March 30th, 2009
Truthfully, this isn’t the tour de force I expected. Still, like pizza and sex, even at their most ho-hum, the combination of Starks, the Chef, and Al-Qaeda Jada is always a good thing (Lingering pause). No bad performances here, but the beat strikes me as a bit too Just Blaze-lite. Worth downloading for the image of Pretty Tone pissing in Cristal at a lavish banquet, alone. If I ever interview Ghost again, I’m going to get the name of his furrier.
[Via Who Else?]
Download:
MP3: Jadakiss ft. Ghostface & Raekwon-”Cartel Gathering”
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March 9th, 2009
Sometimes, you’re in a foul mood, and think, you know what would make me feel better: “‘Here Comes the Hotstepper.” This is the one of the more profound self-realizations I’ve learned in my 27 years of existence. It’s only other competition is “never trust a man with a mustache,” and “never eat at Denny’s and party like Lil’ Penny.” The moral of this story is that Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes the Hotstepper” is supremely undervalued. Pret a Porter, on the other hand, is not. Question for the day: What’s the initiation ritual like to become a lyrical gangster?
Download:
MP3: Ini Kamoze-”Here Comes the Hotstepper”
Just Because
MP3: Wilson Pickett-”Land of 1,000 Dances”
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March 4th, 2009
From The Show. Ghostface calling out Meth for hogging the cameras, Meth snapping back. U-God, somehow dragging himself into the mess, and getting unceremoniously clowned by everyone involved. Poor Baby Huey. This had to have been a regular occurence. Did you ever see the dude’s room in the Cribs episode filmed at the Wu-Mansion? The place looked like a cross between a wine cellar, and the broom closet of a recent Neapolitan immigrant with a penchant for billowy shirts.
[Via Skeet]
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December 21st, 2008
Sometimes, on a Sunday afternoon, you think to yourself, hey you know what I haven’t seen in 15 years? The video for Duice’s “Dazzey Duks.” Heads-up, this is The Box Uncut version. Just typing that sentence feels dirty.
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November 13th, 2008
Idolator and the New York Times have got the obit front covered, but pour out a little Murray’s pomade for Mitch Mitchell, purveyor of one of the finest white boy ‘fros of all-time and a winner of the Griffith J. Griffith Award for Excellence in the Field of Nomenclature (take that Sirhan Sirhan). Granted, Mitchell’s fro fell far short of the tonsorial triumph that was Noel Redding (to say nothing about Jimi Hendrix’s G.A.O.T), but it remains an inspiration to us all. Oh, and he was also good at that drumming thing.
Download: (from The Experience’s BBC Sessions)
MP3: The Jimi Hendrix Experience-”A Brand New Sound”
MP3: The Jimi Hendrix Experience-”Driving South”
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September 30th, 2008
It’s been an Otis Redding kind of night. This cover of the Sam Cooke classic is just breathtaking.
Buy Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul
Download:
MP3: Otis Redding-”A Change is Gonna’ Come”
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September 13th, 2008
$5 says this guy’s either the lead singer of the Teddybears or the ghost of Paul Bryant.
Download:
MP3: My Morning Jacket-”The Bear”
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September 10th, 2008
Prior to Lee Perry and the technicolor Lucky Charms Coat taking over that Mormon bastion, the El Rey theater, I watched Pacewon and his DJ/producer/token white boy, Mr. Green deliver a capable, simple set of beats and rhymes. It was fine, but the entire time I couldn’t help but wish I was watching an Outsidaz show. For those of you who didn’t spend the 90s poring over overpriced copies of the Source and engaging in Mixed Up Files Of Basil. T Frankweiler-esque escapades at Fat Beats, Pace Won used to be a crucial member of Newark clique, The Outsidaz, one of the better, lesser known groups of the late 90s.
Best known for their debut on The Fugees’ “Cowboys” and a one-time affiliation with Eminem, the crew released a couple of great 12″ inches, and managed to cultivate a modest underground buzz before the ham-handed hackery of Ruffhouse/Columbia (catalogued by Noz ) delayed their first LP, The Bricks, until 2000. Beyond the record’s non-existent promotion, it didn’t help that the pop averse, grimey Brick City rappers fit into nether the Rawkus-model backpack nor the Escalades and rims raps already entrenched at the top of the Billboards.
