There are two ways to write about things here – one as Mr. Internet Talks-About-Music disreputable IRL failure, and secondly as if we were sitting at the picnic table in my backyard as friends about to play dice. And there are two things to write about in regards to this song – the group that does the song (G-Side) as well as the process of screwing it and who does that (Babe Rainbow). So I will attempt to cover all four bases, because that is what I do, namely whatever feels like it would be not entirely unenjoyable to do at the moment.
G-Side, internet-speak: The Huntsville rap scene has gradually been making more and more noise over the past couple years, and really the sheer amount of at least decent music coming from Alabama steadily is pretty amazing. But they’ve lacked that big cultural hip hop landmark album thus far, and with the odd artsy pre-release hype, it felt like G-Side’s One… The Cohesive Album might be that milestone. But it came and went and the world wasn’t turned on its collective ear. It’s a great album – Block Beataz continue to sort of meld together genres into something that oddly enough feels like the most real hip hop sound going today. But the album wasn’t the brain-crusher I think I was hoping for, maybe even expecting. Still though, G-Side has become The Thing I Think Can Be Amazing from southern rap music. Previously, I have put David Banner, Devin the Dude, and Nappy Roots in this slot – artists who at some point if the conditions are right will make the most Raven-endorsed hybrid of country ass living and hip hop music that ever was dreamed of in my most delusional drug-dazed states. But Banner never did anything even remotely close to “Cadillac on 22s”, Devin the Dude has never not gotten high long enough to put together a string of concepts that go beyond the next reload of the Vaporizer, and Nappy Roots has consistently had a few good “hits” on every offering, but never actually knocked that grand slam. Maybe I’m hoping for something that just won’t happen. I mean hip hop is not a new music so it is not made by forward-thinking people so much anymore. It’s become a derivative of a derivative, and you have to wonder if we’ve already gotten up to basically Disco 2.0 form of hip hop, which was the tired sound that hip hop originally replaced in the days of “Rapper’s Delight” that it might be caving in on itself. But I will hope against hope that G-Side will do this, and they definitely have the tools and talents. And I know the world ain’t ready for them. So the landscape is in place. They just need to whip up that creative tornado at some point. Until then, I guess the Fear & Loathing in Hunts Vegas mixtape will have to do as Alabama’s landmark musical offering.
G-Side, picnic table talk: There’s this crazy amount of country assed rap coming out of Alabama that’s pretty fucking good but nobody’s ever heard of none of these guys. G-Side is like the best of that, because they’re country as fuck, yet all spacey and full of Universal Magnetics. They’re fucking awesome.
(Interesting to note how internet analysis is that they’ve not yet reached their potential, thus shining a negative light on them, but picnic table talk props them up as the best from their little corner of the world. I did that by accident, but I think that sums up the difference between internet and real life. And fuck man, don’t even remind me how internet IS now real life for most people. Fuck.)
Screwed, internet-speak: Babe Rainbow is the dude who screwed this, and he’s had some pretty good SoundCloud mixes in the past year. I guess he’s some up-and-comer who also produces music, and judging by his body of remix work, I would guess he’s either a white guy from a larger college town east of the Missippi and north of the Mason-Dixon line, like Louisville, KY, or Springfield, MA, or somewhere like that. Or, if not such a white guy, he’s probably a black guy from Canada. But he’s been doing things that I enjoy, though I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard one of his original compositions yet. Screwing and chopping music is something that’s so lost, even with it’s popularity. The thing that’s overlooked a lot in regards to DJ Screw is that he was a solid DJ with a DJ’s ears. Screwing music, contrary to popular belief, is not as simple as slowing shit down. And shit man, mixing in chopping, I can’t even begin to try to explain that, because it’s beyond me musically. It sucks that Michael “5000” Watts has installed himself as the heir apparent to Screw’s throne, because his style has never really gotten it done for me. I always preferred OG Ron C’s more actual chopped up (not slopped up) style. In fact, I am going to stifle myself from going too far on and on about screwed music because I’ve wanted to speak upon that (orale!) at the good news/bad dope blog (see the sidebar) that’s wheezing on life support right now.
Screwed, picnic table talk: I love screwed music. I wouldn’t eat a grape if it wasn’t screwed and chopped first. A lot of people don’t like it, but you know what? Fuck a lot of people.
STEAL “Paradise”
NEXT UP: Going back to the motherland, in our magic lavender dress shirts!
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