Thursday, December 31, 2009

Albums Of The Year 2009

AOTY 2009


Now that my Albums Of The Year list for 2009 was officially posted at SignalMag courtesy my good friend Shehzaad, I feel free to post an extensive version of my own list with explanations. So here it is, THE TEN BEST albums of the year according to moi.


10. Brother Ali - US

9. Wax Tailor - In The Mood For Life

8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

7. Georgia Anne Muldrow - Umsindo

6. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II

5. Melanie Fiona - The Bridge

4. Shafiq Husayn - En'A-Free-Ka

3. Blakroc - Blakroc

2. K'Naan - Troubadour

1. Mos Def - The Ecstatic


Chicas & fellas, we're nearing the end of 2009, or as I like to look at it, entering a new decade. Music is always a numbers game, and to me this era shift should be equally represented musically. We're not just putting a +10 on our calendars after all, but a +10 on knowledge, wisdom, and compatibility. So I've reserved this exclusive list - because 2009 was a terrific year for music - to the innovators, the revolutionaries, the ones bravely kicking down those doors into the new decade. These ten albums represent where we're at in 2009, and where we're going in 2010. As a bonus look into the future, I've added my list of the top 6 mixtapes at the end of this post. Enjoy!


10. Brother Ali - Us

Certain things in life you need to experience. Most firsts, for instance, mainly because you're guaranteed a second chance. Others, such as albinism, racism, slavery, etc., you'd rather experience vicariously, for instance through a book, movie or song. This is where Brother Ali comes in. He's the undisputed master of all things real, and the purveyor of such things through music. As a white albino Muslim reared by black parents, Ali's experienced more than most can attest to. On wax, he delves into even more, and shares those experiences as if he were a tour guide of life, taking you through both the dark alleys and the skyscrapers with a first person view. From talking about growing up Muslim in America to gay - in the same song ("Tight Rope"), to telling a plantation story from both slave and master "Breakin' Dawn", Ali covers as many bases as possible over a 16 track playlist.


9. Wax Tailor - In The Mood For Life

French DJ Wax Tailor isn't well known this side of the pond but he should be. The hip hop/trip hop producer's 09 offering In The Mood For Life is exactly what it sounds like. The lefts and rights of daily life explored in dim lighting through instrumental and vocalized sound alike. The album cover itself screams satire, featuring a man walking a sunny city sidewalk, holding an umbrella seemingly raining from the inside, solely on him. With that the tone is set, and the album goes on to follow that man through the various downtrodden paths of life. Truthfully that man could be anyone listening, any gender from any walk of life, precisely because of the vocal enlistments and soundtrack. He tells the scenes from the story in different formats and with different styles, whether it's a dope instrumental drop ("No Pity"), a hip hop feature from North Carolina (Mattic, "Until Heaven Stops The Rain", "Fireflies") to Sweden (Speech Defect, "B-Boy On Wax"), or the soothing jazzy voice of French singer Charlotte Savary (various songs) and others, the landscape is vivid, clear, and wretched. So much so that by the time the story reaches a breakthrough with "Say Yes", you're almost rooting for the character, whoever it may be.


8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

If this is the direction alternative rock is headed in for the new decade, I'm not complaining one bit. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs fully stepped up their game with their third effort and along with that, the entire landscape of alt-rock on a mainstream level. After their gritty, back-to-basics style on Show Your Bones, Karen O and crew opt for a more synthesized and dance-oriented sound on It's Blitz! and it pays off. From the badass opening track and single, "Zero" the tone is set, like an instant adrenaline hit. This album has an edge no matter what tone or mood each song parlays. "Heads Will Roll" is an awesome dance-rock song, with synths making a seamless transition into banging guitars while keeping the tempo at a furious rate. More impressive still, is at no time during the album is songwriting compromised for a catchy tune, especially with softer tracks like "Skeletons" and "Runaway". The whole album through is peppered with killer riffs and raw attitude, emphasized by "Dull Life" and "Shame And Fortune" right at the climax. The album, like any adrenaline additive, comes down to a cool landing with "Little Shadow", but always leaves you fiending for more.


