July 13, 2006

Take it Back–The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

No record has been more omnipresent in my life than The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I’m not saying it was as big as Thriller. It’s just that I was 2 when it came out, so I didn’t experience the hysteria. However, I was a student at a black college with Lauryn dropped her record.

Here’s how everywhere it was–I knew just about every word on the record without ever having listened to my own copy. Didn’t remove the plastic from mine until 2000.

No need, man. The damn thing was in the air. Out of every dorm window. Out of every car. Just everywhere…until Aquemini came out.

Anyway, I was blown away the first time I heard it. Thought it was the best record I’d heard in years. But I honestly could say that the record got worse to me with each successive listen. It sounded so different, but I was starting to point out weaknesses much more easily. The masterpiece started sounding more like a helluva good job. That’s a feat, but not epically noteworthy.

So eight years after its release, I decided to check the record out agin. It was a really interesting experience.

Even when I talk this album down, I never disacknowledge that the great moments are absolutely spectacular. “Lost Ones” is incredible. “Doo Wop (That Thing)” is perfect in every way. “Nothing Even Matters” and “Ex-Factor” are also flawless. The cover of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” is also absolutely incredible. “Forgive Them Father” slams, if for no other reason than the track and the writing. The rhyme on “Everything is Everything” is amazing, and “Every Ghetto, Every Street” is cute–in a good way–even if it’s a little too derivative of a Stevie track. I mean, the highs are high as GP.

But see, there’s a few other songs…

“To Zion,” no matter what people try to tell me, is boring. And don’t even get me started on how those guitar parts weren’t enough to justify employing Carlos Santana. That’s like getting Wolfgang Puck to make Pop Tarts (and the same can be said for Eddie Van Halen on “Beat It”). And it’s six minutes long? You gotta be kidding me.

“Superstar” is as tired as the cats she claims to have issues with. “Come on baby, light my fire/everything you drop is so tired/music is supposed to inspire/how come we ain’t gettin’ no higher?” Well, it doesn’t help us get higher when that’s the best encapsulation of your view that you can provide. “I Used to Love Him” doesn’t do it for me like that, either. Just kinda boring.

And there’s one more thing that can’t be ignored–Lauryn masqueraded as though she produced every song on the album, and that was later proven to be false (and addressed on Wyclef’s “Where Fugees At”). There’s a lot tied up in that situation that I can’t speak on because I don’t really understand it, but that was a sucka move.

But at the same time, there’s no denying that Lauryn had a serious level of input on the album. And therein lies the problem, if you ask me. It’s not that she’s incapable of doing great work without help. It’s that people frequently need someone else to say, “yo, that’s boring.” There appeared to be no one there to do that. You know damn well the label had no idea what to do with this album, but they were in no position to really tell her what to do after the success of the Fugees rather uncommercial sounding The Score.

This is the curse of self-production. If you don’t believe me, check out some of KRS-ONE’s albums from the late ’90s. No one was there to check him. For that matter, check a lot of Prince’s stuff. It’s important to have someone to bounce these things off of, someone that’ll tell you about your shit with little concern for how you feel about it. In my job, we have a name for those people–editors.

But this album is very, very good. It’s personal to the point where it can make you uncomfortable at points, but not like that Unplugged album. But is this the be all, end all album? Is it a 5-star classic?

It’s damn close. But it’s not. The lows are just too low for me.

Now, proceed to tell me what a moron I am. I know it’s coming.

July 13, 2006

Radio Today

I’m in a rush, but I wanted to let you know that the radio brodcast is at 2:25 EDT today. I’ll update again today with Take It Back–The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

July 12, 2006

RADIO PUSHED BACK

Sorry, but the radio gig is pushed back tomorrow.

July 12, 2006

Flavor of Love II

Business…check me out on Dave Smith’s show on The Sporting News radio today around 2:25 EDT. Check here for local listings and a link to the live feed.

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for–Flavor of Love comes back August 6th.

(Speaking of August 6th, Baba’s gon be on A&E on August 4th in Iambic Productions, Ltd.’s “The Michael Jackson Story.” Curiously, that is not about the life of Michael Jackson Arceneaux. But I will be on TV. So please watch. And if you forget, I’ll remind you about seventy-five more times, believe you me.)

Really, are we gonna watch this shit again? Are we really? I mean, the shock of someone giving Flav some love has worn off. It’s still hard to believe, but it won’t hit us like it did before.

But if they got another Hoopz in the wings, I’ll watch. I’ll watch it as intensely as those loco folks that watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

July 11, 2006

Chappelle’s Back…For a lil while or somethin

So Dave’s back for a few “lost” episodes. So much to talk about, so I think I’ll do this with enumeration.

