Gizmodo: rap

Rap Group Hands Out Uzi-Shaped Flash Drive Album

Rosa Golijan — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:40:00 EDT

If you're a fan of novelty USB drives, submachine guns, and rap, I've got a treat for you: The Get Busy Committee stuck their upcoming album Uzi Does It on uzi-shaped flash drives to create an unholy threesome. [Wired]

A Lesson in Gadget Product Placement, Courtesy of Scooter Smiff

John Herrman — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:02:41 EST

Moderately musical little person Scooter Smiff has helpfully demonstrated, point by point, how not to endorse gadgets in your music video.

1. Get a company's flagship phone
I understand that Scooter Smiff's audience is probably as young as he is and doesn't buy many massive smartphones, but if you've got to shill for a BlackBerry, hope it's not the Pearl Flip. Matt—notably a gadget blogger, not a rapper—said it was kind of uncool, looked inconsistent, and even called it a "fatass". Next time beg for a Storm, or at least a Bold.

2. Don't include an incredibly boring product
So imagine you're a tween, just browsing YouTube, and you notice Scooter Smiff's teacher grading (UPDATE: fabricating, more like. Scandal!) his paper on an HP Touchsmart PC, with her fingers. This is the least exciting thing you've ever seen. It doesn't even make sense in context—it's like HP just edited a few seconds of their press materials into the video. Same goes for the inexplicable printer cameo.

3. Refrain from using devices that make you look even more like a child
Riding a miniaturized Cadillac Escalade will not help you look older, and will probably make those few people who actually have a toy like that return it as fast as they can drive it back to Sotheby's. See also: catcalling obviously older girls.

This song might not be as embarrassing as the iPhone's prominent role in a certain inauspiciously-named (and NSFW) track from earlier this year, but a difference here, and an important one, is that HP and BlackBerry actually wished this on themselves. [CrackBerry]

'CrackBerry Love' Tribute Ruins Ten Years of BlackBerry in About Four Minutes

John Herrman — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:55:56 EST

Gadget-inspired songs are almost always terrible, but this, this is something else. A kind-of-spoof, kind-of-ad performed by legendary nobody Caitlen Moe, "Crackberry Love" is an unmitigated disaster. Things to watch for: a man in a BlackBerry suit, endless T-Mobile shout-outs that the company almost certainly didn't ask for, and the line "my Crack and I, we got a date." Slightly NSFW for language, and because your boss might hate it enough to just fire you out of spite. [CrackBerry]

Astrobiology Rap Proves That Science Is Fun, Nothing Really Rhymes with Abiogenesis

John Herrman — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:00:00 EDT

If the fantastic Large Hadron Collider rap was too esoteric for your tastes, Oort Kuiper's Astrobiology rap, commissioned by a European astronomy magazine, probably won't find its way onto your prestigious and exclusive "muzic 4 drivin' 'n' shit" playlist. But, in the spirit of science, consider the facts:

The song has a beat, therefore it can technically be nodded, hobbled or even danced to. The rapper's name is a combination of not one, but two different astronomical phenomena, and Frank Drake (you know, like the equation) appears to be Kuiper's Suge Knight. Last but not least, in the middle of a fairly compelling and entertaining account of the history of manned space travel, listeners are treated to a voiceover by Carl goddamn Sagan, a man who died well before he could ever realize his potential in the music industry. Oort Kuiper's biggest question might be "where did life come from?" but after listening to this song, a more important question is "when will Oort Kuiper make another song?" [AMEE via Slashdot]

Why Rap Stars Are Hating on the iPhone

Benny Goldman — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EDT

At the Rock the Bells festival on Sunday I asked some of the most important hip-hop artists in the game—and my heroes since childhood—what they hated most about the iPhone. Whether they owned it or not, most of the stars had a good reason to dis the overhyped phone, and their answers ranged from the mundane (Trugoy from De La Soul says it's "too cute") to the slightly crazy (dead prez's M-1 brought up the Matrix and Big Brother). Only Wu-Tang's Method Man couldn't find a way to bring the pain—we expect a new single, "F-A-N-B-O-Y Man", any day now.

Special thanks to Trugoy, Slim Kid Tre, Bootie Brown, Fat Lip, Imani, DJ Premier, Slick Rick, B-Real, M-1, Method Man, Murs, Keith Murray, Jake Fleischmann, Brendan McSheehy, and SanDisk! [Rock the Bells]

First Video of Elmo Live Singing and Dancing Shows He Got Skillz

Benny Goldman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:10:58 EST

Holy crap, I want this Elmo, and I don't even like Sesame Street. It makes Pleo look like a dumb hunk of plastic. The ways it moves and interacts is incredible—it tells stories, sings songs, dances and is simply the most expressive toy we've ever seen. It even yells out "Jazz Hands!" when he finish performing his newest rap hit, "Elmo's Gotta Get On Up." More information and videos after the jump.

His moves are smooth and funky, his style reminds us of hip-hop's old school pioneers, and his biggest fan is a mad scientist.

Poor Elmo. He tries out for the Borscht Belt comedy circuit, and fails miserably. His joke falls so flat, you can even hear crickets chirping.

Here Elmo tells a "story of woe" involving a scary giant. It isn't the most engaging tale we've heard, but it gives the little red monster a chance to show off a lot of expression. Our new red-furred overlords invade Oct. 14 for $59.99. — Matt Buchanan & Benny Goldman [Fisher-Price]

Buy Mii a Wii, Would Ya? BlackNerdComedy Creates Instant Rap Nerd Classic

Charlie White — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:00:00 EDT

On the fence about getting a Nintendo Wii? Don't miss "Buy Mii a Wii," stand-up comedian André Meadows's parody of T-Pain's "Buy U a Drank." We like this guy, laying out the nerdousity and geekitude in his inimitable style. It's infectious. So now we're playin' Ninten-Do, oh, oh, oh, oh! [BlackNerdComedy, via BB Gadgets]

GhostFace Killah Doll

gizmodo.com — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 19:33:57 EST

For $500, the GhostFace Killah Doll comes with a real 14k gold chain, a gold chalice with Swarovski crystals, a special mixtape, original recordings of GFK's catchphrases, and a 1 in 500 chance to hang out with the Killah himself in person.

Perhaps most importantly, you will earn the right to say "Holy shit, I can't believe I spent FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS on a damn DOLL!" right before smashing your head repeatedly against a wall.

GhostFace Killah Doll [via popbitch]