Diddy's 10 Tips for a New Year's to Remember

When it comes to partying, whose advice would you rather have than Diddy's? The hip-hop mogul is offering his Top 10 tips on how to have one of the dopest New Year's you'll remember:

10. "Your party spot has to set the tone for the night... It creates the blueprint for the entire evening."

9. "A great bartender... Bad drinks aren't sexy... Also beautiful wait-staff are key..."

8. "Food should never interrupt your swagger... Small tapas or finger foods that aren't too messy tend to work well."

7. "Music should be the soundtrack to the night... It should match the theme... It should match the flow."

6. "Preserve the sexy... My oldest and truest party rule. If it's about furs and diamonds, don't show up in jeans."

5. "The right party people... Your tried-and-true friends that know how to get your party started mixed with a few new characters to keep things exciting... but everyone has to be sexy."

4. "You need a great pair of shades... Because the best New Year's Eve party doesn't stop until well into the New Year."

3. "You need a great host... Like me... Someone who is a master in the art of celebration."

2. "Ciroc... The world's best ultra-premium vodka... Enough said."

1. "It's never sexy to be sloppy... know your limits and drink responsibly."

Anything you want to add?

Del's Top 5 Video Games of All-Time

Del the Funky Homosapien has been in the game for over 15 years and most of his fans know that Del is a hardcore video gamer. Gaming has influenced a lot of Del’s rhymes and visions for his videos and you can probably expect more of that on his upcoming album, The 11th Hour, which will drop in early 2008 on Def Jux.

So since we’re coming up on a holiday season full of fresh new games, we asked Del to think back and gives us his Top 5 Video Games of all time.

#1 – Super Mario Bros. - "Every other action/adventure game is based on that one. It opened the doors for everything else. Sonic the Hedgehog wouldn’t exist without Super Mario Bros. First, it was an arcade game, then it helped made the Nintendo home system a success. This all happened a long, long time. So damn long ago, I can hardly believe it. I was still in grammar school back when that came out, but it’s still one of my favorite games of all time. I could pick it up right now and play for hours. Anybody who denies that this isn’t the best game of all time is hella ancient and you can tell them that Del say so."

#2 – "I’ma go back a little bit earlier for this one - Zaxxon by Sega. It was of the first pseudo 3-D games that was out at the time around ‘84 or something. I think they called Asymmetric graphics. It’s like a cube, you could see 3 sides of the cube but you couldn’t see the other side. Zaxxon was a space shooting game but you moved forward in time, you kept fighting until you met with a boss. This shit is hell old but back then, the graphics were tight for that era. I could still mess with this game. It pales in comparison of course to today’s games, but I’d still play."

#3 – Wipe Out. "That was the one game that made me think that the Playstation could be tight. A Plus had a Playstation so he actually had Wipe Out and it was hella tight. It was they flagship game, or what they called your killer app. It was supposed to sell hella Playstations. There are a lot of reasons why this game is dope - the graphics and the game itself were ridiculous. You didn’t just drive a fucking car, you were driving a fucking spaceship. You’d be driving ridiculously fast. And they had a Prodigy song in there – that’s how I found out about them. Not Prodigy from Mobb Deep but that British hardcore techno punk group."

#4 – Quartet and Super Quartet. "Any of them Capcom or Konami in where 4 muthaf**kas could play at the same time, all arcade style. There were super heroes and you had to defeat a crazy robot boss who had a key to a door that led you to the next level and you blew his ass up to get the key. He was a black robot with a cape on. That game was raw to me b/c 4 people could play at the same time. Your quarter would last longer. You’d be with your friends, working together, saving your money, so you could be at the arcade all day. We would play that when I was going to art school."

#5 – Virtual Fighter by Sega. "Any one of the games in the series. I actually learned martial arts from that game. The actual moves, everything was stop motion graphics. That’s the shit. And the graphics was great. In general, people who liked Street Fighter didn’t like Virtual b/c they had to learn a new fighting style but it was actually easier. For instance, you could block all the time, you didn’t hold back on the joystick like in Street Fighter, which restricts your fighting. On Virtual Fighter you had a block button, and you could do other moves while blocking. Watching two people play Virtual Fighter was almost like watching a kung fu movie."

Dudley Perkins’ (aka Declaime) Top 5 "Rule #4080" Moments

About 16 years ago, A Tribe Called Quest released their hit single, “Check the Rhime,” from their classic album Low End Theory. Although that song has many quotable lines, one line from Q-Tip summed up the entire music industry, “Industry rule number 4080/record company people are shady.” The line has stayed in hip-hop lexicon ever since, and since then a plethora of artists have had “Rule #4080” experiences.

