Aug 09
after Ghostface Killah, found their new upbeat rap appalling and boring – but they quickly shifted ‘back to the 90s’ and I was in heaven again: droning bass-heavy rap – I realize that my taste remains the same across genres: the dark and droning, whether metal, ambient or rap, will always captivate this girl
Aug 09
Rap, Underground Hip Hop No Comments
seemed to focus more on Wu-Tang stuff than his solo material – his voice is appealing, more boyish and winsome than other members – my memory of his set is unfortunately overshadowed by the silly 20-somethings next to us who were dying to start a fight with any willing fellow audience member – I pulled out my old teacher face and down-eyebrowed them – Wu-Tang’s still the only cult I’d willingly join
Mar 21
Detroit MI – I was very disturbed by this show – it was a white female in a boy haircut, baseball cap and baggy clothes … the point is, of the few showcases that highlighted genuine rap, all the SXSW officials could come up with was some little white girl????… reeks of racism to me – not to downplay her – she could flow, as they say, and had intricate lyrics – far more political than the act before her – similar hardcore but minimalist style – but in reality, her voice was pretty weak – she also had a lot of technical difficulties with her CD/DJ which probably wasn’t her fault – I enjoyed her more when she was joined by a black guy with a resounding voice – was really at this showcase to see Pigeon John but they were running late and I had places to be : (
Mar 21
Ann Arbor MI – yummy! – totally different crowd and totally different sound – young black boy with arm extended pumping and stage roaming – had a sidekick rapper and a DJ – it was intelligent/political hardcore rap but minimalist/old-school style – he was good but the sound in the venue didn’t allow him to shine as he might have elsewhere
Mar 20
Dance, Electronic, Gangsta Rap, Rap No Comments
she was the rapper I’d come to see (part of the British grime scene) and she wasn’t quite what I expected – I pictured a wannabe type gangster girl, more pretty than tough, but she was far more ‘legit’ than the two female rappers before her: small intense-looking white girl in baggy clothes, baseball cap, snarly rapping, etc. – you can’t help but be totally sucked into her world: Eminem-like phrasing and attitude, cockney accent, and total stage dynamism and mastery – lots of silly posturing but I loved her – she could rap fast and plays in interesting twists with her words and her voice – her DJ samples a lot, including American music, and can go from kooky noises to harder synth walls – am currently considering my rapper potential
Mar 20
Dance, Electronic, Pop, Rap No Comments
all-class sultry deep-voiced black girl rapping over groovy electronic big-bass DJ tracks – another bad ass – her music was harder and she was better than Amanda Blank – girl power begins to surge in the room
Mar 20
swanky white city girl who raps like a bad-ass boy – she was all swishy smooth black hair with a pretty girl gold necklace – she held her microphone close to her mouth with forearm extended straight and covered in a mass of tiny gold bracelets – she had a DJ backing her with hardcore party rap – big crowd – I quite enjoyed her… oooh, just looked her up and she’s associated with a party rap band from Baltimore whom I have really been liking: Spank Rock… even better… and she’s apparently “dirty rap” though I totally missed that
Mar 18
Alternative Rock, Blues, Comedy, Country, Electronic, Pop, R&B, Rap, Rock and Roll No Comments
We’re all bickering on a hot street: WomanInCharge on crutches and no cabs in sight. Two of us head off towards busier corners to find a taxi when what to our wondering eyes should appear, but an oddly shaped taxicab coming so near. We whooped, climbed in and shortly realized that this was no normal taxi. It was shaped like a big box, had a stripper’s pole and fluorescent lighting. Even better, there was an interactive jukebox-style touch screen with a wealth of music videos from the 70s to 00s to choose from. 3 to 4 TV screens allowed a clear view for every passenger. The kind of random magic that only happens during SXSW… or anytime of the year for the lucky few who know to call 512-626-TAXI.