7. Georgia Anne Muldrow - Umsindo

If Mos Def is the ecstatic, Georgia Anne Muldrow is the eclectic. Like I said, this is 2009, to earn a spot in this list a high degree of ingenuity must present itself. Muldrow does that in flying colours, and those colours are red, black and green. Her unfiltered adoration for the motherland explodes like fireworks over an already starlit sky. Of course never taking the same shape twice, her dynamite graffitis the backdrop with singing, shouting, chanting, rapping, and spoken word poetry. The backdrop itself shape shifts from rare groove to jazz to hip hop to soul and electro, as her myspace page associates her. I personally think she sounds like Lauryn Hill spittin' maliciously on "I.Q." But whatever your outlook going in, there are so many directions a listener could go with this album ultimately what you take will be uniquely yours. The seamless transitions interweaving these aural fabrics, some that would otherwise be inharmoniously juxtaposed with eachother, should place her in a genre of her own. Her meshing of smooth ("Roses Pt 1 & 2") with rugged ("Jina Langu Ni Afrika", uptempo ("Generation/You Got It") with downtempo ("Idlozi"), metaphorical ("E.S.P") with straightforward ("Kids") all in all makes for a spiritual and stimulating ride.


6. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II

I like to say Raekwon doesn't make albums, he makes movies. Fourteen years after the original, he stays true to the script with OB4CLII, not only with the plethora Ghostface Killah appearances and d-boy storyline, but with the cinematography as well. Rae and all the guest features - most notably on production, which includes Necro, Erick Sermon, Scram Jones, The Alchemist and Dr. Dre alongside usual suspect RZA - paint such a vivid image it's hard to stop guessing what's going down in the next scene. Most significantly, Rae shows that he's still got it and can hold his own with anyone in the game. This was released the same week as Jay-Z's and got just as much hype as Bluepring 3. It's a testament to his longevity and relevance, not to mention a three year hiatus around the album itself. But the past is behind us, the LP is here and you're missing out if it's not in your collection. Think of it as going to the movies.


5. Melanie Fiona - The Bridge

Undoubtedly the best r&b album of the year comes to us from a local girl? You betcha! Okay let's be real. Melanie Fiona isn't local anymore, she's international. She's getting massive publicity for her brilliant album The Bridge. She's singing national anthems at NFL games on Thanksgiving week. She's Grammy nominated! And if you haven't heard her intense ballad "It Kills Me" yet, you're trying way too hard to avoid popular music. Ironically, the very reason she's on this list is that the rest of her album sounds nothing like her killer single. While Chrisette Michele and Alicia Keys did a great job of putting me to sleep and boring me to death, respectively, Fiona came with a Zippo and kept the fire on high all night. Most of the songs are about relationships and love, but she does it so intimately it puts you square in the picture, and you can't even fathom leaving, forget having a choice. Besides the incredibly catchy songwriting (e.g. "Monday Morning"), she experiments on a level beyond mainstream r&b norms and desperately needed in 2009. From the go-go influenced "Please Don't Go (Cry Baby)" to the doo-wop joint "You Stop My Heart" to the cha-cha tempo on "Sad Songs" she holds her own on each and every style thrown her way. Not only does that keep the album sounding fresh and you on your toes, the replay value is incredible. She may be a newcomer, but the rest of the r&b field would do great to emulate Melanie Fiona.


4. Shafiq Husayn - En'A-Free-Ka

This is the second album on this list inspired by Africa, and it won't be the last, but Sa-Ra rapper/singer/producer Shafiq Husayn pushes the concept the hardest of them all. En'A-Free-Ka is a spiritual journey through the continent from its southernmost tip to its northeastern exit in Egypt. Husayn covers as much ground musically as geographically, with the signature Sa-Ra experimentalism shining through a predominantly funk sound. The canvas is exclaimed with poetry, rap, and repeated mantras sung relating to different aspects of the African struggle for freedom - hence the title, A-FREE-Ka. "All Dead", "Dust & Kisses", and lead single "Lil' Girl" are all textbook examples of that. It's lounge music that requires a halfway shutting off of hearing vessels in order to deflate all inclinations of dancing. Warning: may cause involuntary fist-pumping.


