Filed under: One from the Heart | Tags: byzantine, cam'ron, diplomats, dipset, dj screw, el d, hip-hop, jorge luis borges, music, onyx, perpetuum mobile, rutger kaput, trae, verbal punishment
10 THINGS YOU COULD SAY ABOUT BYZANTINE RHYMES
1: The sample I used for this song is, as a matter of fact, one of the corniest songs that I have ever heard. If you can guess which song it is I cannot give you a prize (for I am poor) but you will have deserved my eternal respect. One hint: the song is Dutch.
2: I was not alone in creating this beat, a fact which I have shamefully omitted from the credits of the album. In fact, there was someone sitting RIGHT next to me as I was following his ideas and chopping the samples to an order which seemed right to him, and this person was the legendary Rutger Kaput (the best guitar player you don’t know).
3: Me and Rutger originally made this beat as a joke to parody the style of hip-hop popular at that time, namely the “Chipmunk Soul” style popularized by the infamous Diplomats crew out of Harlem. For fantastic examples of this style, go here, here and here.
4: Of course we have to talk about the moment when eerythang slows down (twice) in the song. The first thing that I can say about this is that this is my actual voice, no software has been used to digitally alter it. Yes, I have a low voice.
5: The second thing I can say about the slowed parts is that perhaps the better word would be “screwed”. And not screwed as in “Damn, I’m screwed!”, but screwed as in the Texan sub-genre of hip-hop originated by DJ Screw (R.I.P.) and carried on by many followers. A great example is the screwed and chopped version of “Swang” by Trae, compare the original version here with the remixed version here. (The hook to this song is already – i feel like writing awwready – chopped!)
6: If you listen very carefully, you will hear I am not alone on this song. I have brought my animal friends, namely a lion and a crow. Who knew they could do hip-hop music?
7: The lyrics to this song were all written before I made the beat. I wrote the two verses separately but explicitly in the same style. Also, they both share the fact that I used DJ Premier beats to write them to (some Jeru the Damaja beat I cannot recall at this moment and another one).
8: The guy who starts talking at the end is one of my personal heroes. It’s Jorge Luis Borges and the quote is taken from a lecture he gave on poetry. “So, as I have said, I have only my perplexities to offer you”. One of the inspirations for making this album.
9: We “Raze it Up” like Onyx (again Onyx!). This song is so HYPE!!!
10: Again, the theme of infinity re-occurs. Not only do my side A and side B stay connected, I describe my story as “neverending/tank never empty/perpetuum mobile”, the latter of which may require some explanation. It is an impossibility in physics but nonetheless people have aspired to make a machine that is capable of infinite motion and creating energy out of nothing.
There are plenty more things I could say about this song but I’d much rather hear your thoughts, so leave a note or something. PEACE
Filed under: The Inspiration | Tags: beastie boys, dj premier, game rebellion, hip-hop, inspiration, jay-z, lyrics, metal, music, netic, red hot chilli peppers, rick rubin, rock, run-dmc
When I was a teenager I had a fondness for pretty much any music made using distorted guitar sounds. From the Deftones to Cradle of Filth to Pennywise and so on, I couldn’t get enough of it. This period coincided with the heyday of the rap/rock movement where acts such as Limp Bizkit, Korn and Linkin Park were massively popular. As much as I had a teenageresque fascination with the song “Nookie” I could never get past the wack-ass rapping of all the singers of these bands. The sub-genre died a quiet and unmemorable death and it will not be sorely missed. (Ice Cube and Korn’s “Fuck Dying” was amusing, though)
Of course the first forays into rap/rock took place way before I could speak a single word of English. Moreover, these were infinitely more respectable than the examples I just listed. For instance, the Beastie Boys started off as a punk/hardcore band and Run-DMC was deeply influenced by rock music (not to mention making a fairly large hit single with Aerosmith). Not coincidentally, these acts both fell under the umbrella of the legendary Rick Rubin, a man with just as much credentials in hip-hop as in rock music. After Rick Rubin fell out with Russell Simmons over the direction Def Jam should be taking in the late 1980s he branched out into heavy metal (Slayer), heavy hip-hop (Geto Boys) and eventually resuscitated the careers of both the late Johnny Cash (R.I.P.) and Neil Diamond. Casual listeners may recognize him as the scary man with the fur coat and the big beard in the video to Jay-Z’s big single “99 Problems” which, coincidentally, was also produced by this very same scary man.
