Thursday, July 25, 2019

Doin' It Well

It's been seven or eight months since we've heard from Whirlwind D, but he's back in 2019 with a new record, and like he tells us in his very first line, he's "still doin' it."  This is a single, released on 7" by his regular label, B-Line Recordings, and I think you could say it's a bit of a personal anthem.  The title is "Doin' It," but "Still Doin' It" might've been more fitting since it seems to specifically be about keeping thee enthusiasm and passion for the music over the years and challenges, "my knees getting battered, hairs out my nose and my hearing's all shattered, six pack's gone and complexion's all tattered, but the funk's still fresh and you have to admit Specifik, Djar One and D, we're still doin' it!"

If you're at all familiar with D, or my coverage of him, Specifik should be a very familiar name to you by now.  He's been a regular producer and DJ on D's projects who consistently does good work.  In fact, he runs B-Line Recordings.  But on this track, he's just doing the (essential) cuts.  The producer is that other guy, Djar One.  But you should recognize him, too.  He produced the lead track off of D's last EP, "Labels" (which Specifik also did the cuts on).   This is a much higher energy, hyper track, but it's just as much of a killer beat, and the cuts are a big part of its drive.  It's also got a sweet little breakdown; the perfect kind of instrumental for an anthem; you can definitely see why this song was picked to be a single.  Though you can see from just the few lyrics I cited, it runs a little deeper and more personal than just your average "I love Hip-Hop" theme.

And of course there's a B-side.  This one's also by Djar One and Specifik, but this time they switch roles, so Specifik's the producer and Djar One does the cuts.  And as you'd probably guess, this one's a bit slower.  It's called "Sometimes" and tackles online issues.  Now I have to say, usually I'm fairly put off by internet-themed rap songs, because it typically feels like a cheap novelty.  Like "hey, I made the first song about reddit!  The rhymes you wrote get a downvote while your mama gives me Karma."  Or worse, it'll be some kind of corny nerdcore flow over a Halo sample.  But this is a serious discussion:

"Centralized views peddlin' fake news
Shuttin' down all arguments by shoutin' abuse.
Confused by the profuse researchers who reduce
the internet searches to hunches and views.

The age of information, later greater integration,
Proliferation nation right back to segregation.
When will it stop?  When will we see the truth?
Am I just as bad, falling victim to abuse?

...
So what's the conclusion in all this confusion?
Intrusion of illusion leaves seclusion and delusion.
Excusin' the fact that I'm hit with so many views,
Where should I go for my daily fix of news?
I just want the truth, a healthy dose of debate.

Analysis paralysis some people who equate;
Freedom is a right to speak when not bullied.
Acceptin' the fact that I might never not fully
Understand other thoughts, whether bought or sold,

Despite middle-aged a fixed mindset folds.
Scold myself hard for not reading all the cards
As they fall to the table leaving other suits barred."


I like the way he eases in and out of dense, almost "New Rap Language" wordplay and more earnest, direct communication with the listener.  It syncs up perfectly with the funkier, but still rather bouncy track.  It's serious subject matter, but lightened up by the hook, which is an ever-changing collection of rubbed in vocal samples of classic rap lines containing the word "sometimes."  You could just as easily ignore the message and just play the game of trying to pick them all out.  Depending on your mood, you can engage with the song in completely different ways.

Anyway, as you can see above, this comes in a full color picture (and sticker) cover.  Again it's a 7".  I'm not sure if this single is leading up to another album per se (nothing's written on the back cover like "from the forthcoming..."), but knowing Whirlwind D, even if it is, at least one of the tracks here will remain an exclusive to this particular record.  So don't let this one pass you by.

Monday, July 15, 2019

Ladies HaveAComplicatedRelationshipWith Cool James

(Six female MCs issued four answer records to LL Cool J in 1987, and they each had a distinct point to make.  Youtube version is here.)

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Dig On That

Look out!  Werner's just been spotted writing out in the wild again!

Have you guys ever heard of Dig Mag?  I don't mean the corny lifestyle website that first pops up when you google "Dig Mag," I'm talking about a dope little magazine about crate digging and hard to find music, i.e. just the kind of stuff anybody looking at our humble site here would be into.  It's relatively new - they've got five issues out so far - and they get a lot of cool DJs and music writers to contribute tales of finding rare vinyl.  And, well, I'm in it.

They publish out of the UK but they get writers from all over, and they cover all genres of music.  You can imagine I don't have a lot of stories to share about obscure Salsa 45s, but they've just come out with their first "Dig Deeper" special issue, focusing exclusively on Hip-Hop, and appropriately enough, that's the issue they reached out to me for.  You can see all the contributors in the picture, including some familiar names to regular readers here... I mean, there's Oxygen, an artist I was just writing about a couple posts back!

Now, when I called this magazine "little," I mean that literally.  It's the exact size and shape of a CD. It's 32 full color pages (I think the average issue is 24, but the special's 32) and the layout is really slick.  See how it's like a record in a crate?  The crate is a plastic cover, and the issue slips out of it.  You'll see.  Anyway, I have a 2-page spread in this issue.

And obviously I'm not a big mp3 guy, but the other thing about Dig is that each issue also includes an online mix of all the music talked about in the issue.  Not all of it's super rare or anything, but for example, DJ Format included an unreleased MC Shy-D I was excited to hear for the first time.  And for my part, I won't spoil the exact record I cover, but I'll just say I had to figure out a way to rip a full quality, white label-only DITC-related track.  And no, it's not Ground Floor, but if you put together that guess, I'm proud of ya.  😎

Anyway, I think it's pretty cool, and not just because I'm in it.  They're also putting out their first 7" record, too... although I'm pretty sure the guy behind Dig has released records before under a different label name.  Anyway, I'd recommend starting with the Hip-Hop special, and then check out the rest if it's up your alley.  It's definitely more of a thing, I'd say, for serious enthusiasts than just casual music fans.  It's just coming out this week, plus you can get back issues and reprints of the first couple issues that've already sold out at digmag.co.uk.