Bent Twig - Exclusive

This track is off the free album by Bent Twig that was recently released. The Pacific NW is where it is at, seriously though.
Download Exclusive Feat Sol mp3

Feminsist Criticism of Jay-Z's I Know

Jay-Z’s last single, “I know,” from his 2007 album, American Gangster, isn’t your average love song. While on the outside it seems to be a song about the addictions of love, the whole song is essentially a metaphor for drug addiction. This interesting comparison of dependencies provides plenty of fuel for criticism. Throughout the song there is a heavy emphasis on the male gaze and dominance while females are continuously displayed as the weaker, dependent sex. Jay-Z makes vast use of metaphors and intertexual pop references to ensure his points are understood. Key symbols of power, drugs, and addiction help to provide support for the real world claims made by rhetor.

Jay-Z portrays himself as an authority figure throughout the song which establishes the idea of male dominance. This is evident right from the start where Pharrell Williams and Sean Carter maintain on the chorus that “I know what you like, everything you love . . . baby you love -- Hov.” Jay offers no other alternative to this reality and even goes as far as to silence any theoretical attempts. The key symbols used to assert gender are addiction and drugs, males are given power over their addicted counterparts through this metaphor. One of the most prevalent examples of creating social identities is in the line “I know what you like, I am your prescription; I'm your physician, I'm your addiction.” This line clearly establishes male dominance and helps to structure the identity of females as weaker and dependent by portraying the main female subject as an addict of the male gender.

The female gender is relentlessly represented as weak and dependent, “She fiends for me nightly, she leans for me.” The use of lean refers to the popular southern drug also known as Purple Drank and addiction; this is another example of the weaker feminine portrayal. Jay continues: “Now that feelin' got you trippin', you no wanna feel no differently; said lust has got you itchin'.” This line again represents male hegemony where the feeling that he gives her has her losing control of emotions, which is seen as a pitiful characteristic. Her uncontrollable eagerness for more of the sensation makes her somewhat of a salve to the drug that is the male gender. Jay once again continues the male role of dominance in the second verse claiming “I am so dope! … Like every color Giuseppe’s, your guilty pleasure is me.” Here, Jay directly refers to himself as the powerful addiction causing agent and likens its grips to the typically female obsession of shopping, specifically for (Giuseppe) shoes, that is prevalent in our culture today. This is further evidence of the lesser role that females are boxed into along with an example of the current day ideals of domestic sphere, which include shopping as a feminine chore. Jay exemplifies this argument with the claim that "It’s so much fun, you shun therapy … Shopping's like coppin', you constantly need it," once again offering an example of feminine weakness, this time for shunning therapy and not being able to help herself.

Even when thoughts of better options reveal themselves, Jay, like withdrawals, reminds the female addict that she needs him:

I keep tryin' to remind you, to keep tellin' yourself; now your conscience is interfering like "Better yourself!" Like you better get help, but when that medicine is felt? We're back together, don't ever leave me. Don't ever let 'em tell you that you'll never need me!

This section provides strong evidence of the male hegemony that still exists in our culture today, essentially claiming that the females need a male counterpart to not only be happy, but to simply function. This segment also demonstrates clear evidence of silencing women’s voices which decreases the importance of the weak role already constructed for women in the rhetoric act. Jay-Z continues to demean women, calling her his “China White” which refers to the purest form of heroin, objectifying the female gender to a prized possession which can only be useful for emotions of ecstasy.

Aesthetically, Jay-Z is a master story-teller in his own realm. His use of metaphors is almost unparalleled today in hip-hop along with his uncanny ability to relate near any subject to his targeted audience and beyond. Throughout the song Jay makes references from hip-hop and drug culture to the material world of shopping and popular culture that allows close to any modern audience to relate to even the toughest subjects such as that of love, abuse and addiction. Another dynamic that leads to the overall aesthetically pleasing experience is Jay’s choice of background for his story. Pharrell Williams crafted the perfect, laid back, instrumental for Jay-Z to smoothly layout his sinister scenario of love and addiction in a way that only the self proclaimed King of New York could over such dark synths. And just as the song tells a tale of two sides, so does the music video which offers two separate accounts displaying both scenarios in cinematic form. The combination of symbols from both the video and song offer an experience that evokes strong emotional responses that any audience can truly feel.

Psychologically the song offers different benefits for different consumers. One state that “I Know” evokes is almost an emotional catharsis to which listeners can escape into another world where the troubles of love and addiction don’t matter because as Jay-Z describes it, “She want[s] those Heroin tracks … That Black Rain will take away your pain.” As Jay cleverly points out with his word play of terminology from both worlds, music and drugs both have that supernatural power to take us far away and leave the pain an eternity behind.

