Earlier in the week I had a chance to catch a preview of This Is Jim Jones (due May 12), a documentary about the life and times of the Dipset Capo. As a huge fan of the Dipset since S.D.E. first revealed signs of a burgeoning movement, I never really felt Jimmy as an artist or a personality. I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt like that. He could never rap for shite, and he didn’t have the off-kilter personality or freakish rhyming style that attracted me to the rest of the group. To put it bluntly, he just seemed like a bit of a thug.

Recently, my opinions have changed slightly, mostly in response to Cam going into a two-year hibernation and a new Jim Jones emerging to fill the void. He still sucks at rapping, but at least his clownery is enough to elicit some laughs. And in addition, part of me admires the audacity of putting on a stage production about his own life and releasing songs with hooks that sound like they were written by third graders.

If you’re ever having a bad day, just listen to some Brother Ali and get it in!

My buddy Nate out in LA asked me to share some thoughts over at Portal-A Interactive on hip-hop music video and its future on the small screen. From ghostriding the volvo to staying in Cambodian hostels, they’re doing some cool stuff with online video that’s definitely worth checking out.

Check out the post here.

Recently, Nick Hornby was asked to pick 40 books for a writer’s table at Waterstone’s book store, and he wrote an amusing article about the endeavor in the Times, noting the presumptuousness of anyone saying, “I think you might like this.” I totally agree. Of course, there are friends and family I can say this too quite confidently (my mom is the easiest because she likes literally every book), but to “recommend” something to an audience of strangers is inherently absurd. Still, directly and indirectly we do it every day in the blogosphere, and who knows—perhaps you’ve learned enough about my tastes through these posts to know you either like most things that I do or hate them.

At any rate, I’ve been looking to do a better job of keeping track of the books I read, and so I thought I’d throw them up here. Indulge me, innanet.

via Urban Dictionary

Growing up in DC during the late 80s and early 90s, I was privy to one of the best slang terms in the world: bamma. When I later moved to Connecticut it sort of fell by the wayside, but a few references in pop culture (The Wire, The Jamie Foxx Show, and the rise of DMV rapper Wale) have conspired to inject bamma back into my lexicon. It’s proved extremely useful, as I’ve found bammadom abounds all around me.

For the uninitiated, the Urban Dictionary definition above provides a solid foundation for understanding bammas. When I was coming up, though, it definitely had the connotation of someone sort of “rural” and “backwards” as well. Now, I think it’s pretty safe to use it to describe anyone who is A) wack/embarrassingly misguided, and B) completely unaware of his or her wackness.

Needless to say, that’s quite far-reaching. To work toward a better sense of what it really means to be a bamma, my brother and I have been conducting a little sociological experiment and compiling examples of bamma behavior. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and I plan to update the list as the mood strikes. Feel free to add your thoughts.

OK, without further ado…