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.
So I tried to figure out who King Fantastic is, and dude doesn't even have a wikipedia page. But I know one thing for certain: he's fascinated by that fucking gangster shit. My boy Trevor put me on game to this, and I'm not sure how long this track's been out, but it looks like about five months. Shit is straight fire. The beat is hard body, and dude's got lyrics and a video to compliment it nicely. Oh, and watching a bad bitch trash a house, take a shower, and then dance naked in a huge window is as awesome as it sounds. If you're tryna fuck with King Fantastic on a continuous basis, dip over to his website (click) to watch other videos and download his album for free ninety nine. Enjoy.
I should be updating this bullshit blog for one of my classes, but it's Saturday and a long weekend, so scholastic motivation isn't exactly in excess today. In my best efforts to look like I'm doing work on my computer, I started peeping game on the internets; dope shit was out there to be had, and it was mines for the taking. I was expecting to just cop some tracks that I'd prolly fuck with for a week or two before they were relegated to iTunes obscurity. What I ended up finding was preferable: a new video from Dipset producer araabMUZIK.
Hit the jump if you wanna keep it going. Read more »
Here's ten songs from last year that struck a chord with me; if you feel I left off anything essential you can air your grievances in the comments section and go listen to some dubstep or something. Comments are appreciated, but remember that this is nothing more than an annual personal recommendation. It's not some sort of unequivocal manifesto by which I live and die. Read more »
I know, I just showed up after weeks of absence and straight jacked AOTW and JOTW. But, it's my blog so fuck y'all, this ain't no got damn democracy. Let's go in:
Brian McAndrew. Michael Bishop. Jamie Slade. Supwitchugirl?
Hit the Jump for the track and commentary (although you might gotta be dumb, deaf and blind to not have heard this shit...or just a bitter ass Huskies fan, word to Jimmy Mahady)
I have been meaning to post something about Danny Brown for quite a while now. He is, in my opinion, the most creative and versatile of the latest crop of talented emcees that have gained the necessary notoriety to make it to my headphones (Curren$y, Big K.R.I.T., Freddie Gibbs, etc.). Danny Brown came to my attention via the omniscient Jeff Weiss's blog, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
In my opinion, the most striking thing about Brown is his capacity to base an entire song on a theme that doesn't include cars, women or money. On his most recent release, The Hybrid, he dedicates an entire track to food stamps ("Thank God") and another to his views on prescription pills ("Generation Rx"). He has an affinity for Adderall, and attributes much of the writing from The Hybrid to the procrastinatoRx's best friend. I sincerely hope any and all who read this post give Danny Brown a chance. Passion of the Weiss, who shares a similar respect for his work, provides an interview and several downloads that may very well whet your appetite for more. You should also check out Brown's Blog for an inside look at this eclectic genius.
Here's Danny Brown's "Shootin' Moves" from The Hybrid
"Sittin' in the old school, smokin' on some Goku. Buds like Dragonballs, tequila with the lime juice."
Prince Rogers Nelson and Neil Young may very well represent polar aspects of my musical portfolio: a skinny, omnisexual, half-black, falsetto crooner with an appetite for dance and fornication, and a neanderthal like Canadian with a penchant for flannel and farm life. At different moments in time, I have considered one or the other to be my favorite artist, and they are forever present in my top 5, a fluctuating mixture of stalwart classics andmusical infatuations. I would have to credit the eclectic musical taste of my parents for this baffling combination, as I was heavily exposed to both artists throughout my youth.
Now to the Jams at Hand. The other day as I was making a pass through my iTunes, I was struck by a desire to listen to "Cinnamon Girl" by Neil. As the search completed, I was reminded of the super dope song by Prince, off of Musicology, of the same name, which according to Wikipedia has nothing to do with Neil's version. Nonetheless, I have decided to pit the two against each other. The preference is decided by each listener on a personal basis; I am making no attempt to endorse one in particular at this juncture. Prince hits you with a dance hall ready, politically conscious jam, and, true to form, provides a catchy chorus to further encourage the boogie. Neil's jam is chock full of heavy guitar and a likewise catchy, simple chorus.
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.
Yeah we've been absent. The grind doesn't leave a whole lot of room for blogging, especially since I do manual labor and have a persistent weekend hangover. However, Geezy has inspired a new wave of posts which will hopefully continue to be as abundant as our earlier days in the blogging game.
