(click the image below to listen!) embed this episode in your myspace/blog/whatev: So if there was a State of the Hip-Hop Union, I think one thing that we could probably count on would be that unlike any previous or current administration, we would get the straight, uncut reality of our current status. I mean, there would still be lying about what sort of dirt people did in the past or how many guns/cars/etc dudes owned - but yeah. I would tune in to watch that. So the idea behind this is people from different angles telling us what our current situation is - some of them more indirect than others, some of them more violent than others, and hey, some of them even have some recommendations for us. Enough from me, let’s see what they have to say… Tracklist Stereolab - Neon Beanbag I think I must have been the one person at KUCR that never actually played any Stereolab. Probably because I never really listened that much - my mistake. Everybody go out and buy Stereolab. Off the 4AD and Rough Trade 2008 Sampler, which is ridiculous. stereolab.co.uk. Young Jeezy - My President feat Nas . Leave it to Jeezy (yeeeeeeeahhhhh) to make a song where he praises a presidential candidate, damns the current president, and raves about his blue lambo in the same breath. I like this song. East Coast Avengers - Kill Bill O’Reilly. I really wanted to get this episode out like four days ago, but technical difficulties prevented that. As I say in the episode itself - this track placement comes with zero disclaimers or apologies. I figure that in a genre where threatening other rappers for nothing is the norm - threatening somebody that actually deserves it is pretty sensible. ?????the girl at the end probably deserves an award for best line in the song. East Coast Avengers is made up of Esoteric, Trademarc, and DC the Midi Alien. eastcoastavengers.com. Mic Legacy - So Ghetto feat Rapper Big Pooh . The instro on this is like the musical embodiment of the Minstrel Show cover plus being in church. myspace.com/miclegacydafuture. Crooked I - Paper Planes Remix/Block Obama. I’m not exactly sure what the official title of this cut is. About 80% of the stuff this dude is talking about is totally ridiculous - including the random diatribe on claiming that stealing songs is “not hip-hop”. I’m not saying that stealing music is a good thing, but seriously, it seems like every time I turn around someone is telling me that something is “not hip-hop”. Eating broccoli is not hip-hop. And co-opting the “Change” line? There’s got to be something wrong with that, but I can’t hate. Anyway, this song is hip-hop, and it is over the Paper Planes riddim, which makes it extra good. myspace.com/crookedi. Elzhi - Colors. Come on, it’s Elzhi. There’s something sort of surreal about this song - not just the imagery. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s a great song. You might need to play it back a few times to actually get what he’s doing. myspace.com/zhifi. Invincible - Locusts feat Finale, wsg Gwen Mingo and Ron Scott . Welcome to the reality that is Detroit. There’s a video to this as well - I’ll leave my commentary on this one out and just let you read the interview. Thanks to Sweeney Kovar for this one (and the one above, come to think of it). Album sounds like it’s definitely worth a purchase. emergencemusic.net. The Stranglers - Golden Brown. Apparently everyone else and their mom has discovered this song recently and are trying to make beats out of it, but if you want to hear a proper drug song done properly by proper white people (nothing against Pink Floyd, I like you guys too), this would be a good joint to track down. myspace.com/thestranglers. See, told you I was back on track, sorta. Less

Up first it's the debut issue of Skaar: Son of Hulk. Pete thinks the issue was fantastic. Then it's Invincible #50. The guys like it, but feel like it was very predictable. Alex follows with a review of X Force Special: Ain't No Dog. Pete, our resident violence expert, thinks that this issue is really special. During the Speed Round we look at The Goon #25, Trinity #2, Fear Agent #21, Burn #2, and Sky Doll #2. Then during Viewer Mailbag Richard writes in asking if it's morally justified for superheros to lie about their secret identities. Be sure to watch and see what the guy's answers were!Be sure to watch The Stack three times a week, and send your comments and questions to tips@pulpsecret.com! Less

