That’s the face of the one and only Stringer Bell from the seminal TV series The Wire. If you haven’t seen the Wire yet, stop what you’re doing and rent it, buy it, borrow it from a friend or do whatever is necessary to see it. Hell, it’s only $130.99 on Amazon right now for the complete series. Anyways, the Idris Elba played character was a key figure in the first few seasons of the series. He played the streetwise as well as business savvy administrator of the Barksdale organization. He was a bad ass mother, with hints of old school gangster in him.

Idris has a secondary career in hip hop that until now nobody seemed to have known about. He’s not been so underground though. In 2007 he co-produced and performed on the intro to Jay-Z’s 2007 album American Gangster. He DJ’d the NBA all star party in Vegas and the BET series, Rising Icons. At the end of last year he released and EP called King of Kings. Below is the video for the song Hold On from that album.

I got to say, I hate the whole skit bit at the beginning, but then I usually hate rap skits. The song opens up with a big bouncy dance beat. Vocally he sounds quite similar to Shaggy, but thankfully the music is listenable and the lyrics aren’t horrible. I’ve currently listened to the song 8 time’s in a row and don’t plan to stop until I figure it out completely. You got to give Idris Elba who goes by the name King Driis respect for actually having decent chops. I would have never guessed in a million years that he was capable of this. I could see this getting some club play this summer as it’s actually fairly danceable. In the end, it just goes to show how great The Wire was. On top of all the great acting, they had a rough gem like this hiding in there. I can only hope it’s not the last surprise the show has for us.

-Pop Matters

This is the first song from Asher Roth’s new mix-tape, Seared Foie Gras With Quince & Cranberry. For those of you that don’t know, Asher broke out last year largely based on the hit I Love College. He was both hated and loved for various reasons. People who hated him tended to be critics and think he was kind of phony and his rapping frat boy like. He was generally liked by others. Olivia Munn, for one, often expressed that song was her favorite of last year for example.

I liked his debut album, Asleep In the Bread Aisle for a couple simplistic reasons. Mainly that the record was itself simplistic. The production was fairly tight but it was never over reaching and over the top. It stayed within the limits of a “safe” record executed well. I will also never claim to be a lyricist and usually lyrics wash right over my head. That album was done in a way so the lyrics stood out and were approachably simplistic. That’s not to say that they were boring or didn’t have meaning, just that generally Asher wasn’t trying to rap War and Peace or use endless metaphors. It was a positive album that didn’t contain much of the negativity that plagues current hip hop.

Anyways this video and song continue that trend. The lyrics seem to have been tightened up and the production keeps its catchy simplicity. I love how the video starts out as a homage to his last album with him literally asleep in the bread aisle. I love how he admits that he’s not there, but he’s working on his oratory skills. The opening line brings with it a sense of modesty when he says, “I really love how it starts out saying one day I hope to say something impressive.” Also, as I’m primarily a sports blogger, I was thoroughly entertained by his referencing the Giants winning the pennant, Gilbert Arenas and the locker room gambling as well as referencing Revis from the Jets as a metaphor for defense. All in all, I’m looking forward to listening to the rest of his mixtape, which you can download for free at his website.

Well this video has been out for like a week now. In Internet time, that means I’m old and lame. You’ve all already seen this video and heard the song. Anyhoo, if you pre-order the song off of iTunes, you’ll get this song instantly and the rest of the album when it drops on Tuesday March 9th.

Enjoy

Hey y’all. Those of us who work at The Gally Blog came to the conclusion that, like most people, we like music. A few of my friends who read TGB also expressed an interest in both music writing and sharing new music with people. Having said that, I present to you The Gally Blog’s music site, Tone Def!

I’ve been listening to this Steve Aoki remix of Kid Cudi’s, Pursuit of happiness, while setting up this place. I hope you enjoy.