Big K.R.I.T.-"They Got US"

I promised myself I wouldn't provide a Jam of the Week until I established residence in Madrid. I spent 2.5 weeks in September sleeping on a cot in a tent in my friends' back yard in Seattle, and have been hiding out at my family friend's apartment in downtown Madrid for the remainder of the month. Now that that's taken care of, I hope my fidelity to the weekly Jam stays true until I pull up roots again and travel to a still undetermined destination sometime in the next year. But who knows, ya boi could find a brisket, or end up really enjoying his job over here and have to linger for a while. That is for the fates to decide.

Back to the task at hand, Big K.R.I.T. was recommended to me by none other than Geezy himself. Being that we have referred to Geezy's own father by more or less the same name (BIG C.R.I.T.) since high school, I initially thought the recommendation was an offhand comment about an MC who should be important to me for only that reason. However, en route to the Continent, I had ample time to review K.R.I.T.'s recent venture K.R.I.T. Wuz Here. It reminds me of, and bear with me, Bubba Sparxxx, but of the non-redneck persuasion. K.R.I.T.'s flows are fluid and precise, and K.R.I.T. Wuz Here is much more versatile and pensive than his earlier mix-tapes, which remind me more of Lil' Jon and Lil' Scrappy. Club-bangers we'll call them. Come to think of it, KRIT's abilities as a storyteller remind me of an MC with whom he shares a surname and an affinity for correct punctuation, none other than the Notorious B.I.G. himself. For a visual representation of the world which K.R.I.T. masterfully portrays in his lyrics, check out Ballast, a flick about how fucked-up life in his native Mississippi can be.
Here, for your listening pleasure (because excellent hip-hop seldom begets a mainstream music video in these dark times), is "They Got US".


"Since the recession it's been hard if ya strippin', cuz n***gas pay to get in, but n***gas ain't tippin'. She's short on rent, landlord trippin', tired of eatin' noodles that taste like chicken."

Jamz of the Week

This week I have been listening to a lot of KBCS 91.3 FM, which is an independent radio station based out of Bellevue College. For people who aren't in the know, Bellevue is an affluent suburb of Seattle. In this Neiman-Marcusian morass of affluence and materialism, KBCS shines as a beacon of idiosyncratic hope for a less monotonous future. Hit the jump to peep their program schedule and/or listen to their live feed. I would recommend Zulu Radio (Saturdays 10pm-Midnight), and the Spice Route (Wednesdays 9-11am). You can also listen to playlists and audio archives at your leisure online.

Now to the jamz, which were inspired by cuts I heard on KBCS over the week. The first is from the R&B/Soul artist Solomon Burke. "Valley of Tears" is a powerful soul/gospel ballad which he mercs with the help of Gillian Welch and some unknown white. It's one of those Jamz that some people will love, and others will hate. Give S. Burke a chance. The man may look like Jabba the Hut now, but he was probably knee deep in it in his heyday.

The second JOTW, is from Wiz Khalifa's recent Mixtape, Kush and Orange Juice. I have to admit that some of Khalifa's music is repetitive and bland, but a lot of the beats are agreeable and I like the stuff he and Curren$y have put together. He's one of those emcees that has a theme, in this case the ganja, and pretty much sticks to it, but does so well. "Mezmorized" is, in my humble opinion, the best song on Kush & OJ.