I don’t listen to rap. I used to. In the ’90’s I listened to Tupac, Snoop, Tha Dogg Pound, etc. That time has come and gone. I still will listen to rap from the 1990’s. It was a good era, in my opinion. Today’s rap sucks. It’s the commercialized bubble-gum, carbon-copy crap on every station. I am an elitist. I’m not afraid to admit it. Yes, I think everything I listen to is better than what you listen to. If you listen to something I do, then I’m still more hip than you because I listened to it sooner. Yeah, I know. I just can’t help myself. I love to recommend good music and show off my superior musical taste.
In conversations when asked what I listen to I always answer, “Underground hip hop.” I have to make sure to set myself apart from the heard of crappy rap listeners. I don’t listen to underground just to be different. Not at all. I’ll be the first to say I think an underground artist sucks (sorry Immortal Technique). If the artist doesn’t have good lyrics, flow, and production, then I’m not going to be a fan. Just because you’re underground doesn’t mean I’ll automatically like you. These people are just the same as people who follow the mainstream rappers blindly. Then I came across this post in the QN5 forums that sums up these thoughts perfectly. It was written by Kno of CunninLynguists:
Stereotypical “Underground heads” generally don’t take to QN5 well.
Many of them listen to “underground rap” simply because its the antithesis of whats on the radio and they have some friends that are into it so they aren’t completely alone.
So…whats the opposite of super clean, crisp beats with rappers with little to no substance but great flow and charisma rapping about rims?
Super muddy, overly-wordy, poorly delivered raps about science over crusty boom-bap…so thats what they go for, regardless if its dope or not. Many “underground heads” are just as much sheep as your average pop radio listener, truth be told…and your average underground rapper is just as much of a gimmick as their mainstream counterparts. If you’re biggest selling point is “you ain’t like that mainstream shit” you need to stop rapping immediately.
QN5 is crusty BUT clean, substance-filled BUT not TOO over-your-head, charismatic but not ALL swagger. Complicated lyrics but…pop-worthy hooks? It makes your average “followers” head explode, honestly.
QN5 appeals to people with their own personal tastes who simply like good rap music, period. Not many of those left.
This is the music I’m gravitating to more and more. QN5 is a high quality label that puts out amazing music, and to be honest, they’ve turned me on, directly or indirectly, to other music, most not even hip hop. Other underground artists were/are like that too: Jurassic 5, Binary Star, etc.
I’m not totally turned-off by mainstream rap. Kanye has some really good songs that convey the same things as my underground favs. The thing is, I’ve noticed that some of my past underground favs I’m no longer enjoying. I guess my musical taste is changing with age. I used to be a huge fan of Tech N9ne. I still think he can make good music and will still buy his music, but I don’t feel the excitement I used to feel with his music. I don’t know. Why can’t the world be more like QN5 and their passionate artists?
New Theme and New Version
As you probably know by now if you’re a WordPress user, WordPress 2.5 came out today. Along with that, WordPress.org received a redesign. I won’t say much about the new version, as it seems to be the same, except an ugly admin redesign. I will however point out that I have a new theme up here. It probably won’t stay up too long, but I figured it’s a great theme for the season. Cardinals opening day is Monday and the baseball season will be underway. Just wanted to throw up a theme that celebrated the season a bit and this theme I thought was very elegant looking. Anyway, let the baseball commence!
I Don’t Listen to Rap
I don’t listen to rap. I used to. In the ’90’s I listened to Tupac, Snoop, Tha Dogg Pound, etc. That time has come and gone. I still will listen to rap from the 1990’s. It was a good era, in my opinion. Today’s rap sucks. It’s the commercialized bubble-gum, carbon-copy crap on every station. I am an elitist. I’m not afraid to admit it. Yes, I think everything I listen to is better than what you listen to. If you listen to something I do, then I’m still more hip than you because I listened to it sooner. Yeah, I know. I just can’t help myself. I love to recommend good music and show off my superior musical taste.
In conversations when asked what I listen to I always answer, “Underground hip hop.” I have to make sure to set myself apart from the heard of crappy rap listeners. I don’t listen to underground just to be different. Not at all. I’ll be the first to say I think an underground artist sucks (sorry Immortal Technique). If the artist doesn’t have good lyrics, flow, and production, then I’m not going to be a fan. Just because you’re underground doesn’t mean I’ll automatically like you. These people are just the same as people who follow the mainstream rappers blindly. Then I came across this post in the QN5 forums that sums up these thoughts perfectly. It was written by Kno of CunninLynguists:
This is the music I’m gravitating to more and more. QN5 is a high quality label that puts out amazing music, and to be honest, they’ve turned me on, directly or indirectly, to other music, most not even hip hop. Other underground artists were/are like that too: Jurassic 5, Binary Star, etc.