To the topic at hand. Over the period of time since I last posted a JamoftheWeek, I have been listening to Cam'ron's Purple Haze frequently. Some might say that it is Killa's best album, and I would tend to agree. One of the best, if not the best, cuts on the album is Down & Out, featuring Kanye. It is chock full of Cam's classic bombastic obscenity, and obscure references. What's not to love?
"Observe, cock and spray. Hit you from a block away. Drinkin' sake on the Suzuki we in Osaka Bay."
As an added bonus, you may enjoy this ridiculous interview Cam'ron gave after suburban whites discovered the stop snitching code and were fascinated by urban dwellers' firm dedication to its ideals. Cam takes the ideology to new heights, and Anderson Cooper is visibly disgusted. Hilarious.
"If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me. Nah, I wouldn't call anybody and tell on 'em. But, I'd probably move."
This shit was my anthem at the end of last summer. I initially peeped Red Cafe's "Heart & Soul of New York City" in August, just before I took my first hit of the crack that is New York City. This shit just sounded like what I thought would be a summer day in the NYC. I was bumping it as I sat on my best friend's (still.grimey's Killah Cameron) roof on the Lower East Side, while we were shooting the shit, eating slices, and killing brews. And as we sat amongst the suffocating humidity, five stories above the inescapable sounds of sirens and hustle, I remember thinking: "There is no place else, in the entire world, that I would rather be at this given moment of time, and it's going to take an act of god to keep me from living in this shit someday." Please believe that by the time I got back to the Left Coast, this track was getting listened to every time I put hands on my iPod. Fast forward to present day. It's week six of my ten week term, and I'm grinding in the Knight Library on the University of Oregon campus. I've been lightweight unmotivated all quarter and I've got an Accounting 352: Financial Reporting II mid-term tomorrow at 2:00 pm. I take a quick break to peep a couple blogs. First I find a new Jeezy track that just dropped today, so I stop, drop, and cop it. Next I scroll down to find the video for my summer anthem. This shit is so ill, it serves as (at least temporarily) major inspiration for me to get back on the scholastic grustle so I can make enough power moves to land myself in the illest city on earth sometime in the not to distant future. Right back like I left something.
(Potential) JOTW - "Weapon of Choice" - Fatboy Slim
After a long day of hitting the books, I came home and hit the trees. I then took a straight shot to the couch, sat down with my room mate and began to watch Denzel's Man on Fire. What I didn't realize is that not only is Denzel Washington in it, but so is Christopher Walken. I chuckled to myself and then had a sudden urge to post the following video as the JAM of the Week. I would like to take this time to apologize to my fellow still.grimey contributor JAM for swagger jacking his steeze. With that being said, this is certainly in contention for one of the best music videos ever made. Enjoy Kids.
"Trap or Die gave 'em hope, They waitin' on a sequel"
So I'm super late on this, but whatever, I was gone for minute now I'm back with the jump off. This video makes me really happy. Hate all you want, but Jeezy is the fucking man, and for those of you who aren't convinced, maybe you should peep this interview that Complex dropped with dude (click).
If the rest of the mixtape sounds as good as the aforementioned track, I'll be fucking pumped. And even if it doesn't, chances are I'll be letting that shit bang out regardless. Hopefully, this tape is gearing all of us up for the highly anticipated release of Jeezy's upcoming Thug Motivation 103 album release. In the meantime, while we wait for Trap or Die 2 and TM 103, why don't we all marinate on the first Trap or Die mixtape: Click here to download Young Jeezy's Trap or Die
This week, I feel it is necessary to address the recent release of The Wu Massacre, brought to you by Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface Killa. Although I can't say it compares to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2, it is definitely of a higher caliber than Ghostface's Ghostdeini: the Wizard of Poetry.As a side note, I plan on naming my firstborn child Ghostdeini regardless of its gender. If, in the most probable of the scenarios following this suggestion, that proposition is denied I will petition the old lady that we rename the dog as a compromise. Back to the matter at hand, this weeks jam is "Our Dreams," which is, in my opinion, the illest cut on the album. The video is a continuation of the Wu-Massacre promo videos, which were inspired by the murders committed in the movie Seven, in which Rae, Ghost and Meth take over for Kevin Spacey's character.
Following the current trend of world music, I'm going to hit you with some dope shit that I encountered a few years ago. It's from a documentary called Genghis Blues about a blind blues singer, Paul Pena, that goes to Mongolia to compete in a Tuvan throat singing contest. If you haven't heard of Pena before, he wrote the song Big Old Jet Airliner which Steve Miller made famous. The Jam of the Week is actually a song he put out in 1973 from his album New Train, but I'll provide a link to some of his blues-throat singing work too so you can get a feel for it. I highly recommend the movie, it is one of my all time favorites.
