pop-tarded

2006-06-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

So let me break it down for you.

Nelly Furtado used to be a sweetheart, an innocent girl who had roamed the streets as a young Canadian teen with her posse of pseudo-rebels, all of whom had tag names like "Rapture" and "Ms. Terrie" and cruised around on skateboards. Or, at least, that's how I perceived her, since that's how she presented herself.

Today, "fans" are taking her at face value. Look at the picture at the top of the post: to your left, Nelly Furtado is giggling because she quietly burped to herself, embarrased as a woman to have uttered such a horrific bodily gas in public. To your right, Nelly Furtado has been mind-fucked into taking off her clothes and strutting around almost naked on the SNL stage, while Timbaland awkwardly sways by her side. Why, for the love of god, have things gotten to this point?

Nelly Furtado blasted onto the scene with "I'm Like A Bird," the amazing and heart-warming song that, by no force of nature, could be stopped from becoming a massive hit. Her record label, Dreamworks, didn't even have to promote the bitch. It just happened, because people realized what a gorgeous song it is. Enter Nick Hornby: wrote a book of essays on individual songs that he thought were the perfect pop song, and included "Like A Bird" as one of them. I know you're thinking, Hornby, ha, yea, he knows stuff about music. But as a professional and successful writer, he takes risks in putting out books of essays on music, because it gives a glimpse into his personal life. And I agreed with him when he wrote it, so it wasn't too far off base.

The debut album, "Whoa! Nelly," was something fresh and clean. With glitch-pop tracks and innocent poetic lyrics, Nelly was a flash of light in the seclusion cell that trapped good music and made it underexposed. Her singles were catchy yet self-respecting, and Nelly was just one of the guys without having to sacrifice her integrity.

I read, after the first album, that Nelly was considering the idea of never putting out another album after the first. Then, low and behold, came "Folklore." Sure, it was overly-produced and a bit grassy. But Nelly did something that still wasn't being done. She ripped off folk and made it pop, which is an extremely difficult thing to do. She enlisted the help of very respected musicians (which screams retarded), such as Kronos Quartet, Caetano Veloso, and Hall and Oates, and jumped on the folk bandwagon. The results were a bit glazed, but enjoyable nonetheless. Enter "Try," a basic track that really hit the mark without being too kitschy or derivative. "One-Trick Pony" did it for me as well, with the lush sounds of Kronos mixed with the twangy banjo plucks of Oates. Nelly had done something right, and no one realized it. This is why the album was a "flop," as some might call it. But I had faith in her still, as did her fans, that the music would never be sacrificed for image. She was a mother, and she still respected herself. She was a positive role model for women and little girls, because she wasn't shaving off her clothes and prancing around.

Now, when I first laid my hands on the single "Promiscuous" a few months back, I nearly fell off my chair. What the fuck was up?? I knew that Nelly loved the hip-hop sword, as she'd plucked it from its resting spot, embedded in a rock. Enter: "Breathe," by Swollen Members, "Get UR Freak On (remix)" by Missy Elliott, "Thin Line" by Jurassic 5ive, and "Ching Ching" by Ms. Jade. All of those songs were terrific, because it featured the innocent Nelly doing her thing for hip-hop. I knew that she had a female boner for it, as she had said when I saw her in 2002 at the Florida Hard Rock Live venue, confirming it by performing Mary Blige's "Real Love" onstage. She had hip-hop roots, which I dug.

But I didn't know that she also bore the "soul-less sell-out" sword. Enter: Liz Phair. That's it for that sword, because no one else has been that much a bitch to sell themselves out and sacrifice everything that they had built for themselves. "Promiscuous" featured an earnestly embarrassing side of Nelly we'd never seen before: she was RAPPING about SEX, two things that had never even been close to blips on the Nelly radar, ever. So why was she suddenly doing it? Ah, yes. She wanted to sell records! She grabbed Timbaland, who she had worked with respectively on the Ms. Jade and Missy songs, and Timbaland threw her a hip-hop bone. Nelly fetched it, like a dog, as if she were taking orders from him. And she was, as proof of "Loose," her disasterous new album filled with disgusting dance numbers as far as the ear can hear.

The new album features only 2 guests (three, if you count the version of "All Good Things" that I have with Chris Martin of the soggy Coldplay): Juanes and Pharrell. Now, Juanes and Nelly have worked together before, so that's expected. Pharrell? Timbaland? What the hell is going on?

