THE latest skit-turned-video-cult-classic from “Saturday Night Live” is Andy Samberg’s “I Ran So Far,” and it’s burning up the Internet, bringing well-earned attention to the comedic talent – but it is also leaving NBC’s legal eagles a bit red-faced.

Sampling has always been the de facto beat-creation process for hip-hop producers, but as the music has exploded in popularity, copyright laws have been enforced more regularly and the stakes—and money—involved in the sampling business have risen accordingly.

Kanye West may seem like the big winner in this week’s hip-hop battle royal with 50 Cent – but the real victor is likely ’70s group Steely Dan.

Vinyl wasn’t always this hot, as your dusty records will probably attest. Invented by Leo Baekeland and Union Carbide in 1930, vinyl mapped out the earliest jazz and blues recordings, ushered in rock ‘n’ roll and gave us disco beats. However, an ’80s disco backlash as well as a new technology called the cassette tape threatened to bury the record permanently. A generation later, hip-hop DJs, jazz purists and hipsters musicians respect vinyl not only for its classic, sensual aesthetics, but the quality of the sound. The soft, malleable grooves of a record still capture sound better than digital music from your iPod.

Aside from the coolness factor, records are an affordable way to bone up on your music. “[Collecting records] can still be one of the cheapest ways to acquire music,” Wojcik says. “Both classic albums and rare treasures can be found cheaply.”

Most major cities have used record stores. eBay and the Internet, while a great way to browse, should only be used if it is from a reputable source. Finding quality records is a lot like purchasing fruit: you want the record to be shiny, with no marks, scratches or flaws. Also, because records are flexible, check for heat warps.

Collectors say it’s a worthy hobby, even if you don’t find that hidden treasure. “The important thing in collecting is to find music that you like and collect that,” says Rick Morey of www.thelaughingpapillon.com. “If you don’t get the return you are expecting, you still have a great collection that you like.”

SIDEBAR:
Getting a record player, or turntable in modern terms, isn’t as intimidating as it sounds. A brand-new record player will run you between $100 and $200. Popular brands include Gemini, Numark and Technics. There are basically two models: belt drive and direct drive. The cheaper belt drive is fine, that is unless you plan on scratching records like a hip-hop DJ. Make sure it also comes with at least one stylus (the record needle) and cartridge (record needle holder).

Used record players are also good – if you go to a reputable place. Try asking your local record store owner for suggestions. “Here in Chicago, we routinely send customers to a few of these outlets because they’ll get a great turntable for a good price, usually all refurbished and repaired,” says Rick Wojcik of www.dustygroove.com. And you might want to ditch the “classic” player you have in the attic. “Unless it’s a real gem, the ‘in the door’ cost of repairs to turntables are often as much as buying something new.”

Due later this month, the AT&T-exclusive iPhone has Verizon and the other major carriers going through the stages of grief.

Fans are checking when their current cellphone deals run out – and many are opting for Cingular to be eligible for the iPhone.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs gambles brand rep with iPhone 2.0.

Video game makers are launching an all-out assault on the beleaguered music business by signing the musicians behind their original video game soundtracks to deals on newly minted labels.

*iPhone (June, $499 for 4 GB and $599 for 8 GB) – Apple blew away the show (as usual) with its tiny smartphone. The device is all screen: 3.5” of full-color touchscreen goodness, complete iPod compatibility and Blackberry-like keyboard functionality. The Safari web browser keeps you online, while Visual Voicemail allows message organization without listening to every saved voicemail. The quad-band GSM format provides extensive coverage worldwide. The 2 megapixel camera flows into iPhoto. At press time Cingular was the only provider. We suggest you get in line now.

*Boynq Vase USB Speaker (Available now, $29 and up) – Don’t give your compact laptop some clunky speakers. Try the Boynq line of sleek sounds, the best looking being the curvy vase design. It’s USB powered, so no AC plug is required, and emits a pink or amber glow when on.

