EXCLUSIVE: Outabodies EP
The indie hip-hop trio Outabodies has a new EP out that they were nice enough to let us post here. You know you're mad curious after seeing the above picture, so....
Download it!
Showing posts with label hip-hop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hip-hop. Show all posts
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The indie hip-hop trio Outabodies has a new EP out that they were nice enough to let us post here. You know you're mad curious after seeing the above picture, so....
Download it!
Exile Hip-Hop in the East Bay
Deuce Eclipse of Oakland hip-hop crew Zion I will be performing at a show on the California State University - East Bay campus on November 13. I'm pretty hyped about this, since I haven't really been to a good hip-hop show since I've been in California (that Kool Keith show in SF was alright). Along with the campus, the show is being promoted by East Bay Express, an area alternative weekly newspaper, and Amnesty International.
The Roots Are Back! (Again)
While listening to NPR's All Songs Considered, they profiled a new album by the Roots. The album, put out only a little over a year after 2008's Rising Down, has been described as "gospel" by those who have heard it, according to drummer ?uestlove.
One song, "How I Got Over," has been released and is available to hear at okayplayer.com. The download link has been taken down however. The Roots have always been fantastic performers, but they seem to really be shaping together a good studio sound with their last two albums. I hope "How I Got Over" is a sign of more to come.
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One song, "How I Got Over," has been released and is available to hear at okayplayer.com. The download link has been taken down however. The Roots have always been fantastic performers, but they seem to really be shaping together a good studio sound with their last two albums. I hope "How I Got Over" is a sign of more to come.
50 Cent's Advice Is Valuable
Writer Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly is ridiculous:
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The idea of rapper 50 Cent branching out into motivational philosophy writing is silly enough on its own. Given how 50’s music career has been going lately, I’m not sure anybody should be taking advice from him. Still, that’s not what made me laugh when I saw The 50th Law, the upcoming book that 50 co-wrote with The 48 Laws of Power author Robert Greene. (No word on what happened to the 49th law.)No, the reason I LOL’d was The 50th Law’s completely ridiculous packaging. HarperStudio has spent Lord knows how much money to make The 50th Law look like some kind of kitschy Bible: faux-leather cover, gold-leaf edging on the pages, built-in satiny bookmark. Who are they kidding? As a mass-market paperback — or better yet, a pamphlet — maybe I could take 50’s dispensed wisdom seriously. Presented this way, as some sort of luxury heirloom text, I’m afraid this book is simply a joke.
Then again, this does suggest a possible marketing plan for The 50th Law, out Sept. 8: Perhaps if HarperStudio has copies placed strategically in hotel-room desk drawers across the nation, a few unsuspecting travelers might mistake it for a Gideon’s Bible and read it that way, by accident. But you tell me. Am I judging this book too harshly by its cover?
Yes, Simon, you are. I'm not sure what the politics of 50 Cent's album push-back are, but I think advice from a guy who went from being a bullet-riddled crack dealer to co-owner of VitaminWater, included in the Forbes list and having a net worth of $1 million is not something to be dismissive of.
Kid Cudi Previews New Album
Ill Roots has a sampler video up of Kid Cudi's upcoming album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. It sounds fabulous, and as one of the commentators said, the strongest work this year of any of the new hip-hop artists.
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Bay Area Music: Where Are You?
Something peculiar has struck me since moving to the Bay Area. It seems that the music taste in this part of America is way more polarized than any other regions like Atlanta or Seattle. Almost no educated or grown up people I met listen to hip-hop, and there's actually alot of antipathy towards the genre.
I'm not an expert on the Bay by any means, so I don't know why things are so polarized here. In Seattle it was very common to hear people say "everything" when you asked them what sort of music they listened to. Friends of mine in Advanced Placement courses and who were at top tier schools would be enthusiastic about underground hip-hop artists like Atmosphere or Seattle's own Blue Scholars.
I think it might be a mix of two factors: hip-hop has at least been percieved to be on the decline (though many artists are putting out good work) and the Bay Area has some really bad hip-hop. Seriously. E-40? Too Short? Alot of the "hyphy" stuff around here fits the worst stereotypes of rap: ignorant, stupid, degrading, lacking in skill or originality and extremely repetitive. Sure, there are some original groups like Zion I and Unified School District, but they're not being played on 104.9. Whereas Seattle has Blue Scholars and Atlanta has Outkast, the Bay doesn't really have much hip-hop to be proud of.
