MUSIC THAT SCARES MTV EXECS:
RO BLVD.COM
FREESPEECHMUSIC.COM
Official Web Sites of L.A.'s Hottest Hip-Hop Duo
I have a new favorite DJ/MC combo, courtesy of a friend.
Think I'm kidding? Check out Ro and underground legend Free Speech's Laffy Taffy Rots Your Teeth [ALBUM DOWNLOAD].
This is the straight, uncut dope, hands down the best free-to-steal online release since Danger Mouse pissed off the Beatles. Check out next-big-thing Lupe Fiasco's guest appearance - yeah, it's that kinda fresh.
Ro's production style is straight outta 1992, complete with Al Green samples, mellow beats, and the ability to remix songs better than the originals.
For example, click on the screenshot above to experience Common's "The Corner" in a way that would never clear MTV's marketing - to - the - white - upper- middle - class - cash - cow standards. Who needs Malcolm X cluttering up all those episodes of Laguna Beach anyway?
Speech? Check out the video for the first single from LTRYT, "Everything is Different Now. " Two parts prophet, one part emcee, a la Chuck D and Dead Prez. He may just be the most controversial rapper you've never heard of - when was the last time you heard an emcee slam R. Kelly's fetishes or wax nostalgic for something deeper than bling and bitches?
ONLINE ACTIVISM/LOCAL HERTUBE:
NET NEUTRALITY! YouTube Video from One of the Local U.'s Most Active Student Activists
While thousands of students at the Local U. were wasting their summers doing, well, stupid shit, Stephanie (Free Radical Writings) was busy interning in Chicago, fighting the good fight against corporate media.
Her YouTube video on Net Neutrality is probably one of the most important independent media pieces produced locally in the last few months.
A local celebrity of sorts, Lee has long been one of those squeaky wheels that the Local U.'s administration probably wishes would just disappear. She spent last year fighting a losing battle to save her interdisciplinary Studies program, driving a local Living Wage campaign, and being one of the most active activists in the history of Oxford Fucking Ohio.
It's high time I gave Stephanie a bit of press. Oxford is a tiny campus community built upon conformity and complacency, a land of J. Crew catalogues and Beer Pong. Being a campus activist isn't easy, especially here.
There is nothing that earns the ZenFo Pro Seal of Approval quicker than standing up for what one believes in, for taking a stand in the face of such apathy. College students should be rewarded for their independence and encouraged to use Information and Communication Technologies for more than just entertainment.
FINE ARTS...THAT YOU SHOULDN'T VIEW AT WORK:
Every time I stop by this site, I feel dirty.
Like Double Indemnity , Vargas Girl dirty.
And I kinda like that feeling, actually.
Might have something to do with the fact that I'm viewing some of the most, er, stimulating images I've ever seen come out of Ohio.
There's just something about scantily-clad women in cheap motels. It brings out the worst in guys. It's the subtle hints of noirish seduction, the illusion of femme fatale.
Just get me a wifebeater, a bottle of Vitalis, and a '47 Mercury with a chain steering wheel, and I'm good to go.
There's no photographer who inspires more pin-up revival fantasies than Chas Krider, the Columbus-based visual artist, owner of the Invisible Gallery (219 King Ave.), and author of Motel Fetish.
Krider's next big offline exhibit, 1980Something: A look at the 1980s Columbus Art and Indie Music Scene, is rumored to include a tee-shirt donated by our favorite Librarian Sock Monkey.
Hmmm...
Monkeys. Thongs. Indie Tunes from the 1980s.
Aw, goddammit.
Now I somehow have a desire to put Gorillas in the Mist into the ol' ZenFo Pro DVD player, hit the mute button, and crank the Minutemen loud enough to scare my undergrad neighbors...
# # #
8 comments:
I love the little red number, but am am into erotica..
Love the stephanie lee film and am going to check out her blog, she sounds like a winner.
More (and I mean that figuratively and literally) of Chas' work can been viewed at:
www.motelfetish.com
I found out about his work in photography class, when the prof mentioned him in the context of his fantastic lighting. I said, "Oh, I know Chas Krider." The prof said, "YOU know Chas Krider?" I said, "Sure. I used to work at the Ohio Ethnographic Gallery in the late 80's and Chas and I would hold up the wall at Gallery Hops making snarky comments about the suburbanites." Definitely upped my cred with the guy :-)
At the time Chas did black and white art photos (still with spectacular lighting), but sometime in the 90's decided to follow his bliss...and it worked out.