The music sounds as if Nelly has sold her nuts for a plaque. Take the lead single, where she has a good ol' fashioned boy-girl response call with Timbaland, the most unsexy man alive. She sounds as if she's trying so hard to emulate what works in the pop world, which is sex. I don't blame her for doing it, but as a previous fan of her earlier work, I feel like I can make those qualifications for her to at least try to salvage the respectability that she had before. Now, she's a bland tool, used by Timbaland and the recording industry to sell a million records.

The rest of the album is as callow and soulless as the first single. Some key tracks that represent this disgusting revelation flow in the veins of "Glow," the in-your-face buzzathon that would equal a dildo running out of batteries. "Do It," another track completely devoid of any musical integrity, features Nelly's vocals turned down in the mix so an obnoxious '80's throwback can manifest itself all up in your soundsphere. It's almost sickening to think that I invested 99 cents for the promo of this album. It's not even worth that much.

If you happen to have caught her performance on SNL a few weeks back, which can be viewed below, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. She prances around onstage, completely unsexy and transparent for all the world to see. You can almost see the strings pulling on her from above, as corporate America is using her as a puppet. Timbaland wails to her right, but he's a bit too old to be doing what he's doing. He's not rapping, he's talking, and it's an embarrassment. So as I approach the end of my rant, please refrain from buying this woman's album in hopes that she will revert back to the days where she was a role model for little girls. She knew how to dress, she knew what to write about, and she knew what good pop music was. But don't get your hopes up: once they get to this point, it's over for them.

2006-06-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

I usually refrain from keeping it above ground in the Poptarded land, but I just can't resist this one.

We all remember the hurting that Beyonce and Jay put down on "Crazy In Love." That Chi-Lites sample, those infective horn blasts, Beyonce's heavenly wails, Jay's beat-smearing rhymes and flow, Rich Harrison's board techniques... I can go on and on, but seriously, we all know it deserved to be the single of the year. And low and behold, it was. It turned pop, hip-hop and R&B on their heads, and injected top-40 with the serum that it needed to prove that music still had the capability of breaking indie boundaries. Is this because of Rich Harrison? I mean, take Amerie's "1 Thing." Did the same thing, but without the mountainous blitzkrieg of radio domination. We all loved it, though. You dealt. I creamed. We all creamed for 1 Thing.

Now all of a sudden comes "Deja Vu," the new joint and alleged single from B's upcoming album. It's long overdue, yes, but when two artists who've been on hiatus from solo-dom pop up with a track, it's bound to make a splash. Beyonce's got the talent, there's absolutely no question. There's no question that she has the powerhouse voice that blows ANY other top-40 singer out of the musical water. So does Jay, but with the rhymes. I don't even have to extrapolate on that, we all know Jay has never disappointed. Even when his albums are lagging (hey there, Dynasty Roc La Familia, we didn't forget about you... Oh, and the Best of Both Worlds, we see you hiding in the dollar bin), Jay manages to verbally make it happen. B also has the looks, even though Jay doesn't. But we're lucky as music lovers that they're together, aren't we? When the best of both worlds get together, they usually do it right.

So now we have "Deja Vu," the sickeningly viral track that burrows itself under your skin. The track starts off with the layering of instruments, orchestrated by B: "Bass... Hi-hat... 808... Jay... Let's go get 'em." Jay pops in with a teaser verse, with lip-smacking rhymes, only to pave way to B's verse. Her vocals have dramatically improved since the Destiny's Child days, for the fact that she seemed to have to prove herself as a singer back then. Now, she knows how to sound sexy and under control without necessarily having to do vocal gymnastics. The chorus pops in with the uncontrollable and unresolving melody, with the horns bopping on top of the endearing soul clap. B doesn't loose it though: she sings two verses, then Jay pops in on a breakdown. When B comes back in after the verse, her ferocity and fire yelping the lyrics makes the track outlive itself. All in all, the track is so infectious that it's bound to take radios by storm, and gain that indie cred that you know will spawn hundreds of hipsters wiling out to it while clutching onto their Pabsts. Take it from Mr. Tom Breihan, who I'm hot and cold about. But he's right. So here it is for you, hipster kids: hold your Pabst close, and get ready for the track of the summer. Maybe even the year.

Beyonce - Deja Vu featuring Jay-Z

2006-05-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

Soul Position (RJD2 & Blueprint) and One.Be.Lo (aka One Man Army) at Southpaw: Saturday, May 27, 2006. KTHANKS

I happened to go to the Soul Position show last night at Southpaw in Brooklyn. I got guestlisted from the radio station (which is glorious; free shit makes life bearable) and I crept into Brooklyn with my friend Claudia to experience us some Saturday night underground hip-hop action.

