New music animosity is nothing new

I was recently tuned in to this interesting YouTube video made by Rolling Stone Italy bemoaning Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and promoting rock 'n' roll.



What the video falls to realize however, is that rock 'n' roll wasn't America's first "rebel" music. Not even close. That would be jazz. Check out these quotes from a 2000 PBS article on a then-upcoming Jazz broadcast.

When the new sound of jazz first spread across America in the early twentieth-century, it left delight and controversy in its wake. The more popular it became, the more the liberating and sensuous music was criticized by everyone and everything from carmaker Henry Ford to publications like the Ladies Home Journal and The New York Times. Yet jazz survived.

And ...

Jazz was different because it broke the rules -- musical and social. It featured improvisation over traditional structure, performer over composer, and black American experience over conventional white sensibilities.

Perhaps what we are seeing with EDM - especially if it grows into the mainstream - is the opposite of jazz. Not so much in race, as EDM is more white than black, or in structure - as EDM can be very much improv - but in the performer versus composer battle. EDM is more about the composition than the performance. Sure, some concerts have lights and smoke and other gimmicks, but the eyes are not on the performer as much as the environment. While Jazz turned the bandleader into the center of attention, who stared at Mozart while the orchestra was playing? Interestingly, I recently saw this Disney cartoon from 1935 depicting a contemporary for the time Jazz vs Classical battle. While the Simpsons recently re-made it, I wonder how it would go if remade by Rolling Stone Italy.

 

Method Man and Redman in Tampa, November 2013

I’ve been a Redman and Method Man fan for years. I remember seeing Redman’s “Time 4 Som Aksion” video on Yo! MTV Raps back when the show was relevant and thinking “what in the world did I just see?”. It had the hoodies, the alley shots, the posse posing, and the background of many ‘90s hip-hop videos, but there was something mentally unstable about it. A little bit later, I saw the Wu-Tang Clan on Yo! MTV Raps and the video debut of the song “Method Man”. Although I liked the rest of the Clan, I loved Method Man’s word play.

That was 1992 and 1993. In 1995, the two artists collaborated on the “How High” track for The Show soundtrack. I remember the first time I heard that song as well. That single began a sporadic yet profitable pairing that saw the two rappers do two collaborative albums, a movie, a short-lived sitcom, and even a deodorant commercial.

Yet despite their other ventures, they remained two of the best MCs in hip-hop.

Sorta.

Like most rap fans who grew up in the 1990s, I think the material of that era is overall better than material produced since. That is definitely true with Method Man and Redman’s output. While Method Man’s 2006 album had some great moments, Redman hasn’t put out a solid album since Doc’s Da Name 2000 in 2000. And while their first collaborative Blackout! was a classic, Blackout 2! was lacking as I mentioned in my review.

Despite my trepidation of their newer material, when I saw Redman and Method Man were coming to Tampa, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to finally see two of my favorite lyricists. While it wasn’t the first time I saw Method Man, having seen him with the Wu-Tang Clan in 2008 (review here), it would be my first time seeing Redman.

The concert was held at the outdoor patio of Ybor City’s Cuban Club. The concrete-walled area was big enough for probably 1,500 people maximum and on a perfect fall Florida night, it was a good place to see a show. When I entered, however, I realized that although the stage at the Cuban Club is high enough, it is quite small. The benefit of a small stage is at least there wouldn’t be 500 people crowded on stage as there are at some hip-hop shows I’ve been to.

(I’ll never understand that, by the way.)

While the stone stage sat in the middle of the large area, off to the far side of the entrance, against the back wall stood a small tent and two small speaker stacks spaced roughly ten feet apart. Between these two speaker stacks was a band playing at eye level to the small fraction of the audience that wandered past the main stage to the far side of the venue.

Despite their less than accommodating set-up, the bands that played were good. They had funk, they had groove, they had a little bit of hip-hop, and they had energy. They should have been on the stage.

On the stage instead was a DJ stand with a 95.7 The Beat banner. While this was obviously where Redman and Method Man were due to perform, I had no idea why 95.7 The Beat needed the room so long before the show.

