justeezy.

One of my favourite books, check it out here.

The 18th Letter, 1997 | Producer: Nic Wiz

“Your M.O. is hard not to
notice, so my motives
is to stay focused, body moves like
aerobics
Attractions, vibes I caught came from your ways
and actions but
mindframe hard to explain
No actin or mindgames, but thinkin of what can
happen
is migraines, the x-rated though remains
We relaxin, and you
naggin me for the agony
to your anatomy, by the fractions
Your
measurements, the pleasure’s in every inch of your temple
I travel
twenty-three million miles of your mental
Chemistry, between you and me, in
harmony
Causin angles to meet, like trigonometry
or pyramids, that’s
where your deepest, treasures are hid
Then it gets, odiferous, cause I know
where it is
I mastered that, cause it’s easy when you react
The
all-natural aphrodisiac, show me love”

Sound: soulful, groovy, smooth.

Released as a 12″ in 1983, Sugar Hill Records | Sample: Liquid Liquid – Carvern

One of the best bass lines of all time!

Off their 2004 “Connected” album, produced by Nicolay.

“Move souls like hoes on booty calls”

justeezy x krispi | Santa Monica, California | August 2010 << this night was tha bomb diggity.

I wish we could have done a regular “josti & krispi night out,” and celebrated your birthday with ya, but “I’m comin’ home for the holidays!” (c) J. Cole xoxo

This is something I wrote up last week for my group presentation on mass-produced music, for my History of Communication class. I more so talk about the effects of mainstream music on society. Just felt like sharing (excuse the grammar)

We can apply the “Magic Bullet Theory” to describe mass produced music today, namely mainstream, in that the major record labels will inject a new “sound” to boost their sales. The Magic Bullet theory (no, this ain’t no theory on blenders or dildos) illustrates how mass media has a direct and powerful effect on people’s behaviours, by shooting a message into an audience that is assumed to be passive. The theory states that the public cannot escape from media’s influence.

Certain artists like The Clash and even Jay-Z didn’t begin their careers as mainstream artists. These branch of artists send out clear intentions and messages to their audience – whether it’s through sharing life stories, artistic expression, or creating/promoting any kind of social/political changes. Fans are able to develop their own interpretations of the message, enforcing both individualism and community. As word spread, theses artists eventually became a trend, and now mainstream. Community was a result and artistic expression is still an emphasis.

In the present moment, mainstream artists start their careers as mainstream artists. From the business side, major record labels pretty much own the market, and it is so controlled, that they have a virtual monopoly. I would almost define mass-produced music to be whatever makes the most money. If you look at genres like Electro (which is a mash-up of different genres), there are so many messages pumped out that the public is saturated. Unless you are more creative, there is a high chance the messages will be lost.

A great example is hip hop. As soon as hip hop became more mainstream, the subculture’s audience sort of divided into categories such as mainstream hip hop, commercial hip hop, and underground hip hop. Mainstream hip hop holds the majority of the public’s attention; while underground and commercial hip hop are reserved for those who actually care and remember the true value of what hip hop is.

The pattern of mass-produced music: injecting a “new” sound, gravitating a following from people (ie. cool hunters), pumping out that sound (through the media) so much that it becomes a trend, in turn developing a huge following, eventually dying out when the next new sound comes into place. It’s interesting that the pattern kind of imitates how Walter Ong describes sound itself: “Sound exists only when it’s going out of existence.” The pattern of mass-produced music is not the problem, the problem lies in the content that is now mainstream. The content is so mixed and saturated that there are no real values attached, it is all just a business.

I’m pretty sure there are people in this world who would classify me as a “music snob,” for only really digging underground hip hop. I could really care less because I know what music means to me. In reality, I used to love mainstream! Now the content is (mostly) horrible. I’m not saying that creativity and authenticity don’t exist in the mainstream world, but it is more apparent in underground.

As far as the future of mass produced music goes, we (as group 5) don’t really see anything changing unless the people in those subgroups (who appreciate the true values of music) become the majority.

Comments?!?!

Off J. Cole’s new mixtape. This track coincides with the most recent Flashback Mondays track of course, but J. Cole definitely deserves his own post haha. The Friday Night Lights mixtape is loooove. Every track on the mixtape is on par with each other, really highlighting his competence in adapting to various beats. You can spot his growth from “The Warm Up” – I love witnessing the progress of new artists! What mostly draws me to J. Cole, is that he speaks his truth (his perception) eloquently and creatively. While I can appreciate a song for any reason (booty shakin’ and all), what made me fall in love with music is an artist’s courage to displace their authentic thoughts for everybody to dissect. Shit can get misconstrued, but it don’t matter. It’s your truth, it’s how you feel!! … Anyways, so that’s why I love music, I guess haha.

“I see your homegirl tryna sway you
how you figure I would play you,
would you, look at that
the same one that caught her n*gga with some freak
all in her sheets left for a week
what she do, double back
now I know we far from perfect
but I feel like this is worth it, do you disagree with that
if not than holla back
hey, and tell ya girl you’ll call her back”

Sidenote: I love how all these dudes are bringing Aaliyah back into their songs! Just don’t overkill it. Although I don’t know how anybody could possibly overkill Aaliyah. Babygiiiiirl.

Supa Dupa Fly (Missy Elliott), 1997 | Produced by: Timbaland

I ain’t trying to brag, but… I am enjoying the shit out of life! Time feels like it’s flying by, and yet I am actually in the present, enjoying life moment to moment. I still think about the future on the daily though. Most days, I visualize where I eventually want to be.. and some days, my mind is cluttered with fear and worries from both the past and the future. You just gotta let your mind wander aimlessly around in insecurity land for a bit before the better side of you kicks your ass out back into the real world.

A couple of years ago, I saw time as this fleeting thing that I could never quite catch on to. I felt like that rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, freaking out about being late all the time. Man! SO thankful that I’ve chilled out on that shit! Time flying by doesn’t matter when you are expressing and nourishing your passions because fulfilling what you love makes the hustle worth it.

(oooh shiiiet, how’s that enthymeme for ya?!)

Body Break! With Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod.

Did you know they got married in real life?

Phrenology, 2002

Longevity is not a problem for The Roots mainly because of their flexibility. They are able to capture the “sound” of that moment in time, while still maintaining their own. Long live The Roots!!!

Totally not my normal steez, but this song is BAD. Best part is, they’re Canadian! (Vancouver, BC) I may have to go track down their 2008 album, O My Heart.