Mar 05
Gangsta Rap, Underground Hip Hop No Comments
with the DJ still in place, Kool Keith suddenly materialized with an average-joe-rapper sidekick in tow (fast, upbeat, clean-cut) – sidekick seemed to be there to keep the show moving, keep Kool Keith in touch with the crowd, and monitor Kool Keith in general – perhaps I was biased by reports that Kool Keith has schizophrenia but he definitely didn’t dissuade me of his insanity – his head and most of his face was shrouded in a silver be-glittered wrap and he had on a plush velour-like jacket – the show wasn’t what I expected – I was only familiar with the Black Elvis incarnation of Kool Keith and it was too spacey and freaky for me – the nerdy rapper notion I had of him was entirely off – he’s from the Bronx and the huge range of his sound always had a menacing undertone – the beats ranged from gangsta rap to party/dance rap to intelligent hip-hop to quirky nerd rap to nasty freak rap – his voice was good, smooth and calm and low – the lyrics were complicated but then full of silly rhymes – roller-derby-looking girl had warned me that Kool Keith typically plays 30 seconds of each song before switching which she found upsetting but was all right by me – seemed like the only songs they finished were the explicitly sexual ones – they did invite girls up from the crowd and one drunk one is embarrassed today at the spectacle she made of herself – the sidekick did the “hoo hoo” that the Wu-Tang does and I want to know what it means – the sidekick handled most of the crowd pumping and interaction but Kool Keith went off on a monologue at one point that was so nonsensical it was hilarious (Who likes sandwiches? Who likes Super 8s? Who likes the roach that crawls across your hotel window?…) – in then end, the music was really good and the two rappers were endearing – Kool Keith seemed an insane genius, still a child though, and his sidekick is the supportive vehicle through which he can communicate with the world
Mar 05
Gangsta Rap, Hip Hop, Motown, Old School, Soul, Underground Hip Hop No Comments
I liked this guy a lot but I’m not positive that’s his name – I thought he was calling himself Rick Undercut… he came out in a stupid fake long clumpy beard but he worked the crowd (unlike last guy), he moved quickly through his songs (which always pleases my quick-process style) and played a diverse mix of soul, hardcore rap, and sleazy 70s funk, he did a little bit of scratching but mostly was attentive and interactive, he had an unfortunately drab voice but it didn’t hurt him too much
Mar 05
Gangsta Rap, Hip Hop, Old School, Underground Hip Hop No Comments
Kool Keith deserves all of this intro crap since I was waiting for him but the DJ who annoyed me is going to get it all instead… I, like an old unhip girl, believed the hype that the Mohawk was obeying noise ordinances and running shows early. So I showed up at 9pm on the dot and waited for, count them, 2 ½ hours – I was counting them. The crowd stopped being interesting after about 17 minutes. The crowd was diverse – there were actually black people at a Red River show – there’s hope for Austin yet – otherwise there were hipsters, kickers, frat boys and a ton of stoners. As I sat there, I thought, I love the Austin music scene… and it has a smell. Then I met a girl who looked like a roller derby girl but wasn’t, but she was friends with one. She’d been beat up by her best girl friend of 25 years and had a broken foot. I knew she wasn’t Texan because she was at this show (San Diego) and she guessed my height exactly (9’ ½”). As I waited longer, I figured out the smell: fresh humid air, cigarette smoke (mild b/c smoking’s generally banned), the sweet sweet smell of pot (if you’re at a hip-hop show), stale alcohol (I’m only saying that because I feel like I should – the music scene smell is in reality too good to include this), and MALE PHEROMONE. So, anyway, we all sat or stood politely while good club/hip-hop music played. And then finally, there was somebody on stage. Apparently a “DJ,” he played music of the same sort that had been playing over the speakers while we waited but with more frequent segueways. I have a minor fascination with DJs but I either want to be backstage to see the technical action or be totally impressed by the mixing, scratching, etc. Although his music was very good, it wasn’t his, and he didn’t have the fancy tricks to redeem him. I can’t even remember what he looked like.
Jun 11
Gangsta Rap, Hip Hop, Underground Hip Hop No Comments
I’ll try not to gush but this was one of my top shows ever along with the likes of The Slits and Cracker… in a state of delight throughout, though it’s in part because this band and I are simpatico it’s also because they are so thoroughly authentic unlike Kanye West or Johnny Cash for example, they simply satisfy every hip-hop need I have and repeatedly, so The RZA was the mastermind behind the Wu-Tang Clan, he did some of his solo stuff and some but not enough Wu-Tang stuff, the latter drove the crowd into a frenzy but the former was not bad either, they have the straightline rapping and quick turnaround beats that make hip hop good but are gorgeous because of their orchestral backdrops, most songs have a booming underrun of dark drone which reminded me of Flatlinerz though the Wu-Tang is 1000 times better, the Kung Fu movie references are silly and endearing to me but not sure that’s the intention, some of it is so raw that it’s noticeably under-produced but that’s kind of the point for me, anyway back to the show, he was backed by a keyboard, DJ, bass guitarist, some female vocalists and a whole cadre of foolish up and comers and groupies from the audience – he even looked annoyed by one of his boys who had drank/done too much, it was like being at a cult meeting what with the upraised hands in W position but a cult I actually wanted to join which is atypical for me, there’s an eerie owl hoot that recurs in their songs and this fool white beanie-and-bizarre-glasses-wearing boy behind me kept screaming it to the point of hilarity for me