Here at Street Census, we’re always interested in the “behind the music” stories, so we hit up Dudley Perkins for his. For those not familiar, Dudley Perkins (also known as Declaime) is a rapper and singer signed to Stones Throw Records. He’s released a handful of albums, both singing and rapping, with a majority of them produced by Madlib. Oh yeah, it’s some classic stuff. Now he’s connected with fellow Stones Throw artist, singer Georgia Anne Muldrow to drop an album under the G&D moniker called Message Uni Versa on Look Records It’s some good stuff, it hit stores last week, but that doesn’t mean Perkins hasn’t had a hard time in the industry. Here’s his Top 5 “Rule #4080” moments.

#5: Goodvibe Recordings – My first voyage into the BS world of label politricks.

#4: The 5 Year Ahead Of Your Time Syndrome – your music goes over the heads of every label exec. Madlib and I had a theory of The 5 Year Ahead Of Your Time Syndrome where label execs just don’t get our music – it’s too ahead of our time.

#3: Stones Throw Recordings – Be careful of wolves in sheeps’ clothing

#2: Vampirism – Me and Georgia’s theory of be careful of vampires because they will stick a straws in yo’ neck and suck out your life force. (Biters, thieves, spongers, suckers) Beware of the ones that are in your back.

#1: Label's amnesia on who they work for - Labels start to feel that you work for them, when in fact they’re supposed to work for the artist. Most labels eat better than the creativity that their company is built on. Wake up and don’t sleep, suckas!

By the way, here's a taste of that G&D album:

Top 10 Canibus Verses of 1997

It was about 10 years ago when Canibus stepped on the scene. In 1997, Canibus spit so many hot bars from mixtapes to other people's album, hip-hop heads couldn't wait for him to drop his own album. He connected with Wyclef and dropped his debut album. Even though, "Can-I- Bus", disappointed some fans, it still was a solid project. Canibus didn't think so and parted ways with Clef and he's never had that same industry buzz since. He's still making albums, spitting hot verses, but none of it has the same energy, hunger, and attention that his verses had in 1997. So here's Street Census' Top 10 Canibus verses of 1997:

10. "Group Home Family - Canibus feat. Mr. Cheeks and Panama P.I. This track was on the "Sprung" Soundtrack, which would have been much hotter if it was just Canibus. But it's a verse with few punchlines.
Hot Line: "My d**k is like planet Earth, everybody's on it"


9. "Uni-4-Orm" - Canibus, Ras Kass, and Heltah Skeltah Apparently, Ras Kass petitioned hard to get Canibus on the track. I think Ras Kass came off better, but Canibus did his thing.
Hot Line: "Look inside the mind of an animal/that'll beat you to death with a bar of soap wrapped in a towel."


8. Canibus Freestyle - Mad Ball & Tab One Mixtape I don't even remember who Mad Ball and Tab one is, but we sure do remember this verse that Canibus spit. He later recycled a few of the lines in the verse in a joint with Common.
Hot Line: "I'm not ready to let any muthf***a eat me/That's why you find little pieces of emcees in my feces weekly"


7. "Boyz 2 Men" - A+ feat. Mr. Cheeks and Canibus I believe this was recorded near the end of 1997, and it's obvious that A+ was trying to bite Canibus' steez. Dang his verse was corny. But Canibus came off as usual.
Hot Line: "Ambushing emcees, jumping out the trees like Vietnamese in fatigues covered with leaves"


6. "4,3,2,1" - LL Cool J feat. Method Man, Redman, Canibus and DMX By the time Canibus did this song, he already killed it on the mixtape scene, which is why LL wanted him for the song. We already know what the outcome was of this collaboration, but Canibus still murdered it, even with a hot verse from Redman.
Hot Line: "Canibus is the type to fight for mics/beating n*ggas to death and beating dead n*ggas to life"


5. "It's Logic (Canibus Freestyle)" - Tony Touch 55 Emcees Mixtape Canibus missed out on Tony Touch's original "50 Emcees" mixtape, but he put it down on this one. It was the highlight of the whole tape... yeah, out of 55 other emcees.
Hot Line: "I ain't scared of none of ya'll, word to Allah/We can go to war with four-fours or swash buckle with swords"


4. "Shout out to Lost Boyz (Canibus Freestyle)" - DJ Clue Lost Boyz Mixtape I believe this was off a promo mixtape promoting the Lost Boyz album, Love Peace and Nappiness. Regardless, Canibus was getting noticed by now.
Hot Line: "If words can kill, a verse of mine would murder a mil/and emcees would be gnashing their teeth burning in hell."


