• Tarek Against The World •

What's up errbody! Here I am, chillin' in my backyard, enjoyin' the warm weather in beautiful Montreal, puffin' on a shisha and sippin' on a lil something-something with my crew. Just thought I'd post something to let y'all in on what's going on. Yes, Tarek Against The World is back; I'm not totally settled in yet, but one thing that I can confirm is that I've welcomed a new contributor to the family: James Style. His knowledge of hip-hop and R&B is unmatchable and you can look forward to his posts real soon.

Keep it locked for now!

Guess who's bizzack?

Here's a picture floating around the net showcasing Silvester Stallone's physical condition as he prepares to direct and star in The Expendables, which he also wrote. The movie, about a team of mercenaries that head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator, will also star... wait for it... Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV anyone?), Mickey Rourke, former UFC champion Randy Couture, and Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker. The film is set to be released somewhere in 2010, and below is the look that Sly is going for, and please keep in mind that this man is 62 years old!

(W.T.F.)

[Movie] Stallone: In Shape For His Next Project

The thing is, it's not like my blogging passion died off or anything like that. It's just that a bunch of isolated incidents have been keeping me from really getting back into it.

For one thing, can you believe that after all the bullshit, I got a phone call yesterday from a BestBuy employee who told me that my laptop was finally ready for me to pick it up? It's been almost a month! In fact, it's been so long that I was actually starting to settle down with the borrowed laptop which they provided. But now, I gotta go through it all again: backing everything up, exchanging laptops, reorganizing and personalizing it again. It's a real bitch.

The time that I did spend away from my blog made me realize some things though. When I look back at the time when I was updating day in and day out, I am conscious today of how time-consuming it really was. All my other responsibilities became second in order of importance because I was really determined to be on top of the game. And although it allowed me, for example, to get the T-Pain album up before 90% of the blogs I knew out there (Fuck the haters), I think that I also lost sight of what my true intentions were with Tarek Against The World. That is, to have a personal haven for me to be able to express myself as well as to share with my close friends and distant visitors what I enjoy/think/hate.

Another thing that I've come to realise is how fucked up this whole blogging game really is. People get so caught up in posting up the latest leaks or downloading the latest tracks that they end up losing track of the good songs that are made available to us. Everybody (me included) wants the latest Lil Wayne or the latest album to leak, and as soon as they get it, they're back on the web looking for the next thing. You got websites for this, that will post up ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, whether it's actually good or just gargabe, as long as they get the hits. And as you probably know, more hits equal more profit, with all that advertisment that is splurged at every empty corner... At the begining, I too had ads, including that fucking annoying one that fades into the whole page and forces you to sit through 5 seconds until the 'Skip' button appears. Yet, you might have noticed that more recently, I cleaned it all out, taking out any form of advertisment because, like I said earlier, I had lost sight of my true intentions: I want to be doing this for the pleasure and fun of it, for the passion of music and entertainment, not for profit. So if you're looking to get your music updates 3 or 4 times a week, with extensive information on the featured artists, as well as trailers to notable and prominent movies and video games, then Tarek Against The World is your one-stop destination.

Numbers don't lie, and I can confirm that my blog was getting some kind of recogition from all of you out there. So I will be starting to update soon enough, with anything that catches my interest, but don't expect me to lose a whole night's sleep to have an album or mixtape up before anyone else anymore because, really, all you gotta do is wait a couple of hours, and anything that was initiallly "exclusive" will be all over the net and on every website. As always, requests and suggestions are more than welcome.

Holla at me in the ShoutBox, let me know what you think of all this!

I Have Some Explaining To Do...

... this time to flaunt my newly purchased retail copy of 808s & Heartbreak, which I bought yesterday. Funny thing is that although it said on the BestBuy website that it would be on sale on November 24th, they still had it in the boxes in the back because they apparently weren't supposed to start selling till today, but I spoke to a manager in order to get a copy in advance. So maybe I was one of the first in Montreal to buy that album! I also decided to pick up Kanye West's previous album Graduation, because I never got the chance.


You'll notice that the album art for 808s is different in the fact that it has absolutely no artist name or title. Also, and maybe somebody from the States can confirm this with me, there were no dirty and clean versions, yet the Lil Wayne line still says "... you think your ish don't stank, but you are Miss. P.U.".


The reason for this post is simply to show my visitors and fellow bloggers that I try to do the little that I can do to support the music industry that we all cherish so much. I guess I also feel kinda bad posting up full albums when they leak, so I consider this to be my way of making it up.