3. Blakroc - Blakroc

Ever since Run DMC and Aerosmith tag teamed for the "Walk This Way" remix in '86, the rap-rock combo has been a mainstay in popular music, to varying degrees of success. But from Rage Against the Machine to Limp Bizkit, few acts have managed to truly grasp the essence of the lyricism; they tend to come off rather as random vocals pasted over generic riffs with random breaks to mark punchlines in the lyrics. Maybe that's because they haven't tried the blues approach. In what is admittedly more of a blues-rap mix than your typical rock-rap outfit, the Black Keys team up with Mos Def, Raekwon, the RZA, Jim Jones, Nicole Wray, Pharoahe Monch, Billy Danze (of M.O.P.) and N.O.E. as part of Damon Dash's new supergroup Blakroc. While others throughout the years have come close to understanding the language of hip hop with a live band, some even speaking the language quite coherently, none have achieved this level of fluency. The Black Keys show a thorough understanding of the nuances and cadences that rap sheets come equipped with. Dan Auerbach's guitar and hook crooning intertwines through those flows gracefully while Patrick Carney's drumming stays true to the hip hop sound. The end product is more than innovative, it's inventive. Don't be fooled, if this were a bona fide band and not merely a side project, they would have taken the number one spot with ease. Hopefully they connect for more in the future.


2. K'Naan - Troubadour

At a time where this country is led by a party of Bush-era zealots, world leaders seem to invent international cocktail parties to pat eachother on the back every second month, and hip hop seems comfortably pocketed in stagnancy once again (unless you call Kid CuDi's emo opus a breakthrough), K'Naan represents everything that's right about Canada, everything that's wrong about the world, and a giant gasp of fresh air to the music world. The Somali-born Toronto representative (by way of the Bronx) kicked off 2009 with a storm of a sophomore album. Coming from a country most infamously known to the west for pirate activity off its shores, that should hardly come as a surprise. But that doesn't limit the artistic genius intrinsically worked into the audio/visual potluck that is Troubadour. He makes no concessions about his homeland from the intense opener "T.I.A. (This Is Africa)" to the gut-wrenching love tragedy "Fatima". This time around though, his evolution as an artist is marked moreso by his ability to express that same emotion while staying close to home. On "People Like Me" he delves into lives dealing with the recession and at war abroad, and on "15 Minutes Away" recounts tales of anticipation while waiting for Western Union money orders to go through. But this is anything but a downer of an album. More than positive or conscious, K'Naan comes across as inspirational. From telling stories of childhood perseverance on "Somalia" to "Waving Flag" - the official 2010 World Cup anthem (take that in, repeat it a couple times until it sinks in) - he always finds a way to illuminate even the darkest of realities.


1. Mos Def - The Ecstatic

If adjectives were to describe Mos Def's discography to date, it would read: Classic, Weird, Lazy, Brilliant. In one fell swoop, he's avenged his music career and lived up to the potential followers always knew was present to craft such a masterpiece. The Ecstatic features the best beat selection of any hip hop album and an instrumental soundtrack that rivals any genre's best. From Madlib's middle eastern vibe ("Auditorium", "Wahid") to Perspective's latin influence ("No Hay Nada Mas", sung entirely in Spanish), to the gritty production Mos built his reputation on ("Life In Marvelous Times"), he floats through time signature changes, pitch shifts and choruses that require a full stop of the verse's rhythm. The amazing thing, through all this, is his shoe fits whatever footprint is required by the backdrop. No matter what the topic of discussion or the volatility of the beat, Mos delivers. The song flow is excellently thought through, setting off a businesslike tone to kick off, moving into a serious zone as emphasized by the darker beats and haunted interludes, before picking back up for a celebratory finish. It should be noted that the guest appearances are sparse yet beautifully employed - Slick Rick at his storytelling best, Georgia Anne Muldrow on a remix of "Roses" and the almost requesite Talib Kweli feaure on "History". This is the best, most provocative, most ingenious, most pryological album of the last year of the decade. And I can only imagine what the next 10 will have in store for us. Peace!


