Black Star//Definition

Is it just me, or is the week DRAGGING!? I am having one of those weeks where you feel totally overwhelmed with all the shit that has to get done. Feel me? Let's take a break from that for a sec.

My high school boyfriend, a totally sweet dude, was way way into conscious hip hop and so it's not surprising that he was my first introduction to Black Star. We used to roll around listening to them in his tan Camry (which I named Trip after a main character in The Virgin Suicides--yes). Much later in Ann Arbor, my friend Katy was super super into them and got me to actually pay attention (thanks, Katy). Kweli+Def=perfect.

Speaking of Ann Arbor, Palmyra's going out there this weekend (part of the reason for the feelings of insanity) to play some shows. This track is fucking incredible. The beat. The flow. I almost forget all the stuff I have to get done before we leave in two days.



Definition.mp3

Manhattan keep on makin' it.
Brooklyn keep on takin' it.

Talib Kweli//Get By

Guys, today I just want to listen to hip hop. It’s fucking hot and everyone knows that hot is the weather of hip hop.

This song is a classic Angie mix tape song, another that I would rewind and press play on in an endless loop in my forever-breaking down silver Hyundai in Ann Arbor days. Oh. My. God. This song, from Kweli’s first Black Star-departure solo record Quality, is just that: QUALITY.
The rhymes are fucking AMAZING.
The Nina Simone sample (Sinnerman--that track here, if you're interested) is PERFECT.
The gospel choir is ON FIRE.
The production, by Mr. West pre-mega fame, is FLAWLESS.
Such a SWEET SONG.

If similarly sample-heavy/inspirational/Kanye-produced Dialated Peoples burner “This Way” is an anthem of change and self-betterment, than “Get By” is a tale of sheer survival in the face of a fucked up day-to-day. And that message isn’t lost on me. The world is totally fucked up, and often, doesn’t make it easy for many people to succeed. Does that mean you should stop trying? Hell fucking no.

Get out in the sun and blare this baby, full volume.



Get By is gone, and has been, for weeks now, despite the fact that someone keeps taking this post off Blogger using Chilling Effects. There's no offending content here. Hasn't been any for a while!

Our parents sing like John Lennon, "Imagine all the people…,”
Watch:
We rock like Paul McCartney from now until the last Beatle drop.