Make me Feel Brand New

So I'm feeling brand new. Writing and not serving. Thinking and not ordering. So it's no surprise to me that as SFCritic, during my first concert review of Zion I, experiencing this new world, I came across a tight new song. "What should I do/when can I/Talk to you through my antenna," the hook for Zion I's track, "Antenna," off their upcoming album The Takeover coming out in January 2009. The harmony of the synthesizer reminds me of Kanye West's "Flashing Lights," but "Antenna" has more heartfelt lyrics of love and politics. Check it out:

Feedback--Let's you know how the music SOUNDS

I got some feedback from a reader, who commented she liked me recommending music. Here at SFCritic I'm going to do just that.

Recently, in any discussion I've had on hip hop today, most critics, followers, or whomever state they miss the "golden era." Who wouldn't? With names like Nas, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, B.I.G., and so on, all being the main contributors of this time--how can you not miss this music? But too quickly does one accept this realization, and then forgets anything current else that is pushing hip hop further.

So where better to start in hip hop, but the core--the beats. This may sound just like background music, but pay attention to the rhythms, the structure of how the sample is manipulated...it's solid.

Prefuse 73 sounds like a clash of Aphilas and Pretty Lights. A track is like a journey through music and colliding into hip hop.




MF Doom, the villain and the rapper whose flow is unique like the his onstage outfit. His beats are nothing to scoff at, and are my personal doses of hip hop in these days of scarce options. Check it out, this a track from his box set called Special Herbs and Spices:

I'm a Bitch

"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint," sounds like a confused adolescent, or maybe just like a forty year old Merideth Brooks' singing "Bitch." At this point SFcritic may be as meaningless as Merideth Brooks' career, but still for bitching sake--a worthy topic of discussion. When I was in high school, along with issues of puberty I also dealt with a new challenge of maturation: how do I deal with my female peers who were infatuated with female pop groups like the Spice Girls and Meredith Brooks? No big deal right?--Wrong. Sure, as a guy, I worried about the occasional and unavoidable public hard-on, but scarier than that was the potential "bitch session" I might receive from annoying a female student who was immersed in her bitch pop phase. Whoa, I know--I'm throwing around the "b-word" like Bush used the term "secret weapons," but the "b-word" has been redefined by contemporary feminists and then packaged by the media and solicited as trash. What the media created has been coined as "bitch pop."

Let me take a step back and explain bitch pop. Bitch pop was the genre of popular music, which was sung typically by a female singer who'd gripe about something, and often refer to herself as a bitch. Merideth Brooks, "Bitch," with its witty title, and catchy lyrics, exemplifies the typical bitch pop song:



Brooks' first line "I hate the world today," is just a little melodramatic. I mean really, thanks to marketers targeting helpless pubescent girls who couldn't quite explain what was happening to their bodies, ultimately young, handsome, and nice guys like myself were doomed to piss off a girl and receive a royal bitching. It was no longer safe to pull on the girls pigtails in front of you and expect a playful "tsk tsk." Shit got out of hand, just look at this kid below.



Girls and the bitch movement escalated to proportions unknown. This helpless girl above is completely unaware of the message she is sending about her mother! Suddently, to "express yourself" as a woman it meant throwing around the word bitch, and using it as an excuse to vent whenever and wherever. Not cool.

In the late 90s, the Spice Girls claimed their message of "Girl Power" was a more contemporary form of feminism. Their hit single, "Wannabe" was all about doing what you want, and when you want it. Sounds a lot like a spoiled brat. Couple girl power, with bitch power and now you have teenage girl on a potential rampage--lookout dads everywhere.

Granted the "b" word has been taken on by feminists in the same manner as "n" word for African Americans. Bitch magazine states that their title is a form of self-empowerment by redefining women as public activists:

The writer Rebecca West, back in the day, said, "People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat." We'd argue that the word "bitch" is usually deployed for the same purpose. When it's being used as an insult, "bitch" is an epithet hurled at women who speak their minds, who have opinions and don't shy away from expressing them, and who don't sit by and smile uncomfortably if they're bothered or offended. If being an outspoken woman means being a bitch, we'll take that as a compliment, thanks.

I doubt most bitch pop enthusiasts have this same interpretation, mind you any real good defense for the music. In truth the bitch pop movement seems to have been merely a marketing strategy, no different than the gangsta movement in hip hop. Find something that's easily marketable, exploit it, and sell it until consumers finally refuse it. Thankfully at least bitch pop is just that, pop music, heard today, gone tomorrow.

Obama-Rama on the Dance Floor

While Mccain supporters flee to their ark, several musicians are releasing tracks and showing their support for Obama. From the likes of Nas, Jay-z, Thom Yorke, Will.i.Am, and even Jeezy, there isn't enough space to fit it all on a mixtape. It's amazing. Granted, Bono has been using his celebrity status to make political change for ages, but really--did you ever think you'd hear the "Dope Man" (Young Jeezy if you didn't know) talking politics?

Everyone talks about the "hey day" of music, back in the 60s when art and politics collided like the battles being fought at home and abroad. Sure, artists came out in support after 9/11 (see Oct 19th, "It Began"), but you definitely didn't see musicians rallying behind Bush in 2004.

There seems to be hope. Maybe it's the "ready for change," but SFCritic respects, and is impressed by the artists who performed or created music to support their political beliefs (whether or not it was for Obama--though, clearly I have my bias). There is a great article at pitchfork, which further lists all the tracks and artists who voiced their opinions.

Meanwhile, enjoy this new track by Jay-Z and Kanye West entitled, "We Made History."

Listening to Soul

This is a track I got via Madlib on Myspace. It's just a real soulful tune. As you know, almost all hip hop is sample driven, but it was Dilla that really began the movement of soul samples. It's no wonder Madlib and Dilla joined forces, because they both have an ear for soul. SFCritic recommends you check it out:

Dilla, One of the Best Artists of the Decade

On May 18th, 2006 the lineup at New York's Radio City Music Hall read: The Roots, Nas, Common and Talib Kweli. The concert was a tribute to the death of James Dewitt Yancey, better known as J Dilla, and easily one of the most influential hip hop producers ever. Just look at that lineup and you can tell the impression Dilla left on some of the best in hip hop.

A competent rapper, Dilla became famous for his soulful beats with hitting bass lines. If Eminem put Detroit on the map for his lyrics, Dilla was the first to make Detroit known in the mid 90s for his production for artists such as Janet Jackson, 2Pac, Pharcyde, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest and the list goes on. Early in his career he was overshadowed because of his involvement with the production group Ummah, which included Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

Then Dilla went solo and put himself up for critique, and he was applauded. With underground classics, Welcome 2 Detroit and Donuts, he flexed his skills as a producer and a rapper. Even as solely an instrumental album, Donuts is an album that is timeless. His drum patterns are just that intricate, funky and soulful. Not to mention his album Champion Sound, a collaboration album with LA producer guru, Madlib under the alias Jaylib, which is arguably one of the top hip hop albums of the last decade.

Sadly, James Yancey never got to fully embrace his fame as he died prematurely at the age of 32 in 2006 from a rare blood disease, TTP, and possibly Lupus. Posthumous, his legacy remains, a producer only matched by a limit few, who all would applaud his contributions.

Listen to SFCritic's selection of Dilla's music below:

Link three songs:
Produced b J Dilla, Janet Jackson-Gone TIll its Gone


Produced b J Dilla, 2Pac - Do For Love


Jaylib - The Red