I am generally a grinch about this holiday, but I can't deny I love the music and smells and maybe even the sights. So here's a playlist of my favorite Christmas/Winter time songs! Ho Ho Ho, go stress out over what to buy your parents.
1. Baby, It's Cold Outside
My absolute favorite song. It's seen a lotta pairs over this year, but you gotta love Ray Charles and Dionne on this one, their voices are the perfect match.
2. Sleigh Ride, Ella Fitzgerald...need I say more?
3. To slow things down and melancholy them up a bit (because winter can be so damn dreary), I offer Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles's beautiful "Winter Song"
4. "All I want for Christmas", Mariah Carey.
It takes a lot to make a real Christmas song. I mean think about it: you have to create something that will be song and celebrated year after year after year. Mariah Carey did just that, and I'm proud to say she did it in my lifetime. Filled with 90's charm, "All I want for Christmas" is a real winner that will stick around for years to come.
5. "Always be my Baby", Mariah Carey.
Don't ask me why. I just really feel like this should be caroled.
6. "Christmas Song", Nat King Cole.
Back to the classics.
7. Winter Wonderland, Doris Day
There's a really funky version that I love but I just can't find it. Whatever, Doris Day will do.
8. "Santa Claus is Comin'", Jackson 5 Because, it's little Michael. Afro-tastic! Every Black household has at least FIVE Motown Christmas songs playing on Christmas day. This is one of them
9. "Christmas Time is Here", A Charlie Brown Christmas No childhood or christmas playlist is complete without this
10. "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas", Judy Garland Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.
I've been noticin' that things aren't exactly chipper around here--people going through shit, breaking up, or just plain PMSing. And I haven't exactly been helping.
Over thanksgiving my brother couldn't wait to show my the vid of Rihanna going straight Dutty Wine on 'em at the AMAs while performing "What's my Name?". Apparently with her newest album she's going back to her 'pon da replay days but carrying her popfame and wild hair with her.
I don't really care too much to make any sort of critical or theoretical assumptions and arguments here about what happens when "caribbean" and/or "latino/a" artist goes back to her roots and exoticism or anything.
But I do digg this new song off the album. And by dig I mean I'd never pay for it but maybe I'll play it at a party.
I hate stupid bitches. Correction: I hate ignorant bitches. I'll never hold it against someone that they are not as smart as others, but ignorant.birds. are god's plague to society.
Those are the bitches that'll fight your ass in the mall over some Mrs. Fields Cookies.
Those are the bitches with kool-aid hair that'll put down an umbrella as their marker for that long ass Megabus line from NYC to DC. But really, in other non stereotypical ways, ignorant bitches are really people (doesn't have to be a female) who are just dumb, and don't even try to not be dumb.
They're all up in the mix when they don't even know who you're talking about. They're talking behind the back of people they JUST met. They're getting in all sorts of stuuupid relationship/sexual situations and can't even blame it on the al-al-al-al-alcohol. And essentially, they act really, really, really new about the whole thing.
As you can tell, it's hard for me to completely form this idea, so here are some great Atlantinians who did it for me. And for all you ignorant birds:
I know you like to think your shit don't stank, but lean a little bit closer
you'll see
roses really smell
like boo-boo.
s.b. : Mighty fine only got you somewhere half the time. And the other half it either got you cussed out or coming up short.
This has taken me some time to realize, acknowledge, admit to myself, and admit publicly but:
I LOVE NICKI MINAJ
I know, this doesn't make me special or revolutionary BUT if you know me (which if you're reading this, there's a good chance you do) you would know that I am a huge cynic. Like gigantic. Seriously, I should switch to Gallatin and major in Cynicism with a minor in Being a Bitch (it could probably happen considering someone majored in "Keeping it Real"). On top of being a cynic, pop-culture critic, and some sort of queer-feministy activist, when I first heard of Nicki Minaj I was not impressed. I mean, most I knew about her is something about being some sort of bicurious and that she somehow knows how to put "pussy on your sideburns" which, quite frankly, I don't think anybody wants. So I was all like "Here we go, some trick-ass bird hoe pretending to make out with girls in order to get media attention and is just a useless siliconed up failure of a Black woman". (Harsh? I said I'd minor in Being a Bitch.)