Then I saw perhaps one the dumbest things I have seen in my years of going to concerts. One of the DJs started playing old school ‘90s hip-hop 100 feet away from the band while the band was playing. Let me repeat: WHILE THE BAND WAS PLAYING. The superior sound of the main stage completely drowned out the small speaker stacks of the band, leaving them only entertaining the small gaggle in front of them. For those audience members between the conflicting performers, it made for a very confusing show.

I am not sure who to blame. Was it the fault of the bands? Did they play too long? Was it the fault of the DJs? Did they start playing their playlists without consulting the bands? They had to have noticed there were bands playing. Both they, and a southern rap crunk group that took the stage to perform a few “get money” songs, completely disrespected the live music openers.

Maybe the conflicting cacophony was the fault of poor management who could have easily stopped the conflicting noise and not let it happen for over an hour.

Eventually, knowing they were out-equipped and outnumbered, the bands finally gave up. I felt bad for them. Even if the crowd wasn’t digging them, they were given the short end of the stick by DJs who should have known better. DJs who should have understood the opening bands role in the show and had more respect before they began spinning songs most of the audience had heard 20 years before.

With the bands finally gone, the DJs had the patio all to themselves. Although they took the stage in less than ideal circumstances, the DJs – led by DJ Sandman and the legendary Charlie Chase of the Cold Crush Brothers – did a great job. With the help of a surprise appearance by Mobb Deep sideman Big Noyd, they kept the crowd excited.

Unfortunately, the DJs and Big Noyd had to keep the crowd hyped for longer than expected. As is almost expected in hip-hop shows, the main act was not on time. Apparently, the flight carrying Redman and Method Man to Tampa was delayed. As much as I want to believe this, it boggles my mind why every hip-hop act is delayed in air travel. Either hip-hop performers have the worst luck or there is a national conspiracy devised by The Man to hinder the travel plans of everyone involved in the biggest minority-performed style of music in the United States. All I know is if I was about to board a plane and I saw a prominent MC or DJ boarding, I wouldn’t expect to be on time.

Finally, at near 11:30 at night, a half-hour before the show was scheduled to end, Method Man and Redman arrived. Shortly thereafter the crowd was assured the show would not end at midnight (as the Wu-Tang show I went to did), and that the crowd would get a full performance.

To the loud cheers of the hundreds of people who patiently waited (including Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price and former WWE wrestler Percy Jackson), Redman and Method Man took the stage. As Method Man said after their second song, the duo's focus was “good weed, good lyrics, and energy”. While I can’t attest for the marijuana part, although the smoke was in the air, they definitely had the latter two in abundance. Especially energy. The two 40-something rappers bounced and danced around the stage throughout the night, constantly moving. And only once did I question whether or not they were actually saying their own lyrics or if the words came from the tracks the DJ was playing.

(Note: I am not sure how long this is has been a thing, but no concert trend is worse than rappers playing hip-hop karaoke with their own recorded vocals. DJs should have instrumentals of tracks, never versions with words. Imagine if a rock band did that. It’s incredibly lazy and cheats the paying customers.)

As for what Redman and Method Man performed, they did several songs from their Blackout albums:

Y.O.U; Da Rockwilder (Blackout!); A-Yo, City Lights, I Know Sumptn (Blackout 2!)

One song from the “How High” Soundtrack: Pt. 2

Their verses from LL Cool J's 4, 3, 2, 1 and Wu-Tang Clan's Do Ya Really (Thang Thang)

A few solo songs from Method Man: Bring Tha Pain, Method Man, All I Need (Tical); Fall Out (4:21: The Day After)

A few solo songs from Redman: Time 4 Sum Aktion (Whut, Thee Album?), Tonight's Da Night, I'll Be Dat, Enjoy Ride

The shortened radio version of “How High” (notable due to the absence of the last two verses – Method Man’s verse about rap critics and Redman’s verse referencing Biggie Smalls)

They also did a short tribute to deceased Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard, playing a few of his songs and rhyming along with them. (By the way, the only acceptable time DJs should play songs with lyrics.) And they teased the possible release of Blackout 3! and How High 2.

On stage for some of the show was Wu-Tang affiliate Streetlife, who performed a few of his verses on Method Man’s songs and did a song of his own and a person introduced as Redman’s cousin also dropped a verse while the headliners took a short break.

