Oh shit, keep this one on the hush. Unmixed, and unmastered this was supposed to drop back in July. But, the person who was doing that work didn’t wind up coming through. I was gonna scrap all this stuff and chalk it up to the game, but then I realized how foolish that would be, and a bit of encouragement from MyWhiteBoyPain was all it took. Forgot I rap in Spanish at the end of one of these. haha! Some of this stuff will turn up in a more carefully-executed state later on, but most of these songs kinda met their end with this record’s mishandling. Whatevs. I hope you enjoy Anotha Kinda Southern. And tell a friend, but don’t tell em too loud.
Here’s the fast rap track Werepie (as in werewolf pie):
I don’t ever stop being hard at work. THis record came about after I heard that the man I am named after passed away. He was a unique man to say the least. I came to know him from a young age and he had a huge impact on who I am. This record wasn’t about making an album from his perspective and telling his story, instead I just tried to imagine what he would do in all the moments of the quiet of a non-moving pen. I tried to write the things he might have advised me to write–if that makes sense.
HAHA! In the year 2000, if you would have asked me when I’d release my first proper rap album I don’t know what I would have said. I probably would have said something really coy, and shy, but it would certainly have been words that I spoke while imagining something that I didn’t share. And as it would seem, my secret imagination has come to fruition in a fashion that I’ve come to see as typical for myself. “Late”. I’m almost always early or on time to meetings/events (although I just had to push something back in order to tie this up) but in life I seem to hit milestones late. I didn’t get my growth spurt till I was 16. I didn’t get braces until I was 14. I was getting my braces put on as other kids were having theirs taken off. Kids around me were having sex at 13, I didn’t have sex until I was 18.
I don’t stop. I never started either, so I guess that’s not a very accurate description. Anyways, this is what it looks like right now:
Rara Aves (fromerly Rare Birds) should be out by the end of this month. Rare Birds was the first unofficial single. There are some videos being planned, and a proper release of the Rare Birds video/single (with an alternate cut of the video that is mostly dancing).
Anotha Kinda Southern is on hold indefinitely. It’s being mixed an mastered, one single has dropped (Flintstone Money), another one is ready to go (West Coast), a video for Flintstone Money is looming, and so is a video for West Coast. This record was originally gonna come out in July, but because unforeseen events—which, however, are welcomed and celebrated—it has to go on the backburner.
Smuggler Songs is the followup EP for Rara Aves. That will be out some time in October most likely. I think there might be some guest appearances on here. Cool ones too. I’m tracking vocals this week. This is the first time that I’ve ever made all the music, then written all the raps, then sat with the music for a while before recording. I’m excited for the way it’ll turn out. There will be videos and singles.
Sonic Masters is another EP that could likely turn into an LP. I started working on it 2 weeks ago. I have a few songs in varying states, one of which is finished.
I’m working on two tracks over some other folks’ tunes. No names till they’re finished, but the music is awesome, and I’m really psyched/honored that these guys wanted to let me rap on their stuff. Those are gonna come out as soon as possible.
And, finally, I’m working on an instrumental album called Interludes. Although that’s most likely just a working title. It’s gonna be short and shortish instrumental pieces where I’m trying to get back to some of my older methods. Probably won’t be using a grid at all in ableton. That means nothing to you unless you use audio recording software for programming, but it makes a big difference. I’m also mostly sampling for these. Using audio hijack and hitting youtube/internet for all the samples as I imagine them. Pretty rad what I can do with this this machine and an MPD controller. It’s really the fulfillment of what John Cage and Marshall McLuhan were talking about. My homie Nelson is gonna release this instrumental record, so that means there will probably be physical copies. (the track below was the impetus for this post)
Yeah, so that’s where I’m at momentarily. I’ll also be going through my archives. I have a lot of minidiscs of field recordings, and me playing instruments, and I just have a lot of recordings in general. So, I’m going to be going through them, and posting the relevant ones here.
Cool stuff coming. I’ve been #KeepOnIt for mad long, and I hope to continue to keep on sharing it with you. Earth is a wild ass spaceship.
And voila! Just like that a pile of stamps becomes a record cover. And just like that the name goes from Rare Birds to the Latin Rara Aves, meaning something that is not common. This one is dropping by the end of next month. I just confirmed some really good news for a special guest of sorts. They’re not appearing, more unappearing. I have someone really cool lined up to do the mastering is what I’m hinting at. So, hopefully you’re sitting tight till then!
This is the cover for the first single off of Anotha Kinda Southern. I’m so psyched. Chris sent me the ref mix last night, and he did an incredible job. To me, this is the most bumpin, bouncin, have a good time track on the album. It doesn’t have the typical summer jam appeal, but I think it makes for a great summer jam, which is why it’s the first single. It’ll be ready soon, and hopefully I’ll get a few cool remixes from homies. Anyways, for now, here’s the art.
When I did the Rare Birds video I sent it out to a bunch of folks. One of whom is an ex-girlfriend. Whom I’ve remained friendly with, often talked her through some tough times, and just been genuinely amicable to. She’s a difficult person. Self-destructive, and refuses to fix her situation, has the capacity for great talent but refuses to treat life with severity. So, anyways, she calls me up going on about how my raps are misogynistic. Now, she’s qualifying all of my music as such based on the line “If life’s a bitch I got that bitch on all fours/and she’ll be cleaning up my bathroom while I’m chilling next door.” If you ask me, that line is not at all misogynistic, but I don’t have a feminist agenda.If you ask me, that line inverts the typical metaphor in rap which is: life’s a bitch and I’m fuckin her. Well me, I don’t fuck with bitches. Bitches aren’t worth my time. I love women, and ladies. Thus, in refusing to fuck the bitch of life, and instead putting her to work cleaning up my bathroom, I offer a different take on priorities and common rap metaphors. Don’t fuck bitches, they don’t deserve your emotion.
I went to grad school, and I’ve spent a lot of time educating myself outside of school. I’m smart, in fact I’m very smart–no reason to not say it. Unlike a lot of other rappers, I am perfectly capable of defending my art against these kinds of overly-intellectualized attacks on hip hop that rely on reducing every rapper to the lowest common denominator. The funny thing is, this is just a girl who has lead a very sheltered life, who can’t relate to the real-world depictions of hip hop. That’s fine, no fault there. But there is a huge line being crossed when she begins to pass judgment, and speak on the value of an art form that she knows nothing about.Not to mention the fact that she was happy to type out the word n****r, and claim that what I am doing in my raps is tantamount to racism. Read the rest of this entry »
