“It’s disrespectful showing your butt off,” said Amor, a fourth-grader at PS 92 on Parkside Ave. “I’m always seeing boys, girls, rappers, singers — everyone is sagging out.”
When Amor Lilman was 7 years old he received a verbal lashing from his dad for galavanting around the Parade Grounds playground in Flatbush with his jeans well below his hips. He quickly turned his life lesson into some bars worth spitting. The catchy hook caught the attention of his friends and family.
“Think that you swaggin’ cause your pants saggin’ — Pull ya pants up. Pull ya pants up.”
One thing led to another, and two years later he was invited to perform during the Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series, held in Coney Island and at Wingate Field in Flatbush. That parlayed into a meeting with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, momentum then carried young Amor into this music video (Marty makes a cameo, he is the suit with the cheeseball grin).
Sagging has been around since I was letting it all hang out in the 5th grade, it was called Kriss Kross. The idea that it is a social problem worth dedicating time and funds to combating, that may be an overreaction by conservative parents and over zealous city politicians. Needless to say the American jacket in the video was ‘well-placed’, sort of screams for an appearance on the Today Show or Anderson Cooper doesn’t it? Okay, I’ve effectively criticized a song by a child under 10, time to take that off my bucket list.
Sleigh Bells are quite the power duo. The tandem consists of Derek Edward Miller (guitar) and Alexis Krauss (vocals), and for the past five years have had a meteoric rise in the world of significant acts. The Brooklyn based group finds themselves on the cusp of another successful year ahead, having dropped their album Reign of Terror in late February of this year, the feedback has been demonstrative. This album was a true collaborative effort between the two, drastically different from their first album together, Treats, which was admittedly solely written by Derek Miller with Alexis having just joined the group. Peep their new video off their latest project, titled Demons, a Pantera inspired feel featuring slow motion footage from live shows filmed at Sleigh Bells shows in Omaha, Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Houston.
Their live shows have punctuated their stellar reputation so far, ZIF correspondent Oliver Smiff wrote a descriptive piece of a Toronto show where they co-headlined with Die Antwoord a few years back, you can check that here. In the meantime, you can add this Diplo remix to your collection of audible treats, consider it a early stocking stuffer.
Been a rough week for the generation born in the late 70′s/early 80′s. I will miss the ‘splendid nightmares’ that Maurice Sendak implanted into my bedtime consciousness over two decades ago. Though I uploaded a picture from his most famous piece of work, Where The Wild Things Are, my favorite book by far was In the Night Kitchen, get familiar. Born in Brooklyn,New York to Jewish immigrants, he was exposed to the concept of mortality extremely early, having had the majority of his extended family taken in the Holocaust. An emphasis on the strange and grotesque defined Sendak’s illustrations, having published countless books for the past five decades, it was a pleasure to see that he was reintroduced to a new generation via the Stephen Colbert interview. Sendak died of a stroke at the age of 83. Bon voyage mon ami.
When the Daily Mirror interviewed Hova recently, for obvious and lame reasons, questions were more Perez Hilton than Sway. The astute paper was primarily concerned with his future child rearing plans and his recent experience hanging with Coldplay front-man Chris Martin in the Hampton’s, having known him since the invite to the secret Beyonce wedding. You can read the entire piece here, but really it was one quote I found particularly amusing from Jay. When asked what a teenage Jay-Z would have done had he seen Chris Martin walking the streets of Brooklyn, here’s what Hov had to say:
“I would have been, ‘Yo! Who are you? Give me your money.’ You couldn’t have a guy like Chris walking through Marcy. He’d have to get robbed. At best.”
My thoughts on this absurd attempt by Jay-Z appearing hard and repping the hood are the following:
Why is teenage Jay-Z speaking English, but current Jay-Z talking about teenage Jay sounds like a thug with no education? At best?
Why would Chris Martin get robbed? Be specific, is it simply the white thing? Because I assure you mad white cats roll through that hood, daily.
I’ve walked through Marcy on a recent trip to Brooklyn, frankly, it’s uneventful. At best.
Clearly this was an attempt to displace potential heat on hanging with Chris rather than social commentary about the plight of his old neighborhood.
The “at best” comment is literally an insinuation that Chris would be lucky to get robbed and not beaten and/or murdered. This type of ideology is exactly the type of shit that right wing demigods use to monger fear and further isolate the black community from genuine progress.
Jay-Z couldn’t walk through Marcy without getting robbed?
