Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Pusha T On A Tribe Called Quest, His Frustrations And Pharrell (Part 2)






Courtesy of Def Jam Records


Pusha T.


Courtesy of Def Jam Records




In the second part of an interview with Pusha T, Microphone Check co-host Ali Shaheed Muhammad is dragged into a public battle over which A Tribe Called Quest album is better — Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders. Pusha details his frustrations with the music industry in general, and one fashion company in particular, and says his dream for hip-hop is for legacy acts to tour like The Eagles. "I don't think I will ever put any other music before it, so I need to see it all the way through. I need to see it in all of its splendor," he says. When co-host Frannie Kelley tries to end their conversation on a high note, Pusha recalls the making of the last song on his new album, a song that comes from a hard truth: "I don't necessarily want to hear rap anymore that doesn't give me — if we're talking about the streets — we can't just glorify it. We have to tell the whole story."


ALI SHAHEED MUHAMMAD: When you say, "All praise to the most high on both sides / I pray to God, I pray for hard," what does that means?


PUSHA T: Man. Wow. It's a very terrible statement. But it's all praise to the most high, meaning God. And meaning that I've prayed for, you know, drugs. Hoping it comes through and me — you know what I'm saying, selling them and so on and so forth.



MUHAMMAD: That's real.


PUSHA: Totally. And that's a prime example of just feeling the beat. I don't even know why. When I can't explain it, I'm like, "That has to stay." When I can't explain why — "All praise to the most high!" — comes out, then that's it. After that, then I just start writing.


MUHAMMAD: Bob Dylan says the most important thing to a song is the first line. The first line is the most important.


PUSHA: I believe it.


MUHAMMAD: A lot of people don't really, they just write to write or just don't really capture that feeling.


PUSHA: Right.


MUHAMMAD: Like, you know it. "I don't know why and it just has to stay."


PUSHA: That feeling is everything, man. I'm telling you! And some people can dial in a whole verse. I feel like my true greatness will be when I can dial in my whole verse off of a feeling. I think Tupac probably was like, that great at that. It sounds like he was. I mean, I don't know. But it feels like that. Jimmy Iovine told me one time, "Tupac couldn't write a verse; he could only write a hook."


MUHAMMAD: That's crazy. I didn't know that.


PUSHA: That's what Jimmy Iovine called all of his verses, actually. He was like, "Man, all of his verses were truly just hooks. He could not write a verse."


MUHAMMAD: Yo, that's flipping amazing.


FRANNIE KELLEY: No, that makes sense because it's so long.


PUSHA: But then when you hear them, and then when you just mimic and you don't know the words and you just hear the melodies and all of Pac's bars, it's like, "Wow, wait a minute! That might be right."


MUHAMMAD: I'm just thinking about it, I'm kinda like messed up. I'm like, "Holy..."


PUSHA: But he was dialed into the feeling. That's what I mean. He's dialed into the feeling.


KELLEY: First of all, I noted the Tribe shout-out on "Pain."


PUSHA: Oh, did you?


KELLEY: Ali did not.



PUSHA: Aw man, what? Ahh, come on!


MUHAMMAD: Yeah, sorry. She had to point it out.


PUSHA: That is incredible!


MUHAMMAD: I'm so sorry. Yo, it's a lot of distractions this week.


PUSHA: Oh my ... man!


MUHAMMAD: Damn, Frannie.


KELLEY: I'm sorry, I'm sorry!


PUSHA: Come on! Ahh!


MUHAMMAD: Yeah, it was a lot of distractions.


PUSHA: Aw man.


MUHAMMAD: So, so many. I'm so sorry. It's a lot of distractions this week.


KELLEY: Oh man, I feel guilty. I feel real guilty right now. What is Tribe; what is Tribe for you?



PUSHA: It opened up the colors of hip-hop to me. I was very one-track minded, with hip-hop. Very. I'm G Rap, I'm Rakim, you know. I could only see it one way. Tribe just opened up the colors and let me know like, "Wait a minute, man. This is fresh." You know what I'm saying? It let me know that, like, I didn't have to listen to it in just that capacity, just a street capacity. It was still fly. It was the first, like — man, I remember the Polo Hi Tech jackets. Like, come on, man. It was so many things to me. Tribe was so many things to me. And it really opened up, like, the horizons of hip-hop to me.


KELLEY: There's something about the cleanliness of the sound that I hear on this album that I can also hear in Low End Theory, in particular, and Midnight Marauders. But then also, there's the visuals around Low End Theory, the simplicity. The decisions, and they stick to the decision. That's there, too.


PUSHA: Are you familiar with the big Twitter argument that we had?


MUHAMMAD: No.


PUSHA: Oh my gosh. It was the Low End Theory — I have to ask you!


MUHAMMAD: Uh-oh.


PUSHA: Low End Theory versus Midnight Marauders.


KELLEY: Oh, there it is. The eternal question.


MUHAMMAD: Daggone.


PUSHA: Hold on: It started at a Complex photo shoot. Me, Common, Tip, everybody. I mean, everybody. It spilled over to a phone call — Pharrell, Busta. It spilled into Twitter.


MUHAMMAD: No, I didn't hear about this.


PUSHA: Oh, man!


MUHAMMAD: So, what was the verdict?


PUSHA: I mean, I rolled with Marauders. I rolled with Marauders, Common rolled with Low End Theory, then came back and said, "I think you might have been right with Marauders." Listen. He ain't admit that, though. Not in a open forum. I said, "Well, you gotta do it on Twitter! You gotta talk it." I think Busta rolled with Low End Theory, man.


MUHAMMAD: I could see that.


PUSHA: But then he started naming — wait a minute: He tried to put "Scenario (Remix)" on. You can't do that!


MUHAMMAD: You can't do that.


PUSHA: My point to you is, you can't add a record that wasn't on the album to your discography.


MUHAMMAD: Yeah. That was way later, sorry.


PUSHA: Like, chill! But alright, I'm sorry.


