Loose Links: #BasedGod Beats, 50 Great Rap Demos, Ja Rule Goes Skydiving

Say what you will about the quality of his music, Lil B has made one hell of a career (and at least a dozen careers worth music) off of being eccentric. That being said, it really isn’t a surprise that the man behind some of the Based God’s biggest hits bumps both Bjork and Dipset and goes by the name Clams Casino. The Village Voice recently caught up with the budding New Jersey beatsmith to discuss his influences, his production and how he got his name.

Read the Village Voice’s “Q&A: Lil B Producer Clams Casino On His Beautifully Bizarre Sound, His New Mixtape, And The Name He’s Now Stuck With”

Long before every wanna-be rapper and his grandmother dropped a mixtape on the ‘Nets, emcees used to pour their blood, sweat and tears into tightly-crafted demo tapes that they would pass from one record exec to the next in the hopes of getting signed. While some younger fans might not understand why anyone would cherish these crusty throwbacks, to real heads, the demo tape is testament to the golden era and the hustle it took to get paid to rock the mic. That’s why Complex put together a list of the 30 greatest Hip Hop demos, from Cage and Hurricane G’s Stretch and Bobbito show recordings to Big L’s long-lost tape.

Read Complex’s “The 30 Greatest Hip-Hop Demos”

From getting epically sonned by 50 Cent to his upcoming two-year bid in the bing, Ja Rule’s career has more or less plummeted off the deep end. But the Queens emcee took falling off to new heights, as VladTV posted a recent video of Ja skydiving while in Dubai. 

Watch VladTV’s “Ja Rule Goes Skydiving in Dubai!”