Spoek Mathambo/Big K.R.I.T.
Think Positive--Or Not
Spoek Mathambo: Father Creeper (Sub Pop)
Although I slotted this Soweto-raised 27-year-old's 2010 Mshini Wam as promising kwaito electro, I never imagined it promised a hip-hop record so dark it reveals his labelmate Shabazz Palaces for the arty pothead we can assume he is. Contra the nervous crits who claim to hear a "palpable feeling of hope" or "summery highlife melodies" (highlife, eh? I've heard of that‑-African, right?), even the sweet opener about the sexual maturation of a guy who was feeling it before his pubes came in ends ominously. After that come evocations of oppression only more brutal because they're sometimes dissociated‑-blood diamonds, why we hate our crap jobs, the deadening surrender of the tricking American hip-hop makes light of. The music suits because it's also dissociated‑-beaty enough to keep your foot tapping and your subconscious involved, but devoid of the escapist joy that is the miracle of so much Afropop produced from equally horrendous daily struggles. A
Big K.R.I.T.: 4Eva N a Day (free download)
He was just Kritikal, but the Mississippi underground had trouble pronouncing that word‑-check out the consonant-averse "1986" intro to understand why‑-so he made it Big K.R.I.T., claimed it stood for King Remembered in Time, and continued a rapping career that imagined high school coaching as a fallback. No hip-hopper has ever been bigger on getting up when you're down and making every minute count. Could get tiresome, but on a no-cameos mixtape Def Jam couldn't clear, his proudly drawled, lucidly conceived preachments go undefeated. Almost every soulful track grew on me, with the clincher "Down & Out," one of his periodic explanations of why sometimes he sips and smokes instead of trying yet again. A MINUS
As one of the many straight camp fans round these parts, I'd like to make this observation...
I don't think camp is big with straight people of Milo's generation because honesty/sincerity was a big issue in regards to Vietnam, Nixon, etc. So when people don't straight talk them, it rankles. So I can understand that.
Camp (and irony) is big with people my age because....well, let's just say my Dad is around Milo's age, goes on and on about how his generation saved the world, goes on tirades about how much politicians lie, and has given very much in the way of honesty to his three wives and three oldest children. This, I'm sure, is pretty common around us Gen Xers. So for me, irony and camp has its uses fo sho.
started to read that Jamie Reno/Daily Beast article. got real annoyed and stopped a few paragraphs in, especially after the can't-be-a-critic-if-you-don't-play argument and calling rock critics "dweebs."
more positively, put on Chiddy Bang's Breakfast, which so far i like a lot. dude sounds like B.O.B. a little. and i like the production.
Arguably the most glaring omission of them all is Chicago, which besides the Beach Boys is the most popular and enduring American rock band of all time. Chicago, which is celebrating its 45th year and still selling records and concert tickets worldwide, was once considered progressive, innovative and musically subversive.
This quote sent me to the top of the article twice to see if it was written on April 1st. I am not a Chicago fan. If Mr. Reno is, more power to him. Being born in 1967, I am (just barely) old enough to have heard a lot of Chicago. Progressive and innovative are not words that come to mind. Musically subversive? Not in a good way, but maybe.
Your post was blocked because Clankhead loves Chicago. If this is not the case, revise your post and try again.
Ok, nobody's happy with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But dude, really? Styx? KISS? Chicago over the Beastie Boys???? Speaking as one of those dweebs who got picked last, I'm fine with who I am and what I listen to now. It's not about who's boss, but about discernment, joy and the almighty hook.
And I totally agree about Donna Summer. Where is her niche in that damned hall? And where is my copy of that Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments record?
Rant over. Are we at 200 comments yet?
Last night, the Berkeley-bred, Internet-beloved rapper Lil B gave a sold-out lecture at NYU’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. It’s possible that this was a beautiful, inspiring event, at which people rallied joyously around a quirky young entertainer’s timely message of empathy and kindness. It’s also totally possible that the whole thing was an epic tragedy, in which a young man’s urgent plea for basic human dignity was repeatedly laughed at by stoned college kids who preferred to shout catchphrases at him while finding his existence hilarious. I think it mostly depended on where you sat, and who was sitting near you.
about the blogger
Starting in 1967, Robert Christgau has covered popular music for The Village Voice, Esquire, Blender, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He teaches in New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, maintains a comprehensive website at robertchristgau.com, and has published five books based on his journalism. He has written for MSN Music since 2006.
follow msn music
music news
- Beatles guitar auctioned off to tune of $408K
- Leader of Toots and the Maytals injured at concert
- Swift, Bieber, more ready for Billboard Awards
- Courtney Love says guarding Nirvana music catalog is a 'curse'
- 'Undercover Angel' singer Alan O'Day dies
- Denmark's Emmelie de Forest wins Eurovision song contest
- Paul McCartney kicks off 'Out There' tour in Orlando
- Kanye West premieres 'New Slaves' video with projections around the world
- Widow fights to block Ol' Dirty Bastard's hologram
- Adam Yauch to be honored at Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival
