Solid Entertainment

I know I put that blurb up about how I will attempt updates every Tuesday. I mean to stick to the Tuesday schedule for the regular rambling but I also want to mix it up a little bit for my own sake and for the sake of the reader (you).

So I will try to write a “Solid Entertainment” piece every other Friday, starting today, that covers some combination of music, movies, and other media. I will be the first to admit that I am not always on the cutting edge of the all encompassing subject of entertainment so please feel free to make me aware of new stuff that you like.

This first issue is mostly music with a short TV plug.

Public Defendaz

Public Defendaz debut album, Speedy Trial Vol. 1, is a hard hitting yet richly poetic dose of straight up hip hop. The beats and instrumentals throughout are solid and would keep your head bumping on their own and when combined with unforgiving and largely thought provoking lyrics that just keep coming at you, it is clear that Public Defendaz are on a mission.

Challenging the all too prominent and often misguided stereotype that hip hop is all about money and flash, this five man group takes on not only issues of race, equality, poverty, current events, and the current political stage but they also rightly call out other more mainstream artists for becoming complacent and embracing the selling stereotype.

In the proud tradition of groups like Public Enemy and DEAD PReZ (hell, lets not make this just a hip hop thing and include Bad Religion and Rage Against the Machine), Public Defendaz are out to make their voices heard and make a difference.

If I had to lodge any complaints about Public Defendaz they would be: 1) that they don’t have a non-MySpace website, although this is totally excusable since maintaining a website comes at a cost that I am sure a new band does not want when they are starting out; 2) Their MySpace page does not seem to embrace the “simple yet hard hitting” attitude that comes through in their music as it is dominated by flash navigation and the fan comments definitely need some cleaning out, but this could also be considered a work in progress; and 3) as far as I can tell, they have not released a CD that I can get my hands on so MySpace or live are the only places to hear them, which is a shame because they would be a great addition to any collection.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Watch this show but not with your kids (unless your kids are my age and then you should watch it together). It is beyond hilarious, and with the addition of Danny DeVito to the regular cast it is just that much better.

Fox may drop the ball on hanging on to a lot of good shows but someone over there was doing their job when they decided to keep this one going.