddling coke years before his takeover of the music industry. This is well-documented throughout his albums and numerous interviews with the man himself. Now, after over a decade in the music business, he is returning to his roots. Kind of.

Coca-Cola has hired Jay and his Roc-A-Fella brand to "remix" the image of Cherry Coke, their ultra-sweet beverage that has gone through many different looks over the years.

Already the "co-brand director" of undrinkable, pseudo classy spin-off swill Budweiser Select, Jay knows a thing or two when it comes to corporate connections and attempting to give lame products some sort of rap-related faux street credibility.

Whether a 38 year-old multi-millionaire can bring that "hood edge" to Cherry Coke remains to be seen, but hopefully it will work out better than his last album.

Martin Luther King Day is more than just a break from corporate wage slavery, it is also a time to reflect upon a man who had a dream. That dream was equality for all men in this land of rape and honey. There are many reasons to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. including his leadership of the American civil rights movement and his political activism. He was also a Baptist minister and the youngest man to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize. I can think of many ways to celebrate such a heroic and inspirational human being but never have I considered dressing up a white chick as Aunt Jemima or writing "I love chicken" on my malt liquor stained t-shirt.

Well that seems to be exactly what happens down in Texas. As if I need another reason to hate my race a group of Texas college students decided to wear "black" clothing, complete with bandannas and one leg up one leg down, whiling swelling 40oz bottles and no-doubt slapping in each other on their lily white asses and calling each other the n-word.

I am pretty sure that Martin Luther King, Jr. was not fighting for white college students to carry around buckets of fried chicken and handguns in order to mock institutional poverty and slavery. Again I am only pretty sure.

I hope Chuck D and KRS-One fly down to Texas and beat some blued eyed ass. Maybe they should take Immortal Technique with them, just for back-up.

Check out all the images at The Smoking Gun.

Back in the day (mid-1980s), there was an extremely loud, very good rock band from Western Massachusetts called Dinosaur. They put out 3 great albums before their lead singer decided he could do it all himself and basically ruined their reputation. Their ousted bassist went on to play in Sebadoh, the group that later coined the phrase "indie rock."

Both Dinosaur (they had to add the Jr. after some random legal issues) and Sebadoh continued to record throughout the '90s, and got a little love on college radio, but with each new album they lost fans and relevance. By the time Nirvana blew up, nobody was really checking for either. Then, 15 years passed, and the next generation of indie kids had a new curiosity for these mysterious acts of old that were so often name-dropped.

Then the Pixies' hugely successful 2004 reunion tour set off a chain reaction. Dinosaur's classic LPs were reissued, and lead ego J. Mascis grabbed Lou and Murph (their original drummer) and hit the road for two tours, playing all over the world for sold-out crowds. They filmed a bunch of stuff for a concert DVD, and hit the studio to record a new album, the first with the O.G. trio since 1988. Not to be out-done, Sebadoh is also doing a reunion tour kicking off next month.

As a fan (of their old stuff), I'm happy to see them getting paid again, and am cautiously optimistic about a new album. Still, I don't quite know what to think of these new custom sneakers...

I thought that Paris Hilton's album, which burned in flames last year, was a fantastic insight into the enigma of everyone's favorite barely-educated heiress. Nothing could prepare me for the truth of Paris. I mean I assumed that she was as drugged as a lion cub at your local mall's petting zoo, but the reality of her narcotized princess fairy tale was just way above me as it turns out.

If you have not seen Paris exposed we recommend you spend some time there. It just makes people feel better about slaving in poverty.

Already smarting from several weeks of Donald Trump sh*t-talk, Rosie O'Donnell is now under fire from Asian-American rapper Jin, who calls her out on his new dis track "You're Fired."

Recycling Nas' "Ether" beat, he takes offense to her Chinese impersonation a few weeks ago, then basically calls her a fat racist dyke with some nice samples of The Donald talking about how much of a disgusting slob she is in the background.

Granted, this is unlikely to be much of a boost to Jin's career, which is been steadily on the downswing ever since he signed to Ruff Ryders, linked with Wyclef, put out a debut album that nobody bought, and then "retired" like a baby, but still, Rosie is garbage and the song has some funny parts.

Check it out here

Honestly, I'm just waiting for somebody to do a song that incoporates the Pat O'Brian voicemails.

That would be awesome.

Norwegian trans-European electro-expressers 120 Days have signed a deal with luxury automobile manufacture Jaguar. The group’s “Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)” was remixed by T.A. Kaukolampi for the car company’s latest advertisement, which recently made its way onto YouTube.

Amazing that bands can release one album then cash-in their chips before even counting their cards and ordering a drink.

Check out 120 Days MP3Live sessions from the 2006 CMJ Music Marathon here.

Video: 120 Days
Feature: Up and Coming

Crestside Vallejo representative Mac Mall has been putting out records since the early 1990s. His debut Illegal Business is a much-loved classic, that features the inescapably dope single "Sic Wit Tis." (check the video here)

Down with Mac Dre (R.I.P.) and the Thizz Nation, he has a lengthy discography of solo albums, collabos, and compilation appearances. His latest release is another tight collection of funk-driven beats and witty raps, and also happens to have the best concept we've seen in a long long time.

