My Opinion on Norcal Regionals 2015

Norcal Regionals 2015 was a pretty disappointing tournament for me this year. There were tournaments that went a little bit too fast, grand finals that were anticlimactic, and then there was a mistake that caused a top 16 to be played all over again.

I watched the Ultra Street Fighter IV and Smash 4 tournaments this weekend.  Both tournaments provided some entertainment, but I ultimately came out underwhelmed. The Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament had a pretty diverse set of characters in it, but I felt a bit of fatigue with the game initially probably because I've been watching SFIV since 2009, but eventually I was starting to feel the excitement in some of the matches. The first one that pumped me was the Ibuki match vs Bison. There were some other matches that held my interest in a bit, but my interest completely dwindled when the dumbest thing to happen at a major in a while occurred. When Snake Eyez started his match against Ricky Ortiz the game had suddenly came to a halt. A couple of minutes later one of the commentators announced that the players have been playing on an older version of the game. The tournament organizer then made the decision to have the players replay the top sixteen matches.

I have to say that I could not see how this wasn't noticed initially. The tournament organizer is supposed to check if the game has had the latest patch and it seemed even more dumb to make that decision when the players didn't even notice it. I thought it would've been better to just let the players continue as normal and learn from that mistake as the tournament was running behind schedule anyhow, but the players agreed to it and the tournament continued. I watched the first replay and then decided to go to sleep. When I woke I caught the grand finals between Gamerbee and Daigo and I didn't miss much. The set was only best two out of three and Daigo took it pretty quickly with no comebacks from Gamerbee's Adon. It was not a satisfying end to the tournament.

The Smash Bros tournament was gracious enough to not be deterred by any technical issues.  Only the top eight was streamed on Sunday and the bracket was a bit disappointing. There was not much character variation, but it was really cool to see the two Diddy mains break out alternates in the grand finals; Meta Knight and Captain Falcon. I believe they did such because they knew spectators did not want to see Diddy mirrors. That was about as exciting as it got however. The match ended quickly with a three out of five outset without any climax. Norcal Regionals 2015 was disappointing for me.

A Look at North Carolina Musicians

Petey Pablo

 The first artist I think about when I think of rappers of musicians period that hail from NC is Petey Pablo. That probably has to do with him being the first I saw explicitly repping his home state like a lot of NY and West Coast rappers rep their hometowns. He gave North Carolina its unofficial anthem with Raise Up which instills the hype in me every time I hear it. His second semi-hit was Freak-a-Leek and then he disappeared into obscurity.

9th Wonder

Probably the most popular producer from North Carolina, 9th Wonder became a household name in the mainstream by making beats for artists such as Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, and Destiny's Child. In the underground game he has collaborated with group Little Brother, Jean Grae, Murs, and most recently Rapsody. He was born in Winston-Salem, but currently home to Durham. He primarily uses a jazz motif in his beats that was popular with a lot of rappers back in the 90's like A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets. 9th Wonder was recently in his hometown about two weeks ago for a concert with his new rapper protege Rapsody.
Recommended Tracks: Honey, 20 Feet Tall (feat. Erykah Badu & Rapsody), Good Woman Down

Rapsody

Hailing from Wilson, NC Rapsody has become one of my favorite artists of the past year. I found her when I was looking up NC rappers on Wikipedia. I immediately went to see if she had a bandcamp page, she does, I loved what I heard, and she's been a mainstay since. This emcee style is more akin to Bahamadia and Lauryn Hill, but she is completely unique in her own right. She possesses impeccable flow and strong wordplay. She is a part of music collective Jamla in which 9th Wonder is a part of. In addition to 9th Wonder her other frequent producers are Eric G and Khrysis. Last year she dropped Beauty & The Beast which was my third favorite album of the year. She was recently featured on "Complexion (A Zulu Love)" on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly Album. The rapper has said she plans on re-releasing Beauty & The Beast because of her new exposure through Kendrick's album and she will add three new tracks to it. She was absent from my top 11 Artists I'm Looking Forward to This Year blog entry because Beauty & The Beast satisfied my appetite plenty enough and I've yet to download Return of the B-Girl either.
Recommended Tracks: The Man, ABC/Guilty, and Imagination

