Flowers for the Garden: Distant Relatives

Damian Marley and Nas are said to be working on a collaborative cd, to be released in March 2010. the working title is "Distant Relatives," and the proposed cover art is shown here. funny how people always refer to these efforts as "best of both worlds" projects after Jay-Z did a collabo with Robert-that's-not-me-on-the-tape-Kelly. it's as if they don't remember this. okay...it's not really the same thing. i just like any excuse to mention the Bee Gees.

moving along...i'm not a Nas fan. i'm still holding "Oochie Wally" against him. i'm a music snob who holds grudges. i am, however, a Damian Marley fan. he's my brother in my head. so we'll see.

what say you?

UPDATE: check out this trailer that D. Shanks posted in the comments below. he's the greatest.

"I Wonder" Wednesday: Cosby Does Hip-Hop

i don't even know where to begin.  bill cosby has put together a hip-hop album.  i use the term "hip-hop" because the review does.  and based on the review alone, i'll probably never find the occasion to listen to it.

i'm sure he means well.  but i think this approach is flawed.  partly because i think it reads as "i have issue with your medium, so i'm going to use your medium to prove my point," which might have been clever if done well.  but it doesn't appear to have been.

but alas, i'm basing all of this on conjecture and one review.  which i would normally not do.  but i was skeptical from the moment i read the words "bill cosby's new rap album."  in honor of thumper's rule, "at least he's not rapping..."

i wonder...what's your take?

Thursday Throwback: Me, Myself, & I

in a week full of reminiscing about p-funk, my childhood, and the intersection between, i give you de la soul:

Brother Story: Leftfield

Leftfield's American in Paris is one of the best CDs of 2009.  if you haven't heard it, i'll be sure to hook you up by the end of this post.  if you're nice.

the atlanta-based hip-hop duo was born in greenville, south carolina  and blends their southern roots masterfully with influences from across the nation and around the world, "because someone out there in leftfield seems to be listening"... i guess that officially makes me someone.  i was getting worried there for a second.

Leftfield, through their sound and lyrical content, speaks to the listener who knows good music in any package.  so i'll skip the part where i tell you what to expect and who you might compare them to.  suffice it to say you'll get solid beats and provocative lyrics.  and maybe those are expectations.  but dare i say those are expectations we should have of all music...

snippets

and because you were nice, you can get the entire CD for FREE...just email Leftfield and mention SisterGarten in the body of the email.  free music in a recession?!?  the woman must be mad!!!  take advantage.

be.  fly.
rhythm

Brother Story: Traum Diggs

i had the pleasure of opening for hip hop artist traum diggs last month at busboys and poets in dc.  up until this point, i had never seen him perform live.  having known him for a few years, i know he has an impressive work ethic, and i dug what i had heard of his music online before.  but his live show...insanity.  his energy and raw soul filled the building that night.  on "the mission tour," traum travels with his band and a rotating roster of singers, comedians, and poets that move the crowd with ease from one emotional apex to the next.  according to nydailynews.com, "Traum Diggs is a Hip Hop artist whose style, ability, and approach shatters conventional wisdom and all preconceived assumptions."  that sounds about right to me.

in honor of pure dopeness and the approaching season of giving, i present to you traum diggs.  you're welcome.

a tribute to MJ, "Mike Jackin' 4 Beats," a MUST HEAR:




and because i'm super generous, you can download the entire mixtape for FREE:

Mixtape | ThatCrack.com | Download

for more info on traum diggs and "the mission tour," visit http://www.623ent.com/.

be.  fly.

rhythm

Tupac and Omar Little: Ode to Dichotomy

"That woman raised me! And for as long as I been grown, once a month I been with her on a church Sunday, telling myself ain't no need to worry, 'cause ain't nobody in this city that lowdown to disrespect a Sunday morning!" -(Michael K. Williams as) Omar Little

"I never committed no crimes that weren't honorable" -Tupac Shakur

i recently got involved in one of those "who's the greatest mc?" (online) conversations.  i'm not nearly astute enough of a hip hop fan to have an informed conversation on this topic.  so all i offered was this: "i can't choose the greatest, but my personal favorite is tupac.  besides the fact that he was dope lyrically, he captured the dichotomy of a lot of black men: the gangsta and the good brotha.  he's the prototype of omar little, if you will.  i just came up with that last part.  i think i'll blog about that now."  so i am.

omar little was by far my favorite character on hbo's "the wire."  his dichotomy was fascinating.  he robbed big time drug dealers for their money and drugs.  but he made a point to pay in full for any items or services he needed.  he spent most of his time engaging in illegal activities, but he consistently escorted his grandmother to church once a month, and he almost never used profanity.  he was a complex man with complex values that somehow seemed simple.  his character was masterfully written and portrayed in a way that made me (and most viewers, i suspect) truly enjoy watching omar shift between the roles of gangsta and good brotha.

i enjoyed watching this beautiful struggle so much, partly because i knew the writer and actor were capturing a phenomenon that really occurs within many men (black and otherwise).  sometimes you hear people refer to the old gangster code or the way street life used to be honorable.  they're referring to the idea that "back in the day," gangsters had a strict "code," or set of morals and values which dictated their behavior and activities.  for instance, omar thought he could safely escort his grandmother to church on sundays because there had previously been an unspoken understanding that one should not disrespect such an activity.  "a man got to have a code."  such a code exists in the midst of all kinds of vile and inhumane acts.

tupac is a classic, real life example of this phenomenon.  and that struggle is what intrigued me so much about him.  it's almost a form of double consciousness.  and while some would call it hypocrisy, it's deeper than that.  the man who wrote "dear mama" followed up with "hit 'em up" and then "life goes on" and so on and so on.  all of these voices were his.  but i truly believe he was struggling with this dichotomy.  and the fact that he honored the good brotha within him by allowing him to speak showed a tremendous vulnerability that men, particularly MC's, don't normally show.  letting the gangsta speak is relatively easy in a world where that's what's fed, encouraged, and expected of you.  tupac was dealing with the conflict between the two.  it was real.

and so are the struggles of many men.

so omar wasn't just a figment of some crafty artists' imaginations.  he was as real as tupac.  perhaps even inspired by him.  art imitating life, indeed.

Flowers for the Garden: Roxanne's (Real) Revenge

*photo: watts/news

roxanne shante rarely gets the credit she deserves as a pioneer woman of hip-hop. on top of that, she never got her proper royalties from warner music company. what she did get was an education... story here (don't forget to come back to comment...i'm watching you).

be. fly.

rhythm