This week's JOTW is pretty unorthodox, so get ready to stretch your minds a little bit, and, as Nas and T-Boz did in Belly, go back to Africa. Tinariwen is a musical group from Mali that gets down with filthy electric guitar work and some tribal rhythms that are vaguely reminiscent of a different era about 20-30,000 years ago, when everybody was just trying to find some animals to eat and doing their best not to freeze their tits off. If you like this song, called Toumast, I would recommend getting acquainted with Ali Farka Touré, a fellow Malian, whom I know from his work with Ry Cooder on their collabo album, Talking Timbuktu. His influences included John Lee Hooker, a legendary blues man known for his simple grinding rhythms and dense guitar solos, and traditional Malian bard music. Rock and Blues are reflected in the music from which they evolved, and the mixture is about as unique and fascinating as it can get. If you like this shit as much as I do, get your documentary on, and check out Throw Down Your Heart; it's a movie about an American banjo player who travels around Africa and searches for the banjo's roots in several different regions.
I know it's redundant. Especially since the other Jam of the Week was posted in the couple hours, but why should JAM get to do all the easy posts? Anyway, while I was mowing my parents lawn a little while ago (it looks great I might add), I decided to throw my iPod on shuffle. And as my good friend Nick Fisher, of FickNish acclaim, always says, "the shuffle never fails." Well, Fisher's quote is tried and true. I had a phenomenal shuffle experience this afternoon, and thought that you might enjoy it as well. I'll post the actual track listing of the shuffle after the jump. But while myPod was hard at work shuffling, and your boy was hard at work mowing, Busta Rhymes' "Gimme Some More" came on. And as the old school Busta banged through my headphones, it dawned on me how crazy dude used to be. You know, like back before he shaved off his dreads and was one of the nuttiest MCs in the game (see 1997's When Disaster Strikes and the music video for "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See"). Anyways, I remember when I was a shorty, sneaking in an hour of MTV Jams in after school to get my hip hop fix in, and seeing the "Gimme Some More" video. That shit blew me away. My little ten year old self was probably bugging out thinking that all rappers were off their rocker. Then I watched it again just now, shit is still bonkers. Peep Game and hit the jump for the free music and the "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" video:
**yung.geezy's note- for some reason, blogger is fucking up and wont post the "Gimme Some More" video to the still.grimey home page. Fear not America, you need only hit the jump to be able to watch the video in it's entirety. However, your friends at still.grimey would like to apologize for this inconvenience, and lack of aesthetic.
I have been in the party mood lately as I just got done with a quarter that was particularly shitty. As such, I will dedicate this week's jam to Shakira, a frisky little Columbiana who knows how to party, and probably also knows how to make cocaine. Her song "She Wolf" just makes me want to cut a rug to shreds, especially when the moon is full.
Letra esencial: "Nocturnal creatures are not so prudent, The moon's my teacher, and I'm her student"
Summertime Block Talk is the one man music project helmed by my good friend Brian Jacobson (below).
Your boy does not fuck with very much punk rock , like never actually. But, being that BJ is one of my good boys, I decided to see what homie was bringing to the musical round table. With his new album Pillow Talk, Brian has used Summer Time Block Talk as the vessel to take his infectious energy from real life to your speakers. Growing up a hip-hop head, I really never took the time to explore the punk rock genre (or at least never knowingly did so), so I really didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.
Hit the jump to keep reading and download Summer Time Block Talk's Pillow Talk Read more »
Yeah, it's been a minute. I know. School has been a bitch this quarter.This selection would be well complemented by wine and/or weed. Yeah, I said wine. Vino. Fermented grapes. Whatever you'd like to call it. Preferably of the bottled variety. Maybe around 8:30 or 9:00 when you feel like throwin' on the party shoes. Drink it at a moderate pace, unless you are slapping a bag. In the latter case, peer pressure and adrenaline will likely lead to a blackout. Godspeed my friend.
Legit Lyric: "I'm layin' in the purple rain until I see some action"
So for whatever reason I took it upon myself to run a day late in getting up the second half of the music I promised early in the month. But if you ask my roommate Yung Craighead, who has actually been dealing with my constant tardiness since 8th grade (we are now in our senior, err, fourth year of college), you're lucky you've only waited two days total (the other being for Dilla's tribute) to cop this second half of the February Full of Fire. Even Yung Craighead is happy with me when I give away free music.
So here it is kids. The second half of a February Full of Fire.
