Rants and Ravings about the things we really care about. All credit To Kid Cudi for originating "Dose of Dopeness". Click the link and check out the song, it's dope.
http://soundcloud.com/headbangamuzik/dose-of-dopeness-produced-by
Most artists see promoting their album as a necessity, a non-artistic endeavor to simply get out of the way. Promotion, after all, has taken over entertainment, and can be exhausting for both artists and fans. Some artists, however, see promotion as an opportunity, which opens up a new world of opportunity.
For those who don't know who J. Cole is, he's most well known for being Jay-Z's protoge, as well as the song Work Out. The wunderkid released his first album last year after a string of highly succesful mixtapes.
J. Cole's new album is entitled Born Sinner. The announcement video above hints, of course, towards religous themes, and more so towards themes of duality. The most interesting part, however, comes towards the end.
The title Born Sinner hints towards dark themes. So it's only fitting that, at the end, as young J. Cole kneels at the altar, the lights go out, the wind blows out the candles, and the beat drops...
As the clip cuts to black, I can't wait to hear what comes next, and that is the power of bringing art into promotion.
Comic Book films are, without doubt, the defining genre of the 2000s so far. In fact, it can be almost difficult to think of more then a few defining franchises that aren't of comic book origin. So how is it possible, then, that Superman, the most famous comic book character of all, has never found his relevance in the modern era?
Many feel that Superman simply has no place with sophisticated modern audiences. In many ways, despite both characters being created by DC comics, Superman is often seen as the opposite of Batman when it comes to relatability to modern audiences. While Batman has no superpower, Superman is undefeatable unless kyrptonite is present. While Batman is dark and at times an antihero, Superman is modeled to be a good ol' American boy (ironic since he's an alien). In other words, where Batman's dark and grounded origins made him perfect for cynical modern audiences, Superman simply can't relate.
Or can he? No better way, after all, to lend Superman some of Batman's recent credibility then to stamp the same name that brought Batman back to prominence onto that inconic S. And so, Christopher Nolan, the director of the recent Batman trilogy, is producing the new Superman film (As every single trailer and poster is making very clear). And the film, directed by Zack Snyder of 300 fame, is promising to find Superman's correct tone for the modern era.
Here we get our first full trailer. And while we'll have to wait for an actual release to see if the film lives up to its goals, this trailer is promising. The texture of this trailer is undeniable. From Clark Kent, undoubtedly trying to find himself, having a scraggly beard, to the uncentered and documentary style of much of the footage, this film looks to be taking the correct steps in giving Superman a modern feel.
The music is epic, the cast is incredible, and for once the villain isn't Lex Luthor, who's been done to death. If this trailer is any sign, it looks like we might finally be getting an interesting take on the Man of Steel. Are audiences willing to accept him as a modern hero? Time will tell, but the WB is very aware of that question, as they practically ask it in the final seconds of the trailer.
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On this site I've mostly blogged about official clips, songs and scenes, so I thought it was time to appreciate the wonderful and bizarre world of unofficial, incredibly creative viral art.
Halloween is almost 6 weeks behind us, but this similarily themed clip is still easy to appreciate. Dead Man's Bones, for those who don't know, is a band created by Ryan Gosling (Yeah, that Ryan Gosling) and Zach Shields. The two decided to make a band together when they discovered a mutual obsession with ghosts, immediately agreeing to tell a love story about ghosts and monsters.
4 years later they released their self titled album, which stayed true to their goal. They dropped doing a full on story (this project once was meant to be a musical), but kept the theme and subject. The most interesting decision was to record the entire album with the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir, a concept that gives the album a creepy yet unique and infectious feel. They also never did more then 3 takes on a song, as they felt the flaws and missteps would add to the texture of the album. They were right.
The music that come of these ideas is some of the most creative and noteworthy you'll find, which is amazing since it's not even close to being the artistic endeavor that Gosling is known for most (some people seem to get all the talent).
The visuals paired with the Dead Man's Bones song 'Lose Your Soul' in this video come couresy of a self described "devient artist" who goes by the name of Dandy John. He simply felt the song's subject needed to be paired with his style of art, and thus this clip was born. It's the perfect example of something that would likely never see the light of day before the internet, and yet it's coming up on 3000 likes now; mostly because, between the drawing and the music, their is simply a ton of talent involved with this viral clip.
The internet can be an angry, uncomfortable, narcissistic place, but it's nice to rememeber how much underground creativity, talent, and humor it also brings to our lives every day.
