Grownheadz : For adults who love hip-hop

Don’t you hate it when you have slept?

My boy Neil told me I should check out Count Bass D.  For some strange reason, my brain associated that name with an 808 bass artist from the 90s.  I ignored Neil’s request but he made me a copy of one of his cds anyway.  That cd has been collecting dust until recently.

So while driving and fumbling for something different to listen to, I stumble across “Dwight Spitz” by the Count.  I grudgingly give it a chance with my finger close by the eject button in case I hear anything sounding like Magic Mike.  I was delightfully suprised at what came out of the speakers.

Simple (I am not talking Lil Wayne simple – I mean they are simply delivered – unlike a Busdriver) rhymes over interesting beats – and I must focus on the beats.  I really enjoy his sound.  There is one track (“Take Control”) that I simply cannot shake.  I have played it ad nauseum but I promise I will play it again as soon as I get in my car.  I have no idea what it is all about – is he playing with my mind or controlling it?

Then there is the track with Edan.  The subject matter reminds me of “Do this my way” by Gift of Gab and Lyrics Born.  It is playful yet it vocalizes some profound stuff (accidentally or purposefully?).

“I gave away my riches but I still remained a rich man”

That sounds like something Jesus might have said prior to mentioning camels walking through the eyes of needles.

Anyway, I slept.  This album came out a long time ago.  I slept hard.  I will purchase this album and others from Count Bass D and I think you should do the same thing.

Thanks Neil.

Hip Hop Purist – This N That

Anakin’s Prayer by Jay Electronica

Is it just me, or is this song about his break up with Badu.  I love the Flash Gordan intro – that shit is ILL!

It may be just my imagination, but it seems like Jay caught Badu doing something and under interrogation, a bore worm scenario arose

An idle mind is the devil’s workshop, so sorry if I am off base.  I should just take Jay’s advice and work on mastering myself so the devil will be exorcized from my thoughts.  Even if I am off – I like this song and I am looking forward to the album.

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Azeem – Open em up

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Props are due

Ok, so Busdriver raps too fast.  His beats are too weird.  His voice is annoying.

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!

How many rappers can deliver the cadence of Mozart’s Sonata in A Major so fluidly and keep the subject matter highbrow simultaneously?

“you nigga’s lookin G’d up
rollin in a Prius
but I gotta give my money management a C plus
For these foreclosed homes
and pork blown loans
I revisit the need to grind”

This one track makes whatever your excuse for not being a Busdriver fan seem flimsy.  May the haters see the California state bird on a regular basis.

Dear Grouch and Eligh,

I downloaded your latest album because I liked the song you had with Blu.  I even liked your poppy video with Pigeon John and Gift of Gab.  So I take my burned copy of your cd and gave it a guilt filled listen in my car one morning on the way to work.  All of a sudden, I did not feel guilty anymore.

Why not have T-Pain appear on your album?  You guys are too fresh for that autotune shit!

On a recent trip to ATL, I was at Criminal Records and I saw your album for sale.  I picked it up and that new Brother Ali.  Then I remembered the autotune.  My facial expression morphed into it’s “I smell something that really stinks” version and I placed your cd back on the rack out of alphabetical order (sorry people that work at Criminal).

I still play that track with Blu though.

Better luck next album.

Sincerely,

Tha Hip Hop Purist

I am happy there is a stink over Henry Louis Gates getting arrested.

Do I think he should have been arrested? No.
Do I think the officer was doing his job? Yes.
Was it “stupid” to arrest this man at his own house? YES!

Gates was born in 1950 in West Va. That place still has race problems, like so many other places in the USA. I cannot even imagine having to grow up in the 50s and 60s in that place, but Gates did do it and he rose up the ranks to eventually becoming a Harvard professor.

As a black dude in America, I am often targeted by C cipher Powers. I work everyday. I don’t drink, smoke, do drugs or go to clubs. I am stopped for various frivolous reasons on a pretty regular basis—the last time I was stopped for my tag light being out (actually, based on skin color, I was in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time). When Five-O pulled me over, he asked for my ID. I did my best Annette Benning “American Beauty” impersonation (the tiki torch scene) and politely handed them over. In the process of him running my ID, he took the liberty to shine his flashlight all over my backseat and the floor of my car. He sent me on my way with a warning. After the ordeal I felt violated, as I always do.

But, standing in my house, I cannot do Annette very well. And after playing the role over and over again away from home, I am sure Gates found it hard to hold in all of those years of being targeted based on melanin. His door was already jammed and he was already pissed. But when po-po showed up asking for some ID while he was already at home—oh my.

