My boy says the track was mixed-down at Paramount on Santa Monica. My peoples work with Acey and I remember at the time of the You Got Served project that a lot of the work was being done at Paramount. At the time, they mentioned seeing Rid there and said he was getting the main song for the movie.
I have no opinion on this particular track but I find it odd that a guy who attempts to rep Texas, NOLA, and Cali simultaneously has the stones to call other folks "carpetbaggers".
Carry on...
It's like you said what I've been thinking the past ten years!!!
Archaic, Blowed, Carpetbagging? Dog, this thread made me come back.
My boy says the track was mixed-down at Paramount on Santa Monica. My peoples work with Acey and I remember at the time of the You Got Served project that a lot of the work was being done at Paramount. At the time, they mentioned seeing Rid there and said he was getting the main song for the movie.
That's great, but it reminds me... Archaic has yet to speak on this most important of Blowed projects:
LOL! That movie was horrendous. I had been asked to give the music supervisor some classic b-boy jams because this movie was supposed to be an updated Breakin' (gag!)
So of course I make a cd with all these clasic b-boy jams, some electro, and some dance era hip-hop cuts and gave em to old boy. Suffice to say, none of the cuts were used in the film. And as corny as Breakin' was, YGS even had more corn in the shit. Interestingly enough, Boogaloo Shrimp (Turbo from Breakin') drove by in a raggedy old Porsche when YGS was being filmed at the Staples Center. My boy tried to get his attention so they could put him in a cameo. Instead, Boogaloo Shrimp sped off.
You wanna act like all little you did was kindly recommend further mixing, but there's just so much venom underneath anything you say about the Blowed, good or bad.
no the venom is directed to you faggot. because everytime i try to talk about the blowed with you on here (which you should be thankful because i'm one of the only motherfuckers around here who even tries to engage nicely at your groupie ass threads, look how quickly this one would've dropped if i didn't come in TO AGREE WITH YOU) you come at me questioning my credibility. like above you come through trying to look all slick name dropping records you think i don't have and when i say i'm listening to said record as we speak you retreat on some "uh... well i haven't checked that in a minute" shit.
I distinctly recall you shouting me down at some point a few months back when I called "Kill em All" one of the best rap albums last year...as if because it wasn't recorded in a state of the art studio that it couldn't even be in contention for such consideration.
did i say that was one of the reasons i wasn't feeling it that much? it's possible. but you also distinctly remembered me writing a damn bored stiff review.
And that's the exact kind of thing that makes me think you don't get it. You think it's hipster-suave to collect cassette tapes...but then you want to act like you are completely above 4-track recordings.
i'm not above four track recordings. when that was the best option years ago i'd eat that shit up. but now it's 2005. professional sounding home recording is neither expensive or hard and if an artist wants my hard earned cash i'd expect they'd at the very least take the time to thumb through this shit at borders.
and if your boy ridd is really that sensitive that he can't take a simple bit of criticism like "your mic levels are in the red, you might want to turn that shit down", i think we have some insight as to why such a great artists been stuck selling cds out his trunk for 15 years. but maybe you can ask him next time you come up off his nuts for air.
bottom line is you don't know me because you read my website. don't worry though i'll be sure to look you up if i ever roll through austin so you can say this shit to my face. we'll see how hipster suave i am when i'm the one stomping your ass.
Interestingly enough, Boogaloo Shrimp (Turbo from Breakin') drove by in a raggedy old Porsche when YGS was being filmed at the Staples Center. My boy tried to get his attention so they could put him in a cameo. Instead, Boogaloo Shrimp sped off.
like above you come through trying to look all slick name dropping records you think i don't have and when i say i'm listening to said record as we speak you retreat on some "uh... well i haven't checked that in a minute" shit.
No, I figured you had the album (Declaration of an Independent). That's why I referenced it because I wanted to name something you could listen to. I listened to it tonight and gee, there are about 5 tracks out of 25+ that the vocals are a bit too high on. But how can that be your overriding conclusion to listening to this music?
There's so much going on here. Yet instead of focusing in on something positive, you just wanna nitpick on some if-I'm-gonna-spend-my-fifteen-dollars-I-better-get-what-mommy-wanted-for-me dribble.
