EVERYBODY'S CRAZY...

ODB (The only crazy that's acceptable)

Seems that some real strange goings-on have been occurring of late. The Hip Hop world and the world in general for that matter, just seems to be going crazy. Wyclef could be running for President of Haiti, Jay-Z thinks he's cracked the triple entendre, Drake has no concept of the English language, Nas reads to many books and that 'Wocka Floka wtf was I thinking' guy says there are too many dictionary rappers in the atmosphere.

I heard through the grape vinery that Wyclef may be running for President of Haiti. Say what!? Why in the hell would he think he could do that. Is he that obnoxious to think he, a popstar with fame and fortune, could have the answer to Haiti's problems?
Everyone can be a politician from the comfort of home, yes Bush was a dummy and Tony Blair made mistakes. But to actually get up and give it a go for yourself, as a complete novice, in a country as torn apart as Haiti....boy that one's on you. What's that I hear you say? 'The Terminator' is currently Mayor of C.A. Yes he is. Yes he has a University degree, unlike Wyclef, but that doesn't really matter, don't bring me that crap coz Cali's fucked up right now anyway! However, Clef is clearly passionate about his homeland, in a recent Daily Mirror interview he stated:

"Haiti still needs our help -- more than ever. People around
the world made lots of promises, and we want those promises to be kept.
My wife Claudinette and I are passionate about rebuilding Haiti. We've seen the situation with our own eyes, and we've been listening to others.

Rebuilding has been delayed by land disputes, bureaucratic roadblocks, customs problems, differences of opinion about strategy and even delays in getting the actual pledged money to Haiti. I'm a warrior and can't stand by quietly while promises aren't kept. I won't ever surrender."

Fair enough, but he was also quoted as saying, "N G O s. Alone will not Rebuild Haiti, We need Business and Private investment." Right....so turning Haiti in to a money hungry capitalist machine whereby every banker and investor fights for himself will surely turn things around. Coz I mean, it's not like those same attitudes weren't what sucked America and the rest of the western world in to this black hole of a depression.

- Jay's triple entendre woes.

In all honesty, I don't have to speak much on this topic. Google it for yourself and you'll quickly see the slight embarrassment Jigga managed to bring upon himself. Infact, let me provide you with some linkage,
http://blog.grownmantv.com/2010/06/04/jay-zs-triple-entendre-explained-from-drakes-light-up/
http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/2010/06/jay-zs-triple-entendre

Here's the line from Drake's 'Light It Up,' that had literary 'in-the-know' folks scratching their heads and then chuckling:
“OWww, hoes turn they heads like, OWls/I’m the man of the hOur/Triple entendre, don’t even ask me hOW”

Hmmm, words that sound the same but differ in meaning....isn't that a homophone?
As opposed to a single phrase being understood in 3 different ways e.g a double or triple entendre.
But in the words of my good friend Demitri on the state side of things, 'Damn you'd think the nigga was rappin' in binary the way ya'll try to decipher some of his shit.' It's true! I may just have to dedicate a whole post to the Jay-Z stans that view Bp3 as his best effort, or at least close to. It seems they lost the meaning of intelligent rap somewhere between the words witty and pun. Fail of epic proportions Shawn, but what do you care when you earn more dead presidents than most have ever even seen.

- Drakes lack of understanding summed up below...

- 50, 'you had a spark when you started but now you're just garbage.'

'Nas is a really smart guy. He reads books constantly. We were around him on the Nastradamus tour. He was almost weirder than me ’cause we would go to breakfast and he’d be there reading a book....He’s feeding you too much information in the music and they don’t actually want it. He’s like a teacher.' - 50 cent

That XXL quote may be a little old, but it shows the direction I'm going in here. It's funny what he's saying (50) coz, most of Nas' fans will tell you that he actually dumbed it down a lot post 'It Was Written' and possibly 'Stillmatic.' If anything 50 should of spoken on how Nas used to kick wisdom through metaphorical and abstract methods. Since all he does know is straight forwardly say what he wants to get across. I like the Distant Relative album, but it's a perfect example of how Nasir now feels he has to talk blunt and direct in order to make people understand. The 90's Nas would never have released a song, or maybe dropped a line, like 'Africa Must Wake Up.' No, if he was going to do something like that he would have flipped it in an obscure metaphor or with some other poetic technique or concept, much like Lupe does today. So in once sense, 50's almost right. But he needs to fuck outta here with that crap about reading too much.

- Woka

'People don't wanna hear that dictionary rap..." says southern rapper Wocka Floka Flame in a recent interview.'

Prince Ea already roasted him on this one so I don't have much to say. Hip Hop was always all about intelligent, lyrically motivated songs with real cultural and sociological substance behind them. But, it was also about 'feel good' party music. There's a time and place for club music that this sorry excuse for an emcee (Flocka) clearly can't comprehend. Some people just don't want to try and recreate the club scene with it's gimmicky, repetitive dance hooks and phrases (perfectly suitable for the club), in the comfort of their own home or whilst driving.

