Great album from this 80’s Rap group. Even though they sort of became a novelty act, this first album is pure Hip Hop. I never owned it before. Once I heard they were reissuing the album with a pizza box theme, I knew I had to get it. It comes with a sticker, informative CD insert and bonus tracks and interviews. The outer package is in the shape of a small pizza box (for the vinyl, it’s a regular sized pizza box).

I purchased Revolutionary Vol. 1 from the UGHH online store years ago. The website indicated that all of the copies of that album were signed by Immortal Technique himself.

Revolutionary Vol. 2 and The 3rd World were signed by Immortal Technique at a 2010 panel discussion held at Fat Beats NYC, an underground Hip Hop vinyl store that closed down in 2010. Tech spoke alongside J-Zone, DJ Eclipse, Dru Ha and several others. The signatures aren’t so clear because Tech signed them using a pen instead of a marker. As with a lot of other Hip Hop events that I attend, I recorded some footage of the discussion. I asked the panel if they believe that European fans show more love and support than American fans. Here’s how they responded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb7BiZgguII

The Martyr is a free album that Tech released in 2011. He pressed up some copies of it on CD and offered people a chance to get it via mail (all they had to pay for was shipping since the album was free). I attended an Immortal Technique show at Irving Plaza in NYC in March 2012. While I was waiting on line outside, Tech’s people were handing out free copies of The Martyr to people on line. When I got my copy, I vowed to have Tech sign it after his performance. He ended the show with “Obnoxious” and announced to the crowd that he was doing a meet-and-greet immediately after. He literally walked offstage to the merchandise table. As usual, I recorded some video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YFOd5IaZAc

This is the first Rap CD that I ever bought, back on September 1, 1998 (the release date). Before buying this, I was strictly buying cassette tapes. I began to realize in the Summer of 1998 (during Def Jam’s Survival of the Illest promotion) that CD’s often times contained bonus songs or bonus discs. At the time, I was a kid and CD players were expensive. I bought cassettes because I had a yellow Sony Sports Walkman.

But I soon figured out that I could have both cassette and CD for only a few more dollars. By buying CD’s, I would get a larger CD insert as well as bonus material (if the CD had any bonus songs). I would also buy a blank Maxell tape for $1 and record whatever songs I wanted onto the blank tape. I continued doing this until I was given my first CD player as a birthday gift.

This is Proof’s second and final album before his death. It was released on August 9, 2005. Proof was shot and killed in the early morning hours of April 11, 2006. Although, it’s not too clear, this is the receipt that I received from Sam Goody after buying his album on April 10, 2006, just a few hours before his death. I bought it at the former Sam Goody store in Queens Center Mall. I don’t know why it took me so long to actually buy it, but I eventually did and it just so happened to be the day before Proof’s death. Kind of creepy.

The East Coast Best Buy stores used to have a program called Live @ Best Buy, which basically gave local, independent musicians, the opportunity to perform live in a Best Buy store in front of a crowd. Pharoahe Monch had one of these events for his 2011 album, W.A.R. (We Are Renegades). It was held at the Best Buy in Union Square, NYC. I attended the mini concert, which saw Pharoahe performing 3 songs alongside his backup singers, Mela Machinko and Showtyme, as well as DJ Boogie Blind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT5xpkQMybU
*One of the 3 video clips that I recorded.

I was able to get Desire and W.A.R. signed, although I also had a couple of Organized Konfusion inserts with me. Unfortunately, the people at Best Buy said that Pharoahe was only signing two things max. Oh well.

I asked Pharoahe about his plans for reissuing Internal Affairs. At that time, there were rumors that he was going to do it. He told me that it was complicated because of the Godzilla sample on “Simon Says” and he didn’t want to reissue the album without that song. He was looking into different ways to incorporate the song without violating the copyright. At the time, I didn’t own a copy of Internal Affairs (I had plenty of opportunities to buy it, I just kept putting it off until it was too late), so I was eagerly anticipating this reissue. Four years later, still no reissue. I eventually bought a used a copy of the album online.

P.S. The woman who passed these cookies out at the show deserves eternal happiness. Incredible cookies.

When Davos finds Shireen, she’s reading an old book written by Grand Maester Munkun detailing the Targaryen Civil War known as “The Dance of Dragons” that happened from 129-131 AC. It was a War that started after Viserys I passed away and named his daughter, Rhaenyra, as ruler in his will.

The idea of a female ruler angered many in the realm, including her half brother, Aegon II.

This split the realm in half as Houses chose different sides. Those supporting Rhaenyra were referred to as the Blacks and those supporting Aegon II were the Greens.

The war saw the fall of many members of House Targaryen as well as many dragons. Aemond and Daemon Targaryen famously fought on the backs of their dragons over Harrenhal. Both men died as well as their dragons, Vhagar and Caraxes.

Rhaenyra ultimately met her fate when Aegon II fed her to his injured dragon, Sunfyre, in front of her son (and future King), Aegon III. It is for this reason that Aegon III was known for his melancholy behavior and disdain for dragons.

Even though Aegon II managed to defeat his sister and become King, he still had a lot of enemies in the realm. Rhaenyra’s supporters didn’t stop fighting in her name. He was ultimately poisoned by those closest to him after he failed to quell Rhaenyra’s supporters.