"We All Easty" is to the nth degree. IMO it's as good a rap song as I've ever heard. Put it up there with "My Opinion", "I Need a Eighth", "Uptown My Home", "I'm a Baller", and all those other personal classics of mine that I'd be more than happy to go to the grave with.
"Prison of the Mind" holds up singing by Medusa quite nicely.
"Fool and a 1/2" is just plain sick.
"Despues de la Vida" is practically perfect. Another all-time personal classic of mine.
These are all inredible songs, with nothing about their mixing that distracts from their genius.
And who the fuck are you calling a groupie when you're a fanboy, look-at-what-I-found tape trader like a muthfucka? We both know you just recently had to clear out your cassette case of Phish bootlegs in order to make room for your pop-n-fresh, internet-derived Three 6 Mafia jones.
I believe my first encounter with the wide-world of "underground hip-hop" was in '94 or '95 when I went to this free concert at DeAnza College back when I resided in good ol' San Jose, California (home of the worst rappers in the country). The headliners of the show were The Pharcyde, The Alkoholiks, and The BUMS, but the show opened up with a string of local artists who I had never heard of: The Derelicts, The Mystik Journeymen, and Bored Stiff. Frankly, I don't really remember much from the opening acts except for the Journeymen doing that song "What If." They pretty much killed that shit, surprising the whole audience. But, after copping one of their tapes, my boys and I quickly realized that dudes were basically good performers but terrible rappers. Anyway, that day opened my eyes to the fact that there was and is a whole community of underground and independent artists that were doing the damn thing without the financial or promotional support of the record industry. Since I was only like 14 or 15 at the time, this was a pretty important discovery for me and got me hella interested in all-things underground and independent. Of course, my infatuation with underground hip-hop turned out to be more of an attempt at achieving some sort of authentic sense of identity that is both-within-yet-outside the world of hip-hop, but that's for another post. My only point here is that this was a day that was pretty damn important to me and introduced me to a world I had previously never paid much attention to. And, for the purposes of this post, this was how I discovered the SF rap collective known as Bored Stiff.
Let me start by saying two things about Bored Stiff: one, I don't know very much about them or their history and two, they're really not very good. Mostly, they've got some pretty good production and they do a mediocre job of not ruining their beats. But, fuck it, I like some of their shit. To be sure, a lot of my affection for these dudes is based on some nostalgia shit but even having said that, I was never really a HUGE HUGE fan of these dudes' records. I threw 'em on occasionally and basically just enjoyed the shit for what it was. Now re-listening to some of the shit makes me smile, but, gotdamnit, a lot of it makes me cringe, too. I mean, dudes, some of the verses are just fucking AWFUL. However, I do think Bored Stiff is worth posting about here because they act as an interesting demarcation point both temporally and spatially. In other words, while their music certainly isn't wildly compelling nor was it hugely influential, it marks the attitude (DIY) of a certain place (the bay area) and time (early-to-mid 90's). And, to be fair, while perhaps not the most invigorating hip-hop music you will ever hear, it was most certainly honest and adventerous.
But, for the most part, all these dudes rapped about was how they were independent artists that refused to sign to major labels because these majors only wanted to exploit hip-hop but Bored Stiff wasnt gonna sell out because they were Bored Stiff and they were positive artists and they had things to say and blah and blah and blah. I mean, basically, it's all pretty cliche stuff that you love to hear when you're a rebellious little teenager looking to hate on anything popular in order to set yourself apart from "the clones." But, what's important about a group like Bored Stiff is precisely this DIY, independent sentiment. Of course, Bored Stiff didn't invent the dirt hustlin' aesthetic pioneered by Bay Area foellies like Too Short and E-40, but they did abide by it (and they most certainly fucking rapped about it) along with other contemporaneous, Bay Urreah dirt hustlers (the aforementioned Mystik Journeymen, the Hobo Junction, etc). But, the thing about Bored Stiff (and you can say the same thing about the Mystik Journeymen and the rest of the Legends) is not only did these dudes abide by this DIY, "independent as fuck" sentiment, they fucking based their entire existence on it. It was their entire musical identity. While Too Short and E-40 were hustling their tapes on corners as a means to an end (getting their music heard and, of course, getting that dough), groups like Bored Stiff took this dirt hustlin' aesthetic as the basis for their content and identity.