Check out that Prince Ea video and expect some reverberations of that Jay-Z topic in posts to come.
I challenge you to put aside a couple of hours in search of new music from your favourite genre. Delve in to the blogosphere and various forums, it's easy to get sucked in onces you get going and one link leads to the next. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the talent you never heard about before but would always have loved. Please don't just sit there and let MTV and the likes tell you what you should be listening to.

(It's bad that I continue relate post titles and meaning to Nas songs, go figure).

Peace

CURREN$Y

This one should be interesting. Rarely do i choose to write about any emcee before I've actually shoved his tape in the deck. It's an even rarer occurrence for me to do so without hearing any previous work be it even a snippet. I've become excited to the point of picking up a pen in the middle of the night and writing my opinion on debuts such as Fashawn's 'Boy Meets World,' but that was a always a spur of the moment, 'Damn this kids good!' type thing.

No, the reasoning for this latest post is quite simply the hype. Yes Flav told us not to believe in any such business, but Hip Hop heads across the globe have been banging on about this kid for a while. I've been aware of the hype over this guy on the blogosphere for a long time now but always seemed to avoid videos and links much the same as i am currently do with Theophilus London (he's frickin everywhere!). Underground heads have a rep for amping new comers that don't deserve the attention. Yet for any of you who know of a hardcore head or are one yourselves, you'll also know that we are notoriously hard headed. We're a close-knit community and we like it that way. We stick to our tried and trusted artists and only allow others in, upon the recommendation of tried and trusted friends, or through that odd night in the month when you scoure the net in search of an obscure dope emcee.(Don't you just hate it when that friend that always thinks he has your style of music taste down, attempts to recommend wack ass songs to you!? Overloading your inbox or 'wall' with links.) So yes, only with a recommendation from someone that keeps as high a standard as I, when it comes to this Hip Hop ish, did i sit up and pay attention. His exact words were 'Are you serious?..Everything this kids touches is dope!' And from a Hip Hop nerd who views Illmatic on par with words from God himself....that's about as good a 'put on' you're gonna get.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before but yes, I am an avid Nas and 90's Hip Hop fan. I made some mistakes in the past of limiting myself to only that east coat hardcore,dry style of rap. I no longer expect every emcee to sound like Nas, Az, Mobb Deep and the likes. However i do expect a similar level of skill, wittiness, depth and substance. I loved 90's beats, soul samples were my jam, were THEE jam! But I've realised times are changing, getting creative with it can be a great thing, yet i still believe heading too far in the other direction is what led to auto-tune and the electro/techno type production we are seeing all over the gaff today. Don't even get me started on certain Kanye and Usher (recent) songs. I think I'll always have love for emcees that spit as if telling it from their project window. I can handle gangster rap, i can stand braggado in songs (also known as, the ability to listen to any given Jay-Z album) and i can just about take the odd obnoxious statement here and there. But what i dam near can't stand is an emcee who acts too involved. It's a well known fact that real gansgters/hustlers don't rap. They don't have the time to. Yes some insiders knowledge and perspective is good (see the Clipse,) though, you spending the best part of a 4 minute song trying to convince me you're the undiscovered Pablo Esobar just aint gon cut it. No, me, I much prefer the intellectual approach of depicting the sociological, economic and street politics that take place in the area at hand. Taking it back to Illmatic, Nas does this with such ease. Almost without meaning to he makes social statements in quick snap phrases or with few words such as 'black rats trapped,' this short but elegant metaphor perfectly depicts the predicament of the African American population residing in Queensbridge and greater America.

Moving hastily on before i go off like Charles Dickens on a tangent. I could give you a nice little piece of background information on our man in question here, but as i said above, i no nothing, so lets get on. The first track hit me with a little surprise. The heavily synthesized sounds, baseline and strings gave the essence of a comeback track, an intro to a comeback 'fuck the world' type album. Curren$y enters the track with an abstract approach similar to that of Mos Def, listing words and thoughts sporadically. The track eventually gains more direction and if this was a sign of things to come, it was definitely a good one.
Listening to this album for roughly the 3rd time, as i type i am again pleasantly surprised, this time at the sugary smooth vibe to Curren$y. He manages to encapsulate that west coast flow whilst remaining true to his section (ok so i know a little, he's from the south!)
'Chilled Coughee' and the recruiting of Devin the Dude only serves to add to the smoothness and laid back feel to the album thus far. As well as being good background music Curren$y proves that he can capture our attention with good humour and funky beats that would feel at home on any Outkast lp.

This kid can seriously mix things up. We've all had our fair share of shots at the South somewhat unfairly in most cases. But what is totally undeniable (i just won't stand for anyone who thinks otherwise,) is the knack our peoples down there have of producing some of the hottest, catchiest beats ever to bless the pinewood of my speakers and the fibre in those ridiculously over-priced headphones we all seem to wanna rock. Growing up in E11 to E5 LON (that's basically East London for those that aint hip to it,) steel pans have been an ever present sound. Notting Hill carnival and the abundance of Caribbean peoples in Hackney and Brixton made these instruments literally impossible to miss. My own sister can even bang on them there pans pretty good. Therefore when a beat like the one on 'Audio Dope II' drops, I can't help but bang my head in appreciation for the producers effort. The perfect soundtrack to some sort of Caribbean street scene, one word, Gully. So gully he even takes a shot at one of the greats since he's 'Came a long way but i don't got time to be, sittin' at the dock of the bay'...dope. I was kidding with the 'shot' thing though. Peep the shout out to Hines Gregory also.