While the rhetoric act may be lacking in morality and equality, it certainly displays a harsh, but truthful reality of love and society today. Jay displays the unfortunate reality of abusiveness and addiction that continues to create serious issues worldwide in not only relationships, but all aspects of life. Mimicking an abusive relationship, Jay plays on the idea of dependency where the weaker partner typically feels the need to be with someone stronger, in this case stereotypically confirmed as the female; and once again, almost mirroring the typical form of abusive relationships, he silences any attempt at rehabilitation and independence by reassuring his power and the reliance that his subordinate has for him.

Just as in the contemporary ideology of street life, the end result justifies the means by which it was obtained. This is not your average pop love song played on the radio where everything turns out well. But somehow it cracked the charts and as Jay eloquently puts it, when that medicine's felt “You'll never be down; I know where your peak is.” The harsh realities that Jay paints for his audience are not in any way decent or ethical, yet it works. And it works well. Jay-Z is the quintessential superstar today. Coming up through the drug game in Brooklyn to become one of the richest entertainers in America, is it any wonder that this formula works? As Jay’s long time protégé, Kanye West, ponders:

Why [does] everything that's supposed to bad, make me feel so good?
Everything they told me not to is exactly what I would.

This is one of the most ancient questions of humanity going back all the way to the time of Adam and Eve, but as another significant New York rapper simply put it: “Joy wouldn't feel so good, if it wasn't for pain.” Jay-Z has created a genre of mood music for a generation of impoverished and damaged audiences around the world and somehow through it all, managed to send messages of hope and motivation to those who need it the most. While the gloomy truths that “I know” depicts may be seen as immoral and unsuitable for mass media by some, to others it offers the perfect balance of escapism and real world guidance to use as ammunition for continuing the unyielding battles in their own lives.

Radio X: My Show

As some of you know I have my own 3 hour radio show at Northern Michigan University's Radio X station. I've been meaning to record and post my shows on here for anyone that might want to listen but just haven't got around to it. I finally recorded a show today and it was a good one. I had lots of call-ins, which unfortunately you can't hear, but I had a great time in the studio today. Thanks to everyone that made it fun!

You can check out the show below and be sure to listen in live every Friday from 3pm-6pm on the website or locally on 91.5fm!

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Usershare link

Wale&9th Wonder: Back to the Feature (Mixtape)

It's finally here!

Grab it here, here or here!

LRG Backpack Tee

Sick, sick, sick! Someone please buy me one of these!

Kanye Has a Big Ego

And did I mention that according to Cons to the Quence:

Attached is the jpeg poster for my 1st Single Whatever U Want which features Kanye West & John Legend. We reunited “The Grammy Family” one more time for what will surely be one of the musical bright spots of Summer 09′. Please post this jpeg on your blogs, sites, Myspace Pages, Facebooks, Twitter Pages or whenever you find yourself being social online. More updates regarding my NEW LP are coming this week. Thanks for your support and get ready!!!

The RETURN OF THE REAL is Upon Us…

Kanyes verse on this >
And you better baleedat!

N.A.S.A. "A Volta" (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank, & Lovefoxxx)

Not my favorite track off the album, but I it is my favorite video so far.

Radio X Show:Thur 6-9pm

Starting two weeks ago(I know, late! Haha.), I'll be joining my friend, John Berry, on his Radio X show to play some good music, get together with friends and just talk about whatever is on our minds. And hopefully I'll be getting my own show on the station very shortly here.

Listen in live here, we'll hopefully be recording shows in the future for archival purposes and whatnot which of course I'll post here.

The Think Movement

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything, but I came across j. saKiya Sandifer's blog and knew I had to throw this up. He co-authored one of my favorite books, Thank You And You're Welcome, with Kanye West and has done so many more great things. Check it out!

http://www.wethinkllc.com/blog/

Mia Cinelli: Wearable Arts

Local Marquette artist and my friend, Mia Cinelli, won the award for best recycled with her Bags to Riches dress! Check it out at the website.

Electric Pop > Matt & Kim

Make The Girl Dance "Baby Baby Baby" ( official video )
by placeblancherec

Mayer Hawthorne - I Wish It Would Rain

I need this MP3 in my life, please.

Kanye West!