Now that you’re up on some history, let’s get to the point. As I said, very little good has come of recent attempts to make rock-rap music except for that extremely wicked and rock hard M.O.P. LP. Enter Game Rebellion. This Bronx-based rap outfit came out of nowhere and decided to take Rick Rubin’s production legacy and make it into a mixtape which cannot be described as anything less than mind-blowing.
The idea is that most songs on the mixtape start from a Rick Rubin production (for instance No Sleep Til Brooklyn, or Under the Bridge) and build on that. It sounds easy, but there is almost no describing to which creative lengths the band goes to make something entirely fresh and banging. For instance, the well-known Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ song “Under the Bridge” is reworked into a hard, but heartfelt, hip-hop song. Almost any other hip-hop act would ruthlessly butcher this classic song but Game Rebellion actually add to it with careful yet groovy instrumentation and amazing lyrics:
Staring at myself in the mirror Slowly losing my sanity, but apparently parents don’t approve of Netic’s profanity Well pardon me – I’m just a product of this poverty And part of me wants to tell the critics “Fuck off, don’t bother me!” But honestly, I don’t write so that you’ll read it or rhyme so you’ll repeat it It’s therapy and I need it so you can love it or leave itIt gets even better, but I can’t quote 3+ mins of lyrics here. Suffice to say that the MC, who goes by the name of Netic, more than proves himself able on this tape. In typical mixtape-fashion, there are a few tracks where he rhymes over other people’s beats (Eminem’s “Toy Soldiers”, various DJ Premier productions etc.) and he absolutely slaughters them with lyrics that do not just flow but have genuine and original content. Especially the Toy Soldiers freestyle is ferocious:
They used to say it take a nation of millions to hold us back But that was a different time before the buildings collapsed Back before mothers tried to trade their children for crack Before we imitated Sicilians in all our raps [...] Who you think gets more death threats, Barack or 50 Cent? Damn Barack you gangsta, hell yeah you gangsta Stand up in the face of adversity and we thank ya Cause ain’t no easy task to put yourself on blast Then have the balls to answer any questions they ask youPreviously, in my UGK post, I mentioned how important it is for hip-hop musicians to actually understand music and be able to make songs. Rick Rubin is a prime example of this type of musician; in an era where 10-minute “Rapper’s Delight” songs were the norm in hip-hop he insisted on making hip-hop songs more focused and structured. Game Rebellion, following the spirit of Rick Rubin, combines a great understanding of music with the balls and swagger of hip-hop and for this, they should be roundly commended. Moreover, they also understand the modern context of making music and so to my – and soon your – great delight they have made this mixtape available for FREE at their website, so go and download it now! Good music is still being made, you just have to know where to find it.
DOWNLOAD GAME REBELLION “SEARCHING FOR RICK RUBIN” HERE
Filed under: One from the Heart | Tags: alec j weatherwood, ayn rand, hardenberg, music
You know, this interlude on my album is one of my favourite tracks of myself (yeah I’m a narcissist) of all time. I originally wrote the lyrics to the beat of “The Corner” by Common, and if everything works out today then I might have this version recorded and ready to roll out to you guys by tonight. Also, I’m not posting from home, so I’ll include the link to the album version with that post.
I always liked the idea of an LP player that can play as a loop. Does such a thing even exist? I know that there are LP players with auto-reverse so you don’t have to bother to walk to the thing at the end of Side A and flip the record to side B, but I’ve never seen one which can do this ad infinitum. So I had to invent it: I got deep grooves, like your old favourite records, but my side A and side B stay connected. And I keep rocking like Jimi Hendrix on Woodstock ‘69; for all the non-hippies out there, this was Jimi’s most legendary show at one of the most legendary festivals of all time (buy the DVD, do it, you won’t regret it). However, the organizers had put him as the last act (or one of the last, shoot me) so most of the people there, soaked, hungry and already filled with some of the best music experiences they ever had, had already left the premises. That’s why, if you watch the video I linked above, you’ll see a half-empty field watching one of the best guitar performances ever. So this time, you’d better recognize! And also recognize that it’s a murder, death, kill society where cutthroat pirates sit at the helm of the ship. To continue the pirate metaphor, shit, one for one, they’re degenerate musketeers – all candidates for management positions, it is clear: the money’s made best, you can place your bets on it, in the places where the hate is manifested in the form of careerism.