Top 7 Mixtapes


7. Element - If I Was A Woman I'd **** Me Too

Recent OkayPlayer signee, Toronto emcee Element comes correct with his debut mixtape, featuring his "Throwback Love" single with Promise and 17 other dope chunes.


6. Homeboy Sandman - Actual Factual Pterodactyl

This Queens native has the vocabulary of a dictionary, the flow of a tsunami, and the sense of humour of a stand-up comedian. Check out his "Lightning Bolt. Lightning Rod" video posted below.


5. WolfJ - UpSideDownDay TapeMix

Another Toronto up-and-comer with a debut mixtape, WolfJ entertains a multitude of styles and varying levels of freshness throughout this extremely original production. Watch his video for "Grizzly Bears Panda" here.


4. Pac Div - Church League Champions

These southern California basketball enthusiasts make no concessions for their love of the game. Church League Champions is a strong summer league showing, can't wait for the album!


3. Emilio Rojas - The Natural

This one was a late addition to this list, but really a Natural selection after all. Rojas' storytelling ability is unparalleled, lyricism is witty and on point, and passion absolutely undeniable. This could have been an album.


2. P.Casso - Earthtones

It's P.SO now, but at its release he was P.Casso, and Earthtones is a definite work of art. Each song is annotated by a different earth tone, and apparently if you hang around some interesting plants while listening you can see those very colours. I can't verify that, but regardless it's an all-encompassing mixtape that puts P on the map. He touches plethora topics from an intriguing angle. Again, it could very well have been an album. Check out his "Mr. Hollywood" video posted below.


1. Drake - So Far Gone

Talk about mixtapes that could have been released as albums... So Far Gone is actually featured on many a Top 10 ALBUMS list for 2009. I still want to see a concentrated album effort with no dubs from the Toronto representer, but this is as close as mixtapes get. The success of its two singles is obvious enough, but his maturity has grown exponentially since his 07 tape, Comeback Season. As far as the flow, he keeps expanding and joins like "Unstoppable" are just further proof of his abilities. 2010 will be an incredible year for this dude, and the Grammy's are only the start.

Sexy Mama Tank Of Love

Hey y'all,

This is a poem by my good friend David Delisca. He's a terrific Toronto (by way of West Palm Beach) spoken word poet who has his own blog - Say Word Say Peace - on my blogroll over to the right. This is a piece of his he recently posted on facebook called Sexy Mama Tank OF Love.

Before you begin, realize this is exactly the type of lyricism that I crave and that captivates my wild mind, but that's not to say it isn't beautiful poetry. Take it in, I think it's a wonderful way to end the year. :)

--------------------------------------------------

Sexy Mama Tank Of Love

Last night,
I had the sexiest dream
I dreamed that you: AKA "the greatest person all-time"
and me: AKA "the guy that always occupies you in his mind",
drove in my 1978 Ford Pinto
to Nevada
so that we could elope in Vegas.
Then we traveled to Madagascar for our honeymoon and started our own hot air balloon business...

We ran away, from home
You, from an undecided university major
Me, from a dead-end job stapling paper
We became spinners of our own world
with forever falling in our favor

You crossed your fingers and hoped that Elvis would be at the chapel
But the only King there
was the King of all midgets named Bert
Who was a witness to our nuptials
We witnessed Bert's corny jokes,
unyielding sexual innuendo,
and how you accidentally poked into his "babe radar"
Because he made you giggle insanely
My ego was hurt considering
I was 6'2 large being out-macked
But a dude 4'2 small

So, to get away from it all, we teleported to Madagascar
Then things got contorted and it fast forwarded, all of sudden...

