Show 15 - Left-Field Hip-Hop

Ever heard of left-field hip-hop? Yeah, neither had I until fairly recently. I noticed it was popping up as a genre tag on a lot of artists searches I was doing on All Music Guide, which piqued my curiosity. Turns out left-field hip-hop lives at the intersection of electronic music and hip-hop -- two things I already love independently of one another. Also, upon discovering that Kid Cudi falls under the left-field category, I took this as an opportunity to open the show with "I Poke Her Face," the play on that insidious Lady Gaga song "Poker Face" off of his latest mixtape. Does the fact that I find that hilarious make me a self-hating woman? Probably.

Left-Field Hip-Hop
25 May 2009

1. Kid Cudi - "I Poke Her Face," Dat Kid From Cleveland
2. Mic Break: RJD2 - "Two More Dead," Dead Ringer
3. Onra - "I Wanna Go Back," Chinoiseries
4. Boom Bip - "Mannequin Trap Door I Remember," Seed To Sun
5. Bizzart - "Stumbling Blocks," Bloodshot Mama
6. El-P - "Flyentology," I'll Sleep When You're Dead
7. Dabrye - "The Lish," One/Three
8. Daedelus - "At My Heels," Denies the Day's Demise
9. Mic Break: Onra - "Full Backpack," Chinoiseries
10. J Dilla - "Stop!," Donuts
11. J Dilla - "People," Donuts
12. J Dilla - "The Diff'rence," Donuts
13. Flying Lotus - "RobertaFlack," Los Angeles
14. Madlib - "Shades Of Pete (Super)," Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6
15. Madlib - "King Chop (Top Line)," Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6
16. Prefuse 73 - "Blacklist," Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives
17. Alias - "Angel of Solitude," The Other Side of the Looking Glass
18. Mic Break
19. RJD2 - "Ghostwriter," Dead Ringer
    

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Show 14 - Mama's Day

Emcees like to act all tough and mean, but I'm convinced that at heart they are all big mama's boys. This incontrovertible fact was illustrated by the hour of Yo! KALX Raps! I dedicated to mom tribute tracks by everyone from Goodie Mob to 2Pac. Rappers love they mamas.

I'm going to be honest here and give credit where credit is due. I hadn't heard of most of these songs before putting this show together. So here are links to places I came across during my research: a neat list that was featured on NPR, a list from About.com and a list from Co-Ed Magazine. More musings about hip-hop and Mother's Day after the jump.

On a somewhat related note, I came across some commentary on the lack of dad tribute tracks. This piqued my interest because 1) I've never thought about dad tribute tracks and couldn't think of a single one and 2) I figure I should also do a Father's Day show to be fair. This seems correlated with the fact that I think every track I played mentions that dad wasn't part of the picture.

Another interesting thing to consider is if rappers love they mamas so much how do they reconcile that with having such naughty, misogynist mouths? That "ho" you just objectified and/or insulted is probably someone's mama. Something tells me you wouldn't be okay with someone saying that about your mama ...

Also, I tried out something new this show with the mic breaks. Instead of using instrumental tracks for the mic beds, I worked some Audacity magic and put the breaks from songs on repeat. I haven't decided which is less work: finding instrumentals that fit into a show's theme or dinking around in Audacity (which proved to be more difficult initially than I had anticipated). I'll probably use a mix of instrumentals and breaks in the future. If you happen to have an opinion on the matter, by all means made it known. Onward to the playlist.


Show 14 - Mama's Day
11 May 2009

1. Brand Nubian - "Momma," Fire In the Hole
2. Mic Break
   
3. Talib Kweli - "Momma Can You Hear Me"
4. Goodie Mob - "Guess Who," Soul Food
5. Nas - "Dance," God's Son
6. Ghostface Killah - "All That I Got Is You," Me Against the World
7. Common Market - "Love One," Common Market
8. Mic Break
9. 2Pac - "Dear Mama," Me Against the World
10. A Tribe Called Quest - "4 Moms," The Love Movement
11. Chubb Rock - "Momma Was a Rolling Stone," Chubb Rock Featuring Hitman Howie
12. Beanie Sigel - "Mom Praying," The Reason
13. Jay-Z - "December 4th," The Black Album
14. Mic Break
15. Kanye West - "Hey Mama," Late Registration

