Hey fam.

I want to start writing on this blog again. I got shit to say!
Let's make it happen. It's been a crazy year. Let's settle it down and speak some truths.
Here's something fun to start it off.



Good video. Gonna' make a lot of suits talk. But, good video.

Omar Rodriguez Lopez Loves Chocolate

Omar Rodriguez Lopez
Old Money
Stones Throw
January 27th, 2009



In the year 2039, Tim Burton will be 81. His remakes will be old enough to be remade...again. Why is this important? Because this is also the year, if I had to guess, that yet another vision of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be released. Even darker, even wackier, even nuttier. This is also the year where Omar Rodriguez Lopez's newest solo effort, Old Money, under eclectically hip label Stones Throw, will be old enough to be considered a classic. The director of this reborn Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which will probably be simply titled, Chocolate Factory, will decide to choose the Mars Volta guitarist's Old Money as his classic, sentimental soundtrack for the film, fitting perfectly into the even zanier version of the vintage, sugar-filled fairy tale. The only reasoning behind this futuristic and fictitious fable hides in the fact that Omar Lopez has created an album that needs something as absurd as Chocolate Factory to be understood. Old Money is candy-coated chaos for the working class; an arresting blend of guitar layers, scattered drums, and electronic assistance. The words found outside of musical vernacular to describe Old Money could be the very same ones that future journalists use to describe Chocolate Factory.

True to story, the first track, "Power of Myth," coincides with the distribution and winnings of the golden ticket. An exciting opening track that sets the tone for the rest of the album as a multi-coated vehicle for outrageous and surprisingly organized instrumentation. It is no surprise that the guitar is Omar's go-to, and he makes it punctually relevant on this first track, and throughout the album. Mind bending electronic noises ring forwards and backwards during "Power of Myth," and the guitar sounds change between distorted riffs to wah-wah'd solos and back again. This leads us into Charlie and the others approaching Willy Wonka and his factory..."How to Bill the Bilderberg Group," the second track. A slow increase of drums rolls and what sounds like ghost voices takes us on a journey from outside the factory to inside the factory. "Population Council's Wet Dream," inside the factory, is pure eye candy. Visually. For the sake of the album, we'll call it ear candy. Everywhere you look, or hear, there is something unordinary going on. Organ-like elements riding over tweaky guitar lines, a 4/4 tempo that is frighteningly in order with contrast to the other instrumentals taking place...truly wacky. Animating, somewhat uncomfortable, but leaves you anxiously wanting more.

"Trilateral Commissions As Dinner Guests" is what happens to you when you eat the blueberry gum...you blow up into a confusing sight. This track is as mysterious as it is unfriendly, but this mystery not only makes it tolerable, but enjoyable. It's a girl growing into a round, blue ball. Running on these same comparisons, "Family War Funding(Love Those Rothschilds)" can be seen as the classic Oompa Loompa song. It is a break to keep you caught up, but an upbeat and cautious one. It almost borrows from old Nintendo game music, but keeps itself outside the boundaries of biting. Instrumentally, it follows the same paths most the tracks go down. This leads us into Charlie entering the T.V., otherwise known as "I Like the Rockefellers' First Two Records, But After That..." This song has no gravity. Its instruments just float along aimlessly, projecting towards no certain destination but somehow colliding together into a mystical dimension where music can have a mind of its own. It jumps around just like Charlie and his Grandpa do in the T.V., but, like they are contained in the T.V., the instrumentation is contained within the concept and melody of the song. Nothing strays too far, everything strays just far enough. "Old Monday" concludes Old Money just as credits will conclude Chocolate Factory. This is a slow paced track with nowhere near as much going on instrumentally as the other tracks have, which makes it simplistically beautiful in its own right. Throughout the course of its nine minutes, it slowly builds up into a song with a full arsenal: drums, guitar, bass, electronics, etc., whereas it only started with buzzing guitar riffs. The build up is progressively intense until its final, abrupt end.

As berserk as this story is, it is remarkably the most accurate depiction of Old Money, at least that I could come up with. Although Stones Throw is a questionable character to take on this self-produced, arranged, and directed album by Omar himself, it is good to see them broadening their horizons and doing it with authority. This album is truly an odyssey where if a picture paints only a thousand words, these songs can paint an entire film. Whether you want it to be a futuristic, unmade remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or not, Omar Lopez's latest release will put images in your mind. No doubt about it. The instrumentation is far too thick and powerful to only let it be heard; you must see it, too. If you really can't, maybe you'll just have to wait until 2039.