Look at any list of greatest rap albums ever made, at least any list with a sense of history, and NWA's Straight Outta Compton is sure to be on it. It was the album that took gangster rap to the next level, changing the industry for better and worse for years to come, and it helped establish LA as a hotbed for rap talent. Los Angeles, simoltaneously having cities that were/are seen as ghettos (the type of places gangster rap came from and rappers like Ice Cube claimed to have come from) and yet also the strong music industry structure of Hollywood, was expected to be a cornerstone of the rap world for years to come. Shockingly, despite that perfect setup, Dre and them ended up being the only ones to come straight out of compton for a long long time. The talent dissapeared, and nothing of national significance came from L.A. post Snoop Dogg (almost 20 years ago for context).
LA often feels like a state more then a city in function, and few things can rally it into a sense of unity, mostly just the Lakers really. But for a sizable percent of young people who love rap the music is exactly that, and thus this draught stood in the back of many people's heads, the same as it might if your city hasn't won a championship in any sports for years on end; you don't have to be a huge fan to want your city to be the best at something, and being the worst at something that's supposed to bring pride can hurt. In fact, the only rapper to lead the city to glory? Shaq...
In 2004, Dr. Dre tried to fix it himself by propping up The Game as the next big thing, the results were debatable. He was a star to start but it felt manufactured, and the talented but often ridiculous rapper later settled into a sustainable career with moderate fame and respect, which is good for him, but not what the city hoped he would be, he wasn't ready for any of it and seemed to go crazy as he ended up at odds with even his own mentor, it was a forced attempt and it played out like forced attempts do.
8 years later enter Kendrick Lamar, a prodigy level talent that is almost the exact opposite of what you'd expect Compton's next star to look and sound like. The short, baby faced rapper wasn't annointed the title of LA's saviour like Game was, at least not until he earned it, but instead got there the old fashioned way, impressing more and more people with unique, interesting music. Once named K. Dot, he decided to drop the facade of being a gangster, and dropped the name with it; he committed himself to being honest and true to his experience and self, and started going by his birth name instead, a life changing decision that he never looked back from.
Kendrick isn't just a geographical star, but a national rising star, and a national enigma. Rap, of course notorious for being all image and testosterone, suddenly has embraced this short kid with a raspy voice, and a somber story, the exact opposite of the Compton rapper and portrayal that first made it famous. Instead of glamorizing Compton's issues with violence, he spoke to the horrors and pitfalls of growing up in such a mad city. In fact, Kendrick is yet to have a single designed to sneak him onto pop stations or anything like that, no song where he drops his message and sings about partying, girls, ect. The closest thing he has to a hit single is a PSA of sorts about overindulging in alcohol called Swimming Pools, and yet somehow everyone has understood and embraced what he is, proving that exceptional talent can break the rules.
With the belief and pride the city felt for him reaching an apex the day before Kendrick released his debut studio album, G.O.O.D. Kid Maad City (which has become an instant classic album in many publications eyes), Kendrick made some noise with a unique decision. Someone, maybe him, had a brilliant idea to put on a free concert right outside of Staples Center, showing the world how much the city loves him by having them flood the streets to see him, resulting in better branding then anything money could buy. As you can see at the top, it was a success, in fact it it worked too well and grew too big, and thus LAPD had shut it down, likely fearing a cluster fuck when the Laker game ended and spilled right towards an already packed show. Downtown was about to be at 500% over capacity and the police wanted to calm things down by taking the show away at least.
Only that didn't calm down a thing, but instead a riot began to take shape as the audience refused to leave, getting loud and angry and making their dissaproval of the early cutoff clear. Worse, parking was over stimulated from having two events flood into the streets at once, leaving many people, including me, from leaving. It took an hour to get my car and I wasn't an exception, I was the norm, and this all made for even more angry people blocking the streets and eventually shutting downtown down completely, a fact that was promptly picked up by local news and and national media stations alike. Thankfully, and partially to the LAPD's credit, it never went the way they were so clearly fearing, but the image of a stacked police force in the streets with riot gear ready made very clear what that night could have become.
