"...Heaven sent, heavenly scent that later crippled me..."

I've only really gotten really personal with this blog once, at the beginning when I spoke on President Obama's victory back in November. That's because I wanted to keep this place as a space about what interested me, and things that I thought people would want to get put up on, particularly with the music.

Lately, though, I hadn't been listening to too much on my own, just for personal enjoyment and I thought it was because I just wasn't finding a lot worth listening to, but a conversation with a good friend of mine made me see things differently. Considering how much inspiration I get from music in writing, I started to realize that I'd been avoiding getting too deeply consumed with listening to music because I was afraid of what it would bring out of me.

I've been writing a lot of poetry lately, some of it for RPG supplemental material but a fair amount for myself as well, and music has played a large role in the output. In the past few weeks Blu and Exile have caused me to, for better or worse, reexamine some parts of my life that I thought I'd left well behind. Rather than blather on about the specifics, I'll let the tunes and the poems speak for themselves.

I do not want her to smile for only me.
A smile is the soul’s searchlight.
A beacon for the weary
To find a moment’s assuredness
In the middle of stormy seas
Or simply a confirmation
During a seemingly solitary journey
That a traveler is not alone.
Her smile is not mine to own.
It is a mobius strip of radiance
Where the beauty she gives the world
And the beauty the world gives to her coalesce.
It is impossible for a mortal
To hold such a phenomenon in his hands,
And only an evil man would try.
I would only hope,
That when she smiles
Whatever she holds from me,
In her heart
Is part of what’s shining out.


Exile - Love Line

Atrium
Ventricle
And all other associated parts
Spread out in front of me
In thin slices
On a platter of silver.
One by one,
I take each piece
Into my mouth
Letting each one settle
And melt across my tongue
Before moving on
To the next.
The textures vary
From piece to piece.
Some are buttery
And smooth like silk
As they dissipate.
Others require
Great gnashing
Of teeth and jaw
To process.
All in an effort
To bring together
These parts
One final time.
For when the stomach’s work
Is done
And they are all gone
There will be nothing left
But sleep
And dreams
Of the repast’s
More humble origins.


Blu - Amnesia

Bonus: Courtesy of Fresh Selects Blu coasts over the instrumental for "Love Line" and leaves me fiendin' for a follow up to Below The Heavens.

Blu vs. Exile - LoveLine(s),DedicatedToLastFe’vrier

Thursday Throwback: I'm Still Livin'

But apparently this blog isn't. Even with almost none of my fanbase (aka: People that know a friend of mine and got badgered into following) left, I'm gonna try and get this thing back on its feet. What better way to do it than highlight some dopeness from one of the people who made me start this thing in the first place. Jim Mahfood's one of my favorite artist and writers, so I was honored to meet him at Wondercon a few years back. We talked about music, since I was always a big fan of how he integrated it into his work, Hip Hop in particular. Just before I broke out, I told him I'd send him the info for a blog based on my old radio show as soon as I'd gotten my shit together and put it together. After I got about a week's worth of posts in the bank I dropped a line to him, and he hit me back with a thank you. I'm still not sure how much of this spot he's actually read, but after getting the notification that he'd joined my woefully neglected Twitter feed I couldn't help but have the same feeling I did that afternoon at the 'Con: Jim Mahfood's a cool motherfucker.

In honor of the aforementioned fothermucker, and seeing as how it's Thursday, I'm posting up one of Mahfood's mixtapes, liberated at his man Plex Lowery's blog. It's a dope mix of old-school Hip Hop and funk joints that is just right for chilling at the crib, or riding around with on a lazy afternoon.

Click here to read up on the tape and listen to the stream.

Edit: Here's a Mediafire link to the mix, and the tape cover. Food One Mix CD Vol. 1

Also, Jim, if you're reading this, thanks for the convo and the sketch. Really made my day.

Throwback Thursday - Funky Drummer Edition

In honor of James Brown being featured in this week's Rock Band DLC, I thought I'd pay tribute to one of his more notable contributions to Hip Hop, the Funky Drummer break. From the song of the same name, James and Clyde Stubblefield made so much music period possible (Depeche Mode, Sinead O'Connor and NIN have all used the break), but it'd be hard to imagine Hip Hop without those drums.


