I was a fan of Cody Chesnutt before the time of his first collaboration with The Roots. I remember seeing something about him on MTV and then copping his double album The Headphone Masterpiece on a trip to California. My favorite song by far of his is “Serve This Royalty”, so when I read in a recent interview with Black Thought that The Roots would be re-making the song with Chesnutt for their upcoming album How I Got Over (due out later this year) I was OPEN. In the interview, Black Thought reveals that The Roots originally wanted to re-make “Serve This Royalty” the first time around, but Chesnutt wasn’t with it, so instead they created “The Seed 2.o” together, which is undoubtedly an amazing song. Cody Chesnutt’s original version, “The Seed”, is nice, but The Roots took it to another level. I can’t wait to see what they do with “Serve This Royalty”, because it’s already such a soul banger I’m not sure how they can make it any better. But I have faith in The Roots, and I’m happy to hear that Cody Chesnutt is no longer M.I.A….Check out the original version of “Serve This Royalty”…
Looking forward to hearing the new version of that. And here’s Cody Chesnutt playing an acoustic version of “The Seed” on BBC radio, followed by a live television performance of “The Seed 2.0” with The Roots…
*Bonus* I love this video below for The Roots “Get Busy” . This is off their last album, Rising Down, and the song features Philly rappers Dice Raw and Peedi Crack…
I wonder if Cody Chesnutt is ever going to come out with another album? On his myspace it says he is, and he’s streaming an unreleased song “What Kind of Cool Will We Think of Next?”. We’ll have to wait and see….
The Fat Jew (pictured above), of the NYC based rap group Team Facelift that recently signed to Duck Down Records, is the funniest person to follow on Twitter. Easily. No one is even close. His tweets are so absurd that sometimes I question if they’re real, but honestly I think most of them are completely factual. He tweets while partying (or as he likes to say, “raging”), posts disgustingly weird links to pictures that will get you fired from your job if you open them at work, make you vomit all over yourself, or cause you to piss in your pants from laughing (I’ve yet to do any of the three but I see the potential for those things to happen), and shares hilarious thoughts and activities that dazzle your imagination. He recently tweeted during an acid trip! In real life, he rocks a huge afro and is known for performing shirtless in a thong, exposing his jewish fatness. And he calls himself “The King of Brunch”. Ha! But the crazy thing is that he’s actually a pretty good rapper. I remember when Team Facelift was featured a couple years ago on MTV, they posted a freestyle of his online that was INCREDIBLE. It’s not up there anymore unfortunately, but the way he pronounced the line “I’m holding down the long thin mic like Bob Barker” used to crack me up. I really want to meet this guy, hang with him and his boys one night, and kick raps on the streets of New York with them until my sides split. Until then, I’ll just keep following him on twitter, and continue to LOL. Check the link. I’d quote some good ones for you, but there are just too many…
Also, check out the link to his myspace page, and a bizarre video of him working on a song in a home studio. “Practice, practice, practice”. By the way, he mentions many of his jewish aliases in the video, and they are all so funny. His myspace account is Jewther Vandross, and the title of the youtube video below is Jew Diamond Phillips!! Ha!!! Check out his bio and what he’s into, then watch the video, which also includes him talking to his mom on the phone and getting tortured in the bathroom…
About me:
THINGS I’M INTO: manicures. eating brunch in the bathtub. drug buffets. honey mustard. riding horses naked. salmon-colored turtlenecks. being bodacious. pedicures. Asian men with small hands and long flowing hair. Quiche. Tony Danza’s calves. being charming. Doing it big like Ricki Lake’s thighs in ’94. frenzied behavior. loincloths. Jewish girls from Long Island. shrimp in baskets. depression. cheap champagne. penny loafers. Tom Selleck’s moustache. mango scones. buying homeless men things on ebay. watching drunk white girls at bars sing “Juicy” by Biggie. Peeing in pools. fancy in the pantry. doing the damn thing. space camp. drug buffets. teenage vampires. slicing cold cuts shirtless. spider man pajamas with feet. goon squad hooligans. Loofahs. not giving a fuck. getting my hair did. being filthy and gorgeous. transvestites. eye contact. onion bagels. being rowdy rowdy/ bout it bout it. getting dusted. movies on VHS. public access television. the gutter. flat-tops. loofahs. eye contact. Crown heights. double-dutch jump roping. Filipinos. tangerine bathrobes. reading the Post. shitty rap music. wearing colonial powdered wigs. meeting up with people to talk. pinky rings.bodacious babes. starched collars. shitty rap music. men who weep. exciting activities. tasteful floral arrangements. doing it and doing it and doing it well. The episode of 90210 featuring Color me Badd. Paintings of me naked and covered in doves, fighting a cougar with my penis shaped like a lightning bolt. white denim. black denim. inappropriately mixing denims. warm scotch. Dolly Parton. argyle everything. being more famous in Japan than Hello Kitty. girls with big sunglasses. Nine West gator pumps in banana yellow. light treason. escaping to Mexico. ice cream sandwiches. kissing cousins. a beauty queen with an M16. vomiting out of taxi windows. Jason Priestley in denim button-down shirts. being too weird to live and too rare to die.
