Dear Music Journos,
I know it’s tempting to use the 10th anniversary of DJ Screw’s death to write puff pieces about Witch-House/Drag/whatever music. Please resist the urge. If you’re going to big up Screw, by all means, go ahead and do so: find the rappers he worked with, examine his releases, hell postulate on his impact on rap music which is increasingly reliant on a variety of vocal effects for impact. You can even talk to Drake for all I care. But DON’T use the man’s death as an excuse to write about a bunch of tangentially-related, Sparks-sipping carpetbaggers who downloaded a torrent of his stuff after stumbling across a remixed Lil Wayne mixtape in 2007. It’s a lazy angle and a reductive one.
Screwed music is about more than pitching down record: there’s technique involved and a community based around the music which is far more interesting than a time stretched Bieber or heroin addicted ironists. They won’t be around next year anyway (remember Chillwave? yeah), so save yourselves from looking stupid by concentrating on what really matters, instead of coming off like desperate Johnny-come-latelies sprinting to catch the hype train.
Sincerely.
Sach O aka Son Raw aka Goldman Sach aka Dub McKenzie.
Download:
MP3: DJ Screw – 3 N Da Morning Double CD (left click)
MP3: E.S.G – Sailin the South (DJ Screw Remix)
MP3: Trae – Screw done already warned me
8 comments
CD says:
November 9, 2010 at 1:08 pm (UTC -7)
Guess i know who i won’t be asking to edit my next Pitchfork editorial submission.
Sach says:
November 9, 2010 at 1:24 pm (UTC -7)
I could edit it ironically if you want. It’d be sort of like how George Constanza did the exact opposite stuff his gut told him to do in order to score with women.
Alex says:
November 9, 2010 at 1:53 pm (UTC -7)
Baba Yaga’s hut was the OG witch house
http://www.deviantart.com/download/98576236/Baba_Yaga__House_and_Toad_by_Satsumo.jpg
elcanyonazo says:
November 9, 2010 at 4:59 pm (UTC -7)
for anyone that wants the backstory : http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/music2/
why didnt you just call out djrupture directly? are there other examples out there that I’m missing?
Sach says:
November 9, 2010 at 5:53 pm (UTC -7)
Was talking about this actually.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/arts/music/07witch.html
but yeah I could have also written it about that as well. Actually the fact that there’s two of them sort of drives home my point, nahmean?
w&w says:
November 9, 2010 at 6:26 pm (UTC -7)
actually there were (at least) 3:
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/caramanica-sherburne-and-dj-rupture-link-dj-screw-witch-house/
so something’s in the water.
still, it’s disingenuous (or just lazy) to pretend that caramanica, or clayton, or sherburne — three top notch music writers, IMO — didn’t know (or write about) dj screw long before they fastened on this latest way of keeping the torch aloft.
still, i hear your call for more attn to screw proper. here’s as good an opening as any.
Sach says:
November 9, 2010 at 6:40 pm (UTC -7)
I’m not in the business of personal attacks on music writers anyways. I just happen to think that using Screw’s name to promote terribly shallow indie-dance is not cool no matter who says it.
Twitter Trackbacks for Passion of the Weiss » Blog Archive » Sach O: Slowly spinning in his grave [passionweiss.com] on Topsy.com says:
November 11, 2010 at 8:56 am (UTC -7)
[...] Passion of the Weiss » Blog Archive » Sach O: Slowly spinning in his grave passionweiss.com/2010/11/09/sach-o-slowly-spinning-in-his-grave/ – view page – cached I know it’s tempting to use the 10th anniversary of DJ Screw’s death to write puff pieces about Witch-House/Drag/whatever music. Please resist the urge. If you’re going to big up Screw, by all means, go ahead and do so: find the rappers he worked with, examine his releases, hell postulate on his impact on rap music which is increasingly reliant on a variety of vocal effects for impact. You… Read moreI know it’s tempting to use the 10th anniversary of DJ Screw’s death to write puff pieces about Witch-House/Drag/whatever music. Please resist the urge. If you’re going to big up Screw, by all means, go ahead and do so: find the rappers he worked with, examine his releases, hell postulate on his impact on rap music which is increasingly reliant on a variety of vocal effects for impact. You can even talk to Drake for all I care. But DON’T use the man’s death as an excuse to write about a bunch of tangentially-related, Sparks-sipping carpetbaggers who downloaded a torrent of his stuff after stumbling across a remixed Lil Wayne mixtape in 2007. It’s a lazy angle and a reductive one. View page Tweets about this link [...]