"Jam On It" - Whodini

Hello All,

Hope you all had a good weekend. Please join me in welcoming Zac to our group (is that how you spell it). You guys have no idea how my eyes light up when I find out someone’s into hip hop.

Well, I haven’t really heard anything worth sending in a while. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of good shit coming out, but really, it’s just me wanting to think it’s funkdonkalous when it’s really just funkdoobiest.

It seems, to me, that all this underground shit is mad oversaturated. When I dig deep, I want to uncover an amazing vernal pool of sorts. That’s underground. But I’m digging and all I find is really just raging waters, high in volume but also high in dookie. It seems like underground either tries too hard to dial up: (anti)war, consciousness, or just that live band sound.

I really don’t think there’s a formula to it but people think that if they were to mimic other people, they’ll falter. Or they’ll do fine and then eventually people will call their bluff and they’ll lose credibility. For real, we know the war in Iraq sucks. We know it’s Bush’s fault. But if you can’t fucking flip it to the point where it’s something fresh and new then I’m really not trying to hear you. It’s like someone coming up with the law of gravity and then Newton’s homie saying, “For real, dough.” Same applies to those acts that try to emulate the Roots too much.

You know what I say? I say come up with your own, organically grown sound and let the rest decide. Don’t just be like, “Yo. That Wu Tang shit is dope, I’m going to buy a fucking encyclopedia set and like learn about phylums and classes and chemistry and just rhyme them like a 7 layer burrito rhyme.” Just do your thing and let yourself get influenced; but do your own thing.

Last night, I was thinking of listening to some classical/baroque music (just thinking, not doing, because I want to hear that shit on vinyl..soft crackling sound and all) and I thought to myself what I am now starting to think about hip hop music. Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and all them cats are the best and will always be heralded as the greatest. There WILL be another Michael Jordan, but there will never be another Beethoven. But that’s is NOT to say that good classical music hasn’t been done since then. It has.

And fuck me, I really thought that good hip hop music transcended culture and eras and phases. Like, shit’s crazy insane now, the tools and resources are infinite. White folks from Minnesota and Rhode Island are tearing it up, DJs have Serrato, producers have all these technological advancements, but the music is WELL DONE. I am starting to think that HIP HOP isn’t timeless. I really want to organize my thoughts and commit them by writing them out, but I’m still trying to deny the death of a culture that is still very much alive to me. It’s like being with a girlfriend that you love, but then she just lets herself go, doesn’t do her make up and then takes shits with the door open. I just want to talk to Kweli, Mos Def, Common, the entire WEST COAST, Outkast, them Saukrates/Choclair/K-OS cats from up north and be like,

“For real, I know you’re just going to the grocery store, but change out of your fucking pajamas. Make yourself presentable.” (For added effect, you can end that last sentence with “stank ass bitch.”)

I want that shit RAW, seared at most. This is an example of what HIP HOP should be. You hear it and you get a visceral, emotional response, you know what I’m saying? I heard this song when I was like 7-8 years old so all I can remember is trying to breakdance with the cholos in my neighborhood when I was a kid.

How about you guys? This is a monumental song. Let us know if anything comes to mind.

Peace,

Sonnyred

http://www.box.net/shared/mx2yt84lrs