I guess I just find that interesting.
So, anyway, enough jabbering. Here's a few tracks off of their 2 EPs: 1995s "Explainin'..." EP and 1997's "Timeless" EP. Enjoy. ----------------------
Yay.
The fact that you confuse me and Noz though is indicative of your whole shit dude: you're really on some corny "us VS them" shit and if we're not 100% with you, we're obviously 100% against you. It's corny, dude. You've got[/b] to see that. You're way smarter than that.
What I like about you is that you're a fan first and you have this huge amount of passion for these dudes and you really really want people to like these dudes as much as you do-- not on some fascist, taste-making shit, but just because you think they're really dope and that people are missing out because of some weird regional bias. But, man, for a lot of us (like me and Noz) this shit has nothing to do with East Coast bias. I've moved around and lived all over the fucking country and only happen to reside in the east coast now. I even lived overseas in Germany for three years (and those are the years where I really cultivated my west coast love trading tapes with pedestrian and axiom). For all intents and purposes, I grew up listening to underground west coast shit, dude. That was the first shit I really really loved in hip-hop and a lot of it is shit that I still really love. But, to me, a great deal of it is stale as shit these days.
But, whatever, that shit doesn't fucking matter anyway.
All I know is that you can't fight the good fight if you're not letting people be honest about how they feel about the music, especially people like Noz and I who are way more on your side than you're willing to realize because you're so fucking caught up in prosletyzing.
Shit is really corny, dude.
You're way smarter than this.
I respect every single opinion you have, dude. Honestly, I do. And I'm willing to bet that a lot of people on here respect a lot of the shit you say even though you wind up getting into these bullshit little spouts at least once every two weeks. I just wish you would extend equal respect to our opinions.
Allow me a moment of existentialism: does anybody ever wonder who judges the judges? In other words, how do any of us really know that Archaic is mentally and spiritually fit to rep the Blowed?
By the way, I have no intention of being "allies" with these dudes. Back in 1998 and 1999 when I was interviewing OD, Ellay Khule, Slant, Ridd, Bus Driver, Xinxo, Radioinactive, Wreccless, Subtitle, etc for triple-bypass.com, yeah, back then I was a little jocking/fan-boy who was trying to be an "ally." But, now, I could care fucking less. I have no real allegiance to any of these dudes. I just happened to like some of their music.
Why the fuck is about allies and enemies?
And dude, I don't want to speak for Noz, but all I fucking do is post some mp3s on a motherfucking blog and tell people what the fuck I think about them. Everyone in the world is welcome to disagree with my thoughts, but getting mad at folks like me for saying some shit about how I think Bored Stiff isn't all that great but I STILL kinda like 'em and find them interesting/important is really juvenile. And if people are stupid enough to agree with everything I fucking say on a motherfucking blog called "we eat so many shrimp," well then sheyit, that's their fault not mine.
I really can't believe how juvenile you make this shit.
Yeah, taking responsibility for the stuff you say is really...juvenile
Dude, I stand by everything I say in my posts and take full responsibility for my readings of what I post about it. I take responsibility for my subjective world view. Sorry it doesn't rhyme with your absolute, overriding "Truth." I encourage you to NOT read anything I write in the future if it bothers you so darn much that I don't mind saying something sucks if I think it sucks.
But, you have noticed that free 74 minute mixes of underground west coast shit (http://emynd.blogspot.com/2004/11/underground-west-coast-mix-what-pity.html) aren't common in the blogosphere, right? And you did notice that shit was shouted out in the East Bay Express, too, right? Of course, you can't blame me for the quotes they pulled ("FF fell off" and "SJ hip-hop is the worst hip-hop I've ever heard")... or maybe you can-- it's some grand conspiracy, right?
I still think Blowed has done just as much to sabotage their own careers as all the forces against them (biters, the industry, white rappers, etc).
Anyway, my main point is and will be: you're smarter than this.
I still think Blowed has done just as much to sabotage their own careers as all the forces against them (biters, the industry, white rappers[/b], etc).
Damn, that's an interesting idea... is the thesis that (mostly white) listeners that are looking for an ultra-abstract fix and who previously might have turned their ears to the Blowed are more inclined to go with rappers that resemble themselves now that there are a bunch of white dudes doing that type of thing?
