I've recently become obsessed with the now extinct genre of instructional rap videos from the 80s. I've been playing most of my findings on our podcast (which is live TONIGHT @ 10pm Pacific on FCCFREERADIO btw). The perfect combination of coked out CEOs making bad decisions and Reagan era crypto-racism (HEY OUR EMPLOYEES ARE POOR "URBAN" KIDS! LET'S SPEAK TO THEM ON THEIR LEVEL!). Here now I present to you my very favorites.
5. RTD Maintenance Department
Great example of "the man" trying to get on "our level" and speak "our language" through the power of "the music of the streets." I know if I was an employee of the Los Angeles' Rapid Transit Department in the 80s I would be nothing less than inspired to wake each morning and proudly crank on those buses after watching this inspiring video. Score: 6.8
4. Selling is Service
Nope. Nothing weird or awkward about these white people rapping here. Great work guys, let's put it out. 5.4
3. Pier One Imports LET'S COACHING
The most modern out of all our videos presented today. Detailing the process known as "Let's Coaching" from the geniuses ar Pier One Imports. "Let's Coaching" (Let's engage the customers! Let's make a sale!) is kind of perfect in the way it illustrates everything wrong with corporate upper management bullshit language. The awkward terminology, the emotional exploitation of their customers, the straight up lying they teach to their poor clerks. It's all there. 9.7
2. Wendy's COLD DRINKS
Wendy's are the KINGS (queens?) of instructional rap videos as you will soon see.
I'm not even going to lie. This song is fucking tight. Based around an 8 measure New Jack Swing loop Teddy Riley himself would be proud of. Reminiscent of TLC's earlier work or later DeeDee Ramone, this heartfelt lesson on how to serve cold drinks is sure to give any Wendy's employee the gusto needed to make the customer happy! Score: 8.5
1. Wendy's Burger Rap
The classic track that made a generation learn how to love again. Not patronizing at all, this lesson on how to make a fuckin' burger has gone down in history as the premiere instructional rap video. These hamburger ladies are literal throbbing gristle. Singing gristle even! Also: doesn't feature any embarrassing white people rapping. Score: 10.0
Very Very Very Honorable Mention goes to this very incredible track released by KFC in 1987 credited to "Colonel and the Gang" on flexidisc (yes!) teaches the importance of making Chicken Littles and Shoestring fries properly, complete with references to "golden showers." If there was a video it would be number 1.
Are you chill? How chill are you? I'm afraid that's not chill enough. You're gonna need to bring it down a couple notches. Right now you're at "chill as a polar bear's toenails", but I need you to go even further. I'm talking only the chillest of chills. I'm talking Fantastic Planet chill.
Now before you get all sassy and point out that our long-lost chillbro Seanford posted this album as a footnote to his French workout-disco post HERE, I'd like to remind you that a) it has since been deleted from the great Mediafire Septic Tank in the Sky, and b) if ever there was a movie soundtrack fully deserving of its own post, it is this mellow gem, swan song of French pianist/composer/Gainsbourg collaborator Alain Goraguer. So here it is again. If you didn't jump on this thing before, now is the time.
SMOKE WEED EVERY DAY AND LISTEN TO THE FANTASTIC PLANET OST. THIS IS SOLID ADVICE FROM ONE CHILL-ASS DUDE TO ANOTHER. PLEASE CHILL RESPONSIBLY.
This is TONIGHT at the Oakland Metro Opera House! Get there early (7pm) to see Apocryphon and Cobras my drummer will buy you a beer. This show will be one for the fucking ages!
But that's not all!
Even the 99% of you that don't live in or around the San Francisco Bay Area still have a shot at IllCon-flavored goodness! If you can't fall gently asleep to the dulcet tones of our Grecian pals Dead Congregation, you might as well settle for the drunken babblings of our uber-buds Cory, Erik del Tigre, and Aloysius T. Yothers over at Illogical Contraption Radio! Shit goes live on FCCFreeRadio.com at 10pm, and, as always, phone lines will be open to you, the undeserving public! (415) 829-2980.
Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age was released in 1994. This was a post "The Chronic" world and rap glorifying drug use and violence was already the status quo for a couple years. PE was considered "old" and "corny" by most fans of the genre and the bad reviews started flowing in before the album even came out. The decline of PE in the eyes of the record buying public happened so fast. The switch from party rap and political hip hop dominating the charts to the overwhelming rise and popularity of so called "gangsta rap" happened in the blink of an eye. It's almost as if the prison industrial complex and high level music executives had a secret meeting to calculate the gangsta rap trend, fill up prisons and make a quick buck! That's crazy though. That would never happen in our pure white America!
