Remaking a Withers Classic & For Some Strange Reason My Son Addicted to Polo

Bill Withers' senior picture.

Over the last week the omniscient, omnipresent beast known as social media has battered me with two jams I have found myself bumping with fervor.  Normally when I post the JOTW I choose the songs the day of, but as I'm feeling particularly candid I'll share what I can sincerely assure you are my personal Jams of the Week.

1) John Legend Featuring The Roots - "I Can't Write Left Handed"- Wake Up!
A brilliant cover of the Bill Withers classic inspired by a disfigured veteran from the Vietnam War.  It is without a doubt the best song off of the otherwise weak Roots-Legend collabo album.  The great thing about this remake is that Legend does the original acceptable justice in terms of vocals, and, in my opinion, The Roots far surpass the instrumental aspect of the original without turning out an overly manneristic version.  Both the original and the remake gave me chills the first time I heard them.


2) Smoke DZA - "Ralph Lifshitz"
This comes highly recommended by Passion of the Weiss, and ever since I checked it out the other day I haven't been able shake its catchy chorus, snappy beat and deft wordplay.  I don't really understand why DZA's got such a deep seated need to rock Rugby, but for some reason that really doesn't take away from the song's merit.  I tend to claim that I like rap that deals with themes that don't strictly adhere to material goods, currency and attractive women, and I pride myself in seldom missing referent objects or themes in hip-hop.  Nevertheless, like any normal human being I get a hankering for a little hypocrisy every now and again, especially when it really doesn't do any damage to anything other than my schizophrenic musical manifesto.  Maybe geezy can fill me in on these mysteries of the Ralph Lauren universe as he is well versed in the ways of freshness, and therefore one might consider rabid materialism and an abnormally extensive knowledge of trendy shit to be some of his fortes.