Rising Down – The Roots
While this album won’t give any Roots-haters a new reason to reevaluate the Philly crew, it does reward its fans with its ominous tone, truculent disregard of the mainstream, and lyrical dexterity. The title track, Rising Down, features guest spots from Mos Def and Styles P – both fitting in nicely and going in hard (no sasha vujacic). If you are on the border of liking the Roots but are a little put off by Black Thought, take a chance on Rising Down.
The Mixtape About Nothing – Wale
Wonderful interplay between Seinfeld sound-bites and concept related songs. My initial question when I got the mixtape was how is Wale going to address the Michael Richards situation? My second thought was can you be a fan of a character yet dislike the actor? The answers: 1) The song The Kramer begins with Richard’s infamous comedy club rant, followed by verses centering on the issue of racism and self-hatred. The mixtape, and this particular song, are well executed and definitely worth downloading. As for liking a character while discarding the actor I think you can separate the two, take the character and leave the actor. What do you think?
Speaking of self-hatred: I recently woke up ridiculously hung-over and stood brushing my teeth before my bathroom mirror. My stream of thought…this sucks, why do I do this to myself…followed by…god, I am hating on myself right now…followed by singing to my reflection – not out loud but in my head – I see you, hiiii hater! ... followed by laughing and thinking…rock bottom.
On the Side: I am not a big fan of web talk acronyms such as LOL or LMAO or SMH but I also don’t think they will lead to the demise of the English language. However, what I do think, is that the acronym SFRS – short for so fucking rock show – should be used for declaring that something or someone is rock bottom.
Example: Did you see Mike grinding on all those dumpy looking girls last night? SFRS.
The In Crowd – Kidz in the Hall
Kidz in the Hall have not only managed to avoid a sophmore slump but have actually crafted a much better album than their debut disc. The UPenn duo offers dope rhymes over dope beats and I mean that’s pretty much all you can ask for. Standouts are Paper Trail and The Pledge ft. Buckshot and Sean Price aka The Brokest Rapper You Know. The In Crowd is definitely worth downloading or buying - if you still do that.
On the Side: Do people still buy music? I haven’t bought a rap cd in a really longtime. It never even crossed my mind to buy Carter III – I’m talking over the whole two years we waited for it I always said shit, I’m going to download CIII the minute it leaks. But this Tuesday two cd’s came out that I plan on purchasing as soon as I get my new credit card – I left the old at a bar in NYC (after paying $15 a drink and being deaded by a girl for which I stupidly purchased a $15 drink I was too rock bottom to walk back inside once I realized I left my tab open. In a way I almost feel like some people subconsciously leave tabs open to avoid facing the misery of realizing how much cash you wasted on essentially nothing…anyways, back to music…) So the two cd’s I plan on purchasing are both “Indie” Rock – yes “indie” is a stupid label so it is put in quotation marks – and it got me thinking what makes people who download music choose what to download and what to buy? My initial rule when I started downloading music was if I like two cd’s I downloaded from a band/rapper I will buy the third. However, CIII made me realize I don’t stick to that rule at all. Thinking about it more I realized I am much more willing to give money to “indie” artists simply because they sell less records and need the support of their fans. Thinking about more I realized it’s not just about the artist – purchasing a cd in the digital age is more of a statement about yourself, you making your declaration that yes I like this and am paying for something that I don’t have to because I want to affiliate myself with this band/rapper product…I might be totally off with this but I think some would agree or at least see where I’m coming from. Anyways…
The title the In Crowd inherently brings to mind Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool. Both albums question what it is to be cool and why we value bullshit. In terms of hip hop’s history of determining what is cool I always hold Mobb Deep’s line -to all my killers and my $100 billers/ to all my real n—gas that ain’t got no feelings – to be the defining take on what makes a person cool.
The first line makes killing cool because it associates murder with money -think Stringer Bell’s board-meetings in the funeral home - meaning death is just part of business, and cash rules.
The second line associates being real/cool with being void of emotion.
Now, what Kidz in the Hall and Lupe deem cool is being able to not let the context of your situation define what you believe to be cool ie don’t have to be gangster in the ghetto and you don’t have to be a bookworm in a family full of scholars. Be you. While this seems pretty preachy, both Lupe and Kidz in the Hall come off as well intentioned take it or leave it this is what I think aka way less preachy than Weezie on the end of Misunderstood.
So there you have it, two good albums and a mixtape, all of which are not the Carter III. Download – or buy? – and enjoy.
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