KELLEY: I feel like I go Low End when I was younger, but now I would go Midnight.


MUHAMMAD: I'm happy to be in the room. What can I say?


PUSHA: Oh really? You're not gonna answer?


KELLEY: You're not gonna choose between your children?


PUSHA: Wow!


MUHAMMAD: Come on! I'm like, why are you asking me that?


KELLEY: Because he asked Tip!


PUSHA: I asked everybody! And Tip went Low End on me, too.


KELLEY: Whoa.


PUSHA: He went Low End Theory, I was like ...


MUHAMMAD: He did? He answered that question?


PUSHA: Yes, he did! I mean, we pulled up tracks. I'm like, "so you're saying that ..."


MUHAMMAD: I know why. I'll just say because Low End was like — man, we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about My Name Is My Name.


KELLEY: We're here to talk about hip-hop.



“ I feel like a manicured, timely, grass-roots campaign can work for me just like the $2 million that they may spend on your project, marketing it.



PUSHA: This is true.


MUHAMMAD: I'll just say I understand why he said that because that was like the open, that was — how do I explain this? I don't know if I can put words to the feeling of finally —


PUSHA: Do you agree with him?


MUHAMMAD: He's like, "Yo, cut to the chase."


PUSHA: I just want to know, do you agree with him?


MUHAMMAD: I cannot answer that question. That's a tough one. That's a tough one. It really is, because there were so many different things happening on that.


KELLEY: This leads into a question for me, actually. You talk about you make music for hip-hop culture, for this hip-hop s—-. What is that? What is that now?


PUSHA: Man. I think the culture is everything that us as the youth that came up on "The Message" and so on and so forth. Everything we're into. It's the music, it's the breakin', it's the fashion. It's everything. It's the slang, it's the lingo. I make music to keep that going.


As an artist right now, my biggest thing is a) I want to see hip-hop become one of the genres that tour like The Eagles. That's my biggest thing. Like, me being in hip-hop for 11 years? I want to see who's gonna be the first touring act and the first act that I'm going to see on the back of USA Today and say, "This year's biggest earners for touring." I want to see that. That's my biggest thing. And I feel like by being in the know and being a part of the culture and being a part of growing with hip-hop — this is going to be one of the first years that I feel like — and I sort of feel like Jay Z is sort of starting that — where you can see the older hip-hop veterans don't look down upon what's coming up, what's new. You know what I'm saying?


MUHAMMAD: Yeah, yeah.


PUSHA: And I feel like that's why all my favorites from back in the day left the game, why they got out the game. Because they were like, "Oh, I don't like where this is going. That's it. I'm off it." I feel like we're seeing that it doesn't have to be that. We can grow with it.


MUHAMMAD: It's like having a vasectomy.


PUSHA: Yo, come on!


MUHAMMAD: I'm just saying, in terms of the way that the older generation — they treat what comes after is like, "Well, have a vasectomy." Because it's like you're killing the lifeline of what preceded before you, which is so important. And that's just so damaging. It's so damaging because then the next generation has to pretty much figure things out for themselves. And that's what it becomes, and then you become even more upset because there was no one before —


PUSHA: There was no guidance.


MUHAMMAD: Exactly — to help me figure it out. I think it's the worst thing you can do in any position as a human being. You gotta be able to look beyond yourself.


PUSHA: Yes. I'm just gonna add to that by saying I feel like lyricism and lyric-driven hip-hop — that does not go out of style. So I feel like I'm gonna do my part because I'm gonna keep those fundamentals in play, with every year that hip-hop grows. I don't care what the new trend is. As long as I can incorporate that, man, I feel like I'm doing my job.


MUHAMMAD: In terms of the fashion aspect of hip-hop, you have a store. Is that true?


PUSHA: Yeah. I got two stores, and a clothing line, for the past five years.


MUHAMMAD: What inspired that?


PUSHA: Well, the clothing line is called Play Cloths. And it honestly was inspired by the We Got It 4 Cheap mixtape era, with the Re-Up Gang. We were going through a terrible time with the record label. We had just been moved over to Jive, we were arguing back and forth. We weren't putting out any music — this is before Hell Hath No Fury — and we put out those mixtapes.


And luckily, early on, the Clipse were embraced by Nigo, from A Bathing Ape and that streetwear line. So, I would go do these shows. It would be 500 kids, man. We Got It 4 Cheap is just Internet frenzy, college frenzy. 500 kids in there and I walk in and they'd be like, "Wait a minute, you got on the General jacket — 101 Varsity!" Or whatever. Now mind you, I'm just getting this stuff free. I wasn't into it like that, you know what I'm saying? I liked the clothes, but I wasn't into the Hypebeast-ness of it.


KELLEY: It was just what you were wearing.


PUSHA: Yeah, you know what I'm saying? And we had been embraced early on by him, so it was all good. That birthed BBC. Mind you, all of these people are just this close to us. So it's not real, I'm supporting my homeboy.


Once I saw the kids taking notice like that, I was like, "Man, I should really start a line." And what happened was there's a warehouse in Virginia. These kids, they were responsible for a couple of lines: Azurem, and Shmack, which was a streetwear/skate line. And the owners would let me come to their warehouse after work and keep all the staff. And with that, I would bring all my clothes. We'd make a whole mood board of just clothes, pictures. I remember playing, I think it was either "Heaven & Hell" or "Can It All Be So Simple," showing them the Snow Beach era of Polo, you know, just things like that.



“ I said, "No, that's a terrible song." [Pharrell] was like, "No. It may be a terrible song, but it's a true song and you know what happens when you write those type of records.



These kids are young, graphic kids. Just brought all that together and we decided to do a line. It was great because these guys were used to doing commercial chain stores, and we built it out on a boutique level, my line out on a boutique level. And it was good for them to just see that aspect, and the owners to see that aspect of the culture and see where it was going. And now, they're like, "Wait a minute. This is what it's about."


