May 8th, 2008
After Tuesday night’s Atmosphere show, I’m convinced that it’s high-time we retired the label, “underground hip-hop.” Like “indie rock,” before it, the term has ceased to have any real meaning. When the phrase first started to gain currency in the mid-to-late 90s, it actually referred to something specific: the Rawkus/Rhymesayers/Def Jux/Quannum/Fondle ‘Em stuff that outwardly bucked the mainstream, big Willie posturing. But in 2008 there’s no mainstream to speak of. Rappers that move units: Kanye, 50, Wayne, are as pop as they are hip-hop.* And when a guy like Slug can sell out every date of his West Coast Tour, be named MTV Artist of the Week and debut at #5 on the charts, it’s a sign that the lines have grown hopelessly hazy. A dub or a sendspace link to Black and White in Dub to the first person who thinks of a clever genre catch-phrase that I can co-opt. Act now while supplies last.
As for the show, it was solid. Slug’s always been an impressive rapper and even though he’s arguably past his prime, he still can bring it on-stage. Moreover, I was stunned by how rabid his fan base has gotten. I saw them in October but this time felt more triumphant, a victory lap with both crowd and artist semi-stunned by the group’s recent trajectory. And yes, in case you were wondering, Ant still looks eerily like Burt Reynolds on Celebrity Jeopardy.
*Don’t argue with me Wayne fanboys. Granted, I know that new cut with Bun B features dope rapping but still, this exists.
LA Times: Atmosphere Flying High
From When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold
MP3: Atmosphere-”Puppets”
MP3: Atmosphere-”Yesterday”
Posted in LA Times | 5 Comments »
May 5th, 2008
Consider this the perfunctory Iron Man post, something seemingly standard for all 20-somethings with a blog, a modicum of testosterone and an appreciation for whip-smart dialogue paired with visual effects most appropriately described as “super-awesome. ” I’ve never been a comic book guy per se (despite having a trunkful of ultra-rare Radioactive Man issues), but Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard and the film’s four credited screenwriters deserve a great deal of credit for turning in what I and many others consider the best super hero movie in years. If Ghost hadn’t been sliced out of the finished project, I’d consider it an almost flawless film.
Last Thursday, with Stark anticipation at a fever pitch, I had the chance to go to the listening party for Ironman star Terrence Howard’s musical debut. Anyone who has seen Hustle and Flow knows that he’s got some talent, but albums by actors typically constitute 17.4 percent of the bargain buy bins at any given record store (save for that 30 Odd Foot of Grunts record…oh Russell Crowe will you ever lose?). Shockingly, Howard’s album was pretty decent. Not the sort of thing I’d cop myself, but were I 54 years old, and a connoisseur of both Venti Mocha Latte’s and Pinot Noir’s, this would be the sort of thing I might ride for. Hell, maybe even Downey Jr. can dust off The Futurist and the two of them can rock the summer festival circuit. Or not.
LA Times: Terrence Howard-Iron Man’s Music Man
Download:
MP3: Black Sabbath-”Iron Man”
MP3: Ghostface Killah-”Iron Maiden”
Posted in LA Times | 5 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
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Interviews, LA Times | 3 Comments »
February 26th, 2008
Maybe there was a trace of hyberbole when I kicked off my Times piece by declaring that Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is the most underrated group in rap history. Then again, I’m willing to ride this point out. Of course, other possible answers may include Organized Konfusion, Ultramagnetic, Camp Lo and others. And no, UGK no longer count as underrated. In fact, in the aftermath of Pimp C’s death, they’ve officially become overrated. Really guys, “Intl. Player’s Anthem” aside, Underground Kingz just wasn’t that good.
But while there are roughly 3,321 bloggers currently considering naming their first born son, Bun, I’ve never heard a single word about Bone in the two years I’ve mucked around this so-called world wide web. Naturally I’m as guilty as anyone. I’ve probably written 52,212 words on Ghostface (last week alone!) but never wrote about Bone until today. This despite them being one of my favorite all-time groups, in addition to having once decided to only answer to the name of Layzie Bone for two weeks in the 10th grade (this is not true. However, I was extremely lazy in the 10th grade.)