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Show 13: Brand Spankin' New

I've discovered that the only apparent downside of doing theme shows (especially every other week) is that I miss out on playing a lot of new music. So my theme for last night's Yo! KALX Raps! was new releases. A lot of great stuff has come out in the past few months and I wanted to make sure that I got around to sharing it, especially the new Del the Funky Homosapien. Apart from being one of my favorite MCs, Del also decided to release his 7th album as a free digital download -- his stimulus package if you will. Check out an in depth Amoeba interview with Del here. Go here to download the album. (If you're at a loss for which file to download, my personal preference is mp3 VBR low under "Audiophiles and nerds.")

Show 13 - New and Recent Releases
27 April 2009

1. The Grouch & Eligh - "All In," Say G&E!
2. Mic Break: Exile - "San Pedro Cactus," Radio
3. Finale - "One Man Show," A Pipe Dream and a Promise
4. Two Fingers - "Whatuknowabout," Two Fingers
5. Kill the Vultures - "Crow Feathers," Ecce Beast
6. P.O.S. - "Goodbye," Never Better
7. Brother Ali - "Good Lord," The Truth Is Here E.P.
8. Mic Break: Exile - "In Tune Static," Radio
9. Grandmaster Flash - "Tribute to the Breakdancer," The Bridge
10. Zion I - "Country Baked Yams," The Take Over
11. UGK - "Still On the Grind," UGK 4 Life
12. Mr. Lif - "I Heard It Today," I Heard It Today
13. Exile - "Frequency Modulation," Radio
14. DOOM - "Gazzillion Ear," Born Like This
15. Mic Break: Exile - "Were All in Power," Radio
16. Del the Funky Homosapien - "I'm Smellin' Myself," Funk Man (The Stimulus Package)

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Show 12: Tinseltown

To celebrate the Opening Week of MLB season 2009 I kicked off Yo! KALX Raps! with "Batting Practice" by Souls of Mischief (one of my favorite songs off 93 'Til Infinity and the only hip-hop song sort-of-about-baseball song I could think of). However, this was just a segue to the real theme of the show which was was Los Angeles hip-hop in memory of Nick Adenhart. Adenhart was a young and rising star on the Los Angeles Angel's pitching staff who was tragically killed in car accident hours after pitching six scoreless innings against the Oakland A's.

A truly sad loss not just for the Angels but for the entire community of major league baseball.

Show 12 - L.A. Hip-Hop
13 April 2009

1. Souls of Mischief - "Batting Practice," 93 'Til Infinity
2. Mic Break: Madlib - "Distant Land (Hip Hop Drum Mix)," Shades of Blue
3. People Under the Stairs - "The L.A. Song," O.S.T.
4. Blu & Exile - "Blu Colla Workers," Below the Heavens
5. Giant Panda - "'90s," Fly School Reunion
6. Dilated Peoples - "The Platform," The Platform
7. Myka 9 - "Soul Beat," 1969
8. Mic Break: Madlib - "Please Set Me At Ease," Shades of Blue
9. Aceyalone - "The Lonely Ones," The Lonely Ones
10. Murs & the 9th Wonder - "L.A.," Murray's Revenge
11. Ugly Duckling - "Bang for the Buck," Bang for the Buck
12. Jurassic 5 - "Quality Control," Quality Control
13. The Pharcyde - "Passing Me By," Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
14. Mic Break: Madlib - "Slim's Return," Shades of Blue
15. N.W.A. - "Express Yourself," Straight Outta Compton
    

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Revenge of the Nerds: Show 11 - Nerdcore

Nerds had their shining moment on Yo! KALX Raps! with an entire hour devoted to nerdcore artists and generally nerdy songs. As a proud nerd myself, I thoroughly enjoyed geeking out in the studio and hopefully bringing listeners some stuff they'd never heard.

Continue reading for additional nerdcore-related reading, some personal musings on nerdcore hip-hop and the playlist.

