Sep 282010
 

Jag älskar Racionais MCs. De är Wu-Tang Clan och 2pac ihoprullade i en grupp. I Brasilien axlar de både N.W.A.:s och Public Enemy:s roller, med reality raps hårdare än allt amerikanskt. OK – på par med Keep Your Head Up och The Saga. Där ligger nivån. Produktion och historieberättande smälter ofta ihop till en cinematisk helhet; rysningar utmed ryggraden, nackhåren reser sig.

Jag placerade deras Vida É Desafio på trettonde plats bland 00-talets 100 bästa låtar, men idag förtjänar den några steg uppåt. För det här är tidlös musik.

It’s necessary to always believe in the possibility of the dream,
that the sky is the limit and that you are unbeatable.
The bad times will pass, it’s just a phase,
and the suffering only adds to your courage

(min kackiga översättning av öppningsraderna)

Nu är de tillbaka för ett nytt album. I videon nedanför förklarar Mano Brown hur Racionais MCs spelar in, och  knackar runt på en MPC 3000.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4ulU2JFsY&hl=en&fs=1&]

Sep 282010
 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=corY-FZAZog&hl=en&fs=1&]

LIVSFORMER VS. LIL B – an intro to the rawest rapper alive

On The Age Of Information – one of 2010’s best songs – Lil B breaks down the boom bap format subatomically and recombines it into an entirely new creature, beyond battling and backpack topics, catapulting himself onto new territory, with the sitting-on-a-park-bench state of mind and the blunted The World Is Yours type flow intact, over a Boards Of Canada type beat, landing right in the present, describing how the internets have changed humanity.

Even though we’re in space we still hate ourselves
The age of information is Hell

Lil B is making it too easy for himself , in the age of information, but also capitalism continued, when he says that “the internet has destroyed the human race“. The internets possess innate tendencies of bringing us together, creating new communities, but also work at intensifying the alienation of capitalist society, tearing us apart. It’s a double-edged sword.

How come the human race isn’t progressing as fast as technology has?

It’s sad to see users glued to their terminals in their homes, alone, when they ought to explore computers in the company of others; in the same physical room. We need spaces for that. Especially for those who like me lack hacker-like skills. The meritocratic order of the computer worlds needs democratic mutations. In with more people from all walks of life into these hackerspaces, turning them into social centers. Human beings need to meet, friendships need to be established, situations without a point of return need to be created. Until now technology has been in the service of capital, not humanity. Establish the new infrastructures.

Besides being early with embracing information technology – from the Homebrew computer club to the transnational empires of Silicon ValleyCalifornia has always been on the frontlines of new age philosophy. The Berkley-based rapper is one mind in a tradition of seekers, reminding me more of beat icons like Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassidy than later rock music heroes slash heroin junkies like Jerry Garcia and Jim Morrison; this nomad state of mind is shown on tracks such as Walk The World, Todays Weather and I Dont Want Shit.

Sep 222010
 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz3kX4X9KvQ&hl=en&fs=1&]

http://www.newsmill.se/artikel/2010/09/20/arbetarr-relsen-m-ste-l-ra-av-danmark-f-r-att-hantera-sd

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B991dAEzCRCRMzkyYTc2MTktNDcyMC00OWY1LWI5NjctYzBjM2MwZTBhZGIz&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B991dAEzCRCROTEzOGQ4YTEtNDlhOS00M2M4LWIwYjktZDJiZTZmZWI0OTY3&hl=en&authkey=CJPJybEC

http://fredrikedin.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/smile-or-die/

http://www.arbetaren.se/articles/inrikes2010069-5

http://www.arbetaren.se/articles/inrikes20100915

http://kentwerne.se/granskande-artiklar/den-nya-valfardsindustrin/

(så här långt liksom… jag får återkomma…)

Sep 052010
 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xckInIvVmOY&hl=en&fs=1&]

cousin fik – no gravity

cousin fik – buffalo feat. e-40 and rankin skroo

E-40 does hella damage. But everything on No Gravity is surprisingly psychical, technical.

Droop-E and others tighten the Bay Area sound further. Cousin Fik gives away the whole album here.

Sick Wid It Records, the Wu-Tang of The Yay Area.

Aug 242010
 

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1AQciIR-Bs”]

(Tack till Roger för länken)

Helt mållös. En av Mack Beats bättre produktioner. Det är dags för Sverige att vakna.

“Alliansen håller festen, arbetaren sliter hårt året runt utan att ha råd med semestern
a-kassan försvinner, bidrag försvinner, dom sjuka dom piskas till att jobba som maskiner
alliansen vinner, alliansen skiner, hos oss det bara brinner och tårarna rinner”

Samtidigt som jag har stor respekt för exempelvis Mohammed Ali – som när jag såg dom live förklarade att dom inte tänker rösta, eftersom problemet är mycket större än så – och jag egentligen är emot hela politikersystemet, så är det i år viktigare än någonsin att ta sig till vallokalen. Dom här fyra åren har svidit.

Men vi bör inte förlita oss på att vänsterblocket kommer fixa landet. Vi röstar inte på dom – men mot alliansen.

Kartellen kommer att släppa en klassiker.

Aug 242010
 

[youtube=””http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKpd2Bua3Ug”&hl=en&fs=1&]

High class New York rap… (via Unkut)

Immortal Technique had the same beat on his last album, but since I couldn’t place the sample at first, this re-use is OK (since not played out). Tech always articulates his messages powerfully, but gentrification is something that’s closer to everyday life than the situation in Afghanistan or the Illuminati… “Support your own businesses and do the knowledge…” Instead of copping conspiracy theories and 5% type Islam along with their German cars and blood diamonds, one might suggest that rappers invest in where they come from, start businesses and community centers there. Like Too Short said: There’s Money In The Ghetto.

Anyway, this sample is too dope. Action Bronson’s version got the better drums. And while he isn’t delivering much of a message, he’s got mucho flavour… look what he’s cooking up in the kitchen. He reps New York right, just like fellow Outdoorsmen Meyhem Lauren and Sean Price.

Switch to our mobile site