And then a few things happened...
1- I saw her performance in the video for Trey Songz's blah song about alcohol blah blah "Bottom's Up". I think I read on pitchfork or COS something about how Minaj's performance was the only thing of interest in the video, and after watching the video I agreed.
2- I saw the video of her performance at the VMA's and was like "I don't know what the HELL that was, but I really liked it!"
So at this point I was all like, "I respect her. She's in a pretty monotonous, unexciting radio-driven industry right now where no one is really doing anything and instead of just being a trick-ass hoe bird doing trick-ass hoe bird shit, she's really trying to bring fun and creativity and some craziness to her 'ish. She recognizes she's gonna have to sell her sex and her body to get the spotlight, but once she has it she's gonna try to do something different too. Props to that neo-feministy hustle. Work it girl."
3- I listened to Monster. I was givin' the bitch respect but I still wasn't trying to show love or anything. My good friend told me I should listen to Monster because Minaj's verse on it is incredible. And I was all "Nahhhh". And then she was like "You don't understand, when I'm running and that song comes on it's her verse that gives me the strength to finish that last mile!" Now, this is the same girl who told me that she also imagines Beyonce's thighs to motivate her while running so I was taking that with a grain of salt, but I listened to it anyway. And thats when I fell in love. Not only does she flip between like, idk, 30 different characters during her verse, but she brings the most energy, game, and power on a track flooded with some of the toughest dudes in hip hop. Somehow between Kanye West, Jay Z, and Rick fucking Ross, Minaj not only has the ILLEST FLOW on the track but does the most creative and impressive thing with an awesome beat (seriously, the best thing any of the other rappers do with it is maybe Kanye's hook...snore) I honestly fast-forward 3:35 seconds into the song for her part every time I listen to the track. You should do the same.
Now look at what you just saw this is what you live for ahhhh, I'm a motherfuckin Monster!
So there you have it. I love Nicki Minaj. No matter what boring ass beat, bomb ass beat, stupid ass video and theme, or live performance demand is thrown her way, she makes it 100% entertaining and enjoyable, and does so with an impressive amount of talent.
People give her a lot of shit because she doesn't give a lot of credit to her foremothers of Hip-Hop. I'll do it for her. The first thing I thought about when I saw that VMA performance was Missy. Missy was by far and perhaps still holds the title for being the most creative, grotesque, in your face, zany female (or arguably male) MC. And then there's Lil Kim, the original "Black Barbie", Foxy Brown, etc. They were definitely great but I have to ask....when is the last time we had one of them around? Arguably, a decade. I would say it's been near a ten years since we had a fresh female MC all up in our faces the way they were and the way Nicki is now, and that may be the reason she doesn't spend a whole lotta time throwing props their way: because they had their time, stopped, and now the moment is hers. No one else is doing it, and I will go ahead and say she deserves her shine.
She is one of the handful of current artists that truly inspire me, and I never thought a "hood-rat-ass-trick-bird" would do that. So cheers to Nicki Minaj, and if you're still trying to hate....just give up.
"Haters you can kill yourselves"--Nicki Minaj, "Check it Out".
No no-, it surprises me too that this housedj/black-soul-hipster-lookin- chick actually drops some verses and I will publicly announce now that the rapper who has been most influential to me is Jay-Z.
Idk what that does to my street cred or my music snobbery cred, but I'm going to explain. I grew up in the 90s....that use to make me young and my memory of pop culture and pop history insignificant but I don't think that's the case anymore. Furthermore, I grew up in the hood/ a predominantly working class-middle class Black neighborhood of a super segregated New York State city with two very older siblings who were driving by the time was I was walking. Likely, with a single-parent working mother, when I wasn't with my grandma I was with my siblings-- in their cars, with their friends, in the house; being exposed to whatever radio, cassettes (90s!), or music videos they played and watched. It was all hip-hop and R&B, so as I child, before I grew a musical identity of my own, I continued to listen to what they listened to and watched the videos they watched. The artists behind these songs, at least the hip-hop ones, that I remember were Big Pun, Foxy, Missy, and Jay Z.