For their final performance, Redman and Method Man covered Sugar Hill’s legendary hip-hop classic “Rapper’s Delight”, which Redman once covered with Erick Sermon and Keith Murray on the Def Squad El Nino album.

While the songs were over, the show wasn’t. For the next 10 minutes or so, Redman and Method Man took turns stage diving, culminating with Redman climbing 10 feet or so up the highest speaker and leaping in the crowd. Oddly, I haven’t seen crowd surfing and stage diving in a long, long time. Good to see.

When it was all finished at nearly 1:30 in the morning, Redman looked at the crowd and announced that he wasn’t tired. In a moment of honesty, Method Man looked at his cohort and mouthed “I am”.

They weren’t 20-somethings on the top of the hip-hop world anymore, but for one night in Ybor City, Redman and Method Man showed they’ve never came down from their high.

Overall, despite the debacle with the opening acts, Redman and Method Man were definitely worth the price of admission and the lengthy delay.

Weekly Book Update #9

I have been working on my first book over the past year. My goal is to have this book published. Not self-published, but actually published by a publisher. I've self-published before and I might do so again, but I want to test the waters in the publishing industry. I want to put the name of a publisher on my resume.

With that in mind, I've decided to make every Friday "Book Update Day". Every Friday I give an update as to where I am in the writing/editing/publishing process - at least as far as I can say.

Book Status:

Based on the suggestions of my mother - who read the first 10 pages - I re-wrote the first 10 pages. Again. Although I passed the book to a few people, the opening two chapters were a little herky-jerky for me. But I thought it might have been just me. But my mother confirmed my initial thoughts were correct. So I went back to the drawing board on Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.

Now what was Chapters 1 & 2 is now Chapters 1, 2, and 3 and everything following is higher in sequence. I am happier with the flow.

Yesterday, as I wandered around Tampa pondering how to fix my first few chapters, I stopped by the University of South Florida writing center. I scheduled an appointment, so we'll see if they help and how much. I also found out about Tampa Writers Alliance constructive criticism meetings. I might just stop by those as well. Maybe they will help and perhaps I can help another local writer in turn.

Interesting links of the week:

Here are a few links that have inspired me this week:

First, here is a really great post on baseball blogging by a former Mets writer who walked away. He claims writing about the team became too much of a job and he missed being a fan. I can totally relate, although I wasn't near the regular writer he was. Anyway, its a really good read, so please check it out.

The Misadventures of a Baseball Blogger - Narratively

On the flip side of the same coin, here is a post by Pittsburgh writer Dejan Kovacevic on how to survive writing sports for a living. He says to never be a fan and never let your affiliations blind your story. Writers write about anything. I loved these quotes:

The job is about journalism, not about being pals with your favorite teams or athletes. The passion has to be for journalism, for reporting and writing and editing and taking pics and page-designing or whatever your specialty.

Later on in the article:

If you want to blog into adulthood about what you know or think about sports, better make sure you’ve got a separate way to actually make money.

My final favorite quote:

Learn to write. It’s a learned craft, not an inherent one. No one is born a good or great writer. It’s up to you to read and to practice as much as possible.

Writers write.

Want to be sports writer? Forget sports. - Morning Java

What if The Beatles never happened?

While perusing Amazon.com to see if The Beatles' CD box set I bought in Afghanistan was in fact the bootleg version (of course it was), I found this interesting discussion:

Supposing The Beatles never happened?

Initial post: Apr 18, 2008 8:02:06 PM PDT

The year is 1963. The first major blast of authentic Rock'Roll (Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Buddy Holly) has come and gone. Pretty boy-schlock pop dominates for a while as do the girl groups. The Phil Spector "sound" is particularly popular, Mowtown is in the midst of breaking big and, for "group" sounds, America has the surf sound of The Beach Boys, the whatever sound of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Jay and The Americans, Dion and the Belmonts and a LOT of movie soundtracks selling like crazy...and here we be, nothing much else, newer or fresher anywhere to be hinted at (something about a beat group having a local hit in England called My Bonnie but they never got that elusive record contract-broke up or something)..so where "did" the road of popular music go from here?