*Reviewed for URB Magazine, up on www.urb.com soon.*

9th Prince Drops a Bomb

Killarmy Presents 9th Prince
The Prince of New York
Babygrande Records


Theoretically speaking (or not so theoretically), the concept of time consists of various moments. Walking your dog, making dinner, your first kiss, wetting the bed...all in the realm of our "time." Nostalgia acts as a catalyst to trigger one of these moments, most likely in memory. Seeing a dog reminds you of when you walked your own, a candle scent reminds you of the aroma during your first kiss, getting drunk and wetting the bed reminds you of...well, being sober and wetting the bed. All of these are triggers for nostalgia. A symbolic form of time travel, if you will. You don't have to necessarily experience a moment yourself to have something be nostalgic. And this is the case with Killarmy's 9th Prince and his newest release, Prince of New York. Let me explain.

I certainly never grew up in New York City during the early '90s, specifically in the projects. I never went through the come-up or struggle of urban youth life. However, 9th Prince's latest effort puts me there. Not from personal experience, not from my moment, but from Prince's moment. His moments in New York are projected in Prince of New York, the album acting as the nostalgic trigger. Following? Early 90s New York was home to some of the greats...Gangstarr, Nas, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang, and not only does 9th Prince recognize and tribute this, but he has created an album that sounds like it was sold as a tape deck from the back of Tony's car in the projects, and at the same time sensible to buy on iTunes. And I mean that in the most glorified way possible. The lyrical style is very similar to RZA's, which is no surprise being that 9th Prince is his little brother and Killarmy is a Wu-Tang affiliate. But, nonetheless, Prince of New York separates itself from anything else and stands on its own as an amazing street-smart album from the Prince's kingdom.

A lot of this is heard in the various production talent. Monster drops a hard, orchestral bomb on "Sniper Challengers" with movie track samples that turn the tune into a powerful blast of energy, which 9th Prince matches equally well on his vocals. "Aiyo, Staten Islanders/rhyme challengers/carry silencers/I spit like the snipers/right through the shot/Martin Luther King off the banister/lyrical dillinger/Came to battle cats, the contender." There is only more where that came from. It looks hectic typed out, but 9th Prince brings these bars together like peanut butter and jelly. William Cooper brings a soulful, dark, and soothing beat on "Bottom Line," with female vocals to back the beat, chanting "We're runnin' out of time/this is bottomline." "Ain't Promised Tomorrow" brings a harder hip-hop approach with production by Gooch, where "Like Like" has Beretta 9 jam a jazzier, piano-driven beat. I could go on for days about the diversity in production for Prince of New York, but it is something you must hear for yourself. Blues, jazz, rock, samples, etc. and more, all containing itself within the hard-drive street stompin' hip-hop of New York.

This album is special in a lot of ways. Killarmy sticks to their hardcore roots of 5 Percenter philosophy and New York City backgrounds. They make no negotiations with how they present their music, and this is why Prince of New York should be cherished. It's a contemporary hip-hop goldmine of raw, untouched, New York hip-hop; nostalgic as well as progressive in its own right. 9th Prince does a great job of stepping into the spotlight and man-handling the mic. With production reminiscent of Prince's big bro RZA, lyrics that are like a battering ram of urban culture, and a true display in the essence of hip-hop, 9th Prince's newest release holds back on no front. If hip-hop is really dead, as some say, it's because The Prince of New York killed it.

Progress?

Ding Dong. Go ahead. Take a peek. I know how annoying door to door people can get. Don't answer, I understand. Most people don't want to listen. But in this situation, please do. Grab the handle, turn it and open your ears. Progress. Is progress grabbing the handle? Is it opening the door? Or maybe it's actually opening yourself up...to listen, that is.
Progress can be simply defined. There is nothing tricky about the word, no high school senior pranks lurking around the corner of "progress." It is a display of improvement, an exponential growth of betterment. However, why is it so manageable to distort this definition? To confuse it with whatever it is we want to believe, or want others to believe?

Let's begin to solve the conundrum by using, what I think is, a better definition of the word. Malcolm X once said, "If you stick a knife nine inches into my back and pull it out three inches, that is not progress. Even if you pull it all the way out, that is not progress. Progress is healing the wound, and America hasn't even begun to pull out the knife."