We had our hot air balloon business..
Our balloons even had names.. Mines was called "Betsy Blues"... Yours was called "Sexy Mama Tank of Love"
Obviously, more people wanted to fly with you.

It was all good tho
You was great at lifting people
Business was booming
You uplifted my purpose
Love was blooming
Forever felt so soon

We found out that "You haven't had sex" until you have had hot-air balloon sex
Mammals mating in the sky
Sucking each other breath in the air up there
The Good Life,
We examined the atmosphere as well each other

I told you to put your arms around me, let's walk across the bridge of sunshine
To cloud number 9
We tango dance on that cloud, naked in our own skin
Engaging rhythm in our limbs,
Resting into each other's eyes

You felt beautiful and that is what you are
Way more than just ordinary beautiful
You eyes were like two stars gleaming
Scratch that,
The stars reflected your eye gleams
Your skin glistened like priceless melanin crystals...
Your smile bit me tenderly
I drank your love like an infinite fountain of melon nectar
I'm never getting full

That was my dream
I don't know what it means
What it foresees but...
I wake up next to you and I must ask you before ever becomes never

Do you...

Wanna get married?.. And run away?... Sexy mama tank of love

(c) 2009 David Delisca

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

FROSTED LIGHTS!



Frosted Lights is a crazy show I'm extremely proud to be a part of, happening THIS Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at the Silver Dollar Room (486 Spadina, @ College).

As my P.I.C. Tacha so eloquently puts it, "Everyone's out for those -flashing- lights but it's the hip hop ciphers happening right here under our own **FROSTED street LIGHTS** that host some of the realest talent out there. We're bringing the cipher to the stage. With solo and collaborative performances that will make you proud to be a supporter of Toronto talent"

Check out some of the finest in Toronto's up and coming hip hop and r&b - Smash Brovaz, T.Ana Cole, Scott Jackson, Gifty Singh, The Scientists, G-Dub, OG, Jay Birch, Lisa Banton, Made Wade, Walker, and of course yours truly! Oh and for a taste of what you'll get, check out the promo vid below!

Dope Videos

Some cool music videos...

Homeboy Sandman - Lightning Bolt. Lightning Rod. I came across this video just looking for Sands' other shit but it's fuckin' hilarious!

P.SO - Mr. Hollywood. He's actually from the same click as Sands (who makes an appearance in this video) but this video is just so fresh on its own! Must see!

My boy Ari (who also put on the "Shut Up & Laugh" show I performed at on Monday) hipped me to this one, "Awesome" by the Bloody Beetroots featuring the Cool Kids:

These three should do it for now, no? More coming... when I feel like it! Hah! Enjoy!!!

Peace

Monday, December 28, 2009

Reptilian Boxing Week

Happy holidays y'all!

So nice to converse during this holiday season! I will admit it's flying by pretty quickly, or maybe I've just been doing so much it seems like it's longer than it's really been!

For instance, on Boxing Day, I went to Long & McQuade to rent an amp, Dundas Square to do a cypher with the homies MC FUBB and F.E.L.N., the Boombox Saints show featuring Rich Kidd, Smash Brovaz, Rayhaan and a buncha other ill cats, and topped it all off with Sneaky Dee's! Craziness I tells ya, pure craziness!

Actually, I left out one important element - Indoor Jungle! A couple good friends of mine, Ata and Arash, run a fish and reptile store out in Scarborough at 1285B Kennedy (south of Ellesmere), and they're having a massive sale this Boxing WEEK! 25-30% off EVERYTHING, from goldfish to sharks! Craziness!

Here are some ill pictorials of what you can expect at the Indoor Jungle:

Crazy yellow-tail blue fishes

Cowfish

Shark

So cool

Polkadot fish

Kinda blurry but a cool underwaterian

Monday, December 21, 2009

Birthday Weekend!

What a crazy weekend!

This weekend was awesome, not only did I turn 22, but I performed thrice!

