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Archive for April, 2011

How Big Is Your World? Jim Jones ft. Chink Santana & Logic – “Perfect Day”

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Jim Jones, voice all weary and shit, turns everything he records into a dusted, kinda sad slog: “Summer Wit’ Miami” was filled with longing, “We Fly High,” only half-victorious. In that sense at least, he’s actually got a little something in common with Ghostface and well, NYC rap’s so fucked upside down in 2011 that these guys are even rapping on songs together! On “Perfect Day” however, Capo’s going pop. Realizing he sounded like much more of a “lonely stoner” than Kid Cudi on that “Day ‘n’ Nite” remix, he’s decided to make his own “Day ‘n’ Nite.” Problem is, three years have passed so he’s gotta throw in a little bit of Black Eyed Peas’ fist-pump party music to keep it relevant, and he’s gotta remain gangsta too, so he rips-off Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day” or something? “Perfect Day” has been out for awhile, but it ambles through Hot 97 playlists with a vengeance these days, providing plenty of opportunity to stop guffawing at the damn thing and just give in to its bizarre, oddly affecting timbre.

Written by Brandon

April 7th, 2011 at 2:53 am

Posted in How Big is Your World

Spin: “Hip-Hop’s Great Gay Hope, Rainbow Noise.”

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So, this week’s column is on gay hip-hop group Rainbow Noise’s banger “Imma Homo.”
Deal with it.

Last week, Rainbow Noise’s frenetic, queer-friendly rap posse cut “Imma Homo” appeared on gay and GLBTQ-related blogs (the video currently has a respectable 68,000 views), and even sneaked onto a few mainstream hip-hop venues like Bossip, Complex, and World Star Hip-Hop. Though posted on more mainstream sites primarily for its “WTF?” factor, it knocked over quite a few people for being, well, a pretty hot song. “Imma Homo” is nice, minimalist party rap (think Los Angeles’ Jerkin’ scene with a little Young Money thrown in) boasting punch lines for days (current favorite: “I beat the pussy up, call me Dyke Turner”). It isn’t that far removed from a lot of rap that gets played on the radio right now.

Rainbow Noise Ent. is, according to their website, a label based in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, specifically) that specializes in “GLBTQ music artists with mainstream appeal.” Referencing “mainstream appeal” seems like a quiet way to differentiate “Imma Homo” from the single-minded, message-over-music “homo-hop” that hovered around the underground for much of the last decade. Thanks to the fall-out from “faggot”-filled invective courtesy of Eminem and pretty much every great ’90s New York rapper, there were rustlings of a corrective movement coming around the corner…

Written by Brandon

April 1st, 2011 at 5:35 pm

Posted in Spin, Spin column

March Picks.

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Weird month for hip-hop. Awesome month for fusion.

  • No Gang Colors, Honorary Cop: 6 and a half minutes of death rap-informed, black metal screeching. What Salem thought they were doing. What all you bleeding edge Tumbrlin’ fuckboys should be repping. Special guest appearance by Terry Gross!
  • Clams Casino, Instrumental Mixtape: Lil B’s buddy does the best post-glitch record in a while and the first makes-you-wanna-cry instrumental hip-hop since, Donuts. Appropriately, Clammy Clams cares little for either sub-genre. My interview here.
  • Rittz, White Jesus: When he complains about mexicans talking shit about him in spanish. When he raps about how his job makes him want to shoot himself. When he makes fun of his ex’s new boyfriend’s sandals. The opposite of smarmy, frat-rap.
  • Wiz Khalifa, Rolling Papers: Pilot Talk gone pop. A bizarre, confusing, frustrating but ultimately addictive listen. Probably helps if you have nothing invested in Wiz like me. Dedicated fans shouldn’t be disappointed though. Really good!
  • The Weeknd, House Of Balloons: Anybody listening is already a fan of Drake so dead the “fake” talk. Makes the liquor-fueled, date-rape-ish, aspects of modern r&b really clear. Just as self-aware and experimental as The-Dream, but a little meaner.

Written by Brandon

April 1st, 2011 at 3:16 pm

Posted in 2011

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