411 Music Fact or Fiction 03.11.10: T.I. Comes Out, Lil Wayne Goes In, Will DMX Join Him?

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 03.11.2010

Should DMX get to go to rehab? Will Lil Wayne serve his full sentence? Are you glad to see T.I. back? Will Slash’s solo album be the next Supernatural? Aaron Titan and Aaron Mayagoitia debate all of this and more in the latest edition of 411 Music Fact or Fiction!

What's up? Welcome one and all to another week of 411mania's own version of the octagon, Music Fact or Fiction. I'm your host, Mitch Michaels. Big thanks to Ben Czajkowski for trying to fill my enormous shoes last week in my absence. Now he can just go back to filling his enormous pants. I kid. Ben knows I'm a fat fuck. But seriously, thanks Ben.

Big fight this week in what I like to call The Battle of the Aarons. Why? I figured that was fairly obvious. We've got reviewer Aaron Mayagoitia going head to head with the man behind the Music 3R's, Aaron Titan.

Alright, let's do this!

READY?! FIGHT!!

Round 1
1. DMX doesn't need rehab - he needs to be locked up for a long time.
Aaron Titan: FACT. Dog fighting? CHECK! Drug addict on top of that? CHECK! I mean, I'm not one to cast judgment because that's not my place, but like, didn't Michael Vick go to jail for running dogfights too? Yes, he did, and so should DMX. I mean, that's how ‘ruff ryders' roll if they roll far too ‘ruffly' as far as I'm concerned. Go away DMX! You had the potential to be one of the biggest MCs of all time and then you went kind of crazy.
Aaron Mayagoitia: FACT. Are we supposed to forgive DMX every time he commits a crime just because he's DMX? Celebrities can't be immune to the law just because they're celebrities. And why does DMX's lawyer think that just because DMX has an addiction problem he should be treated differently? If it were the case, then junkies would claim to be "in need of help" just to stay out of jail and on the streets committing all sorts of felonies. I say they lock up DMX – maybe in jail he'll have the life-changing experience he so badly needs to get his act straight.
Score Card: 1 for 1

Round 2
2. The new T.I. track has you hyped for his return.
Aaron Titan: FICTION. MEH! I've never really understood why T.I. is so big to begin with. The only song of his I've gotten into is "Swagga Like Us," and really, that was enough swagger from him to get me through my day. Really, I've hardly heard the dude get into much else lyrically besides that, and on top of that, he's always got pretty hackneyed dirty south style beats. So yeah, not hyped…
Aaron Mayagoitia: FICTION. I was not even hyped when he first appeared. In fact, I couldn't care less if he returned or not. By the way, his new song sucks.
Score Card: 2 for 2

Round 3
3. Michael Jackson's bodyguards are telling the truth about Michael's "need of women".
Aaron Titan: FACT. …If only because I want to believe this is true. Michael Jackson's legacy of weirdness continues after he passes away about nine months ago, and that makes for some interesting internet trash reading if nothing else. I loved the SEGA soundtrack rumors; the peeing in bottles thing was…kind of kooky; now, we've got this story about MJ ballin' with chicks in his limo? Awesome!
Aaron Mayagoitia: FICTION. If those bodyguards wanted to clean up Jackson's name in a way, the only thing they did was make the dark side of his legacy even creepier. I don't know what I believe about Jackson's sexual orientation and I don't really care, but I know he could've been a pedophile and a ladies' man, which only makes him a degenerated pervert. One thing's for sure: if Jackson really did have lots of girlfriends, then those women wanted his money badly. Can you imagine making out with Michael Jackson? Yuck.
Score Card: 2 for 3

SWITCH

Round 4
4. The Foo Fighters working with Butch Vig for the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind is awesome.
Aaron Mayagoitia: FICTION. In the end it will still be a Foo Fighters record, and I don't care for the Foo Fighters as much as I care for Nirvana. What they're trying to do is have a marketing token to sell the record; all that talk about recording in Grohl's garage is smothered in ‘90s nostalgia that's perfect for the vibe they want to sell – because that's what people will buy, not the music. What's next? Record with a Kurt Cobain poster in the studio and call it an album that was made "as if Kurt himself had been there"? The Nirvana well isn't a very deep one, and it's running dry.
Aaron Titan: FACT. YES! I mean, I hope when Dave Grohl says that this is going to be the Foos' heaviest record to date, he means it. Butch Vig has the possible potential of bringing the balls and grit out of the Foo Fighters given Dave's memory of working with him and creating a fantastic record (overrated…sure, but I really like Nevermind over fifteen years after I purchased it). I think Dave will remember what that experience was like and want to try and top it with a rocker of an album. Plus, I wasn't the biggest fan of Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, so I sure as hell hope Butch Vig can help Dave, Taylor and crew kick it up a notch or seven.
Score Card: 2 for 4

Round 5
5. Lil Wayne will be out of Rikers before the end of the summer.
Aaron Mayagoitia: FACT. He's a celebrity, and that's why he'll have it easy. Besides, managers and record company people have a money-making agenda that requires Wayne be out of jail soon. The question here should be, is Lil Wayne the new DMX? I'm just saying.
Aaron Titan: FACT. I just don't have faith in Weezy's punishment after all the silly delays in its implementation to begin with. Plus, celebrities always get off light, unless you're Plaxico Burress that is. The best we can hope for is that Wayne is off the syrup for good now, so he doesn't trick his drug-induced mind into thinking he needs to carry a gun HIMSELF instead of hiring some thugs to do it for him.
Score Card: 3 for 5

Round 6
6. Slash's solo album will be the biggest thing since Santana's Supernatural.
Aaron Mayagoitia: FICTION. Supernatural was a melting pot of genres and ethnicities that was both sonically appealing and sexy. Slash's solo album will only sound like a compilation of Slash guest appearances, not to mention the album's cover is total cheese.
Aaron Titan: FICTION. I guarantee that it'll be less of a success that people think it's going to be. First off, it's not a pop album. Every record on Supernatural came across as a pop record, especially the song "Smooth" with Rob Thomas. Second, it won't win a Grammy, the true achievement of popular "bigness" in popular music, while Supernatural cleaned house in that department and sold even more because of that. I mean, I'm looking forward to it and think it'll be good. I like Slash and I'm a fan of almost every guest artist he has on the album, but it's just not going to be as huge of a deal as Supernatural was. My middle school science teacher played Supernatural in the background in class sometimes; I doubt he'd be able to do that now with Slash's album.
Score Card: 4 for 6

Anything you agree with? Disagree with? Sound off in the comment section.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week!