I just picked up the new Roots CD the other day, Rising Down, and let me say, after a few listen throughs, I like it a lot.
The Roots are an amazing hip-hop group and have been for a long time. They’ve grown on me more and more as I listen to all the bullshit rap out on the radio and the stuff that comes out today.
Here’s the first single and video “Rising Up,” off of the new LP. This song gets me pretty hype and in a good mood. Hope you enjoy it…
Alright kiddies, this is the second single from the new Gnarls album, The Odd Couple.
The video is (obviously) done by ?uest Love of The Roots.
Apparently, ?uest was so moved by the song, he “begged and begged and begged Sir Mouse could he leak it first on the net.”
Here is a message from him about the posting of the video…
“Most idiots will probably be on some, ‘scoff…this aint no CRAZY‘–well you dumb ass parrots–this to me digs deeper. And what an apt title.The Odd Couple: a very dense dark atmospheric moody templet just dramatic enough for the last great living and WORKING soul singer under 40 and the most creative and intuitive producer maniac music has seen in a sec.
“Thanks fellas for giving me the honor.”
Note on the video according to YouTube:“Thelma Schoonmaker did the editing after 9 shots of Patron.”
When this A7X album came out, I knew it was going to be different from their other stuff.
After the first few listens I realized that it was different, particularly when I heard this song.
I didn’t like it at first for the simple fact of it being almost too different. But, the song and album have grown on me a tremendous amount. “A Little Piece of Heaven” is now one of my favorites from the self-tittled album.
By the way, MTV.com still has the entire A7X album available for a free listen on The Leak. Check it out here.
The subject matter of the song is a little crazy, perhaps a little disturbing to some…you know if you’ve heard the entire song or read the lyrics. I really enjoy the storytelling element, it’s one of my favorite things about music.
This video looks sweet. I really enjoy animated music videos…there’s just something cool about them.
UPDATE: This is the official posting of the video via A7X’s YouTube channel. I must say, this is one of the coolest videos I’ve seen in a long time…
It is far from all of the mindless ringtone rap out now.
The main thing I like is the message he is sending. And while people who don’t like or listen to hip-hop might not understand, I think it’s pretty clear as to what he is trying to say:
Are you gonna blame rap music for everything?
“It sets the tone for what my record is about,” Cube noted of the song. “It also sets the tone for … I think people have been waiting for rap to be relevant to their lives [again]. Not just to be all about one man’s glory, or whoever’s on the mic bragging about what most of the people can’t buy. It comes to the point where the music used to be the voice of the voiceless, and I wanna take it back to [that]. My album, Raw Footage, I don’t expect no commercial success from this record, and I’m not looking for it. I’m looking for the mature, intelligent, hardcore hip-hop fan to be pleased, satisfied and cherish the record. By being independent on Lench Mob records, I don’t have to worry about pleasing some program director or some record exec or anybody like that. Just please the fans, people who love Ice Cube. People who love it raw.”
Here’s a music video by one of my new favorite hip-hop groups, The Cool Kids. They’re coming out of Chicago with their retro-style raps, just in time to spice up the rap game from the mindless pop-rap you hear on the radio today. The Cool Kids are legit.Perhaps you’ve already heard of them or seen them on TV (i.e. the new Rhapsody commercial). If not, keep an eye out for them in ‘08…they’re about to blow up.
Shout out to my boy Chuck Inglish!
(He’s the first guy who raps, in case you didn’t know)
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