The stores were built two years after that. One is called Cream, it's in Norfolk, Va., and one is in the mall. And that is more just streetwear, the origins of streetwear: Stussy, The Hundreds, Ice Cream, things like that. The other one's called Creme as well, spelled C-R-E-M-E, and that is high-end: Versace, Marcelo Burlon, MCM, the Tier Zero Nike account. Things like that.


MUHAMMAD: Is that as challenging of a business as the music industry? Or do you find it easier to direct?


PUSHA: It's easier to direct. It is. The only problem is acquiring accounts sometimes. And that's when you're dealing with the higher end stuff, because some accounts don't want to be next to other accounts. And I found myself taking it very personal. Like, I was denied for a Givenchy account.


MUHAMMAD: Really?


PUSHA: Like, now.


KELLEY: That seems strange.


PUSHA: Those who know, know — the type of support that they've gotten from me.


KELLEY: The number of times you've mentioned them on track.


MUHAMMAD: Does that make you go, "Alright, F you." And now we're going to do our —


PUSHA: I just sold all of it. I did. I did.


MUHAMMAD: Was there an attempt to have a conversation to kind of like, fix their way of thinking? Or was it just kind of like, "Oh word? Alright, cool."


PUSHA: No. They sent me this really nice email that said, "No." And I was like, "This can't be. No." I couldn't take that. I couldn't accept that. I wasn't asking for anything. I have other brands that are top-tier, too. You know?


KELLEY: Didn't seem crazy.


PUSHA: Yeah, I wasn't asking to like, take your brand and put it — my brand isn't in the store that I was asking them to be a part of. My brand isn't even in there, at all. So yeah, I took it personal. Maybe I shouldn't have. But I definitely did.


KELLEY: What kind of frustrations do you have? I mean, I think a lot of people probably look at your life and be like, "You get to travel all the time."


PUSHA: I don't like traveling.


KELLEY: OK, so that's a frustration.


PUSHA: I don't. I actually don't.


KELLEY: Or say, "You get to meet famous people and get free drinks backstage and stuff."


PUSHA: I'm trying to stop drinking, actually.


KELLEY: OK.


PUSHA: I don't have — my frustrations, they all come from just being an artist. And they come from dealing with the politics of the record business. I've been in this game for so long now that I feel like it's not even about spending all the money on my marketing and so on and so forth. I think we all just have to come to an understanding about how to roll out a project. I feel like people are afraid to speak open and honestly. And with that, things get lost in this game. And I'm not that type of person. Like, with how things work today, virally and the lack of video shows, all of that. I feel like a manicured, timely, grass-roots campaign can work for me just like the $2 million that they may spend on your project, marketing it.


KELLEY: I can tell you from the journalists' side of things, all the different things that people try out and the different iterations of the various premiere plans or packaging or whatever, it makes my life harder. And it means I don't get to pay as much attention to a smaller, worthy project. I'm not sure really what people are trying to say all the time, either.


PUSHA: It's a bit much. I mean, that's the frustrating side to me. Like, we're in an age where information and everything is so obtainable. It's so accessible, man. And I think it's just moreso about just locking in and sticking with a plan and sticking with your core and your base. It's not too many of us that are really trying to do that.


MUHAMMAD: Yeah, it's interesting to hear at this stage — what is this, like your seventh record?


PUSHA: No. Three records as the Clipse. I mean, we got numerous mixtapes; a crew album on Koch; another street album that was done through Decon for myself, solo-wise. So yeah, I've been around.


MUHAMMAD: Yeah, and you've been successful. And to hear that, still — that this is the conversation that you're having — it's disheartening. And I say that because Tribe used to go through the same thing. You would hear it in our records, our frustration. After proving yourself, you go around the world and you help people make millions of dollars and you still continue to establish yourself. And acknowledging your ground, your base, all the time, and making sure that you service the people who are going to be there every time. And you pay so much attention to that, which continues to show what the campaign is about, when you focus on it wholly, and you still don't get that faith from the backers.


PUSHA: Yeah, 100 percent.


MUHAMMAD: It's frustrating hearing that that's what you're dealing with at this stage.


PUSHA: Very, very frustrating. And it still happens, man. You still go through these things.



“ I do dream to make it in this industry to the point where I can help others and begin to really carve out where I feel like hip-hop should be.



MUHAMMAD: So what drives you, then? And motivates you to keep making music?


PUSHA: My music helps so many people. I mean, just in my circle, family, the fans themselves. Man. I love writing. I love performing. I love seeing people, you know what I'm saying? As much as I hate getting on planes every day, when I get there, when I get on stage and get to be in front of my fans, it all goes away. And I'm talking about my frustrations for the whole day go away.


So I don't complain about it because this business serves its purpose for me. You gotta find other outlets to keep things moving so you don't go crazy. That's why I love my stores, I love Play Cloths. And it's just other ventures. I'm about to take tennis lessons, yo.


MUHAMMAD: That's pretty dope. Let me know if you want to play, I keep my racket in the trunk of my car.


PUSHA: Really?


MUHAMMAD: I'm not that good. It's just a good exercise.


KELLEY: No, stop. Where is this gonna happen? Because I am gonna send a videographer.


MUHAMMAD: We can go to Fort Greene Park, that's where I play in the summertime.


KELLEY: OK, perfect.


PUSHA: As an artist, don't let the business make you bitter or anything like that. Then you have to leave, because you don't want to sit with that right here. You don't want to sit with that on your heart, man. You gotta leave it alone.


MUHAMMAD: Did you dream of becoming an MC as a kid?


PUSHA: Not at all.


MUHAMMAD: Word.


PUSHA: Not at all. Like, I had no desire.


KELLEY: Did you want to be Teddy Riley?