It all started on Thursday, when we (Hip Hop Headz - MC FUBB, FELN, Kre3p Show and yours truly) did Bring It To The Cypher 6.1 - The Upgrade at Suba Lounge. It's called the Upgrade because we moved it indoors from the usual outdoor setting, in which most cyphers occur to begin with. H3 fam definitely held it down, but the show was stolen by my boy OG and my boy Canabal. They're crazy as it is with the writtens but their freestyles? Destructive. OG went on rhyming for hours on end, and Canabal came through with a message and made it loud and clear. Big performances. Myself, I got the crowd movin with my performance of "So Fresh (Fuck Haters)" and FUBB and I rocked our next single, "History".

On Friday, it was more of the same, but at the next venue - The Central. Marc, Rabih and Roozbeh showed up to wish me a happy birthday which was awesome! OG and Canabal were there once again, and destroyed it... once again. Those guys are just on some next tip. For real. This show I had an extended set and did my thing over some Dilla beats as well as my usual routine. We did a variation of "Flyin High", usually featuring Symmetry and Sy-Fi who couldn't make it down. Instead, me & OG did the hooks and Canabal went in for the 3rd verse. Needless to say, IT WAS DESTRUCTIVE!

Finally Saturday arrived and it was my birthday. Don't wanna talk about the whole day, but the dinner was outstanding. Tacha baked a scrumptious cake and brought it down to the Liberty Bistro, I performed a couple joints to a mainly unresponsive and terrified audience, although I did encourage them enough into some playful call-and-response. Unfortunately we didn't get to do Santa Baby but we'll be performing that on TUESDAY! At the Roc Da Mic Christmas special!

Ta-ta for now... no homo.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Benny Bennasi @ Guvernment

Damn!!! Saw Benny Benassi last night @ Guv doing his thing! A phenomenal night, as my boy Rabih exclaimed. The most jokes part of the night was the fake snow, that I took and used as a Santa beard... pics below!

PEACE

Saturday, December 12, 2009

FUCKIN METAL


I really shouldn't be writing this blog. I have to catch a bus in 8 minutes, go to Stalin's bornday celebration and then dance my ass off to Benny Benassi at the Guvernment.

But I will anyway, because my boy Roozbeh (aka Rooz) and his band Skepsis rocked the shit out of the Kathedral (one third of the infamous Big Bop) last night!

So I'll keep it short and sweet... here's a video of a song they played, Rooz has a SICK solo around the 3:25 mark. Oh yeah and that's Rooz up at the top of this blogasm!

PEACE

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Nicki Minaj is for the Children


For those in the unknow, Nicki Minaj is an up-and-coming rapper from Queens who seems to get hated on quite frequently. Now, anyone who knows anything about hip hop knows that rappers get hated on for a plethora of reasons, some of which are so major mere hatred escalates rapidly to beef, and in severe cases death. If this sounds something like the warning label on a highly suspect pharmaceutical product, it's because it is. Except in Minaj's case, the pill doesn't alleviate migraines, allergies, depression, or even e.d. No, her specific brand of Hateroids takes care of a fast-spreading disease commonly known as jealousy.

My friends, as the rap game has shown us, there are a variety of Hateroids products to choose from to help hip hop heads (and disgruntled regular people) vent their pent-up frustration on celebrity figures. For Kanye West, there's Big Head Hateroids. Jay-Z's foes have Hustler Hateroids. Nas haters indulge in both Intellectual Hateroids and Beat Selection Hateroids. Drake has Former Actor Hateroids. In Lil' Wayne's case, the drug of choice is, ironically, Addict Hateroids. By now you should get the memo. I bring up these case studies because generally, they're either the template for a re-used Hateroids tablet, or the existing Hateroids product has been applied to them.

With Nicki Minaj, however, Hateroids could not diagnose the exact type of hatred they needed to quell in their users based on any prior or current examples. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Jealousy Hateroids were invented for the sole purpose of hating on Nicki Minaj. You see, Nicki Minaj is hated on possibly more than any other emcee - man, woman or otherwise - on the planet. What makes her case so intriguing, however, is that she's hated on for virtually no outstanding behavioural patterns, but rather for merely being. She's hated on basically, because people just don't like her. And that mi amigos, classifies as jealousy.