J. Cole

The most famous and successful rapper to come out of North Carolina is Jermaine Cole from Fayetteville. I was first exposed to J. Cole during the last quarter of 2012 when I happened to stumble upon his "Lost Ones" music video. I loved the storytelling rap song about a man caught with an unexpected responsibility of becoming a father, and Born Sinner was his first album I listened to of his when it dropped. I also found it admirable that Nas was one of his favorite rappers and his song about disappointing the legendary rapper is one of my favorites from Cole. J. Cole put out Forest Hills Drive last year which sold an astounding 375,000 units in its first week. I also like to mention that the Kingdom Hearts sample on "Dollar and a Dream pt. 3" is dope!
Recommended Tracks: Lost Ones, Let Nas Down, and Apparently

L'Orange

The Mello Music Group producer L'Orange has become one of my favorite producers with his excellent projects such as Old Soul and The Mad Writer. I could not find out what city from NC he is from, but he has recently moved to Nashville, TN. His style of production is jazz centric and also has a very film noir feel to it. Last year he released his album The Orchid Days and an ep titled After the Flowers. L'Orange has done work with Rapsody and Erica Lane, but he seems to do work with west coast rapper Blu the most. The visuals for "Need You" is my personal favorite music video out of 2014. He is currently slated to drop a collaboration album with emcee Jeremiah Jae on April 21 titled The Night Took Us in Like Family. I really hope one of these days he does a collaboration album with Blu. His best works are the ones that Blu are featured on.
Recommended Tracks: Femme Fatale feat. Erica Lane, Alone (feat. Blu), and Need You (feat. Blu)

 Kelsey Lu

Kelsey Lu is a jazz singer from Charlotte North Carolina, but currently lives in New York City. I discovered her on L'Orange's "Lost Souls" and went to look up more music from her. Sadly, she does not have any albums to her name. She was on Nappy Roots Sh!t's Beautiful mixtape in 2012 and featured on Sa-Roc's Pretty Prison, though you would only recognize her, by her name being on the track. She also has a few single tracks released, but they're not attached to any EPs or LPs. I really like her voice. She reminds me a bit of Esperanza Spalding and I think she could blow up to Spalding's level if she put out music more regularly. Actually, while I was writing this, I just discovered that she has put out more music on her soundcloud channel. I'm about to check that out.
Recommended Tracks: Lost Souls (feat. Hassaan Mackey, & yU),  Waiting, Run , and Lay Me Down feat. Drey Skonie

Tom Browne

I just recently found out back in October of last year that Tom Browne resides in Durham, NC. Though I have always heard of his song "Funkin for Jamaica", he is the artist that I'm almost the least familiar with. He is a songwriter and was a trumpeter with Sonny Fortune. He is basically a one-hit wonder to me, but Billboard says he had another hit with "Thighs High".

SkyBlew

My second favorite nerdcore rapper is from Chapel Hill. He put out the mixtape Jazz for Autumn Kizmet back in February and his previous album SkyBlew's Unmodern Life was promoted by long time emcee Mega Ran. SkyBlew's nerdcore subject of choice is 90's cartoons with a little bit of video games thrown in. I like his jazz oriented beats the most however. SkyBlew's biggest strength is his flow as it synchs with beats almost perfectly. I haven't heard word of anymore music to be released by the rapper.
Recommended Tracks: The Green Balloons, The Last of (Us) Awakened, and Running In Place ft. Sarah Kaboom & Dasan Ahanu