Could he have risen above the occasion, just gave his ID and bowed down? Sure.
Could the officer have let the old man vent and just bounced? Sure.

Why is Gates the one who should have let it go? HE WAS AT HOME! Gates was not arrested for refusing to show ID, he eventually did. He was arrested for following the officer out of his home and asking for the officer’s ID (gosh darn right gosh darnit) and making a scene. The officer could have just gotten in his Caprice and bounced—but his fellow officers probably would have made fun of him back at the station.

“It’s harassment and the complex you carry when you’re running shit” – Slug, Scapegoat

As ideal and unbiased as I try to be when I look at life in America, I am a prisoner of my experiences. I am not a big fan of the police (though I do like “Zenyatta Mondatta” and “Synchronicity”). Many of my peers feel the same way I do. Only the police can fix this.

Gnarls  Barkley’s Odd Couple Unexpectedly Moving

I have read a few reviews of The Odd Couple by Gnarls Barkley. The negative ones piss me off.

I know they shouldn’t, but they do. Everyone wants another “Crazy.” Please STFU!

The first Gnarls album was an underground project that caught on to the Britney Spears crowd. That does not give the Britney Spears crowd the right (oh, the audacity!) to judge any form of genuine art. I don’t mean for my hatred of the mainstream to come out so blatantly, but it is what it is.

A friend of mine did a post on Gnarls on a small forum I administrate way before the first album was released. I heard “Crazy” and immediately related to the lyrics. I’ve been there before — and I may be there again. It brings me comfort knowing I’m not the only one. I still bump the rest of St. Elsewhere, only skipping “Gone Daddy Gone” and “Necromancing.” It’s a solid album.

The Odd Couple is just as solid. I downloaded it before the release date. I burned a copy before work one day and gave it a listen on the way into the plantation. “Who is Gonna Save My Soul” took my attention off of the road. I almost had to pull over to get my bearings. I had no idea why that song hit me so hard at first. When Ceelo asked “But what about what I need!?!?”, it moved me. I replayed that song a few times too many that day. I even snuck a listen in the parking lot during work hours (shhhhh). I cannot listen to the song anymore, but the reason it hit me so hard is because of my Great Grandfather.

Daddy Yank died when I was 12. I was an altar boy at his funeral. It disturbed me how many teary eyes I saw in the audience because of the way he died. As a pre-teen, I even felt I could do more to relieve his suffering. That man had an everlasting effect on me. I still make my decisions based upon what I think he would think of me.

That song, as far as I am concerned, was written by someone who had a similar person in their life. Ceelo opens with “I got some bad news this morning, which in turn made my day.” I remember the phone call telling me Daddy Yank was dead. That is exactly how I felt. My tears were delayed for a few months. They still show up every now and then when I am alone.

Daddy Yank’s daughter died recently — which brings me to “She Knows.” This is obviously a song about Ceelo’s mom. He doesn’t explain what <i>she knows</i>, which makes that knowledge seem boundless. He sings “It wouldn’t surprise me to see her ghost — she would like me to know she knows.” If that ain’t my Grandmother, DJ Premiere is wack. To me, that one line is the song. The beat is fast-paced, simple and muffled. This only makes me pay more attention to the lyrics. That was a song that snuck up on me.

There is one song on the album that is actually rapped. “A Little Better” is yet another song I seem to have a close personal connection with. We have all had problems. We will all have more problems. While dealing with our problems, it is helpful to know they are temporary. And more importantly, the problem is not as important as it seems. Ceelo reminds us that “everything is fine, take your time. What would be on your mind if you knew you were dying?” Exactly!

There a few one-liners to live by on this album:

”Anyone who needs what they want and does not want what they need – I want nothing to do with” – from “Going On”

“Hurt people hurt people” – from “Would be Killer”

“But when the child grows to have more than just your eyes — don’t be surprised” – from “Surprise”

“I am no coward, so I’ll only die one time” – from “Open Book”

Maybe my kindred feelings for the songwriter bias my opinion of the album. Maybe I am reaching to think that the humanity of the topics should automatically give the album mainstream appeal. Or maybe, just maybe — no one is listening in the first place.

Aceyalone’s Book of Human Language is the Best hip-hop album ever. This is not an opinion.