Here's the facts ("facts" being used loosely):
People slept on this album when it came out which caused it to not have much of a legacy.
People are fucking stupid and this album is THE BEST, ANGRIEST, most listenable Public Enemy album. (Challop)
It's heavy as fuck.
Chuck D's "message" is still as relevant today as it was in 1994 if not more so. His delivery is straight up fierce on this album.
This is the most GROWN up PE record, as they grew out of their sexism and gay-baiting lyrics of the previous releases. They learned from their mistakes and made better music.
Seriously, and I know I will get shit for this, I enjoy later-period PE more than the early shit. The Bomb Squad's "throw everything at the wall" style of production just has not aged well. See also Ice Cube's AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted.
Bottom line: don't be like the great unwashed masses and sleep on this album. The songs are awesome, the music is powerful, heavy, funky and FUNNY. It's their masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. PE still had it in '94 no matter what the music press wants you to believe. Also check out that beautiful cover!
Seems like a pretty safe time to put out a 'Top Eleven of 2011', right? I mean, unless Inquisition puts out a new album within the next 30 hours or so, all entries have been accounted for and all the votes have been tallied--we're in the clear. Now, I know most of you are probably hoping for some sort of '20 Shittiest'-esque fiasco this year, but I regret to inform you that no such shit-talking will happen this time around: I was too busy listening to Joe Rogan and Giorgio Tsoukalos argue about ancient aliens to even listen to 20 "new" albums in their entirety this year, much less write about them. It's true. I basically gave up music blogging in 2011, but that doesn't mean I can't shit out a quick dozen recommendations for you, does it? I still listen to metal on occasion. I don't by any means keep up with new music like I used to, but people are still constantly sending me stuff to listen to (despite my protests), so why not?
These "year end" lists are basically bullshit, and full of weird politics anyways. I mean, I thought the new Vektor album was great, but I never got a chance to fully digest the whole thing. Does that go on the list? Nah. The new Cruciamentum EP kills, but I'm bored of it already. Does that go on the list? Nah. I guess what you're looking at here is a small, somewhat inaccurate gathering of releases that actually held my attention this year, and no matter how many times I tell you guys I'm unqualified to write it, you'll still comment to tell me what I left out. Whatever. I know my taste in music sucks. That already puts me ahead of the pack. Fuck it.
Where was I? Oh yeah, the list. Let's do this.
11. GIGAN - QUASI-HALLUCINOGENIC SONIC LANDSCAPES
There is much to be said for the type of Hessian bro that would rock a Voltron shirt in his band photo, as there is also much to be said for the type of Hessian bro that would (somewhat befuddlingly) entitle a song "Suspended In Cubes of Torment". This is GIGAN in a nutshell--insane, quasi-psychedelic riffs, extended noise loops, and biomechanical-octopus musicianship aside. Much hate has been thrown at the "tech" sub-genre in recent years, but I remain a firm supporter--as long as actual ideas are present. Despite the machine-gun drumming and tapping solos, these fuckers know how to write a goddamn SONG. Every jam on Quasi-Hallucinogenic has some sort of catchy section, several repeating (sometimes to the point of hypnotic) riffs, and a vocal hook (or at least what qualifies for one in death metal), and as a result, I've been stuck on it since its release earlier this year. I've said before that I enjoy tech-death because it is the perfect union of the visceral and the cerebral. Gigan drive that point home--with the fury and precision of a marauding Mechagodzilla on DMT.
Is the guy from France's Peste Noire a Nazi? Fuck if I know, or care. Either way, L'Ordure à l'état Pur is an epic mindfuck of a black metal album, mixing weird, psuedo-techno beats, farm animal noises, and bleak, misanthropic nihilism into a startling broth that managed to push boundaries even in the over-saturated BM market of 2011. There is plenty that I don't like about this album (see the aforementioned "techno" beats, 20-minute song times, NSBM leanings, etc etc) but the all-encompassing WEIRDNESS contained herein has made it a mainstay in the trusty ol' iPod, and the fact that Peste Noire can still keep me guessing after repeat listenings has to count for something. If Abbath and Horgh commandeered Gogol Bordello and toured the catacombs of Paris, it might sound something like L'Ordure à l'état Pur. But until that happens, we'll just have to settle for this oddball gem, NS bullshit be damned.
