Friday, December 4, 2009

News:: Me & Jay-Z

Today is my birthday. Like everyone, I share my birthday with a number of famous folks (Sergey Bubka, Marisa Tomei, Masta Ace), but one in particular stands out this year: Shawn Corey Carter. Yes indeed, the Jigga Man himself. I say this because '09 marks a milestone birthday for the two of us: Jay turns the big 4-0 this year, while I'm turning 35. Oh don't act so surprised, we told you we were old - the Ack turns the same next year, he just has the benefit, or curse, of looking eternally 18.

So yep, me & Hove, greeting a milestone together. We're an odd match on the surface, but we're not so different, Jay-Z and I. We've both had a lifelong love of hip hop. Jay turned his love into a billion-dollar empire. I turned mine into...um, this blog? Oh well, I once got to do an email interview with MC Rell, and Donald-D sent us a myspace message once, so who's complaining. Jay-Z had one of the most legendary rap beefs ever with Nas. I once had a bad argument with a dude named Jason Crawley in Junior High, who said to me "Shane, you box for the Navy, but I kill for the CIA", which was awesome. Jay-Z has hung out with Oprah. My wife was in a crowd shot at the Oprah show for like 15 to 20 seconds. Oh, and speaking of wives, we both have beautiful, uniquely named ones. Jay's wife is named Beyonce, perhaps you've heard of her, while my wife's name is Petra. See? It's like we're living parallel lives!

Or not. Anyway, happy birthday Jay-Z, buy yourself something nice, like an island, or a small country like Andorra. As for me, I'll simply use the words of my favorite Stingray vs. Mad Foxes 2 bar patron to salute myself: "here's to me, the best there is".

MP3:: Danger Mouse - December 4th

MP3:: MF Doom - December 4th

MP3:: RJD2 - December 4th

MP3:: Kno (Of Cunninlynguists) - December 4th

MP3:: Pete Rock - December 4th