INITIAL LISTEN
I remember when I first heard the album. My boy Neil used to send me tapes of stuff he got from Amoeba, Rasputin’s and Leopold’s during his excursions on BART back when he lived in Oakland. He sent me a Maxell cassette with the Slim Shady EP on one side and BOHL on the other.
At first, I was bumping the Eminem side because it was catchy. I played “Just the 2 of Us” and “Murder Murder” to the point that I cannot listen to them anymore.  I tolerated BOHL on the other side, passing the time waiting on Eminem’s sick humor.
This goes to show you how imperfect I am. As a person who is almost snobbish in my lyrical passion, I slept HARD! I wanted an “All Balls Don’t Bounce” Part 2, and BOHL was not that. It was way more important and I was just too embarassingly stuck on stupid to see it.
I even recall talking to Neil on the phone and telling him about Acey’s sophomore slump. This was a decade ago. I could say I had a lot going on in my life at the time — but that is just an excuse. Music gets me through my day. It makes me smile when I should justifiably frown. 
I slept HARD!

REALIZATION
I cannot tell you when Acey’s concept clicked with me. I have no idea what I was doing. I recall “The Grandfather Clock” hitting me first:
If you knew what made me tick/ It would probably make you sick/ Lay my days of my life in front of you/ And I will let you take your pick… Pull back the curtains/ But make sure that you are certain/ That it will be worth the energy/ That you end up exertin.
I have felt that way for a long time. It was almost like I was speaking — but in a manner way more creative than anything I could muster. Thus, I had to listen to this album more attentively. “The Balance” hit me next. I was playing around with Capoeira at the time. The beat sounded like it incorporated the berimbau, and everyone knows that Capoeira is all about balance. A line in that song hit me like a ton of bricks: “Cause giving IS receiving and seeing IS believing.”
This was the time in my life where my Pantheism was evolving into atheism. I was pretty vocal about shunning beliefs and replacing them with facts. That line gave my thought process pause. I had to think about my stances a bit more — in a Neo/Morpheus kinda way. But it didn’t stop there!
“The orthodox IS the unorthodox/ They just got you by the name/ The insane and the sane are the same.” It’s almost like Lao Tzu wrote it. 

UNDERSTANDING
Slowly, the motives of the songs started creeping in. Acey explained that every song was a chapter. The title of the album is exactly what it is. He goes over a cross section of things that make up the human experience.
So far on my radar, time and balance were tackled. As I thirsted for more, I slowly forgot about the Slim Shady EP.
On “The Hurt,” Mumbles (the producer of every beat on the album) used a triple-time signature or a 6/8 time signature (I am not a musician). Acey handles it nicely though. The beginning of the second verse again sounds like something I would have said:
The more I look around the more it hurts/ I quietly go berzerk when I work/ Hoping to find a part of my mind/ That’s mostly confined and blind (YES)/ Pure and refined/ untampered with time.”
Every song has its rightful place in the concept. Even when he cites Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky,” it fits in. There really is no stand-out track per se; you need to hear the whole thing to feel what he is doing. Some of his one-liners could be the basis of entire dissertations, though.

THE MASK
For example, in “The Faces,” he says: “To live and die is the plot but your face is the hook.” What comes to your mind when you read that? The guys who actually sung the Milli Vanilli songs? Or Jennifer Holliday? What about Sarah Jane from “Imitation of Life?” Or the prostitutes on your local hoe stroll? Obama? Hillary? Kucinich looking for his precious? Jamie Hector or Michael K. Williams on casting calls? Minstrel shows? The list is infinite and the line is everlasting.
The last song on the album is called “Human Language.” With this song, Acey deviates from the overall theme and gets personal. He is going over his positive attributes, while at the same time it feels as though he is going over mine (after all, we do have the same birthday). It is almost like he is bragging about how dope his mentality is.
That song was my anthem for a few years. Someone needs to put the line “Subliminals controlling all of y’all/ but they won’t take mines away!” on a T-shirt.  That song (along with the entire album) was listened to ad nauseum. Yet, I am not tired of it. I know every word and every place to pause to insure breath control.

GROWING INTO IT
Hip hop has never made an album like this, and it seems as though it will never make another one. Acey got 2.5 mics in The Source and not many people bought the album. People complained that they didn’t want to think as they were entertained. I could not say much because I felt the same way on my initial listen. Experience is the best teacher. I am a better listener now. 
 

I am not a fan of slam poetry.
I am not a fan of slam poetry.
I am not a fan… of slam poe-treeeeeee.

What is so funny is that I used to write poetry, before these candle-burning, finger-snapping Love Jones clones decided they could write poetry too.

But I got sick of the sugary drivel used to illicit offers of sex from the audience. A poem is supposed to be about your insides being displayed through your voice. Most of the stuff I heard at readings I used to participate in was trite at best.

