April 8th, 2008
10. The ability to acquire flaming pennies (these were also reportedly Shaquille O’ Neal’s last words upon leaving Orlando). Such magic coins will give their owners the ability to turn homeless people into suave and dapper, ladies men and thus realize their dreams of using P.I.M.P.O.L.O.G.Y. to logically, learn these tricks biology. Obviously.
9. When in doubt, just ask yourself, “how would Bone Thugs rap it?” If that fails, just get Twista.
8. A rooftop pool is a must. The promise of such aquatic delight will ensnare all video vixens from the Southside of the Chi to Joliet. However, for safety purposes, a life guard must be present at all all times. Do or die.
7. Khaki suits with shorts, no shirt, no problem.
6 . The willingness to spend dozens of hours a week doing nothing but riding in the backseat of a Caddy and chopping it up with Do or Die. Other responsibilities may include buying 40s, carrying weed and trips to the mall to buy Girbaud.
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Posted in 10 Questions Raised | 8 Comments »
April 8th, 2008
It was my third night in Austin. Devin had just blazed through an epic set that had been celebrated in the appropriate fashion , El-P was currently on-stage and I was wandering around the Def Jux party with four cups of Jack in my stomach, a head full of smoke and the strange desire to approach people and ask if they had also expected everything to be “1984″ themed and staffed entirely by surly robots. But I held my tongue, instead approaching a ornery, heavily tatted bartender at the Scoot Inn, noting the sign above his head that read: “Sorry We Do Not Have Redbull, Wine coolers or Smirnoff Ice, Please Don’t Even Go There P.S. No Shiner Either.” So I did the only sensible thing, I ordered a Jack on the Rocks with a Zima chaser. The barkeep didn’t find this funny and come to think of it, neither did I.
Luckily, I ran into my friend, Will, who was whispering weird gibberish about Del tha Funky Homosapien. As that’s not a name you want to say sotto voce, there was a slight misunderstanding but when things were finally straightened out, I learned that he had canceled his interview with Del moments earlier because of a bout of laryngitis. Naturally, I volunteered for the assignment.
“It won’t be a problem, I rambled. “No one needs prepared questions. Performing interviews without questions is like the freestyling of journalism. Chris Matthews, Larry King, Ellen DeGeneres, they all do it.”
“Maybe I can help you think of some questions?” he said. I could tell that he was a fan of common sense and this frightened me. After all, Finding Forever was terrible.
“Nonsense. I freestyle questions all time,” I scoffed. “It’s part of my plan to improvise everything, release my interviews as mixtapes and win the 2008 Pazz & Jop poll. It’s foolproof.”
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Posted in SXSW, Interviews | 7 Comments »
April 7th, 2008
Now that Zilla Rocca and U-God Zilla have joined forces, the planets shall align and miniature golf scores shall plummet.
U-God is probably one of the most interesting MC’s in Wu-Tang. And by interesting I mean “not very talented.” He had that scene-stealing verse on “Da Mystery of Chessboxin” (you’re welcome, Brandon Soderberg) but he also did “Black Shampoo,” still the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard on a hardcore hip hop album. He’s flexed a rhyme style of Mafioso threats, misdirected 5 percent slang, Dungeons and Dragons word salad, and a flow that never quite landed on beat all the time. He’s always had a cool voice, but hasn’t done anything notable with it like Lord Have Mercy. He wore the Wonder Women bracelets years before Ghostface. His first solo album “Golden Arms Redemption” ranks up there with Cappadonna’s “The Yin and the Yang” as one of the holes that helped sink the Wu boat in the late 90s. And the video for “Bazar” shows what happens to your budget when your name isn’t Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface, RZA, GZA, or ODB.
With that said, I’ve always kinda rooted for U-God. He was never as technically precise as Inspectah Deck or GZA. He was never as intriguing nor mysterious as Masta Killa. I’m not sure if he did as much cocaine as Ol’ Dirty. And he didn’t pronounce his “R’s” as “W’s” like RZA. U-God (does anyone refer to him as Golden Arms anymore?) would sneak up on you with some standout verses here and there like on “The Big Doe Rehab” (“Semi-Automatic Full Rap Metal Jacket” from the “High School High” soundtrack is probably his best verse). And who could forget him flipping out on Method Man as they cruised on a bullet train through Japan during “The Show?” Plus if my memory serves me correct, his character on the Wu-Tang video game for Playstation was pretty decent, so kudos to you Mr. Lucky Hands.
