I'm Going to use a word I have yet to use thus far on this blog.

Chicago rapper Common once said something along the lines of "I used to Love her". I know how he feels. I grew up listening to hip hop and rap music, and I loved it. In my heart I suppose I still do. It was some of the awesome hip-hop concerts I went to growing up that made me love music. I remember the cold of the night air outside the(gone but not forgotten)civic arena back in Pittsburgh, waiting to get in to see Kid n Play, Heavy D, and BBD(not a rap group so much, but they had the swag of one). I remember the damn near unbearable heat in the basement of the(also gone but not forgotten) syria mosque the night my brother Kenny and I went to see Kool G Rap & D.J. Polo, Kid Capri, The Genius, Biz Markie, and Masta Ace. Nights like that are the reason that I grew to love hip-hop in particular and music in general.
I wonder if fans today have the same feelings aabout the music they listen to. That rush of hearing and seeing voices face to face that only weeks days or hours before had only been electrical signals coming out of a pair of speakers in your room. I hope so. I really do.
I still have that nostalgic love for hip-hop, and every once in awhile I still feel that same feeling, when I randomly hear a song from Redman's Dare iz A Darkside, or Scarface's The World is Yours. I don't know if fans today feel the same way because it all seems so processed and packaged and.....typical. I don't remember the last time I heard a rap artist that made me think to myself, "this is something that was missing from the landscape. This was needed!" Does anyone ever feel that anymore?
In the early nineties, Chuck D of Public Enemy was quoted as saying that Rap is CNN for Black People. I understood what he was trying to say, but I always felt he was only partially correct. More accurately rap was a whole cable package. Public Enemy was definitely CNN. But Digital Underground was Comedy Central. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince was Nickelodeon. N.W.A. was HBO. that was the golden age though, and it lasted for a big chunk of the 90's but then a huge shift happened at some point in the late 90's and lasted for quite awhile. At that point,everything, EVERYTHING was gangster rap. You had some holdouts; the Roots managed to stay pretty viable no matter what, and there were a few others, but for the most part, everything was g-thing this pop-a-cap-in-that ass that, as if all of a sudden every channel was playing Scarface on a neverending loop. That persisted a long time, and then after awhile, some channels started showing a live feed from in a club, where everyone was poppin' a bottle or shakin' that ass on the dance floor. As I've said before, this isn't necessarily the fault of the artists. If you can't get a deal making music that doesn't sound a certain way, I can see that it would be tempting to make music that sounds that certain way. Of course the question is once again, is it the fault of the public for only supporting one kind of artist, or is it the label's fault for only giving one kind of artist to the public? Once again, here come the vultures of Culture mentioned in my very first blog post, circling around the pathology.
Now, hip hop seems to have recovered a BIT of diversity. You got Kanye and Will.I.Am, B.O.B, and a few others who are expanding the sonic palate. But even new more outside the box rap artists seem somewhat contrived and insincere(Yes Nicki, I'm talking to you). I'm wondering if this art form will ever get back to a place of both diversity and purtiy. I doubt it.
I'm not even saying that there's no place for aggressive or angry hip hop, or for partying "bottle poppin'" Hip hop. It just always feels so unbalanced. There was a time when you could flip the channel and get a different feel or flavor. Personally, I'm at a point now where I usually don't even turn the TV on anymore.