PUSHA: I just wanted to be his friend. His friends had MPVs, I wanted a MPV! Purple ones, with TVs! I tell everybody, I wasn't rapping at all. I wasn't rapping at all. My brother was a rapper. He was known for rapping, around the area. His DJ and producer was Timbaland, at the time. And this is middle school, 8th, 9th grade. So, I'm in 4th grade. As he gets older and Tim starts branching out — I think he went to work with Jodeci, that whole camp — me and my homegirl, my childhood friend, she introduces me to Pharrell. Pharrell likes her. I'm not rapping at all. Me and Pharrell just start hanging out. He likes her and starts hanging out with her best friend.


KELLEY: That makes sense.


PUSHA: You know what I'm saying? Then weeks later, he says, "Yo, wait a minute.Your brother's Gene? Rapping Gene from the Beach?" And I was like, "Yeah." And he's like, "Yo, you gotta get him to come to the studio!" And I'm like, "Nah, man. My brother, he works with dude." And he's like, "No, but I know, you just gotta get him to come!" And this is all over a course of years, but I still wasn't rapping. Always around it, though. So then when I did hook them up and they got in the studio, that was just the everyday occurrence. I was like, "Man, I'mma write me a verse. Watch." And it happened just like that.


KELLEY: Classic little brother moves.


PUSHA: Yeah, totally. Totally. I never took the initiative to write. He took the initiative to just recently write a book. I would never take the initiative to do things like that. Like, "Write raps? Why?" It's being around him and being the little brother — that's where the rules came from. "Okay, that's wack, that's not wack." I learned all of that. Then you get in the studio with my brother and these other guys who produce, and they're showing you structure.


MUHAMMAD: So you didn't have a dream to become an MC?


PUSHA: No.


MUHAMMAD: Do you have a dream now?


PUSHA: Wow. That's a very tough question. I do dream to make it in this industry to the point where I can help others and begin to really carve out where I feel like hip-hop should be. I truly want to see hip-hop be — I feel like it's the youngest genre. Is that correct?


MUHAMMAD: Yeah.


PUSHA: Yeah. I mean, with it being the youngest genre, I want to see it be as big as all these other genres that are praised. I will never — my generation — I don't think I will ever put any other music before it, so I need to see it all the way through. I need to see it in all of its splendor. I see rock bands — I just saw Foreigner on Queen Latifah today. And I'm just like, "Man."


MUHAMMAD: A lot of people, actually, they're not around. The crazy thing — some of these pioneers, they're no longer here. Which, I don't know what that says about the challenges; this is our culture, it's our lifestyle. And it came from not having opportunity and oppression and city government legislatures. All these things that just made it impossible for us to take the next step from what our parents and our grandparents were trying to build. We took a dive. So we created an artform where we're talking about it, but at the same time, we become victims of the very thing that gave us the spirit. So there's a lot of pioneers, they not here because the lifestyle, the culture, just sucked 'em up.


PUSHA: Took 'em under.



MUHAMMAD: Yeah, so I think that may be one of the reasons. And there wasn't any organization like it is now. Like, you can really see what can happen. Look at what Jay's doing, what Kanye's doing. I guess it's evolving to becoming stablized and empowered.


PUSHA: It is, but it bothers me that I think — hip-hop has been here for 40 years. I feel like we're only at the second level of moguls. I feel like I'm Russell, Lyor, Rick Rubin. And then after that? It's like, Jay Z and Puff.


MUHAMMAD: Right. And that's it.


PUSHA: That's it. It stops. That can't be. You know what I'm saying? And I want to be a part of the growth of that. So then there's another set. Not to discredit the indie CEOs and so on and so forth that sold numerous records and the Master P eras, and even Cash Money with Baby and Slim. But I feel like that's still not the level that I'm talking.


MUHAMMAD: I feel you.


PUSHA: I feel like I want to see more Rubin, Lyor, Russell, Puffy, Jay Z era. We need to keep those, but I don't want just those two just to be the only ones. We need more.


MUHAMMAD: I like your dream. I like your dream. I like it.


KELLEY: Grow the industry.


PUSHA: I'm really good friends with Tony Draper from Suave House Records. He's a very, very insightful individual. And with all that he's been around, that he's seen, the ups and the downs of the industry, it's always been built and the foundation of it was always a grass-roots thing, for even his success. I feel like that. I feel like it should be that way. And then it just grows and builds, and as longs as those steps are being made, it will ultimately explode at the top, or whatever. But it's like, we gotta keep pushing that. We have to keep pushing that.


KELLEY: It is hard. It just is. But there's enough people that love it, and there's enough people that respond to high-quality, undeniable-level quality. And that's what builds it, I think, these days.


PUSHA: I'm watching it and I think the cycle's coming back around.


MUHAMMAD: Yeah. When you said that, I was like, "Man. We just took a major hit for a decade, at least."


PUSHA: Yeah. But look at it, it's coming back around.


MUHAMMAD: Even you said, "There's no music to roll your windows down and bump it to." So yeah, it's an interesting cycle.


KELLEY: I want to go out on a slightly higher note. So maybe you could tell us the story of one of the songs on My Name Is My Name. What's your favorite?


MUHAMMAD: Take that, talking about favorites.


PUSHA: Wow, you said a higher note. I think I would have to say that my favorite record on the album is called "S.N.I.T.C.H."


KELLEY: The Pharrell joint.


PUSHA: The acronym "S.N.I.T.C.H." Which stands for, "Sorry, N-word, I'm Tryna Come Home." It's the truest story on the album. Essentially, I got a phone call from a friend of mine in jail telling me that it would be our last time speaking because he made the decision to cooperate with the police. And he couldn't take being in jail and doing time anymore, you know? "I'm just telling you we not gon' speak because I know how you feel and I can't do it no more." So, there goes your higher note.



KELLEY: But that's how you end the album, right?


PUSHA: Right.


KELLEY: That was your move. It's a big move.


PUSHA: Yeah. I got the call and I actually called Pharrell and I was like, "Listen. Tell me am I analyzing this right." And I told him the conversation, and he was like, "Yeah, that's his gift. That's his gift to you, but it's a song." And I said, "No, that's a terrible song." He was like, "No. It may be a terrible song, but it's a true song and you know what happens when you write those type of records. It's gon' be that pain, it's gon' be amazing."