1. Donnell Rawlings and Charlie Murphy just might be sellouts.

I don’t know what relationship either of them has or had with Dave, but I’m not too sure how I feel about their schtick on these episodes. Their stuff didn’t really bother me when i watched it live, but it didn’t sit so well when I watched it again on TiVo. But then again, I can’t blame them for jumping on whatever opportunity they get. I saw Donnell live my freshman year in college. Nine years ago!

(Holy shit, nine years ago???)

And I didn’t see him again until years later on some episode of Law and Order where he did the worst impression of an “African” cab driver I’d ever seen. He’s a really funny dude, but he seems to get no real breaks. No wonder he’s so happy to be on this shit.

2. The wheelchair was a bit much.

That revenge sketch was hilarious. That one and the preceding one–where all prices change for him because he’s rich now–point out why I love Dave so much. No one since Richard Pryor has been able to do such self-aware comedy without coming off as being insecure and stuck on himself. I’d say that’s because, like Pryor, Dave has positioned himself as the comedian that’s just like you. So he can laugh about being rich because it’s just the same as any of us would claim to be if we got rich outta nowhere.

At the same time…that wheelchair down the stairs thing was a bit too much. And it was still funny.

3. The Tupac sketch belongs in the Chappelle Pantheon.

Fall down hilarious from start to finish. From the dead-on understanding of Tupac to Dave-specific bathroom humor, this hit from the second it started. And Dame Dash randomly being at the club? I’ll take it. It’s not on the Black Bush/Rick James/Reparations/Playa Hatas Ball level, but it’s on that next tier.

4. These episodes are gonna piss me off.

This is the first time in forever I’ve wanted to turn my television to something other than sports or Law and Order. And it’s really just a tease. Damn shame.

July 10, 2006

Twurkers–They Make Em Young

Business…check out me lil’ look at OJ Mayo for Page 2.

So much I wanna talk about that came up this weekend, but only so much time. Maybe I’ll stretch the stuff out over a few days. That’ll help me get back to my old level of output or something, I think.

One thing stood out, though…

I went to the UniverSoul circus in Greensboro on Saturday. Been a decade or two since I’d been to a circus, but I was down. Plus, this was the Negro circus. I’d never seen a bear do the Tootsee Roll, so I figured it was worth the trip down there.

The show was generally cool. It’s done on a relatively small scale, so I appreciate that they were able to pull off much of what they did. The only problem I had with it was the regurgitation of cliche notions of what you have to have at a black event. You have to take it to the old school, you have to tell a joke about gettin’ beat as a child, you have to shout out what your church is…all that stuff. It’s essentialist blackness in its purest form. But hey, they did play “Flash Light.”

But there’s one more thing you gotta have at the black event–the dance contest for the kids.

For some reason, kids love to get in dance contests. Maybe it’s because I knew as a youth that I was better at math than dancing, but I never got off on that stuff. And as an adult, I never really warmed to dancing. It was just what you had to do to meet women in college. What you gonna do at the club, really start a conversation? Nope, just show you can follow the booty wherever it goes so that, in case it ever comes up, there’s a belief that you can follow the booty wherever it goes.

Back to the lecture at hand–there were three little girls brought on stage for a dance contest. A couple of them looked a little nervous about it, almost as though their parents encouraged them to do it so they ran up and did it. What would make a mother prouder than seeing her child cut the rug where an elephant just took a short nap, right?

Then there was this third little girl. She was a fairly cute child. One of her parents appeared South Asian, but she was clearly black (and considering that her hair didn’t look a hot mess, I’m guessing her mother’s black). Anyway, she had a look in her eye the whole time that she was about to win this dance contest. She was gonna get out there and show them other lil girls how it was done.

So the music played. I can’t remember just what song it was, but it was something popular that gets constant radio play. The needle hit the record, and the first two girls I mentioned started dancing. They neither seemed to enthralled with the activity nor too sure what to do.

But uhhhh, that third lil’ girl had no such problem.

Who wants to guess what she did? Anybody? Anybody?

Oh, you ain’t even have to guess, did you? One hand went straight up in the air and was spinnin around like she was on a horse tryin to rope a calf. The lower half? Uhhh, up and down like a teeter totter. Booty booty booty booty rockin everywhere.

And she turned around and made sure the crowd saw said booty was droppin’. At this lil spot on Mangum by the ballpark in Durham, that’s worth a couple bucks. I wish I was joking.

