I really like this concept. I don’t have much more to add than that, but I’m trying to get over the notion that everything I post needs to be profound, or even clever. Gorillas are rad. Grass Widows are rad. One time I saw Deerhoof at the Natural History museum in Los Angeles. They played in the North American Mammals room. That was rad too.

ROUUNNDHOUSSSEEE! There is nothing that is not of the utmost intensity in this Tempa T video. He is mean mugging in Every. Single. Frame. It is a miracle he does not have an aneurysm or at the very least, burst a blood vessel. I can barely understand this, but it reminds me of being young and dumb and squeezing bread and punching cereal boxes. HYPPPPEEE!

The video:

Evidence:

If someone looked at you like that you would run.

It would be too late! Tempa is already swimming through a sea of rage just to get in your face.

This one is as close to whimsical as he gets, and it still looks like he wants to choke you.

Gettin’ crucified.

ROUNNNNND

HOUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSE!!!!!!!!!

Does the T. in Tempa T. stand for tantrum? That would be pretty cool.

AGHHH MUD BUTTT.

ROAAARRRRR. Note: nice teeth, obviously a good brusher.

Even his smiles are so intense that the camera loses the ability to focus.

Its hard to understand what angry English people are saying. This arm sweep was emphasizing something about Irish Rain? Does Tempa T. hate soap?

Seriously, would not have been surprised if the video ended with his head exploding.

Thanks be to open bars & free concerts – courtesy of The Fader & Vitaminwater, if this picture doesn’t make that clear enough:

Thee Satisfaction was yayy and Helluvastate was mehhh (opinions my vary) butI think everyone would agree that Dyme Def stole the show. They’re all very talented emcees, but what stuck me most was their energy – they had such a great stage dynamic, always moving, interacting with the crowd – that it made me retroactively feel bad for all the bands I’ve seen who had to stand in one place and play a stationary instrument.

“Timeless” was probably the highlight of their performance – and I think it might help break the group to a wider audience, in the same way “Day ‘N Nite” did for Kid Cudi. It’s catchy, laid back and most importantly (in terms of them gaining traction outside Seattle) – its very accessible. I want to say it’s non-threatening, but that almost sounds like a back handed compliment – it’s engaging in a friendly, but not corny way. I mean:

Hometown pride + knowing nods towards hip hop history = hard to challenge Dyme Def’s credibility, just cause they have one radio-ready anthem. I mean, no one was trying to challenge their cred. I should just stop typing.

I recently reviewed Lil B’s latest and greatest, I’m Gay (I’m Happy) – though review probably isn’t the proper word for the slob job I spent two days poring over. Here’s the link, but I’m gonna copy and paste it right here on the off chance it lures even one more fan into Lil B’s clutches. They are good clutches to be in, do not resist. Just download this Celine Dion sampling jam (not on the new record) and read on people.

Download: Lil B – 3 Stacks (limelinx)

Lil B recently dropped his most anticipated album, I’m Gay (I’m Happy), offering it for free and in his own words, “making Hip Hop history.” Lil B is not gay, but it’d be a mistake to assume this is a gimmick. Lil B has been proselytizing as The Based God for years now, and if there’s one thing to take away from the thousands of songs he’s released for free, it’s that he doesn’t believe in taking words literally—he believes in the power of people to affect change through positivity.

Lil B, nee Brandon McCarthy, is more of a conceptual artist than an emcee, and for my money, he’s the first artist since The Beatles to really change the way the music industry works (and offer a model for the future). If that seems like high praise, it is—he might not be anywhere close to The Beatles level musically, but he’s a revolutionary mind in the same mold as the quartet from Liverpool.

Lil B’s career has been built on interacting with every single one of his fans through Facebook, Twitter, and hundreds of MySpace pages (he claims to spend 18 hours a day on the Internet, which, if anything, seems like a low estimate), releasing music (for free) at a super-human pace, and tackling issues other rappers can’t/won’t touch with the sort of subtlety that only reveals itself after you’ve entered into a relationship with his music. For lack of a better word, Lil B is the most conscious rapper hip-hop has ever seen, and his incredibly loyal fan base is a testament to the success of his techniques.

