It's Been A Long Time

I was considering using this long hiatus to bring some serious fire your way.  That is to say I was hoping to write something really inventive or insightful that would ignite your interest and set your loins afire.  Alas, I can't boast any stories or theories I wish to share on the world wide web of any respectable caliber.  What I will do is recommend some cuts and briefly mention their finer points.  That's what I'm here for god damn it.

That being said, lets get back to business: millennia ago in internets years there was a day colloquially referred to numerically as 4/20 on which Curren$y and Alchemist's Covert Coup and Smoke DZA's The Hustler's Catalog came out.  I was without cannabis and far from an audience that was able to appreciate and marinate on the finer points of either of these juicy morsels so I just put on my headphones and let the sweet-ass tapes bump while reading the news.  Needless to say they both passed the sniff test, and have been getting some serious QT on my iTunes.  Here's four tracks you should listen to because, simply put, they are good.
Covert Coup - "Scottie Pippens" featuring Freddie Gibbs [Gibbs absolutely murders this shit]

                  
"BBS" [textbook Curren$y with a velvety beat]


The Hustler's Catalog - "Early Days of George" [George Kush is a cool ass nick name]

- "White Papers featuring Devin the Dude" [Smoke cheeba cheeba]


I met up with my dad recently and, as he is a lifelong white, an avid KBCS 91.3 listener and we share an affinity for world music, he put me on to some dope shit.  Both songs are random and will come across weird, but give them some time and they may grow on you.

Chango Spasiuk - Pynandi (Los Descalzos) - "El Camino (The Path)" [Argentinian music that has been scientifically proven to be excellent while road tripping.  For me this song evokes images of dark haired beauties, open pit BBQs and large grassy expanses]


Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha - Re-Covers - "When the Levee Breaks" [Mongolian Tuvan throat singer covers this Led Zeppelin via Willie Dixon classic.  If you haven't heard the Zeppelin version in a while listen to it first and then come back to this.  It will startle you at first, but once you get into the groove it ends up being a refreshing re-make and an almost unimaginable combination of genres]


Three relatively recent albums that that have me hooked are Rapahel Saadiq's Stone Rollin, Cam'ron and Vado's Gunz n' Butta, and DJ Quik's The Book of David.  Saadiq's album is incredibly consistent and rife with hefty soul basslines and guitar riffs that strut along in bluesy harmony.  It borrows from all sorts of soul eras and artists, and Saadiq does respect to all of them.  I'm convinced it's better than 2009's well lauded The Way I See It, but that's ultimately for you to decide.  Cam and Vado are nowhere near as musically talented as Saadiq, but sometimes a person just needs a little Diplomats in their life.  Araab Muzik brings heat on the six pad, chauvanism and ridiculous similies are delivered with standard Diplo nonchalance and Vado's more intense flow provides a nice contrast to Killa's.  The Book of David is a masterpiece which I have only just begun to discover.  Quik's guests include Ice Cube, Kurupt and Bun B, and the beats and production are nothing less than precisely on point.  I'm chalking this one up for some serious summer BBQ playtime.  It'll go just as well with seared meat and brews as with nocturnal drinking games and other hooliganism.

Highlights include:
Stone Rollin - "Go To Hell"

Gunz n' Butta - "Be With Me"


The Book of David - "Flow for Sale featuring Kurupt"