It'd be nice to see the Bay Area put out some good music. The Bay Area is where Sly and the Family Stone was given birth. The region needs to step up.
Eminem - My Darling
This song is a bonus cut from Relapse that was apparently dropped from the commercial version. It's the Eminem I like, as opposed to "We Made You." This is vintage Eminem. Completely psychotic, schizophrenic and downright frightening.
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Video: Tanya Morgan - So Damn Down
What on earth is going on in this video? Someone will have to explain it to me because I am certainly perplexed. It's like a cookie cutter rap video with a small dose of the bizarre added in for flavor.
"So Damn Down" is one of my favorite tracks off of Brooklynati. The production is flawless, and Von Pea's verses are memorable and sharp. Von Pea certainly seems like the best rapper of the bunch and the one most likely to have his own solo career in the future.
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"So Damn Down" is one of my favorite tracks off of Brooklynati. The production is flawless, and Von Pea's verses are memorable and sharp. Von Pea certainly seems like the best rapper of the bunch and the one most likely to have his own solo career in the future.
You're A Jerk?
As always, my curiosity got the best of me when I found out about this "Jerkin" phenomenon. A popular dance founded in my hometown Los Angeles, California, "Jerkin" is supposedly the new craze.
So what exactly is "Jerkin"? I'm pretty sure you know more than I do, I only found out what it was in detail 24 hours ago. So instead of trying to put it in my own words and ruin the fad entirely, I will give you the definition I stole from the ever so reliable urbandictionary.com:
Jerkin is an urban dance style for the youth,jerkin involves minor footwork, extreme bending at the knees. You can do it on the car or sitting on the bench.
1. An urban dance style originally started in Cali that became a nation wide phenomena over night.Crews name themselves after pop culture references and frequently call each other out over Youtube videos.
One can wear anything when jerkin. Some crews prefer skinny jeans and brightly colored clothing.It is predominatly a male dance- though some females have been known to jerk.
During the videos, one can see a large amount of wherever the jerkers are as they seem to dance any and everywhere which has added to jerkins overall appeal.
Special jerkin music is used but you can jerk to anything if you want.
Garnering attention across the nation by hip-hop duo, New Boyz and their popular song "You're A Jerk", it seems to me that this is only the beginning of this "Jerkin" style of dance. You can check out their video above.
Being the "jerk" that I am, I must state my opinion on this new trend. If you haven't seen it on my facebook status, I am not feelin it. Maybe I am jealous because I can't dance and if I do it, I'll fall on my ass but other than that, I honestly believe that by the end of the year, it will be replaced by yet another stupid dance.
And what is with all of these hip-hop dances with negative titles? We go dumb/stupid/retarded and now it's okay to be called a jerk? Hopefully the next dancing trend can be called something more positive like "I'm going smart!" or "I'm doing the college bound!" Okay, I am just being silly here, but these dances just seem to get worse. I mean, I'll admit, I will go dumb/stupid every now and then and I hate to admit that I did "Crank dat soulja boy" nonsense, but I just don't know how much I can take.
I will say though, that most kids find it fun to Jerk and battle one another, doing the Reject and Dipping, a few moves associated with "Jerkin", so it seems to have a positive effect within the hip-hop community. Which is fine by me, I guess. It has also created a new fashion trend within the black hip-hop community that has many young males wearing bright neon colors and skinny jeans. I suppose we are over (LA kids at least) the baggy clothes and have decided to try something even more uncomfortable than before. I mean, how can you jerk in such tight jeans? No rips or tears in your checkered neon green skinnies? Whatever, maybe that fashion trend is here to stay as well.
New Series: Throwback of the Day
Hey kiddies, Ash is here. My partna Aneesah came up with the lovely idea of having ongoing columns for WYP. So, I decided to do a test run with "Throwback of the Day". Basically, I will post a video of a song from the 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s and beyond and write about it. I know I haven't been posting like I should so what better way to start than with a daily column?