I can buy that--I think the Blowed guys were peculiarly positioned to be hurt by the presence of white rappers in the marketplace.
I still think Blowed has done just as much to sabotage their own careers as all the forces against them (biters, the industry, white rappers[/b], etc).
Damn, that's an interesting idea... is the thesis that (mostly white) listeners that are looking for an ultra-abstract fix and who previously might have turned their ears to the Blowed are more inclined to go with rappers that resemble themselves now that there are a bunch of white dudes doing that type of thing?
I can buy that--I think the Blowed guys were peculiarly positioned to be hurt by the presence of white rappers in the marketplace.
It has been my basic thesis (and I think it was even discussed briefly during my first spat with Archaic on this board) that, for better or for worse, folks like Anticon and the Living Legends and other white abstract rappers helped facilitate "the death of the Blowed" for precisely those reasons. Not to mention the white abstract rappers were infinitely more productive than the Blowed heads (at least as far as making ACTUAL PRODUCTS) and had both the foresight and means (i.e. financial, computer literacy, etc) to put the products in a place where their mostly white, middle-class fan base would have access to them (i.e. the internet). To a degree, I don't think the actual quality of the music had much to do with it, but I do find some of it to be particularly interesting and creative stuff, especially given the climate of the time.
So, to some degree, I can understand why Blowed dudes hate Anticon and white abstract rappers like them... but I also tend to hold the Blowed dudes responsible for their own fate. Back before Anticon really saturated the market, there was a huge buzz for Blowed shit online and none of those dudes could really capitalize on that shit before it peetered out and ended up in resentment and scape-goating.
It is sort've depressing though that some white boys who had more money and computer literacy were able to come along and take control of a market that was just waiting to be exploited.
Yeah, taking responsibility for the stuff you say is really...
"Taking responsibility" = backing it up with threats of violence?
Who did I threaten with violence?
Reminding folks that some of things they say on the internet wouldn't fly in person is hardly a threat. More like a reality...
Okay, sorry:
"Taking responsibility" = reminding critical thinkers of the reality of violence?
I really don't think we need to rehash...but sweeping, false, negative generalizations are hardly the territory of critical thinkers.
For real, I dare any little dude on here to go tell any gangsta rap-oriented producer of nearly 20 years to their face that they need to go read "Home Recording for Dummies" and then we'll see what happens.
I really don't think we need to rehash...but sweeping, false, negative generalizations are hardly the territory of critical thinkers.
For real, I dare any little dude on here to go tell any gangsta rap-oriented producer of nearly 20 years to their face that they need to go read "Home Recording for Dummies" and then we'll see what happens.
Dude, but the point is, just because some guy will beat you up for saying it doesn't mean it is or isn't a legitimate criticism. I haven't heard the pieces in question so I can't say shit about whether or not I think the shit sounds good, but if Noz thinks it sounds like shit I don't think the fact that Riddlore will beat him up for saying that either legitimizes or doesn't legitimize how good the recording sounds.
For real, I dare any little dude on here to go tell any gangsta rap-oriented producer of nearly 20 years to their face that they need to go read "Home Recording for Dummies" and then we'll see what happens.
that would be a good point if it weren't for the fact that most of the gangster stuff I hear is recorded really well.
Great thread...I don't know why, but every time Archaic really gets going, I read the words and imagine a guy in a second-hand Ronald McDonald costume, yelling at traffic, nowhere near a McDonalds.
Comments
If you didn't get all your info from the blogosphere then you would know... out in Cali we just call that shit mana.
It's like you said what I've been thinking the past ten years!!!
Archaic, Blowed, Carpetbagging? Dog, this thread made me come back.
That's great, but it reminds me... Archaic has yet to speak on this most important of Blowed projects:
Bonus (you know I hadda do it, right):
LOL! That movie was horrendous. I had been asked to give the music supervisor some classic b-boy jams because this movie was supposed to be an updated Breakin' (gag!)