Jun 11
Gangsta Rap, Hip Hop No Comments
really not good, sounded canned, little guy with tons of energy was cute, were trying so hard to be hard but really only had one decent song
Jun 11
Gangsta Rap, Hip Hop, Underground Hip Hop No Comments
he was fine, sounds similar to The RZA, got angry with the DJ periodically
Jun 11
good white boy hip-hop DJ with a nervous lack of stage presence, supposedly the local opener for many hip-hop shows according to the fool young one who hit on me and then asked me to buy him a drink
Dec 06
unimpressive rap/funk outfit at first – first rapper was too Tribe but the second rapper (he walked in late through a side door in his sweat suit and gut) was a little dirtier and much smoother – very interesting concoction of a band: keyboard, two guitarists, drummer, sax, trumpet, trombone and two rappers – though Mr. Rapper was good I think I enjoyed their departure into salsa the most – they did get people dancing in an unreceptive bar
Oct 22
Goth, Industrial, Underground Hip Hop No Comments
I knew of one song he did with Beck (’Pullin’ Up Roots’), we decided to go because description of him was wicked and evil, he was a good DJ—Metallica, new wave—and it turned out he was an even better rapper, gothic men with black fingernails should not rap, show was entertaining for its uniquity, ended up being disturbing because he was clearly mentally unstable (thus genius) or at least horribly miserable, and though he clearly hated us (the crowd) he seemed slavishly hungry for our worship or was trying really hard to promote his albums by throwing them into the crowd, and pouring beer from a pitcher into upturned mouths
Oct 16
Hip Hop, Prog Rock No Comments
oh my god they sucked ass, interesting concept—three prog guitarists with a cheerleader hip-hop girl and a gawky girl, high energy and no grab, they had their 70s moments I guess and the prog without hip-hop girl was fine but overall just CRAP
Oct 16
five guys rapping over the same beat looping again and again, unfortunate for that to be Rockboy’s first exposure to hip-hop
Sep 19
just didn’t impress, that bland white-boy soul rap aura (they’re black though) which annoys me, they’re actually more of a funk band
Oct 18
5+ MCs and 2 DJs, “salute the nigga” when Raekwon came on stage, I could definitely decipher a positive difference in the backbeats and rap with them because I was wearying of undecipherable lyrics and hypocritical positivity (actually some of the groups were political) but Wu-Tang is certainly not and there was no need to pretend, unfortunately I didn’t recognize the Wu-Tang songs they did and they came on some 2 hours later than they were supposed to so I’d waited 3-4 hours for them so I didn’t stay for their whole set, and what is “Ice Water”?, I refused to chant or do any of the hand motions like I do at shows of any genre
Oct 18
gangsta rap, first song was about math, I was sold and bought a CD from them and like a flaming white girl told them I was a math teacher — Unfortunately the playlist is not in The Chronicle but I saw at least 4 groups—there was a San Antonio Latino rap group, there was a Kool Keith like group—ech—probably good lyrics but you know I can’t decipher any lyrics anyway, there was a white boy rap group—queer short bowl hair cut boy, the MC for the whole event did well with his DJ and two b-boys doing fabulous breakdancing, there was another group (black again finally) with several MCs and two DJs, I was near the band entrance and felt important standing next to each of the groups after they finished
Sep 21
Funk, Hip Hop, Jazz No Comments
jazz-funk overlaid with rap, rap annoyed—juvenile, slur-messy style—lyrics about school, harmonica nice addition, groove but always the same, Jack Johnson helped start show with two ballads
Sep 21
more jazz than hip-hop, disappointing, think they were there last year too
Sep 20
Hip Hop, Underground Hip Hop No Comments
Franti hails from Disposable Heroes and Beatnigs, lively, hip-hop to true rap, rock, smart (“socio-political”) but crowd-pleasing lyrics, very enjoyable
Mar 14
Hard Rock, R&B, Rap No Comments
2 guitars, rap with rock undertones, some R&B, fattest black men ever, eh but start of the variety
Mar 13
Heavy Metal, Industrial, Rap No Comments
Staten Island, NY—rap metal with moments of industrial, cocky to the point of annoying rap lead, beautiful wailer/guitarist with black tear running from each eye, scratcher off to side, all members were screamers, driving and varied, really really enjoyed them even if it was a guilty pleasure, lead jumped into restrained Texas audience and started a mosh pit with one other man, they made me smile and renewed my energy
Feb 01
College Rock, Funk, Jazz, Rap No Comments
fun, fun, fun, rap boy lead (beautiful voice and keeps the party rolling), horns, mix of funk/old jazz/little rap, really interesting, from Denton Texas
Oct 30
Rap, Rock and Roll No Comments
Ice-T was just repugnant, but we sat out in the parking lot so long that we missed everything but the encore, which was, of course, “Cop Killer”. Supposedly, he was going to be fined for performing the song under some “incitement to riot” clause in the city ordinance.
new fiction by Andrew Marx
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