Real cats got a sincere vision. And fake cats fear wisdom and stay-fear ridden. As soon as we incinerate this sinister cycle of self-interest, we’re gonna elevate the inner. And even the cynics will be convinced – life is not a zero-sum game but can also be win-win.
I have changed my views on the topic a little since I wrote these lyrics. This can be attributed to life experience, my friends, Ayn Rand and other such phenomena. Do you agree? Digress? Care? In any case, I hope to give y’all the audio tonight and the next installment of the Listener’s Guide is in the making. We’ll be visiting Byzantium, a wonderful place.
Time for a small interlude before we get to the actual interlude. I’m going to do something that I have always wanted to do: introduce you to some albums that I feel belong to the best of the best that music, and specifically hip-hop, has to offer.
In these blog-heavy times, albums get reviewed weeks or even days after they have been released. This, of course, is totally ridiculous: how can you appreciate a complete album in such a short time span? Imagine having to get to the bottom of say, Wu-Tang Forever or Illmatic in two weeks! That’s why, with this section The Inspiration, I want to focus your attention on some albums that I’ve been listening to for a long time and that have withstood the test of listening to it endlessly. There’s so little patience in this world, but waiting for an album to mature can be very rewarding indeed.
There was a direct reason for me to start writing this post; I was listening to UGK’s Underground Kingz, a double album which was released last year. A lot of recent hip-hop albums have been thrown together rather haphazardly, with no themes to the songs, no song structure and beats that don’t match with each other but have been produced by the latest, hippest producers. Underground Kingz is a rare exception to this rule, and is also a rarity in the sense that it is a double album which you can listen to from A to Z almost without skipping a song.
UGK is a duo which hails from Texas and has quietly been gaining respect in the underground of Houston and the surrounding area. Rap connaisseur Andrew Noz is a fan. Half of the duo, Pimp C, sadly passed away last year, so this album has significance beyond just being another UGK album: it is and will be the last real UGK album to ever be released. (The other half, Bun B, has released some average to good albums by himself.)
And it is indeed this very same Pimp C who is so pivotal to the success of this album. Not only does he drop amusing, in-yo-face type lyrics pretty much on every single song (”My bitch a choosy/Lover/Never fuck without a rubber/Never in the sheets/Like it on top of the cover”) but he is also responsible for some of the funkiest production ever in hip-hop. Check the video below for How Long can it Last, the first song of the second disc. Co-production by another production legend by the name of N.O. Joe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I9w37v_NYs
Undoubtedly, though, the best song on the whole album, the best hip-hop song of 2007 and one of the best hip-hop songs of all time, is International Players Anthem, a collaboration between Outkast and UGK produced by Grammy-winning legends Three Six Mafia. It has been widely noted that the first verse by Andre 3000 is absolutely stellar. The video is also amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGU_v_GAdvg&feature=related
Any album containing these two songs would remain on my iPod for a long time. But the real achievement of this album that it takes you from the classic, funky style of UGK to the newer, harder Dirty South style (on the rock hard Grind Hard, or Take tha Hood Back, for instance) to east-coast boom-bap (Next Up). The guests, ranging from Dizzee Rascal to Big Daddy Kane to Too $hort, all add their distinctive flavours to the album without outclassing their hosts. The cool thing about it is that Pimp C and Bun B sound comfortable and completely at home on all these different styles which reveals their class as MCs. Bun B is sometimes a bit reminiscent of a really G-d out Rakim, in that he has a very monotone, if forceful, rapping style but you can always rely on his solid flow and high-class rhyming techniques. He also switches effortlessly from gangsta rap to heartfelt, emotional tracks without sounding corny, as evidenced by tracks like Living This Life:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/13346288b3739b27/
I could go on and on about any of the tracks, because with one or two exceptions every single track is strong and very well-produced. It’s a real pleasure to listen to this album on some good headphones and appreciate the very musical and well-thought out production: no loops here, but complete arrangements, guitars, strings and still those good old hard hiphop drums to boot.
