For the people who don’t know, I also record and make my own music. In favour of one of my favorite times of the year, “Halloween” I’ve recorded a track called “The Room”. It’s about me being trapped inside my room, and while I’m stuck in it Ghosts are torturing me. The beat was created by the genius producer: “Tha Remedy“. You can download or stream the FREE MP3 from one of the links below:

Listen/Download @ Newgrounds!
Listen/Download @ Soundclick! (Need a Soundclick account to download)
Listen/Download @ Myspace! (Need a Myspace account to download)
Download @ MEGAUPLOAD!
Download @ RapidShare!

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Posted by LostMoniker on October 31st, 2008 :: Filed under Moniker's Minute
Tags :: halloween, hip hop, rap, recording, season

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As someone who considers himself “overly observant“, I’ve always been quick to notice the rising Hip-Hop trends… and the fading ones. Now, I COULD write about several other music-related “social trends”, but It seems like Hip-Hop trends generally come off more ignorant. At least “Scene” and even the now-dying “Emo” cultures revolved around some logic to make their trends somewhat appealing. And while I do consider other “social-trends” to give negative impressions, seems like Hip Hop’s not only the target for this but an actual contributor. Before you get your pitchfork ready and say how what I’m speaking is “blasphemy”, please read the next few paragraphs.

Now lets look at the “Ignorant” aspect. Hip Hop has always been a “product of it’s environment”; working from it’s roots as an “urban culture” and further reflecting anything from social woes to crime and poverty. Now, somewhere down the line listeners became effected to the point that they’ve imitated the music. I can’t say that I haven’t adopted a swagger or mindset while listening, because I have. However, there is a point where it becomes too much.

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Posted by LostMoniker on October 8th, 2008 :: Filed under Through The Telescope: Hip Hop and Society
Tags :: confidence, hip hop, minstrel show, social, trends

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Before you read the rest of this article, please read part one first. That article can be found here.

Any seasoned head will know you can’t have a proper discussion about “real” Hip Hop without bringing up the classic hit by Common: “I used to love H.E.R.” For those unaware, the song was an “ode” to Hip Hop; Its uniqueness however, lied in its metaphor of using the love of a woman in the context of Hip Hop culture. The song gives the initial impression it’s a love song, nearing the end though, Common reveals he’s talking about his love of Hip Hop and disapproval of what’s happening to it. The song brought up many questions and controversy in the eyes of many Hip Hop circles. The main idea of the song was about Commons love for the culture, but now Hip Hop’s direction - and fan base - was straying away from its conscious aspects and moving towards the rising popularity of “G-Funk”.

So this poses another question inside an already laboring one: Is “real” Hip Hop that of “conscious hip hop”? Conscious Hip Hop being more “socially aware” Hip Hop. I know that many heads, more-so backpackers would agree with this notion, seeing as this is mostly what Hip Hop came from. For those who have delved into the history of the art, you’ll know of the classic by: “Grand Master Flash And The Furious Five”, “The Message”. This classic piece in Hip Hop addresses the problems - in detail - that are happening in the groups neighborhood and homes. It’s what I consider - and many others - to be one of the first truly “conscious” pieces of Hip Hop.

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Posted by LostMoniker on September 30th, 2008 :: Filed under Through The Telescope: Hip Hop and Society
Tags :: breaks, common, conscious, DJ Kool Herc, H. Rap Brown, hip hop, hymns, I used to love H.E.R., Infinito 2017, part 2, party, poetry, real hip hop, soul, through the telescope

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I’ve listened to hundreds of Hip-Hop albums, of course encountering my fair share of great albums and to a similar degree, some god-awful ones. There are albums that I constantly come back to, generally because their lyrics - and to a lesser sense - production are top notch. While this piece is more opinionated then my prior articles, I’m treating this as a “personal” listing and not an “end all be all” list, and using it as a chance to recommend some classic albums for people who haven’t already encountered them.

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Posted by LostMoniker on September 28th, 2008 :: Filed under Moniker's Top Ten
Tags :: be, binary star, black on both sides, cannibal ox, common, company flow, cormega, dj premier, emceeing, funcrusher plus, gangstarr, guru, hip hop, illmatic, j-live, masters of the universe, MF doom, moment of truth, mos def, nas, operation doomsday, the best part, the cold vein, the real, the realness, the true meaning, top ten

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You’re probably viewing the aforementioned with the notion that you do in fact already know what “real hip hop” is. Yet when asked to truly define that statement, and juggle this with the abundance of hip hop tracks being pushed out in terms of mainstream and underground, your opinion becomes stagnant. Before I delve into the subject at hand, I’d like to say that I’ve listened to countless albums and have been studying the Hip Hop art for quite some time (I’m sure some of the people reading this article have as well), and only to a degree can I describe what “real” hip hop is.

For those who may be newer to Hip Hop, I’d like to go over some slang quickly. A “Purist” (in Hip Hop terms) is generally a Hip Hop head who listens to majority of the classic Hip Hop and quite a bit of modern underground, they feel strongly about what they think “opposes” the initial visions of the culture. A “Backpacker” is generally someone who enjoys participating in the “hardcore” aspects of Hip Hop, generally listening to alternative or underground Hip Hop. This term can be considered derogatory depending on who you ask, however in context of this article I’m using it to describe a subculture. Nothing less, nothing more.

