one last for good luck
next run.... anticipation!
LRV, b
Showing posts with label madlib. Show all posts
Showing posts with label madlib. Show all posts
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
56) I'm Feelin' Free...
got criminally profiled today. was stopped for my expired tags. soon as that polices got behind me, i tried to casually avoid/move away from him, but he got me. i got my license and reg out for him and explained that i'm a pizza man and on my meager wages it's been difficult to repair the things that kept the car from passing inspection. the cop, i guess, appreciated my candor. what was weird, though, is that as he was running my license, one of his buddies appeared. you know how pigs do, they see a sow stopped somebody and they wanna get a piece too. so as the dude who stopped me returned to my car, with only a warning ticket, the other dude went around the other side and started eyeballing the shit inside my car. yep, my flour-y work shirts, loose cassettes, a couple empty cig packs, my groceries. intense, right?
but then he shouted "what's in the baggie in your center console?", which the guy who stopped me repeated. it was funny, like the second guy thought he'd just discovered a ticking bomb or something. he actually stood back and got his hands at the ready, above his cuffs and gun. i was like, "it's a button. i keep a spare button for my jacket in the car in case i lose one." i handed it to the first officer and he inspected it, took a little look-see around my car too, and warned me that most of his colleagues aren't as nice as him. (no kidding, really? his buddy was ready to aggressively arrest me over a button!) so yeah, more shit i can't afford. and now it's crucial. i can't afford to get caught again with expired tags, or maybe an elbow patch on the dash!
guess they figured "he's got a beard. he must be up to no good." yeah. i'm a button trafficker!
i thought i could maybe find a Madlib track about something like this, but nobody's posted Crime by Quasimoto, and i've already done Quas and Madvillain... and the stick-up story on the Kweli collaboration (Keep the Engine Runnin') is nowhere near as good as Happy Home which should flow nicely into tomorrow's final Invasion post....
some day we'll make a happy home together, again. eight days til i see you!!!!
LRV, b
but then he shouted "what's in the baggie in your center console?", which the guy who stopped me repeated. it was funny, like the second guy thought he'd just discovered a ticking bomb or something. he actually stood back and got his hands at the ready, above his cuffs and gun. i was like, "it's a button. i keep a spare button for my jacket in the car in case i lose one." i handed it to the first officer and he inspected it, took a little look-see around my car too, and warned me that most of his colleagues aren't as nice as him. (no kidding, really? his buddy was ready to aggressively arrest me over a button!) so yeah, more shit i can't afford. and now it's crucial. i can't afford to get caught again with expired tags, or maybe an elbow patch on the dash!
guess they figured "he's got a beard. he must be up to no good." yeah. i'm a button trafficker!
i thought i could maybe find a Madlib track about something like this, but nobody's posted Crime by Quasimoto, and i've already done Quas and Madvillain... and the stick-up story on the Kweli collaboration (Keep the Engine Runnin') is nowhere near as good as Happy Home which should flow nicely into tomorrow's final Invasion post....
some day we'll make a happy home together, again. eight days til i see you!!!!
LRV, b
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
54) Keeping Hip-Hop Fresh, One Month at a Time
last year, Madlib released a mixtape (almost) every month. don't know why the last couple installments were parlayed, but #11, Low Budget Hi Fi, has just been released including a bonus disc of new beats called Beat Konducta Around the World. the #11 mix itself seems to be all sorts of collaborations, new and old, all in the hip-hop vein. judging by what i know of the Beat Konducta series, my guess is that the Around the World mix may be site-specific, like this song...
sounds a lot like Dilla, am i right? it's nothing terribly flashy, or head-spinning like much of his beat/collage work can be (see Madvillain, Quasimoto, et al.) but even when Madlib is just spinning wheels he's way ahead of most other producers, in my mind. he's never played in to the over-production-equals-better-music mindset (Kanye), preferring to keep it simple. and even his flurry of ideas come across as a stream of consciousness adventure as opposed to a vain, forced restlessness, (Kanye again). on the other side, most producers who pride themselves on their minimalist approach (most club-ready dancefloor guys), i feel, condescend their listeners by giving them cold, numb beats and elementary synth work over which they shout about how bad and how rich and how virile they are. it only leaves me thinking, "one reason you got so much money is you probably don't spend a dime on quality beats." because if they did (Three 6 Mafia, Rick Ross*, most of the shit on the radio) they'd find out quickly that they can't hang with it. they need to keep that shit ghetto, for their machismo and the illusion of skill. unfortunately, those are the people that make waves and headlines, and money. true artists are relegated to the fringes.
there's a nostalgia in this track that's palpable for someone, like myself, who's never even visited the area (which will change soon!). who among these pop producers can deliver something so potent? not to say that crunked-up, high rolling, ass shaking, coke sniffing rap isn't potent, (*i do like "Blowin' Money Fast", the Larry Hoover track) but it offers no subtleties, no complexities, and ZERO warmth. its effectiveness is only surface. Madlib's volumes of quality and quantity are infinitely deeper, and can be really intimidating sometimes. it's nice to hear a track that's inspiring and attainable, even if it is (perhaps) an afterthought on a supplemental mix cd from an album that will be out of print before you exhale.
in today's hip hop climate Madlib is a rare bird, indeed.
LRV, b
sounds a lot like Dilla, am i right? it's nothing terribly flashy, or head-spinning like much of his beat/collage work can be (see Madvillain, Quasimoto, et al.) but even when Madlib is just spinning wheels he's way ahead of most other producers, in my mind. he's never played in to the over-production-equals-better-music mindset (Kanye), preferring to keep it simple. and even his flurry of ideas come across as a stream of consciousness adventure as opposed to a vain, forced restlessness, (Kanye again). on the other side, most producers who pride themselves on their minimalist approach (most club-ready dancefloor guys), i feel, condescend their listeners by giving them cold, numb beats and elementary synth work over which they shout about how bad and how rich and how virile they are. it only leaves me thinking, "one reason you got so much money is you probably don't spend a dime on quality beats." because if they did (Three 6 Mafia, Rick Ross*, most of the shit on the radio) they'd find out quickly that they can't hang with it. they need to keep that shit ghetto, for their machismo and the illusion of skill. unfortunately, those are the people that make waves and headlines, and money. true artists are relegated to the fringes.
there's a nostalgia in this track that's palpable for someone, like myself, who's never even visited the area (which will change soon!). who among these pop producers can deliver something so potent? not to say that crunked-up, high rolling, ass shaking, coke sniffing rap isn't potent, (*i do like "Blowin' Money Fast", the Larry Hoover track) but it offers no subtleties, no complexities, and ZERO warmth. its effectiveness is only surface. Madlib's volumes of quality and quantity are infinitely deeper, and can be really intimidating sometimes. it's nice to hear a track that's inspiring and attainable, even if it is (perhaps) an afterthought on a supplemental mix cd from an album that will be out of print before you exhale.
in today's hip hop climate Madlib is a rare bird, indeed.
LRV, b
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