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Posted in The Beat Generation | 20 Comments »
April 4th, 2008
“Passing Me By” might not be my favorite song ever, but it’s definitely in my top 10. It’s probably in yours too. It’s the sort of cut that you can play at any time of day or night, despite the inherently sad subtext contained within the Pharcyde’s tribute to unrequited love. Instead, it’s buoyed by an almost celebratory vibe, built on the invincible alchemy of Fatlip’s screechy, indelible hook, the crew’s funny underdog narratives and J-Swift’s flip of “Summer in the City.” QD3 got Fatlip to do a background commentary for a track that he describes as one of those “quintessential, stony, underground hip-hop” songs. That sounds about right. The original video minus the commentary is below.
Spotted Via Nah Right
Download:
MP3: The Pharcyde-”Passin’ Me By”
Posted in Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought? | 3 Comments »
April 4th, 2008
You may not know who Jay Electronica is yet, but I’m willing to bet that you would had he chosen a better name. Jay Electronica does not sound like the one of the most buzzed about rappers of 2008. Jay Electronica sounds like the name of a small-potatoes Milwaukee techno DJ circa 1999 who magically found a way to include “Do you Think We’re Better Off Alone,” and “We Like to Party” in every set. Somehow, despite this ill-fated nomenclature, Electronica has received a deal from Just Blaze and Erykah Badu, a spot on the new Nas and Roots records and the cover of last month’s Urb, where he elicited a comparison to a “Live at the BBQ”-era Nas. Not bad.
The buzz comes off the strength of his ambitious, wildly original, if not slightly pretentious,”Act 1: Eternal Sunshine: The Pledge,” and a few unofficial EP’s released on a since-deleted Myspace page. While the material that has surfaced is certainly strong, the Nas comparisons only bear a superficial resemblance. At 31, Electronica has spent the last decade living a peripatetic existence, with stops in New Orleans, Atlanta, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington DC, Denver and Dallas, a far cry from the 18-year old Queens prodigy with a ferocious imagination and a poet’s eye for detail.
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Posted in Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought? | 13 Comments »
April 3rd, 2008
There is no Passion anymore. The hipsters have won. I have grown a mustache, developed a new-found appreciation for Man Man and refuse to swaddle myself in anything but the finest fabrics made with real American (or at least Mexican-American) labor in Downtown Los Angeles. The Revolution is over. Feed me headbands or feed me organic vegan corn dogs and Kombucha tea. I’m a beast.
Really, so, uh, yeah, the big ad next to this post, sorry. I know it’s a bit obtrusive, but since I’ve been blogging for free for two and a half years, I feel that it’s okay to have an ad or two because like the other Wayne: “I refuse to bow to any corporate sponsors.” Of course, I say this while eating a bag of Doritos and drinking Pepsi, the choice of the new generation.
Download:
MP3: Scarface-”Sell Out”
MP3: Jay-Z ft. Big Boi, Killa Mike & Twista-”Poppin’ Tags”
Posted in News | 6 Comments »
April 3rd, 2008
Sometimes when you blog nearly every day you just want to post a song and say that it’s really awesome and that you don’t feel the need to describe it because it’s just really great and you don’t feel like using punctuation or grammar and you realize you should just shut up now and post it.
I’ll hopefully have something a bit more considered up in the afternoon. No promises.
Download: (from the new Erykah Badu album which I really haven’t listened to because I can’t get past this song)
MP3: Erykah Badu-”The Healer”
Posted in Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought? | 7 Comments »
April 2nd, 2008
I’m aware that it’s reductive to be like, “yo, Slug, why don’t you come out with that Overcast-type shit.” It’s not 1997 anymore and artists need to evolve. I get it. But “Guarantee” is not good. Sure, it’s a noble failure, but c’mon dude, emo rap-rock is not the future, despite what Wentz and Durst might tell you. I’ve scrawled some mean-spirited thoughts at Idolator about the new Atmosphere video. If you need me I’m going to be bumping “1597,” and wallowing in nostalgia.
Idolator-New Atmosphere Video Reveals Slug to Be Long-Lost Member of Soul Asylum
MP3: Atmosphere-”1597″
Posted in Idolator, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
April 2nd, 2008
Yes, the title is true, one article, one interview, one post. All for the low low price of nothing. I am nothing if not bargain-minded. Act now while supplies last and before I run out of cliches to spew. Nonsensical gibberish aside, I may not be as a big a UGK fan as others on the Internet, but I’m not about to deny that they made a lot of great music, nor will I argue with anyone who wants to ascribe classic status to Ridin’ Dirty. Plus, Bun B is one of the world’s great interviews and it was an honor to speak with him. The link to the Times piece is below, the interview with Bun is below the jump.
LA Times: Bun B’s Birthday Has Him Thinking of Pimp C’s Death
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Posted in Interviews, LA Times | 3 Comments »