First let's look at the "reasons" as to why she's hated on. People hate on Nicki for (1) using the Barbie moniker as a gimmick, (2) using derogatorily sexual slang in her lyrics, (3) demeaning women in general, and (4) being an overall bad influence on the children - all reasons that have either little or nothing to do with her rhyming ability. Now let me break this down.

(1) The Barbie Moniker
Contrary to popular belief, Minaj likening herself to the iconic doll does not represent a cheesy gimmick, nor is it demeaning to women. In fact it's a deep social commentary on the treatment of minorities as represented by popular culture. Studies have long shown that young black girls, even post-segregation, magnetized to white dolls over black ones. As for the Barbie brand itself, for years black dolls on the Barbie line have been relegated to 2nd class doll citizens. If the first black Barbie's name - "Colored Francie" wasn't enough, as late as 1997 Barbie unleashed the "Oreo Fun Barbie", as if to say, even if you have a Barbie of your own, she's still one of us! Regardless of the unrealistically anorexic waistlines Barbie dolls encouraged young girls to aspire for, for minorities the burden of failing to live up to their toys' expectations must have been twice as hard. I don't know based on experience but you get what I'm saying!

Not to get off track, what Nicki Minaj is doing with this move is re-claiming Barbie for the racial minorities (which in itself is laughable because from all my trips to NY I can swear white people are the minority) who grew up on Barbie dolls. She's not an impediment to female strength, she's an inspiration! Moreover, by bucking the stereotype of the white Barbie, in layman's terms saying "fuck the system", she embodies what it truly means to be HIP HOP. But more on that later.

(2) Sexual Lyrics
*yawn* Lil' Kim *yawn*yawn* Foxy Brown *yawn*

(3) Demeaning Women
Ignoring everything I said debasing this point of view in argument (1), I simply don't understand how an up-and-coming female artist three mixtapes deep, in a genre severely lacking in female talent, compared toe-to-toe to her male competitors, and on a rising label run by one of the biggest artists in music could be anything but uplifting to women. Anything else I say would be wasting my finger energy, including this sentence.

(4) Not For The Children
Now this is where I REALLY call foul on Minaj haters. Let's do some simple math here. Nicki Minaj = Barbie. Barbie = a children's toy = for the children. Therefore, Nicki Minaj = For The Children! Taking it further... ODB said Wu Tang = for the children. Therefore, NICKI MINAJ IS THE REINCARNATION OF ODB!

Of course I'm being facetious, but it's not too left of the extreme some of her detractors' comments tend to be. On the real real, give her a listen before you make a decision... let the music make your mind up. And with that I give you her ill rendition of a classic.

PEACE

Monday, December 7, 2009

Saturday of Mayhem

Hola familia,

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty fun and randomly eventful I must admit! Saturday was the big day I'm talking about here - I'll try to be fleeting with the verbiage and lengthy with the action.

First stop: Toronto Poets' GTA Faith Summit edition of Saturday Night Love. SNL is a weekly event put on by Jason Kinte and the good folks at Toronto Poets. It's quite unique in that it features an open mic, a teaching segment, a discussion forum, and a live performance. In this special edition one of those scheduled performers was my boy David Delisca. Another notable performer during the open mic segment was legendary Toronto emcee Mindbender (pictured below), who did his thing with a rendition of Ye's "Jesus Walks", suitable for the Faith Summit theme.


On the way to the next stop, I, now accompanied by Tavia, therefore along with Tavia, saw this:



Next stop: Arietta's free show at the Edge studio. Now Arietta are my dudes, mainly because my boy Shehzaad drums for them. They kicked some ass as usual, playing a 6 or so tunes off their debut album Migration (go get that!). I added a snippet of their song "According To The Map, We've Gone About Four Inches", at the bottom of this post. Here are some pics of them (singer Tyler and drummer Shehzaad) wilin' out on stage:


Last stop: Sasha's birthday! We celebrated his PEACE-PEACE down at the Entertainment District Jack Astor's... that's two birthday celebrations thus far (not to mention shouts out to Made Wade, Symmetry, G-Dub & my girl Chloe on their bday celebs!), and it's only gon get more celebrationesque!