Hip-hop album of 2007? Or were there better ones? Discuss in the comment section!
Filed under: One from the Heart
Some people deserve a song.
Diary of a Man (Who Disappeared) is one of those songs. Those who know who it’s about, know what it’s about and I do not care to reveal all kinds of personal stories. Also, I like the atmosphere of mystery that this song carries and don’t want to break the spell by explaining everything. But rest assured that this song carries a deeper meaning than just two random stories by me and Magical.
Listen to El D’s Diary of a Man (Who Disappeared) here:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/132983404c089f6c/
The theme of this song is the outsider. I have always fancied myself a bit of an outsider, but I function within society (I hope) and am doing reasonably normal things. Diary is about people who are contained within themselves and build their own world. My verse imagines the experiences of someone who hears things other people can’t hear and sees things other people can’t see. He doesn’t think like other people but when he finds a sample that seems like it doesn’t exist on the vinyl he builds a beat around it. He loses himself in the beat and loses all regular concepts of time, space and reality. Doors came off the hinges when I passed them. When it’s finished he, crazily, leaves his house and burns everything. Why? We can’t imagine. But I’m sure he’ll explain to you if you ask him – perhaps he’ll give you a key and a flower.
It was nothing but a ghost Nothing but a whisper Nothing but a kick in the heartbeat of time But all I ever did Was take one moment, try to control it and make it mineGhosts aren’t always invisible. Sometimes people disappear within themselves. In the final hook, I take the concept of a beat and intertwine it with life: heartbeats become kicks and moments are samples to be controlled, re-interpreted and owned. It doesn’t matter how significant it is on a larger scale: all that matters is the fact that you’ve done it and that, in itself, is enough. That’s why the end of my verse is so triumphant: it’s well possible that all is lost in the blaze, but the moment never disappears.
Do you have such moments? Leave a note. And stay tuned for part 5, where I’ll take a close look at Deep Grooves.
Filed under: One from the Heart
Humility is not a trait that is respected amongst rappers. You are the best, you are the pinnacle of machismo, you have no qualms and accept no alms.
This creates a bit of a problem for me. I have had a sheltered upbringing, read lots of books, have doubts and cannot really claim to be a great playboy or moneymaker. As a result, in the beginning of my rap ‘career’, I had trouble finding my perspective in hip-hop. I oscillated between writing obscure underground-style lyrics (as a fan of Company Flow and Wu-Tang) and straight-up ruff, rugged and raw lyrics (as a fan of 50 Cent, Onyx, DMX etc.). Reading back my old writings, you can probably find traces of conscious rap (Common), try-hard polysyllabic rhymes (Chino XL, Big Daddy Kane) and much more. But it’s impossible to do something well if you don’t fully believe in it. The hardcore rhymes sounded strained, the obscure lyrics sounded corny. Of course: I AM not and cannot be the sneer of Chino, the swagger of BDK, the cool of Common, the nihilism of Sticky Fingaz or the 5%-ness of Wu-Tang. It was like M.O.P. trying to be all sensitive and cute.
Listen to El D Rhyme and Riddle here:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/13151654490b3ab3/
On Rhyme & Riddle I found the solution. Which was: fuck you, you know what, I AM a nerdy dude with glasses from Hardenberg who likes to read books and enjoys weird references in his lyrics. This is what I do: I rhyme and riddle, try to shine just a little. In the first two verses I explain what my music is all about: taking chances, showing who or what I am and not trying to be what I’m not. The second verse relies on re-made parts of the hook that are expanded into a full verse, reflecting the last line “Just realize that/Every loop is the same/still I deliver/a different rhyme to your brain”. Also, this line reflects the nature of the beat, which is a straight up loop from a very very dope old soul record with only minor additions.
The third verse is the real riddle, though, and I give the answer away at the end. But there is perhaps a deeper answer: I try to show I’m a rapper who puts thought into his shit, sarcastically mocking dumb raps by creating a completely monosyllabic verse (which, of course, is quite crafty).
It pays to listen to these lyrics if you want to. That’s what I think the rap game needs: a keen pair of eyes, quick wit, high speed.