Dana White is an Arsonist

This post was inspired by a facebook conversation I had yesterday. Last night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Ca. College Wrestling Champ, Former WWE Superstar, College Wrestling Champion and one(short) time Minnesota Viking and now UFC fighter Brock Lesnar defended his UFC Championship against challenger Cain Velasquez. The Challenger won decisively in a suprising upset first round KO. The fight was enjoyable to watch because like most americans I love to see the triumph of the underdog. But you know what the fight taught me? That UFC president Dana White is an asshole. That dude has earned himself a permanent spot on my fecal roster and here's why.
In pretty much all of the promotional media for this fight, much was made of Velasquez' ethnicity; of the fact that "Througout fighting history, there has never been a Mexican champion". In the little pre-fight special, there was a segment showing Velasquez enjoying a burrito, proclaiming "This is the food I grew up on!" And of course after his victory one of his first quotes was "Todos Latinos, hey we did it!"......and with the exception of the words "todos latinos" he spoke in perfectly articulated totally unaccented english. and this is my point.
This kid was raised in Salinas California, and Went to college in Arizona and Iowa. His parents were immigrants, but he was born HERE. He grew up, got his education, and sought his fortune HERE, as an American Citizen! He is no less American than me, or Brock Lesnar or Pat Boone. Wow, he eats burritos, that makes him about as Mexican as most of california(wait a minute, lol...). Guess what? If there's never been a Mexican Champion, There still hasn't been one. There probably will be one eventually, but Cain Velasquez isn't him. There's a Mexican-American Champion, and his name is Cain.
I'd like to think that we're a little better of a people than being suseptible to buying into this "great white hope" crap being foisted upon us again. I blame Dana White. This fight was going to be a great fight, and could've been marketed in any way. I guess it was just easier go for "the cheap pop"; say the obvious thing to get a reaction. Here's the thing though. Doing this with race, what with all the societal issues and sensitivities we have, and doing it simply to make a buck, is terribly irresponsible and immature. "Hmmm, less people pre-ordering the pay-per view. Of course, why would they? Everyone knows Lesnar's going to win. How can I get more people to give me their money? Hey let's create unnecessary racial acrimony for profit!" Lame.
Turning people against each other to benefit yourself is some 4th grade playground bullshit, and Dana White should be ashamed of himself. We are long past the point in time where we can afford this kind of racial arson. It has no place in our society (with the obvious exception of politics; gotta love election season!).
Now you might say, "but hey, that's who Velasquez is! He Himself makes a big deal out of his Mexican heritage!" So what? Granted, that's his place to do so. But we all know that's not the reason Dana White Built the hype for this fight around his Latino roots, Despite the the tattoo the new Champion wears on his chest, the marketing of this fight wasn't about fostering Brown Pride, it was about Green Greed.

What I Hate about you: Phill Collins, Going Back

Genesis founder, drummer, and vocalist Phil Collins is an extremely capable and accomplished musician. He's got a enviable discography with many more hits than misses. He's done movie soundtracks, he's won most of the awards available to win, has fans in every corner or the world, not to mention the respect of his peers. He has sold over two hundred million albums in a career that stretches all the way back to the 1970's.

The Motown Songbook is one of the few things in music that can be considered a sure thing. We're talking hit upon hit upon hit. Songwriters like Holland/Dozier/Holland, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, not to mention Berry Gordy himself, crafted what was called "The Sound of Young America", permanently blurring the lines between urban and mainstream music and creating a footprint we're all still standing in the shadows of. It's a safe assumption that Phil Collins recording a collection of Motown covers is a sure bet for a good listen, right?

...famous last words.....

"Going Back" is a very good idea, very badly executed. It's not that the songs sound bad; Phil is a skilled vocalist, possesing a fine baritone capable of expressing equal parts fun, passion, sincerity, or aggression. Instrumentally, Going Back cannot be faulted either; he got three of the original Funk Brothers to play on it. So what's the problem? Strangely enough, the songs themselves.

As I stated before, this is Motown, so none of the songs could truly be described as bad per se'. There were however two major mistakes.The first one: If you're into football you'd think of it this way....No one starts Charlie Batch if Roethlisberger is available. No one would call Hans Zimmer if they have John Williams on Speed Dial.If you Got tickets for Jessye Norman, you're not thinking about Charlotte Church. But that's what Going Back feels like...there are some decent songs like Heatwave, Standing in the Shadows, or Jimmy Mack, but most of the songs in this collection seem like second string material. Seriously, who does Going to a Go-Go instead of Tears of A Clown? As a Motown fan, I wanna hear songs from the A-list, not a bunch of filler. My theory is that Mr. Collins knew he'd be clowned royally if he screws up Motown, so he chose lesser material to avoid comparisons to the great original performances of, say, My Girl, or Signed, Sealed, Delivered. But in choosing a safer path he ended up with a second rate album of second rate material, and it's a real shame.
The Second Problem:, Collins said the idea behind the album was "not to bring anything ‘new’ to these already great records, but to try to recreate the sounds and feelings that I had when I first heard them. My intention was to make an ‘old’ record, not a ‘new’ record." Ummmm, so why would a listener not just buy the original record? Furthermore, that concept really clashes with the song choices. If you're trying to recreate the Motown mood and make people feel what they felt, You have to choose the songs that made people feel those feelings! A great artist like Phil Collins should be thinking a little more progressively than just basically creating a bunch of karaoke tracks in the first place, but if that's what you're going to do, do the songs people are going to sing along to!