So here goes....this one is for my hip-hop heads.
The Fugees, Killing Me Softly, The Score, 1996
I miss the Fugees. I miss Lauryn. Plain and simple.
This may sound a tad dramatic but it seems like another piece of music died when Lauryn and the Fugees disappeared. Real talent started to take a backseat to ringtone rap and "crank dat" songs. Music is going to hell in a handbasket and it's up to the listeners to save it. Whenever I have discussions about the condition of today's music, I am met with "White people control the industry" or "Kids don't know what real music is" and other dribble. While it maybe true that execs have a big influence on what music is put out, the labels still need people to buy the music in order for them to make money. People like Soulja Boi didn't get famous because of talent, they get famous because people buy CDs. If people stopped buying the bad music, maybe the execs might change their tune. Maybe more Lauryn Hills and Fugees could get a break. Introduce your friends, family, and peers to other options. Support your underground and struggling artists and stop buying bootlegs and get off Limewire (I'm guilty of this too). But for now, hit play and enjoy.
--Ash
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So here goes....this one is for my hip-hop heads.
The Fugees, Killing Me Softly, The Score, 1996
I miss the Fugees. I miss Lauryn. Plain and simple.
This may sound a tad dramatic but it seems like another piece of music died when Lauryn and the Fugees disappeared. Real talent started to take a backseat to ringtone rap and "crank dat" songs. Music is going to hell in a handbasket and it's up to the listeners to save it. Whenever I have discussions about the condition of today's music, I am met with "White people control the industry" or "Kids don't know what real music is" and other dribble. While it maybe true that execs have a big influence on what music is put out, the labels still need people to buy the music in order for them to make money. People like Soulja Boi didn't get famous because of talent, they get famous because people buy CDs. If people stopped buying the bad music, maybe the execs might change their tune. Maybe more Lauryn Hills and Fugees could get a break. Introduce your friends, family, and peers to other options. Support your underground and struggling artists and stop buying bootlegs and get off Limewire (I'm guilty of this too). But for now, hit play and enjoy.
--Ash
Hip-Hop Needs To Be Redefined
Back in 1999, The Matrix came out in theaters, providing a soundtrack far superior to the overrated cookie cutter science fiction of the film. The soundtrack introduced me to one of my favorite bands of all time, Rammstein, as well as "Rock is Dead," the only song by Marilyn Manson I could stand to listen to.
Even though I was really just a pre-teen around that time, I frequented indie record stores and read music magazines. It was pretty well established among rock enthusiasts at that point that rock was dead. Everyone was pretending to like hip-hop and the biggest rock acts were the like of Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit, which blended rapping with simple metal riffs. It wasn't until the White Stripes blew up that rock music seemed to really take off again.
It really feels like hip-hop is in the same position right now that rock was a decade ago. The genre is in need of new energy, a new direction and new personalities. Even the pretty good acts, like indie Californian rappers U-N-I or the fairly stellar releases like veterans like Nas, Jay-Z and Eminem, seem to be missing a certain something that was there in the first Dr. Octagon or Nas' Illmatic.
Rap seems to know this too. The fantastic new release Brooklynati by Ohio group Tanya Morgan has a song called "She's Gone," another take on the cliche depiction of hip-hop as a woman that has done her lovers wrong. While it's cliched, the metaphor works. I fell head over heels in love with hip-hop as a teenager, spending nearly all my time with her, writing about her and defending her against the ridicule hurled by friends and family.
In the mainstream mind, hip-hop has a well deserved bad reputation. From the tragic East Coast/West Coast beefs all the way to 50 Cent's violent, nihilist rants, the impression of most music fans seems to be of hip-hop as a genre that is neck deep in violence for violence's sake and sex for sex's sake. People like myself that know better from having listened to the brilliance of Kool Keith, Mos Def, Nas or Grayskul have an uphill battle to present the better hip-hop.
This leads me to a proposition. Up and coming acts like U-N-I, Tanya Morgan, Onra, Zion I or The Gigantics should just scrap the "hip-hop" label and go for something else that squarely describes their music. Alot of electronic artists don't call themselves such in order to avoid the "techno" label, and it would be wise for intelligent linguists in underground hip-hop to follow suit. How about using "future funk," the phrase mega-producer Onra uses on his new song "My Comet?"