We got to Southpaw, which I'd never been to before, for the reason that I can't imagine what type of artist I would ever see there. They usually have a bunch of shows by people that just don't float in my music-sphere, so I've never felt compelled to make the trip. Let's just say, I'm pretty glad I did this time. Pretty.

Southpaw was relatively empty. We thought the show was going to start at 9, considering the doors opened at 8. That's how it usually works at shows, anyways. So we roll up at 9:45, thinking we missed One.Be.Lo, but there were about thirty people in the spot and it didn't look like anything had gone down. There was a DJ on-stage, spinning pretty mediocre tunes, and the place looked barren. My friend and I slumped down on these comfy sofa cushions, and watched in envy as the 21+ers sipped their brews. We cherished our red tape bracelets, though, no hate. I turned to my right to see the pool table that they have set up, and low and behold, RJD2 is playing a couple of games against some people. I was pretty impressed to see a performer actually hanging out before they performed, and he didn't have a stick up his ass. That's what I hate about these small places: artists are so full of shit that they hide in the one back room, making themselves completely inaccessible and inhuman. RJ was mad cool, no one went up to him and bothered him or anything, he was just a normal guy playing pool, and I truly admired that he didn't act like he was on a level that he wasn't.

Anyways, after stealing many glances at RJ, we watched One.Be.Lo take the stage (and the spotlight) for the 40 people who were standing in the pit. My friend and I stayed against the elevated platform against the railing for the duration of the entire show, which was a great idea. Plus, that made watching people make asses of themselves much easier.

Now, One.Be.Lo: for those of you that don't know, One.Be.Lo is also known as One Man Army, from the Michigan rap duo Binary Star, the moniker under which he performs with rapper Senim Sella. Their classic, Masters of the Universe, was a glorious addition to the underground hip-hop world. You can download it for free here. Binary Star decided to amicably split ways, and went to do their thing on the solo tip. Silla didn't really have much success, but One.Be.Lo took off after a long time and lots of effort. After releasing several mixtapes (Project F.E.T.U.S. and the whoppingly long S.T.I.L.L.B.O.R.N.), One dropped S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. (Sounds Of Nahshid Originate Good Rhymes And Music... Thanks, Subterraneous Records), a wonderfully thoughtful and mentally stimulating LP.

Fast-forward to now: One took the stage, although the pit was a bit empty, but gradually filled by the end of his set. One had great stage presence, and surprisingly knew his beat CD forwards and backwards. It was really nice to see a rapper actually put so much effort into setting up a show before he went on tour, so that the CD beats play all the way through, and One knows the exact times when to drop a verse or so. Yes, it sounds a bit stiff, but One played with the audience and his performance extremely well. His verses came alive onstage, especially on "Double Essay," a joint from his F.E.T.U.S. record. He claims that he went to the dean of the University of Michigan to propose a curriculum for hip-hop (haha, but at least he tried) and the dean told him to go home, write a double essay, and come back the next day. One, not knowing what the dean meant and being a crafty mouse, spit what he writ. He took two mics onstage, and started rapping words beginning with "S" into the mic in his left hand, then crossing over to words beginning with "A" into the mic in his right hand. Now, that may not sound so exciting, but onstage, he ripped the shit. The flurry of words going into each mic was pretty intense, and captivating. Kind of like Papoose's "Alphabetic Slaughter", except not as frantic and hard to understand. One ripped through a bunch of other joints, like "Lyrictricity" (which he ripped off from Athletic Mic League) and "The Hood," which were absolutely glorious. He had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand.

The only downside to the set comes from my personal experience: this MOTHERFUCKING OBNOXIOUS asshole was standing right next to me, and kept shouting the entire time. When One would speak to the audience, this guy would laugh as if One was talking right to him. The man would shout the end of every line, because that's all he knew, just the rhymes at the end of each line of each song. Terrible. On the funny tip, two white boys wearing baseball caps in the front were huge fans of One, and were rapping along to every single lyric. Now, One is great and I've been listening to him for a while now, but seriously, where do kids like that find One? And out of any rapper, why would they focus in on memorizing every single lyric to that one rapper? I guess that's an argument that can be settled on a rainy day. Oh, rain.

