The N. Period

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Poor Vida hosts local hip-hop acts twice monthly and provides Dallas musicians a regular opportunity to be heard by the most devoted fans in the area. Shot at a recent "Sunday Sessions," the following video shows a freestyle battle including some of the hottest up-and-coming Dallas-area emcees. Fierce competitors include MC Astro, Cainam, Flotation, Bobby Fischer and more.

So you know who passed away on November 22? Flint, MI rapper MC Breed died yesterday in his sleep after complications he had been having with his kidneys. On September 5, Breed collapsed while playing pickup basketball and was hospitalized and placed on life support when his kidneys failed. R.I.P. Breed, and remember, there ain't no future in your frontin'.

Another fantastic find from our department of lost letters. Is it a rap song? Man, I hope so.

We're just giddy waiting for the release of Bill Cosby's upcoming hip-hop album. What's that you say? Everybody's favorite poppa of the puddin' pop is gonna drop some verses? Well, not exactly. While Cosby has said that he will not be rapping on the project— perhaps some spoken word-type stuff will be going on — he has divulged that the unifying theme of the album is aimed to counter the misogyny and negativity that are so prevalent in today's popular rap.

I just heard Jason Kidd's 1994 attempt at rapping -- a sad song called "What the Kidd Didd" that features Digital Underground's Money B. It can be said with no hesitation that Kidd and B. have recorded one of the sorriest songs in the world's history. I have done my best to transcribe the lyrics here, but there were a few nonsensical parts that I could not comprehend. Jason Kidd, if you read this, please leave a comment and fill in the gaps. Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUfyu-RFWYs&rel=1]

Also available hi-res here.

This amazing video is the coolest use I've seen yet of the trend of light graffiti that has been in vogue over the past year or so.  The creators of this great video have published an amazing instructable of how they did it here, which they parlayed into a $15,000 laser engraver in a contest from the folks over at Instructables.…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSS_DY_z-Dc] Snoop Dogg has created perhaps the finest music video of all time.  If there was ever any doubt that Snoop was a pimp, this gem will alleviate all doubt.  As a matter of fact, this video should be used as visual aid to illustrate the definition of the word should anyone ever wonder what a pimp is. I cannot believe that this video was made…

Pimp C, one-half of the Houston-area rap duo UGK, was found dead at his hotel room this morning in West Hollywood. LA County Fire responded to a 911 call from the rapper's sixth floor room at the swanky Mondrian Hotel on the vaunted Sunset Strip. No cause of death has been determined at the time of this writing. The performer, whose real name is Chad Butler, has been a staple in the "Dirty South" genre of rap since his…