So Rhyme & Riddle is my lyrical A-game (and, if I remember correctly, one of Magical’s favourite tracks on the album). In that sense, it is also in full compliance with the rap convention that on the first few album tracks you should have at least one bragging and boasting rap. This is mine. But I don’t claim to be the best, I make my case for it. You be the judge.
If you have found more meanings and more riddles (there might be) or want to share some of your own feel free to leave a comment.
Next up is the first song on which you hear a different voice on the album. Stay tuned for the story behind Diary of a Man (Who Disappeared).
RANDOM BONUS: Before Cee-Lo Green became part of Gnarls Barkley he was an extremely gifted rapper/poet. On the little clip below he drops a piece of poetry which is mindboggling. Watch Sway & Tech look in amazement.
Filed under: One from the Heart
Sometimes, all it takes is a moment.
The moment Sebastiaan sent me the mixdown of Better Days, the first track I recorded for One from the Heart, I knew that this album was going to be a fact. Up until then, I had always toyed with the idea of really going the distance and paying money to record my songs in the quality I felt they deserved. Then, at the actual recording session, things went smoothly, but it wasn’t until I heard the completed song for the first time that I felt yes, this is good enough, this is something I would listen to myself. And that has always been my threshold: if what I make is not interesting enough for me to listen to, then why would I bother other people with it?
Listen to Better Days at El D’s MySpace (third track):
www.myspace.com/alecjweatherwood
The song has an interesting history; I made the beat back when I was studying at University College Utrecht, and in those days one can say that alcohol was never far away. So, I had a few beers with my friends and suddenly I was struck by an irresistible urge to make music; I ran to my equipment and did not leave it for the next few hours. The result was a file on my computer with the beat entitled ‘beer beer beer’, by way of respect for the drink that got my creative juices flowing. At the same time, I made the hook, which came naturally (as if the beat was asking for it) and the first verse.
The second verse was added later, and originated from something else. As it happens, I was asked, being the resident rapper, to write a rap for a promotion DVD for the aforementioned University College. This verse turned out to fit so well with the beat and verse I had written earlier for Better Days that I could just fit it in and produce the beat around it.
Not only in terms of flow, but also in terms of meaning the song congealed very nicely. I once planned to name an album A Celebration of Diversity, which is basically what the second verse is all about: enjoying crude and sophisticated humour, seeing traditions from Homer to poetry slams, respecting smart literature and smooth music (from Toni Morrison to Tony! Toni! Tone!) and so forth. The second half of the verse is dedicated to the College, where I describe my studies as ‘dancing in the dark’, a reference to the great Björk/Von Trier movie. And yes, I was actually at one point member of the Poetry Committee, which was amusingly called “The Big Bad Nightingales”.
In the sequence of the album, I knew from the beginning that this had to be the second song. The second song on a hip-hop album is for me always an important point: you have to draw in your listener with the first full track after the intro and set the tone for the rest of the album. One from the Heart is essentially an optimistic journey with some somber, bitter and sad moments, so it’s only right that it starts doubtingly with Rooftop Reflections (Winter) and then flowers into the main theme of optimism.
Stay tuned for part 3 where I will delve deep into Rhymes and Riddles.
I am not a very practical person, so mostly I only actually record music when things just happen to make it possible. In this case, the things at hand somewhere in 2007 were a working soundcard, a good microphone (generously borrowed from Chris Kaput) and a flash of inspiration. These ingredients resulted, amongst others, in Veranderingen, which I have put at the very top of my MySpace playlist for you to check out. You can download it and read along with the lyrics by clicking the buttons that say ‘download’ and ‘lyrics’ on that site (doh).
Listen to Veranderingen at El D’s MySpace:
www.myspace.com/alecjweatherwood
Finally, I have to pay respect where it is due, so big up to Ty Fyffe for hooking up this beat (originally used by Beanie Sigel), it’s nothing short of amazing. Random thought: I have always been interested in the idea of the cover song in the context of hiphop. Almost nobody uses this term in hiphop, but you can see my version of Change as a cover; I try to keep to the spirit of the original song and add my own flavor.
Hope it tastes good!
Filed under: One from the Heart
- Max Dendermonde De Wereld Gaat aan Vlijt ten Onder, p. 50
There is no better place to watch a city go to sleep than a rooftop.