Listen to select tracks here.

Now I finally understand the full weight of Jean-Claude Van Damme's nickname "The Muscles from Brussels." I have never seen anyone fill a pair of acid-wash jeans quite so well.

To celebrate American Idol's return next week, Paula Abdul must have gone off her meds (or upped their dosage--it's hard to tell which), because once again, here she is on TV acting like a complete lunatic. Abdul's widely known for her incoherence, but in this interview she really shines. Maybe it's the drugs, but don't you find her woozy, amused, and carefree outlook on life endearing?

Interscope should stop picking up Myspace acts, given the Mickey Avalon entitled-white-boy-on-cocaine-crap that was released just a bit ago, and now the straight-to-commercial-television act, Kenna. So what if the debut will be produced by the Neptunes - this stuff is just the sort of sonic wallpaper that only sounds appropriate buried in a video game advertisement, or maybe over the juke box at some white-belt puss'n'boots party.

My question is: how do you release something as solid as TV on the Radio and they follow it with watered down junk?

Sad. Here is the PSP commercial:

We want to hate him, we really do. But despite his affiliations with the ubiquitous Will.i.am, Justin Timberlake was the mack in 2006. With plenty of help from Timbaland, dude dropped an album that was nasty enough that even the hateration had to applaud. And that was all before "D***in a Box." Paired up with Lazy Sunday (aka the "Narnia Rap") faux rapper Andy Samburg on Saturday Night Live, Timberlake took one long, hilarious swipe at his boy band past, as evidenced below. Backed by a tight band, he also brought the house down with performances of "My Love" and "What Goes Around ... Comes Around."

What do a breakdancing, animated woodpecker, the Dutch, and space travel all have in common? This curious, gawd-awful music video from the depths of '80s hell, that's what. I'm starting to think that the plethora of obscure, unearthed goodies that the internet has to offer is some sort of collective punishment. Enjoy.

The first time I saw Kanye's "Touch the Sky" video, I was disgusted and disappointed that the over-rated young diva would even attempt to liken himself to such a true American hero. But then I figured, "well, at least Evel's getting paid."

Turns out that wasn't the case.

Now, Evel Knievel has filed a lawsuit against the chronically complaining fashion plate, seeking unspecified damages because of the video's blatant infringement of his trademark name and likeness.

"That video that Kanye West put out is the most worthless piece of crap I've ever seen in my life, and he uses my image to catapult himself on the public," the 68-year-old daredevil said today.

Amen.

If EK was a few decades younger and in better health, he would probably go at Kanye himself, baseball bat style, like he did to an unlucky writer in 1977.

Let's hope justice wins out here and Evel gets a major payday.

Viva Knievel!!!

Check out more from Discombobula.

Audio: Discombobula

Best known for rapping about nothing but cocaine sales, self-proclaimed "snowman" and deadbeat dad Young Jeezy (or more accurately, his record label) is offering one lucky Atlanta high school student a $2000 scholarship - as well as some cell phones, a CD, Ozone mag subscription, and pizza party - to write a 300 word essay about what inspires them.

Check out the details here.

While I'm all for giving back to the community, Jeezy's whole "I am a rich drug dealer" steez seems to fly in the face of helping out the kids. On top of that, I don't think 2Gs will really buy much of a college education these days, and dude probably has more than that in each ear.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that he has a new CD dropping this month.

There is nothing sweeter than a group of scantily clad women faux-rapping post-apocalyptic lyrics over kick-ass electro. These ladies from the Holy Land (Tel Aviv) drive home the fact that Peaches should have given up long ago, and that costum-electro is alive and well, and apparently thriving even after the collapse of NYC's electro-clash movement, and San Francisco's noise-cum-electro scene. Sure Terry Poison is no Crack:W.A.R, and the on-stage slut moves dim in comparison to Zeigenbock Kopf's famed performances, but they are provocatively entertaining, which is always fun!

Check out this video for Buzz on the Bell

There are many reasons why Egotastic is the greatest provider of crap no one actually needs to read, but you know, we just like the pictures. And what an eye full we received this morning.

So Britney is leaving the K-Fed - the man that every human on Earth knew to be a complete tool. What will she do next? Record another album? Could Britney reinvent herself and shock everyone with massive come back? Well I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

Until then we can just follow her escapades with the greatest media whore to ever, well, whore for media: Paris Hilton.

Video: Paris Hilton videos
Photos: Britney Spears photos
 

Perpetually weeded Cali producer Madlib has a bunch of new projects on deck for early '07, including a book/music collaboration with SF-based painter Jason Jagel, best known for doing the cover art to MF DOOM's Mmm...Food.

The tracks will include several new jams from Madlib's jazz-minded alter-ego group Yesterday's New Quintet, and assorted YNQ spin-offs.

According to rumors, he is also still working on a second Madvillain full-length, to be released next year.