So One left the crowd wanting more. Hot opener, possibly the hottest I've ever seen (minus Big Daddy Kane opening for MF Doom... Or anyone opening for MF). RJD2 hopped onstage directly after One got off, set up a laptop and slipped his records onto the wheels of steel. Now, I've never seen Soul Postion, or Blueprint or RJD2 at all in my short life. I can't believe I waited this long to see RJ! Blueprint, we'll get into. But RJ! Deadringer is one of my favorite albums, and I almost caught his set last year at Northsix, but sadly got turned away after HOURS of travelling because the show was 21+. This time, I'm glad I caught it. RJ is such a clown. He's just a big music dork, and that's pretty cool for a DJ. I want to see someone clown themselves, and make jokes. Also, it was his birthday, so Blueprint had us all sing "Happy Birthday" to him and gave him a card and a DVD copy of "Coming to America." Ha.

Blueprint couldn't pick up where One left off. Blueprint doesn't make any similes or anything, so his raps don't necessarily come off as clever. He's a great frontman, because he has tons of energy and he's a goof, but his lyrics have never caught me. That's kind of why I've been meh about Soul Position in the past, minus The Unlimited EP and "Final Frontier" from Deadringer. The new record isn't too captivating, "Things Go Better With RJ and Al," but there are a few good joints that I've posted at the bottom of this.

Their set was fun, nothing more than that. RJ didn't really do too much, just scratched a bit and watched his laptop the entire time, while Blueprint rocked the crowd. They tore through their classics "Final Frontier," "Mic Control," and "Inhale," as well as a slew of joints from the new record. The new ones banged out well in concert, as opposed to on record, where Blueprint remains uncaptivating and boring. RJ was truly the star of the show, because it's obvious that he keeps Soul Position afloat. See: Blueprint's "1988," which, for all purposes, was good, but not captivating. And I'm pretty sure that "1988" is no one's favorite record.

Highpoints of Soul Position's set: those two white boy fans of One who kept shouting "One.Be.Lo" at the beginning of Soul Position's set, to which Blueprint replied that they should get the hell out of there, because it's not cool to do that. I thought that shit was hilarious, those kids were standing there all stupid. Another highlight: RJ coming out as "Mo' Buttons," his alias with a shirt on that says "Mo' Buttons in this bitch" and a goofy ass hat hanging off of his head. He slung his MPC around him and played his drum machine like an instrument, which I thought was rather amazing for a live show to be able to pull that off.

Overall, good set. Not amazing, but I'd see them again. One.Be.Lo came out for the encore, which was nice, and he dropped a verse over a Soul Position beat. I'd actually like to see One do a record with RJD2, instead of RJ doing shitty records with Aceyalone and assorted others (that's right, "Magnificent City" was terrible).

I got to talk to One after the show, and I told him that I loved Michigan hip-hop, and wanted to see rappers from Ann Arbor unite and go on tour, name-checking Athletic Mic League. His response? "I don't think AML is cool no more." Me: "But, but, Buff1 was doing his solo thing, I thought it was all good!" One: "Nope."

Shit. There goes AML, who I considered one of my favorite rap groups. Sure, they didn't have any distinctive MC's, but Lab Techs truly gave them the hottest beats and their sound was unique. Not many people could pull that off. But, I guess you can only go so long as a non-successful rap group. After all, it takes a while to be opening for Ghostface and Soul Position, as One has been doing.

Anyways, I'm out. Enjoy the mp3's, and check out One.Be.Lo's "S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M." for real. Buy that shit, yo.

Download:

One.Be.Lo - Deceptacons (remix)

One.Be.Lo - Lyrictricity

One.Be.Lo - The Hood

Soul Position - Hand-Me-Downs

Soul Position - No Gimmicks

Soul Position - The Extra Mile

2006-05-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

Cyne, a relatively unknown super-group of 2 emcees (Akin and Cise Star) and 2 DJ's (Speck and Enoch), have dropped several mouth-watering gems that have unsurprisingly bypassed the underground circuit without making much of a sound. Thankfully, that hasn't stopped them from making albums that rightfully take a mainstream sound and flip it, crunching it between their musical birth canal and squeezing out hip-hop mutant babies. But don't worry, they're the good kind of mutants.

I first came across Cyne by accident, being that I attempted to introduce myself to underground hip-hop by biting off way more than I could chew, but it ended up being better than I expected. I got ahold of Daedelus's album Exquisite Corpse, the glorious album which featured a slew of guest artists. So, on the cut "Drops (Cyne Collaboration)," I remained dense and never fully realized that Cyne was a group until about a month after I played out the record. But thankfully, I realized it, and it's been magic and rainbows ever since.