None of his tactics would matter if the music wasn’t good, and I’m Gay (I’m Happy) is some of the best music Lil B has released to date. His flow is still somewhat stilted, (he’s no Rakim), but his style works well with the alternating airy, near-psychedelic indie samples and lush soul-sampling beats that litter I’m Gay. “Game” whips a sped-up soul sample and a strident bass line into a fervor, kicking off his verse with a nifty apartheid/sharks lie coupling. “Unchain Me” samples M83, and B takes the familiar “nobody believed in me” rap trope and turns it back on the listener—if nobody believes in you, at least Lil B does. A line in “1 Time Remix” might as well be his motto “Respect everybody/get shown respect.”

That’s part of his genius, and why I’m willing to give him a pass on not actually addressing sexuality anywhere on I’m Gay. Lil B claims to represent everyone, and as The Based God, he doesn’t discriminate based on race, creed or gender—he’s gay, he’s straight, he loves his cat Keke, he loves Tacoma, Washington, he loves everything except the glorification of the ghetto, even if he’s not sure he loves himself. As Lupe Fiasco highlighted in his glowing review of I’m Gay, the most poignant line in the whole album might be “The Hood Is A Lie!”—something you’re about as likely to hear a rapper say as “I’m gay.”

Other highlights include “I Hate Myself,” which improbably screws a Goo-Goo Dolls sample and “I Seen That Light,” where B positions himself as a teacher, antithetical to so many rappers who are “scared to make a difference.”

The cover art is also pretty stunning, re-contextualizing Ernie Barnes’ famous painting Sugar Shack into a thoroughly modern triptych. Originally shown in 1973, the painting was meant to evoke the beauty and challenges of life in the ghetto, which while not Lil B’s only theme, is certainly a major one. Most famously, the painting was adapted for the cover of Marvin Gaye’s I Want You, and The Fader did an excellent job summing up the rest of I’m Gay’s influences. As they said, even the cover weirdly/smartly never directly addresses sexuality beyond the title.

Lil B is trying to downplay the meaning of words—something that is hard to grasp out of context while simultaneously using words to inspire individuality. He is accessible, instantly engaging, but there’s a depth to his songs that allow them to speak to not just one demographic, but anyone curious enough to give a listen to an artist some have dubbed “the human meme.”

It does bear repeating that Lil B isn’t the world’s most talented emcee, he has a bit of a mush mouth and topical ADD—sometimes trailing off mid-line, and he doesn’t write the kind of verses that make you want to learn every word and rap along to. None of these songs are likely to receive radio play, but that’s not B’s domain anyway: he’d rather rule the Net.

I’ll never forget his response to my charge his music was misogynistic and his rush to brush it off: “I’m a human so don’t hate me.” How could anyone? I’ve come love and respect you—even if I’m not buying the fact you’re human. You are The Based God. You are Dior Paint. You are Lil B. You are Brandon McCarthy and this is your best work to date.

If I had the balls (or the cash) I’d get a chest piece with Alice Coltrane driving a black Cadillac with John riding shotgun and Aaliyah airbrushed on the hood. I love Alice Coltrane, she is basically my religion and I can’t fathom ever not loving her.

Which is why I was so stoked to see this album staring at me in the racks at Salvation Army. Actually, I’m not gonna front – I knew she played with Terry Gibbs, there’s an album on Limelight (El Nutto) I’ve coveted for a minute, but I didn’t realize the significance of this particular LP until I flipped it over and saw her credited as Alice Hagood in the personnel section, and Alice McCord in the liner notes. Which is weird, because her maiden name was Alice McLeod, but either way, 1963 is the earliest credit I’d ever seen for her – and indeed, this was her recording debut – from the liner notes: “Alice McCord makes her first recording with this release and Terry said the Jewish group was amazed with her comprehension and feeling for the rhythms of their music.”

