Phillly Emcee Ai-Que Unveils Socially-conscious & Politically-poignant Debut Full-length The American Dream (Ai-Que MCBoogie)

Still riding high on the success of his recent single with Rolled Gold & Reef The Lost Cauze, "Nite Owl's Theme," Ai-Que AKA Ai-Que MCBoogie AKA "The Multi-faceted Rap Machine" has returned with his debut full-length, The American Dream. Ai-Que is a Philly-based emcee "heavily focused on the cultural impact and unification of global communities." Ai-Que also, moonlights as co-host of The BANGERS & MASH PODCAST (@bangersandmashtheshow) along with Ali Miller FKA Truck North of The Legendary Roots Crew. On the eve prior to The American Dream's Saturday, July 21st release, Ai-Que played a monumentous show with dead prez, Reef The Lost Cauze & DJ ANTLIVE at The Ardmore Music Hall hosted by D.R.E.S. Tha Beatnik. When asked what his greatest sources of inspiration and influence behind The American Dream were, Ai-Que stated he wanted to "create something that was sonically, more contemporary without compromising the integrity of the lyrics;" with the full intention from the get-go of making "an album that cohesively blended together [that] addressed our social climate and history, but people could play at night or going to the club, or before a game, or on a road-trip."

Diligently working with his go-to studio engineers, Ai-Que hand-selected beat stems from a slew of producers, including Eric Wortham, Aarun Simon, Thorn and E.N.O.N. Jacobs, as well as Ai-Que himself on "Escapism." "I picked beats that [sounded] like they could be on the radio. The projects I've released in the past have always been more Boom-Bap, whereas, this sounds like it was made in 2018," Ai-Que explained within an email to The Witzard. The American Dream has an underlying theme of social consciousness and political poignancy running through, similar stylistically, to "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" from Gil Scott-Heron's critically-acclaimed 1971 studio debut, Pieces of a Man. On his American Dream, Ai-Que is assisted by Arianna Cash on opener "The Savages," I-be4ever on "Cowboys&Indians," and his BANGERS & MASH PODCAST co-host Ali Miller (FKA Truck North) on appropriately-tilted Bonus Cut, "Bangers&Mash." The American Dream is available directly from Ai-Que's "Ai-Tunes," via PayPal for $11.00 or on Apple Music, Google Play, Soundcloud, Spotify, TIDAL, and like-minded digital retailers.

"The studio debut of Ai-Que, The American Dream is a concept album masterfully scripted and arranged, rich with clever lyrics and a sonic sophistication that provides listeners with an enjoyable experience, without departing from the raw messages of the songs. It is a contemporary soundscape drawing parallels between the African-American experience and American History, as well as the general American philosophy of "Get Money.'"

- Ai-Que (Soundcloud)

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...

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