Think of this quote as the one Jenga piece that is seemingly holding all the others intact in one, loose structure. Now, for the other pieces. Well, Malcolm. There is no argument in what he represents: the American Black community. Now, the knife. The knife is white supremacy, the white power structure that our country was and is run by. Defining these pieces might put things into perspective a little bit more.

The real, contemporary question: is President-elect Barack Obama progress? This happens to be a clear example of the distortion of definitions. Having a black president is monumental. It is a historic happening that will forever be remembered. It is all of these things. But is it progress? Is Obama helping to heal the wound, or will he do so? We must remember, especially in the black community, that Barack Obama does not save anyone from anything. This is not to downplay the significance of his election or of his person, but it is to say, we must keep a watchful eye. This is a man who once said blacks are "90% of the way to equality." A statement like this is obviously misinformed and only pleasing to the white population who strives to be "colorblind" and believe racism is near over in America. Obama still needs to maintain(at least slightly) a colorblind approach to our problems; and it is this colorblind approach that is dangerous, ineffective, and contradictorily racist at its core. He is still a politician, and still needs to please the majority of America to keep his presidency. The black community is not the majority of America. They are the majority of prisons. Progress?

That might be unfair to say at the moment seeing as Obama is not in office yet, but we have to ask ourselves...will these things change? Will mandatory minimums change? Will police tactics and racial profiling change? Will ghettos change? These are structures so deeply imbedded in America's political system that it is impossible for one man to change these things. That's why I take the time to ask you, is Obama progress? He is change; change for the better. He is hope. He is the first black president. Is he progress?

White supremacy's knife still dug deep within this election. This was easily detected by the racial slurs spat out at McCain rallies. And we sit here as if those are strange out-of-towners. Those are Americans! Those are majority. Those are the people Obama is trying to please, too. That does not mean he is focused upon them, but it does mean it is doubtful for him to focus on anyone specific, like the black community. The knife dug deeper with California's propositions. The highlight reel being Prop 8, which not only got passed, but followed with misinterpreted facts that placed the blame for its passing on the black community. The Prop that did not get as much attention, but was even more dangerous, was Prop 6. This allowed 14 year-olds to get tried as adults for gang-related crimes. Thankfully this did not get passed. However, the mere fact it was suggested is a grotesque twist of the knife. A Prop like this would have further destroyed ghettos and increased prison populations, which in return would destroy the black community as a whole. White supremacy reared its ugly head in this past election, and luckily Obama prevailed. Hope. But not progress.

Malcolm brings about a curious point in that progress is healing the wound. The hard part is, there seems to be so many wounds. Obama has the chance to make some progress; in the school system, for example. But is it progress when there are still so many knives waiting to be pulled out? So many wounds waiting to be healed? The deeply rooted racial evil of this country was nowhere near dented when Obama was elected our next president. Obama will give us hope, and he may give us change, but it is unrealistic for him to give us real progress. At least in his first term. This is my reasoning behind this piece. We must remember this. We must respect Obama and do all we can to help him, however remember that real progress is brought forth by togetherness. This is a wake up call, for lack of a better term. An alarm that rings out what we need to hear. It is our duty to keep an eye Obama, and help out where we can. We can not leave things solely up to him. He will not bring the black prison population down from over 50% to 12%(the American black population). He will not rid of mandatory minimums on crack/cocaine or police racial profiling. He will not, or he can not. We must all positively come together to help bring progress. And with our first black president around the corner, now is a great time to do it. Obama might get his hands on these knives. He might start to wiggle some of them out of there. Maybe even pull some out. My calling to you is, let's try to start healing these wounds.

Been a while, so I'm making it up to you with something special.

That something special happens to be a full 20 minute set of J Dilla's brother, John. Aka Illa J. He performed off his new album Yancey Boys that dropped November 4th. Pretty dope album; all old Dilla beats picked up by Mike Ross (Delicious Vinyl) and brought to Illa, who layed vocals over 14 of them. Thus, an album. Brotherly love.

Lee Scratch Perry

My article and interview on Lee Scratch Perry has been published! You can read here. Props to Wax Poetics Magazine for gettin' it up.

THIS IS TOMORROW NIGHT!

I'm spinning this tomorrow night (broken window), so come out and have a good time! Drink lots, open tabs(we get percent of the bar)! And get ready for a mind blowing poli-hop set. Whatever that is. Made it up. But get ready.