Saturday, 5 May 2012
Friday, 4 May 2012
Kanye West - Lost in the World [Video]
"My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", at this time, feels more a part of music history than it does current popular culture. Maybe it's just me but it 'feels' like it was ages ago that Mr. West hopped on U-Stream to answer telephone calls from eager fans, and yet here we have a previously unreleased video for "that song where he sampled Bon Iver".
TOWA TEI with BAKUBAKU DOKIN - Wordy [Video]
TOWA TEI teams up with the upcoming female rap duo, BAKUBAKU DOKIN, for the first single off his new album, titled "Mach 2012". This is the same guy that has production credits on 90's dance classic, "Groove Is In The Heart", from his time with Deee-Lite. He also had a hand in putting Japan on the map during the shibuya-kei movement of the same era, by infusing popular dance music with things like Bossanova and Jazz. His last album was quite fruitful (finding heavy rotation on my iPod last year), with "The Burning Plain" in particular flexing masses of pop muscle, between it's fusion of brass and techno-bable.
This track, however, seems like a far larger departure from his usual work. It's almost like playing back the audio from a cheese-dream (or acid trip... take your pick) where Aphex Twin's "Hangable Auto Bulb" was being remixed by a choir of Japanese schoolgirls that were learning the alphabet, avec l'alcohol, and spray-painting a few equally intoxicated dogs. The video's oddly fitting.
This track, however, seems like a far larger departure from his usual work. It's almost like playing back the audio from a cheese-dream (or acid trip... take your pick) where Aphex Twin's "Hangable Auto Bulb" was being remixed by a choir of Japanese schoolgirls that were learning the alphabet, avec l'alcohol, and spray-painting a few equally intoxicated dogs. The video's oddly fitting.
Thursday, 3 May 2012
A$AP Rocky - Goldie [Video]
At the very beginning of the year I wrote a post about the Harlem-bred Rakim Mayers, better known as... you know... that guy that everybody's talking about. "AP Rocky - Goldie" was trending worldwide as it turned midnight in central USA. "They're on time", I thought to myself, "that's nice"... and then I watched it.
The fact that they shot the video in Paris, just so that that they can play on the idea of a real "niggas in paris" raises some alarm bells as they attempt to out-hipstagram their peers. And then you throw in some YouTube nudity (which I didn't know could legally exist), rampant talk of drug abuse, some expensive things laced in gold, and you're looking at virality in a video embed. They're not hiding their train-of-thought particularly well, are they? At times, I feel like I'm reading a pocket book on how to create hysteria through popular music. "Chapter 4: How to latch onto existing trends". The front cover would likely be a meme of some sort... and now this whole black guys in Paris thing... is a thing (says twitter). Thank you A$AP Rocky, thank you dude from the French presidential election, that's very nice of you to but I'm starting to get sick of it. What's the next single going to be?... "niggas in Milan"?
On "Pretty Flacko" he was as bold as ever, announcing his sonic movement as "trill-wave". But aside from being yet another tongue-in-cheek ploy that would make it's way into the hands of journalists, it did raise a few questions. Truthfully, if there were to exist such a wave in hip-hop he probably does stand atop it, biting flows and tallying the number of catch-phrases he can rhyme with 'muthafucka', before combing the salt out of his hair.
Underneath the wave's surface you'll find the producers that are accredited with propagating this new sound, and they've been pretty busy. Clams Casino recently premièred an exclusive mix on big-time BBC Radio 1 that chronicled his aptly titled "Evolution of...", inching him closer to the limelight. Meanwhile, 4AD Records saw enough in Floridian producer-rapper, SpaceGhostPurrp, to catalogue his low-fi phonk by signing him to the label (emulating ventures that labels like sub-pop have also made into the rap scene); The Guardian slapped him on their blog too, making him 'band of the day', and even blogs that are synonymous with California-chilled-indie seem keen to support his upcoming debut.
If that many people are on-board, I guess you've got to call it a wave. Is it even worth mentioning what his first album's going to be called? No. Either you'll hear it through the grapevine, you'll Google it, or you'll see it tattooed on a white kid's back next week.