JGD introduced me to Australia's Entrails Eradicated just recently, but I don't feel the least bit hesitant adding them here after such a short honeymoon. Sure, the extensive noise intros are overkill for this EP's brief runtime, but Viralocity is the band's first release, and this much talent deserves a little room to fuck up. Like Gigan, EE temper sweep-picked insanity with tasteful, catchy vocals and recognizable song structures, making them an instant favorite here at ICHQ. Be forewarned: this year's Top 11 is chock-full of "techy" shit, but that's what seems to be sounding good to me these days. Perhaps technical death metal has finally tired of chasing its own tail, and is now settling into a pattern of "good songwriting" and "realistic production". But maybe it's just wishful thinking. Either way, Entrails Eradicated are doing something right, so here's to hoping that they don't perpetuate that "one EP and done" cycle so many other promising shredders have fallen prey to (see: Viraemia, Slaughterbox, etc). Oh, and nice windmills too, guys.
Another obscure, tasteful tech gem, this time from the hoary wastes of Vancouver, Canada. These fellas seem to conform more to the shaved-heads-and-basketball-shorts school of uber-athletic bro-wanking, which, if you know ol' Cobras, is a major bonus. Shattering expectations by shunning any sort of melodic vocal pattern and/or Autotuned mosh breakdown, Archspire hit hard and fast, thoroughly annihilating your facial region with an onslaught of seven-string wizardry and hyperspeed blasting, all the while maintaining a crunchy, sing-along-with-Cookie-Monster feel that would make the Swedish DM Gods proud. It should be duly noted that All Shall Align (like Viralocity) is Archspire's first release and mission statement--hinting that perhaps this is a band we should all be paying attention to in the future... Then again, maybe not--I saw one of their guitarists rocking a Dream Theater shirt in a live video.
I've included Vast Aire's long-awaited opus Ox 2010: A Street Odyssey as a sorbet, to cleanse the palate. After all, if you don't mix it up and take a break from metal every now and then, you'll end up as one of those sad, defensive, sheltered pussies that hangs out in MetalSucks comments sections all day, writing things like "+1" and "^this". All kidding aside, though, Vast Aire's solo follow up to his old duo Cannibal Ox's 2001 oddball classic The Cold Vein is 100% worth the wait, bursting at the seams with both streetwise, guns-and-dope poetry and abstract, artsy philosophy. It sucks that Vorghul Mega wasn't around for this one, but FUCK, Ox 2010 is a great album, and has been getting just as much stereo time here at ICHQ as anything the "metal" realm produced in 2011.
2011 was the year that I took the wise words BEHEAD THOSE THAT INSULT SLAM as my own personal motto, recognizing as it were the odd correlation between "slam-insulting" and "fun-hating". I mean, seriously: I know "slam metal" is by far the most testosterone-driven form of DM, appealing to the most socially-and-intellectually-inept camo-shorters amongst us, but if you can't see the reason for its base appeal (i.e. sweet fucking grooves that make you mosh your balls off) then you are all but dead to me. Sure, Realms of The Ungodly is standard-issue slam with the quality and riffsmanship levels bumped up a couple notches. But the sole fact that Condemned is comprised of 40 to 60% of the same dudes from the almighty CEPHALOTRIPSY? That connection alone bumps them up to #6. PS: The new Cephalotripsy promo stuff that came out this year deserves its own spot on this list, but I figure I'll just save the #1 spot for their upcoming full-length on my Top 12 of '12 list next year. Fair enough.
Also, some new Cephalo jams in case you slept on 'em:
Like I said on #6: SLAM-INSULTERS CAN FUCKING SUCK IT. Baltimore's own Visceral Disgorge have occupied their own little corner of my iPod's memory for the latter half of 2011, remaining both relevant and welcome with each "shuffle" cycle. Their low-brow sex-and-gore samples? Gold. Their mixed-too-low, monotone vocals? Yes please. "Force Fed Shredded Genitalia"? 10-4. "Colostomy Bag Asphyxiation"? Roger that. This is a band that will remind any Hessian warrior worth his spikes to never take him(or her)self too seriously, with enough tech-y, brain-melting pitt riffment to still qualify as "smart". Did I mention that this, too, is their first release? More please.
Often derided as hipster BM (thanks to a record deal with Southern Lord), Sweden's Craft have nonetheless delivered quality album after quality album since their inception in 1999 (Pro Tip: get 2000's Total Soul Rape and 2002's Terror PropagandaRIGHT HERE), with Void being their best so far. Few bands can rival Craft for pure, unadulterated misanthropy and hatred, but it's their innovative musicianship that really tickles my nuts. This album represents Craft's Pokemon-esque evolution into a bigger, better, and more menacing creature--the Blastoise to Fuck The Universe's Wartortle. It's a shame that they'll inevitably have to go and kill themselves in the near future, depriving us of more classics like this one.