The Arab Parrot (below with Kanye West) is someone I just recently became familiar with. He has a great blog with EXCELLENT PHOTOGRAPHS cataloging his real life NYC experiences (and L.A. too). I’m still learning about him, but I must note that he’s responsible for the picture of The Fat Jew riding a motorcycle at the top of the post. I’m pretty sure he runs in similar circles with Team Facelift, because he’s got a bunch of pics with them on THEARABPARROT.COM. His blog focuses on people he hangs with and meets at parties and on the streets (nice rhyme). He seems to live a very fun and exciting life. Scroll through his blog asap! Here’s a preview of a recent post about a trip to jail…
THE WAR REPORT. WILDED IN THE STREETS TOO HARD WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ME & GARC GOT LOCKED UP ON SOME BS. DT’S. FUCK THE POLICE. THE P WAS CAGED FOR 22 HOURS. 4 AM…5TH PRECINCT. PRINTED. WOKE UP HUNGOVER ON THE CELL FLOOR. DIDN’T REMEMBER WHY I GOT BAGD. 8AM THEY BROUGHT IN SPECIAL INVESTIGATORS FROM THE TERRORIST UNIT TO INTERROGATE ME CUZ OF MY MIDDLE EASTERN BACKGROUND. WAS IN THE ROOM WITH THE TWO WAY MIRRORS HANDCUFFED TO A CHAIR MAKING EM CRACK UP. WHEN THEY REALIZED I WAS NO TERRORIST THEY SENT ME OVER TO CENTRAL BOOKINGS. SPENT 12 HOURS IN THE TOMBS, SHIT HAD ME STIR CRAZED. THE WORRRST. MAD TIGHT IN THERE. ONE DUDE KILLED SOMEONE & WAS ON THE FONE TALKIN ABOUT IT, ON HIS WAY TO RIKERS. DRUG DEALERS, USERS, HUSTLERS, JUNKIES, CRACK HEADS, DOPESICK, DRUNK DRIVERS, DRUG & GUN POSSESSION, WARRANTS, PISSIN IN PUBLIC, ONE DUDE HAD ED HARDY SHOES ON. EVERYONE WAS COOL. LOTS OF COMRADERY IN THERE. MADE A FEW HOMEYS. THEY WERE CALLIN ME SERPICO/JESUS UP IN THERE. CHEESE SANDWICHES & NASTY MILK WAS THE MENU. I HATE MILK BUT IT WAS THE BEST CHEESE SANDWICH EVER. SLEPT ON THE DIRTY ASS FLOOR, 30 IN A CELL, SHOES UNDER MY HEAD AS A PILLOW. BULL PEN THERAPY. FLOURESCENT LIGHTS. SIGNS POSTED ON HOW TO DEAL WITH FEELINGS OF SUICIDE. SHIT IS INHUMANE. EVERYONE SHARING ONE NASTY ASS TOILET. I DIDN’T SHIT THE WHOLE TIME. DIDN’T USE THE PHONE EITHER CUZ I DON’T REMEMBER ANYONES NUMBER BUT MY MOMS. SHIT SUCKED, HIGH ANXIETY, NO AIR FLOW, MAD DEHYDRATED & CLAUSTROPHOBIC. TIME DIDN’T FLY AT ALL. SITTIN THERE INDIAN STYLE KNEES BENT HANDS TOGETHER HOPING I GET OUT BEFORE THE COURT CLOSES. CO’S FINALLY CALLED OUR NAME AT 11PM. LAST GROUP TO SEE THE JUDGE OR WE WOULD’VE HAD TO WAIT IN THERE TILL THE MORNING. DIDN’T SMOKE A CIGARETTE FOR 22 HOURS. I HAD THE SHAKES. COST 5 DOLLARS FOR A SMOKE & THEN YOU HAD TO BUY A MATCH TOO. FINALLY WENT UPSTAIRS, SAW THE DA, GOT OUT OF THE FINE, JUDGE GAVE ME 3 DAYS COMMUNITY SERVE. NO FLICKS OBVIOUSLY. GOT RELEASED AT 1:30 AM INTO THE POURING RAIN. FREE BIRD. BACK TO THE CAGE, BIRD BATH & BOOZE. KINDA GLAD IT HAPPENED. KEPT RAPPIN THIS TO MYSELF THE WHOLE TIME.
