BREAKING DOWN THE SECOND BEST RECORD IN HIP HOP HISTORY

It's 5:30 in the morning and because I'm so dedicated to the cause and want to keep my heads ringing, as I believe the kids would say now, I'm pushing to get De La Soul is Dead mix done before I leave town for the mountains tomorrow, but I'm still searching for a sample and, trust me, it ain't done until I find this sample. If any of you cats are resourceful enough, help me out because I'm out of options. The song is "That's No Lie" by White Lightning. Call it a homework assignment. Impress me.

Altogether, when truly broken down and explored, Dead is completely different record from 3 Feet. Lyrically, it's even headier than it's predecessor. For one, De La the parodies and pimps themselves to a point of absolute denouncement of their fun-loving hippy schtick. They also venture into hotspots like sexual assault, drug abuse and the scathing commentary on the gangstaisms of their West Coast brethren. Sonically, it's as much heavier funk-jazz record as it is a goofy disco-dance record. Prince Paul grows ages beyond his early efforts with Stetsa and De La as he moves to more long-form production instead of the sporadic and scattered trickery of his earlier projects. And this mix plays to that with, in some cases, completely uncut inclusion of the original sample like Funkadelic's "I'll Stay" or Fred Wesley and the JB's "Pass the Peas." The tempo is more relaxed and deliberate. The mood is slightly more somber and reflective. De La Soul is Dead is a beast you just ain't ready for, kid.

The mix is, uh, 92% done at this point and is completely mixed down and balanced except for the last ten minutes. Gotta find that sample.

Phillies won the Series which led to some scatching commentary from my brother who predicted that I'd say that the only way the NL could win is if the Red Sox wore down the AL contender before they got to the big dance as we did the Tampa Bay Longorias. I mentioned that they probably would've won more than one game in the Series had they not gone a full seven against the Red Sox. Maybe we were just paying back Philly for giving us Francona. I'm still pretty confident that the Sox could've taken Philly, but I guess we'll never know. That's what we get for not actually making it to the Series. But, man, Rays pulled a Rockies-no-show this year, huh? So hot. So strong. So dominating. So much for momentum. Doing the AL East proud. Thanks, guys.

Countdown has begun to the Texas-Tech battle this weekend in Lubbock. Guess we know who John Daly's behind. What's more Austin than orange and public intoxication?

Just ask the drunk asshole that's sure to be stumbling around the neighborhood this weekend. Glad we'll be in the mountains. Just kidding on the Austin-slammery, my dearest Sarah and Dale. Man, the coffee's good this morning.