Whenever I wish to judge a new Absu offering, I simply hold it up to their track off the 1997 Gummo OST, "The Gold Torques of Ulaid". Where does this new recording land on The Ulaid Scale? Is it 'not nearly as good'? 'Almost as good'? 'Better' (just kidding, no one will ever write a song better than that one)? The way I see it, said jam is the apex of the Absu pantheon, showcasing both their talent for complex, busy riffing, and obscure, transcendental mythologizing. How gleeful was I, then, to find upon the arrival of their 2011 opus Abzu, that the WHOLE GODDAMN THING scored 'as good as' on The Ulaid Scale? I mean, FUCK, the opening track "Earth Ripper" alone packs an album's-worth of blackened, thrashy, cosmic goodness--but by the time the 15-minute closing track rolls around, one's mind is left as nothing but an amorphous pool of humiliated sludge. Weird enough that these dudes would title their 2011 album Abzu after calling their 2009 release Absu--but hey, it's no secret that this band is on a different plane (they're from fucking Texas, man!), and should be treated as other-wordly beings. Far be it from me to pass judgment.
Obviously, Sir Proscriptor is on some next-level intergalactic karate-chop lamé-headband shit.
At the risk of sounding douchey or name-droppy, allow me to share a brief story about an encounter I had earlier this year with Paul Ryan, guitarist and main songwriter for longtime IllCon favorites Origin:
Sometime around February, I was making the rounds in SF, handing out flyers for the first (and last?) annual IC Black/Death Fest. I stopped by the ol' Guitar Center on Van Ness (where Paul works as a salesbro) to drop off some handbills, at which point homeboy pulled me aside and asked if I'd like to hear a track off the new (as of then unreleased) Origin album. Well yeah, of course, duh. Anyhow, long story short, Paul took me back into the dark recesses of their PA department, where he proceeded to completely melt my face and brain by playing Entity's opening track "Expulsion of Fury" through a fucking WALL of speakers. I pretty much knew right then and there that the new album was going to be one of the best (if not THE best) albums of the year, and upon its official arrival in July, my suspicions were confirmed. Origin just blows the doors off of EVERYONE with this one. Case closed.
So now it's time, folks... A whole year of metal, all boiled down to ONE amazing release. My NUMBER ONE pick of 2011, an album that changed lives, made us laugh, made us think, made us cry. Without further ado, the Illogical Contraption Number One Album of the Year:
Gonna try something new today, so just bear with me. I know not everyone out there in the Contrap-Nation is podcast-savvy just yet, but if you are, feel free to skip this post altogether. I know a lot of folks will be doing quite a bit of travelling this week, and I figured that rather than poisoning your precious ear canals with a bunch of shitty death metal, I'd instead upload a six-pack of my favorite podcast episodes (in easy-to-use mp3 form), to help you expand your mind and maybe even learn something during this heinous period of mind-numbing airport Hell. I covered most of my favorite podcasts back here, but I figured one last shove in the right direction couldn't hurt--especially at this crucial time when "tuning out" is absolutely essential.
So here you go: 8 or 9 hours of mind-bending chit-chat, narrowed down from hundreds (if not thousands) of hours that I've endured in the last year or so. No "subscribing", "sync-ing", or "directory searching" necessary--just click the link and enjoy! If any of these shows peak your interest, make sure you go back and check out my previous podcast post--there's plenty more fun to be had.
First off, I've got 3 full episodes from one of my favorites, the unfortunately-defunct Out There Radio:
- The Joe Rogan Experience #125: Giorgio "Ancient Aliens" Tsoukalos Joe Rogan is a surpisingly intelligent dude, and I'm not sure why it took me so long to subscribe to his podcast--especially considering his fascination with The DMT Elves and stuff... Maybe it's those shitty Fleshlight commercials. Anyhow, Giorgio Tsoukalos, as you know, is a complete fucking fruit bat, and their 2-and-a-half hour discussion is pretty awesome, starting with specualtion as to whether David Icke is a government disinformation agent and just getting weirder from there (more Joe Rogan Experience HERE).