One night in late 2008, Uncle Murda was shot in the head and hospitalized. He was discharged within 24 hours (bullet lodged in skull), and proceeded to call a publicly syndicated show to give an update on his recovery, explaining it wasn’t a big deal, and that he was using “Hennessey and Newports” to cope with the pain”. So I guess you could say, Uncle Murda is an unyielding man. Lyrically, Uncle Murda does not stray too far from his publicly acknowledged persona, for the most part spitting verses about guns, shooting guns, and getting shot by guns. But shit, I like that type of shit, and so do plenty of other hip hop heads, and in the case of Uncle Murda, it’s real talk, literally. For these reasons I don’t understand why Def Jam dropped him in the post-Jay era, or why another high-profile label hasn’t picked him up, G-Unit, where the fuck are you guys at? Maybe Fitty ran out of pens, I heard Yayo has been stealing from the supply cabinet and chopping pencils on West 23rd for a nickel a piece. Speaking of Yayo and Uncle Murda, this track dropped today.
Uncle Murda’s gangsta is so raw that it becomes commercially satiable, much like Fitty when he dropped “How To Rob” in 2001. Though, his street persona does come across as so ghetto that it’s hard to gauge his sincerity, but when you see video’s like “Bullet, Bullet”,* there’s nothing to do but sit back and smile, this kid has jokes, and bars, and guns. Somebody throw him a bic and a contract.
* Check the Asian dancer chick in this video, she be straight bugging. Talk about taking yourself too seriously.
I have a massive soft spot for Brooklyn bred rappers, call it the Jay-Z effect. Or Biggie for that matter. Therefore, I’m curious and open-minded when it comes to Brooklyn rapper Bekay. Last month he dropped an EP titled Hunger Pains, involving a pretty solid tandem of both production and features. The Alchemist produced track “I Am” is a perfect little NYC rider joint, where the MC just goes bar to bar with the beat, no in and outs, just steady spit. Thanks to the remix from the eclectic Bossasaurus boys this track caught my attention, I have a soft spot for white boys who remix hard-hitting hip hop tracks. Wait, Alchemist is white, ah fuck it, bang this in your ride.
That’s right kids, I’m back, and I’m eating meat. 11 months into a “practice in discipline” which included the complete exclusion of any type of meat in my diet, I finally felt content, well, my stomach wasn’t, but for me, mission accomplished. I always struggled to satisfactorily answer the question “why are you vegetarian”, it usually came out as jaded or watered down Buddhism, and ended with a sigh an explanation about my mother’s spiritual background. On the flip side, I give you my first meat ridden dish in almost a year, a plate of fried chicken. Why did I stop being vegetarian they may ask, brevity is key, “fried chicken my friend, fried chicken.” And waffles.
Oh and apparently KFC is getting all Muslim on us! A Halal KFC just opened up in Brooklyn a few months back, peep that story here.
In case you missed it, ZIF gave the two thumbs up to this album. I recommend copping it, if you’re into that sort of thing, if not Google that bitch and listen for “free” (your soul pays later). Some call KRS-One a legend, and Buckshot an indie equivalent. But really, they’re just a couple of benchmarks, namely ones mind you. I respect this album greatly, but that whole KRS is a God and Buckshot is unsung shit has been tired for a decade. By the way Kris, I’m no longer vegetarian, I wasn’t raised one like you, that’s cheating.
Ever wonder where all those savage exotic cars you find littered on rap video sets come from? If you thought they were rightfully owned and maintained by anyone actually shooting the video, I recommend you scroll back to our initial post, read all 666 subsequent posts and educate yourself, for you have failed. One particular rapper comes to mind when I think of outstanding vehicular taste, Brooklyn’s bad boy, Fabolous. His raps include more references to Italian cars than an avid Enzo Ferrari fan can handle. But if you take a look at this video and really note the details, it could be argued that no theft occurred at all. The valet guy gave the keys to a rare white Lamborghini to one of Fabolous’s boys, he took them, they drove off. Case of mistaken Lambo, case closed. I mean when you roll with Fab, all the whips start to look the same. This story did spawn a pretty decent joke in my head, that I shall burden you with now.
What do you say to Fabolous when you see him driving in a Lamborghini? Hey bitch, that’s my car! Help! Help! Police! Help!
A conversation with reggae legend Chuck Fenda. Paraphrased to our greatest ability from a grainy cell phone call to Chuck in Jamaica. Big Up to Joe Wiggins at VP Records for hooking up the interview.
How has growing up in between Jamaica and the US influenced your music?