The fact that they shot the video in Paris, just so that that they can play on the idea of a real "niggas in paris" raises some alarm bells as they attempt to out-hipstagram their peers. And then you throw in some YouTube nudity (which I didn't know could legally exist), rampant talk of drug abuse, some expensive things laced in gold, and you're looking at virality in a video embed. They're not hiding their train-of-thought particularly well, are they? At times, I feel like I'm reading a pocket book on how to create hysteria through popular music. "Chapter 4: How to latch onto existing trends". The front cover would likely be a meme of some sort... and now this whole black guys in Paris thing... is a thing (says twitter). Thank you A$AP Rocky, thank you dude from the French presidential election, that's very nice of you to but I'm starting to get sick of it. What's the next single going to be?... "niggas in Milan"?
On "Pretty Flacko" he was as bold as ever, announcing his sonic movement as "trill-wave". But aside from being yet another tongue-in-cheek ploy that would make it's way into the hands of journalists, it did raise a few questions. Truthfully, if there were to exist such a wave in hip-hop he probably does stand atop it, biting flows and tallying the number of catch-phrases he can rhyme with 'muthafucka', before combing the salt out of his hair.
Underneath the wave's surface you'll find the producers that are accredited with propagating this new sound, and they've been pretty busy. Clams Casino recently premièred an exclusive mix on big-time BBC Radio 1 that chronicled his aptly titled "Evolution of...", inching him closer to the limelight. Meanwhile, 4AD Records saw enough in Floridian producer-rapper, SpaceGhostPurrp, to catalogue his low-fi phonk by signing him to the label (emulating ventures that labels like sub-pop have also made into the rap scene); The Guardian slapped him on their blog too, making him 'band of the day', and even blogs that are synonymous with California-chilled-indie seem keen to support his upcoming debut.
If that many people are on-board, I guess you've got to call it a wave. Is it even worth mentioning what his first album's going to be called? No. Either you'll hear it through the grapevine, you'll Google it, or you'll see it tattooed on a white kid's back next week.
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Kanye West feat. Pusha T, Chief Keef, Big Sean & Jadakiss - I Don't Like (Remix) [New Track]
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As 2010 was wrapping up the hip-hop analysts came out in droves to announce it as the year of the all-star feature. Spearheaded by what Kanye West called the G.O.O.D Fridays, nobody could foresee exactly which, or how many celebrated rappers were going to turn up at his studio sessions. There was a tangible atmosphere surrounding the weekly releases, with good reason too: songs like "Monster", "So Appaled" and "Cristian Dior Denim Flow" were quite simply the best things the genre had to offer at the time. Staring at this cover here, using that same iconic red text on black: surely it's justified to feel slightly 'nostalgic' about this small piece of black Americana? I mean... if you don't like being bombarded with catchy, anthemic rap songs on something resembling a weekly basis, then you sir/madame should get out of town, figuratively speaking. That's that #shitidontlike - as the saying goes.
Below you'll find the original by Chicago's own Chief Keef, and one of the most tumblr-ready choruses you'll likely hear this year (again and again). Keef's steady delivery does feel somewhat simplistic, but it's very playful within the context of the instrumental. It's definitely a banger; the sort Lex Luger and Waka Flocka almost patented yesteryear. Now that Kanye, Pusha etc. have destroyed it, and peppered the social-sphere with yet more 'ignant rap gifs', everybody cares. A couple of weeks ago the likes of Wiz Khalifa and Pusha T hopped on twitter to congratulate the youngster on his song-writing. In hindsight, it was just a matter of time before all of this happened.
If you missed "Mercy" and "Theraflu", not only do you need to open your digital eyes...
you need to go to kanyewest.com
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Ab-Soul - Empathy feat. Alori Joh & JaVonte [Video]
Cali up and comer Ab-Soul reminds us of his lyrical prowess in this super laid back track. It also gives us another chance to sway once more to the smooth vocals of the late Alori Joh, a frequent collaborator of the Black Hippy crew, who sadly took her own life 3 months ago.
Darq E Freaker - Blueberry EP
Monday, 30 April 2012
Boddika & Joy Orbison Let Go Two New Tracks!
Friday, 27 April 2012
Blood Orange- Champagne Coast [Video]
Latest video release from Blood Orange, the video is an orgy of 90s "that's so terrible it's trendy" dance moves and a hipster mashup of Photoshopped bedroom backdrops, inspired by old school video games like Duke Nukem. This is what I pictured girls' bedrooms looking like when I did collages in art at school.
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