By the time I first heard Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides I was not just deep in Black Star and Mos' many amazing guest spots, but I was a reggae and soul-loving teenager too - steeped in Aretha Franklin and Gregory Isaacs. It all came together when “Ms. Fat Booty” came on. A love … Continue reading Sunday Music: Mos Def And Fat Booty Love
Tag: hip-hop
Podcast Of The Week: Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) On Music, Life, And His Career
Yassin Bey, aka Mos Def, has a short Audible audiobook titled, “A Dynamic Career in Communications.” The music and stories are fantastic. Especially if you’re a fan. But he’s got some quotes. This one on in particular, hit me hard. He was talking about church as a sacred and safe space in his childhood. He … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) On Music, Life, And His Career
GZA On A&R, Labels, And – Art
The connection between making art and the business of selling it has fascinated me my entire life. It’s an exchange for value. Kind of intangible. Kind of so tangible you can’t even put words on it so much as feel it. Yes, there’s product you can buy. But in the end, consumption is pure experience. … Continue reading GZA On A&R, Labels, And – Art
Del Before Dre (Themes And Trends With Dante Ross)
Del the Funky Homosapien’s first album is called I Wish My Brother George Was Here. The George in the title is (at least indirectly) a reference to George Clinton.* The album itself is brimming with Parliament samples, and if you figured it came after Dr. Dre’s The Chronic because of it’s sonic similarities, I’d understand … Continue reading Del Before Dre (Themes And Trends With Dante Ross)
Sunday Music: Personal Journalist / Sage Francis
It didn’t age well. And that’s ok. It’s still got merits. I have a series of Sage Francis quotes and references I repeat to myself regularly 20 years on. I’m not a college kid in a pre-social media era crafting AIM away messages anymore. All those bizarre curiosities have moved through and beyond subreddits by … Continue reading Sunday Music: Personal Journalist / Sage Francis
Be Careful What You Wish For (Jed McKenna, Agnes Callard, And Cypress Hill Edition)
“Be careful what you wish for, not because you’ll get it but because you’ll be turned into the thing that can get it.” Jed McKenna Agnes Callard explains the difference between the aspirational and the ambitious. Apply these to McKenna’s “wish” from the quote above. They have everything to do with our identities and the … Continue reading Be Careful What You Wish For (Jed McKenna, Agnes Callard, And Cypress Hill Edition)
Sunday Music: Like Cold November Rain (Go Easy, Rider)
When your fiancé says “Let’s put some G N’ R on” you don’t argue. You embrace being 10 again, popping the cassette into the deck, and basking in the glory of using one’s illusions. Whatever age you were when you heard “November Rain” (or especially when you first saw the video), it sticks with you. … Continue reading Sunday Music: Like Cold November Rain (Go Easy, Rider)
Artists Want To Work With Artists
Kenny Beats tells the story about one of his managers. He was showing her new stuff, radio hits, and she’s nodding her head that everything is good, great, fine, etc. Then he plays her the personal project he’s working on. It’s in tribute to his relationship with his father. It’s not for the radio. It’s … Continue reading Artists Want To Work With Artists
I Sing The Body Electric Relaxation
Walt Whitman first published Leaves of Grass in 1855 with 12 poems in it. He wrote, rewrote, and expanded it. Edition by edition. In the 1892 “deathbed” version, there are 400 entries. Four. Hundred. Entries. And Whitman evolved alongside his work, as evidenced by the updates. Each new edition came with new perspectives and reflections. … Continue reading I Sing The Body Electric Relaxation
Sunday Music: Electric Relaxation (Tribe)
Is “Electric Relaxation” one of the greatest songs ever? “Relax yourself girl please set-tle down” gets me going every time. Sexy as s***. And even if some of the lyrics are corny, they’re perfectly corny. But for the non-music nerds, I have to clue you in on something else that's going on. Part of Q-Tip's … Continue reading Sunday Music: Electric Relaxation (Tribe)