Classic!

Published Monday, September 20, 2010 at 7:24 AM by Catch Wreck

With @TheRealRahDigga reppin for @Scope_Apparel at the Concrete Jungle Pop-up shop in Boston.

The album is nuts!

Boston's Own: Sofia Snow

Published Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 1:16 PM by Catch Wreck

I was waitin to see this. Shoutout to Scope Urban Apparel and Dante Luna doin the series highlighting the local talent.

Cheeba Cheeba

Published Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 8:12 AM by Catch Wreck

Holla If ya Hear Me!

Published Monday, September 13, 2010 at 10:20 AM by Catch Wreck

#RIPTupac

Snakes and Ladders: Muhsinah - Yiy (Music Video)

Published Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 9:47 PM by Catch Wreck

(Via HWP) #Shoutout to @Duatron from @BadRabbitsBand ..This song and video is a well put together work of art... Plus it incorporates one of the most underrated childhood games of all time.

And for my art and film people..

Trill OG

Published at 2:10 AM by Catch Wreck

At Karma Loop (@KarmaLoopBoston) w/ Bun B (@BunBTrillOG) of UGK (RIP Pimp C) for the release of the "Trill OG" Ts

Go to Scope's Facebook page for the rest of our photos from last night's adventures on Newbury St.

Das Racist - Ek Shaneesh

Published Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 1:47 PM by Catch Wreck

The way these guys poke fun at controversial topics, I'm surprised no one's gotten killed yet...

Kanye West Ft. Common, Pusha T, KiD CuDi, Big Sean & Charlie Wilson – G.O.O.D. Friday

Published at 3:02 AM by Catch Wreck

Download Now (via ThatsMajor)

The latest in Kanye's Good Friday release series. Its almost as if he's redeeming himself for all the disappointments over the years.. Despite the now-notorious series of drunken heart-felt tweets, I've yet to be disappointed by any thing he's put out musically which leads me to believe I'm not the only one wondering.. Is Kanye back or what?

Chris Faraone Takes on Corruption in the Prison System

Published Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 5:16 AM by Catch Wreck

The reform-proof prison

Why Massachusetts' correctional system hasn't gotten any better

By CHRIS FARAONE | September 8, 2010

In March 2004, Kathleen Dennehy was hired as the new Department of Correction (DOC) commissioner. The first woman ever to hold the job, she had served nearly 30 years in the system, working as a deputy commissioner and before that as superintendent of the women's prison in Framingham. The challenges before Dennehy were grave; in August 2003, defrocked Catholic priest and serial child rapist John Geoghan was strangled to death by a white supremacist in his cell at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, casting a negative light on the department.

In response to the subsequent uproar, then-governor Mitt Romney and his secretary of public safety, Ed Flynn, tapped Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to head an investigatory panel, the Governor's Commission on Corrections Reform (GCCR). The final Harshbarger report concluded that Geoghan had been severely harassed at Walpole, where the priest was initially held, and that at Shirley, Geoghan had landed in a vulnerable cell block as a result of officers citing him for unwarranted disciplinary infractions.

The Harshbarger report was ugly, and over the next three years, the DOC's Office of Investigative Services struck officers with 312 charges of misconduct, resulting in the firing of more than 100 guards across the department. Seventy-three officers were found guilty of illegally assaulting convicts, and 98 were found to have participated in illicit sexual misconduct with prisoners. The report also proposed strategies for purging the DOC of rogue guards deemed unwilling to accept the department's heightened standards. The Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union (MCOFU) fought hard against the DOC's crusade, directing much of its spite at the woman who Romney chose to spearhead the invigorated state prison reform effort.

From the beginning of her tenure as commissioner, Dennehy clashed with union loyalists intent on maintaining the status quo. Reps from the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union (MCOFU) declined to show up at initial meetings to draft a new department vision statement, and, five months after Dennehy's start, officers hit her with a vote of no confidence. But in the years that followed, until Governor Patrick replaced her with Harold Clarke in 2007, it got worse: Dennehy reported that her car tires were slashed during one prison visit; union members followed her with an inflatable rat and hired private investigators to pursue her; and an underground officer newsletter caricatured the commissioner performing oral sex.

READ: "Troubled Over Bridgewater," by Chris Faraone

It's no surprise that Dennehy locked ideological horns with the union. MCOFU's then-president Steve Kenneway had just completed a tour in Iraq, where he served at Abu Ghraib as an Army reservist. When the notorious Baghdad prison came under scrutiny for outrageous human-rights violations that were exposed in a series of incriminating pictures, Kenneway publicly defended his military comrades, stating that he never witnessed a single inappropriate interrogation. Dennehy, on the other hand, was tasked in to lead the biggest Massachusetts jail reform initiative in 40 years.

One proposed change that was met with vitriol by union members pertained to system-wide disciplinary and grievance processes. Historically, convict complaints had little chance of reaching DOC administrators beyond prison walls, as each facility operated as its own fiefdom in which investigations of prisoner abuse were discreetly addressed or completely ignored. Dennehy sought increased accountability, not only in how grievances were handled, but for officers who abused their power. Only third party DOC administrators, she believed, could admonish rogue officers.

Read the Full Story Here: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/news/108112-reform-proof-prison/#ixzz0z289Fvj6

Dub Kweli

Published Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 4:00 PM by Catch Wreck

From the producer who brought you Mos Dub, Jaydiohead, and Double-Check Your Head... More Mash-up madness from Max Tannone (@MaxTannone) with the arrival of Dub Kweli.. A combination of classic Dub Reggae and the lyrics of Black Star's Talib Kweli.

Bandcamp Picks

Published at 1:00 PM by Catch Wreck

Bandcamp (@bandcamp) is not just an indie artists' dream-come-true for putting out material and gaining a following. Its also a great place for fans to discover new music from artists they might otherwise never come across. I found four projects in particular, while browsing on bandcamp that I thought might be worth sharing..

Versis, Illcandescent ($7) Hip-Hop | Sufjan Stevens, Illinoise ($5) Indie

Magic Man, Real Life Color (Free) Lo-Fi | Fresh Daily, Mothership/Land (Free) Hip-Hop

Hard Times - The Roots x John Legend

Published at 8:19 AM by Catch Wreck

I don't know a single person who's not looking forward to this project! As if, "I Can't Write Left-Handed" wasn't enough to get you amped for the new album, The Roots do it again with a blazing new version of a classic Baby Huey record.

John legend and roots- Hard Times Feat. Black Thought by SCPlayer

Open Transport

Published Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 9:34 PM by Catch Wreck

Thanks to a tweet from @Asheru (the man behind the Boondocks theme..) I just checked out a documentary from ten years ago about the underground Hip-Hop scene.. Its called Open Transport..

OPEN TRANSPORT from Bert Custodio on Vimeo.

Dre Robinson - Wah Do Dem

Published at 6:50 AM by Catch Wreck

My dude killed this one!! Shoutout to G. Ball and Pollymore..

Anjuli Stars - Starvation Vol. 1

Published Monday, September 6, 2010 at 12:04 AM by Catch Wreck

I've had a crush on Ms. Anjuli Stars ever since I used to see her doing her thing on the open mic scene in Boston while she was goin to Berklee. Now back in Miami, Anjuli blesses us with a soulful blend of Hip Hop and R&B on her mixtape, Starvation Volume 1. Available now for FREE DOWNLOAD!