'Audio Dope II' -


The track 'Seat ft Snoop Dogg' does bring light to a weakness evident in a few other tracks. That being that Curren$y's flow is lacking on occasion, i know the track is fairly laid back and slow yet a better emcee may take that chance to produce something much smoother and poetic. A broken up flow can be a technique, well if it is, it's not one i like all too much. The rhythm of songs should not be sacrificed unless for the most exceptional of all lyrics. After all, this is music and we are talking songs.

However lyrics are what we are blessed with on the track named 'Breakfast featuring Mossy Mos's vocals and production (not even worth a 'feat.' really.) I don't like to give away too much on lyrics. There's no point in me breaking them down when an album has just been released. That's for you to do and for us to discuss later. I think we all agree things are more satisfying when achieved through our own minds. I'll come back to this one with a breakdown and points to raise. However it is this track that seems to be catching most attention in Hip Hop circles and forums across the web. What we have here are some beautiful horns, laced over an exquisite flow that not only enlightens us on Curren$y's views towards certain aspects of the industry but provides some witty lines in the manner of good 'ole braggado rap.

As i mentioned previously this album does well as background music though i can't see it getting massive amounts of replay from yours truly. A consistent laid back vibe is continued throughout the album with 'Skybourne' and 'Hangover' however one wouldn't be to wrong to state tracks like these are the 'fillers' that every album seems to be packing nowadays. Also instantly noticeable is the featuring artists on 8 of 13 tracks. Being very much a fan of artists performing solo the majority of their album, after all it is their album, it's hard to approve of this. I hate to stan on Nas even more but to me, he did it perfectly with Illmatic. If you have to have a featuring artist make sure he/she is something spectacular. Bring something new to the table. Too many today, feature artists in order to promote their album. Notice how everyone wants to be on a track with Drake at the moment? Is that because Drake has an astounding voice and lyrics Rakim himself couldn't write? I highly, yes highly, doubt it. Don't allow me to portray Nas as some Godsend though, he's done it too on later albums (Wayne stepped it up on Distant Relative though!) That being said, the featuring artists don't overshadow Curren$y in anyway. Nor do they change the atmosphere and vibe of an album that isn't theirs to do so.
I would have been pleased to see only the two artists featuring in the last song. Jay Elec just reminded me of why i have become the biggest advocator of his music this side of the pond. That being his flow is just too ridiculous. I can't get enough of it, and you know when it's about to go off too! He has this way of of carrying sentences further than they're supposed to go if you catch my drift. The proper literary technique for those that care is 'enjabment' (said with a french accent, en-JARRB-ment). The bar is coming to an end, his breath is too, yet he manages to ride it over to the next bar with a smoothness of gab that can only come when short of breath. Words just roll of this guys tongue, and we aren't even getting started on his disgustingly ill lyics, neither are we going to.

This is a ill effort from $y (we're calling him that from now on to give my fingers a rest). The only thing that concerns me is; as ever has been the case in Hip Hop, a first album is more often than not an emcees greatest attempt. It's when he's at his rawest and most passionate. Fresh ideas are flowing and he brings something new to the game. Therefore with this album falling on the 3.5 to 4 mic scale of things in my eyes, are we likely to witness $y improve in albums to come? I sure hope so. Lesser rappers have proved it possible, so let's just kick back and enjoy this joint in anticipation for what $y produces in the future.

Did i mention his obsession with weed?
Or the overly nang (gotta bust the London words from time to time) album artwork by David Barnett that i have just witnessed in the booklet? Go cop.

L-BOOGIE AND ATCQ TO PERFORM AT ROCK THE BELLS

The line-up list below isn't lying folks! You read right, Lauryn Hill is going to be performing at Rock the Bells (yeah that thing i was so close to making last year). She's back from a long, long leave of absence although she has been making some small waves on the underground with various performances here and there. One of those performances being on Def Poetry Jam where she set conspiracy theorists alight with her vicious attack on 'the system.'
Hill is alleged to be performing a set featuring songs from the classic Miseducation of Lauryn Hill among other work including tracks with the Fugees.
Another surprise is the inclusion of A Tribe Called Quest who will be performing their legendary Midnight Marauders, if your not familiar with that album then sorry you're just not familiar with Hip Hop.



Dates: 8/21/10 - Nos Events Centre, San Bernadino, CA
8/22/10 - Shoreline Amphitheatre, San Francisco CA
8/28/10 - Governor's Island, New York NY
8/29/10 - Merriweather Post Pavillion, Washington DC