Well, I was born in Brooklyn, NYC but moved to Jamaica at 6 weeks old. I went to school in Jamaica and the US. Reggae music is the rock of Jamaica and to really bust out in the music business I wanted to establish myself in Jamaica first. So I moved there to do music in 1998.
ZIF readers have heard a bit of conscious reggae; could you please tell us the difference between conscious reggae and more commercial reggae music like Sean Paul.
Conscious reggae is the same type of music that Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer were making. I consider myself part of the new generation that is carrying on Bob Marley’s work. His influence lives on and will never die. Bob laid the foundation, and now reggae music is known across the world. It’s huge right now in Europe, Canada and Africa.
What music are you listening to right now?
Besides (the artists listed above), I also listen to Burning Spear quite a bit. But really, I listen to everybody! It is about the message of the song. I listen to music that does not perpetuate or create illusions. The music I make and the music I listen to is about the message. I want to listen and learn from my music. Music has the power to change your life, elevate and inspire. There is music out there now that makes no sense and its creating false realities (violent music, gun this, bling bling that etc.) making people stray from what’s right.
So, if you are trying to bring a positive message about focusing on the right things and educating people, why was your music banned from the radio? Particularly “Gash dem and light dem” which was banned in Jamaica based on the government’s recommendation.
That song was inspired by a gruesome news story I saw on TV. A 6-year-old girl was kidnapped on her way to school and brutally assaulted, stabbed and murdered, her body dumped. This gruesome act highlighted the abuse that children suffer around the world and I wanted to bring this issue to light. There are many children missing and abused and the song is built around this topic. Unfortunately the government took it the wrong way and suggested it be banned. It was misunderstood, but I’m happy that the whole country was upset about it not being played, because they understood the positive message of empowerment I was attempting to convey. The government and media did not understand the concept.
This is a big issue in the US too, with all these kids being kidnapped. It’s time for the authorities to recognize that not all children are fortunate enough to be chauffeured to school. There are parents that can’t make ends meet, are poor and suffering and that is affecting the children. I wanted to highlight their plight, but the authorities are not interested in improving the situation for them.
It does not make sense to me because other songs about gun violence are allowed to be played. The rules are being applied arbitrarily. I’m actually talking about eradicating gun violence and not encouraging it.
Maybe it’s the fact that the public wants to be shielded from the brutality of such acts, and wants to protect itself by keeping it out of the public eye?
It was banned, but I’m speaking the truth. I’m not a racist. I am talking about unity and love. About the Almighty and how he will bring out the light to those who suffer and who are in the darkness.
My song may not play on the radio but it is serving the people of Jamaica because they are speaking and discussing the issues of the poor. In fact it is serving everyone, because the track is presenting relevant topics. I’m not against anyone, everyone should be free to do what they want, and I’m inspiring people to do what is right. I’m not against gays, etc. I want to do music, not bash other people. I want to elevate, highlight and speak the truth, and eradicate guns and violence.
Sounds like a true Rasta. The message in your music is closely linked to Rastafari culture. We’ll take any excuse to smoke a joint, but what is the role of marijuana in Rastafari culture?
It’s a natural herb of inspiration and meditation, which is like praying. It helps you meditate. Natural vibes. Authorities can say what they want about it but it’s not going to change the fact that it is a natural plant.
In the US, the justice system is not set up with rehabilitation in mind. The three strikes rule could have you spending life in jail for marijuana related offenses. What is the law like in Jamaica regarding weed?
They mostly go after people shipping it overseas in containers. They are only tough on the big dealers. As an individual, you could get away with a night in jail for about ½ pound. No matter how they make the rules, herb is good and natural. Bob spoke very highly of it and its abilities.
Seeing as I’m an LA transplant by way of New York City, I feel it’s my duty to represent non-hipster-friendly, hardcore NY Hip-Hop to the best of my abilities (and the annoyance of my friends). One of the best to do it in the aforementioned genre is Brownsville duo M.O.P. Outside of their porno, which is blowing up computer screens from Brooklyn to Budapest (you can Google that one on your own if you’re really curious), one would be hard-pressed to find much news on Billy Danze and Fizzy Womack from this calendar year.
To do so would require a trip down I-95 where Philly native and Jedi Mind Tricks mastermind Stoupe the Enemy laid the foundation for one of M.O.P.’s hottest songs in years. “Transition of Power” proves that Stoupe hasn’t fallen off, as JMT’s last effort led some critics and fans to believe— he just pulled a Kanye and kept all the dopest joints for himself!
–noun