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Even though I was really just a pre-teen around that time, I frequented indie record stores and read music magazines. It was pretty well established among rock enthusiasts at that point that rock was dead. Everyone was pretending to like hip-hop and the biggest rock acts were the like of Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit, which blended rapping with simple metal riffs. It wasn't until the White Stripes blew up that rock music seemed to really take off again.
It really feels like hip-hop is in the same position right now that rock was a decade ago. The genre is in need of new energy, a new direction and new personalities. Even the pretty good acts, like indie Californian rappers U-N-I or the fairly stellar releases like veterans like Nas, Jay-Z and Eminem, seem to be missing a certain something that was there in the first Dr. Octagon or Nas' Illmatic.
Rap seems to know this too. The fantastic new release Brooklynati by Ohio group Tanya Morgan has a song called "She's Gone," another take on the cliche depiction of hip-hop as a woman that has done her lovers wrong. While it's cliched, the metaphor works. I fell head over heels in love with hip-hop as a teenager, spending nearly all my time with her, writing about her and defending her against the ridicule hurled by friends and family.
In the mainstream mind, hip-hop has a well deserved bad reputation. From the tragic East Coast/West Coast beefs all the way to 50 Cent's violent, nihilist rants, the impression of most music fans seems to be of hip-hop as a genre that is neck deep in violence for violence's sake and sex for sex's sake. People like myself that know better from having listened to the brilliance of Kool Keith, Mos Def, Nas or Grayskul have an uphill battle to present the better hip-hop.
This leads me to a proposition. Up and coming acts like U-N-I, Tanya Morgan, Onra, Zion I or The Gigantics should just scrap the "hip-hop" label and go for something else that squarely describes their music. Alot of electronic artists don't call themselves such in order to avoid the "techno" label, and it would be wise for intelligent linguists in underground hip-hop to follow suit. How about using "future funk," the phrase mega-producer Onra uses on his new song "My Comet?"
Eminem Keeps Me Up Til 3 AM
Wow.
I heard a clip from Eminem's new song "3 AM" on iTunes and thought it was terrible. Given his previous single "We Made You," I figured this wouldn't be any better. The only reason I watched it is because I was in middle school when The Marshall Mathers LP came out and I still have a lingering interest in what he's up to.
Let me say that I'm very pleasantly surprised. This is one of the most original hip-hop videos I've seen in a long time. The song sounds nothing like anything he's done before. Horrorcore was a neat little subgenre in hip-hop a long while back but it never (to my knowledge) got explored to this degree. I can see why this wasn't the first single as it's not for everybody, but this is truly a worthy return.
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I heard a clip from Eminem's new song "3 AM" on iTunes and thought it was terrible. Given his previous single "We Made You," I figured this wouldn't be any better. The only reason I watched it is because I was in middle school when The Marshall Mathers LP came out and I still have a lingering interest in what he's up to.
Let me say that I'm very pleasantly surprised. This is one of the most original hip-hop videos I've seen in a long time. The song sounds nothing like anything he's done before. Horrorcore was a neat little subgenre in hip-hop a long while back but it never (to my knowledge) got explored to this degree. I can see why this wasn't the first single as it's not for everybody, but this is truly a worthy return.
Giving Back to the Community
Are you doing well? Why not share the loot? Here is a short tutorial on helping children near you to achieve their dreams.
Hilarious.
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Hilarious.
Outabodies Interview B-Sides
Here is the second part of the Outabodies interview, in which they talk about what their concerts are like, what makes them passionate and who they view as musical contemporaries.
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VIDEO BLOG: Presenting Outabodies
I'm pleased to present the first video blog in WYP history. Following is an interview with the hip-hop group Outabodies.
There were a few segments that got axed for the sake of continuity and time. Those segments will be up later today. Enjoy.
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There were a few segments that got axed for the sake of continuity and time. Those segments will be up later today. Enjoy.
Eminem's Not A "Rock Star"
Maybe I'm too mature now for this sort of thing. Maybe he just doesn't have "it" anymore. Whatever it is, this new song by Eminem demands the creation of a new word to describe something extremely reprehensible. Does anyone like this?