3. "Making a Name For Ourselves" - Common feat. Canibus The legend of Canibus was starting to float around the industry when Common called him to be on this joint. The beat is banging and both Common and Canibus rip it. It's one Common's best songs.
Hot Line: "When the signal was given, emcees get bitten with venom from a poisonous algorithm, liable to kill 'em"


2. "Canibus Freestyle" - DJ Clue Mixtape It was a toss between which verse would be #1, but this performance is definitely one of the best Canibus has ever done.
Hot Line: "You number one? Then I'm negative two/Basically n*gga that means I'm still better than you"


1. "Beasts from the East" - Lost Boyz feat. A+, Redman, and Canibus This track was Canibus coming out party. After he spit that 50 bar verse, everybody was asking, who is this dude? I mean, he even outshined Redman, and that doesn't happen very often.
Hot Line: "I grab mics and push n*ggas to the left/so fast, their hearts end up on the right side of their chests"

9th Wonder’s Top 5 Producers of All Time

Former Little Brother producer 9th Wonder is probably one of our favorite producers in the 2000s. Ever since he jumped into the scene five years ago with Little Brother, 9th has been one of the most consistent producers dropping hot beats on almost every track he touches.

Now that he’s a solo artist (don’t even ask him about his departure from Little Brother), he’s gearing up to release his debut album, “Dream Merchant, Vol. 2” which features cats like Mos Def, Jean Grae, Memphis Bleek, Boot Camp Clik, Camp Lo and a host of others. He’s going to follow that up with a more R&Bish album called “The Wonder Years”. If that ain’t enough, expect the follow-up to his collaborations with Buckshot called “The Formula” and MURS called “Sweet Lord,” to drop sometime this year. So we asked him ‘who are your top 5 producers of all time?’ As if we didn’t know already….

"This is my top five all day," 9th told us. "In no order."

RZA
Dr. Dre
DJ Premier
Pete Rock
J Dilla

If you need some 9th beats now, download the DJ Low Key-mixed Median mixtape, Relief in the Making, for free. Yeah, it’s hosted by 9th too. In the meantime, here’s a video of 9th with two of his top five producers.

Top 10 Hip-Hop Beards...

10. ?uestlove
qmoreno: He looks like a real hippy-style hip-hop head with the scruffy, patchy beard.
Rizoh1: Forget hippy-style, ?uesto's beard makes him truly underground; I heard it used to sweep the pavement back in the day. Bob Marley would be so proud.




















9. K-Os
Rizoh1: I saw him live when he came to Houston. I thought the white teenage kids were feeling his groove, turns out they were infatuated with his goatee
qmoreno: His beard is like the black version of Aesop's. It's got that patchy look, like he can't grow a full-blown beard. But his style isn't hippy, it's more Caribbean/island that you'd see in Barbados or something.

























8. Kaine (of Ying Yang Twins):
Rizoh1: His label wondering why the last Ying Yang album only sold 20 copies? Well, just take another look at that beardically imbalanced album cover
qmoreno: Okay, so he has the striped, zebra thing. It's really the only dope and original thing within the Ying Yang Twins group

















7. W.C.:
qmoreno: Dub C was the first rapper I remember seeing braid and put rubber bands in his beard. It really doesn't make him look anymore fierce, although I appreciate the effort
Rizoh : Be careful when you talk down on W.C.'s braided beard, I heard his is so gangsta it holds the AK when he's c-walking














6. Tech N9ne
qmoreno: Tech N9ne comes as a package deal. You get a crazy haircut with a crazy beard. You can't have one without the other. That's how they do it in Kansas City.
Rizoh1: No wonder he's the only one out of Kansas with a career, must have something to do with that beard
























5. David Banner

Rizoh1: Banner's beard gives him that math professor demeanor. All he needs is bald hair to complete the look.
qmoreno: I dig Banner's Mississippian grizzly look. The beard goes perfectly with his infamous snarl.




















4. Freeway

qmoreno: Man, Freeway's beard matches his crazy intensity on the mic. It's a straight up, 'I don't give an eff', straight from the streets of Philly type of beard.
Rizoh1: No doubt, Free keeps it grimy with his. I'm sure he pays extra for that beard at the barbershop.

























3. Kay Slay
qmoreno: Kay Slay is the first DJ I've seen with a full beard that was kept trimmed and clean. Too bad that doesn't translate to any turntable skills.

Rizoh1: Slay has that grimacing beard that makes him look more like a rapper than a dj

















2. Rick Ross

Rizoh1: Rick Ross could easily pass for Suge Knight at the Crazy Beard Country Club
qmoreno: Rick Ross' beard is trimmed and lined up sooo perfectly, I'm suprised that it doesn't have it's own fade. Still makes him look like a grandpa though.



















1. Rick Rubin:

qmoreno: I heard that when Rubin is in the studio, he scratches his beard over the mike and some magical dust comes out. The result is a string of hits.

