Read Café's back yard, Williamsburgh, Brooklyn
Word, I'm a '70's baby, raised in the '80's and bred on '90's music. And the genre of the decade? Hippa to the hoppa! The likes of the Notorious B.I.G., Wu Tang Clan, the Infamous Mobb Deep, Nas, Redman and Busta Rhymes made sure the music was creative if not great. Come 2000, hip hop's greatest turned it over to excellent wordsmiths like Eminem and Kanye West.
But hip hop flat lined some time between 1999 and 2007. I don't know exactly when, but I used to buy several hip hop albums a year. I memorized lyric after lyric. I wrote my own. I worshiped the music, man. It was all about beats and rhymes. Then hip pop hits started to proliferate. I guess this sound can best be summarized by the artist Nelly. That brought the decline of rap. Rhythm and Blues profited well from a resurgence, but rappers started relying on R&B crooners to give their records more universal appeal. It might have worked from the money point of view, but the art suffered. And to that end, I'm no longer the fan I was. I'll still fuck with a true artist. I'll buy a T.I. album. I'll fuck with a Boot Camp Click endeavor. But I'm not crazy about any artist in particular. So it was no surprise when I walked past the line waiting outside the Union Square Virgin Megastore to see Kanye west, and went inside and checked out the rock section. It's new to me. But it's artistic, it's warm, it's creative, it's from the soul, it's inspired, and it's everything hip hop hasn't been in about 6 or 7 years.
I saw what I wanted but Virgin is far too overpriced for my tastes. I went to the discount music store and bought The Con by Tegan and Sara who I've recently quoted mercilessly here. Ahem. Ugh. And I love it! The album is almost perfect. These twins really rock out and all their songs are inspired. It's not music to make a buck. The album is also critically acclaimed and is touted as their best of 5 album releases. I highly recommend it. It's worth your bread.
Check their shit out on Youtube. It's powerful music.
"I be trying to chill man, she just trip on some old shit/
women hold a grudge like piss on a road trip"
Sean J on I hate you
Today I'm feeling:
repetitive
Y'all heard this from me before?
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