*(I missed tupac and biggie, and I ain't gonna front like I ever tried to catch up. I didn't. It's just the way it was for me)*
Jay stuck out the most. I'll try and regain some cred by saying that the prime of J's musical careers were the albums he came out with during my childhood (Reasonable Doubt to the Black Album). These are the albums people think of when we call him one of the best rappers of all time. When I was 11 and 13 I ordered the Blueprint, Jay-Z: MTV Unplugged and The Black Album from a CD catalog that was the way to order CDs before Apple was more than a fruit and Amazon existed. Can't tell you how many times I listened to them, how much I heard bits of myself in songs like Dec. 4th, can't tell you how much I appreciated, learned from, and absorbed J's flow on the tracks, how much I escaped to or understood the stories painted in these albums.
Many communities don't get voices...sometimes its problematic to have rappers, rap, hip-hop, and pop-hop as it's become to be the voice of urban, black, or youth communities. But during that time period, Jay was the voice of my community. And he did it with class.
Yes, class, though hip-hop can be seen as a sort of classless art form. What's expected from an artistic tool used to discuss a dirty, grimy, dark lifestyle and existence? It's a heavy burden to do that and do it well and many rappers fail and many rappers get lost and many rappers don't even try and abandon that tradition, one that was started when the first boats arrived from Africa so when a rapper does do it well-- you can feel it.
But enough philosophy. J painted my childhood until I got to the point where I abandoned hip-hop for music that made more sense to me at the time. And although there were a few more rappers that also grabbed my attention before I left (Luda, Nelly, Missy, Busta...), whenever I sat down to tell a story, to release something--it came out in rhyme and in the form of a rap verse and I always had Jay- Z in the back of my mind.
And that's just my story, but I don't know a whole lot of other music lovers who don't have a solid Jay-Z track in their catalog of 50 best songs of their memory. But more than just the far-reaching potency of his music, what must also be respected is Jay-Z's business sense. This dude has done some serious, serious, entreneurship. He's built an empire of record labels, basketball teams, clothing lines, restaurants, clubs, real-estate, beer...everything. He's retired, married a superstar, made albums, went on tour, launched some of the most famous rappers and producers into the game, come back, released an album, went on tour, produced a broadway musical, and returned to claim his throne. But in all fame, glitz, glamour, and general hallabaloo, we sorta lost sight of the J we use to know and couldn't quite remember if he deserves the respect he seems to be demanding.
Enter J's new book (yeah homie's an *author* now) "Decoded", and more importantly his recent conversation with Dr. Cornel West (moderated by some crazy European dude) at the New York Public library. These two media releases brings Jigga back to the level of leader, poet, and important community (Black community, music industry community, hip-hop community) voice. Not gonna give a full synopsis, but you need to watch this ish. They talk about anything and everything that is relevant to these two cultural figures. Without a doubt, whether we like it or not, Jay is going down in pop-culture history, but before we dismiss it I think it's important to understand what he's saying as he continues to make his mark. Take for example this: "The internet was a way of the music industry purging itself". Dude believes the same thing I do, that the internet is the way to escape the banality, shallowness, and "thinness", as Dr. West calls it, of radio-driven commercial music (see the success of J Cole's new mixtape). Jay even admits that he left the system for two years to build with other artists because he's disgusted with the fact that "people don't even believe in artist development anymore."
As I've made my return back to hip-hop, I've come to know a lot of young MCs and musicians who see the hip-hop game and music industry as a way to make it. As a way to escape. They wanna be "BIG" big. They wanna have the money, the lights, the glam. They wanna be the next Jays, Lupes, Drakes, whatevers. Without leaving you my own opinion on all that, or even what I want from music myself ( who wouldn't mind a Jay-Z story of their own?), I'll leave you with a beautiful quote from "Decoded" about what the men and women we grew up with used this music thing for.