The group, which hails from both West Africa and Gainesville, Florida (ugh, Florida... except for the fact that Asamov comes from there), blasted onto the scene with the album Time Being, which lightly grazed the surface of what they actually were capable of doing. Enter 2005's Evolution Fight. Now, this is the album that I first got my hands on, and it instantly became one of my fav's. Although, I managed to omit it from my WNYU top-10 year end list, but that doesn't stop me from fully loving this album.

The tracks listed below are 2 joints from Evolution Fight, the first being "Evolution Fight" (obvi the title track from the album), which explores the doubts that we face in looking at the pitfalls of society (i.e. war, traditional racial tension, etc...) The beat for the track is bonkers, with a crisp futurist sound that fits right into the category of mainstream music, but toys with the various aspects of sound, leaving the track just below radio-incorporatable. The next track, "Running Water," features a warbly piano riff that just makes you want to cream. And finally, the track "Maintain" comes from their vinyl single release of "Running Water,", which, if you can figure out which two other songs use the same sample, will make you one of hip-hop's elite. Like me.

Download:

Cyne - Evolution Fight

Cyne - Running Water

Cyne - Maintain

2006-05-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

Gnarls Barkley at Webster Hall. Not the most amazing concert in the world, but if you're into the album, then you would have enjoyed it as much as I did.

Here's the full-on recap:

I arrived just at the beginning of Spank Rock's set. Now, I was initially excited to see Spank Rock, which is fronted by a hipster black guy who is backed by a fat white hype man who was guzzling Heiny's the entire set and two DJ's whose scratching never actually came through the mix. Although I was pretty satisfied with their set. The frontman is a bit awkward, and he flops around on the stage at ease, which me likey. Their sound is wonderful, especially live, with the electro-hop buzzes coming right through the speakers and into your heart.

The ironic thing about the show was that there were about 30 black males there in the crowd. I'm not necessarily one to look at race at all when it comes to hip-hop (I'm white, just for the record), but it started to make me wonder when Spank Rock pumped their fists in the air and only 3 men in the audience responded by doing the same. I'm not sure if they actually intended for the audience to mimick them, but 3 black guys followed in suit. The same thing happened when I saw Common at Nokia, except that the crowd was predominately black and the few spotted white people were also pumping their fists in the air. Since when did audiences become so white-washed? AND since when was it ok for grown white men to pump their fist in the air because a rapper was doing it? Thank God none of that happened tonight. Although, Spank Rock did repeat (ad nauseum) at the end of their set something like "White boys copy black folks" or something along those lines. It was chanted, and it was really awkward, since the audience was mostly white. But despite the awkwardness, they ripped through cuts from their album YoYoYoYoYo like "Rick Rubin" and "Chilly Will." Overall, good showmanship and energy. It's just too bad that not a single person in the entire venue even remotely looked like they knew who was on the stage. Damn non-hip-hoppers. You know it's not really a hip-hop event if the assholes behind you are having a conversation about how the recent Guns 'N Roses show changed their lives. Ugh. But I'm not bitter, I swear.

Spank Rock's set ended after about 45 minutes, which seemed rather short, but it was fine. Gnarls Barkley was introduced by a man who came on at around 10:20, who stated that "Gnarls couldn't make it tonight, so the band 'Brushfire' was going to fill in for them by doing their songs." Enter everyone in Gnarls Barkley completely decked out in '80s hair band attire. It was glorious. I kind of love the gimmick they have going on with dressing up, like in their promo pics that they did in dressing like Pedro and Napoleon, Wayne and Garth, Freddy and Jason, etc. The backing band consisted of four string players, three back-up singers, a drummer, Danger Mouse on the recorded sound board, another guy playing the keys, a guitarist, and a bassist. Now, for their songs, which are pretty stripped on St. Elsewhere, they definitely didn't need as many musicians for their show. Danger Mouse could have easily stood on stage and diddled with a CD player for all I care, and the show would've been just as exciting. But alas, the theatrics were important, since Cee-Lo didn't actually run around the stage to entertain.

They went through all of their songs pretty much, the entire album was done in its entirety. Not all the way through the tracklist, but skipped around. The only song that sounded extremely different was the rendition of "Transformer," which lost that Japanese variety show theme-song thing going on, and was substituted for a slower and stripped down sound. Highlights included "Smiley Faces," which had a vibrant synth sound buzzing in. I think it definitely will be their next single, if they have any sense, and if they include that buzzing synth... well, let's just say that girls won't need their vibrators anymore after hearing that noise. We'll leave it at that.