The Outsidaz’ career seems dogged by “What Ifs?” What if they’d formed a few years earlier, during an era when their hardcore, pre-crossover raps would’ve meshed well. Or what if Eminem hadn’t ditched them (and Royce) in favor of putting out the largely talentless, D-12? Or what if Rah Digga, one of the more skilled female MCs ever, hadn’t been plucked away by Busta for the Flipmode Squad, thereby reducing their ranks and depth.
The Outsidaz: $5 Bucks If You Can Guess Which One Is Pony Boy
After The Bricks bricked, the crew dissolved, with Young Zee signing a deal with rap graveyard Aftermath/Shady Records and predictably never being heard from again, save for an appearance on the 8 Mile Soundtrak, where the label trotted him out like an exhausted prisoner of war for a propaganda shoot. Pacewon’s solo attempts didn’t fare much better, with few albums no one checked for and a beef track aimed at Eminem that seemed futile against Shady’s overwhelming popularity at the time.*
Currently working the comeback trail behind his Mr. Green collabo, The Only Color that Matters is Green, I happened to like a good portion of pair’s new material. Pacewon can still rap and while the performance wasn’t close to mind-blowing, the ex-Outsida(z?) maintains the charisma and magnetism to work a crowd, even one that didn’t have the faintest idea who he was. Despite the cheers Pace elicited, there was something a little sad to it. Not through the performance itself (which was good), but in it’s context. Of course, it didn’t help matters much either when Pace admitted mid-set that “I’m get older….I’m getting better…but I’m getting older.”
Rap generally shoves it’s elders off on ice floes. Hell, not even the greatest of the Golden Agers remains commercially relevant. So in a way, it’s nice to know that Pace is hanging in there and continuing to make music despite the slim odds that he’ll ever make it back to the show. It’s an uncomfortable reality, but most rappers just aren’t interesting enough to be solo artists.** In reality, the wise move is to call up Young Zee and Rah Digga, and try to get the band back together. Perhaps they’ll find BSkills playing Latin lounge music at the Ramada. I mean if if Camp Lo could get re-signed after hibernating for a decade and Kardinal Offishal can top the charts, there’s always a shot.
*At least, Pacewon can take solace in the fact that in 2008, the only people who continue to like Eminem obviously haven’t heard him rap during the G-Unit era.
** For further solace, Pace should understand that plenty of great rappers have never been able to hack it solo either. See Sermon, Erick.
Download:
MP3: Outsidaz-”Rain or Shine”
MP3: Outsidaz-”The Rah Rah”
MP3: Outsidaz ft. Eminem-”Macosa”
MP3: Outsidaz ft. Eminem-”Rush Ya’ Clique”
MP3: Outsidaz ft. Eminem-”Hard Act To Follow”
MP3: Outsidaz ft. Method Man & Redman-”Why You Be”
Posted in Beards, Blazers, & Glasses, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
September 5th, 2008
At this moment in time, I’m convinced that there is no better way to set off your weekend than this 1968 cut from Latin Jazz outfit, The Harvey Averne Dozen. Arguably the best dance song ever written about being unable to dance, I can assure you that it’s infinitely more fun than that funereal album cover.
From New York Latin Hustle! The Sound Of New York
Download:
MP3: Harvey Averne Dozen-”Never Learned to Dance”
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August 4th, 2008
After listening to the godawful hyphy-tinged, “Dreadlocks” that leaked earlier this year, my expectations were severely lowered for Murs for President, the ex-Def Jukie’s major-label debut. But after hearing official first single, “Can It Be,” consider those odds reversed. I’ve been a Murs fan for a long time and this is an instant contender for one of his finest songs, with the hometown native delivering a scathing three minute indictment of everything from the stalled economy, fickle indie-rap fans, to the fact that he lost $50 k on the Paid Dues Tour. Then again, I suppose that’s what you get for booking Sage Francis.
Download: (Via Nah Right)
MP3: Murs-”Can It Be”
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