Happy birthday (again) you crazy Persian!

Here's that Arietta video I was talkin' about:

Oh yeah, PEACE.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Ifrah's Bornday

Hiyo, last night was pretty bomb. A birthday double header for Ifrah Anisa, which is what I think Ifrah (or Anisa, however you know her) 's r&b singer name would be.

First off, a plate of the astronomical gastronomical King's Crown at Sneaky Dee's, which was still left unfinished after a three person collaborative attack. After stuffing our bellies, we headed down the street to the MOD Club for the Thunderheist show.

Thunderheist was crazy in their last show before "hibernation" aka emcee Isis and producer Grahm Zilla working on solo projects for a hot minute. I've never seen them perform before but I did sense some friction on stage. Whatever went down in my imagination or otherwise, the music was BANGIN'.

Shiiiit, even I was dancing after a few jams and a couple drinks. And to think I almost bailed on this one! Peep Isis's outfit though, ridiculous!

Isis of Thunderheist (waving to her parents?)

And of course the infamous Ifrah Anisa...

I'll leave y'all with the video for Thunderheist's "Little Booty Girl", just to give you a taste of what went down:

PEACE

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Crazy Night Of Rock Shows

Yo, so here's the deal about re-blogging... as in getting back into blogging form. I happen to forget some routine exercises seasoned bloggers undergo naturally in their daily blog workout. One such exercise is that of (a) always being strapped with a camera. Another is (b) charging my camera's battery. And finally and probably the most underrated one of all, (c) actually snapping pictures while I'm at the events.

So let me recap the week you won't see first and foremost... Friday night, crazy afro-jazz ensemble The Main Event at the Gladstone Hotel with my boy Farooq... Saturday night, The Cunninghams CD release (the High Class Rock and Roll EP - go get it!) again with Farooq... Monday night, photo shoot (talk about irony) with my boy Deon and starring my girl Tacha... Tuesday night, recording session with my boy Cortez... And that brings us to Wednesday night, the one night I again forgot routine exercises (a) and (b) but at least remembered (c). Disclaimer: all following pictures were taken with my extremely low megapixel BB Curve camera.

The night started off with a doctor's appointment. Actually that was quite uneventful. Fast forward to my little bro Ashkaan's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!!! It was actually pretty tight, called Little Shop Of Horrors, and my brother plays a disgruntled Jewish immigrant floral shop owner, one of the three main characters. I also caught up with my boy Haeven (who also happened to have a younger sibling in the musical), and we agreed that damn... some of these kids can sing! Was my high school really this talented when I went there? Meh, no pics here. I was sitting front row, I think that was my mom's way of punishing me for pulling out the crack(berry) too much. Anyway, the show is going strong until Saturday, so if you're ever in the area of York Mills C.I. from here until then, check it out! $12 to get in.

Next on the order of business was checking my girl Michelle Mondesir's show at The Central. I first saw this incredibly talented singer/songwriter perform at this very same venue a couple months ago for the I Got Skills! showcase and competition put on by the good people at The Flavashop, and she told me about this one so I had to make an appearance. She put on a marvelous set and put me on to another dopeasfuck singer/songwriter, Tredelle McLennon, who shut down the stage right after Michelle did. Wait, how did she shut down an already shut down stage? Nobody knows.....

After I bounced admittedly early, I went to see my boy Michael Palumbo (now formerly) of Apple Pi in his last show as a member of that band... for all y'all curious, he has like 17 side projects so he already has his hands full! And this man is an awetastic multi-talent (actually, I've been meaning to get in a jam session with the dude for a minute now... think it's time!). Definitely check out his music on both the links I gave.

Below are pics of (1) Michelle Mondesir, (2) Tredelle McLennon, and (3) Michael Palumbo. But let the music put the real visuals to your ears! I'm out... PEACE.