So, he was like, "Well, listen. Just think about it." And at the time I was asking him, I said, "Listen. The only thing I'm missing on my album is a 'Long Kiss Goodnight' or a 'You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)' type of beat.


KELLEY: Damn.


PUSHA: So he was like, "I'mma just work on the beat and you just think about it, because you need one of those stories anyway, from what you told me." I said, "OK."


He calls me two weeks later and I'm at SXSW on the street. He was like, "Sorry, N-word, I'm Tryna Come Home." I was like, "What you mean?" He was like, "No, that's the title of it." I was like, "OK, OK. I like it, I like it." He was like, "Nah, you don't feel me." He said, "It's the acronym for 'snitch', man." I was like, "Oh, yeah. You the G.O.A.T. You are the G.O.A.T." He was like, "Am I the G.O.A.T.?" "You are the G.O.A.T.! You the G.O.A.T.!"


It's my favorite record. My favorite record. The story records aren't usually my favorite records, but this was one of them. It really hit home. I've been saying to people, I don't necessarily want to hear rap anymore that doesn't give me — if we're talking about the streets — we can't just glorify it. We have to tell the whole story.


And I'm saying I can't listen to raps that don't acknowledge that cooperating and informants are — like your crew that you've told me so many jewels and diamonds and Ferraris and so on and so forth about, nobody went to jail and nobody cooperated? I can't listen to that anymore. It hits home too much.


So, the third verse of it, I was talking to everybody. All rappers, all boys who be out here, you know, everybody glorifies the lifestyle. And it's like, everybody glorifies it, but nobody has ever put themselves that close to their man, or admitting, my man who can call me, and to tell me he's never gonna call me again, and I gotta do what I gotta do and that's just it.


MUHAMMAD: Raise the bar on honesty.


PUSHA: Yeah. We got to. You have to know that story. You have to.


Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/MicrophoneCheck/2013/10/16/235395978/pusha-t-on-a-tribe-called-quest-his-frustrations-and-pharrell-part-2?ft=1&f=1039
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Workers at newly privatized Royal Mail to strike November 4


By Neil Maidment


LONDON (Reuters) - Workers at Britain's newly privatized Royal Mail postal service voted on Wednesday to strike for 24 hours on November 4 if they cannot reach agreement with the firm on pay and working conditions.


The management of Royal Mail, which listed on the London stock market in a high profile float last week, had expected a vote in favor of strike action and criticized the prospect of a disruption to services in the run-up to Christmas, its busiest time.


The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) sent ballot papers to over 115,000 Royal Mail staff and said 78 percent had voted to strike, on a turnout of 63 percent.


The union said further action was under consideration and added that it planned to carry out a second ballot asking workers to support a boycott of the handling of competitors' mail, which Royal Mail delivers on their behalf.


The CWU, which fiercely opposed the privatization over fears it would lead to poorer job conditions and services, in July rejected Royal Mail's offer of an 8.6 percent pay increase over three years, criticizing proposed changes to pensions.


"What we want is a groundbreaking, long-term, legally binding agreement that not only protects postal workers' job security, pay and pensions but will also determine the strategy, principles and values of how Royal Mail will operate as a private entity," CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said in a statement.


Royal Mail noted that, with a 63 percent turnout, 51 percent of all its CWU members had abstained or voted against a strike. It also noted that there were 24,000 frontline employees who were not union members and therefore did not vote.


Shares in the firm, which on Wednesday named Barclays as its corporate broker, closed down 2.9 percent at 475 pence, having been down all day on the expected announcement.


The Direct Marketing Association, representing the UK advertising mail industry - which it says accounts for 1 billion pounds of Royal Mail's 9 billion pound turnover - said strike action would have a severe impact on customers.


"The build-up to Christmas is a critical period that typically accounts for more than half of businesses' annual revenues ... Any disruption to service would quickly lead businesses to take their custom elsewhere," DMA's executive director Chris Combemale said in a statement.


The action comes as many Royal Mail workers have seen the value of their free shares in the firm rocket.


As part the stock market listing, 10 percent of shares were handed to Royal Mail's 150,000 eligible UK-based staff, with full-time workers each receiving 725 shares, worth around 3,440 pounds ($5,500) at Wednesday's closing share price.


That figure was much higher than the 2,200 pounds per person initially expected, after the shares peaked on Tuesday almost 50 percent above the privatization price.


Royal Mail said on Wednesday that directors of the company had applied for a total of more than 500,000 pounds worth of shares in the float as part of an employee priority offer, and like others, saw their order scaled back to 10,000 pounds worth each due to strong demand for the shares.


As well as the shares they bought at the 330 pence offer price, they also received the free shares as staff. Royal Mail said its non-executive directors decided to opt out of receiving these shares as they deemed it inappropriate.


Chairman Donald Brydon owns 3,030 shares, worth nearly 14,400 pounds at Wednesday's closing price, while Chief Executive Moya Greene and Chief Financial Officer Matthew Lester both have 3,643 shares, now worth more than 17,300 pounds.


The jump in the share price has sparked criticism by opposition lawmakers, who accuse the government of undervaluing Royal Mail, prompting a parliamentary committee to say it will investigate the sale in an inquiry expected next month. ($1 = 0.6278 British pounds)


(Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan, Editing by Kate Holton and Kevin Liffey)



Source: http://news.yahoo.com/workers-newly-privatized-royal-mail-strike-november-4-171833700--sector.html
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Predicting health risks of everyday chemicals

Predicting health risks of everyday chemicals


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Public release date: 16-Oct-2013
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Contact: Michael Bernstein
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American Chemical Society





Concern over the safety of everyday household products, such as baby bottles and soaps, has spurred a wide-ranging research effort into predicting the health risks of tens of thousands of chemicals. That's the topic of the cover story in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.