And yet it was instead a massive success when all was said and done, and thus the narrative of that night took shape; Los Angeles, the parts of it more associated with rap, finally had the leader and star they s craved,, and they were far too proud of him to let a show end 10 minutes early, Kendrick being cut off by anyone short of the president wasn't gonna sit well, and it didn't
The most important part of all the hype surrounding him? He's truly worth it, a rarity among the next big thing rappers in the world, and his debut album made sure the world knew just how worthy of this status he was. A subtle and moody concept album about his trials as a young malcontent in Compton that develops into the story how he finally found the right path, Kendrick finally did what ever rapper claims he will, he gave a voice to the realities of that world that get glossed over and romanticized so often. Straight Out of Compton, with nice guy Dre portrating the image of the ultimate gangster, this album was not, this album was something to be proud of, and it still is.
Two decades after LA changed rap forever by causing the rise of gangster rap (and thus almost ruining rap in the process) Los Angeles's hip hop pride been resurrecrted by someone honest and talented enough to tell the truth and be loved for it, and what more perfect symbol of his new brand of success and positivity then a riot of support that stayed only that, despite clear potential for something much worse. The police clearly feared what they thought might come, but they didn't know the rapper who was at the center of this was different, a good kid with a good message. Kendrick Lamar is a real artist, and that night he showed that his method is working, and for at least that one night it finally seemed like the good kid was rubbing off on the mad city isntead of the other way around, something most never imagined a Compton rapper even hoping to do. This one proved he's different, and that he was just what the city's rap community needed. Finally.
Check out G.O.O.D. Kid Maad City if you haven't yet, its one of the handful of rap albums that non rap fans can get behind, you'll be happy you gave it a shot.
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For as long as I can remember, people have been saying the same thing about SNL, "it's not good anymore". Eventually, the question has to be asked, was it ever as good as people seem to remember it being? People have been saying this all while some incredible talent and some iconic sketches have passed through that studio. Perhaps, it's just extremely hard to put together an hour and a half of sketch comedy every week, and only select sketches are going to be any good.
In fact, only one sketch show in my lifetime has become universally loved, and it was Chappelle's Show, which is easily some of the greatest comedy every produced for television. The truth is, sketch comedy is just insanely difficult to succeed at, and there's a reason that's the case. In almost any other show, whether it be Modern Family or Breaking Bad and anything in between, you set up a world and a momentum, and often at least a loose formula, that you can safely return to every week. In other words, once you create something good, it's relatively easy to maintain it as long as it's done with care, because it's a product the audience has already approved of.
This is not the case with sketch comedy. With the exception of returing characters, which are rare, you have to create something that audiences will enjoy, from the ground up, 5-10 times a week. This is an unbelievably difficult task. If you succeed at it for 5 weeks, there's still nothing stopping the 6th show from sucking, because there's no safety net of a world that's already been established. It's an extremely difficult format, and very few have what it takes.
Key & Peele have what it takes. Not since the aformentioned Chappelle's Show has sketch comedy made me laugh, every week, for an entire season. The two producer/actors, who have a very good team of writers behind them, are extremely talented. They have a seeminly endless variety of voices and mannerisms to pull from, and they use them in a way that really speaks to the way people act in the real world, which is the mark of a good impressionist.
What's also cool about the show is they really seem to care about production value and it matching the world they're making fun of. If they're poking at action films, everything until the punch line will sell that it's the real thing, from the set design to the booming score. When they did an Obama in college sketch, they replicated the fuzzy footage and 4x3 aspect ratio that would come from a video recorder from that era. They simply care, and it gives the sketches an extra edge over the other sketch shows that have come and gone.
In the sketch above, they brought in Joel Meyers to set up the scene. Joel is a longtime announcer who is most famous for doing play by play for Laker games until recently. The whole thing just feels like a Monday Night Football style lineup intro as well, and it sets up the joke of the skit perfectly.
And that joke is hilarious, and bizzare, and creative, and just out of left field. Making fun of the variety of odd names and mannerisms of pro athletes is so unique and yet so perfect. The joke roles on and on just gets funnier and funnier (My personal favorite is Quatro Quatro), every single one speaks to a specific type of athlete, or person, that we've all seen or met before. And then, of course, they have some racial fun with the punchline at the end, for good measure. Keep an eye on the photos of each player in the background, some of them are hilarious.
I laugh every single time I watch this skit, and that's not an exception with this show, it's the norm. This is sketch comedy done right; creative and irreverent, yet insightful and intelligent. This is Key & Peele.
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Since The Dark Knight Rises comes out on blu ray today (and is truly worth getting on blu ray as only that format supports, for the most part, the entire IMAX aspect ratio that much of the film was shot in), I figured I'd pay homage by making today's dose my favorite scene in the film.
My feelings on this film are, well, thorough, and hugely effected by it's predecessor being my favorite film, so I'll save all of that for a longer article to come in the near future. But for all the films epic heights and frustrating lows, this gets my vote for best scene.
It's also, perhaps, the one scene I'd share in the future if I was ever asked to show an example of how this series completely changed franchise films for the better. There is absolutely nothing held back or soft served for the mass market in this scene. It is, quite simply, fucking brutal.
That said, it's brutal for a reason. This scene isn't for shock value, but more a microcosm of how serious the Nolans took this character's story. There's nothing easy or innate about Batman's journey and eventual triumph in these films, to earn his character arc he has to see the lowest of lows, to the point that he had to have his own back broken, ruining him physically, in order to earn his spiritual rise in that jail. When The Dark Knight Rises in this film, it's not simply balling up his fist and overcoming the villain with will; Bruce Wayne has to face his actions, the world he lives in, and his mental and spiritual health in order to finally rise, and that's why this series will stand the test of time no matter how aged it might become one day,
Keep an eye on Bane's own men struggling to watch the brutality of Batman's beat down, it really adds to the bleakness of the moment.
Aside from all of that, this is a great scene to show off the pure awesome that is Bane. 80% of Bane's lines are intimidating and yet bizzarely eloquent in a way that matches his accent, it all makes for a really memorable character. The other 20% of the lines are utterly incomprehensible and sound like a French dubbing of Darth Vader, which also adds to the iconic character in a less ideal way. The performance is so good that it's genuinely odd to see Tom Hardy in any other film and think that Bane is the same actor.
Unfortunately, and unforgettably, the day of the film's release was overtaken by one of the most tragic and horrifying acts in recent history. I hope today's release of the dvd can bring the enjoyable, pop culture type of memorability that the release would have had, because we will all remember that day in July for something far more terrifying and unsettling.
Enjoy the scene, and if you're a fan of the film, go buy it on blu ray, it's one of the few films where there's truly a difference between having the real thing and downloading it. It's worth it.
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Telling a story through lyrics is a very tricky thing. If your lyrics are to on the nose then they can run the risk of being uninteresting, or even self parody (For an example, listen to any single song Journey ever made). Be so clever that the audience can't follow along and you risk asking your audience to do work just to understand the song. It's a fine line that many artists are having a very hard time figuring out, which is probably why half of our generation gave up and turned to dubstep.
The answer to this is, like in any form of storytelling, is in using one's talent to make the audience feel the story in a subconscious yet evocative way. Being that there are only so many ways to do a song, it can feel like musicians have exhausted every innovation at this point, leaving creativity absent from the mass majority of today's music. Truly innovative and yet effective new songs are few and far between.
One Day / Reckoning Song by Asaf Avidan and The Majors is one of those few and far between songs. The lyrics to this version are incredibly simple, in fact there's only one short bit where there's any variety to the lyrics. So how can a song be that simple be that effective? It's all in the voice. A singer's voice is how we connect to songs in the same way that actors are who we see films through, and this singer tells an entire story, with a full emotional arc that builds and builds until it finally comes back down, purely with the changing inflexion each time that lyric is repeated.
What's left is an addictive and infectious song that feels vibrant and poignant from the first listen, and all while repeating one line over and over again. Play the clip and you'll find yourself still listening on repeat hours from now, true dopeness.
It only seemed right for this to be the first post. Cool song, cool rapper, really annoying skit breakdowns in bertween the verses that stop an otherwise sick song dead, but still a worthy listen. This is one of the first songs Kid Cudi ever made with Dot the Genius, whom he went on to form the 2 man rock band WZRD with (Or, as many Cudi fans know it, that album we pretend doesn't exist). Fortunately, Cudi is back to rapping and has released two singles from his new album Indicud (Just What I Am & King Wizard) both promising returns to form, and signs of artistic growth since he made both beats himself (which is impressive because they're actually very good beats). Cudi is back to, as he Kanye and No I.D. have taken to call it, 'The Pursuit of Dopeness', a pursuit I intend to take on myself with this very site. This should be the first of many Kid Cudi doses, enjoy.
This is the first of many links, songs, scenes and all types of other interesting shit that I will be posting every day in addition to the articles and analysis' that will make up the brunt of this site. I'll be posting a different dose every day of something that is deserving of your attention.