Rapper Big Pooh

Representing Raleigh is Rapper Big Pooh. Pooh is most known from his days in rap group Little Brother. Pooh put out Words Paint Pictures earlier this year. This was my first real exposure to the emcee as I never listened to Little Brother. L'Orange has a track on the album and it's pretty serviceable from a first listen. I look forward to checking out more of his stuff.
Recommended Tracks: Augmentation and Little Sister

This blasian rapper is from Greensboro, NC. N-Tyce was a member of the Wu-Tang Clan affiliated rap group Deadly Venoms back in the late 90's. She started out doing solo work and had a couple of tracks produced by RZA and a feature with Method Man. Her style is a little undulated, but satisfactory. She's not the strongest emcee from the group, but a substantial part of it. You can see her repping the streets of Greensboro in her video "Walk a Little Closer" which showcases her time at Bennet College and there's also a few shots at the local burger shop on Lee St. There has been no word of N-Tyce since the Deadly Venoms last album back in 2000.
Recommended Tracks: Walk a Little Closer,  One More to Go (Earthquake) ft. Wu-Tang Clan and Sure Ya Right

This High Point resident got made her fame when she appeared on American Idol back in 2004. After winning the competition she was given a record deal and became a big hit with her R&B career for a time. She recently performed on BET's Black Girls Rock award ceremony.

Recommended Tracks: Truth Is, Free Yourself

11 Artists I'm Looking Forward to Hearing This Year

It's April, but there's plenty of music left to come out this year. This is a list of ten musicians I'm most looking forward to hearing from this year. The following artists are not listed in any particular order.

Aaradhna

The soul and R&B singer from New Zealand Aaradhna, put out the fantastic album Treble & Reverb back in 2012, but hasn't put out anything since then. Aaradhna is of Samoan and Indian descent and her music influence stems from classic soul artists and 90's R&B artists such as Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill. She is scheduled to release an album this year, but no specific date has been confirmed.
Recommended Tracks: I Love You Too, Wake Up (Remix) ft. Common, and Let's Get It On

Nas

One of the best rappers in the game and my personal favorite, Nasir Jones has stated that he's working on new music. I'm not sure if it's going to release this year or not, but I'll definitely be looking out for it.
Recommended Tracks: It Ain't Hard to Tell, I Gave You Power, and Patience

L'Orange

The Mello Music Group producer L'Orange has become one of my favorite producers with his excellent projects such as Old Soul and The Mad Writer. Last year he released his album The Orchid Days and an ep titled After the Flowers. The visuals for "Need You" is my personal favorite music video out of 2014. He is currently slated to drop a collaboration album with emcee Jeremiah Jae on April 21 titled The Night Took Us in Like Family.
Recommended Tracks: The Good Shepherd, Lost Souls (feat. Hassaan Mackey, yU & Kelsey Lu), and Need You (feat. Blu)

Jean Grae

Jean Grae has disappointed me with her last few projects That's Not How You Do That Either: Yet Another Instructional Album for Adults, #5, and That's Not How You Do That: An Instructional Album for Adults, but I'm hoping she'll drop something later this year that's more representative of her skill level shown in Jeanius, which I consider a classic and Bootleg of the Bootleg. These comedic projects with her singing badly, odd instrumentation, and little rapping isn't indicative of her at her best. Here's hoping for the best.
Recommended Tracks:  Away With Me, Love Thirst, and Kill Screen

Nitty Scott MC

The New York rapper has worked with big name artists by the like of Kendrick Lamar, Action Bronson and Rapper Big Pooh. Nitty Scott MC gave me one of my favorite albums of last year in The Art of Chill. The emcee stated that she plans on releasing a visual version of the album. I am pumped for the music videos and for any new music that she has to bring.
Recommended Tracks:  A Beautiful Struggle ft. Soul Khan and Akie Bermi, Luv My Life, and U.F.O. (Unfiltered Offering)