Download: Terry Gibbs Plays Jewish Melodies in Jazz (320 vinyl rip)

I was at a bbq yesterday where someone was doing some strange looking dancing. I said, “crazy moves” or something to that effect, and the lady responded something like “it’s really hard to isolate one part of your body.” That got me to thinking, damn I wish I could snap my fingers and Carlos Garcia would appear, so he could cut this rug into smithereens. Megan agreed, “there’s no one I’d rather see dance right now.” Now, that’s not really practical – it would neither be fair to Carlos nor the laws of physics. But *BOOM* million dollar idea: The Lo5agraphic – a holograph of Carlos programmed to dance to any beat, guaranteed to take any party and turn it up to eleven.

Carlos isn’t just the best dancer I know, he’s a multi-faceted talent bomb. He sings, he raps, he produces, he’s got a megawatt smile, style for miles and a personality to match – it’s really not fair. If I could buy into a person like they were a stock, I’d invest every penny I had in Lo5 getting wide-spread recognition for his many talents sooner rather than later, and I’d be a very rich man. The fuse has been lit, and ya’ll better step back. The song below is collaboration with another one of my extremely talented friends, Seek Selekta (Aaron Gold) – who I interviewed for Splice – and why why why is this not getting bumped out every Jeep from Ann Arbor to Oakland? It is so good.

Open Heart Archery ft. L05 by SEEK SELEKTA

Lo5 is one half of Celsius Electronics, who you can check out here. Do that, do it now, do it loud and be proud that you are one step ahead of everyone outside of Tree City. When Lo5 blows, you tell errybody: told you so.

I’ve gone back and forth between Seattle and Oakland enough times now that people inevitably ask me to compare the two. This is hard. Both are beautiful cities with a lot going on for them, and I don’t want to denigrate one of them just to compliment the other. There is one thing that I keep turning over in my mind, and what I saw in this Main Attraktionz video encapsulates it perfectly:

From a transplant perspective: People move to Seattle because it’s easy. People move to Oakland because its hard. Hard in every sense of the word. It’s more expensive, more competitive, more dangerous. It has so much swag.

But then again, so does Mt. Rainier. I was driving to Volunteer park with the top down and a case of Rainier in the passenger seat, blasting Blackberry Ku$h – and when Rainier came into view I did the thing people do when they are overcome with something ineffable: I went woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

It hasn’t escaped me how close Seattle is to the world settle, but being here doesn’t really feel like settling. I’m a lucky duck because, as Merrill Garbus puts it so well (so so well), “If home is where the heart is baby then my home is inside you.” I can be happy anywhere there’s sun, Mega & music.

And if I ever feel like I’m in the wrong place, I just remind myself that I’m not in New Jersey (sorry Mom, Dad & Claire).

So, in case you missed it (HOW DID YOU MISS IT?) Ron Artest is legally changing his name to Metta World Peace. Metta. World. Peace. Ron Artest was already one of my favorite basketball players of all time. Now I can drop the qualifier, he’s cemented his status as one of my favorite people of all time. Ron, never stop doing you.

In other news from 2007, I stumbled upon this post on Oh, Word about Cam’rons missing lyrics book. Guffaws abound, the bit about “we at the hot dog stand/ she made my hot dog stand/ she likes hot dogs man” really spoke to me. Also, “pinks I love/ pinks I hate.” When I showed this to Megan, she asked me if it was real (before she really read it). It’s obviously not, but its not too far off the reservation. Ahhhh, I would walk to Queensbridge to see his actual rhyme book.

I’m waiting to interview Donnis, watching this video over and over:

I’ve probably watched this 20 times since I found it at 2am last night, and for someone that wouldn’t exactly call themselves a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac, I’ve fallen in love – but not as hard as this guy:

Hard to argue with that.

by Philip Kwame Apagya.