P.S.: I also decided to throw in my copy of Thr33 Ringz, because I'm just cool like that.

Just Taking A Second...

Ciara’s third studio album Fantasy Ride has officially been pushed back to Q1 2009, sources at Zomba Label Group tell Rap-Up.com. No specific date has been confirmed.

The latest offering from Ciara had previously been scheduled for a December release. Ciara’s label will put out a follow-up single to “Go Girl” before the album’s release next year.

[Music] Ciara Joins Busta In 2009

November 3, 2008 - Fans have been wondering why Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle in the role of Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes in Iron Man 2. A new report claims to shed light on what happened behind the scenes that led to the casting switch.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Howard was reportedly "difficult" on the set of Iron Man and, as the first actor officially signed for the film, reportedly got paid the most, even more than star Robert Downey Jr. Furthermore, EW claims, director Jon Favreau "and his producers were ultimately unhappy with Howard's performance, and spent a lot of time cutting and reshooting his scenes."

The magazine goes on to say that "when Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux went to map out the sequel they found themselves minimizing Howard's story line. Once Marvel learned that Favreau was thinking of curtailing the role, the studio went to the actor's agents with a new and drastically reduced offer — a number that's similar to what supporting cast members were paid for the first movie."

Needless to say, neither side could agree on a deal at such a reduced rate and Cheadle was cast as Rhodey instead.

[Movie] More On The Iron Man 2 Switcheroo

50 Cent’s fourth studio album and film Before I Self-Destruct has been pushed back one week from December 9th to December 16th, Rap-Up.com can confirm. The album is 50’s last work of original material under his current contract with Interscope Records. Before I Self-Destruct will now go up against albums from Plies, Bow Wow, Soulja Boy, and Keyshia Cole.

[Music] 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct Pushed Back

Listen, I feel like I have to defend the new layout choice, mainly because of my girlfriend, whose stubborn opinion that my old design was far better, actually put my own choice in doubt. That's actually why I put the poll up (so I'm calling on all my faithful supporters to vote 'Obama'... err, i mean "Love it! Nice and clean."...)

Still though, for those of you who might not agree, let me explain the reason behind the change. The MAIN thing is that the old design didn't allow me to have the 'OLDER POSTS' and 'NEWER POSTS' links that most blogs feature, because of some crooked HTML coding. I tried to play around with it, but I didn't amount to any conclusive results. That constraint forced me to have my main page contain more posts, which in turn resulted in longer loading times, making the experience unpleasant to some of my visitors.

With the new layout, I feel that the simplicity and white theme make things easier for the eye, as well as allowing me to limit the page to a fewer number of posts, which is really the most prominent advantage. I still have some tweaking to work around, and I will continue looking for a new contemporary, stylish blog template, but until then, welcome to the new Tarek Against The World!

P.S.: If this sincere and emotional post made you have a change of heart, you can still change your vote! Help me win that battle of the sexes!

[Blog] Reason for The Change

I just wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the many albums which will be dropping in the next few months. I'm telling you, 2008 is a good year for music. Check it out yourself!

[Music] This Winter Is Gonna Be Hot!

... to flaunt my newly purchased albums! As I said I would do, I paid a visit to the HMV on St-Catherine and picked up T.I.'s PAPER TRAIL and The Game's L.A.X. Deluxe Edition. If you've liked what you've downloaded on TarekAgainstTheWorld, make sure you go out and support the music industry!

P.S.: I also threw in my Tha Carter III copy, just because they make such an amazing trio together.

Just Taking A Second...

As you probably noticed, I added a small flash player on my blog's sidebar, which recreates my iPod Touch. Like this, you too can listen to my favorite songs of the moment, the ones that I always end up listening to when I put on my Touch. Most of the songs have already been posted on TarekAgainstTheWorld, but don't hesitate to request the ones you don't have. :)

Which brings me to my next point: if there is a song that you missed, or if you want to simply go back to older posts that don't appear on the main page anymore, I strongly suggest that you use the search bar located at the top right of the page by typing in an artist name or song title to find any of my older music updates. You can also click on the 'MUSIC' or 'MP3' label under the 'CATEGORIES' list located at the bottom of my side bar.

Look out for some new music sometime in the next few days! I'm a bit busy with some movie production due next week, but I'll try to squeeze in some new Lil Wayne, Akon, Flo Rida, The Game, Pitbull, Timbaland, and more! So make sure you come back :)

Yours truly,

T•[REC]

New Feature On TarekAgainstTheWorld!