Britt E. Erickson, C&EN senior editor, points out that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with overseeing the safety of chemicals in consumer products. It's a monumental task an estimated 80,000 chemicals are on the market in some form, whether in plastics, detergents, electronics or other items. But the agency is not alone in its efforts to understand chemicals' hazards and people's exposure to them. It relies on multiple sources to investigate chemical risks. In addition to its own computer programs that model toxicity and levels of human exposure, the EPA is weaving together massive amounts of data on consumer buying trends, as well as data from various laboratory tests.


The article points out that while a concerted push is underway, much remains to be done. Getting a handle on the levels of chemicals people are actually exposed to is in its infancy. Holes remain in understanding the science of toxicity for example, scientists haven't fully explored the molecular pathways involved in brain development and where chemicals might derail it.


###


The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.


To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.


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Predicting health risks of everyday chemicals


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]
Public release date: 16-Oct-2013
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Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society





Concern over the safety of everyday household products, such as baby bottles and soaps, has spurred a wide-ranging research effort into predicting the health risks of tens of thousands of chemicals. That's the topic of the cover story in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.


Britt E. Erickson, C&EN senior editor, points out that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with overseeing the safety of chemicals in consumer products. It's a monumental task an estimated 80,000 chemicals are on the market in some form, whether in plastics, detergents, electronics or other items. But the agency is not alone in its efforts to understand chemicals' hazards and people's exposure to them. It relies on multiple sources to investigate chemical risks. In addition to its own computer programs that model toxicity and levels of human exposure, the EPA is weaving together massive amounts of data on consumer buying trends, as well as data from various laboratory tests.


The article points out that while a concerted push is underway, much remains to be done. Getting a handle on the levels of chemicals people are actually exposed to is in its infancy. Holes remain in understanding the science of toxicity for example, scientists haven't fully explored the molecular pathways involved in brain development and where chemicals might derail it.


###


The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.


To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/acs-phr101613.php
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Syrian fighters battle on, ignoring Muslim holiday


By Dominic Evans


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian air force jets and helicopters bombed rebel-held districts across the country on Tuesday, the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha, and rebel fighters fired rockets into the heart of Damascus.


President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces are battling a civil war which grew out of protests against his rule two years ago, was shown on state television attending morning prayers with ministers at a Damascus mosque at the start of the Eid holiday.


But there was no let-up in the violence which has torn Syria apart and divided the Middle East between Sunni Muslim supporters of the rebels and Shi'ite backers of Assad, despite a joint plea from regional Arab and Muslim organizations for both sides to mark the occasion with a ceasefire.


Activists said warplanes bombed targets in rebel strongholds to the east and south of the capital. Video footage uploaded on the Internet showed explosions and thick columns of smoke rising above the town of Daraya, on the southwestern edge of Damascus.


Rebels fired rockets and mortars into the Old City and the Mazraa district in the city center, activists said.


The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence in Syria through a network of activists and medical and military sources, also said air force helicopters carried out 11 bombing raids on the rebel town of Latamna in Hama province.


It said the helicopters dropped large improvised explosives, or barrel bombs, on the town. Three children were killed in one of the early waves of bombing, it said.


The Observatory says at least 115,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed in the 2-1/2 year civil war which has also driven 2.1 million Syrians to seek refuge abroad and displaced millions more inside their country.


A further 170 people were killed on Monday, it said.


REBEL CLASHES ON BORDER


The fighting also pits rival rebel factions against each other. On Tuesday activists said militants from al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant clashed with local Northern Storm fighters at the Bab Salam border post with Turkey.


Video footage showed grey smoke rising from what the activists said were Northern Storm positions which had been shelled by the Islamic State fighters. The clashes were close to a refugee camp on the Syrian side of the border, they said.


The divisions among Assad's opponents and the growing power of the Islamist fighters have made it increasingly difficult for international aid workers to operate in the lawless rebel-held northern provinces.


Six Red Cross workers and a colleague from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent were abducted on Sunday after delivering medical supplies in the northern province of Idlib. Four were released the next day but an ICRC spokesman said on Tuesday there was no news on the other three.


The violence has continued despite a U.N.-endorsed mission to oversee the elimination of Assad's chemical weapons, which was set up as a result of a rare agreement between the United States and Russia after an August sarin gas attack in Damascus.


Experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have visited eight of a total of around 20 sites where they are due to oversee the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal and production facilities.


Some of the destruction work has already started and the OPCW - which last week was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize - has reported that Syrian authorities have so far cooperated with the process.


However the most complex stage of their work, the destruction of chemical agents and precursors, has yet to start and the teams will likely have to visit at least one site - near the northern town of Safira - where fighting is continuing.


The Observatory said on Sunday that Assad's forces bombarded rebel-held Safira, which is located close to storage and production sites which are believed to be linked to Syria's chemical weapons program.


Unless a local ceasefire can be agreed or government troops push the rebels back the chemical teams would face the prospect of trying to work in the midst of a conflict, close to rebel fighters whose ranks may include anti-Western jihadists.


(Writing by Dominic Evans, Editing by Angus MacSwan)



Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-fighters-battle-ignoring-muslim-holiday-143617239.html
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New House GOP plan as debt-limit deadline nears

Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, walks away from the microphone during a news conference after a House GOP meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington. The federal government remains partially shut down and faces a first-ever default between Oct. 17 and the end of the month. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)







Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, walks away from the microphone during a news conference after a House GOP meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington. The federal government remains partially shut down and faces a first-ever default between Oct. 17 and the end of the month. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)







House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks with reporters before going to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, as Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn, D-S.C., right, listen. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)







Specialist Frank Masiello watches a television monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange showing a Washington news conference by House Speaker John Boehner, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. Leaders in the House of Representatives and Senate were negotiating separate but similar plans Tuesday to reopen the U.S. government and prevent a default on American debt that economists say could tip the global economy back into recession. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)







Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, arrives for a news conference after a House GOP meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington. House GOP leaders Tuesday floated a plan to fellow Republicans to counter an emerging Senate deal to reopen the government and forestall an economy-rattling default on U.S. obligations. But the plan got mixed reviews from the rank and file and it was not clear whether it could pass the chamber. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)







WASHINGTON (AP) — Time growing desperately short, House Republicans pushed for passage of legislation late Tuesday to prevent a threatened Treasury default, end a 15-day partial government shutdown and extricate divided government from its latest brush with a full political meltdown.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House to the measure, which was revised from a version unveiled only hours earlier that had been stocked with conservative priorities and had drawn swift condemnation from Democrats.