You’re at a comfortable distance from all the hustle and bustle on the streets and you’re closer to the sky and the stars. As it gets darker and traffic slowly subsides you’ll be left with nothing but your own thoughts. Maybe you’re considering what will happen tomorrow. Or maybe you’re reflecting on things that have already happened. In the intro to my CD One from the Heart I’m doing both.
El D Rooftop Reflections (Winter)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1298979387e61fb6/
It’s winter and it’s cold. I’m up on the roof with some whiskey to keep me warm and am somewhere in between a dream and reality. Even though I have been in the same house for a while I traveled miles in my mind and I have arrived at a junction. I can’t see where all the roads are going, but I decide to trust an age-old instinct of mine. The ability to deal with the bad and turn it into good – that’s what defines Alec J Weatherwood.
Alexander James Weatherwood is de hoofdpersoon uit Max Dendermonde’s boek De Wereld Gaat aan Vlijt ten Onder. (Tevens auteur van De Laatste Beeldschone Zwendel) Alexander, Alec voor zijn vrienden, is een rustige man die de enorme drang naar vooruitgang in de wereld niet helemaal begrijpt en het liefst gewoon doet waar hij zin in heeft. Als hij echter onderdeel wordt van de ontwikkelingen moet hij een manier vinden om er mee om te gaan. Dit thema loopt zachtjes door in One from the Heart: hoe ga je om met verandering en wat zijn de juiste keuzes?
And no, it is not a coincidence that this post switches languages. It’s a funhouse mirror of the song. I don’t know where to end but I know where to start. Welcome to the listener’s guide to One from the Heart and stay tuned for Better Days.
Alec blikte over de rand en keek of zijn stille, in zichzelf pratende boot niet afdreef. Het was in orde. Het waaide maar licht, hier en daar sneed gemoedelijk een zeil over het water; het waren de laatste zeilboten van het jaar. Ze gaven een beeld van eenvoud, van bevredigdheid in zichzelf, en Alec glimlachte nu over zijn zelfbeklag van daareven.
- Max Dendermonde De Wereld Gaat aan Vlijt ten Onder, p. 50
When you go through old stuff you made it’s like you’re looking at your childhood pictures. Some beats and ideas are funny and childish, some are loaded with a potential that you would develop further at a later stage and some are just plain good. I have selected some of my favourites to share with you.
An aside first: I remembered a fourth album, which I wanted to release before The Crash, which was entitled DIM SUM. This, amusingly, was meant to be a collection of short tracks, dope beats and random ideas that had no place on a proper full-length but were cool enough to see the light. Alas, this CD also vanished in the big computer crash of 2006, but fortunately I made a CD of them for a holiday in Italy. These beats will be the subject of a next post, but now let’s get into some good old stuff first. I still haven’t found out how to embed these things, so just click the link to open a new window that will play the beats.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/11081831c6a1cc83/
If you look at the list of albums in my last post, this beat, entitled “Card Flipping”, was meant to be the second song on the weird concept album. I have all the lyrics to it somewhere, but I’m not sure where. This beat is heavily influenced by the fact that I was listening to a lot of metal at the time (especially Dimmu Borgir) in which strings played a major role. It’s a pretty gloomy thing but I think it still bangs reasonably hard.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/110829615fe38321/
All beats for Smel & El D are still on MiniDisc, so I will have to post some of those separately. What I do have is a whole batch of beats for The Crash, amongst others the above one with the strange title “Doctor Dureejo”. This was one of my first attempts at using sampled drums in a beat, and it worked out reasonably well. If you crank your volume all the way up the drums will do the work for themselves. The theme of the actual song, which keeps recurring through my lyrics, was self-control: “Don’t need a magic marker to highlight my achievements/Reason being/I naturally stand out in a crowd/leave the loudmouthin out/instead plant and manage thousands of sprouts”. And yes, all these joints were finished songs. I’m not bluffing, y’all.
I’m running out of time, but I’m going to keep up posting old, weird, wacky and cool stuff. I found some old recordings and realized that I even planned to make an EP in 2004 called Reason & Rhyme; all of those beats are completely gone, though…
Fortunately, when the memory runs out, I have my harddisk to rely on. Stick around for the next installment of the Memories series, where more beats and/or recordings will be posted for your amusement!
Peace,
El D
