On first glance, I wouldn't pay much attention to MasterMynd for the simple fact that I'm not a big fan of his name. The mid-word capitalization combined with the misspelling of "mind" just screamed amateur to me. Mama always told me to not judge a book by it's cover, but she never told me not to judge a rapper by their name.
With that said, MasterMynd's latest EP A Wonderful Mynd finds the Jersey rapper rhyming over productions by 9th Wonder with a swagger recalling Lupe Fiasco (if Lupe weren't such a tool). Occasionally the flow can get a little lost in 9th Wonder's laid-back productions, but Mynd's full potential is clear on "WOW. The concept of the song is the standard "I'm doing your girl better than you can", but there's a consistency that doesn't scream amateur to any degree. Basically, this isn't your typical myspace rapper bullshit. This is true emcee shit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- BONER TRACK: MASTERMYND - Ease Ya Mynd (Z) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - SPACE IT -
As odd as it seems, it's been nearly a year since the internet was ablaze about a certain video of a certain Canadian singer-songwriter reinterpreting a certain hit by The Black Eyed Peas. And as odd as it seems, it's been months since you've seen anything from GotdioN on this blog. He's been featured here so often that it's almost beyond odd.
Even odder is GotdioN's reinterpretation of Alanis Morissette's reinterpretation of "My Humps". GotdioN brought together the "You don't want no drama" vocals (from this very youtube video) with his trademark apocolyptic sound and three different rap verses. The results first appeared on his WTFD Volume 2 mixtape featuring Dizzee Rascal, Lupe Fiasco, and Andre 3000, while the revamped version appears on his new mixtape FTW Volume 2 with Ludacris in place of Andre 3000. Even if you can't get behind the sound of the song, you have to appreciate the concept. What if Alanis made a total Nelly Furtado hip-hoppy crossover?
The latest mixtape also features a diverse roster of remixes including JVonn, Yutaka Furukawa, AZ, Britney Spears, Tigarah, Keri Hilson, IllDotLogic, Garlic Bread, Beyonce, A Perfect Circle, Shenanigans, Ashlee Simpson, Chism, TandemPanda, Lupe Fiasco f/ Matthew Santos, and Jay-Z.
Welcome to my first and only attempt at video-blogging CMJ. I know I'm a week late, but deadlines don't exist when you work for yourself. And when I say work...let me clarify-- I ain't gettin' paid for shit!
This post focuses on the October 16, 2007 Q-Tip show at the Gramercy Theatre, divided into four parts in chronological order. The last one is the best, so don't sleep.
I've been jamming (and geo-targeting) to "Work It Out" in my cubicle from the moment it was made available as a free download on myspace, so I was a bit surprised by it's curious absence from last Tuesday's set. Given that it is the lead single off of his upcoming album The Renaissance, you'd think he'd be promoting* it, eh?
Instead, we got the alleged second single "Fever", which led into "Higher" from the solo album Amplified (more on that later). If I were more familiar with the entire Q-Tip repertoire, I might have been able to distinguish whether there was more new shit. Color me Lupe...
Q-Tip made it a point to reach out to the older fans in the audience, bringing out bits and pieces of early songs by A Tribe Called Quest. We got a little bit of-- "Can I Kick It?" + "Bonita Applebum" off of People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, "Scenario" + "Excursions" + "Check the Rhime" off of The Low End Theory.
The closing number was "Award Tour" off of Midnight Marauders, speaking of which...I also saw this white dude jamming out to "Sucka N***a". Problematic!
Now this show was all about the fans, but not in the sense that it isolated those of us who have a heavy appreciation for Q-Tip's work circa 1997-1999. As you can see above, the 1999 solo album Amplified was not forgotten, as Kamaal jumped into a performance of the album's unappreciated, less commercial single "Let's Ride". Knowing very well that younger fans would be present, the album's other two singles "Breathe and Stop" and "Vivrant Thing" also made an appearance in the encore. He even did us the favor of including his guest verse from Janet Jackson's "Got Til It's Gone". The line "Now why you wanna go and do that love, huh?" led straight into "Find A Way", the lead single off of the Tribe's 1998 album The Love Movement. I anticipated this transition and immediately gushed at the moment it was made. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one.
"Q-Tip knew what he was doing when he entrusted half the lyrics on “Check the Rime”** – the half that was once the jurisdiction of his partner Phife Dawg – to an enthusiastic woman near the foot of the stage. Thankfully she also knew what she was doing: she nailed it, and was rewarded with the biggest cheers of the night. It was a feel-good moment, a reminder that someone out there – a fan, one of us – felt the fever for something, after all." -- Nate Chinen, NYTimes
And hell yes. Michelle Cooper, the enthusiastic woman mentioned above, was probably the highlight of the show. Four rules were given to the fan who'd rap Phife Dawg's parts. If my memory serves me correctly, they were...
You got to be on beat.
No freestyling.
No shout-outs to your crew.
And DJ Scratch then chimes in..."Don't fuck up like Lupe." You got to know the words.
I was giggling like a little school girl at the reference to Fiascogate, which I got my scoop on thanks to Nah Right and Idolator. For those who aren't in the know*** is a reference to rapper Lupe Fiasco's lyrical fuck-up of "Electric Relaxation" at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors. I was waiting for someone on stage to reference this the entire night. God bless DJ Scratch.
* Well if he ain't gonna promote it, I will!...Go buy it on iTunes. ::End promotion:: ** It should be noted that Nate Chinen didn't use the right spelling here. Honest mistake? Or is this the makings of NATEGATE???
*** Or for those who didn't just click either of those links...