While the House readied for a possible Tuesday night vote, the immediate result was to impose a daylong freeze on Senate negotiations on a bipartisan compromise that had appeared ready to bear fruit.

As a day of secret meetings and frenzied maneuvering unfolded in all corners of the Capitol, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., stood on the Senate floor at midafternoon and declared, "We are 33 hours away from becoming a deadbeat nation, not paying its bills to its own people and other creditors."

Officials said that under the revised bill prepared by House Republicans, the Treasury would be permitted to borrow normally until Feb. 7 and the government reopened with sufficient funds to carry it to Dec. 15.

Additionally, members of Congress, the president, vice president and thousands of aides would no longer be eligible to receive employer health care contributions from the government that employs them.

"The House will vote tonight to reopen the government and avoid default," Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner said in a statement.

He said the legislation would "end Obamacare subsidies for elected officials and staff in Washington, D.C., and pressure Senate Democrats to accept more sensible" time frames for reopening the government and renewing Treasury's borrowing authority.

Gone from the measure was a pair of provisions that had drawn objections, one a plan to delay a medical device tax created under the new health care law known as Obamacare. The other would have imposed tougher income verification standards on individuals and families seeking subsidies for care under the law.

Democrats had viewed both as concessions to Republicans, and deemed their inclusion as a violation of Obama's vow not to pay a "ransom" to the GOP for passing essential funding and borrowing measures.

Even with the changes, it was unclear whether Boehner and the GOP leadership had the votes to pass their measure.

The day's events prompted an outbreak of partisan rhetoric, mixed with urgent warnings that both the U.S. and global economies could suffer severe damage quickly unless Congress acted by Thursday.

Even something of an appeal for heavenly aid was thrown in, as Rep. Steve Southerland of Florida led House Republicans in a rendition of "Amazing Grace" at the beginning of a rank-and-file meeting called to discuss a way out of the impasse.

Speaking with reporters, Boehner said, "I have made clear for months and months that the idea of default is wrong and we shouldn't get anywhere close to it."

But the first measure the leadership produced evidently came up short on votes, and the White House trashed it as an attempt to "appease a small group of tea party Republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place. "

Democrats jumped on Boehner and the plan he produced.

In unusually personal remarks, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Ohio Republican had "once again tried to preserve his role at the expense of the country."

That was a reference to a rebellious rank and file in the House, who routinely seek to push Boehner and the rest of the leadership to the right. A group met Monday night with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who last summer played a public role in a campaign to demand defunding of Obamacare as the price for preventing a partial government shutdown.

The Democratic attacks were too much for some Republicans who have been among those most vocal in calling for a bipartisan solution to the impasse.

"It's piling on and it's not right," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said of the response from the Democrats. "To categorically reject what the House and the speaker are doing — and I think he's pretty courageous in what he's doing — in my view is not serving the American people."

The House had been effectively sidelined in recent days as Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell engaged in intense negotiations to reopen the government and raise the debt limit.

That changed emphatically when details began circulating of some of the elements of the terms under discussion.

In addition to ending the shutdown and raising the debt limit, the two Senate leaders were considering a plan to delay a $63-per-person fee that the health care overhaul would impose on anyone who receives health care coverage under an employer-provided plan.

Some Republicans balked, complaining that was a concession to labor unions who are among the Democrats' most loyal political supporters.

Many unions have announced their opposition to the fee, but so, too, have businesses.

Reid and McConnell also have been discussing provisions to give federal agencies flexibility in adjusting to across-the-board spending cuts imposed under legislation that Obama signed in 2011.

Another element of their negotiations would call for House-Senate negotiations on a possible deficit reduction measure to take the place of the across-the-board cuts.

The twin crises began more than three weeks ago, when some lawmakers in the House insisted on seeking the defunding of Obamacare as the price for preventing a partial shutdown of the government.

The White House refused, and the Democratic-controlled Senate rejected legislation to achieve the GOP goal, as well as subsequent legislation that contained scaled-back concessions on the health care overhaul.

The partial shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, swiftly merged with the approaching debt crisis.

According to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, unless Congress acts by Oct. 17, the government will lose its ability to borrow, and would be required to meet its obligations relying only on cash on hand and incoming tax receipts.

While it was unclear how long that would suffice, the date stood as a deadline. The closer it approached, the more urgent became the pleas of businesses and bankers in this country as well as officials overseas for the United States to put its finances into order.

Whatever the outcome, the all-out assault on Obamacare that became a tea party rallying cry last summer was long gone, repulsed by the president and his Democratic allies in Congress.

Instead, Republican disapproval ratings have plummeted in public opinion polls in the past two weeks, vindicating warnings from Boehner, McConnell and other party elders that the original strategy of threatening to shut down the government in hopes of wiping out the overhaul was badly flawed.

"We got ourselves in a ditch," McCain said. "And we got to stop digging."

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Andrew Taylor, Henry C. Jackson, Julie Pace and Alan Fram contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-15-Budget%20Battle/id-25b72ff0e3f6487f80d2443070c9746c
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WOW: Tablet Gaming Startup Supercell Just ... - Business Insider

Supercell

Supercell

Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen (left)

Supercell, a Helsinki-based gaming startup, has raised a $1.5 billion round of investment from SoftBank and GungHo.

It sold a 51% stake in exchange for the investment, TechCrunch confims.


That comes six months after its previous round of financing, which valued Supercell at a reported $770 million.


