For the Record

If you don’t know much about me then I’ll fill in one of the various blanks for you. I love to be taken by surprise. Being as intrinsically cynical as I am makes me discredit almost everything new in entertainment before I even give it a shot. And I’m not trying to be an asshole about it, but a variety of contemporary mainstays in pop culture look and smell like they came from one(Twilight, 3OH!3, The Hills, etc). Consequently I’ve subconsciously erected a buffer surrounding my mind to shield me from the onslaught of shittyness that the mass media daily hurls in my direction. I’m sure most of you do the same. I mean who besides the unemployed has the time to filter through all of this garbage and exhume gilded treasures from the rubbish? If you answered “I do” to that question you should stop practicing your vows and start reading the classifieds.

"How Hipster culture ends"

Every once in a while the proverbial tide will shift, and in opposition to being inundated with shit we are barraged with greatness. 2010 has been such a year thus far (for music mostly). Just recently I got my hands on some albums and was so inspired I thought I’d make up a new branch of the blog. So without further ado I’ll just jump right in.

MAYA by M.I.A

After unintentionally combusting onto the radar of soccer moms and teenyboppers with Paper Planes from her last album, Kala, M.I.A became a cultural obsession. From controversial Grammy performances to being attached to Oscar darling Slumdog Millionaire the formerly indie songstress was beginning to be lumped in with artist she was clearly superior to. In a bid to eschew the trust fund kids that listen inattentively to her complex metaphors about poverty, terrorism, inequitable living situations in the third world, and other political diatribes M.I.A uses MAYA to subvert the mainstream’s expectation of what her third album should be or, for that matter, what it should sound like. The noisy tracks may be off putting to those with simplistic ideas of melody but M.I.A creates harmony within the chaos. And her societal critiques? Top notch. Before its release this album was ear marked with an uberviolent music video for her single Born Free, but it’s Lovealot that , in my mind, stands out as the best bit of topicality on this endeavor. In Lovealot (which sounds like love Allah) M.I.A shows an often unseen dichotomy of the muslim terrorist boogeyman that Americans know all too well. I guess having a baby and becoming an overnight celebrity while trying to be a musical radical does wonders for your inspiration.

RECOVERY by Eminem

Spending the last five years stumbling to reclaim his former glory Mr. Mathers’ emerges from his cocoon with wings spread to the winds. Although one stain from his post Eminem show failures remains, and it’s his agonizingly constant singing, with Recovery Eminem shows why he once wore the crown in the kingdom of rap. In my mind the new crop of “best rappers” to spring up during his wake have all fallen short to his legacy but the slumbering ,and the now sober, lyrical giant hurls his hat back in the ring for consideration. Not much to elaborate on here. Eminem does what we’ve, the legions of Eminem fans, been waiting for. Make an awesome album.

CULDESAC by Childish Gambino

Is there anything this man can’t do? Take notes Drake, this is how you’re supposed to come from television and produce a rap album. Donald Glover, breakout star of Community and so many other things I don’t have time to list, dropped a new mixtape under the moniker Childish Gambino ; and despite the first half of his pseudonym the album is anything but. Glover spins punch line driven webs (which isn’t surprising considering his background in standup comedy) to ensnare your mind while also making nod your head to some rather inventive beats. Clearly Glover has his eyes on conquering the hipster scene that Drake forsook, and with Culdesac he continues his conquest. DONALD GLOVER FOR SPIDER-MAN! Wait, what? The casting is over…damnit. Ok, fine. DONALD GLOVER FOR AWESOME RAPPER!