This week has been pretty busy for Kanye material so I'm just going to throw everything into one post. Now that Kevinnottingham is back online, he's posted up the fifth and final (for now) version of Mr. West's Guest verses that I helped compile. Check out the the rest of the links below and see the post here.

Kanye West Guest Verses Vol. 3, 4 & 5!
Kanye x Clipse - Kinda Like A Big Deal
The Outfit (Kanye West, GLC, Timmy G & Arrow Starr) - 187th [Unreleased (from 1996)]
Kayne West & Malik Yusef - Magic Man f. Common & John Legend

101 Distribution is releasing the first authorized independent release from Kayne West & G.O.O.D. Music label. The 30 song double disc is called G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night and is loaded with features from KRS-1, Twista, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Bun B and of course most every G.O.O.D. Music artist.

And here's two new videos!
Amazing (ft. Young Jeezy)


Robocop (Fan video)

A Response to HipHopDX's Review of Asleep In The Bread Aisle

You can find the (2 out of 5 X's) review by Kevin Gary here, and my response below. I'm curious to see if Mr. Gary ever sees this and responds, haha.

Dear Hater,

An old cliché asks: do you listen to music, or just skim through it? From your review of Asleep In The Bread Aisle it looks like you just skimmed through it. You only reviewed seven of the twelve songs on the album, and that's not even counting the three bonus tracks, “Perfectionist,” “The Lounge,” and “Y.O.U.” Out of the seven tracks that you did review, the focus was entirely on the negative except three times, and the praise of producer Oren Yorel. I found your review to be at times – aw who am I kidding? Completely ridiculous and unfair.

Your first issue seems to be with Roth's singles “Lark On My Go Kart,” and “I Love College.” First claiming that “Roth lazily slaps words together, not caring if what he says is interesting or even if it makes any sense, . . . content to simply mention things meant to hit 20-something’s nostalgia centers, hoping that recognition of a shared memory will endear his music to them.” Oh man, how dare he try to appeal to his own age group and the kids who are like him! “Lark On My Go Kart” may seem to ramble at times, but the flow is nice, the beat is dope and he even has some nice word play in there with lines like “any Tim Duncan/spur of the moment/let the whole world know I run shit.” The man isn't a thug, hustler, or bad ass. Roth is a 20-something college kid and he stays true to his own roots on both of these singles, just a kid trying to have fun. The song is about being a lazy, partying, college kid! What else could you expect but a laid-back flow and lyrics about beer pong and passing out? Neither song is top-notch, but “I Love College” is to today's college kids as “Hustlers Muzic” is to street kids, an fun anthem. And you can't deny that.

Next up you take on Roth's more serious songs in “Sour Patch Kids,” As I Em,” “His Dream,” and “Fallin'.” Somewhat predictably, you seemed to have skimmed through these songs, too. “Sour Patch Kids” definitely isn't anything original as far as topics go and no doubt some of the lines aren't “earth shattering” but he picks it up in the second and third verses with his flow and lyrics to make a decent, granted not amazing, song. According to your review, “On 'As I Em' . . . he addresses all the Eminem comparisons, a bold and respectable move. But bizarrely, he seems to think the best way of contrasting himself with Em is to put on the Detroit rapper’s hard man persona.” In a song where Asher definitely shows some extra emotion, you discredit him because he sounds like Em? Did you miss the line, homie? “Cause we have the same complexion and similar voice inflection/its easy to see the pieces and the reach for that connection.” Yorel put together a nice background, Ash went off and the Chester French feature adds some nice finishing touches. Take another listen to his second verse: “Y'all talk all you want, never halt me from my mission/use it as ammunition, would you please keep dissin' me?/I hear it/and yeah the haters wanna hate because I made it and I'm famous/but until you take my place, you'll never know 'bout what it takes to make a record for respect/take a second to inspect/when you look like someone else then what the fuck do you expect?” Ah well, at least you gave him credit for “Fallin',” one of the top songs off the album with a sick sample from Ben Kweller.

As for the rest of the album, it's no where near as horrible as you make it sound. “La Di Da” is a great escape song that you can throw some headphones on and just vibe out to. “Be By Myself” is a catchy song featuring Cee-Lo about exactly what the title suggests that could make for one of the better singles. “She Don't Wanna Man” with Keri Hilson doesn't seem to be much but filler and is maybe the worst song on the album. However, Ash and Busta Rhymes let it rip on the track “Lion's Roar” which is laced by Yorel's band, New Kingdom. And ladies and gentlemen, with the next track, “Bad Day,” Asher manages to put together a song featuring Jazze Pha that is actually tolerable! Not an easy task considering how many songs that man has wrecked. With the bonus tracks, Roth delivers two songs that definitely would have been great for the album, “Perfectionist,” with Beanie Sigel and Rock City, along with a track off his mixtape with DJ Cannon, “The Lounge” is one of his best works. The third and final bonus track, from the UK isn't anything special but it is a fun track with a nice cameo from an old legend, Slick Rick. So give this album a full listen, because it's “Sick wit' it, game spittin' to the limits/see Asher Roth ain't no joke.”