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More on Tyrone Love
There's an aspect of Tyrone Love's murder that has been in the back of my mind for days:
According to an eyewitness, Love was walking alone in the 2600 block of East Cherry Street just before 2 a.m. when a man pulled up in a car, jumped out, ran toward Love and shot him several times.
Some acquaintances suggested that Love’s death might be connected with an ongoing investigation into the fatal, gang-related shooting at Vito’s Madison Grill in November. Police would not confirm whether Love was linked to it.
But one law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described a small circle of men who promote parties, attend clubs and may know gang members — at least peripherally.
It seems like it was Tyrone's involvement with music promotion that got him shot. After reading about all of this, I actually went and deleted the hip-hop from my computer. I realize more than anyone that hip-hop is enigmatic and diverse, and without the music I never would have met him, but it's just hard right now for me to listen to any of it without thinking about what happened to Tyrone.
The one thing that struck me when I talked with Tyrone was how nice and decent he was. I'm not saying that just because he's gone now and it's the polite thing to say. He really was a nice guy. The Central District and Capitol Hill isn't a hotbed for nice people so you tend to notice whenever decency rears its head.
I remember once talking to him about family, and I told him that one of my family members had moved south and had the same significant other for several years. Tyrone asked me if she was happy. That may not seem like much, but in retrospect it was really sweet. It wasn't something a gangbanger would ask. Tyrone was not a gangbanger, and that's what makes his death all the more tragic.
Presenting Super Ugly
While visiting the various vendors at WonderCon, I came across the stand of rapper/artist Super Ugly (real name John Williams), who proceeding to talk me into buying the album Brokedown Palace by his band Unified School District. The CD, which he sold me for a measly $5, was a fantastic blend of geekiness and funkiness delivered through underground hip-hop. As a hip-hop head with a serious case of love-hate with the genre, I was courted by hip-hop of the Unified variety (Kool Keith, MF Doom, Grayskul, etc.) much more than the gangsta variety that has all but killed the genre's artistic credibility. Unified delivers it.
Super Ugly agreed to an interview with WYP, and provided some insightful answers to my questions. Read up.
How did Unified School District get formed?
Unified was built from spare parts in a garage in Reno back in 2001. I met Ecto after we had already put the "band" together. He came in to do the recording on his eight track, and was a real young guy, around 18. After we laid a couple of tracks Ecto played me a couple of beats and I was hooked. I could not believe what I was hearing... the samples he was flipping and the level of his scratching.. I knew our tastes would work together very nicely. After awhile we phased the other guys out and became a duo. We have been roomates and friends for a long time. He's a grown ass man now, painting signs over at Madeforglorysigns.com But we are heading back in to the studio to work on our fifth album this summer.
Why the name "Brokedown Palace" for your last album?
because that is the perfect description of music right now..I knew the movie and not the Grateful Dead song..but felt it just says so much about how we feel about music. The cover, the title, the songs inside all live up to the name Brokedown Palace.
Have you shopped yourself around to labels like Rhymesayers or Def Jux?
We are admittedly the worst hustlers in music today.. we have sent packages with our Info and music to most indie labels and heard not a peep.. true we could've pursued the labels more, called and harassed but that aint our thing. we are lazy composers. it would be nice to have someone who could help guide our sound into more ears, but we are truly blessed if even one person hears it. ITunes has been good to us, as has the podcast.
How did the comic book crowd at WonderCon respond to your music?
I do not push a ton of music at conventions. Bu the people that do buy it always give us a good response. That's the thing with Unified music, its not easily definable after one listen.. or two..or a hundred. It works on many layers and brings a different view with every listen. I want comic kids to listen though cause I define a lot on a level they can appreciate. humor. darkness. obscure references. But we also don't short you on that raw classic boom bap hip hop.
Whose idea was it to sample video game themes?
Ecto is a musical genius. He has compiled a long list of video game sampled tracks. Games such as Castlevania, Punch Out, Metroid and Tetris liek on the track "Action Figures" on our album. He sat there with the OG nintendo, sampling straight from the TV. On Mike Tysons punch out he actually had to play the game while sampling to get the right sound effects. It is his Magnum Opus, he's calling it "Coin-Op" and it should be arriving in cartridge form soon...