Granted, Wish, Bizzy, Krayzie, Layzie and Sleepy never delivered a stone-cold classic, something that you can point to as inarguable testament of their genius. However, E. 1999 Eternal is damn close and Creepin’ On The Come Up might well be the best rap EP ever made. Plus, “No Surrender,” has been adopted as John McCain’s official campaign theme song. The link to my Times review is below. There were Thugs, there was harmony, though sadly there weren’t any bones. Not everyone’s perfect.
LA Times: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Live Review
MP3: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony-”Foe tha’ Love of $”
Posted in LA Times | 5 Comments »
January 21st, 2008
Granted, there’s something undeniably unctuous about watching hipsters dance to hip-hop. And yes, there were least four moments during the opening acts on Saturday night when you could hear me yelling loudly to anyone who would listen that “white people killed hip-hop.” (Let’s just say there should be some sort of taxing entrance exam to be a white rapper.) But you can’t really blame artists for their fan base, except possibly Tool.
As for the The Cool Kids, the way in which they slap new packaging on old ideas may lack originality, but they put on a fun live set, one that reminded me how much I missed the old two MC’s and one DJ arrangement that used to be standard, but seems almost novelty these days (shouts also to Clean Guns). Lyrically, these guys are just okay, but I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt considering Mikey Rocks is just 19 years and figures to improve with age. Plus, in their 808 minimalism some of their beats are pretty great. My review’s up right now at the LA Times, so check it out if you’re into that sort of thing.
LA Times: Cool Kids Review
Download:
MP3: The Cool Kids-”I (Mikey) Rock”
MP3: The Cool Kids-”Black Mags”
Posted in LA Times | 4 Comments »
January 14th, 2008
My article in this issue of the LA Weekly attempts to parse how Lupe Fiasco has sold nearly 250,000 copies of The Cool despite a weak sales climate and his stunning ability to alienate the entire Internet. It also analyzes the question of why hip-hop fans want to get high with their favorite rappers. There are epigraphs from Catcher in the Rye and “How to Roll a Blunt.” Hopefully, you will be entertained.
The LA Weekly: No One Wants to Smoke a Blunt With Lupe Fiasco
Update: LA Times Review of Lupe Fiasco Live at Anaheim HOB
Download:
MP3: Lupe Fiasco-”Go-Go Gadget Flow”
Posted in LA Weekly, LA Times | 21 Comments »
December 10th, 2007
I wish I had the time to fully explain the weirdness that was the Power 106 Cali Christmas concert. But I don’t. I’m working on a piece on the Ghostface and Wu albums for the LA Weekly and my brain is absolutely fried. However, I did write a 400-word piece for the Times that ran on Saturday. It probably isn’t enough room to truly vent about the abomination that is commercial hip-hop radio, but hey word limits are word limits. Half the review is about Lupe Fiasco, not because I think Lupe is spectacular, in fact I pretty much agree with everything Zilla wrote about him. But really, compared to the rest of those clowns, he was Rakim. The review also contains the revelation that T-Pain is really Levar Burton from “Star Trek” trying to do an impression of Roger Troutman. True story.
Power 106 Cali XMas Review in the LA Times
Download from The Cool
MP3: Lupe Fiasco-”The Coolest”
Posted in LA Times | 6 Comments »
November 18th, 2007
I only received a few hundred words in the Times to review Free at Last, mainly because I couldn’t tell my editor in good faith that the record deserved more. I get why people have been buzzing on it. The first two leaked singles (”It’s Over”) and the Jay-Z collabo were nice. And sure, the Roc’s back and that deserves some ink, even though Beans-excluded, Jay’s track record at exposing new talent to to the world is piss-poor (or have you forgotten Sauce Money and A-Mil?). Not to mention the fact that both Curtis and S. Dot are on-board as Executive Producer’s. But honestly, after listening to Free at Last, I’m convinced that he only got the back cover of the Fader because the hipster nation admired the sheer lustrousness of his beard.
I’ve been reading Check the Technique lately and more than anything it re-affirmed the stark differences between the hip-hop of yesteryear versus that of today. Specifically, the importance that rappers previously placed on originality. Whether it was De La’s black hippies gimmick, M.O.P’s rap as Premo-produced scream metal, or Digital Underground’s hip-hop Funkadelic, it was damn near impossible to make a name for oneself without a fresh identity. Sometime in the last decade that idea was lost (and yes, I imagine it has something to do with Puffy).
