Yesterday, we went in-depth about interpolations cover songs and alleged covers of cover songs. Today we’ll just talk about covers — CD covers!
We, the innumerable staff at Bavu Blogs have seen some crappy cover art lately. We’ve even seen crappy cover art by some great artists lately. It even rubbed the captain of the mothership, FWMJ, the wrong way.
So rather than point out the less-than-fine art, let’s commend some artists who I’m going to check out on the strength of their covers alone. Well, technically, I was going to check out Homeboy Sandman already because he makes me wanna rap.
Back in 2004-05, I took a meeting with a New York-based label called Rawkus. They were trying to rejuvenate their brand and re-launch the label that brought you Mos Def, Talib, Pharoahe ‘nem… epic fail
The best thing that happened on the trip was my boy Matt, who accompanied me on the trip and to the meeting, connected me with Josh aka DJ Sae-One of Deaf in the Family. Josh let me stay at his house in exchange for writing and recording a song for his compilation, “For Those About To Rock”. This session produced a solid friendship and a classic record called “Southern Man”. We made a new classic out of an old Classic Rock tune, but never got the samples cleared. You can get the whole album free of charge here.
So here I am thinking I made a classic that speaks uniquely to my personal experience, but if you keep reading… you’ll see that no idea is original. Lawdamercy!
Thank you God for teaching me a thing or two about Patience. If I’m impatient and focus too much on my own desires, I become tempted to complain as if my life isn’t good. My lack of focus and proper perspective can lead my own soul astray, stealing my own joy in the process. Psh…
I’ve referred to Da’Shade Moonbeam (pictured above, right) on this site as one of the most talented Texans ever. His spoken word, capoiera, emceeing and energy are all ridiculoso. His rap group, Blacklisted Individuals (Da’Shade and Snyp) is one of my few personal favorites in Austin Texas.
In a glimmer of social justice, MTV agrees and has named them this week’s Needle In The Haystack. I ran into Snyp at the barbershop once and asked him for some new music, and “Dance Sucka” is the same tune he sent me that next day. I used to spin it on Bavu’s Revue at The Soul of Austin. I’m glad it’s going further, because it is ironically the same type of song as my own “On the Cool“.
Given what is commonly said about great minds, I must have one! Right now I’ve got a mind to also suggest that you google Gidon the Mighty Warrior as well.
In this entry I illustrate my recent trip to Hollywood on a low key video shoot as a guest of Los Angeles native singer, emcee, producer, musician and party promoter Aloe Blacc.
This was my first time meeting him, but I was pleased to discover that we have plenty in common. We share our stories with you and we want your money!
Last Saturday afternoon I went to visit an old friend from back in Texas for the first time since I relocated to Long Beach. A-Op lives in Koreatown, right around Elmwood and Western. It was a good time to catch up in person and get reacquainted, plus I had an appointment in nearby Hollywood in a few.
It just so happened that my next stop was only two miles away. Left on Western, Right on Sunset… I hadn’t eaten since my breakfast – a mere bowl of Raisin Bran – so I drove a few blocks past the location to Subway for a flatbread tuna and a couple of cookies. From there I set out for the first episode of… Aloe’s Shadow!
[Stryke’s Building]
A few days earlier I learned L.A. Lesson #1 which goes, “Never let your gas tank go below half-full.” But here off of Sunset, I learned Lesson #2 which says, “Never give the authorities half a reason to write you a ticket, because they will do it!”
I thought I had a plair parking spot right out front, but that last three feet of my car that bled into the red part of the curb has now cost me $80. Red Carpet > Red Curb
[Stryke’s Living Room]
Once Aloe met me at the front door, we walked straight back to Stryke’s apartment. First, I noticed the spot was New York stuffy, I mean stuff everywhere. Second, I noticed an old blaxploitation movie, “Black Dynamite”, on the television.
Then I noticed that there were at least 10,000 records along the walls, and most of the stuff was gear. I thought to myself, “Somebody in this room is a DJ!”
The whole setup reminded me of DJ’s like Good Grief in Houston or Baby G in Austin. In fact, when I mentioned Baby G to Stryke that evening, he got quite excited.
[Cornbread Amidst Vinyl]
Cornbread from Kali Wild, a group whose original members include producer/mc Oh No, is the man of the hour.
[I’m sure some of you have never heard of Oh No, but just know that he, his brother Madlib and Aloe Blacc are producers/artists on the indie powerhouse Stones Throw label. For some reason, the name Stones Throw has come up 10 or so times since I moved to the West.]
We all got together at Stryke’s house to work on the video for Cornbread’s “Relaxin’” feat. Aloe Blacc and Maya Jupiter, produced by elevatedSOUL from nearby West Covina, CA.
Well, frankly, that’s the reason THEY all got together. I was there because Aloe thought it would be a good place to formally meet, and was kind enough to let me tag along. Shortly after my arrival, while BZ was setting up to shoot something in Stryke’s doorway, Aloe made a great point. We needed to get upstairs and do the rooftop shots while the sun was still out.
Scholar Emcee 