The 70s were a strange time, especially in Black America.The music was beautiful in part because it was keeping a type of torch lit in dark times...I feel like we as rappers, djs, producers were able to smuggle some of the magic of that dying civilization out of the music and use it to build a new world. We were kids without fathers so we found our fathers on wax, and on streets, and in history, and in a way that was a gift. We got to pick and choose the ancestors who would inspire the world we were going to make for ourselves...rap took the remnants of a dying society and created something new. Our fathers were gone, usually because they just bounced, but we took the records to build something fresh.
Popculture eaters/historians/cultural students--watch or listen to this conversation.
My fellow musicians and aritists--what new world are you building, and what ancestors are you bringing with you?
Some friends of mine are doing big things and getting all types of recognition on all types of levels. I'm a firm believer of showing "local" support and giving shouts to being doing their thangss. So check some of this 'ish out.
1) Dj ShyGuy- Earlier this week shyguy dropped this docu-video of him making some fresh beats. It's like watching batman in the batcave. I tweeted about it a lil earlier but you should def watch it here incase you're not on your twitter game (or not following me. which you should be.)
2. If you're looking for a ridiciulous partytime, follow Bad Kids Crew. Mike Knopf and friends have been notoriously throwing bacchus-like brooklyn bashes and shows for a minute now. Don't sleep on it. They have one this friday--LIGHTS PLEASE!: SUMMER IN NOVEMBER.
3. Lastly, but not to be confused with leastly- Rob Roy dropped the well matched, beautifully haunting video for the beautifully haunting bass lead song "Carmencita". I'm not saying anymore. Just watch it.
All I got for now. Anything else going on let me know.
I haven't dropped any new 'ish on here in a minute, so before I get to that I thought i'd post this old gem. How many 5th-8th grade girls drooled over this one?
Kanye West once again took over twitter last night.
I know most of the media world probably knows this, but a lotta my fam and peoples aren't up on their twitter game yet. (getonit)
'Ye asked the tweetworld to discuss their favorite/the most "profound" Kanye West lyrics. He then retweeted them. And then, so many many twitter users jizzed their pants.
Here's his page, you can see what Im talking about
What you wont see is how everyones twitterfeed was blown up with all their friends trying to hop on Ye's retweeting dick. Only the best of the best succeeded.
In other news, this sesame street video literally brings tears to my eyes. I'm so so so overjoyed but also reminded of a painful childhood so many girls of color faced for YEARS because of this topic. Girls like myself. Thank you sesame street.
seriously, the only time in the past 3 years that i've not been overly annoyed with Will is after hearing "Check it Out"....part of the reason for that is probably because of the presence of one Nicki Minaj. Hell, I only heard the song because I couldn't.stop.watching.her VMA performance. Blog on my surprising but undying love for Nicki soon to come. Enjoy the track
I absolutely adore the sound of Louis XIV*. More specifically, the sound of Louis XIV's The Best Little Secrets are Kept album. The band once described it as a concept album that tells the story of Louis XIV, or rather, some pompous, late teen, oversexed, overdrugged kid in suburban Cali who thinks he's the shit, acts like he's the shit, and doesn't give a fuck what you have to say about it....basically like the 14th Louis of France, who was arrogant enough to callhimself "The Sun King" and stay in power for seventy-two motherfucking years.
Musically, lead singer Jason Hill discussed the band's goal to really capture a specific "rock n roll" sound. To get that right, sorta clean, post-punk sleeze rock feel. According to Hill, the album's all about sound. The music came first. The lyrics came after. And in between? Sweat, cigarettes, late night studio jams, fun, and general love of music. Combined, you can hear it all--the passion, the influences, Louis...
I don't know if there are a lot of albums out there that give you that experience. Hell, I don't even know if people listen to albums anymore. I know I can't really talk, I grew up with CDs (I fiddled with cassettes back when the only thing I listened to was the Lion King soundtrack), but I know I always valued the experience of listening to an entire CD. Today is the day of the single, the day of the 4 track EP, the iTunes shuffle, so of course it's even harder to stomach the idea of listening to one band for a solid 40 minutes. But I swear, Best Little Secrets... is the kind of album you don't want to listen to intermittently. You actually can't help it. You put on one song and you wanna hear the rest, intrigued by Louis's suicidal inducing longing for his teacher, his adventures of lust and girls that do it "like they do in Hong-Kong", all the while witnessing the darker side of such self-destructive behavior in the form of Dominique's body being carried out of the house or his own self-reflections. Furthermore, you're enticed by the palpable, audible, connection between the artist, themselves, and the music they're creating and the organic process they're creating it in.