Sammus

My personal favorite nerdcore rapper, Sammus takes her name from Nintendo's headlining lady from the Metroid series. She started with the Fly Nerd EP back in 2010, dropped the Another M ep last year and just recently finished up the Rappers with Arm Cannons Tour with Mega Ran and Storyville last month. Sammus nerdy subject of choice is video games and more specifically the Metroid series, but most of her works are more of the core demographic. I heard a glimpse of her upcoming work when she posted a video on her facebook page of her performing a track called "Perfect Dark" that's supposed to appear on her next project that currently doesn't have a date and I liked what I heard. I would really like to hear her do some music with Clear Soul Forces member, J-Roc who also embraces the geek in his rhymes.
Recommended Tracks: Nu Black, Mae Jemison, and DL

A-F-R-O (All Flows Reach Out)

A-F-R-O came to my attention after R.A. The Rugged Man took him up under his tutelage after A-F-R-O won his Definition of a Rap Flow Contest last year. The artist has been working in the studio with DJ Premier , some hints at Talib Kweli, and a lot more. He also made an appearance on Queen Latifah's talk show. He last put out a tribute ep to J. Dilla titled A-F-R-O Loves Dilla back in January. A-F-R-O is only seventeen, but he's already killing it.
Recommended Tracks: Definition of a Rap Flow Contest Entry,  and Guv'nor

Andreya Triana

Andreya Triana is a blues and soul singer hailing from the UK. She has previously done work with Flying Lotus, but when she showed up on the front page of bandcamp is when she came to my attention. Her voice is beautifully and can appease the soul. She is releasing her third album Giants next month on the fourth and you can listen to the current single from the album Gold on her bandcamp page.
Recommended Tracks: A Town Called Obsolete and Lost Where I Belong

Mavis Staples

Mavis Staples is the longest running artist on this list as she's been making albums since 1969. She's recently been brought to my attention by bandcamp because she's dropping an ep on April 25 titled Your Good Fortune. She is a soul and gospel singer. Her album titled song has me eager to check the other three tracks to release.

Alice Smith

There hasn't been any word on Alice Smith dropping music this year, but this doesn't keep me from hoping. Alice Smith is a soul, jazz, and rock singer. You may have heard her cover of "Fool For You" on the first episode of hit show Empire. Her talents are representative in her last two albums For Lovers, Dreamers & Me, and She. The aforementioned album caught the attention of Prince who did a cover of her song Another Love from the album. Alice Smith has become one of my recent favorite discoveries and here's hoping of some new music in 2015.
Recommended Tracks: Fool For You, Fake Is The New Real, and Be Easy

Blitz The Ambassador

Blitz The Ambassador is my favorite rapper from the motherland. He released the phenomenal album Afropolitan Dreams last year and later had a crazy sale from bandcamp in which he offered a pay what you want price for almost his whole discography. That same offer is still up and while you can get it for free I highly recommend that you pay at least a dollar in support of one of the greatest rappers of the current generation. Blitz has also put himself in great accompany as he has done songs with Nigerian artist Nneka, Les Nubians, and Akua Naru. I recently did a review on his single "Juju Girl" from his upcoming album D I A S P O R A D I C A L. Check that out as well. I'm ready for     D I A S P O R A D I C A L to drop.
Recommended Tracks: Success, Internationally Known feat. Sarkodie, and Emmet (S)Till

Yoshi's Woolly World Box Art and Amiibos Announcement

Nintendo just revealed the box art for their newest Yoshi game Yoshi's Woolly World which is scheduled for a fall release in North America this year. Like a lot of Nintendo box arts as of lately, Yoshi's Woolly World's is great. Like Kirby and the Rainbow Curse's cover, Yoshi's Woolly World takes advantage of bright colors and a cute aesthetic. The jolly way that Yoshi sits on top of a running Poochy while waving at the viewer with a yarn ball in his hand is just adorable. You also get a glimpse of the red Yoshi in the background and the animation effect for Yoshi's hover jump this time around. There is also Bowser Jr. lurking just below which may suggest that he'll be the villain this time around taking the place of Baby Bower in the original and Yoshi's New Island (not aware of his existence in Yoshi's Island 2). This looks like good news as Baby Bowser in Yoshi's New Island was definitely a retread and I assume in this game's case it would infer that it's not a prequel to the Super Mario games, but a continuation. I'm liking the Yarn theme more and more.