The whole conversation is worth checking out. Some of the best answers get downright deeply social:

Actually Debbie, your post does raise a question much more sociological and I'd argue that, in their way, the Beatles did a lot to push back the civil rights movement, a sentiment that was first posed by R&B artists like Ben E. King in the BBC's Rock n Roll documentary. There was a feeling, before the Beatles came, that things were going to change, that there was a breakthrough about to happen, and when the British invasion groups came in, those artists were pushed aside for the "prettier" white artists. You see bands like the Moody Blues topping the charts with "Go Now" instead of the original version. Maybe from a "What If?" standpoint, we might have gone in a better direction as a society. There'd be no need for "Imagine," or even later more militant songs from within the African-American community like Sly Stone's "Don't Call Me Whitey, N*****." This was actually a really great post. Don't let people tell you differently.

I think no Beatles means the American music scene would never have been overtaken by the British Invasion. Which means American music would have stayed more based out of Memphis, Detroit, and Chicago. It wouldn't have been American musicians feeding off British musicians influenced by American musicians. American music would be more directly influenced by the blues or jazz or maybe even bluegrass and not British pop. And that would mean probably more call-and-response songs than verse-chorus-verse songs.

Which means probably no Nirvana, which is heavily verse-chorus-verse. So much so, in fact, that Kurt Cobain named a song after the format.

Also, I am no Elvis expert, but I think without The Beatles, Elvis maybe never falls off. Maybe the counter-culture pushes him aside with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, etc, but what does the counter-culture sound like without the drugged-up experimenting later years version of The Beatles?

Ipso facto, there would be no Pulp Fiction bonus scene and no theory that people could be Beatles People or Elvis People, not both.

The domino effect of a world with no Beatles would also be profound in heavy metal, as the Amazon discussion touches on. First, there would be no Black Sabbath, which means the entire spectrum of heavy metal would look different. No Black Sabbath means no Ozzy, which robs the world of one of music's most interesting personalities.

Maybe the members of The Beatles arrive on the music scene later, maybe they never get bigger than Britain. Maybe they end up in pub bands. Which would mean no "Imagine", no Wings, no popular cover version of "I Got My Mind Set On You", and no whatever it was Ringo did outside of The Beatles.

Wasn't he on The Simpsons once?

(Pic from AlbumTacos.Tumblr.com)

Weekly Book Update #8

I have been working on my first book over the past year. My goal is to have this book published. Not self-published, but actually published by a publisher. I've self-published before and I might do so again, but I want to test the waters in the publishing industry. I want to put the name of a publisher on my resume.

With that in mind, I've decided to make every Friday "Book Update Day". Every Friday I give an update as to where I am in the writing/editing/publishing process - at least as far as I can say.

Book Status:

I finished re-writing the second chapter. I've sent the rough draft to a few friends. Although I was busy with school during the week, hopefully they took some time to read it and hopefully I get feedback soon. Then the goal is to look for sports fiction publishers, then of course, prepare a proposal.

Interesting links of the week:

Here are a few links that have inspired me this week:

First, a paragraph from AdviceToWriters.com

Creativity is paradoxical. To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing as information incubates, must create many ideas yet most of them are useless, must look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different, must desire success but embrace failure, must be persistent but not stubborn, and must listen to experts but know how to disregard them. - MICHAEL MICHALKO

Second, I've mentioned Jessie Rosen of 20-Nothings before. I really dig her blog. In one of her latest posts, she discusses how her and her fiancee are hoping to buy a church in the small upstate NY town of Hudson and turn the empty church into a theater for the arts. Such an awesome idea. Of course, we shall see how well they can do it being from LA.

My Fiancee and I Are Buying an Abandoned Church - Part 1 (20-Nothings)

Rescuing AfroSquad dot com from The MAN

For those who have been following the last few years, every so often I mention the AfroSquad, the funky forebearers of  fro-wearing fun. Legend has it the AfroSquad was two guys, one in Michigan and the other in Texas doing similar videos and posting them in the days before YouTube.