Here's a couple more shows I've discovered since I last publicly confronted my podcast addiction. All of them highly recommended:
Kissing Contest: Two dudes (and their producer) in Brooklyn, who basically have the opposite tastes in everything, arguing about pop culture and insulting each other. Definitely one of the better "underground" podcasts. Mysterious Universe: Coast To Coast AM from New Zealand. Cryptozoology, paranormal, occult, etc etc etc... Stuff You Should Know: Makes you smart. WNYC's RadioLab: Ditto. PRI: Science And Creativity: Same here, but in easy-to-digest 10-to-15 minute chunks. The World And Why: A drunk dude (Dizzo) interviews underground rappers. It's better than it sounds on paper, trust me. Pool Party Radio: Another, more general, podcast from Parker--one of the three hosts of the excellent Junk Food Dinner. Pointless banter, but often funny and weird.
..... Aaaaaand of course, we can't forget good old Illogical Contraption Radio (see links everywhere), which I'm sure you guys are all caught up on already. Speaking of which, no show this week, as we're all out of town eating delicious turkey breasts. But I'd like to wish everyone out there a happy Indiginous Slaughter Day, and if you're unfortunate enough to live somewhere outside the goddamned U.S. of A... Well, tough shit.
I dont have to tell you what Wu-Tang did for Rap. Everyone has their own personal favorite member and/or spinoff group and I am no different. One of the ones that most people seem to miss also happens to be among my favorites is Killarmy. Besides my personal opinion on these albums, I'll let the great open-source arbiter of reality do the talking about Killarmy since that is where I would have gotten all of my information anyway.
Their 1997 debut album Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars has a lot going for it, including a bit of production by Rza. The majority of the album though is produced by 4th Element, but the sound still closely resembles that of the Clan with some different theme to the lyrics.
Dirty Weaponry was my intro to Killarmy and to the idea of Nation of Gods and Earths ideology and Black Islamic Hip-Hop. Coincidentally it's also in Dirty Weaponry that the group displays their own sound, different from, but still associated with the Wu Family. Dirty Weaponry samples a number of old war and science fiction movies including Turkey Shoot. The last song has some bizarre vocal sample that I still find creepy every time I hear it. I'll send you a buck if you can tell me what it's from.
Like lots of groups, Hip-Hop and otherwise, Killarmy's last album is probably their weakest. That does not mean that they went out with a whimper. Merely, it means that there is nothing really innovative and new about Fear Love and War, and in that sense it feels like a continuation of Dirty Weaponry which is fine considering that was a great record. While a bit less militant, it still features the strong production from 4th Element and Mathematics that made the previous albums so damn good.
Man, after that big, sexy MR. AWESOME post, you guys must really be hankerin' for some "alone time", eh? Well, to help nudge you all into the Tug Zone, I offer today the smooth-ass sexx rapps of Mr. Richard Walters aka SLICK RICK, via his first two releases: 1988's The Great Adventures Of... and 1991's The Ruler's Back. Rick was born to a Jamaican family in London in 1965, losing his right eye to an unfortunate run-in with broken glass as an infant. These two occurences supplied him with his two most recognizable traits as a rapper--a drawling, vaguely Cockney lilt and oddly "Queen's English"-esque cadence to his voice, and the ever-present "Slick Rick eyepatch" that constantly adorns his face. His family came to NYC when he was 10, and by the early 80's, Rick was deeply involved in the hip-hop scene there, eventually becoming part of Doug E. Fresh's Get Fresh Crew before his excursion into a solo career. Despite several run-ins with the law (he spent the years 1991-1996 in prison for attempted murder, recording his third album Behind Bars while still incarcerated at Riker's Island), Slick Rick still managed to have a highly successful career, releasing his magnum opus, The Art of Storytelling, just three years after his release. Oddly enough, he received a full and unconditional pardon from all charges in 2008 from (also vision-impaired) New York Governor David Paterson. Sounds like some shady blind-guy favoritism going on...
It occurred to me embarrassingly late in life that all of the rap stars I loved in the 90's must have lo-fi demotapes buried somewhere that would eventually rise to the surface. I posted the Snoop demotape a while back but you guys probably didn't download it (because you're racists). This blog has just as much Rap as it does Black Metal so I thought I'd give posting another incredible hype demo a try.
This is probably the best hype demo of all time. If you guys have any better ones, I challenge you to post them in the comments. Anyone have a Too Short demo? What about Richie Rich or Mac 10 or something like that. Teenage E40? Anyone?
Living in Pacifica, CA in 1997 I obviously listened to a lot of Master P. I was fully committed to No Limit Records and had to buy everything they put out until around the time I stopped wearing LUGZ.
i think most album covers looked like this
I remember thinking it was odd that every kid in my middle school knew how to cook crack because of these records. I also remember these records being great soundtracks for playing Golden Eye.