To accompany this box art announcement, Nintendo also revealed that there will be Amiibos for this game as well which will be available to purchase when the game drops. These Amiibos are the third set that Yoshi will be getting (the first from Smash Bros. 4 and the other from the Super Mario collection). These Amiibos are unique because not only are they kawaii, but they are also mini plushes unlike all the current Amiibos which are more like action figures. Their functionality in the game inserts a Yoshi AI partner to accompany you while playing the game solo. It is basically a Co-op for players who aren't able to have a friend to play with locally. The content is very optional and doesn't in particular intrigue me, but the Amiibos themselves do. They look plush, soft, and just like the game are made with a yarn design. They come in three colors, pink, green, and blue, but all of them function the same. The color of the Yoshi that will appear alongside you is all that it determines. I never bought an Amiibo before, but this is definitely one I'm going to get. First Wii-Fit Trainer, then Yarn Yoshi.

G: Super Metroid

I have recently completed my first experience with a Metroid game and it was riveting. That game was Super Metroid the second entry in the long running series. My initial reaction to it was that it was a bit awkward. Jumping felt like hopping on the moon. This may have been intentional given the setting of this game, but it was still weird to me. Over time I adjusted to these controls. The non-linear structure also felt a little weird to me. It might have been because I haven't played any non-linear games in a while, well that's not exactly true. One of the last games I played was The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past which definitely has non-linear portions, but the differences rely in that A Link to the Past's non-linearity is mostly choosing the order of the temples you want to complete and side quests while Metroid's consists of sequence breaking and backtracking.

I would've sat with the backtracking a little bitter if there were faster methods of getting around. If you realize you have to go back to one area that's across the map, it can be a drag to travel all the way there. The game does do exploration well however. Finding hidden paths to upgrades and new areas is satisfying, but I did feel that the amount of missile upgrades were pointless until I came to the end of the game where bosses required an extensive amount of hits to take down and they didn't give you ammunition like the previous bosses.

In excavating the terrain on Planet Zebes, I found myself immersed in the environment. The game provides a sense of loneliness, grimness, and doom. The music aligns with these feelings. Kenji Yamamoto did a decent job with the soundtrack, but oddly I appreciated it more outside of the game than within the game.

The combat is pretty straight forward and most regular enemies just require simple shots to take down. They switch it up a little bit by having enemies that climb walls, fly, or attach to the ceiling so you'd have to use angle shots or jump shots to take them down. Later down the line some enemies required upgraded weaponry and the most annoying will require some bomb usage. Getting the ice beam upgrade and freezing enemies feels great. Most of the bosses have pretty straight forward designs and the last two really provide some challenge. All in all Super Metroid is a pretty good game.

M: Juju Girl

Ghana artist Blitz The Ambassador releases his latest single Juju Girl from his upcoming project      D I A S P O R A D I C A L. The ambassador's newest song is a traditional African and jazz infused track. The subject of this song is a woman that Blitz has fallen in love with. The lyrics are pretty straightforward, but how his flow synchronizes with the instrumental is what makes it excel. The best thing about this track actually is the instrumental. That hybrid creates a tune that works both for kicking back and dancing. I look forward to hearing more from this project when it drops.

https://soundcloud.com/blitz-the-ambassador/juju-girl-1

Let Me Introduce Myself

To introduce myself I am just a love of the arts being an artist myself. My most dedicated passion to the arts falls into gaming and recently music so that is why I chose this blog to primarily focus on the two mediums.

For a little info about me, I'm a post-graduate student who is looking to getting a career that both encompasses gaming and writing. I hope this blog will entertain you and also get you thinking about these forms of media that we enjoy and how it affects our lives.