A Detroit Summer-Meet Invincible by Davey D We sat down and chopped it up with Invincible who continues in the footsteps of the Motor City’s long line of legendary musicians. She recently released an album called ‘Shape Shifters’ which is critically acclaimed and has more than a few critics calling it one of the best albums of the year up to this point. Originally from Israel/Palestine, Invincible is as well known for her political work and activism with organizations like the US-Palestine Youth Solidarity Network and Detroit Summer’s Live Arts Media Project as she is for her music and her being a member of the all female crew the Anomalies. She cut her teeth in the early 90s by listening to Golden era Hip Hop which helped her learn English. She later started rapping and eventually battling. She came up in the hey day of Detroit’s Freestyle scene which was best personified by movie 8 Mile and represented by the late Proof’s Hip Hop Shop gathering place. Although Invincible didn’t go to the Hip Hop Shop, she did go to other places and made a name for herself. The rest they say is history. During our interview we start off by talking about the Detroit school system and how its been falling apart. Invincible works with an organization called Detroit Summer which is helping to give young people a viable alternative. She expressed her disappointment in Detroit’s so called Hip Hop Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick who she claims is not an ally to grassroots movements in the city. She noted how Kilpatrick wants to put forth more police in the schools while allowing over 90 public schools to close on his watch. She pointed out that the Mayor has little respect for the students and the communities that have built alliances to uplift them. We also tackle the issue of gentrification and how its impacted the Detroit. Invincible talked about mayor Kilpatrick has allowed landmarks like the old Motown building to be bulldozed to make way for a parking lot. She and her partners have put together a long form video that highlights one of her albums hit songs ‘Locust’ which focuses on gentrification. In this mini-documentary Invincible features local housing activists and shows the site of the old Motown building which had all sorts of memorabilia including recording notes from singer Marvin Gaye being destroyed. Also with respect to the issue of gentrification, we talked about the last project that Proof was working on and was eventually completed and released through his old manager Khalid called ‘Take Back the Land’. This was a compilation album that talked about the importance of land ownership and how people in the hood needed to buy up their blocks. During our interview we talked in depth about the history and current manifestations of Detroit’s music scene. We talked about how this city was home to not only Motown, but also a vibrant funk scene. George Clinton and his Parliament crew used to record in the Motor City. We talked at length about the Techno scene and producer Juan Atkins who was a key architect for that along with electro-funk. We talked about iconic figures like Awesome Dre, Mojo, Madd Mike and DJ Jeff Mills who once got fired from a radio station for playing Public Enemy. We talked about today’s new crop of artists ranging from soul singers like Dwele and Platinum Pied Pipers to groups like Underground Resistance, Wajeed Slum Village, Black Milk and D12 to artists like Guilty Simpson, Ms Corona and her rhyming partner Finale. Of course we spoke about the important role Detroit’s fallen soldiers Big Proof and J-Dilla played in the development of the city’s landscape. Invincible pointed out how J-Dilla and Proof while appearing to be on opposite sides of the music spectrum, in reality started off belonging to the same group. We talked about how people have attempted to exploit the legacy of people like Dilla. Invincible noted that she knew the legendary producer in passing and that it would be hypocritical for her to suddenly start using his beats and acting like they were old homies. Invincible did a song on her new album that addresses this scenario called ‘In the Mourning’. We also compared notes in terms of what Proof’s Hip Hop Shop meant to up and coming artists in Detroit and how it nurtured their careers. We saw comparisons between the Hip Hop Shop and LA’s Good Life, the Bay Area’s Upper Room and New York’s famed Latin Quarters. We concluded our interview by talking about the ethnic background of Detroit’s residents and how Invincible who is white/Jewish managed to navigate a world in which she is a minority. We also talked about the paths she’s had to follow being a woman and how political discourse manifest itself in her music. Less

We've got three Newsarama Reviews for you starting with Ms. Marvel #25, which deals with lots of Skrull stuff. But it tells the history using old-style comic artwork. Then we check out New Warriors #10, where former mutants form a new super hero team. It's very similar to The Initiative, but we're not sure it's as good as The Initiative. New Avengers #39, follows Echo and more of the Skrull story unfolds. We really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see where it goes from here. In the Speed Round we check out Bohda Te, Invincible #49, Amazing Spider-man #554, FX #1, and Thor #7. In our mailbag, Confessor commented and wondered about the importance of colorists. We're going to tell you what we think about colorists and how their work impacts our comic book reading. Less

For this episode, we got our hands on Invincible #48, where we found a nice assortment of regulars from the Image universe. Atom Eve is back and although this book is short on story, we still recommending picking it up. Justice League of America #18 is a follow-up on the story line where the villains were sent to prison on another planet. It's a decent issue but we think it serves as filler and hope there's better stuff coming. Then in Superman Confidential #12, Jimmy Olsen's still causing trouble. The book feels a lot like the Superman animated series and the art by Phil Hester is really top-notch. In the speed round, we picked five books that we highly recommend. Check out Seventy Six #2, X-Factor #28, Wolverine #62, The Walking Dead #46 and The Punisher: Force of Nature. Then in the Mailbag we talk about our favorite "one-shot" comics. Kevin from Olympia, WA has a soft spot for Evan Dorkin's Fight Man. Tell us what your favorite one-shots are in comments! Less

In this episode of The Stack, we review The Amazing Spider-man 545 which is the last issue in the One More Day arc. Then, we take a look at Invincible presents Atom Eve the first of a two part miniseries. And we have a very special PREVIEW of Warren Ellis's Ultimate Human #1 which is scheduled to hit the stands on Jan. 4th. In the speed round we cover Legion of Super-Heroes #37, The Flash #235, Batman #672, Crime Bible #3, and Action Comics #860. And in our viewer mail, find out what we think about all these cross-overs. Watch our shows in widescreen at: http://www.pulpsecret.com Less

New episodes of THE STACK every Monday and Thursday. Today, we're talking about these comic books: Ultimates 3, Zombies vs Robots vs Amazons, and Countdown to Final Crisis. Plus in the speed round, we take on Atom, Invincible, Suburban Glamour, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Black Summer. Keep your questions and comments coming! Join the fun on our new Pulp Secret forums Less

...featuring movie clips, as usual! Eric and J.D. review the new Mark Wahlberg sports flick "Invincible" while hardcore Philadelphia Eagles fan Nick Colby ridicules them and the Dallas Cowboys. Can our dedicated critics keep their focus or will they lose the battle to a big green bald man who takes no prisoners and has eaten no lunch? originally appears on www.scene-stealers.com Produced by Footage Productions Less