*Altec Lansing inMotion iMV712 (Available now, $349.95) – Video iPods are great, but suck battery life quicker than an episode of Scrubs. The iMotion station has an 8.5” high resolution LCD panel, neodymium (e.g. powerful) speakers and a built-in subwoofer. The small size fits easily into any crib.

*Altec Lansing PT7031 (Available now, $599.95) – If these speakers are any indication, regular surround sound is officially old-school. One slim wireless bar, carrying the left, right and center speakers, fits on your TV. The other bar goes behind your head. The whole package is clean, efficient and powerful.

*Repose Wireless Sound Seat (Available now, $599) – Entertainment seats come a dime a dozen, but this one supports your music and your video games. Five 2.1 surround sound speakers, including a subwoofer below, and a USB and iPod connector come standard. The velvety cover and cup holders complete the laziness.

*Atlantic EGO Waterproof iPod Case (Available now, $199.99) – Take your iPod to the beach or in the shower with this fully self-contained package. Batteries keep the four embedded speakers running for about 30 hours. And the sturdy case is actually made of bulletproof glass, which might help if you get shot at.

*MOTOMING (Availability and price TBD) – Looks like the iPhone has a little competition. This thin bad boy is all touch-screen operated – no keys – and sports FM radio, Real Player and multiple music format support. A removable microSD memory card makes storing additional tunes easy.

*Coby PMP-4330 (Available now, price TBD) – The PMP should be renamed the P.I.M.P. The small device plays almost any media, including text documents and FM radio, connects to home theater systems and packs a 30 GB hard drive. The 4.3” widescreen LCD doesn’t hurt, either, and data management is a snap.

*Sonos Digital Music System (Available now, $999.00 and up) – Pump your favorite Internet, PC or Mac music throughout the house without drilling holes or running wires. Mix and match the ZonePlayer 80 and ZonePlayer 100 speakers, wirelessly connect them throughout and control it all via remote.

*Delphi SkyFi 3 XM Satellite Radio (Available now, $220) – Miss your favorite XM program? The portable SkyFi 3 TiVos your satellite radio shows as you listen and can rewind them up to 30 minutes. It also holds up to 600 songs on its microSD card – the first satellite radio to pack removable memory.

Oprah’s lackluster XM debut may be the key to the XM/Sirius satellite radio merger.

While Lil Jon’s felt the need lately to proclaim that ‘Crunk Ain’t Dead,’ and no new East Coast artist has emerged to truly Bring New York Back, out West, the hyphy movement continues to quietly bubble. Although it doesn’t sell as many records as the South or garner the press coverage that the Big Apple does, hyphy still has folks going dumb in the Bay Area. And for the past three years, a locally produced and broadcast television program called The Hipnotik Show has been at the forefront of documenting the burgeoning homegrown culture.

The Hipnotik Show is the brainchild of Bay natives Josue Leon a.k.a. A-1 Sway and Eric Barnoski a.k.a. Booyowski. The pair started the weekly show to give the insider’s view they felt was missing from national coverage of their local hip-hop scene. “Let’s say E-40 has a concert,” explains Leon. “BET will do the [textbook] stuff—video 101—and just get a rapper interview. Same with MTV. On The Hipnotik Show, we will get them talking shit, we will get behind the scenes, talk to them prior to the event and after the event.” Since its debut in 2003, Hipnotik has documented Keak Da Sneak’s extravagant 28th birthday party, E-40’s FatBurger franchise opening, and a concert from San Quentin prison featuring Messy Marv and Dem Hoodstarz.

The show got its start when Leon, a self-taught filmmaker, began recording parties and concerts he attended. Soon friends were requesting tapes and Leon and Barnoski, who runs a painting company, went to Comcast channel 29 in San Francisco. “They said we have an open slot, but we need your first show in three days,” Leon recalls. “I’m like, ‘Of course,’ [but] we had nothing [good] on tape!” The pair quickly scored some new footage, and began holding down their 11:30 PM Tuesday time slot.