Oh buddy. My date commented that if she were at such a venue performing such an activity, her mother would be in snatchin’ range. No way she’d embarrass her mama like that.

This lil thang’s mama didn’t feel the same way.

But you know what? Neither did too many other mamas. Cuz when it was time to crown a winner based on applause, these niggaz started clapping for the lil hot mama like she’d just come back with a gold medal or made the final 8 on American Idol. Damn near deafening, Jack.

(And in fairness, she could also lean and rock wit it pretty well, and that wasn’t too disturbing.)

Still not sure what to say about that. I just know this–I had a similar moment in University Homes in Atlanta on Halloween. Because the baddest girl in my freshman class was sponsoring a community service initiative where students would take kids from the projects trick or treating through the dorms, I made a trip down there for a party on 10/31/97. It was a great time, really.

But when that music came on, them lil boys started coming out of their shirts and them girls…let’s just say they were droppin it better than the ones I went to college with. And my jaw dropped once at a party my first week at Clark.

I say that to say this–things have changed, but maybe not that much. Damn near ten years later, the kids is on the same stuff. That makes me think more than just television’s at play here.

But would you clap for the little girl twurker on stage at the Negro circus? Would you be appalled? Would you not care? And be real–how old were you when you started droppin it to the ground?

(Tomorrow, I’ll talk about Chappelle’s Show from Sunday night. Gotta watch it again on TiVo. Spectacular stuff.)

July 7, 2006

The Compilation Resumes

Before I get into the compilation–here’s last week’s if you need to know the premise–I’d like to congratulate India.Arie for having the #1 album in the country. Way to go!

And for those of you that would like to hear what India would be like if she actually made good music–rather than stuff people feel compelled to enjoy because it falls in line with their political dispositions–go check out Tracy Chapman’s amazing, eponymous debut album. In fact, I wonder how many of these India.Arie fans have heard that record. The way I see it, it might take hearing Tracy kill it for an entire album to understand just how lacking Arie is.

But lemme stop dumping on that poor lady. Making money without sellin dope is okay with me.

Artist–Barry White
Song–I’m Gonna Love You A Little More

Lemme guess…the bassline just ran through your head. If it didn’t, you’ve just never heard the song.

Artist–Beach Boys
Song–Good Vibrations

But let’s be real. If the police pass by your door and hear this song blaring through the door, walls or windows, I’m pretty sure they’ll have probable cause to search your pad. Call it a hunch.

Artist–Big Pun
Song–I actually have no idea

Just wanted to illustrate that Pun’s best moments were absolutely incredible to the point that they’re almost indistinguishable in quality.

Artist–Bootsy Collins
Song–I’d Rather Be With You

This is near the top of any list I can think of.

Artist–Bubba Sparxxx
Song–Back in the Mud

You gotta give Bubba this…the ability to keep up with that beat and say consistently incredible shit deserves whatever praise you have to give.

Artist–Cee-Lo Green
Song–Spend the Night In Your Mind

Cee-Lo’s begun to wear on me, and he’s a weird lil nigga. But this song is remarkably convincing considering who it’s coming from.

Artist–DMB
Song–Gray Street

But only the Lilly White Sessions version. The live ones are good, too, come to think of it.

Artist–De La Soul
Song–Stakes is High

This is a really, really tough call. But putting Dilla on the boards and some inspired verses from Pos and Whateverhteotherdude’scallinghimselfthesedays was so ridiculous that it overcome putting Dilla on the mic. No small feat, pimpin.

Artist–Field Mob
Song–It’s Hell

I extoll the virtues of this one regularly. Bobo, tell em what I’m talkin bout.

Artist–Funkadelic
Song–Maggot Brain

His name is Eddie Hazel. He played one of the greatest guitar solos ever on this song. Find out about him.

Artist–Gangstarr
Song–The Militia

Ummm, let’s just say that I think a rugged chap that raps under many aliases would appreciate this choice. It really is incredible, though.

Artist–Goodie Mob
Song–Thought Process

You’ll have a hard time finding three harder consecutive verses harder than Gipp, Cee-Lo, and Andre on this one.

Artist–Isaac Hayes
Song–The Look of Love

“I can hardly wait to hold you/feel my arms around you/how long I have waited/waited just to love you/now that I have found you/don’t ever go.”

I know this is a cover, so I don’t give Isaac credit for the words. I give him credit for the obvious passion–but still smooth–and that spectacular arrangement.

Artist–Isley Brothers
Song–Voyage to Atlantis

This is a really tough choice. So tough that I had to go to the statistics to figure it out. The verdict–”Atlantis” is more, ummm, productive than even “Between the Sheets.”