In a rap world where Young Jeezy isn’t laughed out of the building and “journalists” don’t bat an eyelash at calling Lil Wayne the greatest rapper alive, Freeway is certainly far from bad. But he’s even further from being good. Strip him of big name guest appearances and his Just Blaze-lite beats and the guy is nothing more than another humorless “hustler/rapper” (and not the other way around.) I called Free “JV Jay-Z” in the Times review, but that might be a bit too charitable. He’s more like a poor man’s AZ. The type of MC that can spit a solid 16, but one summarily incapable of projecting himself as anything more than a) a hustler b) a cocaine aficionado c) someone who reps the streets (and yes, Free at Last actually has a song called “Reppin’ the Streets.”). Don’t get me wrong, Free at Last certainly has its moments. But truthfully, you’re better off playing Reasonable Doubt for the 532nd time, or even digging up that old copy of Do or Die, or hell, trying to grow your very own billy goat beard.
Review of Free At Last in the LA Times
MP3: Freeway-”It’s Over”
MP3: Freeway ft. Jay-Z-”Roc-A-Fella Billionaires”
Posted in LA Times, Album Reviews | 13 Comments »
November 12th, 2007
I know I haven’t written about my week in New York yet. Tomorrow, I promise. In the meantime, I wrote a show review for the LA Times about a Stones Throw label showcase that turned into an impromptu tribute to J Dilla. Considering I’d arrived in LA just two hours prior to the show’s start time, I wasn’t really into it initially, but when Guilty Simpson came on-stage at about 10:00, things started to pick up. I’m not sure how far Guilty will go without Dilla beats, but he was surprisingly pretty good the other night.
Percee P followed and damn near stole the show with a phenomenal performance (despite being out of his Gray’s Papaya comfort zone). I wouldn’t sleep on his two months old Madlib-produced Perseverance record either. It’s very solid: raw lyrics and brilliant technical skills and soulful, stoned beats. Plus, you gotta’ respect the fact that the dude spent the entirety of Peanut Butter Wolf’s set hustling his CD in the crowd. As for Madlib, he was everything you’d expect. High as hell, weird and ferociously original. While the mainstream press fawns over Kanye and Timbaland like they invented the 808, Madlib might just be every bit as innovative. Of course, I technically wrote the article for a mainstream press outlet, so maybe we should all just disregard that previous statement and focus on how much fun it is to say “Gray’s Papaya,” out loud. Say it with me, “Gray’s Papaya.”
Los Angeles Times Review of Stones Throw Showcase
Download:
From NBA 2K8: B-Ball Zombie War
MP3: Madlib-”The Wigflip”
From Perseverance
MP3: Percee P ft. Aesop Rock-”The Dirt & Filth”
MP3: Percee P ft. Chali 2na-”No Time For Jokes”
Posted in LA Times | 2 Comments »
October 22nd, 2007
So I uh…interviewed Ghostface last week. It was weird. Weird in a good way, as though it was perfectly normal that the two of us were having a conversation about The Big Dough Rehab, his gripes with the Wu hierarchy and whether or not he ever played as himself in Wu Tang: Shaolin Stylue. I’d say that we bonded but somehow I don’t think “bonded” is the right verb to use when Sean Wiggs was approximately four feet away trying to spit game at what Ghost would probably have called a “fly colored Asian.” But it was still pretty cool.
The interview was for Metromix, so it’s up over there and fairly heavily edited (please ignore the use of “we,” the rhetorical questions, and the erroneous Ghostface dropped the “Killah” from his name fact). Also sniped was a question where I asked Ghost what girls he’d put in the “Who Would You Fuck” skit from Supreme Clientele were he to re-make it today. After breaking into laughter, he diplomatically said that he didn’t want to name names lest he offend someone.
I also reviewed his show at UCLA that night for the LA Times print edition. The link is also below. It wasn’t the best Ghostface show I’ve ever seen, but it was solid and really, any time I get to hear “The Juks,” “Ice Cream” and “The Forrest” performed live, I’m a happy man. Also, the new Ghostface song is below. It’s nothing earth-shattering, but still probably better than almost anything else you’ll hear this year.
Ghostface Q&A For Metromix
Ghostface Live Review in the LA Times
Download: (via Nah Right) The First Single from The Big Dough Rehab
MP3: Ghostface Killah-”Celebrate”
Posted in LA Times | 8 Comments »