How did you end up getting Prince Po on your album?
Prince Po is one of my idols in music. Organized Konfusion was a big influence in my younger days. We played a show with Po in SF and ripped it in ususal Unified manner. After the show he was real cool, saying he was into what we were speaking on. Of course we were on cloud 9.. We got the chance to play with him again and when he saw us he told us he was excited to see he was playing with us again. So we felt it would be fair of us to ask him if he was interested in being involved with the album. He was more then willing and picked out one of Ectos favorite beats. Which is an amazing sample from the Dumbo soundtrack. I know, he's crazy. Po killed, Ugly killed it. It is one of my favorite tracks on the album.
How do you feel about the state of hip-hop? Is it dead, like Nas said?
Music is dead.. screw hip hop. It really is in a state of transition, the old guard is dying and the new mediums are the ones choking them. downloading is something the big business cant wrap their head around. Hip hop has some bright lights, and in each state there is a movement but it is really small compared to the glamour and glitz. And why would it be? the dumbing sdown of music has been in full rage for ten years. Hip hop loves the ignorance, which is truly bliss. Getting dumb is very infectious. But things come around, for every hair band there was a Kurt Cobain. For every MC Hammer there was a Dr Dre. I am dying to hear what the next revolution will be and hope we can be a part of it.
What's your chief objective right now: music, art, podcasting?
Truthfully it is all three. I podcast once every week, I draw in my free time and like I said earlier am about to start on the new album "Chasing Ghosts". I am working to get a couple of Gallery shows and am travelling around the country doing comic conventions with Dave Dwonch of spacetimecondo.com and the podcast.I also have an almost full time job and a beautiful wife so I manage my time fairly well for a weed smoking fat kid. I also am in the outline stages of a new graphic novel "The Dry Season" and want to knock out a childrens book. whew! this is a good life.
Northwest Concert Promoter Murdered
Out of high school, I worked briefly for a hip-hop magazine put out by the music promotion company Seaspot.com. One of the concert promoters I knew there was murdered recently:
In a neighborhood that had seemingly grown immune to news of violence and death, the fatal shooting of a popular, young music promoter earlier this week apparently has galvanized the community.
The death of Tyrone Love, 26, who was by all accounts one of the good guys, has sparked a rally, two vigils, a benefit concert set for Monday night, and renewed discussion among community leaders about how to reduce violence among youths.
A co-founder of a local music-promotion company named Vibrant Entertainment 206, Love worked during the day at the YMCA where he ran programs for at-risk youth.
This came as a surprise to me not just because I knew him but also because the community had become rather gentrified over the years, with nightclubs and malt liquor stores being replaced by Safeways, Trader Joe's and Starbucks. I'd hoped we'd been through the worst of it already.
I want to add that the murder of Tyrone was not necessarily caused by hip-hop. Reports show that the motive is unclear. Since rappers and others in the hip-hop community have been caught up in gang violence for decades, it'd be easy to say than this nice guy fell victim to the music that he (and I) helped promote. However, the hood is the hood and violence happens for no reason sometimes (like the Capitol Hill rave massacre that happened three years ago).
Whatever the motive, it's still depressing. I remember talking to Tyrone about soul music at Seattle Central Community College and him telling me about working at the YMCA. I hope that the children he helped will be inspired to do the same kind of work.
Rest in peace.
Blu x Jack Davey: "iFeel"
Just in time for the lofty, warm aura of spring, Los Angeles-based producers, L.A.U.S.D. have leaked "iFeel", a flirty duet featuring two of my favorite people in music right now, Blu and Miss Jack Davey. I heard the song yesterday and it's been on repeat ever since. The chemistry between the two is so amazingly authentic and so sexy. It'll get you in that mood for sure.
"iFeel" is included in L.A.U.S.D. presents… Curly Tops & Nautica Jackets, a compilation of tracks featuring more of L.A.'s up and coming artists. Hear more tracks here.
Download "iFeel" ft. Blu and Jack Davey here.
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