Run D.M.C. - Beats to the Rhyme


Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full


Beastie Boys - Shadrach


Public Enemy - Rebel Without A Pause (Live, with a great intro)


LL Cool J - Boomin' System

Bonus:

Steinski - The Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix)

Illogic's Diabolical Fun Dropping Next Week

Just in case you'd forgotten, here's another joint to remind you of Illogic's upcoming album Diabolical Fun, his fourth album, entirely produced by Ill Poetic.


Illogic - I Know You

Cop it from Weightless Recordings and get a separate CD of instrumentals from the album. Between this, Sign Language and the $7.99 price point for both, Weightless is holding you down with good music.

Music For a Monday (the late pass edition) - HerFavoriteColo(u)r.

Blu's a friggin' workhorse as far as dropping new material for the fans is concerned, but since he does it via his MySpace page I tend to miss it until it pops up on one of the more reputable Hip Hop blogs. Such was the case for his Valentine's Day drop this year, the entirely self-produced HerFavoriteColo(u)r.. Not really a mixtape, but not album, it's more like a mood music piece on love and relationships. It's a good 'un, and all the sudden makes me wanna hear him spit over Blueprint's production. Hmmm, maybe I should make a suggestion or two.

HerFavoriteColo(u)r from Blu

Bonus: Here's one of the songs he dropped last V-Day, "NeverAgain"

Since I'm Still Alive, Have Some New Music

I'm getting adjusted to the new gig, but the blog has suffered. Don't worry though, I'll never leave What's Good behind, and as proof I give you some new music. Brought to my attention by a Twitter post from Count Bass D, the title track from Abstract Rude's upcoming Rhymesayers album, Rejuvenation:


Abstract Rude - Rejuvenation

Look out for it in on May 5th, or pre-order it from Rhymesayers' official store Fifth Element for a reduced price.

Bonus: Since the album's entirely produced by Seattle's own Vitamin D, thought I'd hit you off with one of my favorite productions of his, "The Writz" off of Gift of Gab's Fourth Dimensional Rocketships Going Up

My Thoughts on Watchmen or What Kind of Fan Are You?

So Watchmen, if you're a fan of genre films is a definite must see. It is an ambitious piece of cinema that does not compromise what it wants to do for its entire running time. While it's not perfect, in terms of its recreation of the book there are some deviations, and there are flaws (the tone of the film jumps around a bit, and I still haven't decided if it worked for me) but it's a better viewing experience for it. It's one of the first, if not the first comic book adaptations that works because less because of slavish devotion to what's on the page (but to be clear, it's pretty damned tight to the page) and more because of another quality that it shares with the original book: it invites discussion. Within five minutes after leaving the theater, the friends I watched it with were already talking about the purpose behind the level of gore and the way the fight scenes were filmed (My take: Given the very adult themes examined, and the meta nature of the source material? All the exaggerated bits of violence are "grown-up" version of the campy onomatopoeia that was in the old Batman TV show, or in comics. It wasn't a cool way to show violence, but rather, an in film context way to remind the viewer that this is a comic book.). That barely cracks the surface of the sort of conversations we got into afterwards.

Now I said that this is a must see for genre film fans. I didn't say comic book fans, because there are two sorts of us. There's the fan that's excited at the prospect of comic book properties being treated with the respect they deserve. Then there's the sort that aren't happy with anything but complete carbon-copy translation, and even then they are prepared to hate it before they've seen one frame. In the weeks leading up to the film I heard plenty of comic book fans voice their displeasure with the film, from the fairly standard jabs at Zach Snyder's use of the speed-cranking slow-mo technique (which, while it shows up, is restrained and works for what it's there for) and the lack of a certain cephalopod. Then there was word from "fans" who had apparently gotten to see early screenings of the film, claiming that the principal cast couldn't act. Now that the movie is actually out I've heard plenty of intelligent discussion about it, both positive and negative, but there are still comic book fans who're bound and determined to hate on the flick just because it exists. These fans, even in the face of being able to discuss their fandom in an way that doesn't patronize or disrespect the material are unable to accept the idea of what is precious to them being delivered to people outside of their niche group.

Depending on what sort of comic book fan you are, you may not want to see Watchmen. As for myself, I'm glad that I saw it because even I didn't like it I would have had a lot to talk about. Regardless of where you fall in your opinion on the movie, you can't deny that a lot of care and thought went into it being made. If you're like me, I'm pretty sure you'll feel like that alone deserve at least a look. So, what kind of fan are you?