In comparison, look at Michael McDonald's Motown album. He seems to have said "This is classic material that everybody loves, but Dammit, I'm gonna have the guts to take on these songs, BECAUSE it's the classic material that everybody loves!" And on top of that, he added a little more to the sonic palate of the tunes, without losing the original flavor. That's a tough balancing act that he pulls of admirably. Even Human Nature, the Australian boy band, had the guts to tackle the major material. if they can make it work, I have trouble believing that Phil Collins can't.
It's good music, performed by a great musician, so I don't want to call it a swing and a miss, but I can't help but wish that he'd done more of the songs that people think of first when they think of motown, and/or have done more WITH the songs. To quote a line from one of those better motown hits, Phil, "why don't you be a man about it?"

I hate it when people say what I mean better than I do...

But that's exactly what happened. Adrien Grenier, the actor best known for his work on the HBO show Entourage has released a documentary called Teenage Paparazzi. It focuses on a 13 year old kid named Austin who makes his lunch money by running around Hollywood trying to get shots of celebrities with other paparazzi photographers. Now, the kid is the focus of the documentary, but in studying the kid and his peers, the filmmakers do a great job of studying the conditions that created this particular pop culture pathology. Many of the things they address herein are some of the very things that inspire my hate and that I hope to address in this here blog. Bastards, beat me to it! Just kidding. Anyway, I found it fascinating. It's on HBO, I don't know when, but they generally have a habit of driving programming into the ground. Check it out when you get a chance. Here's a url to the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwM5mjGX1yM

No Matter what happens...

I love my music. I love the music I make. I love the music I help others make. You know what I promise I'll never do? I will never, no matter how big or famous or whatever I get...I will never EVER refer to my music as a movement.....that's bullshit. My music will one day hopefully be enjoyed by many....It might even inspire someone or maybe some many...but I'm not ever going to be one of those people who decides that I'm just that much of a big deal. I like myself a whole lot, but I don't think I have the ability to be that damn pretentious.

Does Ne-yo's Dancing always seem just a bit Underwhelming?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0J32ztI-0Y&feature=player_embedded
R&B singer/songwriter(notice I didn't say dancer) Ne-yo was on Dancing With the Stars yesterday performing his new single and just like when he was on the BET awards in 2008. I can give him props for not lip-syncing i suppose, but in all of the dance breaks, it always seemed like "ok, he's about to go for it and do something really impressive....here it comes..." and then he would sort of back off.....as if he knew what he wanted to do, but realized just at the last second that he didn't really know how, so he would pull back.

This wouldn't be such an issue, but for two things. First of all, others that are sort of in the same lane as ne-yo (Usher, Chris Brown) can dance really well, so it makes him kinda seem like the slow kid in the class. Also, he keeps on putting himself in positions where he's supposed to be dancing! If you go on Dancing with the stars as a guest performer and have a dance component to your performance, you damn well better come correct! Same thing if you go on the BET awards with the Jabbawockees. Are you gonna whisper in a gospel choir? Bring a 72' pinto to the Lambo Show? It would be better if he just stood and sang if he's not going to move like there's a purpose behind it. In sports they put it like this: Go big or go home. Seems like Ne-yo's gonna be on the bench for awhile.

Ok, I'm not just mentioning Russell Brand because I mentioned Katy Perry Last Week

Comedian Or character? More leaning towards the latter....It'd be fine if it was funny, but just like most of entertainment these days.....after a few minutes of his counterculture cockney shtick, personally I'm like....NEEEXT! A word of wisdom for Russell: Yeah, you made an impression at the MTV awards. But that was quite a minute ago. Remember, the kids these day, they constantly ask "what have you done for me lately?" and these days, lately becomes a shorter and shorter time ago. If you're still feeling like the flavor of the future, I got two words for you: Dane Cook.