The Roots – Rising Down
Bose In-Ear Headphones

It’s a double dose of reegviews today, since I need to be like Del Monte and catch-up on past entries. So after much deliberation, I’ve finally graduated from the generic iPod earbuds to some Bose ones. And I’m glad I switched the style up! The sound is richer and cleaner, while being less staticky and flat. But I remember I was happy with listening to dubs over another recording on an old Maxwell, so I guess I’m not hard to please. There is one caveat however, and its that sound quality is optimized at a higher bitrate, so I’m finding myself in a conundrum. I have about 7K songs in 128MHz, so it would be very onerous to convert these into 192MHz, especially for a subtle difference. I might just enforce the rule going forward yeah? Once again laziness prevails.

As far as The Roots 8th studio recording [and what do you know, I got them all], I was pretty pleased but not astonished after the initial listen. But as I like to say, Illmatic didn’t give me a woody after my first listen either, so knowing their track record [that’s a subliminal double entrendre, as they record tracks!], I shouldn’t be too worried. They’ve reached the level where I would buy their album regardless of reviews, opening singles or feedback, since I’ma be in store whatever Tuesday that is. I absolutely loved all of their albums since Illadelph, and while this doesn’t punch as hard as Game Theory either, it sounds like it’ll hold its own. Other people might complain of their repetitive nature of social commentary, but I for one appreciate their consistency. They’re like a group of Tim Duncans – they get the job done without much fanfare. I just don’t know why isn’t Malik B a permanent member now?

Solid 4 out of 5 Mics
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Confessions of a Sneakerhead: The Safari Edition

Is this really my first pair of AF1’s since the World Cup packs? Probably, since the 25th anniversary was severely disappointing. But anyway, I’m generally not interested in shoes being inspired by other shoes, so normally this wouldn’t catch my eye. And when the first sample pics rolled out, I had to do a double check for these and the Spiridon ones. I made a mental note to pick up the latter ones, and even tried them on first. It just didn’t look right though, as if I was cheating on my Spiridons. The store employee, who was actually really courteous and un-boutique employee like, had on The Safari joints and they looked fresh on him, so they should look extra fresh on me right?. I have the CO.JP exclusive Air Trainer Safari but not the actual original Air Safari [sorry Biz Markie], so I was leaning towards these even moreso.

Contemplating the purchase, I thought about them since I was on vacay, and wanted a memento to take home. Yeah I could have them for $20 cheaper off eBay, but when I wear them, I wouldn’t think about the trip I took. Then the worker forgot to mention that the whole store was 20% off. Sold! And it was validated after seeing them for higher prices in the subsequent stores I visited.

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you
Without a strong rhyme to step to
Think of how many weak shows you slept through
Time's up, I'm sorry I kept you
Thinking of this, you keep repeating you miss
The rhymes from the microphone soloist
And you sit by the radio, hand on the dial, soon
As you hear it, pump up the volume

- Rakim - "I Know you Got Soul" [1986]