Artist–Jackson(s) (5)
Song–Can You Feel It

I’ll take it over any non-Mike-solo project. That bass and the way Mike hits the track are perfect.

Artist–Janis Joplin
Song–Little Girl Blue

I’m not that well-versed in her catalog, bu tI just wanted to bring a lil attention to an underappreciated record.

Artist–Jill Scott
Song–He Loves Me

But I have to admit that I wonder if he’s really the most loving man on earth or he’s got the most incredible game on Earth.

Artist–Johnny Guitar Watson
Song–Tarzan

Just because the chorus is absolutely absurd.

Artist–Kanye West
Song–Never Let Me Down

Like it or not, Kanye’s a bad, bad man. It does help to put two Jigga verses on here, if you’re Kanye.

Artist–Lou Rawls
Song–Dead End Street

If you ever wanted to know what the city of Chicago sounds like, put this one on. How can you not love Lou’s voice?

Artist–Luther Vandross
Song–Bad Boy/Having a Party

I don’t adore Luther like a lot of people, but I can damn sure tell you he was a bad, bad man. This one bangs for the same reason almost all of this joints bang–the bass line is where it’s at.

Artist–O’Jays
Song–You Got Your Hooks In Me

This song is really pathetic, actually, but you’re lying if you say you ain’t been there.

Artist–Paul Simon
Song–Still Crazy After All These Years

I have to admit I can identify with the last verse very well. Not sure what to make of that.

Artist–Pearl Jam
Song–Black

I really wonder what life’s like for you when you realize your most marketable skill is conveying pain and dismay. Gotta be kinda like being a dentist or something.

Artist–The Police
Song–So Lonely

People tend to forget Andy in guitar discussions. This solo is incredible.

Artist–UGK
Song–Take It Off

Potentially the greatest strip club song since “Moments in Love.”

And I still missed a grip. Til another day.

July 3, 2006

Lamentations on Economics

Just got back from picking up my last round of papers to grade for the program at Duke. Bittersweet? Not quite. I can say, though, that I enjoyed working the program much more than I did last year. The students I worked with were good folks for whom I sincerely wish the best. Well, most of ‘em.

But it got me to thinking about my first full year away from school. When it was looking like it was time for me to do something else, I couldn’t imagine what I’d do without school. It wasn’t that I just loved it so much. It was just that for a couple of decades, it grounded my life. Everything I did was worked around school. I woke up in the morning with school as the first thing I had to consider. That was the bedrock.

Now? Man, I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I was still in school. That’s largely because I decided to go face first into writing, the one thing I can do every day of my life (and do every day of my life). But it’s also because graduate school really, really sucks. Any graduate student that says they enjoy school is looking you in the eye and lying his or her ass off. Straight up, it’s hell. Not too far from incarceration…except for the risk of….well, you know.

But while working this program, I do realize what I miss–economics. Anyone that knows me can tell you I have serious problems with the way the discipline is currently constructed and huge qualms with how it’s taught. In spite of that, though, I absolutely love the thought process. It’s like a huge detective mission, really. You think of a situation and you try to find the most important causes for whatever is going on. Economists get a huge list of suspects–called causal variables by some–and go through them in an attempt to find the real culprit for some crime or whatever–usually called a dependent variable. You poke and prod some numbers, go through your mind and linear thought processes, and then you come to some conclusion that one hopes would fix the world or something.

And i have to say that’s fun. I was in an office the other day talking with someone about housing prices and the factors one would need to consider when trying to determine what effect the racial composition of a neighborhood has on home prices. I must say that it was invigorating to be back in that again, to be around people thinking in the same way about issues of significance.

I miss it. Not school. Just it. Couldn’t pull a gun big enough to get me back in grad school, though.

There’s one caveat, though–I use economics all the time. Frequently, people are stunned at my line of work given my training is all in teh social sciences. It gives me an advantage, though. I’m taught to go deeper than what’s on surface and find what really makes things tick. Instead of going for the knee-jerk, I prefer to investigate logically. That’s what I did in economics, and that’s what I do when writing about sports or music. No difference, really.

Maybe I just miss being in an academic environment, where there are always people to talk to (as opposed to just posting up at the estate). Either way, working this program was kinda nostalgic. And I imagine working this fall at Elon will be similar.

But I’ll always be knee deep in this. If I learned nothing else in the last month, it was that. That and how much fun it is to really help someone through something and help them see capabilities they don’t even see within themselves. That’s kinda big, too.