lyrical ruminations

This was a hell of a week. Went as follows: Premier, gig, premier, gig, meeting for hiphop movie. Saturday was a small respite followed by today which I spent most of hammering out a scene breakdown of the film. I've still got a review to write later and a short story that's been commissioned and due for the end of feb. Oh, and i'm waiting for those submissions from all of you interested in writing for 1-Up.

It's weird that I'm working on a hip-hop film. It's something I've always enjoyed. No doubt if you catch a chupacabraz gig (yes I know there's a scarcity these days) you'll see our love for hip hop rear its head. It's interesting though that Cha told me the other day that by looking at me you'd never think that I knew a lot about hip hop or listened to rap. music afficionado, yes, hip hop scholar, no.

Brings back memories of those first few days in this country when I was asked the ever crucial, dividing line question of the time, hip hop ka ba, o metal?

At the time, hip hop. And things changed. Still today i've got a strong inclination to listen to hip hop along with everything i'm listening to. Granted i'm overdosing on the boss and bob dylan. But I'm also rocking out to kanye and common.

One of the guys i'm working on the hip hop project with hooked me up with some Stephen Marley, which is some pretty good stuff. And i've been listening to blue scholars and lupe fiasco. Man, lupe fiasco's daydream (i think that's the title) is such an awesome track, through and through, and it makes a powerful statement about pop music.

blue scholars is some mind-blowing hiphop. If you are disgusted by the senselessness of hiphop on the radio, (God save us all from sean kingston, akon, and soulja boy) then it's time to start digging blue scholars' rhymes. They're intelligent, socially aware, and know how to lay down awesome beats like no other. For those interested, i've posted a couple of videos on my multiply. Screw the social justice blah blah i'm made to teach. If only I could pop in some blue scholars and let them do the talking, maybe, maybe something might get through. Oh, another one of those selling points, they're pinoy! well, at least the rapper is anyway. too bad that we don't pay as much attention to him as other pinoy hip hop artists who barely measure up artistically.

in terms of social awareness and the like, i always fall back on springsteen and his ability to portray the plight of his countrymen with a concern and love that is rare. i'm not the only one to pick up on this, and i've just gotten a book called bruce springsteen's america which shows how non-fans and various people have responded to springsteen's music. it's really interesting stuff. written by pullitzer prize winner robert coles, it gives voice to those listeners whose voices springsteen emulates. it also situates him in the pantheon of american poetry, with coles comparing springsteen to walt whitman and william carlos williams.