Listen to it high.
Listen to it sober.
Before a party.
While you're cleaning.
Before you fall asleep.
Whenever.
It's an experience, so much so that I had to give you a link to download the whole shebang.
*The Band is no longer together, unfortunately. So you should really enjoy this album since its one of the only two in existence...and the other isn't as good.
The new M.I.A. video for her single "XXXO" dropped recently. And I don't know how to feel about it.
I mean, I dig the crazy weird, cheestastic, Eastern, 90's graphics. But something about it creeps me out.
I realized it's not the galloping unicorns, but rather M.I.A.'s model-esque performance in it. Not only is it just...bad, but it also followed every normative, male-centered, law that women must follow in advertisements/publicity (please read that link for a good read.
I don't like sexualized, fetishized, submissive M.I.A., and considering the criticism she could easily get for the style of the song.....it's not a good look.
Better luck next time. Oh, here's the next time: "Illy Girl"
"Who's dat girl called maya M.i.A. comin back with powa powa!"
That line from the 'Kala', the last album from everyone's favorite Tamili-British electronic terrorista rockstar M.I.A., is the best way to describe the artist's newest compilation " MAYA", to be officially dropped July 13th. However, being the anti- "da system" M.I.A. that she is, she was kind enough to stream the entire album for free on her myspace. I found this out through FADER which also happened to have a great cover story on her.
While the last time we may have seen the current baby mama was when her pregnant ass pranced on stage at the grammy's with TI and Jay-Z, you bet your bottom dollar that I will be spending my last dollar to get to see her at HARD NYC (and for you west coasters, I suggest you do the same for HARD LA) as those are the only US shows she'll be having for a minute (minus maybe that stunt she did at Milk Studios for the Creator's Project, all last minute and shit, and perhaps some rumored August show??)
And in terms of music, most people have probably heard of the single she released "xxxo" and wondered if this, not the edgy scary M.I.A. represented by the video for 'born free', was the new M.I.A. we'd have to get use to. After listening to the album I can assure you that "xxxo" is just a poppy cock tease for the masses, and that homegirl came back with the vengeance of a radioactive menepausal territorial mama grizzly. Someone got too close to her cub, and we're not talking about Ikhyd we're talking music. In the article, the self-proclaimed "reactionist" admits that she feeds off of negativity, and has had enough of it to deal with from US and Sri-Lankan governments, officially and secretly scheming to kick her out of the country, label her a danger, or just plain kill her/her music career. Not to mention her nausiation with aspects of the pop music world such as Lady Gaga and her long time partner (in every sense of the word) Diplo's "change" to a more commercial sound. The bitch was bad, and even though she's engaged, a bit more domesticated, and a mommy--she's even badder, with a new label, some new ruckus causing artist friends, and a new album to prove it.
i'm kinda feeling this kid from my old high school...
puberty's taken its toll and just messing around seems to have turned into creatin' moosak.
don't usually believe in 'em but certain private school kids with a microphone and the right beats can make a good song or two....at least he's got a good attitude.
shit man, if jimmy can start walking then youths with more talent can definitely make something happen. or at least dream....or at least entertain us with their hobbies and side projects.
so i downloaded 'Grape Juice city' not that long ago and it's as hot as the sidewalk on a summer day. if the album is anything like this single, than it will certainly be what you bump while being burned by your hot leather seats in mid-July traffic jams.
For all you twatters out there I just dropped a tweetomic bomb of links and things you should check out. I'll repost them here so that everything's in one place.