Here's some good additional reading if you find your interest piqued by my nerdcore set: a fantastic article from Wired. Not directly related to nerdcore, but here is an amusingly insightful Nerd Handbook, which is particularly useful for those of you who find yourself in a relationship with a nerd. I speak from experience. Also, if you, too, are proud of your nerd status, then head over to Threadless and procure the "Nerds Forever" t-shirt (pictured) and we can be twins. Being nerdy never looked so damn good.

Onward to musings. Interestingly, a majority of nerdcore artists are white (at least from what I could find). I don't think that this is a coincidence. Possibly nerds are predominantly white and that reality is reflecting itself in my cursory, unscientific sampling. That would be a scientific, decidedly nerdy explanation and a perfectly acceptable one at that. I could go into a whole thing about race, socioeconomic status and opportunities for nerd-dom, but I think that would only interest me. A more fundamental point is the undeniable fact that hip-hop is first and foremost a genre dominated by people of color in which the white rapper is a rare novelty, often something more to be ridiculed than respected. Shows like VH1's "White Rapper" are a testament to this. It is certainly arguable most white rappers come off as disingenuous imitations. Don't get me wrong, there are obviously exceptions to this, i.e. the Beastie Boys, Ra Scion of Common Market, Brother Ali, 6th Sense, to name a few. So I'm not arguing that white people can't rap, but I digress. The concentration of white emcees in nerdcore makes sense because it is uncharted territory in the hip-hop genre in which newer, unknown emcees are afforded the freedom to break with the genre's conventions. In other words, white emcees found a niche sub-genre in which they could express themselves without necessarily being subject to the rules of mainstream hip-hop. It is a space where they can be exceptional without becoming a novelty.

In another interesting note, there are a lot of white DJs and producers and this has never struck me as remarkable. The whole exceptionality of the white rapper doesn't seem to apply to the white DJ. I'd have to give that more thought and it seems like material more appropriate for another post.


Show 11 - Nerdcore
30 March 2009

1. Zealous1 - "Welcome to Our Block (feat. Beefy)," Collaboc1de
2. Mic Break: Kid Koala - "Roboshuffle," Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
3. Giant Panda - "Do the Robot in Cyberspace," Electric Laser
4. YTcracker - "Meganerd," N.E.S. (Nerd Entertainment System)
5. People Under the Stairs - "Gamin' On Ya," Fun DMC
6. MC Router - "Control Panel"
7. Handsome Boy Modeling School - "Metaphysical (feat. Miho Hatori & Mike D)," So How's Your Girl ...
8. Blackalicious - "Chemical Calisthenics," Blazing Arrow
9. MC Frontalot - "Nerdcore Hip-Hop 2006"
10. Mic Break: Deltron 3030 - "3030," Deltron 3030: The Instrumentals
11. MC Hawking - "Entropy," A Brief History of Rhyme - MC Hawking's Greatest Hits
12. Sweatshop Union - "Time Machine (feat. Mat the Alien)," Water Street
13. The Mighty Underdogs - "Science Fiction," Droppin' Science Fiction
14. Optimus Rhyme - "Cybernetic Circuits," Optimus Rhyme
15. MC Lars - "No Logo," This Gigantic Robot Kills
16. Sandpeople - "Synthetique Princess," Honest Racket
17. Mic Break: MC Plus+ - "Lord Illingworth Anthem," Chip Hop
18. Deltron 3030 - "Virus," Deltron 3030

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Next On Yo! KALX Raps!: Hip-Hop Nerds of the World Unite!

With the rise of nerdcore — hip-hop for and by self-proud geeks and nerds — "geekstas" and ultra-computer-savvy emcees have carved out their own niche within the genre. They reach out to their fellow nerds with insider jokes and references to Lord of the Rings, programming languages, video games and science. On the next Yo! KALX Raps!, I'll take a look at how nerdcore artists put a twist on gangsta rap and draw from the DIY aesthetic of other alternative sub-genres like backpacker hip-hop. We'll hear from nerdcore artists like MC Hawking and Futuristic Sex Robotz and listen to songs by better-known artists such as Blackalicious that dabble in the nerdcore aesthetic.