Stephanie's You Tube Video had me cracking up but also had me listening to her every word... smart woman.
Motel Fetish... you? :)
I think its completely INAPPROPRIATE for a white guy to even discuss Brother Malcolm in the same breath as rap music and MTV. This isn't Black music just more exploitation of OUR culture to make a profit that makes me sick. You're obviously not Afro-American (Hispanic???) so you might not understand how some people may get offended about people writing about "BLING AND BITCHES" and the glorification of such garbage.How are rappers working to liberate a whole people?How is the ability to read a poem fixing America? What are YOU doing to increase diversity initiatives at YOUR university?
I understand that you're probably a college student and knowing what little I know about Miami of Ohio you're probably angry white liberal wanting to sound intelligent. You're looking foran identity. But don't eploit the cultures of others, especially someone like Malcolm. Very wrong. Nobody needs this shit. Its not helping.
okay first i can't watch the videos due to lack of speakers so i'm not in context.
but i do not comprehend the above comment. just don't.
isn't sharing how we feel about things and learning each other's cultures the only way people will get along?
how is that guy generalising about your white liberal ass helping anybody? *shakes head* everyone is looking for a fight.
As I am at the ref desk now, I will have to wait to look at some of the stuff later. A nice "grab bag" of a little of everything. And yes, I find it ironic that a university, any campus, often prefers to stiffle its activists than actually nurture them. Is that not the whole point of getting an education? To expand your horizons? To question authority and the world? To maybe make a difference, or at least work to make the world a little better? Maybe it's just me. BTW, love pin-ups and so on, so I am probably bookmarking that. As always, best and keep on blogging.
Alice:
Lol...you? Into erotica? Who'd a thunk it?
;)
MM:
Lmao...yeah, was going to put the Motel Fetish link in, but, lol, we live in the part of the country that made Larry Flynt an international superstar simply by being the NoCon Disneyland...already got one peice of hatemail for daring to put a link to a video that highlights the acheivements of a "terrorist" like Malcolm X....
It blows my mind how Fundamentalists manage to figure out how to breed sometimes.
Shayna:
Yeah, steph is pretty entertaining.
Lol. Yup, innocent lil ol' me. Got rid of my handcuffs a while ago ;P
Cincy:
Okay, first...I don't think its appropriate for someone to lecture me for posting a link to a video featuring Brother Malcolm to tag their comment with that, and forgive me for pointing this out, Uncle Remus, Steppin Fetchit-sounding "Who Dey" bengals fan rallying cry.
And how, exactly, is promoting a noted artist/actiivist like common degrading black culture? I'd much rather promote artists in the hip-hop community known for sparking intellectual development in OUR community than some Amos-n-Andy, bling-covered, front-wearing caricature.
Or are you pissed off that the beatmaster/remixer happens to be of Asian descent?
Me? Hispanic? Nope...the dark elements of my complection come from my Roma(Gypsy)/Accadian/Native American ancestry.
As for being a student, or somehow being some liberal activist, well that's the stupidest thing I've heard in a long time. I hate "Diversity Initiatives" because, well, talk about the Man dictating culture to maintain the status quo... the Liberal Est. is just as guilty of exploiting culture for profit and political gain as the Conservative Est.
Sass:
Hey, thanks! Yeah, its amazing who happens to swing by locally.
Angel:
You know, that's part of what I call the "Higher Ed. Underground", i.e. the hypocracy of campus cultures supposedly about the Learning Experience but where practice is left merely talk. College campuses seem to foster nothing more than the apathy and frustration. It's partly the student body politic, but, as I pointed out to a rather shocked faculty member recently, the majority of the blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of u. employees (he was appalled that someone in my position would be OPPOSED to the traditional tenure model, which I feel, as do many others, that a system meant to promote academic and intellectual freedom is now merely an excuse to spend seven years working so one can become benchwarmers with a continuing contract in hand...why are a growing precentage of vital lower-level undergrad courses REALLY being taught by hired-gun adjunct instructors, TAs, etc.?)
Lol...gotta love the pin-ups.
hey thanks for the sweet feature, j. :-)
i hardly think of myself as a local celeb, but any bit of authority or exposure, especially if it gets the word out there, is definitely appreciated!
and wow, you got the videos to look really crisp and tight. how did you do that? it looks so much better than i'm used to seeing it.
good bumping into you today. hopefully we'll get the chance to hang out soon.
latah,
stephanie
Post a Comment