Then, the tablet-first gaming company was making about $2.4 million per day. None of it was from merchandise, which is how companies like Rovio and Mind Candy make a lot of money. Supercell generated $180 million in the first quarter of this year alone from two hit games, Hay Day, which targets women, and Clash of Clans, which appeals to men.


Here's a blog post from Supercell's founder, Ilkka Paananen:


I have some very exciting news to share with you today. We have received a strategic investment of $1.5 billion from SoftBank and GungHo. This new partnership will accelerate Supercell towards our goal of being the first truly global games company, and gives us enough time to get there.

Let me try to explain why.


The combination of tablets, mobile and the free-to-play business model has created a new market for games, one that will be accessible to billions of consumers, more people than ever before in the history of games. This truly is a new era of gaming and has opened up exciting opportunities for new kinds of companies.


At Supercell, one of our greatest aspirations is to become the first truly global games company, one that has a strong foothold in both the West and the East, including Japan, Korea and China. We want to build a company that people all over the globe will look back in 30 years and talk about all the great games that we developed and the impact they had on people’s lives. The same way I personally feel about Nintendo, for example.


This is a lofty goal and getting there takes persistence, passion, and luck – but just as importantly, it takes time, and requires a lot of patience. Even if we have had a pretty good start on our journey, it is still very early days. Creating history takes time.


The strategic investment from SoftBank helps us to accelerate towards our goal in two different ways:


1)     SoftBank provides us with a massive selection of strategic resources that will help us deliver our games to hundreds of millions of new consumers all over the globe.


2)     SoftBank is all about the long term. In fact, I have never met anyone who thinks as long term as its founder, Masayoshi Son, does. When we first met, he told me he has a 300-year vision, and I thought he was joking until the following day when he ran me through what it actually looks like and it is indeed very real and extremely inspirational. When you meet someone like Masa you realize what it takes to build a global business that will last forever. It further strengthened my belief that, we are just getting started. As a company, we are 3 years old so we’re only 1% done if we plan for the next 300 years.


In his own words, here’s what Masa wanted to tell our players, employees and friends about Supercell and our new partnership:  


“In our quest to become the #1 mobile Internet company, we scour the globe in search of interesting opportunities and right now some of the most exciting companies and innovations are coming out of Finland.  Supercell is one of those rare and special companies. While your success is impressive, it is your amazing culture and deep passion that truly inspired me. After getting to know Ilkka and some of the team, it became clear to me that you, like us at Softbank, are on a similar long and aspirational journey to shape the future of entertainment for the next hundred years.  And, I'm excited to see an independent Supercell continue to rise with great people and great games, delivering happiness to so many people around the world."


This new partnership also takes our collaboration with our good friends at GungHo to the next level. We are super excited to have them participate in this investment by putting in 20% of the total amount. We’ve had a great collaboration between Puzzle & Dragons and Clash of Clans. They’re an amazing bunch of people, and they have a terrific culture. Through them we’ve come to learn that the Japanese and Finnish cultures are pretty similar on many levels. Not only when it comes to taking your shoes off before you enter someone’s home, but also and more importantly, when it comes to partying, if you know what I mean.


It may sound like a detail, but I should also mention that the company that will end up owning 51% of Supercell is incorporated in Finland. This is both exciting and important for me personally. Although our aspirations are global, our roots and future are very much in Finland. Our operations remain in Finland, our management team remains in Finland and in San Francisco, and we continue to pay taxes in Finland. I think more and more people in this country are realizing that there is life after Nokia!


Naturally, this transaction is great for us from an economic perspective. As many of you know, a big part of Supercell’s culture is the idea of “we are all in this together”. In line with this thinking, everyone at the company will participate in the upside and receive a portion of the proceeds from the investment. None of us work here just for of money, but when the company succeeds, everyone should get their fair share of it and this transaction is no exception.


Although we now have a major new investor in Softbank, it is extremely important to understand that we are still in full control of our future and will continue to operate independently. In fact, and this may sound surprising to some, I feel that with this deal, we're now more independent and in control of our future than we ever have been.


Lastly, I want to thank our players, all the Supercellians, and everyone else whose support has been so valuable in getting us this far. We’ve had an amazing journey together, and it will only get more exciting in the years to come.


Thank you for reading this far. I know this was a lengthy post, but since this is such an important milestone for the company, I wanted to take the time to fully explain our thinking behind it and exactly what it means to all of you.


 


Now, let’s go make history together! Kippis! Kampai!



Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/supercell-raises-15-billion-from-softbank-and-gungho-2013-10
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

ASUS Transformer Pad TF701T goes on sale in the UK on October 21

Android Central

ASUS' latest tablet/laptop hybrid comes packing the specs, yours for £429.99

Initially announced back at IFA 2013 in Berlin, UK availability has finally been confirmed for the latest in the ASUS Transformer Pad line of devices. The catchily named TF701T comes with the now traditional keyboard dock included, and will go on sale in the UK via Amazon and eBuyer on October 21 for £429.99. 

While the name may not capture the imagination, this latest Transformer Pad comes packing in the specs department. Some recent tablet offerings from ASUS have been lacking a little in the display department, but all that goes away with the TF701T. It houses a 2560x1600 resolution 10.1-inch IPS display that looks pretty darn nice. Underneath, NVIDIA's latest Tegra 4 chip pushes everything along backed up by 2GB of RAM. On-board storage is a respectible 32GB and the package also has both micro and full size SD card slots. A USB 3.0 port, HDMI out capable of driving a 4K display and a 5MP/1.2MP rear and front camera combination completes most of the important specs. 

Of course, as with previous Transformer devices from ASUS, the dock also houses extra battery power for the ensemble. A 31Wh battery in the tablet and a 16Wh in the dock combines for a claimed 13 hour and 4 hour split on battery life, so around 17 hours claimed when used together. 

More: Hands on with the ASUS Transformer Pad TF701T


    






Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/TQ5AoAZtskM/story01.htm
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