Thursday, November 10, 2005
glitch you can't scratch
I started writing several different posts for today, but I couldn't quite get it right. Early this morning, I tried to write up my first impressions of the leaked Strokes tracks. I wanted to analyze the types of files that had leaked, how this pattern differs from major leaks and indie leaks alike, talk about the songs, admit that I hadn't listened to that much, then discuss what my non-listening could mean for me as a dude and for the Strokes as a band. Well, none of those clauses actually contains any description of music itself, which sort of defeats this enterprise, so I resolved to listen more, write reviews, and find something else for today.
So I tried posting "Your Mama's On Crack Rock," a Miami bass song with lewd raps, good punch lines, and playground taunts for a chorus. I haven't really discussed misogyny in rap, or the ethical implications of purchasing or playing music with a damaging social message. While this post also looked good, it quickly degenerated into a beat vs. lyrics, intention vs. meaning mess that might please some twisted lit professor in a cruel corner of the world, but proved too much for me.
Instead of working out the snags and pressing on with two good post ideas, I've now fallen into "what should I write about" writing. That approach is kinda boring, trite, dreadful, whatever. Or is it? Example: At first, I thought that the Nas verse on "We Major" sorta sucked.Esco, you're a rap legend, but c'mon dude. Stop musing about what you should rap about and get to the point, right?
"I heard the beat and I ain't know what to write
First line, should it be about the hoes or the ice?
4-4's or Black Christ? Both flows would be nice
Rap about big paper or the black man plight
At the studio console asked my man to the right
What this verse sound like, should I freestyle or write?
He said, Nas, what the fans want is Illmatic, Stillmatic
Picked up the pad and pencil and jotted what I feel"
But maybe there's more to this. Maybe it's a statement of purpose. Maybe his indecision is the fucking message- he's taking apart the false dicotomy between the commercial and conscious rap- like Kanye did, and on Kanye's new album no less. The rest of his verse is pretty great too- he starts talking about starting his own label and the derth of black executives (a purposeful echo of Jay-Z's recent career path, subtle foreshadowing to the Carter-Jones truce perhaps?)
So, like Nas and Kanye, I'm gonna talk my shit again, and I will jot what I feel. Which I just did. Which proves my point. Which is that I didn't have a point.
The Unicorns- Abomidable Snowman
Listen to the Unicorns. Buy their album. Listen to Islands play this song on their new record. Let us look to the heavens, let us find a god, and let us request that the Unicrons get back together, cause the Islands version isn't as good. ¶ 2:03 AM
I started writing several different posts for today, but I couldn't quite get it right. Early this morning, I tried to write up my first impressions of the leaked Strokes tracks. I wanted to analyze the types of files that had leaked, how this pattern differs from major leaks and indie leaks alike, talk about the songs, admit that I hadn't listened to that much, then discuss what my non-listening could mean for me as a dude and for the Strokes as a band. Well, none of those clauses actually contains any description of music itself, which sort of defeats this enterprise, so I resolved to listen more, write reviews, and find something else for today.
So I tried posting "Your Mama's On Crack Rock," a Miami bass song with lewd raps, good punch lines, and playground taunts for a chorus. I haven't really discussed misogyny in rap, or the ethical implications of purchasing or playing music with a damaging social message. While this post also looked good, it quickly degenerated into a beat vs. lyrics, intention vs. meaning mess that might please some twisted lit professor in a cruel corner of the world, but proved too much for me.
Instead of working out the snags and pressing on with two good post ideas, I've now fallen into "what should I write about" writing. That approach is kinda boring, trite, dreadful, whatever. Or is it? Example: At first, I thought that the Nas verse on "We Major" sorta sucked.Esco, you're a rap legend, but c'mon dude. Stop musing about what you should rap about and get to the point, right?
"I heard the beat and I ain't know what to write
First line, should it be about the hoes or the ice?
4-4's or Black Christ? Both flows would be nice
Rap about big paper or the black man plight
At the studio console asked my man to the right
What this verse sound like, should I freestyle or write?
He said, Nas, what the fans want is Illmatic, Stillmatic
Picked up the pad and pencil and jotted what I feel"
But maybe there's more to this. Maybe it's a statement of purpose. Maybe his indecision is the fucking message- he's taking apart the false dicotomy between the commercial and conscious rap- like Kanye did, and on Kanye's new album no less. The rest of his verse is pretty great too- he starts talking about starting his own label and the derth of black executives (a purposeful echo of Jay-Z's recent career path, subtle foreshadowing to the Carter-Jones truce perhaps?)
So, like Nas and Kanye, I'm gonna talk my shit again, and I will jot what I feel. Which I just did. Which proves my point. Which is that I didn't have a point.
The Unicorns- Abomidable Snowman
Listen to the Unicorns. Buy their album. Listen to Islands play this song on their new record. Let us look to the heavens, let us find a god, and let us request that the Unicrons get back together, cause the Islands version isn't as good. ¶ 2:03 AM