The black power “readers of scripts,” vying for who is the “most down” with their weak attempts at writing, were a breath of fresh air compared to the hormonal attempts at defining what love really is from souls indoctrinated by years of R&B.

Needless to say, I stopped writing poetry. I looked at my old stuff as being just as banal as the people I criticized. I was not looking deeply enough into myself. I did not want to be one of “them.” So when Saul Williams was crowned king of the capri pants and sandals subculture, I ignored him. I ignored his albums. I ignored the movie “Slam.” I even ignored when he guest-emceed on other people’s songs.

I now see that was a mistake.

I downloaded “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust” off the recommendation of a coworker. I liked how they were distributing the album (only electronically over the net with a .pdf version of liner notes – similar to Radiohead). Initially, I was not impressed because Saul was associated with it, along with the fact that there is a lot of singing and I would not consider some of the beats “hip hop.” Then I gave him a chance.

The first three tracks were on HEAVY rotation in my car for at least 3 months. “Black History Month” is a fitting intro to the album. The industrial Trent Reznor beat is hypnotic and Saul’s tribute to the muse with his first words – “Can you feel it/ nothing can save ya,” pays respect to hip hop in general. The production and hook (“The banana peels are carefully placed / so keep your shell toes carefully laced”) gets you amped. The beat breaks down to only Saul’s voice saying “Turn up the bay-bass!” towards the end. He then gives his version of the origin of hip hop, ending it with “Let these suckas know the cost of making Harriet run / Let the North Star be your guiding post when turned from the sun / Until knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everyone!”

The production on the second track is friggin’ insane. Saul sings on “Convict Colony” to a beat too beautiful to describe with words. When I say beautiful, I am not talking about pretty. I am talking about vividly and explosively exceptional. You know, the beauty that is the goal of all artistic (and dare I say human) expression. If you know what a convict colony is, the lyrics are easy to understand.

The 3rd track is the stand-out piece to me. What’s so crazy is the beat is just a loop. Well, I shouldn’t say that, because it is a Public Enemy loop (I wonder how much they charged for the sample?). If you don’t know about the song “Welcome to the Terrordome,” you should learn about it. “Tr(n)igga” is the reason I arrive at work sweating, with my voice on the verge of being hoarse. I really should not listen to that song in my car. In the second verse, Saul asks “Would Jesus Christ come back American? / What if he’s Iraqi and here again?”

I instantly think of all the people who ignore all the scriptures of Jesus that emphasize peace and love to memorize the fire and brimstone intolerance of P(S)aul (eerie, ain’t it?). The beat then goes into a muffled bass line and Saul is again interrogative: “What do you teach your children about me? What do you teach your little children about me? Pimp? Thug? Bling druglord of the underground decay? How can you be so sure I won’t call down the rain?”

The beat comes back and Saul gets more forceful with his interrogation. This is where I start screaming the hook along with him. It never fails. I think I am the target audience for this song. Other stand out songs are “WTF” (the beat breaks down nicely), “Raised To Be Lowered,” “Skin Of a Drum,” “Niggy Tardust” and “DNA.” Although he is not “rapping” on most of the songs, the lyrics are on point.

This album is not available in stores, so you have to download it to hear it (it costs 5$). My endorsement of this album means more because I did not want to like it initially. I now have to convince myself not to listen to it.

And oh — one day in Wal-Mart, I saw “Slam” on sale. I bought it. I liked it.

I saw Brother Ali for the first time at a MURS show in New Orleans.

I had heard his name in conversation and seen discussions about him on message boards, but it was never enough to garner my interest. So I walk in the show and the first thing I notice is this huge albino dude sitting next to the door with a small crowd around him. I was there to see MURS, so I spent all of my little money on MURS’s music and accessories before the show started.

The emcee introduced Brother Ali and lo and behold, it was that albino dude from near the door. He opened up the show with some braggadocious rhymes. They were catchy, but I prefer that introspective stuff. Then he caught my attention with “Forest Whitaker” and “Win Some, Lose Some.” I had to get a copy of his CD after hearing an a capela version of “Picket Fence.” Because I had already spent all of my money on MURS stuff, after the show I talked to Ali and told him I was ordering his album off of the ‘Net as soon as I got home.

But I couldn’t wait. I went to one of the dingy bars on Decatur Street to be overcharged by one of those cheap ATMs to get a copy of his album immediately. Buying “Shadows on the Sun” that night was a good decision.

Fast forward to 2007 with the release of “The Undisputed Truth.” The album’s name says it all. Ali has the ability to relay how he feels ferociously over a beat. No abstract style and no fancy word usage  –  just raw, profound hip hop. He will remind you of how fresh he is on some tracks, but the others are exactly what I am looking for: introspection. If you listen to “The Puzzle” and you are not feeling it, you are not human. 

