RandomMuch

It’s sad to say, but I don’t listen to music like I used to.  I remember when I was a kid I spent endless hours listening to music.  When I was really small and couldn’t buy my own stuff, I’d lay on the floor and listen to my parents music on those 12 inch wax records.  That’s how far back I go.  That’s where I got my appreciation for Earth, Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Santana, The Eagles, Led Zepplin, and even Spanish artists like Mazz.  I even remember when my grandma would sit for me, she’d be listening to old Spanish music.  Unfortunately, I don’t know the names but I will.  Then I finally became old enough to get an allowance and buy my own records.  And my first to were The Beastie Boys License to Ill and Purple Rain by Prince.  Then came the barrage of music.  I got a tape recorder and started making my own mix tapes.  I’d carry it around with me listening to music.  The point I’m getting to, ever so slowly is that I miss it and I’m trying to find that passion I used to have that would make sit there and just listen.  Now if music isn’t catchy, I hit skip forward.  And maybe that’s part of the problem, cause in the good ol’ days, if you wanted to skip forward, you actually had to get up and line up that needle right at the beginning of the next track.  Now you just hit a button.  But I digress.  So, I’m sitting here catching up on some tracks by Common, and I come across some fairy newer track called Universal Mind Control.  And although it sampled an old Bambaataa song called Planet Rock, it sounded so futuristic.  And it got me to thinking about the new Jay-Z album I’ve been listening to.

The reason I thought of it is cause the first thing I thought when I heard it is how futuristic it sounded.  Then it made me think of other artists that technically made that first step.  The Black Eyed Peas have had this sound.  The Neptunes get futuristic.  Kanye West went way out there with 808′s and Heartbreak.  But in reality people have dismissed those ventures as typical for those artists.  It’s almost expected of them.  but for Jay to take that step is going to make people sit up and pay attention.  Now current artists and future artists are going to see that you can maintain “street cred” which is so desired, and yet still push Hip Hop forward.  Let’s face it Hip Hop has had only one turning point and it was not for the best.  Hip Hop was on straight line, then NWA came out and really introduced the streets to music.  That opened the door to artists like Biggie.  In turn, with Biggie’s second album he took bragging about money and riches to another level.  That gave birth to The Hot Boyz and the “bling” era.  Since then, it’s been a constant onslaught of “I have more money, I have ten Bentley’s, I have a house that I only use once a year” and all kinds of ridiculous showing off fortunes that in reality are exaggerated at best.  A lot of the artists don’t “own” half what they brag about.  So when someone of Jay’s caliber, stature, and reputation takes it to the next level, it’s a major event.  And I honestly believe this could be the Blueprint for the future of Hip Hop.  And it needs a real revolution.  It needs a revolution and an evolution unlike any other genre in music.

I think his track D.O.A.(Death of Autotune) sums it up best… “I know we facing a recession, but the music y’all making going make it the great depression.”  Maybe I do have the benefit of being a nobody and “IF” I am wrong, no one will care.  And “IF” I am right no one will remember.  But for those reading this, and are Hip Hop fans, listen to the album with an open mind and remember that occasion as your testimony to where you were when Hip Hop rose from the ashes like a Phoenix.  I can’t say enough about this album.  I thought I loved the Black album, but this buries it.  It makes me wish I had the Range Rover I’ve always wanted with a loud system to cruise around in and listen to this album.

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AC