So of course I make a cd with all these clasic b-boy jams, some electro, and some dance era hip-hop cuts and gave em to old boy. Suffice to say, none of the cuts were used in the film. And as corny as Breakin' was, YGS even had more corn in the shit. Interestingly enough, Boogaloo Shrimp (Turbo from Breakin') drove by in a raggedy old Porsche when YGS was being filmed at the Staples Center. My boy tried to get his attention so they could put him in a cameo. Instead, Boogaloo Shrimp sped off.
no the venom is directed to you faggot. because everytime i try to talk about the blowed with you on here (which you should be thankful because i'm one of the only motherfuckers around here who even tries to engage nicely at your groupie ass threads, look how quickly this one would've dropped if i didn't come in TO AGREE WITH YOU) you come at me questioning my credibility. like above you come through trying to look all slick name dropping records you think i don't have and when i say i'm listening to said record as we speak you retreat on some "uh... well i haven't checked that in a minute" shit.
did i say that was one of the reasons i wasn't feeling it that much? it's possible. but you also distinctly remembered me writing a damn bored stiff review.
i'm not above four track recordings. when that was the best option years ago i'd eat that shit up. but now it's 2005. professional sounding home recording is neither expensive or hard and if an artist wants my hard earned cash i'd expect they'd at the very least take the time to thumb through this shit at borders.
and if your boy ridd is really that sensitive that he can't take a simple bit of criticism like "your mic levels are in the red, you might want to turn that shit down", i think we have some insight as to why such a great artists been stuck selling cds out his trunk for 15 years. but maybe you can ask him next time you come up off his nuts for air.
bottom line is you don't know me because you read my website. don't worry though i'll be sure to look you up if i ever roll through austin so you can say this shit to my face. we'll see how hipster suave i am when i'm the one stomping your ass.
Damn, that's hilarious!
No, I figured you had the album (Declaration of an Independent). That's why I referenced it because I wanted to name something you could listen to. I listened to it tonight and gee, there are about 5 tracks out of 25+ that the vocals are a bit too high on. But how can that be your overriding conclusion to listening to this music?
There's so much going on here. Yet instead of focusing in on something positive, you just wanna nitpick on some if-I'm-gonna-spend-my-fifteen-dollars-I-better-get-what-mommy-wanted-for-me dribble.
"We All Easty" is
"Prison of the Mind" holds up singing by Medusa quite nicely.
"Fool and a 1/2" is just plain sick.
"Despues de la Vida" is practically perfect. Another all-time personal classic of mine.
These are all inredible songs, with nothing about their mixing that distracts from their genius.
And who the fuck are you calling a groupie when you're a fanboy, look-at-what-I-found tape trader like a muthfucka? We both know you just recently had to clear out your cassette case of Phish bootlegs in order to make room for your pop-n-fresh, internet-derived Three 6 Mafia jones.
Sorry to hop on here without clowning anyone, but I was hoping someone could post links to these tracks??? I lost all my CVE collection in the fire.
http://somanyshrimp.com/2004/11/bored-stiff-eps.html
I believe my first encounter with the wide-world of "underground hip-hop" was in '94 or '95 when I went to this free concert at DeAnza College back when I resided in good ol' San Jose, California (home of the worst rappers in the country). The headliners of the show were The Pharcyde, The Alkoholiks, and The BUMS, but the show opened up with a string of local artists who I had never heard of: The Derelicts, The Mystik Journeymen, and Bored Stiff. Frankly, I don't really remember much from the opening acts except for the Journeymen doing that song "What If." They pretty much killed that shit, surprising the whole audience. But, after copping one of their tapes, my boys and I quickly realized that dudes were basically good performers but terrible rappers. Anyway, that day opened my eyes to the fact that there was and is a whole community of underground and independent artists that were doing the damn thing without the financial or promotional support of the record industry. Since I was only like 14 or 15 at the time, this was a pretty important discovery for me and got me hella interested in all-things underground and independent. Of course, my infatuation with underground hip-hop turned out to be more of an attempt at achieving some sort of authentic sense of identity that is both-within-yet-outside the world of hip-hop, but that's for another post. My only point here is that this was a day that was pretty damn important to me and introduced me to a world I had previously never paid much attention to. And, for the purposes of this post, this was how I discovered the SF rap collective known as Bored Stiff.
