i know youv ssen this pic at this point somewhere. but bear wit me. it serves my purpose sooo well....-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the industry is a motha fucka, yo. and quite possibly the single most dissappointing place any bonafide music lover to exist. there used to be a time when it almost seemed magical. i mean, in the golden ages, wack shit existed, but even then it had this feeling like it was tryiung to be dope. like it was trying to acheive dopeness. this shit... these dudes... its heartbreaking, yo...
its no surpise tho, talkin to a lot of these dudes that are tryin to participate in it have no imagination. even the approach to their business is rooted and grounded in unoriginal concepts and ideas. monkey see, monkey see. i was talkin to my man Nawdy, (a name he earned, after 8 in the belly), and i was tellin him how i was reminded of a time when dudes listened to the music and gained from it. the country got snmaller as both coasts started to become aware of each other. there was so much information movin around. dudes had an idea of their politics. they had an awareness of them selves that had this type of magical aura that made us totally magnetic to the world. nowadays, these dudes take pride in either being closet faggots (like who can fool us the best), or who can push the line until they get as close to the gay threshold as heteroly possible.
i mean, the new N.E.R.D. record falls into that category for me. i mean, Pharrel, 'cmon son (in this case, that spelling is appropiate). this is a dude that used to challenge the drum rhythms and sonics in the mainstream, to doin an album of Logic sounds and disco drums. i mean, theres nothin wrong with logic sounds, my man Nawdy gets biz wit it, but, goin from a rack of gear and creative patching and instrument use, to this all inclusive solution, while perhaps ergonomic, is outrageously lazy. well, campared to the way their more noteworthy tracks were crafted. it seems like this is the approach to this shit nowadays. no one wants to WORK.
i listen to any Bomb Squad production whenever i feel lazy. the amount of work on just the drum layering to "Welcome To The Terrordome" is enough to make u look at urself in shame for that simple Battery drum pattern. 3 loops, "Sally Walk", "Machine Gun", "Sex Machine", all on loop before they add the main snare and kick and hi hats, plus 808. all of that attention just to the DRUMS. it becomes easy to see after that kind of effort why they are the producers of some of the most profound hip hop productions of all time. i mean, white guys constantly vote Public Enemy to Best of All Time lists, right alongside The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, while PE made a career on callin them DEVILS. the power of the music simply overpowers any reservatiuon based on personal principle. its so powerful that it just makes 'em seem like ur just being petty.
who can u describe today that makes music that even comes close? and u bet not say Dre, specially after hearin these couple of leaks. even he doin disco beats. and i can't speak for none of yall, but i am sick to my stomach with hearin these synths! i mean good gotdamn! like there idnt any other synth sounds that are fly and could still make that slick, i dont wanna/ am incapable/ need to not think of real shit right now songs that rock these clubs nowadays. altho in the club space, i think its probably appropriate. i cant draw a useful conclusion how that has utility during the day. i dont see how music that focuses on lying can be personally empowering.
altho, on some truthful shit, i was listening to "The Infamous" the other day like, 'get the fuck outta here!!!!' these niggas was talkin some real super hero shit. and i couldnt help but think what kind of manic mothafucka would sit down and have an imagination centered around an innumerable amount of gunshots and seemingly senseless killing and violence. well, shit, that sounds like most writers employed in Hollywood! but its still those verses in "Shook Ones' and "Survival of The Fittest" that ring the most true. it is no wonder that these songs are considered classics. these are the songs that wring the MOST TRUE.
i sometimes feel bad for these young niggas nowadays. its like i want them to have the same type of impact that it had on me. it was life changing. it was something that i cared deeply about and defended at every turn. as a graffiti writer, i risked my life on a regular basis, being up in rival neighborhoods, and walking train tracks and subway tunnels while trains were still runnning, all to just express my excellence at the form. all in the selfless name of progression of the art. i know this may seem a little heady for a self professed asshole such as myself, but shit, every asshole will at one point in its existence, wear some really nice pants. and as the ass cheeks said to the toilet bowl, "i only got to take shit from this asshole. u got to take it from everyone else"!
i think the push online is all abuot the search for something new and meaningful, something we can discover and feel like its our own. this is already the greatest resource for every independent musician in the world. it may soon be the home for ONLY independent music, if niggas sites keep
gettin seized. and then the entire paradigm must shift. because in my experience with the internet, i see a lot of dissatisfaction. the interesting thing will be when these greedy corprate fucks completely take the independent artist away from the competition that they find themselves in today, due largely due to this insepid and alienating appraoch to content control, that will inadvertantly create a clear lane for independent artist to dominate the attention span of net crawlers, cause all other content will be concentrated in controlled portals. i mean everybody know u cant stop the Africans and the Chinese on the bootleggy, but with the Net Nazi shit, i know sites are gonna be sick wit tryin to make sure the Furor (misspelling intentional) doesnt drop thru their Poland, er, portal.
and i dont give a fuck i'll say it, if no one else will. cause the dudes i looked to for inspiration are letting me DOWN. the Timberlands, the Dre's, The Neptunes, are trading in their forward status for returns on the rear end. sounds kinda gay, dont it?
and imma continue to say it, and thats word to Leon Evans. he aint the man who gave me the hair and the cheekbones, but he damn sure is the man who gave me the back bone. and i use it every time i stand up.
straight.
now air it out...