Rizoh1: True. I also heard that Rick occassionally hides exclusive beat CDs in his beard.

Baallinnn: Top 20 Richest Rappers

I threw this up at the grind the other day. But just in case you haven't peeped it yet, here we go again:

1. Jay-Z - $34 million
2. 50 Cent - $32 million
3. Diddy - $28 million
4. Timbaland - $21 million
5. Dr. Dre - $20 million
6. Eminem - $18 million
7. Snoop Dogg - $17 million
8. Kanye West - $17 million
9. Pharrell Williams - $17 million
10. Scott Storch - $17 million
11. Ludacris - $16 million
12. T.I. - $16 million
13. OutKast - $14 million
14. Lil Jon - $14 million
15. Ice Cube - $13 million
16. Jermaine Dupri - $12 million
17. Swizz Beatz - $12 million
18. Chamillionaire - $11 million
19. The Game - $11 million
20. Yung Joc - $10 million

In case you're wondering why the figures are so low, the list is based solely on 2006 revenue. Next year's list will be even more impressive, as most of these guys have already made some power moves in '07. Hov sold Roc-A-Fella for $240 mill and you heard about the whole Vitamin Water deal with Coke.

Rizoh: Q, when are we ever gonna get on Forbes Hip-Hop Cash Kings list?
Q: as soon as I sell a couple of screenplays
Rizoh: who's gonna buy 'em from you? your family?
Q: lol

Supernatural's Top 5 Off the Head Emcees

Supernatural is currently on tour with the Rock the Bells festival which features Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Pharaohe Monch, Talib Kweli and a host of others. He's hosting the entire show and in between sets he gets to show off his freestyle prowess. For those who don't know already, he holds the world record for the longest freestyle at just over 9 hours. Plus he's battled and defeated many foes that range from Craig G to Juice to Proof (of D12). We already know that Supernat is probably the top freestyle cat in the game, but we asked who he thinks has the ability to spit some hot off the head rhymes. Peep his Top 5 off the head emcees:

Check Supernat rhyming for computer nerds in the video:



MF Grimm - "He's the only guy in a battle that I’ve honestly said was a worthy opponent. I’ve always wanted to see him since then; I’ve never had the opportunity to tell him that."

Snoop Dogg - "He's a great freestyle emcee. A lot of people don't know that. Snoop is nasty off the head."

Busta Rhymes - "He's real nice off the head."

Mad Skills - "He can hold his, he's definitely nice off the head."

Zaakir (of Jurassic 5) - "He's fairly decent off the head. He rocks it every night."

5 Most Disappointing Albums of '07 (So Far)

Sure, we've seen some laudable rap albums this year, but we've also seen a busload of frisbee material. This list is not about the countless awful albums that dropped between January and July, it's about the ones that had initially had us in on the edge of our seats, only to end up in the recycle bin a week later.

1. Music Is My Savior - Mims: Ok, so he had the first No. 1 rap single of 2007. But that wasn't enough to keep Mr. "This Is Why I'm Hot" from delivering a lukewarm album.

2. Rich Boy - Rich Boy: After dropping the monster of a song that was "Throw Some D's" (so much that Kanye decided to throw some of his on it), anticipation for Rich Boy's self-titled debut was anything short of crazy. So, imagine our chagrin when the Alabama rapper's album turned out to be a waste of great Polow da Don beats.

3. Buck the World - Young Buck: For whatsoever reason, Buck decided that the best way to follow up his stellar debut, Straight Outta Cashville, was by making a few noteworthy songs and sandwiching them with filler material. Then he turned around and blamed DJ Khaled for not playing his records on air.

4. T.I. vs T.I.P.- T.I: T.I. fans are in denial on this one, but T.I. vs. T.I.P. is hands down the second most unimpressive album in Clifford's otherwise brilliant catalog, rivaled only by I'm Serious.

5. Red Gone Wild - Redman: We were excited to see Red back in action after eight years in label limbo. Unfortunately, the cloudy rhymes and second rate beats on Red Gone Wild barely struck a chord with listeners.

Billboard’s Top 20 Ringtone Rappers for the week of 7/17/07

1. UNK – 2 Step
2. 50 Cent – Candy Shop
3. Afroman – Because I Got High
4. Jim Jones – We Fly High
5. Salt n Pepa – Push It
6. 50 Cent – Best Friend
7. Black Eyed Peas – My Humps
8. Dr. Dre – Nothing But a G Thing
9. 2pac – When We Ride on Our Enemies
10. 2pac – Changes
11. 50 Cent – In Da Club
12. 2pac – I Ain’t Mad At Cha
13. UNK – Walk it Out
14. Bow Wow – Outta My System

50 Cent = Top 5 dead or alive in ringtone-rapping, and that's just off two LPs