The balcony played host to some special guests: the unbearable P. Diddy, who I am convinced was told by someone at Bad Boy to check out the show. There's no way he understands what they were doing at all. He was just along for the ride. Other guests were T.I., who probably was also confused as hell, and Khujo from Goodie Mob, who THANKFULLY got the best applause out of all of the guests when Cee-Lo shouted them out during the encore. Oh, and the song that they finished with was "Storm Coming," not "Crazy," which they actually played before they left the stage for their encore. It's surprising, because people were more excited for "Smiley Faces" than "Crazy," which was lush and gorgeous in concert. Downpoints included "Boogie Monster" and "Transformers," which don't really hit hard on the record either. But what the hey, I'm over it.

Overall, good show, not great. Cee-Lo is not a very interesting front-man: he doesn't dance - he doesn't really move at all, for that matter - and his voice isn't as sharp and piercing as it is on record. I have a feeling that there's serious studio-tweakage going on with his records, like for example on "The Art of Noise" from his album Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine, where he gushes like a waterfall at the beginning... Never could accomplish that live. As for Danger Mouse? Nothing special. Just stood in the background, never came to the front. Although I do really enjoy the fact that both of them seem thoroughly shocked to the reaction to the record. Cee-Lo was truly appreciate for everyone that came out, as he was when I interviewed him for PopMatters about how people were reacting to the record. Would I see them again? Fuck yea. As Chappelle says, they did "Thriller"... "Thriller."

More Pictures:

2006-05-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

Tom Breihan: I disagree.

Now, this man is currently the solo blogger on the Village Voice's website, for the fact that Sylvester got the fuckin' boot. Sylvester knew next to nothing about hip-hop, but while I admonish his love for half-assed groups and artists like Dipset and associates, he was on point about 85% of the time. And he was funny. That's quite a feat for someone who can write so eloquently. So, we all know what happened. Two blogs popular at once, Nick's "Riff Raff" a massive breeding ground for hundreds of angry responses, Breihan's "Status Ain't Hood" hiding in "Riff Raff"'s shadow. Sylvester lies, and Breihan's blog becomes the main attraction, with naked women surrounded by miles of green grapes and assorted vegetables begging to be fucked by his blog.

Breihan picked up with the right attitude and the right idea of what hip-hop is about in New York City. He has his ear to the street, and has a killer taste in some tunes and artists. When he hated a show, I usually hated it too. And when he was spot-on, well, he rocked that shit. Enter his reviews of the recent Ghostface Killah show at Nokia Theatre and the not-so-recent MF Doom at Nokia Theatre. Could this man be any more right?

Well. Click the link at the top of this post. You will find out soon enough that he can be wrong. Very, very wrong.

I was NOT at this Roots show, but I've seen them before. I saw them last summer at Summerstage, with De La Soul and MF Doom opening for them. I physically detest their records, so I had extremely low expectations for their live set. But standing their in the third row, I witnessed magic. It was cohesion, the brilliant blend of live-action hip-hop and on-stage presence. I was converted, I admit. But only to their record "Things Fall Apart," because that record personifies enjoyment. Not that "Break U Off" shit, or the "Seed 2.0" trash they threw at Roots-hungry fans.

So when I read this review, I'm not surprised that he had the same expectations and experience that I would have had, hence I had the $70 chillin' in my back pocket to drop on the ticket.

My main contention: Breihan's take on Talib Kweli. Now, I don't understand his standpoint on Kweli. His claim that the verse from Kanye's "Get 'Em High" is his best verse. *CLEARS THROAT*. Has this man even listened to Reflection Eternal's "Train of Thought" album? Take these lyrics. Any questions? Those are what first grabbed me in 9th grade. My brother came back from the Tower Records in Lincoln Center with a mixtape (yes, an actual cassette... c'mon, it was 2000) that previewed Reflection Eternal's forthcoming album. I had no idea what he had put in my hands, but I listened to it over and over, itching to get a taste of what came after those 30 second snippets faded out. I bought the album, and it was a match made in heaven ever since.

Now, Breihan's claim that Kweli can't ride a beat?? WHAT?? This is where I doubt his credibility. For someone who claims to know rap, how can this man even claim that Kweli doesn't have flow? Take any track from the Eternal album. Any. There's flow. And it's on beat. Kweli nailed rap in the forehead with a lyrical dart throughout the entire album, and there's no contesting that fact. Take "The Blast," the single from the album. Brilliant, yes, but that factor aside, Kweli fucked with verbal pauses so badly that I actually bought a 12" single of the record so I could slow it down and truly memorize every lyric and pause. Any rapper that can make you buy a 12" record without actually having a record player in your house deserves a firm slap on the ass, in that baseball kind of way *SHIFTY EYES*.