I’m not totally turned-off by mainstream rap. Kanye has some really good songs that convey the same things as my underground favs. The thing is, I’ve noticed that some of my past underground favs I’m no longer enjoying. I guess my musical taste is changing with age. I used to be a huge fan of Tech N9ne. I still think he can make good music and will still buy his music, but I don’t feel the excitement I used to feel with his music. I don’t know. Why can’t the world be more like QN5 and their passionate artists?
Installing Ubuntu with Wubi
I installed the Ubuntu Hardy Heron release onto my desktop via wubi. This isn’t a how-to on how I did that. You don’t need a how-to, the installation was that easy. You burn the cd, put it in the tray and follow the installation procedures that follow. It’s like installing any other program in Windows. Once you’re done, you reboot and choose which installation you want to run, Windows Vista or Ubuntu in my case. The install doesn’t touch your Windows files, doesn’t change your boot record, and if you want to get rid of your Ubuntu install when you’re done trying it out, you just remove it from Add/Remove Programs in Windows’ Control Panel like you do with any other program. I’m quite pleased by all of this.
As for Hardy Heron, there isn’t much new to talk about. It’s very similar to Gutsy Gibbon that came out 6 months ago, with the addition of some new program defaults (Transmission for Bit Torrent, among others) and some under the hood changes that a casual desktop user won’t notice too much. Ubuntu is definitely making it easier and easier to transition from Windows to Linux with each release. If you were ever afraid to take the plunge, now is your best time. You have nothing to lose by installing it via wubi and trying it out.
PhoenixBlue for Habari
Last night and today, with the help of the good folks in the Habari community, I ported the PhoenixBlue theme that I released for WordPress over to Habari. You can check the theme out in action over at MikeSchepker.net and download it from here: Download PhoenixBlue for Habari Now
I’m sure there are some things that aren’t quite up to snuff, so if you want to throw in a helping hand and join a community of passionate coders and designers, visit Habari’s website or join us on irc at irc.freenode.net in the #habari channel.
The Week of New Music
This has been a great week for me for new music. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten some new music, so I’ve been keeping my ears busy with CunninLynguists’ Dirty Acres and Wyclef Jean’s The Carnival II. This week I downloaded three really good albums from the iTunes music store.
Tonedeff – Deffinitions
This album is a compilation of instrumentals by the very talented Tonedeff. There’s really nothing this guy can’t do. He is an amazing emcee, a wonderful singer, and a very underrated producer. This compilation is a collection of some of his best production. I really don’t know how he narrowed it down to the tracks featured on this album. He could release 3 or 4 albums of his best production, which I guess this is why it’s Vol. 1. Some of the stand out tracks are Stomp, Don’t Do It, and Route of Evil. If you like to hear multi-layered hip hop production that are more orchestrations than beats, check out this album.
Del the Funky Homosapien – 11th Hour
Del is back with a solo album after an 8 year absence. If you liked any of his previous work, you’ll love his Def Jux release. It’s more raw than his previous albums, showcasing more of his flow and lyrics than some of his previous albums. While I do miss the wonderful compositions by Dan the Automator that appeared on his group album Deltron 3030, it’s nice to hear something that focuses more on Del and his great voice and flow than the beats. Some of the stand out tracks on this are Raw Sewage and Naked Fonk.
Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple
True to the album title, Cee-lo Green and DJ DangerMouse certainly are an odd couple. They took the world by storm with the first joint album as Gnarls Barkley in St. Elsewhere. Well, the chemistry that made them a hit last year is back in The Odd Couple. This time there seems to be a bit more substance in the album. While it doesn’t have a stand out single like St. Elsewhere’s Crazy, there are plenty of great tracks on this album. Whereas Del’s album is more simple in production, we get the same great multi-layered production that we come to expect from DangerMouse. While this album is less of a dance album, you will still find yourself nodding your head to every track. It’s great to see so much creativity in music, especially after listening to carbon copy music on the radio time after time. Standout tracks include Neighbors and Who’s Gonna Save My Soul?”
All three of these albums can be found in the iTunes Music Store. I suggest you buy all three.