1) Rob Roy's King Lover Magician Warrior Album Download- he's seriously the next big thing waiting to explode. Actually, it's more like he's a supernova that exploded and we mere earthlings can only wait to be showered by his nebula (does that sound sexual?). I had the chance to meet the guy during the 2009 CMJ festival and he was so hyped to do a show that his heart was trying to pop out of his chest. Literally. But he killed it nonetheless without killing himself. Outkast influenced, be prepared for some serious stankonia. download here
2) Mike Del Rio's interview with ourstage.com- happened over twitter, you can trace it by checking out both of their pages. Del Rio has recently be picked MTV as their needle in the haystack artist. Guy's been on a serious hustle for 4 years now, but you could say it started when he started teaching himself music at 12. Hard work pays off. If you haven't yet, you will see him soon, somewhere in NYC or probably your local stage.
3) We Stole the Show's thursday networking nights and special appearance at the Nasty Jam party: More hustlers to admire, the hip hop duo and blogsters extrodinaire, We Stole the Show has an added bonus to their weekly music networking night this thursday at Home Sweet Home lounge, which is the delight of having TWO spinning dj's: their own hurryupnbuy and dj nique. They also will be playing live at the nastiest party this side of Brooklyn, the Nasty Jam (see video below)
4) last but not least, because it would be wrong if I didn't, please check out my man Brandon Sheer. Another young hustler's he's been pimpin' and promoting his own stuff so hard, that its impossible to not download it and subsequently love it. Because its fresh.
You must be living under a rock of Gaga glitter, Nicki Minaj's pussy on your sideburns, and Drake pop culture references if you've missed the coming of the hipster national anthem, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zero's folk ensamble love song "Home". With it's tamborines, whistles, and charming lyrics ("Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my ma 'n paw, but not the way that I do love you....home, let me go home. Home is wherever I'm with you.) the song is an instant sing-a-long sensation. But it's more than just that. "Home" hits the hearts of anyone who hears it. I must confess, after hearing a cover at a TSW party in Brooklyn, I ran all the way to the L train back to manhattan and the one I love, whistling till the doorstep. Lovers or friends, folks love to dance to the tune, kick their fake cowboy boots, and pretend their somewhere sunny. The music video embodies this feeling. Shot somewhere in Texas or California or Arizona or some...deserty like place, the official music video feels like Arthur Penn'sBonnie and Clyde, glorifying the journeys of two runaway youths in love and their gang of vagabond-like young friends. Watch it and try not to get captivated by its grainy footage, western allusions, and sunny skies that make us want to get up and go...some place....home? No, not that.
The truth is, "Home" speaks to the young, mustached, and feathered haired misfits of today because it and its accompanying video are the only home these kids know. Home is wherever a loved one is, or somewhere in the middle of nowhere and that speaks to the aimlessness (or abandonment?) of a youth culture that seems to find residence only within itself (and the L line).
Hipsters and the young have an obsession with living in the past, and I'm not talking about rocking gold chains like it was 1980. I'm talking all the way down to lifestyle and image quality. We kids of the late 80s to early 90s have grown up with only the baby boomer's memories of the 60's and 70's and our parents non-stop references to the good old days when things were just, for whatever reason, better. It's actually kind of sad. It's like we're always trying to live up to something. Our musicians are trying to be the new Jim Morrison's or Hendrixes, our activists aim to fall somewhere in between MLK and La Raza but fail miserably, while our fashionistas wear anything that was either made in 2010 to look like it came from 1968 or was made in 1968 and cost $210. And any relics from that era are quickly gobbled up into the vintage-culture machine and spit out in a way that some how retains its old soul ( see the new Gil Scott-Heron album, very appropriately called "I'm new here" on XL Recordings or Bobby Womack's and Lou Reed's guest appearances on the Gorillaz's new project Plastic Beach). Meanwhile, we squeemishly run away from anything that is too present, jadedly seeking adventures in cultural memories that we ourselves are too young to have even watched someone else experience.
I'm not sure what our problem is, or if we have run out of vision and creativity other than this kitsch-like rehash--but I do know that some great stuff is coming out of it. And holy moly oh me oh my, this song is the tip of the iceberg.
It's like Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra had a baby and named him Mayer Hawthorne. I stumbled upon the smooth solid-gold oldie sounding young thirty somethin's voice a couple months back, and he's been giving me goosebumps ever since. He's also been making the music world swoon ever since he signed with Stones Throw Records, who have been making it their personal agenda to always keep things at least dashed with the smooth and sexy since '96. (yall member the 90's? it was like eons ago. )
Anyway, after ignoring it for sometime, I just peeped Hawthorne's new video for his cover of I left my Heart in San Francisco, and if the eye-popping (seriously, I thought I transported) quality of the vid doesn't get you, the song does. It's super refreshing that a artist and entire record label still have a true and real appreciation for "back-in-the-day" (when music was still music, as ya mamma or daddy will tell you) music. I don't want to get into that weird, theoretical, controversial, not legitimately-back-up able argument about how music today is all shit and 30 or 40 years ago it was real and not this pop/synthetic/hiphop/digital debauchery crap, but I will say that I've always admired when you can hear the soul in a song. The golden days had a lot of soul, today its sometimes rare, by Mayer isn't just bringing it back, he's rebirthing in. Check it out:
you have no idea how upset i am that i am missing this one. seeing kid sister live is like experiencing a ghetto bowl of fruity pebbles. who wants to miss that?
His new solo album is finally out. I've been listening to it a lil bit before hand and it's absolutely beautiful. You can tell he put his soul in it, especially since it's his first solo album after being with a group for over a decade. My friends and XL recordings made if official with their tweet. I suggest you check it out:
Apparently you hipsters have never encountered Analog girl in a Digital world before.
Folks are FREAKING out about Ms. Badu's new video and how she gets all naked in it, totally disregarding the amazingness and 'isms of the track the video is set too. I haven't heard such a sound since Mama's Gun. There's also the interesting and artistic comments trying to making
Not to mention the fact that one should not be surprised or overwhelmed at the fact that she does strip. Listen, this woman is my heroine. I've been listening to her since I was 8--she is completely from another planet, another galaxy, another time. She'll tell you herself. I wouldn't be surprised if she gave birth to an illegal immigrant tye-dye baby jesus with an ankh on its head that threw up the Qu'ran in a bowl of milk, lucky charms style.
And as for the ass---it's just a black woman's ass.
Seriously, I'm uber excited my girl is gracing us with her neo-soul sounds once more, but I'm gonna need the new amerykah audience to get its act together. I'm also gonna need her to get lil Wayne out of the picture. Just saying.
Anyway, if you want to watch the video you'll have to go to her website and click the ankh on her lime green-oozing open purple skull... I'm not making up, those are the instructions.
Amazing hip-hop showcase reunion going on tonight, brought to by the one and only Brooklyn Bodega. Show and Prove II guarantees to be an ass shaking time.
the B0-day-gah has been promoting, providing, and supporting the illest NYC hip-hop since twenty-o-six. Not to mention their famous Hip-Hop Festival.
Anyway, if you need some bky in your life tonight, peep this event.
Jamie from The xx hitting the decksdecks tonight at 10pm!
The XX is this ridiculously seductive UK import from Young Turk records. Its amazing that at 19 they are able to make my ears cream their panties. Anyway, check them out here and decide for yourself if you wanna hear them spin. Obama would do it
it's an eyefull, and it sure as hell better than video phone. However, none of these things are the best part of the video. The absolute best part is that at approximately 00:34 seconds a woman proclaims:
We gonna make you swim out of here in your own blood, bitch!
that's a respectable threat.
Don't mess with that inmate, and stay out of jail period ladies
*note, if you can't view the video below, watch it here
We were always spinning whirling mini buzzing catastrophes of media, sound bytes, and images.
or at least that's how its looked in my head.
for the longest time i can remember the world has never been black or white
on or off
but simply a constant HUM.
Music has been the one thing that's made the most sense to me. Musicians, lyricists, singer, songwriters, performers--they threw me life-vests when I was drowning in the grey.
Therefore, I've decided to use this space to complete the transformation that was already happening in give it to me grande.
This is me+whitespace, all dedicated to music, the community, and everything about it, filtered through my mind. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
Welcome Home, to Dziga Sounds; a blog dedicated to the electrifying, incessant, new world order of music in the digital age.
I know what you're thinking
"everyone's doing it, what makes you special?"
absolutely nothing. that's it. I'm just hopping on the bandwagon. Look through my window and see things from my seat for a lil while. That's all.