For the record, he posted a youtube video below this of Mobb Deep’s “Give Up The Goods”, you know the one that starts with that Big Noyd acapella, “Sometimes I wish I had three different cases, I’m going to court for three cases in three places, one in Queens, Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, the way things is looking I’m a see Central Booking…” He finishes his posts often with classic rap tunes. I’m still exploring his blog myself, but I must say that you shouldn’t let this preview post sidetrack you. He’s an excellent photographer and observer, who lives a very cultured life, constantly running into interesting people and even celebrities. The pictures are really what makes the blog. Here’s one of him with his camera (and major zoom lens). And check his blog out, the link is below. Man, these two guys need a reality show…
Looks like Mayer Hawthorne’s debut album Strange Arrangement is set to be released September 9th. So far, everything I’ve heard from this guy is dope. For those of you who missed my post last month on new artists I’m checking for, well he was at the top of the list, with his Amy Winehouse-ish Motown throwback R & B sound and hip hop sensibility. No wonder Stones Throw Records signed him after hearing two songs. And now with the success of dudes like Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake, whiteboys with this much soul are no longer considered freaks of nature. They’re simply accepted and embraced. Check out this latest video of Mayer Hawthorne doing an acapella rendition of “When I Said Goodbye” (a song off Strange Arrangement), barbershop quartet style.
Pretty cool huh? Doo Wop! Mayer Hawthorne’s got the right idea. Man, I always wanted to be in a barbershop quartet. I guess rap was my calling though. For my previous post on Mayer Hawthorne (and four other new artists I’m digging), click on the link below. And then go to his myspace page to hear the album version of “When I Said Goodbye”, it’s fresh…
I’m gearing up for the Band of Horses acoustic show this Thursday at Carnegie Hall by listening to some of my favorite Sub Pop acts. There’s BOH of course, Fleet Foxes, Grand Archives, Iron & Wine, my favorite band, The Shins. Before I get into all the news surrounding The Shins, check out this unreleased James Mercer acoustic set, live from The Moonshine Festival back in 2004. It’s a pretty amazing set. He plays all my favorites off the first two albums, a cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest”, and some rarities like “When I Goosestep” and “Sphagnum Esplanade”. Link below…
In terms of recent news surrounding The Shins, well…First of all, Mercer let two longtime members go (keyboardist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval) and brought in a new drummer (Joe Plummer via Modest Mouse) and bassist (Ron Lewis via labelmates Grand Archives). The Shins have 30 songs done for their new album, and they are recently debuted two of them on tour. Here’s live video clips of them from a recent show in Hollywood, California….”Double Bubble” and “The Rifle’s Spiral”..
Sounds like none of the new songs are ballads. Mercer says they’re all uptempo and happy. I don’t know though. As happy as I am as a person, I always like slower, sad sounding songs the best. Especially from these guys. Still, I can’t wait to hear their new stuff. I also read Mercer worked on something with Danger Mouse, and is appearing in an upcoming movie called 180 Degrees South. Stay tuned, I’ll keep you updated…peace.
Remember when The Diplomats were fresh out the box? They used to come up to Hot 97 and shut the city down, and release the dopest mixtapes (Diplomats Vol. 2 above is my personal favorite). I miss those days, when they were one crew. Now it seems that Cam’ron and Jim Jones have gone their separate ways. Hopefully they will reunite soon. Until then, enjoy this clip I dug out of my collection of hip hop DVD’s (after a personal request for more of THESE TYPES OF VINTAGE VIDEOS from the one and only Miss Info), featuring a studio interview with Cam’ron from his pre- S.D.E. days. Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey are both in the building (this was filmed before Juelz Santana was around), and Jim and Cam both spit verses at the end of the interview. This is classic footage right here, especially for the true Diplomats fans. There’s alot of them here in Westcheddar…
Gonna go pull out S.D.E., haven’t listened to it in a while. Get at me…
*BONUS* Ooops, my mistake, Juelz Santana was around at that time, he’s actually on a couple S.D.E. songs. Check out this Stretch Armstrong 15 minute rhyme session from back then with Cam and Juelz going back and forth. I used to ride out to this non-stop. Awesome.