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Posted by LostMoniker on September 21st, 2008 :: Filed under Through The Telescope: Hip Hop and Society
Tags :: backpackers, dj premier, fake, hip hop, jedi mind tricks, kool g rap, mainstream, purists, real, underground

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Hip Hop has always been playing in my household, even in my youngest days I remember the classic ‘93 Till Infinity’ playing through-out my living room, or the classic ‘New York State of Mind’ track from Nas. However, I only thoroughly delved into Hip Hop (and its history) around 2004 (I’m still a youngin’). After I heard about KRS-One and the confrontation between him and Nelly I recall seeing mention of his ‘beef’ with Marley Marl and the Juice Crew; at this point I had no idea who the Juice Crew were, so I headed over to Google and searched with those tags in mind. Eventually, I came across a video in which KRS explained the ordeal and I slowly became fascinated with Hip Hop’s history. Essentially, from that point on I have been “studying” Hip Hop’s history and delving into classics that I either never heard as a child, or wanted to listen to for nostalgia sake; As it stands, I consider myself a “new-school” listener as I never grew up with the earliest Hip Hop music, but I felt that I owed it to this Art that I’ve fallen in love with, to understand it’s history. This is something that I feel a lot of new-school listeners disregard, and due to mainstreams ‘hot 100′ approach even more listeners have a lack of respect for it’s roots.

Before I get someone saying: “We don’t all have to know EVERY component to Hip Hop’s history like you do”, I want to concur. While I do not expect everyone to have a thorough knowledge base of its roots, I feel there should be some generalized regard towards them. There are several new-school listeners I know who have the mentality that “If it’s not on the billboards anymore, then it’s on my playlist’. Something I find to be completely ridiculous. I’ve also came across people who’ve had a more ‘hip-hop’ based sense of the culture, yet disregard the key figures (Tupac and Biggie only count to a degree).

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Posted by LostMoniker on September 15th, 2008 :: Filed under Through The Telescope: Hip Hop and Society
Tags :: bdp, classic hip hop, emee, furious five, grandmaster flash, hip hop, jazzy jeff, juice crew, krs one, marley marl, original, real

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Combining Hip Hop’s underground heavy weight ‘El-P’, of Company Flow fame and two very talented New York underground artists ‘Vast Aire’ and ‘Vordul Mega’ comes one of the freshest albums in Hip Hop. Many purists will tell you Company Flow’s ‘FunCrusher Plus’ was a classic in it’s own right due to the unique production and stylized battle lyrics done by El P and Big Juss, and with this you’ll also get the “there’s no album that broke ground like this one”. Well, while Cold Vein may not have broken this ground, it’s just delved deeper.

Now, you’re probably wondering, what’s the recipe to what I’ve already summed up as a genius album? Top notch production and some of the finest lyrics ever heard on a Hip Hop album. Vordul Mega’s style is laced with multiple-syllable flows and a dash of abstract metaphors pertaining to his depressing views on life. Now, to be honest Vordul isn’t the reason this album is still playing on my stereo, his lyrics are good but they don’t have the same level of uniqueness as Vast Aire’s do. However, without Vordul’s input on this album, it wouldn’t feel right. Vast Aire, while not having the incredible flow that Vordul does, makes up for it with his charismatic delivery and genius wordplay. Each track, he laces his lyrics with some of the wittiest line’s I’ve heard in Hip Hop thus far. Lines from Iron Galaxy such as: “You were a stillborn baby, mother didn’t want you but your were still born, boy meets world of course his pops is gone, what you figga, that chalky outline on the ground is a father figure?” leave my jaw still dropping.

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Posted by LostMoniker on September 14th, 2008 :: Filed under Out Of The Cage: Album Reviews
Tags :: cannibal ox, classic, company flow, def jux, el-p, funcrusher plus, hip hop, review, vast aire, vordul mega

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Welcome, I am Daniel Masri (aka Lost Moniker) and this is my very own Hip Hop blog. Now, I know the term “Hip Hop Blog” isn’t something new to the internet due the prominence of Hip Hop and the digital age, however I intend to take a different approach. You’re probably wondering: “What does he mean by a different approach? Isn’t he just going to talk about news?”, well yes and no. While modern mainstream Hip Hop strives on the ideals of negative images and offering a lifestyle that less then ninety-percent of us will ever live, I think I can offer that ‘third pillar’ approach when looking at the culture.

As an artist and a fan, I have a deep rooted passion for Hip Hop. It’s what I grew up with and looked to at my hardest times and stayed with in my happiest moments. Now, I’m not trying to make this site look like a “anti-mainstream” site, because I think this quote is applicable to how I judge things: “Good music, is good music”. What I’m trying to do is offer alternate insight to the Hip Hop culture as a whole, and look at it from it’s roots, not it’s sales charts.

So I hope you enjoy your (hopefully frequent) visits here, and take time to comment on the various articles that will be posted up.

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Posted by LostMoniker on September 14th, 2008 :: Filed under General News
Tags :: hip hop, latest, music, opening, passion, reviews, upcoming

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