Get your geek on with Yo! KALX Raps! tomorrow, Sunday March 29 at midnight.And here is the rest of it. Read more!

New Project: Blogging Rolling Stone's Top 250 Albums

enerally speaking, I don't take much stock in the meaningless popularity contests of endeavors like Rolling Stone’s “Top 500 Greatest Album’s of All Time.” Much like the annual farces that are the Grammys, Academy Awards and Emmys, these sorts of grand gestures are tiring parades of frivolity and the public at large's unabashedly blunt sense of taste. If I’m being too discharitable, it’s probably because I’ll never get over the fact that Leanne Rimes beat out No Doubt for the “Best New Artist” Grammy, Wall-E wasn’t even nominated for Best Film this year, and Battlestar Galactica was awarded a Peabody but not a single Emmy over it’s genre-breaking five seasons.

Yes, I am bitter.

Now that I’ve spent a good paragraph explaining why I find these sorts of things to be utterly inane, I suppose I’ll have to explain why on earth I’ve decided to launch a new personal project to listen to and blog the top 250 albums on Rolling Stones’ epic Top 500 list. As someone with a great love of music and who listens to A LOT of it, it elicits some pain and embarrassment to admit that I haven’t actually heard most of the classics. Consequently, I have a particularly underdeveloped grasp of musical history and context, which probably hampers my capacity for understanding and appreciating music to a much more informed degree. So, in a larger sense, this is project of self improvement. To make a clarifying point, I don’t think you need to know everything about the history of rock ’n’ roll to enjoy what artists are currently doing, but it would certainly provide a higher degree of insight to be familiar with their musical influences and forebears. The quest for knowledge and higher understanding aside, the RS 500 is also an effective tool for systematically expanding upon my music library and listening to the albums I’ve procured but not yet enjoyed (of which there are many). So there are philosophical as well as practical reasons for this project.

Onto another matter: Why the top 250 and not the list in its entirety? First of all, the latter half of the list seems, frankly, somewhat arbitrary and at times just down right inaccurate, unabashedly flying in the face of both reason and logic. Take for example the fact that No Doubt’s “Tragic Kingdom” (#441) -- undoubtedly the band’s magnum opus and an amazing album to boot -- comes in 100 places behind the much inferior (though admittedly still enjoyable) “Rock Steady” (#316). As an inveterate No Doubt fan (yes, many things come down to No Doubt for me, this is the universe that I operate within) AND an appreciator of a wide variety of music, I have at least some authority in arguing that this ranking is simply flat out wrong. (Parenthetical Aside: Having awarded both albums four stars, All Music Guide is frustratingly neutral on the matter. And to make things even more interesting, “Return of Saturn” was given four-and-a-half stars, and rating that I would also take issue with.)

Ultimately, this is a large reason that the list seems pretty bogus to me, so I figure I can get around that by ignoring the latter 250 albums. Also, I tried to start the project by listening to #500, Eurythmic’s “Touch,” and while it wasn’t as bad as I was anticipating (certainly deserving of a spot on the Top 500), it was a difficult album for me to sit through since I was frequently terrified by the mental image of Annie Lennox’s gaping maw.

Obviously, the bigger issue here is the sheer quantity of 500 albums. While doing just the Top 100 felt as though I was leaving out a lot of potential listening, 500 is way, way too many. Having already attempted one false start with this project, I was quickly overwhelmed by the daunting task of tackling 500 albums. 250 seems much more manageable, therefore drastically mitigating the likelihood of failure by forfeit. In other words, 250 is literally and figuratively good middle ground from which to begin.

Finally, it seems prudent to set down some ground rules.

RS Top 250 Rules of Engagement (subject to change):

1. All 250 albums will be listened to in the order in the descending order presented by Rolling Stone. No albums may be skipped regardless of how much I may dislike them.
2. Each album must be listened to in it’s entirety in a single sitting.
3. All album reviews shall be read after and not before listening to the album at hand.

Let the listening being Read more!