To claim that Kweli doesn't have flow is preposterous, and I truly think that Breihan is full of shit for that reason. This man probably never heard the Black Star album. Or even the so-so "Quality" record. Sure, Kweli fell off a bit with his mediocre "The Beautiful Struggle" and "Right About Now Mixtape," and he sure does suck in concert (take it from me: seeing him as an opener for N-E-R-D at Summerstage and as a guest star at the MF Doom Nokia show is good enough reason to run for the hills when Kweli grabs the mic in concert)...(don't forget his arm gymnastics that he does all the time; see: Dave Chappelle's Block Party). But seriously, forks, give respect where respect is due. For a man who got to the point where he is, Breihan is a journalistic wonder in not seeing something special in someone that actually has something special.

Dear Tom Breihan,

Listen to more music before you judge one of the best lyricists in underground hip-hop today.

Unicorns and Rainbows,

Steven Horowitz

2006-05-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

"I don't have a normal life, everything I do is hip-hop."
- Marvellous Lovelace, "Regular Black Dude With Fries And Mild Sauce"

Welcome to the future, with your wondraful host Infinito 2017. Marvellous "Infinito" Lovelace is known for dropping over 35 albums in his lifetime and owning his demi-successful label Nephew of Frank Records. Some might say that he talks in rhyme. I mean, you'd have to in order to drop that many albums under several different monikers. Fuck, yo! That's a lot of albums. SHEEEEIT.

But anyways, Infinito comes from Chicago, the city of wind, but moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he discovered down south hip-hop. Which, if you couldn't tell, I think is shit. But what the bibble, it's successful, so it must be good. I guess I just don't know what I'm talking about (Note: I know what I'm talking about). If you're interested in his extremely long biography, have a good read.

As for this album, absolute excellence, as always. Slightly straightforward beats with a little curvature thrown in, giving it that underground vibe that we all love so much. Tackles the traditional racist issues, but does so by objectifying rappers that represent the stereotypes that black rappers adopt to make themselves seem more "thuggish." 2017 plays with your perception of racial relations with his boy-like voice so much so that you'll be coo-coo for cocoa puffs by the end of the disc's play. Toast, motherfuckers.

Download:

Infinito 2017 - Senseless Violence (prod. by Tzarizm)

Infinito 2017 - 9:27 PM (The Day I Lost) (prod. by Fatnice)

Infinito 2017 - Willie Ig'nant (prod. by Fathom 9)

2006-05-21T00:03:00.000-07:00

Oh, Dabrye. Beatsmith extraordinaire, Dabrye (pronounced dob-ree, motherfuckers), actually named Tadd Mullinix, reigns from the good ol' land of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Not necessarily the breeding ground for hip-hop, although if you count Athletic Mic League and Co. then you might be in the zone of righteousness. Mullinix, who works at Encore Records (a record store, dummy), spends his free time delving into the world of electro-hop. It's rather funny, because both Fred Thomas from Saturday Looks Good to Me and Dabrye work at that record store. Indie-throb boners: away!

Dabrye is known for his electronic buzz-fucks and synth-o-matic mania, dropping a little album called One/Three back in 2002, popping onto the hip-hop scene in the same vein as Beans and the whole Antipop Consortum movement, which has also made ground for Mike Ladd and Daedelus. Four years later, after releasing his record Additional Productions Vol. 1 (not surprisingly featuring remixes of Beans and Busdriver), he's dropping the full-length gem Two/Three, the second of three albums that are set to come out under his Dabrye name.

The album, which features fantastic appearances by the holy MF Doom on the record's single "Air," Wildchild, Kadence, Vast Aire (of Cannibal Ox), Paradime, Phat Kat and the late Jay Dee. Keeping it insular by garnering the guests mainly from Detroit, Dabrye plops a record that takes electronic hip-hop to its initial intended aesthetic level. Where Antipop Consortum made it difficult to access their jams, Dabrye makes the album enjoyable and exciting, leaving you with a taste in your mouth that's far from the cancerous residue of your cigarette, you smoker, you.

