A question for the old school readers: Remember back when a record would drop on the radio and you had to wait for the album to be released? You’d keep the radio on so you could hear that joint again, and you’d keep watching BET or MTV just waiting for the video. And when the album came out, you’d be at the record store, first in line to buy it. But we don’t really do that anymore – the video channels stopped playing videos, and the radio stations (arguably) stopped playing music. It’s hard to find good music so now we rely on blogs and YouTube, and download leaks of records that aren’t even mastered yet.

But last week you may have discovered a leak of a different kind: Little Brother’s Get Back, in its entirety, complete and mastered. The quality alone should tell you this wasn’t just a bootleg. However if you downloaded the album, you probably noticed a “word to the listener” message:

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Ghostface has written a book, and you can pre-order here.

“For all y’all smart dumb cats out there.” Legendary Hip Hop artist, Ghostface Killah, settles into one of his most popular characters ‘Pretty Toney’ and offers readers a hilariously unique perspective on life via guides to and advice on everything from sex to gambling, family to education, even how to eat on just $5 a day, better known as The Hustler’s Diet. A singular twist on Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for the hip hop generation complete with illustrative photos. Born as a series of shorts on MTV2, Pretty Toney and his musings quickly became a channel and online hit, with fans uploading the shorts on YouTube and circulating them virally. The book will also include a CD of Ghostface reading the material, the perfect accompaniment to enjoying the book.

Just found these via Lichiban:

If you want to support a good cause, then this is the tee to consider. the The Love Movement supports a community in Benin, Africa with the sale of their tees. they are out with Ropeadope for $16.50. type in the code MARIO at the check out to get the deal.

Prodigy receives unreasonable sentence for gun charge.

Vibe unlocks Fiascogate in this article.  If you’re already familiar with the story then the best part is at the end:

Lupe aired out his grievances exclusively to VIBE concerning the backlash to the revelation that he missed out on Marauders. “[Tribe] didn’t sell 10 million records, so why would people think they had a blanket on the world like that? MC Hammer was way more popular to me than Tribe Called Quest.”

Lupe goes on to attack Tribe fans who were disappointed with his performance:

His voice rises. “It’s like, ‘Oh, you ain’t never listened to Midnight Marauders? You ain’t expanding your horizons? Oh, you ain’t real’ cause they did that shit to me! ‘Oh Lupe, that’s fucked up man, I don’t fuck with you now, I’m not buying your next album’ and be dead serious! It made me feel like, ‘You dirty bastards. Like how dare you.’”

Vibe suggests that Lupe’s refusal to listen to Tribe after agreeing to participate in a tribute to them is an act of defiance.  However, some may see it more as an act of stubbornness. Or an act of “I don’t like selling records so I’m going to insult my fans even further.”

Kanye at Paris Fashion Week. Maybe the only time someone has given shouts out to LV, Marc Jacobs, and Daft Punk.

Despite the Fiasco, Tribe, Common, and Busta made the night. Check some early video at Oh Word.