Let me start by saying two things about Bored Stiff: one, I don't know very much about them or their history and two, they're really not very good. Mostly, they've got some pretty good production and they do a mediocre job of not ruining their beats. But, fuck it, I like some of their shit. To be sure, a lot of my affection for these dudes is based on some nostalgia shit but even having said that, I was never really a HUGE HUGE fan of these dudes' records. I threw 'em on occasionally and basically just enjoyed the shit for what it was. Now re-listening to some of the shit makes me smile, but, gotdamnit, a lot of it makes me cringe, too. I mean, dudes, some of the verses are just fucking AWFUL. However, I do think Bored Stiff is worth posting about here because they act as an interesting demarcation point both temporally and spatially. In other words, while their music certainly isn't wildly compelling nor was it hugely influential, it marks the attitude (DIY) of a certain place (the bay area) and time (early-to-mid 90's). And, to be fair, while perhaps not the most invigorating hip-hop music you will ever hear, it was most certainly honest and adventerous.
But, for the most part, all these dudes rapped about was how they were independent artists that refused to sign to major labels because these majors only wanted to exploit hip-hop but Bored Stiff wasnt gonna sell out because they were Bored Stiff and they were positive artists and they had things to say and blah and blah and blah. I mean, basically, it's all pretty cliche stuff that you love to hear when you're a rebellious little teenager looking to hate on anything popular in order to set yourself apart from "the clones." But, what's important about a group like Bored Stiff is precisely this DIY, independent sentiment. Of course, Bored Stiff didn't invent the dirt hustlin' aesthetic pioneered by Bay Area foellies like Too Short and E-40, but they did abide by it (and they most certainly fucking rapped about it) along with other contemporaneous, Bay Urreah dirt hustlers (the aforementioned Mystik Journeymen, the Hobo Junction, etc). But, the thing about Bored Stiff (and you can say the same thing about the Mystik Journeymen and the rest of the Legends) is not only did these dudes abide by this DIY, "independent as fuck" sentiment, they fucking based their entire existence on it. It was their entire musical identity. While Too Short and E-40 were hustling their tapes on corners as a means to an end (getting their music heard and, of course, getting that dough), groups like Bored Stiff took this dirt hustlin' aesthetic as the basis for their content and identity.
I guess I just find that interesting.
So, anyway, enough jabbering. Here's a few tracks off of their 2 EPs: 1995s "Explainin'..." EP and 1997's "Timeless" EP. Enjoy.
----------------------
Yay.
The fact that you confuse me and Noz though is indicative of your whole shit dude: you're really on some corny "us VS them" shit and if we're not 100% with you, we're obviously 100% against you. It's corny, dude. You've got[/b] to see that. You're way smarter than that.
What I like about you is that you're a fan first and you have this huge amount of passion for these dudes and you really really want people to like these dudes as much as you do-- not on some fascist, taste-making shit, but just because you think they're really dope and that people are missing out because of some weird regional bias. But, man, for a lot of us (like me and Noz) this shit has nothing to do with East Coast bias. I've moved around and lived all over the fucking country and only happen to reside in the east coast now. I even lived overseas in Germany for three years (and those are the years where I really cultivated my west coast love trading tapes with pedestrian and axiom). For all intents and purposes, I grew up listening to underground west coast shit, dude. That was the first shit I really really loved in hip-hop and a lot of it is shit that I still really love. But, to me, a great deal of it is stale as shit these days.
But, whatever, that shit doesn't fucking matter anyway.
All I know is that you can't fight the good fight if you're not letting people be honest about how they feel about the music, especially people like Noz and I who are way more on your side than you're willing to realize because you're so fucking caught up in prosletyzing.
Shit is really corny, dude.
You're way smarter than this.
I respect every single opinion you have, dude. Honestly, I do. And I'm willing to bet that a lot of people on here respect a lot of the shit you say even though you wind up getting into these bullshit little spouts at least once every two weeks. I just wish you would extend equal respect to our opinions.
It's corny.
-e
Well zing-itty-doo-dah.
-e
This is inadequate--prepare to be "weeded out"...
I too detect a Judas in our midst...
you know how we do...
Allow me a moment of existentialism: does anybody ever wonder who judges the judges? In other words, how do any of us really know that Archaic is mentally and spiritually fit to rep the Blowed?
Why the fuck is about allies and enemies?