Download:

Dabrye - Air featuring MF Doom

Dabrye - Special featuring Guilty Simpson and Paradime

Dabrye - Pressure featuring Waajeed (of Platinum Pied Pipers) and Ta'Raach (aka Detroit's Lacks)

2006-05-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

I can't help but fall in love with Asamov everytime I hear them. With the Blow Your Whistle EP and a full-length on 'n poppin' before this wonderful release, the full length came from this Jacksonville, Florida quartet soon after. Hot beats, and I mean panty-moistening beats, cap this album off, with production from 9th Wonder on "Real Good," the siren-ripping background on "Past Futures"... What else can you ask for, from these 6 Hole Records hip-hop stars (in my mind?)? They're signed to the same motherfucking label as Rapper Big Pooh, for god sake's. PAY ATTENTION!

(Did I forget to mention that I once wrote a review of this for the Washington Square News?)

Download:

Asamov - "Supa Dynamite" f. Mr. Lif

Asamov - "Past Futures"

2006-05-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I couldn't post any songs by Dorothy Love Coates. That's what happens when you actually buy music from iTunes (Damn your copyright protection, iTunes). You can catch some clips on Amazon here, yo.

Today I bring you some music by Ms. Aretha Franklin herself. This is back in the golden year of 1971, when Aretha was Young, Gifted and Black. Now, she's just one of three. Take your pick.

This album was smooth as shit, which, for your information, is pretty smooth. There are a couple covers on it, like of the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road," the Delfonics' "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time," among others. The biggest song to make it off of this album is the funky "Rock Steady," which has been accosted and abused by current R&B crooners like Mary J. Blige. But we can forgive her, can't we?

My picks from the album are "Daydreaming" (Thanks, Youtube, for your omniscient powers), "Oh Me Oh My (I'm A Fool For You Baby)" and, of course, "Young, Gifted and Black" (that's right, Oxford comma, take that!)

Download:

Aretha Franklin - "Day Dreaming"

Aretha Franklin - "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time"

2006-04-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

Dorothy Love Coates and the Original Gospel Harmonettes busted out onto the gospel scene without making much of a fuss. Combining traditional gospel form (front-woman/man plus backing singers to wail away) and Jesus-pounding awesome-cality, Dorothy Love Coates released two albums that featured short songs about the Lo'd Jesus himself. The vocal stylings of Coates is what makes the music so captivating. Upon first hearing "That's Enough," I was rattled by the hoarseness and power in her voice, giving the music one of the roughest edges I've ever heard. On the album "The Best of Dorothy Love Coates and the Harmonettes," which was two albums combined into one, she wails her way through highlights "Where Shall I Be" and "He's Calling Me."

Tunes to be up lata.

2006-04-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

So, here's the cover to Heron's "Twice as Nice & Half the Price," released in Japan in 1972. With limited pressings and nothing to ride on, Heron broke up after releasing a bunch of folk albums. The thing about the music that gets me is the pure sweetness, the grassiness of the tracks, and the eclectic songwriting style. Each song is a delight, highlights including "Something Inside," "Big A" and "He's a Poor Boy."

Download:

Heron - "Big A"

2006-04-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, readers in the blogosphere.

So this is my introduction to the blog world. I can't believe I'm doing this, but whatever, I'm over it.

I'm many things, first and foremost of which is a sophomore at NYU. I'm double majoring in Journalism and English, and, like a good student, I'm trying my best to do school good, like a tall glass of milk does my body.

While not learning, I practice what I love, which is criticizing music, first and foremost. My genre is underground hip-hop; and it's not a specialty, it's a lifestyle. I've loved hip-hop basically since I fell out of the womb, and it's basically become my life. But it's not who I am, it's one of the things I like. So much so, that I decided to be a radio DJ. Now, I know that you're thinking, hey, underground hip-hop will never get airtime. But behold the power of college radio, my internet friend. I'm a DJ at WNYU, 89.1 FM for all you New Yorkers, and host the Abstract, which is on every Friday from 8-9 P.M. Also can be heard on http://www.wnyu.org/. But enough promotion of myself.

Wait, did I say no more promotion? I lied. I'm also a staff writer for PopMatters, which can totally be reached here. Totally. I know, information superhighway friend, you're thinking 19? This kid wants me to read his opinions and he's not even in a normal age bracket? Well, to the haters, fuck you. To the lovers, love you.

What's to be expected? Well, since you ask, my experiences as a writer and DJ have been extremely bizarre so far, and I'll share plenty of them. Topics to cover in the near future: my interview with Nick Sylvester, interviews with Cee-Lo, Amel Larrieux, and Ramesh Srivastiva from Voxtrot, and plenty of hip-hop and indie-rock related paraphernalia, pointing y'all in the right musical direction. So begins the blog of a student journalist. Hold on to your lunch, mothafuckas.