S.P. News/Murda Mid

Tapir trying to get money. Jockeying with the sea cow for FMT exclusive logo.

Back in the heartland for a few. Brother Ali rolls through town in a few weeks; S.P. will be back on his school grind by then, and the godforsaken refrigeratorville that's home to his chosen institution of higher learning never gets anything in the way of good rapping artists. Never, that is unless your boy S.P. makes it happen...

Your man's pater is a fanatical fan of cricket; for anyone completely unfamiliar with the game, it's sort of entertaining, but matches often go on for days on end, which is fairly ridiculous. The Cricket World Cup is going on in Jamaica at the moment (why I didn't think of that for spring break, I don't know), and the Irish enjoyed a special St. Patty's Day surprise when they, having entered the tournament for the first time ever, knocked off Pakistan, who are ranked #4 in the world. This was awesome. Sunday morning, in a tragic turn of events, the coach of Pakistan's squad, Bob Woolmer (an Englishman), turned up dead. This was not awesome. Yesterday, the Jamaican police revealed that Woolmer was murdered. This is sinister.

El-P's I'll Sleep When You're Dead dropped this past Tuesday. S.P. is striving to save up $13.99 so he can grab himself a copy. ISWYD has been garnering rave reviews since its release (Pitchfork needs to hire some writers) several days ago, and is even getting some shine over at XXL. El Producto has apparently been stacking some stilton since Fantastic Damage; the video for "Smithereens" (NYTimes what what) has some serious production value. As I'm sure you all remember, "Flyentology," El's collabo with Trent Reznor, got the ill cartoon treatment a few weeks ago from the folks over at adult swim. I would remind you to download Def Jux's free mixtape, Definitive Swim, which features bangers from Despot and Cool Calm Pete, but I know y'all already did that because I told you to. Proper review of ISWYD to follow, soon as I get that gruyere.

I've been wondering at the phenomenon that is NCAA tournament bracketing. I don't like rooting against underdogs just because I want to win $55. S.P. is thinking that this bracket shit might be a mite juvenile.