Judd Apatow and his crew are gearing up for the release of his latest comedic heartwarmer FUNNY PEOPLE. With less than two months to go until the July 31st release of the film (which stars Adam Sandler), a mock sit-com called YO TEACH! is making its way around the internet. Starring the hilarious Jason Schwartzman (above middle with Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen who all star in FUNNY PEOPLE), the show makes fun of classic kid friendly school-set sit-coms like Saved By The Bell and Boy Meets World. Schwartzman plays the part of a high school substitute teacher on YO TEACH!, and in FUNNY PEOPLE he plays the actor playing the part of the same substitute teacher as depicted in the show. Get the connection? Did I explain it right? Same dude. So far an EPK for the show and one episode has been posted, and there are more episodes to come, along with additional spinoffs of FUNNY PEOPLE featuring other co-stars, all being used as viral promotion for the main feature. Clever marketing huh? Check the EPK and first episode of Yo Teach! below…
Oh yeah, the basketball player in YO TEACH! is played by Bo Burnham, the silly rapping white boy with millions of youtube views who I featured HERE a few months ago. As for the actual movie, well here’s the trailer. Looks seriously good…
What a cast. Stay tuned for more episodes of YO TEACH! HERE…
Well Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, and now it is time to look ahead to the summer. One of the best things about the upcoming months is there are a bunch of great live music festivals happening all over the country. Unfortunately I will not be attending any of the big ones, but I will be performing with Matisyahu on the Central Park Summerstage July 9th, and I HAVE TICKETS TO SEE THE BAND OF HORSES ACOUSTIC SHOW AT CARNEGIE HALL JUNE 11th WHICH IS GOING TO BE SICK!!! There are lots of other great events going down though, from Lollapalooza (which was the first festival I ever went to back when The Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest were at Randall’s Island in 1994) to Bonnaroo (which I’ve never been to always wanted to go and my boy Nick Kroll is performing stand up comedy at this year) to the hip hop circus Rock The Bells (which I would love to be a part of one year) and everywhere in between. So if you love music, and you don’t have a hundred weddings to go to this summer like I do, hopefully you’ll have a chance to check one of them out.
Now I know this summer marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, but it also is the 39TH ANNIVERSARY of another famous festival, FESTIVAL EXPRESS. In 1970, a group of musicians and bands, most notable The Grateful Dead and Janice Joplin, took off west on a private train across Canada (see pic above), making stops along the way in all the major cities to play concerts. The best thing about it for us that weren’t even alive yet at the time is that the whole thing was documented. From the live shows to the jam sessions in the train’s bar car, it’s all in the excellent rock doc titled, you guessed it, FESTIVAL EXPRESS. I’m no dead head, and I certainly don’t own any Janice Joplin albums, but this movie is great, especially if you like music documentaries. The sing a long clips from the train remind me of my own friends hanging out together making music. That’s what we do on the reg. Here’s a live performance from the movie of The Grateful Dead singing an unreleased cut “Don’t Ease Me In” in Toronto…
If you can get to Chicago at the beginning of August, I would highly recommend checking out Lollapalooza this year. The lineup looks great. Check it out below. And when you get a chance, watch the Festival Express movie, the link to the official website is below. Peace and love.
I’m a big time Arctic Monkeys fan. These dudes are nice. Both of their albums have a bunch of bangers on them. And you can tell they have been influenced by hip hop music from their riffs and rhythms. Their beats are HARD BODY, and their lead singer is a great vocalist, almost like a 21st Century Beatle. They’re from across the pond, the suburbs of London, yet they kind of remind me of my buddies from here in Westchester County. I guess we share similar stories of growing up outside a major city. I even sampled them on my song “Get Horny” off Bachelor Party. Well, they have a new live DVD/CD that just came out (cover above), and I highly encourage you to check it out if you’re a fan of the band (the DVD was filmed in England, but the live CD is actually from Stubb’s in Austin, same venue as Matisyahu’s live album). Here’s some clips from the DVD for those of you unfamiliar…
“Fake Tales of San Francisco” (sampled on Stan Ipcus “Get Horny”)
“Teddy Picker”
“I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor”
“Dancing Shoes”
And here’s a bonus live clip, unfortunately not on the DVD, but from the Glastonbury Festival. This is my absolute favorite Arctic Monkeys song! And supposedly this clip is from the first time they ever performed the song live, which is actually a B-Side from one of their singles and not on any of their albums. Featuring London’s own hip hopper Dizzee Rascal. Check it (say it like Ali G)…
“Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend”
These guys are definitely on my bucket list of bands I want to see live. And I hear they have a new album on the way. For now, I’ll go cop the DVD and crank the live album that comes with it in the whip. And if you don’t have their first two albums, check them out on Itunes or Amazon. Scream.
Melanie Fiona (above right with Kanye West), a Canadian soul singer who I blogged about a few months ago after initially discovering her music, is slowly but surely gaining more notoriety in the music industry. She’s is extremely talented and I am looking forward to her first official release. For those of you who are not familiar with MF just yet, watch this video I just found of her performing an unplugged version of her first single “Give It To Me Right” with beatbox legend Kenny Muhammad aka “The Human Orchestra” (who has rocked with Matisyahu and Max B before). THIS IS FRESH!!!! Shout out to her backup singer too, she does her thing with the harmonies. Peep game…
Westcheddar 