Sometime in the early 2000s, the AfroSquad was forced underground and someone forgot to pay the website bill. The name afrosquad.com expired, the afrosquad.com name was claimed, and the AfroSquad moved to afro-squad.com, where you can still find some funny stuff. However, after a little web perusing I found the name afrosquad.com is for sale. I thought maybe I had a chance to reclaim the name and bring it back to the old school 'cause I'm an old fool who's so cool. And after I got done singing "Whomp, There It Is", I would bring some funkiness back to the domain that started it all. So I sent an email to the company responsible for the negotiation of afrosquad.com. I told them I was interested and asked how much the owner was willing to sell it for. I had a price in mind and was willing to cough up a few hundred dollars, tops. A few days later, I received an email response (abbreviated due to confidentiality):

Hello Michael, I am the Domain Broker who represents afrosquad.com. This domain name has been previously quoted at $28,000.00 USD. If you would like to make an offer we'd be happy to present it on your behalf and see what the owner says. Thanks very much for your interest.

That's right. $28,000 dollars. As much as nice car or a legit down payment on a house. Now I don't know how much website ads make. I don't anyone who clicks ads, although I have heard advertising on the web is a way to make money. But $28,000? That's a lot of cash. I wrote the company back and offered $250. Like I said, I was willing to throw down a little bit. Not a lot, but a little bit. Considering I have never bought a website name for more than $12, I thought $250 was rather reasonable. Especially for a site with nothing on it. Crazy, right? Then I received this response to my counter-offer:

Hi Michael The domain owner appreciates your feedback but respectfully declines your offer. All the best to you and your venture.

The domain broker also informed me the seller was willing to go as low as 20% off the $28,000 price. Well, that is still over $20,000 for a website name. So The MAN continues to hold AfroSquad.com hostage.

Weekly Book Update #7

I have been working on my first book over the past year. My goal is to have this book published. Not self-published, but actually published by a publisher. I've self-published before and I might do so again, but I want to test the waters in the publishing industry. I want to put the name of a publisher on my resume.

With that in mind, I've decided to make every Friday "Book Update Day". Every Friday I will give an update as to where I am in the writing/editing/publishing process - at least as far as I can say.

(And I missed another Book Update last week. This is almost turning into a bi-weekly update. But once I give in to bi-weekly, then it is a slippery slope to yearly.)

Book Status:

I finished re-writing the second chapter. Yesterday I added some much needed text to the story to get it off and rolling into the main plot. I am really excited now, because I think I am in the ballpark to being done. And I think it reads well now. Everything flows nicely, at least I think so.

The goal now is to maybe give the story another once over and meanwhile look for sports fiction publishers, then of course, prepare a proposal. I am also open to sending a polished draft a select group of friends, colleagues, or other writer folk.

Interesting links of the week:

Here are a few links that have inspired me this week:

This week is Timothy Leary Week. According to Wired.com, the New York Public Library acquired a mass amount of the famed psychologist/drug advocate's personal library. This week, the NY Public Library made the collection public opening the archives to researchers, historians, and other curious individuals.

I've mentioned before how big of a fan I am of writer Aldous Huxley. Huxley was influenced a lot by Leary's studies, especially in regards to thoughts of reaching higher consciousness through psychedelic drugs. Huxley then influenced Jim Morrison, who named his band "The Doors" after Huxley's Doors of Perception book. I got into The Doors years ago and worked my way backwards to Leary.

Here are two recent articles on Leary from Wired.com:

Timothy Leary’s Transformation From Scientist to Psychedelic Celebrity - Wired.com

This article explores Leary's migration from Harvard professor to drug advocate. While some discouraged his work, others praised it. The article takes a fair look at whether both the criticism or the adulation was warranted while adding a good amount of history to the context.

Turn On, Boot Up, and Jack In With Timothy Leary’s Long-Lost Videogames - Wired.com

In this article, Wired.com looks at Leary's later years and his experimentation with computer games. According to the article, Leary saw potential in the networking aspect of computer programs years before the Internet emerged as a force. Leary helped create computer games and models that helped expand the mind, using the computer systems as he did drugs years earlier.

Last but definitely not least, here is a link to the Timothy Leary Online Archives. It has been a big week for them. Tons of great stuff on this site from pictures to letters to links to other material.

