Loose Links: Lupe Fiasco’s “Robot City,” Making UGK’s “International Player’s Anthem” And Harlem Love From The New York Times

It’s been four years since the last, proper studio album from Three-6 Mafia. And as disjointed as the Oscar-winning Memphis collective’s release schedule has been at times, imagine Three-6 Mafia combining with UGK to form one super group. That’s one of the many factoids produced by XXL’s “The Making of UGK’s “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You).” In addition to chronicling how Pimp C became infatuated with the Willie Hutch sample he heard on a Project Pat album, readers also get a glimpse into the kinship between UGK, Outkast and Three-6 Mafia.

Read XXL‘s “The Making of UGK’s “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You).”

Lupe Fiasco likes robots. A lot. His 2006, Grammy-nominated collaboration with Jill Scott, “Daydreamin’” opens up with a first-person narrative about riding through the city on a giant robot. A recent Chicago Sun-Times piece written by Lupe may go a long way in explaining his fascination with all things robotic. While not specifically and only about robots, Lupe’s contribution, entitled “This City Is A Robot” recounts the tale of a story his father used to tell him.

Read Lupe Fiasco’s “This City Is A Robot.”

The word “swagger” should have died with the last performance of T.I.’s 2008 collaboration “Swagga Like Us.” Sadly, as those “Gold Swagger” shirts commissioned by the Indiana Pacers proved, swagger just won’t die. In a profile that examines the stylistic origins of Harlem residents, the New York Times takes a deeper look at that summer fashion staple and low-priced bodega purchase, the white t-shirt.

Watch “White Tee Swagger In Harlem.”

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