What's up errbody, listen up, just a quick post to let all y'all know that I'll be going up north for the long weekend (back by Monday), but here's where it gets interesting for y'all. I promise you the sickest, illest music update you'll ever come across on the three-Ws. Don't let that new school session (or lack thereof) bring you down, cuz you'll be bangin' the hottest new tracks out there. So make sure you check back next week for Tarek Against The World's EXCLUSIVE 'Bak2Skool' music update, featuring Lil Wayne, T.I., Wyclef Jean, Akon, Ne-Yo, Usher, just to name a very few.

Peace, and enjoy your weekend!

Week-End Getaway

This is taken from Ain't It Cool News:

Funnyman Bernie Mac, star of “Ocean’s 11” and its sequels as well as “Bad Santa,” "Transformers," and Fox's “The Bernie Mac Show,” has passed away at age 50, from complications due to pneumonia.

Though a working comic for more than 30 years, he made his first screen appearance 16 years ago as a doorman in “Mo’ Money.” Subsequent credits include “Friday,” “Get On The Bus,” and “Life.”

He brought his stand-up act to cinemas in 2000 via "The Original Kings of Comedy" and launched both of his most prominent franchises the following year: “The Bernie Mac Show” ran from 2001 to 2006; 2001's “Ocean’s 11” spawned two sequels.

While his TV show was airing, Mac appeared in “Bad Santa,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and "Head of State," and as the title character in the baseball comedy “Mr. 3000.”

Last year he appeared on the big screen in "Transformers," "Ocean's 13" and "Pride."

He shot a pilot earlier this year for a new Fox sitcom, "Starting Under."

[R.I.P.] Bernie Mac, 1957-2008

A few surprises this month, as the Playstation 3 pushed a solid number of consoles, effectively beating rival Xbox 360. This is obviously due to the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 which gave the console a much-needed boost, but expect the numbers to decrease by next month. Microsoft's console is in an awkward position as the once #1 selling console of this generation is now standing in fifth place, far behind the PSP, and way too close to the PS2! Which brings me to my second point: I did say "once #1 selling console of this generation" because as of this month, Nintendo's shiny white box has officially overtaken the 360 in total sales in the US, even though the Wii launched a year later. And what can we say about the DS, which has been outselling all of the above by a huge margin, and this, since as far as I can remember.

Nintendo DS: 783,000
Nintendo Wii: 666,700
PlayStation 3: 405,500
PlayStation Portable: 337,400
Xbox 360: 219,800
PlayStation 2: 188,798

Thanks to the NPD Group for providing us with monthly sales.

[NPD] Nintendo Celebrating with June Sale Numbers

As if some of today's video games weren't already competing with movies (GTA IV, Metal Gear Solid 4, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, etc.), one of the industry's most innovative third-party developer, Ubisoft Entertainment, announced today that they had bought out Quebec-based Hybride Technologies, the visual effects studio behind blockbuster films 300, Sin City, and the Spy Kids series. Seeing as two of Ubisoft's main development studios are located in Québec City and Montréal (represent!), you can expect some ground-breaking, innovative products coming our way in the near future. The company announced that it will work closely with Hybride's team to develop new technologies which would enhance the video game, as well as the film, experience.

With that acquisition, Ubisoft will have an incredible advantage in getting some of their properties made into motion pictures. Their Prince of Persia franchise will be getting a movie adaption in 2009, by none other than big-time producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and wouldn't it be amazing if Hybride Technologies eventually had a go at it and worked their magic?

Hybride Technologies is Acquired by Ubisoft

This is the first of many to come, and hopefully my blogging adventure will be a tale to tell.

But it all depends on so many things... I mean, right now, in my mind, it seems like a fun and inventive way of expressing ideas and opinions, but who knows how I might feel in a few weeks or months. Also, my blogging life will be depending a lot on the number of views I get per day, because if I only end up receiving one or two visitors every few days, that would be too sad... That's why I need YOU to bookmark my page and check it out every so often, that would be much appreciated. In exchange, I will provide you with err... I will let you know when I figure it out!

Anyways, enough with that, let me start off with a few songs, so that the newcomers who don't know me get a feel of where I might be going with this:

Lil Wayne - Shoot Me Down feat. D. Smith
One of the his all-time best songs in my opinion, and arguably the best off Tha Carter III.

2 Pistols - She Got It [Remix] feat. T-Pain, Twista & Lil Kim
Very good song, especially the enthralling T-Pain chorus. Beat is simply incredible, and Lil Kim actually delivers.

Akon - Fallin' In Love feat. Ray L
Oh my motherfuckin' God, this song is simply incredible.

Here it is, 1st post of my new blog!