Obama loves Pokemon

The federal government shutdown is causing a lot of pain for many. For others, it is the source of conflict and dispute. For enemies of the state, it is creating opportunity. For most, it is the source of frustration.

For the creative-minded geniuses at FilmCow, it is an opportunity to create a hilarious South Park-like animated short bringing to light President Obama's love of Pokemon cards. To be honest, I didn't think Pokemon cards were still a thing.

A Comedy Improv Campaign

One of the more interesting classes I've been taking during my first semester back in school is Improv for Business Organizations. This class is a creative thinking class designed to get people out of their perfunctory little boxes and encourage them to think creatively in the workplace. The class is big on the exchange of ideas and never saying "no" and is based on the skill sets of comedy improv.

Having done a smattering of comedy over the last few years, I've taken to this class like a fish to coffee. I've always been the creative sort (as you may or may not be able to tell), and the class has given me justification and even a bit of reaffirmation that through the years I've been doing something right. It also reaffirms my idea that I would at some point in time like to take an improv class at one of the major improv schools in either LA, New York, or Chicago. Perhaps I can also one day turn my creativity into a teaching gig. That would be cool.

Anywhoozle, the other day friend of the site and fellow Tampa writer Clark Brooks linked to an interesting fundraising campaign on his website - which I have written for three times (shameless plug). This campaign, entitled, Comedy Improv Can Save the World, is a film project by comedian Jacqueline Kabat in which she plans to film a documentary of her traveling to three places across America and putting on comedy improv clinics. Her students in these classes are vastly different sectors of America: returning PTSD war veterans in California, Chicago inner city youth, and New York Wall Street investors. And she is filming the whole thing.



I think her cause is fascinating. Especially the veterans part. Perhaps there is something else I could do one day. I know the military and a little bit of where those guys have been. While Jacqueline is working with veterans in California, I wonder if anyone is using improv techniques to work with veterans in Florida. But I digress.

In order to get her project going, Jacqueline Kabat is looking for help. $10, 25, 500 dollars, it doesn't matter. But you get stuff the more you donate.

So if you can, lend a hand. Because that would be cool.

Weekly Book Update #6

I have been working on my first book over the past year. My goal is to have this book published. Not self-published, but actually published by a publisher. I've self-published before and I might do so again, but I want to test the waters in the publishing industry. I want to put the name of a publisher on my resume.

With that in mind, I've decided to make every Friday "Book Update Day". Every Friday I will give an update as to where I am in the writing/editing/publishing process - at least as far as I can say.

(And I missed my first Book Update week last week. Oops. I was getting good at this.)

Book Status:

I finished re-writing the first chapter. Yesterday I merged the several paragraphs of background on the characters into the second chapter. I still need to smooth it out and bring it back into the story.

That's one of the things about writing a long story. It sometimes feel like I am knitting a giant sweater. All the tangents have to be part of the story. No strings can be left hanging. Especially if they are in the middle of the chapter. Sections can't be disjointed.

The goal now is to finish this second chapter, then maybe give the story another once over, then send the polished draft to a select group of friends. Once I get back some feedback, then it is on to contact publishers.

Interesting links of the week:

Here are a few links that have inspired me this week:

Washington's Comedians are Taking a Do-It-Yourself Approach - WashingtonPost.com

This article explored the Washington DC stand-up comedy scene. It talked about comics finding hole-in-the-wall bars and putting on their own shows, some of which have gained significant followings. Among the factors I've thought about if I were to ever move to DC is the comedy scene. There have been some great big-name comics from there, and great to see the lower ranks holding their own as well.

Where Parody Ends and Politics Begins - GlobalVoices.com

An interesting look at comics and parody parties that become serious for change and run for political office across the world. There is truth in humor and sometimes that truth gains enough of a following to be popular.

Worst I Ever Bombed: Patton Oswalt - Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

This Youtube clip from Late Night With Jimmy Fallon has comedian Patton Oswalt describing his worst-ever comedic performance. While funny, his bombing isn't really a bombing, more like a lack-of-trying. It could be worse, he could have bombed in Afghanistan.

I just noticed all of today's links started with the letter "W". So today's post is brought to you by the number 6 and the letter W.