“Every stone that’s ever been cast or blow that ever landed/ helped to build that man that’s standing before your bitch ass/I’m back to wreak havoc and never retired, retreated or recanted… ” Or “I was taught that mistakes made with great intentions were never sins / but where life lessons begin…”

He does this throughout the entire album! His one-liners are enough to blow you away but he is much more than just a one-line wonder. He really means what he says. He actually went through the situations he speaks on. Pardon the cliché, but he keeps it real. I don’t understand why every MMA fighter is not walking to the cage with “Pedigree” playing. I cannot be the only one who gets hype from that track.

Brother Ali also takes the hip hop love song to another level with “Here.” It’s not a sappy, LL Cool J-cum-Jodeci soft porn take on the mating ritual. It’s more of an overview of his flaws and fears that he lays on the table to a prospective mate.

On the flipside, later dedicates a song to his ex wife. “Walking Away” is politely angry: “I don’t love you –  I don’t think I ever did / and if you didn’t try to kill me I woulda’ stayed for the kid / There’s nothing more for us to say / I got my mind made up, I’m walkin’ away / Sometimes we just outgrow the role that we play / I hope you find a happy ending to your story someday.” 

There is a video for the song “Uncle Sam Goddamn,” which has a line in there that keeps my mind wandering: “The grown-up Goliath nation is holding open auditions for the part of David.” Man! Can anyone dispute that? 

Brother Ali has displayed himself to the world on 15 tracks. If you are not looking for honest self-expression, then you are not looking for hip hop as far as I’m concerned. I am sick of the lies Viacom allows to be spewed to the masses. Warner Bros distributed this album, so it should’ve gone platinum. I guess honesty is not catchy enough.

“The Undisputed Truth” is one of the reasons Nas was wrong. I have a good feeling we will be hearing more from Ali in the near future, regardless of album sales or the state of hip hop. Here is the reason, from “Daylight”: “Vocals know nothing other than soul touching / So if they land in yours it’s just a homecoming / If they don’t go there they might perish / Land on deaf ears but die unembarrassed.”

 Check out the video “Uncle Sam Godam”

Best of 2007

Busdriver – Roadkill Overcoat

I first heard “Kill Your Employer” on Busdriver’s MySpace page. I’m a fan, so I have grown accustomed to catching the words in his fast-paced delivery. I was hooked instantly. The angst he feels towards this group of people is shared by myself. The song’s subject matter is the hypocrisy of finding comfort in a system that you also protest against. Whether this comfort is living with your father who works for Halliburton or doing something as trivial as burning a flag vs. getting to the root of the problem, Busdriver’s words are brilliantly placed and the message hits hard. Recently in a CNN interview, Jack Nicholson said “You do not become militant if you wish to be a successful propagandist. Because all you will do is preach to the choir and further entrench your opposition.” Maybe, just maybe, Jack is a Busdriver fan too.

Roadkill Overcoat is full of very good writing over very good beats. There was one beat I hated initially so I continued to skip over the song. Plus, Busdriver was attempting to try his hand at singing, which made me hit skip even faster. But when I finally listened to “Sunshowers,” it became my favorite song on the album (at least for a little while). It is a song declaring the sin of watering down yourself to get exposure. I could name many rappers that I wish shared his ethics.

“The Troglodyte Wins” is his personal self-evaluation. He contemplates the point of trying when no one else is trying with you. What’s the point of being passionate about something when you are the only one with passion? Again, I relate. The words at the end

of his last verse are profound yet funny – “But this don’t go hand in hand with your Volkswagen van / because you voted in a defrosted CroMagnon man.”

Other notable songs on the album are “Mr. Mistake” (excellent delivery!!!!), “Secret Skin,” “Bloody Paw on the Kill Floor,” “Less Yes’s More No’s” and “Dream Catcher’s Mitt.” Of course, Roadkill Overcoat doesn’t follow the typical Viacom theme of what a hip-hop album is supposed to be. In this world of instant gratification, where anyone can be a hip-hop star, the audacity it takes to be yourself is worthy of the few dollars spent on adding this CD to your collection. If you are an artist of any sort, the cover art is another reason to pick the album up. That is, if you loathe the chicken scratch in your sketchbook. 

Here’s his homepage:

 http://www.epitaph.com/artists/artist/229/

 Check out  the video for “Casting Agents and Cowgirls” from the Roadkill Overcoat: