Almost 47 years ago, Susan Sontag wrote “Notes On ‘Camp’” which coined the idea of something being “so bad it’s good.” When referring to popular culture, the phrase could apply to concepts like “slasher” films and David Hasselhoff’s acting career. The work still holds resonance, even as it nears half a century in age and it’s as if Sontag charted the path to Nicki Minaj’s success and her sophomore LP, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.
Sontag describes “Camp” as the love of the exaggerated and tends to be expressed in a hyper-stylized fashion. If you take Sontag’s definition to heart, you’ll see how she seems to be describing Nicki Minaj’s career. Just look at Read the rest of this entry »
There’s a short list of musicians in the industry who can boast of working with everyone from Flying Lotus and Kanye West to Jessica Simpson and Erykah Badu. Actually, if there’s any list at all, it probably consists of one man – Brainfeeder bass extraordinaire Thundercat.
Life+Times caught up with the Los Angelino to discuss his eclectic resume and musical background. The Q&A reveals how Thundercat became a member of the thrash-grunge group, Suicidal Tendencies, and the background behind his choosing the moniker of the infamous 1980′s television show. The piece is brief, but it hits on the omnipresent – albeit influential – nature of the musician. Fans and curious listeners, do yourself a favor and click the link provided to discover where Thundercat first met FlyLo and who he wants to spare a couple of 16′s over an upcoming track. It could foreshadow where his next project will eventually wander.
It’s over a week until Ohio State holds its first spring game with Urban Meyer at the helm. Sporting News could care less, as they drop a Meyer story that includes the word Buckeyes fans have come to loathe most: “controversy.”
Be warned: there’s a fair bit of surrealistic mind fucking that occurs in Steve Aoki, Kid Cudi and Travis Barker’s latest video for “Cudi The Kid.” This isn’t surprising considering the quirkiness of all three artists, but the ensuing electronic anthem looks more like Read the rest of this entry »
All The Beastie Boys ever really wanted was girls. Hell, all any male really desires is girls. Luckily, Bay Area MC, Rocky Rivera, understands our XX chromosome thirst, crafting a video to her own update on the classic Beasties tune entitled “GRLZ.” Read the rest of this entry »
It’s interesting that Ryshon Jones mentions “nuclear bombs” in his newly released Talen Ted-produced track, “Black,” because it sounds like the dystopic marching anthem for an army that’s about to obliterate humanity. Wait, wait; that’s too hyperbolic. Read the rest of this entry »
Now that Entourage has ended, the question is what will happen to Jerry Ferrara? He’s appearing in his first role post-Entourage in the upcoming Steve Harvey flick, Think Like A Man, where he’ll play the character Jerry, boyfriend to costar Gabrielle Union and fans will wonder whether he can Read the rest of this entry »
“Chillwave” may or may not be a passing fad, but one thing’s certain: Ernest Greene, aka Washed Out, is still keeping the lo-fi, atmospheric genre alive. Greene recently stopped by Daytrotter to cut intimate live renditions of his songs Read the rest of this entry »
It’s three months into 2012 and lest the greater public forget that G.O.O.D. Music has an album dropping some time this year, a fact easily forgotten after witnessing “N*ggas In Paris” replaying that was the “Watch The Throne” Tour and the whirlwind surrounding the album. However, silence on the LP has been broken by none other than…Mannie Fresh. Read the rest of this entry »
With a laundry list of parties and shindigs available to SXSW attendees, it’s hard to pinpoint that exact event where one’s attendance doesn’t just seem worthwhile but almost necessary. There’s a plethora of great music to choose, ranging from Hip-Hop to indie rock to the blues. Read the rest of this entry »
On the surface, it seems like Rolling Stone spent six paragraphs and approximately 800 words too many explaining Limp Bizkit’s recent Cash Money signing. It isn’t until one actually decides to read Dan Hyman’s piece when the guts can be properly digested and, subsequently, regurgitated into a kind of “you’ve gotta be f*ckin’ kidding me” moment:
“The Limp Bizkit frontman, Williams had learned, had called to inform him that he was interested in inking a deal with Cash Money…. ‘That’s some shit I like to hear,’ Williams was quick to say, ‘let’s do it!’”
Once all dropped jaws are appropriately placed back into locked position, consider Baby’s decision as making sense. In a 12-month period where society has seen a Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration album (Blerg) and a Jack White/Insane Clown Possee side project (Double Blerg!) the LB/Cash Money pairing seems all too appropriate. We are in an age of the nonsensical, after all.
Yet, what separates these other head-scratching projects from the Durst/Baby power axis are the intentions. For as subjectively bad as Lou Reed/Metallica and Jack White/Insane Clown Possee were, there was an artistic ambition that was never fully realized, which sought to bridge the high-brown with the admittedly low-brow*. The Durst/Baby tag team was never an artistic grab as much as it was trying to pair a long-dead mainstream fad (Limp Bizkit and late-1990s nu-metal) with a mainstream Hip-Hop label. It’s like Baby thought and still thinks Rebirth was a good idea, so why not take that decision to its radicalized end?
This isn’t to dissuade Hip-Hop labels from taking on rock ‘n’ roll acts. The Black Keys have occupied that territory for years now and Blakroc was solid. However, Baby’s move is dumb not only when one considers Limp Bizkit hasn’t been relevant in over a decade, but also nu-metal isn’t even the dominant rock paradigm anymore. Bizkit peers Korn are dubsteppin’ with Skrillex and Linkin Park have metastasized into something much different than nu-metal.
The best we can hope for is Durst landing next to Jae Millz and Gudda Gudda in the land of YM signees that are signed and forgotten, never to be heard from again. However, this new relationship will probably just produce nothing other than more frat-rock–Durst has never been known as progressive and/or malleable. And if Baby finds that he can market Durst to someone other than the audience at Columbus, Ohio’s “Rock On the Range” music festival, then more power to him. But cheap gimmicks only work for so long, especially when they’re not as sensational as Nicki Minaj nor as marketable as Tha Carter IV.
So while Durst thinks the new Cash Money affiliation will “bring out the heaviest Limp Bizkit stuff to date,” it’s bound to be another exercise in money-burning for Baby. Maybe the signing will take the place of him betting a few million on who will come up 5th in the Poughkeepsie Springs 500 or something.
Exhale, Action Bronson fans, the rotund Queens MC has finally released his Blue Chips project, his first for 2012. Although it’s still the first quarter of the year, Bronselinho seemed almost late in dropping the Party Supplies-produced mixtape, if his 2011 manic musical manufacturing pace was any indication. Read the rest of this entry »
The hard-scrabble New York underground has been festering recently, bubbling up with promising, aesthetically tough East Coast cuts. Queensbridge’s Cormega adds to the boiling pot, teaming up with Action Bronson, Roc Marciano, Saigon and Large Professor to form the supergroup, M.A.R.S., and blast off with their first track of the same name. Read the rest of this entry »
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