Although I'll admit my continued love for this music is partially fueled by nostalgia, I can still push them off on you with complete confidence. 14 years later, I'm still bout it bout it. (Click on the album covers for the DLL. Expect for the TRU record which was just too tru for one link).
Earlier today, JGD spoke a bit about the effects of domestic partnership on daily death metal intake, and how living with one of the fairer sex will often cause even the most most hardened of Hessians to find him (or her)self occasionally listening to Duran Duran or Nelly on the regular. No big deal. It happens. I concur fully with JGD's thoughts on the matter. I too have fashioned "compromise mixes" for my girl and I to enjoy together on long car rides, and as a result, I think we've both turned each other on to some sweet jams we might not have ever inspected otherwise. I've given her Deep Purple and Dethklok, and she's given me... Well, she's given me today's featured artist, among others. Don't get me wrong: my girl is metal as fuck. She shamed me in the pit at Amon Amarth last Friday, morphing into a flurry of hair and limbs as I struggled to find a safe spot where I wouldn't spill my Diet Coke. Homegirl has a boner for double-bass and lyrics about Vikings, but our taste in tunes tends to diverge just as often as it coalesces. Enough pontification, though. If I had to choose one girlfriend-inspired musical revelation that towered above all others in overall significance, it would have to be the 2005 debut album from some chick named Mathangi Arulpragasam. This shit goes against every musical instinct and fiber of my being, but it still kicks all kinds of ass, and makes me a little giddy every time I hear it. Dance music? Yep, it sure is. But like the Smoking Crab says, DEAL WITH IT. Sorry. I promise to post some generic Swedish death metal or something tomorrow.
Okay. This 'Guilty Pleasures Week' thing is either the best or the worst idea I've had in awhile. Either way, I'm stoked on it, and would like to encourage everyone to share their deepest, darkest musical secrets here. That's right, I'm not even gonna restrict this thing to "established" IllCon Contributors. Are YOU ashamed? Need to confess a guilty pleasure? Father Cobras is here for you, ready to assure your forgiveness through a series of digital Our Fathers. Send me an email. Let's fuckin' SHAME OUT. Anyway, before shit gets too ugly or embarassing, I just wanted to share a trilogy of songs I was listening to on repeat yesterday, none of which being in any way shameful or guilt-inducing. Credit where it's due: Sweet Baby Jay shared the first song with me on Facebook yesterday, at which point I countered with the second, only to be completely outdone by Charles T. Heckler's (remember him?) addition of the third. In a way, it kind of seems to me that these three songs describe some sort of story arc when played in order, a tale of lust and betrayal, deception and jealousy. I can't stop listening to them:
Let these sick jams be your own personal soundtrack to the rejection of shame and impetus to embrace your guilty pleasures. May "them Dirty-Foot Bitches" guide your way.
Was there ever a better Wu-Tang spin-off album? It could be argued that ODB's 36 Chambers is in the running, but even "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" couldn't hold a candle to "4th Chamber" OR this album's title track, hook-wise. Cuban Linx? Nah. Liquid Swords wins, hands down.
This shit was the soundtrack to life when I moved into my first "real" apartment circa 1996, and the cover art is particularly pleasing as well. I mean, come on. Homeboy-ninjas decapitating each other on a chess board in space? What could be better? Part of me wonders if this space-chess board is the same one featured on the cover of Broken Hope's Swamped In Gore (right). Hmmm....
IllCon Hip-Hop Trivia Corner: GZA's debut album (released when he was still known as Genius) holds the distinction of being the only record created by a Wu-Tang member before Wu-Tang formed. And it kicks ass.
Look at the mountains, trees, the seven seas And everything chilling underwater, please Hot lava, snow, rain and fog Long neck giraffes, and pet cats and dogs.
I seen a caterpillar turn into a butterfly Miracles ain't nothing to lie Shaggy's little boys look just like Shaggy And my little boy looks just like daddy.
Pure magic is the birth of my kids I've seen shit that'll shock your eyelids The sun and the moon, and even Mars The Milky Way and fucking shooting stars UFOs, a river flows Plant a little seed and nature grows.
This world is yours for you to explore There's nothing but miracles beyond your door The Dark Carnival is your invitation To witness them without explanation Take a look at this fine creation And enjoy it better with appreciation Crows, ghosts, the midnight coast The wonders of the world, mysteries, the most.
Posts
