Linkatharsis: Turn that frown upside down because The OC's coming back in a week

Since I've been full of downers today, here's a something happy: today's my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday to the greatest mother in the world. Thanks for everything, even if you aren't reading this blog and it's already the day after in Japan.

NPR's Fresh Air continues Hip Hop week, today with a De La Soul interview. And be sure to check out the Grandmaster Flash bit from Monday.

Tomorrow: ?uestlove, Rza and Mos Def

The Onion AV Club reviews Seu Jorge's Cru. I should really check this out before I catch him at the Bowery. Thanks to the AV Club for the reminder.

Kelefah's all about the not-even-barely legal kids and the unholy marriage between MTV punk and teen pop (via FAB).

I noticed that iTunes now has Cody ChesnuTT's 2002 gem Headphone Masterpiece. Okay, mea culpa - I don't actually own the album and have only listened to a handful of tracks so I'm not really qualified to call it a gem. I'm not fond of double albums as they tend to be bloated and would be a whole lot tighter without a few fillers. That's my excuse anyway.

But now that it's on the nonexistent shelves of iTunes, I have an easy way of checking it out. The stuff I've listened to, I liked - a very stripped down, lo-fi production, almost sounds like it was recorded on one of those little tape recorders I used in middle school French class.

You might remember ChesnuTT from The Roots' "Seed 2.0". If so, check out the original "Seed" with a less hectic, simpler sound.

I don't have the file handy with me, but in the meantime, listen to "Look Good In Leather", which was my theme song for a few months in 2002.

• Cody Chesnutt - "Look Good In Leather"
  
• Pitchfork Review (January 2003)

Scion boots a contest from its rapper search for... being controversial, more or less. Heh.

Last week, I scooped Gawker by, like, a month. This time, I'm scooping Sub Pop Records by a whole week (via One Louder).

Okay, I'm not really scooping anyone. I just subscribe to NPR emails.