And dude, I don't want to speak for Noz, but all I fucking do is post some mp3s on a motherfucking blog and tell people what the fuck I think about them. Everyone in the world is welcome to disagree with my thoughts, but getting mad at folks like me for saying some shit about how I think Bored Stiff isn't all that great but I STILL kinda like 'em and find them interesting/important is really juvenile. And if people are stupid enough to agree with everything I fucking say on a motherfucking blog called "we eat so many shrimp," well then sheyit, that's their fault not mine.
I really can't believe how juvenile you make this shit.
-e
"Taking responsibility" = backing it up with threats of violence?
Dude, I stand by everything I say in my posts and take full responsibility for my readings of what I post about it. I take responsibility for my subjective world view. Sorry it doesn't rhyme with your absolute, overriding "Truth." I encourage you to NOT read anything I write in the future if it bothers you so darn much that I don't mind saying something sucks if I think it sucks.
But, you have noticed that free 74 minute mixes of underground west coast shit (http://emynd.blogspot.com/2004/11/underground-west-coast-mix-what-pity.html) aren't common in the blogosphere, right? And you did notice that shit was shouted out in the East Bay Express, too, right? Of course, you can't blame me for the quotes they pulled ("FF fell off" and "SJ hip-hop is the worst hip-hop I've ever heard")... or maybe you can-- it's some grand conspiracy, right?
I still think Blowed has done just as much to sabotage their own careers as all the forces against them (biters, the industry, white rappers, etc).
Anyway, my main point is and will be: you're smarter than this.
Stop.
-e
Who did I threaten with violence?
Reminding folks that some of things they say on the internet wouldn't fly in person is hardly a threat. More like a reality...
Damn, that's an interesting idea... is the thesis that (mostly white) listeners that are looking for an ultra-abstract fix and who previously might have turned their ears to the Blowed are more inclined to go with rappers that resemble themselves now that there are a bunch of white dudes doing that type of thing?
I can buy that--I think the Blowed guys were peculiarly positioned to be hurt by the presence of white rappers in the marketplace.
Okay, sorry:
"Taking responsibility" = reminding critical thinkers of the reality of violence?
It has been my basic thesis (and I think it was even discussed briefly during my first spat with Archaic on this board) that, for better or for worse, folks like Anticon and the Living Legends and other white abstract rappers helped facilitate "the death of the Blowed" for precisely those reasons. Not to mention the white abstract rappers were infinitely more productive than the Blowed heads (at least as far as making ACTUAL PRODUCTS) and had both the foresight and means (i.e. financial, computer literacy, etc) to put the products in a place where their mostly white, middle-class fan base would have access to them (i.e. the internet). To a degree, I don't think the actual quality of the music had much to do with it, but I do find some of it to be particularly interesting and creative stuff, especially given the climate of the time.
So, to some degree, I can understand why Blowed dudes hate Anticon and white abstract rappers like them... but I also tend to hold the Blowed dudes responsible for their own fate. Back before Anticon really saturated the market, there was a huge buzz for Blowed shit online and none of those dudes could really capitalize on that shit before it peetered out and ended up in resentment and scape-goating.
It is sort've depressing though that some white boys who had more money and computer literacy were able to come along and take control of a market that was just waiting to be exploited.
So it goes.
-e
I really don't think we need to rehash...but sweeping, false, negative generalizations are hardly the territory of critical thinkers.
For real, I dare any little dude on here to go tell any gangsta rap-oriented producer of nearly 20 years to their face that they need to go read "Home Recording for Dummies" and then we'll see what happens.
Dude, but the point is, just because some guy will beat you up for saying it doesn't mean it is or isn't a legitimate criticism. I haven't heard the pieces in question so I can't say shit about whether or not I think the shit sounds good, but if Noz thinks it sounds like shit I don't think the fact that Riddlore will beat him up for saying that either legitimizes or doesn't legitimize how good the recording sounds.
And I know you know something obvious like that.
-e
that would be a good point if it weren't for the fact that most of the gangster stuff I hear is recorded really well.
Great thread...I don't know why, but every time Archaic really
gets going, I read the words and imagine a guy in a second-hand
Ronald McDonald costume, yelling at traffic, nowhere near a McDonalds.