Hipnotik has not only proven popular with viewers—in 2004 the show expanded to the Los Angeles market—but with its subjects as well. “I see a lot of bootleg DVDs and a lot of muthafuckas try to put shows together, but none this professional,” says Traxamillion the producer of Keak Da Sneak’s ubiquitous anthem “Superhyphy.” “It’s really helped artists like me and Keak and [Mistah] F.A.B. get a chance to shine.” Adds the Federation’s Goldie Gold, who’s hosted a new artist segment on Hipnotik since 2004: “The show gave Northern California some type of outlet to be seen by their own, like ‘What’s going on with us?’ It helped us take pride in our own right.”

With the success of The Hipnotik Show as proof, that’s no idle flamboasting. —Damon Brown

Part of the EA Sports Big line (which includes SSX Tricky and NBA Street), Def Jam Vendetta has many of Def Jam’s most popular rappers going at it in the ring. With up to four players simultaneously and more than 1,500 different moves available, the fighting combinations seem nearly endless.

As far as music, you can expect the real deal from Def Jam artists. Through a partnership called EA Trax, Def Jam is providing 18 real songs in the game, six of them new. “We’ll have new DMX, Meth, CNN and Keith Murray,” says Def Jam President Kevin Liles. “We’re trying to use a lot of different artists that have brand recognition and also some new artists.”

Aside from the multiplayer game, a Story mode is available to play solo. Evidently you are a retired underground fighter, but are forced to return to the ring after your boy Manny asks for help against kingpin D-Mob – the person who retired you in the first place. You work your way through the ranks Mortal Kombat-style, fighting more than 45 different characters (including lots of Def Jam artists) in the ring and on side missions. The game’s fast pace is closer to a fighting game than most of the wrestling games out now, with characters jumping, flying and slamming around the ring at crazy speeds.

“I played the demo and I was like ‘Oh shit!’ I had to be down,” says NORE, one of the wrestlers who provides beatdowns in the game. “I’m a gameaholic, be at the crib playing games all the time. It’s a great fighting game.”

NORE also says that his video game counterpart has an uncanny resemblance to himself. “My dead arm in the game is serious, man. They got that out of real life. I swear they were following me around getting footage or something.”

Conspiracy theories aside, Electronic Arts did hook up all the rappers to motion capture equipment. A computer documented the motions as they did their wrestling moves in real life and animators used the information to make, for instance, the video game DMX look like the real Earl Simmons.

Redman, another playable rapper, agrees that the game captures all the rappers well. “It shows our look, our clothes, the details are great. And the action is tight, man. Ain’t nothin’ corny. It’s action packed.”

“Besides,” Redman adds, “I love starting fights and shit.”

Gaming giant Electronic Arts has created EA Trax, a music department that licenses exclusive cuts for EA games and consults producers to make sure the sound is authentic. One of the first EA Trax-aided games is NBA Live 2003 which features songs from Fabolous and Busta Rhymes, and in-game music by hip-hop producer Just Blaze.

Though licensing music for video games isn’t anything new, actually having music made exclusively for video games is, said EA Worldwide Executive of Music Steve Schnur. “Before it was more like catalog music. I looked at a competitor’s title where they were bragging about having DMX and Luda on there… but all of it was released between 1999 and 2001, songs we’ve all heard before and wore out.”

Luckily EA is working with the various labels to release game music compilations so you won’t have to play to hear the music. Participating labels include Electra, Capitol, Atlantic, Interscope, Dreamworks, MCA, Lava and Island/Def Jam. EA also is looking to do label-driven games including a wrestling title featuring Def Jam rappers.

Just Blaze, a hardcore gamer who once considered making them instead of playing them, thinks that authentic, original game music is a step in the right direction. “I respect [EA], since most companies might license a couple of hip-hop songs, but the music in the rest of the game sounds like techno or some guy in Iowa trying to sound like hip-hop,” he said.