Overall, the CD is a mostly fun and at times serious. The lyrics are above average and the production is sick. Asher definitely has a lot of room to grow, but he put out a solid first effort that is above a lot of stuff out today even with its missteps. I'll call it a 3.8/5.

John Berry - Late Night Hawaiian Jazz

Pretty chill, laid back jam right here from NMU's own John Berry. The song is on his myspace and is called Late Night Hawaiian Jazz.

Ye Guest Verses Vol. 4

The last volume was a few days ago, and now here's the next one that I helped throw together with Kev. This one has a lot of 'Ye's new verses including the brand new banger, "Kinda Like A Big Deal" and some older ones too! Full post here.

Direct DL Link

Tracklist
1. Clipse - Kinda Like A Big Deal (feat. Kanye West)
2. Common - Start the Show (feat. Kanye West)
3. DJ Class - I’m The Shit (Remix feat. Kanye West)
4. GLC - Flight School (feat. Kanye West & T-Pain)
5. Fonzworth Bentley - Everybody (feat. Kanye West, Sa-Ra & Andre 3000)
6. Cam’ron - Down And Out (feat. Kanye West & Syleena Johnson)
7. Infamous Syndicate - What You Do To Me (feat. Kanye West)
8. Consequence - So Soulful (feat. Kanye West)
9. Q-Tip - We Fight We Love (Remix feat Kanye West & Consequence)
10. Kanye West, KRS-One, Nas & Rakim - Classic (Better Than I’ve Ever Been) (DJ Premier Remix)
11. Common - Go (feat. John Mayer & Kanye West)
12. Alicia Keys - No One (Remix feat. Kanye West)
13. Keri Hilson - Knock You Down (feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo)
14. T-Pain - Therapy (feat. Kanye West)
15. Cassidy - My Drink ‘N My 2 Step (Remix feat. Swizz Beatz, Kanye West & Ne-Yo)
16. Consequence - Getting Out The Game (feat. Kanye West)
17. Common - Punch Drunk Love (feat. Kanye West)
18. Sophia Fresh - What It Is (feat. Kanye West)

Kanye x Clipse

It's Kinda Like A Big Deal...

Kanye West Guest Verses Vol. 3

I helped to put this together by compiling all the tracks. You can check out the post here, and be on the lookout for at least two more volumes! Shouts to Kevin Nottingham!

Here's the direct link to the download.

Tracklist
1. Talib Kweli - Guerrilla Monsoon Rap (feat. Black Thought, Kanye West & Pharoahe Monch)
2. Consequence - Don’t Forget Em (Remix feat. Kanye West)
3. Rhymefest - More (feat. Kanye West)
4. Teairra Mari - Diamonds (feat. Kanye West)
5. CHOPS - Changing Lanes (feat. Kanye West)
6. John Legend - It’s Over (feat. Kanye West)
7. Common - They Say (feat. John Legend & Kanye West)
8. Kanye West, Nas & KRS-One - Better Than I’ve Ever Been
9. Teriyaki Boyz - I Still Love H.E.R. (feat. Kanye West)
10. Fall Out Boy - This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race (Remix feat. Kanye West)
11. Consequence - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (feat. Kanye West)
12. GLC - Big Screen (feat. Kanye West)
13. Common - Corners (Remix feat. Kanye West & Mikkey Halsted)
14. Jamie Foxx - Digital Girl (feat. Kanye West & The-Dream)
15. Dwele - Hold On (Remix feat. Kanye West)
16. Carl Thomas - The Way That U Do (feat. Kanye West)

774 Free Songs From Amazon.com

No – but seriously. Check it out! And it's all legal.

At a quick glance I saw stuff from Flight of the Concords, Ted Nugent, Michael Franti, Death Cab For Cutie, Iron & Wine, N.A.S.A. and you know like 768 more artists! Article over at cnet.

Nyle - Let The Beat Build (Remix)

Reeemix baby! This is pretty sick, one shot, a bunch of live instruments and just awesome. More info over at the dude's website.